XTC: A Practical Topology Control Algorithm for Ad-Hoc Networks

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Nicolas BurriRoland Schuler Roger Wattenhofer
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Overview

• Short TinyOS introduction
• TinyOS development so far
• Tools
• Problems
• TinyOS Plugin for Eclipse
• Some features
• Architecture
• Current state and future work

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TinyOS

• TinyOS consists of a scheduler graph of
  components

slide by P. von Rickenbach
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Programming Model

• Separate construction and composition
• Programs are built out of components specified by
  an interface
• Two types of components
• Modules Implement behavior
• Configurations Wire components together
• Components use and provide interfaces

Component A
Interface I
Component B
slide by P. von Rickenbach
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TinyOS Development so far

• Text Editor
• No editor with inbuilt nesC support available
• Programming in generic text editors
• UltraEdit
• Emacs
• Shell
• Make system
• Compiling of programs
• Flashing of nodes
• Additional tools
• File Browser
• Project files
• Interface definitions
• System libraries

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TinyOS Development Today
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What we wanted to improve

• Getting started
• Setting up the environment is tricky
• Frustrating without the help of an expert
• Syntax check before compiling
• Compiling takes up to 1 min even for small
  programs
• Better debugging support
• Only three LEDs to show the current state of the
  application
• Reference
• What interfaces exist?
• Which modules implement this interface?

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What do we get if we install TinyOS?

• - 7200 files in 540 folders
• - 1200 files in the doc sub-tree - 2600
  files in the java sub-tree
• 3400 files in about 400 folders

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Eclipse Plugin vs. Standalone Solution

• Standalone
• No initial skill adaptation training necessary
• Maximal flexibility
• Overhead for the development of the framework
• In reasonable time only limited functionality
  achievable
• Eclipse Plugin
• Very flexible
• Many inbuilt, reusable functions
• Very well documented
• Requires an understanding of the complex Eclipse
  framework

http//www.eclipse.org
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TinyOS Plugin for Eclipse
nesC Editor
Outline
Project Files
Search
Make Options
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TinyOS Plugin for Eclipse
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Component Graph
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Component Graph
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Underlying Architecture
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TinyOS Wrapper Plugin

• Defines how to access a local TinyOS installation
• Where is the make system?
• What compiler should be used?
• Encapsulates a TinyOS installation
• Parallel installations do not interfere with each
  other
• We provide 3 different TinyOS wrappers
• TinyOS 1.1.15 snapshot
• Tinynode
• Empty skeleton

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Current State and Future Work

• Reasonably stable but still under construction
• Public beta test
• Bug fixing
• Additional management and deployment features
• TinyOS 2.x support
• ...

gt3000 downloads
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Questions and Feedback
Thank you for your attention!

• For more information please visit our website at
• http//www.dcg.ethz.ch