Trustworthiness for an Ultra-Wideband Localization Service

Trustworthiness assessment is an essential step to assure that interdependent systems perform critical functions as anticipated, even under adverse conditions. In this paper, a holistic trustworthiness assessment framework for ultra-wideband self-localization is proposed, including attributes of reliability, security, privacy, and resilience. Our goal is to provide guidance for evaluating a system's trustworthiness based on objective evidence, so-called trustworthiness indicators. These indicators are carefully selected through the threat analysis of the particular system. Our approach guarantees that the resulting trustworthiness indicators correspond to chosen real-world threats. Moreover, experimental evaluations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. While the framework is tailored for this specific use case, the process itself serves as a versatile template, which can be used in other applications in the domains of the Internet of Things or cyber-physical systems.

WIP: Distance Estimation for Contact Tracing -- A Measurement Study of BLE and UWB Traces

Mobile contact tracing apps are -- in principle -- a perfect aid to condemn the human-to-human spread of an infectious disease such as COVID-19 due to the wide use of smartphones worldwide. Yet, the unknown accuracy of contact estimation by wireless technologies hinders the broad use. We address this challenge by conducting a measurement study with a custom testbed to show the benefits and limitations of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) in comparison to distance estimation by ultra-wideband (UWB). Our results confirm that BLE-based distance estimation is not sufficient in real scenarios where smartphones are shielded heavily by the users' bodies. Yet, multi-path signal propagation reduces the effect of body shielding. Finally, we demonstrate that UWB is more robust to the environment than BLE.