Distributed Internet Of Things Applications Research Articles

Key‐aggregate searchable encryption with multi‐user authorization and keyword untraceability for distributed IoT healthcare systems

AbstractAdopting Internet‐of‐Things (IoT) enables pervasive computing by integrating distributed healthcare infrastructures to enhance conventional medical services. Integrated healthcare systems store numerous encrypted electronic health records (EHR) on clouds that multiple users frequently access as per delegated access rights. Sharing any group of selected EHR within any group of users involving different encryption keys potentially heightens security and privacy concerns over inadvertent data leaks. This necessitates a searchable encryption mechanism in distributed IoT requiring secure multi‐user authorization and efficient searchable keys management with compact trapdoors. Contemporary state‐of‐the‐art protocols utilize large numbers of expensive encryption keys and keyword trapdoors while lacking secure multi‐user authorization and keyword untraceability on clouds. This motivates us to design a novel key‐aggregate searchable encryption protocol that jointly achieves multi‐user authorization and keyword untraceability for distributed IoT applications. Key‐aggregation reduces complexity in sharing documents by executing a stand‐alone trapdoor, while token‐based authorization allows keyword search only to legitimate data users. Additionally, secure dynamic indexing achieves keyword untraceability on clouds. Security analysis illustrates correctness and resilience against typical attacks. Performance and empirical analysis demonstrate a relative advantage in storage, communication, and computational costs while incorporating secure multi‐user authorization and keyword untraceability as additional security features.

Replicated Versioned Data Structures for Wide-Area Distributed Systems

In this work, we investigate the integration of replicated versioned data structures and append-only distributed storage systems. Doing so facilitates high availability and scalability while providing developer access to different versions of program data structures across program executions. Modern distributed systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT) often employ multi-tiered (cloud/edge/sensors) architectures consisting of a wide array of heterogeneous devices generating data frequently. Hence system availability is imperative to avoid data loss, while scalability is required for the efficient operation of the system not only within the same tier but across different tiers as well. Our proposed approach replicates, persists, and versions <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">program data structures</i> such as binary search trees and linked lists for use in distributed IoT applications. The versioning and persistence of these structures aid failure recovery and facilitate system debugging from its inception instead of making such considerations an afterthought. Moreover, our experiments suggest versioned data structures can perform better in applications performing high volumes of temporal queries versus traditional methods of persisting data (e.g., in a database). We empirically evaluate the overheads associated with versioning and storage persistence of program data structures, present experimental results for multiple end-to-end applications, and demonstrate the scalability of this approach.

Virtual Prototyping for Modern Internet-of-Things Applications: A Survey

Modern technological industries fused with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) have been advancing rapidly. The joint usage of several technologies has led to the reshaping of the modeling and simulation techniques into the virtualization of physical systems. Thus, the concept of virtual prototyping has emerged as a significant development in distributed IoT applications that includes early exploration, optimization, and security assessments. Several industries have been employing various types of prototyping e.g., virtual platforms, digital twins, and application-specific virtualization techniques, to achieve individual needs for development. In this survey, we clarify some of these concepts and the distinctions between them, provide a comprehensive overview of various prototyping technologies, and discuss how several virtualization technologies play a transformative role in the design and operation of intelligent cyber-physical systems.

An efficient lightweight key exchange algorithm for internet of things applications

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Internet of things (IoT) gained wide popularity in recent years, and this is proved by tremendous increase in use of IoT applications worldwide. Distributed IoT applications can be implemented securely with the support of blockchain. By default, blockchain will ensure authentication of involved entities as well as integrity of data. Due to storage restrictions, use of hybrid system is preferred, and this involves cloud server for storage and blockchain for other functionalities. Data kept in cloud has to be encrypted by a strong encryption algorithm. Even though core security objectives are achieved, it is necessary to provide a secure method to exchange the key. Since, the key is the backbone of a security algorithm, protection of the key has to be ensured. In this work, an algorithm is proposed to provide a no-share key exchange between two communicating parties in a resource constrained environment. The same was implemented and compared with conventional key sharing algorithms. Security analysis was formally conducted by using widely accepted automated validation of internet security protocols and applications (AVISPA) tool and the proposed method proved to be secure.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Design and FPGA based Implementation of IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol for Synchronisation in Distributed IoT Applications

ABSTRACT In distributed network applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT), a master clock is used to provide a frame of reference among all constituent nodes. Any drift in the clock on a single node can cause serious cascading effects in a system that largely involves ordered events and time-critical tasks. To provide a stable reference clock, time synchronisation protocols are utilised in distributed systems where client nodes can synchronise their clock with a master node. IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is increasingly being used to provide high time synchronisation accuracy in comparison with other synchronisation protocols. In this paper, we have proposed a hardware design and FPGA-based implementation of the IEEE 1588 protocol to be used in wired LAN communication. Experimental results show synchronisation accuracy in the range of few nanoseconds, which is significantly better than the existing implementations. The FPGA implementation was carried out on a Xilinx Artix-7 evaluation board.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on 6G-Enabled Internet of Things

Sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications and networks will continue to move to higher frequency and wider bandwidth, with much higher data rate and spectral efficiency. Given the heterogeneity and densification of Internet of Things (IoT), 6G wireless network may need to be extended to modern random access (RA) for IoT applications, which can be achieved via smart protocol design and advanced signal processing and communications technologies. The modern RA techniques, such as massive multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO), OFDMA, nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA), sparse signal processing, or new orthogonal design techniques provide good candidacy for 6G-enabled IoT. In 6G, grant-free transmission should be designed for distributed IoT applications. IoT applications are often involved in self-organizing decision making. 6G-enabled IoT will take advantage of the recent development of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. It will generate new knowledge and understanding and accelerate discovery and innovation in IoT. Each of these efforts is designed to amplify the intrinsically multidisciplinary nature of the emerging field of IoT. The 6G-enabled IoT will establish theoretical, technical, and ethical frameworks that will be applied to tackle many challenges in IoT, advancing technology for humanity.

Learning distributed communication and computation in the IoT

In distributed, cooperative Internet of Things (IoT) settings, sensing devices must communicate in a resource-aware fashion to achieve a diverse set of tasks, (i.e., event detection, image classification). In such settings, we continue to see a shift from reliance on cloud-centric to edge-centric architectures for data processing, inference and actuation. Distributed edge inference techniques address real-time, connectivity, network bandwidth and latency challenges in spatially distributed IoT applications. Achieving efficient, resource-aware communication in such systems is a longstanding challenge. Many current approaches require complex, hand-engineered communication protocols. In this paper, we present a novel scalable, data-driven and communication-efficient Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (C-RNN) framework for distributed tasks. We provide empirical and systematic analyses of model convergence, node scalability, computation-cost and communication-cost based on dynamic network graphs. Further to this, we show that our framework is able to solve distributed image classification tasks via automatically learned communication.

AUTOCON-IoT: Automated and Scalable Online Conformance Testing for IoT Applications

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving rapidly in various verticals, such as smart cities and smart industries, the number of IoT applications is growing exponentially. Standardized conformance testing mechanisms are widely used to test software applications, including IoT applications. However, current conformance testing mechanisms require continuous human intervention and additional software to be embedded into a target device being tested, which is time consuming, costly, and requires additional memory on the target device. Therefore, there is a considerable need to enhance and optimize existing conformance testing so that it is adequate for automatically testing highly distributed constraint IoT applications. In this paper, we propose a novel mechanism for automated and scalable conformance testing for IoT applications by introducing a test triggering mechanism based on a standardized test interface. This triggering mechanism is based on several new logical components in a testing environment that exchange messages between a testing system and a target IoT device. This technique of automatic conformance testing can lessen the cost and human intercession to decrease the number of missteps and accelerate the IoT market by certifying IoT applications.

Large-Scale Indexing, Discovery, and Ranking for the Internet of Things (IoT)

Network-enabled sensing and actuation devices are key enablers to connect real-world objects to the cyber world. The Internet of Things (IoT) consists of the network-enabled devices and communication technologies that allow connectivity and integration of physical objects (Things) into the digital world (Internet). Enormous amounts of dynamic IoT data are collected from Internet-connected devices. IoT data are usually multi-variant streams that are heterogeneous, sporadic, multi-modal, and spatio-temporal. IoT data can be disseminated with different granularities and have diverse structures, types, and qualities. Dealing with the data deluge from heterogeneous IoT resources and services imposes new challenges on indexing, discovery, and ranking mechanisms that will allow building applications that require on-line access and retrieval of ad-hoc IoT data. However, the existing IoT data indexing and discovery approaches are complex or centralised, which hinders their scalability. The primary objective of this article is to provide a holistic overview of the state-of-the-art on indexing, discovery, and ranking of IoT data. The article aims to pave the way for researchers to design, develop, implement, and evaluate techniques and approaches for on-line large-scale distributed IoT applications and services.

Formal Modeling and Validation of ReDy Architecture Intended for IoT Applications

Internet of Things (IoT) faces different architectural challenges to meet the large scale application issues, the heterogeneity, and the self-adaptivity. Many IoT applications require a dynamic construction of the system and should ensure a high degree of reliability. To this end, we propose the ReDy architecture, which is a reusable solution for reliable and dynamic distributed IoT applications. In this paper we propose a formalization and validation of the ReDy architecture. For this end, we propose a formal model using LNT language. We propose also a suitable algorithm to implement a reliable and dynamic membership management. Then we give a formal validation of this critical part based on formal modeling and model checking techniques.

Formal Modeling and Validation of ReDy Architecture Intended for IoT Applications

Internet of Things (IoT) faces different architectural challenges to meet the large scale application issues, the heterogeneity, and the self-adaptivity. Many IoT applications require a dynamic construction of the system and should ensure a high degree of reliability. To this end, we propose the ReDy architecture, which is a reusable solution for reliable and dynamic distributed IoT applications. In this paper we propose a formalization and validation of the ReDy architecture. For this end, we propose a formal model using LNT language. We propose also a suitable algorithm to implement a reliable and dynamic membership management. Then we give a formal validation of this critical part based on formal modeling and model checking techniques.

PAuthKey: A Pervasive Authentication Protocol and Key Establishment Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks in Distributed IoT Applications

Wireless sensor Networks (WSNs) deployed in distributed Internet of Things (IoT) applications should be integrated into the Internet. According to the distributed architecture, sensor nodes measure data, process, exchange information, and perform collaboratively with other sensor nodes and end-users, which can be internal or external to the network. In order to maintain the trustworthy connectivity and the accessibility of distributed IoT, it is important to establish secure links for end-to-end communication with a strong pervasive authentication mechanism. However, due to the resource constraints and heterogeneous characteristics of the devices, traditional authentication and key management schemes are not effective for such applications. This paper proposes a pervasive lightweight authentication and keying mechanism for WSNs in distributed IoT applications, in which the sensor nodes can establish secured links with peer sensor nodes and end-users. The established authentication scheme PAuthKey is based on implicit certificates and it provides application level end-to-end security. A comprehensive description for the scenario based behavior of the protocol is presented. With the performance evaluation and the security analysis, it is justified that the proposed scheme is viable to deploy in the resource constrained WSNs.