Study and Implementation of Nodes Localization and Anchors Placement Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks for Real-World Applications of the IoT

– 2021 Mitacs Globalink Internships – By the Wireless Lab at the EMT Centre of INRS (Project ID 24281)

Introduction:

Nowadays, the use of Wireless Sensors Networks has led to the proliferation of diverse application areas such as military, medicine, environment, agriculture, etc... , all commonly known today as the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial IoT (IIoT), or also the Internet of Everything (IoE). These networks have become increasingly popular due to their reliability and their low cost. However, the implementation of Activities wireless sensor networks in the real world is typically complex. For this reason, many research works are currently carried out to find effective and optimal solutions to several challenges such as localization, optimal anchor or cluster-head placement, synchronization, routing, etc… Wireless sensor networks consist of individual nodes that are usually scattered in a sensor field and cooperate with each other via wireless communications in order to address the collected information to a unit outside of the network area. These sensors are deployed to sense or collect from the surrounding environments some physical phenomena such as temperature, light, pressure, etc... However, their data are often fully or partially meaningless if the location from where they have been measured is unknown, making the nodes localization an essential task in multi-hop WSNs. This work aims to develop localization techniques for WSN and their implementation by rapid prototyping techniques. It also aims at developing optimal placement strategies for "anchor" nodes or "cluster-head" sensors who collect data from the rest of the sensors and relayed to the access points (APs) of the network. The main challenge we address by tackling both issues with respect to the current state of the art is that we want to develop solutions that take into account the most realistic operating conditions of WSNs that should enable their implementation in real world applications of the IoT (e.g., sensor radiation patterns are not isotropic as simply assumed most often). 

Student Role:

• Detailed study of WSNs and localization techniques;
• Comparative study of localization algorithms over WSNs; 
• Development and implementation of reliable and efficient localization algorithms in terms of accuracy, complexity/cost, power, and signaling overhead;
• Implementation of the developed designs on WSN hardware platforms;
• Experimentation: run the whole prototype over-the-air, test its functioning, and assess its performance.

Required Skills:

Ideally, the candidate should have an electrical engineering background and should have some basic knowledge in: Wireless communications, signal processing, MATLAB software by MathWorks, neural networks & machine learning, embedded programming (optional, but it would be a major asset), and rapid prototyping techniques (optional, but it would be a major asset). The candidate should be dynamic, self-motivated, and team player; qualities strongly required for successful involvement in collaborative R&D projects carried out in close collaboration with our industrial partners from which the candidate can gain precious hands-on experience and soft skills with significantly-increased potential.

Additional Info:

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