Flexible Thermoelectric Generator Based on Polycrystalline SiGe Thin Films

Flexible and reliable thermoelectric generators (TEGs) will be essential for future energy harvesting sensors. In this study, we synthesized p- and n-type SiGe layers on a high heat-resistant polyimide film using metal-induced layer exchange (LE) and demonstrated TEG operation. Despite the low process temperature (<500 °C), the polycrystalline SiGe layers showed high power factors of 560 µW m−1 K−2 for p-type Si0.4Ge0.6 and 390 µW m−1 K−2 for n-type Si0.85Ge0.15, owing to self-organized doping in LE. Furthermore, the power factors indicated stable behavior with changing measurement temperature, an advantage of SiGe as an inorganic material. An in-plane π-type TEG based on these SiGe layers showed an output power of 0.45 µW cm−2 at near room temperature for a 30 K temperature gradient. This achievement will enable the development of environmentally friendly and highly reliable flexible TEGs for operating micro-energy devices in the future Internet of Things.

PB-NCC: A Popularity-Based Caching Strategy with Number-of-Copies Control in Information-Centric Networks

The Information-Centric Network (ICN), designed for efficient content acquisition and distribution, is a promising candidate architecture for the future Internet. In-network caching in ICN makes it possible to reuse contents and the Name Resolution System (NRS) makes cached contents better serve users. In this paper, we focused on the ICN caching scenario equipped with an NRS, which records the positions of contents cached in ICN. We propose a Popularity-based caching strategy with Number-of-Copies Control (PB-NCC) in this paper. PB-NCC is proposed to solve the problems of unreasonable content distribution and frequent cache replacement in traditional caching strategies in ICN. We examine PB-NCC with a large number of experiments in different topologies and workloads. The simulation results reveal that PB-NCC can improve the cache hit ratio by at least 8.85% and reduce the server load by at least 11.34% compared with other on-path caching strategies, meanwhile maintaining a low network latency.

Challenges in Securing Industrial Control Systems Using Future Internet Technologies

This chapter explores challenges in securing industrial control systems (ICS) and Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems using Future Internet technologies. These technologies include cloud computing, fog computing, Industrial internet of things (IIoT), etc. The need to design specific security solutions for ICS/SCADA networks is explained. A brief overview of cyber vulnerabilities and threats in industrial control networks, cloud, and IoT environments is presented. The security of cloud-based SCADA systems is considered, including benefits and risks of SCADA migration to the cloud, challenges in securing such systems, and migration toward fog computing. Challenges in securing IIoT are addressed, including security risks and operational issues, key principles for securing IIoT, the functional security architecture, and the role of fog computing. Authors point out current standardization activities and trends in the area, and emphasize conclusions and future research directions.

Internet of Things Technology of Imagine Processing for Smart House

The article considers the image processing, detection of human faces and the transfer of relevant information in MATLAB software. During the rapid global process of industrialization and globalization, elements of smart homes for personal use are becoming popular in production and offices. Life and personal information security is the most important requirement and task of current and future Internet of Things solutions. Therefore, the system of recognizing objects, including people, is relevant and still one that can be qualitatively improved. The processing begins with a state file, which can be replaced by real-time systems, after receiving information from video — is selected in groups of points, which are the corresponding arrays of information. Arrays contains numbers which indicate whether a human face in front of the camera. The data is calibrated to avoid false detection with median distribution. As a result of involving graphic additions, the user can observe in real time where and how many faces are in front of the camera. MATLAB was chosen as the programming environment, because the program includes built-in blocks that allow you to easily combine the mathematical and applied part of the proposed solution. As a result of modeling a complex model was obtained that is able to process the image and determine the necessary elements and objects in the image. This model can be used to track changes in position in space, any, object or objects depending on their size or physical characteristics. A feature of the proposed method is the ability to calibrate and optimize the mathematical model depending on the physical parameters of the system and the required information at the output of the system.

Smart Monitoring and Control in the Future Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies are promising in terms of realizing pervasive and smart applications, which, in turn, have the potential to improve the quality of life of people living in a connected world [...]

A Digital Currency Architecture for Privacy and Owner-Custodianship

Objective: to present the new approach to perform monetary transactions with digital currency.Methods: abstract-logical, analytical methods.Results: in recent years, electronic retail payment mechanisms, especially e-commerce and card payments at the point of sale, have increasingly replaced cash in many developed countries. As a result, societies are losing a critical public retail payment option, and retail consumers are losing important rights associated with using cash. To address this concern, we propose an approach to digital currency that would allow people without banking relationships to transact electronically and privately, including both e-commerce purchases and point-of-sale purchases that are required to be cashless.The article shows the advantages of cash payments compared to non-cash ones and defines the possibility to transform these advantages into the central bank digital currencies. The disputable issues of commercial banks development under the spread of digital currencies are discussed. The architecture of digital currencies is described, including distributed ledgers technology. It was shown that, for the digital currency to function effectively, it is necessary to include the privacy of end-users into its architecture; measures to achieve that are determined.Scientific novelty: the approached proposed in the article should be used to develop the digital currencies infrastructure. It should be government-backed, privately-operated and ensure that every transaction is registered by a bank or money services business, relying upon non-custodial wallets backed by privacy-enhancing technology, such as blind signatures or zero-knowledge proofs, to ensure that transaction counterparties are not revealed. This approach can also facilitate more efficient and transparent clearing, settlement, and management of systemic risk. We argue that our system can restore and preserve the salient features of cash, including privacy, owner-custodianship, fungibility, and accessibility, while also preserving fractional reserve banking and the existing two-tiered banking system.Practical significance: the proposed approach can be applied in the practical organization of perform monetary transactions using digital currencies.The article was first published in English language by Future Internet. For more information please contact the editorial office.For original publication: Goodell G., Al-Nakib H. D., Tasca P. A Digital Currency Architecture for Privacy and Owner-Custodianship, Future Internet, 2021, 13, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi13050130Publication URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/13/5/130

Lightweight Caching and Load Balancing for Efficient Content Delivery in Information-Centric IoT

<p>In recent years, Information-Centric Networking (ICN) has emerged as a promising candidate for a future Internet architecture. While originally designed with the traditional Internet in mind, it has also been identified as a potential replacement for current Internet of Things (IoT) networking solutions. However, applications in the IoT face a number of unique challenges due to the constrained nature of the hardware. One of these challenges is that available memory is often extremely limited. This thesis aims to evaluate the feasibility of using ICN in-network caching on IoT devices in order to achieve efficient content delivery. It evaluates the performance of existing approaches on constrained hardware and explores how the technology can be improved and tailored towards that environment. Existing strategies are found to be lacking in key aspects, particularly the fact that the effects of network topology are often not considered when making caching decisions. It is shown that approaches based on network centrality are promising, but existing implementations are not suited for constrained hardware. Therefore, a lightweight in-network caching strategy called Approximate Betweenness Centrality (ABC) is proposed that takes the specific requirements of IoT into consideration and allows for efficient cache placement regardless of network topology. Then, a modular solution for load balancing through off-path caching is presented to address potential shortcomings of the centrality-based caching approach. It allows the network to make more efficient use of available caching resources without introducing additional overhead. Furthermore, solutions for ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) are discussed. The expanded role of caching strategies under such QoS constraints is explored and their performance is evaluated. This thesis shows that it is possible to design and deploy lightweight, low-overhead solutions on constrained hardware. Using a realistic deployment of physical IoT devices, it is demonstrated that these approaches can reach satisfactory levels of performance.</p>