Easy installation instruction for TinyOS 1.x

2010-03-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not an expert in TinyOS so search in google for indepth questions regarding tinyOS & hardware involved. I'm covering only the installation process here.
Installing TinyOS was cumbersome & frustrating experience for me. It took me more than one month to get it working stage. I tried to install it in 4-5 OSs many times including Xubuntos, Ubuntu, RedHat, Windows XP etc. No proper document covering all aspect of installation is available for it. I have gone through 'n' number of documents for installing it in different OS but of no help. I was running out of time allotted for my project which further added to my frustration. All those times I was trying to install it in tinyOS 2.x. So next I gave tinyOS 1.x a try. Some steps were missing in all documents concerning tinyOS which I realised while going through TinyOS help pages archive. At last I installed tinyos-1.x in Windows XP inside VMware & Windows 7 as my host OS. Of course any VMware supporting OS can be the host OS like linux distributions. As there was no proper documents available for it, I decided to write a blog to save others from such a frustrating experience.

I recommend using VMware & install Windows XP inside it because of safety measures. And don't forget to take snapshots in VMware, after installing XP & in different stages of your progress of installing tinyOS. So that, in case you messed up while installing tinyOS, you can revert back the changes to the previous snapshot.

Follow these instructions pertaining to installing tinyos 1.x in Windows XP
1> Go here & follow the steps for installing tinyos 1.x in Windows XP -> http://webs.cs.berkeley.edu/tos/tinyos-1.x/doc/install.html
Some precautions you must follow while going through the steps.
a> Java 1.4 JDK is too outdated. I have scratched my head for many hours while finding this version. Java 1.5 jdk will not work, I have checked it & I don't think any other version will work other than 1.4. So the direct link where you should go is http://java.sun.com/products/archive/ & then look for [J2SDK/J2RE - 1.4], scroll down for 1.4.2 (initial). After that follow the instructions for choosing OS (windows) & installer (SDK). The file name is j2sdk-1_4_2-windows-i586.exe & its about 42.75MB.
b> Javax.comm is also hard to find in sun site. So I gave google a try & I found the link here ->http://llk.media.mit.edu/projects/picdev/software/javaxcomm.zip . Download it & after that follow the instructions as they are in the site.

2> When you are finished with all instruction on installing tinyOS 1.x in Windows XP, now you have to set the environment variables which is the most important step to bring it in working stage.
They are TOSROOT, TOSDIR, CLASSPATH, PATH & MAKERULES.
You can check the value of any variable by command "echo $TOSROOT" similarly for others(without quotes).
Commands for setting various variables -->
>export TOSROOT="/opt/tinyos-1.x/"
>export TOSDIR="$TOSROOT/tos"
>export CLASSPATH=`cygpath -w $TOSROOT/tools/java`
>export CLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH;."
>export PATH="/cygdrive/c/j2sdk1.4.2/bin:/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

One thing, I have noticed that some variables value gets omitted after restarting the terminal. So, I appended the file [C:\Program Files\cygwin\etc\profile] at the end, instead of executing the command like above.

# make sure we start in home
cd "$HOME"
export PATH="/opt/tinyos-1.x/tools/java/net/tinyos/sim/:$PATH"
export DBG=usr1
export MAKERULES=`cygpath -w $TOSROOT/tools/make/Makerules`

As you have installed java 1.4 jdk, a folder named j2sdk1.4.2 must be created in C: drive. One thing that I didn't found in any installation instruction was setting PATH environment variable in a proper way. I made it work by performing trial & error method & going through help archives. All paths in my PATH variable are ( paths separated by ':' )

Code:

/opt/tinyos-1.x/tools/java/net/tinyos/sim/:/cygdrive/c/j2sdk1.4.2/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/cygdrive/c/WINDOWS/system32:/cygdrive/c/WINDOWS:/cygdrive/c/WINDOWS/System32/Wbem:/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/ATT/Graphviz/bin:/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/ATT/Graphviz/bin/tools

/opt/tinyos-1.x/tools/java/net/tinyos/sim/ --> for tinyviz, so that I can execute "tinyviz" command from any directory
/cygdrive/c/j2sdk1.4.2/bin --> for java integration
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin --> to make sure I didn't miss any bin directory (all important executables) :-)
Rest of the paths are included by default or include it otherwise if it's not there.

Mind you, your CLASSPATH variable must contain these paths.
>Echo $CLASSPATH must return

Code:

.;C:\Program/ Files\cygwin\opt\tinyos-1.x\tools\java;C:\Program/ Files\cygwin\opt\tinyos-1.x\tools\java\jars\oalnf.jar;C:\Program/ Files\cygwin\opt\tinyos-1.x\tools\java\jars\pxgraphapplet.jar

If any path is missing, add it using the commands, I wrote above.
Note that PATH values are separated by ':' , whereas CLASSPATH values are separated by ';'. This is because, we are using cygwin type path in PATH & windows type path in CLASSPATH.
>export CLASSPATH=`cygpath -w $TOSROOT/tools/java` In this command "cygpath -w" is used to convert cygwin type of path into windows style.

Ok now, execute the command "toscheck". if you have done above steps carefully, It should complete without any error. If there is any error, read the error & try to make out what went wrong. Error will be detected if you have installed jdk 1.5.
After you gained a no error status, go here /opt/tinyos-1.x/tools/java/net/tinyos/sim/ (cd /opt/tinyos-1.x/tools/java/net/tinyos/sim/) & execute "make" command. If there is no error then you have successfully compiled & configured tinyviz & successfully installed tinyOS.

Now goto /opt/tinyos-1.x/apps/ (>cd /opt/tinyos-1.x/apps/).
There are many folders comprising different programs in there. They are inbuilt in TinyOS to give you an understanding of tinyOS. Now, we have to test our installation. Go to TestTinyViz folder(>cd /opt/tinyos-1.x/apps/TestTinyViz) & execute the command "make pc" for compilation (only dealing with TOSSIM simulator here). After successful compilation, execute command "./build/pc/main.exe -gui 3"
build/pc/main.exe --> location of executable created.
-gui --> for graphical interpretation using tinyviz.
3 --> any no. (no. of nodes in simulation).
After that open another terminal & execute the command "tinyviz" to see the simulation in tinyviz. You will see nodes communicating with each other in Tinyviz GUI. In my case , at the first time launch of tinyviz, it closed automatically without showing anything. But after sometimes of repeated execution of same commads, it started working, I don't know what the problem was. I searched it in google & many people seemed to had same problem at the beginning. May be you need to restart, I don't know.

It might be possible that something might have slipped off my mind because I have installed it 4 months before writing this blog. But its very unlikely because I did it many times.
I think, you can install tinyos-2.x in similar fashion, let me know, if it works.

Read this pdf file for detailed explanation of TOSSIM commands. Here's another pdf for tinyOS-programming concepts. Plenty of material is available online on the subject, so search in google & subscribe to tinyOS-help mailing list for asking genuine problems to the community.

This is the snapshot of tinyviz after successful installation.

I have worked in simulation of WSN using TOSSIM implementing Key Exchange Algorithm between nodes. Here are the snapshots.

I will be working in real motes & hardware soon.
I would be grateful if the people who have successfully configured tinyOS in other OSs like Xunbutos, Ubuntu & others, could mail me, providing the complete instructions of installation.
Eagerly waiting for your suggestions or feedback or correction!

My WSN Project : Data Sensing and secured Data forwarding in WSN using MICAz motes.

2010-03-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

The project aims for Data Sensing & Secured Data Forwarding in serial multi-hop wireless sensor networks using Micaz based motes. Data sensing & forwarding it in secure manner is sensitive issue in wireless networks. Muti-hop network design is preferable over access point based networks as future design in employing home network because of its wide coverage and flexibility to adjacent with the architecture of home. Implementing a secure data forwarding mechanism requires a balance between energy requirement, sampling rate & battery life. Micaz motes possess Light, temperature, RH, barometric pressure, acceleration/Seismic sensors which can sense the data. In our project each mote will be connected via mesh topology and gateway act as a base station. Every mote in its vicinity will sense temperature & other sensed data & transfer the resultant data to its next mote. At the end we will measure temperature in a particular range & it will be displayed in the PC.
For secure data forwarding in between motes we are using Diffie-Hellmann key encryption algorithm. Diffie-Hellmann key exchange algorithm, not only retains all the highly desirable properties of the schemes including high probability of establishing pair wise keys, tolerance of node compromise but also significantly reduces communication and computational costs of each node. It involves Key generation, Encryption, distribution and decryption. Using Diffie-Hellmann key exchange algorithm, first the symmetric keys are generated between any two communicating nodes, these keys are used for encrypting the sensed data & then forwarded to next mote. At the next mote data is decrypted & again encrypted by using the symmetric keys of the next pair of communicating nodes in order to forward the data to next mote. This process is repeated till the data reaches the base station. For encrypting the data Tinysec security architecture is used which employs skipjack algorithm of encryption in CBC mode. When the data reaches the base station the information is extracted to pc. The information is processed & displayed on the moteview of the WSN. Moteview is gui which displays the network topology including the data sensed by different motes.

Here's a final presentation of my project!

Majorppt

View more presentations from vik001ind.

And here's the demo video of my MICAz WSN.

My field of study in WSN - Security Support in In-Network Processing & Analysis of Key Management in WSN

2010-03-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

Go through the doc to have a general understanding about In-Network Processing & key Management in WSN. Security Support in In-Network Processing & analysis of key management in WSN

View more documents from vik001ind.

TinyOS 1.x Easy Installation in Windows XP

Easy installation instruction for TinyOS 1.x

My WSN Project : Data Sensing and secured Data forwarding in WSN using MICAz motes.

My field of study in WSN - Security Support in In-Network Processing & Analysis of Key Management in WSN