1. Useful theory? Theory & Practice in Wireless Networks Koen Langendoen Los Angeles, May 20 – 21, 2008

2. Background WSN research MAC protocols localization deployments precision agriculture

3. Experiences "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.” Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut Murphy loves potatoes 2% data yield 98% bug yield Software crisis state-space explosion design & test  Theory is needed

4. theory practice

5. Customer of theory correctness proofs bounds algorithms

6. WSN details that matter Cost  energy (#msgs)  memory footprint Communication  unicast != broadcast  (un)reliable Synchronization (no) reliableunreliable unicastexpensive √ broadcast ̶√

7. Common practice TheorySystems Reliable communication 47 (61%)8 (17%) Energy not accounted for 47 (61%)14 (30%) Round-based algorithms 19 (25%)1 (2%) IPSN 2005–2007 and DCOSS 2005–2006 (theory), SenSys 2005–2006 and EWSN 2006–2007 conferences (systems)

8. Advice account for unreliable communication  correctness / stability  performance quantify communication cost  differentiate ucast/bcast use reactive protocols (vs. synchronized rounds)