Building Embedded IP

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Building Embedded IP
Raffi Krikorian Physics and Media
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Building Internet0

• Traditional networking hardware research
  focuses on bigger and faster pipes (Internet2)
• We focus on bit-dribbling hardware

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Bridging the bandwidth divide

• Bringing IP to the leaf node
• Revisiting hardware transports and redesigning
  logical transports
• Cheap, low bandwidth IP (a level below
  Ethernet)

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Going really small

• Distributed scalable system no central point
  of control/servers are bad
• Devices own their data and own their threads
• Self organizing
• Growing

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Building the first embodiment of small things

• RS-485 communication
• mature industrial practice
• no active joints
• media access costs pennies
• PIC microcontrollers
• built in UARTs
• plenty of space for networking code
• just a few dollars

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Building more small things

• Different physical transports
• DSSS over powerlines
• Wireless RF
• Ultrasonic
• Revisiting old transports slowing them down
  makes them a lot more accessible

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Cramming bits is nothing new

• Delayered software stacks
• ARP, IP, ICMP, UDP, TCP IPv4 compliant in 2K
  code
• HTTPd 0.9 server 1K code

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Naming, Classifying, Communication

• IDs for each device unified or multiple
• For today, use Zeroconf sub-DHCP
• For tomorrow, possibly use IPv6 as the unique
  address through mini-routing?
• Schema for identifying devices
• Communication standards

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Programming and Coordinating a mass of devices

• Programming arbitrary massively parallel
  distributed systems is hard, building simple ones
  is easier
• These systems exhibit
• Scale complexity
• Interaction complexity
• Minimal resources
• Spatial relations

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Building higher level systems

• Make it easy to cause complex behavior to occur
• Google-like services
• Hive
• JXTA
• Make it simple for complex behavior to emerge

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How do you test all of this?

• First test installation was in Barcelona,
  moving towards second
• CBAs new home is first permanent testbed