Representation of Interdependencies Between Urban Networks by a Multi-Layer Graph (Short Paper)

The RGC4 (Urban resilience and Crisis Management in a Context of Slow Flood to Slow Kinetics) project aims to develop tools to help manage critical technical networks as part of the management process of crisis in a context of slow kinetic flooding in Paris. This project focuses on cascading models to identify a number of inter-dependencies between networks and to define tools capable of coordinating the actions of managers before and during the crisis. This paper revisits the conceptual and methodological bases of networks approach to study the inter-dependencies between networks. Research that studies the return to service of infrastructure networks often angle it from the perspective of operational research. The article proposes a graph theory perspective based on a multi-layer network approach and shows how to characterize the inter-dependencies between networks at three process levels (macro, meso, micro

Mapping Local and Regional Potentials for Inter-sectoral Technology Flows in Industrial Clusters – Empirical Results for Germany

The paper explores the potential for inter-sectoral technology flows in industrial clusters in Germany. With the help of a product-embodied R&D flow matrix, calculated using data on input–output tables and sectoral R&D employment, we construct industrial cluster based networks of technology provider and user relationships and examine the regional embeddedness of different sectors in the technological diffusion network of industrial clusters. As a result, the paper shows that simple graphical representations of relevant product-embodied R&D flows illustrate substantial differences in potentials for technological relations within industrial clusters.

Network Interdependency Modeling for Risk Assessment on Built Infrastructure Systems

As modern infrastructures become more interconnected, the decision-making process becomes more difficult because of the increased complexity resulting from infrastructure interdependencies. Simulation and network modeling provide a way to understand system behavior as a result of interdependencies. One area within the asset management literature that is not well covered is infrastructure system decay and risks associated with that decay. This research presents an enhanced version of Haimes\u27 input-output inoperability model (IIM) in the analysis of built infrastructure systems. Previous applications of the IIM characterized infrastructure at the national level utilizing large economic databases. This study develops a three-phased approach that takes component level data stored within geographic information systems (GIS) to provide a metric for network interdependency across a municipal level infrastructure. A multi-layered approach is proposed which leverages the layered data structure of GIS. Furthermore, Monte Carlo simulation using stochastic decay estimates shows how infrastructure risk as a result of interdependency effects changes over time. Such an analysis provides insight to infrastructure asset managers on the impact of policy and strategy decision-making regarding the maintenance and management of their infrastructure systems

Cognitive load balancing approach for 6G MEC serving IoT mashups

The sixth generation (6G) of communication networks represents more of a revolution than an evolution of the previous generations, providing new directions and innovative approaches to face the network challenges of the future. A crucial aspect is to make the best use of available resources for the support of an entirely new generation of services. From this viewpoint, the Web of Things (WoT), which enables Things to become Web Things to chain, use and re-use in IoT mashups, allows interoperability among IoT platforms. At the same time, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) brings computing and data storage to the edge of the network, which creates the so-called distributed and collective edge intelligence. Such intelligence is created in order to deal with the huge amount of data to be collected, analyzed and processed, from real word contexts, such as smart cities, which are evolving into dynamic and networked systems of people and things. To better exploit this architecture, it is crucial to break monolithic applications into modular microservices, which can be executed independently. Here, we propose an approach based on complex network theory and two weighted and interdependent multiplex networks to address the Microservices-compliant Load Balancing (McLB) problem in MEC infrastructure. Our findings show that the multiplex network representation represents an extra dimension of analysis, allowing to capture the complexity in WoT mashup organization and its impact on the organizational aspect of MEC servers. The impact of this extracted knowledge on the cognitive organization of MEC is quantified, through the use of heuristics that are engineered to guarantee load balancing and, consequently, QoS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cognition-Based Networks: A New Perspective on Network Optimization Using Learning and Distributed Intelligence

IEEE Access Volume 3, 2015, Article number 7217798, Pages 1512-1530 Open Access Cognition-based networks: A new perspective on network optimization using learning and distributed intelligence (Article) Zorzi, M.a , Zanella, A.a, Testolin, A.b, De Filippo De Grazia, M.b, Zorzi, M.bc a Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, Padua, Italy b Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy c IRCCS San Camillo Foundation, Venice-Lido, Italy View additional affiliations View references (107) Abstract In response to the new challenges in the design and operation of communication networks, and taking inspiration from how living beings deal with complexity and scalability, in this paper we introduce an innovative system concept called COgnition-BAsed NETworkS (COBANETS). The proposed approach develops around the systematic application of advanced machine learning techniques and, in particular, unsupervised deep learning and probabilistic generative models for system-wide learning, modeling, optimization, and data representation. Moreover, in COBANETS, we propose to combine this learning architecture with the emerging network virtualization paradigms, which make it possible to actuate automatic optimization and reconfiguration strategies at the system level, thus fully unleashing the potential of the learning approach. Compared with the past and current research efforts in this area, the technical approach outlined in this paper is deeply interdisciplinary and more comprehensive, calling for the synergic combination of expertise of computer scientists, communications and networking engineers, and cognitive scientists, with the ultimate aim of breaking new ground through a profound rethinking of how the modern understanding of cognition can be used in the management and optimization of telecommunication network

Resilience assessment for interdependent urban infrastructure systems using dynamic network flow models

Critical infrastructure systems are becoming increasingly interdependent, which can exacerbate the impacts of disruptive events through cascading failures, hindered asset repairs and network congestion. Current resilience assessment methods fall short of fully capturing such interdependency effects as they tend to model asset reliability and network flows separately and often rely on static flow assignment methods. In this paper, we develop an integrated, dynamic modelling and simulation framework that combines network and asset representations of infrastructure systems and models the optimal response to disruptions using a rolling planning horizon. The framework considers dependencies pertaining to failure propagation, system-of-systems architecture and resources required for operating and repairing assets. Stochastic asset failure is captured by a scenario tree generation algorithm whereas the redistribution of network flows and the optimal deployment of repair resources are modelled using a minimum cost flow approach. A case study on London’s metro and electric power networks shows how the proposed methodology can be used to assess the resilience of city-scale infrastructure systems to a local flooding incident and estimate the value of the resilience loss triangle for different levels of hazard exposure and repair capabilities

Disaster management in smart cities

The smart city concept, in which data from different systems are available, contains a multitude of critical infrastructures. This data availability opens new research opportunities in the study of the interdependency between those critical infrastructures and cascading effects solutions and focuses on the smart city as a network of critical infrastructures. This paper proposes an integrated resilience system linking interconnected critical infrastructures in a smart city to improve disaster resilience. A data-driven approach is considered, using artificial intelligence and methods to minimize cascading effects and the destruction of failing critical infrastructures and their components (at a city level). The proposed approach allows rapid recovery of infrastructures’ service performance levels after disasters while keeping the coverage of the assessment of risks, prevention, detection, response, and mitigation of consequences. The proposed approach has the originality and the practical implication of providing a decision support system that handles the infrastructures that will support the city disaster management system—make the city prepare, adapt, absorb, respond, and recover from disasters by taking advantage of the interconnections between its various critical infrastructures to increase the overall resilience capacity. The city of Lisbon (Portugal) is used as a case to show the practical application of the approach.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio