Special Session 6

Wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) are one of the key enabling technologies of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and they are today used to monitor and control extensive industrial processes without the need of cabling. However, electronic devices (sensor nodes) used to realize WSANs have usually low performance both in terms of power consumption and computing power. Several new wireless technologies and signal processing algorithms have been proposed with the aim to overcome these deficiencies. For example:

1. WSANs based on LoRa and Sigfox technologies can cover wide areas with very low power consumption;
2. compression techniques (lossy or lossless, centralized or distributed) and data aggregation can be used with the aim of further reducing energy consumptions;
3. wake-up radios, network coding and channel coding techniques can increase reliability and lifetime.

Indeed, analytical and simulation results reported in recently published research papers have shown that all the above, and other not mentioned technologies and algorithms, can be combined and effectively used with the aim of maximizing WSANs performance. However, their impact and potential practical applications in current IIoT technology must be assessed by measurement campaign. In such a context, measurement procedures can play a key role in proper validation activities and in on-field applications.
This special session aims to be an opportunity to discuss and present recent advances on low power wireless technologies, signal processing algorithms and measurement techniques that find applicability in the deployment and operation of WSAN and IioT.

Topic of interest include but are not limited to:

• Signal processing algorithms for IIoT
• Compression and data aggregation techniques for IIoT applications
• Measurement techniques for IIoT
• LPWAN technologies and protocols for IIoT
• Green IIoT

Giuseppe Campobello received the Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Advanced Technologies for Information Engineering from the University of Messina, Messina, Italy, in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Since 2006, he has been with the University of Messina where he is now Assistant Professor and Researcher of telecommunications and head of the laboratory of Wireless Communications of the Department of Engineering. He is member of the National Telecommunications and Information Technologies Group (GTTI) and of the Microwave Engineering Center for Space Applications (MECSA). His research interests include wireless sensor networks and signal processing techniques for telecommunications and biomedical applications.

ILENIA TINNIRELLO received the Ph.D. degree in telecommunications engineering from the University of Palermo, in 2004. She is currently an Associate Professor with the University of Palermo. She has also been a Visiting Researcher with Seoul National University, SouthKorea, since 2004, and with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, since 2006. Her research activities have been focused on wireless networks, in particular on the design and prototyping of protocols and architectures for emerging recongurable wireless networks. She is also working on the denition of novel services (smart grid, smart metering, and indoor localization) enabled by the pervasive availability of ICT technologies. She has been involved in several European research projects, including the FP7 FLAVIA project in the role of Technical coordinator, and the H2020 WiSHFUL and Flex5Gware projects.

Salvatore Serrano was born in Catania, Italy, in 1972. He received the M.S degree in computer science engineering from the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, in 1999 and the Ph.D. degree in computer science and telecommunications engineering from the same university in 2003.,From 2005 to 2007, he was with the Computer Science and Telecommunications Engineering Department as Researcher Fellow supported by TIM. He is currently with the Department of Engineering at the University of Messina, Messina, Italy as Assistant Professor and Researcher. His research interests include the area of signal processing (speech coding and recognition, biomedical signal processing, biometric identification, signal processing for telecommunications) and telecommunications network (wireless mesh network, voice transmission over IP, wireless sensor nodes).

DANIELE CROCE received the joint Ph.D. degree from Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, and the Università de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, UNSA, Nice, France, and the double M.Sc. degree in networking engineering from the Politecnico di Torino and the EURECOM Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France, in 2006, and the Research Master diploma (ex DEA) degree in networking and distributed systems from UNSA, France. He currently owns a research position at the University of Rome La Sapienza. He has long experience of research collaborations, in several European and national research projects, on Wireless networks, the Internet of Things, high-quality TV streaming, Smart Grid communications, and smart cities. He also worked on assistive technologies for visually impaired people and with the Arianna project he Co-founded the start-up company In.sight s.r.l., spin-off of Palermo University, Italy.