EMMON: a WSN system architecture for large scale and dense real-time embedded monitoring

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted growing interest in the last decade as an infrastructure to support a diversity of ubiquitous computing and cyber-physical systems. However, most research work has focused on protocols or on specific applications. As a result, there remains a clear lack of effective, feasible and usable system architectures that address both functional and non-functional requirements in an integrated fashion. In this paper, we outline the EMMON system architecture for large-scale, dense, real-time embedded monitoring. EMMON provides a hierarchical communication architecture together with integrated middleware and command and control software. It has been designed to use standard commercially-available technologies, while maintaining as much flexibility as possible to meet specific applications requirements. The EMMON architecture has been validated through extensive simulation and experimental evaluation, including a 300+ node test-bed, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the largest single-site WSN test-bed in Europe to date.

Developing persuasive interfaces

MSCC Dissertation in Computer Engineering

Ubiquitous computing and natural interfaces for environmental information

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas Ambientais

Real time fault injection using a modified debugging infrastructure

Dependability is a critical factor in computer systems, requiring high quality validation & verification procedures in the development stage. At the same time, digital devices are getting smaller and access to their internal signals and registers is increasingly complex, requiring innovative debugging methodologies. To address this issue, most recent microprocessors include an on-chip debug (OCD) infrastructure to facilitate common debugging operations. This paper proposes an enhanced OCD infrastructure with the objective of supporting the verification of fault-tolerant mechanisms through fault injection campaigns. This upgraded on-chip debug and fault injection (OCD-FI) infrastructure provides an efficient fault injection mechanism with improved capabilities and dynamic behavior. Preliminary results show that this solution provides flexibility in terms of fault triggering and allows high speed real-time fault injection in memory elements

Unified cooperative location system

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática.

A system verification strategy based on the BST infrastructure

A good verification strategy should bring near the simulation and real functioning environments. In this paper we describe a system-level co-verification strategy that uses a common flow for functional simulation, timing simulation and functional debug. This last step requires using a BST infrastructure, now widely available on commercial devices, specially on FPGAs with medium/large pin-counts.

Reconfigurable IEEE1451-FPGA based weblab infrastructure

Weblabs are spreading their influence in Science and Engineering (S&E) courses providing a way to remotely conduct real experiments. Typically, they are implemented by different architectures and infrastructures supported by Instruments and Modules (I&Ms) able to be remotely controlled and observed. Besides the inexistence of a standard solution for implementing weblabs, their reconfiguration is limited to a setup procedure that enables interconnecting a set of preselected I&Ms into an Experiment Under Test (EUT). Moreover, those I&Ms are not able to be replicated or shared by different weblab infrastructures, since they are usually based on hardware platforms. Thus, to overcome these limitations, this paper proposes a standard solution that uses I&Ms embedded into Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) devices. It is presented an architecture based on the IEEE1451.0 Std. supported by a FPGA-based weblab infrastructure able to be remotely reconfigured with I&Ms, described through standard Hardware Description Language (HDL) files, using a Reconfiguration Tool (RecTool).

Embedding instruments & modules into an IEEE1451-FPGA-Based Weblab infrastructure

Adopting standard-based weblab infrastructures can be an added value for spreading their influence and acceptance in education. This paper suggests a solution based on the IEEE1451.0 Std. and FPGA technology for creating reconfigurable weblab infrastructures using Instruments and Modules (I&Ms) described through standard Hardware Description Language (HDL) files. It describes a methodology for creating and binding I&Ms into an IEEE1451-module embedded in a FPGA-based board able to be remotely controlled/accessed using IEEE1451-HTTP commands. At the end, an example of a step-motor controller module bond to that IEEE1451-module is described.

A modified debugging infrastructure to assist real time fault injection campaigns

Fault injection is frequently used for the verification and validation of the fault tolerant features of microprocessors. This paper proposes the modification of a common on-chip debugging (OCD) infrastructure to add fault injection capabilities and improve performance. The proposed solution imposes a very low logic overhead and provides a flexible and efficient mechanism for the execution of fault injection campaigns, being applicable to different target system architectures.

Design and implementation of an autonomous, proactive, and reactive software infrastructure to help improving the management level of projects

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Cloud-assisted Wireless Body Area Networks

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) have emerged as a promising technology for medical and non-medical applications. WBANs consist of a number of miniaturized, portable, and autonomous sensor nodes that are used for long-term health monitoring of patients. These sensor nodes continuously collect information of patients, which are used for ubiquitous health monitoring. In addition, WBANs may be used for managing catastrophic events and increasing the effectiveness and performance of rescue forces. The huge amount of data collected by WBAN nodes demands scalable, on-demand, powerful, and secure storage and processing infrastructure. Cloud computing is expected to play a significant role in achieving the aforementioned objectives. The cloud computing environment links different devices ranging from miniaturized sensor nodes to high-performance supercomputers for delivering people-centric and context-centric services to the individuals and industries. The possible integration of WBANs with cloud computing (WBAN-cloud) will introduce viable and hybrid platform that must be able to process the huge amount of data collected from multiple WBANs. This WBAN-cloud will enable users (including physicians and nurses) to globally access the processing and storage infrastructure at competitive costs. Because WBANs forward useful and life-critical information to the cloud – which may operate in distributed and hostile environments, novel security mechanisms are required to prevent malicious interactions to the storage infrastructure. Both the cloud providers and the users must take strong security measures to protect the storage infrastructure.

Group-to-group bidirectional Wi-Fi direct communication with two relay nodes

The current capabilities of mobile phones in terms of communication, processing and storage, enables its use to form autonomous networks of devices that can be used in case of collapse or inexistent support from a communication infrastructure. In this paper, we propose a network configuration of nodes that provides high-speed bidirectional device-to-device communication, with symmetrical data transfer rates, in Wi-Fi Direct multi-group scenarios, without using performance hindering broadcasts. Copyright © 2015 ICST.

Mobile device-to-device distributed computing using data sets

The rapidly increasing computing power, available storage and communication capabilities of mobile devices makes it possible to start processing and storing data locally, rather than offloading it to remote servers; allowing scenarios of mobile clouds without infrastructure dependency. We can now aim at connecting neighboring mobile devices, creating a local mobile cloud that provides storage and computing services on local generated data. In this paper, we describe an early overview of a distributed mobile system that allows accessing and processing of data distributed across mobile devices without an external communication infrastructure. Copyright © 2015 ICST.

An adaptive IoT management infrastructure for eco transport networks

The complexity associated with fast growing of B2B and the lack of a (complete) suite of open standards makes difficulty to maintain the underlying collaborative processes. Aligned to this challenge, this paper aims to be a contribution to an open architecture of logistics and transport processes management system. A model of an open integrated system is being defined as an open computational responsibility from the embedded systems (on-board) as well as a reference implementation (prototype) of a host system to validate the proposed open interfaces. Embedded subsystem can, natively, be prepared to cooperate with other on-board units and with IT-systems in an infrastructure commonly referred to as a center information system or back-office. In interaction with a central system the proposal is to adopt an open framework for cooperation where the embedded unit or the unit placed somewhere (land/sea) interacts in response to a set of implemented capabilities.

CANDi: context-aware node discovery for short-range cooperation

Multi-standard mobile devices are allowing users to enjoy higher data rates with ubiquitous connectivity. However, the benefits gained from multiple interfaces come at an expense—that being higher energy consumption in an era where mobile devices need to be energy compliant. One promising solution is the usage of short-range cooperative communication as an overlay for infrastructure-based networks taking advantage of its context information. However, the node discovery mechanism, which is pivotal to the bearer establishment process, still represents a major burden in terms of the total energy budget. In this paper, we propose a technology agnostic approach towards enhancing the MAC energy ratings by presenting a context-aware node discovery (CANDi) algorithm, which provides a priori knowledge towards the node discovery mechanism by allowing it to search nodes in the near vicinity at the ‘right time and at the right place’. We describe the different beacons required for establishing the cooperation, as well as the context information required, including battery level, modes, location and so on. CANDi uses the long-range network (WiMAX and WiFi) to distribute the context information about cooperative clusters (Ultra-wideband-based) in the vicinity. The searching nodes can use this context in locating the cooperative clusters/nodes, which facilitates the establishing of short-range connections. Analytical and simulation results are obtained, and the energy saving gains are further demonstrated in the laboratory using a customised testbed. CANDi saves up to 50% energy during the node discovery process, while the demonstrative testbed shows up to 75% savings in the total energy budget, thus validating the algorithm, as well as providing viable evidence to support the usage of short-range cooperative communications for energy savings.