Current sensor networks are targeted to very specific sensor applications and are built with a limited and specific set of services for that application. This approach has a number of disadvantages. First, and perhaps the most important, the implementers of each sensor network must implement their relevant services independently. They implement only the most core services without the benefit of a library of services that may be useful. Their services do not necessarily work with the similar services of other nearby sensor networks. And they may lose the advantages of having several services share common computational resources for efficiency. A common framework for sensor network services allows sensor network implementations to share a common architecture and interfaces, allowing both standard service implementations and interoperability between different sensor networks. It will permit a structure for efficient implementations on sensor hardware. As a focus for illustrating the value of this type of next generation sensor network, a scientific inquiry of floodplain dynamics is proposed.
The intellectual merits of this proposed project are the following:
[Sensor Network Algorithms] Based on the specific needs of the applications considered in this proposed research, we will focus our efforts on 1) location and topology discovery, 2) clustering, and 3) energy and coverage aware multi-path routing. For beacons based localization and clustering, we will formulate an optimization problem to determine the minimum number of beacons and clusterheads and their placement. For unstructured and difficult terrains we will develop a distributed and hierarchical localization technique. Finally, we will implement multi-path routing and study the tradeoff between energy balance and coverage of the various routing algorithms.
[Framework Architecture] We will develop a framework centered on the idea of sensor network services. We define a service to be a primitive function provided by the network and available to the sensor nodes and infrastructure of the network. Though nodes interface to the service (and may implement the service), services are characteristics of the network. The architecture will define how these services are implemented and the kernel and the networking protocol support that are required. The architecture will define how the services will interface with the sensors and the network as well as with each other. The proposed architecture will be refined through experience with prototype development and deployment.
Dipak Ghosal Biswnath Mukherjee Deshi Li Jennifer Yick Xiaoling Qiu