Distributed query processing in flash-based sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are used in a large array of applications to capture, collect, and analyze physical environmental data. Many existing sensor systems instruct sensor nodes to report their measurements to central repositories outside the network, which is expensive in energy cost. Recent technological advances in flash memory have given rise to the development of storagecentric sensor networks, where sensor nodes are equipped with high-capacity flash memory storage such that sensor data can be stored and managed inside the network to reduce expensive communication. This novel architecture calls for new data management techniques to fully exploit distributed in-network data storage. This paper describes some of our research on distributed query processing in such flash-based sensor networks. Of particular interests are the issues that arise in the design of storage management and indexing structures combining sensor system workload and read/write/erase characteristics of flash memory.