Module-based
Courseware and Laboratory Development for Teaching Secure Wireless Sensor
Networks
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module evaluation
The Initial WSN Modules (before the
initial formative evaluation)
(Last
updated: 10/18/2009)
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Module
1. Introduction to Wireless Sensor Networks |
Module
2. Tiny OS |
Module
3. Energy Management |
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Module
4. Radio and Medium Access Control |
Module
5. Wireless Link Estimation |
Module
6. Data Collection and Dissemination |
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Module
7. Security of Wireless Sensor Networks |
Module
8. Localization and Secure Localization |
Module
9. Aggregation and Secure Aggregation |
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· Module 1. Introduction to Wireless Sensor Networks This
module introduces the basic principles and characteristics of wireless sensor
networks. Specifically, we start with real world examples to explain WSNs and
their operational challenges, including energy efficiency, limited storage
and computation, low bandwidth and high error rates, etc. MicaZ motes and
TelosB motes are used as hardware platforms to give students more concrete
examples. |
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This module introduces the dominant open source
operating system for WSNs - TinyOS. TinyOS differs from traditional operating
systems in that it is designed as a lightweight operating system for
achieving high efficiency in embedded systems, and therefore has no heavyweight
kernel, no process management, and no virtual memory. |
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Energy is the most stringent resource in WSNs,
because sensor nodes are typically battery powered, especially when they are
deployed in remote or hard-to-reach locations. To facilitate the application
development and to avoid the explicit invocation of power control operations
from the applications, TinyOS 2.x has integrated power management into its
device drivers. Virtualized, dedicated, and shared are three main resource
arbitration models for important resources like timer, bus, memory, and
Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). We also use CC2420, Atmegal 128 Analog to
Digital Converter, and MTS 300 as the example chips to illustrate these
important ideas. |
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Module 4. Radio
and Medium Access Control WSNs demonstrate unique radio communication
patterns, including radio irregularity, anisotropic signal strength, and
anisotropic packet loss ratio. All these factors have dramatic impact on
higher layer protocols like MAC and their design and implementation. In our
course modules, we use detailed experimental data to illustrate the relevant
concepts. |
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Module 5. Wireless
Link Estimation In this module, we first introduce why wireless
link estimation is necessary by showing details of the time varying nature of
a wireless channel. The data we use come from the experiments with a real
world WSN, which vividly demonstrate the relevant features of a wireless
link. |
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Module 6. Data
Collection and Dissemination Previously introduced modules lay the foundation
for important WSN applications. Data collection and dissemination turn out to
be the most basic and important applications promised by WSNs. Many
collection and dissemination protocols have been proposed. However, most of
the proposals typically show merely basic ideas and analysis of complexity
and overhead of the proposed protocol, lacking details about the
implementation. |
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Module 7. Security
of Wireless Sensor Networks Similar to other types of
networks, wireless sensor networks are subject to various types of threats
and attacks. Because security has become one of the major concerns to deploy
WSNs in the real world, WSN course modules are not complete without modules
focusing on WSN security. We start with the introduction of major attack
models targeted at WSNs. We then focus on the TinySec protocol, which aims at
providing message integrity and confidentiality at the data link layer.
TinySec has also become an implemented module in TinyOS. Our course module
introduces the details with respect to how TinySec is designed and
implemented. |
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Module 8. Localization
and Secure Localization Localization is an important service for WSNs,
because many WSN applications require location information of the sensor
nodes. Furthermore, localization turns out to be a challenging task for WSNs. |
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Module 9. Aggregation
and Secure Aggregation Data aggregation has been proven to be an
important method to reduce communication overhead and to save energy for
WSNs. To address this need, we first introduce why we need aggregation - to
suppress redundant messages and save energy. To illustrate this idea, we use
a detailed example - counting how many nodes exist in a large-scale WSN; the
example was taken from the Tiny AGgregation Service (TAG) approach. We then
move to general aggregation primitives - minimum, average, sum, and maximum -
and explain their usage in real world applications. |
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