Course Objective

The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge of design methodologies for cyber-physical systems in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT). In particular, the course will cover embedded core architectures, memory technologies, the most common peripherals in smart sensors, key techniques for power optimization, energy efficiency, and energy harvesting. It will also provide knowledge of description models for Smart Things, with a particular focus on SensorML, and the principles of virtualization. Finally, the course will equip students with the skills needed to design and develop IoT applications.

Knowledge and Understanding

• Knowledge of design methodologies for cyber-physical systems in the IoT domain

• Knowledge of description models for Smart Things

• Knowledge of the main enabling technologies for IoT

• Knowledge of the main application domains of IoT

• Knowledge of the main protocol architectures for IoT

• Basic knowledge of decentralized systems based on Blockchain

Applying Knowledge and Understanding

• Ability to design and develop applications in the IoT domain

• Ability to select the most appropriate communication protocol in a given application context

• Ability to formally model the behavior of a complex system

• Ability to identify strengths and limitations of current IoT systems

Making Judgments

• Development of independent judgment skills to assess the feasibility of IoT architectures

Communication Skills

• Development of communication skills to represent the key features of an IoT system

Learning Skills

• Ability to use the knowledge and skills acquired to design IoT systems

Internet of Things Vision

• Embedded Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems, Smart Objects
• IoT Smart-X Applications
• IoT Evolution Macro-Challenges
• Internet of Things and Related Future Internet Technologies
• IoT related Paradigms: IoE, WoT, M2M, Tactile Internet

Smart Systems Case Studies

• Presentation of case studies in application scenarios, including, Smart Health, Smart Homes and Buildings, Smart Energy, Smart Mobility and Transport, Smart Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things, Smart Cities Smart Farming.

IoT Protocols

• Protocols for sensors/actuators: IoT protocol stack
• Application Protocols (MQTT, CoAP)
• Infrastructure Protocols (LoRA Alliance: Wide Area Network for IoT, NB-IoT)
• Hands-on (Lab)

Smart Objects

• Definitions
• Description models (e.g., SensorML)
• Access/Usage and Virtualization (Sensing as a Service)
• Hands-on (Lab)

Operating Systems for IoT

• TinyOS, FreeRTOS, Contiki, etc.
• Hands-on (Lab)
• Mobile Applications for Smart Systems
• Mobile platforms and application scenarios
• Android and iOS

Computing Platforms for IoT and Low-power Techniques

• ARM Core
• DSPs
• Low power design techniques and methodologies

Domain Specific Architectures

• Inefficiency in GP architectures
• Domain Specific Architectures
• Source of acceleration
• Basics on Deep Neural Networks
• Kernel computation
• Data-flow techniques
• Energy-efficient data-flow techniques
• DNN accelerators architectures

Blockchain Technologies and IoT

• Introduction to the Bitcoin base layer
• Proof-of-Work, Timechain and decentralized consensus
• Layer 2 solutions and trustless decentralized IoT