Self-Sustaining Caching Stations: Towards Cost-Effective 5G-Enabled Vehicular Networks

In this article, we investigate the cost-effective 5G-enabled vehicular networks to support emerging vehicular applications, such as autonomous driving, in-car infotainment and location-based road services. To this end, self-sustaining caching stations (SCSs) are introduced to liberate on-road base stations from the constraints of power lines and wired backhauls. Specifically, the cache-enabled SCSs are powered by renewable energy and connected to core networks through wireless backhauls, which can realize "drop-and-play" deployment, green operation, and low-latency services. With SCSs integrated, a 5G-enabled heterogeneous vehicular networking architecture is further proposed, where SCSs are deployed along roadside for traffic offloading while conventional macro base stations (MBSs) provide ubiquitous coverage to vehicles. In addition, a hierarchical network management framework is designed to deal with high dynamics in vehicular traffic and renewable energy, where content caching, energy management and traffic steering are jointly investigated to optimize the service capability of SCSs with balanced power demand and supply in different time scales. Case studies are provided to illustrate SCS deployment and operation designs, and some open research issues are also discussed.Comment: IEEE Communications Magazine, to appea

Unlocking Solar Power For Surveillance A Review Of Solar Powered CCTV And Surveillance Technologies

Solar-powered surveillance technologies have gained prominence for their sustainable, autonomous, and versatile solutions. This comprehensive review explores three key solar-powered surveillance technologies: solar-powered CCTV cameras, solar drones, and solar-powered sensor networks. Each technology offers distinct strengths and weaknesses, making them suitable for various applications. Solar-powered CCTV cameras provide adaptability, energy independence, and rapid deployment, while solar drones offer an aerial perspective, extended endurance, and versatility. Solar-powered sensor networks excel in localized environmental monitoring. The choice of technology depends on factors such as the surveillance environment, budget constraints, required surveillance range, and specific monitoring needs. Organizations can benefit from hybrid solutions that integrate multiple technologies for comprehensive coverage. Future trends include advanced energy storage solutions, AI integration, enhanced power efficiency, and cloud-based data analytics, promising to improve performance and sustainability. Public-private collaborations and sustainable urban planning initiatives will drive further adoption and integration. Solar-powered surveillance technologies empower effective and environmentally sustainable surveillance solutions, contributing to a safer and more sustainable future

A critical analysis of research potential, challenges and future directives in industrial wireless sensor networks

In recent years, Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs) have emerged as an important research theme with applications spanning a wide range of industries including automation, monitoring, process control, feedback systems and automotive. Wide scope of IWSNs applications ranging from small production units, large oil and gas industries to nuclear fission control, enables a fast-paced research in this field. Though IWSNs offer advantages of low cost, flexibility, scalability, self-healing, easy deployment and reformation, yet they pose certain limitations on available potential and introduce challenges on multiple fronts due to their susceptibility to highly complex and uncertain industrial environments. In this paper a detailed discussion on design objectives, challenges and solutions, for IWSNs, are presented. A careful evaluation of industrial systems, deadlines and possible hazards in industrial atmosphere are discussed. The paper also presents a thorough review of the existing standards and industrial protocols and gives a critical evaluation of potential of these standards and protocols along with a detailed discussion on available hardware platforms, specific industrial energy harvesting techniques and their capabilities. The paper lists main service providers for IWSNs solutions and gives insight of future trends and research gaps in the field of IWSNs