Software Infrastructure for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

In the development of large ad-hoc Wireless Sensor and Actuator Agent Networks (SANETS), a multitude of disparate problems are faced. In order for these networks to function, software must be able to effectively manage: unreliable dynamic distributed communication, the power constraints of un-wired devices, failure of hardware devices in hostile environments and the remote allocation of distributed processing tasks throughout the network. The solutions to these problems must be solved in a highly scalable manner. The paper describes the process of analysis of the requirements and presents a design of a service-oriented software infrastructure (middleware) solution for scalable ad-hoc networks, in a context of a system made of mobile sensors and actuators.

I. Background

The aim of this work is to create a network made up of many individual devices that can function as a single survivable entity. The individual devices must cooperate with each other to provide processing for a single purpose. Managing failure of devices and links on the network is a key concern in providing for the survival of the key processing tasks of the network, as individual devices fail. With a distributed network of miniature, wireless sensing and actuating devices at our command, scattered throughout the area of interest we have the ability to gain an awareness of the situation not previously possible. Information is power: with more information at hand about a particular situation, it is possible to increase our power to make the right decisions at a right time. Improved techniques of both obtaining information and managing hardware devices in the environment, in the form of sensory data and devices/resource controls, bring about changes in the way we perceive and interact with the environment. Greater informational gathering capabilities and more flexible resource control can provide huge benefits to a vast range of applications such as: •

Monitoring for research in various application domains such as habitat monitoring and control for bio-diversity and bio-complexity studies;

•

Military situational awareness, toxin and radiation detection, monitoring and possible neutralization of hostile movements;

•

Management of remote network infrastructure;

•

Security monitoring and active protection of assets; and

•

Management and monitoring of stress/seismic activity effects in civil infrastructures (i.e. bridges, roads, buildings)