DUCHY: Double Cost Field Hybrid Link Estimation for Low-Power Wireless Sensor Networks

We present a novel link estimator for cost-based routing in low-power sensor networks. Our design is hybrid in two different ways: it leverages on both broadcast control traffic and unicast data traffic, and it exploits channel state information and delivery estimates. Broadcast control beacons and data traffic are used to set up a double cost field: an outer field bootstrapped by depth estimates, and an inner field of link estimates. Both sets of estimates are based on control traffic and corrected with feedback from the data plane. We benchmark our link estimation technique and evaluate its performance on Berkeley motes using a public testbed.