Enabling Smart Classrooms with Connectivity and Sensing capabilities through Heterogeneous Wireless Communication Systems

The evolution within educational practices is leveraging the integration of interactive spaces, such as smart classrooms, in which information and communication technologies can aid in multiple processes as well as in providing flexible mechanisms towards advanced haptics and interaction, in environments in which not only users but also the surrounding infrastructure can modify it´s location. In this context, wireless technologies provide means for flexible user distribution, as well as including different mix of services (educational as well as towards building automation, security and others) and potential new functionalities, such as wireless based sensing mechanisms. The operation of these systems is however heavily constrained by quality-of-service metrics, requiring compliance to dynamic coverage/capacity thresholds, as well as by time dispersion and latency limits. In this work, the integration of multiple wireless communication systems will be leveraged within a real smart classroom facility, analyzing the limits both in frequency/power as well as time dispersion volumetric distributions, by means of deterministic wireless channel characterization as well as on site measurements. The results will be evaluated in relation to potential services to be provided within the smart classroom, towards optimal integration of current and future deployments.