This document discusses the potential applications of embedded networked sensing systems. It outlines three main applications: 1) seismic structure monitoring to better understand building and soil responses, 2) contaminant transport monitoring to track contaminant movement, and 3) ecosystem monitoring to study wildlife populations over time. The document also discusses enabling technologies, challenges, and a taxonomy for classifying different embedded sensing systems.

1. Part I: Introduction
Deborah Estrin
I-1

2. Outline
• Introduction
– Motivating applications
– Enabling technologies
– Unique constraints
– Application and architecture taxonomy
I-2

3. Embedded Networked Sensing Potential
• Micro-sensors, on-
board processing, and
wireless interfaces all
feasible at very small
scale
– can monitor
Seismic Structure phenomena “up Contaminant
response close” Transport
• Will enable spatially
and temporally dense Ecosystems,
Marine
environmental Biocomplexity
Microorganisms
monitoring
• Embedded Networked
Sensing will reveal
previously
unobservable
phenomena
I-3

4. App#1: Seismic
• Interaction between ground motions and
structure/foundation response not well understood.
– Current seismic networks not spatially
dense enough to monitor structure
deformation in response to ground motion, to
sample wavefield without spatial aliasing.
• Science
– Understand response of buildings and
underlying soil to ground shaking
– Develop models to predict structure response
for earthquake scenarios.
• Technology/Applications
– Identification of seismic events that cause
significant structure shaking.
– Local, at-node processing of waveforms.
– Dense structure monitoring systems.
ENS will provide field data at sufficient densities to
develop predictive models of structure, foundation,
soil response.
I-4

5. Field Experiment
• 38 strong-motion seismometers in 17-story steel-frame Factor Building.
• 100 free-field seismometers in UCLA campus ground at 100-m spacing
 1 km 
I-5

6. Research challenges
• Real-time analysis for rapid response.
• Massive amount of data → Smart, efficient, innovative data
management and analysis tools.
• Poor signal-to-noise ratio due to traffic, construction, explosions, ….
• Insufficient data for large earthquakes → Structure response must be
extrapolated from small and moderate-size earthquakes, and force-
vibration testing.
• First steps
– Monitor building motion
– Develop algorithm for network to recognize significant seismic events using
real-time monitoring.
– Develop theoretical model of building motion and soil structure by numerical
simulation and inversion.
– Apply dense sensing of building and infrastructure (plumbing, ducts) with
experimental nodes.
I-6

7. App#2: Contaminant Transport
• Science
Air – Understand intermedia contaminant
Emissio
ns transport and fate in real systems.
Water Well – Identify risky situations before they
become exposures. Subterranean
Soil Zone deployment.
Spill • Multiple modalities (e.g., pH, redox
Path conditions, etc.)
Volatization • Micro sizes for some applications
(e.g., pesticide transport in plant
roots).
• Tracking contaminant “fronts”.
Dissolution
• At-node interpretation of potential
Groundwater for risk (in field deployment).
I-7

8. ENS Research Implications
• Environmental Micro-Sensors
– Sensors capable of recognizing
phases in air/water/soil
mixtures.
– Sensors that withstand
physically and chemically harsh
conditions.
Contaminant – Microsensors.
plume • Signal Processing
– Nodes capable of real-time
analysis of signals.
– Collaborative signal
processing to expend energy
only where there is risk.
I-8

9. App#3: Ecosystem Monitoring
Science
• Understand response of wild populations (plants and animals) to habitats
over time.
• Develop in situ observation of species and ecosystem dynamics.
Techniques
• Data acquisition of physical and chemical properties, at various
spatial and temporal scales, appropriate to the ecosystem, species
and habitat.
• Automatic identification of organisms
(current techniques involve close-range
human observation).
• Measurements over long period of time,
taken in-situ.
• Harsh environments with extremes in
temperature, moisture, obstructions, ...
I-9

10. Field Experiments
• Monitoring ecosystem processes
– Imaging, ecophysiology, and
environmental sensors
– Study vegetation response to
climatic trends and diseases.
• Species Monitoring
– Visual identification, tracking,
and population measurement of
birds and other vertebrates
QuickTime™ and a
Photo - JPEG decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
– Acoustical sensing for
identification, spatial position,
population estimation. Vegetation change detection
• Education outreach
– Bird studies by High School
Science classes (New Roads
and Buckley Schools).
Avian monitoring Virtual field observations
I-10

11. ENS Requirements for
Habitat/Ecophysiology Applications
• Diverse sensor sizes (1-10 cm), spatial sampling intervals (1 cm
- 100 m), and temporal sampling intervals (1 µs - days),
depending on habitats and organisms.
• Naive approach → Too many sensors →Too many data.
– In-network, distributed signal processing.
• Wireless communication due to climate, terrain, thick
vegetation.
• Adaptive Self-Organization to achieve reliable, long-lived,
operation in dynamic, resource-limited, harsh environment.
• Mobility for deploying scarce resources (e.g., high resolution
sensors).
I-11

12. Transportation and Urban Monitoring
Disaster Response
I-12

13. Intelligent Transportation Project (Muntz et al.)

14. Smart Kindergarten Project:
Sensor-based Wireless Networks of Toys
for Smart Developmental Problem-solving Environments
(Srivastava et al)
Middleware Framework
Network Sensor Sensor Speech Database
Management Management Fusion Recognizer & Data Miner
WLAN Access Wired Network
Point
High-speed Wireless LAN (WLAN)
WLAN-Piconet WLAN-Piconet
Bridge Bridge
Piconet Sensors Piconet
Modules
Sensor Badge
Networked Toys

15. Enabling Technologies
Embed numerous distributed Network devices
devices to monitor and interact to coordinate and perform
with physical world higher-level tasks
Embedded Networked
Control system w/ Exploit
Small form factor collaborative
Untethered nodes Sensing, action
Sensing
Tightly coupled to physical world
Exploit spatially and temporally dense, in situ, sensing and actuation
I-15

16. Sensors
• Passive elements: seismic, acoustic, infrared, strain, salinity, humidity,
temperature, etc.
• Passive Arrays: imagers (visible, IR), biochemical
• Active sensors: radar, sonar
– High energy, in contrast to passive elements
• Technology trend: use of IC technology for increased robustness, lower
cost, smaller size
– COTS adequate in many of these domains; work remains to be
done in biochemical
I-16

17. Some Networked Sensor Node
Developments
LWIM III AWAIRS I
UCLA, 1996 UCLA/RSC 1998
Geophone, RFM Geophone, DS/SS
radio, PIC, star Radio, strongARM,
network Multi-hop networks
WINS NG 2.0
UCB Mote, 2000 Sensoria, 2001
4 Mhz, 4K Ram Node development
512K EEProm, platform; multi-
128K code, sensor, dual radio,
CSMA Linux on SH4,
half-duplex RFM radio Preprocessor, GPS Processor
I-17

18. Source: ISI & DARPA PAC/C Program
Sensor Node Energy Roadmap
10,000
• Deployed (5W) Rehosting to Low
Power COTS
Average Power (mW)
1,000
(10x)
• PAC/C Baseline (.5W)
100
• (50 mW) -System-On-Chip
10 -Adv Power
Management
Algorithms (50x)
1 
(1mW)
.1
2000 2002 2004
I-18

19. Source: UC Berkeley
Comparison of Energy Sources
Power (Energy) Density Source of Estimates
3
Batteries (Zinc-Air) 1050 -1560 mWh/cm (1.4 V) Published data from manufacturers
3
Batteries(Lithium ion) 300 mWh/cm (3 - 4 V) Published data from manufacturers
2
15 mW/cm - direct sun
2
Solar (Outdoors) 0.15mW/cm - cloudy day. Published data and testing.
2
.006 mW/cm - my desk
2
Solar (Indoor) 0.57 mW/cm - 12 in. under a 60W bulb Testing
3
Vibrations 0.001 - 0.1 mW/cm Simulations and Testing
2
3E-6 mW/cm at 75 Db sound level
2
Acoustic Noise 9.6E-4 mW/cm at 100 Db sound level Direct Calculations from Acoustic Theory
Passive Human
2
Powered 1.8 mW (Shoe inserts >> 1 cm ) Published Study.
Thermal Conversion 0.0018 mW - 10 deg. C gradient Published Study.
3
80 mW/cm
3
Nuclear Reaction 1E6 mWh/cm Published Data.
3
300 - 500 mW/cm
3
Fuel Cells ~4000 mWh/cm Published Data.
With aggressive energy management, ENS
might
live off the environment.
I-19

20. Source: ISI & DARPA PAC/C Program
Communication/Computation Technology
Projection
1999
(Bluetooth 2004
Technology)
(150nJ/bit) (5nJ/bit)
Communication
1.5mW* 50uW
~ 190 MOPS
Computation
(5pJ/OP)
Assume: 10kbit/sec. Radio, 10 m range.
Large cost of communications relative to computation
continues
I-20

21. “The network is the sensor”
(Oakridge National Labs)
Requires robust distributed systems of
thousands of
physically-embedded, unattended, and often
untethered, devices.
I-21

22. New Design Themes
• Long-lived systems that can be untethered and unattended
– Low-duty cycle operation with bounded latency
– Exploit redundancy and heterogeneous tiered systems
• Leverage data processing inside the network
– Thousands or millions of operations per second can be done
using energy of sending a bit over 10 or 100 meters (Pottie00)
– Exploit computation near data to reduce communication
• Self configuring systems that can be deployed ad hoc
– Un-modeled physical world dynamics makes systems appear ad hoc
– Measure and adapt to unpredictable environment
– Exploit spatial diversity and density of sensor/actuator nodes
• Achieve desired global behavior with adaptive localized algorithms
– Cant afford to extract dynamic state information needed for
centralized control
I-22

23. From Embedded Sensing to Embedded
Control
• Embedded in unattended “control systems”
– Different from traditional Internet, PDA, Mobility applications
– More than control of the sensor network itself
• Critical applications extend beyond sensing to control and actuation
– Transportation, Precision Agriculture, Medical monitoring and drug
delivery, Battlefied applications
– Concerns extend beyond traditional networked systems
• Usability, Reliability, Safety
• Need systems architecture to manage interactions
– Current system development: one-off, incrementally tuned, stove-
piped
– Serious repercussions for piecemeal uncoordinated design:
insufficient longevity, interoperability, safety, robustness,
scalability...
I-23

24. Sample Layered Architecture
User Queries, External Database
Resource
constraints call
In-network: Application processing,
for more tightly
Data aggregation, Query processing
integrated layers
Data dissemination, storage, caching
Open Question:
Can we define an Adaptive topology, Geo-Routing
Internet-like
architecture for
such application-
specific MAC, Time, Location
systems??
Phy: comm, sensing, actuation, SP
I-24

25. Systems Taxonomy Load/Event Metrics
Models
• Spatial and Temporal • Frequency • Efficiency
Scale – spatial and – System
– Extent temporal density of lifetime/System
– Spatial Density (of events resources
sensors relative to
• Locality • Resolution/Fidelity
stimulus)
– Data rate of stimulii – spatial, temporal – Detection,
• Variability correlation Identification
– Ad hoc vs. engineered • Mobility • Latency
system structure – Rate and pattern – Response time
– System task variability • Robustness
– Mobility (variability in – Vulnerability to
space) node failure and
• Autonomy environmental
– Multiple sensor dynamics
modalities • Scalability
– Computational model
– Over space and
complexity
time
• Resource constraints
– Energy, BW
– Storage, Computation
I-25