The Nimbus Centre for Embedded Systems Research at Cork Institute of Technology conducts research in software, hardware and networking of embedded wireless systems with applications in building energy management, infrastructure security, innovative user interface applications, and water management.

Ph.D. Program Overview

Smart cities is a view to the future for next generation urban infrastructures where novel services will be offered based on the digital integration of city infrastructures through computing systems that enable on-demand service delivery. Smart cities will revolutionise the way in which organisations will communicate in future urban environments, which will be based on the paradigm of integration and on-demand service delivery. While Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are seen as an enabling technology for next generation networks, a shift away from the single application serving a single end user is needed. The fit for purpose WSN design and deployment common nowadays will not be sustainable in next generation WSNs networks, where multiple applications and end users are expected to act on a single infrastructure harmoniously. To serve the needs for smart cities this Ph.D. program will target the development of a software architecture to support infrastructure virtualisation and management in Smart City WSNs that can be dynamically provisioned to support multiple end user organisations concurrently.

Network virtualization has been proposed in an effort to cope with exponentially expanding network populations and demands, allowing reusability of hardware infrastructure in order to increase productivity. Wireless sensor network virtualization is still in its infancy with recent efforts concentrating on data virtualization where WSN data streams are shared among multiple end users. This research will focus on the application of high end network virtualization techniques to wireless sensor networks in order to enable multi-purpose and collaborative wireless sensor networks through resource sharing targeting the smart city application space.

Ph.D. Program Objectives

The Key objective of this research is to develop a generic, scalable and adaptive software architecture and middleware suitable for WSN applications in smart cities using a shard infrastructure paradigm.  In particular the objectives are:

1. Analyse the state of the art in WSN middleware and provisioning, service based computer architectures, and infrastructure virtualisation using cloud computing service delivery models.
2. Investigate wireless sensor network virtualization using high end network virtualization techniques for shared wireless sensor networks.
3. Design a software architecture that virtualises WSN resources in the form of services to support multiple end users over a single infrastructure for smart city applications based on the state of the art.
4. Develop service based middleware for wireless sensor network resource virtualization, allocation and consumption across multiple actors.
5. Design an overlay management methodology for provisioning in large scale WSNs that is resource aware, energy efficient and QoS compliant with a view towards developing resource efficient and QoS based service differentiation in smart city WSNs. Develop analytical tools to predict the performance of the wireless sensor network infrastructure under different conditions and loads to support management and maintenance of the physical infrastructure.
6. Analyse and evaluate the performance of the proposed software architecture, middleware and management overlay.

Applications are invited for a funded postgraduate research studentship available to start as soon as possible but not later than April 2013. The minimum academic qualification is a first or upper second class honours Bachelor degree (1H or 2H1, or an equivalent international degree) in computer science, electronic engineering or related relevant discipline, although Masters degree in one of these areas is preferred. The successful candidate will be highly self-motivated and will contribute to the wider Nimbus research team. They should have excellent communication (oral and written) and IT skills, be capable of working individually and in a team environment and be capable of working to deadlines.

To apply for this position, please submit a CV and cover letter to Dr. Dirk (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. " mce_' + path + '\'' + prefix + ':' + addy99089 + '\'>'); document.write(addy_text99089); document.write('<\/a>'); //-->\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), including details of past and forthcoming examinations.

Closing date for receipt of completed applications is 5pm on March 8^th, 2013

Cork Institute of Technology is an Equal Opportunities Employer.