TeleScribe: a scalable, resumable wireless reprogramming approach

Abstract

TeleScribe is a software mechanism for efficiently reprogramming embedded systems such as wireless sensor nodes over a shared communication link. One distinguishing feature is its ability to resume update on any node after power failure, link disconnection, or many other indefinite disruptive events. The nodes are guaranteed never to be left in a bad state as a result of such incomplete reprogramming procedures. Moreover, TeleScribe efficiently disseminates the binary image to as many nodes as possible, thereby minimizing redundant communication while ensuring that, in a later round as needed, all nodes receive packets that were lost earlier. Experimental results show TeleScribe to be the fastest and smallest among similar systems, achieving an update rate of about 95 bytes per node per second in a 100-node system. The total code size of our implementation on the node is around only 2 KB, making TeleScribe easily adaptable to a wide range of platforms with little overhead