Designing a wireless sensor network for a specific application typically involves a preliminary phase of simulations that rely on specialized software, whose behavior does not necessarily reproduce what will be experienced by an actual network. On the other hand, delaying the test phase until deployment may not be advisable due to unreasonable costs. This paper suggests the adoption of a hybrid approach that involves coupling an actual wireless sensor network composed of a minimal set of actual nodes with a simulated one; we describe a software platform that, by exploiting currently available wireless sensor networks technologies, implements a superimposed communication control network thus making this approach feasible.

In order to demonstrate the advantages deriving from such approach, our framework will be validated on a specific scenario dealing with geophysical monitoring for avalanches prevention.