CS 88/188 Seminar on Wireless Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are recognized as a new frontier in communications. Sensors are self-organizing and represent low-powered, low-cost computational devices that can monitor and manipulate our physical world by spontaneously forming multihop wireless networks in a fully distributed manner. Sensors use acoustic, seismic, thermal, and infrared sensing technologies among others, they come in different form-factors from nano sensors (such as smart dust) to more conventional mote sensors, and they support a wide variety of new applications such as habitat monitoring, target detection, industrial process management, people-centric sensing (e.g., nikeplus), etc. Importantly, the design of these networks represents a radical departure from the Internet architecture we know today.

Aim: This seminar offers students the opportunity to understand the foundations of sensor networks through surveying the research literature, and importantly, students will program mote sensors in the Sensor Network Systems Laboratory
as part of programming assignments and group projects to get hands-on experience.

The seminar is focused on advanced computer network topics, research, and an experimental systems approach to the material. Students will program in a 'c' like language (called nesC), and use the TinyOS operating system and mote devices (such as the Moteiv Invent shown below).

We plan on covering traditional multihop sensor networks and new people-centric sensor networks that we are working
on in the Sensor Network Systems Laboratory.

Time: Tuesday and Thursday 2.00-3.50 PM with x-period Wednesday 4.15-5.05 PM

As a general rule Tuesday's class will be the seminar and Thursday's for programming and projects.

Location: Sensor Network Systems Laboratory, Sudikoff 147 (to be confirmed).

Grading: Paper part - 50% and programming part - 50%.  

Students will present papers and discuss the pros/cons of those papers in class. Students will also work on individual or group projects and write up their project reports as a conference style paper. There is no midterm or final exam.

Prerequisites: Students must have taken CS 78 Computer Networks or equivalent and be a competent programmer.

Instructor:  Andrew T. Campbell (campbell@cs.dartmouth.edu). Office hours Wednesday 9-11 AM