NSF Research Grant
Wireless and Sensor Networking Laboratory
Project
Summary
This
proposal requests funds to establish the Wireless and Sensor Networking
Laboratory at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at
Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. The equipment,
accessories, and software will be dedicated to the support of research in
wireless communication and sensor networks.
Intellectual
Merits. The equipment
will be used for conducting research in the areas of wireless
communication and sensor networking, including, in particular, the
following projects:
(1)
Area Coverage in Wireless Ad-Hoc Sensor Networks.
The area coverage problem has many applications in disaster recovery,
environmental monitoring, and homeland defense. In this project, we will
design a localized and distributed area coverage protocol that is
energy-efficient, provides sensor network connectivity and a reliable data
retrieval mechanism. We will analyze the performance of our protocol for a
sensor network through simulation using the Opnet network simulator. We
will implement and test our protocol on the MICA mote sensor platform in
our Laboratory.
(2)
Efficient Broadcasting in Wireless Ad-Hoc Sensor Networks.
Broadcast is an important operation in wireless ad-hoc sensor networks,
encountered for example in data diffusion and on-demand data gathering.
Broadcast by flooding is not a feasible solution because of transmission
redundancy, a factor that heavily increases contentions and collisions.
Thus, the forwarding node set needs to be selected carefully, considering
the basic characteristics of a wireless sensor network, such as lack of
global sensor information and resource limitation. In
(3)
Topology Control in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks with Hitch-hiking.
Topology control is an important problem in mobile ad-hoc networks, needed
for example in proactive routing protocols. The objective of this project
is to design a distributed topology control mechanism that assigns a
transmission power to every wireless node such that the resulting topology
is strongly connected and the total energy consumed is minimized. We will
address this topology control problem in the hitch-hiking model, a new
energy-efficient mechanism proposed by the co-PI. Specifically, we will
strive to minimize the total power expenditure
by exploring the
advantage offered by the hitch-hiking model that successfully decodes a
packet by combining partial receptions. We will design an efficient
topology control protocol, simulate it in large networks using Opnet, and
implement and test it in the Laboratory, for a mobile ad-hoc network of
laptop and palm computers.
Broader
Impacts. The Department
of Computer Science and Engineering does not have a modern
research-quality wireless and sensor networking platform. The addition of
the Wireless and Sensor Networking Laboratory would provide a perfect
research facility for graduate students to conduct research in wireless
and sensor networking areas. This Laboratory fits the educational plan in
the Department that currently offers courses in the areas of wireless
communication, wireless networks, and ad hoc networks. Florida Atlantic
University was designated as a Minority Serving Institution. The proposed
Laboratory will provide the equipment needed by minority students in their
research efforts, giving them the opportunity to stay competitive with
peers at other institutions, locally and nationally. The results obtained
from these research projects shall be disseminated via web pages, invited
talks, conference presentations, and journal publications.
Since July 2003