Wireless and Communication in the Internet of Things

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Introduction & Networking Basics Week 0 F Sep 23 Assigned: Homework 1 [docx] [pdf] 2154 Welcome & Intro [pptx] [pdf]
  • Course overview
  • Introduction the IoT
  • Introduction to wireless communication
Week 1 M Sep 26 Assigned: Pre-Lab 1

Still Active:
  • Homework 1
 		2154 Networking Basics [pptx] [pdf]
  • OSI layer model
  • IP and routing basics
  • Data link layer
W Sep 28 Still Active:
  • Homework 1
  • Pre-Lab 1
 		2154 Wireless basics [pptx] [pdf]
  • PHY layer
  • How PHY impacts Data impacts Network impacts...
  • Medium Access Control
F Sep 30 Due: Homework 1
Due: Pre-Lab 1

Assigned: Post-Lab 1 		3219 Lab: Wireshark
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • What is “sniffing” and how to do it?
  • How to find specific traffic you generate?
  • How to identify layers in a captured packet?
  • How to infer information about unknown traffic?
Bluetooth Week 2 M Oct 3 Assigned: Pre-Lab 2

Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 1
 		2154 Bluetooth/BLE, PHY, MAC [pptx] [pdf]
  • BLE Background
  • BLE Layers
    • Physical Layer
    • Link Layer
  • BLE Roles
    • Advertising
    • Scanning
W Oct 5 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 1
  • Pre-Lab 2
 		2154 BLE, BLE adv's [pptx] [pdf]
  • Communicating with Advertisements
    • Advertisement Use Cases
    • Energy Use
    • Packet Collisions
F Oct 7 Due: Post-Lab 1
Due: Pre-Lab 2 		3219 Lab: BLE Advertisements
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • How to generate and control contents of advertisement packets?
  • How to deconstruct a captured advertisement packet?
  • How the capabilities of different BLE sniffers vary, and the significance of those limitations?
  • How much BLE traffic is in your environment, and how to figure out what (some of it at least..) is?
Week 3 M Oct 10 2154 BLE Connections [pptx] [pdf]
  • Connection PHY and Link Layer
  • Connections as Networks
  • GATT
  • BLE 5
W Oct 12 2154 Wrapup BLE

(Start 15.4 if leftover time)
F Oct 14 !P Assigned: Post-Lab 2 3219 Lab: BLE Connections
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • What are GATT Profiles and how do they “define” devices?
  • What does pairing actually do, and what differs between various paring modes?
  • Why is sniffing connections harder than advertisements?
802.15.4 Week 4 M Oct 17 Assigned: Pre-Lab 3
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 2
 		2154 IEEE 802.15.4 [pptx] [pdf]
  • Overview
  • Physical Layer
  • (Maybe): Link Layer
W Oct 19 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 2
  • Pre-Lab 3
 		2154 IEEE 802.15.4 [pptx] [pdf]
  • Link Layer
  • Packet Structure
  • (Maybe): Intro Thread
F Oct 21 Due: Post-Lab 2
Due: Pre-Lab 3 		3219 Lab: 15.4
Week 5 M Oct 24 2154 Thread [pptx] [pdf]
  • Mesh Refresher
  • Thread
    • Overview
    • Addressing
    • Runtime Behavior
W Oct 26 2154
  • (Finish Thread)
    • Last bit of Addressing
    • Runtime Behavior
Routing [pptx] [pdf]
  • WSN Routing
    • Simple Routing
    • Mesh Routing
    • Efficient Flooding (Synchronous Transmissions)
  • Bonus Slides on Zigbee (Not Presented)
    • Overview
    • PHY/MAC
    • Application Layer
    • Interoperability
F Oct 28 !P Assigned: Post-Lab 3 3219 Lab: 15.4
WiFi Week 6 M Oct 31 Assigned: Pre-Lab 4

Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 3
 		2154 WiFi (PHY) [pptx] [pdf]
  • WiFi Overview
  • WiFi PHY
    • 802.11/802.11b
    • 802.11a/802.11g
    • 802.11n/802.11ac
    • “WiFi 6” (ax)
    • “WiFi 7” (be?)
    • Read-World WiFi
W Nov 2 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 3
  • Pre-Lab 4
 		2154
  • (finish):
    • “WiFi 6” (ax)
    • “WiFi 7” (be?)
    • Read-World WiFi
WiFi (MAC) [pptx] [pdf]
  • 802.11 Access Control
  • 802.11 Frame Format
  • 802.11e Improvements
  • Microcontrollers & WiFi
F Nov 4 Due: Post-Lab 3

Still Active:
  • Pre-Lab 4
 		2154 (Catchup Day)
  • Finish WiFi
    • 802.11e Improvements
    • Microcontrollers & WiFi
  • (Back to Week 5...)
    • Synchronous Transmissions
Week 7 M Nov 7 !P Due: Pre-Lab 4 3219 Lab: WiFi
W Nov 9 ?P Assigned: Post-Lab 4 3219 Lab: WiFi
F Nov 11 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
 		~holiday~

November 14: Syllabus Update

Due to the ongoing labor action on campus, we will not be hosting synchronous class sessions this week. I have re-arranged the material a bit to first present cellular (which has no lab component). The deadline for Post-Lab 4 is extended by one week (so far), and HW2 will be assigned this week in lieu of Pre-Lab 5.

Slides and recordings from the WI22 edition of this course for these lectures are available on Canvas.

I have also put in a tentative plan for week 9 of covering the lecture material for LPWANs. I will update week 10 plans as things progress and we have more information.
Cellular Week 8 M Nov 14 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
 		(canvas) Mobile Networking Origins
  • Fundamentals of ceullar technology
  • Relevance of “old” cell technology to today’s IoT
W Nov 16 Assigned: Homework 2
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
 		(canvas) Evolution of Cellular
  • 3G, 4G, and 5G
F Nov 18 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Homework 2
 		(canvas) Upcoming Cellular IoT Technologies
  • LTE Cat-M
  • NB-IoT
LP-WANs Week 9 M Nov 21 Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Homework 2
 		(canvas) LPWANs
  • LPWAN Design
  • Unlicensed LPWANs
  • LPWAN Challenges
W Nov 23 Due: Homework 2
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
F Nov 25 ~holiday~
LP-WAN Lab Week 10 M Nov 28 Assigned: Lab 5
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
 		3219 optional Lab 5 & Wrap-Up

The primary mission for the week is Lab 5, which investigates LoRa in real world settings with a real-world wireless provider (Helium).

The lab is designed to enable full remote work if that is your preference this week. Prof. P plans to be hanging around the lab during class hours and their office hours on Wednesday afternoon.

On Friday, Prof. P will be streaming a dissertation defense on the design of low-power, energy-harvesting systems from 12:30-14:00 in the lab. Those who are interested are welcome to come hear the presentation and to chat about the material afterward. Folks can also attend virtually via Zoom.

Defense Presentation Details

A Case for Application Driven Design of Energy Harvesting Sensor Systems, by Neal Jackson.

With enough power, any problem becomes tractable. Since the inception of wireless sensor networks, researchers have continuously searched for ways to do more with less. Integrated circuits and MEMS sensors have continued to shrink in size, cost, and active and quiescent power. However, the energy density of non-rechargeable batteries and the efficiency of energy harvesting have plateaued, constraining the power and energy available to wireless sensors. Batteryless sensors reject non-rechargeable batteries (and their finite lifetimes) and subsist entirely on harvested energy from the environment. While these devices have indeterminate lifetimes, their operation is intrinsically tied to their energy income, which may be inconsistent and unpredictable.

Many researchers in the wireless sensor community are convinced that batteryless sensors are the future. However, industry largely continues to build battery-powered sensors. This represents a rift in design understanding between those who value reliability and those who consider it a secondary concern to lifetime. In this talk, I will explore the design space of wireless sensors in the context of the requirements of real applications and the myriad of combinations of energy harvesting, rechargeable, and non-rechargeable energy storage. This talk takes a deep dive into the effect of component selection and sizing on energy harvesting efficacy, particularly of energy storage capacity.
W Nov 30 Assigned: Final Design Assignment
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Post-Lab 5
F Dec 2 Due: Post-Lab 4
Still Active:
  • Post-Lab 5
  • Final Design Assignment
Finals Week 11 Due: Post-Lab 5
Due: Final Design Assignment

There is no in-person final exam for this class. There is a take-home final design assignment, which you received in the middle of Week 10. It is due by 22:00 US/Pacific on Wednesday, December 7. Lab 5 is also due at this time, though hopefully you finished it during Week 10.

It was a pleasure having everyone in class, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the course. I'm sorry for the somewhat anticlimactic end this year.

My door is always open, hope to see folks again sometime.

–Prof. P.