Dependable Systems Research Group Research Overview

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Dependable Systems Research GroupResearch
Overview

• Jason O. Hallstrom
• Computer Science

jasonoh_at_cs.clemson.edu
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Roadmap
Goal To provide an overview of the Dependable
Systems Research Group (DSRG)
Outline

• Research mission
• Introduction to sensor networks
• Research activities
• Instructional activities
• Laboratory facilities

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DSRG
Research Mission To enable the development of
highly-reliable, long-lived applications at scale
Emphasis Areas

• Formal specification and reasoning
• Wireless sensor networks (WSNs)

Todays focus is on WSN-related projects
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DSRG Participants
Students

• gt 4 (active) Ph.D. students
• gt 5 (active) M.S. students

Collaborating Institutions
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Research Strategy
Strategy Focus on leading edge projects that
leverage our strengths
Other Intersections

• Networking
• Algorithms
• Graphics

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Motes
Motes Tiny computing devices used to construct
sensor networks
Hardware
Processor Radio Sensors

• 4K RAM
• 128K ROM
• 7.3Mhz processor

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Wireless Sensor Networks
WSN A collection of collaborating motes
Purpose Dense instrumentation of the physical
world
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Application Areas

• Remote monitoring
• Scientific exploration
• Precision agriculture

• Smart structures
• Abnormality detection
• Interactive environments

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Application Areas (contd)

• Tracking
• Border enforcement
• Sniper localization

• Body sensors
• Health monitoring
• Entertainment

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The Challenge
Extremes

• Scale
• Concurrency
• Distribution

• Resource constraints
• Node / network failure

Consequences

• Development inefficiencies
• Time-consuming
• Error-prone
• Unreliable deployments

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Meeting the Challenge
Our Solution Adapt existing software
engineering principles to WSN applications
Work Products

• New language constructs
• New static analysis tools
• New middleware services
• New testing tools and strategies

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Resource Management
Problem Limited resources must be carefully
budgeted A complex, error-prone task
Solution Approach

• Language extensions for specifying budgets
• Static budget enforcement tools
• Dynamic budget analysis tools

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RPC Abstractions
Problem Developers supply low-level
communication code A complex, error-prone task
Solution Approach

• Adapt RPC abstractions to WSNs
• RPC language extensions
• RPC middleware support

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Unit Testing (Collaborator John D. McGregor)
Problem WSNs are massively parallel,
distributed systems System-level testing is
difficult and inefficient
Solution Approach

• Adapt unit testing principles to WSNs
• Unit testing strategies
• Unit testing tools

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WSN Testbed(Collaborator Nigamanth Sridhar)
Problem Hardware is expensive simulators are
inaccurate Large-scale testing and evaluation is
difficult
Solution Approach

• Multi-user sensor network testbed
• gt 40 motes
• 2 base stations
• Web programmable

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Instructional Activities
Graduate

• CpSc 881 Introduction to Sensor Networks
• CpSc 9xx Seminar on Sensor Networks

Undergraduate

• Undergraduate Research and Discovery Project
• Interdisciplinary applications of WSNs
• Multiple student teams
• Project supported by CU award

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Laboratory Facilities
Motes
Sensors

• 46 Mica2
• 30 Telos
• 10 MicaZ
• 1 .netcpu

• TSR
• PAR
• Humidity
• Temperature

• Acceleration
• Magnetic field
• Dissolved O2

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Dependable Systems Research GroupResearch
Overview

• Jason O. Hallstrom
• Computer Science

jasonoh_at_cs.clemson.edu