Adamu Murtala Zungeru

Big Sensor Data Systems for Smart Cities

Recent advances in large-scale networked sensor technologies and the explosive growth in big data computing have made it possible for new application deployments in smart cities ecosystems. In this paper, we define big sensor data systems, and survey progress made in the development and applications of big sensor data research. We classify the existing research based on their characteristics and smart city layer challenges. Next, we discuss several applications for big sensor data systems, and explore the potential of large-scale networked sensor technologies for smart cities in the big data era. We conclude this paper by discussing future work directions highlighting some futuristic applications. The aim of this survey paper is to be useful for researchers to get insights into this important area, and motivate the development of practical solutions toward deployment in smart cities.

Optimizing Energy Consumption for Big Data Collection in Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks With Mobile Collectors

Big sensor-based data environment and the emergence of large-scale wireless sensor networks (LS-WSNs), which are spread over wide geographic areas and contain thousands of sensor nodes, require new techniques for energy-efficient data collection. Recent approaches for data collection in WSNs have focused on techniques using mobile data collectors (MDCs) or sinks. Compared to traditional methods using static sinks, the MDC techniques give two advantages for data collection in LS-WSNs. These techniques can handle data collection over spatially separated geographical regions, and have been shown to require lower node energy consumption. Two common models for data collection using MDCs have been proposed: data collection using data mule (MULE), and sensor network with mobile access point (SENMA). The MULE and SENMA approaches can be characterized as representative of the multihop and the single-hop approaches for mobile data collection in WSNs. Although the basic architectures for MULE and SENMA have been well studied, the emergence of LS-WSNs which require partitioning the network into multiple groups and clusters prior to data collection has not been particularly addressed. This paper presents analytical approaches to determine the node energy consumption for LS-WSN MDC schemes and gives models for determining the optimal number of clusters for minimizing the energy consumption. The paper also addresses the tradeoffs when the LS-WSN MULE and SENMA models perform well.

Network traffic monitoring in an industrial environment

With most Universities and Colleges adopting the use of e-learning to provide daily activities for learning, google search and other search engines for research, Internet is then referred to be a critical component of success by the researchers, lecturers and students. Analyzing network traffic is usually a challenging task for network administrators due to the types and complexity of traffic. The growing demand and usage of Internet from both students and staff in university networks also add to the challenges in the network traffic analyses. Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) network is expected to have growing number of hosts with the growing number of staff and students and will be used as the case study. This paper analyzed network usage in BIUST network system hence identifies unproductive network based applications responsible for consuming valuable bandwidth. The bandwidth was monitored using monitoring software called packet sniffer. Packet sniffer (using Ethereal Wireshark version 1.12.4.) was configured as a gateway between the University network system and the Internet over a week monitoring period (working hours of the days), and 60-day monitoring period in a schedule of at least 15 minutes daily, and at least twice a week and 8 times in a month. The data (packets) captured were analyzed using MATLAB which is a tool for graphing network data, and the graphs shows that bandwidth available for the BIUST network system was mostly consumed by non-research based applications. Through this research, future recommendations regarding the BIUST network system is provided.

Pulsed power system for wireless underground sensor networks

In wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs), electronic magnetic waves undergo severe fading due to the underground environment, which is a challenging environment. Magnetic-induction (MI) communication is been used as an optional technique in the communications of WUSNs, which is not so suitable for information transfer in the underground domain due to high path loss, and the need for large antenna size to increase transmission range. There is a high path loss in magnetic induction technique, and as a result, limiting its transmission range. In order to increase the transmission range, an option is to raise the transmitting power level. However, in the underground environment, the power supply level must not be too high because of the limited size of apparatus. This paper proposed a novel method termed Pulse Power Magnetic Induction (PPMI) to solve the problem of high path loss in underground wireless communication so as to increase the transmission range in the environment. Comparative analysis results of the path loss and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with varying distance and operating frequency of our proposed PPMI system in the underground communication to the ordinary MI system showed an improvement in the transmission range of the underground network.

Design and simulation of an automatic room heater control system

This paper presents the design and simulation of an Automatic Room Heater Control system. This system allows the user to set a desired temperature which is then compared to the room temperature measured by a temperature sensor. With the help of a microcontroller, the system responds by turning ON any of the two (2) loads (Fan or a heater) automatically depending on the temperature difference. The Fan is triggered ON when the room temperature is higher than the set temperature and the heater is triggered ON when the room temperature is lower than the set temperature. The system was designed and simulated using Proteus 8, circuit building software used for building electronics system. Proteus software was used to design and simulate the main circuit, and Micro-C hex file was loaded on the Proteus schematic design. For coding the PIC Microcontroller, Micro-C compiler was used. A 5 V DC power supply was designed in order to provide a biasing voltage to most of the active devices used in the system design circuit. The DC power supply was designed and simulated using Multisim software. The system was simulated and simulation results were in accordance to the design specifications.

Network Traffic Model: A Case of BIUST Network

Network traffic model and analysis provides the average load, bandwidth requirements and the different application of the available bandwidth for a particular network, in addition to several other details of the network. This paper presents mathematical model used for modelling real world problems using Botswana International University of Science and technology (BIUST) network traffic as a case. Sophisticated analysis of data is done to model the BIUST network with the succor of statistics, as it implies the collection and interpretation of data through mathematical processes called stochastic processes. From the attained results, the model and estimation of packet traffic distribution for BIUST Network based on Pareto distribution, it was perceived that about 20% of the users had about 80% of the bandwidth consumed.

Design and Implementation of Security in Healthcare Cloud Computing

As technology keeps on evolving, different organisations make use of the recent trends in technology and the health sector is no exception. As the cost of healthcare services is increasing, healthcare professionals are becoming scarce. Healthcare organisations have also adopted the latest technology of cloud computing. The introduction of cloud computing has proved to be a feasible idea on the information technology community. Rather than keeping the patient’s information in a file in a health facility he/she was treated in, the information is stored in a cloud so that it can be shared amongst all health organisations and health professionals. Information is stored in a central place where it can be easily accessed, thus saving time and avoiding repetition of always writing the information each time a patient is attended to in a different facility. However, there are issues with sharing such information on the cloud since it is sensitive information. Ensuring this sensitive information security, availability and scalability are a major factor in the cloud computing environment. In this study, we proposed a mathematical model for measuring the availability of data and machines (nodes). We also present the current state-of-the-art research in this field by focusing on several shortcomings of current healthcare solutions and standards and we further proposed a system that will encrypt data before it is being sent to the cloud. The system is intended to be linked to the cloud in such a way that, before the client submits the data to the cloud and, the data will go through that system for encryption. The paper presents the steps to achieve the proposed system and also a sample encrypted and decrypted file.

Utilizing Social Insect-Based Communities for Routing in Network-based Sensor Systems

The emergence of new technologies such as Internet/Web/Network-of-Things and large scale wireless sensor systems requires the collection of data from an increasing volume of networked-based sensors for analysis. This increases the challenge of routing in network-based sensor systems. This paper presents a study to utilize social insect-based communities for routing in wireless sensor networks. The authors will use for discussion two types of insects: ants and termites. Social insect communities are formed from simple, autonomous and cooperative organisms that are interdependent for their survival. These communities are able to effectively coordinate themselves to achieve global objectives despite a lack of centralized planning. The performances of these insect-based algorithms were tested on common routing scenarios. The results were compared with other routing algorithms with varying network density and showed that insect-based routing techniques improved on network energy consumption with a control over best-effort service.

Experimental Study of the Characteristics of Transformer Oil and Some Selected Vegetable Oils

The world’s energy requirement has been dominated by petroleum oil resources for years in many applications, especially in the area of electricity generation and utilization. Mineral oil application in power system equipment can be potentially hazardous to the environment, especially when there are incidents of transformer explosion, which caused spillages of oil to the soils or water streams and thereby pollute the surrounding environments. This paper is aimed at finding a substitute for the use of mineral oil as transformer oil. Experiments on breakdown voltages, flash points, pour points, viscosities, densities and insulation resistances on conventional mineral oil and some selected vegetable oils were conducted, analyzed and compared to the internationally accepted standards, ASTM (America Standard Test of Material). Rubber seed oil, Palm oil, Mellon oil, Ground oil and Palm kernel oil were found to have good electrical, chemical and thermal properties which the transformer oil has.