The Design of a System Architecture for Mobile Multimedia Computers

This chapter discusses the system architecture of a portable computer, called Mobile Digital Companion, which provides support for handling multimedia applications energy efficiently. Because battery life is limited and battery weight is an important factor for the size and the weight of the Mobile Digital Companion, energy management plays a crucial role in the architecture. As the Companion must remain usable in a variety of environments, it has to be flexible and adaptable to various operating conditions. The Mobile Digital Companion has an unconventional architecture that saves energy by using system decomposition at different levels of the architecture and exploits locality of reference with dedicated, optimised modules. The approach is based on dedicated functionality and the extensive use of energy reduction techniques at all levels of system design. The system has an architecture with a general-purpose processor accompanied by a set of heterogeneous autonomous programmable modules, each providing an energy efficient implementation of dedicated tasks. A reconfigurable internal communication network switch exploits locality of reference and eliminates wasteful data copies

Distribution Automation Laboratory Assignments for Students in Tampere University of Technology

Distribution automation is a fundamental part of distribution network operation. In Finland, the goal is to increase the number of automated functions in a distribution network, because of the constantly tightening requirements for decreasing the duration of outages. For students, who study power engineering, it is beneficial to understand the possibilities of distribution automation. In Tampere University of Technology, the course Distribution Automation ensures the understanding of the fundamentals of distribution automation and network operation for students. The course includes lecture subjects, written exercises and laboratory assignments. The main objective of this thesis is to improve and update laboratory environments of distribution automation for the course Distribution Automation. The laboratory environments should help students understand distribution network protection, the role of DMS and SCADA system, and smart metering. This thesis examines previous laboratory implementations on the course and distribution automation in general. The laboratory environments and students’ feedback from previous laboratory implementations are presented in this thesis. The chapter on distribution automation displays information about distribution network protection, SCADA and DMS systems, AMI system and protocols. The distribution network protection section presents basic needs and regulations for distribution network protection. SCADA and DMS section introduces functionalities of these systems whereas smart metering section describes AMI system naming and structure. Protocols and standards section describes IEC 104, IEC 61850, OPC, DLMS/COSEM, object oriented information models and OSI model communication structures. As a result of this thesis, implementations from two different laboratory environments are introduced. The first laboratory implementation includes distribution network protection and IEDs. The second laboratory implementation includes a smart meter, DMS and SCADA systems, and remote communication between the control center, the substation and the smart meter