Validation of a miniaturized wireless network testbed

ABSTRACT

Experimentation with wireless network testbeds is preferred to simulations for performing high fidelity testing. However, realistic experimentation with full-scale networks is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. To side-step some of these problems, we have built IvyNet, a miniaturized wireless mesh network testbed, where a high degree of attenuation (up to 60dB) is applied to the wireless radios for multi-hop network testing. In this paper, we present a validation study of the miniaturized wireless networks via experiments in the IvyNet testbed. Our results show that IvyNet is able to facilitate convenient experimentation over multi-hop networks within a small space; at the same time, it preserves reasonable fidelity compared to real-world fullscale networks. Because IvyNet is based upon commodity hardware, the principal observations from the IvyNet experiments also apply to other miniaturized wireless networks.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.1 Network Architecture and Design
          Subjects: Wireless communication

General Terms:
Experimentation, Measurement, Performance

Keywords:
IvyNet, experiments, miniaturized testbed, wireless networks