Basem Almadani

Real-time QoS-aware video streaming: a comparative and experimental study

Due to its flexibility, scalability, real-time, and rich QoS features, Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware provides seamless integration with high-performance, real-time, and mission-critical networks. Unlike traditional client-server communication models, DDS is based on the publish/subscribe communication model. DDS improves video streaming quality through its efficient and high-performance data delivery mechanism. This paper studies and investigates how DDS is suitable for streaming real-time full-motion video over a communication network. Experimental studies are conducted to compare video streaming using a the VLC player with the DDS overlay. Our results depict the superiority of DDS in provisioning quality video streams at the cost of low network bandwidth. The results also show that DDS is more scalable and flexible and is a promised technology for video distribution over IP networks where it uses much less bandwidth while maintaining high quality video stream delivery.

E-AMBULANCE: Real-Time Integration Platform for Heterogeneous Medical Telemetry System☆

Abstract There are a vast number of researches in sensor networks, medical devices, wireless communication, middleware software and software applications that help advance improvements in the healthcare systems. Health monitoring systems deliver health status reports to actors such as people under monitoring, practitioners and coaches for several purposes. In this paper, we propose E-Ambulance framework, which is a smart ambulance system model that provides health monitoring of patients for remote medical professionals. As well as provide an automatic responses of suggestions and warnings to paramedic staff inside an ambulance. Sensor networks record and deliver health status information to other elements of system. Due to the availability of information from sensors networks, an auto response can take place by alarms supervised by Decision Maker unit. Remote decisions can be made in a medical center after receiving inputs generated inside an ambulance. Building a distributed real time system can handle all aspects of time critical systems and hide heterogeneity between elements and different types of data. Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard is used to build the proposed model. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the system in terms of latency and throughput, experiments are performed over DDS middleware. Additionally, to have efficient configuration different QoS policies configurations of DDS are tuned.

Healthcare systems integration using Real Time Publish Subscribe (RTPS) middleware

Most of the distributed systems are heterogeneous by nature, where each device is running on different architecture, platform, and operating system. This heterogeneity significantly affects the system communication performance in terms of throughput and delay. In real-time applications, such as healthcare, military, and radar systems, a slight delay can cause a lot of troubles. Thus, the time factor is very important for those applications where the human life or a lot of investment is concerned. Recently, the Real-Time Publish Subscribe (RTPS) middleware has become one of the effective solutions for the real-time distributed systems problems, due to its proved scalability, reliability, flexibility, and rich set of quality of service policies. In this paper, we develop a real-time architecture for porting the RTPS middleware functions into the healthcare systems. Furthermore, we extensively evaluate the developed system over wired and wireless channels in terms of throughput and delay.

Wireless video streaming over Data Distribution Service middleware

High-quality video transmission over wireless local area networks is one of the most challenging issues nowadays. The Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a promising middleware that can be used for video distribution over WLANs. DDS has a rapid implementation in high-performance and mission-critical networks. This paper evaluates the performance parameters such as throughput and jitter when video transmission is introduced in a 802.11g networks using DDS. Furthermore, it investigates the DDS QoSs that affects video streaming over WLANs which is important when deploying end-to-end video streaming services with quality of service guarantee.

Performance Enhancement of Limited-Bandwidth Industrial Control Systems

Due to its portability, reliability, flexibility, real time and rich set of QoS support, Data Distribution Service (DDs) middleware became one of the best solutions for real time distributed manufacturing systems. Most of these systems are composed of heterogeneous networked devices where network bandwidth represents a very important resource. Those devices include limited-resources devices, such as sensors, actuators and controllers. Thus, controlling such resource will significantly enhance the overall performance of the network in terms of resource utilization, delay, and throughput; moreover, it reduces the cost of using leased network bandwidth by limiting the amount of bandwidth as much as needed. In this paper we propose a solution for controlling the limited-bandwidth networked manufacturing systems by using DDS; and we describe the DDS QoS polices that support manufacturing systems to control network bandwidth. Furthermore, we evaluate DDS middleware performance over Bluetooth channel by measuring latency, throughput and jitter; and examining different QoS parameters to show their effect on improving the existing limited-bandwidth networks.

Scalable Wireless Video Streaming over Real-Time Publish Subscribe Protocol (RTPS)

Enabling Real-Time video streaming over wireless networks faces challenges of time-varying channel conditions and the limited network resources. The instability of wireless networks lead to problems such as limited and time-varying bandwidth and traffic congestion when transmitting a burst of video streams. The time-varying wireless channel conditions expose the transmitted video packets to be delayed or dropped. However, in Real-Time video streaming each frame must be delivered and decoded by its playback time. As a result, efficient Real-Time video streaming requires an efficient video quality of service (QoS) transmission control mechanism to adapt to the network changes. Recently, layer coding (LC) enables Real-Time and scalable video streaming to clients of heterogeneous capabilities by dropping upper enhancement layers without the need of re-encoding and with less bit rate. However, layer coding still facing unfair layer protection problem in which packets from the base or lower layers might be dropped while there is a chance to drop packets from the upper enhancement layers. Loosing packets from the base layer can significantly affect the delivered video quality and sometimes lead to an interruption especially in error-prone networks as wireless networks. Architectural solutions at the middleware level introduce higher flexibility, more efficiency in development time and more QoS control. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of video streaming over Real-Time publish-subscribe based middleware. We propose and develop an unequal layer protection mechanism for Real-Time video streaming based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware, and show the performance of our approach over IEEE 802.11g WLAN networks. Our approach shows a graceful degradation of video quality while maintaining a robust video streaming free of visible error or interruptions.

AVL and Monitoring for Massive Traffic Control System over DDS

This paper proposes a real-time Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and monitoring system for traffic control of pilgrims coming towards the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia based on Data Distribution Service (DDS) specified by the Object Management Group (OMG). DDS based middleware employs Real-Time Publish/Subscribe (RTPS) protocol that implements many-to-many communication paradigm suitable in massive traffic control applications. Using this middleware approach, we are able to locate and track huge number of mobile vehicles and identify all passengers in real-time who are coming to perform annual Hajj. For validation of our proposed framework, various performance matrices are examined over WLAN using DDS. Results show that DDS based middleware can meet real-time requirements in large-scale AVL environment.

Automatic Vehicle Location and Monitoring System based on Data Distribution Service

This paper proposes a real time Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and Monitoring system for pilgrims road transport coming towards city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia based on Data Distribution Service (DDS). This service is a real time publish/subscribe middleware. Using this middleware approach, we are able to locate and track a huge number of mobile vehicles and identify pilgrims for an annual Islamic gathering in the Holy City of Makkah. Performance results are demonstrated for LAN, WLAN and Bluetooth over DDS.

Performance evaluation of DDS-Based middleware over wireless channel for reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) are rapidly becoming choice of production and manufacturing industry due to their quick adaptability to the ever-changing market demands while maintaining the quality and cost of the products. Such systems are usually decentralized in their monitoring and control and consist of heterogeneous components. Therefore, need arises for an interface that can mask the heterogeneity and provide smooth communication among these dissimilar components. Data Distribution Service (DDS) is a data-centric middleware standard based on Real-Time Publish/Subscribe (RTPS) protocol that fulfills the job of such interface in distributed systems. In this work, we present the idea of using DDS-based middleware over commonly used wireless channels like Bluetooth and Industrial WiFi to facilitate data communication in distributed control systems. A simulation model is developed to quantify various performance measures like latency, jitter, and throughput and to examine the suitability of aforementioned wireless channels in distributed monitoring and control environments. The model explores various communication scenarios based upon a practical case study. Obtained results serve as an empirical proof of concept that DDS can ensure reliable and timely data communication in firm real-time distributed control systems using common wireless channels and offer extensive control over various aspects of data transmission through its rich set of QoS policies.

Data Distribution Service (DDS) based implementation of Smart grid devices using ANSI C12.19 standard

Abstract Todays power grid has so many challenges in terms of centralized power generation, limited flow of information, limited support for distribution, poor management of peak loads and power disruptions. Due to these limitations several organizations are working on Smart grid. Smart grid consists of numerous kind of heterogeneous devices that increase the complexity and inefficiency. To cope with heterogeneity and provide interoperability among the communication of these devices, middleware is considered to be the best approach. There are so many middlewares that have been proposed so far but Data Distribution Service (DDS) middleware provides high level of reliability and efficiency by addressing more performance metrics and several QoS policies especially in real time and mission critical applications. We have considered Smart grid standard ANSI C12.19 based DDS deployment in transmission and consumption sides. Data structures are obtained for topics formation over RTI Connext to establish communication and to conduct experimental study for the analysis of interoperability and other performance metrics to prove that DDS is better solution for Smart grid data interoperability and high reliability.