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When controlling cyber–physical systems via consensus algorithms, the robustness issue is of paramount importance because of model mismatching and/or disturbances that generally modify the Laplacian flow dynamics associated to the overall network, compromising the possibility to achieve any expected, orchestrated emergent behavior. To face this issue, the Variable Structure Control (VSC) approach has recently been shown to be an effective tool in designing control protocols over networks, providing robustness and often yielding finite-time convergence. Moreover, VSC further enables the decoupling of simultaneous control objectives where reaching a consensus state is only part of a more complex task, for instance as it happens in distributed optimization. Thus motivated, this paper overviews, from a tutorial perspective, some selected recent advances in the application of VSC with Sliding Modes to design robust consensus controllers in both the leader-less and the leader-following settings. Efforts are also made to unify the notation and to discuss the theoretical foundations of the nonsmooth analysis tools at the basis of their design for a wide readership unfamiliar with these problems and formal tools. To this aim, examples supporting the treatment, and numerical simulations, are given and discussed in detail. Finally, hints for future investigations along with some current open problems are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain-based electronic and electrical (E/E) architectures have been regarded as a possible upgrade to distributed E/E architectures currently used in electric vehicles. In a distributed E/E design, E/E components are directly connected to the automobile bus. Domain-based architectures split E/E components into distinct domains depending on their functions, which clearly benefits software upgrading and wire harness reduction. However, due to its heterogeneous topology with multiple network protocols, domain-based E/E architecture introduces complicated multilink and multinode delays into the control loop. The delays may degrade and even deteriorate the stability of adaptive cruise control (ACC) employing domain-based E/E architecture. To this end, this article proposes a heterogeneous-topology loop delay analysis by introducing a notion of poly-service loop delay. With a graphical pattern, the analytical process is presented in depth. The worst-case loop delay is calculated using an upper-boundary mathematic equation. Then, a hierarchical cyber-physical control method for ACC is designed. The upper level is intended to achieve desired acceleration based on vehicle and intervehicle motion states. And the lower level is intended to mitigate the negative impact of loop delays and provide reliable acceleration tracking. The results of cosimulation and hardware-in-loop experiment verify effectiveness of proposed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since several Internet of Things (IoT) applications have been widely deployed on unstable wireless networks, such as the Delay Tolerant Network (DTN), data communication efficiency in DTN remains a challenge for IoT applications. Vehicular Delay Tolerant Network (VDTN) has become one of DTN's potential applications, in which the network experiences connectivity interruption due to the lack of an end-to-end relay route. VDTNs focus on node cooperation to achieve this goal. As a result, it is essential to ensure that almost all network nodes adopt the protocol to preserve network performance. This is a challenging task since nodes may diverge from the basic protocol to optimize their effectiveness. This article presents an Efficient Monitoring System (EMS) to detect and respond to just selfish nodes to minimize their entire network and data communication efficacy. The scheme is based on a network-wide cooperative sharing of node reputation. It is also necessary to increase overall network efficiency by tracking selfish nodes. The NS-2 simulator is used to run this experimental setup. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme performs better in terms of probability of package delivery, package delivery delay, energy consumption, and amount of packet drops. For 80% selfish nodes in the network, the packet delivery of EMS is 37% and 31% better than SOS and IPS. Similarly, the average delivery delay of EMS is 22% and 18% lower than SOS and IPS when 80% selfish nodes are incorporated in the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are considerably used for various environmental sensing applications. The architecture and internal specifications of WSNs have been chosen based on the requirements of particular applications. On this basis, WSNs consist of resource (energy and memory)-limited wireless sensor nodes. WSNs initiate data communication from source to destination via physical layer management principles, channel slot scheduling principles (time division multiple access), wireless medium access control (WMAC) protocols, wireless routing protocols and application protocols. In this environment, the development of WMAC principles, routing protocols and channel allotment schemes play crucial roles in network communication phases. Consequently, these layering functions consume more energy at each sensor node, which leads to minimal network lifetime. Even though the channel management schemes, medium control protocols and routing protocols are functionally suitable, the excessive energy consumption affects the overall network performance. In this situation, energy optimization algorithms are advised to minimize the resource wastage of WSNs during regular operations (medium control and routing process). Many research works struggle to identify the optimal energy-efficient load balancing strategies to improve WSN functions. With this in mind, the proposed article has conducted a detailed literature review and notable experimental comparisons on energy-efficient MAC protocols, channel scheduling policies and energy-efficient routing protocols. To an extent, the detailed analysis over these wireless network operations helps to understand the benefits and limitations of recent research works. In the experimental section of this article, eight existing techniques are evaluated under energy optimization strategies (WMAC, channel allocation, sleep/wake protocols, integrated routing and WMAC policies, balanced routing and cooperative routing). The proposed review and the classified technical observations collected from notable recent works have been recognized as crucial contributions. The results infer the suggestions for feasible WSN communication strategies with optimal channel management policies and routing policies. Notably, the simulation results show that cross-layer or multi-layer energy optimization policies perform better than homogeneous energy optimization models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving low-cost and high-performance network security communication is necessary for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, including intelligent sensors and mobile robots. Designing hardware accelerators to accelerate multiple computationally intensive cryptographic primitives in various network security protocols is challenging. Different from existing unified reconfigurable cryptographic accelerators with relatively low efficiency and high latency, this paper presents design and analysis of a reconfigurable cryptographic accelerator consisting of a reconfigurable cipher unit and a reconfigurable hash unit to support widely used cryptographic algorithms for IoT Devices, which require block ciphers and hash functions simultaneously. Based on a detailed and comprehensive algorithmic analysis of both the block ciphers and hash functions in terms of basic algorithm structures and common cryptographic operators, the proposed reconfigurable cryptographic accelerator is designed by reusing key register files and operators to build unified data paths. Both the reconfigurable cipher unit and the reconfigurable hash unit contain a unified data path to implement Data Encryption Standard (DES)/Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)/ShangMi 4 (SM4) and Secure Hash Algorithm-1 (SHA-1)/SHA-256/SM3 algorithms, respectively. A reconfigurable S-Box for AES and SM4 is designed based on the composite field Galois field (GF) GF(((22)2)2), which significantly reduces hardware overhead and power consumption compared with the conventional implementation by look-up tables. The experimental results based on 65-nm application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) implementation show that the achieved energy efficiency and area efficiency of the proposed design is 441 Gbps/W and 37.55 Gbps/mm2, respectively, which is suitable for IoT devices with limited battery and form factor. The result of delay analysis also shows that the number of delay cycles of our design can be reduced by 83% compared with the state-of-the-art design, which shows that the proposed design is more suitable for applications including 5G/Wi-Fi/ZigBee/Ethernet network standards to accelerate block ciphers and hash functions simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of the edge computing network paradigm places the computational and storage resources away from the data centers and closer to the edge of the network largely comprising the heterogeneous IoT devices collecting huge volumes of data. This paradigm has led to considerable improvement in network latency and bandwidth usage over the traditional cloud-centric paradigm. However, the next generation networks continue to be stymied by their inability to achieve adaptive, energy-efficient, timely data transfer in a dynamic and failure-prone environment—the very optimization challenges that are dealt with by biological networks as a consequence of millions of years of evolution. The transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) is a biological network whose innate topological robustness is a function of its underlying graph topology. In this article, we survey these properties of TRN and the metrics derived therefrom that lend themselves to the design of smart networking protocols and architectures.We then reviewa body of literature on bio-inspired networking solutions that leverage the stated properties of TRN. Finally, we present a vision for specific aspects of TRNs that may inspire future research directions in the fields of large-scale social and communication networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on cooperative multi-task assignment and re-assignment problems when multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attack multiple known targets. A unified multi-objective optimization framework for UAV cooperative task assignment and re-assignment is studied in this paper. In order to simultaneously optimize the losses and benefits of the UAVs, we establish a multi-objective optimization model. The amount of tasks that each UAV can perform and the number of attacks on each target are limited according to the ammunition capacity of each UAV and the value of each target. To solve this multi-objective optimization problem, a multi-objective genetic algorithm suitable for UAV cooperative task assignment is constructed based on the NSGA-II algorithm. At the same time, a selection strategy is used to assist decision-makers in choosing one or more solutions from the Pareto-optimal front. Moreover, to deal with emergencies such as UAV damage and to detect of new targets, a task re-assignment algorithm based on the contract network protocol (CNP) is developed. It can be implemented in real-time while only slightly sacrificing the ability to seek the optimal solution. Simulation results demonstrate that the methods developed in this paper are effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medium access control (MAC) protocols in ad hoc networks have evolved from single-channel independent transmission mechanisms to multi-channel concurrent mechanisms to efficiently manage the demands placed on modern networks. The primary aim of this study is to compare the performance of popular multi-channel MAC (MMAC) protocols under saturated network traffic conditions and propose improvements to the protocols under these conditions. A novel, dynamically adaptive MMAC protocol was devised to take advantage of the performance capabilities of the evaluated protocols in changing wireless ad hoc network conditions. A simulation of the familiar MAC protocols was developed based on a validated simulation of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Further, the behaviors and performances of these protocols are compared against the proposed MMAC protocols with a varying number of ad hoc stations and concurrent wireless channels in terms of throughput, Jain's fairness index, and channel access delay. The results show that the proposed MMAC protocol, labeled E-SA-MMAC, outperforms the existing protocols in throughput by up to 11.9% under a constrained number of channels and in channel access delays by up to 18.3%. It can be asserted from these observations that the proposed approach provides performance benefits against its peers under saturated traffic conditions and other factors, such as the number of available wireless channels, and is suitable for dynamic ad hoc network deployments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain is a Byzantine fault tolerant (BFT) system wherein decentralized nodes execute consensus protocols to drive the agreement process on new blocks added to a distributed ledger. Generally, two-round communications among 3f+1 nodes are required to tolerate up to f faults in BFT-based consensus networks. This communication pattern corresponds to the worse-case scenario of consensus achievement, even under asynchronous network conditions. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for a network to operate under better conditions, where a consensus can be reached with a lower communication cost. Hence, with the addition of a faster optimistic path toward an agreement, the idea of dual-mode consensus has been proposed as a promising approach to enhance the performance of asynchronous BFT protocols. However, this opportunity is not completely exploited by existing dual-mode protocols as the fast path can be followed only in a nonfaulty and synchronous network. This article presents a novel dual-mode protocol consisting of fast and backup subprotocols. To create different consensus committees for fast and backup-mode operations, the network contains both active and passive nodes. A consensus can be expedited through a fast-mode operation when majority of the active nodes can communicate synchronously. Under non-ideal conditions, the backup protocol takes over the agreement process from its fast-mode counterpart without starting over the suspended round. The safety and liveness of the proposed protocol are guaranteed with lower communication costs, which balance the trade-off between protocol efficiency and availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network data constantly evolves with new network applications and protocols. There is a need for robust techniques to detect anomalous behaviour. Offline models trained with static data lose validity when new variants of traffic emerge. They require retraining but the need for ground truth and lengthy training times make this task challenging. Meanwhile, online models which detect outliers in streaming data are susceptible to the curse of dimensionality and natural variability. Today’s anomalies may be tomorrow’s new traffic and existing methods do not provide a way to differentiate between them. We propose a framework that makes the most of both approaches: an offline deep learning model extracts features of normal traffic and provides a bias for an online outlier detection model to select data for training. The online model retains its previously learnt knowledge and retrains itself with new data. Online thresholds are updated in a drifting manner and the Mann-Whitney U test is incorporated to prevent inaccurate updates. We perform analysis on the scores, develop heuristics to detect new traffic and evaluate using three deep learning models and four outlier detection methods on the UNSW-NB15 and CTU-13 datasets. The framework improves upon any individual offline or online models in isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging embedded systems, such as autonomous vehicles, demand highly efficient remote data transfer, whereas existing networking hardware and protocols cause high communication latency and CPU consumption. In this article, we propose embedded RDAC (eRDAC), an efficient and reliable remote direct access and control solution for embedded systems. The proposed remote access controller in eRDAC has a two-layer protocol offload engine that employs the command/response protocol on UDP to ensure the data reliability and security, and a multichannel DMA controller with configurable priority to improve the efficiency. Besides, a reusable hardware Ethernet MAC is implemented to support not only remote access commands but also standard Ethernet communication. We implement eRDAC on FPGA and the corresponding software in the Linux system. Experimental results show that eRDAC can reduce the latency of remote I/O reading/writing by 74.3%/74.9% ($3.76\times /3.98\times $ performance improvement) and reduce the latency of remote memory reading and writing with 1024B by 54.2% compared to the socket-based communication. Meanwhile, eRDAC can cut off the consumption of the remote processor and achieve 0.250mJ/Mb energy consumption with only 25-mW power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-sensitive networking (TSN) is an industry-standard networking protocol that is widely deployed in safety-critical industrial and automotive networks thanks to its quality-of-service (QoS) mechanisms, esp. deterministic transmission and bounded end-to-end delay for time-triggered (TT) flows. In this article, we focus on TT flows and address the issue of fault tolerance against permanent and transient faults with both spatial and temporal redundancy. We present an efficient heuristic algorithm for online incremental rerouting and rescheduling of disrupted flows, assuming the paths and schedules of existing flows stay fixed. It is complementary to and can be combined with offline routing and scheduling algorithms for achieving fault tolerance based on frame replication and elimination for reliability (FRER) (IEEE 802.1CB). Performance evaluation shows that our approach is able to better recover the system’s degree of redundancy (DoR) and has a higher acceptance rate than related work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Industry 4.0 era, with the continuous integration of industrial field systems and upper-layer facilities, interconnection between industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs) and industrial Internet networks is becoming increasingly pivotal. However, when deployed in real industrial scenarios, IWSNs are often connected to legacy control systems, through some wired industrial network protocols via gateways. Complex protocol translation is required in these gateways, and semantic interoperability is lacking between IWSNs and the industrial Internet. To fill this gap, our study focuses on realizing the interconnection and interoperability between an IWSN and the industrial Internet. The Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and joint publish/subscribe (pub/sub) communication between the two networks are used to achieve efficient transmission. Taking the Wireless Networks for Industrial Automation Process Automation (WIA-PA), a typical technology in IWSNs, as an example, we develop a communication architecture that adopts OPC UA as a communication bridge to integrate the WIA-PA network into the industrial Internet. A WIA-PA virtualization method for OPC UA pub/sub data sources is designed to solve the data mapping problem between WIA-PA and OPC UA. Then, the WIA-PA/OPC UA joint pub/sub transmission mechanism and the corresponding configuration mechanism are designed. Finally, a laboratory-level verification system is implemented to validate the proposed architecture, and the experimental results demonstrate its promising feasibility and capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of wearable or body-worn devices is increasing rapidly, and thus researchers' interests mainly include technical and economical issues, such as networking, interoperability, security, power optimization, business growth and regulation. To address these issues properly, previous survey papers usually focused on describing the wireless body area network architecture and network protocols. This implies that deployment issues and awareness issues of wearable and BAN devices are not emphasized in previous work. To defeat this problem, in this study, we have focused on feasibility, limitations, and security concerns in wireless body area networks. In the aspect of the economy, we have focused on the compound annual growth rate of these devices in the global market, different regulations of wearable/wireless body area network devices in different regions and countries of the world and feasible research projects for wireless body area networks. In addition, this study focuses on the domain of devices that are equally important to physicians, sportsmen, trainers and coaches, computer scientists, engineers, and investors. The outcomes of this study relating to physicians, fitness trainers and coaches indicate that the use of these devices means they would be able to treat their clients in a more effective way. The study also converges the focus of businessmen on the Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and provides manufacturers and vendors with information about different regulatory bodies that are monitoring and regulating WBAN devices. Therefore, by providing deployment issues in the aspects of technology and economy at the same time, we believe that this survey can serve as a preliminary material that will lead to more advancements and improvements in deployment in the area of wearable wireless body area networks. Finally, we present open issues and further research direction in the area of wireless body area networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although several non-pharmacological interventions have been tested in the management of Fibromyalgia (FM), there is little consensus regarding the best options for the treatment of this health condition. The purpose of this network meta-analysis (NMA) is to investigate the comparative efficacy and acceptability of non-pharmacological interventions for FM, in order to assist clinical decision making through a ranking of interventions in relation to the most important clinical outcomes in these patients. Methods and analysis: We will perform a systematic search to identify randomised controlled trials of non-pharmacological interventions endorsed in guidelines and systematic reviews. Information sources searched will include major bibliographic databases without language or date restrictions (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, AMED, PsycINFO and PEDro). Our primary outcomes will be pain intensity, patient-reported quality of life (QoL), and acceptability of treatment will be our secondary outcome. Risk of bias of the included trials will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (RoB2). For each pairwise comparison between the different interventions, we will present mean differences (MDs) for pain intensity and QoL outcomes and Relative Risks (RRs) for acceptability, both with respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Initially, standard pairwise meta-analyses will be performed using a DerSimonian-Laird random effects model for all comparisons with at least two trials and then we will perform a frequentist NMA using the methodology of multivariate meta-analysis assuming a common heterogeneity parameter, using the mvmeta command and network suite in STATA. In the NMA, two different types of control group, such as placebo/sham and no intervention/waiting list will be combined as one node called "Control". The competing interventions will be ranked using the P-score, which is the frequentist analogue of surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) for the outcomes of interest at immediate- (intervention duration of up to 2 weeks), short- (over 2 weeks up to 12 weeks) and long-terms (over 12 weeks). The confidence in the results from NMA will be assessed using the Confidence in Network Meta‐analysis (CINeMA) framework. Ethics and dissemination: This work synthesises evidence from previously published studies and does not require ethics review or approval. A manuscript describing the findings will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Registration: OSF (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/7MS25) and registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42020216374). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bundle protocol (BP) was proposed as the core protocol of delay/disruption-tolerant networking for space. A hybrid reliable transmission mechanism based on integrating "proactive" retransmission and "reactive" retransmission of BP bundles has been presented as a means of achieving highly reliable file/data delivery in deep-space communications. Transmission overhead imposed by reliable delivery of data packets/bundles is consistently one of the key factors for efficient data delivery in space communications. It is especially important in deep-space networks, where the available electrical power on spacecraft for data delivery is a scarce resource but substantial energy is needed to propagate data over an extremely long deep-space channel. In this article, a detailed study of the transmission overhead for the hybrid retransmission approach of BP for reliable deep-space communications is presented. An analytical framework is presented for modeling the transmission overhead of BP as influenced by variations in channel quality, file size, bundle size, and retransmission timeout interval length. Its energy resource consumption is also briefly discussed. The analytical framework is validated by realistic file transfer experiments using a PC-based testbed infrastructure; the framework is found to be able to predict the performance with respect to the transmission overhead of BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology with its inherent security features revolutionizes the field of distributed networks and has become one of the significant areas of research. To preserve the security features and to maintain its global state, consensus mechanisms are very essential and are performed by a set of peers in the underlying network called miners. Therefore, the miners need to be a trusted entity and their trustworthiness plays a vital role in preserving the security of the asset ledger. To ensure trusted nodes perform the consensus process, fuzzy-based trust models are robust and effective. Therefore, fuzzy inference system-based trusted consensus mechanism (FISTCON) is proposed as an effective security solution resulting in a fast and secure consensus process. The proposed scheme works in two phases. In phase 1, a fuzzy-based trust model that includes transaction history and trust feedback (F-THTF trust model) to identify trusted miners for consensus is proposed. In phase 2, a fuzzy-based effective practical byzantine fault tolerance (F-EpBFT) consensus protocol with an optimized broadcasting mechanism to decrease the communication overhead is proposed. The proposed work is implemented in the Hyperledger fabric framework, and the outcomes are thoroughly analyzed to prove the efficiency of the proposed scheme in a variety of scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing specifically on sensing devices with restricted resources, heterogeneous internet of things (HIoT) is an attractive scenario for IoT networks. Nonetheless, the very nature of wireless channels in these networks has given rise to a series of security challenges, which need to be considered while developing authentication protocols. Here, we scrutinized Yu and Park's, Kumari et al.'s, and Ostad-sharif et al.'s protocols and illustrated their weaknesses against key compromise attacks, insider attacks, and violation of anonymity. Furthermore, for heterogeneous IoT contexts, a lightweight and secure authentication and key agreement protocol for heterogeneous IoT environments is presented. Concerning the restricted resources of sensing devices, an attempt is made to provide an efficient HIoT-based authentication protocol to enhance network security and performance. The gateway as a trusted authority with the maximum workload and sensing devices with the highest restrictions on resources are considered in the suggested protocol. As a result, the user bears the brunt of the workload in the individual session. The Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN) logic is used to validate the proposed protocol, and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool is utilized to demonstrate resilience to existing active attacks. Simulation findings and performance assessment revealed that our protocol improved communication overheads by up to 110%, computation overheads by up to 83%, and sensing device maximum storage capacity by up to 51%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entanglement-based quantum networks can provide unconditionally secure communication by distributing entangled pairs between distant end nodes. To achieve end-to-end entanglement distribution, multiple operations of entanglement swapping in a quantum repeater chain are always required. However, due to the non-determinism of entanglement swapping caused by imperfect physical devices, the execution pattern of swapping operations has a direct impact on the performance of entanglement distribution, which can be categorized into an entanglement access control (EAC) problem. In this article, we attribute the EAC problem to two aspects: the matching optimization within quantum nodes, and the swapping conflict avoidance between quantum nodes. Accordingly, we propose an asynchronous entanglement distribution protocol which contains a custom weighted maximum matching algorithm, and a reliable signaling interaction mechanism to avoid a swapping conflict, respectively. Based on the proposed protocol, quantum repeaters autonomously decide their behaviors and spontaneously construct the end-to-end entangled pairs asynchronously. Simulation results show that our protocol can significantly improve the entanglement distribution rate and fidelity of end-to-end entangled pairs while simplifying the deployment and management process of the quantum networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A distinct security protocol is necessary for the exponential growth in intelligent edge devices. In particular, the autonomous devices need to address significant security concern to function smoothly in the high market demand. Nevertheless, exponential increase in the connected devices has made cloud networks more complex and suffer from information processing delay. Therefore, the goal of this work is to design a novel server-less mutual authentication protocol for the edge networks. The aim is to demonstrate an autonomous mutual authentication amongst the connected smart devices within the edge networks. The solution addresses applications of autonomous cars, smart things, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices in the edge or wireless sensor networks (WSN), etc. In this paper, the design proposes use of a public-key system, octet-based balanced-tree transitions, challenge–response mechanism, device unique ID (UID), pseudo-random number generator (PRNG), time-stamps, and event specific session keys. Ultimately, server-less design requires less infrastructure and avoids several types of network-based communication attacks, e.g., impersonating, Man in the middle (MITM), IoT-DDOS, etc. Additionally, the system overhead is eliminated by no secret key requirements. The results provide sufficient evidence about the protocol market competitiveness and demonstrate better benchmark comparison results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is being deployed to provide smart solutions for buildings, logistics, hospitals, and many more. It is growing with billions of connected devices. However, with such tremendous growth, maintenance and support are the hidden burdens. The devices deployed for IoT generally have a light microcontroller, low-power, low memory, and lightweight software. The software, which includes firmware and applications, can be managed remotely via a wireless connection. This improves flexibility, installation time, accessibility, effectiveness, and cost. The firmware can be updated constantly to remove known bugs and improve the functionality of the device. This work presents an approach to update firmware over-the-air (OTA) for constrained IoT devices. We used Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) as the wireless communication standard to communicate between the managing server and devices. NB-IoT is one of the most promising low power wide area (LPWA) network protocols that supports more than 50k devices within a cell using a licensed spectrum. This work is a proof of concept demonstrating the usage of NB-IoT to update firmware for constrained devices. We also calculated the overall power consumption and latency for different sizes of the firmware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) contain sensor nodes that sense the data and then transfer them to the sink node or base station. Sensor nodes are operationalized through limited-power batteries. Therefore, improvement in energy consumption becomes critical in UWSNs. Data forwarding through the nearest sensor node to the sink or base station reduces the network's reliability and stability because it creates a hotspot and drains the energy early. In this paper, we propose the cooperative energy-efficient routing (CEER) protocol to increase the network lifetime and acquire a reliable network. We use the sink mobility scheme to reduce energy consumption by eliminating the hotspot issue. We have divided the area into multiple sections for better deployment and deployed the sink nodes in each area. Sensor nodes generate the data and send it to the sink nodes to reduce energy consumption. We have also used the cooperative technique to achieve reliability in the network. Based on simulation results, the proposed scheme performed better than existing routing protocols in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR), energy consumption, transmission loss, and end-to-end delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postoperative pain after a cesarean section has negative consequences for the mother during the postoperative period. Over the years, various postoperative pain management strategies have been used following cesarean section. Opioid-based analgesics and landmark approaches have negative side effects, while ultrasound-based regional analgesia necessitates resources and experience, but various wound infiltration adjuvants are innovative with few side effects and are simple to use. The efficacy and safety of each adjuvant, however, are unknown and require further investigation. Objective: This network meta-analysis is intended to provide the most effective wound infiltration drugs for postoperative management after cesarean section. Method: A comprehensive search will be conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, CINHAL, and LILACS without date and language restrictions. All randomized trials comparing the effectiveness of wound infiltration drugs for postoperative pain management after cesarean section will be included. Data extraction will be conducted independently by two authors. The quality of studies will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and the overall quality of the evidence will be determined by GRADEpro software. Discussion: The rate of postoperative acute and chronic pain is very high which has a huge impact on the mother, family, healthcare practitioners, and healthcare delivery. It is a basic human right to give every patient with postoperative pain treatment that is realistic in terms of resources, technique, cost, and adverse event profile. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021268774 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the explosive increase of electric vehicles (EVs) and universal charging stations (CS), achieving fast authentication is an important topic in the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) network at present. Fast authentication cannot only forcefully defend potential adversaries but also can greatly speed up the charging process between EVs and CSs. Although many researchers have realized this problem and proposed some lightweight cryptographic protocols for fast EV charging, desired security features are not entirely satisfied, such as man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and impersonation attacks. In this article, we propose an ultra super fast authentication protocol for EV charging by utilizing the characteristics of extended chaotic maps. Furthermore, in view of the unsolved security issues mentioned previously, our proposed protocol can provide elaborate solutions to eliminate these possible attacks in a provable manner. Finally, compared with the relevant authentication protocols for V2G network, the communication and computation costs of our protocol are decreased a lot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Hypertension, as a high risk factor of cardiovascular disease, has led to a significant upward trend in the population and incidence of the disease. Hypertension patients need to take antihypertensive drugs for life, and therefore people gradually pay more attention to the adverse reactions of antihypertensive drugs. This study protocol outlines a plan to assess the adverse reaction of the different antihypertensive drugs and acupuncture in order for clinical application. Objective. To compare the side effects of different antihypertensive drugs and acupuncture in the treatment of hypertension. Methods and analysis. We will search the databases containing CNKI, Wan-Fang database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database(VIP), PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of commonly used antihypertensive drugs or acupuncture for primary hypertension will be obtained. Then, Stata14.0 and Gemtc will be used to assess the statistics. Ethics and dissemination. Since no personal patient consent will be required in the study, there is no ethical approval. The results of this reporting will be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020152703. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few years have witnessed a substantial increase in cyberattacks on Internet of Things (IoT) devices and their networks. Such attacks pose a significant threat to organizational security and user privacy. Utilizing Machine Learning (ML) in Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) has proven advantageous in countering novel zero-day attacks. However, the performance of such systems relies on several factors, one of which is prediction time. Processing speed in anomaly-based NIDS depends on a few elements, including the number of features fed to the ML model. NetFlow, a networking industry-standard protocol, offers many features that can be used to predict malicious attacks accurately. This paper examines NetFlow features and assesses their suitability in classifying network traffic. Our paper presents a model that detects attacks with (98–100%) accuracy using as few as 13 features. This study was conducted using a large dataset of over 16 million records released in 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Automated mechanism for configuring node radio parameters at run-time. • Distributed mechanism, primarily on nodes, reduces communication overhead. • Responds dynamically to both internal and external changes in network environment. • Supports multiple application requirements simultaneously. Advanced wireless communication technologies are leading towards large-scale, geographically distributed systems, which consist of thousands of co-existing devices with potentially conflicting application requirements, such as high data delivery ratio and low power consumption. At the same time, devices are challenged by varying environmental conditions, which can also lead to degradation in network performance. To ensure the overall network performance and service stability offered by individual devices, the devices must co-exist and adapt to changes in their surrounding environment. In this paper, an application-aware adaptive method is proposed to allow individual devices to dynamically and automatically decide and configure its communication parameters according to its application requirements and environmental conditions. The algorithm aims to enhance and maintain the network performance over time, while allowing every device to satisfy its application requirements. The algorithm is realised on the modern LoRaWAN network protocol. Simulated experiments confirm the proposed algorithm's ability to adapt to changing application requirements at runtime while maintaining network performance. They demonstrate an improvement in packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, and the novel ability to respond to an application's individual performance requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In underwater acoustic communication (UAC) systems, the channel characteristics are mainly affected by spatiotemporal changes, which are specifically manifested by two factors: the effects of refraction and scattering caused by seawater layered media on the sound field and the random fluctuations from the sea floor and surface. Due to the time-varying and space-varying characteristics of a channel, the communication signals have significant variations in time and space. Furthermore, the signal shows frequency-selective fading in the frequency domain and signal waveform distortion in the time domain, which seriously affect the performance of a UAC system. Techniques such as error correction coding or space diversity are usually adopted by UAC systems to neutralize or eliminate the effects of deep fading and signal distortion, which results in a significant waste of limited communication resources. From the perspective of the sound field, this study used experimental data to analyze the spatiotemporal fluctuation characteristics of the signal and noise fields and then summarized the temporal and spatial variation rules. The influence of the system then guided the parameter configuration and network protocol optimization of the underwater acoustic communication system by reasonably selecting the communication signal parameters, such as frequency, bandwidth, equipment deployment depth, and horizontal distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrusion detection in wireless and, more specifically, Wi-Fi networks is lately increasingly under the spotlight of the research community. However, the literature currently lacks a comprehensive assessment of the potential to detect application layer attacks based on both 802.11 and non-802.11 network protocol features. The investigation of this capacity is of paramount importance since Wi-Fi domains are often used as a stepping stone by threat actors for unleashing an ample variety of application layer assaults. In this setting, by exploiting the contemporary AWID3 benchmark dataset along with both shallow and deep learning machine learning techniques, this work attempts to provide concrete answers to a dyad of principal matters. First, what is the competence of 802.11-specific and non-802.11 features when used separately and in tandem in detecting application layer attacks, say, website spoofing? Second, which network protocol features are the most informative to the machine learning model for detecting application layer attacks? Without relying on any optimization or dimensionality reduction technique, our experiments, indicatively exploiting an engineered feature, demonstrate a detection performance up to 96.7% in terms of the Area under the ROC Curve (AUC) metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exercise induced performance fatigue has been shown to impair many aspects of fine motor function in the distal upper limb. However, most fatiguing protocols do not reflect the conditions experienced with computer use. The purpose of this study was to determine how a prolonged, low-force mouse clicking fatigue protocol impacts performance fatigue of the distal upper limb for gamers and non-gamers. Participants completed a total of 1 h of mouse clicking at 5 clicks per second. Muscle fatigue and performance were intermittently assessed. RMS amplitude increased for the forearm flexors throughout the fatigue protocol. Accuracy decreased following the first bout of clicking and returned to baseline values after 40-min. EDC and ECU displayed the greatest muscle activity while aiming, producing 11.4% and 12.9% of MVC, respectively. These findings indicate that mouse clicking may not result in performance fatigue, however, high levels of extensor activity may explain common injuries among gamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of expansion of smart sensing interconnected devices and their growing application in complex systems, the application of wireless communication technology becomes evident. Many wireless technologies are developed to facilitate the growth of systems such as the Internet of Things and Smart Cities. The application of a particular wireless technology in a particular system depends on many factors, such as purpose, requirements, complexity, range, and node deployment. IEEE 802.15.4 is a technical standard that defines the operation of low-rate wireless personal area networks. It is used as the basis for a group of network standards and protocols designed for wireless sensor networks. In this article, the basic features of the emerging IEEE 802.15.4g SUN low-powered wireless network standard, its application scenarios, and performance analyses are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the industrial Internet of Things, the network time protocol (NTP) can be used for time synchronization, allowing machines to run in sync so that machines can take critical actions within 1 ms. However, the commonly used NTP mechanism does not take into account that the network packet travel time over a link is time-varying, which causes the NTP to make incorrect synchronization decisions. Therefore, this paper proposed a low-cost modification to NTP with clock skew compensation and adaptive clock adjustment, so that the clock difference between the NTP client and NTP server can be controlled within 1 ms in the wired network environment. The adaptive clock adjustment skips the clock offset calculation when the NTP packet run trip time (RTT) exceeds a certain threshold. The clock skew compensation addresses the inherent issue that different clocks (or oscillators) naturally drift away from each other. Both adaptive clock adjustment and clock skew compensation are environment dependent and device dependent. The measurement result in our experimental environment shows that the when the RTT threshold is set at 1.7 ms, the best synchronization accuracy is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the design of an open-source and low-cost buoy prototype for remote monitoring of water quality variables in fish farming. The designed battery-powered system periodically measures temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen, transmitting the information locally through a low-power wide-area network protocol to a gateway connected to a cloud service for data storage and visualization. We provide a novel buoy design that can be easily constructed with off-the-shelf materials, delivering a stable anchored float for the IoT device and the probes immersed in the water pond. The prototype was tested at an operating fish farm, showing promising results for a low-cost remote monitoring tool that enables automatic data acquisition and storage in fish farming scenarios. All the elements of this design, including hardware and software designs, are freely available under permissive licenses as an open-source project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has claimed >4 million lives globally, and these deaths often occurred in hospitalized patients with comorbidities. Therefore, the proposed review aims to distinguish the inpatient mortality and invasive mechanical ventilation risk in COVID-19 patients treated with the anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and/or the antiviral agents. Methods: A search in PubMed, Embase, and Scopus will ensue for the publications on randomized controlled trials testing the above, irrespective of the publication date or geographic boundary. Risk of bias assessment of the studies included in the review will occur using the Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). Frequentist method network meta-analyses (NMA) will compare each outcome's risk across both types of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents in one model and each in separate models. Additional NMA models will compare these in COVID-19 patients who were severely or critically ill, immunocompromised, admitted to the intensive care unit, diagnosed by nucleic acid amplification test, not treated with steroids, <18 years old, and at risk of infection due to variants of concern. The plan of excluding non-hospitalized patients from the proposed review is to minimize intransitivity risk. The acceptance of the network consistency assumption will transpire if the local and overall inconsistency assessment indicates no inconsistency. For each NMA model, the effect sizes (risk ratio) and their 95% confidence intervals will get reported in league tables. The best intervention prediction and quality of evidence grading will happen using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve values and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation-based Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis approach, respectively. Sensitivity analysis will repeat the preliminary NMA while excluding the trials at high risk of bias. The Stata statistical software (v16) will be used for analysis. The statistical significance will get determined at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Trial registration: PROSPERO Registration No: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021277663. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current sports feedback system has high application value and is widely used in physical education courses, but it has problems such as large feedback error, long response time, and incomplete data, leading to poor effect of sports feedback system. In order to improve the effectiveness of sports feedback system, a sports feedback system based on video digital processing is designed. By constructing the overall architecture of video digital sports feedback system, the positioning module, interface module, power supply circuit module, sampling module, input module, signal extraction module, and video digital processing module are designed. Using information communication mechanism, TCP/IP network protocol, serial communication, and shared memory to improve video digital processing, experimental results show that the designed system has good error convergence of 0.1, short response time of 32 s, and high data integrity of 94%, which has strong practicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) can measure interstitial fluid glucose levels to provide comprehensive real-time glucose profile among people with type 2 diabetes. These can accurately detect glucose levels, hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia events compared with conventional self-monitoring. Increased application of CGMs provides a valuable opportunity to evaluate glucose control on oral anti-diabetic medications. This review will compare the efficacy and safety of oral anti-diabetic medications among patients with type 2 diabetes, evaluated by CGM. Methods: The following databases will be searched: Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus and grey literature (ClinicalTrials.gov, PsycEXTRA, ProQuest Dissertations, Google Scholar and Theses Global) for the identification of studies. The review will include and summarise evidence from randomised clinical trials that use CGMs for blood glucose management in adults (aged ≥ 18 years), published in English between January 2000 and May 2021 without any restrictions of countries. Reference list of all selected articles will independently be screened to identify additional studies left out in the initial search. Primary outcomes will be HbA1c (≤ 7.0%), time spent with hypoglycaemia (< 70 mg/dl) or hyperglycaemia (≥ 180 mg/dl). Secondary outcomes will be change in weight, blood pressure and related comorbidities (cardiovascular mortality, heart failure events, myocardial infarction and stroke). Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment will be conducted independently by at least two reviewers. A third reviewer will determine and resolve discrepancies. At least two independent reviewers will cross-check data synthesis. The quality of evidence of the review will be assessed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Tool. Discussion: The review is anticipated to provide up to date evidence for further studies and clinic practices regarding glycaemic control, hypoglycaemia, and hyperglycaemia issues. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42020188399. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classifying test executions automatically as pass or fail remains a key challenge in software testing and is referred to as the test oracle problem. It is being attempted to solve this problem with supervised learning over test execution traces. A programme is instrumented to gather execution traces as sequences of method invocations. A small fraction of the programme's execution traces is labelled with pass or fail verdicts. Execution traces are then embedded as fixed length vectors and a neural network (NN) component that uses the line‐by‐line information to classify traces as pass or fail is designed. The classification accuracy of this approach is evaluated using subject programs from different application domains—1. Module from Ethereum Blockchain, 2. Module from PyTorch deep learning framework, 3. Microsoft SEAL encryption library components, 4. Sed stream editor, 5. Nine network protocols from Linux packet identifier, L7‐Filter and 6. Utilities library, commons‐lang for Java. For all subject programs, it was found that test execution classification had high precision, recall and specificity, averaging to 93%, 94% and 96%, respectively, while only training with an average 14% of the total traces. Experiments show that the proposed NN‐based approach is promising in classifying test executions from different application domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) is a network of mobile nodes short of Infrastructure, linked by wireless links. While mobility is the key feature of MANETs, the frequent movement of nodes may lead to link failure. A mobile multi-hop wireless ad hoc network carries a dynamic structure feature, and each node has mobility; due to this, the network having altering topology change dynamically. Developing the wireless ad hoc network protocol is the major challenge because, compared to the wired routing node, all node is mobile, energy limitation, the node's physical location, and multicast routing. In this article, a comparative investigation of routing protocol performance for large wireless ad hoc networks (100 nodes) under the impact of the random mobile environment with the velocity of 30 m/sec for 1800 seconds with ten different results for each node-set. The comparative analysis includes packet delivery ratio, throughput, packet dropping ratio, routing overhead, and end-to-end delay quality of service (QoS) metrics. When the number of nodes and connections increases in the AODV and DSR protocol, throughput increases from 60.2835 to 514.3095 bits/sec and 58.953 to 443.991 bits/sec, respectively AODV routing protocol gives a more stable performance than the other routing protocol. ZRP and DSDV protocols also have excellent performance for the small network of 40 to 45 nodes. However, when the number of nodes increases from the 65 nodes, protocol performance drastically decreases, whereas the AODV gives a more stable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several randomized controlled trials (RCT) investigated antenatal dietary supplements' effect on gestational diabetes mellitus patients' fasting plasma glucose levels, glycated hemoglobin levels, homeostasis model assessment of- insulin resistance and β-cell function, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index for glucose, high-, low-, and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, total cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, and triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein ratio. However, an efficacy comparison across various dietary supplements and their co-supplements are unavailable for these outcomes. Therefore, a systematic review protocol is proposed here to make a network meta-analysis (NMA)-based juxtaposition across the following dietary supplements- vitamins, Myo-inositol, choline, minerals, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids. Materials and methods: A database search will ensue in the PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases for RCTs testing the above, irrespective of their geographical origin. Data on population characteristics, compared interventions, and outcomes of interest will get abstracted from the studies included in the proposed review. Each of the reviewed studies will get appraised using the revised Cochrane tool. For each outcome, the comparative efficacy across interventions will be estimated in weighted or standardized mean difference using the frequentist method NMA and presented with their 95% confidence interval using league tables. By constructing network maps and comparison-adjusted funnel plots, a visual assessment of the inter-interventional relation and publication bias in each NMA model will happen, respectively. The best-ranked intervention prediction for respective outcomes will transpire using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve values. The Stata statistical software (version 16) will be used for analysis, and statistical significance will be determined at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Trial registration: PROSPERO registration number:CRD42020214378. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bluetooth low energy is an almost ubiquitous technology currently embedded in billions of power-constrained Internet of Things devices around the world. The Bluetooth mesh profile, released by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group in July 2017, allows Bluetooth low energy devices to form a mesh network, further enabling smart home and building applications where long-range connectivity is required. However, the current release of Bluetooth mesh profile still has power and deployment constraints that limit its applicability. To explore the viability of Bluetooth mesh profile in home/building automation applications, we built the Smart Doorbell: a proof-of-concept Bluetooth mesh profile–based visitor notification system for office spaces. The Smart Doorbell was implemented using a mesh network topology with nodes distributed across office building floors, serving as a real Internet of Things deployment and as a testbed for mesh network protocols. Similar Bluetooth mesh profile evaluations found in literature use mostly development kits and/or synthetic traffic in artificial settings; we contribute by using the Smart Doorbell, a system as close as possible to a minimum viable product, to evaluate power consumption and responsiveness as a proxy for product viability. This article presents the architecture of the Smart Doorbell, the viability evaluation results, and a direct comparison with FruityMesh, a competing Bluetooth low energy mesh network protocol. Overall, the fact that Bluetooth mesh profile devices can directly communicate with a user's mobile phone (using Bluetooth low energy) considerably eases deployment and provisioning. However, the use of flooding to forward messages across the mesh network increases power consumption, precluding the use of battery-powered nodes on the network's backbone and severely limiting the applicability of Bluetooth mesh profile in building automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of independent spanning trees (ISTs) has scientific applications in fault-tolerant requirement in network protocols and secure message distributions. Most of the designs of ISTs are for those interconnection networks with vertex symmetric property, implying that one can find ISTs rooted on a designated vertex, and, by the vertex symmetry property of the given network, hence have solved the ISTs problem on any arbitrary vertex. The existence of asymmetry makes the ISTs problem even harder than its symmetric counterpart. In this paper, we propose two linear time algorithms that solved ISTs rooted at an arbitrary vertex of WK-recursive networks and WK-recursive pyramids separately. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated both, analytically and experimentally, in terms of tree heights and average distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the main data transport protocols of delay/disruption-tolerant networking (DTN), Licklider transmission protocol (LTP) is designed to provide reliable data delivery in an interplanetary Internet environment characterized by frequent and lengthy link disruptions and extremely long signal propagation delays. Some studies have been done on the performance of LTP in cislunar and Mars communications. However, to date the effect of link disruption on LTP for Mars communications has received little attention. In this paper, an analytical framework is presented for the effect of link disruption on reliable data delivery and performance of LTP in Mars communications. The analysis focuses on how various link disruptions affect the number of transmission attempts, the consequent round-trip time (RTT) of data exchange, and the resulting goodput performance of LTP for reliable data block delivery in Mars communications. The analytical framework is validated by means of realistic data block transmission experiments using a PC-based experimental infrastructure, and it can be used to predict the performance of LTP over a deep-space vehicle communication channel in presence of link disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are still some shortcomings in the latest version of the 5G authentication and key agreement (AKA) protocol, which is specified by the third-generation partnership project (3GPP). To overcome these shortcomings, an improved primary authentication and key agreement protocol for 5G networks (5G-IPAKA) were proposed. However, one of the shortcomings of the 5G AKA protocol has not been completely overcome in the 5G-IPAKA protocol, resulting in denial of service (DoS) attacks against both the serving network (SN) and the home network (HN). In addition, the 5G AKA protocol has large communication and computation overhead, while the 5G-IPAKA protocol has an even larger communication and computation overhead. These will lead to a great deal of energy consumption. To solve these problems, a secure 5G authentication and key agreement protocol, with less communication and computation overhead (5GAKA-LCCO) is proposed. Then, the 5GAKA-LCCO protocol is proven secure in both the strand space model and the Scyther tool. Further discussion and comparative analysis show that the 5GAKA-LCCO protocol can completely overcome the shortcomings of the latest version of the 5G AKA protocol and is better than the recently improved 5G AKA protocols in overcoming these shortcomings. Additionally, the 5GAKA-LCCO protocol has less communication and computation overhead than the 5G AKA protocol and the recently improved 5G AKA protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth in healthcare demand, an emergent, novel technology called wireless body area networks (WBANs) have become promising and have been widely used in the field of human health monitoring. A WBAN can collect human physical parameters through the medical sensors in or around the patient's body to realize real-time continuous remote monitoring. Compared to other wireless transmission technologies, a WBAN has more stringent technical requirements and challenges in terms of power efficiency, security and privacy, quality of service and other specifications. In this paper, we review the recent WBAN medical applications, existing requirements and challenges and their solutions. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of WBANs, from the sensor technology for the collection to the wireless transmission technology for the transmission process, such as frequency bands, channel models, medium access control (MAC) and networking protocols. Then we reviewed its unique safety and energy consumption issues. In particular, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based WBAN scheme is presented to improve its security and privacy and achieve ultra-low energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct spread spectrum technology is traditionally used in radio communication systems with multiple access, for example, in CDMA standards, in global satellite navigation systems, in Wi-Fi network wireless protocols, etc. It ensures high security and reliability of information transfer. In addition, spread spectrum technology provides the transmitted signals with a noise-like appearance, thus hiding the semantic content of the messages. We researched this technology for other implementations. The purpose of our study was to investigate new technologies for hiding data in multimedia files. In particular, we investigated the direct spread spectrum in the context of the development of methods for hiding data in audio containers. We considered various spreading sequences (chip codes) and also explored their use for hiding information in audio files. We conducted experimental studies and estimated the bit error rate (BER) in the recovered data. The article also evaluates the distortion of an audio container by the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). The results of our research enable us to find out which method of forming chip codes gives a lower BER with equal PSNR. We provide recommendations on the formation of spreading sequences to reliably and safely hide informational messages in audio files. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an in-depth study and analysis of the model of higher education using distributed hardware tracking intervention of information technology. The MEC-based dynamic adaptive video stream caching technology model is proposed. The model dynamically adjusts the bit rate by referring to the broadband estimation and cache occupancy data to ensure users have a smooth experience effect. Simulation results show that the model has fewer transcoding times and generates lower latency than the traditional model, which is suitable for dual-teacher classroom scenarios and further improves the quality of the user's video viewing experience. The model uses an edge cloud collaborative architecture to migrate the rendering technology to an edge server closer to the user side, enabling real-time interaction, computation, and rendering, reducing the time of data transmission as well as computation time. According to the blended learning-based adaptive intervention model, three rounds of teaching practice are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the intervention model in terms of both student process performance and outcome performance, thereby improving learning adaptability and improving learning effect. Teachers' teaching has a significant impact on learning motivation (β = 0.311 , p < 0.01), which in turn affects learning adaptability. Teachers use scientific teaching methods to stimulate students' learning motivation, mobilize enthusiasm, and improve learning adaptability. Under the communication topology of the system as a directed graph, a multi-intelligent system dynamic model with grouping is established; i.e., the intragroup intelligence has the same dynamics but is different between groups, and all system dynamics are unknown. The proposed novel policy iterative algorithm is used to learn the optimal control protocol and achieve optimal consistency control. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by the simulation experimental results. The simulation results show that the model has lower latency and energy consumption compared to the cloud rendering model, which is suitable for the safety education classroom scenario and solves the outstanding problems of network connection rate and cloud service latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few technologies have been mired in hype more than blockchain, which is the underlying peer-to-peer network protocol for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Given the technology's emphasis on purported "immutable ledgers" and trust-less sharing models, there has been a great deal of interest in applying blockchain to democratic reforms. From localized decision-making to national-scale voting systems, blockchain has spurred a surge of interest in how democracy might "get a software update". While significant research exists on socio-technological imaginaries (perceptions) and potential applications (experiments) within the Global North, few studies have looked at more dynamic contexts, particularly Central Asia. In light of the violence surrounding elections in October 2020 and previous revolutions against the country's central government, the status of democracy in Kyrgyzstan is, at best, fragile and, at worst, non-existent. This article explores alternative futures scenarios for localized, blockchain-driven governance futures in Kyrgyzstan and concludes with a proposal for deeper investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum network protocols offer new functionalities such as enhanced security to communication and computational systems. Despite the rapid progress in quantum hardware, it has not yet reached a level of maturity that enables execution of many quantum protocols in practical settings. To develop quantum protocols in real world, it is necessary to examine their performance considering the imperfections in their practical implementation using simulation platforms. In this paper, we consider several quantum protocols that enable promising functionalities and services in near-future quantum networks. The protocols are chosen from both areas of quantum communication and quantum computation as follows: quantum money, W-state based anonymous transmission, verifiable blind quantum computation, and quantum digital signature. We use NetSquid simulation platform to evaluate the effect of various sources of noise on the performance of these protocols, considering different figures of merit. We find that to enable quantum money protocol, the decoherence time constant of the quantum memory must be at least three times the storage time of qubits. Furthermore, our simulation results for the w-state based anonymous transmission protocol show that to achieve an average fidelity above 0.8 in this protocol, the storage time of sender's and receiver's particles in the quantum memory must be less than half of the decoherence time constant of the quantum memory. We have also investigated the effect of gate imperfections on the performance of verifiable blind quantum computation. We find that with our chosen parameters, if the depolarizing probability of quantum gates is equal to or greater than 0.05, the security of the protocol cannot be guaranteed. Lastly, our simulation results for quantum digital signature protocol show that channel loss has a significant effect on the probability of repudiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing are combined to form a cloud computing data center, and cloud computing provides virtualization, storage, computing, and other support services for IoT applications. Data is the foundation and core of cloud IoT platform applications, and massive multisource heterogeneous IoT data aggregation and storage have basic requirements such as real-time, security, and scalability. This paper focuses on the aggregation and storage methods of massive heterogeneous cloud IoT data, solving the multisource data aggregation problem caused by inconsistent protocols and the heterogeneous data storage problem caused by inconsistent data types. A heterogeneous network protocol adaptation and data aggregation method is proposed for the multisource data aggregation problem caused by protocol inconsistency. A protocol adaptation layer is set up in the IoT virtual gateway to achieve compatibility with multiple types of data aggregation protocols, ensuring adaptive access to different types of IoT nodes, and on this basis, data is transmitted to the cloud IoT platform through a unified interface, shielding the variability of IoT sensing devices. Given the problems of device forgery and malicious tampering in the data aggregation process, we propose a fast authentication and data storage method for IoT devices based on "API key" and implant the device authentication API key into the protocol adaptation layer of the virtual gateway to realize the source authentication of IoT nodes and ensure the authenticity of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the important symbols of a country's level of social progress and the continuous spread of civilization throughout the world includes the level of national physique and health. People's living standards have been significantly improved, and a moderately prosperous society has been preliminarily realized. The national physique should be improved, especially the teenagers who are in the rapid and golden period of physical and psychological development. But not everything develops according to wishes. For the past 20 years, the physical health of Chinese students has been in a downward trend. Therefore, it is urgent to analyze and study the data of adolescent health monitoring and physical fitness test. Through the analysis of D-S evidence theory composition rules, SVM network protocol, and other technologies, the accuracy of adolescent physique monitoring data has been improved by 38.4%, enhanced students' willingness to exercise, 65% of students have enhanced physical health awareness, and a network data platform has been established, which can clearly reflect the physical health of students and summarize all monitoring data information. Teenagers are the future builders and successors of the country, and they play a pivotal role in the entire country. The analysis of the status quo of adolescent physical fitness test data is related to the strength of the country, the rise and fall of the nation, the happiness of the family, and the future of the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]