IoT Thesis Projects

Internet of Things – Thesis Proposals
Proposal 1: Video Streaming through Wireless Sensor Networks (June

2011)
Abstract
Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSN) are networks of wireless devices capable of
sensing multimedia content such as audio, still images and video, as well as scalar sensor
data from the environment. Such multimedia networks will enable several new
applications, especially in the surveillance and monitoring area. Such networks are in
many ways unique and more challenging with respect to traditional sensor networks: (i)
sensor devices are constrained in terms of battery, memory and computational capability
while multimedia processing requires to store, process and transmit large amount of data;
(ii) applications of multimedia sensor networks require real-time data from camera
networks: on the one hand these requirements struggle with the network side limitations
(variable channel capacity, limited bandwidth, etc...) and on the other hand with the
constraints imposed by the limited energy resources and processing speed of available
embedded processors.
In this thesis the candidate will investigate the possibility to build an efficient MPEG-like
video streaming system, starting from a hybrid DCT-DPCM existing system.
The goal of this thesis is the study and design of comprehensive solutions to support
video delivery in WMSNs. In particular, the work will address:
• The design of effective video encoding techniques based on MPEG-like standards
• The design of communication protocols to support video delivery over multi-hop
WMSNs
The final outcome of the thesis will have to be an experimental testbed featuring the
developed encoding techniques and communication protocols
Tools
The methodologies used during the thesis will include:
-Simulation: Matlab (encoding techniques), TinyOS-nesC (testbed simulation)
-Testbed Experimental study: TintOS-nesC (testbed development), Java (development of
a minimal application for video delivery in WMSNs).
Background
Foundations on Wireless Networking
Foundations of programming languages (C/C++/Java)
Matlab Fundamentals (not mandatory)
Curiosity, Initiative
Notes and References

S. Paniga, L. Borsani, A. Redondi, M. Tagliasacchi, M. Cesana, Experimental Evaluation
of a Video Streaming System for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks, MedHocNet
2011
Supervisors/Contacts
Matteo Cesana, cesana@elet.polimi.it
Alessandro Redondi, Redondi@elet.polimi.it
Proposal 2: Image Transmission through Wireless Sensor Networks (June
2011)
Abstract
Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSN) are networks of wireless devices capable of
sensing multimedia content such as audio, still images and video, as well as scalar sensor
data from the environment. Such multimedia networks will enable several new
applications, especially in the surveillance and monitoring area. Such networks are in
many ways unique and more challenging with respect to traditional sensor networks: (i)
sensor devices are constrained in terms of battery, memory and computational capability
while multimedia processing requires to store, process and transmit large amount of data;
(ii) applications of multimedia sensor networks require real-time data from camera
networks: on the one hand these requirements struggle with the network side limitations
(variable channel capacity, limited bandwidth, etc...) and on the other hand with the
constraints imposed by the limited energy resources and processing speed of available
embedded processors.
In this thesis, different image coding and transmission schemes for WSNs will be
analyzed, implemented and evaluated. In particular, the work will include:
• The design of effective image compression techniques to be implemented on sensor
nodes (JPG, progressive JPG, etc.)
• The design of effective communication protocols to deliver the compressed images
remotely through multi-hop networks
Tools
-Testbed Experimental study: TintOS-nesC (testbed development), Java (development of
a minimal application for image delivery in WMSNs).
Background

J. Romberg, Imaging via Compressive Sampling
Proposal 3: Audio Assisted Living (June 2011)
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges in Ambient Assisted Living is to design smart homes that
could be able to anticipate the needs of its inhabitant while maintaining their comfort and
their safety with an adaptation of the house environment and a facilitation of the
connections to the outside world. Sensor nodes can be geared of multi-media sensors
including cameras, microphones and speakers. In the field of monitoring applications for
WSNs, such multimedia “hardware” can be leveraged to implement safety-oriented
application and integrated surveillance systems. As an example, the wireless sensor
networks can be used to convey vocal commands or to pervasively recognize words
and/or sounds which may trigger some type of reaction of the integrated surveillance
system (human intervention, on demand activation of video cameras, etc.). All these
applications build upon the capability of the sensor and the sensor networks to recognize
acoustic patterns.
In this thesis a complete audio based assisted living system will be implemented and
deployed, through the design of suitable on/off-mote data compression schemes and
audio analysis algorithms.
The work will include:
• The study of energy efficient algorithms for recognizing audio patterns through
commercial sensor hardware.
• The study of the most proper means to deliver the audio patterns through multi-hop
wireless sensor networks.
Tools
-Simulation: Matlab (to test audio pattern recognition techniques), TinyOS-nesC (to
implement/simulate the audio pattern recognition techniques on sensor nodes)
-Testbed Experimental study: TinyOS-nesC (testbed development), Java (development of
a minimal application for audio recognition in WMSNs).
Background

Vacher, M. ; Portet, F. ; Fleury, A. ; Noury, N. ; Challenges in the Processing of Audio
Channels for Ambient Assisted Living LIG Lab., UJF, Grenoble, France
Berisha, V. ; Homin Kwon ; Spanias, A. ; Real-time acoustic monitoring using wireless

sensor motes Dept. of Electr. Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ
Proposal 4: Street Quality Detection for bikers (June 2011)
Abstract
Have you ever cursed your local administration while riding your bike through bumpy
streets full of potholes? If so, you may be interested to work on this thesis project whose
aim is to develop a pothole detection systems for bikers based on wireless sensor
networks. The biker (or the bike) can be geared with wireless sensors with accelerometers
and gyroscopes which can be leveraged to detect discontinuities and holes on the street
surface. The thesis will include the following contributions:
• the study and design of effective algorithms to process the accelerometers signals to
detect and assess the “quality” of the street surface.
• the study of transmission mechanism to deliver the sampled (and processed) signal to
a cell phone
• the implementation of a lightweight application to display the results of the analysis
(the application might leverage positioning information)
Tools
-Simulation: Matlab (to test holes detection algorithms), TinyOS-nesC (to
implement/simulate the detection techniques on sensor nodes)
-Testbed Experimental study: TintOS-nesC (testbed development), Java/Android
(development of a minimal application)
Background
Signal Processing Fundamentals
Fundamentals of programming languages (C/C++/Java)

J. Eriksson, L. Girod, B. Hull, R. Newton, S. Madden, and H. Balakrishnan, The pothole
patrol: using a mobile sensor network for road surface monitoring, ACM MobiSys '08.
Advisor/Contacts
Proposal 5: 3D Localization Solutions (June 2011)
Abstract
Localization has been an important topic in data-centric wireless sensor networks (WSNs)
due to the special association between location information and the relevance of sensory
data. Although most proposed approaches have been modeled for 2D space, a gradual but
marked shift in the focus of 3D localization has taken place. In this thesis the candidate
will implement and evaluate a 3D localization algorithm on a Wireless Sensor Network,
including the development of a Graphic User Interface.
Tools
TinyOS, Matlab, Java
Background

Chia-Yen Shih, P.J. Marró, COLA: Complexity-Reduced Trilateration Approach for 3D
Localization in Wireless Sensor Networks Dept. of Comput. & Cognitive Sci., Univ.
Duisburg-Essen & Fraunhofer IAIS, Duisburg, Germany
A. Redondi,; M. Tagliasacchi, M. Cesana, L. Borsani, P. Tarrío, F. Salice, LAURA —

LocAlization and Ubiquitous monitoRing of pAtients for health care support, IEEE
APLEC 2010
Advisor/Contacts
Proposal 6: Virtual Trainer for Running (June 2011)
Abstract
Recent technological advances in integrated circuits, wireless communications, and
physiological sensing have boosted the development of miniaturized, lightweight, ultra-
low power, intelligent monitoring devices. A number of these devices
can be integrated to form a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN), a wireless sensor
network whose devices, called motes, are positioned on the body of a person to monitor
biometric parameters and vital signs. To this extent, the latest advances in Mirco-Electro
Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology have opened up the opportunity to realize
miniaturized accelerometers, a sensing element that measures acceleration.
Such system can help the user during the exercise providing him a feedback to avoid
errors which can cause hurts.
The goal of this thesis is the realization of an automatic system for the supervision of
jogging/running exercises. The systems will be composed of wearable sensor nodes
positioned on body to capture and process acceleration samples gathered through
accelerometers, and to transmit remotely the collected information. In a nutshell, the
thesis objective can be summarized in the following points:
• To study effective algorithms to acquire data from accelerometers
• To study effective algorithms to process the aforementioned data to give a “quality”
indicator to the jogging/running gesture
• To study effective solutions to collect and deliver the information remotely
Tools
-Simulation: Matlab (to test acceleration analysis algorithms), TinyOS-nesC (to
implement/simulate the detection techniques on sensor nodes)
Background

Stefano Melzi, Luca Borsani, Matteo Cesana, The Virtual Trainer: Supervising
Movements Through a Wearable Wireless Sensor Network, IEEE Secon 2009
Advisor/Contacts
Proposal 7: ECG through WSNs (June 2011)
Abstract
Sensor nodes are currently available to capture Electro Cardio Graphic signals from
nomadic patients which can then be remotely delivered through wireless transmissions to
other devices (e.g., cell phones and PDAs).
This thesis will target the realization of a comprehensive system for real-time ECG
through sensor nodes. The work will include:
• the analysis of proper compression techniques for ECG samples
• the realization of proper transmissions techniques to deliver the collected sensors
remotely
• the realization of an application to provide ECG feedback to the end user (possibly
for mobile terminals)
Tools
-Simulation: Matlab (to test sample acquisition and compression techniques), TinyOS-
nesC (to implement/simulate the detection techniques on sensor nodes)
Background
Notes
Chulsung Park; Chou, P.H.; Ying Bai; Matthews, R.; Hibbs, A.; , "An ultra-wearable,
wireless, low power ECG monitoring system," IEEE BioCAS 2006.
Advisor/Contacts
Proposal 8: Visual Analysis in Wireless Sensor Networks (October 2011)
Abstract
Traditionally, smart cameras perform image acquisition, and compression locally,
sending away a compact representation of the fetched image which is then analysed
remotely. Such paradigm may not be suited to wireless sensor network where delivering
remotely a compressed image or even a sequence of images may be impaired (or simply
impossible) due to the limited resources (bandwidth, energy, etc.). Enabling visual
analysis in energy-constrained WSNs requires departing from traditional solutions and
pursuing a paradigm shift that affects the way visual data is sensed, processed and
transmitted.
The key tenet is that most visual analysis tasks can be carried out based on a succinct
representation of the image, which entails both global and local features, while it
disregards the underlying pixel-level representation. In a nutshell, sensor camera may
extract and send only a succinct representation of the captured image rather than
delivering the full-fledged image itself.
To this extent, it is imperative to optimize the computation, coding and communication of
the visual features. That is, image features are collected by sensing nodes, are processed,
and are then delivered to the final destination(s) in order to enable higher level visual
analysis tasks by means of either centralized or distributed detectors and classifiers. All
these steps are subject to tight application-dependent requirements (bandwidth/delay
guarantees), and may be affected by network conditions, communication and hardware
constraints. Such paradigm shift in the coding/processing functionalities calls for
enhanced and innovative networking algorithms and protocols.
The goal of this thesis is the study and design of comprehensive solutions to support
feature extraction in WMSNs. In particular, the work will address:
• The design of effective feature extraction, coding algorithms for sensor cameras
• The design of coordination/orchestration protocols to support distributed processing
of features among neighboring sensor nodes
• The design of communication protocols to support feature delivery over multi-hop
WMSNs
Tools
-Testbed Experimental study: TintOS-nesC (testbed development
Background and Notes

The proposal can give raise to different theses
Matteo Cesana, cesana@elet.polimi.it, Alessandro Redondi, Redondi@elet.polimi.it
Proposal 9: Implementation of a CoAP-Enabled Wireless Sensor Network
(October 2011)
Abstract
A recent initiative of the IETF has been launched to standardize an application layer
protocol for constrained devices/networks. The reference protocol is called Constrained
Application Protocol (CoAP) and is devised to mimic the HTTP REST-full
communication paradigm. CoAP provides methods and commands to interrogate a sensor
device (equivalent to HTTP GET commands) and to modify the status of the sensor itself.
The goal of this thesis is the implementation of CoAP in a wireless sensor network based
on TinyOS to showcase the performances of the CoAP in terms of latency and
robustness. CoAP libraries are already available (see reference []), so the required work
load and novelty makes this proposal more suited to a short thesis.
The final outcome of the thesis will have to be an experimental testbed running CoAP
over TinyOS.
Tools
-Testbed Experimental study: TintOS-nesC (testbed development), CoAP libraries ©
Background

[1] http://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/core/ Web Site of the IETF working group
standardizing CoAP
[2] http://hinrg.cs.jhu.edu/joomla/images/stories/coap-ipsn.pdf Research paper describing

the implemnetation of the CoAP

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Internet of Things – Thesis Proposals

Proposal 1: Video Streaming through Wireless Sensor Networks (June

Notes and References

Notes and References

Notes and References

Berisha, V. ; Homin Kwon ; Spanias, A. ; Real-time acoustic monitoring using wireless

Notes and References

Notes and References

A. Redondi,; M. Tagliasacchi, M. Cesana, L. Borsani, P. Tarrío, F. Salice, LAURA —

Notes and References

Background and Notes

Notes and References

[2] http://hinrg.cs.jhu.edu/joomla/images/stories/coap-ipsn.pdf Research paper describing

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