Tutorial on Energy storage for low-power wireless systems

Laura Maria Feeney, Uppsala Universitet, laura.marie.feeney@it.uu.se
Christian Rohner, Uppsala Universitet, christian.rohner@it.uu.se
Per Gunningberg, Uppsala Universitet, per.gunningberg@it.uu.se

Many wireless embedded systems have severe constraints on their operation because they rely on a battery or supercapacitor for their power needs.  Low-power and energy-efficient operation has therefore been a central topic of research for the community.  However, system design and performance evaluation have generally focused on power consumption and energy harvesting, rather than the energy storage device itself.   A better understanding of the behavior of the energy store contributes to the design of systems and software that achieve longer lifetime, as well as to more accurate performance evaluation and prediction.

This tutorial will give attendees a solid introduction to modern energy storage devices.   The first part of the tutorial is an overview of  batteries and supercapacitors and their charge and discharge behavior, focusing on the context of low-power embedded wireless devices.   We will also discuss the implications of recent developments in energy storage technology, such as small LTO batteries and hybrid supercaps.  The second part of the tutorial is an overview of techniques for modeling battery and device lifetime – this remains an important open problem.  Finally, our UU CoRe battery testbed is a unique resource for large-scale, application-oriented measurement of energy storage devices.  In the third part of the tutorial, we will present a demo and give attendees the opportunity to collect some traces.

The tutorial is organized by Laura Marie Feeney, Per Gunningberg and Christian Rohner (lmfeeney, perg, chrohner@it.uu.se), all from Uppsala University.  The proposers are systems and networking researchers who have been active for over ten years in the area of measurement and modeling of energy storage devices for low-power wireless systems.  As “computer scientists who have had to learn battery stuff”, they are well placed to translate their experience to the community.

This is a half-day tutorial, consisting of lecture and discussion, testbed demonstration and practical measurement activities.

Tutorial on Internet of Bio-Nano Things: Extending Connectivity to Unconventional Domains 

Werner Haselmayr, Johannes Kepler University Linz, werner.haselmayr@jku.at
Murat Kuscu; Koç University, mkuscu@ku.edu.tr 

As the Internet of Things approaches maturity, new integrative ideas emerge to push its current boundaries. Towards this goal, the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is an emerging framework, which envisions heterogeneous networks of natural and artificial nano-biological devices (e.g., engineered bacteria, human cells, nanobiosensors, microfluidic devices), enabling unprecedented applications, particularly in the healthcare domain, such as intrabody continuous health monitoring. Realizing IoBNT, however, necessitates unconventional communication techniques that can match the stringent requirements of bio-nano things and their operating environments. The most promising technique is Molecular Communications (MC), which is a bio-inspired approach that uses molecules to exchange information among bio-nano things in the same way living cells communicate. Being fundamentally different, this new paradigm requires rethinking of the established communication and networking theories, and bringing novel interdisciplinary approaches to develop practical tools, such as experimental testbeds. 
The objective of this tutorial is twofold: First, a comprehensive overview and a critical evaluation of the theoretical advancements in IoBNT and MC research along the modeling, modulation, and detection aspects will be provided. Then, the recent experimental findings at various scales with an emphasis on the role of micro-/nano-technologies and synthetic biology tools in building practical MC transceivers and testbeds will be presented. To provide the attendees with some hands-on experience a live demonstration of an MC testbed will be given.
This tutorial  will reveal the key challenges in IoBNT and MC research, and will, in turn, shed light on future research directions towards translating the envisioned applications from concept to practice. A particular focus will be paid to the potential of integrating MC and IoBNT into future generations of wireless networks. Therefore, the attendees will not only comprehend the theoretical and practical aspects regarding one of the most unconventional research areas in communications, but they will also be able to understand the potential ways to expand and diversify the applications in their own research areas with these emerging and interdisciplinary ICT paradigms.
The tutorial is intended for young and experienced researchers with multidisciplinary interests, who would like to learn more about the advances in one of the most unconventional research areas in communications. No prior knowledge of biology, chemistry and biophysics is needed.

Tutorial on Fundamentals of LiFi Design and Applications

Wasiu Popoola, The University of Edinburgh, w.popoola@ed.ac.uk
Marco A. Zúñiga Zamalloa, Delft University of Technology, mzunigaz@gmail.com
Qingi Wang, Delft University of Technology, qing.wang@tudelft.nl
Borja Genoves Guzman, IMDEA Networks Institute, borja.genoves@imdea.org

Wireless connectivity has instigated phenomenal advancements in our society with monumental socio-economic benefits. From commerce to healthcare and emerging paradigms such as internet of things (IoT), smart home/city, industry 4.0 and many more, wireless connectivity continues to enable new services, applications, products and developments.

To meet our ever-increasing demand for ubiquitous wireless connectivity and sustain future socio-economic growth, communication technology is rapidly advancing with wireless connectivity with lightwave. This idea of wireless connectivity with light is termed LiFi  (it is a networked version of the optical wireless communication technology). The LiFi technology will undoubtedly play an increasingly significant role in the global communication network and infrastructure. This has already been happening in space with the use of laser beams to deliver unprecedented amount of data exchange between satellites and to ground stations.

Thus, this tutorial is pertinent and it is designed to educate and introduce the fundamentals of LiFi technology through lively discussions. Attendees will learn what designing a LiFi system entails. The tutorial promises to stimulate ideas for future application of LiFi beyond those currently envisaged.

Our approach in this tutorial will be a mix of discussions and presentation of LiFi to a much broader audience beyond those researching it. The tutorial is organised by the EU funded project ENLIGTH’EM (https://enlightem.eu/) – a training network dedicated to low power LiFi technology for IoT applications.