Connectivity Technologies and Sensor Networks Course

Lesson 1 • Wired Communication Media

Examines copper, fibre optic, and coaxial cabling characteristics. Provides context for comparing wired vs. wireless options later.

Lesson 2 • Signal Transmission Fundamentals

Covers analogue vs. digital signals, modulation, and channel capacity. Connects physical signal behaviour to network performance.

Lesson 3 • Wireless Transmission Basics

Explains radio frequency propagation, spectrum allocation, and interference. Prepares students for wireless protocol analysis in later chapters.

Lesson 4 • Core Networking Concepts and Models

Introduces the layered networking model and how each layer handles data. Establishes vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Sensor Types and Measurement Principles

Surveys physical, chemical, and biological sensor categories and their transduction methods. Grounds hardware selection in measurement physics.

Lesson 2 • Power Management for Sensor Nodes

Addresses sleep modes, duty cycling, and energy harvesting to extend node lifetime. Connects power strategy to LPWAN and short-range protocol choices.

Lesson 3 • Analog-to-Digital Conversion

Explains ADC architectures, sampling rate, and resolution trade-offs. Links conversion quality to downstream data accuracy in sensor nodes.

Lesson 4 • Microcontroller and Embedded Interfaces

Reviews I2C, SPI, UART, and GPIO interfaces for connecting sensors to microcontrollers. Prepares students for firmware-level sensor integration.

Lesson 1 • Wi-Fi for Sensor Applications

Reviews 802.11 standards relevant to IoT, including 802.11ah and 802.11ax. Addresses power management modes that extend sensor battery life.

Lesson 2 • Near Field Communication

Covers NFC operating modes, data exchange format, and tag types. Illustrates use cases in asset identification and contactless sensing.

Lesson 3 • Comparing Short-Range Technologies

Applies a structured decision framework to select the right short-range protocol. Reinforces trade-offs across range, power, data rate, and cost.

Lesson 4 • IEEE 802.15.4 and Zigbee

Explains the 802.15.4 PHY/MAC layer and Zigbee mesh networking. Positions these standards for low-power, low-data-rate sensor meshes.

Lesson 1 • Sigfox Technology

Describes Sigfox ultra-narrowband modulation, message limits, and network architecture. Highlights trade-offs between simplicity and payload constraints.

Lesson 2 • LPWAN Technology Selection

Applies a comparative framework to choose among LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and cellular IoT. Reinforces decision-making based on coverage, cost, and payload needs.

Lesson 3 • Cellular IoT: NB-IoT and LTE-M

Covers NB-IoT and LTE-M radio access, power-saving features, and roaming. Connects cellular IoT to existing mobile infrastructure advantages.

Lesson 4 • LPWAN Architecture and Design Goals

Defines LPWAN characteristics: range, data rate, power, and cost. Establishes the design constraints that differentiate LPWAN from short-range protocols.

Lesson 1 • Time Synchronisation in Sensor Networks

Explains why synchronised clocks are critical for TDMA and data fusion. Covers lightweight synchronisation protocols suited to constrained nodes.

Lesson 2 • Data Aggregation and Fusion

Covers in-network aggregation techniques that reduce transmission overhead. Links aggregation to bandwidth savings and improved data quality.

Lesson 3 • Medium Access Control Strategies

Examines TDMA, CSMA, and hybrid MAC protocols for sensor networks. Balances collision avoidance with energy efficiency.

Lesson 4 • Network Topology Design

Compares star, mesh, tree, and hybrid topologies for sensor networks. Connects topology choice to coverage, redundancy, and energy constraints.

Lesson 1 • CoAP and HTTP for IoT

Compares CoAP's UDP-based request-response model with HTTP REST. Guides protocol selection based on device constraints and network reliability.

Lesson 2 • Data Serialisation Formats

Compares JSON, CBOR, MessagePack, and Protobuf for IoT payloads. Balances human readability against bandwidth and parsing efficiency.

Lesson 3 • AMQP and DDS for Industrial IoT

Introduces AMQP message queuing and DDS data-centric publish-subscribe for real-time systems. Addresses high-reliability industrial sensor scenarios.

Lesson 4 • MQTT Protocol Deep Dive

Explains MQTT broker architecture, QoS levels, and topic design. Positions MQTT as the dominant publish-subscribe protocol for constrained devices.

Lesson 1 • Cryptographic Primitives for IoT

Covers symmetric and asymmetric encryption, hashing, and lightweight ciphers. Connects cryptographic cost to constrained device capabilities.

Lesson 2 • Threat Landscape for IoT Systems

Catalogues physical, network, and application-layer threats specific to IoT. Motivates a defence-in-depth approach for sensor deployments.

Lesson 3 • Transport and Network Layer Security

Applies TLS, DTLS, and network-layer encryption to IoT data flows. Ensures data confidentiality and integrity across heterogeneous networks.

Lesson 4 • Secure Key Management

Explains key provisioning, rotation, and storage for sensor nodes. Addresses trust establishment in large-scale deployments.

Lesson 1 • Gateway and Edge Device Deployment

Addresses gateway placement, backhaul selection, and edge computing configuration. Connects field hardware to cloud platforms reliably.

Lesson 2 • Site Survey and RF Planning

Covers RF propagation modelling, path loss estimation, and coverage mapping. Ensures adequate signal quality before hardware installation.

Lesson 3 • Network Monitoring and Diagnostics

Introduces KPIs, monitoring dashboards, and diagnostic tools for sensor networks. Enables proactive fault detection and performance optimisation.

Lesson 4 • Device Provisioning and Onboarding

Explains zero-touch provisioning, certificate enrolment, and firmware flashing at scale. Reduces manual effort in large sensor deployments.