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

本研究开发了一种用于轻量级网络应用的变革性脉冲开关框架。它抽象了单个脉冲，而不是数据包，作为信息交换粒度。脉冲开关已被证明足以用于开关式事件监测应用，例如具有超薄能量预算的建筑物或桥梁结构健康监测，特别是当能量来自结构振动、环境温度变化或事件本身引起的机械扰动时。一个可观察的事件可以被编码成一个脉冲，该脉冲在多跳传输的同时保留了有关该事件的足够的时空信息。零冲突、零缓冲、无寻址、无数据包处理和超低能耗预算使该框架适用于能耗预算非常紧张的嵌入式设备之间的联网。研究内容包括：1)开发用于脉冲交换的联合mac路由抽象；2)在超宽带（UWB）脉冲无线电上映射脉冲交换体系结构；3)设计多sink和点对点脉冲路由协议；4)利用超宽带硬件构建原型脉冲交换网络。本研究的影响包括在能量受限的事件监控领域，用脉冲交换取代传统的分组交换概念，可能会对低信息网络领域产生潜在的转变。预期结果将包括联合mac路由架构及其在超宽带脉冲网络系统中的性能。这项研究被认为是新兴跨学科研究和应用的关键推动因素，包括结构健康监测、生物医学体域传感、地震工程、环境监测和通过超轻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.