Small battery-powered sensors are placed high on the walls. Below is a maze of 100 cubicles, each packed with computers and electronics. Using very little power, the sensors wirelessly re-synchronize the internal clocks of a computer network. The successful result has widespread implications for sensors used for everything from remotely detecting hazardous materials to monitoring earthquakes. The resulting paper from the experiment—by Vikram Gupta, a PhD student, Carnegie Mellon/Portugal program—received a Best Paper Award at the ACM Sensys conference, the flagship symposium of the wireless sensor networks community.
—Camille Downing
