Juhani Latvakoski

A communication architecture for spontaneous systems

In this article a communication architecture concept for spontaneous systems is provided. The concept integrates application-level spontaneous group communication and ad hoc networking together. A service gateway is applied as a key architecture element to connect multiple technologies and networks together. A set of methods to enable plug and play, addressing and mobility, peer-to-peer connectivity, and use of services is provided. Finally, the provided methods are discussed based on the realized research experiments.

Towards Horizontal Architecture for Autonomic M2M Service Networks

Today, increasing number of industrial application cases rely on the Machine to Machine (M2M) services exposed from physical devices. Such M2M services enable interaction of physical world with the core processes of company information systems. However, there are grand challenges related to complexity and “vertical silos” limiting the M2M market scale and interoperability. It is here expected that horizontal approach for the system architecture is required for solving these challenges. Therefore, a set of architectural principles and key enablers for the horizontal architecture have been specified in this work. A selected set of key enablers called as autonomic M2M manager, M2M service capabilities, M2M messaging system, M2M gateways towards energy constrained M2M asset devices and creation of trust to enable end-to-end security for M2M applications have been developed. The developed key enablers have been evaluated separately in different scenarios dealing with smart metering, car sharing and electric bike experiments. The evaluation results shows that the provided architectural principles, and developed key enablers establish a solid ground for future research and seem to enable communication between objects and applications, which are not initially been designed to communicate together. The aim as the next step in this research is to create a combined experimental system to evaluate the system interoperability and performance in a more detailed manner.

Interaction of all IP mobile Internet devices with networked appliances in a residential home

This paper deals with the interaction of all IP mobile Internet devices with networked appliances in a residential home. Two novel mechanisms are described and demonstrated: pointing as an indication of user interest, and user interface loading from the home appliance to a mobile Internet device. The user pointing action is used as a source to both collecting the context information of the user, and triggering the execution of the user interface loading procedure. The provided mechanisms are described in the form of a use scenario, and implemented using a session initiation protocol (SIP) and an open service gateway (OSGi) platform.

IPv6 prefix delegation-based addressing solution for a mobile personal area network

This paper provides a dynamic IPv6 prefix delegation-based addressing solution to enable Internet connectivity when a Personal Area Network (PAN) is moving between sub-networks. A PAN consists of a cluster of mobile devices, which are dynamically connected with each other and move around together. The approach is based on IPv6 stateless address auto-configuration, and Automatic Prefix Delegation Protocol for IPv6. The problems related to addressing, mobility and IPv6 prefix delegation are evaluated with the constructed prototype. The experiences indicate that the solution is quite light and enables session continuity in subnet changes for any mobile node of a PAN. In addition, the solution does not exclude application of Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6), however Mobile IPv6 is not necessarily needed when Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based mobility is applied By using SIP, route optimization is also achieved and IPv6 encapsulation is avoided with UDP-based sessions. However, the solution is not necessarily very scalable to big mobile networks.

A Survey on M2M Service Networks

The number of industrial applications relying on the Machine to Machine (M2M) services exposed from physical world has been increasing in recent years. Such M2M services enable communication of devices with the core processes of companies. However, there is a big challenge related to complexity and to application-specific M2M systems called “vertical silos”. This paper focuses on reviewing the technologies of M2M service networks and discussing approaches from the perspectives of M2M information and services, M2M communication and M2M security. Finally, a discussion on technologies and approaches potentially enabling future autonomic M2M service networks are provided. According to our conclusions, it is seen that clear definition of the architectural principles is needed to solve the “vertical silo” problem and then, proceeding towards enabling autonomic capabilities for solving complexity problem appears feasible. Several areas of future research have been identified, e.g., autonomic information based services, optimization of communications with limited capability devices, real-time messaging, creation of trust and end to end security, adaptability, reliability, performance, interoperability, and maintenance.

Distributed service platform for adaptive mobile services

A novel distributed middleware service platform, called MidGate platform, is presented in this paper. The central contribution is description of the developed MidGate platform and its architecture focusing especially on the adaptation, context‐awareness, and personalization of mobile and pervasive services. The research problem addressed is how to facilitate the development of interoperable applications and services into heterogeneous and distributed service gateway based environments. A requirement analysis of future mobile and pervasive services and key technologies has been carried out to establish a solid base and requirements for the development of the MidGate platform. The key mechanisms supporting adaptation, context‐awareness, and personalization of applications and services are presented. The novel middleware architecture solution of the MidGate platform utilizing these key mechanisms is also described. The MidGate architecture utilizes the emerging Generic Service Elements (GSE) approach, where ...

MidGate: middleware platform for service gateway based distributed systems

The contribution of this paper is to present a novel and well-experimented middleware service platform and its architecture for service gateway based distributed systems. This is called the MidGate platform. The research problem that the MidGate platform addresses is how to facilitate the development of interoperable applications into heterogeneous and distributed service gateway based environments. The paper is based on the constructive method of analyzing the related research results, technologies, and trial systems. The MidGate platform is a middleware platform that provides communication middleware, a set of generic service elements, and a dynamically reconfigurable service framework to be applied in the development and deployment of distributed applications. The MidGate architecture is defined on the basis of the requirements of real applications, and it is evaluated in a series of laboratory prototypes reviewed in the paper.

Vertical handover during a VoIP call in hybrid mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract This paper provides experimental measurement results of network mobility (NEMO) based vertical handover of the mobile ad hoc network between WLAN and 3G interfaces. The tests are executed in a laboratory environment during VoIP calls, video streaming and using ping as a test application. Especially, the end to end delays between the static network node and ad hoc network nodes, when vertical handover is happening between 3G and WLAN interfaces has been measured and analysed.

A user centric peer-to-peer service environment for interaction with networked appliances

This paper deals with enabling technologies of a user centric future wireless world. The concept of user centric peer-to-peer service environment is provided and demonstrated in a residential home environment. The construction is based on the application of session initiation protocol and open service gateway platform to establish a peer-to-peer service environment for a single user. User centricity of the provided concept comes from easy management and control of surrounding networked appliances. A video based remote controlling of a toy car and controlling of X.10 devices is used as a case study for validation of the concept. Finally, experiences based on the constructed prototype are provided.

Simulation-Based Approach for Studying the Balancing of Local Smart Grids with Electric Vehicle Batteries

Modern society is facing great challenges due to pollution and increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As part of solving these challenges, the use of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly increasing. However, increased dynamics have triggered problems in balancing energy supply and consumption demand in the power systems. The resulting uncertainty and unpredictability of energy production, consumption, and management of peak loads has caused an increase in costs for energy market actors. Therefore, the means for studying the balancing of local smart grids with EVs is a starting point for this paper. The main contribution is a simulation-based approach which was developed to enable the study of the balancing of local distribution grids with EV batteries in a cost-efficient manner. The simulation-based approach is applied to enable the execution of a distributed system with the simulation of a local distribution grid, including a number of charging stations and EVs. A simulation system has been constructed to support the simulation-based approach. The evaluation has been carried out by executing the scenario related to balancing local distribution grids with EV batteries in a step-by-step manner. The evaluation results indicate that the simulation-based approach is able to facilitate the evaluation of smart grid– and EV-related communication protocols, control algorithms for charging, and functionalities of local distribution grids as part of a complex, critical cyber-physical system. In addition, the simulation system is able to incorporate advanced methods for monitoring, controlling, tracking, and modeling behavior. The simulation model of the local distribution grid can be executed with the smart control of charging and discharging powers of the EVs according to the load situation in the local distribution grid. The resulting simulation system can be applied to the study of balancing local smart grids with EV batteries. Based on the evaluation results, it is estimated that the simulation-based approach can provide an essential, safe, and cost-efficient method for the evaluation of complex, critical cyber-physical systems, such as smart grids.