Crash Course Alten

On February the 20th, a crash course is given by Alten. Bram Dil comes to the TU/e to give a presentation about localization of wireless devices with a focus on unobtrusive localization. Unobtrusive localization means that the wireless device and its user are not aware of being located. For example, wifi-enabled smartphones transmit signals that can be intercepted for localization purposes. This system is for example employed by several stores in the Netherlands to investigate customer behavior. A similar system was also implemented and deployed at the UT for several years for crowd monitoring.

The systems named above only work when Wifi is enabled on the smartphone, however one can also intercept GSM signals transmitted by a smartphone using a fake cell tower. A fake cell tower emulates the behavior of a legitimate cell tower to fool unaltered smartphones to connect with it. At Liu, they used this localization system in search and rescue operations and localizing rhino poachers.
With the rise of the Internet of Things, there are billions of wireless devices that require localization, which is still a topic of research. The goal is to maximize localization performance with minimum effort. Bram believes that similar unobtrusive techniques can be used to obtain this goal. For those new to the topic, he gives an overview on the topic, for the hobbyists he gives pointers to make such a system themselves. The crash course will start at 14.00 in MF6. Afterwards he will be available for talks, questions and possible graduation projects while enjoying a nice drink.