Smart Utility Research Articles

A Dataset to Evaluate IEEE 802.15.4g SUN for Dependable Low-Power Wireless Communications in Industrial Scenarios

This article presents a dataset obtained from the deployment of an IEEE 802.15.4g SUN (Smart Utility Network) single-hop network (11 nodes) in a large industrial scenario (110,044 m 2 ) for a long period of time (99 days). The dataset contains ∼11 M entries with RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), CCA (Clear Channel Assessment), and PDR (Packet Delivery Ratio) values. The analyzed results show a high variability in the average RSSI (i.e., between −82.1 dBm and −101.7 dBm) and CCA (i.e., between −111.2 dBm and −119.9 dBm) values, which is caused by the effects of multi-path propagation and external interference. Despite being above the sensitivity limit for each modulation, these values result in poor average PDR values (i.e., from 65.9% to 87.4%), indicating that additional schemes are needed to meet the link reliability requirements of industrial applications. Hence, the presented dataset will allow researchers and practitioners to propose novel mechanisms and evaluate their performance using realistic conditions, enabling the dependability vision of the RAW (Reliable and Available Wireless) WG (Working Group) at the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force).

Internet of Things (IoT): Opportunities, issues and challenges towards a smart and sustainable future

The rapid development and implementation of smart and IoT (Internet of Things) based technologies have allowed for various possibilities in technological advancements for different aspects of life. The main goal of IoT technologies is to simplify processes in different fields, to ensure a better efficiency of systems (technologies or specific processes) and finally to improve life quality. Sustainability has become a key issue for population where the dynamic development of IoT technologies is bringing different useful benefits, but this fast development must be carefully monitored and evaluated from an environmental point of view to limit the presence of harmful impacts and ensure the smart utilization of limited global resources. Significant research efforts are needed in the previous sense to carefully investigate the pros and cons of IoT technologies. This review editorial is partially directed on the research contributions presented at the 4th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies held in Split and Bol, Croatia, in 2019 (SpliTech 2019) as well as on recent findings from literature. The SpliTech2019 conference was a valuable event that successfully linked different engineering professions, industrial experts and finally researchers from academia. The focus of the conference was directed towards key conference tracks such as Smart City, Energy/Environment, e-Health and Engineering Modelling. The research presented and discussed at the SpliTech2019 conference helped to understand the complex and intertwined effects of IoT technologies on societies and their potential effects on sustainability in general. Various application areas of IoT technologies were discussed as well as the progress made. Four main topical areas were discussed in the herein editorial, i.e. latest advancements in the further fields: (i) IoT technologies in Sustainable Energy and Environment, (ii) IoT enabled Smart City, (iii) E-health – Ambient assisted living systems (iv) IoT technologies in Transportation and Low Carbon Products. The main outcomes of the review introductory article contributed to the better understanding of current technological progress in IoT application areas as well as the environmental implications linked with the increased application of IoT products.

PAINT: Priority aware interference mitigation techniques for improving coexistence in home area networks of smart grid

SummaryAs smart grid (SG) home area networks (HANs) communicate with various smart devices such as meters, sensors, and actuators on a 2.4‐GHz unlicensed band, the coexistence of different wireless technologies in such networks is a common phenomenon due to the overlapping of channels. In this research, homogeneous and heterogeneous interference are considered to address the coexistence problem in smart utility networks (SUNs). The homogeneous interference is mitigated by utilizing the contention free period (CFP) and the contention access period (CAP) of the MAC layer superframe of IEEE 802.15.4g designed for SUNs. This frame is used to get access for the channel. For this, a slotted CSMA/CA algorithm is used for various priority levels of data with adjustable backoff period (BP) and clear channel assessment (CCA) period in order that nodes (devices) with high priority can achieve high probability of channel access. By modeling the proposed scheme using the Markov chain, the exactness of the proposed scheme is assessed based on throughput, channel access delay, energy consumption per bit, and probability of successful data transmission and collision. A performance evaluation of the proposed scheme is further investigated by comparing it with the existing scheme PA‐MAC. In addition, a channel switching mechanism is explored to mitigate the heterogeneous interference with the help of a Naive Bayes classifier prediction. Finally, the prediction indicates that by choosing the non‐coexisting and the non‐overlapping channel, the proposed channel switching mechanism effectively mitigates the heterogeneous interference.

Technology outlook for real-time quality attribute and process parameter monitoring in biopharmaceutical development-A review.

Real-time monitoring of bioprocesses by the integration of analytics at critical unit operations is one of the paramount necessities for quality by design manufacturing and real-time release (RTR) of biopharmaceuticals. A well-defined process analytical technology (PAT) roadmap enables the monitoring of critical process parameters and quality attributes at appropriate unit operations to develop an analytical paradigm that is capable of providing real-time data. We believe a comprehensive PAT roadmap should entail not only integration of analytical tools into the bioprocess but also should address automated-data piping, analysis, aggregation, visualization, and smart utility of data for advanced-data analytics such as machine and deep learning for holistic process understanding. In this review, we discuss a broad spectrum of PAT technologies spanning from vibrational spectroscopy, multivariate data analysis, multiattribute chromatography, mass spectrometry, sensors, and automated-sampling technologies. We also provide insights, based on our experience in clinical and commercial manufacturing, into data automation, data visualization, and smart utility of data for advanced-analytics in PAT. This review is catered for a broad audience, including those new to the field to those well versed in applying these technologies. The article is also intended to give some insight into the strategies we have undertaken to implement PAT tools in biologics process development with the vision of realizing RTR testing in biomanufacturing and to meet regulatory expectations.

Microwave‐assisted synthesis of levulinic acid from low‐cost, sustainable feedstocks using organic acids as green catalysts

AbstractBACKGROUNDModern day scientific endeavour strives towards global sustainability through the smart utilisation of renewable resources as base materials for chemicals. Until now, the most common commercial process to produce levulinic acid (a mass‐produced platform chemical) depends on a two‐stage mineral acid‐catalysed reaction, which generates harmful environmental waste. In this work, an environmentally friendly levulinic acid production route using less harmful organic acids assisted by microwave heating from biomass feedstocks is reported for the first time.RESULTSUsing aluminum sulfate as a green Lewis acid catalyst and seven organic acids, levulinic acid was successfully produced from barley straw under microwave heating, with maleic acid giving the highest catalytic conversion. A Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach was used to rapidly and effectively examine the effect of five reaction variables on the productivity of the levulinic acid. A wide range of different biomass wastes (barley straw, brewery waste, olive cake, spent tea leaves and potato, tomato, and mandarin peels) were subsequently screened to produce the levulinic acid. The highest yield of 86 wt% based on cellulose content from mandarin peel (a value comparable to a lengthier ‘non‐green’ route) was achieved under the following optimized reaction conditions: 180 °C, 38 min, 2 M maleic acid concentration, 0.1 g Al2(SO4)3 and 1:22 biomass: maleic acid ratio (g mL−1).CONCLUSIONSThe proposed method is a promising new route towards the green, high yield production of levulinic acid from a variety of agricultural and household lignocellulosic biomass wastes, without the need for pre‐treatment. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Penalization of electricity thefts in smart utility networks by a cost estimation-based forced corrective measure

Electricity theft menace has attracted various research efforts with most proposed detection algorithms relying on analysing customers' consumption profile to determine fraudulent electricity consumers (FEC). This necessitates the need for on-site inspections before penalties are sanctioned despite the manpower, cost, energy, time, and stress associated with such tedious routine. Moreover, the penalty-imposed fines are bogusly determined and uncoordinated, and losses in revenue are burdened on the honest consumers. Fortunately, the advent of advanced metering infrastructure offers a flexible and efficient platform which can be leveraged to provide additional functionality of curbing these complicated procedures. In this work, a cost estimation-based model deploying a forced corrective measure for a real-time enforcement of penalties on FEC in a smart utility network is proposed. It relies on the results of commonly applied intelligent algorithms for electricity theft detection to obtain the amount and cost of energy consumed by reported FEC while also providing efficient monitoring till imposed fines are cleared. The results of the developed model give proportionate sanctions and enhances the functions of the system manager's monitoring of the operational status to ensure compliance and is suitable for deployment in a smart utility network.

Internet of Things: A Product Development Cycle for the Entrepreneurs

Internet of Things (IoT) is a current technology in the communication and computing field. With the help of this technology many application can be developed almost in every fields like health care, agriculture, education manufacturing, factories, automobile etc. In this fields the applications can be like smart home, smart office, smart farms, smart utilities, smart boards, smart vehicles, smart machines etc. To develop this kind of applications already many IOT startup companies are evolved. The current paper proposed a novel IOT product development cycle which will make easy for the developers in the IOT startup companies/individuals and in this paper few developed products based on the proposed development cycle were discussed

Internet of Things: A Product Development Cycle for the Entrepreneurs

Internet of Things (IoT) is a current technology in the communication and computing field. With the help of this technology many application can be developed almost in every fields like health care, agriculture, education manufacturing, factories, automobile etc. In this fields the applications can be like smart home, smart office, smart farms, smart utilities, smart boards, smart vehicles, smart machines etc. To develop this kind of applications already many IOT startup companies are evolved. The current paper proposed a novel IOT product development cycle which will make easy for the developers in the IOT startup companies/individuals and in this paper few developed products based on the proposed development cycle were discussed.

The potential of integrating blockchain technology into smart sustainable city development

The rise of global urbanisation has led to massive pressures on resources such as food, water, infrastructure, and energy demand to support growing populations. It brings adverse impacts on the liveable condition and economic growth of a country if this problem remains unsolved. Smart city is a potential solution to address the challenges of urbanisation by leveraging the technological breakthrough such as internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, big data, and cloud computing to facilitate scarce resources planning and management. With numerous connected devices and vast communication networks, it poses a challenges of security threat which cannot be addressed by the conventional cybersecurity solutions. Blockchain offers a solution in securing the huge numbers of connected devices in smart city network. The application of blockchain technology is leading in the banking and financial industry. However, the uses and implementations in smart city have emerged in recent years. The combination of blockchain technology and smart city has offered a great potential for sustainable development. Thus, it is imperative to discuss the potential of these two elements in making the city safer and sustainable. This paper explores how the blockchain technology application can help in managing smart city and achieve sustainability. The findings revealed that there are five key areas of blockchain application in smart city which are smart governance, smart mobility, smart asset, smart utility and smart logistic. A framework for smart sustainable city with blockchain technology is presented as an outcome of this study. It gives a clear overview for the policy makers and regulators of how blockchain supports within smart city framework. It facilitates the transition towards smart and sustainable cities through the use of blockchain.

Virtual machine placement mechanisms in the cloud environments: a systematic review

PurposeVirtual machines (VMs) are suggested by the providers of cloud services as the services for the users over the internet. The consolidation of VM is the tactic of the competent and smart utilization of resources from cloud data centers. Placement of a VM is one of the significant issues in cloud computing (CC). Physical machines in a cloud environment are aware of the way of the VM placement (VMP) as the mapping VMs. The basic target of placement of VM issue is to reduce the physical machines' items that are running or the hosts in cloud data centers. The VMP methods have an important role in the CC. However, there is no systematic and complete way to discuss and analyze the algorithms. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic survey of VMP techniques. Also, the benefits and weaknesses connected with selected VMP techniques have been debated, and the significant issues of these techniques are addressed to develop the more efficient VMP technique for the future.Design/methodology/approachBecause of the importance of VMP in the cloud environments, in this paper, the articles and important mechanisms in this domain have been investigated systematically. The VMP mechanisms have been categorized into two major groups, including static and dynamic mechanisms.FindingsThe results have indicated that an appropriate VMP has the capacity to decrease the resource consumption rate, energy consumption and carbon emission rate. VMP approaches in computing environment still need improvements in terms of reducing related overhead, consolidation of the cloud environment to become an extremely on-demand mechanism, balancing the load between physical machines, power consumption and refining performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study aimed to be comprehensive, but there were some limitations. Some perfect work may be eliminated because of applying some filters to choose the original articles. Surveying all the papers on the topic of VMP is impossible, too. Nevertheless, the authors are trying to present a complete survey over the VMP.Practical implicationsThe consequences of this research will be valuable for academicians, and it can provide good ideas for future research in this domain. By providing comparative information and analyzing the contemporary developments in this area, this research will directly support academics and working professionals for better knowing the growth in the VMP area.Originality/valueThe gathered information in this paper helps to inform the researchers with the state of the art in the VMP area. Totally, the VMP's principal intention, current challenges, open issues, strategies and mechanisms in cloud systems are summarized by explaining the answers.

ZnCl2 Enabled Synthesis of Highly Crystalline and Emissive Carbon Dots with Exceptional Capability to Generate O2⋅–

Summary Highly crystalline and emissive carbon dots (CDs) are firstly synthesized via an ionothermal method in organic solvents. In contrast to well-established approaches, ZnCl2 is utilized as the pyrolysis-promoting agent to prepare emissive CDs with tunable wavelengths, directly by carbonization from different O and N precursors under a mild reaction condition at 210°C. More than 50% synthetic yield and 39% photoluminescent quantum yield (blue CD) are obtained. XAFS measurements, in conjunction with TEM, HAADF-STEM, UPS, and ESR analyses, allow us to obtain energy diagram configuration and confirm the luminescent nature of these hard-core structured CDs. Importantly, the resulting CDs exhibit excellent capability to photogenerate superoxide radical anion (O2⋅–), which can be exemplified by both photodynamic therapy and photooxidative cyclization synthesis of tetrahydroquinolines. Representative pharmaceutical mifepristone can be derivatized in 90% yield within 10 min of irradiation of the CDs in an elegant flow reactor.

Complexity Analysis of Data Aggregation and Routing Algorithms for Automated Utility Management Using WSN

At present most of the houses in the country have the traditional electromechanical or digital utility usage meters, water meter, and gas meters. Presently most of the utility meter reading, billing system and utility management is not automated. The recent advances in the wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have made strong impact on the development of low cost remote monitoring systems. The WSN based remote automated utility management, remote meter reading and billing for future smart cities will enhance the quality and service by government. This increases the revenue of government. Due to unpleasant trend in the growth of congestion in urban areas, the smart utility meter data traffic aggregation and routing faces more challenges in the traditional automated service departments. In this work we propose an integrated architecture that include electricity, water and gas utility meters and discuss the methodology for Data Aggregation and Routing for Integrated Public Utility Services (IPUS-DAR) using WSN network. This work aims to integrate three types of utility meters and minimize redundant routing data in the network by applying data aggregation that improves traffic performance. We discuss the computational complexity of proposed Data Routing with Data Aggregation algorithm. The comparative analysis of proposed Data Routing with Data Aggregation methodology with previous methods is analyzed. We investigate performance metrics which include packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, jitter, throughput and energy consumption with respect to varying network size using QUALNET.

Лидерство и принятие внешнеполитических решений в эпоху нового технологического уклада

The evolution of digital technologies rooted in the transformation of the world into a holistic quantifiable system brings about foundational shifts in how an individuals interact with information. Current technological progress is cyclical in nature: emerging capabilities create different environment with new threats that prompt further search for technological solutions to address them, and occurs \on two interwoven tracks: the increasing sophistication of the information system itself (better ways to collect, store and analyze data) and better means of human interaction with it (search engines, faster connection, more seamless interface with devices). Similar in scope to the spread of printed books, the digital transformation is still at its nascency: the “printing press” has been invented, but the humanity is yet to perfect it and experience the full array of social and political changes it is bound to incur. This article is an attempt to peek into such “digital future”. Taking stock of the observable trends it charts the course of major shifts in approaches to foreign policy and maps out possible impediments for effective leadership in the new era. The conceptualization of the transformations is picking up speed, yet main IR schools tackling dispersed aspects, such as the impact of digital technologies on the balance of power (realism), on the nature of government and international environment (liberalism) and on the interpretation of the emerging processes (constructivism), do not offer a comprehensive approach. At the same time despite the growing analyzability and, hence, rationality of the world the studies of the decision-making process still struggle to account for the “human nature” of state leadership. The futility of the attempts to measure irrationality underlines the core argument of the article – with the overall trend for deeper convergence between an information system and a human the emerging digital future will be determined by individuals, who will remain the ultimate stewards of international relations. As a result, the efficiency of leadership, including smart utilization of technological advances, will depend on the quality of “human capital” of elites. On the one hand, accessibility of information, faster data travel and the absence of physical boundaries in the digital space enhance analytical abilities of individuals and improve the quality of decisionmaking. On the other hand, the increasing effortlessness of retrieving, storing and disseminating information results in the shift of perspective: laborious process of developing a solution is substituted by search for the most acceptable alternative, solving a crisis is replaced with manipulating the perception of it, and the quality of decisions is judged not by long-term consequences but by immediate movements in opinion polls.

Effect of Smart Device Ability on the Smart Device-Based Testing National Board Examination for Optometry Students

Purpose : This study is an empirical research study aimed at verifying the effect of smart device utilization capability on smart device-based national test recognition. Methods : The survey was conducted among 60 optometry students, who will be take a National Board examination. The survey contained 15 items scored using a 5-points Likert scale. Results : Apart from the information and documentation capabilities among smart device utilization, the recording, communication, management and multimedia capabilities showed a significant positive correlation with the recognition of smart device-based test. In addition, smart device utilization capability is explained to be about 46% in positive recognition of Smart Device-based national testing, and multimediaization capability among the smart device utilization was significant influence on the recognition of smart devices-based on the national test. Conclusion : This study secured the feasibility of developing multimedia questions and introducing smart device-based national test, relied on smart device-based national tests with multimedia items for who preparing national test by supplementing the problems of smart device-based national test systems. Also, this may affect the change of positive perception.

Drone Operated Crop Monitoring and Agrochemical Spraying in Agriculture

Agriculture plays a strategic role in a country's economic development process. In order to raise the farm productivity and to develop proficient administration, it is crucial to look into the growth of the crops, then the surrounding environment and farming operations. Earlier most of the human communities fully depend on agriculture for their survival. But now the scenario is totally opposite due to various reasons. It is our duty and also important to consider the proper and smart utilization of good resources. The main issue nowadays is using agro chemicals. To have a good resource it is mandatory to use agrochemicals in agriculture to maintain the quality of the plants. In agricultural crop fields, agrochemicals are generally used to increase productivity and improve quality. Through improved spraying effectiveness, the amount of pesticide used in agriculture can be minimized and the risk of environmental damage can be mitigated.. However direct contact with these agro chemicals can result in various diseases like cancers, birth defects, reproductive dysfunction, nausea, rashes etc. Also most of the agro chemicals are wasted during the time of spray. But if agrochemical is used, then it will improve agricultural quality production. By considering all these, a new system is proposed which consists of Drone, Tank for agrochemical, Camera and Controllers and other supporting mechanisms. The proposed system will be operated by a human over the farming filed and monitors all the area through the camera. The proposed system will give the details of affected area alone, so that only those areas can be sprayed with the help of micro nozzle. Due this human contact will be avoided, amount of agrochemicals used will be reduced, the quality and production of crop will be increased. Also it will reduce the cost of agrochemicals used.

Wireless Transceiver Aided Run-Time Secret Key Extraction for IoT Device Security

This article provides a secret key extraction aided by wireless transceiver for Internet of Things (IoT) based consumer electronic (CE) devices, which can be a promising alternative to the conventional secret storage with non-volatile memory. Exploiting the wireless transceiver as a source of secret key generation, we propose a new type of static random access memory (SRAM) physically unclonable function (PUF), especially focusing on run-time extraction from most connected CE devices without additional hardware. The response of the proposed PUF is further processed by a fuzzy extractor to reproduce the secure key, where we suggest to use low-complexity convolutional code combined with interleaver for error correction. In addition, run-time multiple readout capability of our wireless transceiver aided PUF enables to provide a helper data-less key reproduction scheme to reduce leaked information and implementation complexity. Experimental results on two platforms equipped with the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.15.4g Smart Utility Network (SUN) based wireless transceivers confirm that the proposed PUF and key reproduction schemes successfully generate the secret key at any time, which makes our approach easily applicable to various IoT based CE devices with security requirements.

Synthesis of CDs from β‐Cyclodextrin for Smart Utilization in Visual Detection of Cholesterol and Cellular Imaging

AbstractIn this work, we have synthesized fluorescent carbon dots from β‐cyclodextrin in a single step via the hydrothermal method and abbreviated as (β‐CDs). These synthesized β‐CDs were utilized for the cholesterol detection using fluorometric method. The detection of cholesterol attributable to alcoholic groups of β‐CDs was combined with the phenolic group of the cholesterol due to intermolecular hydrogen bonding and the authentic cavity size of the β‐CDs. The sensing mechanism was characterized by fluorescence lifetime decay, zeta potential, and UV‐visible spectroscopy. These β‐CDs are highly sensitive towards cholesterol with detection of limit is 0.204 μM and relatively wide linear range of 0.5‐40 μM. This assay shows a high sensitivity towards cholesterol even in the presence of interfering biomolecules. These β‐CDs are also used for the detection of cholesterol in the real sample (human blood serum). The small particle size, low cytotoxicity, and excellent fluorescence properties of the synthesized β‐CDs are also used for cellular imaging.

Smart Utilization of Ground Water Resources in Agriculture Field using the Internet of things

Smart Utilization of Ground Water Resources in Agriculture Field using the Internet of things

Electricity theft detection by sources of threats for smart city planning

Smart city adoption and deployment has taken the centre stage worldwide with its realisation clearly hinged on energy efficiency, but its planning is threatened by the vulnerability of smart grids (SGs). Adversaries launch attacks with various motives, but the rampaging electricity theft menace is causing major concerns to SGs deployments and consequently, energy efficiency. Smart electricity meters deployments via the advanced metering infrastructure present promising solutions and even greater potential as it provides adequate data for analytical inferences for achieving proactive measures against various cyberattacks. This study suggests the sources of threats as the first step of such proactive measures of curbing electricity thefts. It provides a framework for monitoring, identifying and curbing the threats based on factors indicative of electricity thefts in a smart utility network. The proposed framework basically focuses on these symptoms of the identified threats indicative of possible electricity theft occurrence to decide on preventing thefts. This study gives a useful background to smart city planners in realising a more reliable, robust and secured energy management scheme required for a sustainable city.

Unique Sense: A Smart Computing Prototype 4

The demands of modern science and data driven era is today challenging the computing field from numerus perspective. As a result, today computer architecture and supporting components are getting rapid transformations and upgradations along with the improved and diversified Computing solution. This Unique sense research initiative is most challenging attempt to standardize Smart Computing Technology findings for future computing demands from careful investigation of emerging demands and smart utilization of resources. This research initiative “Unique sense” is the comprehensive construction of Smart computing model for providing solution for the emerging demands from various fields. As a part of this research focuses on one such primitive objective to deliver the provisioning for handling and processing the bigdata and more emerging demands on data handling. Project name “smart computing prototype 4” is the part of Unique sense and the continuity of previous prototype 1, 2 and 3. It is an advanced version of previous deployment. This work consists of Stack of technologies and techniques wrapped together for the bigdata provision on Broadcom BCM2837B0 chip, Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC with maximum clock speed 1.4GHz and evaluated its capability.