Smart environments based on IoT technologies

group leader

assoc. prof. Toni Perković, PhD

associates

prof. Joško Radić, PhD
prof. Maja Štula, PhD
Josip Šabić, MScEng
Marija Zorić, MScEng

Research topics

  1. Network technologies
  2. Wireless networks
  3. Internet of Things
  4. Machine learning
  5. Mobile Internet
  6. Signal processing
  7. Network and system security
  8. Computer forensics
  9. Wireless sensor networks
  10. Communication systems
  11. Data analysis
  12. Deep learning
  13. Cloud computing
  14. Bioinformatics

Description of laboratory and equipment

The research group established an RFID Technology Laboratory equipped with various HF and UHF RFID readers, HF and UHF signal generators, spectrum analyzer and software-defined radio (SDR) systems, digital oscilloscope, personal and laptop computers, Arduino-based sensor systems technology, and systems based on LPWAN technology (LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, Sigfox). The laboratory has 3D print equipment as well as a system for making printed circuit boards. The research group also acquired an Nvidia T1000 GPU to develop deep learning models on various data sources.

Contacts with academic and other institutions

  • Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
  • University of Kent, United Kingdom
  • University of Salento, Italy
  • University of Aalborg, Denmark
  • University of Aquila, Italy
  • University of Cagliari, Italy
  • Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), Brazil
  • Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicações (INATEL), Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Brazil
project title

Smart environments based on IoT technologies (IoT²PO)

Description of research in a 5-year term

The research covers the areas of IoT technologies, systems and applications. Research will include advanced sensor network technologies as well as their energy efficiency, and advanced techniques to increase reliability and throughput in RFID systems.

Research in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) is focused on finding energy-efficient solutions for sensor systems that aim to reduce consumption and thus increase the life of most battery-powered devices. Commercial IoT solutions as well as advanced IoT prototypes based on Low Power Wide Area technologies (eg LoRaWAN) as well as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology will be intensively tested. It is planned to develop models based on deep and machine learning techniques on the basis of which changes in the environment can be accurately detected, such as the occupation of parking lots or changes in soil moisture. Emphasis will be placed on the development of energy-efficient software and hardware solutions that would result in a reduction of cost of the sensor device. With this in mind, emphasis will be placed on the development of an autonomous IoT device.

The research of methods that enable the increase of transmission speed in passive RFID technologies and the development of IoT architectures can be divided into three phases. The first phase involves the simulation of a passive RFID tag with the possibility of testing the properties of multilevel modulation procedures using appropriate coding. Also, as part of the first phase, the performance of bistatic communication systems on the system simulation models developed so far will be investigated. Using existing and procuring new equipment, a series of measurements are planned with the aim of characterizing the performance of IoT architectures. The second phase would involve the development of codes for multilevel modulation in passive RFID technology. The third phase would involve the development of a passive tag prototype with multilevel modulation and the testing of properties in real conditions with the application of appropriate coding.

Research in the field of deep learning, cloud computing and data analytics will involve connecting all three fields in order to develop models over diverse and large data sources. The field of bioinformatics is the research area of the doctoral dissertation in which deep learning methods as well as high-performance computer resources will be used to develop new and improve existing methods in the field of bioinformatics.