Mobile and IoT Computing
CIS 3990 (Spring 2024): Mobile and IoT Computing
Lecture:
Monday & Wednesday 1:45 - 3:15 PM @ Towne 319
Instructor:
Mingmin Zhao
TA:
Haowen Lai
Office Hour:
Monday 3:30 - 4:30 PM @ Moore 103
Course Overview
The convergence of mobile computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) is
revolutionizing how we interact with the world increasingly driven by data. This course is designed to
provide a deep understanding of the foundational principles of mobile computing and IoT, with a focus on
acquiring, processing, and utilizing data to provide insights and control actions in the environment.
The course covers key topics such as sensor fusion, data integration, signal processing, machine learning,
and on-device or "edge" computation, which are essential for developing intelligent systems that can sense,
interpret, and respond to the world around us. It will also explore various applications of these principles
across diverse domains such as digital health, human-machine interaction, virtual reality, autonomous
vehicles, environmental science, and agriculture.
Throughout the course, students will engage in discussions on recent research articles that present
innovative designs, algorithms, and applications for mobile and IoT computing. The course also includes a
semester-long course project, where students will have the opportunity to design and build an intelligent
system that leverages the principles of mobile computing and IoT to address a real-world problem.
Grading Policy
This class will be graded as follows:
Reading Assignments
(individual, 20%)
iOS Labs
(individual, 20%)
Module Reviews
(team of 2-3 persons, 20%)
Course Project
(team of 2-3 persons, 30%)
Participation: attendance, discussion, etc.
(10%)
Reading Questions
We will be reviewing and discussing research papers during each lecture. Please read the assigned papers (one
for each lecture) before the class and answer the reading questions by the midnight the night before the class
(i.e., Sunday 11:59 PM for a Monday lecture and Tuesday 11:59 PM for a Wednesday lecture).
Please submit your answers in the
gradescope
For Q&A, please join the
Ed discussion
iOS Labs
The labs involve programming for iPhones or iPads in XCode, which requires a Mac
for development. We will help loan out Macs and iPads to students who do not have them.
The labs will be released gradually.
Lab 0
: Get familiar with Xcode IDE and develop an App based on OpenWeather API
Lab 1
: Develop a location app and explore the power drain vs accuracy trade-off
Lab 2
: Gesture detection and breath monitoring through FMCW signal on laptop
Course Schedule and Materials
Note:
the schedule below is tentative and subject to change. Please check it
regularly.
Date
Topic
Assigned Reading
Reading Questions
Slides
Mon, Jan 22
Course Introduction & Overview
slides
Wed, Jan 24
Localization
: Fundamentals of Localization
Chap 6: Fundamentals of Positioning,
Wikipedia: GPS.
Questions
(1) What is more privacy-preserving: network-based or terminal-based positioning
(according to the taxonomy in Fig. 6-2)? Explain in 1 sentence.
(2) Is GPS the former or the latter?
(3) How does a GPS receiver distinguish between the signals received from different
satellites?
slides
Mon, Jan 29
Localization
: Device-based Localization
slides
Wed, Jan 31
Localization
: Device-Free Localization & Seeing Through Walls
WiTrack
Questions
(1) what is the range resolution of FMCW with 5 GHz of bandwidth?
(2) what is the range resolution of acoustic FMCW chirp with 5 kHz of bandwidth?
slides
Mon, Feb 5
Localization
: Visual Tracking and Localization
slides
Wed, Feb 7
Sensing
: Health & Vitals sensing
Vital Radio
Questions
How is it possible that VitalRadio can capture small chest movement when the range resolution is around 10cm?
slides
Mon, Feb 12
Sensing
: Inertial Sensors & Inertial Sensing
slides
Wed, Feb 14
Sensing
: ML for Wireless Sensing & Sleep Staging
slides
Mon, Feb 19
No Class: Presidents' Day
Wed, Feb 21
Sensing
: Through-wall Vision
RF pose
Questions
How did RFPose leverage loss function typically used in binary classification for keypoint localization?
slides
10
Mon, Feb 26
Connectivity
: Network Connectivity
slides
Mon, Mar 4
No Class: Spring Break
Wed, Mar 6
Wed, Mar 13
Project Proposal Discussion
Sun, Mar 17
Project Proposal   Due: 11:59 PM
11
Mon, Mar 18
Connectivity
: Batteryless Connectivity
slides
Wed, Mar 20
Project Proposal Discussion
12
Mon, Mar 25
Emerging Topics
: Security and Privacy
slides
Wed, Mar 27
Project Meetings
Mon, Apr 1
Project Presentation
Wed, Apr 3
Project Meetings
Mon, Apr 8
Project Presentation
Wed, Apr 10
Project Meetings
13
Mon, Apr 15
Emerging Topics
: Space & Agriculture IoT
slides
Wed, Apr 17
Project Meetings
14
Mon, Apr 22
Emerging Topics
: Ocean IoT
slides
Wed, Apr 24
Project Meetings
Mon, Apr 29
Final Project Presentations
Wed, May 1
No Class: Work on the final project report
Sun, May 12
Final Project Report   Due: 11:59 PM