Publicação
Software - hardware co-design for NB-IoT low-power applications: consumption and performance analysis
| Resumo: | As the number of connected ”things” increases at a very fast pace, the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem expands and nowadays covers a vast number of application domains, providing a broad portfolio of solutions that are based on an evolving system, from the physical sensors (end devices) to the cloud. When designing battery-powered end devices, previous research has identified several challenges such as wireless connectivity, battery lifetime, embedded intelligence, security and privacy concerns, and costs (development, maintenance, modem, among others). The use of software/hardware co-design is put to the test throughout this dissertation to conceive a low-power end device that can achieve an autonomy of up to 10 years with a single battery charge. For low-power communications, NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is the novel communication technology that uses the existent cellular infrastructure to bring connectivity to IoT-focused devices. Its great coverage brings implementation flexibility and supports many battery-powered requirement scenarios, such as remote utility metering. Careful hardware selection and thoughtful software implementation complement each other to achieve the desired power consumption. A consumption and performance analysis is made in a comparative perspective within the different stages of implementation accomplished. There are six different implementation stages in this dissertation: three concerning the hardware and the other three concerning the software implementation. Regarding the hardware, a benchmark was taken from an existing development board, setting the first stage. After, two other custom boards were designed using an iterative process. As for the software, two similar applications were developed, and two coding approaches were tested. With the first stage application, both baremetal and freeRTOS versions were developed, marking implementation stages one and two in this scope. The third stage was the second, more complex application, which was only developed with a bare-metal approach. Based on the results obtained, it was possible to pinpoint some key factors in accomplishing a lowpower device. Additionally, further investigation paths are proposed to better understand the power consumption profiles observed and improve the overall system from a consumption and longevity perspectives. |
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| Autores principais: | Paiva, Sofia Arriscado Terramoto |
| Assunto: | Co-design Low-power NB-IoT Baixo consumo |
| Ano: | 2020 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | As the number of connected ”things” increases at a very fast pace, the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem expands and nowadays covers a vast number of application domains, providing a broad portfolio of solutions that are based on an evolving system, from the physical sensors (end devices) to the cloud. When designing battery-powered end devices, previous research has identified several challenges such as wireless connectivity, battery lifetime, embedded intelligence, security and privacy concerns, and costs (development, maintenance, modem, among others). The use of software/hardware co-design is put to the test throughout this dissertation to conceive a low-power end device that can achieve an autonomy of up to 10 years with a single battery charge. For low-power communications, NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is the novel communication technology that uses the existent cellular infrastructure to bring connectivity to IoT-focused devices. Its great coverage brings implementation flexibility and supports many battery-powered requirement scenarios, such as remote utility metering. Careful hardware selection and thoughtful software implementation complement each other to achieve the desired power consumption. A consumption and performance analysis is made in a comparative perspective within the different stages of implementation accomplished. There are six different implementation stages in this dissertation: three concerning the hardware and the other three concerning the software implementation. Regarding the hardware, a benchmark was taken from an existing development board, setting the first stage. After, two other custom boards were designed using an iterative process. As for the software, two similar applications were developed, and two coding approaches were tested. With the first stage application, both baremetal and freeRTOS versions were developed, marking implementation stages one and two in this scope. The third stage was the second, more complex application, which was only developed with a bare-metal approach. Based on the results obtained, it was possible to pinpoint some key factors in accomplishing a lowpower device. Additionally, further investigation paths are proposed to better understand the power consumption profiles observed and improve the overall system from a consumption and longevity perspectives. |
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