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 | -35 -52 -78 -61 -61 -73 -73 -80 -83 -77 -73 -69
2 | -35 -54 -60 -63 -63 -77 -67 -70 -85 -78 -81 -61 -68
3 | -53 -54 -43 -40 -47 -60 -61 -73 -67 -65 -48 -48
4 | -76 -59 -43 -36 -42 -48 -42 -60 -66 -62 -88 -37 -40
5 | -61 -63 -39 -37 -38 -53 -53 -55 -74 -61 -87 -43 -32
6 | -61 -62 -46 -43 -38 -43 -47 -60 -64 -52 -86 -43 -39
7 | -74 -77 -61 -50 -54 -44 -41 -47 -54 -63 -83 -81 -52 -60
8 | -72 -67 -59 -43 -53 -47 -40 -54 -49 -51 -82 -83 -39 -43
9 | -81 -72 -73 -61 -56 -61 -47 -55 -40 -48 -73 -71 -87 -63 -60
10 | -82 -83 -65 -65 -72 -63 -51 -48 -37 -44 -70 -69 -83 -86 -81 -88 -72 -68
11 | -78 -78 -65 -63 -62 -53 -63 -52 -48 -46 -77 -68 -84 -87 -65 -61
12 | -88 -86 -81 -82 -71 -71 -76 -50 -80 -70 -65 -74 -74 -83 -86
13 | -88 -80 -83 -70 -72 -68 -51 -74 -74 -71 -86 -88
14 | -84 -80 -73 -77 -74 -84
15 | -89 -84 -73 -74 -79 -53 -59 -65 -72 -75
16 | -88 -83 -87 -65 -70 -75 -52 -50 -63 -78 -72 -84 -86
17 | -89 -76 -84 -57 -49 -46 -66 -64 -77 -84
18 | -74 -63 -62 -45 -58 -60 -62 -78
19 | -90 -70 -78 -65 -57 -50 -53 -62
20 | -83 -74 -71 -64 -61 -51 -52 -78
21 | -83 -78 -63 -54 -52 -50
22 | -81 -86 -84 -79 -62 -78 -49
23 | -73 -61 -47 -37 -42 -42 -50 -38 -61 -73 -64 -85 -87 -40
24 | -68 -66 -47 -39 -31 -38 -58 -42 -57 -69 -60 -39
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.#