Research

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20 pages, 3881 KiB

Open AccessArticle

City Data Hub: Implementation of Standard-Based Smart City Data Platform for Interoperability

by Seungmyeong Jeong, Seongyun Kim and Jaeho Kim

Sensors 2020, 20(23), 7000; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20237000 - 07 Dec 2020

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5622

Like what happened to the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities have become abundant in our lives as well. One of the smart city definitions commonly used is that smart cities solve city problems to enhance citizens’ life quality and make cities sustainable. [...] Read more.

Like what happened to the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities have become abundant in our lives as well. One of the smart city definitions commonly used is that smart cities solve city problems to enhance citizens’ life quality and make cities sustainable. From the perspective of information and communication technologies (ICT), we think this can be done by collecting and analyzing data to generate insights. The City Data Hub, which is a standard-based city data platform that has been developed, and a couple of problem-solving examples have been demonstrated. The key elements for smart city platforms have been chosen and they have been included in the core architecture principles and implemented as a platform. It has been proven that standard application programming interfaces (APIs) and common data models with data marketplaces, which are the keys, increase interoperability and guarantee ecosystem extensibility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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29 pages, 5092 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensor-Enabled Context-Aware and Pro-Active Queue Management Systems in Intelligent Environments

by Radosław Klimek

Sensors 2020, 20(20), 5837; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205837 - 15 Oct 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2628

Abstract

Queue systems are practically used in various institutions and commercial enterprises constituting a challenge for the intelligent environments in smart cities. The management of the flow of customers guarantees the elimination or reduction of the queues as well as the economic benefits which [...] Read more.

Queue systems are practically used in various institutions and commercial enterprises constituting a challenge for the intelligent environments in smart cities. The management of the flow of customers guarantees the elimination or reduction of the queues as well as the economic benefits which follow the clients’ satisfaction of a better quality of service. An intelligent queue management system has been proposed which is designed as the pro-active and context-aware ecosystem based on multiple low-level sensors and devices constituting the IoT (Internet of Things) network. The designed context-driven system is characterised by user friendliness, as well as the client behaviour recognition and understanding which generate actions that support clients, establishing wealthy environments. A prototype version of the system has been proposed which has been validated by formal analysis and simulation. This prototype can be used as a necessary experience and as a reference point when building a target system and meeting requirements typical for context-aware and pro-active systems based on IoT networks which process massive data streams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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41 pages, 18640 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Framework and Methodology for Establishing Port-City Policies Based on Real-Time Composite Indicators and IoT: A Practical Use-Case

by Ignacio Lacalle, Andreu Belsa, Rafael Vaño and Carlos E. Palau

Sensors 2020, 20(15), 4131; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20154131 - 24 Jul 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4910

Abstract

During the past few decades, the combination of flourishing maritime commerce and urban population increases has made port-cities face several challenges. Smart Port-Cities of the future will take advantage of the newest IoT technologies to tackle those challenges in a joint fashion from [...] Read more.

During the past few decades, the combination of flourishing maritime commerce and urban population increases has made port-cities face several challenges. Smart Port-Cities of the future will take advantage of the newest IoT technologies to tackle those challenges in a joint fashion from both the city and port side. A specific matter of interest in this work is how to obtain reliable, measurable indicators to establish port-city policies for mutual benefit. This paper proposes an IoT-based software framework, accompanied with a methodology for defining, calculating, and predicting composite indicators that represent real-world phenomena in the context of a Smart Port-City. This paper envisions, develops, and deploys the framework on a real use-case as a practice experiment. The experiment consists of deploying a composite index for monitoring traffic congestion at the port-city interface in Thessaloniki (Greece). Results were aligned with the expectations, validated through nine scenarios, concluding with delivery of a useful tool for interested actors at Smart Port-Cities to work over and build policies upon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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20 pages, 1061 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of IoT Technology in Smart Cities and Smart Villages: Similarities, Differences, and Future Prospects

by Nina Cvar, Jure Trilar, Andrej Kos, Mojca Volk and Emilija Stojmenova Duh

Sensors 2020, 20(14), 3897; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20143897 - 13 Jul 2020

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 10103

Abstract

Initially, the concept of Smart Cities (urban settlement) originated from the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, however, the use of IoT technology can be extended to the concept of Smart Villages (rural settlement) as well, improving the life of the villagers, and the [...] Read more.

Initially, the concept of Smart Cities (urban settlement) originated from the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, however, the use of IoT technology can be extended to the concept of Smart Villages (rural settlement) as well, improving the life of the villagers, and the communities as a whole. Yet, the rural settlements have slightly different requirements than the urban like settlements. If application of IoT in Smart Cities can be characterized by densification of IoT to day-to-day life, following cities’ structural characteristics of being densely settled places, IoT empowered Smart Villages are usually a system of dispersion and deficiency. In this manner, this research paper will address and discuss different application areas of IoT technology, identifying differences, but also similarities in both ecosystems, while trying to illuminate the standardization efforts that can be applicable in both contexts. In our text we will propose the following IoT application domains, which will also serve as a base for research on smart villages: 1. Natural Resources and Energy, 2. Transport and Mobility, 3. Smart Building, 4. Daily Life, 5. Government, and 6. Economy and Society. By providing an overview of technical solutions that support smart solutions in Smart Cities and Smart Villages this research paper will evaluate how, with IoT empowered Smart Villages and Smart Cities, an overall improvement of quality of life of their inhabitants can be achieved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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15 pages, 2222 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short-Term Rental Forecast of Urban Public Bicycle Based on the HOSVD-LSTM Model in Smart City

by Dazhou Li, Chuan Lin, Wei Gao, Zihui Meng and Qi Song

Sensors 2020, 20(11), 3072; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20113072 - 29 May 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2198

Abstract

As a kind of transportation in a smart city, urban public bicycles have been adopted by major cities and bear the heavy responsibility of the “last mile” of urban public transportation. At present, the main problem of the urban public bicycle system is [...] Read more.

As a kind of transportation in a smart city, urban public bicycles have been adopted by major cities and bear the heavy responsibility of the “last mile” of urban public transportation. At present, the main problem of the urban public bicycle system is that it is difficult for users to rent a bike during peak h, and real-time monitoring cannot be solved adequately. Therefore, predicting the demand for bicycles in a certain period and performing redistribution in advance is of great significance for solving the lag of bicycle system scheduling with the help of IoT. Based on the HOSVD-LSTM prediction model, a prediction model of urban public bicycles based on the hybrid model is proposed by transforming the source data (multiple time series) into a high-order tensor time series. Furthermore, it uses the tensor decomposition technology (HOSVD decomposition) to extract new features (kernel tenor) from higher-order tensors. At the same time, these kernel tenors are directly used to train tensor LSTM models to obtain new kernel tenors. The inverse tensor decomposition and high-dimensional, multidimensional, and tensor dimensionality reduction were introduced. The new kernel tenor obtains the predicted value of the source sequence. Then the bicycle rental amount is predicted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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22 pages, 3814 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Building Dynamic Communities of Interest for Internet of Things in Smart Cities

by Monira N. Aldelaimi, M. Anwar Hossain and Mohammed F. Alhamid

Sensors 2020, 20(10), 2986; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20102986 - 25 May 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3614

Abstract

The Internet of things (IoT) is a growing area of research in the context of smart cities. It links a city’s physical objects that are equipped with embedded sensing, communicating, and computing technology. These objects possess the capability to connect and share data [...] Read more.

The Internet of things (IoT) is a growing area of research in the context of smart cities. It links a city’s physical objects that are equipped with embedded sensing, communicating, and computing technology. These objects possess the capability to connect and share data with minimal human intervention, which creates the potential to establish social relationships among them. However, it is challenging for an object to discover, communicate, and collaborate dynamically with other objects, such as social entities, and provide services to humans. This is due to the increase in the number of objects and the complexity in defining social-like relationships among them. The current research aims to address this by introducing an object architecture and defining a Dynamic Community of Interest Model (DCIM) for IoT objects. The proposed model will help IoT objects to socialize and build communities amongst themselves based on different criteria. In this approach, objects belonging to a community will collaborate with each other to collect, manipulate, and share interesting content and provide services to enhance the quality of human interactions in smart cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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26 pages, 3034 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Efficient and Secure Alert System for VANETs to Improve Crosswalks’ Security in Smart Cities

by João Branquinho, Carlos Senna and André Zúquete

Sensors 2020, 20(9), 2473; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092473 - 27 Apr 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2809

Abstract

A key characteristic of Smart Cities is the ability to reduce conflicts between different agents coexisting in a dynamic system, such as the interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. This paper presents a system to augment the awareness of vehicle drivers regarding the presence [...] Read more.

A key characteristic of Smart Cities is the ability to reduce conflicts between different agents coexisting in a dynamic system, such as the interaction between vehicles and pedestrians. This paper presents a system to augment the awareness of vehicle drivers regarding the presence of pedestrians in nearby crosswalks. The proposed system interconnects Road Side Units (RSUs), which are informed about the state of the crosswalks, and vehicles, in order to spread to vehicles, the information about the presence of pedestrians in crosswalks. To prevent false information spreading, RSUs sign the alert messages they broadcast and all vehicles can validate the signatures. This poses strong security requirements, such as non-repudiation of alert messages, as well as strong real-time requirements, such as minimum message validation delays among vehicles approaching a crosswalk of interest. To manage the signed alert messages, we are proposing Nimble Asymmetric Cryptography (NAC), which authenticates implicit broadcast messages. NAC minimizes the usage of asymmetric ciphers, which are fundamental to assure non-repudiation but increase performance penalties and uses hash chaining for source authentication of implicit messages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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Review

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29 pages, 362 KiB

Open AccessReview

IoT-Enabled Smart Cities: Evolution and Outlook

by Martin Bauer, Luis Sanchez and JaeSeung Song

Sensors 2021, 21(13), 4511; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134511 - 30 Jun 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 5960

Abstract

For the last decade the Smart City concept has been under development, fostered by the growing urbanization of the world’s population and the need to handle the challenges that such a scenario raises. During this time many Smart City projects have been executed–some [...] Read more.

For the last decade the Smart City concept has been under development, fostered by the growing urbanization of the world’s population and the need to handle the challenges that such a scenario raises. During this time many Smart City projects have been executed–some as proof-of-concept, but a growing number resulting in permanent, production-level deployments, improving the operation of the city and the quality of life of its citizens. Thus, Smart Cities are still a highly relevant paradigm which needs further development before it reaches its full potential and provides robust and resilient solutions. In this paper, the focus is set on the Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabling technology for the Smart City. In this sense, the paper reviews the current landscape of IoT-enabled Smart Cities, surveying relevant experiences and city initiatives that have embedded IoT within their city services and how they have generated an impact. The paper discusses the key technologies that have been developed and how they are contributing to the realization of the Smart City. Moreover, it presents some challenges that remain open ahead of us and which are the initiatives and technologies that are under development to tackle them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue IoT-Enabled Smart Cities)

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