1. Swiss Experiment Progress Report 2011 ETHZ/TIK
Jan Beutel, Tonio Gsell, Roman Lim, Mustapha Yuecel, Christoph Walser, Matthias Keller, Bernhard Buchli, Josua Hunziker, Felix Sutton, Lothar Thiele, ETH Zurich

2. PermaSense Low-Power Sensor Network Technology

3. PermaSense – System Architecture
Support for multiple sensor types
Wireless sensor network
Ultra low-power data gathering (Dozer)
CoreStation
Embedded Linux (Gumstix)
4 GB local storage, data duplication
WLAN/GPRS connectivity, backup modem
Solar powered
Data backend
Streaming interface with metadata (GSN)
Standard internet services for monitoring

4. At the Core – Low-power Wireless Sensors
Static, low-rate sensing (2 min)
Temperature profiles, crack meters, resistivity
3 years operation
< 0.1 Mbyte/node/day
[Beutel, IPSN 2010]

5. CoreStation - Embedded Linux & WLAN Router
Gumstix Verdex
WLAN Router
TinyNode
GSM
EMP Protectors
IP68 Enclosure and Connectors
[Buchli, IPSN 2011]

6. PermaSense Deployment Sites 3500 m a.s.l.
A scientific instrument for precision sensing and data recovery in environmental extremes

7. PermaSense Tech Transfer:
Soil Moisture Sensing on the Thur
CCES/RECORD

8. Custom Built Quad Decagon 5TE Soil Moisture Probes

9. CoreStation Installation on Existing RECORD Tower
Redundant connectivity (GPRS/WLAN)
Webcam
Local WLAN access for researchers (essid RECORD-THUR)
Online GSN data management
Operational since March 2010 ~10 Mio data points collected
Joint work with RECORD (P. Schneider, M. Schirmer, EAWAG)

11. Collaborative Field Site Data Access
Matter Valley WLAN
Collaborative Field Site Data Access
&
Maintenance

12. Long-haul Communication – Directional WLAN
Data access from weather radar on Klein Matterhorn
Leased fiber/DSL from Zermatt Bergbahnen AG
Commercial components (Mikrotik)
Weatherproofing
Collaboration with APUNCH (P. Burlando, ETHZ), COGEAR (S. Löw, ETHZ), BAFU and Ct. Valais
Collaborative maintenance
Monitoring infrastructure

13. Matter Valley WLAN Infrastructure
54 Mbit/sec a
PPP tunnel to ETHZ
Local (W)LAN access for researchers
Sites serviced
X-Band Radar (APUNCH)
Matterhorn Hörnliridge (PermaSense, COGEAR)
Hörnlihütte
Randa Rockfall (COGEAR)
Dirruhorn Rockglacier (nano-tera.ch X-Sense)
Grabengufer Rockglacier (nano-tera.ch X-Sense)

14. Sensor Hosting Services & Support

15. Alpine L1/L2 GPS Reference Network
Leica GPS1200+ receiver
WLAN access
Solar power
Weatherproofing
Field site installation support
Trial campaign in Jul/Aug 2010
Rainfall detection
Online since
Matterhorn – Dec 2010
Randa Rockfall – May 2010
Collaboration with COGEAR/APUNCH (A. Geiger, S. Löw, P. Burlando, ETHZ)

16. GSN Data Integration Technische Informatik und Kommunikationsnetze
Computer Engineering and Networks
Technische Informatik und Kommunikationsnetze

17. Data Management – Online Semantic Data
Global Sensor Network (GSN)
Data streaming framework from EPFL
Organized in “virtual sensors”, i.e. data types/semantics
Hierarchies and concatenation of virtual sensors enable on-line processing
Translates data from machine representation to SI values
Adds metadata
Import from field
Web export
GSN
GSN
Private
Public
Issue sin discussion since 2008
Metadata
============
Position
Sensor type
Validity period …

18. Multi-Site, Multi-Station, Multi-Revision Data…

19. Metadata Change Management
Simple exchange of sensor hw/sw at runtime
Metadata annotated in text files
Wiki-based metadata possible -> integration effort

20. Issue – Data Quality and Integrity
[Keller, SenSys 2009, IPSN 2011]
Since 07/2008: ~150’000’000 data points
Inconsistencies
Between timestamps and sequence numbers
Duplicates
Data gaps
Sporadic
Systematic
Revision / Extension June 2010
Service 2009
Installation & Service 2008
Sensornode new installiation

21. Mitigating Data Loss – Backlog Architecture
Backlog = Auxiliary data aggregation layer on the field site
Data sink for surrounding sensor nodes
Reliable (flow controlled) synchronization to GSN
Extensible plugin functionality
Schedulable plugin/script execution, remote controlled by GSN

22. GSN New Functionalities
Metadata Mapping Architecture
BackLog integration, GPS and Vaisala WXT520 data wrappers
Image manipulation
Binary storage on file system (or database)
Remote scheduling facilities
Frontend enhancements (network topology, log tab, plotting tools)
GSN/MySQL performance statistics
Lots of enhancements and bug fixes

23. PermaSense Field Site Visit – June 2010 – 20 People

24. Interested in more? http://www.permasense.ch
ETH Zurich
Computer Engineering and Networks Lab
Geodesy and Geodynamics Lab
Hydrology and Water Resources Management
Geological Institute
Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology
University of Zurich
Department of Geography
EPFL
Distributed Information Systems Laboratory
University of Basel
Department Computer Science
Interested in more?