ETH Zurich : Computer Science : Pervasive Computing : Distributed Systems : Research : UbiGate

Interfacing the Real World with Ubiquitous Service Gateways

A Research Project in Cooperation with the Distributed Systems Group

The widespread usage of mobile phones provides the opportunity to connect smart appliances and sensors to a cellular operator's service infrastructure and the Internet. In collaboration with NTT DoCoMo Euro-Labs, we investigated applications and middleware concepts for the use of mobile phones as ubiquitous gateways interfacing various kinds of sensors, sensor networks and smart appliances.

As part of this project, we developed a system for monitoring and locating everyday items using mobile phones. The system, based on phones which are augmented with the capability to detect electronically tagged objects in their vicinity, supports various functionality. Mobile phones trace registered objects, distribute useful context information related to these objects, and are able to locate them when lost or misplaced. For locating a misplaced object, we provide an algorithm that incorporates arbitrary application specific knowledge (such as past locations of the misplaced object) to select a subset of sensors for a given object search query.

Based on this application, the project demonstrated how the unique properties of mobile phones and the cellular network enable novel applications that aggregate sensor measurements on a large scale. In the course of the project, we identified and addressed novel research challenges posed by such wide-area interconnection of a large sensor array.

This project ended in February 2007.

Selected Publications

See the Publications of the Distributed Systems Group page for a full listing of our publications.

• Christian Frank, Philipp Bolliger, Friedemann Mattern, Wolfgang Kellerer
  The Sensor Internet at Work: Locating Everyday Items Using Mobile Phones.
  Pervasive and Mobile Computing, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 421-447, June 2008
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Christian Frank, Philipp Bolliger, Christof Roduner, Wolfgang Kellerer
  Objects Calling Home: Locating Objects Using Mobile Phones.
  Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Pervasive Computing (Pervasive 2007). LNCS, Vol. 4480, Springer, Toronto, Canada, May 2007
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Christian Frank, Christof Roduner, Chie Noda, Wolfgang Kellerer
  Query Scoping for the Sensor Internet.
  Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Services (ICPS 2006). Lyon, France, June 2006
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Christian Frank, Christof Roduner, Chie Noda, Marco Sgroi, Wolfgang Kellerer
  Poster Abstract: Interfacing the Real World with Ubiquitous Gateways.
  Adjunct Proceedings of the 3rd European Workshop on Wireless Sensor Networks (EWSN 2006). Zurich, Switzerland, February 2006
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  

Related Student Projects

The following table lists corresponding student projects in our group. Note that some descriptions will be in German.