A Model-Based Design Approach for Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks

In this paper, we propose a model-based design approach for developing wireless sensor-actuator networks that can map multiple sets of application-level interactions onto a single networking substrate while still enforcing individual requirements. We use a top-down design approach where the functional requirements for each application are graphically modeled using a tool called SysWeaver. Sensor networking applications add unique challenges for model-based design frameworks because the system deployment view is tightly coupled to an installation-specific network topology and link characteristics. Wireless devices can also be mobile and hence may not easily map to standard deployment views. We introduce a SysWeaver plugin called SenseWeaver that is able to capture live toplogy data from an instrumentation deployment and feed the topology and link characteristic information to the system model. A developer can then use SenseWeaver specify the functional requirements of multiple applications, analyze communication and task scheduling requirements based on actual topology data, and automatically generate customized code for each sensor network node.