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Ambient Intelligence pp 115–148Cite as

TinyOS: An Operating System for Sensor Networks

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Abstract

We present TinyOS, a flexible, application-specific operating system for sensor networks, which form a core component of ambient intelligence systems. Sensor networks consist of (potentially) thousands of tiny, low-power nodes, each of which execute concurrent, reactive programs that must operate with severe memory and power constraints. The sensor network challenges of limited resources, event-centric concurrent applications, and low-power operation drive the design of TinyOS. Our solution combines flexible, fine-grain components with an execution model that supports complex yet safe concurrent operations. TinyOS meets these challenges well and has become the platform of choice for sensor network research; it is in use by over a hundred groups worldwide, and supports a broad range of applications and research topics. We provide a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the system, showing that it supports complex, concurrent programs with very low memory requirements (many applications fit within 16KB of memory, and the core OS is 400 bytes) and efficient, low-power operation.We present our experiences with TinyOS as a platform for sensor network innovation and applications.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, 511 Cory Hall #1770, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1770, USA

    P. Levis, S. Madden, J. Polastre, R. Szewczyk, E. Brewer & D. Culler

  2. Intel Research Berkeley, 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 1300, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA

    S. Madden, D. Gay & M. Welsh

  3. MIT, CSAIL, 32 Vassar St., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    S. Madden

  4. Electrical Engineering Department, UCLA, 56-125B Engineering IV Building, Box 951594, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1594, USA

    K. Whitehouse & A. Woo

  5. JLH Labs, 35231 Camino Capistrano, Capistrano Beach, CA, 92624, USA

    J. Hill

  6. Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    M. Welsh

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  1. P. Levis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Infineon Technologies, Corporate Research, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6, 81739, Munich, Germany

    Werner Weber

  2. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, 511 Cory Hall #1770, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1770, USA

    Jan M. Rabaey

  3. Philips Research, Prof. Holstlaan 4 (WAY2.11), 5656 AA, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Emile Aarts

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Levis, P. et al. (2005). TinyOS: An Operating System for Sensor Networks. In: Weber, W., Rabaey, J.M., Aarts, E. (eds) Ambient Intelligence. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27139-2_7

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