CSR---EHS: Multi-Frequency in Wireless Sensor Networks

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is an exciting new technology with application to environmental monitoring, agriculture, medical care, smart buildings, factory monitoring and automation, and military applications. A WSN can also be viewed as the underlying infrastructure that will be an integral to future ubiquitous and embedded computing applications. In 5-10 years, (i) many individual WSN will be very sophisticated and operating at high levels of utilization, and (ii) there will exist many thousands if not millions of sensor networks. When the latter situation materializes, WSNs can be expected to overlap and co-exist, especially in urban and other highly populated areas. Mobile networks will pass through other static and mobile networks. To deal with these scenarios will require efficient multi-frequency WSN systems. This project develops new suites of protocols for multi-frequency WSN along two complementary dimensions: (1) to achieve high performance for both broadcast and uni-cast communications within a single WSN, and (2) to handle noise and the crowded spectrum caused by any reason such as by random transmitting devices or by other nearby sensor networks. The intellectual objectives of this research are fundamentally new protocols that must be developed to efficiently and dynamically handle frequency assignment within and across networks. If successful, this research will yield excellent throughput performance for sophisticated, high workload sensor applications. The WSN will also be robust to conditions such as noise and a crowded spectrum. The end result would improve overall performance of ubiquitous computing and embedded systems applications, such as WSNs embedded in assisted living facilities, improving both the lifestyle and the health of patients.