An Integration of Packet Routing and Data Processing in Sensor Networks

Abstract

AbstractModern sensor networks are not used only to collect data from a large number of sensor nodes, but also to process the data for their applications. Although networking for data, e.g., the routing of data packets, and processing data have been handled separately so far, data processing for several applications in sensor networks process depends on networking. It can improve performance to change the routes of packets according to the requirements of data processing for applications, such as collecting data from multiple sensor nodes. This paper proposes an approach to defining itineraries for packets among nodes and data processing in a unified fashion. The framework has several advantages. It can adapt its networking to the requirement of each packet, even when there are multiple packets whose requirements are different. Unlike existing protocols, each packet can also travel one or more nodes under its own control. The framework is constructed based on a process calculus for specifying routings and function calls at nodes. The paper presents a prototype implementation of the framework.KeywordsSensor networkProgrammable packetRouting specification