OVERVIEW

The Systems Area in CENS focuses on the design and deployment of long-lived self-configuring Embedded Networked Sensing (ENS) systems. With research spanning the spectrum from a study of fundamental properties and algorithms to implementation of practical systems and testbeds, the goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of how to systematically design, run, and manage ENS systems. These systems are characterized by energy constraints, irregular configurations, time-varying topology, large scale and changing applications, all of which render simplistic hardwired configuration and functions non-scalable. We will use the terms ENS and sensor networks interchangeably.

The overall research effort is divided into three sub-areas: Network Autonomy, Programming and Storage, and Test-beds and tools.

The Network Autonomy sub-area encompasses projects that focus on the development and understanding of new algorithms, protocols, and platforms for essential design, deployment, and run-time functions. Such functions include node synchronization and localization, calibration, robust networking and reliable transport (including topology management and coverage), sensor network monitoring, high integrity networks, energy management and adaptive in network processing. Key to our approach is exploiting distributed localized adaptation and spatial redundancy to develop effective solutions to these problems. Significant achievements of the recent year include the SCALE tool for sensor network performance characterization, TinyOS component for microsecond accuracy timing synchronization on Motes, the Blacklisting approach to robust routing, and energy harvesting aware sensor network protocols. Several new activities also emerged, including a reputation-based framework for high-integrity sensor networks, modeling of mobility, and distributed control applications in sensor networks. On the sobering side, two of the technical problems that were our early focus have proven to be much harder than we had anticipated: in situ localization and calibration. While we made considerable advances in theoretical understanding and lab-scale implementations, many challenges remain and we are still far from solutions that are practically useful in real-life deployments.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of research in the systems area is the design and deployment of long-lived self-configuring Embedded Networked Sensing (ENS) systems which are characterized by energy constraints, irregular configurations, time-varying topology, large scale, and changing applications. The research spans the spectrum from study of fundamental properties and algorithms to implementation of practical systems and testbeds, and seeks to develop a comprehensive understanding of how to systematically design, run, and manage ENS systems.