Applications of wireless sensor networks are moving from simply monitoring based to control based ones and from static network based to pervasive and mobility-centric ones. But while the applications are rising in scale and complexity, the underlying network is still resource-constrained and bandwidth limited, prone to contention and fading. Thus the demands of applications are growing at a faster rate than the resources in the underlying network. My thesis has addressed the challenge of reliable application design using wireless sensor networks, by the design and implementation of network abstractions that bridge the gap between the application and the network and provide performance guarantees to applications.
My dissertation considers the reliable design of 4 wireless sensor network applications: (1) distributed pursuer evader tracking with requirement of eventual catch, (2) distributed pursuer evader tracking with optimal interception, (3) object classification and track monitoring and (4) distributed control of flexible structures. For each of these applications, we come up with an appropriate design considering limitations of the underlying network and characterize the network abstractions that meet application requirements. The network abstractions are then implemented appropriately sometimes using middle-ware services running in the form distributed / centralized programs, sometimes by suitably designing the network with the right density, placement of sensors or sometimes using both.