NeTS: Small: Advancing Time Synchronization for Sustainable Wireless Networks

时间同步使网络中的设备具有共同的时间概念，从而以精确协调的方式运行，这对整个系统的正确性、效率、吞吐量和安全性至关重要。尽管过去人们努力在传统网络中实现精确的计时，但对于新兴的可持续无线网络来说，同步仍然是一个悬而未决的问题，由于一系列新的特征和要求，这些网络预计将在许多未来的应用中发挥关键作用，如时间驱动型智能制造、交通运输网络物理系统、智能电网、高可信医疗系统等。为了支持真正可持续的运营，该项目将进行系统研究，通过仔细确定来自这类网络不同方面的限制来重新审视时钟系统。该项目的成果将在设计和开发理论基础和实用算法方面取得重大进展，以便在可持续的无线网络中实现高效的同步服务。通过(I)促进计算机网络社区内的协作和与领域专家的跨学科合作，(Ii)通过实践培训改进课程开发，(Iii)通过高质量出版物和开源网站传播研究成果，(Iv)通过研讨会和开放活动提高K-12学生、女性和未被充分代表的群体对科学和技术的兴趣，将扩大该项目的更广泛影响。该研究项目将为在高度动态的物理环境中部署的可持续无线网络实现反应性、高效、可扩展和可配置的时间同步。该项目将建立一个模块化结构的可持续计算硬件原型，包括能量收集、无线通信、车载传感和处理的各种解决方案。新的设计将结合不同的硬件平台实施，该项目将向研究社区提供可重复使用的系统设计、固件包、算法和协议库。除了学术论文和技术报告外，这项工作有望为跨多个学科的更广泛应用社区的系统开发做出贡献，如医疗保健和辅助生活、城市安全和安保、人类行为研究、网络物理系统研究等。

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.