DSpace Collection:
http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/5223
2024-02-07T12:25:40ZKnowledge Discovery in Vehicle Identification Sensor Networks
http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/6000
Title: Knowledge Discovery in Vehicle Identification Sensor Networks
Authors: Pinto da Silva, Pedro
Abstract: Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are driving innovation in road transport by integrating advances in communication and information systems with traditional engineering
practices. Core to ITS development is the collection and analysis of traffic data. One
class of traffic sensors, known as Automatic Vehicle Identification, is characterised by the
ability to identify vehicles using unique identifiers. Through vehicle re-identification, such
sensors can provide reliable estimates of travel time and inform route choices, both at the
individual and aggregate levels, across all levels of the road hierarchy. In particular, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) video cameras require just a visible number
plate instead of specialised devices for vehicle detection. The benefits of ANPR technology for traffic monitoring have led to its adoption in cities across the world, forming
complex sensor networks with increased potential to power ITS solutions.
Despite successful application in traffic forecasting, two technical barriers prevent a more
widespread and diverse adoption of ANPR networks:
• The lack of technical guidance on pre-processing ANPR data. We address this by
developing a data pipeline which documents the various data sources and processing
steps required to produce traffic data ready for analysis. In addition, we benchmark
the pipeline against a real ANPR network, located in the North East of England.
• The methodological gap in representing and extracting popular travel routes (corridors) from observed data. We develop a mathematical framework for corridor
identification, which highlights route importance in connecting and distributing regional road traffic.
The second part of this thesis focuses on two new ITS applications of ANPR networks.
They demonstrate how traffic authorities can collect evidence of corridor performance and
safety issues in order to prioritise transport improvements:
• Bottleneck detection and impact assessment is a critical traffic monitoring activity largely confined to highways. By developing a detection algorithm for ANPR monitored corridors, bottleneck detection is scaled to an entire urban network. Bottlenecks are categorised by frequency of occurrence, and their impact quantified
against other sources of congestion, indicating that recurring bottlenecks account
for over 75% of urban traffic congestion. Our method is the first to use ANPR sensors to automatically identify traffic bottlenecks and quantify their impact across
an urban road network.
• Frequent overtaking and lane-changing behaviour can have negative impacts on
traffic flow. We investigate the link between overtaking rate and traffic conditions
as a proxy to understanding and quantifying corridor safety levels. Our findings
suggest that overtaking rate increases with vehicle concentration and inversely with
speed, albeit with a scaling relationship that greatly depends on road characteristics.
Our method is the first to be able to quantify the scaling effect of vehicle overtakings
for a variety of roads and traffic conditions.
Successful traffic management increasingly relies on continuous data collection and analysis. Using our pipeline for data processing and new methodologies of data analysis,
stakeholders can extract added value from their ANPR sensing infrastructure and better
position themselves to fully realise the vision of intelligent traffic management systems
Description: Ph. D. Thesis.2023-01-01T00:00:00ZSharing opportunities and understanding challenges: a study of school-university partnerships within computing education
http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/5980
Title: Sharing opportunities and understanding challenges: a study of school-university partnerships within computing education
Authors: Venn-Wycherley, Megan
Abstract: The discipline of Computing was introduced to the English National Curriculum in
2014 to equip young people with the skills and knowledge to enact social, political,
and economic agency through compulsory education. Three years following its
introduction, computing education was beleaguered by poor teacher support and
falling levels of pupil engagement, with recommendations that external organisations
should work with schools to support the shortcomings of its delivery. Universities are
well-positioned to help school communities through improved access to resources,
knowledge, and skills, but schools are sceptical of the transactional nature of
university engagements. Currently, little guidance exists for schools or universities
seeking engagement in equitable partnerships, particularly in computing education.
As such, the overarching aim of this research is to develop an understanding of a
school-university partnership process for compulsory computing education, with
consideration of social and digital structures which occupy this space.
With a focus on lived experience within a community environment through a social
constructivist paradigm, the following research adopts the instrumental, exploratory
case study methodology combined with an action research approach to understand
the experiences of creating and participating in school-university partnerships for
computing education. Furthermore, a lens of educational ecology provides this thesis
with a framework and terminology to allow for the conceptualisation of the complex
and dynamic educational environment, helping one understand how they might affect
deliberate and conscious change of computing education as a community.
This thesis presents findings and insights from a series of case studies that explore
the creation, maintenance and legacy of school-university partnerships for computing
education based in the North-East of England. The first set of case studies
documents the experiences of creating and maintaining a school-university
partnership between Newcastle University and the computing department at a local
secondary school for the development of a Key Stage 3 computing curriculum,
pointing towards the importance of re-negotiation of partnership roles, the impact on
the engagement of pupils, and methods of support computing teachers in the
classroom. The second set of case studies outlines the end of the partnership
process and explores school-university partnerships' legacy. Findings from these
case studies demonstrate how the framing of risk and school technology policies can
constrain school engagement in such partnerships while developed processes and
materials can continue to exert a positive pedagogical impact on the school
environment.
Drawing upon the empirical findings from these case studies, I then present a
conceptual model of operational processes involved in creating and sustaining
equitable school-university partnerships for computing education. I also explore the
role of technologies in supporting such processes from a human-computer
interaction perspective. The thesis contributes to computing education research,
educational partnership research involving universities and communities and HCI
research into technologies to support educational partnerships. Firstly, in drawing
these case studies together and discussing lessons learned from the research, I
contribute and critique the implications of the partnership approach in support of
compulsory computing education in England. Secondly, my research presents a
framework to define the practice of school-university partnerships for computing.
Future researchers can develop their process and use of technology when
supporting the development of computing education in schools, focusing on
developing meaningful and equitable partnerships between stakeholders.
Description: Ph. D. Thesis.2023-01-01T00:00:00ZUnderstanding and improving human data relations
http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/5973
Title: Understanding and improving human data relations
Authors: Bowyer, Alex
Abstract: PCs, smartphones, and cloud computing have transformed the world: In our daily lives, we
interact with many businesses and public services who (often to reduce costs) rely on data
collection and processing rather than face-to-face user interactions to inform their
decisions. This creates an imbalance of power between those who hold personal data and
the individuals about whom data is stored, who cannot easily see their data or examine how
it is used. This Digital Civics PhD research explores, from an individualist perspective, the
lived experience of this imbalanced and data-centric world. Through two qualitative case
studies across public and private sectors, it discovers desires for visible, understandable
and useable data, and for transparent relations with data holders that enable oversight and
involvement. Case Study One focuses on Early Help social care: Through four workshops
with supported families and social workers, perspectives on civic data use are understood.
Shared data interaction is explored as a means to empower individuals while maintaining
an effective care relationship. Case Study Two is a three-month study exploring 10
participants’ experience of using GDPR data access rights to view their own data, resulting
in insights into individual needs and the challenges of data-centric service relationships,
and recommendations for improvement of policies and practices. Expanding upon prior
work in Personal Information Management, Human Data Interaction and MyData personal
data ecosystems, and informed by parallel industrial experience, a new research agenda for
improving Human Data Relations (HDR) is established. The thesis also explores the
practical pursuit of this agenda. Through the author’s expert participation in projects at BBC
R&D and Hestia.ai/Sitra, the landscape for future research and innovation is mapped out. 13
Principles for Generative Action are described, as well as objectives, obstacles, designerly
insights and both conformist and activist strategies for change.
Description: PhD Thesis2023-01-01T00:00:00ZBlockchain-Based Framework and Simulation Middleware for Service Level Agreement Compliance Assessment in the Context of IoT
http://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/5951
Title: Blockchain-Based Framework and Simulation Middleware for Service Level Agreement Compliance Assessment in the Context of IoT
Authors: Alzubaidi, Ali Abdulaziz K
Abstract: The concept of Service Level Agreement (SLA) is commonly employed to regulate the con tractual relationships between service providers and consumers. While several domains relate
to SLA, this thesis focuses on SLA in the context of IoT. Regardless, SLA can be fragile and
susceptible to violations and trust issues without a reliable trust mechanism in place. Recently,
Blockchain has presented itself as an appealing alternative for mitigating trust issues related to
centralised authorities and third parties. Following the success of Bitcoin, several blockchain
platforms have emerged, such as Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric, to enable conducting dis trusted processes in a non-repudiable manner. This thesis adopts Hyperledger Fabric as an
underlying blockchain infrastructure and examines how Blockchain can be incorporated to serve
distrusted processes related to a typical SLA life-cycle (SLA definition, monitoring, compliance
assessment, penalty enforcement, and termination). First, it explores the literature of both tradi tional SLA practice and blockchain-based SLA studies. Accordingly, it proposes and evaluates
an SLA representation and awareness approach within the Blockchain and demonstrates its
benefits for SLA definition and negotiation purposes. Following, it experiments with the use of
Blockchain for SLA monitoring, compliance assessment, and penalty enforcement in the context
of IoT. Hyperledger Fabric employs a mechanism for preventing the double-spending problem,
usually associated with monetary applications. However, this thesis demonstrates that the MVCC
protocol does not align well with the high rate of transactions expected from the monitoring tool.
Therefore, it proposes a set of design considerations for smart contracts to resolve these issues.
Accordingly, it evaluates the performance of the proposed solution and reports a considerable
improvement compared to naive approaches. Finally, this thesis contributes a middleware to
close the gap between IoT simulated environments and real-world Blockchain platforms. Thus, it
facilitates the usage of IoT simulators for Blockchain-based SLA purposes in terms of workload
generation, metrics monitoring and benchmarking.
Description: PhD Thesis2022-01-01T00:00:00Z