Evaluation of the Impact of Furniture on Communications Performance for Ubiquitous Deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks in Smart Homes.docVIP

Sensors 2012, 12, 6463-6496; doi:10.3390/s120506463 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Evaluation of the Impact of Furniture on Communications Performance for Ubiquitous Deployment of Wireless Sensor Networks in Smart Homes Andrés L. Bleda 1,*, Antonio J. Jara 2, Rafael Maestre 1, Guadalupe Santa 1 and Antonio F. Gómez Skarmeta 2 1 Department of Electronics and Home Automation, Furniture and Wood Technology Centre, Yecla 30510, Murcia, Spain; E-Mails: r.maestre@cetem.es (R.M.); g.santa@cetem.es (G.S.) 2 Department of Information and Communications Engineering, University of Murcia, Murcia 30003, Spain; E-Mails: jara@um.es (A.J.J.); skarmeta@um.es (A.F.G.S.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: al.bleda@cetem.es; Tel.: +34-968-752-040. Received: 1 April 2012; in revised form: 8 May 2012 / Accepted: 14 May 2012 / Published: 16 May 2012 Abstract: The extensions of the environment with the integration of sensing systems in any space, in conjunction with ubiquitous computing are enabling the so-called Smart Space Sensor Networks. This new generation of networks are offering full connectivity with any object, through the Internet of Things (IoT) and/or the Web, i.e., the Web of Things. These connectivity capabilities are making it feasible to sense the behaviours of people at home and act accordingly. These sensing systems must be integrated within typical elements found at home such as furniture. For that reason, this work considers furniture as an interesting element for the transparent location of sensors. Furniture is a ubiquitous object, i.e., it can be found everywhere at home or the office, and it can integrate and hide the sensors of a network. This work addresses the lack of an exhaustive study of the effect of furniture on signal losses. In addition an easy-to-use tool for estimating the robustness of th