AirLab: Distributed Infrastructure for Wireless Measurements

The importance of experimental research in the field of wirel ess networks is well understood. So far researchers have either built their own testbeds or accessed third-party controlled test bed ∗ or used publicly available traces † for evaluation. While immensely useful all these approaches have their drawbacks. While bui lding own test beds requires cost and effort, third-party control led test beds do not replicate real network deployments. On the other hand , the publicly available traces are often collected using differ ent software and hardware platforms, making it very difficult to compare r esults across traces. As a result, observations are often inconsis te t across different networks, leading researchers to draw potential ly conflicting conclusions across their own studies. To facilitate meaningful analysis of wireless networks and protocols, we need a way to collect measurement traces across a wide variety of network deployments, all using a consistent set of measurement metrics. Widespread multi-faceted data col lecti n will provide multiple viewpoints of the same network, enabl ing deeper understanding of both self and exterior interferenc e properties, spectrum usage, network usage, and a wide variety of other fa ctors. Furthermore, data collected in this manner across a variety of heterogeneous network types, such as university, corporat e, and home environments, will facilitate cross-comparison of observ ed network phenomena within each of these settings.