SD-WISE: A Software-Defined WIreless SEnsor network

In this paper we introduce SD-WISE, a Software-Defined WIreless SEnsor networking solution for Wire- less Sensor (and actuator) Networks (WSNs). SD-WISE has several unique features making it a flexible and expandable solution that can be applied in heterogeneous application domains. Its fundamental fea- ture is that it provides software abstractions of the nodes’ resources on both the controller and the nodes sides. By leveraging these abstractions, SD-WISE (i) extends the Software Defined Networking (SDN) ap- proach to WSNs, introducing a more flexible way to define flows as well as the possibility to control the duty cycles of the node radios to increase energy efficiency; (ii) enables Network Function Virtualization (NFV) in WSNs; (iii) leverages the tight interplay between trusted hardware and software to support reg- ulation compliant behavior of sensor nodes. In this paper SD-WISE is introduced, its major operations are described, and its features are demonstrated in three relevant scenarios, thus assessing the effectiveness of the approach.