This paper investigates the problem of detection and classification of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the presence of wireless interference signals using a passive radio frequency (RF) surveillance system. The system uses a multistage detector to distinguish signals transmitted by a UAV controller from the background noise and interference signals. First, RF signals from any source are detected using a Markov models-based naïve Bayes decision mechanism. When the receiver operates at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 10 dB, and the threshold, which defines the states of the models, is set at a level 3.5 times the standard deviation of the preprocessed noise data, a detection accuracy of 99.8% with a false alarm rate of 2.8% is achieved. Second, signals from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth emitters, if present, are detected based on the bandwidth and modulation features of the detected RF signal. Once the input signal is identified as a UAV controller signal, it is classified using machine learning (ML) techniques. Fifteen statistical features extracted from the energy transients of the UAV controller signals are fed to neighborhood component analysis (NCA), and the three most significant features are selected. The performance of the NCA and five different ML classifiers are studied for 15 different types of UAV controllers. A classification accuracy of 98.13% is achieved by k-nearest neighbor classifier at 25 dB SNR. Classification performance is also investigated at different SNR levels and for a set of 17 UAV controllers which includes two pairs from the same UAV controller models.

This paper focuses on the detection and classification of micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)using radio frequency (RF)fingerprints of the signals transmitted from the controller to the micro-UAV. In the detection phase, raw signals are split into frames and transformed into the wavelet domain to remove the bias in the signals and reduce the size of data to be processed. A naive Bayes approach, which is based on Markov models generated separately for UAV and non-UAV classes, is used to check for the presence of a UAV in each frame. In the classification phase, unlike the traditional approaches that rely solely on time-domain signals and corresponding features, the proposed technique uses the energy transient signal. This approach is more robust to noise and can cope with different modulation techniques. First, the normalized energy trajectory is generated from the energy-time-frequency distribution of the raw control signal. Next, the start and end points of the energy transient are detected by searching for the most abrupt changes in the mean of the energy trajectory. Then, a set of statistical features is extracted from the energy transient. Significant features are selected by performing neighborhood component analysis (NCA)to keep the computational cost of the algorithm low. Finally, selected features are fed to several machine learning algorithms for classification. The algorithms are evaluated experimentally using a database containing 100 RF signals from each of 14 different UAV controllers. The signals are recorded wirelessly using a high-frequency oscilloscope. The data set is randomly partitioned into training and test sets for validation with the ratio 4:1. Ten Monte Carlo simulations are run and results are averaged to assess the performance of the methods. All the micro-UAVs are detected correctly and an average accuracy of 96.3% is achieved using the k-nearest neighbor (kNN)classification. Proposed methods are also tested for different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)levels and results are reported.

The future 5G networks are expected to use millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency bands to take advantage of the large unused spectrum. However, due to the high path loss at mmWave frequencies, coverage of mmWave signals can get severely reduced, especially for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios as mmWave signals are severely attenuated when going through obstructions. In this work, we study the use of passive metallic reflectors of different shapes/sizes to improve 28 GHz mmWave signal coverage for both indoor and outdoor NLOS scenarios. We quantify the gains that can be achieved in the link quality with metallic reflectors using measurements, analytical expressions, and ray tracing simulations. In particular, we provide an analytical model for the end-to-end received power in an NLOS scenario using reflectors of different shapes and sizes. For a given size of the flat metallic sheet reflector approaching to the size of the incident beam, we show that the reflected received power for the NLOS link is the same as line-of-sight (LOS) free space received power of the same link distance. Extensive results are provided to study the impact of environmental features and reflector characteristics on NLOS link quality.

This paper presents a new distributed smart charging strategy for grid integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The main goal is to smooth the daily grid load profile while ensuring that each PEV has a desired state of charge (SOC) level at the time of departure. Communication and computational overhead, and PEV user privacy are also considered during the development of the proposed strategy. It consists of two stages: (i) an offline process to estimate a reference operating power level based on the forecasted mobility energy demand and base loading profile, and (ii) a real-time process to determine the charging power for each PEV so that the aggregated load tracks the reference loading level. Tests are carried out both on primary and secondary distribution networks for different heuristic charging scenarios and PEV penetration levels. Results are compared to that of the optimal solution and other state-of-the-art techniques in terms of variance and peak values, and shown to be competitive. Finally, a real vehicle test implementation is done using a commercial-of-the-shelf charging station and an electric vehicle.

Our society will face a notable demographic shift in the near future. According to a United Nations report, the ratio of the elderly population (aged 60 years or older) to the overall population increased from 9.2% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2013 and is expected to reach 21.1% by 2050 [1]. According to the same report, 40% of older people live independently in their own homes. This ratio is about 75% in the developed countries. These facts will result in many societal challenges as well as changes in the health-care system, such as an increase in diseases and health-care costs, a shortage of caregivers, and a rise in the number of individuals unable to live independently [2]. Thus, it is imperative to develop ambient intelligence-based assisted living (AL) tools that help elderly people live independently in their homes. The recent developments in sensor technology and decreasing sensor costs have made the deployment of various sensors in various combinations viable, including static setups as well as wearable sensors. This article presents a survey that concentrates on the signal processing methods employed with different types of sensors. The types of sensors covered are pyro-electric infrared (PIR) and vibration sensors, accelerometers, cameras, depth sensors, and microphones.

This study focuses on the potential role of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) as a distributed energy storage unit to provide peak demand minimization in power distribution systems. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power and currently available information transfer technology enables utility companies to use this stored energy. The V2G process is first formulated as an optimal control problem. Then, a two-stage V2G discharging control scheme is proposed. In the first stage, a desired level for peak shaving and duration for V2G service are determined off-line based on forecasted loading profile and PEV mobility model. In the second stage, the discharging rates of PEVs are dynamically adjusted in real time by considering the actual grid load and the characteristics of PEVs connected to the grid. The optimal and proposed V2G algorithms are tested using a real residential distribution transformer and PEV mobility data collected from field with different battery and charger ratings for heuristic user case scenarios. The peak shaving performance is assessed in terms of peak shaving index and peak load reduction. Proposed solution is shown to be competitive with the optimal solution while avoiding high computational loads. The impact of the V2G management strategy on the system loading at night is also analyzed by implementing an off-line charging scheduling algorithm.