Disaster management using D2D communication with power transfer and clustering techniques

Device-to-device (D2D) communications as an underlay to cellular networks can not only increase the system capacity and energy efficiency but also enable national security and public safety services. A key requirement for these services is to provide alternative access to cellular networks when they are partially or fully damaged due to a natural disaster event. In this paper, we employ energy harvesting (EH) at the relay with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer to prolong the lifetime of energy constrained network. In particular, we consider a user equipment relay that harvests energy from radio frequency signal via base station and use harvested energy for D2D communications. We integrate clustering technique with D2D communications into cellular networks such that communication services can be maintained when the cellular infrastructure becomes partially dysfunctional. Simulation results show that our proposed EH-based D2D clustering model performs efficiently in terms of coverage, energy efficiency, and cluster formation to extend the communication area. Moreover, a novel concept of power transfer in D2D clustering with user equipment relay and cluster head is proposed to provide a new framework to handle critical and emergency situations. The proposed approach is shown to provide significant energy saving for both mobile users and clustering heads to survive in emergency and disaster situations

Disaster management using D2D communication with power transfer and clustering techniques

Device-to-device (D2D) communications as an underlay to cellular networks can not only increase the system capacity and energy efficiency but also enable national security and public safety services. A key requirement for these services is to provide alternative access to cellular networks when they are partially or fully damaged due to a natural disaster event. In this paper, we employ energy harvesting (EH) at the relay with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer to prolong the lifetime of energy constrained network. In particular, we consider a user equipment relay that harvests energy from radio frequency signal via base station and use harvested energy for D2D communications. We integrate clustering technique with D2D communications into cellular networks such that communication services can be maintained when the cellular infrastructure becomes partially dysfunctional. Simulation results show that our proposed EH-based D2D clustering model performs efficiently in terms of coverage, energy efficiency, and cluster formation to extend the communication area. Moreover, a novel concept of power transfer in D2D clustering with user equipment relay and cluster head is proposed to provide a new framework to handle critical and emergency situations. The proposed approach is shown to provide significant energy saving for both mobile users and clustering heads to survive in emergency and disaster situations

Wearable device to assist independent living.

Older people increasingly want to remain living independently in their own homes. The aim of the ENABLE project is to develop a wearable device that can be used both within and outside of the home to support older people in their daily lives and which can monitor their health status, detect potential problems, provide activity reminders and offer communication and alarm services. In order to determine the specifications and functionality required for development of the device user surveys and focus groups were undertaken and use case analysis and scenario modeling carried out. The project has resulted in the development of a wrist worn device and mobile phone combination that can support and assist older and vulnerable wearers with a range of activities and services both inside and outside of their homes. The device is currently undergoing pilot trials in five European countries. The aim of this paper is to describe the ENABLE device, its features and services, and the infrastructure within which it operates

UAV-Empowered Disaster-Resilient Edge Architecture for Delay-Sensitive Communication

The fifth-generation (5G) communication systems will enable enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low latency, and massive connectivity services. The broadband and low-latency services are indispensable to public safety (PS) communication during natural or man-made disasters. Recently, the third generation partnership project long term evolution (3GPPLTE) has emerged as a promising candidate to enable broadband PS communications. In this article, first we present six major PS-LTE enabling services and the current status of PS-LTE in 3GPP releases. Then, we discuss the spectrum bands allocated for PS-LTE in major countries by international telecommunication union (ITU). Finally, we propose a disaster resilient three-layered architecture for PS-LTE (DR-PSLTE). This architecture consists of a software-defined network (SDN) layer to provide centralized control, an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) cloudlet layer to facilitate edge computing or to enable emergency communication link, and a radio access layer. The proposed architecture is flexible and combines the benefits of SDNs and edge computing to efficiently meet the delay requirements of various PS-LTE services. Numerical results verified that under the proposed DR-PSLTE architecture, delay is reduced by 20% as compared with the conventional centralized computing architecture.Comment: 9,

M-health review: joining up healthcare in a wireless world

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver health and social care. This trend is bound to continue as providers (whether public or private) strive to deliver better care to more people under conditions of severe budgetary constraint

How Mobile Devices are Transforming Disaster Relief and Public Safety

With its growing usage, mobile technology is greatly improving disaster relief and public safety efforts. Countries around the world face threats from natural disasters, climate change, civil unrest, terrorist attacks, and criminal activities, among others. Mobile devices, tablets, and smart phones enable emergency providers and the general public to manage these challenges and mitigate public safety concerns.In this paper, part of the Brookings Mobile Economy Project, we focus on how mobile technology provides an early warning system, aids in emergency coordination, and improves public communications. In particular, we review how mobile devices assist with public safety, disaster planning, and crisis response. We explain how these devices are instrumental in the design and functioning of integrated, multi-layered communications networks. We demonstrate how they have helped save lives and ameliorate human suffering throughout the world

On the Deployment of Healthcare Applications over Fog Computing Infrastructure

Fog computing is considered as the most promising enhancement of the traditional cloud computing paradigm in order to handle potential issues introduced by the emerging Interned of Things (IoT) framework at the network edge. The heterogeneous nature, the extensive distribution and the hefty number of deployed IoT nodes will disrupt existing functional models, creating confusion. However, IoT will facilitate the rise of new applications, with automated healthcare monitoring platforms being amongst them. This paper presents the pillars of design for such applications, along with the evaluation of a working prototype that collects ECG traces from a tailor-made device and utilizes the patient's smartphone as a Fog gateway for securely sharing them to other authorized entities. This prototype will allow patients to share information to their physicians, monitor their health status independently and notify the authorities rapidly in emergency situations. Historical data will also be available for further analysis, towards identifying patterns that may improve medical diagnoses in the foreseeable future