Institut für Technische Informatikund KommunikationsnetzeComputer Engineering andNetworks Laboratory
Prof. L. ThieleSemester Thesis:
A Protocol Gateway for the Internet of Things
Motivation and Informal Description:The Low-power Wireless Bus (LWB) [1] is a state-of-the-art protocol that provides robust and
energy efficient data dissemination through arbitrary multi-hop wireless sensor networks. The uniqueproperties of the LWB make it ideal for supporting the low-power communication demands of emergingInternet of Things (IoT) applications. However, in order to provide interaction between the wirelesssensor network and the end-user, a protocol gateway between the LWB and a smart-phone compatiblecommunication interface, such as the BlueTooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol stack, is needed.
The goal of this semester thesis is to design, develop and evaluate a protocol gateway that supportsthe exchange of messages between the LWB and BLE protocol stacks. The proposed system architec-ture is illustrated in Figure 1. Message exchange between the LWB and a BLE-enabled processor isfacilitated by the recently developed BOLT processor interconnect [2].
LWBNetwork
Generic Decision Model
Medical DB
Complementary Medical Analysis
Pharmacy
Hybrid Decision Model
Health Insurance
Emergency Services
Sensor VectorMedical Diagnostic
Medical DB OfflineExpert
Analysis
Hybrid Decision Model
Medical DB OfflineExpert
Analysis
Pharmacy
Health Insurance
Emergency Services
Sensor VectorMedical Diagnosis
Felix's Decision Model
Generic Decision ModelMedical DB
Personalized Decision Model
Offline Decision Model
Labeled Data
Application Processor
e.g. TI MSP432(32-bit ARM Cortex-M4)
BOLTStateful Processor
Interconnect
Communication Processor
e.g. PC via USB, or Wireless SoC
Pulse OximetrySensor
BodyTemperature
User Interfacee.g. Low-power display
Ambient Temperature
Ambient Humidity
1
2
3
4
Application Processor
TI MSP432(32-bit ARM Cortex-M4)
BOLT
Stateful Processor Interconnect
Communication Processor
e.g. PC via USB
Pulse OximetrySensor
User Interface
Communication Processor
BlueToothLow Energy
(e.g. TI CC2650 SoC)
BOLTStateful Processor
Interconnect
Communication Processor
Low-power Wireless Bus
TI CC430 SoCTI MSP430
Figure 1: Proposed system architecture of the IoT protocol gateway.
Figure 2: BOLT processor interconnect(left) and CC430 development board(right) used to implement the LWB.
Your Project: Your tasks of this thesis will include the se-lection of an appropriate BLE-enabled development board,interfacing the module to the BOLT processor interconnect,and the implementation of message exchange between theLWB and BLE protocol stacks. You will then validate yourapproach using a BLE-enabled smart-phone and evaluateyour prototype using appropriate performance metrics. Iftime permits and motivation is high, a custom PCB for yourBLE module may be designed and manufactured.
Requirements: You should be highly motivated, have expe-rience with embedded system programming in C, familiaritywith the SPI interface, and be comfortable working with labequipment such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
Interested? Please have a look at http://www.tec.ethz.ch/research.html and contact usfor more details!
Contacts:
Felix Sutton, [email protected], ETZ G75, andRomain Jacob, [email protected], ETZ G75
References:
[1] Low-Power Wireless Bus, F. Ferrari, et al., SenSys 2012.[2] Bolt: A Stateful Processor Interconnect, F. Sutton, et al., SenSys 2015.