A Framework for Testing of Wireless Underwater Robots

Underwater applications of wireless robots are foreseen to hold a market potential. The standardization process will drive the development of the necessary technology so that devices can work cooperatively. Specific testing procedures have to be developed in order to verify that a device meets requirements. In this paper, a general framework for testing of underwater wireless robot communications is described. The methodology for conformance and interoperability tests is addressed by considering wireless robots as terminals in an underwater acoustic network.     

Smart Cities via Data Aggregation

Cities have an ever increasing wealth of sensing capabilities, recently including also internet of things (IoT) systems. However, to fully exploit such sensing capabilities with the aim of offering effective city-sensing-driven applications still presents certain obstacles. Indeed, at present, the main limitation in this respect consists of the vast majority of data sources being served on a “best effort” basis. To overcome this limitation, we propose a “resilient and adaptive IoT and social sensing platform”. Resilience guarantees the accurate, timely and dependable delivery of the complete/related data required by smart-city applications, while adaptability is introduced to ensure optimal handling of the changing requirements during application provision. The associated middleware consists of two main sets of functionalities: (a) formulation of sensing requests: selection and discovery of the appropriate data sources; and (b) establishment and control of the necessary resources (e.g., smart objects, networks, computing/storage points) on the delivery path from sensing devices to the requesting applications. The middleware has the intrinsic feature of producing sensing information at a certain level of detail (geographical scope/timeliness/accuracy/completeness/dependability) as requested by the applications in a given domain. The middleware is assessed and validated at a proof-of-concept level through innovative, dependable and real-time applications expected to be highly reproducible across different cities.     

Design of a Low-Cost Modem for Short-Range Underwater Acoustic Communications

An underwater acoustic modem (UAM) is an essential component of an underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN). The applications of UWSNs include, but are not limited to, monitoring of aquatic environments and coral reefs, coastal surveillance, etc. The design of UAMs is a challenging research problem due to the varying water environment. Moreover, the cost of UAM is an impediment to use it in a large UWSN. Hence, an economical UAM is required to encourage research in this area. In this paper, a low-cost modem prototype for short-range underwater acoustic communications is presented. As compared to the available solutions, cost-effectiveness is novelty of the modem. Furthermore, design parameters are available that could be modified or replicated for further research. Each module is tested individually and the overall performance of the modem is evaluated by experiments in an aquatic environment. The outcomes of the research are useful for the scientific community and provide guidelines to design a low-cost underwater acoustic modem.

     

Role of Convergence in GIMCV Development: A Vision

Path to Global Information Multimedia Communication Village (GIMCV) can be seen as a convergence process among telephony, data exchange and television. Convergence refers not only to various services provided by the same operator but also by the same device, the same access network, the same transport network, etc. This paper present authors’ vision on how convergence will lead the GIMCV development.

Quality Assessment in 3G/4G Wireless Networks

The convergence of wireless networks and multimedia communications, linked to the swift development of services and the increasing competition, has caused user expectations of network quality to raise. Network quality has become one of the main targets for the network optimization and maintenance departments. Quality of experience (QoE) has been traditionally assessed via subjective tests, but this is a costly method. In recent years, different methods for assessing QoE from objective parameters have been proposed. In this paper we describe a non-intrusive system for the analysis and measurement of QoE in wireless networks from these objective parameters. The system consists of mobile agents running on the mobile terminals and one or more network entities that collect and analyze the information.     

Optimal Design of Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) for Wireless SCADA System for Energy Management

For energy deficit countries, the design of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) based energy management systems for optimal distribution is of high interest. Such design involves development of Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) which is considered as an essential component of any high scale SCADA system and it is functioning as remote field data interface. Considering various generations of SCADA, two different designs of an RTU are proposed for third generation (Networked Approach) SCADA in view of energy management applications. One design includes Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as CPU of RTU and other would involve Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) instead of PLC. This paper results in comparative study of two different selections of CPUs for designing an RTU based on performance measurement. PLC based RTU exhibits limited features where as FPGA based RTU possesses unique features like encryption support, radio support and large memory area. Suitable simulation tools are needed in order to determine the best approach. The main objective of this study is to propose a design outline considering significant parameters that facilitates optimized development and low cost implementation of an RTU, also featured with wireless communication. In addition to the optimized design of an RTU by means of comparative study, a brief discussion on optimization of wireless link for Remote Terminal Unit is also presented. This phase involves detailed comparison among various options considering the RF spectrum for optimal solution. This segment of research results in design of optimized wireless link for the planned low cost Remote Terminal Unit (RTU). A scenario depicting multiple RTUs communicating with one Tele-Control Interface (TCI) is discussed to address optimized implementation of wireless SCADA.