Solving generic role assignment exactly

Generic role assignment is a programming abstraction that supports the assignment of user-defined roles to sensor nodes such that certain conditions are met. Many common network configuration problems such as coverage (assign roles ON and OFF to sensor nodes such that ON nodes cover a physical area with their sensors), clustering, or in-network data aggregation can be formulated as role assignment problems. Building on our previous work in this area, we propose an extended role specification language that supports the minimization or maximization of the use of a given role. Moreover, we provide a mapping of this language to integer linear programs and implement this mapping. We show how the resulting tool can be used analyze aspects of role specifications such as feasibility and optimality.