Instance at TU Dresden#
Welcome to the first public deployment of the Shepherd Nova testbed! It is available for experiments all around the clock (24/7). This page describes the physical layout and wireless connectivity between nodes.
Physical Deployment#
Our testbed is located in the cfaed offices of the Barkhausen Bau at TU Dresden. It consists of 24 observer nodes that form a ring‑shaped network, largely determined by the building’s ventilation system. The many metal vents inside the ventilation system block radio signals, creating a realistic and challenging wireless environment.
Key Topological Features#
In addition to that ring-network, you can find or create the following topological features.
Dense cluster on the south side of the office-map - ideal for experiments that require many nodes with direct links
Bottleneck between offices II62 and II75 on the west side - useful for testing multi-hop routing
(elongated) U-shaped network can be created by disabling certain nodes or reducing transmit power
Floor Plan#
The map below from the Campus-Navigator shows the exact positions of the nodes.
CFAED floor with marked node-positions. Most horizontal walls are concrete, while the walls between offices are drywall.#
Link-Matrix#
The link-matrix shows the measured RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) values in dBm between every pair of nodes.
Tx⟍Rx 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | -41 -53 -63 -63 -65 -79 -69 -85 -85 -71 -63
2 | -41 -51 -73 -55 -58 -78 -79 -86 -88 -69 -67
3 | -54 -51 -41 -39 -47 -65 -59 -73 -69 -48
4 | -63 -72 -40 -44 -41 -54 -53 -67 -42 -41
5 | -63 -55 -38 -44 -52 -54 -48 -73 -47 -34
6 | -65 -58 -47 -41 -52 -48 -57 -54 -88 -39 -45
7 | -80 -79 -66 -55 -55 -49 -41 -54 -85 -81 -56 -51
8 | -69 -79 -58 -53 -48 -57 -40 -55 -83 -77 -44 -47
9 | -86 -87 -74 -69 -75 -56 -54 -56 -78 -74 -84 -59 -75
10 | -45 -84
11 | -47
12 | -88 -85 -83 -77 -47 -83 -70 -71 -82 -77 -85 -87
13 | -81 -78 -74 -48 -70 -75 -86 -89 -84
14 | -84 -86 -83 -69 -71 -72 -88
15 | -71 -75 -71 -53 -57 -67 -72 -88 -85 -91
16 | -72 -86 -73 -53 -56 -71 -79 -73 -80
17 | -82 -89 -88 -57 -55 -55 -70 -69 -69 -87
18 | -76 -65 -70 -54 -64 -51 -66 -72
19 | -72 -78 -70 -64 -43 -66 -61
20 | -87 -72 -68 -51 -43 -69 -64
21 | -85 -79 -69 -67 -66 -69 -48
22 | -85 -88 -87 -73 -61 -65 -48
23 | -71 -68 -68 -41 -47 -38 -54 -43 -57 -84 -83 -45
24 | -62 -66 -46 -41 -34 -45 -50 -46 -74 -86 -46
This data helps you understand the network and configure custom topologies.
Rows (Tx) represent the transmitter
Columns (Rx) represent the receiver
Empty cells have no direct link
dBmis a logarithmic unit of power - higher values (closer to 0) are stronger links (e.g. -30 dBm is very strong, -90 dBm is very weak)
Updates are currently done manually - mainly after changes in deployment. It is planned to offer weekly scans in the future while also keeping the history available. A collection of past measurements and network-layouts is available here.
Impressions#
Observer node deployed in conference room II62. It is mounted under the ceiling-duct and connected and powered via ethernet.#
Observer nodes are assembled and tested - right before deployment.#