Internet Sensor Network Testbeds

Monitoring ground motion caused by human activity (e.g. ships, rail and vehicular traffic, explosions, civil infrastructure), biological activity (e.g. marine and terrestrial animal migrations and behavior), and natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning) is critical for research, public safety, and security. The key considerations for sensors used in these monitoring applications include precision, response time, accuracy, deployability, and cost. The planning work supported through this project will develop the framework for a future mid-scale research infrastructure proposal that would support the build-out of a national testbed facility focused on fiber-based ground motion and deformation sensing. The foundational idea for this facility is that relatively minor modifications to devices that send and receive data signals on fiber-optic cables deployed in the Internet can enable ground motion sensing capabilities that are not possible with standard technologies. The planning activities for the envisioned Internet Sensor Network (Internet-S) testbed will identify the associated technical requirements and develop a framework for the facility that is feasible in terms of costs and operation. This work will also focus on fleshing out details of the key components of the facility, which include (i) an optics laboratory for controlled, repeatable research with optical components; (ii) a dark fiber network for in situ research of optical sensing devices; and (iii) an optical data analytics and visualization workbench for organizing and interpreting fiber-based sensing data. Working groups comprised of thought leaders from key disciplines including computer science, geoscience, physics, and electrical engineering will be organized to develop the Internet-S testbed design. The planning activities will also include two workshops that will convene a broader group of researchers, equipment vendors, network operators, and government entities to discuss Internet-S and seed future use of the envisioned research testbed infrastructure.

The mid-scale research infrastructure envisioned in this work will be used by a diverse community of scholars to develop new Internet-based environmental and infrastructure sensing capabilities that go well beyond current technologies in terms of scale, sensitivity, and manageability -- at low cost. The new sensing systems developed in the testbed will be used in a wide range of applications, including computer networking, optics and geoscience research, smart cities, public safety, and security. This work will also influence the development of new concepts and expertise that will be used in computer networking, geoscience, and data science courses.

NSF award page