Towards Tactile Internet in Beyond 5G Era: Recent Advances, Current Issues and Future Directions

Tactile Internet (TI) is envisioned to create a paradigm shift from the content-oriented communications to steer/control-based communications by enabling real-time transmission of haptic information (i.e., touch, actuation, motion, vibration, surface texture) over Internet in addition to the conventional audiovisual and data traffics. This emerging TI technology, also considered as the next evolution phase of Internet of Things (IoT), is expected to create numerous opportunities for technology markets in a wide variety of applications ranging from teleoperation systems and Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) to automotive safety and eHealthcare towards addressing the complex problems of human society. However, the realization of TI over wireless media in the upcoming Fifth Generation (5G) and beyond networks creates various non-conventional communication challenges and stringent requirements in terms of ultra-low latency, ultra-high reliability, high data-rate connectivity, resource allocation, multiple access and quality-latency-rate tradeoff. To this end, this paper aims to provide a holistic view on wireless TI along with a thorough review of the existing state-of-the-art, to identify and analyze the involved technical issues, to highlight potential solutions and to propose future research directions. First, starting with the vision of TI and recent advances and a review of related survey/overview articles, we present a generalized framework for wireless TI in the Beyond 5G Era including a TI architecture, the main technical requirements, the key application areas and potential enabling technologies. Subsequently, we provide a comprehensive review of the existing TI works by broadly categorizing them into three main paradigms; namely, haptic communications, wireless AR/VR, and autonomous, intelligent and cooperative mobility systems. Next, potential enabling technologies across physical/Medium Access Control (MAC) and network layers are identified and discussed in detail. Also, security and privacy issues of TI applications are discussed along with some promising enablers. Finally, we present some open research challenges and recommend promising future research directions

A Comprehensive Survey of the Tactile Internet: State of the art and Research Directions

The Internet has made several giant leaps over the years, from a fixed to a mobile Internet, then to the Internet of Things, and now to a Tactile Internet. The Tactile Internet goes far beyond data, audio and video delivery over fixed and mobile networks, and even beyond allowing communication and collaboration among things. It is expected to enable haptic communication and allow skill set delivery over networks. Some examples of potential applications are tele-surgery, vehicle fleets, augmented reality and industrial process automation. Several papers already cover many of the Tactile Internet-related concepts and technologies, such as haptic codecs, applications, and supporting technologies. However, none of them offers a comprehensive survey of the Tactile Internet, including its architectures and algorithms. Furthermore, none of them provides a systematic and critical review of the existing solutions. To address these lacunae, we provide a comprehensive survey of the architectures and algorithms proposed to date for the Tactile Internet. In addition, we critically review them using a well-defined set of requirements and discuss some of the lessons learned as well as the most promising research directions

Haptic data reduction through dynamic perceptual analysis and event-based communication

This research presents an adjustable and flexible framework for haptic data compression and communication that can be used in a robotic teleoperation session. The framework contains a customized event-driven transmission control protocol, several dynamically adaptive perceptual and prediction methods for haptic sample reduction, and last but not the least, an architecture for the data flow

Co-conception contrôle / communication pour économiser l'énergie dans les systèmes commandés en réseau sans fil

Energy is a key resource in Networked Control Systems, in particular in applications concerning wireless networks. This thesis investigates how to save energy in wireless sensor nodes with control and communication co-Design. This thesis reviews existing techniques and approaches that are used to save energy from a communication and a control point of view. This review is organized according to the layered communication architecture covering from bottom to top the Physical, Data Link, Network, and Application layers. Then, from the conclusion that the radio chip is an important energy consumer, a joint radio-Mode management and feedback law policy is derived. The radio-Mode management exploits the capabilities of the radio chip to switch to low consuming radio-Modes to save energy, and to adapt the transmission power to the channel conditions. This results in an event-Based control scheme where the system runs open loop at certain time. A natural trade-Off appears between energy savings and control performance. The joint policy is derived in the framework of Optimal Control with the use of Dynamic Programming. This thesis solves the optimal problem in both infinite and finite horizon cases. Stability of the closed loop system is investigated with Input-To-State Stability framework. The main conclusion of this thesis, also shown in simulation, is that cross-Layer design in Networked Control System is essential to save energy in the wireless nodes.L'énergie est une ressource clé dans les systèmes commandés en réseau, en particulier dans les applications concernant les réseaux sans fil. Cette thèse étudie comment économiser l'énergie dans les capteurs sans fil avec une co-Conception contrôle et communication. Cette thèse examine les techniques et les approches existantes qui sont utilisées pour économiser l'énergie d'un point de vue de la communication et du contrôle. Cet étude est organisée selon une architecture de communication par couches couvrant de bas en haut les couches Physique, Liaison, Réseau, et Application. Puis, à partir de la conclusion que la puce radio est un important consommateur d'énergie, une loi conjointe de gestion des modes radio et de contrôle en boucle fermée est établie. La gestion des modes radio exploite les capacités de la puce radio à communter dans des modes de basses consommation pour économiser l'énergie, et d'adapter la puissance de transmission aux conditions du canal. Il en résulte un système de contrôle basé sur des événements où le système fonctionne en boucle ouverte à certains moments. Un compromis naturel apparaît entre l'économie d'énergie et les performances de contrôle. La loi conjointe est établie avec une formulation de contrôle optimal utilisant la Programmation Dynamique. Cette thèse résout le problème optimal dans les deux cas d'horizon infini et fini. La stabilité du système en boucle fermée est étudiée avec la formulation Input-To-State Stability (ISS). La principale conclusion de cette thèse, également illustrée dans la simulation, est que la conception à travers différentes couches dans les systèmes commandés en réseau est essentielle pour économiser l'énergie dans les noeuds sans fil

Distributed Control and State Estimation of DC Microgrids Based on Constrained Communication Networks.

PhD ThesesThe intermittent nature of renewable energy sources (RES) such as wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, requires advanced control systems to provide the balance between energy supply and demand in any power system. For better management of power quality and security issues, energy storage systems (ESSs) are deployed to compensate for the temporary mismatch of supply and demand. Furthermore, in rural areas with no connection to the main grid, ESSs such as batteries are deployed in large quantities as a solution for temporary power stabilization during RES unavailability. However, the control complexity of the power system increases as more ESSs are getting installed due to the need for coordination of the power transfer among them. This thesis undertakes a thorough analysis of distributed control and state estimation designs for direct current (DC) microgrids with ESSs based on constrained communication networks. The developed distributed control and estimation strategies are designed for operation over constrained communication networks. They don't require a central coordinator for synchronization of the control tasks between the ESSs. This forms a multi-agent environment where the controllers cooperatively achieve the DC microgrid objectives, i.e. voltage stabilization, proportional power-sharing, and balancing of ESSs' energy level. To overcome the communication network constraints, event-based controllers and estimators are designed, which e ectively reduce the network tra c and as a result, provide higher throughput with reduced delays for the real-time control loops of the DC microgrids. The controllers are designed to be distributed, leading to use cases such as autonomous islanded microgrids, smart villages, and plug-and-play mobile microgrids. The feasibility and performance of the proposed control and estimation strategies are con rmed in several experimental test benches by showing the higher reliability and robustness in the delivered power quality. The results have shown considerable reduction in the network tra c, meanwhile the control system provided high performance in terms of stability, robustness, power quality and endurabilit

Efficiency and Sustainability of the Distributed Renewable Hybrid Power Systems Based on the Energy Internet, Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts

The climate changes that are visible today are a challenge for the global research community. In this context, renewable energy sources, fuel cell systems, and other energy generating sources must be optimally combined and connected to the grid system using advanced energy transaction methods. As this book presents the latest solutions in the implementation of fuel cell and renewable energy in mobile and stationary applications such as hybrid and microgrid power systems based on energy internet, blockchain technology, and smart contracts, we hope that they are of interest to readers working in the related fields mentioned above

Controle coordenado em microrredes de baixa tensão baseado no algoritmo power-based control e conversor utility interface

Orientadores: José Antenor Pomilio, Fernando Pinhabel MarafãoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Esta tese apresenta uma possível arquitetura e sua respectiva estratégia de controle para microrredes de baixa tensão, considerando-se a existência de geradores distribuídos pela rede. A técnica explora totalmente a capacidade dos geradores distribuídos em ambos os modos de operação: conectado à rede e ilhado. Quando conectado à rede, sob o modo de otimização global, o controle busca a operação quase ótima da microrrede, reduzindo as perdas de distribuição e os desvios de tensão. Quando em modo ilhado, a técnica regula de forma eficaz os geradores distribuídos disponíveis, garantindo a operação autônoma, segura e suave da microrrede. A estratégia de controle é aplicada a uma estrutura de microrrede completamente despachável, baseada em uma arquitetura de controle mestre-escravo, em que as unidades distribuídas são coordenadas por meio do recém-desenvolvido algoritmo Power-Based Control. As principais vantagens da arquitetura proposta são a expansividade e a capacidade de operar sem sincronização ou sem conhecimento das impedâncias de linha. Além disso, a microrrede regula as interações com a rede por meio do conversor chamado de Utility Interface, o qual é um inversor trifásico com armazenador de energia. Esta estrutura de microrrede permite algumas vantagens como: compensação de desbalanço e reativo, rápida resposta aos transitórios de carga e de rede, e suave transição entre os modos de operação. Em contrapartida, para compartilhar a potência ativa e reativa proporcionalmente entre as unidades distribuídas, controlar a circulação de reativos, e maximizar a operação, a comunicação da microrrede requer em um canal de comunicação confiável, ainda que sem grandes exigências em termos de resolução ou velocidade de transmissão. Neste sentido, foi demonstrado que uma falha na comunicação não colapsa o sistema, apenas prejudica o modo de otimização global. Entretanto, o sistema continua a operar corretamente sob o modo de otimização local, que é baseado em um algoritmo de programação linear que visa otimizar a compensação de reativos, harmônicos e desbalanço de cargas por meio dos gerador distribuído, particularmente, quando sua capacidade de potência é limitada. Esta formulação consiste em atingir melhores índices de qualidade de energia, definidos pelo lado da rede e dentro de uma região factível em termos de capacidade do conversor. Baseado nas medições de tensão e corrente de carga e uma determinada função objetiva, o algoritmo rastreia as correntes da rede ótima, as quais são utilizadas para calcular os coeficientes escalares e finalmente estes são aplicados para encontrar as referências da corrente de compensação. Finalmente, ainda é proposta uma técnica eficiente para controlar os conversores monofásicos conectados arbitrariamente ao sistema de distribuição trifásico, sejam conectados entre fase e neutro ou entre fase e fase, com o objetivo de compensar o desbalanço de carga e controlar o fluxo de potência entre as diferentes fases da microrrede. Isto melhora a qualidade da energia elétrica no ponto de acoplamento comum, melhora o perfil de tensão nas linhas, e reduz as perdas de distribuição. A arquitetura da microrrede e a estratégia de controle foi analisada e validada através de simulações computacionais e resultados experimentais, sob condições de tensão senoidal/simétrica e não-senoidal/assimétrica, avaliando-se o comportamento em regime permanente e dinâmico do sistema. O algoritmo de programação linear que visa otimizar a compensação foi analisado por meio de resultados de simulaçãoAbstract: This thesis presents a flexible and robust architecture and corresponding control strategy for modern low voltage microgrids with distributed energy resources. The strategy fully exploits the potential of distributed energy resources, under grid-connected and islanded operating modes. In grid-connected mode, under global optimization mode, the control strategy pursues quasi-optimum operation of the microgrid, so as to reduce distribution loss and voltage deviations. In islanded mode, it effectively manages any available energy source to ensure a safe and smooth autonomous operation of the microgrid. Such strategy is applied to a fully-dispatchable microgrid structure, based on a master-slave control architecture, in which the distributed units are coordinated by means of the recently developed power-based control. The main advantages of the proposed architecture are the scalability (plug-and-play) and capability to run the distributed units without synchronization or knowledge of line impedances. Moreover, the proposed microgrid topology manages promptly the interaction with the mains by means of a utility interface, which is a grid-interactive inverter equipped with energy storage. This allows a number of advantages, including compensation of load unbalance, reduction of harmonic injection, fast reaction to load and line transients, and smooth transition between operating mode. On the other hand, in order to provide demand response, proportional power sharing, reactive power control, and full utilization of distributed energy resources, the microgrid employs a reliable communication link with limited bit rate that does not involve time-critical communications among distributed units. It has been shown that a communication failure does not jeopardize the system, and just impairs the global optimization mode. However, the system keeps properly operating under the local optimization mode, which is managed by a linear algorithm in order to optimize the compensation of reactive power, harmonic distortion and load unbalance by means of distributed electronic power processors, for example, active power filters and other grid-connected inverters, especially when their capability is limited. It consists in attain several power quality performance indexes, defined at the grid side and within a feasible power region in terms of the power converter capability. Based on measured load quantities and a certain objective function, the algorithm tracks the expected optimal source currents, which are thereupon used to calculate some scaling coefficients and, therefore, the optimal compensation current references. Finally, the thesis also proposes an efficient technique to control single-phase converters, arbitrarily connected to a three-phase distribution system (line-to-neutral or line-to-line), aiming for reduce unbalance load and control the power flow among different phases. It enhances the power quality at the point-of-common-coupling of the microgrid, improve voltage profile through the lines, and reduce the overall distribution loss. The master-slave microgrid architecture has been analyzed and validated by means of computer simulations and experimental results under sinusoidal/symmetrical and nonsinusoidal/asymmetrical voltage conditions, considering both the steady-state and dynamic performances. The local optimization mode, i.e., linear algorithm for optimized compensation, has been analyzed by simulation resultsDoutoradoEnergia EletricaDoutor em Engenharia Elétrica2012/24309-8, 2013/21922-3FAPES

Third International Symposium on Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems, part 2

Under the theme of 'Opportunities in Ground Data Systems for High Efficiency Operations of Space Missions,' the SpaceOps '94 symposium included presentations of more than 150 technical papers spanning five topic areas: Mission Management, Operations, Data Management, System Development, and Systems Engineering. The symposium papers focus on improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of data acquisition, ground systems, and mission operations. New technology, methods, and human systems are discussed. Accomplishments are also reported in the application of information systems to improve data retrieval, reporting, and archiving; the management of human factors; the use of telescience and teleoperations; and the design and implementation of logistics support for mission operations. This volume covers expert systems, systems development tools and approaches, and systems engineering issues

Compact information technology enabled systems for intelligent process monitoring

The use of computers in industrial process applications is ever-increasing. Initially used to provide help to the machine operator, their application has evolved through automatic process control to monitoring of process health and performance. The latter, together with the quality control of the end product directly affect plant economics and ultimately the financial viability of the company. The research reported in this thesis is a contribution towards providing a cost-effective method of calculating a measure of the current health of a process and predicting any maintenance issues that may arise in the near future. Embedded systems are utilised and the monitoring system is designed to work automatically with a minimal input from the operator. This eliminates the need for peripherals such as keyboards, mice, and monitors thus reducing the overall system price and footprint. User interfaces are provided via the Internet and mobile phones giving remote access to multiple users. Single chip microcontrollers are at the heart of the embedded system rather than microprocessors, thereby reducing the relative system cost and size at the expense of localised processing power. The microcontrollers are distributed in a hierarchical network to attain the required processing power whilst minimising data storage and communications and to improve signal-to-noise ratios. The Controller Area Network (CAN) bus was selected, and used for the inter-microcontroller communications, for its robust performance in noisy environments. In the developed system architecture, each microcontroller node acquires one of the required process sensor signals and applies initial signal processing. A novel sweeping filter technique is developed to perform frequency analysis using the microcontrollers. The processed data from all nodes are then combined using situation-based criteria to reach conclusions often not evident from single sensor data. The Internet-based system is provided with the capability to upload any monitoring software or updates. Plug & play capability of the monitoring nodes is also provided so that the system can be seamlessly adapted to new or changed applications. The design and development of the system are detailed along with its deployment on various applications. Fault detection, isolation, and prediction were achieved on batch and continuous processes. A machine tool application proved the frequency analysis and network traffic reduction capabilities. On-line monitoring of an industrial valve was also performed