RSSI fluctuation in Mesh Networks

[michel_93]

Hi there,

We have a mesh network which runs now for quite some time on our own hardware. We are using heartbeat messages to collect RSSI values between nodes in the network and relay them to a gateway. The heartbeat message is send in intervalls of 10 seconds. We can see a fluctuation of the RSSI values over time and some repeating scheme for allmost all collections. We additionally saw that the channel on which the messages are received repeats with the following scheme (37,38,39,37,38...). The question is know, is it possible that the RSSI fluctuates +-10dB between different channels? Its clear for me, that the RSSI can variate over time, due to various influences (Receiver, multipath, fading, etc.). Is this a known problem?

Best regards,

Michel

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi.

I don't think that variations of +-10dB can be considered out of normal.

RSSI can variate from so many different reasons; noise from other sources, physical obstacles etc.

Do you have any more information about the physical design of the network. Are the nodes far away, are they line-of-sight?

Br,
Joakim

[michel_93]

Hi Joakim

The network is spread out over a building, so there are nodes that are far away and some near to each other. I analysed the RSSI for one channel and it is quite constant. The fluctuation is therefore only between different channels, which can is possible. So for me thats ok. Thank you

Br, Michel