Mica: a wireless platform for deeply embedded networks

TLDR

Low‑power integration of sensing, communication, and computation demands a new wireless design approach. Mica enables researchers to create customized protocols tailored to their applications without relying on predefined protocols. Mica offers flexible interfaces and primitive accelerators—such as data serializers and timing extractors—that enable cross‑layer optimizations and serve as building blocks for efficient, application‑specific protocols.

Abstract

Low-power integration of sensing, communication, and computation requires a new approach to wireless design. Flexible interfaces and primitive accelerators enable aggressive system-level optimizations. Mica's flexible design serves as a building block for creating efficient application-specific protocols. Instead of defining narrow, standardized application interfaces, Mica provides a set of richly interconnected primitives (such as data serializers and timing extractors) to facilitate cross-layer optimizations. To explore novel systems approaches, researchers can develop customized protocols tailored to their application; Mica does not require use of predefined protocols.