Data dissemination, i.e., transporting data or control messages from one to multiple end points, is an indispensable component in wireless network operations. Existing and emerging applications in multihop wireless networks, such as distributed industrial control, environmental monitoring, emergency response systems act on aggregates of wireless devices rather than communication between individual nodes. Although there exist a few studies that reveal the complex dynamics of simple data dissemination protocols, the fundamental properties of data dissemination process remain elusive. Little is known, for instance, how physical cooperative relay strategies, power control, MAC layer scheduling and routing affect the achievable transmission rate of the source, the speed of information diffusion, reliability of data delivery and energy to broadcast messages over a geographic area. Consequently, the design of data dissemination protocols is mostly done in an ad hoc fashion. This project focuses on the theory and system design of data dissemination protocols with emphasis on their applications in operational systems such as wireless sensor networks and wireless mesh networks. This research will develop a unified analytical framework to characterize the asymptotic properties and energy-performance trade-offs of data dissemination processes in random and regular networks under different physical layer models. The theoretical results serve as a foundation to the cross-layer design of efficient and robust algorithms for data dissemination. The investigator and students will develop one-to-many and many-to-one transport services and APIs for sensor network management (SNM) that facilitate the configuration and monitor of managed devices and states in sensor networks.
