RF channel modeling of a WSN testbed for industrial environment

Abstract

Industrial applications of wireless sensor networks often involve radio-harsh environments. These industrial settings typically include an abundance of metallic structures which obstruct, reflect, refract and scatter signals. As a result, RF channel modeling for these environments becomes necessary and important. In this paper, a WSN testbed emulating realistic industrial environments was constructed and developed. With it, RF channel propagation properties were measured and analyzed in 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz ISM bands using vector network analyzer.