CSE4905/CSE 5600: Networking
and Distributed System Lab
Bing Wang
Computer Science & Engineering Department
University of Connecticut
Spring 2010
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Course info
 Instructor
 Bing Wang, bing@engr.uconn.edu
 Office: ITEB 367
 Office hour: by appointment
 TA
 Yuexin Mao, yuexin.mao@uconn.edu
 Office: BECAT A2
 Office hour: by appointment
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Wireless sensor networks
 network of sensor nodes
 sensor node
 device with integrated sensing, computing,
communication capability
 Hardware
• CPU, memory, storage, communication (e.g., radio)
• sensors (temperature, light, …)
 Embedded in physical world
• Tiny: in human body, cars, infrastructure, …
• Large: PTZ camera, steerable radar
(http://www.casa.umass.edu/)
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This class: using motes
 tiny sensor nodes
 small form-factor, low-power
 smart dust
 simple embedded device
 deploy in large scale
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Course goals
 Learn basics of wireless sensor networks
 Lab-based course
 gain hands-on experience
 basics of hardware
• mote, programming board, sensing board
 basics of software
• TinyOS, nesC
• how to program motes
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Why sensor network lab?
 sensor network: emerging & exciting area
 MIT review 2003: one of 10 technologies that will
change the world in 21th century
 Time magazine 2004: market of sensor network
devices worth $50 billion in next 10 years
 PCAST (President’s Council of Advisors on Science
& Technology) 2007 report
 Leadership under Challenge: Information Technology R&D
in a Competitive World
 Top one: cyber-physical system (integration of physical
systems & networked computing)
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Why sensor network lab? (cont’d)
 sensor network is cross-disciplinary:
 mechanical engineering
 computer science & engineering (software, algorithms,
networking, architecture, embedded systems)
 control theory
 communication
 …
 specialized software
 operating system
 programming language
 this lab course: cover basics, take you to the door
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Course mechanics
 class www site: huskyCT
 textbook: none
 tutorials, training slides, papers, materials on
www site
 prereq
 knowledge of computer networks, OS,
computer architecture
 ideally have taken undergraduate-level courses
 grading
 6 labs on wireless sensor networks (lower
requirements for undergraduate students)
 grade based on lab report
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Are the labs hard?
 challenging
 however
 Fun
 you can learn it with reasonable efforts
 offered successfully in spring 2009
 one undergraduate student
 five graduate students
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Overview of wireless sensor
networks
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Wireless sensor networks: innovative
ways of interacting with the world …
 Embedded in physical world
 Enable unprecedented sensing and control of
physical world
 Broad applications
 Science: ecology, seismology, oceanography …
 Engineering: industrial automation/precision, agriculture,
structural monitoring …
 Daily life: traffic control, health care, home security,
disaster recovery, virtual tour …
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Industrial control: Intel
semiconductor factory monitoring …
Preventative equipment
maintenance: monitoring
vibration signals …
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Precision agriculture: smart vineyard
monitor soil humidity, temperature,
chemistry …
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TurtleNet: track wood-turtles
turtle came out of water to
sun itself for only brief
periods and went back into
the colder water …
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SealNet: use nature to help
scientific study
 To measure ocean’s temperature and
salinity levels, seal’s location & depth.
 Sensing data are collected for every dive;
Each time the seals resurfaced to
breathe, data was relayed via satellite to
certain data centers in US & France
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Robot swarm: senior design project
at UConn
sensor node for
communication
robot car
Swarm of robots collaborate to find light source
Courtesy: Patrick Booth, now at Pratt & Whitney
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Embedded network technology
 lower-power microprocessor, e.g.,
 10 MHz CPU
 10 Kbytes RAM
 100 Kbytes RAM
 power: battery, harvested
 storage: flashs (megabytes)
 microsensor, ADC converter
 microradios
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System challenges
 limited resources for concurrent activities
 software challenges
 operating system
 programming language
 network challenges
 self-organizing, self manage
 connectivity
 dissemination & data collection
 energy efficient
 others
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Topics
 communication
 two nodes talk to each other, node talk to gateway (PC)
 networking problems
 MAC, routing, reliability
 node deployment
 localization
 Know position of a node
 security
 key distribution, jamming attacks
 object tracking
 …
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Our labs
 Setting up environment
 TinyOS
 nesC programming language
 “Hello world” program on motes
 Sensing data collection & transmission
 Radio characteristics
 Multi-hop data transmission
 6 labs (w/ lower requirements for undergraduate
students)
 grade: based on lab reports
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Homework
 form groups of 2 students
 send me group member by Friday 1/29
 grad students
 read recommended reading
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Next class
 meet in ITEB C13
 passcode on board
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