Providing 3D video services: the challenge from 2D to 3DTV quality of experience

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) video has decisively burst onto the entertainment industry scene, and has arrived in households even before the standardization process has been completed. 3D television (3DTV) adoption and deployment can be seen as a major leap in television history, similar to previous transitions from black and white (B&W) to color, from analog to digital television (TV), and from standard definition to high definition. In this paper, we analyze current 3D video technology trends in order to define a taxonomy of the availability and possible introduction of 3D-based services. We also propose an audiovisual network services architecture which provides a smooth transition from two-dimensional (2D) to 3DTV in an Internet Protocol (IP)-based scenario. Based on subjective assessment tests, we also analyze those factors which will influence the quality of experience in those 3D video services, focusing on effects of both coding and transmission errors. In addition, examples of the application of the architecture and results of assessment tests are provided

A cross-layer implementation of Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector routing (AODV) protocol

Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are networks which will form the basis for the ubiquitous data access because of their ease of deployment. Due to the dynamic nature of a MANET, routing is one of the most critical elements of MANET. Routing protocols for MANET can be broadly classified as a proactive routing protocol or a reactive routing protocol. In the proactive routing protocols, mobile nodes periodically exchange routing information among themselves. Hence proactive routing protocols generate high overhead messages in the network. On the other hand, reactive routing protocols work on-demand. Thereby generating less number of overhead messages in the network compared to proactive routing protocols. But reactive routing protocols use a global search mechanism called \u27flooding\u27 during the route discovery process. \u27Flooding\u27 generates a huge number of overhead messages in the network. Those overhead messages affect the performance of reactive routing protocols in term of network throughput. That kind of performance problem is called \u27scaling\u27 problem. Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector Routing with Cross-Layer Design (AODV-CL) protocol has been proposed to solve this scaling problem. The AODV routing protocol has been modified to implement AODV-CL protocol. AODV-CL protocol reduces \u27flooding\u27 problem of reactive routing protocols by limiting the number of nodes that should participate in route discovery process based on their status in the network and also avoiding congested area of the network. It is shown that AODV-CL protocol reduces overhead messages by 73% and reduces end-to-end delay per packet by 32% compared to regular AODV protocol. I

Ad hoc network security and modeling with stochastic petri nets

Advances in wireless technology and portable computing along with demands for high user mobility have provided a major promotion toward the development of ad hoc networks. These networks feature dynamic topology, self-organization, limited bandwidth and battery power of a node. Unlike the existing commercial wireless systems and fixed infrastructure networks, they do not rely on specialized routers for path discovery and traffic routing. Security is an important issue in such networks. Typically, mobile nodes are significantly more susceptible to physical attacks than their wired counterparts. This research intends to investigate the ad hoc network routing security by proposing a performance enhanced Secure ad hoc On-demand Routing protocol (SOR). Specifically, it presents a method to embed Security Level into ad hoc on-demand routing protocols using node-disjoint multipath, and to use maximum hopcount to restrict the number of routing packets in a specific area. The proposed scheme enables the use of security as a marked factor to improve the relevance of the routes discovered by ad hoc routing protocols. It provides customizable security to the flow of routing protocol messages. In general, SOR offers an alternative way to implement security in on-demand routing protocols. Ad hoc network is too complex to allow analytical study for explicit performance expressions. This research presents a Stochastic Petri net-based approach to modeling and analysis of mobile ad hoc network. This work illustrates how this model is built as a scalable model and used to exploit the characteristics of the networks. The proposed scheme is a powerful analytical model that can be used to derive network performance much more easily than a simulation-based approach. Furthermore, the proposed model is extended to study the performance of ad hoc network security by adding multipath selection and security measurement parameters. This research gives a quantificational measurement to analyze the performance of a modified SPN model under the effect of multipath and attack of a hypothetical compromised node

Managing multiple interdependencies in large scale software development projects

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-283).by Nancy A. Staudenmayer.Ph.D

Building China's high-tech telecom equipment industry : a study of strategies in technology acquisition for competitive advantage

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-175).Over the past decade, China has witnessed a rapid growth in its information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The subject of this thesis specifically focuses on the telecommunications infrastructure equipment industry in China. This sector is an interesting one to study given that some of the leading domestic companies have mostly emphasized developing their own capabilities in product development, rather than calling upon formal technology transfers through foreign direct investment (FDI) initiatives. A significant challenge faced by local firms, however, is that foreign equipment manufacturers possessing deeper technological resources dominate their domestic market. Nevertheless, Chinese enterprises have recently begun producing high-end equipment such as core/backbone routers and DWDM optical transmission systems. The basic question this thesis seeks to answer, therefore, is how can Chinese companies become technologically competitive within the high-end segments of the telecom equipment market? A case study methodology was used to address this question, focusing on two leading domestic firms: Huawei Technologies, a privately owned company, and ZTE Corporation (Zhongxing), a state-owned enterprise. The findings show that four factors have contributed to the competitiveness of domestic firms. Firstly, they are able to successfully leverage the configurational nature of communications technology. Secondly, the substantial investment made by the case study firms to develop their own R&D capabilities has enabled them to become 'close followers' of the world technological frontier. Thirdly, the global trend towards a less vertically integrated equipment industry has produced a base of suppliers from which Chinese firms can procure world-class component and subsystem technologies. Lastly, the role of the Chinese government has been instrumental in building technological capabilities at the national level and expanding market demand. Reciprocal arrangements and performance requirements established between government and domestic firms have encouraged the latter to upgrade their technological capabilities. These combined observations provide a perspective on firm competitiveness in high tech industries that is somewhat different to the models proposed under 'second mover advantage' theory. Furthermore, the analyses made of technology acquisition at the level of the firm highlight the importance of independent development (where possible), compared to FDI, as a vehicle for technological development within late industrializing economies.by Aleyn Smith-Gillespie.S.M.M.C.P

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2000

Topics covered include: Computer-Aided Design and Engineering; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Test and Measurement; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Data Acquisition

Design of a Network Independent Emergency Service

Student Number : 9301997W - MSc thesis - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built EnvironmentEmergency services are vital for the minimization of damage, injury and loss of life. These services are, by definition, a combination of telecommunications and information services, and are by nature, distributed. However, most current emergency services do not take advantage of emerging technology, and hence, are restricted in the functionality they offer. This project proposes the design a full information structure for an emergency call centre service, which can be offered as a service or application on any core network. As emergency services are distributed, and combine both telecommunications and information services, an appropriate design tool which caters for these issues, is the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP), which will be used in the design of the emergency service. In addition, OSA/Parlay Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) will be used for the application to access telecommunication network functionality. The enterprise viewpoint examines the design requirements and considerations for an emergency system, which is the first step in designing a service based on the RMODP guidelines. Secondly, the information viewpoint is defined, which identifies the information flows between the objects and classes defined in the enterprise viewpoint with the aid of robustness diagrams and high level message sequence charts. Next, the computational viewpoint of the emergency service describes the components that the service consists of and the interfaces through which they communicate, enabling distribution of the system to be visualized. In addition, the engineering and technology viewpoints are briefly touched upon. The RM-ODP proves to be a useful tool the design of this application. In addition, the use of OSA/Parlay APIs have also proved beneficial, enabling the application to run on any platform, irrespective of the level of functionality it already provides. The benefits that this design offers over conventional emergency services are allowing callers and emergency response personnel full access to the functionality of the service, despite any limitations on their telecommunications network, finding the location of a caller from a fixed or mobile phone, ease and speed of obtaining relevant emergency information, and the ease and speed of sending relevant information to emergency response personnel. Finally we recommend improvements in the reliability and accuracy of finding the location of mobile phones, as well as creating ways of identifying the location of VoIP users

Methodologies to improve product life cycle decision making in the telecommunications industry

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.As pressure from regulation and customers increases on telecommunications equipment manufacturers and service providers to reduce the hazardous material content of telecommunications products and generally improve environmental performance, new methods for Product Life Cycle Management are required. Supplier and component environmental evaluation are vital and fundamental elements of any Product Life Cycle Management programme, as is the capture of data from the supply base. The information that needs to be captured from the supply base to meet the requirements of customers of telecommunications equipment providers; to meet the requirements of legislation; and to provide data for improving ecodesign and facilitating product-focused continual improvement for ISO 14001 has been identified. A method for capturing data from the supply base has been developed and recommendations made for implementation. A hierarchical supplier and component eco-evaluation methodology has been developed and tested. This methodology incorporates supplier environmental management performance, component inherent human toxicity, ecotoxicity and resource depletion. It provides component qualifiers and purchasers with a method of supplier environmental performance comparison and enables this criterion to be integrated with existing criteria such as quality and cost in the component and supplier selection decision-making process. Recommendations are made regarding the implementation of an industry-wide system to enable the capture of detailed product material composition data from the supply chain and the implementation of the eco-evaluation methodology to identify the supplier that has superior environmental performance. The result will be enhanced decision making in product design and manufacture, improved transparency in communication to customers and more informed decision-making at the end-of-life stage of the product life cycle.Funding was obtained from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council