ETH Zurich : Computer Science : Pervasive Computing : Distributed Systems : Education : Student Projects : Abstract

Passive Distributed Assertions (M)

Status: Abgeschlossen

When deployed in a real-world setting, many sensor networks fail to meet application requirements even though they have been tested in the lab prior to deployment. Hence, concepts and tools for inspection are needed to identify failure causes in situ on the deployment site. Tools for inspection should minimize the interference with the sensor network to, firstly, ensure that failures of the sensor network do not break the inspection mechanisms, and, secondly, to ensure that the inspection mechanisms does not change the behavior of the sensor network. In this masters thesis, passive distributed assertions (PDA) are developed as a novel tool for identifying failure causes. PDA allow a programmer to assert certain predicates over distributed node states. Packet sniffing is used to detect failed assertions, thus minimizing the interference with the sensor networks.