TFM: Design and implementation of a gateway node based on LTE mobile communications for a Wireless Sensor Network
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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) research has recently become a key element in the Internet of Things (IoT) concept. These networks use autonomous devices, also known as nodes, whose purpose is to gather information from the environment and transmit it on the internet. We may classify these nodes into two categories: sensor nodes, which extract information from diverse environment parameters; and gateway nodes that transmit this information outside the network.

The main goal of this thesis is the development of a gateway node based in fourth generation mobile communications (4G). This gateway node has been developed both at hardware and software level and should be integrated in a wireless sensor network at future stages.

The hardware for this project is based in a previous design of a modular PCB developed at the B105 Electronic Systems Lab. Some modifications have been introduced in the original design in the power supply, RF and voltage shifter blocks in order to complete a functional prototype. The software architecture has been completely designed and implemented from the very beginning based on YetiOS – an embedded OS developed at the B105 Lab – including a specific API for the module and diverse connectivity functionalities such as call features and TCP/IP communication establishment.

Each hardware and software module has been tested separately and also operation of the whole node. In addition, system performance was evaluated measuring three parameters: consumption, latency and throughput, which are critical in the deployment of a practical application for the node.

The obtained results are discussed at the end of the document, comparing them to the original objectives and finally some working lines are proposed to continue with the node development.

TFM: Development of an electronic system for monitoring people’s parameters
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Road safety is one of the objectives of the European Union due to the high number of infractions committed every year by drivers and pedestrians, and the large amount of accidents with fatalities registered in Europe year by year. Therefore, any step taken in order to deal with this problem is beneficial for everyone.

Current technology allows increasing the security measures of vehicles, which, together with consciousness-raising of drivers and pedestrians, take us one step closer to the reduction of these figures. Every day more people decide to use biosensors for controlling their vital signs. The transfer and adaptation of the aforementioned systems to the situation in which a driver is, permit to complement both legal actions accomplished and consciousness-raising measures, improving road safety.

The main objective of this Master’s thesis consists of the development of an electronic system that allows drivers to notice the indisposition to drive, permitting to avoid an accident and also an infraction.

After analyzing the parameters that affect driving and are related to the driver, those that can be monitored in a non-intrusive way and without using disposable material were chosen: body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, stress level, and alcohol level.

All of that has been gathered in a single module formed by three PCBs. Both hardware and software have been designed. The proposal has been assembled and the case and the band have been 3D-printed in order to form the final device with a smart bracelet form factor. This module has been designed with the purpose of having small dimensions and low consumption since it is powered by a battery.

Finally, several tests have been carried out to verify the proper functioning of the system. The biggest challenge was found while obtaining blood pressure based on the photoplethysmography signal. Through those tests, the developed software could be adapted according to the results obtained, since offset values that have to be applied and the times that sensors need could be known. This also permitted to discover errors committed during previous stages of the development process.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the general objectives set have been accomplished.

Technical viability of the proposal could be proved, and this informs of the existence of several application fields that the project could have, as is the case of professional drivers.

TFM: Development and implementation of a wireless network focused on energy management in home automation
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The objective of this Master Thesis is the design, implementation and validation of a wireless node network that will have as target the energy management in home automation environments. This system will be capable of sending the collected data to a server and will also be able to control certain nodes from others. Furthermore, it will operate autonomously, not needing any user intervention to connect a new node to the network or for sending data to the server.

To achieve that, first, existing solutions have been analyzed and three nodes have been built, having each one of them a different functionality. For their construction, both their hardware electrical design and implementation, and their software implementation have been developed. Their stability has also been tested with several communications and functionality tests.

After the initial tests, several aspects of the nodes where found to be improvable, so the boards were revised and build again, one of each functionality, with the detected errors corrected. Along with theses ones, three additional copies (nine in total) were built with a different communications submodule, substituting the original RF chip and its support components.

For the battery-operated nodes, current consumption was measured, and a battery duration was estimated. Also, all these nodes were put under test as part of one common network, where the coverage of the nodes and system stability were checked, among others.

At the end of this document, some conclusions of the obtained results are discussed, and the original objectives of the thesis were checked to see if they have been accomplished.

This group of nodes will be left installed in the laboratory B105 permanently, allowing the increase in the number of nodes and functionality in future work or as a base for future tests.

Estancia de doctorado en el CONNECT – Centre for Future Networks and Communications
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Como parte de su doctorado, nuestro compañero Ramiro Utrilla acaba de comenzar una estancia de investigación en el CONNECT – Centre for Future Networks and Communications. Este centro de investigación, financiado por la Science Foundation Ireland y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), está constituido por miembros de las principales universidades de Irlanda y centra su actividad en el desarrollo, innovación e investigación de las telecomunicaciones.

Durante los 3-4 meses que dure la estancia, Ramiro estará trabajando en el grupo del Prof. Luiz Da Silva. Una de las líneas principales de investigación de este grupo es la aplicación de Inteligencia Artificial y Machine Learning al ámbito de las comunicaciones.

El objetivo de esta colaboración consiste en abordar el problema de la saturación del espectro, y la coexistencia de los dispositivos que operan en él, desde el punto de vista de los nodos finales, aquellos con más bajos recursos computacionales y energéticos. Para ello, es necesario trasladar el paradigma de la Radio Cognitiva a las características específicas de este tipo de sistemas.

En concreto, la primera aproximación consistirá en adaptar y evaluar técnicas de sensado espectral basadas redes neuronales a MIGOU, la plataforma de Radio Definida por Software de bajo consumo desarrollada por Ramiro durante la primera etapa de su tesis.

Estamos muy ilusionados con esta colaboración entre el CONNECT y el B105 ya que consideramos que su conocimiento en Inteligencia Artificial junto con nuestras capacidades técnicas de implementación pueden dar resultados muy interesantes y novedosos.

¡Os seguiremos informando!

TFM: Development of a protocol for the wireless communication of monitoring data for real- time representation
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With the development of the IoT, the number of devices of different nature and size
that are distributed throughout the environment has increased enormously, generating data
continuously. These data can often be processed where we generate them. However
sometimes we can not have enough computing power to do it or we want to access them
remotely to see the correct functioning of a system or for example to store them in a
database.
With this background it makes necessary to develop an electronic system that can be
conected in an easy way to the place where we are generating the information and transport it
to our central node. For our particular case, we aspire to establish a real time stream in order
to represent the data in a graphic, in order to give to the user a proper view of the
performance of his sensor node.
We have developed a WIFI gateway that allows this automation that we have
explained. We have used the Zentri AMW 106, an ultralow consumption WIFI module who fits
perfect in our requirements. We can attach via serial (using UART) to our electronic system to
the module where we generate the data and creating a TCP-IP client send to our server
wirelessly.
We have also made an effort in develop an user friendly application in the server side.

This application has the ability of representing the data we are sending in real time and at the
same time to store in a file having a register. This register can be accessed to consult the
values obtained in a certain time.