An eco-friendly hybrid urban computing network combining community-based wireless LAN access and wireless sensor networking

Computer-enhanced smart environments, distributed environmental monitoring, wireless communication, energy conservation and sustainable technologies, ubiquitous access to Internet-located data and services, user mobility and innovation as a tool for service differentiation are all significant contemporary research subjects and societal developments. This position paper presents the design of a hybrid municipal network infrastructure that, to a lesser or greater degree, incorporates aspects from each of these topics by integrating a community-based Wi-Fi access network with Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) functionality. The former component provides free wireless Internet connectivity by harvesting the Internet subscriptions of city inhabitants. To minimize session interruptions for mobile clients, this subsystem incorporates technology that achieves (near-)seamless handover between Wi-Fi access points. The WSN component on the other hand renders it feasible to sense physical properties and to realize the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. This in turn scaffolds the development of value-added end-user applications that are consumable through the community-powered access network. The WSN subsystem invests substantially in ecological considerations by means of a green distributed reasoning framework and sensor middleware that collaboratively aim to minimize the network's global energy consumption. Via the discussion of two illustrative applications that are currently being developed as part of a concrete smart city deployment, we offer a taste of the myriad of innovative digital services in an extensive spectrum of application domains that is unlocked by the proposed platform

MAGDA: A Mobile Agent based Grid Architecture

Mobile agents mean both a technology and a programming paradigm. They allow for a flexible approach which can alleviate a number of issues present in distributed and Grid-based systems, by means of features such as migration, cloning, messaging and other provided mechanisms. In this paper we describe an architecture (MAGDA – Mobile Agent based Grid Architecture) we have designed and we are currently developing to support programming and execution of mobile agent based application upon Grid systems

Analysis of the mobility of people and tourists in nightlife areas in the city of Lisbon

The population's mobility can be better understood by looking into specific mobile phone activities. Thus, this dissertation aims to analyze the mobility of people and tourists in nightlife areas in the city of Lisbon using data from each user’s mobile device provided by a mobile operator. This data is obtained through an agreement between the mobile operator and the Lisbon city council. The main purpose is to provide the Lisbon Urban Data Lab team (LxDataLab) with data-based information that they can use to better manage and allocate resources regarding nightlife areas with strong public space occupation. These spaces have a great impact on the life of the city, and their management is very important in order to fulfill the interests of the several intervenients such as merchants, residents and users. The development of this research has focused on three stages: 1) create knowledge regarding Lisbon's nightlife and understand if the data can answer the research questions; 2) Understand, extract, clean and transform data, to develop a set of clean and useful data capable of responding to our needs; 3) Data visualization where it was possible to do a complete analysis of the data, extracting the value, knowledge and answers needed to provide to decision makers. Regarding deliverables, the work created also includes python files where data processing was done in addition to this document. For the visualizations and dashboards Microsoft PowerBI was used. The analysis and conclusions drawn were validated by the LxDataLab team through an online presentation of results.A mobilidade da população pode ser melhor compreendida através da análise de atividades específicas do telemóvel. Assim, esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a mobilidade de pessoas e turistas em zonas de diversão noturna, na cidade de Lisboa, utilizando dados de dispositivos móveis de cada utilizador, fornecidos por uma operadora. Estes dados são obtidos através de um acordo entre a operadora e a Câmara Municipal de Lisboa. O principal objetivo é fornecer à equipa Laboratório de Dados Urbanos de Lisboa (LxDataLab) informações baseadas em dados que possam ser utilizadas, para melhor gerir e afetar recursos relativamente às áreas de diversão noturna. Estes espaços têm um grande impacto na vida da cidade, e a sua gestão é muito importante para satisfazer os interesses dos vários intervenientes: comerciantes, residentes e utilizadores. O desenvolvimento desta investigação centrou-se em três etapas: 1) criar conhecimento relativamente à vida noturna de Lisboa e perceber se os dados respondem às questões de investigação; 2) compreender, extrair, limpar e transformar os dados, para desenvolver um conjunto de dados úteis, capazes de responder às nossas necessidades; 3) visualização dos dados, onde foi possível fazer uma análise completa dos dados, extraindo valor, conhecimento e as respostas necessárias para fornecer aos decisores. Relativamente aos entregáveis, o trabalho criado inclui também ficheiros python onde foi feito o processamento dos dados, além deste documento. Para as visualizações e dashboards foi utilizado o Microsoft PowerBI. As análises e conclusões retiradas foram validadas pela equipa do LxDataLab através de uma apresentação de resultados online

Action-Oriented Programming Model: Collective Executions and Interactions in the Fog

Today’s dominant design for the Internet of Things (IoT) is a Cloud-based system, where devices transfer their data to a back-end and in return receive instructions on how to act. This view is challenged when delays caused by communication with the back-end become an obstacle for the IoT applications with e.g., stringent timing constraints. In contrast, Fog Computing approaches, where devices communicate and orchestrate their operations collectively and closer to the origin of data, lack adequate tools for programming secure interactions between humans and their proximate devices at the network edge. This paper fills the gap by applying Action-Oriented Programming (AcOP) model for this task. While originally the AcOP model was proposed for Cloud-based infrastructures, presently it is re-designed around the notion of coalescence and disintegration, which enable the devices to collectively and autonomously execute their operations in the Fog by serving humans in a peer-to-peer fashion. The Cloud’s role has been minimized—it is being leveraged as a development and deployment platform.Peer reviewe

Connectivity for Healthcare and Well-Being Management: Examples from Six European Projects

Technological advances and societal changes in recent years have contributed to a shift in traditional care models and in the relationship between patients and their doctors/carers, with (in general) an increase in the patient-carer physical distance and corresponding changes in the modes of access to relevant care information by all groups. The objective of this paper is to showcase the research efforts of six projects (that the authors are currently, or have recently been, involved in), CAALYX, eCAALYX, COGKNOW, EasyLine+, I2HOME, and SHARE-it, all funded by the European Commission towards a future where citizens can take an active role into managing their own healthcare. Most importantly, sensitive groups of citizens, such as the elderly, chronically ill and those suffering from various physical and cognitive disabilities, will be able to maintain vital and feature-rich connections with their families, friends and healthcare providers, who can then respond to, and prevent, the development of adverse health conditions in those they care for in a timely manner, wherever the carers and the people cared for happen to be

Greening cloud-enabled big data storage forensics : Syncany as a case study

The pervasive nature of cloud-enabled big data storage solutions introduces new challenges in the identification, collection, analysis, preservation and archiving of digital evidences. Investigation of such complex platforms to locate and recover traces of criminal activities is a time-consuming process. Hence, cyber forensics researchers are moving towards streamlining the investigation process by locating and documenting residual artefacts (evidences) of forensic value of users’ activities on cloud-enabled big data platforms in order to reduce the investigation time and resources involved in a real-world investigation. In this paper, we seek to determine the data remnants of forensic value from Syncany private cloud storage service, a popular storage engine for big data platforms. We demonstrate the types and the locations of the artefacts that can be forensically recovered. Findings from this research contribute to an in-depth understanding of cloud-enabled big data storage forensics, which can result in reduced time and resources spent in real-world investigations involving Syncany-based cloud platforms

New Waves of IoT Technologies Research – Transcending Intelligence and Senses at the Edge to Create Multi Experience Environments

The next wave of Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) brings new technological developments that incorporate radical advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), edge computing processing, new sensing capabilities, more security protection and autonomous functions accelerating progress towards the ability for IoT systems to self-develop, self-maintain and self-optimise. The emergence of hyper autonomous IoT applications with enhanced sensing, distributed intelligence, edge processing and connectivity, combined with human augmentation, has the potential to power the transformation and optimisation of industrial sectors and to change the innovation landscape. This chapter is reviewing the most recent advances in the next wave of the IoT by looking not only at the technology enabling the IoT but also at the platforms and smart data aspects that will bring intelligence, sustainability, dependability, autonomy, and will support human-centric solutions.acceptedVersio