Unified Role Assignment Framework For Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are made possible by the continuing improvements in embedded sensor, VLSI, and wireless radio technologies. Currently, one of the important challenges in sensor networks is the design of a systematic network management framework that allows localized and collaborative resource control uniformly across all application services such as sensing, monitoring, tracking, data aggregation, and routing. The research in wireless sensor networks is currently oriented toward a cross-layer network abstraction that supports appropriate fine or course grained resource controls for energy efficiency. In that regard, we have designed a unified role-based service paradigm for wireless sensor networks. We pursue this by first developing a Role-based Hierarchical Self-Organization (RBSHO) protocol that organizes a connected dominating set (CDS) of nodes called dominators. This is done by hierarchically selecting nodes that possess cumulatively high energy, connectivity, and sensing capabilities in their local neighborhood. The RBHSO protocol then assigns specific tasks such as sensing, coordination, and routing to appropriate dominators that end up playing a certain role in the network. Roles, though abstract and implicit, expose role-specific resource controls by way of role assignment and scheduling. Based on this concept, we have designed a Unified Role-Assignment Framework (URAF) to model application services as roles played by local in-network sensor nodes with sensor capabilities used as rules for role identification. The URAF abstracts domain specific role attributes by three models: the role energy model, the role execution time model, and the role service utility model. The framework then generalizes resource management for services by providing abstractions for controlling the composition of a service in terms of roles, its assignment, reassignment, and scheduling. To the best of our knowledge, a generic role-based framework that provides a simple and unified network management solution for wireless sensor networks has not been proposed previously

Qualifying explore and exploit for efficient data dissemination in emergency adhoc networks

The literature of wireless adhoc networks includes a plethora of alternative dissemination strategies that aim for efficient delivery of data traffic from source to destination. Hence, the majority of these strategies assume that the source-destination pair is known prior to any data forwarding. On the contrary, an adhoc network opportunistically formed by mobile devices in the aftermath of a disaster, lacks any actual knowledge with respect to the network topology and the response units' availability. As such, distress nodes need to first understand their topological status in order to then be able to make informed forwarding decisions for alert message dissemination. The Explore and Exploit strategy, described hereafter, is purposefully envisioned to solve the latter issues and meet the stringent requirements for highly efficient data disseminatio

Large-Scale Land Acquisitions

This book examines large-scale land acquisitions, o

RFID Technology in Intelligent Tracking Systems in Construction Waste Logistics Using Optimisation Techniques

Construction waste disposal is an urgent issue for protecting our environment. This paper proposes a waste management system and illustrates the work process using plasterboard waste as an example, which creates a hazardous gas when land filled with household waste, and for which the recycling rate is less than 10% in the UK. The proposed system integrates RFID technology, Rule-Based Reasoning, Ant Colony optimization and knowledge technology for auditing and tracking plasterboard waste, guiding the operation staff, arranging vehicles, schedule planning, and also provides evidence to verify its disposal. It h relies on RFID equipment for collecting logistical data and uses digital imaging equipment to give further evidence; the reasoning core in the third layer is responsible for generating schedules and route plans and guidance, and the last layer delivers the result to inform users. The paper firstly introduces the current plasterboard disposal situation and addresses the logistical problem that is now the main barrier to a higher recycling rate, followed by discussion of the proposed system in terms of both system level structure and process structure. And finally, an example scenario will be given to illustrate the system’s utilization

Creative Education and Creative Work

This research brings together the Creative Economy and Employability agendas, concerns of British government policy from the late 1990s to the current day. It interrogates the concept of employability in creative industries degrees from the viewpoint of contemporary students and graduates. It unpacks the meanings of employability and investigates employability’s place in the undergraduate experience from the undergraduate perspective. A grounded methodological approach is taken to ensure the research findings are rooted in the student voice. Participants in this research claim that generic university employability strategies are irrelevant to their creative practice. They want to learn how to develop meaningful communities of practice and gain access to the gatekeepers of creative work within the creative industry that they aspire to work. They want to be supported to access creative networks because without the necessary cultural, social and financial capital, these privileged circles remain closed, elitist and impenetrable. This research develops Creatour, a philosophy for creative work and life as a contemporary 21st century approach to creative employability. Creatour offers an alternative philosophy to the dominant models of skill acquisition to meet employers’ needs. It argues that ‘complexability’ describes what graduates should be developing for work in a global world. Creatour, adapted from the practice of Parkour, is a creative philosophy about finding your own path, overcoming obstacles, being resilient and living a ‘good life’. It supports participants to view employability in a holistic way both at university and after. Creatour is collaborative and co-produced with undergraduates, graduates and relevant others such as employers and practitioners. Creatour encourages students to regularly work in different ways, groups and spaces and to seek alternative actions or solutions that maybe more relevant, inclusive and commercial. Feedback from research dissemination shows Creatour as useful to other disciplines as a contemporary approach to learning and work

A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things

Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.Doctor of Philosoph

Design for energy-efficient and reliable fog-assisted healthcare IoT systems

Cardiovascular disease and diabetes are two of the most dangerous diseases as they are the leading causes of death in all ages. Unfortunately, they cannot be completely cured with the current knowledge and existing technologies. However, they can be effectively managed by applying methods of continuous health monitoring. Nonetheless, it is difficult to achieve a high quality of healthcare with the current health monitoring systems which often have several limitations such as non-mobility support, energy inefficiency, and an insufficiency of advanced services. Therefore, this thesis presents a Fog computing approach focusing on four main tracks, and proposes it as a solution to the existing limitations. In the first track, the main goal is to introduce Fog computing and Fog services into remote health monitoring systems in order to enhance the quality of healthcare. In the second track, a Fog approach providing mobility support in a real-time health monitoring IoT system is proposed. The handover mechanism run by Fog-assisted smart gateways helps to maintain the connection between sensor nodes and the gateways with a minimized latency. Results show that the handover latency of the proposed Fog approach is 10%-50% less than other state-of-the-art mobility support approaches. In the third track, the designs of four energy-efficient health monitoring IoT systems are discussed and developed. Each energy-efficient system and its sensor nodes are designed to serve a specific purpose such as glucose monitoring, ECG monitoring, or fall detection; with the exception of the fourth system which is an advanced and combined system for simultaneously monitoring many diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Results show that these sensor nodes can continuously work, depending on the application, up to 70-155 hours when using a 1000 mAh lithium battery. The fourth track mentioned above, provides a Fog-assisted remote health monitoring IoT system for diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease. Via several proposed algorithms such as QT interval extraction, activity status categorization, and fall detection algorithms, the system can process data and detect abnormalities in real-time. Results show that the proposed system using Fog services is a promising approach for improving the treatment of diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease

Transitions in Motion: Accelerating Active Travel Infrastructure in London through Grassroots Groups and Activist Researchers

Active transport plans and infrastructure transition plays a key role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and various health issues faced in London, yet has not occurred at a speed required for mitigation or even achieving stated targets and goals. While socio-technical transition research has often focused on the historical perspective and the technical aspects of a transition, it has dwelt less on the process of transition in motion. In particular, the role of grassroots movements in accelerating transitions and the social aspects of creating transitions. Utilising participatory action research and an adapted bridging methodology, this research aims to analyse mechanisms for speeding up active transport policy and infrastructure transitions. It intertwines three layers of bridging methodologies across policy and practice, namely the initiative-based learning (e.g. cycling campaigns), socio-technical analysis, and quantitative modelling. The initiative-based learning was enacted as participatory action research, with myself as an activist researcher, working in partnership with grassroots movements campaigning for active transport infrastructure and policy changes. The ‘Framework for Change’ is a template trialed in this research provided the practical connection to the theoretical socio-technical transition literature. This research project highlight the opportunities and obstacles to accelerate transitions in motion specifically for grassroots movements. The empirical findings suggest that by coupling grassroots and activist researchers, it is possible to create micro-accelerations and influence urban changes towards sustainability. Further, that using the ‘Framework for Change’ can upskill activists and form a template for other campaigns. The findings also suggest that the most important parts of the Framework for Change are building coalitions, creating measurable goals and visions, and understanding who can change policy and infrastructure. My research highlights how actions and events that unfolded represent micro-accelerations or microdecelerations and can lead to better understanding of potential transition pathways and transition goals. It further highlights that grassroots’ movements have much to offer in understanding the social and political changes required for sustainable socio-technical transitions. More research into the social rather than the technical factors could speed up the pace and expand the scale of the transition required for climate change adaptation and healthy built environment outcomes