Testing the performance and feasibility of Bluetooth communications in pervasive systems

Smart and mobile environments require seamless connections. However, due to the frequent process of ''discovery'' and disconnection of mobile devices while data interchange is happening, wireless connections are often interrupted. To minimize this drawback, a protocol that enables an easy and fast synchronization is crucial. Bearing this in mind, Bluetooth technology appears to be a suitable solution to carry on such connections due to the discovery and pairing capabilities it provides. Nonetheless, the time and energy spent when several devices are being discovered and used at the same time still needs to be managed properly. It is essential that this process of discovery takes as little time and energy as possible. In addition to this, it is believed that the performance of the communications is not constant when the transmission speeds and throughput increase, but this has not been proved formally. Therefore, the purpose of this project is twofold: Firstly, to design and build a framework-system capable of performing controlled Bluetooth device discovery, pairing and communications. Secondly, to analyze and test the scalability and performance of the \emph{classic} Bluetooth standard under different scenarios and with various sensors and devices using the framework developed. To achieve the first goal, a generic Bluetooth platform will be used to control the test conditions and to form a ubiquitous wireless system connected to an Android Smartphone. For the latter goal, various stress-tests will be carried on to measure the consumption rate of battery life as well as the quality of the communications between the devices involved.

Babelium Project: Android gailuetarako Adobe AIR prototipoa

Android gailu eramangarrietan erabiltzeko Babelium Project-en prototipoa.

Bright-field and fluorescence chip-scale microscopy for biological imaging

Optical microscopy is an essential tool in biological science and one of the gold standards for medical examinations. Miniaturization of microscopes can be a crucial stepping stone towards realizing compact, cost-effective and portable platforms for biomedical research and healthcare. This thesis reports on implementations of bright-field and fluorescence chip-scale microscopes for a variety of biological imaging applications. The term “chip-scale microscopy” refers to lensless imaging techniques realized in the form of mass-producible semiconductor devices, which transforms the fundamental design of optical microscopes.

Our strategy for chip-scale microscopy involves utilization of low-cost Complementary metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, computational image processing and micro-fabricated structural components. First, the sub-pixel resolving optofluidic microscope (SROFM), will be presented, which combines microfluidics and pixel super-resolution image reconstruction to perform high-throughput imaging of fluidic samples, such as blood cells. We discuss design parameters and construction of the device, as well as the resulting images and the resolution of the device, which was 0.66 µm at the highest acuity. The potential applications of SROFM for clinical diagnosis of malaria in the resource-limited settings is discussed.

Next, the implementations of ePetri, a self-imaging Petri dish platform with microscopy resolution, are presented. Here, we simply place the sample of interest on the surface of the image sensor and capture the direct shadow images under the illumination. By taking advantage of the inherent motion of the microorganisms, we achieve high resolution (~1 µm) imaging and long term culture of motile microorganisms over ultra large field-of-view (5.7 mm × 4.4 mm) in a specialized ePetri platform. We apply the pixel super-resolution reconstruction to a set of low-resolution shadow images of the microorganisms as they move across the sensing area of an image sensor chip and render an improved resolution image. We perform longitudinal study of Euglena gracilis cultured in an ePetri platform and image based analysis on the motion and morphology of the cells. The ePetri device for imaging non-motile cells are also demonstrated, by using the sweeping illumination of a light emitting diode (LED) matrix for pixel super-resolution reconstruction of sub-pixel shifted shadow images. Using this prototype device, we demonstrate the detection of waterborne parasites for the effective diagnosis of enteric parasite infection in resource-limited settings.

Then, we demonstrate the adaptation of a smartphone’s camera to function as a compact lensless microscope, which uses ambient illumination as its light source and does not require the incorporation of a dedicated light source. The method is also based on the image reconstruction with sweeping illumination technique, where the sequence of images are captured while the user is manually tilting the device around any ambient light source, such as the sun or a lamp. Image acquisition and reconstruction is performed on the device using a custom-built android application, constructing a stand-alone imaging device for field applications. We discuss the construction of the device using a commercial smartphone and demonstrate the imaging capabilities of our system.

Finally, we report on the implementation of fluorescence chip-scale microscope, based on a silo-filter structure fabricated on the pixel array of a CMOS image sensor. The extruded pixel design with metal walls between neighboring pixels successfully guides fluorescence emission through the thick absorptive filter to the photodiode layer of a pixel. Our silo-filter CMOS image sensor prototype achieves 13-µm resolution for fluorescence imaging over a wide field-of-view (4.8 mm × 4.4 mm). Here, we demonstrate bright-field and fluorescence longitudinal imaging of living cells in a compact, low-cost configuration.

Selective data gathering in community sensor networks

Smartphones and other powerful sensor-equipped consumer devices make it possible to sense the physical world at an unprecedented scale. Nearly 2 million Android and iOS devices are activated every day, each carrying numerous sensors and a high-speed internet connection. Whereas traditional sensor networks have typically deployed a fixed number of devices to sense a particular phenomena, community networks can grow as additional participants choose to install apps and join the network. In principle, this allows networks of thousands or millions of sensors to be created quickly and at low cost. However, making reliable inferences about the world using so many community sensors involves several challenges, including scalability, data quality, mobility, and user privacy.

This thesis focuses on how learning at both the sensor- and network-level can provide scalable techniques for data collection and event detection. First, this thesis considers the abstract problem of distributed algorithms for data collection, and proposes a distributed, online approach to selecting which set of sensors should be queried. In addition to providing theoretical guarantees for submodular objective functions, the approach is also compatible with local rules or heuristics for detecting and transmitting potentially valuable observations. Next, the thesis presents a decentralized algorithm for spatial event detection, and describes its use detecting strong earthquakes within the Caltech Community Seismic Network. Despite the fact that strong earthquakes are rare and complex events, and that community sensors can be very noisy, our decentralized anomaly detection approach obtains theoretical guarantees for event detection performance while simultaneously limiting the rate of false alarms.

Integración en Android de las herramientas de medición de la QoS con el Contenedor

[ES]En este documento se presenta el trabajo realizado para la integración de las distintas herramientas disponibles para la medición de la Calidad de Servicio (QoS) con el Contenedor que les da soporte dentro de la infraestructura QoSMETER desarrollada por el grupo de investigación NQaS de la UPV/EHU. Se analizan las distintas alternativas disponibles para resolver el problema y se plantea el diseño en base a la mejor de ellas.

Follow: guía de turismo bajo demanda para iOS

Este Trabajo Fin de Grado trata sobre el desarrollo de una aplicación para iPhone de guías de turismo de nombre “Follow”. La aplicación se caracteriza por la descarga de la información de manera segmentada y por la posibilidad de consultarla cuando se desee sin necesidad de tener acceso a Internet. Así mismo, el usuario que se registre en la aplicación, tendrá la opción de compartir sus propias guías con el resto de personas que se la descarguen. Las guías están conformadas por texto, fotos y vídeos, dividiéndose en varios apartados. De la misma manera, los usuarios podrán contactar entre ellos mediante el envío de mensajes o consultando sus perfiles. En esta memoria se explicará detalladamente las diferentes fases del proceso en la creación de la aplicación con el fin de entender el desarrollo llevado a cabo hasta el resultado final.

Baldugenda: desarrollo evolutivo de una aplicación de gestión de agenda universitaria para Android

En este Proyecto de Fin de Grado se ha realizado el diseño y la implementación de la aplicación Baldugenda. El objetivo que tiene Baldugenda es juntar la agenda universitaria física con los teléfonos móviles y los servicios de Google, para que los alumnos puedan llevar al día los exámenes y sus notas mediante la aplicación. El desarrollo se ha realizado en un marco de integración y colaboración directa de los usuarios en el proyecto, partiendo de un producto mínimo viable inicial e integrando el feedback en la progresiva ampliación de las características del servicio.El sistema se basa en una aplicación nativa para Android conectada con los servicios web de Google Calendar y Google Drive. En implementación se han utilizado tecnologías emergentes, todas de código abierto: Sqlite para el almacenamiento de datos, y como cliente una aplicación Android nativa.

D-Lappse: time-lapseak egiteko dolly bat automatizatzeko Android aplikazioa

Jakina da informatika oso gai zabala dela. Horregatik, oro har, sistema informatikoen garatzaileak sistemaren osagai bakan batzuetaz soilik arduratzen dira. Proiektu honek hardwarearen eta softwarearen munduak uztartzea du helburu; hardware- eta softwareosagaiak dituen sistema bat sortu, behar diren osagai guztiak garatuz. Horretaz gain, garatutakoa erabilgarria izatea bilatu da, hau da, funtzio praktiko eta erreal bat edukitzea. Horretarako, Android eta Arduino plataformak aztertu dira: Android erabiltzaileari interfaze grafikoa eskaini eta elkarrekintza burutzeko erabili da; Arduino, berriz, hardwarearen kontrolatzailea izateko. Horrekin, eragingailuak kontrolatuz, time-lapseak egiteko sistema automatizatua garatu da; D-Lappse Android aplikazioarekin sistema kontrolatu daiteke eta dollyari aginduak bidali, argazki-sekuentziak era automatizatu batean egiteko.

ExerClick: aplicación móvil para el seguimiento de ejercicios en clase

Se ha implementado la aplicación para el seguimiento de ejercicios en el aula llamada exerClick. Es una aplicación multiplataforma para móviles, evaluada en Android y en iOS y adaptada a esos sistemas gracias a la plataforma Apache Cordova. En su implementación se han utilizado las tecnologías web HTML5, CSS3 y Javascript, además de PHP para el servidor. La aplicación permite que los profesores añadan ejercicios y los alumnos le envíen feedback sobre su realización mediante dos opciones: marcar una duda en el ejercicio o marcar el ejercicio como finalizado.

JonBike. Aplicación Android para bicicletas basada en geolocalización

En este Proyecto Fin de Carrera se ha realizado el diseño y la implementación de la aplicación JonBike. Tiene como objetivo mejorar y optimizar el seguimiento de los entrenamientos de los ciclistas. El desarrollo se ha realizado en un marco de integración y colaboración directa de los usuarios en el proyecto, partiendo de un Producto Mínimo Viable o "Minimum Viable Product" (MVP) inicial e integrando su feedback en la progresiva ampliación de las características del servicio. El sistema está compuesto por una aplicación móvil nativa para Android y una fuente de datos alojada en un servidor remoto. En implementación se han utilizado tecnologías emergentes, todas de código abierto: MongoDB junto con MongoLab para el almacenamiento de datos y plataforma base para el backend, y desarrollando como cliente, una aplicación Android nativa.

Android-entzako SmartWatch prototipo baten garapena

GAL honek Android-entzako SmartWatch baten prototipo txiki bat egitea du helburu. SmartWatch-aren egiturari dagokionez, ondorengo atalak aurreikusten dira: • Eskumuturreko erlojua. Telefonotik datozen jakinarazpenak bere pantailatxoan adieraziko ditu. • Telefono mugikorra. Android sistema eragilean oinarrituta, hari gabeko teknologia bitartez erlojuari datuak bidaliko dizkion aplikazio bat garatuko da.

Desarrollo de cliente OMA PoC para Android

[ES]Se presenta el siguiente proyecto de desarrollo, enfocado en el contexto de suplir las necesidades de los equipos de emergencias. Actualmente los equipos de emergencias, hacen uso de walkie talkies para comunicarse entre sí, es decir, hacen uso de la tecnología PTT (Push-to-talk). Es una comunicación unidireccional de un usuario a muchos, de manera que pueden transmitir la información necesaria a varios usuarios simultáneamente. Por otra parte, la comunicación mediante esta tecnología hace posible que sea en tiempo real sin prácticamente ningún retraso. Sin embargo el uso de esta forma de comunicación trae consigo algunos inconvenientes. Por ejemplo, los dispositivos tienen un rango de alcance de transmisión-recepción limitado. Además la banda de frecuencia para poder comunicarse debe ser reservada a fin de evitar posibles problemas de comunicación debido a que el canal estuviera ocupado por otros usuarios, posibles interferencias, etc. La reserva de este rango de frecuencia, supone un coste añadido para el uso de esta tecnología. Con el desarrollo de las redes móviles que ofrecen grandes velocidades de transmisión, se hace posible el uso de la tecnología PTT mediante la red móvil existente. De esta manera, surge el siguiente proyecto de desarrollo de una aplicación móvil Android, como cliente que haga uso de la tecnología PTT sobre la red móvil PoC (Push-to-talk Over Cellular).

Evaluation of Setup Procedures on Mobile Devices Based on Users’ Initial Experience

Users’ initial perceptions of their competence are key motivational factors for further use. However, initial tasks on a mobile operating system (OS) require setup procedures, which are currently largely inconsistent, do not provide users with clear, visible and immediate feedback on their actions, and require significant adjustment time for first-time users. This paper reports on a study with ten users, carried out to better understand how both prior experience and initial interaction with two touchscreen mobile interfaces (Apple iOS and Google Android) affected setup task performance and motivation. The results show that the reactions to setup on mobile interfaces appear to be partially dependent on which device was experienced first. Initial experience with lower-complexity devices improves performance on higher-complexity devices, but not vice versa. Based on these results, the paper proposes six guidelines for designers to design more intuitive and motivating user interfaces (UI) for setup procedures. The preliminary results indicate that these guidelines can contribute to the design of more inclusive mobile platforms and further work to validate these findings is proposed.

Design and implementation of robust systems for secure malware detection

Malicious software (malware) have significantly increased in terms of number and effectiveness during the past years. Until 2006, such software were mostly used to disrupt network infrastructures or to show coders’ skills. Nowadays, malware constitute a very important source of economical profit, and are very difficult to detect. Thousands of novel variants are released every day, and modern obfuscation techniques are used to ensure that signature-based anti-malware systems are not able to detect such threats. This tendency has also appeared on mobile devices, with Android being the most targeted platform. To counteract this phenomenon, a lot of approaches have been developed by the scientific community that attempt to increase the resilience of anti-malware systems. Most of these approaches rely on machine learning, and have become very popular also in commercial applications. However, attackers are now knowledgeable about these systems, and have started preparing their countermeasures. This has lead to an arms race between attackers and developers. Novel systems are progressively built to tackle the attacks that get more and more sophisticated. For this reason, a necessity grows for the developers to anticipate the attackers’ moves. This means that defense systems should be built proactively, i.e., by introducing some security design principles in their development. The main goal of this work is showing that such proactive approach can be employed on a number of case studies. To do so, I adopted a global methodology that can be divided in two steps. First, understanding what are the vulnerabilities of current state-of-the-art systems (this anticipates the attacker’s moves). Then, developing novel systems that are robust to these attacks, or suggesting research guidelines with which current systems can be improved. This work presents two main case studies, concerning the detection of PDF and Android malware. The idea is showing that a proactive approach can be applied both on the X86 and mobile world. The contributions provided on this two case studies are multifolded. With respect to PDF files, I first develop novel attacks that can empirically and optimally evade current state-of-the-art detectors. Then, I propose possible solutions with which it is possible to increase the robustness of such detectors against known and novel attacks. With respect to the Android case study, I first show how current signature-based tools and academically developed systems are weak against empirical obfuscation attacks, which can be easily employed without particular knowledge of the targeted systems. Then, I examine a possible strategy to build a machine learning detector that is robust against both empirical obfuscation and optimal attacks. Finally, I will show how proactive approaches can be also employed to develop systems that are not aimed at detecting malware, such as mobile fingerprinting systems. In particular, I propose a methodology to build a powerful mobile fingerprinting system, and examine possible attacks with which users might be able to evade it, thus preserving their privacy. To provide the aforementioned contributions, I co-developed (with the cooperation of the researchers at PRALab and Ruhr-Universität Bochum) various systems: a library to perform optimal attacks against machine learning systems (AdversariaLib), a framework for automatically obfuscating Android applications, a system to the robust detection of Javascript malware inside PDF files (LuxOR), a robust machine learning system to the detection of Android malware, and a system to fingerprint mobile devices. I also contributed to develop Android PRAGuard, a dataset containing a lot of empirical obfuscation attacks against the Android platform. Finally, I entirely developed Slayer NEO, an evolution of a previous system to the detection of PDF malware. The results attained by using the aforementioned tools show that it is possible to proactively build systems that predict possible evasion attacks. This suggests that a proactive approach is crucial to build systems that provide concrete security against general and evasion attacks.