Healthcare Oriented Smart House for Elderly and/or Disabled People

Smart houses represent a modern technology which can secure and facilitate our life. The objective of this chapter is to adapt medical sensors to home automated systems, which collect medical data such as blood pressure, heart rate and electrical heart activity for elderly and/or disabled persons. Firstly, the collected data is transferred to a home server and to an external manager for further analysis. Subsequently, data is stored at a database where monitoring is available only for authorized users via a simple web interface. The IEEE 802.15.4 wireless standard has been chosen as the preferred solution for communication in the smart house. Finally, two implementation scenarios of the smart house for an elderly and/or disabled person are simulated using the Custodian software tool. This case study shows that simulating the automation system of a smart house before the implementation is advantageous.

Security in Smart Home Environment

This chapter presents the concept of Smart Home, describes the Smart Home networking technologies and discusses the main issues for ensuring security in a Smart Home environment. Nowadays, the integration of current communication and information technologies within the dwelling has led to the emergence of Smart Homes. These technologies facilitate the building of Smart Home environments in which devices and systems can communicate with each other and can be controlled automatically in order to interact with the household members and improve the quality of their life. However, the nature of Smart Home environment, the fact that it is always connected to the outside world via Internet and the open security back doors derived from the household members raise many security concerns. Finally, by reviewing the existing literature regarding Smart Homes and security issues that exist in Smart Home environments, the authors envisage to provide a base to broaden the research in Smart Home security.

The Concept of Interoperability for AAL Systems

e-Health considers the healthcare environment as an electronic workspace where different Medical Information Systems (MIS) supports the automation of information processing, the exchange of medical and administrative data and the automation of medical workflow. AAL systems are MISs of special purposes that use wireless technology to provide healthcare to citizens. By their nature AAL systems are totally distributed, they include various medical and other users’ devices and the mobility of people increases their complexity and creates advanced requirements for the communication of data. Effectiveness and functionality of AAL premise interoperability at all levels of communication. In this chapter the definitions of interoperability are examined and how these are specialized for the healthcare area as well. In addition, the applied technologies and some significant issues that regard interoperability are analyzed.

A Strategic Approach to e-health Interoperability Using e-government Frameworks

E-government projects have a breadth of impact that extends far beyond their respective context. However, current e-Government methodologies and models used are only tailored to specific requirements. Despite the use of interoperability in e-government, there has been a paucity of literature on adapting e-government frameworks in the healthcare context and in e-health in particular. Aiming to fill this gap, this chapter justifies why interoperability frameworks currently used in e-government may be useful in e-health. Therefore, this study attempts to address the issues faced by surveying the models consisting of effective practices in e-Government IT integration management, as well as IT support. The overall aim of this chapter is to conduct a critical analysis of well-established e-Government models and frameworks. Understanding e-Government integration project management will ultimately help in the development of an effective practice model, which will improve e-Government implementation.

Application of Computational Intelligence Techniques in Managing Wireless Sensor Networks

This chapter gives a brief background on network management and how it is integrated into sensor network as well as the application of computational intelligence techniques in managing wireless sensor networks. Also discussed how Genetic Algorithms work in common and how they can be applied to sensor networks. Among the major management tasks rely on consumption power management, so there are many challenges associated with sensor networks but the primary challenge is energy consumption. Sensor networks are typically have little human interaction and are installed with limited battery supplies. This makes energy conservation a critical issue in deployed WSNs. All types of networks require monitoring and maintenance. A service that supplies a set of tools and applications that assist a network manager with these tasks is network management. It includes the administration of networks and all associated components. While all networks require some form of network management, different types of networks may stress certain aspects of network management. Some networks may also impose new tasks on network management. There are different types of network management architectures: centralized, hierarchical and distributed. In a centralized approach, one central server performs the role of the network management application. A hierarchical architecture will include multiple platforms, typically one server and several clients, performing network management functions.

Role of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Managing Telecommunication Systems

This chapter is interested in discussing how to use data mining techniques to assist in achieving an acceptable level of quality of service of telecommunication systems. The quality of service is defined as the metrics which are predicated by using the data mining techniques, decision tree, association rules and neural networks. Routing algorithms can use this metric for optimal path selection which in turn will affect positively on the system performance. Also, in this chapter management axis using data mining techniques were handled, i.e., check the status of the telecommunication networks, role of data mining in obtaining optimal configuration, how to use data mining technique to assure high level of security for the telecommunication. The popularity of data mining in the telecommunications industry can be viewed as an extension of the use of expert systems in the telecommunications industry. These systems were developed to address the complexity associated with maintaining a huge network infrastructure and the need to maximize network reliability while minimizing labor costs (Liebowitz, J. 1988). The problem with these expert systems is that they are expensive to develop because it is both difficult and time consuming to elicit the requisite domain knowledge from experts.

Wireless Solutions for Elderly People Assistance

Wireless technologies are increasingly acquiring a considerable relevance in the field of Ambient Assisted Living. This contributes to independent living and quality of life for many elderly people by reducing the need of caretakers and personal nursing. In this chapter we provide a classification of existing wireless technologies for Ambient Assisted Living based on the role they can have in the assistance to elderly people. Then, we provide an overview of several intelligent wireless systems applied in the Ambient Assisted Living on considering the different wireless technologies used in each of them.

WiMAX Networks

The term WiMAX is an abbreviation of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access and it is defined in IEEE, as the 802.16 family of standards. Unlike other legacy Point-to-Multipoint wireless technologies, WiMAX is able to offer higher transmission rates, quality of service assurance and hence it can be compared to other wireline technologies. Additionally, WiMAX is proven to be useful for telemedicine purposes (live surgeries and medical examinations, medical conferences etc.), especially in distant areas. WiMAX is based on two major standards; one is the IEEE802.16d that was developed specifically for fixed wireless communications and is dedicated mainly in LOS environments and can be used in many cases, where fixed infrastructure is not available. On the other hand, 802.16e can be used in cases of both fixed and moving subscribers, while providing better coverage, performance and even higher transmission rates. This chapter describes the major capabilities of the WiMAX standard and presents the performance of WiMAX networks based on measurements taken during laboratory and field tests.

Mesh Wi-Fi Networks

Wi-Fi mesh is a fast growing and mature technology which is widely used and has been proven very useful for healthcare including applications for ambient people. In this chapter, we attempt a quick introduction of the principles of 802.11s protocol that refers to mesh topology Wi-Fi networks. Specifically, we describe the main operations and functions performed in a Wi-Fi mesh network such as routing procedures, synchronization as well as QoS capabilities and security mechanisms that are crucial for carrying sensitive information like medical data. Finally, in the second part of this chapter, actual measurements are presented from an experimental network that consisted of four dual radio (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) mesh access points. Key parameters are evaluated, such as maximum throughput for different distances, jitter, delay and data loss which affect the transmission of sensitive data. Moreover, the handover capability of the system is presented in terms of data throughput and voice quality degradation during the transition.

A Roadmap to the Introduction of Pervasive Information Systems in Healthcare

Pervasive healthcare is an emerging research discipline, which focuses on the development of pervasive and ubiquitous computing technology for healthcare environments. Information and Communication Technologies have dramatically evolved during the last decade, laying a solid foundation for the future generation of Ubiquitous Internet access. As a result, current efforts in research and development in the areas of pervasive healthcare, promote the formation of inter-disciplinary international teams of experts, scientists, researchers and engineers to create a new generation of applications and technologies that will facilitate the fully automated information cyberspace systems. The authors discuss the current state-of-the-art in the world of Telecommunications and Internet Technologies as well as new technological trends in the Internet and Automation Industries, while promoting research and development in the interdisciplinary projects conducted by multinational teams worldwide.