The course describes the fundamental aspects of communication networks for mobile users and of sensor networks, which represent the main ways to disseminate and collect information in smart cities, smart buildings, health care centers as well as for applications such as environmental monitoring. The course highlights the technological challenges that characterize the aforementioned communication networks. Special attention will be given to WiFi-based technologies, device-to-device (or machine-to-machine) communication and to wireless sensor networks. For each application scenario (smart city, health, environmental monitoring), the main network technologies are discussed, along with their performance and the open problems for which a solution is still needed. The course also describes methodologies that can be used for modeling such systems and the main results that have been obtained.
The knowledge and abilities that students are expected to acquire through this course are relevant to create experts in the design and management of network services, and in the development for services in application domains such as transport, environmental monitoring, domotics, health.
The course includes both lectures and numerical exercises. The exercises aim at clarifying and further investigating some of the concepts that are presented during the class lecturers. They mainly consist in the presentation and solution of numerical problems, and in the demonstration of software solutions that are currently available for device-to-device communication.
Students will acquire knowledge on wireless distributed network systems and the know-how to effectively apply these technologies for mobility services, system and environmental monitoring and data collection.

1. Knowledge of mobile network systems based on device-to-device communications and of sensor network applications.
2. Knowledge of protocols for radio channel access and traffic routing in distributed wireless networks.
3. Knowledge of channel access techniques, adaptive topology formation and traffic routing in wireless sensor networks.
4. Knowledge of the fundamentals of game theory.
5. Ability to design a channel access protocol for wireless networks.
6. Ability to design a routing protocol for wireless networks.
7. Ability to evaluate the performance of a distributed network system.
8. Ability to assess the suitability of a wireless technology to a given environment for application support.
9. Ability to apply game theory to the study of mobile distributed networks.

Basic knowledge of telecommunication networks, propagation of electromagnetic waves and probability theory.

- Mobile networks and device-to-device communication: generalities, classification and main issues (0.6 ECTS)
- Channel access techniques in distributed wireless networks and car-to-car networks networks (WiFi, WAVE) (1.2 ECTS)
- Performance of distributed wireless networks (0.4 ECTS)
- Proactive and reactive routing protocols for mobile networks (0.7 ECTS)
- The Bluetooth technology (0.4 ECTS)
- Sensor networks: generalities and applications; channel access techniques (0.5 ECTS)
- Network topology control and traffic routing for sensor networks (0.4 ECTS).
- Game theory and node cooperation in device-to-device networks: theory and applications (0.6 ECTS)

Numerical exercises and software demonstrations account for 1.2 ECTS.

Lectures are held with the support of slides. Numerical exercises are presented and solved using the blackboard. Technical discussions during class lectures will also help to assess the acquired level of knowledge and ability at the different stages of the course.
Typically, the course hosts a couple of seminars by companies working in the filed of smart transportation systems. They present examples of applications of wireless technologies.

The teaching material (slides and text of numerical problems) is available on the web portal of the course.
Useful references are as follows:
- M. Gast, ed. (2002): "802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide," O'Reilly (Networking), ISBN 978-0596001834.
- M. Felegyhazi, J.-P. Hubaux, "Game Theory in Wireless Networks: A Tutorial," IEEE Communications Magazine.
- C.S. Raghavendra, K.M. Krishna, M. Sivalingam, T. Znati, Wireless Sensor Networks, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2004.

The exam consists of a written test, which lasts about 1 hour and a half. The test focuses on all course topics, specifically: WiFi/WiFi Direct, device-to-device networks, car-to-car communications, sensor networks, access control, topology formation and traffic routing. The test typically includes 4 questions, among which there is at least one numerical problem to solve. The remaining questions require the description and the analysis of a system aspect. Each question is assigned a number of points, which reflects the level of difficulty of the question/problem. The answers to open questions are evaluated considering their correctness, the level of knowledge that the student has acquired on the topic, and the student’s ability to precisely answer the question and to clearly communicate the technical material with accurate terms. The solution of numerical problems is evaluated based on its correctness and technical rigor, on the rational followed by the student and on the student’s ability to apply the acquired know-how. The final mark is computed by summing the marks obtained in each question.