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Cloud-assisted body area networks: state-of-the-art and future challenges
Body area networks (BANs) are emerging as enabling technology for many human-centered application domains such as health-care, sport, fitness, wellness, ergonomics, emergency, safety, security, and sociality. A BAN, which basically consists of wireless wearable sensor nodes usually coordinated by a static or mobile device, is mainly exploited to monitor single assisted livings. Data generated by a BAN can be processed in real-time by the BAN coordinator and/or transmitted to a server-side for online/offline processing and long-term storing. A network of BANs worn by a community of people produces large amount of contextual data that require a scalable and efficient approach for elaboration and storage. Cloud computing can provide a flexible storage and processing infrastructure to perform both online and offline analysis of body sensor data streams. In this paper, we motivate the introduction of Cloud-assisted BANs along with the main challenges that need to be addressed for their development and management. The current state-of-the-art is overviewed and framed according to the main requirements for effective Cloud-assisted BAN architectures. Finally, relevant open research issues in terms of efficiency, scalability, security, interoperability, prototyping, dynamic deployment and management, are discussed
Wearable Communications in 5G: Challenges and Enabling Technologies
As wearable devices become more ingrained in our daily lives, traditional
communication networks primarily designed for human being-oriented applications
are facing tremendous challenges. The upcoming 5G wireless system aims to
support unprecedented high capacity, low latency, and massive connectivity. In
this article, we evaluate key challenges in wearable communications. A
cloud/edge communication architecture that integrates the cloud radio access
network, software defined network, device to device communications, and
cloud/edge technologies is presented. Computation offloading enabled by this
multi-layer communications architecture can offload computation-excessive and
latency-stringent applications to nearby devices through device to device
communications or to nearby edge nodes through cellular or other wireless
technologies. Critical issues faced by wearable communications such as short
battery life, limited computing capability, and stringent latency can be
greatly alleviated by this cloud/edge architecture. Together with the presented
architecture, current transmission and networking technologies, including
non-orthogonal multiple access, mobile edge computing, and energy harvesting,
can greatly enhance the performance of wearable communication in terms of
spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, latency, and connectivity.Comment: This work has been accepted by IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazin
Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review
Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today.
Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work
closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue
situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain,
and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely
raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint.
Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and
shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically
survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for
domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal
welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether
animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated
in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is
used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not
isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote
data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart
technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well
as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to
motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication
management as well as policy for animal welfare
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