Research

Networked systems: Wireless communications and self-organization

Christian Bettstetter’s research centers on networked systems of mobile entities, with an emphasis on wireless communications and principles of self-organization. He and his team develop mathematical models, algorithms and protocols, and experimental testbeds for communication, coordination, sensing, and adaptation with applications in future telecommunications, Internet of Things, and mobile robot systems. They draw on methods from communications and network engineering, stochastic geometry, network theory, and machine learning, and translate principles from nature into the design of resilient and scalable technologies. The group is part of the university’s strength area Networked and Autonomous Systems.

Research in wireless communications ranges from the fundamental analysis of interference and cooperative communications to the development of novel wireless sensing techniques. Work on drone systems covers reliable wireless connectivity, the integration of drones into cellular networks, flight path planning, and swarm formation. His research on self-organzing systems explores synchronization and its interplay with swarming, advancing both the foundations of collective behavior and its realization in robotic and aerial systems. All research areas span the full spectrum from theoretical analysis and algorithm design through simulation to experimental validation on real-world testbeds.

Fields of expertise

  • Information and communications engineering → Focus: networks, wireless communications, IoT
  • Robotics → Focus: drone systems, swarm robotics
  • Interdisciplinary and applied mathematics → Focus: self-organizing systems, synchronization, collective dynamics, system dynamics and resilience

Highlights

Swarmalators: The fusion of sync and swarm

Swarmalators: The fusion of sync and swarm

DroneZ: Communications, path planning, and swarming of drones

DroneZ: Communications, path planning, and swarming of drones

Self-organizing synchronization

SYNC: Self-organizing synchronization

Interference dynamics in wireless networks

INDY: Interference dynamics in wireless networks

Industrial sensor networks

Coordinated multi-robot exploration

Coordinated multi-robot exploration

Cooperative relaying in wireless networks

Cooperative relaying in wireless networks

Mobility modeling and node distributions

Mobility modeling and node distributions

Connectivity in ad hoc networks

Connectivity in ad hoc networks

Turbo decoding with tailbiting codes

Turbo decoding with tailbiting codes

Grants and contracts

Christian Bettstetter has led and contributed to many funded research projects, serving as principal investigator, co-applicant, partner, and mentor in both basic and applied research. He has also been a core faculty member in funded doctoral programs and engaged in industry collaborations with major partners. The following is a selection of projects (a complete and more detailed list is available here):

Infrastructure

The laboratory infrastructure includes a high-end communications and signal processing lab, mobile robotics and drones lab, programmable radio lab, and sensor networks lab.

Offices are located in the Lakeside Science & Technology Park with access to various facilities, such as a forthcoming 5G playground and a fablab.

Collaboration partners (past and present)

Industry

  • Airbus
  • BMW
  • Deutsche Telekom
  • DOCOMO Euro-Labs
  • Magenta (T-Mobile Austria)
  • NEC Laboratories Europe
  • Orange Labs (France Télécom R&D)
  • SKIDATA

Academia