The Internet of Things is increasingly pervading industrial and personal applications, including, for example, smart meters and smart grids, industrial and process automation, car-to-car and car-to-X communication, home and building automation, telehealth and telecare applications. Wired and wireless networks of embedded systems, as well as their interconnection in “cyber-physical systems” (CPS) are playing an increasingly important role in this context. As more and more systems perform functionally critical tasks autonomously, their reliability and security are also continuing to gain in importance. Consequently, data security and privacy aspects need to be addressed.

The Institute of Reliable Embedded Systems and Communication Electronics (ivESK) at Hochschule Offenburg was formed to focus on these issues. We are especially active in the following areas:

• Conception and implementation of efficient and modular, wired and wireless communications protocols using embedded systems
  • e.g. 5G/6G/NB-IoT, LPWAN (LoRa/LoRaWAN, SIGFOX, MIOTY), 6LoWPAN, Wireless M-Bus
  • e.g. TSN-Ethernet, TSN-over-anything
• Conception and implementation of integrated security architectures for communications solutions using embedded systems
  • e.g. with the help of optimized and verified embedded TLS1.2/1.3 protocol stacks
  • eg. with PKI solutions for distributed applications guaranteeing end-to-end security over the complete product lifetime
  • e.g. with blockchain technologies for industrial applications
• Testing and verification of communications solutions
  • e.g. with automated physical testbed (APTB)
  • e.g. with network simulation and emulation

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The following vacancies are currently available:

• Industrial Ph.D. Position „Automotive Network Security”: Robert Bosch GmbH and ivESK at Offenburg University are looking for candidates for a 3 year Ph.D. program around Automotive Network Security. More details can be found at Bosch Group PhD - Automotive Network Security | SmartRecruiters
• Research Assistant [E-10, 100%] for a project in the field of industrial blockchain
• Projektingenieur / Doktorand Embedded Systems mit Schwerpunkt Kommunikation und Sicherheit für das Internet der Dinge und Industrie 4.0

Topics for Bachelor's or Master's theses in combination with work as a research assistant:

• Comparative Analysis of Certificate Revocation Mechanisms for Industrial Automation Networks
• Differenzielles Fuzz-Testing von TLS 1.3 Implementierungen für Embedded Systeme
• Charakterisierung und Evaluierung einer Security-Erweiterung für PROFINET anhand eines hardwarenah umzusetzenden Prototyps 
• Unified Field Test and Performance Measurement for Narrow Band Long Range Networks
• Integration of Unified TTCN-3 Test Framework to Network Simulator (ns-3)