Radio frequency fingerprinting (RFF) is a promising physical layer protection technique which can be used to defend wireless networks from malicious attacks. It is based on the use of the distinctive features of the physical waveforms (signals) transmitted from wireless devices in order to classify authorized users. The most important requirement to develop an RFF method is the existence of a precise, robust, and extensive database of the emitted signals. In this context, this paper introduces a database consisting of Bluetooth (BT) signals collected at different sampling rates from 27 different smartphones (six manufacturers with several models for each). Firstly, the data acquisition system to create the database is described in detail. Then, the two well-known methods based on transient BT signals are experimentally tested by using the provided data to check their solidity. The results show that the created database may be useful for many researchers working on the development of the RFF of BT devices.

In this study, a novel method is proposed to detect and classify the threats for fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) systems. In the study, phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (phase-OTDR) is realized for the sensing system. The proposed method is consisted of three main stages. In the first stage, Wavelet denoising method is applied for noise reduction in the measured signal, and difference in time domain approach is used to perform high-pass filtering. Autocorrelation is then used for comparing the signal with itself over time in each bin to remove uncorrelated signals. Next, the power of the correlated signals at each bin is calculated and sorted where maximum valued bins are considered as the event signal. In the second stage, Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) technique is used to decompose the detected event signals into a series of band-limited modes from which the event signals are reconstructed. From the reconstructed event signals, higher order statistical (HOS) features including variance, skewness, and kurtosis are extracted. In the last stage, the threats are discriminated by implementing Linear Support Vector Machine (LSVM)-based classification approach to the extracted features. In order to evaluate the effects of proposed method on the classification performance, different types of activities such as digging with hammer, pickaxe, and shovel collected from various points of a buried fiber optic cable have been used under different Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) levels (−4 to −18 dB). It has observed that the classification accuracy at high/moderate (−4 to −8 dB) and low (−8 to −18 dB) SNR levels are 79.5% and 75.2%, respectively. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research study is the first report to use VMD technique for threat classification in phase-OTDR-based DAS systems.

This study proposes a simple convolutional neural network (CNN)-based model for vehicle classification in low resolution surveillance images collected by a standard security camera installed distant from a traffic scene. In order to evaluate its effectiveness, the proposed model is tested on a new dataset containing tiny (100 × 100 pixels) and low resolution (96 dpi) vehicle images. The proposed model is then compared with well-known VGG16-based CNN models in terms of accuracy and complexity. Results indicate that although the well-known models provide higher accuracy, the proposed method offers an acceptable accuracy (92.9%) as well as a simple and lightweight solution for vehicle classification in low quality images. Thus, it is believed that this study might provide useful perception and understanding for further research on the use of standard low-cost cameras to enhance the ability of the intelligent systems such as intelligent transportation system applications.

Radio frequency fingerprinting (RFF) is one of the communication network’s security techniques based on the identification of the unique features of RF transient signals. However, extracting these features could be burdensome, due to the nonstationary nature of transient signals. This may then adversely affect the accuracy of the identification of devices. Recently, it has been shown that the use of variational mode decomposition (VMD) in extracting features from Bluetooth (BT) transient signals offers an efficient way to improve the classification accuracy. To do this, VMD has been used to decompose transient signals into a series of band-limited modes, and higher order statistical (HOS) features are extracted from reconstructed transient signals. In this study, the performance bounds of VMD in RFF implementation are scrutinized. Firstly, HOS features are extracted from the band-limited modes, and then from the reconstructed transient signals directly. Performance comparison due to both HOS feature sets is presented. Moreover, the lower SNR bound within which the VMD can achieve acceptable accuracy in the classification of BT devices is determined. The approach has been tested experimentally with BT devices by employing a Linear Support Vector Machine (LSVM) classifier. According to the classification results, a higher classification performance is achieved (~4% higher) at lower SNR levels (−5–5 dB) when HOS features are extracted from band-limited modes in the implementation of VMD in RFF of BT devices.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in building smart cities based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. However, selecting a low-cost IoT wireless technology that enables low-power connectivity remains one of the key challenges in integrating IoT to smart cities. In this context, the IQRF technology offers promising opportunities to provide cost-effective solutions. Yet, in the literature, there are limited studies on utilizing IQRF technology for smart city applications. Therefore, this study is aimed at increasing the awareness about the use of IQRF technology in IoT-based smart city development. For this purpose, a review of smart city architectures along with challenges/requirements in adopting IoT for smart cities is provided. Then, some of the common cost-effective IoT wireless technologies that enable low-power consumption are briefly presented. Next, the benefits of IQRF technology over other technologies are discussed by making theoretical comparisons based on technical documentations and reports. Moreover, the research efforts currently being undertaken by the authors as a part of ongoing project on the development of IoT-based smart city system in Gjøvik Municipality, Norway, are conceptually introduced. Finally, the future research directions are addressed.