131 research outputs found

    An automated lifeboat, manifesting embarkation system (ALMES): the utilization of RFID/NFC in passenger manifestation during ship evacuation

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    RFID: Prospects for Europe: Item-level Tagging and Public Transportation

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    This report, which is part of the COMPLETE series of studies, investigates the current and future competitiveness of the European industry in RFID applications in general and in two specific cases: item-level tagging and public transportation. It analyses its constituent technologies, drivers and barriers to growth, actual and potential markets and economic impacts, the industrial position and innovative capabilities, and it concludes with policy implicationsJRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

    Electromagnetic Interference to Flight Navigation and Communication Systems: New Strategies in the Age of Wireless

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    Electromagnetic interference (EMI) promises to be an ever-evolving concern for flight electronic systems. This paper introduces EMI and identifies its impact upon civil aviation radio systems. New wireless services, like mobile phones, text messaging, email, web browsing, radio frequency identification (RFID), and mobile audio/video services are now being introduced into passenger airplanes. FCC and FAA rules governing the use of mobile phones and other portable electronic devices (PEDs) on board airplanes are presented along with a perspective of how these rules are now being rewritten to better facilitate in-flight wireless services. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of NASA cooperative research with the FAA, RTCA, airlines and universities to obtain laboratory radiated emission data for numerous PED types, aircraft radio frequency (RF) coupling measurements, estimated aircraft radio interference thresholds, and direct-effects EMI testing. These elements are combined together to provide high-confidence answers regarding the EMI potential of new wireless products being used on passenger airplanes. This paper presents a vision for harmonizing new wireless services with aeronautical radio services by detecting, assessing, controlling and mitigating the effects of EMI

    Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways

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    [Abstract] Nowadays, the railway industry is in a position where it is able to exploit the opportunities created by the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and enabling communication technologies under the paradigm of Internet of Trains. This review details the evolution of communication technologies since the deployment of GSM-R, describing the main alternatives and how railway requirements, specifications and recommendations have evolved over time. The advantages of the latest generation of broadband communication systems (e.g., LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11ad) and the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the railway environment are also explained together with the strategic roadmap to ensure a smooth migration from GSM-R. Furthermore, this survey focuses on providing a holistic approach, identifying scenarios and architectures where railways could leverage better commercial IIoT capabilities. After reviewing the main industrial developments, short and medium-term IIoT-enabled services for smart railways are evaluated. Then, it is analyzed the latest research on predictive maintenance, smart infrastructure, advanced monitoring of assets, video surveillance systems, railway operations, Passenger and Freight Information Systems (PIS/FIS), train control systems, safety assurance, signaling systems, cyber security and energy efficiency. Overall, it can be stated that the aim of this article is to provide a detailed examination of the state-of-the-art of different technologies and services that will revolutionize the railway industry and will allow for confronting today challenges.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431C 2016-045Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED341D R2016/012Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2013-47141-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2015-69648-REDCAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

    Enabling technologies and cyber-physical systems for mission-critical scenarios

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    Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e Comunicacións en Redes Móbiles . 5029P01[Abstract] Reliable transport systems, defense, public safety and quality assurance in the Industry 4.0 are essential in a modern society. In a mission-critical scenario, a mission failure would jeopardize human lives and put at risk some other assets whose impairment or loss would significantly harm society or business results. Even small degradations of the communications supporting the mission could have large and possibly dire consequences. On the one hand, mission-critical organizations wish to utilize the most modern, disruptive and innovative communication systems and technologies, and yet, on the other hand, need to comply with strict requirements, which are very different to those of non critical scenarios. The aim of this thesis is to assess the feasibility of applying emerging technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and 4G broadband communications in mission-critical scenarios along three key critical infrastructure sectors: transportation, defense and public safety, and shipbuilding. Regarding the transport sector, this thesis provides an understanding of the progress of communications technologies used for railways since the implantation of Global System for Mobile communications-Railways (GSM-R). The aim of this work is to envision the potential contribution of Long Term Evolution (LTE) to provide additional features that GSM-R would never support. Furthermore, the ability of Industrial IoT for revolutionizing the railway industry and confront today's challenges is presented. Moreover, a detailed review of the most common flaws found in Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) based IoT systems is presented, including the latest attacks described in the literature. As a result, a novel methodology for auditing security and reverse engineering RFID communications in transport applications is introduced. The second sector selected is driven by new operational needs and the challenges that arise from modern military deployments. The strategic advantages of 4G broadband technologies massively deployed in civil scenarios are examined. Furthermore, this thesis analyzes the great potential for applying IoT technologies to revolutionize modern warfare and provide benefits similar to those in industry. It identifies scenarios where defense and public safety could leverage better commercial IoT capabilities to deliver greater survivability to the warfighter or first responders, while reducing costs and increasing operation efficiency and effectiveness. The last part is devoted to the shipbuilding industry. After defining the novel concept of Shipyard 4.0, how a shipyard pipe workshop works and what are the requirements for building a smart pipe system are described in detail. Furthermore, the foundations for enabling an affordable CPS for Shipyards 4.0 are presented. The CPS proposed consists of a network of beacons that continuously collect information about the location of the pipes. Its design allows shipyards to obtain more information on the pipes and to make better use of it. Moreover, it is indicated how to build a positioning system from scratch in an environment as harsh in terms of communications as a shipyard, showing an example of its architecture and implementation.[Resumen] En la sociedad moderna, los sistemas de transporte fiables, la defensa, la seguridad pública y el control de la calidad en la Industria 4.0 son esenciales. En un escenario de misión crítica, el fracaso de una misión pone en peligro vidas humanas y en riesgo otros activos cuyo deterioro o pérdida perjudicaría significativamente a la sociedad o a los resultados de una empresa. Incluso pequeñas degradaciones en las comunicaciones que apoyan la misión podrían tener importantes y posiblemente terribles consecuencias. Por un lado, las organizaciones de misión crítica desean utilizar los sistemas y tecnologías de comunicación más modernos, disruptivos e innovadores y, sin embargo, deben cumplir requisitos estrictos que son muy diferentes a los relativos a escenarios no críticos. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es evaluar la viabilidad de aplicar tecnologías emergentes como Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) y comunicaciones de banda ancha 4G en escenarios de misión crítica en tres sectores clave de infraestructura crítica: transporte, defensa y seguridad pública, y construcción naval. Respecto al sector del transporte, esta tesis permite comprender el progreso de las tecnologías de comunicación en el ámbito ferroviario desde la implantación de Global System for Mobile communications-Railway (GSM-R). El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la contribución potencial de Long Term Evolution (LTE) para proporcionar características adicionales que GSM-R nunca podría soportar. Además, se presenta la capacidad de la IoT industrial para revolucionar la industria ferroviaria y afrontar los retos actuales. Asimismo, se estudian con detalle las vulnerabilidades más comunes de los sistemas IoT basados en Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID), incluyendo los últimos ataques descritos en la literatura. Como resultado, se presenta una metodología innovadora para realizar auditorías de seguridad e ingeniería inversa de las comunicaciones RFID en aplicaciones de transporte. El segundo sector elegido viene impulsado por las nuevas necesidades operacionales y los desafíos que surgen de los despliegues militares modernos. Para afrontarlos, se analizan las ventajas estratégicas de las tecnologías de banda ancha 4G masivamente desplegadas en escenarios civiles. Asimismo, esta tesis analiza el gran potencial de aplicación de las tecnologías IoT para revolucionar la guerra moderna y proporcionar beneficios similares a los alcanzados por la industria. Se identifican escenarios en los que la defensa y la seguridad pública podrían aprovechar mejor las capacidades comerciales de IoT para ofrecer una mayor capacidad de supervivencia al combatiente o a los servicios de emergencias, a la vez que reduce los costes y aumenta la eficiencia y efectividad de las operaciones. La última parte se dedica a la industria de construcción naval. Después de definir el novedoso concepto de Astillero 4.0, se describe en detalle cómo funciona el taller de tubería de astillero y cuáles son los requisitos para construir un sistema de tuberías inteligentes. Además, se presentan los fundamentos para posibilitar un CPS asequible para Astilleros 4.0. El CPS propuesto consiste en una red de balizas que continuamente recogen información sobre la ubicación de las tuberías. Su diseño permite a los astilleros obtener más información sobre las tuberías y hacer un mejor uso de las mismas. Asimismo, se indica cómo construir un sistema de posicionamiento desde cero en un entorno tan hostil en términos de comunicaciones, mostrando un ejemplo de su arquitectura e implementación

    Application of RFID in Aviation Industry: An Exploratory Review

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    Recently, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has received considerable attention and is considered to be the next wave of information technology revolution. The number of RFID applications in different industries is increasing continuously. Cumulative sales of RFID tag is up in 2006 which shows RFID adoption trend in industries to improve their efficiency of operations and to gain a competitive advantage. In the aviation industry, major airports, airlines have been also planning the RFID adoption in baggage handling and customer services areas for a long time. Many pilot tests have been performed at various airports and RFID tags were found to be far more precise along with better performance than bar codes. This paper provides a review on RFID systems, associated technology, advantages, limitations and applications in various fields. Further, this paper reports the preliminary review of state of RFID adoption planning, architecture and implementation plan in a major airline, focusing on improved baggage handling, increased airport/airline security and customer services. KEYWORDS: aviation, airline, baggage handling, customer-service, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID

    Wearable sensors networks for safety applications in industrial scenarios

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    Industrial contexts, and in particular the port areas, are very complex systems to be monitored and controlled due to the combined presence of vehicles and people. The port areas are the gateway between navigation and terrestrial transportation and are of great importance in transport logistics. Unfortunately, the management of port areas is quite complex because the safety of the workers must be always assured. Therefore, in such a context, a centralized control system for the monitoring and the prevention of risks is of particular importance. In this thesis, a real-time control system for the monitoring of people and vehicles in industrial areas is proposed. The proposed system is based on the Internet of Things paradigm, i.e. a network of “things” (such as sensors, tag RFID, actuators etc.) which can communicate and interact with each other within a shared IP addressing range, in order to share data and contribute to the management and development of advanced applications. Specifically, the thesis is focused on the design of a wearable sensors network based on RFID technology, and specifically on WISP sensors, for assuring the safety of the workers. In this network, wearable devices that can be inserted directly on the textile have been selected. Differently from conventional sensors, wearable sensors ensure a higher level of comfort, and provide higher electromagnetic performance. Furthermore, textile materials are easily available. Microstrips are good candidates for these applications because they mainly radiate perpendicularly to the planar structure, and their ground plane allows a good shielding on the body tissues. Therefore, I have designed specific antennas for RFID, that unlike the classical microstrip antennas have the radiating surface composed of several "side by side" conductive "threads of textile". Since the microwave model does not allow the design of an antenna with these characteristics with a good approximation, a specific microwave model for coupled lines has been designed. With this model, the specific antenna for RFID has been designed, with Jeans as substrate. The particular antenna’s substrate allows direct integration into garments, but since the wearable antennas are placed very close to the human body, biological issues which may arise on the human body from the use of these sensors have been analysed. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) has been considered and simulations have been conducted for evaluating the effects on the human body, and especially on the head, when irradiated with the electromagnetic waves generated by the wearable antenna realized with different materials. Dosimetric effects have been evaluated in function of the distance from the body, in order to define a safe distance for placing the antenna on the human body. The SAR has been evaluated also for full patches with different textile substrates, whose surface is larger than that of the proposed model of coupled lines. Therefore, if the SAR values evaluated for the full patch are satisfying, the SAR values for the model of coupled lines will surely be acceptable

    Wearable sensors networks for safety applications in industrial scenarios

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    Industrial contexts, and in particular the port areas, are very complex systems to be monitored and controlled due to the combined presence of vehicles and people. The port areas are the gateway between navigation and terrestrial transportation and are of great importance in transport logistics. Unfortunately, the management of port areas is quite complex because the safety of the workers must be always assured. Therefore, in such a context, a centralized control system for the monitoring and the prevention of risks is of particular importance. In this thesis, a real-time control system for the monitoring of people and vehicles in industrial areas is proposed. The proposed system is based on the Internet of Things paradigm, i.e. a network of “things” (such as sensors, tag RFID, actuators etc.) which can communicate and interact with each other within a shared IP addressing range, in order to share data and contribute to the management and development of advanced applications. Specifically, the thesis is focused on the design of a wearable sensors network based on RFID technology, and specifically on WISP sensors, for assuring the safety of the workers. In this network, wearable devices that can be inserted directly on the textile have been selected. Differently from conventional sensors, wearable sensors ensure a higher level of comfort, and provide higher electromagnetic performance. Furthermore, textile materials are easily available. Microstrips are good candidates for these applications because they mainly radiate perpendicularly to the planar structure, and their ground plane allows a good shielding on the body tissues. Therefore, I have designed specific antennas for RFID, that unlike the classical microstrip antennas have the radiating surface composed of several "side by side" conductive "threads of textile". Since the microwave model does not allow the design of an antenna with these characteristics with a good approximation, a specific microwave model for coupled lines has been designed. With this model, the specific antenna for RFID has been designed, with Jeans as substrate. The particular antenna’s substrate allows direct integration into garments, but since the wearable antennas are placed very close to the human body, biological issues which may arise on the human body from the use of these sensors have been analysed. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) has been considered and simulations have been conducted for evaluating the effects on the human body, and especially on the head, when irradiated with the electromagnetic waves generated by the wearable antenna realized with different materials. Dosimetric effects have been evaluated in function of the distance from the body, in order to define a safe distance for placing the antenna on the human body. The SAR has been evaluated also for full patches with different textile substrates, whose surface is larger than that of the proposed model of coupled lines. Therefore, if the SAR values evaluated for the full patch are satisfying, the SAR values for the model of coupled lines will surely be acceptable

    Industry 4.0 in the Theme Park Sector: Design of a RealTime Monitoring System for Queue Management

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    The theme park industry is a consolidated sector where different industrial technologies and management procedures are present. However, the Industry 4.0 paradigm aims at disrupting how industrial processes are conceived. In this thesis, we perform a thorough investigation of key relevant features of theme parks and how industry 4.0 could be applied within the theme park sector. Our methodology is as follows. First, we analyse the technology used in the most innovative attractions. Afterwards, we focus on the most recurrent problem within the sector: queue management at attractions. As part of the solution, a system is designed to allow real-time monitoring of waiting times through an IoT infrastructure. Radio Fre- quency Identification and Bluetooth Low Energy are the chosen technologies for people counting. They allow users to be located in the park in addition to counting. This system gives precise waiting times estimates, and park managers can obtain precious data about user behaviour and preferences. Finally, we develop a proof of concept to test the designed solution and detail the benefits of applying industry 4.0 to the theme park sector.Máster en Industria Conectada 4.
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