• Published on 10 Jul 2015
• Project News

Demanes project & workshop results

DEMANES is the acronym for DEsign, Monitoring and Operation of Adaptive Networked Embedded Systems

Traditionally embedded systems are designed to perform a limited number of fixed tasks. However, in today’s world and especially in the coming future, huge numbers of sensors and actuators will be available for different large-scale applications.

These sensors/actuators will not all be owned by the application owner; sometimes contracts need to be arranged between sensor/actuator owner and application owner; in other situations sensors will be available for free.

Distributed ownership can result in varying performance level due to varying availability of devices and malfunctioning devices. Similarly, changing embedding environments and changing user needs require special abilities from the system to maintain optimal performance.

The resulting dynamics are significantly different from those of centralized or small-scale distributed systems, the predictability of the dynamic performance decreases and a level of self optimization and self organization will be necessary. Consequently a paradigm shift will be necessary impacting design time, run time optimized monitoring and control systems.

Adaptivity plays a key factor in making this new vision possible in two components:

1. self organization, by means the capability to optimize the level of performance at run time taking into account the input of the system and the desired output
2. self optimization, which distinguishes functional and physical self organization                       

In the case of functional self organization, the functional structure will be organized at run time; in the case of physical self organization, at run time the functionality mapping on resources will take place.

To implement adaptive systems we need reference designs, architectural patterns and tools that enable efficient and safe development processes.

Furthermore, we need designs and architectures that enable the dynamical mapping of functionalities (the result of the functional decomposition process) to available resources.

Since the systems to be built will be often mission critical, it is important that the reference design and architecture will be able to combine system safety and security with the system adaptivity.

Future adaptive networked embedded systems will not be standalone systems, but will be part of other systems resulting in ultra large systems; this is another reason to make systems adaptive to ensure compliance with ever changing and heterogeneous conditions.

However, ultra large systems can only be managed if the subsystems are seamlessly connected on the basis of consistent middleware components.

The primary objective of DEMANES is to develop novel technologies (such as framework and tools for development of runtime adaptive systems) which support the cost-effective and timely realisation of large-scale networked systems embedded in the physical world, which are capable of a high level of evolution to follow internal changes (battery level, availability and throughput of the network connection, availability of external services, ...) and external changes manifesting a high level of dependability.

DEMANES aims to develop a smart integrated ToolChain, reusable components and a framework for the design, implementation, testing, validation and operation of adaptive networked embedded systems.

The ToolChain consists of a set of tools aimed to:

• model the architecture and the operation of adaptive systems to guide the design process and to enable the use of design patterns and reuse of software components
• support the design process of such systems by providing simulation and evaluation environments and testbeds for verification and testing along the different stages of the development process
• support the implementation of such systems by providing services for self-organisation, reconfiguration and self-optimisation as parts of the execution environment
• monitor the internal and external operational conditions and manage adaptation at run time.
• verify and test adaptive systems

In addition to the ToolChain, DEMANES has further delivered a model-driven design methodology, reference designs for dependable, real-time distributed systems and a pilot implementation of a runtime platform for applications designed according to the methodology developed.

The following scheme shows the DEMANES ToolChain architecture where commercial and open source tools have been integrated in a common framework based on Eclipse environment.

As it can be noticed, the connection between tools is assured by converters which translate the tool native output format into an agreed exchange file format.

This strategy makes the DEMANES ToolChain an open architecture, allowing to easily extend the variety of tools supported by it.

Additionally, the project has provided a set of reusable components and interfaces to address the configuration and run-time reconfiguration issues on higher functional level.

These components represent the Middleware modules which have been integrated into the ToolChain framework with the intent to make easy and fast the systems implementation.

The idea of using the Middleware is to provide some modules ready to use, in this way speeding up the creation of the application. In fact, all Middleware modules have been tested and validated individually, and this allows software developers to trust on them saving time for both implementation and testing phases.

All Middleware modules have been created in Java using OSGi environment, which makes easier the usage in large number of devices (all systems which can host a Java Virtual Machine implementation).

Furthermore, in some devices where a JVM is not available, a specific Middleware module implementation was realized ad-hoc in C/C++ language using dedicated development environments.

The above diagram shows the DEMANES Middleware modules (the ANES MW layer) implemented in different HW and SW architectures. Moreover on top of it, some services have been developed too, with the aim to implement system applications as concrete demonstrators of the technology developed by the project.

The concept, methodology and tools developed in DEMANES have been validated and demonstrated in three different environments:

1.         city (Smart Safe & Secure Urban Transportation & Environment

2.         airport (smart Airport Management)

3.         home (Cooperating Sensors at Home)

and they aided mastering design complexity and improve productivity enabling to increase the competitiveness of the industry in several key market segments.

In order to show the benefits of using the technology created by the project, the Consortium selected a set of representative scenarios demanding challenging adaptation capabilities.  These scenarios are:

1. a Smart Urban Transport pilot, deployed in the city of Rome, known to be one of the European capitals with the most congested traffic. This demonstrator is led by Selex ES with the participation of Italian and Spanish partners.
2. a pilot Smart Container Terminal, set up in the city of Rotterdam, which is considered one of the busiest ports in the world. The pilot is led by TNO in cooperation with partners from The Netherlands, Spain and the Czech Republic.
3. a Smart Outdoor Lighting demonstrator, led by Philips. The pilot implements a novel system for improving the coordination of emergency services in the city of Assen.
4. a Smart Airport Management pilot that demonstrates DEMANES technologies in city-like areas. Partners from Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic contributed to the pilot development.
5. a Smart Home and Office demonstrator demonstrators deployed in a living-lab at Inabensa premises in Seville.
6. a Smart Environment for Assisted Living pilot, led by the University of Eastern Finland, set up in the city of Kuopio in a healthcare centre, with the involvement of the local personnel and customers during the trials campaign.

DEMANES pilot applications supporting the provision of the Smart City concept are summarized in the following picture, including partners who participated to the demonstrators development.

The following diagram summarizes DEMANES ToolChain and Middleware involment used to build the Pilots, with the reference to work packages and deliverables.

1. Dissemination Events

In order to promote the project results, the DEMANES consortium decided to show some pilot demonstrations during ARTEMISIA CoSummit in Berlin (March 10-11, 2015) and the DEMANES dissemination event organised at Philips High Tech Campus in Eindhoven (April 22^nd, 2015). Both, live demonstrations (Smart Container Terminal, Smart Urban Transport and Smart Home and Office) and videos (Smart Environment for Assisted Living, Smart Container Terminal and Smart Outdoor Lighting) were prepared and published in major video search engines and uploaded in the DEMANES project website. Additionally, the DEMANES project and particularly the Smart Airport Management pilot were presented to Eurocontrol managers (including the Customer Support and Services Access Manager, the Flight Planning and B2B Web Services Domain Manager, the Head of Customer Support and Services Access Manager and the Network Manager Release Coordinator): in that occasion the project approach and novel adaptation scenarios raised the interest of the attendees.

Following, the detail on the implementation activities carried out within each demonstrator is presented.

DEMANES Modelling language and ToolChain

The DEMANES tool chain consists of a modeller using the DEMANES modelling language and an integrated design optimisation tool. This part of the DEMANES tool chain was disseminated during the SASO demonstration session in 2014 (won “best demonstration award”) and the DEMANES dissemination event organised by Philips in April 2015. The tool chain demonstration is available on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP6q9J5wX4k).

The results of this work package are mainly of interest to embedded system designers.

Task 5.2 Smart Safe and Secure Urban Transport and Environment

Two Smart Mobility Apps (Smart Traveller App and Line Controller App) and the CAN Bus interface have been implemented integrating DEMANES middleware. Both high level adaptation related to route (re)computation and low level adaptation targeting embedded device energy optimisation and increased processing power have been considered. A video showing the way the CAN Bus interface is used to gather bus sensor data (e.g. accelerometers) was prepared (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfXc8f3QXSQ). Such data, correlated with information provided by passenger counters, can be used to get the actual occupancy of the vehicle. A live demonstration of the Smart Traveller App has been presented at HTC event.

Smart Container Terminal: the Cargo Monitoring System has been implemented taking also into account the findings obtained running the DEMANES model simulation tool on the CMS model. The demonstrator applies adaptation strategies for energy optimisation on the cargo containers (where sensor nodes are always battery dependent) and for the provision of seamless communication for the transmission of container status information. A video showing the devices and operation of the CMS has been prepared (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maM2pUwr4KY) and a real demonstration was presented at the DEMANES Eindhoven Workshop.

Smart Outdoor Lighting: an early warning system based on smart lighting capabilities has been implemented. Light poles hardware and software were integrated in November 2014 and deployed at the real location in coordination with the municipality of Assen to guarantee the safety conditions for the city traffic. Philips personnel cooperated with the city of Assen municipality for the integration of the public service databases into the demonstrator. High level adaptation for dynamic light pattern control and time control was considered for the implementation of a DEMANES based Light Controller. Model simulations were also run using the DEMANES toolchain (DynAA) to evaluate the reliability of different light control algorithms and parameters. A video explaining the scenario and presenting the system functioning in Philips laboratory was prepared and presented at DEMANES Eindhoven Workshop together with the Light Pole hardware.

Task 5.3 Smart Airport Management

The implementation of the Airport Personnel Schedulling use case was finalised. The DEMANES toolchain was used for simulation of the dynamic task scheduling models. Adaptation strategies were considered for dynamic task scheduling, reconfiguration reasoning and seamless communication in mobile environments. Air traffic data provision which was also affordable from the human resources point of view. Access to NM B2B web services for the DEMANES project was  requested to Eurocontrol. A presentation on the project and demonstrator was made in Brussels and, following negotiations, Eurocontrol granted a PRE-OPS certificate with 'Airport' profile for accessing their systems in the scope of DEMANES. This process caused a delay in the integration of the pilot systems, so the Pilot demonstrator was not ready for the HTC event and was postponed at the end of the project for the final review.

Task 5.4 Cooperating Sensors at Home

Smart Home and Office: implementation of two pilot applications targeting Smart Indoor Lighting and Automatic Appliances Control has been completed, integrated with WP4 adaptation middleware libraries that support seamless communications and time synchronisation. Although sensor and actuator deployment had already started at Inabensa facilities in Seville in summer 2014, problems on the living lab environment appeared on March 2015: a crack was found in one of the building pillars which affected the area where the pilot was installed. As a consequence, the pilot elements had to be uninstalled. As an alternative solution, a portable demonstrator that includes representative examples of all the sensors, actuators and control devices considered in the pilot was prepared and a live demo is planned for the Final Review.

Smart Environment for Assisted Living: implementation of two pilot applications including an eHealth App and a Smart Space system finalised. The eHealth App was integrated with the smart biosensors developed in the scope of the project. The use of WP4 adaptation middleware focused on dynamic service deployment, making use of a reasoning engine for service dependency resolution and parameterisation support for dynamic service configuration. A video explaining the way in which DEMANES technologies were applied to facilitate an easier deployment of novel Smart Home services in the SEAL system was produced (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gXT2AudV1U) and showed during HTC dissemination event.