@article {TAPAS2020324, title = {Experimenting with smart contracts for access control and delegation in IoT}, journal = {Future Generation Computer Systems}, volume = {111}, year = {2020}, pages = {324 - 338}, abstract = {In a Smart City scenario, the authors envisioned an IoT-Cloud framework for the management of boards and resources scattered over a geographic area. It can also become a tool to let device owners contribute freely to the infrastructure. In this paper, we present an authorization and delegation model for the IoT-Cloud based on blockchain technology. We focus on smart city{\^a}{\texteuro}TMs design and simulation of smart contracts to address the specific characteristics of smart environments and analyze access control and delegation mechanism in IoT. In particular, the scheme is implemented for the Ethereum platform in the form of smart contracts. We present the theoretical analysis of the proposed solution. We perform experiments on local testnet Ganache and public testnet Rinkeby to evaluate the performance of the presented models. Finally, we discuss the results and limitations of the system and possible solutions to issues.}, keywords = {Access control, authorization, Blockchain, Cloud, Delegation, Ethereum, IoT, smart cities, Smart contracts}, issn = {0167-739X}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2020.04.020}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167739X18326979}, author = {Nachiket Tapas and Francesco Longo and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @conference {8875501, title = {Enabling Container-Based Fog Computing with OpenStack}, booktitle = {2019 International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData)}, year = {2019}, month = {July}, pages = {1049-1056}, abstract = {Operating system-level virtualization using containerization technologies have changed the world of application development and software by bringing flexibility, efficiency and new methods for managing and distributing software. Edge/Fog computing complements nowadays powerful centralized approach leveraging datacenters resources with a number of distributed fog nodes with relatively capable resources in order to provide advanced services in proximity to end users and data sources. In fact, this emerging paradigm provides ubiquitous processing abilities through scattered heterogeneous hardware with different energy availability and computational capabilities. This paper aims at presenting an extension of an IoT centric infrastructure Cloud framework, named Stack4Things, towards the edge through an integration with two of the OpenStack subsystems (i.e., Zun and Kuryr) that deal with containers management.}, keywords = {Application development, Cloud, cloud computing, computer centres, container management, container-based fog computing, containerization technologies, containers, datacenter resources, distributed fog nodes, distributing software, Ecosystems, Edge/Fog computing, Internet of Things, IoT, IoT centric infrastructure cloud framework, Kuryr, Neutrons, OpenStack, OpenStack subsystems, operating system-level virtualization, Servers, software management, ubiquitous processing abilities, virtualisation, Virtualization, Zun}, doi = {10.1109/iThings/GreenCom/CPSCom/SmartData.2019.00181}, author = {Zakaria Benomar and F. Longo and G. Merlino and A. Puliafito} } @conference {8726749, title = {Extending Openstack for Cloud-Based Networking at the Edge}, booktitle = {2018 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData)}, year = {2018}, month = {July}, pages = {162-169}, abstract = {Cloud-controlled virtual networking at the edge can be considered a critical feature, highly in demand in the IoT infrastructure management domain. Fostering the vision of the Cloud as a suitable control surface for IoT, an integration between the two ecosystems is achievable at a genuinely Infrastructure-as-a-Service level. This work thus describes an integration design between an IoT-centric infrastructure Cloud framework, already capable of limited networking functionality, and Neutron, the networking subsystem belonging to the core services of the OpenStack platform. Design considerations and trade-offs are detailed in the paper.}, keywords = {Bridges, Cloud, cloud computing, Cloud-controlled virtual networking, control surface, critical feature, Edge computing, IaaS, infrastructure management domain, Infrastructure-as-a-Service level, integration design, Internet of Things, IoT, IoT-centric infrastructure Cloud framework, Linux, network topology, network virtualization, networking functionality, networking subsystem, Neutron, Neutrons, OpenStack, OpenStack platform, Topology, Virtualization}, doi = {10.1109/Cybermatics_2018.2018.00058}, author = {Zakaria Benomar and D. Bruneo and S. Distefano and K. Elbaamrani and N. Idboufker and F. Longo and G. Merlino and A. Puliafito} } @article {10.1016/j.future.2015.09.017, title = {Mobile Crowdsensing as a Service}, journal = {Future Gener. Comput. Syst.}, volume = {56}, number = {C}, year = {2016}, month = {March}, pages = {623{\textendash}639}, publisher = {Elsevier Science Publishers B. V.}, address = {NLD}, keywords = {Cloud, Infrastructure as a Service, IoT, runtime customization, sensors and actuators, volunteer contribution}, issn = {0167-739X}, doi = {10.1016/j.future.2015.09.017}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2015.09.017}, author = {Merlino, Giovanni and Arkoulis, Stamatis and Distefano, Salvatore and Papagianni, Chrysa and Puliafito, Antonio and Papavassiliou, Symeon} } @article {ieeesys_:2015, title = {Device-centric Sensing: an Alternative to Data-centric Approaches}, journal = {Systems Journal, IEEE}, volume = {9}, number = {4}, year = {2015}, month = {Oct}, pages = {-}, abstract = {When pieces of information originate from the physical world through sensing infrastructure, there is a pressing need to cope with the overhead and inherent limitations lying in merely shifting huge amounts of aggregated data across the net. In this scenario, a key point is the minimization of wasted bandwidth to accommodate for ever-growing demands of sensing data. For effective treatment of sensing data, BigData principles and approaches should be adopted, in particular the one by which computing has to be brought as near as possible to data. In this paper we propose a new approach to deal with sensing data inspired by this principle, injecting intelligence on the device instead of just using it as source of data, thus reversing the trend from the current data-centric paradigm towards a device-centric one. This way, we shift the focus from the application level onto the infrastructure one, adopting a Cloud-oriented approach to abstract and virtualize sensor-hosting boards ready to be reconfigured with custom logic, such as MapReduce, by providing resources on demand, as a service. Theoretical, design and technical aspects have been addressed in this paper through the evaluation of a device-centric Sensing IaaS stack implementation. In particular, a prototype for mobiles is described, getting into platform-dependent details where needed. The facilities so far implemented under the Android platform have been put under preliminary testing through a mobile application.}, keywords = {BigData, Cloud, IaaS, Mobiles, sensing abstraction and virtualization, sensors and actuators}, issn = {1932-8184}, doi = {10.1109/JSYST.2015.xxxxxxx}, author = {Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @article { 11570_2963770, title = {A Utility Paradigm For Iot: The Sensing Cloud}, journal = {PERVASIVE AND MOBILE COMPUTING}, volume = {20}, year = {2015}, pages = {127{\textendash}144}, abstract = {

IoT is such a key trend in ICT that it is quickly becoming one of the most influential research and development topics. This popularity is spawning also lots of laudable initiatives, one of the most prominent being carried on by the IoT-A consortium, including influential blueprints such as its Reference Architecture (RA). Their main goal is to interconnect network-enabled devices and {\textquotedblleft}things{\textquotedblright} through the Internet. This bottom-up view of IoT is lacking mechanisms for aggregating, managing and administrating groups of things. Such a perspective could be reverted to provide control and management facilities through specific framework and software, in line with new trends such as software defined networking. In this paper we propose a top-down utility paradigm for IoT starting from the IoT-A reference architecture and the Sensing and Actuation as a Service (SAaaS) approach. It aims at implementing a sensing Cloud by enrolling and aggregating sensing resources from sensor networks and personal, mobile devices. We follow a device-driven approach, as adopted in IaaS Clouds: once collected, the physical (sensing) resources are abstracted and virtualized and then provided as a service to end users. A key point of the SAaaS is the abstraction of resources, i.e. providing a uniform way to access to and interact with the underlying physical nodes in compliance with IoT goals. The main contribution of the paper is the design and development of the sensing resource abstractions for SAaaS to demonstrate the feasibility of such an approach, providing details on theoretical and design aspects as well as technical ones. In particular, a preliminary implementation for mobiles is described, delving in platform-dependent details where needed. The facilities thus developed under the Android platform have been tested through a typical IoT application, in order to gauge the validity of the approach.

}, keywords = {Abstraction and ​virtualization, Cloud, IoT, Mobiles, Reference architecture, sensors and actuators}, doi = {10.1016/j.pmcj.2014.09.006}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S157411921400159X}, author = {Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @article {126, title = {Mobiles for Sensing Clouds: the SAaaS4Mobile Experience}, journal = {SCALABLE COMPUTING. PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE}, volume = {14}, year = {2014}, pages = {215{\textendash}233}, abstract = {

Smart devices, and mobiles in particular, are at the forefront of several hot new trends in ICT, such as the Internet of Things and service computing. Cloud computing is another paradigm generating a great deal of offshoots, some of which are aimed at enabling novel services and applications by exploiting its ubiquity and flexibility in combination with sensors and the (meta)data they produce about phenomena, events and other interesting items about the physical world. In this context, the authors, propose a new way to orchestrate devices, in particular SNs and mobiles, as resources to build up Clouds of sensors, reverting the current wisdom about mobile Clouds, i.e. the integration of feature-rich devices into the Cloud fabric as mere clients to one where personal / wearable devices are actively involved into a {\textquotedblleft}sensing{\textquotedblright} Cloud, forming a fully feedback-enabled ecosystem. The main aim of the Sensing and Actuation as a Service (SAaaS) approach is therefore to implement such a Cloud by enrolling and aggregating sensing resources from sensor networks and personal, mobile devices. A device-centric approach is embraced as in IaaS Clouds: once collected, the physical (sensing) resources are abstracted and virtualised and then provided elastically, on-demand, as a service to end users, including facilities for customization of the (hosting) embedded platform. A key point of the SAaaS approach is the abstraction of resources, i.e. providing a uniform way to access to and interact with the underlying physical nodes. In this paper we focus on the low-level interaction with sensing resources in SAaaS, restricting the scope to mobiles, thus providing details on theoretical and design aspects as well as technical and implementation ones. In particular, we report on an implementation of the SAaaS low-level modules on Android devices, the SAaaS4Mobile one, providing architectural descriptions of the main modules, implementation guidelines and discussing through a preliminary implementation evaluation the effectiveness of the approach.

}, keywords = {Android, Cloud, OGC Sensor Web Enablement, sensing abstraction and virtualisation, sensors and actuators}, doi = {10.12694/scpe.v14i4.929}, url = {http://www.scpe.org/index.php/scpe/article/view/929/391}, author = {Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @proceedings {129, title = {The Core Approach Of Saaas In Action: The Planning Agent}, journal = {Advances in Service-Oriented and Cloud Computing}, year = {2013}, pages = {37{\textendash}46}, publisher = {SPRINGER-VERLAG}, address = {Berlin}, abstract = {

The main goal of the sensing and actuation as a service (SAaaS) approach is to enrol and aggregate sensing resources from heterogeneous sensor networks and smart devices, providing them as a service in a Cloud-wise fashion. SAaaS aims at providing handles on sensing and actuation resources, abstracted and virtualized on top of physical ones, shared by contributors to the SAaaS. This requires adequate mechanisms for letting SAaaS end users interact with the contributing nodes hosting the provided resources. In this paper we focus on such problem, introducing the module of our SAaaS architecture specifically conceived to deal with all the issues related to user-resource interfaces: the Planning Agent (PA). The modular architecture of the PA and its main interactions with SAaaS stakeholders and framework components are described. The development of the PA on the Android platform is detailed, thus implementing a preliminary version of the SAaaS framework, targeted at mobiles: SAaaS4mobile.

}, keywords = {Cloud, OGC Sensor Web Enablement, sensing abstraction and virtualisation, sensors and actuators}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-642-45364-9_4}, author = {Lionel Cremer and Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @proceedings {131, title = {Infrastructure Setup And Deployment In Sensing Cloud Environments}, journal = {Innovative Mobile and Internet Services in Ubiquitous Computing (IMIS), 2013 Seventh International Conference on}, year = {2013}, month = {05/07/2013}, pages = {462{\textendash}467}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {Piscataway, NJ}, abstract = {

Sensing and actuation as a service (SAaaS) is a novel paradigm, modeled after Cloud and service computing, envisioning an Infrastructure-oriented (IaaS-like) provisioning model for sensors and actuators. In past works we defined a framework architecture for dealing with the requirements arising from the SAaaS criteria, considering the involvement of both mobiles and sensor networks. This provided a static view of the solution proposed, lacking details on how to effectively apply the paradigm exploiting its benefits. This paper addresses the topic from a different perspective, providing a dynamic view of the scenarios and therefore tackling SAaaS infrastructure setup and application service deployment. We identified a few outstanding use cases, which are described in operative terms to show the applicability and usefulness of the proposed solution.

}, keywords = {Cloud, sensors and actuators, service deployment, volunteer contribution}, doi = {10.1109/IMIS.2013.83}, author = {Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} } @article {134, title = {Saaas: A Framework For Volunteer-based Sensing Clouds}, journal = {PARALLEL \& CLOUD COMPUTING}, volume = {1}, year = {2012}, pages = {21{\textendash}33}, abstract = {

Cloud computing has emerged as a popular solution to provide cheap, elastic and easy access to computing and storage resources. However, a key drawback of current Cloud solutions is that they do not include mechanisms for interaction with the physical world. This paper intends to contribute to the design of a pervasive infrastructure where new generation services interact with the surrounding environment. By adding sensors and actuators into the mix, new opportunities arise for contextualization and geo-awareness. This scenario may turn out to be highly dynamic, also involving mobile devices that randomly join and leave, an issue that can be adequately addressed resorting to volunteer contribution paradigms. In this way innovative and value-added services can be implemented by bridging Clouds with sensor networks and ubiquitous nodes such as mobiles. Sensing and actuation resources have to be abstracted and virtualized to be provided under the guise of services, thus enabling a Sensing and Actuation as a Service (SAaaS) paradigm. Furthermore, adopting tailored thing-like semantics for further abstraction the (SAaaS) Cloud world could wind up to an expanded reach of current IoT scenarios. This paper mainly focuses on the implementation of the underlying infrastructure at the basis of the SAaaS. An ad-hoc architecture and some preliminary background of this challenging vision are provided and discussed, identifying development guidelines and future directions.

}, keywords = {Cloud, Infrastructure as a Service, sensors and actuators, volunteer contribution}, author = {Salvatore Distefano and Giovanni Merlino and Antonio Puliafito} }