Modular architecture providing convergent and ubiquitous intelligent connectivity for networks beyond 2030

The transition of the networks to support forthcoming beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G services introduces a number of important architectural challenges that force an evolution of existing operational frameworks. Current networks have introduced technical paradigms such as network virtualization, programmability and slicing, being a trend known as network softwarization. Forthcoming B5G and 6G services imposing stringent requirements will motivate a new radical change, augmenting those paradigms with the idea of smartness, pursuing an overall optimization on the usage of network and compute resources in a zero-trust environment. This paper presents a modular architecture under the concept of Convergent and UBiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC), conceived to facilitate the aforementioned transition. CUBIC intends to investigate and innovate on the usage, combination and development of novel technologies to accompany the migration of existing networks towards Convergent and Ubiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC) solutions, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) mechanisms and Machine Learning (ML) tools in a totally secure environment

Survey on Additive Manufacturing, Cloud 3D Printing and Services

Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is the concept of using manufacturing resources in a service oriented way over the Internet. Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing (AM) are making it possible to utilise resources ad-hoc as replacement for traditional manufacturing resources in case of spontaneous problems in the established manufacturing processes. In order to be of use in these scenarios the AM resources must adhere to a strict principle of transparency and service composition in adherence to the Cloud Computing (CC) paradigm. With this review we provide an overview over CM, AM and relevant domains as well as present the historical development of scientific research in these fields, starting from 2002. Part of this work is also a meta-review on the domain to further detail its development and structure

Logic-centred architecture for ubiquitous health monitoring

One of the key points to maintain and boost research and development in the area of smart wearable systems (SWS) is the development of integrated architectures for intelligent services, as well as wearable systems and devices for health and wellness management. This paper presents such a generic architecture for\ud multiparametric, intelligent and ubiquitous wireless sensing platforms. It is a transparent, smartphone-based sensing framework\ud with customizable wireless interfaces and plug‘n’play capability to easily interconnect third party sensor devices. It caters to wireless\ud body, personal, and near-me area networks. A pivotal part of the platform is the integrated inference engine/runtime environment\ud that allows the mobile device to serve as a user-adaptable personal health assistant. The novelty of this system lays in a rapid visual\ud development and remote deployment model. The complementary visual InferenceEngineEditor that comes with the package enables\ud artificial intelligence specialists, alongside with medical experts, to build data processing models by assembling different components\ud and instantly deploying them (remotely) on patient mobile devices. In this paper, the new logic-centered software architecture for ubiquitous health monitoring applications is described, followed by a\ud discussion as to how it helps to shift focus from software and hardware development, to medical and health process-centered design of new SWS applications

Empowering customer engagement by informative billing: a European approach

Programmes aimed at improving end-use energy efficiency are a keystone in the market strategies of leading distribution system operators (DSOs) and energy retail companies and are increasing in application, soon expected to become a mainstream practice. Informative services based on electricity meter data collected for billing are powerful tools for energy savings in scale and increase customer engagement with the energy suppliers enabling the deployment of demand response programmes helping to optimise distribution grid operation. These services are completely in line with Europe’s 2020 strategy for overall energy performance improvement (cf. directives 2006/32/EC, 2009/72/EC, 2012/27/EU). The Intelligent Energy Europe project EMPOWERING involves 4 European utilities and an international team of university researchers, social scientists and energy experts for developing and providing insight based services and tools for 344.000 residential customers in Austria, France, Italy and Spain. The project adopts a systematic iterative approach of service development based on envisaging the utilities’, customers’ and legal requirements, and incorporates the feedback from testing in the design process. The technological solution provided by the leading partner CIMNE is scalable open source Big Data Analytics System coupled with the DSO’s information systems and delivering a range of value adding services for the customer, such as: - comparison with similar households - indications of performance improvements over time - consumption-weather dependence - detailed consumption visualisation and breakdown - personalised energy saving tips - alerts (high consumption, high bill, extreme temperature, etc.) The paper presents the development approach, describes the ICT system architecture and analyses the legal and regulatory context for providing this kind of services in the European Community. The limitations for third party data access, customer consent and data privacy are discussed, and how these have been overcome with the implementation of the “privacy by design” principle is explained

A Review on Internet of Things Solutions for Intelligent Energy Control in Buildings for Smart City Applications

© 2017 The Authors. A smart city exploits sustainable information and communication technologies to improve the quality and the performance of urban services for citizens and government, while reducing resources consumption. Intelligent energy control in buildings is an important aspect in this. The Internet of Things can provide a solution. It aims to connect numerous heterogeneous devices through the internet, for which it needs a flexible layered architecture where the things, the people and the cloud services are combined to facilitate an application task. Such flexible IoT hierarchical architecture model will be introduced in this paper with an overview of each key component for intelligent energy control in buildings for smart cities