Danny Hughes

Bio: Danny Hughes is an academic researcher from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The author has contributed to research in topics: Wireless sensor network & Middleware. The author has an hindex of 28, co-authored 190 publications receiving 2795 citations. Previous affiliations of Danny Hughes include Lancaster University & University of São Paulo.

Free riding on Gnutella revisited: the bell tolls?

Abstract: A new analysis of free riding on the Gnutella network updates data from 2000 and points to an increasing downgrade in the network's overall performance and the emergence of a "metatragedy" of the commons. Individuals who use peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks such as Gnutella face a social dilemma. They must decide whether to contribute to the common good by sharing files or maximize their personal experience by free riding, downloading files while not contributing any to the network. Individuals gain no personal benefits from uploading files (in fact, it's inconvenient), so it's "rational" for users to free ride. However, significant numbers of free riders degrade the entire system's utility, creating a "tragedy of the digital commons."

Exploring the Security Vulnerabilities of LoRa

Abstract: Internet-of-Things (IoT) deployments increasingly incorporate long range communication technologies. To support this transition, wide area IoT deployments are employing LoRa as their communication technology of choice due to its low power consumption and long range. The security of LoRa networks and devices is currently being put to the test in the wild, and has already become a major challenge. New features and characteristics of LoRa technology also intorduce new vulnerabilities against security attacks. In this paper, we investigate potential security vulnerabilities in LoRa. In particular, we analyze the LoRa network stack and discuss the possible susceptibility of LoRa devices to different types of attacks using commercial-off-the-shelf hardware. Our analysis shows that the long range transmissions of LoRa are vulnerable to multiple security attacks.

Goal-Based Modeling of Dynamically Adaptive System Requirements

Abstract: Self-adaptation is emerging as an increasingly important capability for many applications, particularly those deployed in dynamically changing environments, such as ecosystem monitoring and disaster management. One key challenge posed by dynamically adaptive systems (DASs) is the need to handle changes to the requirements and corresponding behavior of a DAS in response to varying environmental conditions. Berry et al. previously identified four levels of RE that should be performed for a DAS. In this paper, we propose the levels of RE for modeling that reify the original levels to describe RE modeling work done by DAS developers. Specifically, we identify four types of developers: the system developer, the adaptation scenario developer, the adaptation infrastructure developer, and the DAS research community. Each level corresponds to the work of a different type of developer to construct goal model(s) specifying their requirements. We then leverage the levels of RE for modeling to propose two complementary processes for performing RE for a DAS. We describe our experiences with applying this approach to GridStix, an adaptive flood warning system, deployed to monitor the River Ribble in Yorkshire, England.

LooCI: a loosely-coupled component infrastructure for networked embedded systems

Abstract: Considerable research has been performed in applying run-time reconfigurable component models to the domain of wireless sensor networks The ability to dynamically deploy and reconfigure software components has clear advantages in sensor network deployments, which are typically large in scale and expected to operate for long periods in the face of node mobility, dynamic environmental conditions and changing application requirements To date, research on component and binding models for sensor networks has primarily focused on the development of specialized component models that are optimized for use in resource-constrained environments However, current approaches impose significant overhead upon developers and tend to use inflexible binding models based on remote procedure calls To address these concerns, we introduce a novel component and binding model for networked embedded systems (LooCI) LooCI components are designed to impose minimal additional overhead on developers Furthermore, LooCI components use a novel event-based binding model that allows developers to model rich component interactions, while providing support for easy interception, re-wiring and re-use A prototype implementation of our component and binding model has been realised for the SunSPOT platform Our preliminary evaluation shows that LooCI has an acceptable memory footprint and imposes minimal overhead on developers

Extending sensor networks into the Cloud using Amazon Web Services

Abstract: Sensor networks provide a method of collecting environmental data for use in a variety of distributed applications. However, to date, limited support has been provided for the development of integrated environmental monitoring and modeling applications. Specifically, environmental dynamism makes it difficult to provide computational resources that are sufficient to deal with changing environmental conditions. This paper argues that the Cloud Computing model is a good fit with the dynamic computational requirements of environmental monitoring and modeling. We demonstrate that Amazon EC2 can meet the dynamic computational needs of environmental applications. We also demonstrate that EC2 can be integrated with existing sensor network technologies to offer an end-to-end environmental monitoring and modeling solution.

Software Engineering for Self-Adaptive Systems: A Research Roadmap

Abstract: The goal of this roadmap paper is to summarize the state-of-the-art and to identify critical challenges for the systematic software engineering of self-adaptive systems. The paper is partitioned into four parts, one for each of the identified essential views of self-adaptation: modelling dimensions, requirements, engineering, and assurances. For each view, we present the state-of-the-art and the challenges that our community must address. This roadmap paper is a result of the Dagstuhl Seminar 08031 on "Software Engineering for Self-Adaptive Systems," which took place in January 2008.