Future benefits and applications of intelligent on-board processing to VSAT services

The trends and roles of VSAT services in the year 2010 time frame are examined based on an overall network and service model for that period. An estimate of the VSAT traffic is then made and the service and general network requirements are identified. In order to accommodate these traffic needs, four satellite VSAT architectures based on the use of fixed or scanning multibeam antennas in conjunction with IF switching or onboard regeneration and baseband processing are suggested. The performance of each of these architectures is assessed and the key enabling technologies are identified

A Comparative Analysis of Transmission Control Protocol Improvement Techniques over Space-Based Transmission Media

The purpose of this study was to assess the throughput improvement afforded by the various TCP optimization techniques, with respect to a simulated geosynchronous satellite system, to provide a cost justification for the implementation of a given enhancement technique. The research questions were answered through model and simulation of a satellite transmission system via a Linux-based network topology; results of the simulation were analyzed primarily via a non-parametric method to ascertain performance differences between the various TCP optimization techniques. It was determined that each technique studied, which included the Space Communication Protocol Standard-Transport Protocol (SCPS-TP), window scale, selective acknowledgements (SACKs), and combinational use of the window scale and SACK mechanisms, provided varying levels of improvement as compared to a standard TCP implementation. In terms of throughput, SCPS-TP provided the greatest overall improvement, with window scale and window scale/SACK techniques providing significant benefits at low levels of bit error rate (BER). The SACK modification improved throughput performance at high levels of BER, but performed at levels comparable to standard TCP during scenarios with lower BER levels. These findings will be of assistance to communications planners in deciding whether or not to implement a given enhancement or deciding which technique to utilize

A Service Oriented Architecture Approach for Global Positioning System Quality of Service Monitoring

This research focuses on the development of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for monitoring the Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) in near real time utilizing a Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) technique. A unique approach to developing the MCS SOA was developed that utilized both the Depart- ment of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF) and the SOA Modeling Language (SoaML) guidance. The combination of these two frameworks resulted in generation of all the architecture products required to evaluate the SOA through the use of Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) techniques. Ultimately this research provides a feasibility analysis for utilization of mobile distributed sensors to provide situational awareness of the GPS Quality of Service (QoS). First this research provides justification for development of a new monitoring architecture and defines the scope of the SOA. Then an exploration of current SOA, MBSE, and Geospatial System Information (GIS) research was conducted. Next a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) of the MCS participant interactions was developed and simulated within AGI\u27s Systems Toolkit. The architecture performance analysis was executed using a GIS software package known as ArcMap. Finally, this research concludes with a suitability analysis of the proposed architecture for detecting sources of GPS interference within an Area of Interest (AoI)

Quantum Machine Learning for 6G Communication Networks: State-of-the-Art and Vision for the Future

The upcoming 5th Generation (5G) of wireless networks is expected to lay a foundation of intelligent networks with the provision of some isolated Artificial Intelligence (AI) operations. However, fully-intelligent network orchestration and management for providing innovative services will only be realized in Beyond 5G (B5G) networks. To this end, we envisage that the 6th Generation (6G) of wireless networks will be driven by on-demand self-reconfiguration to ensure a many-fold increase in the network performanceandservicetypes.Theincreasinglystringentperformancerequirementsofemergingnetworks may finally trigger the deployment of some interesting new technologies such as large intelligent surfaces, electromagnetic-orbital angular momentum, visible light communications and cell-free communications – tonameafew.Ourvisionfor6Gis–amassivelyconnectedcomplexnetworkcapableofrapidlyresponding to the users’ service calls through real-time learning of the network state as described by the network-edge (e.g., base-station locations, cache contents, etc.), air interface (e.g., radio spectrum, propagation channel, etc.), and the user-side (e.g., battery-life, locations, etc.). The multi-state, multi-dimensional nature of the network state, requiring real-time knowledge, can be viewed as a quantum uncertainty problem. In this regard, the emerging paradigms of Machine Learning (ML), Quantum Computing (QC), and Quantum ML (QML) and their synergies with communication networks can be considered as core 6G enablers. Considering these potentials, starting with the 5G target services and enabling technologies, we provide a comprehensivereviewoftherelatedstate-of-the-artinthedomainsofML(includingdeeplearning),QCand QML, and identify their potential benefits, issues and use cases for their applications in the B5G networks. Subsequently,weproposeanovelQC-assistedandQML-basedframeworkfor6Gcommunicationnetworks whilearticulatingitschallengesandpotentialenablingtechnologiesatthenetwork-infrastructure,networkedge, air interface and user-end. Finally, some promising future research directions for the quantum- and QML-assisted B5G networks are identified and discussed

Information and Control: Inventing the Communications Revolution in Post-War Britain

This thesis undertakes the first history of the post-war British telephone system, and addresses it through the lens of both actors’ and analysts’ emphases on the importance of ‘information’ and ‘control’. I explore both through a range of chapters on organisational history, laboratories, telephone exchanges, transmission technologies, futurology, transatlantic communications, and privatisation. The ideal of an ‘information network’ or an ‘information age’ is present to varying extents in all these chapters, as are deployments of different forms of control. The most pervasive, and controversial, form of control throughout this history is computer control, but I show that other forms of control, including environmental, spatial, and temporal, are all also important. I make three arguments: first, that the technological characteristics of the telephone system meant that its liberalisation and privatisation were much more ambiguous for competition and monopoly than expected; second, that information has been more important to the telephone system as an ideal to strive for, rather than the telephone system’s contribution to creating an apparent information age; third, that control is a more useful concept than information for analysing the history of the telephone system, but more work is needed to study the discursive significance of ‘control’ itself

Enabling the Development and Implementation of Digital Twins : Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality

Welcome to the 20th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR 2020). This year we are meeting on-line due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. The overarching theme for CONVR2020 is "Enabling the development and implementation of Digital Twins". CONVR is one of the world-leading conferences in the areas of virtual reality, augmented reality and building information modelling. Each year, more than 100 participants from all around the globe meet to discuss and exchange the latest developments and applications of virtual technologies in the architectural, engineering, construction and operation industry (AECO). The conference is also known for having a unique blend of participants from both academia and industry. This year, with all the difficulties of replicating a real face to face meetings, we are carefully planning the conference to ensure that all participants have a perfect experience. We have a group of leading keynote speakers from industry and academia who are covering up to date hot topics and are enthusiastic and keen to share their knowledge with you. CONVR participants are very loyal to the conference and have attended most of the editions over the last eighteen editions. This year we are welcoming numerous first timers and we aim to help them make the most of the conference by introducing them to other participants