Tutorial 2: Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks and other pervasive systems are getting common place in our everyday life. This technology made it possible the deployment of a new class of applications encompassing a set of new challenges. To cope with these new requirements developments in the last decade enhanced the level of integration of processing (e.g., CPU) and communication (e.g., radio) components. Also, new approaches emerged to address specific requirements for routing and medium access control (MAC) in the network. In contrast with what has been done in the past, these new approaches had now to deal with severe limitations in terms of processing power, data transfer power, and, the most important, energy consumption. New operating systems emerged to target these systems. These operating systems abstract domain-specific functionalities such as sensing and communication, speeding up the application development process. This tutorial will present the fundamentals behind the development of wireless sensor network applications. Special focus will be given to application-dependent system parameters. The practical experience obtained in the development of EPOS and EPOSMote projects will be shared, including some hands-on exercises.