CAREER: Sensing as a Service - Architectures for Closed-Loop Sensor Network Virtualization

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The goal of this project is to demonstrate new cyber-physical architectures that allow the sharing of closed-loop sensor networks among multiple applications through the dynamic allocation of sensing, networking, and computing resources. The sharing of sensor network infrastructures makes the provision of data more cost efficient and leads to virtual private sensor network (VPSN) architectures that can dramatically increase the number of sensor networks available for public use. These cyber infrastructures support a paradigm, called Sensing as a Service, in which users can obtain sensing and computational resources to generate the required data for their sensing applications. The challenge in sharing closed-loop sensor networks is that one application's actuation request might interfere with another's request. To address this challenge the VPSN architectures are comprised of three components: 1) a sensor virtualization layer that ensures that users obtain timely access to sensor data when requested and isolates their requests from others' through the creation of appropriate scheduling algorithms; 2) a computation virtualization layer that enables the allocation of computational resources for real-time data intensive applications which is closely tied to the sensor virtualization layer; 3) a virtualization toolkit that supports application developers in their efforts to build applications for virtualized, closed-loop sensor networks.The sharing of closed-loop sensor networks leads to substantial savings on infrastructure and maintenance costs. The proposed VPSN architectures enable users to create their own applications without having detailed knowledge of sensing technologies and allows them to focus on the development of applications. VPSNs will contribute to the creation of a nationwide, shared sensing cyber infrastructure, which will provide critical information for public safety and security. VPSNs will also help to revolutionize the way undergraduate and graduate students from many disciplines perform research. Students will be shielded from some of the complexities of sensor networks and allowed to focus on their core research. To prepare students from the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department at the University of Massachusetts to perform this kind of research, new classes in the area of Integrative Systems Engineering and Sensor Network Virtualization will be offered.