A Graph Based Approach to Supporting Reconfiguration in Wireless Sensor Networks

Considerable research has been performed in applying run-time reconfigurable component models to Wireless Sensor Networks. The ability to dynamically deploy or update software components has clear advantages in sensor network deployments, which are typically large in scale and expected to operate for long periods in dynamic environments. Realizing distributed reconfiguration in Wireless Sensor Networks is complicated by the inherently asynchronous and unreliable nature of these systems. In such an environment, achieving quiescence is both costly and impossible to guarantee. Additionally, the success of reconfiguration actions cannot be determined with certainty. This paper advocates for a hierarchical, adaptive, graph-based approach to supporting reconfiguration. We argue that application developers should specify only high level reconfiguration graphs, which are then compiled, partitioned and enacted in an adaptive manner by a context aware distributed reconfiguration engine.