EyeSec: A Retrofittable Augmented Reality Tool for Troubleshooting Wireless Sensor Networks in the Field

TL;DR

EyeSec is a portable augmented reality tool that enables field troubleshooting of wireless sensor networks by visualizing network topology and data flows without needing dedicated infrastructure or expensive hardware.

Contribution

It introduces a fully portable, retrofittable AR-based troubleshooting tool for WSNs that works with existing deployments using low-cost hardware.

Findings

Successfully visualized network topology and data flows in a test bed

Demonstrated compatibility with 6LoWPAN protocol

Proved retrofitting on existing WSN deployments

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) often lack interfaces for remote debugging. Thus, fault diagnosis and troubleshooting are conducted at the deployment site. Currently, WSN operators lack dedicated tools that aid them in this process. Therefore, we introduce EyeSec, a tool for WSN monitoring and maintenance in the field. An Augmented Reality Device (AR Device) identifies sensor nodes using optical markers. Portable Sniffer Units capture network traffic and extract information. With those data, the AR Device network topology and data flows between sensor nodes are visualized. Unlike previous tools, EyeSec is fully portable, independent of any given infrastructure and does not require dedicated and expensive AR hardware. Using passive inspection only, it can be retrofitted to already deployed WSNs. We implemented a proof of concept on low-cost embedded hardware and commodity smart phones and demonstrate the usage of EyeSec within a WSN test bed using the 6LoWPAN transmission protocol.