1,391 research outputs found
Software Platforms for Smart Cities: Concepts, Requirements, Challenges, and a Unified Reference Architecture
Making cities smarter help improve city services and increase citizens'
quality of life. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are
fundamental for progressing towards smarter city environments. Smart City
software platforms potentially support the development and integration of Smart
City applications. However, the ICT community must overcome current significant
technological and scientific challenges before these platforms can be widely
used. This paper surveys the state-of-the-art in software platforms for Smart
Cities. We analyzed 23 projects with respect to the most used enabling
technologies, as well as functional and non-functional requirements,
classifying them into four categories: Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of
Things, Big Data, and Cloud Computing. Based on these results, we derived a
reference architecture to guide the development of next-generation software
platforms for Smart Cities. Finally, we enumerated the most frequently cited
open research challenges, and discussed future opportunities. This survey gives
important references for helping application developers, city managers, system
operators, end-users, and Smart City researchers to make project, investment,
and research decisions.Comment: Accepted for publication in ACM Computing Survey
Federated Embedded Systems – a review of the literature in related fields
This report is concerned with the vision of smart interconnected objects, a vision that has attracted much attention lately. In this paper, embedded, interconnected, open, and heterogeneous control systems are in focus, formally referred to as Federated Embedded Systems. To place FES into a context, a review of some related research directions is presented. This review includes such concepts as systems of systems, cyber-physical systems, ubiquitous
computing, internet of things, and multi-agent systems. Interestingly, the reviewed fields seem to overlap with each other in an increasing number of ways
EXPLAINING THE ROLE OF SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE FOR CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS BY ESTABLISHING LOGICAL LINKS
In the context of the so-called fourth industrial revolution, cyber-physical systems (CPS) build the technological foundation for the increasing digitalisation of our world. Because guidelines to overcome challenges of building such systems (e.g. security concerns, missing know-how, and lack of standards) are scarce, researchers and practitioners alike have begun to analyse the role of the mature paradigm of service-oriented architecture (SOA) in implementing CPS. However, the relationship between SOA and CPS is not entirely understood. To close this gap, we analyse SOA’s role for CPS based on a concept-driven literature review. The analysis of 12 publications that address the interrelation between SOA and CPS yielded four groups of CPS benefits that can be achieved by leveraging SOA. Combining these benefits with architectural layers and SOA’s design principles, we identify logical links that explain the role of SOA for CPS. Future research might concentrate on dominant patterns to scrutinise how a specific benefit can be achieved by leveraging SOA. Designers of CPS can leverage the identified patterns to understand the importance of specific characteristics of SOA to address the unique requirements of their CPS
Middleware Technologies for Cloud of Things - a survey
The next wave of communication and applications rely on the new services
provided by Internet of Things which is becoming an important aspect in human
and machines future. The IoT services are a key solution for providing smart
environments in homes, buildings and cities. In the era of a massive number of
connected things and objects with a high grow rate, several challenges have
been raised such as management, aggregation and storage for big produced data.
In order to tackle some of these issues, cloud computing emerged to IoT as
Cloud of Things (CoT) which provides virtually unlimited cloud services to
enhance the large scale IoT platforms. There are several factors to be
considered in design and implementation of a CoT platform. One of the most
important and challenging problems is the heterogeneity of different objects.
This problem can be addressed by deploying suitable "Middleware". Middleware
sits between things and applications that make a reliable platform for
communication among things with different interfaces, operating systems, and
architectures. The main aim of this paper is to study the middleware
technologies for CoT. Toward this end, we first present the main features and
characteristics of middlewares. Next we study different architecture styles and
service domains. Then we presents several middlewares that are suitable for CoT
based platforms and lastly a list of current challenges and issues in design of
CoT based middlewares is discussed.Comment: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352864817301268,
Digital Communications and Networks, Elsevier (2017
Middleware Technologies for Cloud of Things - a survey
The next wave of communication and applications rely on the new services
provided by Internet of Things which is becoming an important aspect in human
and machines future. The IoT services are a key solution for providing smart
environments in homes, buildings and cities. In the era of a massive number of
connected things and objects with a high grow rate, several challenges have
been raised such as management, aggregation and storage for big produced data.
In order to tackle some of these issues, cloud computing emerged to IoT as
Cloud of Things (CoT) which provides virtually unlimited cloud services to
enhance the large scale IoT platforms. There are several factors to be
considered in design and implementation of a CoT platform. One of the most
important and challenging problems is the heterogeneity of different objects.
This problem can be addressed by deploying suitable "Middleware". Middleware
sits between things and applications that make a reliable platform for
communication among things with different interfaces, operating systems, and
architectures. The main aim of this paper is to study the middleware
technologies for CoT. Toward this end, we first present the main features and
characteristics of middlewares. Next we study different architecture styles and
service domains. Then we presents several middlewares that are suitable for CoT
based platforms and lastly a list of current challenges and issues in design of
CoT based middlewares is discussed.Comment: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352864817301268,
Digital Communications and Networks, Elsevier (2017
A Framework for Industry 4.0
The potential of the Industry 4.0 will allow the national industry to develop all kinds of
procedures, especially in terms of competitive differentiation. The prospects and motivations
behind Industry 4.0 are related to the management that is essentially geared towards industrial
internet, to the integrated analysis and use of data, to the digitalization of products and services,
to new disruptive business models and to the cooperation within the value chain. It is through
the integration of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), into the maintenance process that it is
possible to carry out a continuous monitoring of industrial machines, as well as to apply
advanced techniques for predictive and proactive maintenance.
The present work is based on the MANTIS project, aiming to construct a specific
platform for the proactive maintenance of industrial machines, targeting particularly the case
of GreenBender ADIRA Steel Sheet. In other words, the aim is to reduce maintenance costs,
increase the efficiency of the process and consequently the profit. Essentially, the MANTIS
project is a multinational research project, where the CISTER Research Unit plays a key role,
particularly in providing the communications infrastructure for one MANTIS Pilot.
The methodology is based on a follow-up study, which is jointly carried with the client,
as well as within the scope of the implementation of the ADIRA Pilot. The macro phases that
are followed in the present work are: 1) detailed analysis of the business needs; 2) preparation
of the architecture specification; 3) implementation/development; 4) tests and validation; 5)
support; 6) stabilization; 7) corrective and evolutionary maintenance; and 8) final project
analysis and corrective measures to be applied in future projects.
The expected results of the development of such project are related to the integration of
the industrial maintenance process, to the continuous monitoring of the machines and to the
application of advanced techniques of preventive and proactive maintenance of industrial
machines, particularly based on techniques and good practices of the Software Engineering area
and on the integration of Cyber-Physical Systems.O potencial desenvolvido pela Indústria 4.0 dotará a indústria nacional de capacidades
para desenvolver todo o tipo de procedimentos, especialmente a nÃvel da diferenciação
competitiva. As perspetivas e as motivações por detrás da Indústria 4.0 estão relacionadas com
uma gestão essencialmente direcionada para a internet industrial, com uma análise integrada e
utilização de dados, com a digitalização de produtos e de serviços, com novos modelos
disruptivos de negócio e com uma cooperação horizontal no âmbito da cadeia de valor. É
através da integração dos sistemas ciber-fÃsicos no processo de manutenção que é possÃvel
proceder a um monitoramento contÃnuo das máquinas, tal como à aplicação de técnicas
avançadas para a manutenção preditiva e pró-ativa das mesmas.
O presente trabalho é baseado no projeto MANTIS, objetivando, portanto, a construção
de uma plataforma especÃfica para a manutenção pró-ativa das máquinas industriais, neste caso
em concreto das prensas, que serão as máquinas industriais analisadas ao longo do presente
trabalho. Dito de um outro modo, objetiva-se, através de uma plataforma em especÃfico, reduzir
todos os custos da sua manutenção, aumentando, portanto, os lucros industriais advindos da
produção. Resumidamente, o projeto MANTIS consiste num projeto de investigação
multinacional, onde a Unidade de Investigação CISTER desenvolve um papel fundamental,
particularmente no fornecimento da infraestrutura de comunicação no Piloto MANTIS.
A metodologia adotada é baseada num estudo de acompanhamento, realizado em
conjunto com o cliente, e no âmbito da implementação do Piloto da ADIRA. As macro fases
que são compreendidas por esta metodologia, e as quais serão seguidas, são: 1) análise
detalhada das necessidades de negócio; 2) preparação da especificação da arquitetura; 3)
implementação/desenvolvimento; 4) testes e validação; 5) suporte; 6) estabilização; 7)
manutenção corretiva e evolutiva; e 8) análise final do projeto e medidas corretivas a aplicar
em projetos futuros.
Os resultados esperados com o desenvolvimento do projeto estão relacionados com a
integração do processo de manutenção industrial, a monitorização contÃnua das máquinas e a
aplicação de técnicas avançadas de manutenção preventiva e pós-ativa das máquinas,
especialmente com base em técnicas e boas práticas da área de Engenharia de Software
A model-driven engineering process for autonomic sensor-actuator networks
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are the next generation of embedded ICT systems designed to be aware of the physical environment by using sensor-actuator networks to provide users with a wide range of smart applications and services. Many of these smart applications are possible due to the incorporation of autonomic control loops that implement advanced processing and analysis of historical and real-time data measured by sensors; plan actions according to a set of goals or policies; and execute plans through actuators. The complexity of this kind of systems requires mechanisms that can assist the system?s design and development. This paper presents a solution for assisting the design and development of CPS based on Model-Driven Development: MindCPS (doMaIN moDel for CPS) solution. MindCPS solution is based on a model that provides modelling primitives for explicitly specifying the autonomic behaviour of CPS and model transformations for automatically generating part of the CPS code. In addition to the automatic code generation, the MindCPS solution offers the possibility of rapidly configuring and developing the core behaviour of a CPS, even for nonsoftware engineers. The MindCPS solution has been put into practice to deploy a smart metering system in a demonstrator located at the Technical University of Madrid
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