Chamaeleon - Exploiting multiple channels to mitigate interference

Due to their embedding into an unknown environment, wireless sensor networks are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions. A prime example is external interference, typically caused by 802.11, electric devices or co-located sensor networks, which can drastically influence communication performance. However, radios on sensor nodes provide multiple channels, which can help to alleviate interference problems on a particular channel. In this work, we introduce Chamaeleon, a novel lean, cross-layer protocol extension that helps to overcome external interference problems. Chamaeleon switches an affected set of nodes to a new channel if the need arises based on key network parameters e.g., packet loss and channel backoffs. We present Chamaeleon, detail its TinyOS implementation, and evaluate its performance in diverse scenarios.