Roberta Paris

Bio: Roberta Paris is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mobile computing. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 93 citations.

Experimenting opportunistic networks with WiFi Direct

Abstract: WiFi Direct introduces new opportunities to deploy real opportunistic networks through users' mobile devices. However, its original specification does not take into account all the parameters that can emerge from an opportunistic network scenario, not only in terms of technical requirements (e.g., available resources and connectivities) but also of users characteristics and profiles, which can heavily influence the system's performances and devices' interactions. In this work we investigate the feasibility of creating opportunistic networks on top of WiFi Direct framework by analyzing the protocol's performances in real scenarios with a variable number of mobile devices. Experimental results show the times required to form a group of variable size and the best configurations to support opportunistic networking operations and upper layer applications.

ThriftyEdge: Resource-Efficient Edge Computing for Intelligent IoT Applications

Abstract: In this article we propose a new paradigm of resource-efficient edge computing for the emerging intelligent IoT applications such as flying ad hoc networks for precision agriculture, e-health, and smart homes We devise a resource-efficient edge computing scheme such that an intelligent IoT device user can well support its computationally intensive task by proper task offloading across the local device, nearby helper device, and the edge cloud in proximity Different from existing studies for mobile computation offloading, we explore the novel perspective of resource efficiency and devise an efficient computation offloading mechanism consisting of a delay-aware task graph partition algorithm and an optimal virtual machine selection method in order to minimize an intelligent IoT device's edge resource occupancy and meanwhile satisfy its QoS requirement Performance evaluation corroborates the effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed resource-efficient edge computing scheme

Content-centric routing in Wi-Fi direct multi-group networks

Abstract: The added value of Device-to-Device (D2D) communication amounts to an efficient content discovery mechanism that enables users to steer their requests toward the node most likely to satisfy them. In this paper, we address the implementation of content-centric routing in a D2D architecture for Android devices based on WiFi Direct, a protocol recently standardised by the Wi-Fi Alliance. After discussing the creation of multiple D2D groups, we introduce novel paradigms featuring intra- and inter-group bidirectional communication. We then present the primitives involved in content advertising and requesting among members of the multi-group network. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our architecture in a real testbed involving Android devices in different group configurations. We also compare the results against the ones achievable exploiting Bluetooth technologies.

Enabling multi-hop ad hoc networks through WiFi Direct multi-group networking

Abstract: With the increasing availability of mobile devices that natively support ad hoc communication protocols, we are presented with a unique opportunity to realize large scale ad hoc wireless networks. Recently, a novel ad hoc protocol named WiFi Direct has been proposed and standardized by the WiFi Alliance with the objective of facilitating the interconnection of nearby devices. However, WiFi Direct has been designed following a client-server hierarchical architecture, where a single device manages all the communications within a group of devices. In this paper, we propose and analyze different practical solutions for supporting the communications between multiple WiFi Direct groups using Android OS devices. By describing the WiFi Direct standard and the limitations of the current implementation of the Android WiFi Direct framework, we present possible solutions to interconnect different groups to create multi-hop ad hoc networks. Experimental results show that our proposed approaches are feasible with different overhead in terms of energy consumption and delay at the gateway node. Additionally, our experimental results demonstrate the superiority of techniques that exploit the device ability to maintain simultaneous physical connections to multiple groups, enabling multi-hop ad hoc networks with low overhead.

Design and performance evaluation of a LoRa-based mobile emergency management system (LOCATE)

Abstract: Smartphone devices can play a key role on emergency scenarios thanks to their pervasiveness, and the possibility to convey emergency requests from the involved people to the rescue teams. At the same time, the effective utilization of such devices on critical scenarios with limited mobile Internet access is challenging. As an alternative, several recent research studies have proposed Emergency Communication System (ECS) based on short-range Device-to-Device (D2D) solutions available on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) devices (e.g. Wi-Fi Direct); however, the target of these solutions is constituted by small indoor areas, since the scalability on large-scale environments is often a problem. In this paper, we overcome such issue by proposing LOCATE , a novel phone-based ECS enabling long-range communication among survivors and rescue teams over critical environments where 3/4G cellular connectivity is not available and the traditional geo-localization technologies (e.g. the GPS) provide only partial coverage of the environment. The proposed system consists of a mobile application connected to a LoRa transceiver via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE); through the app, users can send emergency requests that are re-broadcasted by other peers until reaching a rescue personnel who is able to handle the emergency. Three novel contributions are provided in this paper. First, we provide extensive measurements of the LoRa technology, and investigate its suitability for ECS-related applications. Second, we describe the LOCATE prototype and the enabling algorithms; specifically, we propose a novel multi-hop dissemination algorithm which maximizes the probability to deliver an emergency request to the destination (e.g. rescue personnel) within a user-defined temporal threshold, while minimizing the number of message re-transmissions. Third, we extensively evaluate the LOCATE performance through OMNeT++ simulations, assessing the capability of the dissemination protocol to spread out the emergency requests over large-scale scenarios, and through experiments, assessing the capability of LoRa-based trilateration technique to provide accurate GPS-free localization. The results demonstrate that the LOCATE protocol is able to minimize the time required to handle the emergency when compared to other dissemination strategies (e.g. flooding, continuous, once-per-contact), and they highlight the considerable improvement provided by the LoRa technology over other D2D solutions available on COTS smartphones (e.g. Wi-Fi Direct).

Survey of Public Safety Communications: User-Side and Network-Side Solutions and Future Directions

Abstract: To prevent economic losses, maintain social order, and protect the well-being of the populace during public safety and crisis recovery scenarios, such as man-made and natural disasters, the efficient and effective delivery of time-critical information to first responders and victims plays a key role. Nonetheless, too often, the communication infrastructures that enable time-critical information delivery become dysfunctional, due to traffic overloads or physical damage. Thus, the user-side solution [e.g., device-to-device (D2D) communications] and the network-side solution [e.g., dynamic wireless networks (DWNs)] are essential communication techniques that can enhance or restore communication for responders and victims in the harsh environment associated with public safety scenes. While D2D has been widely studied and investigated in legacy/commercial communication networks, as well as DWN, little work has been done toward adapting D2D and DWN from a public safety perspective. In this survey, we first design a layered structure, consisting of the public safety service layer, time-critical information delivery layer, and physical object layer, from which to consider the public safety system and its key components. We then extensively review research efforts on both D2D and DWN as complimentary user-side and network-side communication techniques toward effective public safety communications. Particularly, we investigate the approaches and standardization progress of D2D and DWN for public safety communications. Finally, we provide insights into challenges and potential solutions regarding D2D, DWN, security and resilience, and performance evaluation of public safety communication, as well as the integration of state-of-the-art communication and computing technologies to further improve time-critical information delivery in various public safety scenarios.