CISTER project enhances reliability and security in UAV data networks for IoT devices

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be used for secure very large-scale deployment of Internet of Thing networks without the need of pre-existing communication infrastructure.
Recent advances in scalable Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks and renewable energy have enabled the deployment of a large number of energy-harvesting powered IoT nodes over large areas with limited persistent power supply, for sustainable sensing of weather, environmental pollutions, or traffic and road conditions. Energy can be harvested from multiple renewable energy sources, e.g., solar panel, electret-based wind turbine, or wireless power transfer.
For assisting data collection in these networks, UAVs (also known as drones) can act as an aerial platform to communicate with the IoT nodes. The UAVs can also assist the ground nodes in performing task computing after the ground nodes offload their computation tasks and they can also work in tandem including scenarios with UAVs doing surveillance of road emergencies with high-resolution video-cameras, where the IoT nodes can be lightweight devices deployed on roadside to collect environmental data.
The ARNET project aims to design wireless communication protocols to enhance network reliability and security in these kind of networks exploring Bluetooth connections and UAV mobility. The trajectories of the UAVs are meticulously designed so that the IoT devices on the ground can be accessible by the UAV along the flight. To guarantee that data is not stolen or changed a new physical-layer secret key generation is developed to encrypt/decrypt the data transmission in each hop of the UAVs-assisted IoT network, exploring the unique characteristics of this networking scenario.
ARNET project is supported by the Operational Competitiveness Programme and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020) under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by national funds through the FCT, within project(s) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029074 (ARNET), involving an eligible investment of 233 thousand euros.