A Computational Architecture Based on RFID Sensors for Traceability in Smart Cities

Abstract

Information Technology and Communications (ICT) is presented as the main element in order to achieve more efficient and sustainable city resource management, while making sure that the needs of the citizens to improve their quality of life are satisfied. A key element will be the creation of new systems that allow the acquisition of context information, automatically and transparently, in order to provide it to decision support systems. In this paper, we present a novel distributed system for obtaining, representing and providing the flow and movement of people in densely populated geographical areas. In order to accomplish these tasks, we propose the design of a smart sensor network based on RFID communication technologies, reliability patterns and integration techniques. Contrary to other proposals, this system represents a comprehensive solution that permits the acquisition of user information in a transparent and reliable way in a non-controlled and heterogeneous environment. This knowledge will be useful in moving towards the design of smart cities in which decision support on transport strategies, business evaluation or initiatives in the tourism sector will be supported by real relevant information. As a final result, a case study will be presented which will allow the validation of the proposal.

A Computational Method based on Radio Frequency Technologies for the Analysis of Accessibility of Disabled People in Sustainable Cities

“…This method is based on experience and previous research work regarding citizens' traceability and the distributed systems made by this research group [53,54], which improve the current track-and-trace system proposals for the acquisition of the locations of citizens in heterogeneous and uncontrolled environments, both indoors and outdoors, to facilitate the transparent incorporation of citizens into the system. For acquisition of user's locations, we will use RFID communication technology.…”

“…In addition, more communication and processing capabilities are included on new devices embedded anywhere. Therefore, based on our previous experience with these technologies [53] and other previous research works [54], the working hypothesis of this research is that this type of solution can be used to trace users with and without movement disabilities when they move around the city and to check whether they are accessible.…”

“…In this context, the proposal consists of designing an RFID smart sensor to acquire citizens' location information based on our design described in [53]. This device consists of an RFID reader and an embedded processing element, which gives it the required local intelligence and functionality.…”

“…After activation of the sensors, the Route Accessibility Analyzer starts this inference process. The general technical details of this idea regarding communication issues, message processing, timing and availability are explained in [53].…”

Interactive cloud system for the analysis of accessibility in smart cities

“…The convergence and maturity experienced by these technologies allow the deployment of applications inside the Smart city context to generate knowledge for urban management processes. Likewise, they improve efficiency in the design of policies for sustainable resource management and public accessibility [11,12].…”