Framework for integrated oil pipeline monitoring and incident mitigation systems

Wireless Sensor Nodes (motes) have witnessed rapid development in the last two decades. Though the design considerations for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been widely discussed in the literature, limited investigation has been done for their application in pipeline surveillance. Given the increasing number of pipeline incidents across the globe, there is an urgent need for innovative and effective solutions for deterring the incessant pipeline incidents and attacks. WSN pose as a suitable candidate for such solutions, since they can be used to measure, detect and provide actionable information on pipeline physical characteristics such as temperature, pressure, video, oil and gas motion and environmental parameters. This paper presents specifications of motes for pipeline surveillance based on integrated systems architecture. The proposed architecture utilizes a Multi-Agent System (MAS) for the realization of an Integrated Oil Pipeline Monitoring and Incident Mitigation System (IOPMIMS) that can effectively monitor and provide actionable information for pipelines. The requirements and components of motes, different threats to pipelines and ways of detecting such threats presented in this paper will enable better deployment of pipeline surveillance systems for incident mitigation. It was identified that the shortcomings of the existing wireless sensor nodes as regards their application to pipeline surveillance are not effective for surveillance systems. The resulting specifications provide a framework for designing a cost-effective system, cognizant of the design considerations for wireless sensor motes used in pipeline surveillance

Smart home technology for aging

The majority of the growing population, in the US and the rest of the world requires some degree of formal and or informal care either due to the loss of function or failing health as a result of aging and most of them suffer from chronic disorders. The cost and burden of caring for elders is steadily increasing. This thesis focuses on providing the analysis of the technologies with which a Smart Home is built to improve the quality of life of the elderly. A great deal of emphasis is given to the sensor technologies that are the back bone of these Smart Homes. In addition to the Analysis of these technologies a survey of commercial sensor products and products in research that are concerned with monitoring the health of the occupants of the Smart Home is presented. A brief analysis on the communication technologies which form the communication infrastructure for the Smart Home is also illustrated. Finally, System Architecture for the Smart Home is proposed describing the functionality and users of the system. The feasibility of the system is also discussed. A scenario measuring the blood glucose level of the occupant in a Smart Home is presented as to support the system architecture presented

Compression of Video Tracking and Bandwidth Balancing Routing in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

There has been a tremendous growth in multimedia applications over wireless networks. Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks(WMSNs) have become the premier choice in many research communities and industry. Many state-of-art applications, such as surveillance, traffic monitoring, and remote heath care are essentially video tracking and transmission in WMSNs. The transmission speed is constrained by the big file size of video data and fixed bandwidth allocation in constant routing paths. In this paper, we present a CamShift based algorithm to compress the tracking of videos. Then we propose a bandwidth balancing strategy in which each sensor node is able to dynamically select the node for the next hop with the highest potential bandwidth capacity to resume communication. Key to this strategy is that each node merely maintains two parameters that contain its historical bandwidth varying trend and then predict its near future bandwidth capacity. Then, the forwarding node selects the next hop with the highest potential bandwidth capacity. Simulations demonstrate that our approach significantly increases the data received by the sink node and decreases the delay on video transmission in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network environments

Application priority framework for fixed mobile converged communication networks

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The current prospects in wired and wireless access networks, it is becoming increasingly important to address potential convergence in order to offer integrated broadband services. These systems will need to offer higher data transmission capacities and long battery life, which is the catalyst for an everincreasing variety of air interface technologies targeting local area to wide area connectivity. Current integrated industrial networks do not offer application aware context delivery and enhanced services for optimised networks. Application aware services provide value-added functionality to business applications by capturing, integrating, and consolidating intelligence about users and their endpoint devices from various points in the network. This thesis mainly intends to resolve the issues related to ubiquitous application aware service, fair allocation of radio access, reduced energy consumption and improved capacity. A technique that measures and evaluates the data rate demand to reduce application response time and queuing delay for multi radio interfaces is proposed. The technique overcomes the challenges of network integration, requiring no user intervention, saving battery life and selecting the radio access connection for the application requested by the end user. This study is split in two parts. The first contribution identifies some constraints of the services towards the application layer in terms of e.g. data rate and signal strength. The objectives are achieved by application controlled handover (ACH) mechanism in order to maintain acceptable data rate for real-time application services. It also looks into the impact of the radio link on the application and identifies elements and parameters like wireless link quality and handover that will influence the application type. It also identifies some enhanced traditional mechanisms such as distance controlled multihop and mesh topology required in order to support energy efficient multimedia applications. The second contribution unfolds an intelligent application priority assignment mechanism (IAPAM) for medical applications using wireless sensor networks. IAPAM proposes and evaluates a technique based on prioritising multiple virtual queues for the critical nature of medical data to improve instant transmission. Various mobility patterns (directed, controlled and random waypoint) has been investigated and compared by simulating IAPAM enabled mobile BWSN. The following topics have been studied, modelled, simulated and discussed in this thesis: 1. Application Controlled Handover (ACH) for multi radios over fibre 2. Power Controlled Scheme for mesh multi radios over fibre using ACH 3. IAPAM for Biomedical Wireless Sensor Networks (BWSN) and impact of mobility over IAPAM enabled BWSN. Extensive simulation studies are performed to analyze and to evaluate the proposed techniques. Simulation results demonstrate significant improvements in multi radios over fibre performance in terms of application response delay and power consumption by upto 75% and 15 % respectively, reduction in traffic loss by upto 53% and reduction in delay for real time application by more than 25% in some cases

DETECTION AND REMOVAL OF DUST PARTICLES IN PIPELINES USING 3-D MEMS

Currently, the detection of dust particles is realized through manual sampling. Thus it is desirable to develop an automated online technique. Generally, industries run with the help of pipelines through which liquid can flow. The main aim of the work is to detect the dust particles which are present inside the pipeline when liquid is flowing through it. Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a recent addition to the pipeline security world. Opta sense system is designed to prevent the damage in pipeline by providing the advance warning to the concern department and make them alert. The dust particles are detected by using MEMS, which can sense in three axis (Heat, Vibration, Movement). It is identified by the IR sensor. The approach can also be simulated by using MATLAB

Survey of Landslide Warning Systems and their Applicability in Mauritius

Landslide is major problem in several countries causing loss of lives and major infrastructural damage. Several systems have been set-up for monitoring and predicting landslides in different countries where this problem is prevalent. These systems integrate sensing mechanism with communication systems and GPS to detect landslide conditions and alert concerned parties via sms, emails and other appropriate means. Wireless sensor networks have also been widely deployed for landslide monitoring. Mauritius which is an island nation situated in the Indian Ocean has recently faced several problems due to extreme climatic conditions such as torrential rains and flash floods that have led to major landslide problems in different parts of the island. However, to date, there is no adequate system in place to monitor landslides. This paper surveys the different landslide modelling and warning systems that have been deployed worldwide and assesses their suitability for Mauritius. Given the excellent mobile network coverage available in Mauritius, a landslide warning system based on sms notifications appears to be a viable solution for Mauritius. A potential framework for a landslide monitoring system for Mauritius is therefore proposed along with a feasibility analysis

Modeling of On-line Traffic Control and Management Network for Operational and Communication Performance Evaluation

Communication systems are the backbone of every effective and reliable traffic control and management application. While traditional fiber optics and telephone communications have long been used in managing and controlling highway traffic, wireless communication technology shows great promise as an alternative solution in traffic management applications due to their suitability for deployment in rural areas, and their flexibility and cost-effectiveness for system expansion. However, the detailed characteristics of various wireless communication technologies and real performance in the field have not been systematically studied. To augment this existing knowledge so that traffic professionals may better utilize these technologies to improve traffic safety, mobility and efficiency, this study aims to 1) identify existing wireless communication technologies used in ITS, and potential wireless communication alternatives that can be widely used in ITS, 2) evaluate the performance, cost and reliability of existing and potential wireless communication technologies in supporting on-line traffic control and management functions, and 3) apply benefit-cost analysis to identify the impacts of using these wireless technologies to support on-line traffic management. To achieve these research objectives, the author first conducted an interview to discover the specifications of existing communication infrastructures deployed for various ITS related applications and the usage of wireless technologies in different states. Moreover, the author proposed a network design process that considered wireless coverage range and network topology, followed with case studies utilizing Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) technologies to support a traffic surveillance system in seven metropolitan areas throughout South Carolina. Field tests were conducted to evaluate the performance and reliability of wireless transmissions between adjacent sensor nodes. After that, the author applied a communication simulator, ns-2, to compare the communication performance of a traffic sensor network with WiFi and WiMAX technologies under infrastructure and mesh topologies, and environmental conditions. Based on these simulation results, the author conducted performance-cost analysis for these selected technologies and topologies. The WiFi field test results indicated that wireless communication performance between two traffic sensors significantly degrades after 300 ft; this distance, however, may vary with the modulation rates and transmission power upon which the system operates. WiMAX nomadic test suggested that line-of-sight (LOS) greatly affects the connectivity level. Moreover, the capabilities and the performance of the WiMAX network are sometimes affected by the characteristics of the client radio. The simulation analysis and benefit-cost analysis indicated a WiFi mesh network solution has the highest throughput-cost ratio, 109 bits/dollar for supporting traffic surveillance systems, while the WiMAX infrastructure option provides the greatest amount of excess bandwidth, 9.15Mbps per device, which benefits the system\u27s future expansion. This dissertation provides an important foundation for further investigation of the performance and reliability of different wireless technologies. In addition, research results presented in this dissertation will benefit transportation agencies and other stakeholders in evaluating and selecting wireless communication options for different traffic control and management applications

SymbioCity: Smart Cities for Smarter Networks

The "Smart City" (SC) concept revolves around the idea of embodying cutting-edge ICT solutions in the very fabric of future cities, in order to offer new and better services to citizens while lowering the city management costs, both in monetary, social, and environmental terms. In this framework, communication technologies are perceived as subservient to the SC services, providing the means to collect and process the data needed to make the services function. In this paper, we propose a new vision in which technology and SC services are designed to take advantage of each other in a symbiotic manner. According to this new paradigm, which we call "SymbioCity", SC services can indeed be exploited to improve the performance of the same communication systems that provide them with data. Suggestive examples of this symbiotic ecosystem are discussed in the paper. The dissertation is then substantiated in a proof-of-concept case study, where we show how the traffic monitoring service provided by the London Smart City initiative can be used to predict the density of users in a certain zone and optimize the cellular service in that area.Comment: 14 pages, submitted for publication to ETT Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologie