Center for Embedded Network Sensing

We experimentally investigate the impact of variable transmission power on link quality, and propose variable power link quality control techniques to enhance the performance of data delivery in wireless sensor networks. This study extends the state of the art in two key respects: first, while there are a number of previous results on power control techniques for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks, to our knowledge nearly all of them have been simulation or analytical studies that assume idealized link conditions; second, while there are several recent experimental studies that have shown the prevalence of non-ideal unreliable communication links in sensor networks, these have not thoroughly investigated the impact of variable transmission power.