Page 92 - ITU Journal, Future and evolving technologies - Volume 1 (2020), Issue 1, Inaugural issue

ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, Volume 1 (2020), Issue 1

To these ends, we believe that the concept of Circular Micro-manage energy losses Energy manipula on as
Economy (CE) and its associated performance indices and parasi c dissipa ons via an app framework
so ware
is a fitting framework for the initial exploration and
evaluation of the IoMMT paradigm [39, 40]. CE seeks SONIC Electromagne c, Mechanical,
Acous c and Thermal proper es API
to make technological products reusable, repairable and
Northbound Interface
recyclable across their lifetime (i.e., development, pur- EM
chase, usage and disposal) by introducing cross-product Smart Environment Configura on
and cross-manufacturer interactions. Instead of the tra- Consistency and Orchestra on
ditional, linear order of life cycles phases, i.e., i) raw re- MECH Material Mul -physics M-ware
source acquirement, ii) processing, iii) distribution, iv) Monitoring EM SONIC MECH HEAT
its use and v) disposal, the CE advocates to create links Modules
THERMAL Southbound Interface
from disposal to all preceding phases, promoting i) re-
Inteconnectivity, deployment and configuration
processing or refurbishment, ii) redeployment and redis-
tribution, and iii) multiple uses. IoMMT varia ons &
AI-driven composi on
However, according to the literature [41], the CE intro-
profiling and rec-
duces a paradoxical tension in the industry: While the ommenda on systems
Equipment-level Outdoors,
industry is pressed for faster growth and, hence, a faster (Motors, Cooling/ Indoors- vehicular, IoMMT data and energy
Hea ng/Insula ng level
product development rate, CE can introduce a series of surfaces) smart-city models
design considerations that make for a slower product de-
velopment rate. In this view, the paradigm of IoMMT Fig. 14 – Envisioned future research directions for the Internet
of MetaMaterials.
is by its nature impactful for the energy and ecologi-
cal footprint of multiple products, across disciplines and als, to match the requirements and specifications of any
scales. envisioned application.
The fact that it enables the tuning and optimization of
Moving to the networking layer, research can follow the
the physical properties of matter allows for a tremen-
proposed northbound/southbound abstraction model
dous impact both in terms of quality of service per
inspired from the SDN paradigm. This will provide the
product and scale, but also for energy savings in a hor-
necessary platform for: i) Interconnecting the IoMMT
izontal manner. Moreover, the IoMMT can contribute
to the vast array of existing networked devices and
a software-driven way for optimizing material proper-
assorted standards, models and protocols. ii) Pro-
ties. Using this new technology, the industrial players
vide the necessary software abstractions, to open the
can maintain a fast-paced product design, where energy
field of energy micromanagement to software develop-
efficiency and sustainability can be upgraded program-
ers (i.e., without specialty in Physics), enabling the
matically via “eco-firmware” during its use, thereby of-
energy-propagation-as-an-app paradigm. In this aspect,
floading the product design phase of such concerns.
we also envision the need for algorithms optimizing
An important future research direction of the IoMMT is
IoMMT deployments for minimal-investment-maximal-
to quantify the financial savings stemming from adopt-
control, and orchestrating IoMMT deployments for any
ing this technique. While the Circular Economy-derived
set of generic energy micro-management objective.
paradoxical tensions have been around for long and are
hard to eradicate, IoMMT can facilitate their resolu- The control time granularity depends on the application
tion by quantifying them, potentially aligning fast-paced scenario and the volatility of the factors affecting the en-
marketing with environmental sustainability. ergy propagation within an environment. In an indoors
Apart from the CE line of work, future work will seek wireless communications setting, such as the one stud-
to provide the theoretical and modeling foundations of ied in [7], where the Intelligent Wireless Environment
the IoMMT. Our vision, overviewed in Fig. 14, is for needs to continuously adapt to the position of user de-
a full-stack study of this new concept, covering: the vices, the control granularity can be considered to be
10-25 msec (i.e., randomly walking users running a mo-
physical layer modeling, the internetworking and com-
bile application).
munications layer, and the application layer.
At the physical layer, future research needs to classify Finally, at the application layer research can define key-
and model metamaterials in a functionality-centric way, applications of the IoMMT at multiple scales, start-
and introduce fitting Key-Performance Indicators for ing from the internals of equipment, such as motors,
each offered energy manipulation type. Metasurface- heating, cooling and insulating surfaces. This will pro-
internal control variations (technologies and ways of vide the basic units for IoMMT incorporation to de-
monitoring embedded active elements) can be taken into vices spanning home appliances (ovens, refrigerators,
account, and aspire to deduce models covering the as- washers, heating and cooling units), electronics (from
pects of control data traffic, energy expenditure and interference cancellation, to smart cooling) and build-
feature-based manufacturing cost estimation. This will ing materials (acoustic, thermal and mechanical insula-
enable the creation of the first, cross-physical domain tors). Various scales can be taken into consideration,
profiling and recommendation system for metamateri- from indoor (smart-house) and outdoor (city-level, ve-

72 © International Telecommunication Union, 2020