Support System For Ad Hoc Networks |

ABSTRACT:

Ad hoc and sensor networks are animportant, emerging niche that is poorly supported by existing operatingsystems. In this paper, we argue that network-wide energy management is aprimary concern in ad hoc networks, and that this functionality is bestprovided by a systems layer. We are currently designing and implementing adistributed, power-aware, adaptive operating system, called MagnetOS, specificallytargeting ad hoc and sensor networks. MagnetOS provides a single system imageof a unified Java virtual machine across the nodes that comprise an ad hocnetwork. By automatically and transparently partitioning applications intocomponents and dynamically placing these components on nodes within the ad hocnetwork, our system reduces energy consumption, avoids hotspots and increasessystem longevity. We show that a systems approach to automatic object placementin an ad hoc network can increase system longevity by a factor of four to five.