Internet of Things and Symmetry

Dear Colleagues,

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a transformative technology, connecting billions of devices and enabling unprecedented levels of data exchange, automation, and smart decision making across diverse domains such as healthcare, transportation, agriculture, and smart cities. At its core, IoT relies on the seamless integration of hardware, software, and communication protocols to create interconnected ecosystems. However, as IoT systems grow in complexity and scale, challenges related to efficiency, security, interoperability, and energy consumption become increasingly critical.

Symmetry, a fundamental concept in mathematics, physics, and engineering, offers a powerful framework with which to address these challenges. Symmetrical principles—whether in network topologies, algorithmic design, or system architectures—can enhance the robustness, scalability, and performance of IoT systems. For instance, symmetric encryption algorithms ensure secure data transmission, while symmetrical network designs optimize resource allocation and fault tolerance. Moreover, symmetry plays a crucial role in energy-efficient IoT solutions, enabling balanced and sustainable operations.

This Special Issue, "Internet of Things and Symmetry," seeks to explore the intersection of these two fields, highlighting how symmetry-driven approaches can unlock new possibilities for IoT innovation. By bridging theoretical advancements in symmetry with practical IoT applications, this research area holds the potential to revolutionize the design, implementation, and optimization of IoT systems, paving the way for smarter, more secure, and sustainable technological ecosystems. Contributions to this Special Issue will address cutting-edge developments, challenges, and future directions in this interdisciplinary domain.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Symmetry in Wireless Sensor Network Topologies: Investigate the symmetrical design of wireless sensor network topologies. Analyze how different symmetrical arrangements of sensor nodes, such as hexagonal or square lattices, affect network coverage, connectivity, and energy efficiency. Develop optimization algorithms based on symmetry principles to improve the performance of wireless sensor networks in IoT applications.
• Symmetry-Based Anomaly Detection in IoT Data: Utilize the symmetry properties of IoT data to develop novel anomaly detection algorithms. For instance, look for deviations from symmetry in time-series data to identify abnormal events or behaviors. Apply techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and singular value decomposition (SVD) to detect symmetry-breaking patterns that may indicate anomalies in IoT systems.
• Symmetry-Preserving Data Augmentation in IoT: Develop data augmentation techniques that preserve the symmetry of IoT data. This is particularly useful in scenarios where labeled data are limited. By applying symmetrical transformations such as rotation, reflection, and translation to the existing data, create additional training samples that maintain the underlying symmetry of the data distribution. Evaluate the impact of symmetry-preserving data augmentation on the performance of machine learning models in IoT applications.
• Symmetry in Smart-Grid IoT: Study the symmetry in power distribution and consumption patterns in smart-grid IoT systems. Analyze how to use symmetry analysis to optimize the operation of smart grids, such as by balancing the load between different phases of the power grid and ensuring symmetrical power flow. Develop control strategies based on symmetry principles to improve the stability and efficiency of smart-grid operations.
• Symmetry in Sensor Data for PHM in IoT: Symmetry Analysis of Time-Series Data: In PHM, sensors collect a large amount of time-series data. Symmetry analysis can be applied to these data to identify patterns and trends. Spatial Symmetry in Sensor Networks: In an IoT-based PHM system, sensors are often distributed in a certain spatial pattern. The spatial symmetry of sensor placement can affect the accuracy and comprehensiveness of data collection.
• Energy Efficiency via Symmetrical IoT: Design symmetric energy distribution models for prolonging battery life in IoT devices, balanced scheduling algorithms for low-power sensor networks, and lightweight symmetric cryptographic protocols for securing IoT data transmission.
• Integration of LLM with IoT and Symmetry: The combination of IoT, symmetry, PHM, and LLM can enable better knowledge representation and transfer. IoT data collected in PHM scenarios, when analyzed for symmetry, can provide valuable insights that can be encoded and transferred to LLMs. An LLM can then use this knowledge to generate more accurate predictions, diagnoses, and maintenance recommendations. Through the integration of these elements, a more comprehensive decision support system can be developed.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xu Wang
Guest Editor

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. Symmetry 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 2400 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.

• Internet of Things (IoT)
• symmetry in IoT networks
• fault diagnosis and reliability
• symmetric encryption
• Energy-efficient IoT systems
• network topology optimization
• IoT interoperability
• digital twins
• sensor fusion
• federated learning
• geometric symmetry
• edge computing
• IoT security
• symmetrical system design
• smart cities and IoT