DOME

Abstract

A series of complex dependencies conspire to make it difficult to model mobile networks, including mobility, channel and radio characteristics, and power consumption. To address these challenges, we have designed and built a testbed for large-scale mobile experimentation, called the Diverse Outdoor Mobile Environment. DOME consists of computer-equipped buses, battery-powered nomadic nodes, organic WiFi APs, and a municipal WiFi mesh network. While the construction of a testbed such as DOME presents a significant engineering challenge, this paper describes a concrete set of scientific results derived from this experience. We argue that a broad range of mobility experiments could be performed in a testbed which provides the properties of temporal, technological, and spatial diversity. We demonstrate these properties in our testbed through analysis of data collected from DOME over a period of four years. Finally, we use DOME to provide insight into several open problems in mobile systems research.