IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011

A Survey of Wireless Sensor Network Testbeds

L.P. Steyn, G.P. Hancke
Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Email: leonsteyn@tuks.co.za, gerhard.hancke@up.ac.za

Abstract—During the past decade research in Wireless Sensor III. T ESTBEDS

Networks has drawn heavy interest. For researchers to verify
their research a testbed is an extremely valuable tool. This paper
presents a survey documenting a selection of the best testbeds that
have been developed for WSN evaluation. Laboratory testbeds
and real world deployments are discussed and future work to be
done on WSN testbeds is proposed.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a popular field of
study with exciting potential applications. An essential instru-
ment for any researcher in a new field is accurate performance
measurement tools that can be used to test and verify any
new design. Most WSN research has been done by testing the
developed protocols and applications on simulators. It has been
shown that simulated results have been inaccurate and a need
for improved performance tools has been identified. This has
sparked the design and implementation of a number of WSN
testbeds by researchers from across the globe. Various real life
WSNs have also been implemented for specific applications
and studied extensively. Each WSN testbed or real world
application has its own specific strengths and weaknesses.
This paper will attempt to summarise the best available WSN
testbeds and classify them accordingly.
II. R ELATED W ORK
Previous research has also been conducted to create surveys
on existing WSN testbeds. [1] describes the wider field of
mobile ad hoc network testbeds. In this work testbeds and
emulators are characterized according to their functionality
and modelling ability. A WSN testbed with mobile nodes are
described and special attention is given to wireless channel
modelling. [2] briefly describes three of the most popular
testbeds, but its focus is more a general survey of WSNs.
[3] is the most complete summary of WSN performance
metric tools. Simulators, emulators and physical testbeds are
analyzed and the importance of a complete testing environment
including all these tools is emphasized. Lastly [4] describes
the specialised field of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network
(WMSN) testbeds and applications. It gives an extensive
summary of WMSNs and existing testbeds with multimedia
capabilities. This investigation attempts to focus on the differ-
ent architectures of testbeds that are available for researchers
to assist them in choosing the best suited to their research. This
paper covers a wider selection of testbeds and more detail than
any of the above studies.
A. General Testbed Designs
The most common WSN testbeds are deployed indoors
at academic institutions for easy access by researchers. By
deploying a testbed in an indoor location, a controlled envi-
ronment, shielded from outside interference is created. This
ensures repeatable experiments and easier maintenance. The
most popular architecture is based on a central management
database that can control a deployment of WSN motes. These
testbeds usually consist of a network of motes, a back-
channel for testbed management connectivity, a database for
data logging and a management software application with
a graphical user interface (GUI). The network management
software performs tasks such as scheduling of motes for exper-
iments, controlling the topology of the network, programming
motes with source code, debugging of faulty networks and the
analysis and visualisation of data.
Some extra features are also common in WSN testbeds. The
first is the support of multimedia nodes. Most WSMN testbeds
have integrated webcams and microphones for specific testing
of protocols that are designed with high bandwidth media
applications in mind. Second is the support of mobile nodes to
facilitate testing of various localisation techniques and other
mobile applications of WSNs. These are usually implemented
with a robot that’s motion can be controlled in a repeatable
fashion or a train that moves on a predetermined track. Thirdly,
most testbeds use built-in power consumption metrics supplied
on mote platforms to estimate power consumption. Others
use specialised hardware that can probe specific hardware
level input and output pins to ensure high accuracy energy
consumption data. Lastly, the addition of some portable motes
give the ability to conduct experiments in different wireless
environments.
The following sections describe different testbeds according
to their features. Table I provides a direct comparison high-
lighting the main characteristics of each testbed.
B. Server Based Control
This section describes larger server based testbeds. These
are typically fixed testbed deployments with a central back-
end with various servers supporting the management and data
logging functionality. An interface device is used to supply
the USB or serial port needed to connect to the motes. These
devices can perform some processing of data and network
management functions, but most importantly they supply the

978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

 IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011
Ethernet or WiFi back-end to the management servers. The
advantage of these deployments is that they usually have many
resources and can support large scale experiments. Mostly they
will also be integrated with a web server and sophisticated
scheduling and tasking software that will enable multiple users
to remotely use the testbed. As a result of their size they may
be vulnerable to high maintenance and are costly to install.
They can also prove to be inflexible as the sensing environment
stays constant.
Motelab [5] was one of the very first fully developed
WSN testbeds. It is an open source tool that is available on
the Internet to any registered user. All Motelab code is also
available for institutions to build their own testbeds. It consists
of a MySQL back-end server, a PHP web server, a Java based
data logger and a Job Daemon that assigns experiments to
networked motes. MicaZ motes are connected to an Ethernet
interface board to gain access to the back-channel.
Kansei [6], [7] is a hybrid simulation and testbed platform
that can be used to test WSNs at scale. It supports a 210 node
sensor array. Each with a mote connected to an auxiliary Linux
based Stargate platform that acts as a controller and data col-
lector. Each node is connected to an Ethernet back-channel that
allows for communication with the central server or so-called
Director that can schedule tasks, configure nodes and perform
management operations. The testbed also supports mobile
nodes and has a smaller, portable section of nodes that can be
relocated to a new environment. Hybrid simulation techniques
are implemented using the physical radio communications of
the testbed as input to a PC based simulator. Kansei has
been designed to be highly fault tolerant, autonomic, self-
healing and self-managing, ensuring researchers spend less
time troubleshooting the large network.
ORBIT [8] is a radio grid network testbed developed by
Rutgers University. It was designed to serve as an evaluation
tool for a broad range of next generation wireless network
protocols. It has multiple back-end services that can control the
testbed through an Ethernet back-channel interface. It supports
mobile nodes, is robust against failures and can be used to
test multiple radio technologies. It also has a controllable RF
interference source that can act on the testbed.
Mobile Emulab [9] also called TrueMobile [10] was the
first remotely accessible mobile WSN network testbed. It was
built by expanding on the extensive Emulab generic network
evaluation testbed. It provides a web front end that can manage
testbed resources and schedule experiments. Users can submit
code that can control the network topology, program motes and
schedule start and stop intervals. The core of the testbed in-
cludes data storing and various back-end services. The generic
Emulab environment also gives access to other networking
testbeds and thousands of connected desktop computers that
can be used as extra nodes in experiments. The mobile testbed
is deployed in an L shaped space with a network of 35 static
motes with Ethernet connected interface boards. However the
main feature of the testbed is the Arconame Garcia robots that
are fitted with Stargate control boards, MicaZ sensor nodes
and a WiFi interface card that acts as the control channel to
978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
the back-end. Accurate and repeatable robot mobility control
functions are built into the testbed and can be accessed re-
motely by researchers. A ceiling mounted visual robot tracking
system ensures accurate location data of the robots that can
be used to evaluate WSN localisation protocols. Remote users
can also visually monitor their experiments through webcams
overlooking the area where the robots move.
C. Single PC Based Control
This section describes WSN testbeds that use a single
PC as the central point of the testbed, incorporating all
the management and data storage functions. Typically such
deployments will use a serial or USB back-channel connection
to interface directly with the motes. These testbeds are usually
more flexible and can be adapted to certain scenarios more
easily. Sometimes they are not installed in a fixed position and
can be redeployed with relative ease. However, in general they
do not scale well and they also tend to have limited features
with no remote access or support for simultaneous users.
LabVIEW Testbed [11] is based on off the shelf compo-
nents to create an affordable and user-friendly WSN testbed.
A user interface and system management tool was developed
using the popular LabVIEW programming environment. It
gives the user a high level view of the network and removes the
complexity of programming directly on the TinyOS platform.
This interface program is installed on a central PC. Once motes
are programmed individually through a RS-232 interface, the
LabVIEW application can record and visualise all testbed
data in real time. The actual testbed consists of two separate
networks, each with a base station mote connected to the
central PC through a serial interface. The first is configured
with 15 MicaZ motes in a multi-hop architecture and the
second with 8 Cricket motes in a single hop to the base station
configuration. 4 of the MicaZ motes are installed on Arconame
Garcia or Cybermotion robots that provide controlled mobility.
The Cricket motes can be carried by humans to act as dynamic,
unknown input sources to tracking experiments for the first
network.
SignetLab [12] relies on a tiered USB hub and cabling
scheme connected to a single Control PC to manage a grid
of 48 EyesIFXv2 motes. A Java based software application
installed on the control PC supplies a GUI to reprogram
motes, change the topology and analyse testbed data. In a
novel approach to save space the nodes are suspended from
the ceiling in a room that is still used for its original purpose.
Sensi-uu [13] is a relocatable mobile sensor network.
Instead of using a wired back-channel it uses a wireless control
channel. A Site Manager PC connects to multiple sensor host
boards over an IEEE 802.11 WiFi channel. The Site Manager
PC has a Vendetta Software application that can manage
the testbed, visualise data and control experiments. Sensor
hosts are heterogeneous nodes that are controlled by the Site
Manager and connect to the motes. Various smartphones, with
specifically designed software, are used to accomplish this
role including a Linux based FreeRunner device, a Symbian
based Nokia N95 and an Android based HTC Hero. Each
 IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011
smartphone also includes its own sensors like accelerometers,
video cameras and microphones that can be incorporated in
experiments. The motes connect to the sensor host through
the USB interface from where they communicate with the Site
Manager during experiments. The motes still use their own
IEEE 802.15 radios for experiments and specific channels were
chosen so that no interference is caused between the control
and experiment channels. For mobility the testbed uses an off
the shelf Lego NXT robot that can be programmed to follow
a taped track with enough precision to conduct repeatable
experiments. Experiments are conducted where static nodes
track the mobile node with high precision. The whole testbed
setup is completely portable and can be relocated to different
testbed environments.
D. Hybrid Testbeds
The testbeds in this section follow a hybrid approach using
the best of both worlds. A central server is used but the testbed
is dependent on separate gateway devices that perform signif-
icant management and control functions and supply back-end
connectivity to the motes. This architecture is typically more
scalable as new gateways can be added to extend the network
capability.
TWIST [14] is designed as a scalable and flexible indoor
testbed. The testbed consists of a central server, control PCs
and gateway nodes that are all connected through a Ethernet
back-channel. These gateway or so-called super nodes are
Network Link Storage Units (NSLU) running a customised
Linux OS with USB interfaces. USB hubs and cables are
used to connect to the actual mote network. To extend the
reach of the network a combination of passive (up to 5 m
in length) and active (up to 15 m in length) USB cables are
used. Each USB cable endpoint is defined as a socket with
a unique identifier in the management software. A central
PostqreSQL server is used to store application and debug data.
A Linux based control PC with customised software is used
to manage the network and conduct experiments. Up to 180
heterogeneous motes can be deployed by plugging them into
the socket end points as long as they have USB interfaces and
support TinyOS. The testbed also supports flat, hierarchical
or segmented architectures depending on the roles assigned to
different motes and super nodes.
The IBM WSN Testbed [15] was developed at IBM’s
Zurich Research Laboratory. The testbed was built to eval-
uate various short range radio communication technologies
including sensor networks and Zigbee radio transmission.
The testbed can either be configured in a flat or meshed
architecture. A specifically designed FPGA based sensor unit
with multiple sensors is implemented instead of an off the shelf
mote so that it can interface with various radio nodes depend-
ing on the experimental requirement. A PowerPC based gate-
way node acts as an interface between the wireless network
and the company enterprise network. It hosts a Java middle-
ware application that extracts data from the test nodes and
publishes it to all subscribers in the enterprise network. This
data is used as input for simulations in a Matlab environment.
978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
MoteMaster [16] uses a slim software installation called
the Mote Manager on several desktop computers to extend the
reach of the network. Each desktop has a small deployment of
TelosB motes connected through a USB hub and cables. The
Mote Manager is connected through its Ethernet interface to
a central relational database that can program motes, dispatch
experiments and retrieve experimental data. Users access the
relational database through a Matlab OBDC interface. In the
paper only a small demo deployment is described and the
scalability of this architecture is not confirmed.
WSNTB [17] originally supports central management of
their custom develop Octopus I and II motes through a Ether-
net back-channel that connects to a back-end of various servers
with extensive software capabilities. Users can reprogram
motes, control experiments and access data remotely through a
web interface. This testbed was improved and renamed UTSB
[18] where the central management server was replaced with
individual network manager PCs. Only the central database has
remained to store and collect data. Each network Manager PC
is connected to smaller deployments of nodes and performs a
distributed management function. The ability to monitor pin
level energy consumption and operation time measurements
has also been included. The testbed has been expanded to
another site and now includes a total of 62 motes.
E. Multiple Site Testbeds
A drawback of many testbeds is that they are confined to
a single, fixed environment that does not offer variation. One
way to solve this problem is to extend a testbed even further
to support multiple sites. This section describes two testbeds
that are deployed over multiple sites and are still controlled
from a central location.
X-Sensor [19] is a large sensor network deployment cov-
ering four sites at Japanese Universities. Three sites have
a network of 10 MicaZ motes and the main site in Osaka
has multiple individual sites with a total of 148 motes. Each
site has a gateway that connects to a central testbed server
that controls the entire deployment. Users can access the
testbed remotely through a web interface where they can
program motes, define topologies by choosing specific nodes
and schedule experiments. The gateway also stores all the
sensor data even when the testbed is not being used for
experiments. This vast data set can be accessed by users at
a later stage to be used as input for other simulations.
Senslab [20], [21] is a new very large scale testbed with
over 1000 nodes spread over 4 sites in France. Complete
papers that describe this testbed are not yet available but
each node consists of an open node, control node and the
gateway. The open node is the mote that is used for the WSN
experiments. The control node performs programming and
control functions of the open node and the gateway supplies
power and communication back to the testbed platform. Users
get access to a virtual machine through a web portal to control
experiments. Further details regarding the back-end of the
testbed are still unpublished but the testbed will support mobile
nodes and different topologies in a variety of environments.
 IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011
F. In-Band Management traffic
Most testbeds use some back-channel to perform manage-
ment and control functions. This adds costs, maintenance
and inflexibility. SenseNeT [22] is a software based testbed
that does not rely on any additional hardware like wired
infrastructure or gateway nodes by using the the existing
wireless channel for management purposes. This makes the
testbed more scalable and reduces costs. A software compo-
nent is installed on the motes, which is used to interact with
the central management servers through the existing wireless
channel. Remote users can access the testbed through a web
interface while an application and database server manages
the testbed, reprograms nodes and records data. A base station
node is used to interact between the management hardware and
the network of MicaZ motes. The testbed has self-organising
and self-healing properties that ensures depleted nodes can be
replaced easily.
G. Specialised Testbed Hardware
This section describes two very different testbeds. However,
both have specialised hardware to give them the ability to do
specific functions.
TWiNS.KOM [23] describes a heterogeneous all-in-one
hardware concept of a Tubicle. The Tubicle is a 40 cm long
transparent acrylic glass cylinder containing multiple sensor
network platforms. These platforms enable the testbed to be
used in a wide variety of experiments. Each Tubicle consists
of a Linux based Gumstix Verde interface board, Java based
SunSPOT wireless sensor node, and a TinyOS based Tmote
Sky sensor node. Each Tubicle also has a 7 port USB hub
to interconnect all the components, a Bluetooth dongle, an
external WiFi antenna, an external power port, a webcam and a
Ethernet-to-Serial converter. Testbed control and management
is done through centralised web based control software that
uses the Gumstix board to control the other hardware in the
Tubicle. The testbed can be accessed through the Ethernet
interface or through the external WiFi antenna. Data is logged
and can be retrieved after the completion of the experiment
and debugging can be done in real time. Replacing the power
outlet with a battery makes it possible to mount the Tubicle
on a mobile node or to use it as a portable testbed.
HINT [24] is a High-accuracy Non-intrusive Networking
Testbed that can passively capture chip-level signals with
specifically designed auxiliary test boards. The test boards
provide an Ethernet interface to a central PC where collected
data can be stored and analysed. Modified TelosB nodes,
dubbed ZiNT nodes, with extra pins are used to interface with
the FPGA based test boards. This architecture gives the testbed
very accurate results with minimal interference in the normal
operation of the mote. Software on the central PC can remotely
manage and debug experiments if needed and supports visual
representation of the captured data.
H. Industrial Application
Industrial environments will likely be a popular application
for WSNs. They do however pose a specific challenge as they
978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
have harsh wireless channels and other attenuation sources.
This section describes two testbeds that have been designed to
specifically test the operation of WSNs in such environments.
WINTeR [25], [26] is a testbed that was developed to sup-
port WSN evaluation in industrial applications. It is deployed
in a full scale industrial setting with programmable motes
that can be controlled remotely through a web interface and
testbed server. The motes are connected to an Ethernet and
USB back-channel. The Ethernet channel is used for testbed
controls, while the USB interface is used for power control
of the motes. The testbed also includes a controllable EMI
attenuation source, a data generation source and a Radio Harsh
Environment (RHE) extreme multipath fading wireless channel
to simulate industrial environments.
Testbed for tracking and localisation in WSNs [27]
is deployed in a former manufacturing lab environment that
is considered a close representation of a small factory. The
location creates a harsh wireless environment to model the
effects that can be seen in real factory deployments. The
testbed itself is a network of TelosB motes that are controlled
by a central PC and used mainly for localisation experiments.
A Java based software application collects localisation data
from the motes in real time and a Visualisation Engine creates
a 3-D visualisation of the data for easy interpretation.
I. Other Novel Testbed Enhancements
More work has been done on other novel enhancements
for testbed architectures. Nestbed [28] describes a file system
abstraction and Shell interface to control a WSN testbed.
Chowkidar [7] describes a network health monitoring system
to ensure testbed availability and reliability. MSRLab6 [29]
describes an IPv6 based WSN testbed to investigate the IPv6
features described in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. ViMobiO
[30] describes a virtual mobility overlay to simulate mobile
nodes by virtually moving all the mote software between
physical nodes in an instant. Mirage [31] describes a resource
allocation system based on a supply and demand microeco-
nomic model that assures testbed resources are allocated to
users that need them the most.
J. Real World Deployments and Other WSN testbeds
A great variety of real world deployments are also used
to study WSNs. Some examples of real deployments include
a floating WSN which is described in [32]. It is used as a
testbed and to determine sea levels. A complete WSN has been
deployed at a farm [33] to track farm animals and gather other
information on the farm. It also has actuator nodes that can
produce stimuli to control the farm animals. FireSenseTB [34]
is a testbed built to detect forest fires. Simulated fires are being
used to determine whether the WSN will be able to detect real
fires and sound alarms. SensorScope [35] is a robust outdoor
environmental monitoring system using solar power. WSNs
have been deployed at museums [36] and libraries [37] to
perform environmental monitoring. Lastly the health of civil
structures [38] can also be monitored with WSNs.
 IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011

TABLE I
C OMPARISON OF WSN T ESTBEDS

Testbed Type Testbed Name Hardware Summary Extra Features

Central Motelab [5] 2005 190 MicaZ and Tmote Sky motes. Connected through Open source. Freely available online and easily repli-
Server MIB600 Interface Boards to Ethernet backchannel. cated at other sites.
Kansei [6], [7] 210 XSM and Tmote Sky motes. Connected through Eth- Simulations with testbed data. Design principles can
2006 ernet backchannel. be used for highly fault tolerant autonomous testbed.
ORBIT [8] 2005 Grid of 100 specifically developed motes. Connected Supports multiple wireless protocols, mobile nodes
through Ethernet backchannel to multiple test servers. and RF interference sources Available online.
Mobile Emulab 35 MicaZ and Stargate motes. Connected through MIB500 Open source. Freely available online and easily repli-
[9], [10] 2006 Interface Boards to Ethernet and WiFi backchannel. cated at other sites.
Single PC LabVIEW TB 23 MicaZ and Cricket motes individually programmed LabVIEW Application to remove complexity of pro-
[11] 2006 through single PC serial interface. gramming motes and visualising data.
SignetLab [12] 48 EyesIFXv2 motes in a tiered USB configuration con- Ceiling suspended motes to save space. Software to
2007 nected to a single PC. control motes and dynamically change architectures.
Sensi-uu [13] Mostly TelosB but also other heterogeneous motes con- Smartphone software support. Also affordable and
2010 nected wirelessly to Android and Symbian smartphones. accurate Lego mobile node implementation.
Hybrid TWIST [14] Up to 180 TelosB and EyesIFX motes connected through Design that supports any mote with USB port and
2006 novel USB and Ethernet backchannel. TinyOS support. Software to control architecture.
IBM WSN TB Specifically developed nodes connected through gateway Example of using existing large Enterprise networks
[15] 2006 nodes to existing Enterprise Ethernet network. for backbone of testbed. Also support for Matlab.
MoteMaster [16] TelosB motes connected to Desktop PC’s through USB. Example of Software for existing Ethernet connected
2009 Uses an existing Ethernet network to connect to servers. PC’s to create a testbed. Also has Matlab interface.
UTSB [18] 2010 62 Octopus II motes connected to Distributed Management Specialised hardware and software to allow pin level
PCs through existing Ethernet and WiFi. power consumption and timing measurements.
Multi-Site X-Sensor [19] 178+ MicaZ nodes deployed at multiple sites. Connected Available online. When sensors are not in use data
2009 to a Central Server and Gateway nodes. is logged continuously for future use.
Senslab [20], 1000+ specifically developed motes deployed at multiple Available online. Users get assigned a virtual ma-
[21] 2010 sites. Connected to a Central Server and Gateway nodes. chine to conduct experiments. Mobile train nodes.
In-Band SenseNeT [22] 8 MicaZ motes with no backchannel for administrative Uses mote based software to do wireless in-band
Management 2007 functions. management. Affordable with no extra hardware.
Specialised TWiNS.KOM Tubicle has a SunSPOT, Tmote Sky, Bluetooth dongle, All in one hardware solution. Support for mobile,
Hardware [23] 2008 WiFi antenna, webcam and serial-to-Ethernet converter. multimedia and different wireless technologies.
HINT [24] 2010 Modified TelosB motes interfacing with specifically de- High accuracy power consumption measurements
signed FPGA boards to capture pin level data. with minimal interference of normal mote operation.
Industrial WINTeR [25], 32 specifically designed motes connected to Central Server. Testbed in a radio harsh wireless environment with
Application [26] 2008 Controllable interference sources. a remotely controllable EMI interference source.
TB for WSNs A few TelosB motes that are individually programmed. Deployed in radio harsh wireless channel. Java soft-
[27] 2009 Central PC with serial Base Station for data logging. ware to visualise testbed data in 3D.

IV. P ROPOSED F UTURE W ORK
Very few of the testbeds described above take into account
attenuation sources and harsh wireless environments. The
ORBIT testbed [8] introduced controllable RF sources and
the WiNTER testbed [25] has an EMI source. The WiNTER
testbed together with [27] also describes the implementation of
such testbeds in radio harsh environments. It is the intention of
the authors to develop a testbed based on a combination of the
architectures described in the previous sections. The main goal
will be to include sources of interference that can be accurately
controlled and the ability to do experiments in various wire-
less channel conditions, including harsh environments, thus
simulating new environments for WSN applications, such as
mentioned in [39].
V. C ONCLUSION
This paper describes in detail a wide selection of WSN
testbeds that have been developed at various research insti-
tutions. Their general architecture has been described and
each testbed’s unique features have been highlighted enabling
researchers in choosing the best suited to their requirements.
Other real world WSN deployments have also been mentioned
briefly and a proposal to design and deploy a testbed that has
controllable interference sources and harsh wireless environ-
ments has been described.
R EFERENCES
[1] M. Kropff, T. Krop, M. Hollick, P. Mogre, and R. Steinmetz, “A survey
on real world and emulation testbeds for mobile ad hoc networks,” in
Testbeds and Research Infrastructures for the Development of Networks
and Communities, 2006. TRIDENTCOM 2006. 2nd International Con-
ference on, 0 2006.
[2] J. Yick, B. Mukherjee, and D. Ghosal, “Wireless sensor network survey,”
Computer Networks, vol. 52, no. 12, pp. 2292–2330, 2008.
[3] M. Imran, A. Said, and H. Hasbullah, “A survey of simulators, emulators
and testbeds for wireless sensor networks,” in Information Technology
(ITSim), 2010 International Symposium in, vol. 2, 2010, pp. 897 – 902.
[4] I. Akyildiz, T. Melodia, and K. Chowdhury, “Wireless multimedia sensor
networks: Applications and testbeds,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 96,
no. 10, pp. 1588 –1605, 2008.

978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

 IEEE Africon 2011 - The Falls Resort and Conference Centre, Livingstone, Zambia, 13 - 15 September 2011
[5] G. Werner-Allen, P. Swieskowski, and M. Welsh, “Motelab: a wireless
sensor network testbed,” in Information Processing in Sensor Networks,
2005. IPSN 2005. Fourth International Symposium on, 2005, pp. 483 –
488.
[6] M. Sridharan, S. Bapat, R. Ramnath, and A. Arora, “Implementing an
autonomic architecture for fault-tolerance in a wireless sensor network
testbed for at-scale experimentation,” in Proceedings of the 2008 ACM
symposium on Applied computing, ser. SAC ’08, 2008, pp. 1670–1676.
[7] E. Ertin, A. Arora, R. Ramnath, V. Naik, S. Bapat, V. Kulathumani,
M. Sridharan, H. Zhang, H. Cao, and M. Nesterenko, “Kansei: a testbed
for sensing at scale,” in Proceedings of the 5th international conference
on Information processing in sensor networks, ser. IPSN ’06, 2006, pp.
399–406.
[8] D. Raychaudhuri, I. Seskar, M. Ott, S. Ganu, K. Ramachandran,
H. Kremo, R. Siracusa, H. Liu, and M. Singh, “Overview of the orbit
radio grid testbed for evaluation of next-generation wireless network
protocols,” in Wireless Communications and Networking Conference,
2005 IEEE, vol. 3, 2005, pp. 1664 – 1669 Vol. 3.
[9] D. Johnson, T. Stack, R. Fish, D. M. Flickinger, L. Stoller, R. Ricci,
and J. Lepreau, “Mobile emulab: A robotic wireless and sensor network
testbed,” in INFOCOM 2006. 25th IEEE International Conference on
Computer Communications. Proceedings, 2006, pp. 1 –12.
[10] D. Johnson, T. Stack, R. Fish, D. Flickinger, R. Ricci, and J. Lepreau,
“Truemobile: A mobile robotic wireless and sensor network testbed, flux
technical note ftn-2005-02,” in In The 25 th Annual Joint Conference
of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies. IEEE Computer
Society, 2006.
[11] P. Ballal, V. Giordano, P. Dang, S. Gorthi, J. Mireles, and F. Lewis,
“A labview based test-bed with off-the-shelf components for research in
mobile sensor networks,” in Computer Aided Control System Design,
2006 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, 2006
IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, 2006 IEEE, 2006,
pp. 112 –118.
[12] R. Crepaldi, S. Friso, A. Harris, M. Mastrogiovanni, C. Petrioli,
M. Rossi, A. Zanella, and M. Zorzi, “The design, deployment, and anal-
ysis of signetlab: A sensor network testbed and interactive management
tool,” in Testbeds and Research Infrastructure for the Development of
Networks and Communities, 2007. TridentCom 2007. 3rd International
Conference on, May 2007, pp. 1 –10.
[13] O. Rensfelt, F. Hermans, P. Gunningberg, and L. Larzon, “Repeatable
experiments with mobile nodes in a relocatable wsn testbed,” in Dis-
tributed Computing in Sensor Systems Workshops (DCOSSW), 2010 6th
IEEE International Conference on, 2010, pp. 1 –6.
[14] V. Handziski, A. Köpke, A. Willig, and A. Wolisz, “Twist: a scalable
and reconfigurable testbed for wireless indoor experiments with sensor
networks,” in Proceedings of the 2nd international workshop on Multi-
hop ad hoc networks: from theory to reality, ser. REALMAN ’06. New
York, NY, USA: ACM, 2006, pp. 63–70.
[15] S. Furrer, W. Schott, H. Truong, and B. Weiss, “The ibm wireless
sensor networking testbed,” in Testbeds and Research Infrastructures for
the Development of Networks and Communities, 2006. TRIDENTCOM
2006. 2nd International Conference on, 0 2006.
[16] A. Achtzehn, E. Meshkova, J. Ansari, and P. Mahonen, “Motemaster:
A scalable sensor network testbed for rapid protocol performance
evaluation,” in Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks
Workshops, 2009. SECON Workshops ’09. 6th Annual IEEE Communi-
cations Society Conference on, 2009, pp. 1 –3.
[17] J.-P. Sheu, C.-J. Chang, C.-Y. Sun, and W.-K. Hu, “Wsntb: A testbed
for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks,” in Ubi-Media Computing,
2008 First IEEE International Conference on, 31 2008.
[18] J. Sheu, C. Chang, and W. Yang, “A distributed wireless sensor network
testbed with energy consumption estimation,” Int. J. Ad Hoc Ubiquitous
Comput., vol. 6, pp. 63–74, July 2010.
[19] A. Kanzaki, T. Hara, Y. Ishi, N. Wakamiya, and S. Shimojo, “X-
sensor: A sensor network testbed integrating multiple networks,” in
Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems, 2009. CISIS ’09.
International Conference on, 2009, pp. 1082 –1087.
[20] T. Ducrocq, J. Vandaele, N. Mitton, and D. Simplot-Ryl, “Large scale
geolocalization and routing experimentation with the senslab testbed,” in
Mobile Adhoc and Sensor Systems (MASS), 2010 IEEE 7th International
Conference on, 2010, pp. 751 –753.
[21] (2011, April) Senslab. [Online]. Available: http://www.senslab.info/
[22] T. Dimitriou, J. Kolokouris, and N. Zarokostas, “Sensenet: a wireless
sensor network testbed,” in Proceedings of the 10th ACM Symposium
978-1-61284-993-5/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
on Modeling, analysis, and simulation of wireless and mobile systems,
ser. MSWiM ’07. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2007, pp. 143–150.
[23] A. Reinhardt, M. Kropff, M. Hollick, and R. Steinmetz, “Designing a
sensor network testbed for smart heterogeneous applications,” in Local
Computer Networks, 2008. LCN 2008. 33rd IEEE Conference on, 2008,
pp. 715 –722.
[24] W. Huangfu, L. Sun, and J. Liu, “A high-accuracy nonintrusive network-
ing testbed for wireless sensor networks,” EURASIP J. Wirel. Commun.
Netw., vol. 2010, pp. 2:1–2:15, February 2010.
[25] J. Taylor and J. Slipp, “An integrated testbed for advanced wireless
networked control systems technology,” in IECON 2010 - 36th Annual
Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2010, pp. 2101 –
2106.
[26] J. Slipp, C. Ma, N. Polu, J. Nicholson, M. Murillo, and S. Hussain,
“Winter: Architecture and applications of a wireless industrial sensor
network testbed for radio-harsh environments,” in Communication Net-
works and Services Research Conference, 2008. CNSR 2008. 6th Annual,
May 2008, pp. 422 –431.
[27] M. Bal, H. Xue, W. Shen, and H. Ghenniwa, “A testbed for localization
and tracking in wireless sensor networks,” in Systems, Man and Cyber-
netics, 2009. SMC 2009. IEEE International Conference on, 2009, pp.
3581 –3586.
[28] A. Dalton and J. Hallstrom, “A file system abstraction and shell interface
for a wireless sensor network testbed,” in Testbeds and Research
Infrastructure for the Development of Networks and Communities, 2007.
TridentCom 2007. 3rd International Conference on, May 2007, pp. 1 –
10.
[29] H. Huo, H. Zhang, Y. Niu, S. Gao, Z. Li, and S. Zhang, “Msrlab6: An
ipv6 wireless sensor networks testbed,” in Signal Processing, 2006 8th
International Conference on, vol. 4, 2006.
[30] D. Puccinelli and S. Giordano, “Vimobio: Virtual mobility overlay for
static sensor network testbeds,” in World of Wireless, Mobile and Multi-
media Networks Workshops, 2009. WoWMoM 2009. IEEE International
Symposium on a, 2009, pp. 1 –6.
[31] B. Chun, P. Buonadonna, A. AuYoung, C. Ng, D. Parkes, J. Shneidman,
A. Snoeren, and A. Vahdat, “Mirage: A microeconomic resource allo-
cation system for sensornet testbeds,” in Embedded Networked Sensors,
2005. EmNetS-II. The Second IEEE Workshop on, May 2005, pp. 19 –
28.
[32] Z. Yang, M. Li, and Y. Liu, “Sea depth measurement with restricted
floating sensors,” in Real-Time Systems Symposium, 2007. RTSS 2007.
28th IEEE International, 2007, pp. 469 –478.
[33] P. Sikka, P. Corke, P. Valencia, C. Crossman, D. Swain, and G. Bishop-
Hurley, “Wireless ad hoc sensor and actuator networks on the farm,”
in Information Processing in Sensor Networks, 2006. IPSN 2006. The
Fifth International Conference on, 0 2006.
[34] B. Kosucu, K. Irgan, G. Kucuk, and S. Baydere, “Firesensetb: a wireless
sensor networks testbed for forest fire detection,” in Proceedings of the
2009 International Conference on Wireless Communications and Mobile
Computing: Connecting the World Wirelessly, ser. IWCMC ’09. New
York, NY, USA: ACM, 2009, pp. 1173–1177.
[35] G. Barrenetxea, F. Ingelrest, G. Schaefer, M. Vetterli, O. Couach, and
M. Parlange, “Sensorscope: Out-of-the-box environmental monitoring,”
in Information Processing in Sensor Networks, 2008. IPSN ’08. Inter-
national Conference on, 2008, pp. 332 –343.
[36] L. Yong-min and L. Wu-Yi, “A library’s environmental monitoring
system based on wireless sensor networks,” in Networking and Digital
Society, 2009. ICNDS ’09. International Conference on, vol. 1, May
2009, pp. 145 –148.
[37] L. de Brito, L. Peralta, F. Santos, and R. Fernandes, “Wireless sensor
networks applied to museums’ environmental monitoring,” in Wireless
and Mobile Communications, 2008. ICWMC ’08. The Fourth Interna-
tional Conference on, 27 2008.
[38] S. Kim, S. Pakzad, D. Culler, J. Demmel, G. Fenves, S. Glaser, and
M. Turon, “Health monitoring of civil infrastructures using wireless
sensor networks,” in Proceedings of the 6th international conference
on Information processing in sensor networks, ser. IPSN ’07. New
York, NY, USA: ACM, 2007, pp. 254–263.
[39] V. Gungor and G. Hancke, “Industrial wireless sensor networks: Chal-
lenges, design principles, and technical approaches,” Industrial Electron-
ics, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 56, no. 10, pp. 4258–4265, 2009.