Designing a sensor network testbed for smart heterogeneous applications

Future buildings and environments are envisioned to provide ambient intelligence, adapting to a userpsilas preferences based on information about his context and status. Smart heterogeneous sensor networks are well suited data sources for such environments, because they allow for dynamic adaptation to newly added sensor types and novel tasks. Realistic verification of protocols and algorithms for smart networks poses special constraints on testbeds, necessitating support for heterogeneous platforms and mobility in the network. These distinct requirements limit the usability of many known testbeds of purely homogeneous nature. In this paper, we determine a minimum set of premises for smart heterogeneous sensor network testbeds and evaluate existing architectures with respect to these requirements. We then present our tubicle node platform, an integrated sensor network node providing inherent support for heterogeneity and fulfilling the determined set of requirements in their entirety. A set of twenty tubicles forms the basis for our TWiNS.KOM testbed. Specifically designed for heterogeneity, the architecture allows rapid validation of smart sensor network algorithms and quick experimental setup.