Using Localization for Fault-tolerant Radio Coverage in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks offer flexibility for industrial automation. However, in environments with changing propagation conditions it is challenging to guarantee the radio coverage. This paper contributes a localization-based method to achieve fault-tolerant radio coverage of wireless mesh networks in dynamic propagation environments. The idea is to use radio signal strength measurements from the mobile stations, find their positions with localization and use this information to automatically calibrate a radio propagation model to the real environment. This model is then used to automatically detect radio coverage errors at run-time and to repair them before the radio coverage fails. An evaluation in a real industrial scenario shows the practicability of our approach.