Award Abstract #0330244
SENSORS: Hourglass: An Infrastructure for Sensor Network

NSF Org:	CNS Division of Computer and Network Systems
Initial Amendment Date:	September 2, 2003
Latest Amendment Date:	May 24, 2004
Award Number:	0330244
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Anita J. LaSalle CNS Division of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering
Start Date:	September 15, 2003
Expires:	August 31, 2007 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$806000
Investigator(s):	Margo Seltzer margo@eecs.harvard.edu (Principal Investigator) H. Kung (Co-Principal Investigator) Vahid Tarokh (Co-Principal Investigator) Gu-Yeon Wei (Co-Principal Investigator) David Brooks (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Harvard University 1350 MASSACHUSETTS AVE Cambridge, MA 02138 617/495-5501
NSF Program(s):	PART FOR ADVANCED COMP INFRA, NEXT GENERATION SOFTWARE PROGR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESEARC
Field Application(s):	0000099 Other Applications NEC, 0000912 Computer Science
Program Reference Code(s):	HPCC, 9251, 9218, 9215, 7224
Program Element Code(s):	4066, 2884, 1640

ABSTRACT

This proposal will address research issues such as: how to construct sensors that can usefully function for tens or hundreds of years; how to construct and manage such sensors on a limited power budget, and how to construct an infrastructure that can collect data from deployed networks of sensors and route that data efficiently to the applications that need them; how to build a system capable of supporting applications that we cannot even imagine today, and what is the business value of these systems and how can they fundamentally transform the services that can be provided.

The proposed system to be developed under this project has three overall components: the sensor networks themselves, the infrastructure that we call a data collection network, and the tools necessary to enable development of real applications. At the hardware level, construction of low-power, long-lived devices will be developed and energy-efficiency goals will be met by leveraging all levels of the design hierarchy: from the circuits, architecture, and software. At the infrastructure level. Hourglass is an architecture for dynamically directing data and control between sensors and applications, and is designed to be flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen applications and to cope with sensor networks that are embedded infrastructures designed to last many years, by enabling adaptivity to rapid advances in technology while still retaining the ability to interact with legacy sensor networks, which cannot be changed for logistical reasons. At the application layer, real problems who can ensure that the systems to be build solve real problems in business, medicine, and environmental monitoring. These three layers are connected via both wired and wireless communication links and we propose to address fundamental questions related to: 1) the development of a power efficient adaptive communication protocol with embedded prioritized MAC for intra-node communications and control and 2) the development of Over The Horizon (OTH), a long distance communication protocol between the sensor network and the outside world in case of support network infrastructure failure in cases such as in the event of an emergency.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Gaynor M, Myung D, Hashmi N, Kudesia V, Tollefsen W, Winkler D, Ganesan S, Corwin D, Moulton S. "An intelligent pre-hospital patient care system," International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2007.

Gaynor, M., Welsh, M., Moulton, S., Rowan, A., LaCombe, E., Wynne, J.,. "Integrating Wireless Sensor Networks and the Grid," IEEE Internet Comp;uting, v.8, 2004, p. 32.

Oh-Soon Shin, Albert Chan, H. T. Kung, and Vahid Tarokh,. "Design of an OFDM Cooperative Space-Time Diversity System," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2006.

Tollefsen, W., Pepe, M., Myung, D., Gaynor, M., Moulton, S.. "iRevive: A pre-hospital mobile database for emergency medical services," International Journal of Healthcare Technology Management, v.6, 2005, p. 454.

Welsh, M., Myung, D., Gaynor, M., Moulton, S.. "Resuscitation monitoring with a wireless sensor network," Journal of the American Heart Association, v.1008, 2003, p. 1027.

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