Dennis Brandão

A fieldbus simulator for training purposes.

This article presents a fieldbus simulation platform and its remote access interface that enables a wide range of experiments, where users can configure operation sequences and procedures typical of Foundation Fieldbus systems. The simulation system was developed using LabVIEW, with requisites of deterministic execution, and a course management work frame web server called Moodle. The results were obtained through three different evaluations: schedule table execution, simulator functionality and finally, simulator productivity and achievement. The evaluation attests that this new tool is feasible, and can be applied for fieldbus automation systems training purposes, considering the robustness and stability in tests and the positive feedback from users.

A confirmation-based geocast routing algorithm for street lighting systems

This work is part of a research project that analyzes and develops efficient technologies for street lighting systems, a wireless sensor network system used for controlling and monitoring electrical variables. The project of a wireless sensor network protocol depends entirely on the application where the network will be used. In street lighting systems, the non-functional requirements are the delivery rate (with priority related to other aspects), latency, energy efficiency and fault tolerance. Based on these requirements, this work presents a new routing network mechanism for confirmation, named GGPSR with confirmation. This algorithm guarantees delivery in any type of topology and it is not restricted to unit planar graphs. Simulation results proved that the algorithm meets the requirements demanded.

Review: A gradient based routing scheme for street lighting wireless sensor networks

Routing for wireless sensor networks based on gradient is a simple, reliable solution resulting in low information costs for the network package, as well as for the node itself. It is used for convergent traffic, where sensor nodes send messages to the sink node. Due to message transmission failures inherent to wireless sensor networks, researches in this area agree that point-to-point message confirmation in these networks is essential. This work proposes solutions for gradient-based routing using a confirmation mechanism for different neighbors, where four protocol variations are evaluated for sensor networks applications in order to monitor and control electrical variables. Results demonstrate that the protocol based on the longest distance has a satisfactory package delivery rate in severe conditions specified to the application. Furthermore, results show in which situations each routing protocol variation better suits the target application.

Developing and implementing an open and non-proprietary device description for FOUNDATION fieldbus based on software standards

Support for interoperability and interchangeability of software components which are part of a fieldbus automation system relies on the definition of open architectures, most of them involving proprietary technologies. Concurrently, standard, open and non-proprietary technologies, such as XML, SOAP, Web Services and the like, have greatly evolved and been diffused in the computing area. This article presents a FOUNDATION fieldbus(TM) device description technology named Open-EDD, based on XML and other related technologies (XLST, DOM using Xerces implementation, OO, XML Schema), proposing an open and non-proprietary alternative to the EDD (Electronic Device Description). This initial proposal includes defining Open-EDDML as the programming language of the technology in the FOUNDATION fieldbus(TM) protocol, implementing a compiler and a parser, and finally, integrating and testing the new technology using field devices and a commercial fieldbus configurator. This study attests that this new technology is feasible and can be applied to other configurators or HMI applications used in fieldbus automation systems.

Software defined networking applied to the heterogeneous infrastructure of Smart Grid

The increased need for power quality monitoring and active control of distribution grid necessitates the introduction of the Smart Grid (SG) approach, requiring an efficient ICT system for the monitoring and control of distribution grid state. The main obstacle to deployment of SG in real system is the lack of an efficient communication infrastructure. The use a heterogeneous network, which employs various technologies, appears to be the most promising solution. Nevertheless, the management of these communication systems has proven to be hard and error prone. In this paper, a Software Defined Networking (SDN) approach has been proposed to manage SG communication system applied to grid monitoring/supervision. The preliminary feasibility analysis is promising, although a more detailed modeling and analysis of the system is needed due to the extreme heterogeneity of the network.

Networked control systems distance learning: state of art, tendencies and a new fieldbus remote laboratory proposal

Due to the increasing presence of the Internet in the academic and residential environment, the literature shows an increasing number of experiments of distance learning in the automation and industrial control area in the last decade, in which theoretical procedures as well as practical lessons, can be carried through remote access. In this context, this article presents a brief survey on the academic experiments in the application of on-line laboratories and introduces a new proposal of remote access architecture based on FOUNDATION fieldbus protocol using a simulated environment.

Public street lighting remote operation and supervision system

Public street lighting system consists of devices distributed in points of light and a supervision and control application. The system architecture is modular and expandable. In developing the work the C# language is adopted to develop the operation and monitoring via standard CyberOPC and XML file types are applied to the device description and definition of the network topology. This paper describes the validation proposed and the results obtained attests that this applied methodology is feasible and can be applied to other public lighting systems. Public street lighting system consists of points of light and a supervision.The architecture of the proposed system is modular and expandable.The system follows standard technologies.The results obtained attests that this applied methodology is feasible.

Flexible Wireless Sensor Network for smart lighting applications

Currently, there is a growing demand for energy efficient solutions in different areas. The improvement of the quality of service and the reduction of resource waste is the goal of new solutions. Smart grids, smart metering systems and smart distributed control systems are the most interesting results of the last years, going to the direction of a new concept: the Smart City. The smartness of these solutions relies of a pervasive communication infrastructure to move information from “production points” to “consuming points”. This work is the description of the research project and development of enhance technologies for a smart, remotely controlled, street lighting system that is also able to include smart metering features. Even if a city delivers very different services, integrated, multi-service, systems have to be preferred thanks to their economical sustainability. The core of the project is an efficient routing strategy for large areas Wireless Sensor Network based on IEEE802.15.4 standard. This paper is focused on the development and performance assessment of the infrastructure for the remote control of the system and the validation in terms of average delivery delay of the measurement/control information.

A geocast routing algorithm intended for street lighting system based on wireless sensor networks

This work is part of research project where are studied and developed efficient technologies highlighted by the ReLuz (Brazilian National Program of Public Lightning and Efficient Light Signalization) program. It is proposed, in that context, the development of remote command and monitoring infrastructure for management purposes for large areas. Specifically, it refers the research and analysis of efficient routing algorithms in terms of energy consumption, guarantee of package delivery and good performance (minimum delay). Two new geocast routing algorithms are implemented and compared with other candidates applied to street lighting system. Such algorithms refer to wireless sensor networks IEEE 802.15.4 through multi-hop and low reach communication, and low cost. The results show that the proposed algorithm GGPSRII saves more energy, presents a good percentage of delivery guarantee, good performance than compared ones.

SMAC multi-hop mesh routing protocol using IEEE 802.15.4

This paper discusses some aspects related to Wireless Sensor Networks over the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and proposes, for the very first time, a mesh network topology with geographic routing integrated to the open Freescale protocol (SMAC - Simple Medium Access Control). For this is proposed the SMAC routing protocol. Before this work the SMAC protocol was suitable to perform one hop communications only. However, with the developed mechanisms, it is possible to use multi-hop communication. Performance results from the implemented protocol are presented and analyzed in order to define important requirements for wireless sensor networks, such as robustness, self-healing property and low latency.