On the applicability of network coding in wireless sensor networks

Network coding is a novel concept for improving network capacity. This additional capacity may be used to increase throughput or reliability. Also in wireless networks, network coding has been proposed as a method for improving communication. We present our experience from two studies of applying network coding in realistic wireless sensor networks scenarios. As we show, network coding is not as useful in practical deployments as earlier theoretical work suggested. We discuss limitations and future opportunities for network coding in sensor networks