1. Emphasis of presentation: It is a "practical application", where we have developed a web-based framework to conduct labs and courses for sensor networks that can be used for various applications such as healthcare, military, industry automation, environment and habitat monitoring. 2. Target audience: The target audience is all: novice, intermediate, and expert. Although the presentation will include some general features of the testbed, the main focus is sharing the challenges and ideas of conduting online lab to support short courses, regular courses, and online support for different users such as students, researchers, and industry practitioners. 3. Institutional level targeted: Our target level is "Course" and we will consider different types of courses: short courses for students (certificates), regular courses (3 credit hours), tutorials, lab support for regular courses at other institutions, and short courses for industry practitioners. 4. Type of session (please choose a preferred and backup): Our preferred presentation is "individual presentation". The discussion in the seminar room would be useful for all of us. The interaction with the audience provides more valuable information to all the participants. Further, if possible, we can can have both: a regular presentation and a poster presentation. As poster presentation provides opportunities to meet with colleagues on one-to-one basis, it is useful for more cordial interaction. However, we would be fine with only poster presentation too. In summary our preferences are as follows: a) both regular presentation and poster b) only regular presentation c) only poster presentation 5. Media to be used and audiovisual equipment needed (if any). A regular laptop (with data projector) will be fine. We do *not* need any special A/V equipment. 6. PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION ** Motivation ** In this session, we present the development and features of a web-based wireless sensor network testbed, WINTeR, http://winter.cbu.ca, for online courses and labs. As wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are used for various pervasive and ubiquitous applications such as military, industry automation, environment and habitat monitoring, it is essential that the students in computing sciences are exposed to this emerging technology. It is expected that the impact of WSNs will be comparable to the scale of the Internet. However, as sensor network hardware is expensive, several institutions cannot afford to provide hands-on experience to the students. Further, due to a steep learning curve and a large number of choices regarding hardware and software for WSNs, it is not easy to obtain technical support for a specific development platform. In this session, our goal is to discuss the opportunities and challenges in providing the WINTeR testbed support to the wide range of users: students, industry practitioners, and researchers. Although several corporate and university sponsored testbeds are available, these testbeds lack the support and diversity as in the WINTeR testbed. We have simulated the actual industry environment such as petroleum offshore facility. Using our testbed, it is easy to model a real industry process control. ** Teaching and Training ** We have developed a web-based sensor network testbed, WINTeR, where users can execute their software code using a friendly web-based interface. The testbed can be used in the computing courses at undergraduate or graduate level. Similarly, the testbed can be used by industrial practitioners and researchers. We would like to establish online labs and training manuals for the general community. We also use social networking tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach the audience and provide valuable and timely support. ** Testbed Features ** We provide a user-friendly web-based interface, where users can select the network environment, communication channel model, type of application data, and other simulation details. The testbed also contains a robotic arm, which can be used to analyze the deployment environment without "Observer Effect". The robotic arm can be used to move the sensors using a web-based interface. It is easy to repeat the experiments, without any human presence. All the sensor nodes are equipped with a special hardware to investigate energy consumption in different states. As the communication cost is 1000 times more expensive than the processing cost, researchers have developed several communication protocols to provide in-network processing in order to reduce the energy consumption requirements. The communication protocols have different objectives such as delay the first node death, reduce the overall energy consumption, and delay the death of last x% of nodes. The testbed can be used to teach and investigate different types of communication protocols. The testbed can be used for the integration of different technologies. The application layer logic (e.g. process control) can be integrated with the communication technology (wireless or wired). The communication protocols can be investigated for delay sensitive applications. Similarly, security services can be added at different layers. The users can investigate the impact of security layers on energy efficient communication and application layer. The testbed includes several software agents, which can be used for different tasks such as model identification, intelligent control, and even network forensics. The artificial intelligence techniques and mathematical tools can be used in analyzing the testbed data. There is an opportunity for datamining and other applications. ** Testbed Usage ** The testbed is free to use for academic purposes and we are hopeful it will improve the quality of research in our research institutions. The testbed can be used in several areas such as: communication networks, process control, security techniques, and artificial intelligence. It will also provide the opportunities for global research, where we can provide the high quality education to users from emerging markets such as Brazil, India, and China. ** Conclusion ** As it is a major research project, funded by ACOA/AIF ($6M+) Canada, it would be nice if we can reach a large number of audience. Many universities and institutions (CBU, UNB, Acadia, Dalhousie, CNA Plant) are involved, including industrial partners; however, we still need support and feedback from online education community to discuss the challenges and share experiences regarding online lab facilities for students, researchers, and industry practitioners.
