Search Results (1,671)

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

Current medical informatics systems face critical challenges, including limited scalability across distributed institutions, insufficient real-time AI-driven decision support, and lack of standardized interoperability for heterogeneous medical data exchange. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a novel distributed web system architecture for medical informatics, integrating artificial intelligence techniques and cloud-based services. The system ensures interoperability via HL7 FHIR standards and preserves data privacy and fault tolerance across interconnected medical institutions. A hybrid AI pipeline combining principal component analysis (PCA), K-Means clustering, and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) is applied to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data for early detection of neurological anomalies. The architecture leverages containerized microservices orchestrated with Docker Swarm, enabling adaptive resource management and high availability. Experimental validation confirms reduced latency, improved system reliability, and enhanced compliance with medical data exchange protocols. Results demonstrate superior performance with an average latency of 94 ms, a diagnostic accuracy of 91.3%, and enhanced clinical workflow efficiency compared to traditional monolithic architectures. The proposed solution successfully addresses scalability limitations while maintaining data security and regulatory compliance across multi-institutional deployments. This work contributes to the advancement of intelligent, interoperable, and scalable e-health infrastructures aligned with the evolution of digital healthcare ecosystems. Full article

As small–medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly adopt cloud technologies, understanding the factors influencing this shift is crucial as it helps to optimize cloud integration strategies, enabling SMEs to thrive in today’s digital economy. A cross-sectional, quantitative survey was conducted in February 2022 on 626 employees of SMEs in the USA, based on the TAM-2, TAM-3, and UTAUT-2 models. The questionnaire presented satisfactory reliability, as well as factorial and convergent validity. Employees presented positive behavioral intentions to use cloud technologies, particularly during the COVID-19 period. SMEs were satisfied with the use of Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and the public cloud development model in the wake of the COVID-19 period. Behavioral intention to use cloud technologies was linked with higher performance and effort expectancy, price, perceived enjoyment, computer self-efficacy, and social influence. A higher behavioral intention was observed in employees (a) with a mid–top-level role; (b) who worked in finance and insurance, information services data, construction, or software and in an SME with 26–500 employees; (c) who had a master’s degree; (d) were 35–44 years old; and (e) had family obligations. Higher experience with the use of cloud technologies enhanced the positive impacts of effort expectancy, computer self-efficacy, and perceived enjoyment on behavioral intention. Full article

Hydrological modeling is critical for assessing water availability and guiding sustainable resource management, particularly in monsoon-dependent, data-scarce basins such as the Chalakudy River Basin (CRB) in Kerala, India. This study integrated the Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method within the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, making novel use of multi-source, open access datasets (CHIRPS precipitation, MODIS land cover and evapotranspiration, and OpenLand soil data) to estimate spatially distributed long-term runoff (2001–2023). Model calibration against observed runoff showed strong performance (NSE = 0.86, KGE = 0.81, R² = 0.83, RMSE = 29.37 mm and ME = 13.48 mm), validating the approach. Over 75% of annual runoff occurs during the southwest monsoon (June–September), with July alone contributing 220.7 mm. Seasonal assessments highlighted monsoonal excesses and dry-season deficits, while water balance correlated strongly with rainfall (r = 0.93) and runoff (r = 0.94) but negatively with evapotranspiration (r = –0.87). Time-series analysis indicated a slight rise in rainfall, a decline in evapotranspiration, and a marginal improvement in water balance, implying gradual enhancement of regional water availability. Spatial analysis revealed a west–east gradient in precipitation, evapotranspiration, and water balance, producing surpluses in lowlands and deficits in highlands. These findings underscore the potential of cloud-based hydrological modeling to capture spatiotemporal dynamics of hydrological variables and support climate-resilient water management in monsoon-driven and data-scarce river basins. Full article

Facial recognition systems are increasingly used for authentication across domains such as finance, e-commerce, and public services, but their growing adoption raises significant concerns about spoofing attacks enabled by printed photos, replayed videos, or AI-generated deepfakes. To address this gap, we introduce a multi-layered Face Recognition-as-a-Service (FRaaS) platform that integrates passive liveness detection with active challenge–response mechanisms, thereby defending against both low-effort and sophisticated presentation attacks. The platform is designed as a scalable cloud-based solution, complemented by an open-source SDK for seamless third-party integration, and guided by ethical AI principles of fairness, transparency, and privacy. A comprehensive evaluation validates the system’s logic and implementation: (i) Frontend audits using Lighthouse consistently scored above 96% in performance, accessibility, and best practices; (ii) SDK testing achieved over 91% code coverage with reliable OAuth flow and error resilience; (iii) Passive liveness layer employed the DeepPixBiS model, which achieves an Average Classification Error Rate (ACER) of 0.4 on the OULU–NPU benchmark, outperforming prior state-of-the-art methods; and (iv) Load simulations confirmed high throughput (276 req/s), low latency (95th percentile at 1.51 ms), and zero error rates. Together, these results demonstrate that the proposed platform is robust, scalable, and trustworthy for security-critical applications. Full article

This paper proposes an AI-based approach to adapting the data write latency in multicloud systems (MCSs) that supports data consistency across geo-distributed replicas of cloud service providers (CSPs). The proposed approach allows for dynamically forming adaptation scenarios based on the proposed model of multi-criteria optimization of data write latency. The generated adaptation scenarios are aimed at maintaining the required data write latency under changes in the intensity of the incoming request flow and network transmission time between replicas in CSPs. To generate adaptation scenarios, the features of the algorithmic Latord method of data consistency, are used. To determine the threshold values and predict the external parameters affecting the data write latency, we propose using learning AI models. An artificial neural network is used to form rules for changing the parameters of the Latord method when the external operating conditions of MCSs change. The features of the Latord method that influence data write latency are demonstrated by the results of simulation experiments on three MCSs with different configurations. To confirm the effectiveness of the developed approach, an adaptation scenario was considered that allows reducing the data write latency by 13% when changing the standard deviation of network transmission time between DCs of MCS. Full article

Socialized services for rural characteristic industries are becoming a key support for promoting rural industries’ transformation and upgrading. They are permeating the development process of modern agricultural service technologies, achieving significant progress in specialized fields such as mechanized operations and plant-protection services. However, challenges remain, including low efficiency in matching service resources and limited spatiotemporal coordination capabilities. With the deep integration of spatiotemporal information technology and knowledge graph technology, the enormous potential of semantic-level feature spatial representation in intelligent scheduling of service resources has been fully demonstrated, providing a new technical pathway to solve the above problem. This paper systematically analyzes the technological evolution trends of socialized services for rural characteristic industries and proposes a collaborative scheduling framework based on semantic feature space and spatiotemporal maps for characteristic industry service resources. At the technical architecture level, the paper aims to construct a spatiotemporal graph model integrating geographic knowledge graphs and temporal tree technology to achieve semantic-level feature matching between service demand and supply. Regarding implementation pathways, the model significantly improves the spatiotemporal allocation efficiency of service resources through cloud service platforms that integrate spatial semantic matching algorithms and dynamic optimization technologies. This paper conducts in-depth discussions and analyses on technical details such as agricultural semantic feature extraction, dynamic updates of rural service resources, and the collaboration of semantic matching and spatio-temporal matching of supply and demand relationships. It also presents relevant implementation methods to enhance technical integrity and logic, which is conducive to the engineering implementation of the proposed methods. The effectiveness of the proposed collaborative scheduling framework for service resources is proved by the synthesis of principal analysis, logical deduction and case comparison. We have proposed a practical “three-step” implementation path conducive to realizing the proposed method. Regarding application paradigms, this technical system will promote the transformation of rural industry services from traditional mechanical operations to an intelligent service model of “demand perception–intelligent matching–precise scheduling”. In the field of socialized services for rural characteristic industries, it is suggested that relevant institutions promote this technical framework and pay attention to the development trends of new technologies such as knowledge services, spatio-temporal services, the Internet of Things, and unmanned farms so as to promote the sustainable development of rural characteristic industries. Full article

Cloud computing brings numerous advantages that can be leveraged through containerized workloads to deliver agile, dependable, and cost-effective microservices. However, the security of such cloud-based services depends on the assumption of trusting potentially vulnerable components, such as code installed on the host. The addition of confidential computing technology to the cloud computing landscape brings the possibility of stronger security guarantees by removing such assumptions. Nevertheless, the merger of containerization and confidential computing technologies creates a complex ecosystem. In this work, we show how Kubernetes workloads can be secured despite these challenges. In addition, we design, analyze, and evaluate five different Kubernetes deployment models using the infrastructure of three of the most popular cloud providers with CPUs from two major vendors. Our evaluation shows that performance can vary significantly across the possible deployment models while remaining similar across CPU vendors and cloud providers. Our security analysis highlights the trade-offs between different workload isolation levels, trusted computing base size, and measurement reproducibility. Through a comprehensive performance, security, and financial analysis, we identify the deployment models best suited to different scenarios. Full article

The paper presents AgriMicro, a modern Farm Management Information System (FMIS) designed to help farmers monitor and optimize corn crops from sowing to harvest, by leveraging cloud technologies and machine learning algorithms. The platform is built on a modular architecture composed of multiple components implemented through microservices such as the weather and soil service, recommendation and alert engine, field service, and crop service—which continuously communicate to centralize field data and provide real-time insights. Through the ongoing exchange of data between these services, different information pieces about soil conditions, crop health, and agricultural operations are processed and analyzed, resulting in predictions of crop evolution and practical recommendations for future interventions (e.g., fertilization or irrigation). This integrated FMIS transforms collected data into concrete actions, supporting farmers and agricultural consultants in making informed decisions, improving field productivity, and ensuring more efficient resource use. Its microservice-based architecture provides scalability, modularity, and straightforward integration with other information systems. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, to specify and design a modular FMIS architecture based on microservices and cloud computing, ensuring scalability, interoperability and adaptability to different farm contexts. Second, to prototype and integrate initial components and Internet of Things (IoT)-based data collection with machine learning models, specifically Random Forest and XGBoost, to provide maize yield forecasting as a proof of concept. Model performance was evaluated using standard predictive accuracy metrics, including the coefficient of determination (R²) and the root mean square error (RMSE), confirming the reliability of the forecasting pipeline and validated against official harvest data (average maize yield) from the Romanian National Institute of Statistics (INS) for 2024. These results confirm the reliability of the forecasting pipeline under controlled conditions; however, in real-world practice, broader regional and inter-annual variability typically results in considerably higher errors, often on the order of 10–20%. Third, to present a Romania based case study which illustrates the end-to-end workflow and outlines an implementation roadmap toward full deployment. As this is a design-oriented study currently under development, several services remain at the planning or early prototyping stage, and comprehensive system level benchmarks are deferred to future work. Full article

In a Kubernetes environment, the resource allocation for Pods has a direct impact on both performance and cost. When resource sizes are determined based on user experience, under-provisioning can lead to performance degradation and execution instability, while over-provisioning can result in resource waste and increased costs. To address these issues, this study proposes an adaptive scheduling method that employs the Design of Experiments (DoE) approach to determine the optimal resource size for each application with minimal experimentation and integrates the results into a custom Kubernetes scheduler. Experiments were conducted in a Kubernetes-based cloud environment using five applications with diverse workload characteristics, including CPU-intensive, memory-intensive, and AI inference workloads. The results show that the proposed method improved the performance score—calculated as the harmonic mean of execution time and cost—by an average of approximately 1.5 times (ranging from 1.15 to 1.59 times) compared with the conventional maximum resource allocation approach. Moreover, for all applications, the difference in mean scores before and after optimal resource allocation was statistically significant (p-value < 0.05). The proposed approach demonstrates scalability for achieving both resource efficiency and service-level agreement (SLA) compliance across various workload environments. Full article

The rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) demands scalable, efficient, and user-friendly gateway solutions that seamlessly connect resource-constrained edge devices to cloud services. Low-cost, widely available microcontrollers, such as the ESP32 and its ecosystem peers, offer integrated Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, low power consumption, and a mature developer toolchain at a bill of materials cost of only a few dollars. For smart-home deployments where budgets, energy consumption, and maintainability are critical, these characteristics make MCU-class gateways a pragmatic alternative to single-board computers, enabling always-on local control with minimal overhead. This paper presents the design and implementation of an embedded IoT gateway powered by the ESP32 microcontroller. By using lightweight communication protocols such as Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and REST APIs, the proposed architecture supports local control, distributed intelligence, and secure on-site data storage, all while minimizing dependence on cloud infrastructure. A real-world deployment in an educational building demonstrates the gateway’s capability to monitor energy consumption, execute control commands, and provide an intuitive web-based dashboard with minimal resource overhead. Experimental results confirm that the solution offers strong performance, with RAM usage ranging between 3.6% and 6.8% of available memory (approximately 8.92 KB to 16.9 KB). The initial loading of the single-page application (SPA) results in a temporary RAM spike to 52.4%, which later stabilizes at 50.8%. These findings highlight the ESP32’s ability to serve as a functional IoT gateway with minimal resource demands. Areas for future optimization include improved device discovery mechanisms and enhanced resource management to prolong device longevity. Overall, the gateway represents a cost-effective and vendor-agnostic platform for building resilient and scalable IoT ecosystems. Full article

As an asymmetric encryption method capable of performing one-to-many encryption, the ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) is widely recognized as an ideal cryptographic tool for cloud-based applications. It can empower data owners to independently and flexibly define and enforce access control policies for cloud-stored data. However, the practical implementation of CP-ABE-based cryptographic access control remains hindered by critical challenges. Firstly, malicious users may engage in key abuse by delegating attribute keys to unauthorized parties or exploiting their keys to construct decryption black-boxes for providing illegal decryption services. Consequently, a secure CP-ABE scheme must incorporate the capability to trace such malicious users who misuse their privileges. Secondly, for resource-constrained IoT devices, the substantial computational overhead of CP-ABE becomes prohibitive, making its deployment in scenarios like IoT-cloud services particularly challenging. In this paper, we propose a new CP-ABE scheme with black-box traceability and computational outsourcing capabilities. Our scheme can improve the tracing efficiency from $O\left(N^3\right)$ or $O\left(rlogN\right)$ (as seen in traditional schemes) to $O\left(1\right)$, where N is the number of system users. Furthermore, the proposed scheme features compulsory traceability and maintains outstanding performance in the aspects of encryption, decryption, and tracing operations. Full article

With the growing intensity of global cybersecurity threats and the rapid advancement of attack techniques, strengthening enterprise information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures and enhancing digital forensics have become critical imperatives. Cloud environments, in particular, present substantial challenges due to the limited availability of effective forensic tools and the pressing demand for impartial and legally admissible digital evidence. To address these challenges, we propose a proactive digital forensics mechanism (P-DFM) designed for emergency incident management in enterprise settings. This mechanism integrates a range of forensic tools to identify and preserve critical digital evidence. It also incorporates the MITRE ATT&CK framework with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) systems to enable comprehensive and timely threat detection and analysis. The principal contribution of this study is the formulation of a novel Proactive Digital Evidence Forensics Standard Operating Procedure (P-DEFSOP), which enhances the accuracy and efficiency of security threat detection and forensic analysis while ensuring that digital evidence remains legally admissible. This advancement significantly reinforces the cybersecurity posture of enterprise networks. Our approach is systematically grounded in the Digital Evidence Forensics Standard Operating Procedure (DEFSOP) framework and complies with internationally recognized digital forensic standards, including ISO/IEC 27035 and ISO/IEC 27037, to ensure the integrity, reliability, validity, and legal admissibility of digital evidence throughout the forensic process. Given the complexity of cloud computing infrastructures—such as Chunghwa Telecom HiCloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure—we underscore the critical importance of impartial and standardized digital forensic services in cloud-based environments. Full article

Underground mining operations face increasing challenges due to their complex and hazardous environments. One key difficulty is ensuring real-time safety monitoring and disaster prevention. Traditional monitoring systems often suffer from delayed data acquisition and rely heavily on cloud-based processing. These factors limit their responsiveness during emergencies. To address these limitations, this study presents an underground Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring system based on edge computing. The system architecture is composed of three layers: a perception layer for real-time sensing, an edge gateway layer for local data processing and decision-making, and a cloud service layer for storage and analytics. By shifting computation closer to the data source, the system significantly reduces latency and enhances response efficiency. The system is tailored to actual mine-site conditions. It integrates pressure monitoring for artificial expandable pillars and roof subsidence detection in stopes. It has been successfully deployed in a field environment, and the data collected during commissioning demonstrate the system’s feasibility and reliability. Results indicate that the proposed system meets real-world demands for underground safety monitoring. It enables timely warnings and improves the overall automation level. This approach offers a practical and scalable solution for enhancing mine safety and provides a valuable reference for future smart mining systems. Full article

In dynamic and open cloud service processes, particularly in distributed networked manufacturing environments, the complex and volatile manufacturing landscape introduces numerous uncertainties and disturbances. This paper addresses the common issue of cloud resource connection interruptions by proposing a path substitution strategy based on alternative service routes. By integrating agent-based simulation and complex network methodologies, a simulation model for evaluating the robustness of cloud manufacturing service systems is developed, enabling dynamic simulation and quantitative decision-making for the proposed robustness enhancement strategies. First, a hybrid modeling approach for cloud manufacturing service systems is proposed to meet the needs of robustness analysis. The specific construction of the hybrid simulation model is achieved using the AnyLogic 8.7.4 simulation software and Java-based secondary development techniques. Second, a complex network model focusing on cloud manufacturing resource entities is further constructed based on the simulation model. By combining the two models, two-dimensional robustness evaluation indicators—comprising performance robustness and structural robustness—are established. Then, four types of edge attack strategies are designed based on the initial topology and recomputed topology. To ensure system operability after edge failures, a path substitution strategy is proposed by introducing redundant routes. Finally, a case study of a cloud manufacturing project is conducted. The results show the following: (1) The proposed robustness evaluation model fully captures complex disturbance scenarios in cloud manufacturing, and the designed simulation experiments support the evaluation and comparative analysis of robustness improvement strategies from both performance and structural robustness dimensions. (2) The path substitution strategy significantly enhances the robustness of cloud manufacturing services, though its effects on performance and structural robustness vary across different disturbance scenarios. Full article