PhD Zhi Zhang
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GRADUATION
Published May 08, 2013
Zhi Zhang from China became a joint PhD student between KTH and Zhejiang University in 2007. During his PhD studies he has built hierarchical networked RFID systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) and has also started a company within this area of which he is the CEO. Now he has defended his PhD thesis and can call himself a doctor.
Where are you from and where did you study before coming to KTH School of Information and Communication Technology?
– I am from Tangshan in the Hebei province, China. I got my Bachelors degree in Electronic and Information Engineering at the College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, China, in 2006. I was recommended to the combined master-Ph.D. program in Zhejiang University in 2006, and became a joint Ph.D. student between KTH and Zhejiang University in 2007.
What is your topic and why did you choose it?
– My research topic is about how to build hierarchical networked RFID systems for the Internet of Things (IoT), formulating and addressing problems in three key areas, i.e., communication protocols, simulation approaches, and RFID applications. It is a hot research topic and tightly matches the IoT technology roadmap. I am interested in this topic and believe it will be widely adopted by industry and academia for future IoT applications.
Describe your topic in short
– The three key areas of my topic, i.e., communication protocols, simulation approaches, and RFID applications, are tightly related to each other. I proposed new physical layer and medium access control (MAC) layer protocols for RFID systems and built a co-simulation framework based on MATLAB and OMNeT++ (COSMO) to evaluate them. Beyond simulations, I also implemented my ideas in prototypes, e.g., a mobile wide area RFID sensor network for fresh food tracking and a real-time item-level indoor RFID localization system.
Tell us something about your results
– I proposed new algorithms, built a co-simulation framework, and implemented prototypes for some RFID applications. I achieved 14 publications, including 3 first-authored SCI-indexed journal papers. One of my papers, Item-level indoor localization with passive UHF RFID based on tag interaction analysis, is accepted by the TOP journal, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (impact factor: 5.160). I am the first one whose paper is accepted by this top journal in the Department of Electronic Systems.
What will the future bring for your research topic?
– There will be more and more Internet of Things applications based on networked RFID systems and wireless sensor networks.
How does your future plans look like?
– I am the co-founder and CEO of Innoverse Technology AB, Sweden. The company develops technologies, such as long term evolution (LTE), radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic acupuncture and provides consulting services for companies in the wireless communications industry, integrated circuit design industry and biomedical industries. It also provides consulting services in innovation policy, patents, entrepreneurship, and related activities in these industries.