Formal foundations of sensor network applications

One of the key features that distinguishes sensor networks from other networked applications is that their focus is generally not the sensors per se, but space-filling phenomena of the environment through which the sensors are deployed. Following the mathematical implications of this observation leads to a formal grounding of sensor network applications in a field calculus that describes sensing, modeling, and interpretation of space-filling phenomena directly in terms of operations on mathematical fields. This points to more flexible, scalable, and resilient approaches to sensor network applications, as well as simpler approaches to developing decentralized applications that can provide robust services in difficult operating environments such as natural disasters, mass events, and critical cyber-physical systems.