Two ways you did not know mobile networks could be useful

Marco Fiore

Monday, September 24th 2018,  4pm, room 24-25/405

Slides

Mobile networks provide support to a variety of communication-based services that are steadily changing our lives. However, they are also pervasive infrastructures that can be used in unconventional ways unrelated to communication. Specifically, mobile networks can be seen as large-scale remote sensing platform capable of providing fine-grained information about a large (and increasing) fraction of the worldwide population. In this talk, I will discuss two case studies of remote sensing based on mobile networks: land use mapmaking, i.e., the detection of arrangements and activities in a target geographical region, and population density estimation, i.e., the monitoring of dwelling units and people presence. Solutions to both these problems have important applications in, e.g., urban planning and transportations, and can benefit from approaches that take advantage of the mobile network infrastructure.