Poster Abstract: Rime — A Lightweight Layered Communication Stack for Sensor Networks

Early work in sensor networks found traditional layered communication architectures too restrictive and proposed cross-layer optimizations. Recent work in data aggregation, however, argues that the complexity of cross-layer optimizations may lead to fragile and unmanageable systems. This has inspired us to create Rime, a layered communication stack for sensor networks, with much tinner layers than traditional architectures. Rime is designed to simplify the implementation of communication protocols. A preliminary evaluation suggests that Rime may be able to significantly reduce the implementation complexity of sensor network protocols with only a small increase in resource requirements, hinting that a layered stack may be a suitable communication abstraction even for sensor networks.