ScalableDigitalHealth (SDH): An IoT-Based Scalable Framework for Remote Patient Monitoring

Addressing the increasing demand for remote patient monitoring, especially among the elderly and mobility-impaired, this study proposes the "ScalableDigitalHealth" (SDH) framework. The framework integrates smart digital health solutions with latency-aware edge computing autoscaling, providing a novel approach to remote patient monitoring. By leveraging IoT technology and application autoscaling, the "SDH" enables the real-time tracking of critical health parameters, such as ECG, body temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. These vital metrics are efficiently transmitted in real time to AWS cloud storage through a layered networking architecture. The contributions are two-fold: (1) establishing real-time remote patient monitoring and (2) developing a scalable architecture that features latency-aware horizontal pod autoscaling for containerized healthcare applications. The architecture incorporates a scalable IoT-based architecture and an innovative microservice autoscaling strategy in edge computing, driven by dynamic latency thresholds and enhanced by the integration of custom metrics. This work ensures heightened accessibility, cost-efficiency, and rapid responsiveness to patient needs, marking a significant leap forward in the field. By dynamically adjusting pod numbers based on latency, the system optimizes system responsiveness, particularly in edge computing's proximity-based processing. This innovative fusion of technologies not only revolutionizes remote healthcare delivery but also enhances Kubernetes performance, preventing unresponsiveness during high usage.

Enhancing Localization Efficiency and Accuracy in Wireless Sensor Networks

Accuracy is the vital indicator in location estimation used in many scenarios, such as warehousing, tracking, monitoring, security surveillance, etc., in a wireless sensor network (WSN). The conventional range-free DV-Hop algorithm uses hop distance to estimate sensor node positions but has limitations in terms of accuracy. To address the issues of low accuracy and high energy consumption of DV-Hop-based localization in static WSNs, this paper proposes an enhanced DV-Hop algorithm for efficient and accurate localization with reduced energy consumption. The proposed method consists of three steps: first, the single-hop distance is corrected using the RSSI value for a specific radius; second, the average hop distance between unknown nodes and anchors is modified based on the difference between actual and estimated distances; and finally, the least-squares approach is used to estimate the location of each unknown node. The proposed algorithm, named Hop-correction and energy-efficient DV-Hop (HCEDV-Hop), is executed and evaluated in MATLAB to compare its performance with benchmark schemes. The results show that HCEDV-Hop improves localization accuracy by an average of 81.36%, 77.99%, 39.72%, and 9.96% compared to basic DV-Hop, WCL, improved DV-maxHop, and improved DV-Hop, respectively. In terms of message communication, the proposed algorithm reduces energy usage by 28% compared to DV-Hop and 17% compared to WCL.

A computational offloading optimization scheme based on deep reinforcement learning in perceptual network

Currently, the deep integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing has improved the computing capability of the IoT perception layer. Existing offloading techniques for edge computing suffer from the single problem of solidifying offloading policies. Based on this, combined with the characteristics of deep reinforcement learning, this paper investigates a computation offloading optimization scheme for the perception layer. The algorithm can adaptively adjust the computational task offloading policy of IoT terminals according to the network changes in the perception layer. Experiments show that the algorithm effectively improves the operational efficiency of the IoT perceptual layer and reduces the average task delay compared with other offloading algorithms.

LACP-SG: Lightweight Authentication Protocol for Smart Grids

Smart grid (SG) recently acquired considerable attention due to their utilization in sustaining demand response management in power systems. Smart meters (SMs) deployed in SG systems collect and transmit data to the server. Since all communications between SM and the server occur through a public communication channel, the transmitted data are exposed to adversary attacks. Therefore, security and privacy are essential requirements in the SG system for ensuring reliable communication. Additionally, an AuthentiCation (AC) protocol designed for secure communication should be lightweight so it can be applied in a resource-constrained environment. In this article, we devise a lightweight AC protocol for SG named LACP-SG. LACP-SG employs the hash function, "Esch256", and "authenticated encryption" to accomplish the AC phase. The proposed LACP-SG assures secure data exchange between SM and server by validating the authenticity of SM. For encrypted communication, LACP-SG enables SM and the server to establish a session key (SEK). We use the random oracle model to substantiate the security of the established SEK. Moreover, we ascertain that LACP-SG is guarded against different security vulnerabilities through Scyther-based security validation and informal security analysis. Furthermore, comparing LACP-SG with other related AC protocols demonstrates that LACP-SG is less resource-intensive while rendering better security characteristics.