The EuWin Platform: From a Down-Scaled Testbed to the Real Deployment

This paper proposes an empirically-based methodology that can be used for spatial down-scaling of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are often deployed in environments not easily accessible, highly unpredictable and where running experiments is generally very expensive and time consuming. The latter calls for the need to develop down-scaled testbeds, deployed in a controlled environment, where tests can be conducted under predictable and replicable conditions. In this paper we present a methodology to realise the down-scaling of a real testbed on a testbed developed at the University in the framework of the Network of Excellence, NEWCOM#, with reference to EuWIn (the "European Laboratory of Wireless Communications for the Future Internet"). The real testbed we refer to is composed of 24 devices, deployed on the lamp posts of the small town of Casalgrande (Italy), and running a smart city application. The proposed procedure for the down-scaling is implemented and the results achieved on the real testbed and on the down-scaled testbed are compared. The comparison is performed in terms of network topologies and average number of hops necessary to reach the gateway. Results demonstrate the utility of EuWIn for down-scaling purposes and the efficacy of the proposed methodology.