Search Results (6)

The rapid growth in e-commerce calls for research on the potential of electric vehicles in improving last-mile delivery. Whereas existing studies have examined aspects of last-mile delivery, such as challenges, acceptance/benefits, and feasibility, the studies are fragmented, with conflicting findings and regional differences. Thus, there is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the studies to map out current research trends and propose future research agendas. To address this research gap, a bibliometric review was conducted on 375 publications from the Scopus database. Findings reveal that pioneering countries such as the USA have researched integrating electric vehicles into last-mile delivery systems, focusing on technological advancements such as battery technologies and smart grids. The sustainability theme is common in most studies, focusing on controlling carbon emissions and energy efficiency. The electric micro-mobility theme has grown in recent years, while emerging technologies remain underexplored, especially in developing economies. Future research should address the underexplored areas. These include charging infrastructure optimisation, electric micro-mobility innovations, and integration in urban environments, alongside the social and ethical implications of electric vehicle adoption for last-mile delivery. Full article

Broadband powerline communication is a technology developed mainly with consumer applications and bulk data transmission in mind. Typical use cases include file download, streaming, or last-mile internet access for residential buildings. Applications gaining momentum are smart metering and grid automation, where response time requirements are relatively moderate compared to industrial (real-time) control. This work investigates to which extent G.hn technology, with existing, commercial off-the-shelf components, can be used for real-time control applications. Maximum packet rate and latency statistics are investigated for different G.hn profiles and MAC algorithms. An elevator control system serves as an example application to define the latency and throughput requirements. The results show that G.hn is a feasible technology candidate for industrial IoT-type applications if certain boundary conditions can be ensured. Full article

The smart grid is the modern electricity grid, which significantly improves the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of electricity transmission systems. The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system, which is the essential system in the smart grid, enables real-time data collection and data analysis obtained from smart meters (SMs) and other devices through last-mile communication networks. In this paper, the hardware-based link quality estimation (LQE) was modeled, namely an SNR-based model, a mapping model, and an RSSI- and PRR-based logistic regression model, and their performance was then evaluated by the root mean-squared error (RMSE) with the empirical data. The SNR-based and mapping models were formulated by the packet error probability, whereas the RSSI- and PRR-based logistic regression model was formulated by the empirical data fitting. The RSSI- and PRR-based logistic regression model outperformed the other two models, with an RMSE difference of 111–122%. These LQE models can be implemented on SMs or modems to monitor the reliability and efficiency of the AMI last-mile communication network. Full article

The grid operation and communication network are essential for smart grids (SG). Wi-SUN channel modelling is used to evaluate the performance of Wi-SUN smart grid networks, especially in the last-mile communication. In this article, the distribution approximation of the received signal strength for IEEE 802.15.4g Wi-SUN smart grid networks was investigated by using the Rician distribution curve fitting with the accuracy improvement by the biased approximation methodology. Specifically, the Rician distribution curve fitting was applied to the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement data. With the biased approximation method, the Rician K-factor, a non-centrality parameter (r_s), and a scale parameter (σ) are optimized such that the lower value of the root-mean squared error (RMSE) is acheived. The environments for data collection are selected for representing the location of the data concentrator unit (DCU) and the smart meter installation in the residential area. In summary, the experimental results with the channel model parameters are expanded to the whole range of Wi-SUN’s frequency bands and data rates, including 433.92, 443, 448, 923, and 2440 MHz, which are essential for the successful data communication in multiple frequency bands. The biased distribution approximation models have improved the accuracy of the conventional model, by which the root mean-squared error (RMSE) is reduced in the percentage range of 0.47–3.827%. The proposed channel models could be applied to the Wi-SUN channel simulation, smart meter installation, and planning in smart grid networks. Full article

In view of Smart-Grid architecture, wireless Last-Mile Network (LMN) devices as smart meters and intelligent home control machines are normally installed in harsh and lossy communication environment. In order to improve communication reliability of LMN, we proposed Wireless Topology Aware Content Centric Networking (TOP-CCN) protocol. TOP-CCN reduces channel access overhead of traditional Content Centric Networking and supports efficient multicast message transmission by using Multiple Point Relay (MPR), and Publisher MPR (PMPR). In addition, TOP-CCN LMN provides simple multi-hop forwarding scheme that can reduce the traditional routing control message overhead in multi-hop wireless LMN environment. The simulation result shows TOP-CCN can improve the service provisioning time and reliability compared to traditional IP based network model in LMN. Full article

Within European cities, where 68% of the EU population lives using 70% of the energy, an integrated and sustainable urban approach is needed. In order to meet the increasingly complex challenges of urban areas new, efficient, and user-friendly technologies and services, in particular in areas of energy, transport, and ICT are required. In the transport sector electric urban mobility and synergy between different transport systems (ITS) and infrastructures must be supported strongly in order to improve life conditions of citizens in terms of i) emissions, ii) services, iii) traffic congestion (an ambitious challenge is reduction of journey times). With the aim of improving the city logistic more efficient peopletransport and freight-distribution systems have to be used, so electro-mobility for transport in the “last mile” must be supported. In the i-NEXT (Innovation for greeN Energy and eXchange in Transportation) project, in which CNR ITAE is directly involved as coordinator, activities are addressed to implementation of new concept modular electric vehicles having different upper-bodies able to be used both for people (public transport) and freight in urban areas. The project aims to develop a not commercial vehicle characterized by new design in which the challenge is to reach the lowest ratio between total weight and load capacity (europallet for freight and seats for people). Other important aspects are to define specific mission of use, range of autonomy, recharge times and cost in terms of batteries and recharge systems technologies. In conclusion synergy of electro-mobility with renewable energy plants and smart grids is essential for sustainability of smart city concept. Full article