Wireless Sensor Networks

The aim of this book is to present few important issues of WSNs, from the application, design and technology points of view. The book highlights power efficient design issues related to wireless sensor networks, the existing WSN applications, and discusses the research efforts being undertaken in this field which put the reader in good pace to be able to understand more advanced research and make a contribution in this field for themselves. It is believed that this book serves as a comprehensive reference for graduate and undergraduate senior students who seek to learn latest development in wireless sensor networks

Smart Wireless Sensor Networks

The recent development of communication and sensor technology results in the growth of a new attractive and challenging area - wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A wireless sensor network which consists of a large number of sensor nodes is deployed in environmental fields to serve various applications. Facilitated with the ability of wireless communication and intelligent computation, these nodes become smart sensors which do not only perceive ambient physical parameters but also be able to process information, cooperate with each other and self-organize into the network. These new features assist the sensor nodes as well as the network to operate more efficiently in terms of both data acquisition and energy consumption. Special purposes of the applications require design and operation of WSNs different from conventional networks such as the internet. The network design must take into account of the objectives of specific applications. The nature of deployed environment must be considered. The limited of sensor nodes� resources such as memory, computational ability, communication bandwidth and energy source are the challenges in network design. A smart wireless sensor network must be able to deal with these constraints as well as to guarantee the connectivity, coverage, reliability and security of network's operation for a maximized lifetime. This book discusses various aspects of designing such smart wireless sensor networks. Main topics includes: design methodologies, network protocols and algorithms, quality of service management, coverage optimization, time synchronization and security techniques for sensor networks

Advance in optimal design and deployment of ambient intelligence systems

[SPA]Se ha pronosticado un futuro excepcional para los sistemas de Inteligencia Ambiental (AmI). Dichos sistemas comprenden aquellos entornos capaces de anticiparse a las necesidades de la gente, y reaccionar inteligentemente en su ayuda. La inteligencia de estos sistemas proviene de los procesos de toma de decisión, cuyo funcionamiento resulta transparente al usuario. Algunos de estos entornos previstos pertenecen al ámbito de los hogares inteligentes, monitorización de la salud, educación, lugares de trabajo, deportes, soporte en actividades cotidianas, etc. La creciente complejidad de estos entornos hace cada vez más difícil la labor de tomar las decisiones correctas que sirvan de ayuda a los usuarios. Por tanto, la toma de decisiones resulta una parte esencial de estos sistemas. Diversas técnicas pueden utilizarse de forma eficaz en los sistemas AmI para resolver los problemas derivados de la toma de decisiones. Entre ellas están las técnicas de clasificación, y las herramientas matemáticas de programación. En la primera parte de este trabajo presentamos dos entornos AmI donde la toma de decisiones juega un papel fundamental: • Un sistema AmI para el entrenamiento de atletas. Este sistema monitoriza variables ambientales y biométricas de los atletas, tomando decisiones durante la sesión de entrenamiento, que al atleta le ayudan a conseguir un determinado objetivo. Varias técnicas han sido utilizadas para probar diferentes generadores de decisión: interpolación mediante (m, s)-splines, k-Nearest-Neighbors, y programación dinámica mediante Procesos de Decisión de Markov. • Un sistema AmI para detección de caza furtiva. En este caso, el objetivo consiste en localizar el origen de un disparo utilizando, para ello, una red de sensores acústicos. La localización se realiza utilizando el método de multilateración hiperbólica. Además, la calidad de las decisiones generadas está directamente relacionada con la calidad de la información disponible. Por lo tanto, es necesario que los nodos de la infraestructura AmI encargados de la obtención de datos relevantes del usuario y del ambiente, estén en red y situados correctamente. De hecho, el problema de posicionamiento tiene dos partes: los nodos deben ubicarse cerca de los lugares donde ocurren sucesos de interés, y deben estar conectados para que los datos capturados sean transmitidos y tengan utilidad. Adicionalmente, pueden considerarse otras restricciones, tales como el coste de despliegue de red. Por tanto, en el posicionamiento de los nodos es habitual que existan compromisos entre las capacidades de sensorización y de comunicación. Son posibles dos tipos de posicionamiento. Posicionamiento determinista donde puede seleccionarse de forma precisa la posición de cada nodo, y, aleatorio donde debido a la gran cantidad de nodos o a lo inaccesible del terreno de depliegue, sólo resulta posible la distribución aleatoria de los nodos. Esta tesis aborda tres problemas de posicionamiento de red. Los dos primeros problemas se han planteado de forma general, siendo de aplicación a cualquier tipo de escenario AmI. El objetivo es seleccionar las mejores posiciones para los nodos y mantener los nodos de la red conectados. Las opciones estudiadas son un posicionamiento determinista resuelto mediante el metaheurístico Ant Colony Optimization para dominios continuos, y un posicionamiento aleatorio, donde se realiza un despliegue cuasi-controlado mediante varios clusters de red. En cada clúster podemos determinar tanto el punto objetivo de despliegue, como la dispersión de los nodos alrededor de dicho punto. En este caso, el problema planteado tiene naturaleza estocástica y se resuelve descomponiéndolo en fases de despliegue, una por clúster. Finalmente, el tercer escenario de despliegue de red está estrechamente ligado al entorno AmI para la detección de caza furtiva. En este caso, utilizamos el método matemático de descenso sin derivadas. El objetivo consiste en maximizar la cobertura, minimizando a la vez el coste de despliegue. Debido a que los dos objetivos son opuestos, se utiliza un frente Pareto para que el diseñador seleccione un punto de operación. [ENG] A brilliant future is forecasted for Ambient Intelligence (AmI) systems. These comprise sensitive environments able to anticipate people’s actions, and to react intelligently supporting them. AmI relies on decision-making processes, which are usually hidden to the users, giving rise to the so-called smart environments. Some of those envisioned environments include smart homes, health monitoring, education, workspaces, sports, assisted living, and so forth. Moreover, the complexity of these environments is continuously growing, thereby increasing the difficulty of making suitable decisions in support of human activity. Therefore, decision-making is one of the critical parts of these systems. Several techniques can be efficiently combined with AmI environments and may help to alleviate decisionmaking issues. These include classification techniques, as well as mathematical programming tools. In the first part of this work we introduce two AmI environments where decisionmaking plays a primary role: • An AmI system for athletes’ training. This system is in charge of monitoring ambient variables, as well as athletes’ biometry and making decisions during a training session to meet the training goals. Several techniques have been used to test different decision engines: interpolation by means of (m, s)-splines, k-Nearest-Neighbors and dynamic programming based on Markov Decision Processes. • An AmI system for furtive hunting detection. In this case, the aim is to locate gunshots using a network of acoustic sensors. The location is performed by means of a hyperbolic multilateration method. Moreover, the quality of the decisions is directly related to the quality of the information available. Therefore, is necessary that nodes in charge of sensing and networking tasks of the AmI infrastructure must be placed correctly. In fact, the placement problem is twofold: nodes must be near important places, where valuable events occur, and network connectivity is also mandatory. In addition, some other constraints, such as network deployment cost could be considered. Therefore, there are usually tradeoffs between sensing capacity and communication capabilities. Two kinds of placement options are possible. Deterministic placements, where the position for each node can be precisely selected, and random deployments where, due to the large number of nodes, or the inaccessibility of the terrain, the only suitable option for deployment is a random scattering of the nodes. This thesis addresses three problems of network placement. The first two problems are not tied to a particular case, but are applicable to a general AmI scenario. The goal is to select the best positions for the nodes, while connectivity constraints are met. The options examined are a deterministic placement, which is solved by means of an Ant Colony Optimization metaheuristic for continuous domains, and a random placement, where partially controlled deployments of clustered networks take place. For each cluster, both the target point and dispersion can be selected, leading to a stochastic problem, which is solved by decomposing it in several steps, one per cluster. Finally, the third network placement scenario is tightly related to the furtive hunting detection AmI environment. Using a derivate-free descent methodology, the goal is to select the placement with maximal sensing coverage and minimal cost. Since both goals are contrary, the Pareto front is constructed to enable the designer to select the desired operational point.Universidad Politécnica de Cartagen

Risk Management

Every business and decision involves a certain amount of risk. Risk might cause a loss to a company. This does not mean, however, that businesses cannot take risks. As disengagement and risk aversion may result in missed business opportunities, which will lead to slower growth and reduced prosperity of a company. In today's increasingly complex and diverse environment, it is crucial to find the right balance between risk aversion and risk taking. To do this it is essential to understand the complex, out of the whole range of economic, technical, operational, environmental and social risks associated with the company's activities. However, risk management is about much more than merely avoiding or successfully deriving benefit from opportunities. Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks. Lastly, risk management helps a company to handle the risks associated with a rapidly changing business environment

New Challenges in HCI: Ambient Intelligence for Human Performance Improvement

Ambient Intelligence is new multidisciplinary paradigm that is going to change the relation between humans, technology and the environment they live in. This paradigm has its roots in the ideas Ubiquitous and Pervasive computing. In this vision, that nowadays is almost reality, technology becomes pervasive in everyday lives but, despite its increasing importance, it (should) becomes “invisible”, so deeply intertwined in our day-to-day activities to disappear into the fabric of our lives. The new environment should become “intelligent” and “smart”, able to actively and adaptively react to the presence, actions and needs of humans (not only users but complex human being), in order to support daily activities and improve the quality of life. Ambient Intelligence represents a trend able to profoundly affect every aspect of our life. It is not a problem regarding only technology but is about a new way to be “human”, to inhabit our environment, and to dialogue with technology. But what makes an environment smart and intelligent is the way it understands and reacts to changing conditions. As a well-designed tool can help us carry out our activities more quickly and easily, a poorly designed one could be an obstacle. Ambient Intelligence paradigm tends to change some human’s activities by automating certain task. However is not always simple to decide what automate and when and how much the user needs to have control. In this thesis we analyse the different levels composing the Ambient Intelligence paradigm, from its theoretical roots, through technology until the issues related the Human Factors and the Human Computer Interaction, to better understand how this paradigm is able to change the performance and the behaviour of the user. After a general analysis, we decided to focus on the problem of smart surveillance analysing how is possible to automate certain tasks through a context capture system, based on the fusion of different sources and inspired to the paradigm of Ambient Intelligence. Particularly we decide to investigate, from a Human Factors point of view, how different levels of automation (LOAs) may result in a change of user’s behaviour and performances. Moreover this investigation was aimed to find the criteria that may help to design a smart surveillance system. After the design of a general framework for fusion of different sensor in a real time locating system, an hybrid people tracking system, based on the combined use of RFID UWB and computer vision techniques was developed and tested to explore the possibilities of a smart context capture system. Taking this system as an example we developed 3 simulators of a smart surveillance system implementing 3 different LOAs: manual, low system assistance, high system assistance. We performed tests (using quali-quantitative measures) to see changes in performances, Situation Awareness and workload in relation to different LOAs. Based on the results obtained, is proposed a new interaction paradigm for control rooms based on the HCI concepts related to Ambient Intelligence paradigm and especially related to Ambient Display’s concept, highlighting its usability advantages in a control room scenario. The assessments made through test showed that if from a technological perspective is possible to achieve very high levels of automation, from a Human Factors point of view this doesn’t necessarily reflect in an improvement of human performances. The latter is rather related to a particular balance that is not fixed but changes according to specific context. Thus every Ambient Intelligence system may be designed in a human centric perspective considering that, sometimes less can be more and vice-versa