Distance learning plan for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS): a study for the Defense Business Management University (DBMU)

This thesis analyzes the requirements and design considerations of a video teletraining (VIT) delivery system for 25 Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) centers located throughout the continental United States. Current DFAS VTT capabilities are reviewed and included. The study's sponsor, The Defense Business Management University (DBMU). bas been tasked by the DoD Comptroller to implement a training program for these centers. The DBMU has identified VTT as an extremely cost-effective option for training personnel at these 25 DFAS satellite adivities. The study focuses on current VTT technologies-both in industry and in the DoD. Basic VTT concepts are presented, evolving VTT standards are discussed, existing DoD VIT infrastructures are outlined, and problem areas such as system interoperability are explored. The study presents recommendations for an immediale DFAS VTT implementation plan using available DoD one-way/two-way satellite and/or two-way/two-way terrestrial distance education capabilities. This thesis also presents a recommendation for integration of a long term V1T network broadacast system including a single site program origination studio.http://archive.org/details/distancelearning1094543029U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR) author.;U.S. Navy (USN) authorApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Voice over IP

The area that this thesis covers is Voice over IP (or IP Telephony as it is sometimes called) over Private networks and not over the Internet. There is a distinction to be made between the two even though the term is loosely applied to both. IP Telephony over Private Networks involve calls made over private WANs using IP telephony protocols while IP Telephony over the Internet involve calls made over the public Internet using IP telephony protocols. Since the network is private, service is reliable because the network owner can control how resources are allocated to various applications, such as telephony services. The public Internet on the other hand is a public, largely unmanaged network that offers no reliable service guarantee. Calls placed over the Internet can be low in quality, but given the low price, some find this solution attractive. What started off as an Internet Revolution with free phone calls being offered to the general public using their multimedia computers has turned into a telecommunication revolution where enterprises are beginning to converge their data and voice networks into one network. In retrospect, an enterprise\u27s data networks are being leveraged for telephony. The communication industry has come full circle. Earlier in the decade data was being transmitted over the public voice networks and now voice is just another application which is/will be run over the enterprises existing data networks. We shall see in this thesis the problems that are encountered while sending Voice over Data networks using the underlying IP Protocol and the corrective steps taken by the Industry to resolve these multitudes of issues. Paul M. Zam who is collaborating in this Joint Thesis/project on VoIP will substantiate this theoretical research with his practical findings. On reading this paper the reader will gain an insight in the issues revolving the implementation of VoIP in an enterprises private network as well the technical data, which sheds more light on the same. Thus the premise of this joint thesis/project is to analyze the current status of the technology and present a business case scenario where an organization will be able to use this information

Layer-based coding, smoothing, and scheduling of low-bit-rate video for teleconferencing over tactical ATM networks

This work investigates issues related to distribution of low bit rate video within the context of a teleconferencing application deployed over a tactical ATM network. The main objective is to develop mechanisms that support transmission of low bit rate video streams as a series of scalable layers that progressively improve quality. The hierarchical nature of the layered video stream is actively exploited along the transmission path from the sender to the recipients to facilitate transmission. A new layered coder design tailored to video teleconferencing in the tactical environment is proposed. Macroblocks selected due to scene motion are layered via subband decomposition using the fast Haar transform. A generalized layering scheme groups the subbands to form an arbitrary number of layers. As a layering scheme suitable for low motion video is unsuitable for static slides, the coder adapts the layering scheme to the video content. A suboptimal rate control mechanism that reduces the kappa dimensional rate distortion problem resulting from the use of multiple quantizers tailored to each layer to a 1 dimensional problem by creating a single rate distortion curve for the coder in terms of a suboptimal set of kappa dimensional quantizer vectors is investigated. Rate control is thus simplified into a table lookup of a codebook containing the suboptimal quantizer vectors. The rate controller is ideal for real time video and limits fluctuations in the bit stream with no corresponding visible fluctuations in perceptual quality. A traffic smoother prior to network entry is developed to increase queuing and scheduler efficiency. Three levels of smoothing are studied: frame, layer, and cell interarrival. Frame level smoothing occurs via rate control at the application. Interleaving and cell interarrival smoothing are accomplished using a leaky bucket mechanism inserted prior to the adaptation layer or within the adaptation layerhttp://www.archive.org/details/layerbasedcoding00parkLieutenant Commander, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Study of repeater technology for advanced multifunctional communications satellites

Investigations are presented concerning design concepts and implementation approaches for the satellite communication repeater subsystems of advanced multifunctional satellites. In such systems the important concepts are the use of multiple antenna beams, repeater switching (routing), and efficient spectrum utilization through frequency reuse. An information base on these techniques was developed and tradeoff analyses were made of repeater design concepts, with the work design taken in a broad sense to include modulation beam coverage patterns. There were five major areas of study: requirements analysis and processing; study of interbeam interference in multibeam systems; characterization of multiple-beam switching repeaters; estimation of repeater weight and power for a number of alternatives; and tradeoff analyses based on these weight and power data