Collaborative Research: SENSORS: Energy Efficient Communication in Sensor Networks

由于计算和通信设备的能力快速增长和成本下降，将传感器嵌入物理设备并通过无线网络连接这些传感器变得越来越可行。这些传感器网络可以部署在广泛的应用中，可以提高生活质量，甚至拯救生命。这些应用包括医疗保健(例如，健康监测和医生和护士之间的协调)、飞机飞行控制、天气预报、家用电器控制和防范生物恐怖主义。传感器网络部署的关键挑战之一是如何延长网络的生命周期。由于传感器网络需要较长的工作寿命和较高的能量密度，因此会对电源产生压力。因此，能量效率对于传感器网络的广泛部署至关重要。研究人员研究传感器网络的能量管理技术。其主要思想是利用有助于合并部分信息的物理层设计。节点可以接收几个部分信号，并将这些信号组合以检索完整的信号。这被称为搭便车。搭便车可能会为传感器网络中的数据传输节省能源。通过有效地使用部分信号，可以用更少的节点和/或在每个节点处更小的发射功率来递送分组。研究人员将系统地研究传感器网络的能量管理技术如下。首先，研究人员将研究搭便车的物理层设计。其次，调查人员将研究广播网络和单播网络的功率控制。第三，研究人员将研究节能协议，以降低空闲模式的能耗。

ABSTRACT0329794Lixin GaoJie WuU of Massachusetts AmherstSpurred by the fast increasing capabilities and declining costs of computing and communication devices, it becomes increasingly viable to embed sensors in physical devices and link these sensors through wireless networks. These sensor networks can be deployed for a wide range of applications that can improve quality of life, and even save lives. These applications include healthcare (e.g., health monitoring and coordination among doctors and nurses), aircraft flight control, weather forecasting, home appliance control, and protection against bioterrorism. One of the key challenges in the deployment of sensor networks is how to prolong the lifetime of the networks. Sensor networks will stress power sources because of the their need for long operating lifetimes and high energy density. Therefore, energy efficiency is critical for the wide deployment of sensor networks. The investigators study energy management techniques for sensor networks. The key idea is to take advantage of the physical layer design that facilitates the combining of partial information. A node can receive several partial signals and combine these signals to retrieve the complete signal. This is referred to as hitchhiking. Hitchhiking can potentially conserve energy for transmitting data in sensor networks. By the effective use of partial signals, a packet can be delivered with less nodes and/or less transmission power at each node. The investigators will systematically study the energy management techniques for sensor networks as follows. First, the investigators will study the physical layer design of hitchhiking. Second, the investigators will study power control for broadcast networks and unicast networks. Third, the investigators will study power saving protocols to reduce the energy consumption for idle modes.