Toward a programmable software-defined IoT architecture for sensor service provision on demand

© 2017 IEEE. In the age of Internet of Things (IoT), sensors form a foundational component of IoT services, yet they are rigid with little capability for programmable configuration or reusability as they are application-specific, manufacturer-specific. Emerging IoT applications often deploy a vast number of sensors which may serve multiple applications. Programmability is thus essential but not found in legacy or current generation sensors. It is challenging to effectively utilize heterogeneity of resources to handle a large number of application demands. Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) have proved effective paradigms for provisioning services on-demand and managing network functions and their life cycles. This paper proposes a software defined IoT architecture that captures the spirit of SDN and NFV where a software-defined Internet of Things (SD-IoT) controller can provide services as requested by an application and also manage heterogeneous physical sensors through their virtual representation called software-defined virtual sensor (SD-VSensor) autonomously. In particular, the paper presents the design of a streamline SD-IoT controller, a lightweight and reconfigurable SD-VSensor, and the communication protocol (S-MANAGE) between them. The proposed architecture enables heterogeneous application-specific WSN systems to be recognized and effectively utilized by diverse IoT applications under the orchestration of the SD-IoT controller. Moreover, heterogeneity of sensor nodes or IoT devices can be programmed to achieve sensor services on demand. The preliminary implementation results demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture

Algorithms for advance bandwidth reservation in media production networks

Media production generally requires many geographically distributed actors (e.g., production houses, broadcasters, advertisers) to exchange huge amounts of raw video and audio data. Traditional distribution techniques, such as dedicated point-to-point optical links, are highly inefficient in terms of installation time and cost. To improve efficiency, shared media production networks that connect all involved actors over a large geographical area, are currently being deployed. The traffic in such networks is often predictable, as the timing and bandwidth requirements of data transfers are generally known hours or even days in advance. As such, the use of advance bandwidth reservation (AR) can greatly increase resource utilization and cost efficiency. In this paper, we propose an Integer Linear Programming formulation of the bandwidth scheduling problem, which takes into account the specific characteristics of media production networks, is presented. Two novel optimization algorithms based on this model are thoroughly evaluated and compared by means of in-depth simulation results

Middleware Technologies for Cloud of Things - a survey

The next wave of communication and applications rely on the new services provided by Internet of Things which is becoming an important aspect in human and machines future. The IoT services are a key solution for providing smart environments in homes, buildings and cities. In the era of a massive number of connected things and objects with a high grow rate, several challenges have been raised such as management, aggregation and storage for big produced data. In order to tackle some of these issues, cloud computing emerged to IoT as Cloud of Things (CoT) which provides virtually unlimited cloud services to enhance the large scale IoT platforms. There are several factors to be considered in design and implementation of a CoT platform. One of the most important and challenging problems is the heterogeneity of different objects. This problem can be addressed by deploying suitable "Middleware". Middleware sits between things and applications that make a reliable platform for communication among things with different interfaces, operating systems, and architectures. The main aim of this paper is to study the middleware technologies for CoT. Toward this end, we first present the main features and characteristics of middlewares. Next we study different architecture styles and service domains. Then we presents several middlewares that are suitable for CoT based platforms and lastly a list of current challenges and issues in design of CoT based middlewares is discussed.Comment: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352864817301268, Digital Communications and Networks, Elsevier (2017

Middleware Technologies for Cloud of Things - a survey

The next wave of communication and applications rely on the new services provided by Internet of Things which is becoming an important aspect in human and machines future. The IoT services are a key solution for providing smart environments in homes, buildings and cities. In the era of a massive number of connected things and objects with a high grow rate, several challenges have been raised such as management, aggregation and storage for big produced data. In order to tackle some of these issues, cloud computing emerged to IoT as Cloud of Things (CoT) which provides virtually unlimited cloud services to enhance the large scale IoT platforms. There are several factors to be considered in design and implementation of a CoT platform. One of the most important and challenging problems is the heterogeneity of different objects. This problem can be addressed by deploying suitable "Middleware". Middleware sits between things and applications that make a reliable platform for communication among things with different interfaces, operating systems, and architectures. The main aim of this paper is to study the middleware technologies for CoT. Toward this end, we first present the main features and characteristics of middlewares. Next we study different architecture styles and service domains. Then we presents several middlewares that are suitable for CoT based platforms and lastly a list of current challenges and issues in design of CoT based middlewares is discussed.Comment: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352864817301268, Digital Communications and Networks, Elsevier (2017

A Large-Scale Software-Defined Internet of Things Platform for Provisioning IoT Services on Demand

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.Internet of Things (IoT) has developed into an interconnected platform infrastructure for providing essential services ranging from personal health care, smart homes and cities to the manufacturing industry. Relying on such an infrastructure, a multitude of emerging IoT services will no doubt be developed for not only local regions but also multiple separated regions spreading over a wide geographical area. However, existing IoT systems are mostly rigid and cannot be easily adapted or programmed to accommodate new services. The challenge is also in orchestrating a large number of sensors/IoT devices, many with limited capability, into intelligent, useful, and on-demand services. Many efforts have been made to address the issue, but very little has been attempted to consider an overall solution to a programmable IoT ecosystem that includes IoT service provision components, IoT devices, and transporting infrastructure. Moreover, there is no framework/platform that allows an end-to-end control, management, and orchestration of IoT resources in accordance with IoT demands. We apply the benefits of the two promising technologies including software-defined networking and network function virtualization in provisioning IoT services on demand over a wide region, and overcome challenges in applying the technologies to constrained IoT devices/systems. We propose a large-scale software-defined IoT (LSSD-IoT) model and develop the LSSD-IoT platform. The model provides two levels of management and orchestration at the cluster and device level. At the cluster level, we develop a software-defined Internet of Things Cluster (SD-IoTC) controller that is capable of controlling and managing both IoT clusters and network infrastructure that accommodates the IoT systems. At the device level, each IoT cluster under the control and management of the SD-IoTC controller needs to be programmable and manageable for provisioning IoT services on demand. For that purpose, we propose a software-defined Internet of Things (SD-IoT) model (local platform) with three novel components, including the IoT device-constrained controller, the S-MANAGE protocol, and the software-defined virtual sensor. The novelty of this research lies in the novel approach to programmable and re-usable devices in the provision of IoT services on demand over a wide area. It enables i) IoT service providers to control end-to-end quality of services of IoT services provision over a large-scale IoT environment; ii) owners of IoT systems to be able to gain benefits from sharing their IoT resources; iii) IoT application developers to develop innovative and comprehensive IoT applications on demand with more options regarding QoS, security, mobility, or billing

Software Defined Networks based Smart Grid Communication: A Comprehensive Survey

The current power grid is no longer a feasible solution due to ever-increasing user demand of electricity, old infrastructure, and reliability issues and thus require transformation to a better grid a.k.a., smart grid (SG). The key features that distinguish SG from the conventional electrical power grid are its capability to perform two-way communication, demand side management, and real time pricing. Despite all these advantages that SG will bring, there are certain issues which are specific to SG communication system. For instance, network management of current SG systems is complex, time consuming, and done manually. Moreover, SG communication (SGC) system is built on different vendor specific devices and protocols. Therefore, the current SG systems are not protocol independent, thus leading to interoperability issue. Software defined network (SDN) has been proposed to monitor and manage the communication networks globally. This article serves as a comprehensive survey on SDN-based SGC. In this article, we first discuss taxonomy of advantages of SDNbased SGC.We then discuss SDN-based SGC architectures, along with case studies. Our article provides an in-depth discussion on routing schemes for SDN-based SGC. We also provide detailed survey of security and privacy schemes applied to SDN-based SGC. We furthermore present challenges, open issues, and future research directions related to SDN-based SGC.Comment: Accepte

Software defined fog platform

In recent years, the number of end users connected to the internet of things (IoT) has increased, and we have witnessed the emergence of the cloud computing paradigm. These users utilize network resources to meet their quality of service (QoS) requirements, but traditional networks are not configured to backing maximum of scalability, real-time data transfer, and dynamism, resulting in numerous challenges. This research presents a new platform of IoT architecture that adds the benefits of two new technologies: software-defined networking and fog paradigm. Software-defined networking (SDN) refers to a centralized control layer of the network that enables sophisticated methods for traffic control and resource allocation. So, fog paradigm allows for data to be analyzed and managed at the edge of the network, making it suitable for tasks that require low and predictable delay. Thus, this research provides an in-depth view of the platform organize and performance of its base ingredients, as well as the potential uses of the suggested platform in various applications

A conceptual architecture for integrating software defined network and network virtualization with internet of things

Software defined network (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) are new paradigms and technologies of the network which support the best experience of providing functions and services, managing network traffic, and a new way of control. They support virtualization and separating data from control in network devices, as well as provide services in a software-based environment. Internet of things (IoT) is a heterogeneous network with a massive number of connected devices and objects. IoT should be integrated with such technologies for the purpose of providing the capabilities of dynamic reconfiguration with a high level of integration. This paper proposes a conceptual architecture for integrating software defined network (SDN) and NFV with IoT. The proposed work combines the three technologies together in one architecture. It also presents the previous works in this area and takes a look at the theoretical background of those technologies in order to give a complete view of proposed work