Mission-critical Scenarios Research Articles

A cross layer approach for efficient multimedia data dissemination in VANETs

The recent rapid expansion of multimedia applications spectrum, ranging from infotainment to healthcare and mission-critical scenarios, has incited researchers from different disciplines to develop various tools and protocols to support such applications. Many people use multimedia data while they travel in different transportation means and thus they need various QoS levels based on the type of application they are running. Such data is usually transmitted through 3G/LTE networks; however, the unprecedented increase of multimedia data volume makes satisfying their requirements in terms of low delay and higher bandwidth a challenge. Many experts foresee that Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) technology can be an efficient offloading solution for 3G/LTE networks by providing cost-free and robust data exchange between cars as well as among their passengers. Although VANETs pave the way toward several novel safety and non-safety applications that promise enhanced driving security and comfort, they suffer from several issues due to their intrinsic features such as higher vehicles mobility, rapidly changing topology, etc. In this work, we propose an Enhanced version of AODV (En-AODV) protocol to deal with routes instability issue in VANETs. En-AODV leverages cross-layer information on the link quality combined with the knowledge of the final destination of the receiver vehicle to establish more stable routes. The obtained simulation results confirm the efficiency of En-AODV and highlight its supremacy over AODV under various metrics and scenarios. En-AODV has particularly proven its ability to establish stable routes while significantly reduce the overhead generated by control packets, freeing up the channel to carry more data packets.

A Review on Internet of Things for Defense and Public Safety.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is undeniably transforming the way that organizations communicate and organize everyday businesses and industrial procedures. Its adoption has proven well suited for sectors that manage a large number of assets and coordinate complex and distributed processes. This survey analyzes the great potential for applying IoT technologies (i.e., data-driven applications or embedded automation and intelligent adaptive systems) to revolutionize modern warfare and provide benefits similar to those in industry. It identifies scenarios where Defense and Public Safety (PS) could leverage better commercial IoT capabilities to deliver greater survivability to the warfighter or first responders, while reducing costs and increasing operation efficiency and effectiveness. This article reviews the main tactical requirements and the architecture, examining gaps and shortcomings in existing IoT systems across the military field and mission-critical scenarios. The review characterizes the open challenges for a broad deployment and presents a research roadmap for enabling an affordable IoT for defense and PS.

A novel geometric handover model for aerial 4G networks with WiFi‐based X2 interface

AbstractGiven the temporary nature of radio communications for mission critical scenarios, the existing dedicated public safety network lacks the flexibility of cutting edge technologies to leverage on packet data services. In this context, new challenges arise such as high‐capacity demand and low‐latency flexible backhaul connection for public safety users. In this paper, we consider a scenario in which 4G LTE radio coverage is provisioned by aerial eNodeBs installed on low‐altitude platforms raised in the sky and interconnected through WiFi links. We focus our attention on the critical aspect of theThird Generation Partnership Project handover mechanism studying the handover performance using a X2 interfaces over WiFi links. We develop a novel geometric model of the handover in the context of public safety communications but extensible also to other contexts. Relying on such a model, the handover failure probability is computed taking into account the different handover phases. The coverage area of an aerial eNodeB is studied using a suitable air‐to‐ground propagation model, while the average handover duration is computed taking into account the delay introduced by the WiFi communication dynamics. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ECOPS: Energy-Efficient Collaborative Opportunistic Positioning for Heterogeneous Mobile Devices

The fast growing popularity of smartphones and tablets enables us to use various intelligent mobile applications. As many of those applications require position information, smart mobile devices provide positioning methods such as Global Positioning System (GPS), WiFi-based positioning system (WPS), or Cell-ID-based positioning service. However, those positioning methods have different characteristics of energy-efficiency, accuracy, and service availability. In this paper, we present an Energy-Efficient Collaborative and Opportunistic Positioning System (ECOPS) for heterogeneous mobile devices. ECOPS facilitates a collaborative environment where many mobile devices can opportunistically receive position information over energy-efficient and prevalent WiFi, broadcasted from a few other devices in the communication range. The position-broadcasting devices in ECOPS have sufficient battery power and up-to-date location information obtained from accurate but energy-inefficient GPS. A position receiver in ECOPS estimates its location using a combination of methods including received signal strength indicators and 2D trilateration. Our field experiments show that ECOPS significantly reduces the total energy consumption of devices while achieving an acceptable level of location accuracy. ECOPS can be especially useful for unique resource scarce, infrastructureless, and mission critical scenarios such as battlefields, border patrol, mountaineering expeditions, and disaster area assistance.

Towards a Mission-Critical Ambient Intelligent Fire Victims Assistance System

While various ambient computing and intelligence techniques have been used to assist human beings in different aspects of their daily lives and work, this paper investigates potential ambient intelligence support in mission-critical scenarios such as firefighting. The paper reviews state-of-the-art ubiquitous techniques and tools assisting firefighting. Based upon these great research results, the authors then report the design and implementation of an ambient intelligent fire victims assistance application. By sensing the physical environment and occupants in a fire building, the system suggests the safest and fastest route along which the building occupants could evacuate; and when escaping from the building is not possible, the system tries to calm down and inform the trapped ones an action list. The channels to convey the guide assistance include traditional lights, speakers, and occupants’ mobile phones (if existing). The empirical experiments show that ambient intelligence in such a fire response guide can help improve the egress time performance of building occupants. The presented ambient smart fire victims’ assistance system is supposed to work at an early stage of fire in a building. As a complement of existing firefighting techniques, it still faces a number of open questions to be resolved in the future.

Three-Dimensional Underwater Target Tracking With Acoustic Sensor Networks

Using traditional sonar arrays may be difficult and impractical in some mission-critical scenarios, because they should be mounted on or towed by a ship or a submersible. Alternatively, underwater acoustic sensor networks (UW-ASNs) offer a promising solution approach. In this paper, a target-tracking algorithm for UW-ASNs, i.e., 3-D underwater target tracking (3DUT), is presented. The objective of 3DUT is to collaboratively accomplish accurate tracking of underwater targets with minimum energy expenditure. Based on the time of arrival of the echoes from the target after transmitting acoustic pulses from the sensors, the ranges of the nodes to the target are determined, and trilateration is used to obtain the location of the target. The location and the calculated velocity of the target are then exploited to achieve tracking. To realize energy-effective target tracking, 3DUT incorporates a new target-movement-based duty-cycle mechanism. To avoid rapid depletion of the energy resources of boundary nodes due to continuous surveillance, 3DUT employs an adaptive procedure to find, designate, and activate new boundary nodes. Performance evaluation shows that 3DUT is a promising alternative to the traditional sonar-based target-tracking approaches, particularly for on-demand surveillance applications.

Modeling human mobility in obstacle-constrained ad hoc networks

In this paper we present a mobility model for ad hoc networks consisting of human-operated nodes that are deployed in obstacle-constrained environments. According to this model, the network nodes move around the obstacles in a way that resembles how humans bypass physical obstructions. A recursive procedure is executed by each node at its current position to determine the next intermediate destination point until the final destination point is reached. The proposed mobility model is validated using real-life trace data and studied using both mathematical analysis and simulations. Furthermore, the model is extended to incorporate several operational aspects of ad hoc networks in mission critical scenarios, where it is best applicable. These extensions include hierarchical node organization, distinct modes of node activity, event-based destination selection and impact of the physical obstacles on signal propagation. The model is implemented as an add-on module in Network Simulator (ns-2).

Indoor tracking for mission critical scenarios: A survey

The availability of a reliable and precise tracking system for relief units operating in mission critical scenarios would drastically improve the situational awareness and thus facilitate the mission planning and accomplishment as well as increase the safety of human resources. Thus, the demand for such a system is very high both in the military and in the emergency and crisis intervention domain. While there are solutions like GPS for the localization in open areas, problems arise in urban scenarios and indoors due to insufficient or failed signal reception. For indoor use, multiple alternative localization concepts exist that are suited for different use cases and expose varying properties in precision, complexity and required preconditions. The deployment within mission critical scenarios implicates explicit restrictions and requirements so that only some of the techniques are adept or have the potential of being used here. This article identifies the commonly issued requirements to an indoor tracking in mission critical scenarios and introduces basic techniques for position estimation. Subsequently, existing indoor tracking systems specifically in the field of mission critical scenarios are reviewed with a focus on their capabilities in terms of reliability and accuracy. By doing so, an overview of current approaches in this field is given. Furthermore, the most adept techniques are classified with respect to the requirements within mission critical scenarios.

Execution Management for Mobile Service-Oriented Environments

This paper presents an Execution Management System (EMS) for Grid services that builds on the Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) while achieving “mobile awareness” by establishing a WS-Notification mechanism with mobile network session middleware. It builds heavily on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), used for managing sessions with mobile terminals (such as laptops and PDAs) where the services are running. Although the management of mobile services is different to that of ubiquitous services, the enhanced EMS manages both of them in a seamless fashion and incorporates all resources into one Mobile Dynamic Virtual Organization (MDVO). The described EMS has been implemented within the framework of the Akogrimo EU IST project and has been used to support mission critical application scenarios in public demonstrations, including composite and distributed applications made of both ubiquitous and mobile services within multiple domains.

Design and implementation of a FIPA compliant agent platform in .NET.

The aim of this paper is to describe the design and implementation of an agent platform called CAPNET (Component Agent Platform based on .NET) that is fully compliant with the specifications of the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) and implemented as 100% managed code in the .NET framework. The tools for the platform configuration and administration are presented and a case study is provided that shows the usability of the CAPNET in industrial and mission critical scenarios.