NetViewer: A Universal Visualization Tool for Wireless Sensor Networks

Visualization tools make it easier for users to observe the status of the wireless sensor networks (WSNs). So far, developers of WSNs have created various visualization tools under certain project/research backgrounds. These tools, however, are limited in certain application scenarios, since the underlying packet formats are hard coded into the programs. For this purpose, we present NetViewer, a universal visualization tool for all the applications, and we provide many useful data services to fulfill different needs of various fields, such as Replay lets researchers and developers debug their WSNs easily, Server gives user a method to disseminate data through Internet. To achieve better compatibility, NetViewer allows the user to set the application-related packet format through an XML file. Based on the packet format defined, users can also extract the desired fields from the packets. Furthermore, NetViewer provides a rich set of interfaces as well as a well defined API for future improvements.