Platforms and Protocols for the Internet of Things

Building a general architecture for the Internet of Things (IoT) is a very complex task, exacerbated by the extremely large variety of devices, link layer technologies, and services that may be involved in such a system. In this paper, we identify the main blocks of a generic IoT architecture, describing their features and requirements, and analyze the most common approaches proposed in the literature for each block. In particular, we compare three of the most important communication technologies for IoT purposes, i.e., REST, MQTT, and AMQP, and we also analyze three IoT platforms: openHAB, Sentilo, and Parse. The analysis will prove the importance of adopting an integrated approach that jointly addresses several issues and is able to flexibly accommodate the requirements of the various elements of the system. We also discuss a use case which illustrates the design challenges and the choices to make when selecting which protocols and technologies to use

Low-Power Wide-Area Networks: A Broad Overview of its Different Aspects

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) are gaining popularity in the research community due to their low power consumption, low cost, and wide geographical coverage. LPWAN technologies complement and outperform short-range and traditional cellular wireless technologies in a variety of applications, including smart city development, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, healthcare, intelligent transportation, industrial applications, climate-smart agriculture, and asset tracking. This review paper discusses the design objectives and the methodologies used by LPWAN to provide extensive coverage for low-power devices. We also explore how the presented LPWAN architecture employs various topologies such as star and mesh. We examine many current and emerging LPWAN technologies, as well as their system architectures and standards, and evaluate their ability to meet each design objective. In addition, the possible coexistence of LPWAN with other technologies, combining the best attributes to provide an optimum solution is also explored and reported in the current overview. Following that, a comparison of various LPWAN technologies is performed and their market opportunities are also investigated. Furthermore, an analysis of various LPWAN use cases is performed, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks. This aids in the selection of the best LPWAN technology for various applications. Before concluding the work, the open research issues, and challenges in designing LPWAN are presented.publishedVersio

LPWAN Technologies: Emerging Application Characteristics, Requirements, and Design Considerations

Low power wide area network (LPWAN) is a promising solution for long range and low power Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) communication applications. This paper focuses on defining a systematic and powerful approach of identifying the key characteristics of such applications, translating them into explicit requirements, and then deriving the associated design considerations. LPWANs are resource-constrained networks and are primarily characterized by long battery life operation, extended coverage, high capacity, and low device and deployment costs. These characteristics translate into a key set of requirements including M2M traffic management, massive capacity, energy efficiency, low power operations, extended coverage, security, and interworking. The set of corresponding design considerations is identified in terms of two categories, desired or expected ones and enhanced ones, which reflect the wide range of characteristics associated with LPWAN-based applications. Prominent design constructs include admission and user traffic management, interference management, energy saving modes of operation, lightweight media access control (MAC) protocols, accurate location identification, security coverage techniques, and flexible software re-configurability. Topological and architectural options for interconnecting LPWAN entities are discussed. The major proprietary and standards-based LPWAN technology solutions available in the marketplace are presented. These include Sigfox, LoRaWAN, Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), and long term evolution (LTE)-M, among others. The relevance of upcoming cellular 5G technology and its complementary relationship with LPWAN technology are also discussed

IoTMapper: a metrics aggregation system architecture in support of smart city solutions

Smart cities are, nowadays, an unavoidable and growing reality, supported on software platforms that support city management, through the processing and presentation of a large number of data, obtained from sensors used throughout the cities. Low-power wide area networks (LPWAN) leverage the sensorization process; however, urban landscape, in turn, induces a high probability of change in the propagation conditions of the LPWAN network, thus requiring active monitoring solutions for assessing the city LPWAN network condition. Currently existing solutions usually consider the existence of only one type of LPWAN network to be monitored. In this paper, an architecture for aggregation of metrics from heterogeneous LPWAN networks is presented. The architecture, named IoTMapper, combines purpose build components with existing components from the FIWARE and Apache Kafka ecosystems. Implementation details for the LPWAN networks are abstracted by adapters so that new networks may be easily added. The validation was carried out using real data collected for long-range wide-area network (LoRaWAN) in Lisbon, and a simulated data set extrapolated from the collected data. The results indicate that the presented architecture is a viable solution for metrics aggregation that may be expanded to support multiple networks. However, some of the considered FIWARE components present performance bottlenecks that may hinder the scaling of the architecture while processing new message arrivals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Selective Jamming of LoRaWAN using Commodity Hardware

Long range, low power networks are rapidly gaining acceptance in the Internet of Things (IoT) due to their ability to economically support long-range sensing and control applications while providing multi-year battery life. LoRa is a key example of this new class of network and is being deployed at large scale in several countries worldwide. As these networks move out of the lab and into the real world, they expose a large cyber-physical attack surface. Securing these networks is therefore both critical and urgent. This paper highlights security issues in LoRa and LoRaWAN that arise due to the choice of a robust but slow modulation type in the protocol. We exploit these issues to develop a suite of practical attacks based around selective jamming. These attacks are conducted and evaluated using commodity hardware. The paper concludes by suggesting a range of countermeasures that can be used to mitigate the attacks.Comment: Mobiquitous 2017, November 7-10, 2017, Melbourne, VIC, Australi

Suitability of LoRa, Sigfox and NB-IoT for Different Internet-of-Things Applications

The large-scale implementation of the internet of things (IoT) technologies is becoming a reality. IoT technologies benefit from low-power wide area network (LPWAN) systems. These technologies include Long Range (LoRa), Sigfox, and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Numerous networks have already been deployed around the world, which is expected to accelerate the growth of IoT. This thesis discusses the performance of these three prominent LPWAN technologies in the market that have been specifically designed for IoT use. The main idea of LPWAN technologies is to provide wide coverage area using only small amount of base stations and to serve large amount of low-power and low-cost IoT devices. The main purpose of this thesis work is to compare LoRa, Sigfox, and NB-IoT and evaluate their suitability to various IoT applications. The appropriate technology selection is possible through in-depth analysis and technological comparison of LPWAN systems. There are many technological differences among these LPWAN technologies. A single technology may not be able to meet all requirements of all IoT applications. Therefore, some IoT applications can benefit from one technology more than others. The right selection helps in fulfilling the need of IoT application to save cost, time and improve efficiency. In addition to the literature-based suitability evaluation of the aforementioned technologies some practical measurements are performed using commercial off-the-shelf hardware. These measurements consider LoRa and Sigfox user devices in both outdoor and indoor locations. The key performance indicators obtained from the measurements are signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In addition, also penetration loss from outdoor to indoor is derived. The obtained measurement results were in line with the ones found from the literature

情報セントリックIoTサーベランスシステムに関する研究

早大学位記番号:新8269早稲田大

Gestión inteligente de sistemas de distribución de agua

The United Nations predicts that the world's population in 2050 will reach 9.7 billion people. This exponential growth will mean an increase in the global demand for water available for human consumption. In addition, the advance of climate change is causing the occurrence of more frequent droughts, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Indirectly, this means an increase in the costs associated with water transport and purification, as water must be drawn from sources that are increasingly distant from the points of consumption and the quality is getting worse. The traditional management of urban water supply is changing towards a more sustainable model aimed at an efficient use of resources (water, energy, labour) that not only reduces management costs but is also more environmentally friendly. This transformation is taking place due to the development of other transversal disciplines (cloud computing, communication systems, Big Data, electronics, etc.) applied to many fields of science, which applied to water management, can bring considerable benefits. Furthermore, to achieve intelligent management of a water supply network, it is necessary to rely on current tools that provide objective knowledge of the system. For example, geographic information systems (GIS) together with hydraulic models serve as a georeferenced database where the behaviour of any hydraulic network in different scenarios can be simulated. The Internet of Things (IoT) allows the connection of a network of sensors to know the main hydraulic variables at any time, providing key information for hydraulic models to faithfully reproduce the behaviour of modelled systems in real time. Digitalisation itself favours the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to convert traditional management into smart management. For these reasons, new studies are needed to assess the potential and applicability of these new tools. This thesis is organised in 6 chapters focused on the development and application of a decision support system that allow the manager of a water supply network to make decisions based on data recorded on real-time. All the tools developed throughout this thesis have been tested in a real water supply network located in the south of Spain, managed by the Provincial Water Company of Cordoba (EMPROACSA). Chapter 1 shows the trajectory of urban supply management: explaining the starting point and where it is expected to achieve. Then, Chapter 2 describes the main objective and the specific objectives of this thesis, as well as the structure of this document. Chapter 3 presents a methodology that serves as a basis for starting the digitisation process in water supply networks. The system developed is based on three pillars: the geographic information system, the hydraulic model, and the application for mobile devices. The geographic information system provides a georeferenced database of the infrastructures that compose the hydraulic network; the hydraulic model simulates the response of the network to different operation scenarios; and finally, the mobile application facilitates the feedback of the system to keep it always up to date with changes in the systems. One of the distinguishing features of this work is the use of free software (Qgis, Epanet and Google My Maps) in all stages, which fosters digitisation in supply companies with a low budget. Chapter 4 develops an early warning system based on water pressure monitoring. The communication node developed ad-hoc for this work, sends water pressure data to the cloud, where users can visualise them with a device with an internet connection. Among its advantages are its low cost, it allows the use of different communication systems and has a high autonomy powered by batteries, which makes it well adapted to supply systems. The proposed monitoring system detects failures in the network due to pressure drops, alerting managers of the affected zone. Chapter 5 explains the decision support tool developed to deal with failures in water transmission networks. The web platform that supports this tool is divided into 3 independent modules: fault detection, alerts, and fault repair. The first module is responsible for detecting, geolocating and classifying faults in the hydraulic network using the information recorded in real time by the pressure monitoring system described in the previous chapter. The second module is responsible for sending alerts selectively to the workers in the area of the failure. Finally, the third module estimates, applying the hydraulic model, the maximum time that the manager has to fix failures, avoiding supply cuts using the water stored in regulation tanks when the failure occurs. The fault detection and classification module has demonstrated a 95% accuracy when applied to a real case. Chapter 6 contains the general conclusions of the thesis, as well as possible lines of future work. In summarise, water management is experiencing a paradigm shift. This transformation requires sufficiently mature technologies to ensure good results. Therefore, studies are needed that not only advance towards smart management, but also evaluate the tools available now and their integration into the current management model. This thesis presents a decision support system applied to supply networks, which help managers to make decisions based on objective information, not on intuition or experience. The use of open-source software and hardware in all the developments of this thesis must be emphasised. This specific feature allows the adoption of the methodologies proposed by water companies, regardless of size or financial resources, enabling the whole system or only part of it to be adapted to the operation of the company.Las Naciones Unidas prevén que la población mundial en 2050 alcanzará los 9.700 millones de personas. Este crecimiento exponencial supondrá un aumento de la demanda global de agua disponible para el consumo humano. Además, el avance del cambio climático está provocando la aparición de sequías más frecuentes, especialmente en las zonas áridas y semiáridas. Indirectamente, esto supone un aumento de los costes asociados al transporte y la depuración del agua, ya que hay que extraerla de fuentes cada vez más alejadas de los puntos de consumo y la calidad es cada vez peor. La gestión tradicional del abastecimiento de agua en las ciudades está cambiando hacia un modelo más sostenible orientado a un uso eficiente de los recursos (agua, energía, mano de obra) que además de reducir los costes de gestión, es más respetuoso con el medio ambiente. Esta transformación se está produciendo gracias al desarrollo de otras disciplinas transversales (computación en la nube, sistemas de comunicación, Big Data, electrónica, etc.) aplicadas a diversos campos de la ciencia, que aplicadas a la gestión del agua, pueden aportar considerables beneficios. Además, para conseguir una gestión inteligente de una red de abastecimiento de agua, es necesario apoyarse en herramientas actuales que proporcionen un conocimiento objetivo del sistema. Por ejemplo, los sistemas de información geográfica (SIG) junto con los modelos hidráulicos sirven como base de datos georreferenciada donde se puede simular el comportamiento de cualquier red hidráulica en diferentes escenarios. El Internet de las Cosas (IoT) permite la conexión de una red de sensores para conocer las principales variables hidráulicas en cada momento, aportando información clave para que los modelos hidráulicos reproduzcan fielmente el comportamiento de los sistemas modelizados en tiempo real. La propia digitalización favorece el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) para convertir la gestión tradicional en una gestión inteligente. Por estas razones, son necesarios nuevos estudios para evaluar el potencial y la aplicabilidad de estas nuevas herramientas. Esta tesis se organiza en 6 capítulos centrados en el desarrollo y aplicación de un sistema de apoyo a la decisión que permita al gestor de una red de abastecimiento de agua tomar decisiones basadas en datos registrados en tiempo real. Todas las herramientas desarrolladas a lo largo de esta tesis han sido probadas en una red real de abastecimiento de agua situada en el sur de España, gestionada por la Empresa Provincial de Aguas de Córdoba (EMPROACSA). El capítulo 1 muestra la trayectoria de la gestión del abastecimiento urbano: explicando el punto de partida y hacia dónde se espera llegar. A continuación, el capítulo 2 describe el objetivo principal y los objetivos específicos de esta tesis, así como la estructura de este documento. El capítulo 3 presenta una metodología que sirve de base para iniciar el proceso de digitalización de las redes de abastecimiento de agua. El sistema desarrollado se basa en tres pilares: el sistema de información geográfica, el modelo hidráulico y la aplicación para dispositivos móviles. El sistema de información geográfica proporciona una base de datos georreferenciada de las infraestructuras que componen la red hidráulica; el modelo hidráulico simula la respuesta de la red ante diferentes escenarios de operación; y, por último, la aplicación móvil facilita la retroalimentación del sistema para mantenerlo siempre actualizado con los cambios en los sistemas. Uno de los rasgos distintivos de este trabajo es el uso de software libre (Qgis, Epanet y Google My Maps) en todas las etapas, lo que favorece la digitalización en empresas de abastecimiento con bajo presupuesto. El capítulo 4 desarrolla un sistema de alerta temprana basado en la monitorización de la presión del agua. El nodo de comunicación desarrollado ad-hoc para este trabajo, envía los datos de la presión del agua a la nube, donde los usuarios pueden visualizarlos con un dispositivo con conexión a internet. Entre sus ventajas están su bajo coste, permite el uso de diferentes sistemas de comunicación y tiene una gran autonomía alimentada por baterías, lo que hace que se adapte bien a los sistemas de abastecimiento. El sistema de monitorización propuesto detecta fallos en la red por caídas de presión, alertando a los gestores de la zona afectada. El capítulo 5 explica la herramienta de apoyo a la toma de decisiones desarrollada para hacer frente a las averías en las redes de abastecimiento en alta. La plataforma web, que soporta esta herramienta, se divide en 3 módulos independientes: detección de averías, alertas y reparación de averías. El primer módulo se encarga de detectar, geolocalizar y clasificar las averías en la red hidráulica a partir de la información registrada en tiempo real por el sistema de monitorización de presiones descrito en el capítulo anterior. El segundo módulo se encarga de enviar alertas de forma selectiva a los trabajadores de la zona de la avería. Por último, el tercer módulo estima, aplicando el modelo hidráulico, el tiempo máximo del que dispone el gestor para solucionar las averías, evitando los cortes de suministro con el agua almacenada en los depósitos de regulación cuando se produce la avería. El módulo de detección y clasificación de averías ha demostrado una precisión del 95% cuando se aplica a un caso real. El capítulo 6 contiene las conclusiones generales de la tesis, así como posibles líneas de trabajo futuras. En resumen, la gestión del agua está experimentando un cambio de paradigma. Esta transformación requiere tecnologías suficientemente maduras para garantizar buenos resultados. Por ello, son necesarios estudios que no sólo avancen hacia una gestión inteligente, sino que evalúen las herramientas disponibles en la actualidad y su integración en el modelo de gestión actual. Esta tesis presenta un sistema de apoyo a la decisión aplicado a las redes de suministro de agua, que ayuda a los gestores a tomar decisiones basadas en información objetiva y no en la intuición o la experiencia. Cabe destacar el uso de software y hardware de código abierto en todos los desarrollos de esta tesis. Esta particularidad permite la adopción de las metodologías propuestas por las empresas de agua, independientemente de su tamaño o recursos financieros, permitiendo adaptar todo el sistema o sólo una parte de él al funcionamiento de la empresa

Design and Implementation of a Pressure Monitoring System Based on IoT for Water Supply Networks

Increasing the efficiency of water supply networks is essential in arid and semi-arid regions to ensure the supply of drinking water to the inhabitants. The cost of renovating these systems is high. However, customized management models can facilitate the maintenance and rehabilitation of hydraulic infrastructures by optimizing the use of resources. The implementation of current Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring systems allows decisions to be based on objective data. In water supply systems, IoT helps to monitor the key elements to improve system efficiency. To implement IoT in a water distribution system requires sensors that are suitable for measuring the main hydraulic variables, a communication system that is adaptable to the water service companies and a friendly system for data analysis and visualization. A smart pressure monitoring and alert system was developed using low-cost hardware and open-source software. An Arduino family microcontroller transfers pressure gauge signals using Sigfox communication, a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN). The IoT ThingSpeak platform is used for data analysis and visualization. Additionally, the system can send alarms via SMS/email in real time using the If This, Then That (IFTTT) web service when anomalous pressure data are detected. The pressure monitoring system was successfully implemented in a real water distribution network in Spain. It was able to detect both breakdowns and leaks in real time