NeTS: Small: Pulse Switching: An Ultra-light Multi-hop Network Paradigm without Packet Abstraction

这项研究为轻量级网络应用开发了一个变革性的脉冲切换框架。它将单个脉冲而不是数据包抽象为信息交换粒度。脉冲开关被证明是足够的开关式事件监测应用，如建筑物或桥梁结构健康监测与超薄的能量预算，特别是当能量是从结构振动，环境温度变化或机械扰动引起的事件本身。可观察事件可以被编码为脉冲，其被多跳传输，同时保留关于所讨论的事件的足够量的时空信息。零冲突、零缓冲、无寻址、无数据包处理和超低能量预算使得该框架适用于具有超紧能量预算的嵌入式设备之间的联网。这项研究涉及：1）开发用于脉冲交换的联合MAC路由抽象，2）将脉冲交换架构映射到超宽带（UWB）脉冲无线电上，3）设计多宿和对等脉冲路由协议，以及4）使用UWB硬件构建原型脉冲交换网络。这项研究的影响包括一个潜在的转变，低信息网络领域的脉冲交换取代了传统的概念，包交换的能量受限的事件监测领域。预期的结果将包括一个联合MAC路由架构及其在超宽带脉冲网络系统的性能。这项研究被认为是新兴的跨学科研究和应用的关键推动因素，包括结构健康监测，生物医学身体区域传感，地震工程，环境监测和通过超轻型无分组通信进行灾害管理。

This research develops a transformative pulse switching framework for light-weight networking applications. It abstracts a single pulse, as opposed to data packets, as the information switching granularity. Pulse switching is shown to be sufficient for on-off style event monitoring applications such as building or bridge structural health monitoring with ultra-thin energy budgets, especially when the energy is harvested from structural vibrations, ambient temperature variations or the mechanical perturbations caused by an event itself. An observable event can be coded as a pulse, which is transported multi-hop while preserving sufficient amount of spatio-temporal information about the event in question. Zero collisions, zero buffering, no addressing, no packet processing, and an ultra-low energy budget makes the framework applicable for networking between embedded devices with ultra-tight energy budgets. This research involves: 1) developing a joint MAC-Routing abstraction for pulse switching, 2) mapping the pulse switching architecture on Ultra Wideband (UWB) impulse radio, 3) designing multi-sink and peer-to-peer pulse routing protocols, and 4) constructing a prototype pulse-switched network using UWB hardware. Impacts of this research includes a potential transformation of the area of low-information networking by replacing the traditional concept of packet switching by pulse switching in the realm of energy-constrained event monitoring. Expected results will include a joint MAC-routing architecture and its performance in an Ultra Wideband pulse networking system. This research is considered to be a key enabler for emerging cross-disciplinary research and applications including structural health monitoring, bio-medical body-area sensing, earthquake engineering, environmental monitoring, and disaster management through ultra-light packet-less communication.