Using a Multiobjective Approach to Balance Mission and Network Goals within a Delay Tolerant Network Topology

This thesis investigates how to incorporate aspects of an Air Tasking Order (ATO), a Communications Tasking Order (CTO), and a Network Tasking Order (NTO) within a cognitive network framework. This was done in an effort to aid the commander and or network operator by providing automation for battlespace management to improve response time and potential inconsistent problem resolution. In particular, autonomous weapon systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were the focus of this research This work implemented a simple cognitive process by incorporating aspects of behavior based robotic control principles to solve the multi-objective optimization problem of balancing both network and mission goals. The cognitive process consisted of both a multi-move look ahead component, in which the future outcomes of decisions were estimated, and a subsumption decision making architecture in which these decision-outcome pairs were selected so they co-optimized the dual goals. This was tested within a novel Air force mission scenario consisting of a UAV surveillance mission within a delay tolerant network (DTN) topology. This scenario used a team of small scale UAVs (operating as a team but each running the cognitive process independently) to balance the mission goal of maintaining maximum overall UAV time-on-target and the network goal of minimizing the packet end-to-end delays experienced within the DTN. The testing was accomplished within a MATLAB discrete event simulation. The results indicated that this proposed approach could successfully simultaneously improve both goals as the network goal improved 52% and the mission goal improved by approximately 6%

Information and Communication Technologies(ICT), Activity Decisions,and Travel Choices: 20 years into the Second Millennium and where do we go next?

CENTENNIAL PAPERSStanding Committee on Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices (ADB20)Giovanni Circella, ChairInformation and Communication Technologies(ICT), Activity Decisions,and Travel Choices: 20 years into the Second Millennium and where do we go next?JACEKPAWLAK,Imperial College LondonGIOVANNICIRCELLA, University of California, Davis andGeorgia Institute of TechnologyHANIS.MAHMASSANI, Northwestern UniversityPATRICIAL.MOKHTARIAN, Georgia Institute of TechnologyABSTRACTInformation and Communication Technologies, or ICT,have rapidly emerged asan integral element of everyday life, interactingin an essential manner with mobility and the activity patterns that engender it. The current paper reflects uponthistrendandthe opportunities and challenges itrepresents.Givenmore than three decades of research in the domain of interactions between ICT, activity decisions and travel choices, we acknowledgethe elaborate, disruptiveand oftenunexpected waysalong which ICT interact with society.Tosupport the objective of theADB20 Committee, namely tosupportand promote theemerging research questions, we identifya number of technological, societal and behavioral trends related to ICT and mobility that are likelyto be major driving forces for activity-travel behavior considerations in the next 15 years. Those include democratization of technology; personalization; shared and commoditized mobility; automation;data as the new currency; next generation connectivity, including 5G; evolving social media and socialization; new forms of shopping; digital twins;activity fragmentation; andmultitasking.We also observe that inevitably, theincreasingly interlocking relationshipbetween ICT and mobility will bring challengesrelated to balancing efficiency vs. redundancy and resilience, ensuring transparency, susceptibility to malicious activitiesandtackling the digital divide. We argue that those should not be seen as barriers to realization of the ultimate benefits for society, providing that thetransportation research agenda maintains focus on the evolution of ICTand rigorously explores the related impacts on activity decisions, travel choices and, more broadly, on transportationsystems

Supporting proactive planning for climate change adaptation and conservation using an attributed road-river structure dataset

Freshwater species and their habitats, and transportation networks are at heightened risk from changing climate and are priorities for adaptation, with the sheer abundance and individuality of road-river structures complicating mitigation efforts. We present a new spatial dataset of road-river structures attributed as culverts, bridges, or fords, and use this along with data on gradient and stream order to estimate structure sensitivity and exposure in and out of special areas of conservation (SAC) and built-up areas to determine vulnerability to damage across river catchments in Wales, UK. We then assess hazard of flooding likelihood at the most vulnerable structures to determine those posing high risk of impact on roads and river-obligate species (fishes and mussels) whose persistence depends on aquatic habitat connectivity. Over 5% (624/11,680) of structures are high vulnerability and located where flooding hazard is highest, posing high risk of impact to roads and river-obligate species. We assess reliability of our approach through an on-ground survey in a river catchment supporting an SAC and more than 40% (n = 255) of high-risk structures, and show that of the subset surveyed >50% had obvious physical degradation, streambank erosion, and scouring. Our findings help us to better understand which structures pose high-risk of impact to river-obligate species and humans with increased flooding likelihood

End-to-End Resilience Mechanisms for Network Transport Protocols

The universal reliance on and hence the need for resilience in network communications has been well established. Current transport protocols are designed to provide fixed mechanisms for error remediation (if any), using techniques such as ARQ, and offer little or no adaptability to underlying network conditions, or to different sets of application requirements. The ubiquitous TCP transport protocol makes too many assumptions about underlying layers to provide resilient end-to-end service in all network scenarios, especially those which include significant heterogeneity. Additionally the properties of reliability, performability, availability, dependability, and survivability are not explicitly addressed in the design, so there is no support for resilience. This dissertation presents considerations which must be taken in designing new resilience mechanisms for future transport protocols to meet service requirements in the face of various attacks and challenges. The primary mechanisms addressed include diverse end-to-end paths, and multi-mode operation for changing network conditions

ResTP: A Configurable and Adaptable Multipath Transport Protocol for Future Internet Resilience

Motivated by the shortcomings of common transport protocols, e.g., TCP, UDP, and MPTCP, in modern networking and the belief that a general-purpose transport-layer protocol, which can operate efficiently over diverse network environments while being able to provide desired services for various application types, we design a new transport protocol, ResTP. The rapid advancement of networking technology and use paradigms is continually supporting new applications. The configurable and adaptable multipath-capable ResTP is not only distinct from the standard protocols by its flexibility in satisfying the requirements of different traffic classes considering the characteristics of the underlying networks, but by its emphasis on providing resilience. Resilience is an essential property that is unfortunately missing in the current Internet. In this dissertation, we present the design of ResTP, including the services that it supports and the set of algorithms that implement each service. We also discuss our modular implementation of ResTP in the open-source network simulator ns-3. Finally, the protocol is simulated under various network scenarios, and the results are analyzed in comparison with conventional protocols such as TCP, UDP, and MPTCP to demonstrate that ResTP is a promising new transport-layer protocol providing resilience in the Future Internet (FI)

Epithelial barrier hypothesis: Effect of the external exposome on the microbiome and epithelial barriers in allergic disease

Environmental exposure plays a major role in the development of allergic diseases. The exposome can be classified into internal (e.g., aging, hormones, and metabolic processes), specific external (e.g., chemical pollutants or lifestyle factors), and general external (e.g., broader socioeconomic and psychological contexts) domains, all of which are interrelated. All the factors we are exposed to, from the moment of conception to death, are part of the external exposome. Several hundreds of thousands of new chemicals have been introduced in modern life without our having a full understanding of their toxic health effects and ways to mitigate these effects. Climate change, air pollution, microplastics, tobacco smoke, changes and loss of biodiversity, alterations in dietary habits, and the microbiome due to modernization, urbanization, and globalization constitute our surrounding environment and external exposome. Some of these factors disrupt the epithelial barriers of the skin and mucosal surfaces, and these disruptions have been linked in the last few decades to the increasing prevalence and severity of allergic and inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis, food allergy, allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, and asthma. The epithelial barrier hypothesis provides a mechanistic explanation of how these factors can explain the rapid increase in allergic and autoimmune diseases. In this review, we discuss factors affecting the planet’s health in the context of the ‘epithelial barrier hypothesis,’ including climate change, pollution, changes and loss of biodiversity, and emphasize the changes in the external exposome in the last few decades and their effects on allergic diseases. In addition, the roles of increased dietary fatty acid consumption and environmental substances (detergents, airborne pollen, ozone, microplastics, nanoparticles, and tobacco) affecting epithelial barriers are discussed. Considering the emerging data from recent studies, we suggest stringent governmental regulations, global policy adjustments, patient education, and the establishment of individualized control measures to mitigate environmental threats and decrease allergic disease

Modeling the Use of an Airborne Platform for Cellular Communications Following Disruptions

In the wake of a disaster, infrastructure can be severely damaged, hampering telecommunications. An Airborne Communications Network (ACN) allows for rapid and accurate information exchange that is essential for the disaster response period. Access to information for survivors is the start of returning to self-sufficiency, regaining dignity, and maintaining hope. Real-world testing has proven that such a system can be built, leading to possible future expansion of features and functionality of an emergency communications system. Currently, there are no airborne civilian communications systems designed to meet the demands of the public following a natural disaster. A system allowing even a limited amount of communications post-disaster is a great improvement on the current situation, where telecommunications are frequently not available. It is technically feasible to use an airborne, wireless, cellular system quickly deployable to disaster areas and configured to restore some of the functions of damaged terrestrial telecommunications networks. The system requirements were presented, leading to the next stage of the planned research, where a range of possible solutions were examined. The best solution was selected based on the earlier, predefined criteria. The system was modeled, and a test ii system built. The system was tested and redesigned when necessary, to meet the requirements. The research has shown how the combination of technology, especially the recent miniaturizations and move to open source software for cellular network components can allow sophisticated cellular networks to be implemented. The ACN system proposed could enable connectivity and reduce the communications problems that were experienced following Hurricane Sandy and Katrina. Experience with both natural and man-made disasters highlights the fact that communications are useful only to the extent that they are accessible and useable by the population