[Archive] News before 2013

2012

Successful Doctoral Examination - Best Wishes to Students and Project Partners for 2013!

21.12.2012 – At the end of the year, the institute expresses congratulations to Dipl.-Ing. Thang Tran for the successfully passed doctoral examination. In his Ph.D. thesis "Vertical Handoff and Single Sign-On Solutions for Seamless Service Provisioning", Mr. Tran investigated new techniques for the seamless uses of services in cellular networks. Thus, interruptions of telephone calls or data connections can be reduced significantly. The photo shows Mr. Tran with his colleague Maike Kuhnert at the handing over of the graduation cap.

With this pleasant news at the end of the year, the institute says thank you to all students, project partners and friends for the successful collaboration and warmly wishes happy holidays! We are looking forward to seeing you again in 2013!

Wrong-Way Driver Warning System in the Field Test on the A43

23.11.2012 – Researchers of the Communication Networks Institute of TU Dortmund (Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Wietfeld) and the RWTH Aachen are currently investigating a promising technique to detect wrong-way drivers. They do so with the help of radio detectors which are mounted to the white leading bars at the roadside in a field test on the A43 near Bochum under the leadership of the Wilhelm Schröder GmbH from Herscheid (in the Sauerland region). A radio field which is set up between six leading bars registers passing vehicles. The grid-independent measurement and communication technology, which operates through solar energy, identifies whether or not vehicles enter the highway in the wrong direction, no matter if this happens at a slip road, a highway parking area or at an interchange.

A detected wrong-way driver triggers a complex information chain within a split second. On the one hand, all drivers within a radius of five kilometers are immediately warned by a mobile app against the wrong-way driver. On the other hand, also the police and the traffic control center are being informed. The latter feeds the information via TMC into the traffic forecast. The system also offers another safety-relevant component: the detectors could also trigger blinking light signals attached to the leading bars. These light signals could give wrong-way drivers additional information that they are heading in the wrong direction.

The development project is currently being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the Central Innovation Programme for SMEs (ZIM).

IEEE Best Paper Award for Papers Concerning Co-Simulation of Energy and Communication Systems

08.11.2012 – On November 8, 2012, Hanno Georg of the Communication Networks Institute received a Best Paper Award at the IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm 2012) in Tainan City, Taiwan. It was the paper titled "A HLA Based Simulator Architecture for Co-simulating ICT Based Power System Control and Protection Systems" that has been awarded. The results which were presented in Tainan are the outcome of the close collaboration of the research group 1511 (protective and control systems for the reliable and secure electric energy transmission) with colleagues of the Institute of Energy Systems, Energy Efficiency and Energy Economics (ie3). As part of the subproject hybrid simulation of ICT and energy systems, simulation models and techniques of energy engineering are linked with those of communication technology so that a simultaneous and interactive simulation of both systems can be realized. This way, it is becoming possible to validate the algorithms, which have been developed in the other five subprojects of the research group, in realistically modeled scenarios.

Exciting Discussions Concerning the Future of the Internet at the ITG Conference "Zukunft der Netze" (English transl.: "The Future of Networks") in Vienna

02.10.2012 – On September 27/28, 2012, the "Zukunft der Netze" (English transl.: "The Future of Networks") Conference, which is prepared by the ITG panel of experts "Kommunikationsnetze- und systeme" (English transl.: "Communication Networks and Systems"), which is led by Prof. Wietfeld, every year at the end of September, took place in Vienna for the first time. The topic of this year's conference was "Future Internet: Architectures, Mobility and Security". In the highly interesting inaugural lecture by the head of network planning of the Austrian telephone company A1, the development of mobile networks to internet-based techniques had been described impressively and the field of tension between established telephone companies and the new "over-the-top"-providers Apple, Google, etc. had been examined. Beside a row of lectures concerning cloud-based architectures and safety concepts, also the final panel discussion concerning IPv6 showed that the future of the internet is marked by an incremental evolution, whose speed, however, is hardly calculable. The slides of all lectures can be found on the website of the panel of experts.

Start-Up Project of the Institute Awarded Twice

02.10.2012 – The spin-off start-up project comnovo, which builds up upon research of the Communication Networks Institute of TU Dortmund, has been awarded the IT special award as part of the national start-up award "start-to-grow". Moreover, the team got third place in the overall ranking of the more than 50 start-up projects handed in and received financial support of a total of 15,000 euros for the company foundation. Comnovo is developing innovative communication systems which enhance the safety and efficiency in hazardous working environments by a highly precise, radio-based distance measurement. Different from optical systems, the radio-based technique is more robust, more mobile and more energy-efficient.

The new technique can, for example, go towards avoiding severe accidents with heavy construction machines and wheel loaders, which can result in the inability to work or even in death, more efficiently in the future: to do so, the system purposefully warns the machine operator as well as the directly endangered people within the radius. The system is currently tested in a field study and made ready for the market by financial means of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (EXIST Transfer of Research). For further information, do not hesitate to contact Dr.-Ing. Andreas Lewandowski.

Navigation of Electronic Vehicle Fleets with innovative ICT-Services

24.08.2012 – The TU Dortmund presented a newly developed application as part of the delivery of an electric vehicle fleet to the city of Dortmund on August 24, 2012. The application anonymously records the movement and standing time of the vehicles like a navigation system and could manage prospectively big fleets of several thousand cars. The analysis of the anonymous geodata within the BMWi project metropol-e gives information about how many vehicles a fleet must contain. Moreover, the researchers expect insights into where charging stations need to be mounted so that vehicles can be charged during office hours and e-mobilists can change to bus or train comfortably. "The aim of our research is to support the needs-based charging of the fleet taking into account the availability of renewable energies by a novel information system in order to optimize the positive benefit of the electric vehicles," said Prof. Christian Wietfeld from the Communication Networks Institute.

User Workshop on the Subject of "Safe Usage of Building Machines by Radio Warning Systems"

23.08.2012 – On August 18, 2012, representatives of the Occupational Insurance Association (BG BAU) and the Industrial Union Building-Agriculture-Environment (IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt) met for a user workshop on the subject of safe usage of building machines by the radio warning system developed by the institute. The project aims to develop an innovative, radio-based safety system for the secure human-machine-interaction and at that especially focuses on the application field of mobile building machines. The users have evaluated the intermediate status of the project based on an installation on a building machine as part of the workshops and found it to be beneficial. The research results and the warning system are to be made available for the users as part of a spin-off. For further information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr.-Ing. Andreas Lewandowski.

2011

Christmas Greetings

23.12.2011 – We wish all employees, students and project partners a Merry Christmas and a happy start into 2012.

Best Paper Award for CNI Contribution to the Integration of TETRA and IP Based Cellular Networks

16.11.2011 – For the second time already, the institute's work in the field of developing efficient communication systems for rescue service organizations, such as fire brigades, was honored with a Best Paper Award on the international IEEE Conference on technologies for emergency services. The contribution awarded this year, "Integrated PMR-Broadband-IP Network for Secure Realtime Multimedia Information Sharing" by Sebastian Subik and Christian Wietfeld, introduces a new way of integrating UMTS and later LTE smartphones into secure groups of TETRA-based radio communication for authorities. The paper, which is a product of the SPIDER Project, marks an essential step on the way to equip rescue services with future-proof mobile communications technology.

CNI Introduces Reliable On-Site Communication for Successful Rescue Operation

10.11.2011 – At the practical presentation of the interdisciplinary research project SPIDER on October 22, 2011, the Communication Networks Institute presented the latest research results on networking heterogeneous communication systems. Professor Wietfeld's team presented technical, operational, and management-tactical solutions for major incidents with the aid of realistic scenarios in hall 8 of Koelnmesse - practical and cross-organizational for civil security. The institute's primary focus within the SPIDER Project is the research of innovative technologies for reliable on-site communication.

Successful contribution to IEEE Sensors Journal 2011

01.09.2011 – The manuscript titled “Cognitive Agent Mobility for Aerial Sensor Networks” is accepted for publication in IEEE Sensors Journal 2011 (already available in IEEEXplore). The focus of this manuscript are CNI’s latest research results in the area of communication-aware mobility algorithms for swarm-based Micro UAV (Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) missions. For efficient sensor coverage of large industrial and incident areas, fast and flexible strategies for collecting sensor data through an autonomous, wirelessly connected swarm of (MUAVs) are still an emerging challenge. Deploying multiple MUAVs which stably carry sensing equipment in hostile environments yields cost efficiency and reducing the risk to human life. The use of an aerial ad hoc sensor network based on MUAV agents promises more timely and accurate information by fusing measurements from different types of sensors. In this paper we examine agent-based mobility algorithms that target high spatial coverage distribution, high total coverage and high quality communication links. For these key figures, the performance of the different novel mobility algorithms is evaluated. We particularly focus on channel aware mobility and on self-organizing mesh topologies of MUAV based sensor swarms with respect to communication constraints.

CNI organizes again IEEE Globecom Workshop "Wireless Networking for Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles

23.05.2011 – The Communication Networks Institute (Prof. Wietfeld) of TU Dortmund jointly organizes with the Aerospace Controls Laboratory of the MIT (Prof. How) the second workshop on "Wireless Networking for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" at the IEEE Globecom 2011 to be held in Houston, Texas, in December 2011. Recent incidents, such as Fukushima or the search for the black box of AF 447 have shown the benefits of unmanned systems for civilian operations. The workshop aims to discuss most recent results of various international research initiatives on new communications networks enabling the efficient operation of teams of unmanned vehicles/systems operating on the ground, in the air, underwater and in space scenarios.

Communication Networks Institute Presents Research Results at Hannover Messe

05.04.2011 – At the fair stand of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (hall 2, stand C24) at Hannover Messe, the Communication Networks Institute (Prof. Christian Wietfeld) of TU Dortmund together with the project partners ThyssenKrupp, Gesellschaft für Gerätebau and PRO DV Software AG presented the latest research results of the BMBF project SAVE (geographic information system with autonomous, networked gas sensors for alerting purposes).

CNI Participating in New DFG Research Group

04.02.2011 – The requirements for energy grids are becoming more and more complex due to the use of renewable energy sources - and thus the demands on their control, monitoring, and preservation. Now, a new interdisciplinary DFG research group is about to develop innovative preservation and control systems for energy systems, which spread out transcontinentally. At this, Prof. Wietfeld directs two subprojects of the research group, which investigate efficient communication networks and strategies in terms of a real-time capable information and communication technology as well as a new type of hybrid simulator for energy and communication networks.

2010

CNI Participating in New Collaborative Research Center 876 (SFB876)

18.11.2010 – On November 16, 2011, the DFG authorized a new collaborative research center (SFB) at TU Dortmund. The SFB 876 is titled "Verfügbarkeit von Information durch Analyse unter Ressourcenbeschränkung." With the SFB, the field of embedded systems and that of data analysis (data mining) are combined in order to allow for a lot of applications in informatics, biomedicine, physics, and mechanical engineering. On the one hand, embedded systems are optimized by data analysis. On the other hand, analysis algorithms can be realized as FPGAs, for example. With the focus on resource-efficient communication networks, the institute participates in two subprojects of the SFB. The SFB starts on January 1, 2011.

IEEE Best Paper Award for Kai Daniel, Sebastian Rohde and Christian Wietfeld

09.11.2010 – At this year's international IEEE symposium on technologies used in emergency services and civil protection (IEEE HST 2010) in Waltham, Boston, the CNI contribution "Leveraging Public Wireless Communication Infrastructures for UAV-Based Sensor Networks" was honored with a Best Paper Award. The paper presents an innovative system concept for the use of cellular radio networks for the operation of sensor swarms for the measurement of pollutant clouds.

CNI organized Globecom Workshop "Wireless Networking for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles"

01.11.2010 – The Communication Networks Institute of TU Dortmund jointly organized with the Aerospace Controls Laboratory of the MIT the first workshop on "Wireless Networking for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" at the IEEE Globecom 2010. The availability of low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), such as unmanned quadrocopters and blimps, opens up the prospects of an entirely new class of Low Altitude Wireless Network Platforms, which are hosted at altitudes of up to a few hundred meters.
The workshop aimed to share and discuss most recent results of various international research initiatives in the area of communication systems for aerial wireless networks. The focus of the workshop has been solely based on projects and research aiming at civilian applications.

CNI organizes international workshop on OMNeT++ 2011

01.11.2010 – The 4th International Workshop on OMNeT++ (OMNeT++ 2011) is a one day workshop to be held in conjunction with the Fourth International Conference on Simulation Tools and Techniques (SIMUTools 2011). The workshop will take place in Barcelona, Spain.
The goal of this workshop is to bring together OMNeT++ users and their tools, applications and ideas. It intends to provide a forum for presentations of recent developments and novel ideas in the broad context of network simulation with focus on OMNeT++. It will bring together researchers to focus on the important topics of integrating simulation models, coupling different simulation tools, providing better modeling approaches, and contributing to the active modeling and simulation community with respect to identifying some of the most promising candidate solution methods, architectures and techniques to address the various challenges of network simulation.

"Aerial Sensor Networks" tutorial at IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security 2010

30.10.2010 – The Communication Networks Institute of TU Dortmund delivered a tutorial on "Aerial Sensor Networks" at the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (Waltham/Boston). Recent advances in the area of unmanned aerial vehicles allow the ad-hoc, airborne deployment of various sensor types to gain up-to-date 3D-environmental data. From the sensor data gained from the atmosphere, extremely valuable information can derived to prevent and limit the impact of various disaster scenarios. The content of the tutorial included the technology components as well as the opportunities and boundaries related to the deployment of aerial sensor networks. Over 20 attendees visited the tutorial which was presented by Professor Christian Wietfeld.

Best Paper Award for Andreas Lewandowski, Volker Köster and Christian Wietfeld

31.08.2010 – At the Third International Conference on Advances in Mesh Networks (MESH 2010) in Venice in July, Andreas Lewandowski, Volker Köster and Christian Wietfeld presented a comparison between the two ad-hoc routing protocols "Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector" (AODV) and "Optimized Link State Routing" (OLSR) for the use on highly resource-constrained sensor nodes based on the IEEE802.15.4 standard. Title of the paper: "Performance Evaluation of AODV- and OLSR-meshed IP-enabled IEEE802.15.4."

CNI Co-Organizer of the ITG Symposium "Zukunft der Netze 2010"

30.08.2010 – The Communication Networks Institute helped to organize this year's VDE ITG Symposium "Zukunft der Netze 2010". This time, the conference, which is organized by the expert committee on a regular basis, had the main topic "Self-Organizing Networks" and took place in Stuttgart on October 6 and 7, 2010.

CNI participates in German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

01.07.2010 – In 2010 the Communication Networks Institute participates in international student exchange programs again: The Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) and the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE), both funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Currently, seven students from the US, the UK, Tunisia, India, and Spain got the internship and attended the department during the course of summer 2010. Current attendees are: Madhukar Reddy (IN), Arpit Agrawal (IN), Mohamed Maalaoui (TN), Laura Martinez Borlaff (ES), Otilia Frangu (UK), Jonathan Jackson (US), and Nassir Abou Ziki (US) (from left to right).

CNI at SmartGridComm 2010 in Gaithersburg, USA

01.07.2010 – At the First IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, the CNI is represented by the following two papers:

Wietfeld, C., Müller, C., Schmutzler, J., Fries, S., Heidenreich, A. and Hof, H.-J., "ICT Reference Architecture Design based on Requirements for Future Energy Marketplaces ", accepted for presentation on IEEE SmartGridComm 2010, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, IEEE, Oct 2010.

Lichtensteiger, B., Bjelajac, B., Müller, C. and Wietfeld, C., "RF Mesh Systems for Smart Metering: System Architecture and Performance ", accepted for presentation on IEEE SmartGridComm 2010, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, IEEE, Oct 2010.

2009

CNI organizes international workshop on OMNeT++

26.10.2009 – The 3rd International Workshop on OMNeT++ (OMNeT++ 2010) was a one day workshop held in conjunction with the Third International Conference on Simulation Tools and Techniques (SIMUTools 2010). The workshop took place in Malaga, Spain.
The goal of this workshop was to bring together OMNeT++ users and their tools, applications and ideas. It provided a forum for presentations of recent developments and novel ideas in the broad context of network simulation with focus on OMNeT++. It brought together researchers to focus on the important topics of integrating simulation models, coupling different simulation tools, providing better modeling approaches, and contributing to the active modeling and simulation community with respect to identifying some of the most promising candidate solution methods, architectures and techniques to address the various challenges of network simulation.

Two Best Paper Awards for the CNI

22.09.2009 – The publication, which was presented by Dipl.-Ing. T. Tran at a conference of the well-known IEEE, introduces an approach with which the secure access for different rescue organizations to a mobile emergency response system can be speeded up. Dipl.-Ing. B. Niehöfer's publication, which was already presented on an international satellite communication conference in July, describes a new method to dynamically create highly up-to-date maps based on anonymized motion profiles of mobile phone subscribers.

T. Tran, C. Wietfeld: Approaches for Optimizing the Performance of a Mobile SAML-based Emergency Response System, 13th International IEEE EDOC Conference, Mobile Technologies in Enterprise Computing Systems Workshop, Auckland, New Zealand, September 2009.

B. Niehoefer, R. Burda, C. Wietfeld, F. Bauer, O. Lüert: GPS Community Map Generation for Enhanced Routing Methods based on Trace-Collection by Mobile Phones, 1st International Conference on Advances in Satellite and Space Communications (SPACOMM), Colmar, July 2009.

CNI Organizes International Workshop

01.09.2009 – On September 1, 2009, the Communication Networks Institue is hosting the international workshop "Future Internet of Things and Services - Web Services for Pervasive Devices - FITS 2009" as part of the Future Internet Symposium 2009 (FIS 2009). The workshop is organized in collaboration with all consortium partners of the IST-MORE Project of the 6th EU Research Framework Programme. The workshop aims to discuss concepts for the seamless integration of intelligent services, for instance, based on sensor networks with current or future Internet infrastructures.

The CNI is Winner at "hightech.NRW"

01.08.2009 – AVIGLE investigates a multifunctional avionic service platform, which will offer later users completely new services with considerable cost and quality advantages with the aid of autonomous flying robots (so-called Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - MUAVs) in the high-tech disciplines of 3D virtualization and ad-hoc radio coverage. On the one hand, AVIGLE allows for efficient 3D recognition and virtualization of single buildings, settlements, and entire regions in real-time. On the other hand, the project addresses the temporary extension of cellular networks during major events, power failures, or rescue operations with the aid of civilian micro-drones.

Students Reach Finals in Case Study Competition

01.05.2006 – A team of students of the institute reaches the final round of the Rohde & Schwarz Case Study Competition in Munich.