Specknets: new challenges for wireless communication protocols

Speckled computing (D.K. Arvind et al., 2004) is an emerging technology in which data is sensed and processed in small (around 5 × 5 sq. millimeter) semiconductor grains called Specks. A dense and non-static wireless network of thousands of these specks - called a Specknet - collaborates to extract information from the data. Speckled computing demands requirements of wireless communications in excess of typical mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) and sensor networks. This paper presents new challenges for the design of communication protocols for specknets, in which each speck is modest in terms of energy, storage and computational resources.