LoRaWAN Network for Fire Monitoring in Rural Environments

The number of forest fires that occurred in recent years in different parts of the world is causing increased concern in the population, as the consequences of these fires expand beyond the destruction of the ecosystem. However, with the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) industry, solutions for early fire detection should be developed. The assessment of the fire risk of an area and the communication of this fact to the population could reduce the number of fires originated by accident or due to the carelessness of the users. This paper presents a low-cost network based on Long Range (LoRa) technology to autonomously evaluate the level of fire risk and the presence of a forest fire in rural areas. The system is comprised of several LoRa nodes with sensors to measure the temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and CO2 of the environment. The data from the nodes is stored and processed in a The Things Network (TTN) server that sends the data to a website for the graphic visualization of the collected data. The system is tested in a real environment and, the results show that it is possible to cover a circular area of a radius of 4 km with a single gateway.This work was partially supported by the “Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades” through the “Ayudas para la adquisición de equipamiento científico-técnico, Subprograma estatal de infraestructuras de investigación y equipamiento científico-técnico (plan Estatal I+D+i 2017-2020)” (project EQC2018-004988-P), by Universidad de Granada through the “Programa de Proyectos de Investigación Precompetitivos para Jóvenes Investigadores. Modalidad A jóvenes Doctores” of “Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia 2019” (PPJIA2019.10), by the Campus de Excelencia Internacional Global del Mar (CEI·Mar) through the “Ayudas Proyectos Jóvenes Investigadores CEI·Mar 2019”, (Project CEIJ-020), by the European Union through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond) (Project ERANETMED3-227 SMARTWATIR)

Alternative Network Deployments: Taxonomy, Characterization, Technologies, and Architectures

This document presents a taxonomy of a set of "Alternative Network Deployments" that emerged in the last decade with the aim of bringing Internet connectivity to people or providing a local communication infrastructure to serve various complementary needs and objectives. They employ architectures and topologies different from those of mainstream networks and rely on alternative governance and business models. The document also surveys the technologies deployed in these networks, and their differing architectural characteristics, including a set of definitions and shared properties. The classification considers models such as Community Networks, Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), networks owned by individuals but leased out to network operators who use them as a low-cost medium to reach the underserved population, networks that provide connectivity by sharing wireless resources of the users, and rural utility cooperatives

Economically sustainable public security and emergency network exploiting a broadband communications satellite

The research contributes to work in Rapid Deployment of a National Public Security and Emergency Communications Network using Communication Satellite Broadband. Although studies in Public Security Communication networks have examined the use of communications satellite as an integral part of the Communication Infrastructure, there has not been an in-depth design analysis of an optimized regional broadband-based communication satellite in relation to the envisaged service coverage area, with little or no terrestrial last-mile telecommunications infrastructure for delivery of satellite solutions, applications and services. As such, the research provides a case study of a Nigerian Public Safety Security Communications Pilot project deployed in regions of the African continent with inadequate terrestrial last mile infrastructure and thus requiring a robust regional Communications Satellite complemented with variants of terrestrial wireless technologies to bridge the digital hiatus as a short and medium term measure apart from other strategic needs. The research not only addresses the pivotal role of a secured integrated communications Public safety network for security agencies and emergency service organizations with its potential to foster efficient information symmetry amongst their operations including during emergency and crisis management in a timely manner but demonstrates a working model of how analogue spectrum meant for Push-to-Talk (PTT) services can be re-farmed and digitalized as a “dedicated” broadband-based public communications system. The network’s sustainability can be secured by using excess capacity for the strategic commercial telecommunication needs of the state and its citizens. Utilization of scarce spectrum has been deployed for Nigeria’s Cashless policy pilot project for financial and digital inclusion. This effectively drives the universal access goals, without exclusivity, in a continent, which still remains the least wired in the world

Investigating wireless network deployment configurations for marginalized areas

In recent years, immense effort has been channelled towards the Information and Technological development of rural areas. To support this development, telecommunication networks have been deployed. The availability of these telecommunication networks is expected to improve the way people share ideas and communicate locally and globally, reducing limiting factors like distance through the use of the Internet. The major problem for these networks is that very few of them have managed to stay in operation over long periods of time. One of the major causes of this failure is the lack of proper monitoring and management as, in some cases, administrators are located far away from the network site. Other factors that contribute to the frequent failure of these networks are lack of proper infrastructure, lack of a constant power supply and other environmental issues. A telecommunication network was deployed for the people of Dwesa by the Siyakhula Living Lab project. During this research project, frequent visits were made to the site and network users were informally interviewed in order to gain insight into the network challenges. Based on the challenges, different network monitoring systems and other solutions were deployed on the network. This thesis analyses the problems encountered and presents possible and affordable solutions that were implemented on the network. This was done to improve the network‟s reliability, availability and manageability whilst exploring possible and practical ways in which the connectivity of the deployed telecommunication network can be maintained. As part of these solutions, a GPRS redundant link, Nagios and Cacti monitoring systems as well as Simple backup systems were deployed. v Acronyms AC Access Concentrators AMANDA Automatic Marylyn Network Disk Archiver CDMA Code Divison Multiple Access CGI Common Gateway Interface

Rural internet connectivity: a development in Dwesa-Cwebe, Eastern Cape, South Africa

This thesis presents aspects of Internet connectivity in rural South Africa. The work looks at government initiatives being undertaken to connect rural communities to up-to-date information networks. Various projects that seek to connect rural areas of South Africa, as well as other remote areas around the world, are discussed. These projects present many novel ideas that have been successfully used to link rural communities in remote areas with the information age. In particular, wired and wireless access technologies that can be implemented to connect remote communities to the Internet are discussed. A field test utilizing GPRS, VSAT and WiMAX was implemented in Dwesa-Cwebe, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. VSAT proved to offer better Internet connectivity in terms of throughput and latency. WiMAX was then successfully implemented to relay the signal over the remote area of Dwesa-Cwebe, thus effectively providing Internet connectivity to an area with limited cell phone coverage and no telephone lines

Design and implementation of peer-to-peer energy trading system using internet of things and blockchain

With advancements in renewable energy technologies, consumers are becoming prosumers, and renewable energy resources are being used in distributed networks. In an isolated distributed system, peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is one of the most promising energy management solutions. In this research, we propose a P2P energy trading method for micro-grids using open resources and technology. A DC-micro-grid has been designed for a remote site in Pakistan. This site is in the northern part of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, within the lower area of the Himalayan Mountain range. Several of the modern amenities, including road access, are lacking in this area. For this remote site, an open-source and low-cost P2P energy trading system is designed and implemented. A photovoltaic (PV) system is also designed using HOMER Pro. The microgrid design is composed of PV panels and battery banks, designed after considering the load profile of each house. The proposed P2P energy trading platforms mainly comprise an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server to transfer the energy amongst the peers without human intervention. An Ethereum based private blockchain is suggested for money transfer in the form of cryptocurrency. The IoT server enables the peers to control and monitor self-produced energy, while Ethereum based private blockchain facilitates the financial transactions associated with the energy transfer. The proposed open-source P2P energy trading platform facilitates energy trading amongst the peers and provides real time data acquisition, monitoring, and control of self-generated energy at a remote location. This research involves the use of four different techniques in order to establish a P2P energy trading architecture, as well as a microgrid design with low-cost, low-power components and open-source technology for a remote community. The first technique to set up the P2P energy trading platform involves the following key components, Arduino UNO, ACS 712 hall-effect current sensor and a relay. The current sensor data is sent in real-time to Arduino for onward communication to the IoT server. A user-friendly interface is developed on the server to perform various energy trading tasks. Peers have the choice to access the server remotely to perform energy trading tasks. Energy trading events can be shared amongst peers through e-mail notifications. For financial transactions, we utilized Ganache graphical user interface (GUI), a private Ethereum blockchain that eliminates the need for financial institutions. The proposed P2P energy trading model has been successfully tested for energy trading between two peers. The details of the proposed hardware and software setup explain how low-cost P2P energy trading can be achieved. In the second technique, the trading activities are done on a web interface that uses a private Ethereum blockchain. A smart contract is deployed on the Ethereum blockchain and the trading activities performed on the web interface are recorded on a tamper-proof blockchain network. An IoT platform is used to monitor and control self-generated energy. Energy data is collected and processed by means of ESP32-S2 microcontrollers using field instrumentation devices that are connected to the voltage source and load. An open source decentralized P2P energy trading system, designed on the blockchain and IoT architecture is proposed. The hardware setup includes a relay, a current sensor, a voltage sensor, a Wi-Fi router and ESP32-S2 microcontroller. For data transfer the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol is used over a local network. ESP32-S2 is set up as MQTT client and Node-Red IoT server is used as MQTT broker. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http) request method is implemented to connect the Node-Red server with the web interface developed using React.JS library. The third method involves a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (Pi4B), which is used to host the main server of the trading system, including the user interface and the Ethereum blockchain server. The Ethereum blockchain is used to deploy smart contracts and the IoT servers run on ESP32 microcontrollers. Sensors and actuators connected to the ESP32 are field instrumentation devices that facilitate acquiring, monitoring, and transferring energy data in real-time. A blockchain-enabled user interface is developed using the React.JS open-source library, to perform trading activities. As a communication channel, the proposed system uses a Wi-Fi network. For system security, the designed system has restricted authorization. For information security and data integrity, other security measures are also considered, such as login credentials, private keys, firewalls, and secret recovery phrases. To facilitate communication between the server and the client, a Hypertext Transfer Protocol is implemented. As part of the fourth technique, we have implemented a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (Pi4B) as the main server on which the user interface (UI) and local Ethereum blockchain are hosted. Additionally, the blockchain implements the smart contract. Open-source Angular framework is used to develop the UI that facilitates trading activities. This method of P2P energy trading also explores the development of an Internet of Things (IoT) server using the latest ESP32-S3 microcontroller. Data is acquired by field instrumentation devices (FIDs) and transmitted to an IoT server via the microcontroller. An immutable record of all transactions is maintained by the blockchain network. By configuring the system locally, hosted on a private network with restricted access, security is ensured. Additional security measures are also considered for information security and data integrity, including a secret recovery phrase, firewalls, login credentials, and a private key. A Hypertext Transfer Protocol is implemented amongst the servers and clients. Within the scope of this thesis, we present four different methods of P2P energy trading designed for remote communities that involve renewable energy sources. All design details, simulations results, experimental test results are included in the thesis