Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24-3 - 92

Fig. 2. The schematic of an IoT-based parking system in a smart city [8].

Fig. 1. The system model of an IoT-based MCS in a smart city [22].

vehicle. A user can select a parking space based on the location,
price, and availability. Fig. 2 shows an IoT-based parking system in a smart city.

Public Safety Networks
and cost-effective manner. Mobile Charging Stations (MCSs)
present a practical solution to the problem of efficient energy
distribution for EVs [18]-[21]. MCSs can be used alongside the
existing Fixed Charge Station (FCS) to ensure easy and reliable access to energy sources by EVs. MCSs can be relocated as
needed to adapt to the emerging EV market. There are many
challenges associated with the adoption of EVs by the transportation sector. For an FCS installation, utility upgrades are
often needed to meet the power demand. Some municipal electrical infrastructure cannot make such accommodations, and
hence, the EV market is restricted in those regions. Another
advantage of MCSs is the ability to store energy at non-peak
hours, thereby reducing the load demand on the local electrical utility [22].
IoT-collected data, such as the number of EVs, the charging state of their batteries, and the available power can be
utilized to improve efficiency. If the power demand can be effectively monitored and forecasted, the impact of MCSs on the
EV market becomes significant. Fig. 1 shows an example of an
IoT-enabled MCS in a smart city.

Parking Systems
Parking management and traffic control, particularly in dense
urban areas, have become a growing problem, resulting in considerable loss of time and revenue [7]. A promising solution to
address the related challenges is to integrate and utilize IoT
technology. A network of IoT sensors and data collection devices can provide the data needed to reduce congestion and
maintain efficient traffic flow [8]. A secure, fast, and reliable
parking system can be powered by an array of Wi-Fi Access
Points (APs), local parking management servers, and a central server. Together, such devices provide information on
parking availability and can reserve spots ahead of time for
users, thereby reducing wait times. Wireless Sensor Networks
(WSNs) are used to detect the presence or absence of a parked
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The Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution, namely 3GPP-LTE, has become the principal structure
for mobile message passing, including Public Safety Networks
(PSNs) [23]-[25]. Such networks rely on centralized coordination, where a parent node distributes messages to all children
nodes. The existing centralized networks are likely to remain
the dominant PSN solution. However, decentralized networks
play an important role in the emerging smart cities with IoT
devices. If the operation of parent nodes (telecommunications
tower, GSM satellite, or 5G antennas) in centralized networks
is compromised, the PSNs become unreliable, leaving the public vulnerable. The potential solutions for PSNs are based on
decentralized and self-organizing IoT networks that operate as a fail-safe mechanism for the Information Processing in
Sensor Networks (IPSNs). The algorithms employed to control and manage such networks need to be optimized in terms
of power consumption by IoT devices to meet the operational
requirements for decentralized networks. For a design implementation, it is mandatory to adhere to the IPSN standards
that govern performance measures, such as latency tolerance
and data security [24], [25].
When a network is self-organized, a considerable amount
of energy and data loss occurs. In addition, the lifespan of such
networks must be taken into consideration. In such networks,
the nodes are constantly changing their positions, and therefore, optimizing their topology for the least number of node
hops or smallest displacement vector between nodes is not
necessarily the most energy-efficient solution. In addition,
such networks must be scalable so that they can be used in both
dense urban areas as well as rural environments. One solution
is to build a virtual backbone with a cluster of children nodes
[26], [27], where the children nodes of Connected-Dominated
Sets (CDSs) handle high network traffics. The CDSs allow device-specific information to pass quickly to smaller nodes
[28]. Another promising approach developed to maximize

IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine

May 2021

Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24-3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 24-3