CAREER: Adaptive Power Management for Supercapacitor-Operated Sustainable Wireless Sensor Networks

长寿命、免维护、自供电的无线传感器网络（WSNs）可能使许多使用WSNs的节点无法获得连续的、有条件的电源的应用受益。然而，自供电的无线传感器网络的寿命已严重限制的循环寿命和短寿命的可充电电池（RB），目前流行的能量收集无线传感器的存储设备。或者，超级电容器（SC）具有数百万量级的循环寿命和20年或更长的寿命。本研究旨在建立超级电容供电的无线传感器自适应电源管理的理论基础和应用框架，并对超级电容供电的无线传感器的自适应电源管理技术进行研究，为超级电容供电的无线传感器的自适应电源管理提供理论基础和应用框架。这使得下一代的永久性，可持续运行的环境供电的无线传感器网络。该项目主要包括三个方面的研究内容：（1）研究超级电容器件特性如何影响电源管理策略，为SC供电的嵌入式系统提供指导;（2）建立实用准确的SC模型，为能量收集无线传感器网络的电源管理研究提供支持;（3）设计支持无线传感器网络可持续运行的SC感知电源管理框架，并在实验室测试和实际的基于SC的能量收集无线传感器网络中对其进行评估。该项目将大大推进对下一代基于SC的能量收集WSNs的理解，并导致WSNs可以在微弱的环境能源上存在数十年，并提供重要应用所需的服务。此外，SC模型和电源管理框架也可能对其他便携式嵌入式电子产品产生影响。该项目的教育部分包括：（1）为研究生和本科生，特别是妇女和代表性不足群体的成员提供研究机会;（2）将最新研究和最新技术进步的知识纳入制定的新课程，以提供多学科培训，激发跨学科研究思想;（3）开展教育活动，帮助来自代表性不足群体的K-12学生和来自少数民族学生人数多、社会经济地位低的学校的K-12教师。

Long-life, maintenance-free, self-powered wireless sensor networks (WSNs) could potentially benefit many applications using WSNs with nodes that do not have access to continuous, conditioned power. However, the lifetime of self-powered WSNs has been severely limited by the cycle life and a short life span of rechargeable batteries (RBs), the current popular storage device for energy harvesting wireless sensors. Alternatively, supercapacitors (SCs) have cycle lives on the order of millions and a life span of 20 years or more. Recent advances in SC technology may lead to a paradigm shift from a battery-based to a SC-based design if the adaptive power management can be established to maintain the sustainability of the WSNs, which will generate great interest from many long-life applications.This research project aims to establish the theoretical foundation and applied framework of adaptive power management for supercapacitor-powered wireless sensors, which enables the next generation of perpetual, sustainable operation of environmentally-powered WSNs. This project consists of three main research components: (1) investigate how supercapacitor device characteristics affect power management policies and provide guidelines for SC-powered embedded systems; (2) create practical and accurate SC models for supporting power management research in energy harvesting WSNs; (3) design the SC-aware power management framework that enables sustainable operation of WSNs and evaluate it in laboratory testing and practical SC-based energy harvesting WSNs. This project will significantly advance the understanding of the next-generation SC-based energy harvesting WSNs, and lead to WSNs that can exist for decades on weak ambient energy and provide services required by important applications. In addition, the SC model and power management framework can also have impact on other portable embedded electronics. The educational components of this project include (1) providing research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, especially women and members of underrepresented groups; (2) integrating knowledge of state-of-the-art research and recent technological advances into the developed new curricula to provide multidisciplinary training, and inspire interdisciplinary research ideas; (3) developing educational activities in helping K-12 students from underrepresented groups and K-12 teachers from schools with high minority student population and low socioeconomic status.