Emerging Applications

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Published:
August 22, 2011

WNCG faculty are collaboratively exploring some of the emerging applications for wireless technologies, ranging from sensor networking, to home networks, to ad hoc networks used in emergency relief, and other applications supported over wireless Internet infrastructure.

Video surveillance

Recent advances in small, accurate, low-power cameras, video communications algorithms and standards, and 'smart camera' video analytics algorithms suggests the possibility of deploying networks of video sensors for various applications - ranging from home monitoring to large scale monitoring (airport monitoring and intercontinental oil pipeline surveillance). (Bovik, Shakkottai, Vishwanath)

Distributed sensor networking

With the emergence of a variety of low cost sensing and actuating capabilities, sensor networks that combine sensing, computation and wireless networking are impacting a wide range of applications (e.g., manufacturing, environmental sensing, distributed surveillance). (de Veciana, Shakkottai)

Pervasive/ubiquitous computing

Pervasive computing systems are driven by two defining characteristics context-awareness and interaction transparency -- computation will be embodied in everyday objects, not `traditional' computers, and will seamlessly enhance our lives. Wireless and RFID technologies are fundamental to cost effectively embedding, tracking and inferring context in complex environments. WNCG faculty are researching the foundations for novel system-level technologies and design methodologies for next generation pervasive computing applications. (de Veciana)

Peer-to-peer and Overlay Networks

Over the last five years, peer-to-peer applications -- where nodes (computers) on the Internet play the role of both servers and clients (e.g., Kazaa, gnutella, Napster) and construct overlay networks over the physical Internet topology for efficient file sharing, have fundamentally changed traffic dynamics over the Internet. WNCG faculty have developed some of the first models to understand the throughput and dynamics of these new file sharing methods. (de Veciana, Shakkottai, Qiu)

Cognitive Radio

Frequency agile radios -- often termed 'Cognitive Radio' -- attempt to use unoccupied or underutilized spectrum in an opportunistic fashion. (Andrews, Heath, Vishwanath, Rappaport)

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