Collaborative sensing using uncontrolled mobile devices

This paper considers how uncontrolled mobiles can be used to collaboratively accomplish sensing tasks. Uncontrolled mobiles are mobile devices whose movements cannot be easily controlled for the purpose of achieving a task. Examples include sensors mounted on mobile vehicles of people to monitor air quality and to detect potential airborne nuclear, biological, or chemical agents. We describe an approach for using uncontrolled mobile devices for collaborative sensing. Considering the potentially large number of mobile sensors that may be required to monitor a large geographical area such as a city, a key issue is how to achieve a proper balance between performance and costs. We present analytical results on the rate of information reporting by uncontrolled mobile sensors needed to cover a given geographical area. We also present results from testbed implementations to demonstrate the feasibility of using existing low-cost software technologies and platforms with existing standard protocols for information reporting and retrieval to support a large system of uncontrolled mobile sensors