CRI: II-New: Pebbles: A Modular, Composable Hardware and Software Platform for Pervasive Edge Sensing and Computing

智能手机/平板电脑、物联网和联网汽车等边缘设备将继续在我们的环境中激增。它们拥有传感和计算资源，能够收集和处理各种数据，为智能车辆/建筑物/校园/交通等许多领域的新应用提供信息和见解。然而，许多这样的应用需要在类型和数量上都可定制的外围模块（特别是传感器/无线电），这是现有边缘设备严重缺乏的能力。该项目将设计、创建和评估一个新型硬件和软件平台，在该平台上，异构外围模块和模块化FPGA/软件计算组件可以像连锁乐高积木一样轻松地在电气和计算上组合，以创造这些“智能”应用所需的各种定制边缘传感和计算设备。PI将开发现场可编程门阵列（FPGA）-该平台包括一个基于FPGA的外围控制器，用于连接各种传感器/无线电，以及用于通用数据/信号处理和安全算法的加速器;一个边缘定制的流处理系统，可以组成可重复使用的硬件/软件计算组件来创建应用程序;以及在智能车辆/建筑物/校园中的试点应用程序，以测试和验证平台。传感器/无线电类型和数量的简单定制以及FPGA/软件计算的灵活组合性是迫切需要的，但商品或研究原型都无法实现。边缘计算、移动的传感、联网车辆和物联网社区的研究人员和教育工作者都可以从这个平台中受益匪浅，使用它来创建定制设备和编写新颖的应用程序。为试点研究和潜在的技术转让与工业伙伴建立了合作关系。

Edge devices such as smartphones/tablets, Internet-of-Things and connected vehicles will continue to proliferate in our environments. They possess sensing and computing resources and are able to gather and process various data to produce information and insights for novel applications in many domains, such as smart vehicles/buildings/campuses/transportation. However, many such applications require peripheral modules (especially sensors/radios) customizable in both types and quantities, a capability gravely lacking in existing edge devices. This project will design, create and evaluate a novel hardware and software platform where heterogeneous peripheral modules and modularized FPGA/software computation components can be easily composed electrically and computationally like interlocking Lego pieces, to create various customized edge sensing and computing devices required in these "smart" applications.The PIs will develop Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based peripheral controllers to connect diverse sensors/radios, and accelerators for common data/signal processing and security algorithms; an edge tailored stream processing system that can compose reusable hardware/software computation components to create applications; and pilot applications in smart vehicles/buildings/campuses to test and validate the platform. The easy customization in sensor/radio types and quantities, and flexible composability in FPGA/software computation are urgently needed but unavailable from both commodity or research prototypes. Researchers and educators in edge computing, mobile sensing, connected vehicles and Internet-of-Things communities can all benefit immensely from this platform, using it to create customized devices and compose novel applications. Collaborations with industry partners are established for both pilot studies and potential technology transfer.