ROPE: A reactive, opportunistic protocol for environment monitoring sensor networks

The goal of sensor networks that monitor the environment is to detect and report the temporal and spatial dynamics of that environment and to run unattended for several months. Meeting all three of these requirements in real applications has proved to be a challenging task. This paper presents a novel protocol for data gathering that adapts opportunistically to changes in its environment. Each node compresses its gathered data locally, transmitting a burst of data when communication conditions are good. We report the design and analysis of the protocol and results of preliminary implementation tests using CSIRO Flecks and TinyOS.