Volume 7 - Issue 3
Building enhanced environmental traceability solutions: From Thing-to-Thing communications to Generalized Cyber-Physical Systems
- Borja Bordel
Department of Telematics Systems Engineering, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
bbordel@dit.upm.es
- Ramon Alcarria
Department of Topographic Engineering and Cartography, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
ramon.alcarria@upm.es
- Miguel Angel Manso
Department of Topographic Engineering and Cartography, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Calle Ramiro de Maeztu, 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
m.manso@upm.es
- Antonio Jara
Institute of Information System,. University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland Route de Moutier 14, 2800 Delemont, Switzerland
jara@ieee.org
Keywords: Thing-to-Thing communications, Generalized Cyber-Physical Systems, people traceability, ubiquitous computing, pervasive sensing, environmental monitoring
Abstract
In the last decade, many different paradigms related to the named “next-generation technological
systems” have appeared: from the Internet-of-Things to Cyber-Physical Systems and Machine-to-
Machine communications. Traditionally these systems only consider hardware devices in their designs.
However, the experience has proved that the really valuable solutions are which are humanfocused
or environment-focused (biological signal monitoring, people traceability, assisted-living,
etc.). In this context, previous machine-focused paradigms have to be redefined. Therefore, this paper
analyzes the requirements of technological solutions for environmental monitoring and proposes
a coherent framework for their design. Moreover, most important components are identified and
some relevant problems in this field are addressed; mainly the identifier management and the system
modeling. Finally, a prototype for people traceability based on the proposed paradigms and Bluetooth
Beacons technology is described. Results showed that the quality of the provided information
is much higher in these new systems than in traditional approaches.