IoT Architecture for Smart Environments: Mechanisms, Approaches, and Applications, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Future Internet (ISSN 1999-5903). This special issue belongs to the section "Internet of Things".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 527

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering/IEETA, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: signal and image processing and applications; study and development of devices and systems for friendly smart environments; development of multimedia-based teaching/learning methods and tools, with a particular emphasis on the use of the internet
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: wireless sensors networks; precision agriculture; smart cities; indoor localization using wireless networks; 5G & 6G ecosystem to support IoE
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in embedded devices, computing, and sensor and actuator networks have enabled everyday objects to become smart devices, thereby laying the groundwork for the Internet of Things (IoT). In particular, the advancements in wireless communication technology have truly enabled the widespread adoption of IoT. For example, the introduction of 5G has led to significant improvements in data transfer speeds, connection reliability, security, and energy efficiency, driving the rapid expansion of the IoT. This has created a new era of interconnected devices, systems, and data flows. Further technological advancements will unlock new possibilities for the IoT, with artificial intelligence (AI) poised to play a crucial role in the field. Additionally, these developments lead to a vast and ever-growing amount of data across various domains and modalities that are readily available. However, presenting raw signal data collected directly from sensors is sometimes inappropriate due to the presence of, for example, noise or distortion, among others. In order to obtain relevant and insightful metrics from the data provided by IoT devices, further enhancement is required. The processing of the data themself and the consequent extraction of useful information are also vital and are discussed in this Special Issue.

This Special Issue of Future Internet aims to highlight advances in the development, testing, and application of IoT for smart environments. Experimental and theoretical results, in as much detail as possible, are very welcome. Review papers are also welcome. There is no restriction regarding the length of submitted papers.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Advanced IoT characterization techniques;
  • IoT and blockchains;
  • IoT and machine learning (e.g., deep learning);
  • IoT data fusion and integration;
  • IoT for ambient assisted living;
  • IoT for biomedical signal and image analyses;
  • IoT for smart environments and smart cities;
  • IoT signal and image processing applications;
  • Real-time IoT algorithms and architectures;
  • Wearable IoT (including signal processing and its applications).

We look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Manuel José Cabral dos Santos Reis
Prof. Dr. Carlos Serôdio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Future Internet is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • IoT architecture
  • IoT for smart environments
  • IoT mechanisms
  • IoT approaches
  • IoT applications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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19 pages, 1327 KB  
Article
An IoT Architecture for Sustainable Urban Mobility: Towards Energy-Aware and Low-Emission Smart Cities
by Manuel J. C. S. Reis, Frederico Branco, Nishu Gupta and Carlos Serôdio
Future Internet 2025, 17(10), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/fi17100457 - 4 Oct 2025
Viewed by 341
Abstract
The rapid growth of urban populations intensifies congestion, air pollution, and energy demand. Green mobility is central to sustainable smart cities, and the Internet of Things (IoT) offers a means to monitor, coordinate, and optimize transport systems in real time. This paper presents [...] Read more.
The rapid growth of urban populations intensifies congestion, air pollution, and energy demand. Green mobility is central to sustainable smart cities, and the Internet of Things (IoT) offers a means to monitor, coordinate, and optimize transport systems in real time. This paper presents an Internet of Things (IoT)-based architecture integrating heterogeneous sensing with edge–cloud orchestration and AI-driven control for green routing and coordinated Electric Vehicle (EV) charging. The framework supports adaptive traffic management, energy-aware charging, and multimodal integration through standards-aware interfaces and auditable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). We hypothesize that, relative to a static shortest-path baseline, the integrated green routing and EV-charging coordination reduce (H1) mean travel time per trip by ≥7%, (H2) CO2 intensity (g/km) by ≥6%, and (H3) station peak load by ≥20% under moderate-to-high demand conditions. These hypotheses are tested in Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) with Handbook Emission Factors for Road Transport (HBEFA) emission classes, using 10 independent random seeds and reporting means with 95% confidence intervals and formal significance testing. The results confirm the hypotheses: average travel time decreases by approximately 9.8%, CO2 intensity by approximately 8%, and peak load by approximately 25% under demand multipliers ≥1.2 and EV shares ≥20%. Gains are attenuated under light demand, where congestion effects are weaker. We further discuss scalability, interoperability, privacy/security, and the simulation-to-deployment gap, and outline priorities for reproducible field pilots. In summary, a pragmatic edge–cloud IoT stack has the potential to lower congestion, reduce per-kilometer emissions, and smooth charging demand, provided it is supported by reliable data integration, resilient edge services, and standards-compliant interoperability, thereby contributing to sustainable urban mobility in line with the objectives of SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Full article
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