58 research outputs found
Traffic Profiles and Performance Modelling of Heterogeneous Networks
This thesis considers the analysis and study of short and long-term traffic patterns of
heterogeneous networks. A large number of traffic profiles from different locations and
network environments have been determined. The result of the analysis of these patterns
has led to a new parameter, namely the 'application signature'. It was found that these
signatures manifest themselves in various granularities over time, and are usually unique
to an application, permanent virtual circuit (PVC), user or service. The differentiation of
the application signatures into different categories creates a foundation for short and long-term
management of networks. The thesis therefore looks from the micro and macro
perspective on traffic management, covering both aspects.
The long-term traffic patterns have been used to develop a novel methodology for network
planning and design. As the size and complexity of interconnected systems grow steadily,
usually covering different time zones, geographical and political areas, a new
methodology has been developed as part of this thesis. A part of the methodology is a new
overbooking mechanism, which stands in contrast to existing overbooking methods
created by companies like Bell Labs. The new overbooking provides companies with
cheaper network design and higher average throughput. In addition, new requirements like
risk factors have been incorporated into the methodology, which lay historically outside
the design process. A large network service provider has implemented the overbooking
mechanism into their network planning process, enabling practical evaluation.
The other aspect of the thesis looks at short-term traffic patterns, to analyse how
congestion can be controlled. Reoccurring short-term traffic patterns, the application
signatures, have been used for this research to develop the "packet train model" further.
Through this research a new congestion control mechanism was created to investigate how
the application signatures and the "extended packet train model" could be used. To
validate the results, a software simulation has been written that executes the proprietary
congestion mechanism and the new mechanism for comparison. Application signatures for
the TCP/IP protocols have been applied in the simulation and the results are displayed and
discussed in the thesis. The findings show the effects that frame relay congestion control
mechanisms have on TCP/IP, where the re-sending of segments, buffer allocation, delay
and throughput are compared. The results prove that application signatures can be used
effectively to enhance existing congestion control mechanisms.AT&T (UK) Ltd, Englan
Exploring pedestrian movement patterns
The main objective of this thesis is to develop an approach for exploring, analysing and interpreting movement patterns of pedestrians interacting with the environment. This objective is broken down in sub-objectives related to four research questions. A case study of the movement of visitors in a natural area is used to develop and demonstrate the approach. To achieve the objectives, four research questions were formulated: • How can movement patterns evidencing the stopping behaviour of pedestrians be detected? • What is the validity of the detected movement patterns for describing stopping behaviour of pedestrians? • How can movement patterns be applied to study the movement behaviour of visitors in natural areas? • How can movement patterns be formalized to represent the interactions between pedestrians and between pedestrians and their environment
Progress Report No. 13
Progress report of the Biomedical Computer Laboratory, covering period 1 July 1976 to 30 June 1977
Progress Report No. 12
Progress report of the Biomedical Computer Laboratory, covering period 1 July 1975 to 30 June 1976
Quality-of-service management in IP networks
Quality of Service (QoS) in Internet Protocol (IF) Networks has been the subject of
active research over the past two decades. Integrated Services (IntServ) and
Differentiated Services (DiffServ) QoS architectures have emerged as proposed
standards for resource allocation in IF Networks. These two QoS architectures
support the need for multiple traffic queuing systems to allow for resource
partitioning for heterogeneous applications making use of the networks. There have
been a number of specifications or proposals for the number of traffic queuing
classes (Class of Service (CoS)) that will support integrated services in IF Networks,
but none has provided verification in the form of analytical or empirical investigation
to prove that its specification or proposal will be optimum.
Despite the existence of the two standard QoS architectures and the large volume of
research work that has been carried out on IF QoS, its deployment still remains
elusive in the Internet. This is not unconnected with the complexities associated with
some aspects of the standard QoS architectures. [Continues.
Support For IP mobility and diversity in a broadband wireless access network
Broadband wireless access (BWA) network working at millimetre bands possesses the advantages of quick deployment, more flexibility, wide service coverage and cost efficiency. The range of services to be provided via the system includes broadband digital television, Internet data, telephony and videoconference. Apart from broadcast digital television, all traffic is carried in Internetworking Protocol (IP) format. Unfortunately the services of such a system are susceptible to impairment by buildings, vegetation, terrain and attenuation caused by rain, snow and sleet, etc. Accordingly the service availability and system performance can drop dramatically. In the worst case, the system will experience heavy packet loss and the services might be completely unavailable. An extended multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network architecture is proposed in this thesis, which allows fast mobile IP access and diversity routing for traffic under fade condition. This supports nomadic access, reduced packet loss and improved service availability in BWA network during system outage. Also developed herein is a Diversity and Shadow Flow Merging Mechanism, which, besides sending a packet on its normal path, also duplicates the packet and sends it on a separate, diverted labelled path. The shadow flow merging mechanism is responsible for merging the normal flow and shadow flow together and delivering the merged packet to its destination. It is anticipated that the packet can be successfully delivered to the destination even if one path fails completely during the system outage. The protocol is tested on a general BWA network that is configured with Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) downlink and Multi-Frequency Time Division Multiplex Access (MF-TDMA) uplink equipments. The protocol’s ability of reducing packet loss and improving service availability, during the period of link failure, is verified. It is concluded that the protocol is effective in improving the service availability of BWA network.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
Progress Report No. 14
Progress report of the Biomedical Computer Laboratory, covering period 1 July 1977 to 30 June 1978
Coalition based approach for shop floor agility – a multiagent approach
Dissertation submitted for a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, speciality of Robotics and Integrated Manufacturing from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaThis thesis addresses the problem of shop floor agility. In order to cope with the disturbances and uncertainties that characterise the current business scenarios faced by manufacturing companies, the
capability of their shop floors needs to be improved quickly, such that these shop floors may be adapted, changed or become easily modifiable (shop floor reengineering).
One of the critical elements in any shop floor reengineering process is the way the control/supervision architecture is changed or modified to accommodate for the new processes and equipment. This thesis,
therefore, proposes an architecture to support the fast adaptation or changes in the control/supervision architecture. This architecture postulates that manufacturing systems are no more than compositions of
modularised manufacturing components whose interactions when aggregated are governed by
contractual mechanisms that favour configuration over reprogramming.
A multiagent based reference architecture called Coalition Based Approach for Shop floor Agility – CoBASA, was created to support fast adaptation and changes of shop floor control architectures with minimal effort. The coalitions are composed of agentified manufacturing components (modules), whose relationships within the coalitions are governed by contracts that are configured whenever a coalition is established. Creating and changing a coalition do not involve programming effort because it only requires changes to the contract that regulates it
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