Abstract

Nearly a decade of fundamental research and development has produced the new information technology of networked embedded sensing. This combination of sensing, low power embedded computing, novel wireless networking, and new algorithms has been inspired by the vision of “internetworking the physical world”. Currently, some of the most important applications of networked embedded sensing are directed to monitoring of environments for understanding of global change, for detection of contamination and pathogens in natural resources, and for safeguarding civil infrastructure. The inherent heterogeneity associated with these environments and the unpredictable nature of events is well-matched by the distributed architecture of networked sensing.

© 2004 Optical Society of America