A radio-frequency tool for planning wireless sensor networks

We present a software tool able to help planning and deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSN) in an outdoor environment. The tool is based on a ray-tracing algorithm for the evaluation of electromagnetic propagation in a built-up area, and on additional software modules that use the output of the electromagnetic solver to generate nodes´ connectivity matrix, to compute individual nodes´ coverage areas, and to identify the best locations where gateways can be placed. The presented tool is able to deal with the radio-frequency propagation issues involved in WSN planning and deployment, and it is conceived as a part of an overall WSN deployment, planning, and commissioning & maintenance tool that is being developed in the framework of a European project.