Event: PhD Defense of Kennie Jones

Directors: Stephan Olariu and Larry Wilson

 

Date: Friday, May 2, 2008

Time: 8-10 AM

Place: E&CS Building Room 3316  (CS Conference Room)

 

 

 Title: BIOLOGY-INSPIRED APPROACH FOR COMMUNAL BEHAVIOR IN MASSIVELY DEPLOYED SENSOR NETWORKS

 

 

Abstract:

 

Research in wireless sensor network technology has accelerated rapidly in the
last few years. Promises of ubiquitous control of the physical environment by
these networks open avenues for new applications that will redefine the way we
live and work.

 

Due to the small size and low cost of sensor devices, visionaries promise smart
systems enabled by deployment of massive numbers of sensors working in concert.
To date, the reduction in size has been phenomenal although it results in
severe limitations on the computing, communicating, and power capabilities of
these devices. Under these constraints, research efforts have concentrated on
developing techniques for performing relatively simple tasks with minimal
energy expense, assuming some form of centralized control.

 

Unfortunately, centralized control does not scale to massive size networks and
execution of simple tasks in sparse networks will not lead to the sophisticated
applications predicted. This PhD thesis proposes a new way of looking at sensor
networks, motivated by lessons learned from the way biological ecosystems are
organized. It demonstrates that in such a model, fully distributed functions
can be performed in a scalable fashion in massively deployed sensor networks,
where individual sensor devices autonomously operate based on local
information, making local decisions that are aggregated across the network to
achieve a globally-meaningful effect.