Efficient scheduling of video camera sensor networks for IoT systems in smart cities

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Video camera sensor networks (VCSN) has numerous applications in smart cities, including vehicular networks, environmental monitoring, and smart houses. Scheduling of video camera sensor networks (VCSN) can reduce the computational complexity, increase energy efficiency, and enhance throughput for the Internet of things (IoT) systems. In this paper, we apply the iterative low-complexity probabilistic evolutionary method for scheduling video cameras to maximize throughput in VCSNs for IoT systems. Scheduling of video cameras in VCSNs to maximize throughput is a combinatorial optimization problem whose computational complexity increases exponentially with the increase in the number of video cameras. We propose an iterative probabilistic method named as cross-entropy optimization (CEO), which is an evolutionary algorithm. The combinatorial optimization problems can be solved using the CEO which is a generalized Monte Carlo technique. The proposed method updates its selected population (video cameras) at each iteration based on the Kullback Leibler (KL) distance/divergence. The KL distance/divergence is minimized using the probability distribution obtained from the learned from the group of selected samples of better solutions found in the previous iterations. The effectiveness of the CEO is verified in terms of optimality and simplicity through simulations. In addition, the results of the CEO are better than the suboptimal algorithms (ie, best norm-based algorithm, genetic algorithm, and capacity upper-bound–based greedy algorithm) and maximum of 2%-3% deviation from the exhaustive search (optimal) with less complexity. The trade-off between CEO and optimal is the computational complexity

Towards delay-aware container-based Service Function Chaining in Fog Computing

Recently, the fifth-generation mobile network (5G) is getting significant attention. Empowered by Network Function Virtualization (NFV), 5G networks aim to support diverse services coming from different business verticals (e.g. Smart Cities, Automotive, etc). To fully leverage on NFV, services must be connected in a specific order forming a Service Function Chain (SFC). SFCs allow mobile operators to benefit from the high flexibility and low operational costs introduced by network softwarization. Additionally, Cloud computing is evolving towards a distributed paradigm called Fog Computing, which aims to provide a distributed cloud infrastructure by placing computational resources close to end-users. However, most SFC research only focuses on Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) use cases where mobile operators aim to deploy services close to end-users. Bi-directional communication between Edges and Cloud are not considered in MEC, which in contrast is highly important in a Fog environment as in distributed anomaly detection services. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an SFC controller to optimize the placement of service chains in Fog environments, specifically tailored for Smart City use cases. Our approach has been validated on the Kubernetes platform, an open-source orchestrator for the automatic deployment of micro-services. Our SFC controller has been implemented as an extension to the scheduling features available in Kubernetes, enabling the efficient provisioning of container-based SFCs while optimizing resource allocation and reducing the end-to-end (E2E) latency. Results show that the proposed approach can lower the network latency up to 18% for the studied use case while conserving bandwidth when compared to the default scheduling mechanism

Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

Supporting UAVs with Edge Computing: A Review of Opportunities and Challenges

Over the last years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have seen significant advancements in sensor capabilities and computational abilities, allowing for efficient autonomous navigation and visual tracking applications. However, the demand for computationally complex tasks has increased faster than advances in battery technology. This opens up possibilities for improvements using edge computing. In edge computing, edge servers can achieve lower latency responses compared to traditional cloud servers through strategic geographic deployments. Furthermore, these servers can maintain superior computational performance compared to UAVs, as they are not limited by battery constraints. Combining these technologies by aiding UAVs with edge servers, research finds measurable improvements in task completion speed, energy efficiency, and reliability across multiple applications and industries. This systematic literature review aims to analyze the current state of research and collect, select, and extract the key areas where UAV activities can be supported and improved through edge computing