Distributed Coding-Based Storage Algorithms for Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

Salah A. Aly (Iowa State University)

April 24, 2008
2:00 p.m. - SENSQ 5317 Note special time

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Abstract

Network coding is a powerful tool that has been used to increase the throughput, capacity, and performance of communication networks. It offers benefits in terms of energy efficiency, additional security, and data storage enhancement for wireless sensor networks.

 

In this talk, we consider a distributed storage problem in large-scale sensor networks, where coding can be utilized. Assume such a network has n sensors, and among them k<<n sensors acquire (sense) independent information. Such sensors are usually vulnerable due to limited energy, memory, and hostile environment. Therefore, it is desirable to disseminate the acquired information throughout the network so that each of the n sensors stores one (possibly coded) packet and the original k source packets can be recovered later in a computationally simple way from any (1+ε)k of nodes for some small ε > 0.

We propose two new distributed networked storage algorithms, which reduce the previous assumptions about the network topology or geographic locations of the sensing nodes. We show how this problem can be solved by using the random walks and Fountain codes, giving two algorithms to deploy the codes in a decentralized way, and estimating the number of transmissions required to disseminate the data.

Biography of speaker

Salah A. Aly is currently a post-doctoral fellow and visiting scholar at Iowa State University. He received his PhD in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. His research interests include coding and information theory, network protection, quantum computing, and applications of network coding and cryptography in wireless sensor networks.