SENSORS: Biological Sensor Data Acquistion System

用微型电子仪器标记动物提供了在自由放养的环境中观察生理、运动和社会行为的独特机会。在动物标签上添加环境传感器提供了监测生态和海洋过程的能力，并且动物可以被视为自我维持的自动车辆，将采样工作集中在生物感兴趣的区域。虽然有些场景允许回收标签，但更广泛的应用领域需要从标签中遥测数据，通常使用射频信号。无线电标签面临着相互冲突的需求：最大限度地减少发射功率，以便使用小电池进行扩展操作，并最大限度地扩大标签可以跟踪的区域。在目前的海洋动物（如鲸鱼）数据采集系统中，附加的（植入的）无线电标签测量有关动物及其环境的数据，并将数据以数据包的形式存储在存储器中。当动物出现在卫星视野内时，这些数据就会被传输到卫星上，生物学家可以在卫星上检索到这些数据。一旦数据包被传输到卫星，它就可以从动物植入设备的存储中删除。动物身上的装置以预先设定的间隔向卫星发送信号。但是，卫星系统的使用也有某些限制：需要大量的传输功率，费用高，而且可能对连接有限制，因为卫星可能并不总是在视线之内。如果标签在任何时候都不能传输，最后一个问题可能会很严重。许多海洋哺乳动物的潜水时间超过30分钟，在水面上的时间可能不到15%。此外，由于植入物的电池电量低，成本和能源消耗是关键问题。在这个提议中，提议者提倡一种不同的方法：通过创建由动物标签组成的传感器网络基础设施，将基础设施由移动节点本身扩展到动物（移动节点）。在网络节点中创建的信息允许在节点之间扩散（复制），因为节点由于移动性而接触。也就是说，当一个节点与另一个节点进入接收距离时，存储在该节点内存中的信息被复制并存储在接收节点的内存中。在动物栖息地内设置信息收集站，当动物进入收集站的接收范围时，将该动物标签中存储的所有信息卸载到收集站。为了增加从网络中恢复信息的可能性，可以在整个栖息地分布一些收集站。因此，每个信息片段只需要到达一个采集站就可以成功卸载。这种网络模型的恰当名称是Ad Hoc信息站模型。作为研究的一部分，它建议解决三个方面的问题：研究Ad Hoc信息站模型的设计和性能评估，开发可在Ad Hoc信息站网络中运行的实用传感器标签，以及将传感器标签集成到Ad Hoc信息站网络中。特别地，在第一个领域下讨论的主题示例包括：为到达地面网络而设计的Ad Hoc信息站网络、包含不同移动性节点层次结构的网络，例如包含移动Ad Hoc信息站的网络，以及对Ad Hoc信息站模型提供的“容量-延迟”权衡的检查。在他们的工作中，计划利用流行病建模方面的大量知识来研究Ad Hoc信息站模型。在第二个领域，将开发一种新的收发器标签，它将支持无线Ad Hoc信息站网络节点所需的所有RF功能。在第三个领域，标签和特设信息站接收器将在当地进行测试，并在两个试点项目中进行评估，以评估其生物效用。最初的功能测试将通过在当地汤普金斯郡建立特设信息站来进行，并在周围驾驶标签来模拟动物的运动。第二个项目将利用网络功能从分散的固定传感器矩阵中收集生物声学数据。由于该提案的广泛影响，鲸鱼和其他海洋哺乳动物对几个海洋环境问题至关重要，提高对能够预测海洋哺乳动物分布的因素的理解，以及海洋哺乳动物对人为噪音的反应，是海军研究的长期研究重点。此外，NSF还提出了一个为期10年、耗资1.2亿美元的国家环境观测网络项目。在提议的12个地点中，有两个已在总统提议的预算中指定拨款。我们提出的系统可以实现一个由固定仪器、相对静止的动物和广泛的动物组成的异构网络，以有效地传输来自无法进入或非常难以进入的区域的遥测数据。

Tagging animals with miniature electronic instruments provides unique opportunities to observe physiology, movements, and social behavior in a free-ranging context. The addition of environmental sensors to animal tags provides the capacity to monitor ecological and oceanographic processes, and the animals can be viewed as self- sustaining autonomous vehicles that focus sampling effort on regions of biological interest. Although some scenarios permit recovery of the tags, a much broader domain of applications requires telemetry of data from the tags, usually using radio frequency signals. Radio tags confront conflicting demands: minimization of transmit power to enable extended operations with small batteries, and maximization of the area over which the tags can be tracked. In the current systems for marine animal (e.g., whales) data acquisition, the attached (implanted) radio tags measure data about the animals and their environments and store the data in memory as packets. When the animal surfaces in view of a satellite, this data is transmitted to the satellite where the biologist can retrieve it. Once the packet is transmitted to the satellite, it may be deleted from storage on the animal-implanted device. The devices on animals transmit at preset intervals to the satellite. However, the use of the satellite system accepts certain limitations: substantial transmission power requirements, high cost, and probable limits on connections, because satellites may not always be in view. The last problem may prove serious if the tags cannot transmit at any time. Many marine mammal species have dive durations exceeding 30 minutes, and may spend less than 15% of their time on the surface. Moreover, the cost and energy consumption are critical issues due to the low battery power of the implants. In this proposal, the proposer advocate a different approach: the infrastructure is extended to the animals (mobile nodes) by the mobile nodes themselves, by creating a sensor network infrastructure composed of the animal tags. The information that is created in a network node is allowed to be diffused (replicated) among the nodes, as the nodes come into contact due to their mobility. In other words, as a node comes into reception distance from another node, the information stored in the memory of the node is replicated and stored in the memory of the recipient node. An information collecting station is placed within the animal habitat, and when an animal comes within the reception range if a collecting station, all stored information in the memory of that animal tag is offloaded to the collecting station. To increase the probability that the information is recovered from the network, a number of collecting stations can be distributed throughout the habitat. Thus, only one of each information piece needs to reach only one collecting station to be successfully offloaded. The propoer term this networking model the Ad Hoc Infostation model. As part of the research, it propose to address three areas: research into the design and performance evaluation of the Ad Hoc Infostation model, development of a practical sensor tag that would operate in a network of Ad Hoc Infostations, and integration of the sensor tag into a network of Ad Hoc Infostations. In particular, examples of topics address under the first area include design of the network of Ad Hoc Infostations to reach the terrestrial network, networks that include a hierarchy of different-mobility nodes, such as those that include mobile Ad Hoc Infostations, and examination of the "capacity-delay" tradeoff offered by the Ad Hoc Infostation model. In their work, plan on using the vast knowledge in epidemic modeling to leverage from in studying the Ad Hoc Infostation model. Under the second area, a new transceiver tag will be developed, which will support all of the RF capabilities needed for the wireless Ad Hoc Infostation networking nodes. Under the third area, the tags and Ad Hoc Infostation receivers will be tested locally, and evaluated in two pilot projects to assess their biological utility. Initial functional tests will be conducted by setting up Ad Hoc Infostations in the local Tompkins Country, and driving tags around to simulate animal movements. The second project will utilize the networking capabilities to gather bioacoustic data from a matrix of dispersed fixed sensors. As the broader impact of the proposal, whales and other marine mammals are crucial to several marine environmental issues and improved understanding of the factors that enable prediction marine mammal distributions, and of the responses of marine mammals to anthropogenic noise, is a long0term research priority of naval research. Also, NSF has proposed a National Environmental Observation Network, a 10 year $120M program. Two of the proposed 12 sites have been earmarked for funding in the President's proposed budget. Our proposed system could implement a heterogeneous network of stationary instruments, relatively sedentary animals, and wide-ranging animals to efficiently transmit telemetry data from areas that are inaccessible or very difficult to access.