NeTS: Small: Advancing Time Synchronization for Sustainable Wireless Networks

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Time synchronization allows devices in a network to have a common notion of time and thus to operate in a precisely coordinated manner that is essential for the correctness, efficiency, throughput, and security of the entire system. Despite efforts in the past for achieving accurate timing in traditional networks, synchronization remains an open problem for the emerging sustainable wireless networks which are envisioned to play a key role in many future applications such as time-driven smart manufacturing, transportation cyber-physical systems, smart power grids, high-confidence medical systems, etc., due to a wide range of new features and requirements. To support truly sustainable operations, this project will carry out systematic research to revisit the clockwork by carefully identifying constraints from different aspects of such networks. The outcome of this project will constitute a significant advance in the design and development of theoretical foundations and practical algorithms to enable a highly effective synchronization service in sustainable wireless networks. Broader impacts of this project shall be magnified by (i) cultivating collaboration within the computer network community and interdisciplinary cooperation with field experts, (ii) improving curriculum development with hands-on training, (iii) disseminating research results via high-quality publications and open-source websites, (iv) raising interest in science and technology among K-12 students, female, and underrepresented groups through seminars and open house events.This research project will enable reactive, efficient, scalable, and configurable time synchronization for sustainable wireless networks deployed in highly dynamic physical environments. The project will build a sustainable computing hardware prototype with modularized structure that accommodates various solutions for energy harvesting, wireless communication, on-board sensing and processing. New designs will be implemented with a combination of different hardware platforms and the project will deliver reusable system designs, firmware packages, algorithm and protocol libraries to the research community. In addition to academic papers and technical reports, this work is expected to contribute to the system development in broader application communities across multiple disciplines, such as health care and assisted living, urban safety and security, human behavior study, cyber-physical system research, and so forth.