PhD Thesis: Methodology for implementation of Synchronization Strategies for Wireless Sensor Networks

On July 16, 2020, our colleague Francisco Tirado-Andrés read and defended his PhD Thesis entitled “Methodology for implementation of Synchronization Strategies for Wireless Sensor Networks” under the direction of Dr. Alvaro Araujo Pinto.

This work was defended in an unusual way. Half of the tribunal was in person, but the other half of the tribunal was evaluating it via video conference. Even with this new form of presentation, the Thesis work was valued very positively by the entire tribunal, giving it the highest score: outstanding.
In addition, the entire tribunal issued a confidential and secret vote, which unanimously allowed the work to be awarded the mention of “cum laude”.

We leave you some links where you can find more information about this PhD:

List of publications:

  • F. Tirado-Andrés, A. Rozas, and A. Araujo, “A Methodology for Choosing Time Synchronization Strategies for Wireless IoT Networks,” Sensors, vol. 19, iss. 16, 2019
  • F. Tirado-Andrés and A. Araujo, “Performance of clock sources and their influence on time synchronization in wireless sensor networks,” International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks, vol. 15, iss. 9, 2019.
  • J. H. García-Palacios, I. M. Díaz, J. C. Mosquera, J. M. Soria, and F. Tirado-Andres, “Learning dynamic analysis of structures using handy and affordable equipment. On the way of smart structures,” in IV International Conference on Structural Engineering. Education Without Borders, 2018, pp. 134-142.
  • R. Rodriguez-Zurrunero, F. Tirado-Andres, and A. Araujo, “YetiOS: an Adaptive Operating System for Wireless Sensor Networks,” in 2018 IEEE 43rd Conference on Local Computer Networks Workshops (LCN Workshops), 2018, pp. 16-22.
  • J. García-Palacios, J. M. Soria, I. M. Díaz, and F. Tirado-Andres, “Modal tracking with only a few of sensors: application to a residential building,” in 8th European Workshop On Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM 2016), 2016.
  • J. García-Palacios, J. M. Soria, I. M. Díaz, and F. Tirado-Andres, “Ambient modal testing of a double-arch dam: the experimental campaign and model updating,” in 13th International Conference on Motion and Vibration Control (MoViC 2016), 2016.
  • J. García-Palacios, F. Tirado-Andres, J. M. Soria, I. M. Díaz, and A. Araujo, “Effects of time synchronization on operational modal analysis,” in 6th International Operational Modal Analysis Conference (IOMAC 2015), 2015.
  • A. Araujo, J. García-Palacios, J. Blesa, F. Tirado, E. Romero, A. Samartín, and O. Nieto-Taladriz, “Wireless Measurement System for Structural Health Monitoring With High Time-Synchronization Accuracy,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 61, iss. 3, pp. 801-810, 2012.
  • A. Araujo, F. Tirado-Andres, J. García-Palacios, and J. Blesa, “High precision structural health monitoring system using wireless sensor networks,” in 3rd International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2012), 2012, p. 1093–1101.
  • J. García-Palacios, A. Samartín, R. Ortega, F. Tirado-Andres, A. Araujo, O. Nieto-Taladriz, J. Blesa, E. Romero, E. Reynders, G. D. Roeck, L. He, and F. Percivale, “Some advances in extensive bridge monitoring using low cost dynamic characterization,” in International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (EVACES 2011), 2011, pp. 417-424.

A Methodology for Choosing Time Synchronization Strategies for Wireless IoT Networks

This summer we have published a new article about time synchronization for wireless sensor networks, applied to the field of IoT, in Sensors Open Access Journal. This journal has these statistics:

  • 2018 Impact Factor: 3.031
  • 5-year Impact Factor: 3.302
  • JCR category rank: 15/61 (Q1) in ‘Instruments & Instrumentation’

This article belongs to the Special Issue Topology Control and Protocols in Sensor Network and IoT Applications.

This article has a direct relationship with the thesis of our colleague Francisco Tirado-Andrés. This thesis investigates a methodology, and associated tools, to make it easier for all researchers to choose time synchronization protocols for specific WSNs.

For more information about this article please visit MDPI webpage.

B105 wins the Defense and Security Innovation Brokerage

On May 30, 2019, the DSiB (Defense and Security Innovation Brokerage) was held within the FEINDEF (International Defense and Security Exhibition).

The B105 attended the brokerage with 3 presentations:

  • Remotely Deployable Cognitive WSN for RMBQ
  • Safety and secure communications on the body
  • C4W – Command, control, communications and computer for Wireless

At the end of the sessions, prizes were awarded to those that the organization considered to be the best projects, granting the B105 Electronic Systems Lab the first award for the project: “C4W – Command, Control, Communications and Computer for Wireless

Desarrollo e integración de nuevos servicios para sistemas IoT de recolección y gestión de grandes datos

At the present time a massive amount of data is being generated by many kinds of devices such as wearables, mobile phones, temperature or humidity sensors and many others. Data could be treated and represented in order to understand and analyse the information the carry within it. The aim of this project is to carry out the software development needed to bring new utilities to the data management and representation platform deployed in the B105 Electronic Systems Lab. Data used by the platform is generated on an IoT environment by different type of sensors. There are many tools developed by third parties in charge of data management and representation, but this project pretends to extend the system developed in the B105 Electronic Systems Lab based on an own web service.

In other to achieve the objectives of this project, some new utilities are going to be developed and the bugs of the previous versions of the platform will be corrected. These include the implementation, among others, of: an authentication mechanism to the platform, a system to export and import data in a simple way or a system to calculate some data statistics. To do so, JavaScript will be used in addition to client-server and server-databases communications.

Poster about Methodology for implementation of Synchronization Strategies for Wireless Sensor Networks

On the occasion of the II edition of the Symposium “Tell us your thesis” organized by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid I created a poster summary of my thesis.

Both the thesis and the poster are entitled “Methodology for implementation of Synchronization Strategies for Wireless Sensor Networks“.

In the poster I intend to explain the process that every researcher and/or developer must carry out to add synchronization tasks to his Wireless Sensor Network.

180216 Methodology for implementation of Synchronizatoin WSN
Methodology for implementation of Synchronizatoin WSN

First of all it is needed to know what is the objective of the user application in which we want to add temporary synchronization.

Based on the application we will have some requirements to fulfill. That is, each application will have different requirements regarding timing, maximum permissible error regarding temporal precision or accuracy, network topology, message distribution method, battery consumption and life time objectives, hardware resources of different nature and different price, etc.

Since there are many options and possible ways, a methodology is needed that helps the researcher and/or developer to obtain a solution, in order to achieve a time synchronization in their wireless sensor networks, which is adapted to the needs of the application.

The development of this methodology is the objective of this doctoral thesis.

Download the poster with full resolution [PDF 18 MB]