DI2T: Dependable yet Intermittent Interconnected Things

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd-Christian Renner; Professor Matteo Zella, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Security and Dependability, Operating-, Communication- and Distributed Systems
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 492151098

The Internet of Things (IoT) is entering our lives as embedded systems become smaller and more efficient, with small batteries enabling operation for several years. A revolutionary technology that can disappear in the environment and improve our quality of life ... until batteries need to be replaced. To solve this issue, intermittent computing (IC) proposes to ditch batteries by harvesting energy from the environment and store it in small buffers. To make battery-free systems a reality, we aim at removing three fundamental barriers of the IC paradigm by adding: (a) the ability to proactively plan when and how to use the extremely limited energy buffer to boost their utility; (b) the capability of interconnecting and coordinating IC devices to offer dependable services despite intermittency; (c) the understanding of which IC system designs can support given application requirements through modelling, simulation, and systematic experimentation. As a result, DI2T will develop and research scheduling algorithms and networking protocols as well as gather fundamental theoretical and practical insights necessary to enable IC systems for real-world applications. Along the way, the project will provide a foundational contribution to an emerging research community aiming at changing IoT in a robust and friendly technology that can truly disappear in the environment.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants