Entity Management Module

The entity management module (EMM) provides an entity formation and maintenance service. The EMM has several essential functions. First, an entity must be created and identified when an event first occurs in the sensor network. Second, once established, the EMM must maintain this single entity and prevent spurious entities from forming around a previously abstracted event. While an entity exists the EMM must maintain its persistent state such as its unique identity which signifies the local environmental event. Finally, the EMM is responsible for ensuring that nodes that sense an event for the first time know when to become a member of an existing entity and when to spawn a new entity around the sensed event. These functions are described below.