A major task of a wireless sensor network is to disseminate sensor readings back to a centralized host, called the sink node. As such, a core functionality of the sensor network is energy-efficient, timely, robust, and secure dissemination of data from data sources to the sink. This project aims to create a new sensor network architecture, AIDA, that uses antenna arrays of the distributed sensor nodes to create directional radio waves that can reach order-of-magnitude farther than individual antennas of the sensor nodes. Such a distributed antenna array is created by aligning antennas of multiple sensor nodes and transmitting the same information simultaneously at different phases.
The project explores a complete and coherent strategy for designing and implementing energy-efficient data dissemination based on dynamic distributed antenna array forming in randomly deployed sensor networks. The pursued strategy simultaneously addresses issues from the physical to the MAC to the routing layers, including sensor node size, antenna design including size and efficiency, sensor synchronization, sensor localization, low-power radio, and MAC and routing protocols. The PIs will prototype sensor nodes that integrate the new radios and antennas and field test a small-scale AIDA sensor network at Purdue.
Broader Impact: The results will advance our understanding of the fundamental limits of distributed antenna array forming and applications in large-scale sensor networks. The algorithms, protocols, and system architectures developed in this project, and the theory underlying them, will have a significant impact on the sensor network technologies. Through the Center for Wireless Systems and Applications at Purdue, the PIs will actively share their findings with industrial collaborators. Students supported on this project will have a balanced exposure to a wide variety of system design techniques that will be valuable in their future careers.
