Journal of Internet Services and Applications

Hardware-Independent Embedded Firmware Architecture Framework

Mauricio D. O. Farina — 2024-04-16

Unlike other forms of development, the way firmware development is designed is somewhat outdated. It is not unusual to come across whole systems implemented in a cross-dependent monolithic way. In addition, the software of many implementations is hardware-dependent. Hence, significant hardware changes may result in extensive firmware implementation reviews that can be time-consuming and lead to low-quality ports, which may represent an important problem for Internet of Things (IoT) applications that evolve very frequently. To address this problem, this study proposes an embedded firmware development framework that allows reuse and portability while improving the firmware development life cycle. In addition, the typical mistakes of a novice software developer can be reduced by employing this methodology. An embedded IoT system project was refactored for this framework model to validate this proposal. Finally, a comparison was made between a legacy and framework project to demonstrate that the proposed framework can make a substantial improvement in portability, reuse, modularity, and other firmware factors.

Towards a Decentralized Blockchain-Based Resource Monitoring Solution For Distributed Environments

Rodrigo B. Dos Passos — 2024-03-07

The increasing number of connected users and devices to Cloud, Fog, and Edge environments encouraged the creation of many applications and services in the most varied areas and domains. Such services are highly distributed on top of heterogeneous infrastructures that require real-time monitoring. The monitoring process may be considered a complex task since it requires experienced users and robust cloud-based solutions to support the most varied needs in such scenarios. The main problem relies on the centralization of the monitoring approaches for cloud-centric solutions that represent a central point of failure in end-to-end communication, compromising the application's security and performance in case of high latency or downtime. In this context, blockchain networks enable exciting features such as decentralization, immutability, and traceability with higher security levels. This work is towards a blockchain-based and decentralized resource monitoring solution for distributed environments. The proposed solution integrates blockchain technology to continuously monitor, store, and safely broadcast Operating System performance counters in a highly decentralized fashion. The results demonstrated that a blockchain-based monitoring tool based on Smart Contract is feasible and that it may serve as an entry point for varied solutions for monitoring, security, scheduling, and so on.

MEDAVET: Traffic Vehicle Anomaly Detection Mechanism based on spatial and temporal structures in vehicle traffic

Ana Rosalía Huamán Reyna — 2024-04-24

Road traffic anomaly detection is vital for reducing the number of accidents and ensuring a more efficient and safer transportation system. In highways, where traffic volume and speed limits are high, anomaly detection is not only essential but also considerably more challenging, given the multitude of fast-moving vehicles, often observed from extended distances and diverse angles, occluded by other objects, and subjected to variations in illumination and adverse weather conditions. This complexity has meant that human error often limits anomaly detection, making the role of computer vision systems integral to its success. In light of these challenges, this paper introduces MEDAVET - a sophisticated computer vision system engineered with an innovative mechanism that leverages spatial and temporal structures for high-precision traffic anomaly detection on highways. MEDAVET is assessed in its object tracking and anomaly detection efficacy using the UA-DETRAC and Track 4 benchmarks and has its performance compared with that of an array of state-of-the-art systems. The results have shown that, when MEDAVET’s ability to delimit relevant areas of the highway, through a bipartite graph and the Convex Hull algorithm, is paired with its QuadTree-based spatial and temporal approaches for detecting occluded and stationary vehicles, it emerges as superior in precision, compared to its counterparts, and with a competitive computational efficiency.