Mobile Network Data Analytics for Intelligent Transportation Systems

In this dissertation, we explore how the interplay between transportation and mobile networks manifests itself in mobile network billing and signaling data, and we show how to use this data to estimate different transportation supply and demand models. To perform the necessary simulation studies for this dissertation, we present a simula- tion scenario of Luxembourg, which allows the simulation of vehicular Long-Term Evolu- tion (LTE) connectivity with realistic mobility. We first focus on modeling travel time from Cell Dwell Time (CDT), and show – on a synthetic data set– that we can achieve a prediction Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) below 12%. We also encounter proportionality between the square of the mean CDT and the number of handovers in the system, which we confirmed in the aforementioned simulation scenario. This motivated our later studies of traffic state models generated from mobile network data. We also consider mobile network data for supporting synthetic population generation and demand estimation. In a study on Call Detail Records (CDR) data from Senegal, we estimate CDT distributions to allow generating the duration of user activities, and validate them at a large scale against a data set from China. In a different study, we show how mobile network signaling data can be used for initializing the seed Origin- Destination (O-D) matrix in demand estimation schemes, and show that it increases the rate of convergence. Finally, we address the traffic state estimation problem, by showing how handovers can be used as a proxy metric for flows in the underlying urban road network. Using a traffic flow theory model, we show that clusters of mobile network cells behave characteristically, and with this model we reach a MAPE of 11.1% with respect to floating-car data as ground truth. The presented model can be used in regions without traffic counting infrastructure, or complement existing traffic state estimation systems

Multi-Dimensional-Personalization in mobile contexts

During the dot com era the word "personalisation” was a hot buzzword. With the fall of the dot com companies the topic has lost momentum. As the killer application for UMTS or the mobile internet has yet to be identified, the concept of Multi-Dimensional-Personalisation (MDP) could be a candidate. Using this approach, a recommendation of mobile advertisement or marketing (i.e., recommendations or notifications), online content, as well as offline events, can be offered to the user based on their known interests and current location. Instead of having to request or pull this information, the new service concept would proactively provide the information and services – with the consequence that the right information or service could therefore be offered at the right place, at the right time. The growing availability of "Location-based Services“ for mobile phones is a new target for the use of personalisation. "Location-based Services“ are information, for example, about restaurants, hotels or shopping malls with offers which are in close range / short distance to the user. The lack of acceptance for such services in the past is based on the fact that early implementations required the user to pull the information from the service provider. A more promising approach is to actively push information to the user. This information must be from interest to the user and has to reach the user at the right time and at the right place. This raises new requirements on personalisation which will go far beyond present requirements. It will reach out from personalisation based only on the interest of the user. Besides the interest, the enhanced personalisation has to cover the location and movement patterns, the usage and the past, present and future schedule of the user. This new personalisation paradigm has to protect the user’s privacy so that an approach supporting anonymous recommendations through an extended "Chinese Wall“ will be described

Transport 2040 : analysis of technical developments in transport - maritime, air, rail and road

A number of technical and socio-technical factors are driving the development and adoption of automation. The report, Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work, provided an overview of the most important trends forecasted to affect the global transport sector by 2040. This current report provides additional details of that assessment. The research conducted is guided by a transport-technology analytical model that provides a structure for a systematic review across different modes of transport. This report reviews, in particular, the transportation technology through the lens of transport vehicles (e.g. ships, trucks, trains, aircraft) and the technical infrastructure that is needed for the operation of the vehicle (e.g. waterways and harbours, roads, railway tracks and freight terminals, as well as controlled airspace and airports).https://commons.wmu.se/lib_reports/1076/thumbnail.jp

Environmental exposure during travel : A research review and suggestions forward

Daily travel through the urban fabric exposes urban dwellers to a range of environmental conditions that may have an impact on their health and wellbeing. Knowledge about exposures during travel, their associations with travel behavior, and their social and health outcomes are still limited. In our review, we aim to explain how the current environmental exposure research addresses the interactions between human and environmental systems during travel through their spatial, temporal and contextual dimensions. Based on the 104 selected studies, we identify significant recent advances in addressing the spatiotemporal dynamics of exposure during travel. However, the conceptual and methodological framework for understanding the role of multiple environmental exposures in travel environments is still in an early phase, and the health and wellbeing impacts at individual or population level are not well known. Further research with greater geographical balance is needed to fill the gaps in the empirical evidence, and linking environmental exposures during travel with the causal health and wellbeing outcomes. These advancements can enable evidence-based urban and transport planning to take the next step in advancing urban livability.Peer reviewe

Quality of experience in affective pervasive environments

The confluence of miniaturised powerful devices, widespread communication networks and mass remote storage has caused a fundamental shift in the user interaction design paradigm. The distinction between system and user in pervasive environments is evolving into an increasingly integrated loop of interaction, raising a number of opportunities to provide enhanced and personalised experiences. We propose a platform, based on a smart architecture, to address the identified opportunities in pervasive computing. Smart systems aim at acting upon an environment for improving quality of experience: a subjective measure that has been defined as an emotional reaction to products or services. The inclusion of an emotional dimension allows us to measure individual user responses and deliver personalised services with the potential to influence experiences positively. The platform, Cloud2Bubble, leverages pervasive systems to aggregate user and environment data with the goal of addressing personal preferences and supra-functional requirements. This, combined with its societal implications, results in a set of design principles as a concrete fruition of design contractualism. In particular, this thesis describes: - a review of intelligent ubiquitous environments and relevant technologies, including a definition of user experience as a dynamic affective construct; - a specification of main components for personal data aggregation and service personalisation, without compromising privacy, security or usability; - the implementation of a software platform and a methodological procedure for its instantiation; - an evaluation of the developed platform and its benefits for urban mobility and public transport information systems; - a set of design principles for the design of ubiquitous systems, with an impact on individual experience and collective awareness. Cloud2Bubble contributes towards the development of affective intelligent ubiquitous systems with the potential to enhance user experience in pervasive environments. In addition, the platform aims at minimising the risk of user digital exposure while supporting collective action.Open Acces

Road traffic incident management and situational awareness

Rietveld, P. [Promotor]Scholten, H.J. [Promotor]Vlist, M. van der [Copromotor

Passively generated big data for micro-mobility: state-of-the-art and future research directions

The sharp rise in popularity of micro-mobility poses significant challenges in terms of ensuring its safety, addressing its social impacts, mitigating its environmental effects, and designing its systems. Meanwhile, micro-mobility is characterised by its richness in passively generated big data that has considerable potential to address the challenges. Despite an increase in recent literature utilising passively generated micro-mobility data, knowledge and findings are fragmented, limiting the value of the data collected. To fill this gap, this article provides a timely review of how micro-mobility research and practice have exploited passively generated big data and its applications to address major challenges of micro-mobility. Despite its clear advantages in coverage, resolution, and the removal of human errors, passively generated big data needs to be handled with consideration of bias, inaccuracies, and privacy concerns. The paper also highlights areas requiring further research and provides new insights for safe, efficient, sustainable, and equitable micro-mobility

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research