Mission-Critical Communications from LMR to 5G: a Technology Assessment approach for Smart City scenarios

Radiocommunication networks are one of the main support tools of agencies that carry out actions in Public Protection & Disaster Relief (PPDR), and it is necessary to update these communications technologies from narrowband to broadband and integrated to information technologies to have an effective action before society. Understanding that this problem includes, besides the technical aspects, issues related to the social context to which these systems are inserted, this study aims to construct scenarios, using several sources of information, that helps the managers of the PPDR agencies in the technological decisionmaking process of the Digital Transformation of Mission-Critical Communication considering Smart City scenarios, guided by the methods and approaches of Technological Assessment (TA).As redes de radiocomunicações são uma das principais ferramentas de apoio dos órgãos que realizam ações de Proteção Pública e Socorro em desastres, sendo necessário atualizar essas tecnologias de comunicação de banda estreita para banda larga, e integra- las às tecnologias de informação, para se ter uma atuação efetiva perante a sociedade . Entendendo que esse problema inclui, além dos aspectos técnicos, questões relacionadas ao contexto social ao qual esses sistemas estão inseridos, este estudo tem por objetivo a construção de cenários, utilizando diversas fontes de informação que auxiliem os gestores destas agências na tomada de decisão tecnológica que envolve a transformação digital da Comunicação de Missão Crítica considerando cenários de Cidades Inteligentes, guiado pelos métodos e abordagens de Avaliação Tecnológica (TA)

Sensor Networks and Their Applications: Investigating the Role of Sensor Web Enablement

The Engineering Doctorate (EngD) was conducted in conjunction with BT Research on state-of-the-art Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) projects. The first area of work is a literature review of WSN project applications, some of which the author worked on as a BT Researcher based at the world renowned Adastral Park Research Labs in Suffolk (2004-09). WSN applications are examined within the context of Machine-to-Machine (M2M); Information Networking (IN); Internet/Web of Things (IoT/WoT); smart home and smart devices; BT’s 21st Century Network (21CN); Cloud Computing; and future trends. In addition, this thesis provides an insight into the capabilities of similar external WSN project applications. Under BT’s Sensor Virtualization project, the second area of work focuses on building a Generic Architecture for WSNs with reusable infrastructure and ‘infostructure’ by identifying and trialling suitable components, in order to realise actual business benefits for BT. The third area of work focuses on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards and their Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) initiative. The SWE framework was investigated to ascertain its potential as a component of the Generic Architecture. BT’s SAPHE project served as a use case. BT Research’s experiences of taking this traditional (vertical) stove-piped application and creating SWE compliant services are described. The author’s findings were originally presented in a series of publications and have been incorporated into this thesis along with supplementary WSN material from BT Research projects. SWE 2.0 specifications are outlined to highlight key improvements, since work began at BT with SWE 1.0. The fourth area of work focuses on Complex Event Processing (CEP) which was evaluated to ascertain its potential for aggregating and correlating the shared project sensor data (‘infostructure’) harvested and for enabling data fusion for WSNs in diverse domains. Finally, the conclusions and suggestions for further work are provided

A Survey on Security and Privacy of 5G Technologies: Potential Solutions, Recent Advancements, and Future Directions

Security has become the primary concern in many telecommunications industries today as risks can have high consequences. Especially, as the core and enable technologies will be associated with 5G network, the confidential information will move at all layers in future wireless systems. Several incidents revealed that the hazard encountered by an infected wireless network, not only affects the security and privacy concerns, but also impedes the complex dynamics of the communications ecosystem. Consequently, the complexity and strength of security attacks have increased in the recent past making the detection or prevention of sabotage a global challenge. From the security and privacy perspectives, this paper presents a comprehensive detail on the core and enabling technologies, which are used to build the 5G security model; network softwarization security, PHY (Physical) layer security and 5G privacy concerns, among others. Additionally, the paper includes discussion on security monitoring and management of 5G networks. This paper also evaluates the related security measures and standards of core 5G technologies by resorting to different standardization bodies and provide a brief overview of 5G standardization security forces. Furthermore, the key projects of international significance, in line with the security concerns of 5G and beyond are also presented. Finally, a future directions and open challenges section has included to encourage future research.European CommissionNational Research Tomsk Polytechnic UniversityUpdate citation details during checkdate report - A

Ideas from IDS: Graduate Papers from 2016/17

It gives me great pleasure to present this first edition of published term papers authored by IDS graduates (2016/17) from across our suite of master’s degrees. At IDS, our vision is of equal and sustainable societies, locally and globally, where everyone can live secure, fulfilling lives free from poverty and injustice. Cutting-edge research, knowledge, and evidence is critical to realising this vision and shaping, informing, and navigating change. These papers make an essential contribution to this body of knowledge and current development debates. Each year, in September, IDS welcomes a new cohort of development scholars and practitioners who come to read and study for a master’s degree. They bring their experience and enthusiasm, their commitment to international development, and their ideas. We expect a lot from these scholars and practitioners during their time at IDS. We expect them to demonstrate, in their thinking and in their assignments, considerations of how to make a difference in the world. We ask them to help us extend our commitment to engaged excellence, to go beyond academic knowledge for its own sake and to use knowledge to help reduce inequalities, accelerate sustainability, and build more inclusive and secure societies. As illustrated in this issue, each year, our expectations are met and surpassed with papers which show creative reasoning and learning, and which in turn inform and shape our thinking at IDS, providing new perspectives, ideas, and applications. In the course of a year, over 1,200 pieces of work are written and marked at IDS, much of it of fantastic quality. Obviously we cannot publish all of it, yet in producing this edition, we celebrate both these specific papers and the buzz generated by shared intellectual endeavours and from both individual and collective desires to bring about positive change. This issue makes an important contribution to major development challenges and deserves to be read

Edge computing infrastructure for 5G networks: a placement optimization solution

This thesis focuses on how to optimize the placement of the Edge Computing infrastructure for upcoming 5G networks. To this aim, the core contributions of this research are twofold: 1) a novel heuristic called Hybrid Simulated Annealing to tackle the NP-hard nature of the problem and, 2) a framework called EdgeON providing a practical tool for real-life deployment optimization. In more detail, Edge Computing has grown into a key solution to 5G latency, reliability and scalability requirements. By bringing computing, storage and networking resources to the edge of the network, delay-sensitive applications, location-aware systems and upcoming real-time services leverage the benefits of a reduced physical and logical path between the end-user and the data or service host. Nevertheless, the edge node placement problem raises critical concerns regarding deployment and operational expenditures (i.e., mainly due to the number of nodes to be deployed), current backhaul network capabilities and non-technical placement limitations. Common approaches to the placement of edge nodes are based on: Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), where the processing capabilities are deployed at the Radio Access Network nodes and Facility Location Problem variations, where a simplistic cost function is used to determine where to optimally place the infrastructure. However, these methods typically lack the flexibility to be used for edge node placement under the strict technical requirements identified for 5G networks. They fail to place resources at the network edge for 5G ultra-dense networking environments in a network-aware manner. This doctoral thesis focuses on rigorously defining the Edge Node Placement Problem (ENPP) for 5G use cases and proposes a novel framework called EdgeON aiming at reducing the overall expenses when deploying and operating an Edge Computing network, taking into account the usage and characteristics of the in-place backhaul network and the strict requirements of a 5G-EC ecosystem. The developed framework implements several placement and optimization strategies thoroughly assessing its suitability to solve the network-aware ENPP. The core of the framework is an in-house developed heuristic called Hybrid Simulated Annealing (HSA), seeking to address the high complexity of the ENPP while avoiding the non-convergent behavior of other traditional heuristics (i.e., when applied to similar problems). The findings of this work validate our approach to solve the network-aware ENPP, the effectiveness of the heuristic proposed and the overall applicability of EdgeON. Thorough performance evaluations were conducted on the core placement solutions implemented revealing the superiority of HSA when compared to widely used heuristics and common edge placement approaches (i.e., a MEC-based strategy). Furthermore, the practicality of EdgeON was tested through two main case studies placing services and virtual network functions over the previously optimally placed edge nodes. Overall, our proposal is an easy-to-use, effective and fully extensible tool that can be used by operators seeking to optimize the placement of computing, storage and networking infrastructure at the users’ vicinity. Therefore, our main contributions not only set strong foundations towards a cost-effective deployment and operation of an Edge Computing network, but directly impact the feasibility of upcoming 5G services/use cases and the extensive existing research regarding the placement of services and even network service chains at the edge

State-of-the-Art Sensors Technology in Spain 2015: Volume 1

This book provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art sensors technology in specific leading areas. Industrial researchers, engineers and professionals can find information on the most advanced technologies and developments, together with data processing. Further research covers specific devices and technologies that capture and distribute data to be processed by applying dedicated techniques or procedures, which is where sensors play the most important role. The book provides insights and solutions for different problems covering a broad spectrum of possibilities, thanks to a set of applications and solutions based on sensory technologies. Topics include: • Signal analysis for spectral power • 3D precise measurements • Electromagnetic propagation • Drugs detection • e-health environments based on social sensor networks • Robots in wireless environments, navigation, teleoperation, object grasping, demining • Wireless sensor networks • Industrial IoT • Insights in smart cities • Voice recognition • FPGA interfaces • Flight mill device for measurements on insects • Optical systems: UV, LEDs, lasers, fiber optics • Machine vision • Power dissipation • Liquid level in fuel tanks • Parabolic solar tracker • Force sensors • Control for a twin roto

Robust, Resilient Networked Communication in Challenged Environments

In challenged environments, digital communication infrastructure may be difficult or even impossible to access. This is especially true in rural and developing regions, as well as in any region during a time of political or environmental crisis. We advance the state of the art in wireless networking and security to design networks and applications that rapidly assess changing networking conditions to restore communication and provide local situational awareness. This dissertation examines new systems for responding to current and emerging needs for wireless networks. This work looks across the wireless ecosystem of widely deployed standards. We develop new tools to improve network assessment and to provide robust and reliable network communication. By incorporating new technological breakthroughs, such as the wide commercial success of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), we introduce novel methods and systems for existing wireless standards for these challenged networks. We assess how existing technologies and standards function in difficult environments: lacking end-end Internet connectivity, experiencing overload or other resource constraints, and operating in three dimensional space. Through this lens, we demonstrate how to optimize networks to serve marginalized communities outside of first world urban cities and make our networks resilient to natural and political crisis that threaten communication

Enabling Things to Talk

Information Systems Applications (incl. Internet); Business IT Infrastructure; Computer Appl. in Administrative Data Processing; Operations Management; Software Engineering; Special Purpose and Application-Based Systems; Business Information Systems; Ubiquitous Computing; Reference Architecture; Spatio-Temporal Systems; Smart Objects; Supply Chain Management; IoT; SCM; Web Applications; Internet of Things; Smart Homes; RFI