EmPro: an Environment/Energy Emulation and Profiling Platform for Wireless Sensor Networks

Quantitative evaluation of wireless sensor platforms is difficult. Unlike general purpose computers that can run SPEC benchmarks from a file, it is difficult to reproduce the environmental input needed to stimulate the sensor nodes. Even if possible, open-loop playback would be unable to correctly account for adaptivity built into the behavior of these nodes. As a result, researchers resort to simulations, which do not consider all relevant factors without significant speed penalty. To address this problem, we propose EmPro, an environment/energy emulation and profiling system for WSNs. It accurately outputs electrical signals to emulate not only digital and analog inputs to the sensors but also the power sources as well as RF attenuation according to pre-programmed sequences. This emulation approach enables researchers to run the networked sensors in real-time in a realistic manner with full controllability and reproducibility. EmPro in profiling mode can also capture the observable behavior of WSNs for detailed analysis. Experimental results on the Eco and MICA2 WSN platforms show that EmPro can drive these hardware systems in real-time with high accuracy. We expect EmPro will expedite testing and serve as a sorely needed standard benchmarking tool for WSN platforms