Self-configuring, Lightweight Sensor Networks for Ubiquitous Computing

We show that it is possible to extract geometric descriptions of the spaces observed by sensor networks, even if the network consists of sensors that are of very limited ability: such as motion detectors. By using statistical techniques and relying only on the unconstrained patterns generated by the occupants of the building we show how to recover information about sensor geometry. This is important to the ubiquitous computing community since ubiquitous sensors and the context that the provide will only become a reality if the sensors are cheap, low-power, and self-configuring. Abridged version in Adjuct Proc. of the 5 International Conf. on Ubiquitous Computing This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c ©Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2003 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Patent filed October 10, 2003. Abridged version in UbiComp2003 Adjunct Proceedings October 13, 2003.