Space-Terrestrial Integrated IoT – STEREO

The objective of this project is to achieve a Space-Terrestrial Integrated Internet of Things (STEREO) network, in which IoT devices can seamlessly hook to gateways on ground or directly to low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites when no network infrastructure is present. The feasibility and expected performance will be assessed by 1) defining a new network architecture, 2) evaluating the enabling IoT technologies, 3) designing the software components, and 4) prototyping the hardware modules. As a result, existing IoT infrastructures - already connecting millions of devices on the ground surface - will be generalized and extended into the space segment, enabling ubiquitous coverage. The hypothesis of the project is that a worldwide, interoperable, and integrated IoT service architecture spanning the space-terrestrial domains can be unlocked. Use cases for STEREO are numerous: international asset tracking, cross-border environmental monitoring, global data collection, and others spanning to remote regions that will never be covered with terrestrial connectivity (poles, deserts, oceans, forests). Achieving this requires a leap in research driven by partners from the space and terrestrial IoT sectors. To this end, STEREO nucleates the satellite IoT experience of Kineis (Toulouse), and the academic expertise from Inria (Lyon), IRIT and LAAS (both from Toulouse).