Network, Volume 4, Issue 4 (December 2024) – 10 articles

This paper presents the development of an advanced battery management system (BMS) for electric vehicles (EVs), designed to enhance battery performance, safety, and longevity. Central to the BMS is its precise monitoring of critical parameters, including voltage, current, and temperature, enabled by dedicated sensors. These sensors facilitate accurate calculations of the state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH), with real-time data displayed through an IoT cloud interface. The proposed BMS employs data-driven approaches, like advanced Kalman filters (KF), for battery state estimation, allowing continuous updates to the battery state with improved accuracy and adaptability during each charging cycle. Simulation tests conducted in MATLAB’s Simulink across multiple charging and discharging cycles demonstrate the superior accuracy of the advanced Kalman filter (KF), in handling non-linear battery behaviours. Results indicate that the proposed BMS achieves a significantly lower error margin in SOC tracking, ranging from 0.32% to 1%, compared to traditional methods with error margins up to 5%. These findings underscore the importance of integrating robust sensor systems in BMSs to optimise EV battery management, reduce maintenance costs, and improve battery sustainability. Full article

In this paper, we introduce the Secured Real-Time Machine Communication Protocol (SRMCP), a novel industrial communication protocol designed to address the increasing demand for security and performance in Industry 4.0 environments. SRMCP integrates post-quantum cryptographic techniques, including the Kyber Key Encapsulation Mechanism (Kyber-KEM) and AES-GCM encryption, to ensure robust protection against both current and future cryptographic threats. We also present an innovative “Port Hopping” mechanism inspired by frequency hopping, enhancing security by distributing communication across multiple channels. Comparative performance analysis was conducted with widely-used protocols such as ModBus and the OPC UA, focusing on key metrics such as connection, reading, and writing times across local and remote networks. Results demonstrate that SRMCP outperforms ModBus in reading and writing operations while offering enhanced security, although it has a higher connection time due to its dual-layer encryption. The OPC UA, while secure, lags significantly in performance, making it less suitable for real-time applications. The findings suggest that SRMCP is a viable solution for secure and efficient machine communication in modern industrial settings, particularly where quantum-safe security is a concern. Full article

High-precision indoor positioning is essential for various applications, such as the Internet of Things, robotics, and smart manufacturing, requiring accuracy better than 1 m. Conventional indoor positioning methods, like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth fingerprinting, typically provide low accuracy within a range of several meters, while techniques such as laser or visual odometry often require fusion with absolute positioning methods. Ultra-wideband (UWB) and Wi-Fi Round-Trip Time (RTT) are emerging radio positioning technologies supported by industry leaders like Apple and Google, respectively, both capable of achieving high-precision indoor positioning. This paper offers a comprehensive survey of UWB and Wi-Fi positioning, beginning with an overview of UWB and Wi-Fi RTT ranging, followed by an explanation of the fundamental principles of UWB and Wi-Fi RTT-based geometric positioning. Additionally, it compares the strengths and limitations of UWB and Wi-Fi RTT technologies and reviews advanced studies that address practical challenges in UWB and Wi-Fi RTT positioning, such as accuracy, reliability, continuity, and base station coordinate calibration issues. These challenges are primarily addressed through a multi-sensor fusion approach that integrates relative and absolute positioning. Finally, this paper highlights future directions for the development of UWB- and Wi-Fi RTT-based indoor positioning technologies. Full article

Currently, more studies are focusing on traffic classification in software-defined networks (SDNs). Accurate classification and selecting the appropriate controller have benefited from the application of machine learning (ML) in practice. In this research, we study different classification models to see which one best classifies the generated dataset and goes on to be implemented for real-time classification. In our case, the classification and regression tree (CART) classifier produces the best classification results for the generated dataset, and logistic regression is also considerable. Based on the evaluation of various algorithmic outputs for the training and validation datasets, and also when execution time is taken into account, the CART is found to be the best algorithm. While testing the impact of load balancing in a multi-controller SDN environment, in different load case scenarios, we observe network performance parameters like bit rate, packet rate, and jitter. Here, the use of traffic classification-based load balancing improves the bit rate as well as the packet rate of traffic flow on a network and thus considerably enhances throughput. Finally, the reduction in jitter while increasing the controllers confirms the improvement in QoS in a balanced multi-controller SDN environment. Full article

Edge computing has emerged as a critical technology for meeting the needs of latency-sensitive applications and reducing network congestion. This goal is achieved mainly by distributing computational resources closer to end users and away from traditional data centers. Optimizing the utilization of limited edge cloud resources and improving the performance of edge computing systems requires efficient resource-management techniques. In this paper, we primarily discuss the use of simulation tools—EdgeSimPy in particular—to assess edge cloud resource management methods. We give a summary of the main difficulties in managing a limited pool of resources in edge cloud computing, and we go over how simulation programs like EdgeSimPy work and evaluate resource management algorithms. The scenarios we consider for this evaluation involve edge computing while taking into account variables like user location, resource availability, and network structure. We evaluate four resource management algorithms in a fixed, simulated edge computing environment to determine their performance regarding their CPU usage, memory usage, disk usage, power consumption, and latency performance metrics to determine which method performs better in a fixed scenario. This allows us to determine the optimal algorithm for tasks that prioritize minimal resource use, low latency, or a combination of the two. Furthermore, we outline areas of unfilled research needs and potential paths forward for improving the reliability and realism of edge cloud simulation tools. Full article

Batched network coding (BNC) is a practical realization of random linear network coding (RLNC) designed for reliable network transmission in multi-hop networks with packet loss. By grouping coded packets into batches and restricting the use of RLNC within the same batch, BNC resolves the issue of RLNC that has high computational and storage costs at the intermediate nodes. A simple and common way to apply BNC is to fire and forget the recoded packets at the intermediate nodes, as BNC can act as an erasure code for data recovery. Due to the finiteness of batch size, the recoding strategy is a critical design that affects the throughput, the storage requirements, and the computational cost of BNC. The gain of the recoding strategy can be enhanced with the aid of a feedback mechanism, however the utilization and development of this mechanism is not yet standardized. In this paper, we investigate a multi-phase recoding mechanism for BNC. In each phase, recoding depends on the amount of innovative information remained at the current node after the transmission of the previous phases was completed. Relevant information can be obtained via hop-by-hop feedback; then, a more precise recoding scheme that allocates networking resources can be established. Unlike hop-by-hop retransmission schemes, the reception status of individual packets does not need to be known and packets to be sent in the next phase may not be the lost packets in the previous phase. Further, due to the loss-tolerance feature of BNC, it is unnecessary to pass all innovative information to the next node. This study illustrates that multi-phase recoding can significantly boost the throughput and reduce the decoding time as compared with the traditional single-phase recoding approach This opens a new window in developing better strategies for designing BNC rather than sending more batches in a blind manner. Full article

This paper presents an advanced framework for securing 6G communication by integrating deep learning and physical layer security (PLS). The proposed model incorporates multi-stage detection mechanisms to enhance security against various attacks on the 6G air interface. Deep neural networks and a hybrid model are employed for sequential learning to improve classification accuracy and handle complex data patterns. Additionally, spoofing, jamming, and eavesdropping attacks are simulated to refine detection mechanisms. An anomaly detection system is developed to identify unusual signal patterns indicating potential attacks. The results demonstrate that machine learning (ML) and hybrid models outperform conventional approaches, showing improvements of up to 85% in bit error rate (BER) and 24% in accuracy, especially under attack conditions. This research contributes to the advancement of secure 6G communication systems, offering details on effective defence mechanisms against physical layer attacks. Full article

It is well known that simulation tools are essential for the design and optimization of wireless communication systems. This paper proposes a Python script that can be used for planning and predicting a connection link budget by analyzing its basic parameters. Our proposal consists of an application that calculates the connection budget for point-to-point links operating at 5 GHz and 11 GHz, taking into account all the necessary microwave parameters. For validating the efficiency of the proposed tool, this paper presents comprehensive simulation results derived from comparing our tool to a couple of other simulation tools by means of calculating the same parameters. Full article

Advancements in blockchain technology and network technology are bringing in a new era in electronic voting systems. These systems are characterized by enhanced security, efficiency, and accessibility. In this paper, we compose a comparative analysis of blockchain-based electronic voting (e-voting) systems using blockchain technology, cryptographic techniques, counting methods, and security requirements. The core of the analysis involves a detailed examination of blockchain-based electronic voting systems, focusing on the variations in architecture, cryptographic techniques, vote counting methods, and security. We also introduce a novel blockchain-based e-voting system, which integrates advanced methodologies, including the Borda count and Condorcet method, into e-voting systems for improved accuracy and representation in vote tallying. The system’s design features a flexible and amendable blockchain structure, ensuring robustness and security. Practical implementation on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ demonstrates the system’s feasibility and adaptability in diverse environments. Our study of the evolution of e-voting systems and the incorporation of blockchain technology contributes to the development of secure, transparent, and efficient solutions for modern democratic governance. Full article

This paper tackles the challenge of secure and reliable data transmission in diamond network configurations featuring two untrusted relays with low-security clearance. We propose an innovative approach that employs lossy-decode and -forward relaying at these untrusted relays to boost transmission reliability while safeguarding the source information from potential eavesdroppers. An essential contribution of this work is the introduction of the reliable and secure probability (RSP) metric. This metric assesses the likelihood of the destination successfully retrieving the original information while maintaining its confidentiality from untrusted relays. Our analysis shows that the integration of cooperative jamming signals markedly enhances the RSP, resulting in superior security and reliability. Simulation results confirm that optimal power distribution among the source, relays, and destination further maximizes the RSP. These findings underscore the effectiveness of our proposed scheme in ensuring secure and reliable communication in environments with untrusted relays, suggesting its potential as a robust solution for secure communications in diamond network configurations. Full article