Inside, two eminent researchers review the diverse technologies and techniques that interact in todays wireless sensor networks. At every step, they are guided by the high-level information-processing tasks that determine how these networks are architected and administered. Zhao and Guibas begin with the canonical problem of localizing and tracking moving objects, then systematically examine the many fundamental sensor network issues that spring from it, including network discovery, service establishment, data routing and aggregation, query processing, programming models, and system organization. The understanding gained as a resulthow different layers support the needs of different applications, and how a wireless sensor network should be built to optimize performance and economyis sure to endure as individual component technologies come and go.

Written for practitioners, researchers, and students and relevant to all application areas, including environmental monitoring, industrial sensing and diagnostics, automotive and transportation, security and surveillance, military and battlefield uses, and large-scale infrastructural maintenance.
Skillfully integrates the many disciplines at work in wireless sensor network design: signal processing and estimation, communication theory and protocols, distributed algorithms and databases, probabilistic reasoning, energy-aware computing, design methodologies, evaluation metrics, and more.
Demonstrates how querying, data routing, and network self-organization can support high-level information-processing tasks.