43 research outputs found
Multi-Operator Spectrum Sharing for Energy Efficient Heterogeneous Cellular Networks
No full textNext generation cellular networks will be characterized by a very high density of heterogeneous base stations with strong consequences on operational expenditures and energy costs. In this paper a multiobjective optimization framework is proposed which is aimed at minimizing the power consumption of heterogeneous networks owned by rival mobile network operators: in particular, resource sharing is shown to guarantee the provided quality of service (QoS) and to achieve remarkable energy savings
Social Inclusion for Children with Disabilities: The Role of ICT in Play and Entertainment Activities
No full textFamily associations, educational and university institutions, political and health systems, companies and local agencies, and third sector organizations are involved in and committed to consolidating the historical and cultural path of children's right to play, including children with disabilities. The objective of this paper is to explore the potential role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) technologies and in particular of the digital games to create opportunities for social inclusion through playful and entertainment activities for children with disabilities. Starting from the analysis of the role of “play” in the life of children, the main goals and requirements of entertainment are presented with the aim to highlight how the adoption of digital technological solutions can enable social inclusion for disabled children. Guidelines for digital game design are presented together with advanced digital solutions for engaging children with disabilities and increasing their participation and communication capabilities. Robotics, interactive platforms and devices and artificial intelligence algorithms are considered in this analysis. Finally, ICT challenges, innovative approaches and future applications in the context of social inclusion are reported
Secret Key Extraction using Galvanic Coupling in Wireless Body Area Networks
No full textThe evolution of wearable medical devices has made it essential to ensure not only efficient but also secure communication within wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). Traditional wireless radio frequency transmission methods suffer from limitations in terms of security. Symmetric encryption is recognized to be a solution to provide security to low-resourced on-body devices, but it suffers from the problem of secret key distribution/sharing. Physical-layer security provides a solution to this issue by using the key agreement method: extracting the key from body signals. Anyway, many body signals are not easy to be extracted or processed. In this context, on-body communication via Galvanic coupling (GC) represents a promising alternative, leveraging the conduction of electrical signals through biological tissues to limit eavesdropping and reduce complexity, including energy consumption. This work proposes an innovative method for secret key extraction based on the reciprocity of GC channels. Two on-body devices can dynamically generate shared cryptographic keys, ensuring a secure communication channel without the need to transmit keys that could be vulnerable to attacks. Through an experimental analysis conducted on human subjects, we demonstrate the feasibility and security of this method, highlighting how the characteristics of a GC-based approach prevent an external attacker from reconstructing the key
From Connectivity to Advanced Internet Services: A Comprehensive Review of Small Satellites Communications and Networks
No full textRecently the availability of innovative and affordable COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) technological solutions
and the ever improving results of microelectronics and microsystems technologies have enabled the design of ever
smaller yet ever more powerful satellites. The emergence of very capable small satellites heralds an era of new
opportunities in the commercial space market. Initially applied only to scientific missions, earth observation and
remote sensing, small satellites are now being deployed to support telecommunications services. This review paper
examines the operational features of small satellites that contribute to their success. An overview of recent advances
and development trends in the field of small satellites is provided, with a special focus on telecommunication aspects
such as the use of higher frequency bands, optical communications, new protocols, and advanced architectures
Modulation formats analysis for optical short reach interconnects
No full textA performance comparison among some promising low-complexity modulation formats suitable for optical short reach interconnects is presented. Bit error probability, electrical SNR and optical power penalty for different sets of operational parameters has been investigated through a complete analysis of the behavior of each format. Simulation results reveal that, among the selected modulation formats, while DBPSK and DQPSK are advantaged in terms of electrical SNR, this advantage is lost in terms of optical power. Among the formats requiring a lower technological complexity, the most resilient to chromatic dispersion turn out to be PAM-4 and CAPS, which outperforms PAM-4 as regards the power budget
Hybrid Satellite/Terrestrial Telemedicine Services: Network Requirements and Architecture
No full textThis paper proposes a novel, interactive telemedicine platform, providing real-time audio and video interactions among patients, physicians and health service provider. Such a system has been developed within the framework of the European Space Agency (ESA) project TElemedicine Services for HEALTH (TESHEALTH) in collaboration among industry, academia, and hospitals. In particular, in the framework of the project, all citizens from many different sites have the same opportunity to access services promoting disease prevention and healthy life style, and professional users (specialists, physicians, operators) can exploit the platform to accomplish clinical studies and medical research. In such a context, an IP-based heterogeneous network architecture, composed of both satellite and terrestrial components, is considered in order to provide properly the TESHEALTH services. The paper presents the network parameters, the user requirements, and the hybrid satellite/terrestrial network architecture of the TESHEALTH platform. In addition, the platform offers Quality-of-Service, tailored to the individual user profiles and services, as well
SALICE project: satellite-assisted localization and communication systems for emergency services
No full textRestoring the connectivity in the emergency areas and providing NAV/COM services able to support and coordinate the rescue teams represent two of the main telecommunication needs for efficient emergency situation management. The SALICE (Satellite-Assisted LocalIzation and Communication system for Emergency services) Project aimed at identifying the system architecture and the most suitable solutions to be adopted in the future integrated reconfigurable NAV/COM systems and to analyze their feasibility in realistic emergency scenarios. The article analyzes the proposed strategies and the most significant project results in pursuing both the global coverage of the emergency areas and the development of a reconfigurable and cooperative NAV/COM system
An Aggregate Scalable Scheme for Expanding the Crossbar Switch Network; Design and Performance Analysis
No full textNew computer network topology, called Penta-S, is simulated. This network is built of cross bar switch modules. Each module connects 32 computer nodes. Each node has two ports, one connects the node to the crossbar switch module and the other connects the node to a correspondent client node in another module through a shuffle link. The performance of this network is simulated under various network sizes, packet lengths and loads. The results are compared with those obtained from Macramé project for Clos multistage interconnection network and 2D-Grid network. The throughput of Penta-S falls between the throughput of Clos and the throughput of 2D-Grid networks. The maximum throughput of Penta-S was obtained at packet length of 128 bytes. Also the throughput grows linearly with the network size. On the opposite of Clos and 2D-Grid
networks, the per-node throughput of Penta-S improves as the network size grows. The per-packet latency proved to be better than that of Clos network for large packet lengths and high loads. Also the packet latency proved to be nearly constant against various loads. The cost-efficiency of Penta-S proved to be better than those of 2D-Grid and Clos
networks for large number of nodes (>200 nodes in the case of 2D-Grid and >350 nodes in the case of Clos).On the opposite of other networks, the cost-efficiency of Penta-S grows as its size grows. So this topology suits large networks and high traffic loads
