ZigBee-based Intra-car Wireless Sensor Network

Due to an increasing number of sensors deployed in cars, recently there is a growing interest in implementing a wireless sensor network within a car. In this paper, we report the results of packet transmission experiments using ZigBee sensor nodes within a car under various scenarios. The results of the experiments suggest that both Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Link Quality Indicator (LQI) can only be used as a threshold-based indicator to evaluate the link quality - indicating poor link quality when dropping below a certain threshold. Preliminary experimental results show that a detection algorithm developed by the authors based on RSSI/LQI/error patterns and an adaptive strategy might increase the goodput performance of the link while improving power consumption of the radio.