bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Online Data for Student Investigations in Biology and Ecology
Authors: Trautmann Nancy M. , McLinn Colleen M.
Published: October 2011

Undergraduate research experiences are difficult to provide in large classes, institutions with no lab or field facilities, and distance-learning courses. This chapter illustrates how to overcome such obstacles and engage undergraduates in environmental and life science investigations using large and rapidly growing online databases including ecological data derived through citizen science and behavioral data available through Cornell University’s archive of sound and video. Examples are provided of driving questions and curricular support of undergraduate investigations focusing on two themes central to undergraduate biology: 1) ecology and conservation, and 2) organismal biology and behavior. These database investigations serve one or more of three pedagogical goals: 1) to enable undergraduates to conduct ecological and biological research in any setting, even where fieldwork is impossible, 2) to set the scene for student fieldwork, or 3) to make it possible for students to view their field data within the context of broader temporal and geographic trends.
Designing Learning Ecosystems for Mobile Social Media
Authors: Multisilta Jari
Published: October 2011

Social media has gained interest not only in entertainment applications, but also with learning and business applications; however, there are not many research frameworks available for designing learning activities for learning ecosystems based on mobile social media. In this chapter, a framework for designing and analyzing learning activities in learning ecosystems that are based on mobile and social media is presented. The framework is based on Activity Theory (AT) and Experiential Learning Theory (ELT). In the chapter the existing research on e-learning, mobile learning, and multimodal learning are discussed and reviewed. The research on learning ecosystems based on mobile social media is also positioned to this multi-scientific research field. Finally, two examples of using the framework for designing, learning, and analyzing learning activities in mobile social media learning ecosystems are presented.
Designing for Active Learning
Authors: Smith Carl , Bradley Claire , Cook John , Pratt-Adams Simon
Published: October 2011

This chapter will focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a recent location based, context aware system for urban education students, trainee teachers, and language learning students. We first describe the detailed design of a case iteration centered on urban education and then move on to briefly describe how the design was iteratively adapted using evolutionary prototyping for language learning. Evaluation results are presented which detail the range of learning outcomes achieved from the point of view of the students. We then discuss future work that incorporates social media and augmented reality. The chapter concludes by discussing the active learning that our design appears to encourage. A major conclusion is that there is much to commend the Zone of Proximal Development context sensitive design as a catalyst for active learning.
Designing a Model for Enhanced Teaching and Meaningful E-Learning
Authors: Ruokamo Heli , Hakkarainen Päivi , Eriksson Miikka
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we describe the informed design of a specific pedagogical model in the context of higher education. We have developed the model of Enhanced Teaching and Meaningful e-Learning to design, implement, and evaluate the use of educational technology. Although a great number of pedagogical models already exist, we argue that development of new models remains crucial. Despite decades of development, teachers still need functional examples of how to use educational technology in a pedagogically meaningful way. In this chapter, we present a theoretical framework for our model design, taking into account previous models and characteristics of meaningful learning. We then present our research strategy along with the research questions we have posed. Additionally, we describe the course we have designed and implemented as well as the participants in this course. We follow this with an evaluation of successes, both in the course implementation, as well as the model design. Next, this chapter will present our data collection and analysis methods, as well as the research results. Finally, at the end of the chapter, we present future research trajectories of the model and recommendations for how to further develop the course.
Multi-Faceted Professional Development Models Designed to Enhance Teaching and Learning within Universities
Authors: Scott Donald E , Scott Shelleyann
Published: October 2011

In this chapter we advocate the reconceptualisation of pedagogical focused professional development to a more flexible and systematic approach and present two technology-oriented models. This chapter is of interest to a range of educational stakeholders including university professional developers, academics, leaders, students, and support staff. Two mixed method case studies of students’ and academics’ experiences of online and blended teaching and learning informed the design of the models. These multi-faceted models are designed to promote effective pedagogically-focused professional development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, social and professional networking, and supportive university leadership all aimed at improving teaching and learning. We articulate how the integration of technology can facilitate all of these important activities. It is anticipated that, if implemented, these models will result in a more pedagogically- and techno- efficacious academy; more satisfied and successful graduates; more informed, involved, and trusted leaders; greater sustainability for programmes; and the enhancement of institutional reputation.
Matheuristics for Inventory Routing Problems
Authors: Bertazzi Luca , Speranza M. Grazia
Published: October 2011

In this chapter the authors review the main heuristic approaches for the solution of inventory routing problems and present the most recent and interesting ideas for the design of a new class of heuristics, that they call matheuristics. A matheuristic embeds, in a heuristic or metaheuristic scheme, the exact solution of one or several mathematical programming models and rely on the power of commercial software.
Vehicle Routing Models and Algorithms for Winter Road Spreading Operations
Authors: Perrier Nathalie , Campbell James F. , Gendreau Michel , Langevin André
Published: October 2011

Winter road maintenance operations involve challenging vehicle routing problems that can be addressed using operations research (OR) techniques. Three key problems involve routing trucks and specialized vehicles for spreading chemicals and abrasives on roadways, snow plowing, and snow disposal, all of which are undertaken in a very difficult and dynamic operating environment with stringent level of service constraints. This chapter provides a survey of recent optimization models and solution methodologies for the routing of vehicles for spreading operations. The authors also present a detailed classification scheme for spreader routing models developed over the past 40 years. Key trends in recent model developments include the inclusion of more details of the practical operating constraints, the use of more sophisticated hybrid solution strategies and consideration of more comprehensive models that integrate vehicle routing with models for other related strategic winter maintenance problems. They highlight some factors that may be limiting the application of OR models in practice and discuss promising future research trends.
A Hybrid Particle Swarm Algorithm for Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling
Authors: Czogalla Jens , Fink Andreas
Published: October 2011

The authors present and analyze a particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP). It incorporates well-known procedures such as the serial schedule generation scheme and it is hybridized with forward-backward improvement. The authors investigate the application of PSO in comparison to state-of-the-art methods from the literature. They conduct extensive computational experiments using a benchmark set of problem instances. The reported results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid particle swarm optimization approach is competitive. They significantly improve previous results of PSO for the RCPSP and provide new overall best average results for the medium size data set. Furthermore, the authors provide insights into the importance of crucial components for achieving high-quality results.
Marriage in Honeybee Optimization to Scheduling Problems
Authors: Palominos Pedro , Parada Victor , Gatica Gustavo , Véjar Andrés
Published: October 2011

The biological inspired optimization techniques have proven to be powerful tools for solving scheduling problems. Marriage in Honeybee Optimization is a recent biological technique that attempts to emulate the social behavior in a bee colony and although has been applied to only a limited number of problems, it has delivered promising results. By means of this technique in this chapter the authors explore the solution space of scheduling problems by identifying an appropriate representation for each studied case. Two cases were considered: the minimization of earliness-tardiness penalties in a single machine scheduling and the permutation flow shop problem. The performance was evaluated for the first case with 280 instances from the literature. The technique performed quite well for a wide range of instances and achieved an average improvement of 1.4% for all instances. They obtained better solutions than the available upper bound for 141 instances. In the second case, they achieved an average error of 3.5% for the set of 120 test instances.
Global Bacteria Optimization Meta-Heuristic
Authors: Solano-Charris Elyn L. , Gómez-Vizcaíno Libardo S. , Montoya-Torres Jairo R. , Paternina-Arboleda Carlos D.
Published: October 2011

A large number of real-life optimization problems in economics and business are complex and difficult to solve. Hence, using approximate algorithms is a very good alternative to solve this class of problems. Meta-heuristics solution procedures represent general approximate algorithms applicable to a large variety of optimization problems. Most of the meta-heuristics mimic natural metaphors to solve complex optimization problems. This chapter presents a novel procedure based on Bacterial Phototaxis, called Global Bacteria Optimization (GBO) algorithm, to solve combinatorial optimization problems. The algorithm emulates the movement of an organism in response to stimulus from light. The effectiveness of the proposed meta-heuristic algorithm is first compared with the well-known meta-heuristic MOEA (Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm) using mathematical functions. The performance of GBO is also analyzed by solving some single- and multi-objective classical jobshop scheduling problems against state-of-the-art algorithms. Experimental results on well-known instances show that GBO algorithm performs very well and even outperforms existing meta-heuristics in terms of computational time and quality of solution.
Hybrid Heuristics for the Territory Alignment Problem
Authors: Freire de Sousa Jorge , Barros-Basto José A. , Júnior Paulo Lima
Published: October 2011

This chapter also illustrates the potential of the proposed approach as a practical and readily implementable management decision aid in the context of a current case that involved the maintenance team of a Portuguese regional office of a worldwide equipment company.
Unarmed Prophets Have Come to Grief
Authors: Adelstein Jennifer
Published: October 2011

The chapter also examines the literature on the managerial conception of trust in organizations. It shows that management is more concerned with developing structured trust systems to facilitate command and control and is less concerned with individuals working towards developing trustworthy relationships with others for their own benefit and ultimately for the success of their organization.
The Importance of Collaboration in Knowledge Management in Public Services
Authors: Moreira António , Zimmermann Ricardo Augusto
Published: October 2011

The methodology was based on qualitative data gathered from three case studies and collected from semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted in the three municipalities. These, in turn, were selected from the participants in the Simplex program. This chapter highlights the role of national programs in the transfer of knowledge to the local municipalities as well as its importance in the development of their knowledge absorption capabilities.
Micro-Level Stickiness as a Threat to Client Centric Knowledge Transfer among ICT Firms in Malaysian Technology Parks
Authors: Ismail Yusof , Sarif Suhaimi Mhd
Published: October 2011

The study in this chapter was carried out to ascertain whether the national ICT initiative on facilitating knowledge transfer among ICT firms by providing dedicated technology parks throughout Malaysia was client centric. It examines the issue from a micro level perspective of stickiness of knowledge transfer, which includes transfer mechanisms, types of transfer, knowledge barriers, and transfer contexts. The study solicited the opinions of competent informants (i.e., policy makers and competent ICT leaders) through face-to-face interviews in three technology parks located in northern and central Peninsular Malaysia (Kulim High Technology Park; MSC, Cyberjaya; and Selangor Science Park). The results confirm the presence of stickiness in terms of mechanisms specified in the literature.
Customer Service in an Emerging Market (UAE)
Authors: Al Mehairbi Rawdha Khamis , Cader Yoosuf
Published: October 2011

Most organizations were training their employees in customer service but the areas in which they are trained may not necessarily be appropriate.
Strategic Imperatives for Customer Centric Approach
Authors: Baporikar Neeta
Published: October 2011

Organizations have been forced to transform themselves from “product-centric” to “customer-centric” for various reasons. Becoming customer centric is one of the most important aims of any organization. Customer Relationship Management has attracted the attention of both marketing practitioners and researchers over the last decade. Despite, or maybe due to, the attention drawn to the subject, a clear agreement on what CRM is and especially how CRM should be developed remains lacking. It is now commonly understood that CRM involves technology, drives marketing, sales, and customer services, and is often approached as a business strategy to create value for an organization through the creation of profitable long-term customer relationships. Significant progress has been made in identifying and researching the components of CRM individually. The roles of CRM applications, customer knowledge, customer satisfaction, and a customer-centric strategy have all been subject of research lately. However, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no comprehensive research has been conducted to identify and understand the strategic imperatives for developing customer centric approach, and that is the core objective of this chapter. Moreover, the advancements in society and technology leading to convergence of information, communication, and technology, coupled with acceleration in globalization, competitive environments, and changing customer’s preferences have created new challenges as well as opportunities for leveraging knowledge about customers. Also we have yet to find research that shows a relationship between strategic imperatives and customer centric approach.
A Networking Paradigm Inspired by Cell Communication Mechanisms
Authors: Nakano Tadashi
Published: October 2011

This chapter provides a brief review of molecular communication, a networking paradigm inspired by cell communication mechanisms. In molecular communication, information is encoded to and decoded from molecules, rather than electrons or electromagnetic waves. Molecular communication provides bio-compatible and energy-efficient solutions with massive parallelization at the nano-to-micro scale; it is expected to play a key role in a multitude of domains including health, the environment, and ICT (Information Communication Technology). Models and methods of molecular communication are also reviewed, and research challenges that need to be addressed for further advancement of the molecular communication paradigm are discussed.
Organic Network Control
Authors: Tomforde Sven , Hähner Jörg
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, we present the Organic Network Control (ONC) architecture, which is based on a three-layered Observer/Controller-Architecture and the usage of Evolutionary Algorithms. Without touching the internal behavior of the protocol itself, this approach allows for the automatic adaptation of protocol parameters towards a changing environment at runtime. Based on the background of related work, we will first describe the generic ONC architecture, followed by a step by step description of how to apply this concept to an existing system. Two examples are explained of how ONC can be applied to existing protocols and what effect this application has on the system’s performance. Finally, the chapter concludes with an outline of current and future work and a summary of the concept.
From Local Growth to Global Optimization in Insect Built Networks
Authors: Perna Andrea , Kuntz Pascale , Theraulaz Guy , Jost Christian
Published: October 2011

Social insect colonies build large net-like systems: gallery and trail networks. Many such networks appear to show near-optimal performance. Focusing on the network system inside termite nests we address the question how simple agents with probabilistic behaviour can control and optimize the growth of a structure with size several magnitude orders above their perceptual range. We identify two major classes of mechanisms: (i) purely local mechanisms, which involve the arrangement of simple motifs according to predetermined rules of behaviour and (ii) local estimation of global quantities, where sizes, lengths, and numbers are estimated from densities, concentrations, and traffic. Theoretical considerations suggest that purely local mechanisms work better during early network formation and are less likely to fall into local optima. On the contrary, estimation of global properties is only possible on functional networks and is more likely to work through pruning. This latter mechanism may contribute to restore network functionalities following unpredicted changes of external conditions or network topology. An analysis of the network properties of Cubitermes termite nests supports the role of both classes of mechanisms, possibly in interplay with environmental conditions acting as a template.
Network Energy Driven Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: De Swades , Chatterjee Shouri
Published: October 2011

Scarcity of energy in tiny battery-powered wireless sensor nodes have led to a tremendous amount of research thrust at all protocol levels in wireless networks. Despite efficient design of the underlying communication protocols, limited battery energy primarily restricts the usage of nodes and hence the lifetime of the network. As a result, although there has been a lot of promise of pervasive networking via sensors, limited energy of the nodes has been a major bottleneck to deployment feasibility and cost of such a network. With this view, alongside many innovative network communication protocol research to increase nodal as well as network lifetime, there have been significant ongoing efforts on how to impart energy to the depleted batteries on-line. In this chapter, we propose to apply the lessons learnt from our surrounding nature and practices of the living world to realize network energy operated field sensors. We show that, although the regular communicating nodes may not benefit from network energy harvesting, by modifying the carrier sensing principle in a hierarchical network setting, the low power consuming field nodes can extend their lifetimes, or even the scavenged RF energy can be sufficient for the uninterrupted processing and transmission activities of the field nodes.
Congestion Control in Wireless Sensor Networks based on the Lotka Volterra Competition Model
Authors: Antoniou Pavlos , Pitsillides Andreas
Published: October 2011

Next generation communication networks are moving towards autonomous wireless infrastructures, as for example, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) that are capable of working unattended under dynamically changing conditions. Over the last few years, WSNs are being developed towards a large number of multimedia streaming applications, e.g., video surveillance, traffic control systems, health monitoring, and industrial process control. However, WSNs face important limitations in terms of energy, memory and computational power. The uncontrolled use of limited resources in conjunction with the unpredictable nature of WSNs in terms of traffic load injection, wireless link capacity fluctuations and topology modifications (e.g. due to node failures) may lead to congestion. Congestion can cause deterioration of the offered quality of service (QoS). This study proposes a bio-inspired congestion control approach for WSNs streaming applications that necessitate controlled performance with graceful degradation. The proposed approach prevents congestion by regulating the rate of each traffic flow based on the Lotka-Volterra competition model. Performance evaluations reveal that the proposed approach achieves adaptability to changing traffic loads, scalability and fairness among flows, while providing graceful performance degradation as the offered load increases.
Autonomously Evolving Communication Protocols
Authors: Varga Endre Sándor , Wiandt Bernát , Benko Borbála Katalin , Simon Vilmos
Published: October 2011

While traditional telecommunication still relies on rigid, highly regulated, and highly controlled communication protocols, with the emergence of new forms of networks (mobile ad hoc and delay-tolerant networks, lacking central infrastructure and strict regulations) bio-inspired communication protocols have also found their way to success. In this chapter we introduce a nontraditional way of creating and shaping communication protocols, through an autonomous machine intelligence model, built upon on-line evolutionary methods such as natural selection and genetic programming. Creating a genetic programming language and a selection mechanism for multi-hop broadcast protocols in ad hoc networks, we show that this kind of approach can outperform traditional ones under given circumstances, offering a powerful alternative in the future.
Data Highways
Authors: Gomez Karina Mabell , Miorandi Daniele , Lowe David
Published: October 2011

The design of efficient routing algorithms is an important issue in dense ad hoc wireless networks. Previous theoretical work has shown that benefits can be achieved through the creation of a set of data “highways” that carry packets across the network, from source(s) to sink(s). Current approaches to the design of these highways however require a–priori knowledge of the global network topology, with consequent communications burden and scalability issues, particularly with regard to reconfiguration after node failures. In this chapter, we describe a bio–inspired approach to generating these data highways through a distributed reaction–diffusion model that uses localized convolution with activation–inhibition filters. The result is the distributed emergence of data highways that can be tuned to provide appropriate highway separation and connection to data sinks. In this chapter, we present the underlying models, algorithms, and protocols for generating data highways in a dense wireless sensor network. The proposed methods are validated through extensive simulations performed using OMNeT++.
Scented Node Protocol for MANET Routing
Authors: Luo Song , Sagduyu Yalin E. , Li Jason H.
Published: October 2011

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) for biologically inspired networking introduces performance gains over classical routing solutions for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). However, the current ACO protocols involve significant amount of overhead and do not fully reflect the wireless interference effects in routing decisions. In ant routing, sources send out ant-based control packets for route discovery and path maintenance. Destinations can assist ant packets by disseminating scent messages to provide better guidance for route discovery and thus effectively reduce the protocol overhead. For that purpose, Scented Node Protocol (SNP) is introduced for interference-aware routing with novel scent diffusion and reinforcement mechanisms. The wireless link rates are measured by identifying the node pairs that are the most impacted by wireless interference, and network flows are routed to avoid severe interference effects among concurrent wireless transmissions. The throughput and overhead performance of SNP is evaluated through extensive realistic simulations for dynamic MANET environment. The resulting amount of overhead for scent and ant packets is also evaluated through the asymptotic analysis of scaling laws, as the network size grows, and through the dynamic analysis of the finite overhead constraint, by discussing the possible effects of local network coding on scent dissemination between neighbor nodes. Our results verify the throughput and overhead gains of biologically inspired SNP in wireless networks over the existing ACO and MANET routing protocols.
Wireless Sensor Networks and Systems
Authors: Lloret Jaime , Garcia Miguel , Coll Hugo , Edo Miguel
Published: October 2011

Sensor networks are one of the most powerful technologies applied to control and supervising systems. They are present in almost all environments, so we can find them in different industrial, medical, security and/or home applications. In addition, the use of wireless technologies applied to sensor networks improves the final system. Examples given are the enlargement of the coverage area and the low deployment costs. Nowadays a combination of both items is used in many common implementations of a wide variety of applications. This chapter is focused on the use of sensor networks applied to disabled and elderly people. We will study the wireless technologies most used for this purpose and we will show a survey with the benefits when they are applied.
Video Delivery in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Guo S. , Little T.D.C.
Published: October 2011

Recent advances in wireless communications technology and low-power, low-cost CMOS imaging sensors stimulate research on the analysis and design of ubiquitous video sensing and delivery in wireless sensor networks. However, scalable deployments remain limited or impractical. Critical challenges such as radio interference, limited channel capacity, and constrained energy resources are still barriers to large-scale deployment of these wireless video sensor networks. The solution space can be explored in several dimensions including data compression, video image analysis and extraction, and intelligent data routing. In this chapter we focus on the analysis of video delivery and data routing techniques for wireless video sensor networks. Our work is intended to inspire additional efforts leading to video routing techniques optimized to different topologies, the physical medium, network channels, and energy constraints.
Real-Time Communications in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Augé-Blum Isabelle , Yang Fei , Watteyne Thomas
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents the state-of-the-art of real-time communication in the challenging topic of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In real-time communication, the duration between the event which initiates the sending of a message, and the instant this message is received must be smaller than a known delay. Because topologies are extremely dynamic and not known priori, this type of constraint is very hard to meet in WSNs. In this chapter, the different communication protocols proposed in the literatures, together with their respective advantages and drawbacks, are discussed. We focus on MAC and routing because they are key layers in real-time communication. As most existing protocols are not suitable under realistic constraints where sensor nodes and wireless links are unreliable, we give, at the end of this chapter, some insights about future trends in designing real-time protocols. We hope to give the reader an overview of recent research works in this complex topic which we consider to be essential in critical applications.
Using Mobile Technologies as Research Tools
Authors: Hanewald Ria
Published: October 2011

This chapter describes the use of mobile technologies as research tools while discussing both the benefits and limitations of this mode. It maps practical approaches to the management of a mobile, digital data collection process and its accompanying challenges, namely the potential and pitfalls in gathering, coding and archiving the research data. The use of mobile technology devices and the amalgamation of hardware, operating systems, networking and software to facilitate and support this process are discussed. The lessons learned from the technical aspects underpinning fieldwork for research purposes will assist others in maximizing the potential of mobile technology to support their research projects.
Reviewing Mobile Marketing Research to Date
Authors: Drossos Dimitris , Giaglis George M.
Published: October 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate and reflect upon the extant literature on mobile marketing with a view of identifying contributions, gaps and avenues for future research. The review is based on more than two hundred articles published in leading journals and conference proceedings. We first discuss key areas that have already attracted the attention of researchers, such as consumer acceptance in m-marketing and location-sensitive mobile marketing. We then focus on the emerging area of ubiquitous marketing and illustrate how mobile and wireless devices and technologies can become the enablers of meaningful dialogues between customers and marketers on an omnipresent basis. Ubiquitous marketing could be the next frontier in electronic commerce and customer relationship management.
Security Assessment of Networks
Authors: Ahmad Aftab
Published: October 2011

In this chapter, a novel performance model for assessing security of a layered network has been proposed. The work is motivated by the fact that there is a need for a reference framework to account for all threats to a networked system. There are few such models available, and one of them is recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The proposed assessment model is based on the ITU security framework, recommended in the ITU-T Recommendation X.805. We employ this model to quantify network security against five threat categories mentioned in the recommendations. The quantification has been done based on the recommended measures against all threats. A threat vector has been proposed that defines required measures for a particular threat category. Other vectors, such as the security implementation vector define how effectively these measures are implemented in a given device, system, or network. As a simple application of the proposed model, the security provided by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard is analyzed, viewing it as an ‘end-to-end’ system (e.g., for ad hoc sensor network applications). The proposed security assessment model can be applied to any type of network (wireless, wired, optical, service oriented, transport, etc.). The model can be employed to obtain security assessment in the form of five security metrics, one for each threat category (destruction, corruption, removal, disclosure, and interruption). An expression for the overall security against all threats has also been derived.
Event Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Anwar Sohail , Zhang Chongming
Published: October 2011

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have experienced an amazing evolution during the last decade. Compared with other wired or wireless networks, wireless sensor networks extend the range of data collection and make it possible for us to get information from every corner of the world. The chapter begins with an introduction to WSNs and their applications. The chapter recognizes event detection as a key component for WSN applications. The chapter provides a structured and comprehensive overview of various techniques used for event detection in WSNs. Existing event detection techniques have been grouped into threshold based and pattern based mechanisms. For each category of event detection mechanism, the chapter surveys some representative technical schemes. The chapter also provides some analyses on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these technical schemes. Towards the end, the trends in the research regarding the event detection in WSNs are described.
Privacy Preserving Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Kaosar Md. Golam , Yi Xun
Published: October 2011

Sensor devices provide sophisticated services in collecting data in various applications, some of which are privacy sensitive; others are ordinary. This chapter emphasizes the necessity and some mechanisms of privacy preserving data gathering techniques in wireless sensor network communication. It also introduces a new solution for privacy preserving data gathering in wireless sensor networks. By using perturbation technique in a semi-trusted server model, this new solution is capable of reducing a significant amount of computation in data collection process. In this technique, data of a sensor is perturbed into two components which are unified into two semi-trusted servers. Servers are assumed not to collude each other. Neither of them have possession of any individual data. Therefore, they cannot discover individual data. There are many real life applications in which the proposed model can be applied. Moreover, this chapter also shows a technique to collect grouped data from distributed sources keeping the privacy preserved. Security proofs show that any of the servers or any individual sensor neither can discover any individual data nor can associate any data to an individual sensor. Thus, the privacy of individual data is preserved.
Optimizing Resource Consumption for Secure Messaging in Resource Constrained Networks
Authors: Haleem P. P. Abdul , Sebastian M. P.
Published: October 2011

Conservation of resources such as bandwidth, energy and memory are of a concern in Resource Constrained Networks (RCNs). Wireless mobile devices, especially low cost devices are stifled by the limited resources such as battery power, screen size, input, memory and processors. The low cost wireless mobile devices penetrating the developing world market demand for a cost effective messaging format that fits within the constrained wireless environment. Reduction of verbosity is considered to be one of the most effective steps in controlling the resource consumption in RCNs. This chapter presents a method for optimizing resource consumption by the use of a new messaging format with less verbosity. The proposed format is based on YAML Ain´t Markup Language (YAML), which is further enhanced with message level security specifications.
How Trust and Reputation-Based Collaboration Impact Wireless Sensor Network Security
Authors: Foukia Noria , Lewis Nathan
Published: October 2011

Like wired network security, wireless sensor network (WSN) security encompasses the typical network security requirements which are: confidentiality, integrity, authentication, non-repudiation and availability. At the same time, security for WSNs differs from traditional security designed for classical wired networks in many points because of the new constraints imposed by WSN technology. Many aspects are due to the limited resources (memory space, CPU …) and infrastructure-less property of WSNs. Therefore traditional security mechanisms cannot be applied directly and WSNs are more prone to existing and new threats than traditional networks. Typical threats are the physical capture of sensor nodes, the service disruption due to the unreliable wireless communication. Parameters specific to WSN characteristics may help to reduce the effect of threats. Examples of existing measures are efficient WSN power management strategies that can dynamically adjust the node cycles (sleeping or awake mode) based on the current network workload or the use of redundant information to locally detect lying nodes. In addition to adjusting existing WSN characteristics that impact security, establishing trust and collaboration is essential in WSNs for many reasons such as the high distribution of sensor nodes or the goal-oriented nature of many sensing applications. This chapter emphasizes the need of collaboration between sensor nodes and shows that establishing trust between nodes and using reputation reported by collaborating nodes can help mitigate security issues.
Energy-efficient Scalable Self-organizing Routing for Wireless Mobile Networks
Authors: Moh Melody , Lin Xuquan , Dhar Subhankar
Published: October 2011

The instant deployment without relying on an existing infrastructure makes the mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) an attractive choice for many dynamic situations. An efficient MANET protocol may be applied to other important emerging wireless technologies such as wireless mesh and sensor networks. This chapter proposes a hierarchical routing scheme that is scalable, energy-efficient, and self-organizing. This chapter presents a new algorithm: the Dynamic Leader Set Generation (DLSG). This algorithm dynamically selects leader nodes based on traffic demand, locality, and residual energy level, and de-selects them based on residual energy. Therefore, energy consumption and traffic load are distributed throughout the network. The network also reorganizes itself surrounding the dynamically selected leader nodes. Time, space, and message complexities are formally analyzed; implementation issues are also addressed. Incorporating the IEEE 802.11 medium access control mechanism including the power saving mode, performance evaluation is carried out by simulating DLSG and four existing hierarchical routing algorithms. It shows that DLSG successfully extends network lifetime by 20-50% while achieves a comparable level of network performance.
Detecting Cheating Aggregators and Report Dropping Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Virendra Mohit , Duan Qi , Upadhyaya Shambhu
Published: October 2011

This chapter focuses on an important, challenging and yet largely unaddressed problem in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) data communication: detecting cheating aggregators and malicious/selfish discarding of data reports en route to the Base Stations (BSs). If undetected, such attacks can significantly affect the performance of applications. The goal is to make the aggregation process tamper-resistant so that the aggregator cannot report arbitrary values, and to ensure that silent discarding of data reports by intermediate en-route nodes is detected in a bounded fashion. In our model, individual node readings are aggregated into data reports by Aggregator Nodes or Cluster Heads and forwarded to the BS. BS performs a two-stage analysis on these reports: (a) Verification through attached proofs, (b) Comparison with Proxy Reports for ensuring arrival accuracy. Proofs are non-interactive verifiers sent with reports to attest correctness of reported values. Proxy Reports are periodically sent along alternate paths by non-aggregator nodes, piggybacked on data reports from other nodes. The model is intended as a guide for implementing security in real sensor network applications. It is simple and comprehensive, covering a variety of data formats and aggregation models: numeric and non-numeric data and aggregators located across one or multiple hops. Security analysis shows that the reports, both primary and proxy, cannot be forged by any outsiders and the contents of the reports are held confidential and the scheme is robust against collusion attacks. Lightweight design aims at minimal additional control and energy overhead. Simulation results show its fault tolerance against random and patterned node failures.
Technical Evaluation of Wireless Communications in a Mobile Learning Architecture
Authors: Carmona-Murillo Javier , Galán-Jiménez Jaime , González-Sánchez José-Luis
Published: October 2011

Due to the high growth of mobile networks and portable devices, learning process is evolving from desktop computer to mobile devices. In this sense, technologies and services that support this change are also evolving. The appearance of portable devices has made users to take part in this process from anywhere. On the other hand, architectures used in a mobile learning environment are designed to offer users the ability of participate in learning activities from its embedded devices. Campus Ubicuo is a mobile architecture over which learning services can be developed. The successful of any mobile learning platform fundamentally depends on the quality in learning services and also in the good operation of wireless technologies. In this chapter, we focus on this second aspect. We have evaluated the behaviour of wireless technologies in a mobile learning architecture when different services are offered through diverse networks.
Increasing Spatial Awareness by Integrating Internet Geographic Information Services (GIServices) with Real Time Wireless Mobile GIS Applications
Authors: Tsou Ming-Hsiang , Kim Ick Hoi
Published: October 2011

Spatial awareness is one of the fundamental decision making capabilities for human beings. Two key information technologies, Internet Geographic Information Services (GIServices) and wireless mobile Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can enhance the spatial awareness of decision makers and facilitate more efficient and comprehensive decision making processes. Internet GIServices provide a collaborative communication environment for sharing data, information and knowledge among multiple decision makers and stakeholders. Wireless mobile GIS combines both geospatial information and Global Positional Systems (GPS) coordinates from remotely located field-based personnel to spatial decision support systems (SDSS). By adopting broadband wireless telecommunication technology for connecting Internet GIServices and mobile GIS devices, decision makers can gather near real time information from field personnel and equally quickly distribute updated information back to the field. Communicated via wireless devices and web applications, interactive and dynamic geographic information services will enhance spatial awareness of decision makers, field personnel (such as fire fighters and police officers), and the general public.
A Novel Application of Information Communication Technology to Assist Visually Impaired People
Authors: Heng Tee Zhi , Minn Ang Li , Phooi Seng Kah
Published: October 2011

This chapter presents a novel application for wireless technology to assist visually impaired people. As an alternative to the medical model of rehabilitation, the information explosion era provides the foundation for a technological solution to lead the visually impaired to more independent lives in the community by minimizing the obstacles of living. A “SmartGuide” caregiver monitoring system is built as a standalone portable handheld device linked. The objective of this system is to assist blind and low vision people to walk around independently especially in dynamic changing environments. Navigation assistance is accomplished by providing speech guidance on how to move to a particular location. The system delivers dynamic environmental information to lead the visually impaired to more independent lives in the community by minimizing the obstacles of living. Information of changing environments such as road blockage, road closure, and intelligent navigation aids is provided to the user in order to guide the user safely to his or her destination. This system also includes a camera sensor network to enhance monitoring capabilities for an extra level of security and reliability.
Collaborative Video Surveillance for Distributed Visual Data Mining of Potential Risk and Crime Detection
Authors: Wang Chia-Hui , Chang Ray-I , Ho Jan-Ming
Published: October 2011

Thanks to fast technology advancement of micro-electronics, wired/wireless networks and computer computations in past few years, the development of intelligent, versatile and complicated video-based surveillance systems has been very active in both research and industry to effectively enhance safety and security. In this chapter, the authors first introduce the generations of video surveillance systems and their applications in potential risk and crime detection. For effectively supporting early warning system of potential risk and crime (which is load-heavy and time-critical), both collaborative video surveillance and distributed visual data mining are necessary. Moreover, as the surveillance video and data for safety and security are very important for all kinds of risk and crime detection, the system is required not only to data protection of the message transmission over Internet, but also to further provide reliable transmission to preserve the visual quality-of-service (QoS). As cloud computing, users do not need to own the physical infrastructure, platform, or software. They consume resources as a service, where Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and pay only for resources that they use. Therefore, the design and implementation of an effective communication model is very important to this application system.
The TFRC Protocol and Its Usage for Wireless Video Transmission
Authors: Bouras Christos , Papapanagiotou Vassilis , Stamos Kostas , Zaoudis Giannis
Published: October 2011

The subject of this chapter is to present the TFRC (TCP-Friendly Rate Control) protocol in the area of efficient wireless video transmission and its possible usage in cross-layer power management mechanisms. The basic aspects of TFRC operation are presented, along with the suitability of TFRC usage for video transmission. The chapter examines related work and presents several mechanisms for efficient wireless video transmission using TFRC that have been proposed. These mechanisms utilize cross-layer approaches for adaptation of the power transmission level of the sender and TFRC feedback information regarding the wireless connection status from the receiver for improved transmission statistics, and therefore user experience, without unnecessary power consumption.