Fog-enabled Edge Learning for Cognitive Content-Centric Networking in 5G

By caching content at network edges close to the users, the content-centric networking (CCN) has been considered to enforce efficient content retrieval and distribution in the fifth generation (5G) networks. Due to the volume, velocity, and variety of data generated by various 5G users, an urgent and strategic issue is how to elevate the cognitive ability of the CCN to realize context-awareness, timely response, and traffic offloading for 5G applications. In this article, we envision that the fundamental work of designing a cognitive CCN (C-CCN) for the upcoming 5G is exploiting the fog computing to associatively learn and control the states of edge devices (such as phones, vehicles, and base stations) and in-network resources (computing, networking, and caching). Moreover, we propose a fog-enabled edge learning (FEL) framework for C-CCN in 5G, which can aggregate the idle computing resources of the neighbouring edge devices into virtual fogs to afford the heavy delay-sensitive learning tasks. By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to jointly processing sensed environmental data, dealing with the massive content statistics, and enforcing the mobility control at network edges, the FEL makes it possible for mobile users to cognitively share their data over the C-CCN in 5G. To validate the feasibility of proposed framework, we design two FEL-advanced cognitive services for C-CCN in 5G: 1) personalized network acceleration, 2) enhanced mobility management. Simultaneously, we present the simulations to show the FEL's efficiency on serving for the mobile users' delay-sensitive content retrieval and distribution in 5G.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Communications Magzine, under review, Feb. 09, 201

Innovative Asia: Advancing the Knowledge-Based Economy - Highlights of the Forthcoming ADB Study Report

[Excerpt] The development of knowledge-based economies (KBEs) is both an imperative and an opportunity for developing Asia. It is an imperative to sustain high rates of growth in the future and an opportunity whereby emerging economies can draw from beneficial trending developments that may allow them to move faster to advance in global value chains and in position in world markets. Over the last quarter of a century, driven mostly by cheap labor, developing countries in Asia have seen unprecedented growth rates and contributions to the global economy. Sustaining Asia’s growth trajectory, however, requires developing economies to seek different approaches to economic growth and progress, especially if they aspire to move from the middle-income to the high-income level. KBE is an important platform that can enable them to sustain growth and even accelerate it. It is time for Asia to consolidate and accelerate its pace of growth. Asia is positioned in a unique moment in history with many advantages that can serve as a boost: to name a couple, an expanding middle of the pyramid—Asia is likely to hold 50% of the global middle class and 40% of the global consumer market by 2020; and the growing importance of intra-regional trade within Asia, increasing from 54% in 2001 to 58% in 2011. Many developing economies are well placed to assimilate frontier technologies into their manufacturing environment

Context-Awareness Enhances 5G Multi-Access Edge Computing Reliability

The fifth generation (5G) mobile telecommunication network is expected to support Multi- Access Edge Computing (MEC), which intends to distribute computation tasks and services from the central cloud to the edge clouds. Towards ultra-responsive, ultra-reliable and ultra-low-latency MEC services, the current mobile network security architecture should enable a more decentralized approach for authentication and authorization processes. This paper proposes a novel decentralized authentication architecture that supports flexible and low-cost local authentication with the awareness of context information of network elements such as user equipment and virtual network functions. Based on a Markov model for backhaul link quality, as well as a random walk mobility model with mixed mobility classes and traffic scenarios, numerical simulations have demonstrated that the proposed approach is able to achieve a flexible balance between the network operating cost and the MEC reliability.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Access on Feb. 02, 201

DECENTRALIZING THE INTERNET OF MEDICAL THINGS: THE INTERPLANETARY HEALTH LAYER

Medical mobile applications have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry by providing patients with easy access to their personal health information, enabling them to communicate with healthcare providers remotely and consequently improving patient outcomes by providing personalized health information. However, these applications are usually limited by privacy and security issues. A possible solution is to exploit decentralization distributing privacy concerns directly to users. Solutions enabling this vision are closely linked to Distributed Ledger Technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry by creating a secure and transparent system for managing patient data without a central authority. The decentralized nature of the technology allows for the creation of an international data layer that is accessible to authorized parties while preserving patient privacy. This thesis envisions the InterPlanetary Health Layer along with its implementation attempt called Halo Network and an Internet of Medical Things application called Balance as a use case. Throughout the thesis, we explore the benefits and limitations of using the technology, analyze potential use cases, and look out for future directions.Medical mobile applications have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry by providing patients with easy access to their personal health information, enabling them to communicate with healthcare providers remotely and consequently improving patient outcomes by providing personalized health information. However, these applications are usually limited by privacy and security issues. A possible solution is to exploit decentralization distributing privacy concerns directly to users. Solutions enabling this vision are closely linked to Distributed Ledger Technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry by creating a secure and transparent system for managing patient data without a central authority. The decentralized nature of the technology allows for the creation of an international data layer that is accessible to authorized parties while preserving patient privacy. This thesis envisions the InterPlanetary Health Layer along with its implementation attempt called Halo Network and an Internet of Medical Things application called Balance as a use case. Throughout the thesis, we explore the benefits and limitations of using the technology, analyze potential use cases, and look out for future directions

Meta-requirements for the Design of a Blockchain Multi-sided Platform for Sustainability and Circular Economy

Digital technologies have the potential to impact sustainability and circular economy (CE) initiatives. Blockchain, in particular, has gained attention for its potential to enable sustainable and circular practices. However, the high energy consumption associated with the technology also raises environmental concerns, necessitating careful design considerations. This study aims to identify the requirements for designing a blockchain multi-sided platform (MSP) for sustainability and CE. Through a systematic literature review, we derived six meta-requirements that focus on sustainability and circular economy practices. The findings contribute to the literature on blockchain technology by providing a structured understanding of how blockchain can align with sustainability and circular principles, providing an initial pathway for designing sustainable information systems. The research is also valuable for organizations seeking to leverage digital technologies for their sustainability goals, offering guidance on incorporating blockchain to minimize environmental impact and maximize sustainability benefits

Hybrid clouds for data-Intensive, 5G-Enabled IoT applications: an overview, key issues and relevant architecture

Hybrid cloud multi-access edge computing (MEC) deployments have been proposed as efficient means to support Internet of Things (IoT) applications, relying on a plethora of nodes and data. In this paper, an overview on the area of hybrid clouds considering relevant research areas is given, providing technologies and mechanisms for the formation of such MEC deployments, as well as emphasizing several key issues that should be tackled by novel approaches, especially under the 5G paradigm. Furthermore, a decentralized hybrid cloud MEC architecture, resulting in a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is proposed and its main building blocks and layers are thoroughly described. Aiming to offer a broad perspective on the business potential of such a platform, the stakeholder ecosystem is also analyzed. Finally, two use cases in the context of smart cities and mobile health are presented, aimed at showing how the proposed PaaS enables the development of respective IoT applications.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Exploring the Integration of Blockchain in IoT Use Cases: Challenges and Opportunities

Blockchain and The Internet of Things (IoT) is a significant paradigm which has gained traction in today’s digital age as two complimentary technologies. The combination of IoT\u27s connectivity with blockchain\u27s security creates new opportunities and solves problems associated with centralized systems. This culminating project aims to delve deeper into the integration of blockchain technology in IoT applications based on select use cases to uncover potential benefits and significant challenges of blockchain integration across different sectors. The research objectives to be addressed are: (RO1) How emerging vulnerabilities manifest in the implementation of blockchain within current IoT ecosystems. (RO2) How current opportunities and challenges are influencing the successful integration of blockchain in IoT ecosystems. The findings from the case studies are: (RO1) Significant vulnerabilities exist within core blockchain features such as smart contracts which could lead to cascading failures and widespread system disruption within an IoT ecosystem. Additionally, difficulty in quickly patching smart contract vulnerabilities due to blockchain immutability further exacerbates this risk. (RO2) The successful integration of blockchain in IoT has the potential to provide enhanced trust, performance and security however significant bottlenecks such as interoperability challenges between various IoT devices and blockchain protocols, effective consensus mechanisms suited for resource constrained IoT devices and scalability challenges must be navigated to achieve a seamless integration of the technologies The conclusions are: (RO1) IoT-blockchain convergence introduces new potential attack vectors that must be analyzed and secured, especially at the intersection of resource-constrained IoT devices and computationally intensive blockchain protocols. (RO2) Blockchain integration in IoT requires specific considerations related to the heterogenous nature of IoT devices, resource limitations for traditional IoT ecosystems, scalability of blockchain solutions in the diverse nature of IoT ecosystems and standardization and compatibility of different blockchain platforms across IoT applications. Areas of further study include researching minimum security requirements in software development of IoT devices which can support complex computational requirements needed for successful integration of blockchain in IoT applications and improving blockchain security against quantum attacks. Public-key cryptography, a cornerstone of blockchain security, is particularly susceptible to such threats