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Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities

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A special issue of Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (ISSN 2224-2708). This special issue belongs to the section "Wireless Control Networks".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 79279

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Burak Kantarci

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Guest Editor

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
Interests: Internet of Things; cybersecurity; crowdsensing and social networks; artificial intelligence; connected vehicles; digital health (d-health); sustainable ICT
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Sema Oktug

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Guest Editor

Department of Computer Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak 34469 Istanbul, Turkey
Interests: wireless networks (sensor, mesh, and cognitive); issues related to Internet of Things; performance modelling of computer networks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our lives are being transformed by the interplay between mobile networks, wireless communications and artificial intelligence. This transformation is an outcome of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) concept, and the advancements in computer architectures that translate into high computing power, high performance processing and huge memory capacities. In addition to the IoT, as a very close concept, cyber-physical systems target seamless integration of physical systems with computing and communication resources. Furthermore, in the urban areas, the integration of the “software-defined sensor networks” and “sensing as a service” concepts with the legacy WSN-based systems is leading to the transformation of the conventional city services towards smart cities.

Smart energy, smart driving, smart homes, smart living, smart governance and smart health are just a few services that can be offered by smart cities. Furthermore, while these concepts are the major application areas, smart citizens close the loop by participating in sensing, actuating and decision making processes. In the smart cities, legacy WSN-based services are extended by having citizens act as sensors. Opportunistic or participatory sensing models enable groups of individuals to collaboratively work towards the same goal with strong interaction links even though this does not always require strong social links between them. Thus, dedicated and non-dedicated wireless sensors form communities; collaborating communities form social networks where interaction can occur in the form of software-defined sensing. This transformation in WSNs introduces unique solutions for the communication plane of smart cities.

In addition to the communication plane challenges, the smart environments require the IoT and WSN sensors to report massive amount of unstructured data in heterogeneous format, which in turn leads to the big sensed data phenomenon. Additionally, addressing the high volume by effective machine learning or data mining techniques, novel data acquisition and processing methodologies for big sensed data are emergent in order to address the high velocity, high variety and high veracity aspects. Moreover, in order to offer smart city services effectively, it is viable to envision massive amount of connected wireless/wired sensors/IoT devices. Thus, scalability remains an open issue in integration the components of a smart city that are mentioned above. While ensuring scalability and connectivity of this infrastructure remains an open issue, battery-limitation of wireless sensors is a grand challenge especially in time sensitive services in smart cities.

In this Special Issue, we are seeking submissions that focus on novel solutions for wireless sensor and actuator networks in smart cities. This Special Issue invites academic and industry researchers in computer science and engineering, electrical engineering and communication engineering, as well as ICT industry engineers and practitioners, to contribute with original articles in all aspects of wireless sensor network and actuator systems for smart cities.

Contributions may include, but are not limited to:

Physical layer challenges in WSNs in smart city applications
Cross-layer solutions for WSNs and IoT to support smart city services
WSN and Internet of Things (IoT) architectures, protocols, platforms and algorithms
Device-to-Device networks for smart cities.
Application-layer protocols for WSNs to enable efficient smart city applications
Planning of sensor networks in smart cities
The interplay between dedicated and non-dedicated sensing
Opportunistic and participatory sensing in smart cities
Design and Management of Mobile Crowd-Sensing Systems in smart cities
Energy harvesting solutions for WSNs in smart cities
Vehicular sensing solutions for smart city applications
Novel sensory data acquisition techniques
Real time and near-real time data analytics on sensory data
Software Defined Sensor Networks and Sensing as a Service in smart cities
Security, Privacy and Trust in Smart City Sensing
Smart city big data and open data
Standards for IoT and WSNs in smart city applications
Application, deployment, testbed, experiment experiences and innovative applications for WSN-enabled smart cities
IoT-driven smart Governance, smart economy and smart environment

Dr. Burak Kantarci
Prof. Dr. Sema Oktug
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

wireless sensor and actuator networks
smart cities
Internet of Things
cyber-physical systems
device-to-device networks
opportunistic sensing
participatory sensing
big sensed data
sensory data acquisition
smart citizens
non-dedicated sensing
social sensing

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

5 pages, 185 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue: Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities

by Burak Kantarci and Sema F. Oktug

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(4), 49; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7040049 - 17 Nov 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5891

Abstract

Our lives are being transformed by the interplay between mobile networks, wireless communications, and artificial intelligence. [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

17 pages, 1145 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Opportunistically Exploiting Internet of Things for Wireless Sensor Network Routing in Smart Cities

by Shaza Hanif, Ahmed M. Khedr, Zaher Al Aghbari and Dharma P. Agrawal

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(4), 46; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7040046 - 30 Oct 2018

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 7461

Abstract

With the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT), the research on Smart Cities with wireless sensor networks (WSNs) got leveraged due to similarities between objectives in both Smart City and IoT. Along with them, research in controlling WSN faces new challenges and opportunities for data aggregation and routing has received consistent focus from researchers. Yet new techniques are being proposed to address modern challenges in WSN and efficient resource utilization. Moreover, solutions are required to integrate existing deployed WSN with ever increasing numbers of IoT devices in Smart Cities, that benefit both. In this work, we present an approach for routing in a WSN, in which IoT is used opportunistically to reduce the communication overhead of the sensors. In our approach, WSN deployed in a Smart City interacts with the IoT devices to route the data to the sink. We build a prototype Integration Platform for the WSN that allows interaction with IoT devices and utilizes them opportunistically that results in an energy efficient routing of data. Simulation results show that the direction is quite promising and our approach offers to utilize IoT to gain unique advantages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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19 pages, 9490 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Optimisation of a Solar Energy Harvesting System for Wireless Sensor Network Nodes

by Himanshu Sharma, Ahteshamul Haque and Zainul Abdin Jaffery

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(3), 40; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7030040 - 7 Sep 2018

Cited by 62 | Viewed by 13266

Abstract

The Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are the basic building blocks of today’s modern internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure in smart buildings, smart parking, and smart cities. The WSN nodes suffer from a major design constraint in that their battery energy is limited and can only work for a few days depending upon the duty cycle of operation. The main contribution of this research article is to propose an efficient solar energy harvesting solution to the limited battery energy problem of WSN nodes by utilizing ambient solar photovoltaic energy. Ideally, the Optimized Solar Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Network (SEH-WSN) nodes should operate for an infinite network lifetime (in years). In this paper, we propose a novel and efficient solar energy harvesting system with pulse width modulation (PWM) and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for WSN nodes. The research focus is to increase the overall harvesting system efficiency, which further depends upon solar panel efficiency, PWM efficiency, and MPPT efficiency. Several models for solar energy harvester system have been designed and iterative simulations were performed in MATLAB/SIMULINK for solar powered DC-DC converters with PWM and MPPT to achieve optimum results. From the simulation results, it is shown that our designed solar energy harvesting system has 87% efficiency using PWM control and 96% efficiency

(η_{s y s})

by using the MPPT control technique. Finally, an experiment for PWM controlled SEH-WSN is performed using Scientech 2311 WSN trainer kit and a Generic LM2575 DC-DC buck converter based solar energy harvesting module for validation of simulation results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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16 pages, 2246 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Instrumented Wireless SmartInsole System for Mobile Gait Analysis: A Validation Pilot Study with Tekscan Strideway

by Faisal Arafsha, Christina Hanna, Ahmed Aboualmagd, Sarah Fraser and Abdulmotaleb El Saddik

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(3), 36; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7030036 - 20 Aug 2018

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 9759

Abstract

A SmartInsoles Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is designed and implemented for the purpose of measuring gait parameters of multiple users in a restriction-free environment. This CPS comprises a master software installed on a computer and numerous multi-sensory health devices in the form of smart insoles. Each of these insoles contains 12 Force-Sensitive Resistor (FSR) sensors, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), a WiFi-enabled microcontroller and a battery to power all components. A validation pilot study was completed in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa by performing 150 trials on 15 healthy subjects. Each subject performed 10 walks on the Tekscan Strideway gait mat system, while simultaneously wearing the designed SmartInsoles CPS. Spatiotemporal data for over 450 unique steps were collected by both systems. These data were analyzed carefully, and a thorough comparison was performed between the results from the two systems. Seven parameters were analyzed in this study: stride time, stance time, swing time, double support time, step time, cadence and gait time. Detailed results in the form of tables, scatterplots, histograms and Bland–Altman graphs were generated. Analysis of the results shows high agreement between the values of the two systems and suggests high accuracy of the implemented CPS as a multi-device, multi-sensory system for gait measurement and analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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11 pages, 2781 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Activity Recognition Using Gazed Text and Viewpoint Information for User Support Systems

by Shun Chiba, Tomo Miyazaki, Yoshihiro Sugaya and Shinichiro Omachi

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(3), 31; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7030031 - 2 Aug 2018

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6107

Abstract

The development of information technology has added many conveniences to our lives. On the other hand, however, we have to deal with various kinds of information, which can be a difficult task for elderly people or those who are not familiar with information devices. A technology to recognize each person’s activity and providing appropriate support based on that activity could be useful for such people. In this paper, we propose a novel fine-grained activity recognition method for user support systems that focuses on identifying the text at which a user is gazing, based on the idea that the content of the text is related to the activity of the user. It is necessary to keep in mind that the meaning of the text depends on its location. To tackle this problem, we propose the simultaneous use of a wearable device and fixed camera. To obtain the global location of the text, we perform image matching using the local features of the images obtained by these two devices. Then, we generate a feature vector based on this information and the content of the text. To show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we performed activity recognition experiments with six subjects in a laboratory environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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29 pages, 6194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Trajectory-Assisted Municipal Agent Mobility: A Sensor-Driven Smart Waste Management System

by Ahmed Omara, Damla Gulen, Burak Kantarci and Sema F. Oktug

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(3), 29; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7030029 - 21 Jul 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 8844

Abstract

Ubiquity, heterogeneity and dense deployment of sensors have yielded the Internet of Things (IoT) concept, which is an integral component of various smart spaces including smart cities. Applications and services in a smart city ecosystem aim at minimizing the cost and maximizing the quality of living. Among these services, waste management is a unique service that covers both aspects. To this end, in this paper, we propose a WSN-driven system for smart waste management in urban areas. In our proposed framework, the waste bins are equipped with sensors that continuously monitor the waste level and trigger alarms that are wirelessly communicated to a cloud platform to actuate the municipal agents, i.e., waste collection trucks. We formulate an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model to find the best set of trajectory-truck with the objectives of minimum cost or minimum delay. In order for the trajectory assistance to work in real time, we propose three heuristics, one of which is a greedy one. Through simulations, we show that the ILP formulation can provide a baseline reference to the heuristics, whereas the non-greedy heuristics can significantly outperform the greedy approach regarding cost and delay under moderate waste accumulation scenarios. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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22 pages, 2299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Priority-Based Machine-To-Machine Overlay Network over LTE for a Smart City

by Nargis Khan, Jelena Mišić and Vojislav B. Mišić

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(3), 27; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7030027 - 12 Jul 2018

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6395

Abstract

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and its improvement, Long-Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), are attractive choices for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication due to their ubiquitous coverage and high bandwidth. However, the focus of LTE design was high performance connection-based communications between human-operated devices (also known as human-to-human, or H2H traffic), which was initially established over the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). On the other hand, M2M traffic is mostly based on contention-based transmission of short messages and does not need connection establishment. As a result, M2M traffic transmitted over LTE PRACH has to use the inefficient four-way handshake and compete for resources with H2H traffic. When a large number of M2M devices attempts to access the PRACH, an outage condition may occur; furthermore, traffic prioritization is regulated only through age-based power ramping, which drives the network even faster towards the outage condition. In this article, we describe an overlay network that allows a massive number of M2M devices to coexist with H2H traffic and access the network without going through the full LTE handshake. The overlay network is patterned after IEEE 802.15.6 to support multiple priority classes of M2M traffic. We analyse the performance of the joint M2M and H2H system and investigate the trade-offs needed to keep satisfactory performance and reliability for M2M traffic in the presence of H2H traffic of known intensity. Our results confirm the validity of this approach for applications in crowd sensing, monitoring and others utilized in smart city development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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20 pages, 3481 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Designing and Managing a Smart Parking System Using Wireless Sensor Networks

by Adil Hilmani, Abderrahim Maizate and Larbi Hassouni

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(2), 24; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7020024 - 6 Jun 2018

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 12949

Abstract

For several years, the population of cities has continued to multiply at a rapid pace. The main cause of this phenomenon in developing countries like Morocco is the rural exodus. In fact, rural youth are increasingly attracted by the modern way of life and the opportunities of employment offered by cities. This increase in population density has a large number of negative effects on the quality of life in the city. The most obvious is the intensity of the traffic, which has become an almost insurmountable problem and which causes a great deal of damage, such as the increase in the number of accidents that cause serious bodily harm to the road users, the pollution caused by the large amount of CO₂ released by the vehicles, and the continuous stress of drivers who must drive in often narrow and very busy roads and who must look for a long time to find a space to park. Thus, to solve the parking problem, several modern technologies have been created to equip car parks with smart devices that help road users identify the nearest car park that has a free space. These technologies most often use wireless sensor networks and Internet of Things (IoT) technology. In this paper, we present the design and development of a smart parking system using the latest technologies based on wireless sensor networks (WSN). Our system uses an adaptable and hybrid self-organization algorithm for wireless sensor networks that adapts to all types of car parks existing in the city (linear and mass parking), and offers a better management of the energy consumption during the wireless communication to increase the lifetime of the sensor nodes and the longevity of the WSN. This system also offers innovative services which facilitate the task to the drivers when looking for an available parking space in the city near their destination, in a fast and efficient manner. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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19 pages, 2056 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Low-Cost IoT: A Holistic Approach

by Augusto Ciuffoletti

J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2018, 7(2), 19; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan7020019 - 8 May 2018

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 7507

Abstract

The key factors for a successful smart-city project are its initial cost and its scalability. The initial cost depends on several inter-related aspects that cannot be designed and optimized separately. After the pilot deployment, scaling-up takes place only if the cost remains affordable: an initial financial support may induce dependencies from technologies that become unsustainable in the long period. In addition, the initial adoption of an emerging technology that fails to affirm may jeopardize investment return. This paper investigates a smart-village use case, the success of which strongly depends on the initial cost and scalability, exploring a low-cost way for Internet of Things (IoT). We propose a simple conceptual framework for cost evaluation, and we verify its effectiveness with an exhaustive use case: a prototype sensor designed and tested with its surrounding eco-system. Using experimental results, we can estimate both performance and cost for a pilot system made of fifty sensors deployed in an urban area. We show that such cost grows linearly with system size, taking advantage of widely adopted technologies. The code and the design of the prototype are available, so that all steps are reproducible. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks for Smart Cities)

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