Chamaeleon — Exploiting multiple channels to mitigate interference

Due to their embedding into an unknown environment, wireless sensor networks are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions. A prime example is external interference, typically caused by 802.11, electric devices or co-located sensor networks, which can drastically influence communication. However, radios on sensor nodes provide multiple channels, which can help to alleviate interference problems on a particular channel. In this work, we introduce Chamaeleon, a novel lean, cross-layer protocol extension that helps to overcome external interference problems. Chamaeleon switches an affected set of nodes to a new channel based on key network parameters e.g., packet loss and channel backoffs. Initial simulation-based experiments show that Chamaeleon effectively handles the jamming of isolated channels.