Digital Twins at the Edge to Track Mobility for MaaS Applications

Abstract

The research into wireless communication and mobile computing is called to formulate novel smart mobility solutions to improve the quality of a citizen's life in smart cities. In such a context, in this paper we elaborate on the role of technologies like multi-access edge computing (MEC), Internet of Things (IoT) messaging protocols, such as Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) and Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT), and virtualization (i.e., digital twins) in the design of a framework enabling the collection and processing of data about the mobility of commuters and public transport vehicles. Such data have the purpose to feed mobility monitoring and transport planning solutions. A Proof-of-Concept (PoC) is developed to validate the framework under realistic experimental settings. Results in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of the considered messaging protocols are reported.