Article

The nesC language: A holistic approach to networked embedded systems

Authors:

Robert von Behren,

David CullerAuthors Info & Claims

PLDI '03: Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN 2003 conference on Programming language design and implementation

Pages 1 - 11

https://doi.org/10.1145/781131.781133

Published: 09 May 2003 Publication History

Abstract

We present nesC, a programming language for networked embedded systems that represent a new design space for application developers. An example of a networked embedded system is a sensor network, which consists of (potentially) thousands of tiny, low-power "motes," each of which execute concurrent, reactive programs that must operate with severe memory and power constraints.nesC's contribution is to support the special needs of this domain by exposing a programming model that incorporates event-driven execution, a flexible concurrency model, and component-oriented application design. Restrictions on the programming model allow the nesC compiler to perform whole-program analyses, including data-race detection (which improves reliability) and aggressive function inlining (which reduces resource consumption).nesC has been used to implement TinyOS, a small operating system for sensor networks, as well as several significant sensor applications. nesC and TinyOS have been adopted by a large number of sensor network research groups, and our experience and evaluation of the language shows that it is effective at supporting the complex, concurrent programming style demanded by this new class of deeply networked systems.

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Index Terms

The nesC language: A holistic approach to networked embedded systems
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software notations and tools
    1. General programming languages

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cover image ACM Conferences

PLDI '03: Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN 2003 conference on Programming language design and implementation

June 2003

360 pages

ISBN:1581136625

DOI:10.1145/781131

General Chair:
Ron Cytron
Washington University, USA
,
Program Chair:
Rajiv Gupta
University of Arizona, USA

ACM SIGPLAN Notices Volume 38, Issue 5
May 2003
349 pages
ISSN:0362-1340
EISSN:1558-1160
DOI:10.1145/780822
Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2003 ACM.

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Published: 09 May 2003

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