Creation Of Value-added Services Research Articles

Secure Computing for the Internet of Things and Network Edges: Protecting Communication in the Worldwide Network of Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) is focused on architectures and protocols for the efficient interconnection of heterogeneous things, deployment of infrastructure, and creation of value-added services. The IoT has become an emerging technology, where more than 50 billion things will be connected to the Internet by 2020, and data in the network will grow by another 1,000 times. The framework of the IoT is the backbone for several applications, such as smart cities and smart homes, where most of the data move to the cloud for further evaluation because of the resource poverty of IoT devices.

Mobile-Edge Computing and the Internet of Things for Consumers: Extending cloud computing and services to the edge of the network

Current activities in the Internet of Things (IoT) are focused on architectures, protocols, and networking for the efficient interconnection of heterogeneous things, infrastructure deployment, and creation of value-added services. The majority of the IoT products, services, and platforms are supported by cloud-computing platforms. With the IoT being a multidisciplinary ecosystem, it is now being utilized in connection with scenarios demanding real-time data processing and feedback, for example, connected and autonomous vehicles scenarios. Cloud platforms are not suitable for scenarios involving real-time operation, low latency requirements, and high quality of service (QoS). Recently, mobile-edge computing (MEC) has gained momentum from the industry to address the mentioned requirements. MEC is a novel paradigm that extends cloud-computing capabilities and services to the edge of the network. Due to dense geographical distribution, proximity to consumers, support for high mobility, and open platform, MEC can support applications and services with reduced latency and improved QoS. Thus, MEC is becoming an important enabler of consumer-centric IoT applications and services that demand real-time operations. The OpenFog Consortium and standards development organizations like ETSI have also recognized the benefits the IoT and MEC can bring to consumers. Potential applications for MEC-enabled IoT include smart mobility, connected vehicles, emergency response, smart cities, content distribution, and location-based services.

Constraint-Aware Approach to Web Service Composition

The creation of value-added services by automatic composition of existing ones is gaining significant momentum as the potential silver bullet in service-oriented computing. A large number of composition methods have been proposed, and most of them are based on the matching of input and output parameters of services only. However, most services in the real world are not universally applicable, and some applicable conditions or restrictions are imposed on them by their providers. Such constraints have a great impact on service composition, but have been largely ignored by the existing methods. In this paper, they are discussed and defined, and a simple formal expression is adopted to describe them. Two novel concepts, called service intension and service extension, are presented, which allow one to divide the basic elements of a web service definition into two parts. Consequently, their use allows us to propose a constraint-aware service composition method in which service constraints are well taken care. The proposed solution includes a graph search-based algorithm and two novel preprocessing methods. A publicly available test set from ICEBE05 is used to evaluate and analyze the proposed methodology.

Automated web service composition supporting conditional branch structures

The creation of value-added services by automatic composition of existing ones is gaining a significant momentum as the potential silver bullet in service-oriented architecture. However, service composition faces two aspects of difficulties. First, users' needs present such characteristics as diversity, uncertainty and personalisation; second, the existing services run in a real-world environment that is highly complex and dynamically changing. These difficulties may cause the emergence of nondeterministic choices in the process of service composition, which has gone beyond what the existing automated service composition techniques can handle. According to most of the existing methods, the process model of composite service includes sequence constructs only. This article presents a method to introduce conditional branch structures into the process model of composite service when needed, in order to satisfy users' diverse and personalised needs and adapt to the dynamic changes of real-world environment. UML activity diagrams are used to represent dependencies in composite service. Two types of user preferences are considered in this article, which have been ignored by the previous work and a simple programming language style expression is adopted to describe them. Two different algorithms are presented to deal with different situations. A real-life case is provided to illustrate the proposed concepts and methods.

Identity management and web services as service ecosystem drivers in converged networks

This article describes a Web service-based framework supported by federated identity management technologies, which enables fixed and mobile operators to create a secure, dynamic, and trusted service ecosystem around them. With this framework, new service providers can be incorporated automatically, dynamically negotiating and accepting service level agreements to control their activities. Furthermore, it is based on identity management, not only to keep user identities private and protected, but also to enable the creation of value-added services using network resources and user profiles. This service ecosystem is not limited to third party providers but also can be extended through collaboration agreements between operators.

A European Model for the Digital Publishing of Scientific Information?

The entire system of scholarly communication is in transition, with the emergence of new markets, services and players. Given what we know about this digital transition, the technical, financial and legal parameters of a future model of publishing scientific information are predictable. The contribution of the Commission of the European Communities has been to emphasize how digital access to scientific information is related to the digital preservation of the record of scientific publications and data; because if digital preservation is undertaken access cannot be guaranteed for future innovations. The proposition for the delineation of a European model is developed as follows:1. A digital model may be developed that results in open access, while preserving and enhancing the viability of a variety of commercial publishing models.2. The institutional players in the publishing system, namely publishers, repositories and libraries, must be ready to accept a redistribution of the key functions of registration, certification, dissemination, archiving and navigation in a manner that plays to the strength of each.3. The condition for any successful elaboration of a digital model is that it is complementary to the technology and economics of the internet, while the litmus test is that it enhances the impact and re-use of scientific information.Open access publishing leads to complementary relationships between publishers, libraries and repositories; unrestricted access and the widest possible dissemination; and usually facilitates the creation of value-added services as an overlay from platforms, repositories and libraries. In recent years, a number of viable full open access publishing (OAP) models have emerged: OAP where the author pays, by subscription, through a sponsoring consortium, and by way of support and sponsorship.Covered initiatives include BMC, Sage-Hindawi, Springer, SCOAP3, Science Commons OA law program, DRIVER, PARSE, PEER, NEEO and policies of the ERC, NIH and Harvard FAS

QoS-aware middleware for Web services composition

The paradigmatic shift from a Web of manual interactions to a Web of programmatic interactions driven by Web services is creating unprecedented opportunities for the formation of online business-to-business (B2B) collaborations. In particular, the creation of value-added services by composition of existing ones is gaining a significant momentum. Since many available Web services provide overlapping or identical functionality, albeit with different quality of service (QoS), a choice needs to be made to determine which services are to participate in a given composite service. This paper presents a middleware platform which addresses the issue of selecting Web services for the purpose of their composition in a way that maximizes user satisfaction expressed as utility functions over QoS attributes, while satisfying the constraints set by the user and by the structure of the composite service. Two selection approaches are described and compared: one based on local (task-level) selection of services and the other based on global allocation of tasks to services using integer programming.

Port Planning: the Need for a New Approach?

Port planning should take into account the following elements: port development strategy; the relationship between port and city; port financing; the key financial players; economic impacts, both local and national; and environmental impacts. The master plan usually sets out a 10-year port development option, where many different interests come into play, and it requires an agreed course of action. This paper examines the challenges that a port faces in achieving its primary objectives as outlined in its master plan. Namely, economic expansion; employment; the strengthening of the maritime industry; the creation of value-added services – benefiting city and port alike; the provision and upgrading of infrastructure; and the development of an efficient management strategy. In what direction are we moving in terms of port planning models? This article is designed to stimulate a debate that may provide some of the answers for the future, where each individual port can tailor its own solution.