A survey on data storage and information discovery in the WSANs-based edge computing systems

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. In the post-Cloud era, the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) has pushed the horizon of Edge computing, which is a new computing paradigm with data are processed at the edge of the network. As the important systems of Edge computing, wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) play an important role in collecting and processing the sensing data from the surrounding environment as well as taking actions on the events happening in the environment. In WSANs, in-network data storage and information discovery schemes with high energy efficiency, high load balance and low latency are needed because of the limited resources of the sensor nodes and the real-time requirement of some specific applications, such as putting out a big fire in a forest. In this article, the existing schemes of WSANs on data storage and information discovery are surveyed with detailed analysis on their advancements and shortcomings, and possible solutions are proposed on how to achieve high efficiency, good load balance, and perfect real-time performances at the same time, hoping that it can provide a good reference for the future research of the WSANs-based Edge computing systems

Brokerage System for Integration of LrWPAN Technologies

The prevalent demand for remote data sharing and connectivity has catalysed the development of many wireless network technologies. However, low-power and low-rate wireless network technologies have emerged as the preferred choice (due to cheap procurement and maintenance cost, efficiency, and adaptability). Currently, these groups of wireless networks are adopted in homes, health, and business sectors. The increase in existing WSNs has resulted in the incompatibility of wireless network protocols and poses a problem that results in high acquisition or maintenance costs, increased complexity, reliability inadequacies in some instances, lack of uniformity within similar standards, and high energy consumption. To address this problem, we develop a novel machine-to-machine software-based brokerage application (known as JosNet) for interoperability and integration between Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and Thread wireless network technologies. JosNet allows one network protocol to exchange data packets or commands with each other. In this paper, we present a novel working network brokerage model for a one-to-one network protocol to communication (e.g., from Zigbee to Bluetooth) or one-to-many network protocol communication (e.g., from Bluetooth to Zigbee, Thread, etc.) to securely send messages in a large-scale routing process for short or long-range connections. We also present a large-scale implementation of JosNet using a routing table for large areas. The results show an industry standard performance for end-to-end latency time and throughput

Algorithms for task assignment in wireless networks of microcontroller sensor nodes and autonomous robots

U bežičnoj mreži senzora i robota, senzorski moduli vrše nadzor fizičkih veličina od značaja, a roboti imaju ulogu izvršilaca zadataka koji im se dodeljuju primenom odgovarajućeg algoritma. Nakon detekcije događaja od strane statičkih senzorskih čvorova i prosleđivanja informacija o događajima robotima, potrebno je dodeliti zadatke robotima na efikasan način. Dodela zadataka vrši se u skladu sa prirodom različitih scenarija koji se mogu javiti u praksi. U okviru disertacije razmatran je slučaj kada se konkurentno javlja više događaja kojima je potrebno dodeliti izvršioce. U pogledu energetske efikasnosti, u ovakvim sistemima kao ključni problemi javljaju se minimizacija ukupne dužine kretanja robota i optimizacija komunikacije u mreži. Od komunikacinih protokola za otkrivanje izvršilaca, u ovoj disertaciji predstavljena su poboljšanja postojećeg iMesh protokola i uveden je novi vCell protokol zasnovan na lokalizovanom formiranju ćelija Voronoi dijagrama. Takođe, upoređene su performanse novog protokola sa postojećim (pravougaoni kvorum i iMesh) u gustim mrežama, retkim mrežama i mrežama sa rupama u topologiji. Uz to, uvedeni su algoritmi za ažuriranje lokacije kojima mreža reaguje na kretanje robota. Rezultati simulacija pokazuju da vCell postiže efikasnost blizu 100% u nalaženju najbližeg robota u gustim mrežama. U retkim mrežama, efikasnost mu je do 40% bolja u odnosu na ostala rešenja. Kao glavni rezultat u disertaciji prikazani su novi algoritmi za dodelu robota kao izvršilaca zadataka događajima, čime su prevaziđni nedostaci više do sada poznatih rešenja ovog problema. Za zadati skup događaja i skup robota, svakom događaju dodeljen je po jedan robot koji je zadužen za obilazak lokacije događaja. Tokom pojedinačnih rundi, robotima je dozvoljen obilazak jednog događaja kada se vrši uparivanje, ili više događaja, kada se vrši sekvencijalna dodela. U distribuiranom slučaju, statički senzorski uređaji detektuju događaje i prijavljuju ih obližnjim robotima. Algoritam PDM koji se odnosi na unapređeno uparivanje sa mogućnošću razmene partnera, eliminiše dugačke ivice koje se mogu javiti prilikom uparivanja. Algoritam SQD za sekvencijalnu dodelu događaja robotima iterativno pronalazi par robot-događaj sa najmanjim međusobnim rastojanjem, uvrštava izabrani događaj u listu za oblazak izabranog robota i ažurira poziciju robota. Takođe su predložene generalizacije koje omogućavaju da događaji budu posećeni od strane više robota i koje uzimaju u obzir vremenska ograničenja. Distribuirani algoritam MAD, koji je zasnovan na iMesh informacionoj strukturi i lokalnim aukcijama u robotskoj mreži, vrši dodelu robota događajima na lokalizovan i energetski efikasan način. Rezultati simulacija potvrđuju prednosti predloženih algoritama u odnosu na postojeća rešenja, kako u pogledu skraćivanja dužina putanja robota, tako i u produženju životnog vremena sistema.In a typical wireless sensor and robot network, sensor nodes monitor physical values of interest, while robots perform some automated tasks. The tasks are assigned to robots by means of an appropriate algorithm. Upon the occurrence of events which are detected by sensor nodes, the information about the events needs to be delivered to robots. Afterwards, it is necessary to assign tasks to robots in an efficient way. Task assignment is performed according to the nature of different scenarios which might occur in practice. This thesis is focused on the case when multiple events, all of which require to be visited by robots, happen simultaneously. Regarding energy efficiency, the key issues which arise in such systems are minimization of robot travel paths, and optimization of the network traffic. In this thesis, the following service discovery protocols are presented: improvements of the existing iMesh protocol, and the novel vCell protocol, which is based on localized formation of an information structure which resembles Voronoi diagram. Furthermore, the performaces of new vCell protocol is compared with the existing protocols (Quorum and iMesh) in dense networks, sparse networks, and networks with holes in topology. Also, location update algorithms are introduced, which deal with robot mobility. The simulations show that vCell achieves nearly 100% success rate in finding the nearest robot in dense networks. In sparse networks, it outperforms the other existing solutions by up to 40%. As a key contributtion, the novel dispatch lgorithms have been introduced. Given a set of events and a set of robots, the dispatch problem is to allocate one robot for each event to visit it. In a single round, each robot may be allowed to visit only one event (matching dispatch), or several events in a sequence (sequence dispatch). In a distributed setting, each event is discovered by a sensor and reported to a robot. In this thesis, novel algorithms are presented, whichh are aimed at overcoming the shortcomings of several existing solutions. Pairwise distance based matching algorithm (PDM) eliminates long edges by pairwise exchanges between matching pairs. Sequence dispatch algorithm (SQD) iteratively finds the closest event-robot pair, includes the event in dispatch schedule of the selected robot and updates its position accordingly. When event-robot distances are multiplied by robot resistance (inverse of the remaining energy), the corresponding energybalanced variants are obtained. Also, generalizations are introduced which handle multiple visits and timing constraints. Distributed algorithm MAD is based on information mesh infrastructure and local auctions within the robot network for obtaining the optimal dispatch schedule for each robot. The simulations conducted confirm the advantages of our algorithms over other existing solutions in terms of average robot-event distance and lifetime

Range Information Systems Management (RISM) Phase 1 Report

RISM investigated alternative approaches, technologies, and communication network architectures to facilitate building the Spaceports and Ranges of the future. RISM started by document most existing US ranges and their capabilities. In parallel, RISM obtained inputs from the following: 1) NASA and NASA-contractor engineers and managers, and; 2) Aerospace leaders from Government, Academia, and Industry, participating through the Space Based Range Distributed System Working Group (SBRDSWG), many of whom are also; 3) Members of the Advanced Range Technology Working Group (ARTWG) subgroups, and; 4) Members of the Advanced Spaceport Technology Working Group (ASTWG). These diverse inputs helped to envision advanced technologies for implementing future Ranges and Range systems that builds on today s cabled and wireless legacy infrastructures while seamlessly integrating both today s emerging and tomorrow s building-block communication techniques. The fundamental key is to envision a transition to a Space Based Range Distributed Subsystem. The enabling concept is to identify the specific needs of Range users that can be solved through applying emerging communication tec

Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

Digital Transformation

The amount of literature on Digital Transformation is staggering—and it keeps growing. Why, then, come out with yet another such document? Moreover, any text aiming at explaining the Digital Transformation by presenting a snapshot is going to become obsolete in a blink of an eye, most likely to be already obsolete at the time it is first published. The FDC Initiative on Digital Reality felt there is a need to look at the Digital Transformation from the point of view of a profound change that is pervading the entire society—a change made possible by technology and that keeps changing due to technology evolution opening new possibilities but is also a change happening because it has strong economic reasons. The direction of this change is not easy to predict because it is steered by a cultural evolution of society, an evolution that is happening in niches and that may expand rapidly to larger constituencies and as rapidly may fade away. This creation, selection by experimentation, adoption, and sudden disappearance, is what makes the whole scenario so unpredictable and continuously changing.The amount of literature on Digital Transformation is staggering—and it keeps growing. Why, then, come out with yet another such document? Moreover, any text aiming at explaining the Digital Transformation by presenting a snapshot is going to become obsolete in a blink of an eye, most likely to be already obsolete at the time it is first published. The FDC Initiative on Digital Reality felt there is a need to look at the Digital Transformation from the point of view of a profound change that is pervading the entire society—a change made possible by technology and that keeps changing due to technology evolution opening new possibilities but is also a change happening because it has strong economic reasons. The direction of this change is not easy to predict because it is steered by a cultural evolution of society, an evolution that is happening in niches and that may expand rapidly to larger constituencies and as rapidly may fade away. This creation, selection by experimentation, adoption, and sudden disappearance, is what makes the whole scenario so unpredictable and continuously changing

Front-Line Physicians' Satisfaction with Information Systems in Hospitals

Day-to-day operations management in hospital units is difficult due to continuously varying situations, several actors involved and a vast number of information systems in use. The aim of this study was to describe front-line physicians' satisfaction with existing information systems needed to support the day-to-day operations management in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was used and data chosen with stratified random sampling were collected in nine hospitals. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The response rate was 65 % (n = 111). The physicians reported that information systems support their decision making to some extent, but they do not improve access to information nor are they tailored for physicians. The respondents also reported that they need to use several information systems to support decision making and that they would prefer one information system to access important information. Improved information access would better support physicians' decision making and has the potential to improve the quality of decisions and speed up the decision making process.Peer reviewe

Uberising the Urban. Labour, Infrastructure and Big Data in the Actually Existing Smart City of Toronto

This thesis explores how Uber reformats the urban and vice versa. Rather than taking for granted Uber’s success in remoulding the emerging ‘smart city’ in its own image, Uberising the Urban pays close attention to the contradictory, variegated and far from frictionless encounters between Uberisation and urbanisation. The thesis is particularly interested in those neuralgic points of contact where the abstract logics of Uber’s business model – its vectors of data extraction, labour exploitation and platform expansion – hit the urban ground of existing social and physical geographies. The Uberisation of the urban – such is this thesis’s main argument – does not take place in a material and social void; it unfolds in, with and against the dense social and material thickness of existing urban space. This argument is deepened in three case studies. Zooming in from different angles, these case studies show how the vectors of Uberisation have come up against the multiscalar and variously uneven urban grounds of the actually existing smart city of Toronto. While the first case study provides a detailed discussion of the conflictive processes leading up to the legalisation of Uber in Toronto and the parallel ‘regulated deregulation’ of the city’s taxi-cum-ridehail market, the second case study tackles the next subsequent ‘stage’ of Uberisation in Toronto: the proliferation of various public-private ridehail partnerships (PPRPs) between Uber and Lyft on the one hand and local and regional transit agencies in the GTA on the other. The third case study is concerned with Uber’s self-driving car programme and, in particular, the invasive practices of data extraction that Uber has implemented in Toronto – turning the city into a real-life urban data reservoir for the development of its self-driving software. A conclusion, shedding light on a potential reconfiguration of Uber towards more socially emancipatory ends, rounds out the dissertation