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This book provides a literature review of various wireless MAC protocols and techniques for achieving real-time and reliable communications in the context of cyber-physical systems (CPS). The evaluation analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 for CPS therein will give insights into configuration and optimization of critical design parameters of MAC protocols. In addition, this book also presents the design and evaluation of an adaptive MAC protocol for medical CPS, which exemplifies how to facilitate real-time and reliable communications in CPS by exploiting IEEE 802.15.4 based MAC protocols. This book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and students to better understand the QoS requirements of CPS, especially for healthcare applications.

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Introduction. - MAC Protocols. - Evaluating IEEE 802.15.4 for CPS. - IEEE 802.15.4 Based Adaptive MAC Protocols. - An Adaptive MAC Protocol for Medical CPS. - Conclusion.

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Dr. Feng Xia is currently Associate Professor and PhD Supervisor in School of Software, Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China. He is founding director of the Mobile and Social Computing Lab. He is the (Guest) Editor of several international journals. He serves as General Chair, PC Chair, Workshop Chair, Publicity Chair, or PC Member of a number of conferences. Dr. Xia has authored/co-authored two books and over 170 scientific papers in international journals and conferences. His research interests include social computing, mobile computing, and cyber-physical systems. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE SMC Society, and a member of ACM and ACM SIGWEB. URL: http://fengxia.net/Azizur Rahim is a PhD Candidate at Mobile and Social Computing Laboratory in School of Software, Dalian University of Technology, China. He has completed his Master in Electrical Engineering from COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan (July 2012). He received his Bachelor degree in Computer Systems Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2008. He has published several papers in international journals and conferences. His research interests include Mobile and Social Computing, Ad-hoc Networks, Wireless Sensor Networks, Body Area Networks and Social Networks.

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