Network Interoperability Research Articles

Opportunities of Product-Service System in Physical Internet

Product-Service System (PSS) has shown great potential in supply chain and logistics management. The potential is even more evident for the recent paradigms of sustainable logistics, for example the Physical Internet that advocates the interconnection and interoperability of logistics networks. Generally, these paradigms aim at enhancing flexibility, agility and sustainability of logistics services, based on the seamless sharing of resources and services, and on decentralized real-time decision-making. To this end, these paradigms are requiring and inciting a number of innovations of PSS and services (including new business models) in supply chain and logistics management. This paper discusses the new opportunities and perspectives of PSS in Physical Internet that is one of the most recent breakthrough paradigms. We also investigate some recent innovative business models, services and practices relevant to PSS and PI, in order to point out emerging research avenues and opportunities.

Circuits of Apartheid

This keynote address is about the supply, maintenance and allocation of fungible, vulnerable human bodies—what American President Donald Trump would categorize as the shitholes of the world. Underlying our modern times is a large, unsolved problem about what is really going on in the world. I use the novel theoretical lens of Apartheid Studies to appreciate how we have neglected to read, recognize and call out the persistent circuits of apartheid that are at the heart of global capitalist modernity. Our contemporary age, built on interoperable digital networks, tends to reinforce global forms of apartheid. Apartheid Studies is a new field of studies that makes it possible to expose these circuits. Whereas human beings are human because we all possess a kind of strongly encrypted password which we reserve to give or not to give—so that we feel relatively protected and free to be what we want—this password protection has been eroded by institutions and powerful elites. Modernity itself, by its very nature, emerges when we start to share our passwords with strangers. Passing on the control of the passwords of our being to strangers causes global apartheid. Global capitalist modernity, expressed in invasive technology, generally undermines human beings’ sense of self, immunity, inviolability, indivisibility, and replaces it with social media and an internet of things which are predicated on sharing our privacy with strangers. I propose new emphases on restorative forensics and literacies that are appropriate to the task of generating a scholarship of the future that is ethical and opposed to systemic injustice, that exposes global exploitation, racism, deception, and corruption, and that promotes just worlds.

Cognitive workload management on globally interoperable network of clouds

Cognitive workload management on globally interoperable network of clouds

Towards an Internet of Agents model based on Linked Open Data approach

The Internet of Agents (IoA) is a current approach to the Future Internet that has arisen as an alternative to mitigate the limitations of the Internet of Things (IoT) concerning autonomy, reasoning and social capabilities. The aim of this paper is to present a novel architectural model governed by semantic contracts, published as linked data which describe the main aspects regarding the IoA domain, such as context, social circles, services ecosystems, IoT resources, and real-time restrictions. This proposal introduces some mechanisms such as (i) Linked Open Agents (LOAs) as the main unit of process for coordinating and managing IoT-objects, (ii) Linked Agent Contracts (LACs) as contractual semantic descriptions of entities of IoA ecosystems, (iii) an ontology named IoA-OWL that covers the current main aspects related to the IoA, (iv) a Reference Architecture for the IoA approach driven by LOAs and LACs, and (v) a mechanism for agent-discovery based on semantic descriptors. Both the model and its mechanisms are integrated, in order to improve the semantic interoperability and intelligence in heterogeneous IoT networks controlled by Multi-Agent Systems. Finally, a case study is proposed for a scenario of Ambient Intelligence as a working example of the novel architectural model. In addition, a qualitative and quantitative evaluation is then performed to analyze the applicability, performance, functionality of our proposal. A better performance was obtained for the agent discovery process with our architecture in contrast to JADE Yellow Pages and the Java implementation of the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration.

Middleware for Network Interoperability in IoT

Middleware for Network Interoperability in IoT

Middleware for Network Interoperability in IoT

Middleware for Network Interoperability in IoT

Genome-wide identification and characterization of apple long-chain Acyl-CoA synthetases and expression analysis under different stresses

Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases (LACSs) are members of the acyl-activating enzyme superfamily that have important roles in lipid synthesis and storage, fatty acid catabolism, vectorial acylation, and synthesis of cutin and wax. Here, 11 apple MdLACS genes were identified based on the Malus × domestica reference genome, clustered into six groups and mapped to ten chromosomes. Multiple sequence alignment and conserved motifs analyses showed that the sequences of the AtLACS and MdLACS proteins were highly conserved. A cis-element analysis in the promoter regions of the MdLACS genes revealed various elements related to stress responsiveness and plant hormones. Subsequently, expression analysis demonstrated that the MdLACS genes had different expression profiles in different tissues in response to various abiotic stresses. To further study the function of MdLACS genes in apple, MdLACS1 was isolated to identify its basic function, which the function of MdLACS1 in response to apple abiotic stress resistance was determined by the transgenic method. The results showed the MdLACS1 enhanced tolerance to polyethylene glycol, salt, and abscisic acid in the apple callus, suggesting that MdLACS1 is an important regulator in response to abiotic stresses. Finally, the functional interoperability network among the MdLACS proteins was predicted and analyzed, which could the understanding of the possible interactions among proteins and genes regulatory networks concerned with wax biosynthesis and regulatory mechanisms in response to abiotic stresses in apple.

Experimental Demonstration of a Lightpath Management Procedure Based on a Hierarchical Architecture

System margin reduction, performance prediction, and multi-vendor interoperability in future optical networks will require proper and effective monitoring functionalities of optical network services. This interest in monitoring features is driving new investigations on the management plane and procedures, and also targeting emerging protocols such as network configuration (NETCONF), which natively supports management functionalities. This paper presents the experimental demonstration of a management procedure for lightpaths in optical networks based on a hierarchical management plane. NETCONF is adopted for subscription to alarms and for alarm notification at the different layers in the hierarchy. YANG models are presented to configure monitoring entities in the network. The proposed system can be applied to both single- and multi-domain networks. The proposed solution is experimentally demonstrated in a control plane testbed including a hierarchical management plane.

Resource Allocation in Public Safety Broadband Networks With Rapid-Deployment Access Points

A nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network is being planned by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) under the auspices of the United States government. The network will be based on the long term evolution (LTE) standards and use designated spectrum in the 700 MHz band. The public safety network has different objectives and traffic patterns than commercial wireless networks. In particular, the routine public safety traffic is relatively light, whereas when a major incident occurs, the traffic demand at the incident scene can be significantly heavier than that in a commercial network. Hence it is extremely costly to build the public safety network using conventional cellular network architecture based solely on an infrastructure of stationary base transceiver stations. A novel hybrid architecture is proposed in this paper, where stationary base stations are deployed sparsely to serve light routine traffic and rapid-deployment base stations are dispatched along with public safety personnel to incident scenes to support heavy traffic. Spectrum and power allocation for the public safety network is optimized with the objective of minimizing the maximum delay achieved by all user equipments. Simulation results show that the hybrid architecture with rapid-deployment base stations provides the needed capacity and quality of service at a much lower cost compared with the conventional architecture.

Software Architecture Solution Based on SDN for an Industrial IoT Scenario

The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption comprises the change of traditional factories into smart using the ICTs. The goal is to monitor processes, objects, machinery, and workers in order to have real‐time knowledge about what is going on in the factory and for achieving an efficient data collection, management, and decision‐making that help improve the businesses in terms of product quality, productivity, and efficiency. Internet of Things (IoT) will have an important role in the I4.0 adoption because future smart factories are expected to rely on IoT infrastructures composed of constellations of hundreds or thousands of sensor devices spread all over the industrial facilities. However, some problems could arise in the massive IoT deployment in a medium‐high factory: thousands of IoT devices to cope from different technologies and vendors could mean dozens of vendor tools and user interfaces to manage them. Moreover, the heterogeneity of IoT devices could entail different communication protocols, languages, and data formats, which can result in lack of interoperability. On the other hand, conventional IT networks and industrial machinery are expected to be managed together with the IoT infrastructure, maybe using a tool or a set of tools, for orchestrating the whole smart factory. This work meets these challenges presenting an open‐source software architecture solution based on OpenDaylight (ODL), a Software Defined Network (SDN) controller, for orchestrating an industrial IoT scenario. This work is addressed by shedding light on critical aspects from the SDN controller architectural choices, to specific IoT interfaces and the difficulties for covering the wide range of communication protocols, popular in industrial contexts. Such a global view of the process gives light to practical difficulties appearing in introducing SDN in industrial contexts, providing an open‐source architecture solution that guarantees devices and networks interoperability and scalability, breaking the vendor lock‐in barriers and providing a vendor‐agnostic solution for orchestrating all actor of an I4.0 smart factory.

SCOPE EXTENSION IN A CONVERGED NETWORK

Background. Unified IP-based provisioning of communication services often faces the problem of QoS guarantees during the real-time application traffic transmission. The packet loss and random time delays in statistically multiplexed data flow apparently make a lot of trouble during remote audio/video conversation or machine-to-machine interaction in real time mode. Known IP-based approaches in telecom network engineering can’t meet the highly increasing operator demands and consumer requirements to QoS-aware services; this hinders the Internet and telephone networks convergence with respect to quality of service provision. Therefore, more research needed to effectively address these problems. Objective. The aim of the paper is the interoperability scope extension in a converged telecom network to provide realtime data transfer with quality of service support. Methods. The current state of “Internet+telephone network” along with the synthesis of an advanced interface for a heterogeneous network is analyzed. Results. Basic principles introduced to extend the autonomous network interoperability. A novel mechanism of conveyor transporting modules originated for a converged network to benefit packet and circuit switching unification. Conclusions. Traditional telecoms and Internet service providers permanently compete for IT market niches having their pros and cons, and vast IP-applications merged on the market. Therefore, no urgent successor-protocol reasonable in a short term. On this agenda, an alternative algorithm proposed for dynamic packet data allocation in a unified network-tonetwork link, which extends the interoperability scope in a converged network. The Gigabit Ethernet linkage outlined based on proposed algorithm. Keywords: networks interoperability; QoS; real-time applications.

IP session continuity in heterogeneous mobile networks using software defined networking

Smart environment requires uninterrupted connection when moving from one network to another. This is best accomplished at the network level (L3). Full interoperability and integration of heterogeneous networks is necessary for communication session continuity. Software Defined Networking (SDN) with virtual IP addresses solves the problem. Implementing a homogeneous SDN is expensive, given the enormous investments in existing networks. To solve this second problem, we deploy the least set of SDN features to provide full L3 mobility. We use a common controller to manage the IP address translations.

Pilot implementation of the US EPA interoperable watershed network

BackgroundThe mission of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health and the environment, including air, water and land. Understanding the extent of pollution in waters and identifying waters for protection has been based in part on water quality monitoring data collected and shared by parties (federal, state, tribal, and local) throughout the U.S. To date, this monitoring data has been largely represented by data collected as a water quality sample (data collected by a technician in the field or analyzed in a lab). EPA’s “STORage and RETrieval” (STORET) and the Water Quality Exchange (WQX) have served as the repository for all this sampling data. However, these tools and systems were not designed to handle today’s continuous water quality sensors. EPA has therefore embarked on the Interoperable Watersheds Network (IWN) project, which is focused on identifying a common set of formats and standards for data, and on testing and validating these standards as well as new ways of sharing data and metadata. The completed IWN will greatly expand the sharing of data and its use, thereby streamlining the assessment, restoration, and protection of surface water quality at all levels of government.MethodsStakeholder workgroups were engaged to assist with developing requirements for the three major project components: required attributes and query capability for a centralized metadata catalog, technological and data requirements for data providers, and desired functionality for a web-based discovery tool that provides access to the catalog services and provider data.ResultsThe pilot implementation of IWN uses the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Observation Service (SOS) 2.0 and WaterML2 standards as the foundation for a distributed sensor data sharing network. Data owners in locations across the United States have worked with EPA to publish their continuous sensor data and related metadata either through “data appliances” running the open-source 52° North implementation of SOS or using commercial software like Kisters’ KiWIS product.Metadata are harvested into a centralized catalog that provides a REST Service API for sensor discovery. Users can discover data by querying for specific parameters, or using spatial boundaries such as HUC, county, a buffered point, or a user defined polygon. The sensor results are returned as GeoJSON, which can be used to create maps. The API also provides the service endpoints for the sensors, which can be used to access the continuous data to create charts or download the data for other analysis.ConclusionThe pilot IWN demonstrates that standards-based interoperability can provide a sound basis for a national-scale clearinghouse for continuous sensor data, though scalability of the approach will need further testing. Selected technical detail, lessons learned, and future plans for the IWN are included in the discussion.

Compatibility and Interoperability in Mobile Phone-Based Banking Networks

In many developing countries of Africa and Asia, cell phones are used (i) to transfer money across individuals; (ii) to securely self-transport money, and (iii) to save/store money. These banking networks ride on top of wireless telecommunications networks. Traditionally each banking network was tied to the network of a telecom carrier and transfers were available only within the carrier’s network, making it incompatible with banking networks of other carriers. In Tanzania, mobile banking under incompatibility was well established for a decade until September 2015 when the second, third, and fourth largest carriers established full compatibility of their banking networks. Analyzing a comprehensive dataset of banking transactions provided by a large telecom carrier in Tanzania, this paper discusses pricing under compatibility, contrasts with pricing under incompatibility. We analyze the transaction termination fees in this environment of practically no regulation, and assesses the individual and collective incentives for compatibility, noting that the largest carrier has remained incompatible. We find that carriers have agreed to very high prices for transfers across networks, and calculate the welfare gains if either (i) across-networks transfers were priced like within-network transfers; or (ii) pricing was at marginal cost.

Novel elastic protection against DDF failures in an enhanced software-defined SIEPON

Abstract Ever-increasing bandwidth demands on passive optical networks (PONs) are pushing the utilization of every fiber strand to its limit. This is mandating comprehensive protection until the end of the distribution drop fiber (DDF). Hence, it is important to provide refined protection with an advanced fault-protection architecture and recovery mechanism that is able to cope with various DDF failures. We propose a novel elastic protection against DDF failures that incorporates a software-defined networking (SDN) capability and a bus protection line to enhance the resiliency of the existing Service Interoperability in Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (SIEPON) system. We propose the addition of an integrated SDN controller and flow tables to the optical line terminal and optical network units (ONUs) in order to deliver various DDF protection scenarios. The proposed architecture enables flexible assignment of backup ONU(s) in pre/post-fault conditions depending on the PON traffic load. A transient backup ONU and multiple backup ONUs can be deployed in the pre-fault and post-fault scenarios, respectively. Our extensively discussed simulation results show that our proposed architecture provides better overall throughput and drop probability compared to the architecture with a fixed DDF protection mechanism. It does so while still maintaining overall QoS performance in terms of packet delay, mean jitter, packet loss, and throughput under various fault conditions.

Interoperability in the Digital Economy

Interoperability has become a buzzword in European policy debates on the future of the digital economy. In its Digital Agenda, the EU Commission has identified a lack of interoperability as one of the significant obstacles for the thriving of the digital economy. The EU Commission and a number of other actors have advocated far-reaching policies for ensuring the interoperability of digital goods, services, platforms and communication networks. In this paper, we present a systematic framework for discussing interoperability problems from an economic and legal perspective and apply it to several interoperability issues, as, e.g., standardization, interoperability regulation in the field of electronic communication, duties of dominant firms (including platforms) to ensure horizontal and vertical interoperability and IP law exceptions in favour of interoperability. The complex trade-offs between benefits and costs of a higher degree of interoperability suggest the need for a careful and separate analysis of each specific interoperability issue, caution regarding a (top down) imposition of mandatory standards and interoperability obligations, and a greater focus on unilateral solutions of interoperability problems, like adapters or converters. EU competition law may be better advised to develop, within the framework of Art. 102 TFEU, a workable test to address hurdles for unilateral interoperability solutions created by dominant firms, than to continue focusing on the essential facilities doctrine to mandate interoperability.

Guest Editorial: Architecture for Next Generation Wireless Networks: Scalability, Flexibility, and Interoperability

The articles in this special issue focus on next generation wireless networks. Over the past decade, we have witnessed tremendous growth in the number of networked wireless devices, in the types of wireless and mobile applications, and in the total amount of traffic from and toward these devices. It is clear that future wireless networks have to accommodate even more devices, to facilitate diverse applications in these devices, and to exchange huge amounts of data for these applications. To tackle the challenges in the design of future wireless networks, we have organized this special issue focusing on the scalability, flexibility, and interoperability of future wireless networks.

Challenging the IPv6 Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL): A Survey

RPL is the IPv6 routing protocol for low-power and lossy networks, standardized by IETF in 2012 as RFC6550. Specifically, RPL is designed to be a simple and inter-operable networking protocol for resource-constrained devices in industrial, home, and urban environments, intended to support the vision of the Internet of Things with thousands of devices interconnected through multihop mesh networks. More than four-years have passed since the standardization of RPL, and we believe that it is time to examine and understand its current state. In this paper, we review the history of research efforts in RPL; what aspects have been (and have not been) investigated and evaluated, how they have been studied, what was (and was not) implemented, and what remains for future investigation. We reviewed over 97 RPL-related academic research papers published by major academic publishers and present a topic-oriented survey for these research efforts. Our survey shows that only 40.2% of the papers evaluate RPL through experiments using implementations on real embedded devices, ContikiOS and TinyOS are the two most popular implementations (92.3%), and TelosB was the most frequently used hardware platform (69%) on testbeds that have average and median size of 49.4 and 30.5 nodes, respectively. Furthermore, unfortunately, despite it being approximately four years since its initial standardization, we are yet to see wide adoption of RPL as part of real-world systems and applications. We present our observations on the reasons behind this and suggest directions on which RPL should evolve.

Designing and Implementing Weather Generators as Web Services

Climate and weather realizations are essential inputs for simulating crop growth and yields to analyze the risks associated with future conditions. To simplify the procedure of generating weather realizations and make them available over the Internet, we implemented novel mechanisms for providing weather generators as web services, as well as a mechanism for sharing identical weather realizations given a climatological information. A web service for preparing long-term climate data was implemented based on an international standard, Sensor Observation Service (SOS). The weather generator services, which are the core components of the framework, analyze climatological data, and can take seasonal climate forecasts as inputs for generating weather realizations. The generated weather realizations are encoded in a standard format, which are ready for use to crop modeling. All outputs are generated in SOS standard, which broadens the extent of data sharing and interoperability with other sectoral applications, e.g., water resources management. These services facilitate the development of other applications requiring input weather realizations, as these can be obtained easily by just calling the service. The workload of analysts related to data preparation and handling of legacy weather generator programs can be reduced. The architectural design and implementation presented here can be used as a prototype for constructing further services on top of an interoperable sensor network system.

A process-oriented service infrastructure for networked enterprises

The networked enterprise is a short-term partnership of business organizations aimed at sharing the partners’ services without restrictions on size or organizational structure. Our approach considers two software solutions developed for supporting the creation and maintenance of such business collaborations in interoperable networks. The first one addresses a business alliance formation based on combining competences, processes and services of several organizations into a single value chain. Our emphasis is mainly on the interoperability and security of the provided services. The second approach focuses on the collaboration between large enterprises with rich IT ecosystems and SMEs with poor or missing IT infrastructure. Interoperable data sharing is supported by light-weight semantics, while standard inter-SME communication is enriched to grant authentication among partners. Alternatives for enabling technologies for service orchestration, process modelling, and event routing are investigated for the solutions. Based on the evaluation results obtained from pilot testing of the system prototypes, we discuss the implications of the technologies on quality indicators such as usability, performance, and business applicability.