Implementation and analysis of the ISO/IEC/IEEE P21451-1 draft standard for a smart transducer interface common network services and its applications in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has rapidly become the paradigm for the creation and improvement of new and old Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), but how much longer can this development of IoT devices, networks, and services be sustained? The past decade has seen incredible growth in internet connected devices, with current estimates placing the number of such devices at about 20 billion in 2017, not including personal computers, smart phones, and tablets. This has created a massive market for these devices, with each company making their own applications, protocols, and services. Since these markets are competitive, there originally was no incentive to design systems, which were built to have a common protocol to enable interoperability between systems. This can pose a large integration effort if two or more of these systems need to communicate together as part of a larger system. The problem is compounded if these systems utilize two different physical layers or talk using two different protocols. The revitalization of the IEEE 1451 family of standards can solve this problem. The work in this thesis proposes to solve the integration problem by providing a common set of services and protocols for devices. This work provides the basis for a common architectural foundation for future IoT development. The contributions of this thesis include a renewal of the language and intent of the IEEE P21451-1 draft standard, development of example implementations to be included in the standard, and the development of Open Source hardware and software aimed at lowering the cost of adopting this standard

Machine Learning in Wireless Sensor Networks for Smart Cities:A Survey

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques have huge potential to efficiently manage the automated operation of the internet of things (IoT) nodes deployed in smart cities. In smart cities, the major IoT applications are smart traffic monitoring, smart waste management, smart buildings and patient healthcare monitoring. The small size IoT nodes based on low power Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1) standard and wireless sensor networks (WSN) (IEEE 802.15.4) standard are generally used for transmission of data to a remote location using gateways. The WSN based IoT (WSN-IoT) design problems include network coverage and connectivity issues, energy consumption, bandwidth requirement, network lifetime maximization, communication protocols and state of the art infrastructure. In this paper, the authors propose machine learning methods as an optimization tool for regular WSN-IoT nodes deployed in smart city applications. As per the author’s knowledge, this is the first in-depth literature survey of all ML techniques in the field of low power consumption WSN-IoT for smart cities. The results of this unique survey article show that the supervised learning algorithms have been most widely used (61%) as compared to reinforcement learning (27%) and unsupervised learning (12%) for smart city applications

A software-defined network solution for managing fog computing resources in sensor networks

The fast growth of Internet-connected embedded devices raises new challenges for the traditional network design, such as scalability, diversity, and complexity. To endorse these challenges, this thesis suggests the aggregation of several emerging technologies: software-defined networking (SDN), fog computing, containerization and sensor virtualization. This thesis proposes, designs, implements and evaluates a new solution based on the emergent paradigm of SDN to efficiently manage virtualized resources located at the network edge in scenarios involving embedded sensor devices. The sensor virtualization through the containers provides agility, flexibility and abstraction for the data processing, being possible to summarize the huge amount of data produced by sensor devices. The proposed architecture uses a software-defined system, managed by a Ryu SDN controller, and a websocket broker written from scratch that analyses the messages sent to the controller and activates containers when required. Performance and functional tests were performed to assess the time required from activating the sensor containers to being able to communicate with them. The results were obtained by sending four ICMP packets. The best time response results were obtained by the proactive controller behavior mode, when compared to the hybrid and reactive modes. This thesis contributed to fill the gaps in the area of IoT or sensor networks, concerning the design and implementation of an architecture that performed on-demand activation of offline IoT fog computing resources by using an SDN controller and sensor virtualization through containers.O rápido crescimento de dispositivos embebidos conectados à Internet gera novos desafios para a arquitetura de rede tradicional, tais como escalabilidade, diversidade e complexidade. Para resolver estes desafios, esta tese sugere a agregação de diversas tecnologias emergentes: rede definida por software (SDN), contentores, computação na periferia e virtualização de sensores. Esta tese propõe, projeta, implementa e avalia uma nova solução baseada no paradigma emergente do SDN para gerir, de forma eficiente, recursos virtualizados que se localizam na periferia da rede, em cenários com sensores embebidos. A virtualização de sensores, através do uso de contentores, fornece agilidade, flexibilidade e abstração para processamento de dados, sendo possível a sumarização do grande volume de dados produzido pelos sensores. A arquitetura proposta usa um sistema definido por software, gerido por um controlador SDN Ryu, e um websocket broker escrito desde o zero, que analisa as mensagens enviadas ao controlador e ativa contentores quando necessário. Foram realizados testes funcionais e de desempenho de forma a ser possível avaliar o tempo necessário desde a ativação de um contentor de sensores até ser possível a comunicação com este. Os resultados foram obtidos através do envio de quatro pacotes ICMP. O melhor resultado foi obtido pelo modo de comportamento proativo do controlador, quando comparado aos modos híbrido e reativo. Esta tese contribuiu para preencher as lacunas na área de IoT ou redes de sensores, no que diz respeito ao desenho e implementação de uma arquitetura que executa a ativação sob pedido de recursos computacionais e periféricos de IoT quando estes se encontram desligados, através do uso de um controlador SDN e virtualização de sensores através de contentores

CDLB: A Cross-Domain Load Balancing Mechanism for Software Defined Networks in Cloud Data Center

Currently, cross-domain load balancing is one of the core issues for software defined networks (SDN) in cloud data centre, which can optimise resource allocation. In this paper, we propose a cross-domain load balancing mechanism, CDLB, based on Extensive Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) for SDN in cloud data centre. Different from poll method, XMPP based push model is introduced in the proposed scheme, which can avoid wasting network and computing resources in large-scale distributed network environment. The proposed scheme enables all the controllers in the flat distributed control plane to share the same consistent global-view network information in real time through XMPP and XMPP publish/subscribe extension. Thus, the problem of non-real time information synchronisation can be resolved and cross-domain load balancing can be realised. The simulations show the efficiency of the proposed scheme

Reengineering and development of IoT Systems for Home Automation

BEng Thesis, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto.With the increasing adoption of technology in today’s houses, electricity is at an all-time high demand. In fact, given the plethora of vital electricity-powered appliances used every day, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and so forth, it has been proven difficult to even handle all devices’ electric consumption. To reduce consumption costs and turn it into a more manageable process, the concept of flex-offers was created. A flex-offer is built around scheduling energy usage in conjunction with the prices of electricity, as provided by an energy market. More specifically, a flex-offer is an energy consumption offer containing the user’s energy consumption flexibility, which is sent to an entity called the Aggregator, who aggregates together flex-offers from multiple parties, bargains with the energy market, and responds to each flex-offer with a schedule that meets the lowest prices for consumption, while still satisfying the users’ needs. By using flex-offers on a house’s equipment, the idea of FlexHousing was born. The aspired goal of the CISTER Research Center’s FlexHousing project is to deliver a platform where users can register their smart appliances, regardless of its brand and distributor, set up preferences for the devices’ usage, and let the system manage the energy consumption and device activation schedules based on the energy market prices. A previous project had already built a prototype of the FlexHousing system. Nevertheless, the original platform had many limitations and lacked maturity from a software engineering point of view, and the goal of this internship is to apply a reengineering process on the FlexHousing project, while also adding new features to it. Thus, the project’s domain model, its database, and class structures were altered to satisfy the new requirements. Furthermore, its web platform was rebuilt from the ground up. Also, a new interface was developed to facilitate support for devices of different brands. As a proof of concept for the benefits provided by this new interface, a connection with a new device (Sonoff Pow) was also established. Moreover, a new functionality was developed to identify a device’s type of appliance based on its energy consumption, in other words, to specify if a device is, for instance, a refrigerator or not. Finally, another new feature was added in which, based on a device’s type and its energy consumption pattern, the flex-offer creation is automated, minimizing user input. As planned, the FlexHousing platform now supports multiple types of devices, and has a software interface to support more types in the future with minimal effort. The flex-offer creation process has been simplified and is now partially automated. Finally, the web platform’s UI has been updated, becoming more intuitive and appealing to the user.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Creation of a pilot for the FlexOffer concept

The revolution in the energy market and the end user need to control the things he has around him lead to the creation of a new concept: flexoffers. The flexoffer is built around scheduling energy usage with the prices of the energy market. The flexoffer is comprised of the pattern of usage and a window of when the pattern can begin. Those parameters are exposed to the energy markets using an Aggregator, entity responsible for gathering all the flexoffers in a region. The market will reply to the flexoffer proposition with the best time for the consumption of that energy, which in this case is when the prices are the lowest. This project revolves around the implementation of a pilot capable of applying that concept to a real life situation. Thus FlexHousing was created. It allows for the control of the energy usage of the appliances in a home or building. Such is possible by the integration of external technologies. Virtual Power Solutions, a national energy solutions company developed a product called Cloogy. The Cloogy is a gateway installed in one’s house and is capable of communicating with smart device provided by VPS. In this case, smart plugs were deployed. These smart plugs are placed between the appliance and the electrical outlet. From there the plug is able to control the flow of electricity towards the appliance. Sensors are also installed in these plugs, capable of collecting data regarding the energy usage amongst other metrics. In order to operate the plugs, VPS also provided us with an external API, capable of receiving request and forwarding those request back to the plugs. FlexHousing is comprised of 2 modules: the FlexHousing middleware and the FlexHousing FrontEnd. The middleware acts as a hub for every operation in the FlexHousing environment. It bridges the various system in play, the flexoffer services and the VPS services. FlexHousing allows for the creation of rooms and the attachment of devices equipped with VPS technology. The user is then able to perform a variety of operations, such as, applying flexoffers, remotely controlling the appliances and collect data from the sensors in the VPS devices. For the interaction with the user, FlexHousing FrontEnd was developed. It provides a user-friendly graphical interface for the user to setup and control FlexHousing middleware. The interface revolves around the rooms and the devices. The user is able to check the flexoffers he has applied and the schedules the flexoffers services sent back. If the user wants, he can deploy the VPS smart plugs to non flexoffer complaint devices, such as lamps, television and computer. Using the FrontEnd, he is also capable of using them.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sistema de Telemetría basado en redes WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) para el Internet de las Cosas (IoT)

Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e Comunicación en Redes Móbiles. 553V01[Abstract] The Internet of Things (IoT) involves a wide variety of heterogeneous technologies and resource-constrained devices that interact with each other. Due to such constraints, IoT devices usually require lightweight protocols that optimize the use of resources and energy consumption. Among the di erent commercial IoT devices, Bluetooth and BLE based beacons, which broadcast periodically certain data packets to notify their presence, have experienced a remarkable growth, specially due to their application in indoor positioning systems. As a solution to this problem, this thesis contributes with a general architecture of telemetry, di erent scenarios to access the cloud computing, guidelines for the selection of components in the di erent domains of an IoT-based architecture and examples of implementation of a WSN through a testbed based on the use of smart sensors with Bluetooth Low Energy. In the example shown, an IoT gateway is developed on an Android smartphone. This gateway integrates an MQTT client and has the necessary functionalities to pack the data from the sensors and send them to the MQTT broker residing in a cloud computing. There is also a friendly interface available for a local user to monitor and control the WSN created. Some experiments were carried out to demonstrate the functionality, speed and stability of the proposed gateway, to be used in this and other application domains. This thesis proposes a family of protocols named LP4S that provides fast responses and enables plug-and-play mechanisms that allow IoT telemetry systems to discover new nodes and to describe and auto-register the sensors and actuators connected to a beacon. Thus, three protocols are de ned depending on the beacon hardware characteristics: LP4S-6 (for resource-constraint beacons), LP4S-X (for more powerful beacons) and LP4S-J (for beacons able to run complex rmware). In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the designed protocols, the most restrictive (LP4S-6) is tested after implementing it for a telemetry application in a beacon based on Eddystone (Google's open beacon format). Thus, the beacon speci cation is extended in order to increase its ability to manage unlimited sensors in a telemetry system without interfering in its normal operation with Eddystone frames. The performed experiments show the feasibility of the proposed solution and its superiority, in terms of latency and energy consumption, with respect to approaches based on Generic Attribute Pro le (GATT) when multiple users connect to a mote or in scenarios where latency is not a restriction, but where low-energy consumption is essential. This thesis also presents a Virtual Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (VTEDS) based framework for the development of intelligent sensor nodes with plug-and-play capabilities in order to contribute to the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) towards the Web of Things (WoT). It makes use of new lightweight protocols that allow the sensors to self-describe, auto-calibrate and auto-register. Such protocols enable the development of novel IoT solutions while guaranteeing low latency, low power consumption and the required QoS. In order to evaluate the performance of the system, it was tested when using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ethernet-based smart sensors in di erent scenarios. Speci cally, user experience was quanti ed empirically (i.e., how fast the system show collected data to a user). The obtained results show that the proposed VTED architecture is really fast, being some smart sensors (located in Europe) able to self-register and self-con gure in a remote cloud (in South America) in less than 3 s and to display data to remote users in less than 2 s. Finally, technological trends for the development of intelligent sensors in the eld of the current Internet of things are shown, based on communication technologies and protocols, hardware, multi-protocol and multi-network devices, operating systems, on-line development environments and programming languages of the rmware of said sensor nodes. All the scienti c contributions of this thesis are re ected in the design of a precision agriculture project, to control the irrigation of a banana plantation in an automated way. The aforementioned project is still in execution, although progress in its implementation is shown in the last chapter.[Resumen] El Internet de las cosas (IoT) involucra una amplia variedad de tecnologías heterogéneas y dispositivos con recursos limitados que interactúan entre sÍ. Debido a tales restricciones, los dispositivos de IoT generalmente requieren protocolos livianos que optimicen el uso de los recursos y el consumo de energía. Entre los diferentes dispositivos comerciales de IoT, los beacons basados en Bluetooth y BLE, que transmiten periódicamente ciertos paquetes de datos para notificar su presencia, han experimentado un notable crecimiento, especialmente debido a su aplicación en sistemas de posicionamiento en interiores. Como solución a esta problemática esta tesis aporta con una arquitectura general de telemetría, diferentes escenarios para acceder a la cloud computing, guías de selección de componentes en los diferentes dominios de una arquitectura basada en IoT y ejemplos de implementación de una WSN a través de un testbed basado en el uso de sensores inteligentes con Bluetooth Low Energy. En el ejemplo mostrado se desarrolla un gateway IoT sobre un teléfono inteligente Android. Este gateway integra un cliente MQTT y dispone de las funcionalidades necesarias para empaquetar los datos de los sensores y enviarlos hacia el broker MQTT residente en una cloud computing. También se dispone de una interfaz amigable para que un usuario local pueda monitorear y controlar la WSN creada. Algunas experimentos fueron llevados a cabo paJ'a demostrar la funcionalidad, rapidez y estabilidad del gateway propuesto, para ser usado en este y otros dominios de aplicación. Corno parte de las soluciones planteadas en esta tesis, se propone una familia de protocolos denominada Lightweight Protocol for Sensors (LP4S) que proporciona respuestas rápidas y habilita los mecanismos plug-and-play que permiten a los sistemas de telemetría IoT descubrir nuevos nodos y describir y registrar automáticamente los sensores y actuadores conectados a un beacon. Por lo tanto, se definen tres protocolos dependiendo de las características de hardware del beacon: LP4S-6 (para beacons de recursos restringidos), LP4S-X (para beacons más potentes) y LP4S-J (para beacons capaces de ejecutar firmware complejo). Para demostrar las capacidades de los protocolos diseñados, el más restrictivo (LP4S-6) se prueba después de implementarlo para una aplicación de telemetría en un beacon basado en Eddystone (formato de beacon abierto de Google). Por lo tanto, la especificación del beacon se amplía para aumentar su capacidad de administrar sensores ilimitados en un sistema de telemetría sin interferir en su funcionamiento normal con las tramas Eddystone. Los experimentos realizados muestran la viabilidad de la solución propuesta y su superioridad, en términos de latencia y consumo de energía, con respecto a los enfoques basados en el perfil genérico de atributos (GATT) cuando múltiples usuarios se conectan a un sensor inteligente o en escenarios donde la latencia no es una restricción, pero el bajo consumo de energía es esencial. Se presenta además un framework basado en TEDS virtuales (VTEDS) para el desarrollo de nodos de sensores inteligentes con capacidades plug-and-play para contribuir a la evolución del Internet de las Cosas (IoT) hacia la Web de las Cosas (WoT). En el sistema propuesto se utilizan los protocolos livianos, que hemos desarrollado, para que los sensores se auto-describan, auto-calibren Y se auto-registren automáticamente. Dichos protocolos permiten el desarrollo de nuevas soluciones de IoT al tiempo que garantizan baja latencia, bajo consumo de energía y la QoS requerida. Para evaluar el rendimiento del sistema, se usaron sensores Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Y basados en Ethernet en diferentes escenarios. Específicamente, la experiencia del usuario se cuantificó empíricamente (es decir, qué tan rápido el sistema muestra los datos recopilados a un usuario). Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la arquitectura VTED propuesta es realmente rápida, ya que algunos sensores inteligentes (ubicados en Europa) pueden auto-registrarse Y auto-configurarse en una cloud remota (en América del Sur) en menos de 3s y mostrar datos de los sensores a usuarios remotos en menos de 2s. Finalmente, se muestran las tendencias tecnológicas para el desarrollo de sensores inteligentes en el ámbito del Internet de las cosas actual, en función de las tecnologías Y protocolos de comunicación, hardware, dispositivos multi-protocolos, sistemas operativos, ambientes de desarrollo on-line y lenguajes de programación del firmware de dichos nodos sensores. Todos los aportes científicos de esta tesis son reflejadas en el diseño de un proyecto de agricultura de precisión, para controlar el riego de una plantación de banano de forma automatizada. El proyecto citado aún se encuentra en ejecución, no obstante los avances de implementación del mismo son mostrados en el último capítulo.[Resumo] A Internet das Cousas (IoT) implica unha ampla variedade de tecnoloxÍas e dispositivos con recursos limitados interactúan heteroxéneos. Debido a estas condicións, os dispositivos de Internet das cousas en xeral, esixen protocolos leves que optimizan o uso de recursos e consumo de enerxía. Entre os moitos dispositivos comerciais IDC, balizas baseado Bluetooth e ble, que transmiten periodicamente determinados paquetes de datos para notificar a súa presenza, presentan un crecemento significativo, sobre todo debido á súa aplicación en sistemas de posicionamento internos. Como solución a este problema desta tese ofrece un xeneral arquitectura telemetría escenarios diferentes para acceder a computación en nube, orienta a selección de compoñentes nos diferentes ámbitos de unha economía baseada en Internet das cousas e exemplos de posta en marcha dunha WSN través da arquitectura cun testbed baseado no uso de sensores intelixentes con Bluetooth Low Energy. No exemplo que se mostra, unha pasarela IoT está desenvolvida nun teléfono intelixente con Android. Este portal integra un cliente e ten MQTT necesario para embalaxe os datos dos sensores e envialos para o corrector MQTT residente en capacidades de computación en nube. Hai tamén unha interface amigable dispoñible para que un usuario local monitor e controle o WSN creado. Algunhas experiencias foron realizadas para demostrar a funcionalidade, a velocidade ea estabilidade do porto de conexión proposto, para uso nesta e out ros dominios de aplicación. Como parte das solucións propostas nesta tese, unha familia de protocolos chamados LP4S dando respostas rápidas proposta e permitir mecanismos de plug-and-play que permiten sistemas IDC telemetría descubrir novos nós e describir e automaticamente gravar os· sensores e actuadores conectados a un faro. LP4S-6 (por balizas recursoconstrangidos), LP4S-X (por balizas máis fortes) e LP4S-J (por balizas capaces de execución do firmware complexo): Por conseguinte, tres protocolos, dependendo das . características de hardware baliza definida. Para demostrar as capacidades de protocolos deseñados, as máis restritivas (LP4S-6) é probada tras a posta en marcha dunha solicitude de Eddystone baseada telemetría (formato aberto faro de Google) Beacon. Polo tanto, o faro especificación expande para aumentar a súa capacidade de xestionar cadros Eddystone. As experiencias mostran a viabilidade da solución proposta ea súa superioridade en canto a consumo de latencia e de potencia en comparación coas propostas baseadas no perfil de atributo xenérico (GATT) cando varios usuarios conectarse a un sensor intelixente ou escenarios onde a latencia non é unha restrición, pero onde o consumo de enerxía é esencial. baseado Teds virtuais (VTEDS) para o desenvolvemento de nós sensores intelixentes con plug-and-play para contribuír á evolución de Internet das Cousas (Internet das cousas) á Web of Things (WOT) cadro tamén se mostra. Nos protocolos leves sistema proposto, realizamos son usados para que os sensores son propio descrición, auto-calibración e auto-rexistrar automaticamente. Estes protocolos permiten o desenvolvemento de novas solucións IOT asegurando ao mesmo tempo baixa latencia, baixo consumo de enerxía ea QoS requiridos. Para avaliar o rendemento do sistema, eles sensores Bluetooth Low Energy (ble) foron utilizados e Ethernet en base a diferentes escenarios. En concreto, a experiencia do usuario é empiricamente cuantificados (é dicir, o quao rápido o sistema exhibe os datos recollidos a un usuario). Os resultados mostran que a arquitectura VTED proposta é moi rápido, porque algúns sensores intelixentes (situadas en Europa) poden auto-rexistro e auto-configurado nunha nube remota (en América do Sur) en menos de 3s e dos datos de visualización sensores para usuarios remotos en menos de 2 s. Por último, as tendencias da tecnoloxía para o desenvolvemento de sensores intelixentes no campo de Internet das cousas reais, dependendo das tecnoloxías e protocolos de comunicación, hardware, dispositivos multi-protocolo, sistemas operativos, ambientes de desenvolvemento en liña mostra e linguaxes de programación do firmware dos devanditos nodos de sensores. Todas as contribucións científicas desta tese son reftectidas no deseño dun proxecto de agricultura de precisión, para controlar o risco dunha plantación de bananas automatizado. O devandito proxecto aínda está en execución, a pesar dos progresos da súa execución móstranse no último capítulo