Operating System Support for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Abstract:In a wireless sensor network, several sensor nodes obtain local data and communicate among themselves in order to create a global vision of an object of study. The idea of a self-managed network of low-power, autonomous devices, that collects data from an environment and propagates information through a wireless link brought about several new challenges and requirements in application run-time support. Several research projects have aimed at solving the problem of system support for sensor networks. However, most of them have failed in dealing with two requirements: transparent configuration of the data communication channel and efficient and unified sensor hardware abstraction. In this work we designed and implemented a run-time support environment for wireless sensor network applications based on the EPOS operating system. Through this environment, applications were allowed to configure the communication channel according to their needs and to acquire sensor data through a family-based, uniform, sensor data acquisition API. Our tests showed that the introduction this environment did not incur in excessive overhead and presented significant advantages in relation to the solutions found in other operating systems for sensor networks.

FPGA Dynamic and Partial Reconfiguration

“…The IP cores are controlled by the software running on the soft processor. The entire FPGA acts as a co-processor to the main processor running in the EPOS framework [Fohlich and Wanner 2008]. To change the co-processor, the difference-based partial bitstream is sent to the FPGA and the corresponding IP core drivers are loaded.…”

An Infrastructure for UML-Based Code Generation Tools

“…EPOS [19], RTAI, and VHDL) are being created. The implementation of transformation heuristics needs to be improved to support other JPDD selections.…”

Wireless Sensor Network: At a Glance

“…When designing or selecting operating systems for tiny-networked sensors, our goal is to strip down memory size and system overhead because typical wireless sensor nodes are equipped with a constrained processing unit, little memory, EEPROM or Flash memory, battery or solar based power unit. In a research contribution (Hempstead et al, 2008) and in a technical report (Fröhlich & Wanner, 2008) three classifications of O. S. architectures are described for wireless sensor nodes: Monolithic, Modular/Micro and Virtual Machine. After evaluating various research contributions specifically devoted to operating systems used for wireless sensor nodes (Fröhlich & Wanner, 2008, Reddy et al, 2007Dwivedi et al, 2009a;Manjunath, 2007) (Manjunath, 2007) whose aims were to explicate "why sensor operating systems are designed the way they are".…”

“…In a research contribution (Hempstead et al, 2008) and in a technical report (Fröhlich & Wanner, 2008) three classifications of O. S. architectures are described for wireless sensor nodes: Monolithic, Modular/Micro and Virtual Machine. After evaluating various research contributions specifically devoted to operating systems used for wireless sensor nodes (Fröhlich & Wanner, 2008, Reddy et al, 2007Dwivedi et al, 2009a;Manjunath, 2007) (Manjunath, 2007) whose aims were to explicate "why sensor operating systems are designed the way they are". This technical report questions every design decision, and provide a detail reasoning for why these decisions.…”