The Tenet project is developing an alternative architecture for tiered wireless sensor networks that contain both small-form-factor motes and high-powered nodes called masters. The Tenet project's guiding architectural principle asserts that multi-node data fusion functionality and complex application logic should be implemented only on the masters, since the cost and complexity of implementing this in motes outweighs the performance benefits of doing so.
Tenet thus simplifies and standardizes the design and construction of the most difficult-to-handle software on a sensor network. It restricts mote communication to trees rooted at masters. Tree communication is well understood, leads to more predictable communication patterns and improves the manageability of the mote tier. Direct inter-mote communication would destroy much of this predictability and manageability.
The project is designing and prototyping the Tenet stack. This stack embodies the Tenet architectural principle and can be reused by several applications. The development of such a stack for large-scale sensor networks will greatly accelerate the development of a variety of applications ranging from habitat monitoring to structural monitoring. Without a Tenet-like architecture, sensor network deployments will never truly impact the world.
