Showing papers by "Jarrod Trevathan published in 2016"

Allocating sensor network resources using an auction-based protocol

Abstract: Wireless sensor networks are being increasingly used for remote environmental monitoring. Despite advances in technology, there will always be a disparity between the number of competing sensor devices and the amount of network resources available. Auction-based strategies have been used in numerous applications to provide efficient/optimal solutions for determining how to fairly distribute system resources. This paper investigates the suitability of using online auctions to allow sensors to acquire preferential access to network resources. A framework is presented that allocates network priority to sensor devices based on their characteristics such as cost, precision, location, significant changes to readings, and amount of data collected. These characteristics are combined to form the value for a particular sensor's bid in an auction. The sensor with the highest bid wins preferential access to the network. Priority can be dynamically updated over time with regard to these characteristics, changing conditions for the phenomenon under observation, and also with input from a back-end environmental model. We present an example scenario for monitoring a flood's progress down a river to illustrate how the proposed auction-based system operates. A series of simulations were undertaken with a preliminary auction structure to examine how the system functions under different conditions.

uAuction: Analysis, Design, and Implementation of a Secure Online Auction System

Abstract: Online auctions are now an immensely popular component of the electronic marketplace. However, there are many fraudulent buying/selling behaviours that can occur during an auction (e.g., shill bidding, bid shielding, etc.). While researchers are proposing methods for combating such fraud, it is extremely difficult to test how effective these countermeasures are. This is primarily due to it being unethical to engage in fraudulent behaviour just for the purpose of testing countermeasures. Furthermore, there is limited commercial auction data available due to the sensitivities of an online auctioneer being willing to admit that fraud has, or is occurring. In order to test fraud countermeasures in a controlled environment, we have created our own online auction server for conducting auction-related research. This paper presents our experiences with designing and implementing our own online auction system which we call uAuction. At present, there is limited useful literature on auction system design. We present an analysis and design of the auction system by employing Unified Modeling Language (UML) to show the architectural model, subsystems, use cases, activity workflows, class diagram, user interfaces, and system sequence diagrams. Our auction model is grounded in object-oriented techniques and is open source so that other researchers can expand upon our approach.

Analysis on Bidding Behaviours for Detecting Shill Bidders in Online Auctions

Abstract: Online auction is a popular electronic marketplacethat allows buyers and sellers to purchase and sell productsin an efficient way. In spite of popularity of online auctions, there are many fraudulent bidding or selling behaviours that canoccur during an auction (e.g., shill bidding, bid shielding, etc.).Among auction fruads, shill bidding is one of the hardest typesof auction fraud to detect. Researchers have developed frauddetection and prevention methods for combating such fraud. However, it is difficult to effectively identify and recognise biddingbehaviours for detecting shill bidders in online auctions. Thispaper presents a brief overview of major research on biddingpatterns for detecting shill bidders in online auctions. Moreover, our analysis result illustrates the characteristics of such biddingpatterns represent strong signs of shill bidding when monitoringonline auctions to combat this fraud. We also present case studiesfor identifying shill bidding behaviours in the datasets of eBay.

The Application of Decision Making Models in Sustainable Management of Environmental Systems

Abstract: Recent research has highlighted environmental sustainability as a key issue of concern affecting the future of human wellbeing. To pursue a sustainable future of a system, it is a critical challenge to make decisions at all levels of management. Decision making for controlling or steering a system requires models of the system that represent the determining characteristics of the system and have sufficient predictive power. Practitioners/researchers of environmental management use a large variety of (types of) models to support decision making, and it has become a complex task to select the appropriate model-type for a desired management goal. This paper considers the most common types of models and uses the mathematical properties of these model types to discuss the pros and cons of their use in environmental management / decision making. We explore how these mathematical properties influence the feasibility, viability and validity of the use of such models.