Salvatore F. Pileggi

When the Social Meets the Semantic: Social Semantic Web or Web 2.5

The social trend is progressively becoming the key feature of current Web understanding (Web 2.0). This trend appears irrepressible as millions of users, directly or indirectly connected through social networks, are able to share and exchange any kind of content, information, feeling or experience. Social interactions radically changed the user approach. Furthermore, the socialization of content around social objects provides new unexplored commercial marketplaces and business opportunities. On the other hand, the progressive evolution of the web towards the Semantic Web (or Web 3.0) provides a formal representation of knowledge based on the meaning of data. When the social meets semantics, the social intelligence can be formed in the context of a semantic environment in which user and community profiles as well as any kind of interaction is semantically represented (Semantic Social Web). This paper first provides a conceptual analysis of the second and third version of the Web model. That discussion is aimed at the definition of a middle concept (Web 2.5) resulting in the convergence and integration of key features from the current and next generation Web. The Semantic Social Web (Web 2.5) has a clear theoretical meaning, understood as the bridge between the overused Web 2.0 and the not yet mature Semantic Web (Web 3.0).

A social framework for content distribution in mobile transient networks

Transient networks are spontaneous networks that appear for a short period of time in order to provide basic services such as connectivity and content distribution among a small community. Nowadays mobile devices are becoming multimode by nature providing multiple connection paths. This paper investigates the efficiency and benefit of a mobile transient network where multiple nodes collaborate offering a multihomed network with community services by means of intelligent agents. The paper also proposes the required architecture and negotiation protocols for such scenario with two different services: file downloading and multimedia streaming.

A negotiation framework for content distribution in mobile transient networks

Transient networks are spontaneous networks that appear for a short period of time in order to provide basic services such as connectivity and content distribution among a small community. Nowadays mobile devices are becoming multimode by nature providing multiple connection paths. This paper investigates the efficiency and benefit of a mobile transient network where multiple nodes collaborate, offering a multihomed network with community services by means of intelligent agents. The paper concretely proposes an architecture able to fully support a peer-to-peer transient community during both negotiation and service steps for two different modes: file download and multimedia streaming. The first mode, implemented on intelligent and cooperative agents, provides two negotiation models (fair and dynamic) in order to guarantee wider flexibility for different possible scenarios and community models; the second one implements a content delivery system into transient community, taking advantage of multihomed features of mobile devices.

Timed Parallel Automaton: A Mathematical Tool for Defining Highly Expressive Formal Workflows

The definition and simulation of processes using Work flow technology is becoming more and more popular. In that way, to standardize and simulate complex processes it is needed high expressive languages able to be automatically executed by computers. Currently, high expressive languages that can be used for simulation and definition of processes are based in Petri Nets technology. Nevertheless, Petri Nets are difficult to understand by processes experts with no computer science training or expertise and are more complex to be executed than other simpler approaches like finite automatons. In this paper an automata based mathematical tool with a high expressivity capacity is presented. This framework is easier to understand also by non computer science expert sand its automation is simple in order to allow to experts to define formal work flows that can be easily automated.

Ambient assisted living spaces validation by services and devices simulation

The design of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) products is a very demanding challenge. AAL products creation is a complex iterative process which must accomplish exhaustive prerequisites about accessibility and usability. In this process the early detection of errors is crucial to create cost-effective systems. Computer-assisted tools can suppose a vital help to usability designers in order to avoid design errors. Specifically computer simulation of products in AAL environments can be used in all the design phases to support the validation. In this paper, a computer simulation tool for supporting usability designers in the creation of innovative AAL products is presented. This application will benefit their work saving time and improving the final system functionality.

Probabilistic Semantics

This paper proposes a concise overview of Probabilistic Semantics according to a technology-oriented perspective. Indeed, while the progressive consolidation of Semantic Technology in a wide context and on a large scale is going to be a fact, the non-deterministic character of many problems and environments suggests the rise of additional researches around semantics to integrate the mainstream. Probabilistic extensions and their implications to the current semantic ecosystems are discussed in this paper with an implicit focus on the Web and its evolution. The critical literature review undertaken shows valuable theoretical works, effective applications, evidences of an increasing research interest as the response to real problems, as well as largely unexplored research areas.

Addressing Semantic Geographic Information Systems

The progressive consolidation of information technologies on a large scale has been facilitating and progressively increasing the production, collection, and diffusion of geographic data, as well as facilitating the integration of a large amount of external information into geographic information systems (GIS). Traditional GIS is transforming into a consolidated information infrastructure. This consolidated infrastructure is affecting more and more aspects of internet computing and services. Most popular systems (such as social networks, GPS, and decision support systems) involve complex GIS and significant amounts of information. As a web service, GIS is affected by exactly the same problems that affect the web as a whole. Therefore, next generation GIS solutions have to address further methodological and data engineering challenges in order to accommodate new applications’ extended requirements (in terms of scale, interoperability, and complexity). The conceptual and semantic modeling of GIS, as well as the integration of semantics into current GIS, provide highly expressive environments that are capable of meeting the needs and requirements of a wide range of applications. [...]

Multimode WSN: Improving Robustness, Fault Tolerance and Performance of Randomly Deployed Wireless Sensor Network

This paper proposes an advanced, robust and flexible solution that applies the (revised) concept of Always Best Connected (ABC) Network, typical of multimode modern mobile devices, to Wireless Sensor Network. Hostile environments and unpredictable conditions (e.g. interferences) can negatively affect communication range, potentially increasing the number of unconnected nodes in random deployments. Multimode Wireless Sensor Network (MM-WSN) is provided with an adaptive mechanism for environmental condition evaluation and with the ability of self-configuring itself for optimal networking independence of detected conditions. Proposed solution is based on advanced smart nodes provided with multiple resource in terms of computation, storage, communication and sensing that, with the support of proposed framework, allows complex mechanisms for fault detecting/tolerance and for the increasing of network robustness and performance. Several research issues are addressed by the paper.

An Adaptive and Flexible Fault Tolerance Mechanism Designed on Multi-behavior Agents for Wireless Sensor/Actuator Network

In the last few years, WSN has been object of an intense research activity that has determined an important improvement by technologic and computation point of view both. The notable level got and the increasing request of applications designed over Sensor Networks make WSN commercial diffusion next to be a fact. One of key issues for commercial diffusion of WSN is related to the robustness of architectures. An adaptive and flexible fault tolerant mechanism for WSN is proposed in the paper. Considering the tradeoffs between robustness and energy efficiency as central issue, a programming model based on multi-behavior agents that can guarantee an efficient, dynamic and extendible implementation is proposed too.

An ontological approach to dynamic fine-grained Urban Indicators

Urban indicators provide a unique multi-disciplinary data framework which social scientists, planners and policy makers employ to understand and analyze the complex dynamics of metropolitan regions. Indicators provide an independent, quantitative measure or benchmark of an aspect of an urban environment, by combining different metrics for a given region. While the current approach to urban indicators involves the systematic accurate collection of the raw data required to produce reliable indicators and the standardization of well-known commonly accepted or widely adopted indicators, the next generation of indicators is expected to support a more dynamic, customizable, fine-grained approach to indicators, via a context of interoperability and linked open data. Within this paper, we address these emerging requirements through an ontological approach aimed at (i) establishing interoperability among heterogeneous data sets, (ii) expressing the high-level semantics of the indicators, (iii) supporting indicator adaptability and dynamic composition for specific applications and (iv) representing properly the uncertainties of the resulting ecosystem.