Intelligent Antenna Selection Decision in IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Networks: An Experimental Analysis

Abstract : The goal of this paper is to study the feasibility of making intelligent antenna selection decision in IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This study provides us the basis to design and implement software defined intelligent antenna switching capability to wireless sensor nodes based on Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) link quality metric. First, we discuss the results of our newly designed radio module (Inverted-F Antenna) for 2.4 GHz bandwidth (WSNs). Second, we propose an intelligent antenna selection strategy to exploit antenna diversity. Third, we propose the prototype of our diversity antenna for the TelosB mote and the intelligent switch design. Finally, we compare the performance of the built-in TelosB antenna with our proposed external antenna in both laboratory and realistic environments. Experimental results confirm the gain of 6 to 10 dB of the proposed radio module over the built-in radio module of the TelosB motes.