TUTORIALS

Tutorial 5: Networking issues in wireless sensor networks

The tutorial addresses networking issues in wireless sensor networks. After an introduction to into general features of sensor nodes such as platforms and energy consumption as well as a comparison of wireless sensor networks with mobile ad-hoc networks, we study lower layer communication protocols in wireless sensor networks. In particular, we present medium access control protocols and compare them with protocols used in wireless local area networks. Then, we discuss why mobile ad-hoc network routing protocols are not appropriate for wireless sensor networks and present routing protocols proposed for wireless sensor networks. Reliable transport protocols as required for management and reprogramming of sensor nodes will be compared. Finally, security mechanisms to ensure confidentiality, authentication and network availability will be presented.

The course consists of five parts, namely: Introduction, Medium Access Control, Routing, Reliable Transport and Security.

The tutorial could be interesting for students, researchers and developers who have a basic knowledge in networking technologies and who want to learn more about lower level communication protocols, which have been proposed for wireless sensor networks. The participants will learn the key concepts for designing communication protocols for wireless sensor networks. They will be able to understand, compare, and evaluate different communication protocols for wireless sensor networks on medium access, routing, and transport level.

Presenter: Torsten Braun, University of Bern

Torsten Braun got his diploma and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. From 1994 to 1995 he was a guest scientist with INRIA Sophia Antipolis. From 1995 to 1997 he worked as a project leader and senior consultant at the IBM European Networking Center , Heidelberg , Germany . Since 1998 he has been a full professor of computer science at the Institute of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics ( University of Bern , Switzerland ), heading the Computer Networks and Distributed Systems research group. He has been a board member of SWITCH (Swiss Education and Research network) since 2000. During his sabbatical in 2004, he has been working as visiting scientist at the Swedish Institute of Computer Science ( Kista , Sweden ) on transport, routing and medium access control issues in wireless sensor networks. He held various tutorials at conferences organized by the IEEE, SPIE, and German Computer Society. He is teaching a weekly lecture on sensor networks each year at U Bern to M.Sc. level students

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