Constructing Customized Multi-Hop Topologies in Dense Wireless Network Testbeds

TL;DR

This paper introduces algorithms for constructing customized multi-hop topologies in dense wireless testbeds like IoT-LAB, enabling researchers to generate specific network configurations despite deployment constraints.

Contribution

It presents a strategic approach and algorithms for creating desired multi-hop topologies in dense wireless testbeds, with open-source implementation.

Findings

Preset topologies can be built in dense testbeds.

Algorithms effectively generate various topology types.

Open-source software facilitates topology construction.

Abstract

Testbeds are a key element in the evaluation of wireless multi-hop networks. In order to relieve researchers from the hassle of deploying their own testbeds, remotely controllable testbeds, such as the FIT/IoT-LAB, are built. However, while the IoT-LAB has a high number of nodes, they are deployed in constraint areas. This, together with the complex nature of radio propagation, makes an ad-hoc construction of multi-hop topologies with a high number of hops difficult. This work presents a strategic approach to solve this problem and proposes algorithms to generate topologies with desired properties. The implementation is evaluated for the IoT-LAB testbeds and is provided as open-source software. The results show that preset topologies of various types can be built even in dense wireless testbeds.