迅速な災害管理のための即時的,持続可能，かつ拡張的なエッジコンピューティングの研究

本学位論文は、迅速な災害管理におけるいくつかの問題に取り組んだ。既存のネットワークインフラが災害による直接的なダメージや停電によって使えないことを想定し、本論文では、最新のICTを用いた次世代災害支援システムの構築を目指す。以下のとおり本論文は三部で構成される。第一部は、災害発生後の緊急ネットワーキングである。本論文では、情報指向フォグコンピューティング（Information-Centric Fog Computing）というアーキテクチャを提案し、既存のインフラがダウンした場合に臨時的なネットワーク接続を提供する。本論文では、六次の隔たり理論から着想を得て、緊急時向け名前ベースルーティング（Name-Based Routing）を考慮した。まず、二層の情報指向フォグコンピューティングネットワークモデルを提案した。次に、ソーシャルネットワークを元に、情報指向フォグノード間の関係をモデリングし、名前ベースルーティングプロトコルをデザインする。シミュレーション実験では、既存のソリューションと比較し、提案手法はより高い性能を示し、有用性が証明された。第二部は、ネットワークの通信効率の最適化である。本論文は、第一部で構築されたネットワークの通信効率を最適化し、ネットワークの持続時間を延ばすために、ネットワークのエッジで行われるキャッシングストラテジーを提案した。本論文では、まず、第一部で提案した二層ネットワークモデルをベースにサーバー層も加えて、異種ネットワークストラクチャーを構成した。次に、緊急時向けのエッジキャッシングに必要なTime to Live （TTL）とキャッシュ置換ポリシーを設計する。シミュレーション実験では、エネルギー消費とバックホールレートを性能指標とし、メモリ内キャッシュとディスクキャッシュの性能を比較した。結果では、メモリ内ストレージと処理がエッジキャッシングのエネルギーを節約し、かなりのワークロードを共有できることが示された。第三部は、ネットワークカバレッジの拡大である。本論文は、ドローンの関連技術とリアルタイム視覚認識技術を利用し、被災地のユーザ捜索とドローンの空中ナビゲーションを行う。災害管理におけるドローン制御に関する研究を調査し、現在のドローン技術と無人捜索救助に対する実際のニーズを考慮すると、軽量なソリューションが緊急時に必要であることが判明した。そのため本論文では、転移学習を利用し、ドローンに搭載されたオンボードコンピュータで実行可能な空中ビジョンに基づいたナビゲーションアプローチを開発した。シミュレーション実験では、1/150ミニチュアモデルを用いて、空中ナビゲーションの実行可能性をテストした。結果では、本論文で提案するドローンの軽量ナビゲーションはフィードバックに基づいてリアルタイムに飛行の微調整を実現でき、既存手法と比較して性能において大きな進歩を示した。This dissertation mainly focuses on solving the problems in agile disaster management. To face the situation when the original network infrastructure no longer works because of disaster damage or power outage, I come up with the idea of introducing different emerging technologies in building a next-generation disaster response system. There are three parts of my research. In the first part of emergency networking, I design an information-centric fog computing architecture to fast build a temporary emergency network while the original ones can not be used. I focus on solving name-based routing for disaster relief by applying the idea from six degrees of separation theory. I first put forward a 2-tier information-centric fog network architecture under the scenario of post-disaster. Then I model the relationships among ICN nodes based on delivered files and propose a name-based routing strategy to enable fast networking and emergency communication. I compare with DNRP under the same experimental settings and prove that my strategy can achieve higher work performance. In the second part of efficiency optimization, I introduce the idea of edge caching in prolong the lifetime of the rebuilt network. I focus on how to improve the energy efficiency of edge caching using in-memory storage and processing. Here I build a 3-tier heterogeneous network structure and propose two edge caching methods using different TTL designs & cache replacement policies. I use total energy consumption and backhaul rate as the two metrics to test the performance of the in-memory caching method and compare it with the conventional method based on disk storage. The simulation results show that in-memory storage and processing can help save more energy in edge caching and share a considerable workload in percentage. In the third part of coverage expansion, I apply UAV technology and real-time image recognition in user search and autonomous navigation. I focus on the problem of designing a navigation strategy based on the airborne vision for UAV disaster relief. After the survey of related works on UAV fly control in disaster management, I find that in consideration of the current UAV manufacturing technology and actual demand on unmanned search & rescue, a lightweight solution is in urgent need. As a result, I design a lightweight navigation strategy based on visual recognition using transfer learning. In the simulation, I evaluate my solutions using 1/150 miniature models and test the feasibility of the navigation strategy. The results show that my design on visual recognition has the potential for a breakthrough in performance and the idea of UAV lightweight navigation can realize real-time flight adjustment based on feedback.室蘭工業大学 (Muroran Institute of Technology)博士（工学

AndroMedia : Towards a Context-aware Mobile Music Recommender

Portable music players have made it possible to listen to a personal collection of music in almost every situation, and they are often used during some activity to provide a stimulating audio environment. Studies have demonstrated the effects of music on the human body and mind, indicating that selecting music according to situation can, besides making the situation more enjoyable, also make humans perform better. For example, music can boost performance during physical exercises, alleviate stress and positively affect learning. We believe that people intuitively select different types of music for different situations. Based on this hypothesis, we propose a portable music player, AndroMedia, designed to provide personalised music recommendations using the user's current context and listening habits together with other user's situational listening patterns. We have developed a prototype that consists of a central server and a PDA client. The client uses Bluetooth sensors to acquire context information and logs user interaction to infer implicit user feedback. The user interface also allows the user to give explicit feedback. Large user interface elements facilitate touch-based usage in busy environments. The prototype provides the necessary framework for using the collected information together with other user's listening history in a context- enhanced collaborative filtering algorithm to generate context-sensitive recommendations. The current implementation is limited to using traditional collaborative filtering algorithms. We outline the techniques required to create context-aware recommendations and present a survey on mobile context-aware music recommenders found in literature. As opposed to the explored systems, AndroMedia utilises other users' listening habits when suggesting tunes, and does not require any laborious set up processes

A smart home environment to support safety and risk monitoring for the elderly living independently

The elderly prefer to live independently despite vulnerability to age-related challenges. Constant monitoring is required in cases where the elderly are living alone. The home environment can be a dangerous environment for the elderly living independently due to adverse events that can occur at any time. The potential risks for the elderly living independently can be categorised as injury in the home, home environmental risks and inactivity due to unconsciousness. The main research objective was to develop a Smart Home Environment (SHE) that can support risk and safety monitoring for the elderly living independently. An unobtrusive and low cost SHE solution that uses a Raspberry Pi 3 model B, a Microsoft Kinect Sensor and an Aeotec 4-in-1 Multisensor was implemented. The Aeotec Multisensor was used to measure temperature, motion, lighting, and humidity in the home. Data from the multisensor was collected using OpenHAB as the Smart Home Operating System. The information was processed using the Raspberry Pi 3 and push notifications were sent when risk situations were detected. An experimental evaluation was conducted to determine the accuracy with which the prototype SHE detected abnormal events. Evaluation scripts were each evaluated five times. The results show that the prototype has an average accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 94%, 96.92% and 88.93% respectively. The sensitivity shows that the chance of the prototype missing a risk situation is 3.08%, and the specificity shows that the chance of incorrectly classifying a non-risk situation is 11.07%. The prototype does not require any interaction on the part of the elderly. Relatives and caregivers can remotely monitor the elderly person living independently via the mobile application or a web portal. The total cost of the equipment used was below R3000

Emerging Approaches for THz Array Imaging: A Tutorial Review and Software Tool

Accelerated by the increasing attention drawn by 5G, 6G, and Internet of Things applications, communication and sensing technologies have rapidly evolved from millimeter-wave (mmWave) to terahertz (THz) in recent years. Enabled by significant advancements in electromagnetic (EM) hardware, mmWave and THz frequency regimes spanning 30 GHz to 300 GHz and 300 GHz to 3000 GHz, respectively, can be employed for a host of applications. The main feature of THz systems is high-bandwidth transmission, enabling ultra-high-resolution imaging and high-throughput communications; however, challenges in both the hardware and algorithmic arenas remain for the ubiquitous adoption of THz technology. Spectra comprising mmWave and THz frequencies are well-suited for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging at sub-millimeter resolutions for a wide spectrum of tasks like material characterization and nondestructive testing (NDT). This article provides a tutorial review of systems and algorithms for THz SAR in the near-field with an emphasis on emerging algorithms that combine signal processing and machine learning techniques. As part of this study, an overview of classical and data-driven THz SAR algorithms is provided, focusing on object detection for security applications and SAR image super-resolution. We also discuss relevant issues, challenges, and future research directions for emerging algorithms and THz SAR, including standardization of system and algorithm benchmarking, adoption of state-of-the-art deep learning techniques, signal processing-optimized machine learning, and hybrid data-driven signal processing algorithms...Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of IEE

Context-Aware Recommendation Systems in Mobile Environments

Nowadays, the huge amount of information available may easily overwhelm users when they need to take a decision that involves choosing among several options. As a solution to this problem, Recommendation Systems (RS) have emerged to offer relevant items to users. The main goal of these systems is to recommend certain items based on user preferences. Unfortunately, traditional recommendation systems do not consider the user’s context as an important dimension to ensure high-quality recommendations. Motivated by the need to incorporate contextual information during the recommendation process, Context-Aware Recommendation Systems (CARS) have emerged. However, these recent recommendation systems are not designed with mobile users in mind, where the context and the movements of the users and items may be important factors to consider when deciding which items should be recommended. Therefore, context-aware recommendation models should be able to effectively and efficiently exploit the dynamic context of the mobile user in order to offer her/him suitable recommendations and keep them up-to-date.The research area of this thesis belongs to the fields of context-aware recommendation systems and mobile computing. We focus on the following scientific problem: how could we facilitate the development of context-aware recommendation systems in mobile environments to provide users with relevant recommendations? This work is motivated by the lack of generic and flexible context-aware recommendation frameworks that consider aspects related to mobile users and mobile computing. In order to solve the identified problem, we pursue the following general goal: the design and implementation of a context-aware recommendation framework for mobile computing environments that facilitates the development of context-aware recommendation applications for mobile users. In the thesis, we contribute to bridge the gap not only between recommendation systems and context-aware computing, but also between CARS and mobile computing.<br /

Application Platforms, Routing Algorithms and Mobility Behavior in Mobile Disruption-Tolerant Networks

Mobile disruption-tolerant networks (DTNs), experience frequent and long duration partitions due to the low density of mobile nodes. In these networks, traditional networking models relying on end-to-end communication cease to work. The topological characteristics of mobile DTNs impose unique challenges for the design and validation of routing protocols and applications. We investigate challenges of mobile DTNs from three different viewpoints: the application layer, a routing perspective, and by studying mobility patterns. In the application layer, we have built 7DS (7th Degree of Separation) as a modular platform to develop mobile disruption-tolerant applications. 7DS offers a class of disruption-tolerant applications to exchange data with other mobile users in the mobile DTN or with the global Internet. In the routing layer, we have designed and implemented PEEP as an interest-aware and energy efficient routing protocol which automatically extracts individual interests of mobile users and estimates the global popularity of data items throughout the network. PEEP considers mobile users' interests and global popularity of data items in its routing decisions to route data toward the community of mobile users who are interested in that data content. Mobility of mobile users impacts the conditions in which routing protocols for mobile DTNs must operate and types of applications that could be provided for mobile networks in general. The current synthetic mobility models do not reflect real-world mobile users' behavior. Trace-based mobility models, also, are based on traces that either represent a specific population of mobile users or do not have enough granularities in representing mobility of mobile users for example cell tower traces. We use Sense Networks' GPS traces that are being collected by monitoring a broad spectrum of mobile users. Using these traces, we employ a Markovian approach to extract inherent patterns in human mobility. We design and implement a new routing algorithm for mobile DTNs based on our Markovian analysis of the human mobility. We explore how the knowledge of the mobility improves the performance of our Markov based routing algorithm. We show that that our Markov based routing algorithm increases the rate of data delivery to popular destinations with consuming less energy than legacy algorithms

A Priority-based Fair Queuing (PFQ) Model for Wireless Healthcare System

Healthcare is a very active research area, primarily due to the increase in the elderly population that leads to increasing number of emergency situations that require urgent actions. In recent years some of wireless networked medical devices were equipped with different sensors to measure and report on vital signs of patient remotely. The most important sensors are Heart Beat Rate (ECG), Pressure and Glucose sensors. However, the strict requirements and real-time nature of medical applications dictate the extreme importance and need for appropriate Quality of Service (QoS), fast and accurate delivery of a patient’s measurements in reliable e-Health ecosystem. As the elderly age and older adult population is increasing (65 years and above) due to the advancement in medicine and medical care in the last two decades; high QoS and reliable e-health ecosystem has become a major challenge in Healthcare especially for patients who require continuous monitoring and attention. Nevertheless, predictions have indicated that elderly population will be approximately 2 billion in developing countries by 2050 where availability of medical staff shall be unable to cope with this growth and emergency cases that need immediate intervention. On the other side, limitations in communication networks capacity, congestions and the humongous increase of devices, applications and IOT using the available communication networks add extra layer of challenges on E-health ecosystem such as time constraints, quality of measurements and signals reaching healthcare centres. Hence this research has tackled the delay and jitter parameters in E-health M2M wireless communication and succeeded in reducing them in comparison to current available models. The novelty of this research has succeeded in developing a new Priority Queuing model ‘’Priority Based-Fair Queuing’’ (PFQ) where a new priority level and concept of ‘’Patient’s Health Record’’ (PHR) has been developed and integrated with the Priority Parameters (PP) values of each sensor to add a second level of priority. The results and data analysis performed on the PFQ model under different scenarios simulating real M2M E-health environment have revealed that the PFQ has outperformed the results obtained from simulating the widely used current models such as First in First Out (FIFO) and Weight Fair Queuing (WFQ). PFQ model has improved transmission of ECG sensor data by decreasing delay and jitter in emergency cases by 83.32% and 75.88% respectively in comparison to FIFO and 46.65% and 60.13% with respect to WFQ model. Similarly, in pressure sensor the improvements were 82.41% and 71.5% and 68.43% and 73.36% in comparison to FIFO and WFQ respectively. Data transmission were also improved in the Glucose sensor by 80.85% and 64.7% and 92.1% and 83.17% in comparison to FIFO and WFQ respectively. However, non-emergency cases data transmission using PFQ model was negatively impacted and scored higher rates than FIFO and WFQ since PFQ tends to give higher priority to emergency cases. Thus, a derivative from the PFQ model has been developed to create a new version namely “Priority Based-Fair Queuing-Tolerated Delay” (PFQ-TD) to balance the data transmission between emergency and non-emergency cases where tolerated delay in emergency cases has been considered. PFQ-TD has succeeded in balancing fairly this issue and reducing the total average delay and jitter of emergency and non-emergency cases in all sensors and keep them within the acceptable allowable standards. PFQ-TD has improved the overall average delay and jitter in emergency and non-emergency cases among all sensors by 41% and 84% respectively in comparison to PFQ model