4th International ICST Conference on Wireless Internet

Research Article

Constructing accurate, space-efficient, wireless coverage maps for vehicular contexts

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.WICON2008.4901,
        author={David N.  Cottingham and Robert K.  Harle and Andy Hopper},
        title={Constructing accurate, space-efficient, wireless coverage maps for vehicular contexts},
        proceedings={4th International ICST Conference on Wireless Internet},
        publisher={ICST},
        proceedings_a={WICON},
        year={2010},
        month={5},
        keywords={Wireless vehicles coverage maps},
        doi={10.4108/ICST.WICON2008.4901}
    }
    
  • David N. Cottingham
    Robert K. Harle
    Andy Hopper
    Year: 2010
    Constructing accurate, space-efficient, wireless coverage maps for vehicular contexts
    WICON
    ICST
    DOI: 10.4108/ICST.WICON2008.4901
David N. Cottingham1,*, Robert K. Harle1,*, Andy Hopper1,*
  • 1: Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FD, United Kingdom
*Contact email: david.cottingham@cl.cam.ac.uk, robert.harle@cl.cam.ac.uk, andy.hopper@cl.cam.ac.uk

Abstract

Wireless connectivity for vehicles is a fast-growing market, with a plethora of different network technologies already in use. Surveys of the numbers of IEEE 802.11b/g access points in cities point to hundreds to thousands of networks within each square kilometre, with coverage areas that are not easily predicted due to the complexities of the urban environment. In order to take advantage of the diversity in wireless networks available, we need data concerning their coverage. Methods of generating such coverage maps that are accurate, space-efficient and easy to query are not a well addressed area. In this paper, we present and evaluate, using a large corpus of real-world data, novel algorithms for processing large quantities of signal strength values into coverage maps that satisfy such requirements.