UPnP Research Articles

An Evaluation of Ubiquitous Service Discovery and Remote Management in Ad-Hoc Networks

Due to the rise of ubiquitous computing, issues around the discovery of new services have become a hot topic in the academic community. This is because futuristic ubiquitous computing frameworks as well as unsupervised Ad hoc systems will require service discovery. Automatically discovering network services and their characteristics, as well as dynamically advertising their persistence, are both possible with service discovery. Multiple service discovery technologies, including Service Discovery Protocols (SDP) runners, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), Service Location Protocol (SLP), and Jini, have been suggested. In this paper, we detail the process of service discovery and control using Ubiquitous Remote Manager (URM), a system for remote and autonomous management of home gateways that allows for more system simplicity and finer grained command of the underlying network in a ubiquitous computing setting. Ubiquitous Service Discovery (USD) is a key component of the infrastructure of the smart homes of the future. USD's goal is to locate the most suitable service, given the user's preferences and needs, in a pervasive and extensive setting.

SUPnP: Secure Access and Service Registration for UPnP-Enabled Internet of Things

The service-oriented nature of the Universal Plug-and-Play (UPnP) protocol supports the creation of flexible, open, and dynamic systems. As such, it is widely used in Internet-of-Things (IoT) deployments. However, the protocol’s service access mechanism does not consider security from the first principles and is therefore vulnerable to various attacks. In this article, we present an in-depth analysis of the service advertisement, discovery, and access methods of the UPnP protocol stack and identify security issues in an IoT network. Our analysis shows that adversaries can perform resource exhaustion, buffer overflow, reflection, and amplification attacks by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the UPnP protocol. To address these issues, we propose a capability-based security model for UPnP to ensure secure discovery, advertisement, and access of the UPnP services that considers the resource limitations of IoT devices. Our analysis shows the effectiveness of the proposed model against potential attacks, and our experimental evaluation highlights the feasibility of implementing our Secure UPnP (SUPnP) protocol in a network of IoT devices, incurring minimal network and performance overhead.

Can whole-tumor radiomics-based CT analysis better differentiate fat-poor angiomyolipoma from clear cell renal cell caricinoma: compared with conventional CT analysis?

This study aimed to discriminate fat-poor angiomyolipoma (fp-AML) from clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) by constructing radiomics-based logistic classifiers in comparison with conventional computed tomography (CT) analysis at three CT phases. Twenty-two fp-AML patients and 62 ccRCC patients who were pathologically identified were enrolled in this study, and underwent three-phase (unenhanced phase, UP; corticomedullary phase, CMP; nephrographic phase, NP) CT examinations. Whole-tumor regions of interest (ROIs) were contoured in ITK software by two radiologists. Radiomic features were dimensionally reduced by means of ANOVA + MW, correlation analysis, and LASSO. Four radiomics logistic classifiers including the UP group, CMP group, NP group, and sum group were built, and the radiomic scores (rad-scores) were calculated. After collecting the qualitative and quantitative conventional CT characteristics, the conventional CT analysis logistic classifier and the radiomics-based logistic classifier were constructed. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was constructed to evaluate the validity of each classifier. The area under curve (AUC) of the conventional CT analysis logistic classifier including angular interface, cyst degeneration, and pseudocapsule was 0.935 (95% CI 0.860-0.977). Regarding logistic classifiers for radiomics analysis, the AUCs of the UP group were 0.950 (95% CI 0.895-1.000) and 0.917 (95% CI 0.801-1.000) in the training set and testing set, respectively, which were higher than those of the CMP and NP groups. The AUCs of the sum group were observed to be the highest. The top three selected features for the UP and sum groups belonged to GLCM parameters and histogram parameters. The radiomics-based logistic classifier encompassed cyst degeneration, pseudocapsule, and sum rad-score, and the AUC of the model was 0.988 (95% CI 0.935-1.000). Whole-tumor radiomics-based CT analysis is superior to conventional CT analysis in the differentiation of fp-AML from ccRCC. Cyst degeneration, pseudocapsule, and sum rad-score are the most significant factors. The radiomics analysis of the UP group shows a higher AUC than that of the CMP and NP groups.

IN2Dig – Implementation of a Digital Manufacturing System in a Production Cell of the Metal Mold Industry: From Planning to Action

The mass production of metal molds for glass bottles is a highly automated and technologically demanding sector of activity. Mold manufacturing involves several operations and one of the most critical is the one related to mold surface welding. The main goal here is to insert a more durable metal into specific areas of the mold to create regions with enhanced characteristics (e.g. improved wear resistance) in order to improve the quality and durability of the mold. Such an operation typically involves three steps, namely: i) mold preheating, ii) manipulation and iii) welding. Overall, this is a rather complex process, demanding tight control and monitoring of its variables. Our industrial partner, a medium-size manufacturer of molds for glass bottles, already had an extensively automated manufacturing process. However, there were frequent reports of processing flaws during the welding stage (e.g. quality of metal deposition, fissures, welding pores) with the mold being lost in some cases. The reasons behind most of the reported flaws were difficult to discern from the available sensors and methods. From our early assessment it became clear that the range of sensors available during the welding operation was insufficient and that the communication between the machines inside the production cell was either too simple or disconnected from the rest of the factory. This resulted in an absence of an integrated record of the production process. In view of this, it was necessary to develop and implement a digitalization plan, which we describe in this paper, of the production cell responsible for mold surface welding. As a result of this planning, additional sensors were introduced to the production cell, related to pressure, temperature, humidity, flow, and voltage. The intent here was to have monitoring variables that could be used to diagnose and/or prognosticate problems in the process. Also, since the sensors lacked integration, a network was established using IoT technologies supported by the PlugThings Framework together with Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology. The PlugThings, an IoT platform developed by our partner iTime, acted as a mediator between the sensor network and a Web server. The IoT platform also allowed to perform the vertical integration of the process, from sensors on the production cell to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Finally, this initiative enabled access to charting tools and to data in the form of XML files. Currently, the system in undergoing exhaustive tests before expanding to other production cells in the shop floor. Future steps will involve the use of analytics and artificial intelligence to diagnose and predict failures of the manufacturing process and to better streamline production.

Blockchain-enabled workflow operating system for logistics resources sharing in E-commerce logistics real estate service

E-commerce logistics real estate (EcLRE) is on the rise with the rapid development of logistics industry and continuous prosperity of real estate. The profit model for EcLRE is moving towards offering professional logistics services instead of simple real estate leasing. As the attributes for real estate are definite and difficult to change, the improvement of logistics service becomes necessity for EcLRE service providers to gain competitiveness in the market. However, the heterogeneous requirements from different service demanders place great challenges for the EcLRE service providers. The most puzzled one is to prevent fragmentation of logistics resources to serve different demanders (customers). This phenomenon of resource fragmentation is aggravated by the implementation of demanders’ (customers’) own information technologies or management requirements. To achieve the central management of logistics resources to serve heterogeneous demanders becomes an imperative requirement for EcLRE service provider. Therefore, this paper proposed a blockchain-enabled workflow operating system (Bc-WfOS) to centrally share heterogeneous logistics resources with different customers. Three key innovative technologies are involved to empower Bc-WfOS. The first one is gateway technology introduced to realize the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) management of heterogeneous logistics resources. Secondly, to effectively and efficiently coordinate logistics resources, a multi-dimensional workflow model is proposed with corresponding workflow operation mechanism to suit different business logic. Additionally, a resource blockchain is designed with the integration of blockchain technology with agent technology to guarantee the data reliability to provide accurate front-line resource execution data for different customers to conduct higher decision-makings. Aiming at verifying the proposed Bc-WfOS, a prototype system is also developed and implemented in laboratory environment for conducting experimental case studies based on a real-life case.

Cloud-based ubiquitous object sharing platform for heterogeneous logistics system integration

The intelligence of infrastructure gradually becomes the straw for logistics enterprises to make data-based or date-driven optimization. The integration of heterogeneous logistics systems with existing enterprise information systems is one of the most critical steps to achieve the intelligent infrastructure. Unfortunately, the integration is always a time-consuming process with heavy investment, which suppresses the longings of enterprises, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Aiming at simplifying the system integration, this paper proposed a cloud-based ubiquitous object sharing platform (CUOSP) to share the integration across SMEs based on the concept of sharing economy. CUOSP acts as a middleware system to make heterogeneous logistics systems universal plug-and-play (UPnP) for enterprise information systems. A kernel-based agent (KBA) is designed as the sharing entity of physical systems. It maintains the features of physical systems and is scalable for different application scenarios. A series of cloud gateway services are emerged not only to provide the basic running and sharing environment, but also to remedy KBA’s weaknesses in computing capacity. A prototype system is developed and implemented based on the framework of CUOSP and a laboratory case according to the consolidation scenario in E-commerce logistics is demonstrated. Comparison experiments are also conducted to explore the real-time and multitasking capacity of KBAs with different kernel characteristics and different computing resources.

Appliance Recognition Unit for Home Energy Management System With UPnP Network

Appliance recognition by a home energy management system (HEMS) is a principal challenge in the area of future smart and home grid systems, particularly for electrical power load balancing. In this paper, a novel HEMS is proposed, with a smart socket outlet that is capable of appliance recognition for interworking with a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) network. The proposed method of appliance recognition, which is based on a Pearson correlation and a weighted cosine similarity technique, significantly increases the accuracy of the recognition degree in a real experimental environment. It also requires much less computing power and recognition time for appliance identification in comparison with various conventional methods based on complex artificial intelligence and machine learning schemes. The proposed system also generates a virtual UPnP device interface for the recognized appliance to be exposed to the UPnP network. Thus, any appliance plugged into the smart socket outlet can utilize the features of the UPnP network even if it does not support UPnP functionalities. The proposed system is demonstrated by implementing a simple and fast appliance recognition unit and a virtual UPnP device generation unit. The experimental results show the feasibility of appliance recognition and the capability of virtual UPnP device generation having superior performance when compared with conventional methods.

Comparative study of various protocols of DDS

In this paper the comparison of various protocols of Dynamic Discovery Service is studied. This paper outlines the initiatives focused on discussing and understanding various DDS protocols on the basis of their common features. The comparison is structured by taking various features as the base for this comparison. Service Discovery Protocol (SDP), Jini, Salutation, Service Location Protocol (SLP), Secure Pervasive Discovery Protocol (SPDP), Universal Discovery Description and Integration (UDDI), and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) are discussed briefly in this paper.

An embedded self-adapting network service framework for networked manufacturing system

To improve the self-adapting ability and real-time performance of client/server based networked manufacturing system (NMS), this paper introduces the universal plug and play (UPnP), an intelligent network middleware, into networked manufacturing area, and proposes an embedded self-adapting network framework and related service methods. Referring to small world model and scale-free principles, a complex network model oriented to digital manufacturing is set up. Based on the model, an improved entropy vector projection algorithm is proposed to evaluate the network complexity and reveal the evolution regulars. Then, the self-adapting services for NMS are performed by UPnP service-calling and inter-process communication methods. Finally, the case studies and industrial field experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed service framework.

A behavioral reflective architecture for managing the integration of personal ubicomp systems: automatic SNMP-based discovery and management of behavior context in smart-spaces

Context-aware ubiquitous computing systems should be able to introspect the surrounding environment and adapt their behavior according to other existing systems and context changes. Although numerous ubiquitous computing systems have been developed that are aware of different types of context such as location, social situation, and available computational resources, few are aware of their computational behavior. Computational behavior introspection is common in reflective systems and can be used to improve the awareness and autonomy of ubicomp systems. In this paper, we propose a decentralized approach based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), and on state transition models to model and expose computational behavior. Typically, SNMP and UPnP are targeted to retrieve raw operational variables from managed network devices and consumer electronic devices, e.g., checking network interface bandwidth and automating device discovery and plug and play operations. We extend the use of these protocols by exposing the state of different ubicomp systems and associated state transitions statistics. This computational behavior may be collected locally or remotely from ubicomp systems that share a physical environment, and sent to a coordinator node or simply shared among ubicomp systems. We describe the implementation of this behavior awareness approach in a home health-care environment equipped with a VoIP Phone and a drug dispenser. We provide the means for exposing and using the behavior context in managing a simple home health-care setting. Our approach relies on a system state specification being provided by manufacturers. In the case where the specification is not provided, we show how it can be automatically discovered. We propose two machine learning approaches for automatic behavior discovery and evaluate them by determining the expected state graphs of our two systems (a VoIP Phone and a drug dispenser). These two approaches are also evaluated regarding the effectiveness of generated behavior graphs.

A Quality Based Power-Hump Mechanism for High Speed Network Connectivity of Mobile Devices in Digital Living Network Alliance Networks

Mobile devices are increasingly assuming an important role in “smart home” network environments. Although their computing, storage and networking capabilities have evolved significantly, these devices remain power-constrained and, therefore, there is need to actively take measures to minimize their power consumption. In this paper, we propose a Power Saving (PS) mechanism for mobile devices in Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) home networks, which allows them to conserve power without compromising their higher-layer functionality. The proposed mechanism introduces a level of indirection that abstracts the low-level low-power support of different wireless bearers and exposes a uniform interface to higher-layer entities, such as applications and Universal–Plugand-Play (UPP) agents. We define four abstract NC-PS modes and describe their mapping in the case of Bluetooth, a common wireless bearer for mobile devices, now supported in DLNA. Battery power is an important resource in Ad-hoc networks. It has been observed that in Ad-hoc networks, routing control messages and data transmission, these timers are set and refreshed on-demand. Nodes that are not involved in energy consumption do not reflect the communication activities in the network.

Cloud-based smart asset management for urban flood control

ABSTRACTUrban flooding, frequently occurring in metropolitan areas, is one of the largest disasters worldwide. Albeit a large number of approaches and Enterprise Information Systems (EISs) have been designed for urban flood control, the ineffective management of physical assets has greatly impeded their deployment. Managing diverse physical assets is critical in urban flood control. Challenges exist in sharing assets and services between agencies, and ensuring real-time and flexible decision supports. This paper proposes a cloud-based asset management platform. Cloud technology is adopted for processing the huge amount of data collected by various physical assets and for providing flexible access interfaces. Service-oriented methods are applied to facilitate the sharing of assets and services and to enable the development of flexible and scalable Decision Support Systems (DSSs). Moreover, the concept of smart asset is introduced for remote real-time data collection, and the corresponding software agent model is developed to wrap these diverse assets, realising the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) working mode. Finally, a case study on the urban flood control process of Guangqumen Bridge in Beijing is provided to illustrate the asset management processes of the proposed platform.

Cloud asset for urban flood control

The performance of physical assets has become a major determinant success factor for urban flood control. However, managing these assets is always challenging as there are a huge number of diverse assets involved, which are distributed throughout the city, and owned by different agencies. Aiming at improving the management efficiency of these assets, and ensuring their performance, this paper proposes the concept of cloud asset based on cloud computing, mobile agent, and various smart devices. Through hardware integration and software encapsulation, cloud asset could sense its real-time status, adapt to varied working scenarios, be controlled remotely, and shared among agencies. It enables accurate real-time control of every asset, and thus improves the management efficiency and effectiveness. This paper first presents the concept of cloud asset with its technical architecture, and then analyses the software agent model for cloud asset, which is the key enabler to realize UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) management of assets, and provides mobility and intelligence for them. After that, the framework of cloud asset-enabled workflow management is built, in which cloud asset could be easily found and dynamically invoked by different workflows. Finally, a demonstrative case is provided to verify the effectiveness of cloud asset.

Resource Sharing between Social Network and UPnP Network

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a technology for devices interconnection and resource sharing in the home network. However, the UPnP network has a construct. User can only access local resources within the UPnP network, but user is Unable to access the resources outside the home network such as the resources of the user on the Internet. Now social network is popular, the user has a lot of resources in their own social network. How can the user realize resource sharing on social network to the UPnP network? It can make user can easily access to the user’s social resources on the network in their own UPnP home network. We found that most of the social network based on open platform OAuth authorization to third party that call the API to access the resources in social network. We now put forward a solution that is based on the architecture of UPnP AV, we can extend the media server’s function that call the social network open platform API to realize the resources sharing between social network and the UPnP network.

Brain Computer Interface-Based Smart Living Environmental Auto-Adjustment Control System in UPnP Home Networking

A brain computer interface-based smart living environmental auto-adjustment control system (BSLEACS) is proposed in this paper. Recently, many environmental control systems have been proposed to improve human quality of life. However, little research has focused on environmental control directly using the human physiological state. Based on the advantage of our technique on brain computer interface (BCI), we integrated the BCI technique with universal plug and play (UPnP) home networking for smart house applications. BSLEACS mainly consists of a wireless physiological signal acquisition module, an embedded signal processing module, a simple control protocol/power line communication environmental controller, and a host system. Here, the physiological signal acquisition module and embedded signal processing module were designed for long-term electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring and backend analysis, respectively. The advantages of low power consumption and small volume of the above modules are suitable for smart house applications in daily life. Moreover, different from other BCI systems, the property of using only a single EEG channel to monitor cognitive state also makes BSLEACS become more practicable. BSLEACS has been verified in a practical demo room, and the environmental adjustment can be automatically controlled by the change of the user's cognitive state. BSLEACS provides a novel system prototype for environmental control, and can be simply extended and integrated with the UPnP home networking for other applications.

Smart Devices with Plug and Play Technique for Smart Grid Dispatch and Control System

Smart Grid Systems mainly relies on many secondary automatic systems and information systems, such as Smart Grid Dispatch and Control System, Distribution Automation System, Automatic Safety Devices, Marketing System and etc. These systems are frequently incompatible with many devices and therefore waste much manpower for the compatibility. These systems cannot fulfill automatic configuration, auto-discovery, rapid reconstruction and etc. Plug and Play (PnP) stems from computer and Internet concept. This article bases on "Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)" concept, to build automatic identifying, automatic accessing mechanisms or system architecture in Smart Grid field, in order to realize automatic structuring for the secondary control system and information system, thus realize PnP and rapid restructure for the Smart Grid System, which bases on Smart Grid Dispatch and Control System.

PUCC Activities on Overlay Networking Protocols and Metadata for Controlling and Managing Home Networks and Appliances

Many researches and standardizations have been done for controlling and managing home networks and appliances during past ten years. Such activities and technologies include the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)/Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), the Energy Conservation and Homecare Network (ECHONET), and the Continua Health Alliance. Such technologies control and manage specific home appliances. However, there have been no technologies and standards for controlling and managing heterogeneous home appliances in a consolidated manner. In addition, there are no standards that fully define technologies for controlling and managing home appliances outside home from mobile phones and cloud servers. In addition to the Internet, new networks such as home networks and sensor networks are emerging. Overlay networking is one of the most suitable technologies for communications among home appliances, home gateways (HGWs), mobile phones, and cloud servers over such heterogeneous networks. Metadata is also an important technology for describing various home appliances in a consistent manner. We have designed overlay networking protocols and metadata for controlling and managing heterogeneous home appliances. Peer-to-Peer Universal Computing Consortium (PUCC) was established to deploy our overlay networking and metadata technologies toward de facto standardization. We explain PUCC overlay networking technologies, and their application to home appliances control from a mobile phone, and describe PUCC activities.

The Design of Home Network Middleware for CEaaS of Cloud Computing

디지털 정보 기술의 발달로 홈 네트워크의 시장이 커지고 있는 가운데 홈 네트워크 미들웨어의 연구가 활발히 이루어지고 있다. 특히, 이 기종 기기 간 QoS(Quality of Service)를 보장해줄 수 있는 UPnP(Universal Plug and Play)기반 기술은 다양한 홈 네트워크 서비스 개발에 적용 되고 있다. 이 기술은 사용자와 공유하게 되어 개별 사용자가 원하는 기기의 서비스를 찾는 것이 매우 어려우며 시간이 많이 걸린다. 본 논문에서는 클라우드 컴퓨팅 기반인 CEaaS를 위한 홈 네트워크 미들웨어를 기술하였다. 또한 성능을 평가하기 위해 미들웨어를 사용했을 경우와 사용하지 않았을 경우의 데이터 처리 시간을 측정하였다. 실험 결과를 통해 홈 네트워크 환경에서의 서비스를 효율적으로 제공할 수 있음을 확인할 수 있었다.

Intelligent Sensor System UPnP Networks Interface and Device Selection Realization

The network interface is the key position in an intelligent sensor system to realize plug and play. Based on UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) and IEEE 1451serie standards, an IEEE 1451/UPnP bridge is designed to solve the differences of message formats, self-identification description, and device discovery between these two standards. Using UPnP device selection method based on information axiom, the calculation of parameters information is distributed to each NCAP (Network Capable Application Processor) that meeting the service request. The test results indicate that this method simplifies the service discovery process, reduces network interface data traffic overhead, and increases UPnP device service efficiency.

The Study on Design of U-city Home Network Architecture based on CEaaS of Cloud Computing

최근 이동통신, 초고속 인터넷 등 유무선 통신 네트워크 기술 발전에 따라서 정보 가전기기 기반의 홈 네트워크 서비스는 비약적인 발전을 하고 있다. 특히, 이 기종 기기간 QoS(Quality of Service)를 보장해줄 수 있는 UPnP(Universal Plug and Play)기반 기술은 다양한 홈 네트워크 서비스 개발에 적용 되고 있다. 이 기술은 사용자와 Sharing하게 되어 개별 사용자가 원하는 기기의 서비스를 찾는 것이 매우 어려우며 시간이 많이 걸린다. 이에 본 논문에서는 현재 이슈가 되고 있는 차세대 유비쿼터스 네트워크 환경의 하나인 클라우드 컴퓨팅 기술을 이용하여 새로운 Consumer Electronic as a Service(CEaaS)를 정의하고 U-city Home Network Architecture를 새롭게 설계하였으며 사용자들로 하여금 보다 편리한 인터페이스를 제공하기 위해 최신 기술로 각광 받고 있는 HTML5를 사용하여 인터페이스를 설계하였다.