Fast DC charging of BEVs is required to enable extended travels and smart charging is necessary to limit power peaks. Fast charging comes with a state-of-charge related charging power decline, whereas smart charging introduces a charging power adjustment that in its simplest form prevents overloading the electric grid access. The presented work addresses primarily the impact of these mechanisms on the BEV charging performance. First, we introduce the approach to analyse charging site designs as finite multi-server queueing systems using event based simulation. Second, two exemplary scenarios prove the utility of fast and smart charging. It becomes evident that stressing the electricity grid with power peaks that equal the sum of the peak powers of all charging points is not required to satisfy the customer needs. In conclusion, it is assumed that dynamic and energy system sensible smart charging could utilise and mitigate the volatility of local renewable energy sources, offering a win-win situation for the charging site operator and the environment.

Integrating renewables into the grid introduces price fluctuations that stem from their inherent volatility. To mitigate this, adopting an energy-aware production planning strategy benefits factories and the grid. By aligning production processes with periods of abundant renewable energy and lower costs, factories can actively reduce their energy expenditures while simultaneously smoothing grid strain. However, such a transition requires expensive retrofitting of production planning systems. This paper proposes an approach to transparently integrating energy awareness into an existing Manufacturing Execution System (MES), resulting in a cost reduction without the need to retrofit the MES.

The growing emphasis on environmental sustainability, driven by regulations such as Europe's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and increased consumer awareness, is a notable trend. It is estimated that manufacturing energy consumption accounts for 24 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. As demand for renewable energy rises, current market mechanisms are unable to guarantee a carbon-free energy supply. This paper presents an approach that integrates energy availability and product carbon footprint (PCF) into production planning. The necessity for factories and energy suppliers to adapt their operations is highlighted. To ensure the optimal utilization of available energy resources, it is essential that factories implement production schedules that are responsive to fluctuations in supply. Energy suppliers must provide accurate long-term production profiles and employ anomaly detection for short-term adjustments. The proposed solution is designed to align energy consumption with renewable energy availability and PCF.

Most of the sensor nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT) and home automation systems (HAS) applications are designed to be low-cost and energy efficient. These devices are expected to be lightweight, and flexible with low maintenance. These criteria limit the computational and communications capabilities of such systems whereas system protection and data authentication have always been limitation factors due to security cost complexity.In this paper, we investigate and propose a simple, lightweight, and cost-effective watermark security method for Wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It is an improved version of our previous research on the metadata-enhanced cross-watermarking approach. The original watermark generator has been extended to achieve cipher block chaining integrating with side-channel watermarking. The watermark bits are hidden in the transmitting channel properties. The experimental results and security analysis prove this scheme, provide data authenticity and transmission integrity without additional security payload.

Production planning is not normally concerned with energy costs, but with the increasing share of volatile renewable energy, energy prices are becoming volatile, too. Production planning will ultimately have to take this into account. The problem here is in the uncertainly of price predictions and the associated risk. The present work investigates how to integrate dynamic energy price prediction uncertainty into the optimization of energy consumption in an industrial production setting. To that end, we incorporate the cost of prediction errors into the predicted energy prices up to the planning horizon. Such risk-adjusted prices are then used as the basis for energy-aware production planning. First results show that this concept can handle different error distributions and can be assumed feasible.

Securing smart sensors in IoT or more general in automation applications is mostly seen and addressed from a networking viewpoint. While there is much research on how to make communication in sensor networks secure and prevent data manipulation during transmission, less attention is paid to the sensor itself that provides the actual measurement data. However, manipulation of the sensor can lead to serious malfunction of an automation system. Protection of the hardware side of a sensor is therefore desirable, but faces constraints related to cost or technical feasibility. In this paper, we investigate a simple watermarking scheme applied to the analog readout of a resistive sensor. Based on the example of a outside temperature sensor in a heating control, we analyze various attack scenarios involving voltage injection and determine the level of protection that can be achieved.

Voice assistants, and in particular smart speakers, have become very popular in the recent past. Their growing ability to interact with users in natural language makes them a convenient interface for control of entertainment systems, appliances, smart homes, IoT applications, and many Internet applications. Nevertheless, they are controversial devices, not only because of the obvious challenges for security and privacy of their users. This paper investigates the concerns and motivations of users of voice assistants, but also those of non-users who are a group that is often disregarded in an engineering context. Following a theoretical model of non-usage, a representative nationwide survey was conducted in Austria to obtain quantitative insight into the groups of users and non-users of voice assistants. While the results confirm several former works regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of the groups, we find that only 75% of the non-users actively resist against the technology, whereas 20% rather feel excluded from using it. One of the surprising results also was that users and non-users share the same security and privacy concerns.

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) enable a vast number of sensors to be connected in a low-maintenance, low-cost, and easily deploy-able way. Conventional cryptogra-phy measures used to provide secure communication in such networks, often result in a higher on-air time, which directly increases the energy consumption. Also the additional message size needed may exceed the actual payload. This paper combines the concept of sensor data watermarking together with side-channel utilization to satisfy integrity protection of sensor data without the need to sacrifice payload size for message authen-tication codes (MACs). Practical experiments using LoRaWAN over The Things Network (TTN) show that watermarks can be embedded in a side-channel without significantly changing the channel characteristics thus making the security fully transparent to the original data transmission both in terms of payload and timing characteristics.

Indoor localization is a core technology for many position-aware applications. This is often based on the mea-surement of the signal strength at the receiver end, which is available for many commercial radio protocols without additional costs, e.g., for WiFi, Bluetooth or Zigbee. However, a major limitation with received signal strength (RSS)-based methods are high inaccuracies resulting mainly from physical propagation effects. But these effects are not the only cause for erroneous position estimates. In this paper we first present a RSS measure-ment system and localization setup based on Software Defined Radio (SDR)s, which reduces protocol-specific influences such as transmit power management. In addition, the RSS value can be measured with a much higher resolution and sampling rate, which gives more headroom to analyze its statistical and temporal properties. The measurement data is then evaluated to get an insight on the errors and disturbances commonly associated with RSS localization schemes. This allows us to identify a problem in the basic way RSS-based localization methods process the measurement data, which could be partially responsible for the high variance typically associated with RSS measurements and the elusive fast fading effect. The goal of this work is to investigate some fundamental aspects of RSS localization to better understand the limitations of the technology.

Energy consideration in production planning is becoming more important due to concerns over the climate change. However, the uncertainty of energy availability hinders the optimisation of production. The proposed concept uses an iterative approach of adjusting production scheduling in respect to the available energy using a multi-criteria optimisation that not only includes factory utilisation but also the likelihood of the predicted energy availability.

We present a watermarking scheme for sensor data, which accurately detects sensor voltage manipulation attacks. Due to a low complexity implementation running locally on a microcontroller, the proposed technique is well suited for home automation systems but also IoT systems where lightweight sensor nodes with restricted communication capabilities are commonly applied. The watermarking technique is based on modulating the sensor supply voltage, which embeds the watermark signal into the sensor output voltage. Hence, invasive voltage tampering attempts including ADC grounding and voltage injection attacks can be efficiently detected. According to the performed characterization results, our method is able to distinguish normal operation and an attack condition with approx. 98% accuracy for the entire ADC input voltage range. In a real-world demonstration involving a thermistor based temperature sensor all attack attempts were successfully detected.

With technological revolutions like the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 on the doorstep, localization of network nodes is more important than ever. Indoor localization systems mostly work with omnidirectional antennas for simplicity reasons. Using directional antennas has advantages, though, and devices with such antennas will be included in IoT systems someday. In this paper, the focus is on dynamic changes in the configuration of localization systems. Adding an antenna must be handled fast and efficiently. Frequent recalculations of the configuration could be necessary, and limited resources make a reduction of the computational effort desirable. In this work we look at possible methods to cut the computational effort while minimizing the penalty on accuracy. Since accuracy is of utmost importance for indoor localization, there is a fine line which is important to find.

Within this paper a concept for a NFC compatible wireless power transfer system is presented that is able to supply sensors embedded over 10 cm deep into concrete. The goal is on the one hand the use of only commercially easily available components and on the other hand the integration of an energy storage system to enable a self-sufficient function without active energy transfer. Therefore, we discuss the basic requirements to achieve magnetic coupling of reader and transponder and present a system concept for a wireless power transfer system that is tested in measurements with two different embedding depths. Depending on the thickness and water content of concrete, power transmission ranging up to almost one Watt has been achieved in a proof of concept implementation.

Low-data rate networks typically cannot afford the overhead entailed with security measures because of lack of bandwidth. In this paper we propose a method for embedding digital watermarks in LoRaWAN based sensor systems. With the presented approach, the transmitted messages themselves do not need to be modified. Rather, the inter-packet interval between individual packets is used as a side-channel to carry the security-relevant information. We first examine the specific characteristics of LoRaWAN which are typical also for similar low-data rate wireless networks and then present a feasible, lightweight approach for the generation of the digital watermarks. Subsequently, we analyze first simulation results of two different differential methods for the watermark implementation.

Knowledge about temperature conditions in industrial processes is a key factor for process efficiency and control. This paper specifically investigates the measurement of temperature distributions along pipes in furnaces to monitor the status of deposit growth inside the pipes. Contrary to common spot measurements, we propose fiber optical sensors (so-called fiber in metal tubes) allowing a high spatial resolution. As the measurement is only indirect, taking the pipe wall temperature as approximation for the fluid temperature inside the pipe, we present a model-based approach taking into account the thermal characteristics of the deposit layer. 2D simulations show the temperature distribution around the pipes and are used to derive first indications regarding the optimal placement of the sensors.

The ambitious climate goals of the European Union to complete the transition toward an entirely renewable energy supply request new balancing concepts to better cope with the required increase of distributed and volatile energy sources. Energy Communities could be an enabler thereto, the idea being that the community management coordinates heterogeneous energy assets, owned and operated by community members, to jointly utilize their resources internally and thereby reduce external grid load. In this paper we present an analysis of functional requirements to initiate a new technical framework for Energy Communities. This first functional description of Energy Community management aiming on community internal energy balancing is provided as a starting point for integration profiles development according to the Integrating the Energy System (IES) approach.

With increasing deployment of wireless devices also localization gets a consequential boost in industrial and other IoT environments. Localization so far in most cases assumes omnidirectional antennas. This paper investigates a generalized Received Signal Strength (RSS) fingerprinting localization algorithm for antennas with arbitrary radiation patterns in order to include IoT devices with directional antennas in localization.Focus is set on the recursive algorithm which improves performance of the traditional fingerprinting methods. First a machine-learning aided analysis of the overlapping reception areas of the antennas is conducted for quickly determining possible initial positions of the nodes to be localized. Then, for reaching higher resolution, different up-scaling techniques and gradient search is applied. In particular, the localization accuracy vs. computational efficiency is investigated which is an important trade-off for many applications.

Common localization approaches are usually based on omni-directional antennas. There are various algorithmic methods, all of which assume strictly uniform radiation in all directions. However, in general, the output characteristics of these (nominally omnidirectional) antennas are not completely omnidirectional or even highly directional depending on the specific design. This article investigates the use of clustering algorithms to identify different areas of joint signal parameters that can be used for an RSS-based localization method. A set of clustering algorithms is investigated, and their properties to cluster RSS maps for localization applications are compared. In particular, their score for cluster quality and their execution speed relevant for deployment in embedded systems has been evaluated.

Within this paper a novel approach for localization of roaming nodes is presented that uses static directional antennas at the receiver side to measure the received signal strength (RSS). In contrast to omni-directional antennas it is not possible to formulate an analytical relationship of distance to received signal power. The characteristics as well as benefits and challenges of directional antennas are analysed and a concept for an iterative approach is presented that uses a stored antenna pattern to estimate the transmitter position. Finally, a Bluetooth based measurement setup is presented, that will be used for the upcoming validation of the proposed algorithm.

Since the release of Bitcoins as crypto currency, Bitcoin has played a prominent part in the media. However, not Bitcoin but the underlying technology blockchain offers the possibility to innovatively change industries. The decentralized structure of the blockchain is particularly suitable for implementing control and business processes in microgrids, using smart contracts and decentralized applications. This paper provides a state of the art survey overview of current blockchain technology based projects with the potential to revolutionize microgrids and provides a first attempt to technically characterize different start-up approaches. The most promising use case from the microgrid perspective is peer-to-peer trading, where energy is exchanged and traded locally between consumers and prosumers. An application concept for distributed PV generation is provided in this promising area.

In the context of Industry 4.0, constantly evolving shop floors generate the need for a highly adaptive and autonomous automation system with lean maintenance, minimum downtime, maximum reliability, and resilience. Future Manufacturing Execution Systems (MESs) will be more complex and dynamic as well as distributed physically and logically. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for the conventional centralized architectures to effectively control these vibrant Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPSs). To address these issues, we propose Self-Aware health Monitoring and Bio-inspired coordination for distributed Automation systems (SAMBA), an architecture which tackles these challenges. SAMBA increases the ability of the system to intelligently adapt to rapidly changing environment and conditions of future CPPSs.

Integrating formally separated control systems of a city by means of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is well known under the term “Smart City”. The benefit is a more energy and cost efficient city. In the domain of road traffic an open traffic data platform shall be the base for smart road traffic infrastructure and services. The idea is to pool available data from road side sensors as well as aggregated data from sensor fusion units at a single place. Due to a highly scalable technology the platform can provide data to any system. The results are that fewer sensors are required for more accurate and efficient services.

Network-based clock synchronization is an important prerequisite for many application areas and more and more required for the factory floor for network arbitration, control, and monitoring. Limitations of existing clock synchronization protocols are that they either support high redundancy and robustness or high precision. This paper presents an approach to integrate slave-side robustness into high precision clock synchronization. To achieve this goal, a system design facilitating the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is proposed, which supports multiple masters in parallel and provides highly reliable and robust clock synchronization, while at the same time demanding no changes to the network and timing infrastructure. The slave-side robustness can be further enhanced to provide improved monitoring support for IEEE 1588. This makes the solution especially appealing for large-scale networks where retrofitting must be done efficiently and the network infrastructure is not under the control of the end device operator.

Up to now, production systems only concern was to minimize production costs or to optimize the utilization of production resources. But with the increasing energy prices and the growing concern over the environmental impact of production systems (industrial systems consume a quarter of all energy), efficient use of energy in manufacturing environment cannot be ignored any longer. MANUbuilding concept brings together the manufacturing systems requirements with the building automaton concerns over the efficient energy use and develops the local decision making based on dynamically expanding clusters to optimize the energy consumption in a factory.

The function block standard IEC 61499 is gaining popularity as a solution for distributed automation systems. Its event-based concept suggests the use of packet-based networks such as conventional Ethernet as underlying communication infrastructure. For such networks, however, proper Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms are required to ensure adequate network performance. Ideally, these mechanisms must be configured and controlled from the IEC 61499 system both during engineering and normal operation. This paper addresses the problem of fully integrating Ethernet switches into an IEC 61499 system rather than treating them as transparent network components. An analysis of existing QoS support in available devices reveals a large degree of heterogeneity in the implementations that calls for an abstraction layer. This abstraction is introduced by means of a dedicated QoS function block attached to the device which makes the QoS parameters accessible from the function block application layer thus making the device-specific implementation transparent to the IEC 61499 system developer.

Wireless technologies in industrial automation increase flexibility, but pose challenges to the design of security strategies. The typical requirements regarding integrity protection, authentication, and availability need to be transferred from the traditional wired network domain to wireless networks without impairing the benefits of wireless communication. This article presents results of the security concept for flexible wireless automation in real-time environments devised in theflexWARE project. It includes the results of the security requirement analysis, a description of the procedural design approach towards security, and describes innovative communication protection mechanisms for wireless domains including seamless handover and novel location-based security services.

Industrial and building automation systems are more and more important in industry and buildings. New services and novel fields of application call for dependable systems. Two very important properties of such a system are functional safety and system security. In the opposite of today’s development where safety and security are treated separately, investigating security together with safety leads to a reduction of effort in the different phases of system life. That is because they have some similar objectives, but realized by different measures. The intention of the paper is to present a way of developing a safe and secure system as well as to show the associated benefit with special focus on building automation.

RFIDs are used to identify products in factory automation applications; multi agent systems are a possibility to introduce flexibility into production processes. This article introduces a platform that allows to combine both technologies, to run a software agent on an active RFID device, and as a result to gain increased flexibility and control. The main goal of the introduced RFID agent environment is to achieve full FIPA compliant integration. This goal is achieved by defining a subset of the FIPA specification that maintains full compatibility for the required communication but meets the resource limitations by omitting unneeded functionality. Performance measurements and a security manager add important pieces for a successful practical use.

Building automation and control systems (BACS) are an important part of modern automated buildings. More and more they are also responsible for functions affecting people's safety, security and health. Thus the respective technology is supposed to work reliably, securely, safely and efficiently. The two important features of such a BACS are functional safety and system security (short safety and security) of both the network nodes and the communication protocols. Up to now little effort has been made to specify a life cycle for a safe and secure BACS that defines requirements for the different stages of the product life of a BACS. Special focus is related to the commonalities between the development of safety and security systems to benefit from these commonalities in development.

Agent systems are a way to increase flexibility of manufacturing execution systems (MES) by scheduling tasks in a distributed autonomous way. Usage of autonomous, collaborative agents and off-the-shelf hardware and software components yet introduce vulnerabilities. This article presents a structural security model for protecting a distributed agent system based on the concept of a hierarchical model. In particular the necessary key system is introduced. The developed security model takes into account typical properties of embedded systems (low computation power, real-time capabilities, autarkic operation) used in automation environments.

Agent based systems allows to introduce additional flexibility to Distributed Control Systems (DCS) in manufacturing. Shifting decision making processes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) allows to react in more flexible manner to changes in orders and shop floor environment. The definition of an appropriate language is vital to allow seamless and unobstructed interaction between agents. This article analyses the requirements and objectives of a content description language for industrial systems. It introduces an ontology-based set of representation languages and transformations being adaptable to different system requirements. An implementation within the PABADIS'PROMISE project is given, demonstrating the applicability of the concepts.

With the exploding complexity of distributed production, current management concepts cannot feasibly maintain full control over work pieces in the plant. Product identification technologies such as RFID are a solution to retain control. Nevertheless they are only a piece in the puzzle to retrieve the desired information at shop floor level and superordinate levels like ERP systems. This paper analyses the suitability of RFID (radio frequency identification) in agent-based control applications to gain full control over all products and resources at shop floor level. Additionally, an implementation concept for RFID-based product control developed in the EU project PABADIS' PROMISE is presented; the project aims at installing a completely distributed agent-based production control system with full information control.

The provision of security services in fieldbus systems will gain in importance in the coming years. A need for such services is easiest seen in fieldbus systems for building automation as they give ample opportunities for mischievous adversaries to tamper with. Without loss of generality we discuss different ways to integrate security services in fieldbus systems after pointing out possible security deficiencies in three widely used fieldbus systems for building automation. Exemplarily, we show how to integrate security services to the LonWorks system. To do so we introduce a secure smart card and discuss the security services that were implemented, based on some simple but realistic assumptions about a possible security policy.