Broadband Wireless Networking Lab

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology

• Class Organization
• Lecture Notes
• Homework 1
Milestones
Lab Rules
TinyOS
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Groups
Lab Schedule

• Old Exams
• Supplemental Reading
• BWN Classes

ECE 6615: Sensor Networks

Homework 1: Lab Project

Part 2

One of the most important tasks in a sensor network is to communicate the sensed information in a multi-hop manner to a base station or sink. In this lab assignment, you will experiment with the communication capabilities of the MicaZ nodes. In addition, you will use the sensor boards to sense real information.

Task 1: Point-to-point communication between sensor nodes

Follow and complete the tutorial on mote-to-mote communication based on the BlinkToRadio application. Set up the nodes to communicate at 2435 MHz. To which frequency channel, as defined in the IEEE 802.15.4 physical layer specifications, does this frequency correspond to? Play with the distance between nodes. Which is the maximum approximate distance at which they can still communicate? Does this correspond to the manufacturer specifications? Which phenomena are affecting the transmission range?

Task 2: Monitoring the network from a base station

Starting from the BaseStation application, include a third node in the network and leave it connected to your laptop. This node will play the role of a monitoring sink. Using the SerialForwarder and the corresponding java application (take a look to the RSSI BaseStation tutorial), show on your display all the messages that the two nodes are exchanging.
Update (02/07/2014): If your TinyOS installation does not contain the $TOSROOT/apps/BaseStation folder, you can download it from here.

Task 3: Sensing Task

Use the sensor board to interface with the MicaZ mote. The board has a buzzer and a light sensing diode. Wire the buzzer to the photosensor such that it activates (or buzzes) whenever there is an absence of light. You may set any pre-decided threshold. The TA will evaluate the program by placing the sensor in the drawer of the desk in the 5135 laboratory, and it should buzz!

Important points:
- Check the name of the application in your Makefile
- Add "CFLAGS += -I%T/sensorboards/mts300/ -DMTS300CA" to your Makefile to define the sensorboard mts300ca that you are using.
- Copy the necessary files from sensorboard library to your application folder.

Useful links for these tasks are:

• http://docs.tinyos.net/tinywiki/index.php/Mote-mote_radio_communication
  This gives the basics of transmitting and receiving messages over the wireless channel with a walk-through example.
  
• http://docs.tinyos.net/tinywiki/index.php/Mote-PC_serial_communication_and_SerialForwarder
  This explains how to forward to your laptop and through the serial port all the information that a sensor node is processing.
  
• http://docs.tinyos.net/tinywiki/index.php/Sensing
  Help with the sensing task.

Deliverables

• A visual demonstration of Tasks 1, 2 and 3 to one of the TAs is required.
• Soft-copy of code for Tasks 1, 2 and 3 to be submitted to infocom@ece.gatech.edu.

Due Date

• FEBRUARY 19, 2016 (11:59pm; FRIDAY MIDNIGHT).

Questions? E-mail: infocom@ece.gatech.edu