Opportunistic Networks:
Specialized Ad Hoc Networks
for Emergency Response Applications
Leszek Lilien
WiSe Lab (Wireless Sensornet Laboratory)
http://www.cs.wmich.edu/wsn
Department of Computer Science
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
May 22, 2006
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
Outline

Part 1. Motivation for Specialized Ad Hoc Networks

Part 2. Analogy to a Human Emergency Response Team

Part 3. Opportunistic Networks: A New Type of Specialized Ad
Hoc Networks

Part 4. Related Research and Research Challenges

Part 5. Conclusions

Part 6. Current and Future Work
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© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Part 1. Motivation for
Specialized Ad Hoc Networks


Homeland Security
 One of the crucial challenges facing the USA today
 Among its 6 mission areas is
Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)
EPR deals with:
 Natural disasters
 Man-made disasters
(incl. accidents, terrorist attacks)
[Natl. Strategy for Homeland Security, July 2002]

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Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) proposed for EPR
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
[Haas, 1999]
3
Motivation for Specialized Ad Hoc Networks (2)

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MANETS are not quite a natural match for EPR
 E.g., human rescue teams can find and mobilize as their
helpers local firemen, police, National Guard or even
regular citizens
 No analogous capability of MANETs to find and “mobilize”
devices/networks
Let’s find or define a specialization (a subclass) of ad hoc
networks more suitable for EPR applications
 A new paradigm and a new technology to improve
effectiveness & efficiency of EPR
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Part 2. Analogy to
a Human Emergency Response Team

Important characteristics of a human rescue team
 Starts as a seed team (a small group of people)

The seed team grows opportunistically during its
operations
a) Some people can always be ordered to join
 Police, firemen, National Guard or Army Reserve personnel
b) Anybody can be ordered to join only in life-or-death
situations
 Legally required to help saving lives or critical resources
c) Anybody can be asked to join in other situations
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Analogy to a Human Emergency Response Team (2)


Who is ordered or invited to join?
 In some situations any extra pair of hands can help
 In others only highly qualified people (e.g., doctors and nurses)
are ordered/asked to join
Human helper types
 Highly prepared
 E.g., National Guard, Army Reserve or state militias


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(even unforeseen)
Somewhat prepared
 E.g., people that volunteer for first aid courses


Signed up for service
Undergo training in preparation for duty
Become pretty valuable helpers in emergencies
Not prepared at all
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Analogy to a Human Emergency Response Team (3)

Benefits of the opportunistic growth of the rescue team
 Opportunistic leveraging of all kinds of skills and resources
that new helpers can bring

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Obtaining a lot of help effectively and efficiently – even for free
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Analogy to a Human Emergency Response Team (4)

Analogous critical requirements for ad hoc network
specialized for EPR in the priority order:
1) Minimal starting configuration – a pre-configured seed for
EPR operations
Analogy to the seed rescue team
2) High interoperability in terms of communication of diverse
devices or networks (Wired/WiFi, Bluetooth, satellite, ham radios, WiMAX, ...)
Analogy to a rescue team’s ability to contact different people, individually or via
organizations
3) Highly heterogeneous software
(& hardware)
Analogy to heterogeneity of rescue teams in terms of members’ skills,
communication and other equipment, and other resources
4) Harvesting of diverse resources as needed
Analogy to finding people with different skills, equipment, and other resources
5) Persistent connectivity once it is established
Analogy to being able to contact (maybe via a chain of others) members of the
expanded team, including all helpers
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Analogy to a Human Emergency Response Team (5)


If there is no specialized ad hoc network (AHN) matching the
requirements, then:
 Define a new specialized AHN paradigm
 Invent a new specialized AHN technology
No known specialized AHN matches the requirements
Considered AHNs:
 Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)
 Mesh networks
 P2P systems
 Sensor networks
 Spontaneous networks (in the narrow sense, cf. [Feeney et al. 2001])
=> Need:
- a new specialized AHN paradigm
- a new specialized AHN technology
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Part 3. Opportunistic Networks: A New Type
of Specialized Ad Hoc Networks

Paradigm of Opportunistic Networks (Oppnets)


Based on the analogy to operations of human rescue teams
Goals of oppnets:
 Opportunistic growth
 Opportunistic leveraging of resources aiming at (among
others):
 Bridging diverse communication media
 Offloading computations to additional platforms
 Integrating independent sensing systems (enhancing their
sensing capabilities)
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© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Startup: Seed Oppnet

Oppnet deployed as a seed oppnet
Link to
the World
Seed Nodes
Controller
(distributed)
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Seed oppnet localizes its nodes & self-configures
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Growth: Expanded Oppnet

Seed oppnet grows into an expanded oppnet by:


Finding candidate helpers
Selecting candidates - they are ordered/asked to join

Add communication, computing, sensing, storage, other resources
Satellite
Link to
the World
Appliance
(refrigerator)
Cellphone
Tower
Seed Nodes
Controller
(distributed)
WiMAX
Overturned
Vehicle
(with OnStar)
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© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
Computer Network
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Summary of Oppnet Activities

Discovering & identifying candidate helpers

Contacting selected candidates

Inviting or ordering candidates to join

Admitting & integrating helpers that join oppnet

Offloading tasks to helpers
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
Determining useful colaborative functionalities

Managing offloaded tasks
Cleaning up & releasing each helper when no longer
needed
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Oppnet Reserve


A challenge in oppnet growth
 Must discover candidate helpers, then contact selected
ones
 Difficult without facilities provided by candidates or
infrastructure
A solution: oppnet reserve — facilitating discovery/contacting
 Analogy to Army / Navy / Air Force Reserve, etc.
 Volunteer helpers sign up for oppnet reserve


Maybe for some incentives
Volunteers „trained” for active duty

Install facilities that make them easier to detect and contact by
oppnets
 E.g., install (future) standard oppnet protocols
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(moral, financial, etc.)
Matched to their capabilities: heavy-, medium- and lightweight
Available for active oppnet duty whenever must/can help
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Oppnet Reserve (2)

Oppnet reserve is analogous to having highly prepared
human helpers
(Recall the classification of human helpers into: highly prepared,
somewhat prepared, unprepared)

Oppnet reserve is not required but very helpful
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Having highly prepared human helpers is not required either
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Basic Oppnet Categories


2 major oppnet categories:

Benevolent oppnets

Malevolent oppnets
Corresponding oppnets scenarios:

Benevolent oppnet scenario:
„Citizens Called to Arms”
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Malevolent oppnet scenario:
„Bad Guys Gang Up”
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Benevolent Oppnet
Scenario: „Citizens
Called to Arms” (1)

Seed oppnet deployed
after an earthquake (un-
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predictable emergency)

Seed is ad hoc wireless network with very powerful
nodes


Seed tries to detect candidate helpers

For help in damage assessment and disaster recovery

Uses any available detection method — including:

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More energy, computing and communication resources
Cellphone- or radio-based detection
Searching for nodes using the IP address range for the
affected geographic area
AI-based visual detection (next)
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Benevolent Oppnet
Scenario: „Citizens
Called to Arms” (2)
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Example:

Helper 1 (supervisor of security cameras) monitoring a surveillance net
views an overturned car

Helper 2 (pattern recognition specialist) detects an overturned car

Helper 3 (image analysis specialist) asked to recognize its license plate

Helper 4 (DB manager) finds that the cars has OnStar link

Helper 5 (OnStar agent) contacts BANs (Body Area Networks) on or
within bodies of car occupants via OnStar infrastructure

Helper 6 (vital sign evaluator) evaluates obtained info

Helper 7 (rescue dispatcher) decides if/when rescuers should be
dispatched
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20
Benevolent Oppnet
Scenario: „Citizens
Called to Arms” (3)
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

Oppnet selects optimal subset of detected nodes

Inviting devices, clusters & entire networks

Helpers for communicating, sensing, computing
Using „hidden” capabilities, e.g. for sensing:

Desktop can „sense” presence of a potential victim at
its keyboard

Cellphones can „sense” location
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Even ones w/o GPS can be triangulated
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Benevolent Oppnet
Scenario: „Citizens
Called to Arms” (4)
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Using „hidden”
emergency functionalities

Oppnet contacts 2 independent sensornets (SNs):
water infrastructure control SN /
public space surveillance SN

SNs ordered to abandon normal functions & help in
rescue & recovery operations
 Water infrastructure SN (with multisensor capabilities,
under road surfaces) — ordered to sense vehicular
movement and traffic jams
 Public space surveillance SN — ordered to search
for images of human victims
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Malevolent Oppnet
Scenario: „Bad Guys
Gang Up” (1)

Scenario 1 — Terrorists
create apparently
harmless weather monitoring sensornet (SN):

SN becomes a seed of a malevolent opportunistic SN

SN exploits other nodes from many other networks
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(w/o revealing its true goals)

“Critical mass” of the opportunistic SN is reached (in terms of
geographical spread and sensing capabilities)

SN waits for wind patterns that can speed up spread of
poisonous chemicals

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Collected data used to decide when to start chemical attack
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Malevolent Oppnet Scenario:
„Bad Guys Gang Up” (2)

Scenario 2 — network at home starts spying on you:

Becomes a seed oppnet

Exploits other devices/nets to collect all info on you:

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From your fridge (& RFID-equipped food packaging):
what/when you eat
From your computer: keylogs your passwords, sensitive data
From your cellphone: who you call & when
From your networked camera: what photos you take
From your home security surveillance system: your private
images
Cyberfly with camera eyes and microphone ears
...
Huge privacy problem! / Huge security problem!
Controls to counteract malevolent oppnets badly needed
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Part 4. Related Research
and Research Challenges

Examples of Related Research
 Interoperability

Among wireless networks - active research area


Among WANs, MANs, LANs, PANs (Personal Area Networks), etc.
Among wired & wireless nets - much less research

Ambient Networks (big European Union project, next-generation Internet—for 2015/2020, smaller
networks able to compose themselves into bigger ones)

Localization and self-organization

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Network growth

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P2P systems – search for peers in unstructured systems
Trojan Horses - agents spreading in search for helpers
Integrating and managing heterogeneous systems, incl. data
integration & aggregation


MANETs / Sensornets
Grid systems / MANETs / Sensornets
Other

…
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Research Challenges in Basic Operations

Challenges in seed oppnet deployment


E.g., localization, self-configuration, adaptability
Challenges in detecting helper systems

E.g., define primitives to detect candidates, identify and categorize
them, evaluate and classify them (e.g., based on dependability and
usefulness)

Challenges in inviting & admitting candidate helpers


E.g., select candidates to invite, develop protocols for candidates to
accept or reject invitation, devise primitives /methods to manage
expanded oppnets
Etc., etc. for remaining oppnet primitives
More:
Leszek Lilien, Z. Huma Kamal, and Ajay Gupta, "Opportunistic Networks: Research
Challenges in Specializing the P2P Paradigm,” Proc. 3rd International Workshop on P2P
Data Management, Security and Trust (PDMST’06), Kraków, Poland, September 2006 (to
appear)
5/22/06
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Research Challenges in Privacy & Security
(1)
1) Privacy challenges in oppnets
 Privacy is critical


Oppnets are pervasive systems
 Must face all critical privacy challenges inherent to pervasive
computing
Privacy is a „make it or break it” issue for pervasive computing
=>
Privacy is a „make it or break it” issue for oppnets

Basic privacy protection goals in oppnets
 Protect helper resources from the host oppnet
 Protect oppnet from its helpers
 Protect environment from privacy violations by
oppnet

5/22/06
Also from malevolent oppnets
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Research Challenges in Privacy & Security
(2)
2) Security challenges in oppnets
 Many have privacy aspects/components
More:
Leszek Lilien, Z. Huma Kamal, Vijay Bhuse and Ajay Gupta, "Opportunistic Networks:
The Concept and Research Challenges in Privacy and Security,” Proc. International
Workshop on Research Challenges in Security and Privacy for Mobile and Wireless
Networks (WSPWN 2006), Miami, Florida, March 2006.
5/22/06
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Part 5. Conclusions

High-payoff potential for the oppnet initiative
1) Social and economic benefits

Including reduction of human suffering & loss of life
2) Technological benefits
3) Research benefits
4) Educational benefits
-- Details below --
5/22/06
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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1) Social & Economic Impacts

Impacts on Emergency Preparedness and Response
operations in Homeland Security (HS) — current app focus

Tremendous leveraging potential in emergencies



A wealth of freely available resources
Reduction of human suffering & loss of life
Increasing safety & efficiency of the first responders

Impacts on other applications both in HS and outside HS

Economic impacts


Technology transfer & commercialization
Benefits for the computer industry


Benefits for other industries


5/22/06
Production of software / networking equipment
Enhancing many products with standard oppnet interfaces
E.g., the auto industry: cars and trucks as oppnet platforms
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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2) Impacts on Technology



5/22/06
Advancing the network and pervasive computing know-how

Development of the innovative oppnet technology

Enhancing network/pervasive applications by use of
oppnet technologies

Enabling new network/pervasive application niches we
can not even foresee
Advancing other areas of technology (not only computing)

A side effect of oppnet developments
Technology impacts speeded up & enhanced by the
planned technology transfer plus commercialization
activities
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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3) Impacts on Research

Encouraging oppnet research
1)
Building our oppnet research team at WMU


4 professors, 2 Ph.D. students (incl. a Ph.D. dissertation), other students
2 high-tech companies specializing in EPR products



2)
3)


Summer 2006: 1 more Ph.D. student, ≥ 1 M.S. students
Fall 2006: many student projects
Initiating research collaboration with researchers outside of the
WMU
Encouraging independent oppnet research
Applying for state, NSF, and other funding for Ph.D.
students and other students, post docs, and visiting faculty
Dissemination of research results and products:



5/22/06
From Ann Arbor - Michigan’s equivalent of the Sillicon Valley
Presentations: publications, seminars, poster sessions
A dedicated web site
Public availability of the oppnet prototype, tools & data
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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4) Impacts on Education

Impact on students

For project participants: hands-on training on the
B.S./M.S./Ph.D levels

For others: course enhancements / course projects /
seminars



5/22/06
Oppnet prototype used for lab experiments
Outreach activities

Including K-12 demos for underrepresented minorities
All activities will broaden the America’s talent pool in critical
technologies and applications

Training more minority & female students at all levels
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Part 6. Current and Future Work

Building an oppnet prototype
 Goal: Proof of concept


To demonstrate technical prowess & economic benefits
Designing oppnet architecture

With its associated components:


Oppnet prototype implementation

For stimulation and feedback


5/22/06
Methods, protocols, and algorithms
Necessary for fine-tuning oppnet design
Technology transfer & commercialization
 Mentioned above
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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More Details of Oppnet Prototyping

Building state-of-the-art lab facilities

Constructing an oppnet prototype in the lab




5/22/06
Developing performance analysis tools to support testing &
fine-tuning activities
Extending the prototype to include living-laboratory
resources available in our sensor- & computer-rich building
Testing the prototype within the living laboratory

For fine-tuning design & implementation
Obtaining external assessment of the prototype

From computer & homeland security labs in MI, IN, IL
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Search for Other Oppnet Applications



5/22/06
Search for oppnet utilization in all kinds of application areas
Search for applications that ...

... can start with a seed

... need high interoperability

... need highly heterogeneous software

... can benefit from leveraging diverse resources of
helpers

... can maintain persistent connectivity once it is
established

...
Welcome collaboration or independent contributions

Seeking funding that will allow to fund:
 Ph.D. students (dissertations on oppnets)
 Post docs (e.g., 3-12 months)
 Visiting faculty (e.g., 1-6 months)
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Publications on Oppnets
(intensive work on oppnets started in our WiSe Lab in December 2005)
1.
2.
Leszek Lilien and Ajay Gupta, ” Opportunistic Networks for Emergency
Preparedness and Response” (submitted for publication).
Leszek Lilien, Z. Huma Kamal, and Ajay Gupta, "Opportunistic Networks:
Research Challenges in Specializing the P2P Paradigm,” Proc. 3rd
International Workshop on P2P Data Management, Security and Trust
(PDMST’06), Kraków, Poland, September 2006 (to appear)
3.
4.
Leszek Lilien, “Developing Specialized Ad Hoc Networks: The Case of
Opportunistic Networks,” Proc. Workshop on Distributed Systems and
Networks at the WWIC 2006 Conference, Bern, Switzerland, May 2006
(invited paper, proceedings to appear).
Leszek Lilien, Z. Huma Kamal, Vijay Bhuse and Ajay Gupta,
"Opportunistic Networks: The Concept and Research Challenges in
Privacy and Security,” Proc. International Workshop on Research
Challenges in Security and Privacy for Mobile and Wireless Networks
(WSPWN 2006), Miami, Florida, March 2006.
5.
5/22/06
B. Bhargava, L. Lilien, A. Rosenthal, and M. Winslett, “Pervasive Trust,”
IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 19(5), Sep./Oct.2004, pp. 74-77 (first brief
mention of the oppnet idea, in the form of malevolent opportunistic
sensor networks).
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Selected WiSe Lab Publications on Privacy, Trust,
Security, Pervasive Computing & Sensornets
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
5/22/06
V. Bhuse, A. Gupta, and L. Lilien, "Research challenges in lightweight intrusion detection for sensornets" (submitted for
publication).
L. Lilien and B. Bhargava, ”A Scheme for Privacy-preserving Data Dissemination,” IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and
Cybernetics (to appear).
T. Canli, M. Terwilliger, A. Gupta and A. Khokhar, "Power Efficient Algorithms for Computing Fast Fourier Transform over Wireless
Sensor Networks," Proc. Fourth ACS/IEEE Conference on Computer Systems and Applications, Dubai, UAE, March 2006.
V. Bhuse, A. Gupta and L. Lilien, "DPDSN: Detection of packet-dropping attacks for wireless sensor networks," Proc.
4th International Trusted Internet Workshop (TIW), International Conference on High Performance Computing, Goa, India,
December 2005.
A. Gupta and V. Bhuse, “Anomaly Intrusion Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks," Journal of High Speed Networks, vol. 15, issue
1, January-March 2006.
M. Terwilliger, A. Gupta, A. Khokhar and G. Greenwood, "Localization using Evolution Strategies in Sensornets," Proc. IEEE
Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Edinburgh, UK, September 2005.
V. Bhuse, A. Gupta, M. Terwilliger, Z. Yang and Z. Kamal, "Using Routing Data for Information Authentication in Sensor Networks,"
Proc. 3rd International Trusted Internet Workshop (TIW), International Conference on High Performance Computing, Bangalore,
India, December 2004.
T. Canli, M. Terwilliger, A. Gupta and A. Khokhar, "Power-Time Efficient Algorithm for Computing FFT in Sensor Networks,"
(Extended Abstract). Proc. Second ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems (SenSys), Baltimore, Maryland,
November 2004.
B. Bhargava, L. Lilien, A. Rosenthal, and M. Winslett, “Pervasive Trust,” IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 19(5), Sep./Oct.2004, pp. 7477.
B. Bhargava and L. Lilien, “Private and Trusted Collaborations,” Proc. Secure Knowledge Management (SKM 2004): A Workshop,
Amherst, NY, Sep. 2004.
M. Jenamani, L. Lilien, and B. Bhargava, “Anonymizing Web Services Through a Club Mechanism with Economic Incentives,” Proc.
International Conference on Web Services (ICWS 2004), San Diego, California, July 2004, pp. 792-795.
Z. Kamal, M. Salahuddin, A. Gupta, M. Terwilliger, V. Bhuse and B. Beckmann, "Analytical Analysis of Data and Decision Fusion in
Sensor Networks," Proc. 2004 International Conference on Embedded Systems and Applications. Las Vegas, June 2004.
M. Terwilliger, A. Gupta, V. Bhuse, Z. Kamal, and M. Salahuddin, "A Localization System Using Wireless Sensor Networks: A
Comparison of Two Techniques," Proc. 2004 Workshop on Positioning, Navigation and Communication, Hanover, Germany, March
2004 , pp. 95-100.
V. Bhuse, A. Gupta and R. Pidva, "A Distributed Approach to Security in Sensornets," Proc. 58th IEEE Semiannual Vehicular
Technology Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA, October 2003.
L. Lilien, “Developing Pervasive Trust Paradigm for Authentication and Authorization,” Proc. Third Cracow Grid Workshop (CGW’03),
Kraków (Cracow), Poland, October 2003, pp. 42-49 (invited paper).
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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WiSe Lab Experience in Sensornets –
Selected Projects Since January 2003
NOTE: Results directly useful for oppnets are marked with an asterisk (*)

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5/22/06
Designing of WiSe Security Protocols: DSPS
Location Tracker Using Motes (*)
RHS: Remote Home Surveillance (*)
Directed Diffusion: Attacks & Countermeasures
Improving the Accuracy of Mote Measurements
by Using Neural Networks
SOMS: Smart Occupancy Monitoring System Using Motes (*)
Comparative Study of Network Simulators
Collaborative Image Processing (*)
DENSe: a Development Environment for Networked Sensors
Incorporating Mobile-ware in Distributed Computations / Grids (*)
Extending the ns-2 Simulator to Satellite and WCN Simulations
Smart Antennas for WCNs
Energy Efficient MAC Protocols for IEEE 802.11x
A Wireless Security Testing System (*)
Mobile and Self-Calibrating Irrigation System
Collective Communications for Sensornets (*)
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006
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Thank you very much
for your time and attention!
5/22/06
© Leszek T. Lilien 2006