Anton Paatelma

Extensible modular wireless sensor and actuator network and IoT platform with plug&play module connection

Efficiency and flexibility are among the key requirements for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSAN) of Internet of Things (IoT) era. In this work we present and demonstrate a novel WSAN and IoT platform. The new nodes are constructed by stacking together the different hardware modules encapsulating power sources, processing units, wired and wireless transceivers, sensors and actuators, or sets of those. Once a node is built, its processing unit can automatically identify all the connected hardware modules, obtain required software modules and tune nodes operation accounting for its structure, available resources and active applications.

Demo: Modular Multi-radio Wireless Sensor Platform for IoT Trials with Plug&Play Module Connection

In the paper we present and demonstrate the modular prototyping platform designed for trialing the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The new devices are constructed by stacking together the various hardware modules encapsulating power sources, processing units, wired and wireless transceivers, sensors and actuators, or sets of those. The main processing unit automatically identifies all the attached modules and adjusts own operation accordingly. The demo will showcase how the platform can be used for building up multi-radio technology enabled wireless devices which will automatically form a heterogeneous wireless sensor and actuator network (WSAN). The possible use case scenarios and the ongoing research activities around the platform will be highlighted as well.

BeamViewer: Visualization of dynamic antenna radiation patterns using Augmented Reality

Wireless research and education are often hindered by the fact that RF electromagnetic signals are invisible and therefore hard to visualize. Domain-specific software, such as those used for antenna radiation pattern measurements, has significantly enhanced the level of radiation visualization through interactive 3D plots. However, the intuition stops there and does not carry over into the real-word operational environment of antennas and radios. As a result, there exists a real disconnect in visualization between the available antenna radiation patterns and their effects on wireless network performance. In this demo1 we present BeamViewer, an augmented reality framework to help visualize and capture the dynamic radiation patterns of reconfigurable antennas in real time. BeamViewer takes inputs from the cognitive radios controlling beam-steerable antennas and annotates on a live-view mobile screen the active pre-measured radiation patterns. This capability adds an unprecedented level of instant visualization and provides valuable insights into the dynamics of a reconfigurable antenna-based cognitive radio network.

Enabling synchronous directional channel access on SDRs for spectrum sharing applications

Ubiquitous wireless small-cell deployment requires a fundamental rethink of interference management within the cell, between cells, and with overlaying macrocells. One mean to increase spectral efficiency in these scenarios is through simultaneous directional transmissions and receptions, wherein the antenna directions can be selected such that the overall interference is minimized, or some other cost function is satisfied. To realistically evaluate the performance of these beamsteering techniques, network simulators or testbeds are often required. Nevertheless, a capable testbed that covers sufficient small-cell operational aspects and incorporates directional antennas has yet to be found in the literature. In this paper we present WARP-TDMAC, a software-defined radio framework to enable the prototyping of directionality-based spectrum sharing schemes for small cells. WARP-TDMAC integrates compact pattern-reconfigurable antennas with a high performance 802.11 physical layer and uses a time division multiple access (TDMA) based medium access control (MAC) scheme for antenna direction scheduling. We characterize the synchronization and temporal/spatial scheduling capabilities of this testbed through several example MAC schemes that would have been difficult to realize without our cross-layer framework. The empirical results show that appropriate use of directionality can result in higher network sum rates in dense small-cell deployments, but further investigation is required to find an effective solution for this highly complex operational environment.

Enabling modular plug&play wireless sensor and actuator network nodes: Software architecture

The implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) concept introduces fundamentally novel challenges not only at the network level, but also in regards to the design of the devices. In order to enable easy and effective implementation of the new IoT devices earlier we have proposed a modular platform featuring Plug-and-Play (P&P) module connectivity. The nodes are assembled out of the hardware modules encapsulating various peripherals, such as power supply and processing units, transceivers, sensors and actuators, etc. Once a node is built, all the connected peripherals are identified and the operation of the node is optimized accordingly. In this work we present the second component of our solution, i.e. the software intended to operate on top of the highly dynamic hardware. In the paper we first discuss the principal challenges and requirements for such software, then introduce and describe in details our software architecture, and finally report the initial results of its implementation. The lessons learned and the major challenges for the future are summarized in the conclusion.

Sub-Microsecond Network Synchronization for Distributed Wireless PHY Protocols

We present a hybrid wired-wireless time synchronization method targeting enterprise WLAN networks to enable future deployments of distributed wireless PHY protocols. Our method synchronizes all network APs on the Ethernet backhaul using the IEEE 1588 Precise Time Protocol, while all clients are synchronized to their home AP via reference broadcast synchronization. We implement this synchronization primitive on WARP software-defined radios and evaluate through a microbenchmark involving four network links. The results verify that our method achieves sub-microsecond synchronization accuracy among all network nodes and therefore serves as an effective building block for protocol development.

Enhancing indoor spatial reuse through adaptive antenna beamsteering: demo

Widespread deployment of indoor wireless LANs has brought about many advantages, but at the same time posed tremendous challenges for interference management and service scalability. One means to improve wireless capacity in dense deployments is through simultaneous directional transmissions and receptions, but there has yet to be a coordinated approach that can adapt well to fast-changing channel conditions. In this demonstration we present a distributed directional antenna system to enhance spatial reuse in indoor scenarios. Our system is a holistic approach combining smart antennas, synchronous channel access, and an adaptive antenna beamsteering mechanism. We implement this system on software-defined radios and demonstrate the feasibility of dense spatial packing to maximize the network sum rate.

Live demonstration: Modular multi-radio wireless sensor platform with plug&play modules connection

Summary form only given. The demo will present to the audience the new flexible research and development platform for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANs) and Internet of Things (IoT). The devices are built out of the hardware modules which are connected together in Plug&Play manner. The software modules are selected and optimized accounting for each nodes structure. The platform enables wide variety of system-level experiments for future WSANs and heterogeneous communication systems.

Linux Enriched Design in Third Generation Wireless Open Access Research Platform

This paper describes embedded Linux system implementation on third generation Wireless Open Access Research Platform (WARP v3). The purpose of this implementation is to integrate operating system (OS) with radio communication system to accomplish flexible and stand-alone communication node for testing different wireless communication protocols. Achieved Linux Enriched WARP v3 (LE-WARP v3) design is a dual (micro-processing) core implementation on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with Linux running on one core, medium access control (MAC) implemented on other core directly interfacing radio peripherals. Inter-processor communication between both cores is implemented. Hence, achieved result is a versatile system which allows altering any layer of communication network stack, making it practical to test algorithms and prove concept solutions in real-time environment.