PyFUNS: A Python Framework for Ubiquitous Networked Sensors

In recent years Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been deployed in wide range of applications from the health and environment monitoring to building and industrial control. However, the pace of prevalence of WSN is slower than anticipated by the research community due to several reasons including required embedded systems expertise for developing and deploying WSNs; use of proprietary protocols; and limits in scalability and reliability. In this paper we propose

PyFUNS

(Python-based Framework for Ubiquitous Networked Sensors) to address these challenges.

PyFUNS

handles low level and networking functionalities, using the services provided by Contiki, and leaves to the user only the task of application development in the form of Python scripts. This approach reduces required expertise in embedded systems to develop WSN based applications.

PyFUNS

also uses 6LoWPAN and CoAP standard protocols to enable interoperability and ease of integration with other systems, pursuing the Internet of Things vision. Through a real implementation of

PyFUNS

in two constrained platforms we proved its feasibility in mote devices, as well as its performance in terms of control delay, energy consumption and network traffic in several network topologies. As it is possible with

PyFUNS

to easily compare performance of different deployments of distributed application,

PyFUNS

can be used to identify optimal design of distributed application.