TempLab: a testbed infrastructure to study the impact of temperature on wireless sensor networks

Temperature has a strong impact on the operations of all electrical and electronic components. In wireless sensor nodes, temperature variations can lead to loss of synchronization, degradation of the link quality, or early battery depletion, and can therefore affect key network metrics such as throughput, delay, and lifetime. Considering that most outdoor deployments are exposed to strong temperature variations across time and space, a deep understanding of how temperature affects network protocols is fundamental to comprehend flaws in their design and to improve their performance. Existing testbed infrastructures, however, do not allow to systematically study the impact of temperature on wireless sensor networks.