Center for Embedded Network Sensing

We are deploying a metropolitan scale Wi-Fi mesh network near downtown Los Angeles to support the design and development of a data-centric network-fabric for urban participatory sensing. Participatory sensing employs software and network technology to enable people’s everyday mobile devices to act as credible sensors of the natural, built, and cultural environments. Current research focuses on how to make it easy and secure for both the public and professional users to define sensing ‘campaigns,’ recruit participants to collect data, to help ‘make a case’ with data they collect, and digitally publish the results. To further research in this area, our architecture will enable embedding network–attested location and time context in sensor readings. The network will also provide a research framework for developing policy-based privacy, and related security mechanisms for participatory sensing.