  We have developed SmartConnect, a tool that addresses the growing need for
the design and deployment of multihop wireless relay networks for connecting
sensors to a control center. Given the locations of the sensors, the traffic
that each sensor generates, the quality of service (QoS) requirements, and the
potential locations at which relays can be placed, SmartConnect helps design
and deploy a low- cost wireless multihop relay network. SmartConnect adopts a
field interactive, iterative approach, with model based network design, field
evaluation and relay augmentation per- formed iteratively until the desired QoS
is met. The design process is based on approximate combinatorial optimization
algorithms. In the paper, we provide the design choices made in SmartConnect
and describe the experimental work that led to these choices. We provide
results from some experimental deployments. Finally, we conduct an experimental
study of the robustness of the network design over long time periods (as
channel conditions slowly change), in terms of the relay augmentation and route
adaptation required.
