Economic Feasibility of Wireless Sensor Network-Based Service Provision in a Duopoly Setting with a Monopolist Operator

[EN] We analyze the feasibility of providing Wireless Sensor Network-data-based services in an Internet of Things scenario from an economical point of view. The scenario has two competing service providers with their own private sensor networks, a network operator and final users. The scenario is analyzed as two games using game theory. In the first game, sensors decide to subscribe or not to the network operator to upload the collected sensing-data, based on a utility function related to the mean service time and the price charged by the operator. In the second game, users decide to subscribe or not to the sensor-data-based service of the service providers based on a Logit discrete choice model related to the quality of the data collected and the subscription price. The sinks and users subscription stages are analyzed using population games and discrete choice models, while network operator and service providers pricing stages are analyzed using optimization and Nash equilibrium concepts respectively. The model is shown feasible from an economic point of view for all the actors if there are enough interested final users and opens the possibility of developing more efficient models with different types of services.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects TIN2013-47272-C2-1-R and (co-supported by the European Social Fund) BES-2014-068998.Sanchis-Cano, Á.; Romero-Chavarro, JC.; Sacoto-Cabrera, E.; Guijarro, L. (2017). Economic Feasibility of Wireless Sensor Network-Based Service Provision in a Duopoly Setting with a Monopolist Operator. Sensors. 17 (12)(2727):1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/s17122727S12217 (12)272

Game Theoretical Analysis of Service Provision for the Internet of Things Based on Sensor Virtualization

[EN] The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to bring major benefits to a wide range of areas. However, the successful deployment of the IoT calls for the existence of sustainable and well-understood business models. In this paper, we propose and analyze a business model for a likely scenario in the IoT, which is made up of WSNs, service providers and users. The service providers compete against each other in the intermediation between the virtualized WSNs and the users that benefit from enhanced services built on the sensed data. The service providers pay to the WSNs for the data and charge the users for the service. The model is analyzed by applying oligopoly theory and game theory, the conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium are established, and the equilibrium and the social optimum are obtained. Our results show that the business model is sustainable, provided that the users¿ sensitivity to the value-to-price ratio is not negligible and, in this situation, the number of active service providers is upper bounded by a value that depends on the sensitivity and the market size. Furthermore, the operation of such a market is shown to efficiently use the information provided by the WSNs, and, when compared to the social optimum, to produce an increase in users¿ and service providers¿ surpluses, but a reduction in WSNs¿ surplus.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under Project TIN2013-47272-C2-1-R.Guijarro, L.; Pla, V.; Vidal Catalá, JR.; Naldi, M. (2017). Game Theoretical Analysis of Service Provision for the Internet of Things Based on Sensor Virtualization. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. 35(3):691-706. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSAC.2017.2672239S69170635

Resource Allocation and Service Management in Next Generation 5G Wireless Networks

The accelerated evolution towards next generation networks is expected to dramatically increase mobile data traffic, posing challenging requirements for future radio cellular communications. User connections are multiplying, whilst data hungry content is dominating wireless services putting significant pressure on network's available spectrum. Ensuring energy-efficient and low latency transmissions, while maintaining advanced Quality of Service (QoS) and high standards of user experience are of profound importance in order to address diversifying user prerequisites and ensure superior and sustainable network performance. At the same time, the rise of 5G networks and the Internet of Things (IoT) evolution is transforming wireless infrastructure towards enhanced heterogeneity, multi-tier architectures and standards, as well as new disruptive telecommunication technologies. The above developments require a rethinking of how wireless networks are designed and operate, in conjunction with the need to understand more holistically how users interact with the network and with each other. In this dissertation, we tackle the problem of efficient resource allocation and service management in various network topologies under a user-centric approach. In the direction of ad-hoc and self-organizing networks where the decision making process lies at the user level, we develop a novel and generic enough framework capable of solving a wide array of problems with regards to resource distribution in an adaptable and multi-disciplinary manner. Aiming at maximizing user satisfaction and also achieve high performance - low power resource utilization, the theory of network utility maximization is adopted, with the examined problems being formulated as non-cooperative games. The considered games are solved via the principles of Game Theory and Optimization, while iterative and low complexity algorithms establish their convergence to steady operational outcomes, i.e., Nash Equilibrium points. This thesis consists a meaningful contribution to the current state of the art research in the field of wireless network optimization, by allowing users to control multiple degrees of freedom with regards to their transmission, considering mobile customers and their strategies as the key elements for the amelioration of network's performance, while also adopting novel technologies in the resource management problems. First, multi-variable resource allocation problems are studied for multi-tier architectures with the use of femtocells, addressing the topic of efficient power and/or rate control, while also the topic is examined in Visible Light Communication (VLC) networks under various access technologies. Next, the problem of customized resource pricing is considered as a separate and bounded resource to be optimized under distinct scenarios, which expresses users' willingness to pay instead of being commonly implemented by a central administrator in the form of penalties. The investigation is further expanded by examining the case of service provider selection in competitive telecommunication markets which aim to increase their market share by applying different pricing policies, while the users model the selection process by behaving as learning automata under a Machine Learning framework. Additionally, the problem of resource allocation is examined for heterogeneous services where users are enabled to dynamically pick the modules needed for their transmission based on their preferences, via the concept of Service Bundling. Moreover, in this thesis we examine the correlation of users' energy requirements with their transmission needs, by allowing the adaptive energy harvesting to reflect the consumed power in the subsequent information transmission in Wireless Powered Communication Networks (WPCNs). Furthermore, in this thesis a fresh perspective with respect to resource allocation is provided assuming real life conditions, by modeling user behavior under Prospect Theory. Subjectivity in decisions of users is introduced in situations of high uncertainty in a more pragmatic manner compared to the literature, where they behave as blind utility maximizers. In addition, network spectrum is considered as a fragile resource which might collapse if over-exploited under the principles of the Tragedy of the Commons, allowing hence users to sense risk and redefine their strategies accordingly. The above framework is applied in different cases where users have to select between a safe and a common pool of resources (CPR) i.e., licensed and unlicensed bands, different access technologies, etc., while also the impact of pricing in protecting resource fragility is studied. Additionally, the above resource allocation problems are expanded in Public Safety Networks (PSNs) assisted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), while also aspects related to network security against malign user behaviors are examined. Finally, all the above problems are thoroughly evaluated and tested via a series of arithmetic simulations with regards to the main characteristics of their operation, as well as against other approaches from the literature. In each case, important performance gains are identified with respect to the overall energy savings and increased spectrum utilization, while also the advantages of the proposed framework are mirrored in the improvement of the satisfaction and the superior Quality of Service of each user within the network. Lastly, the flexibility and scalability of this work allow for interesting applications in other domains related to resource allocation in wireless networks and beyond

Blockchain for Healthcare: Securing Patient Data and Enabling Trusted Artificial Intelligence

Advances in information technology are digitizing the healthcare domain with the aim of improved medical services, diagnostics, continuous monitoring using wearables, etc., at reduced costs. This digitization improves the ease of computation, storage and access of medical records which enables better treatment experiences for patients. However, it comes with a risk of cyber attacks and security and privacy concerns on this digital data. In this work, we propose a Blockchain based solution for healthcare records to address the security and privacy concerns which are currently not present in existing e-Health systems. This work also explores the potential of building trusted Artificial Intelligence models over Blockchain in e-Health, where a transparent platform for consent-based data sharing is designed. Provenance of the consent of individuals and traceability of data sources used for building and training the AI model is captured in an immutable distributed data store. The audit trail of the data access captured using Blockchain provides the data owner to understand the exposure of the data. It also helps the user to understand the revenue models that could be built on top of this framework for commercial data sharing to build trusted AI models

Mind My Value: a decentralized infrastructure for fair and trusted IoT data trading

Internet of Things (IoT) data are increasingly viewed as a new form of massively distributed and large scale digital assets, which are continuously generated by millions of connected devices. The real value of such assets can only be realized by allowing IoT data trading to occur on a marketplace that rewards every single producer and consumer, at a very granular level. Crucially, we believe that such a marketplace should not be owned by anybody, and should instead fairly and transparently self-enforce a well defined set of governance rules. In this paper we address some of the technical challenges involved in realizing such a marketplace. We leverage emerging blockchain technologies to build a decentralized, trusted, transparent and open architecture for IoT traffic metering and contract compliance, on top of the largely adopted IoT brokered data infrastructure. We discuss an Ethereum-based prototype implementation and experimentally evaluate the overhead cost associated with Smart Contract transactions, concluding that a viable business model can indeed be associated with our technical approach

Scenario-based techno-economic analysis of digital homes

Kotitalouksien laitemäärät kasvavat ja kodit muuttuvat vähitellen digitaalisiksi. Uusissa laitteissa on yhä useammin mahdollisuus verkkokäyttöön yhdessä muiden laitteiden kanssa. Laitteiden lukumäärän kasvaessa niiden hallinta ja yhteensovitus kuitenkin monimutkaistuu ja vain harvat suoriutuvat näistä vaativista tehtävistä. Monet joutuvat turvautumaan ulkopuoliseen apuun. Tässä diplomityössä pyritään arvioimaan keskivertokodin kautta Suomen digitaalisten kotien markkinoita sekä tietoliikenneoperaattoreiden roolia näillä markkinoilla. Kirjallisuustutkimuksen ja asiantuntijahaastattelujen perusteella laadittiin arviot laitteiden hankinta- ja ylläpitokustannuksista digitaalisten kotien kasvun arvioimiseksi. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin neljää erilaista jo aiemmin määriteltyä skenaariota kuvaamaan markkinoiden mahdollisia kehityssuuntia; paikallisesti keskittynyt, globaalisti keskittynyt, globaalit spesialistit ja paikalliset huoltomiehet sekä tee-se-itse-skenaario. Tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat siihen, että mullistavaa yhtäkkistä muutosta kulutustavoissa ja sitä kautta digitaalisten kotien markkinoiden kasvussa ei ole odotettavissa seuraavan viiden vuoden aikana. Digitaalisiin laitteisiin ja palveluihin käytettävä raha puolestaan kuitenkin kasvaa, kun perinteiset hyödykkeet digitalisoituvat. Digitaalisten kotien markkinat jatkavat kasvuaan ja ne tulevat todennäköisesti olemaan kombinaatio kahdesta tai useammasta tässä työssä käytetystä skenaariosta. Tutkimuksen aikana löytyi myös puutteita käytetyistä skenaarioista, jotka piti ottaa huomioon tässä työssä.Households are slowly turning into digital homes as consumers are filling up their homes with a vast number of digital devices. As the number of devices grows, management of the devices and their interoperability is becoming increasingly complex so that only tech enthusiasts are able to handle the task. For many, the installation and maintenance of the devices is often too difficult to take care of by themselves and outside help is required. By assessing an average Finnish household, this thesis aims to evaluate the digital home market of Finland and the possible roles of telecom operators in the market. The costs of purchasing and maintaining the devices were estimated to predict the possible growth of the market based on literature analysis and expert interviews. Four predefined scenarios were used for the analysis to depict the potential development paths of digital homes: the locally centralized, the globally centralized, the global specialists and local janitors, and the do-it-yourself-scenario. The results of the study indicate that a sudden change in consumption habits and thus the overall growth of the digital home market is unlikely during the next five years. However, as the amount of money spent on digital homes is expected to increase due to the digitalization of more traditional services, the number of devices in an average household most likely keeps steadily growing and the entire market along with it. The digital home market will most likely be a combination of two or more of the scenarios and their attributes. During the analysis also some deficiencies were found in the scenarios used and had to be taken into consideration in this thesis

Telematics industry dynamics and strategies for converging technologies

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004.Includes bibliographical references.The Telematics Industry faces tremendous challenges for growth. Regardless of the efforts and investment from vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, telematics has not been that profitable industry that many analyst forecasted five years ago; a 40 billion industry by 2003. This paper presents an analysis of the dynamics of the telematics industry and emphasizes on factors affecting the diffusion of telematics innovation. These factors are related to openness of telematics systems and establishment of standards, network externalities effects and attractiveness of complementors, customer's willingness to pay, telematics services pricing, and consumer knowledge of newer technology. Based on an in-depth analysis of the telematics architecture and the technologies converging in the telematics system I suggest a mixed strategy with respect to standards. This strategy favors the growth of this industry. Based on this strategy there are developed some scenarios of how the telematics value network will look like and how the interaction among the players would take place. Finally, a conceptual system dynamic model is presented to illustrate the dynamics of the industry and how the factors influencing the adoption of the telematics all play together to favor or affect the diffusion of the growing telematics industry.by Rodrigo Luis.S.M.M.O.T