Automated network optimisation using data mining as support for economic decision systems

The evolution from wired voice communications to wireless and cloud computing services has led to the rapid growth of wireless communication companies attempting to meet consumer needs. While these companies have generally been able to achieve quality of service (QoS) high enough to meet most consumer demands, the recent growth in data hungry services in addition to wireless voice communication, has placed significant stress on the infrastructure and begun to translate into increased QoS issues. As a result, wireless providers are finding difficulty to meet demand and dealing with an overwhelming volume of mobile data. Many telecommunication service providers have turned to data analytics techniques to discover hidden insights for fraud detection, customer churn detection and credit risk analysis. However, most are illequipped to prioritise expansion decisions and optimise network faults and costs to ensure customer satisfaction and optimal profitability. The contribution of this thesis in the decision-making process is significant as it initially proposes a network optimisation scheme using data mining algorithms to develop a monitoring framework capable of troubleshooting network faults while optimising costs based on financial evaluations. All the data mining experiments contribute to the development of a super–framework that has been tested using real-data to demonstrate that data mining techniques play a crucial role in the prediction of network optimisation actions. Finally, the insights extracted from the super-framework demonstrate that machine learning mechanisms can draw out promising solutions for network optimisation decisions, customer segmentation, customers churn prediction and also in revenue management. The outputs of the thesis seek to help wireless providers to determine the QoS factors that should be addressed for an efficient network optimisation plan and also presents the academic contribution of this research

The Wireless Craze, The Unlimited Bandwidth Myth, The Spectrum Auction Faux Pas, and the Punchline to Ronald Coase's 'Big Joke': An Essay on Airwave Allocation Policy

In 1959 the Federal Communications Commission invited economist Ronald Coase to testify about his proposal for market allocation of radio spectrum rights. The FCC's first question: 'Is this all a big joke'' Today, however, leading policy makers, including the current FCC Chair, decry the 'spectrum drought' produced by administrative allocation and call for the creation of private bandwidth markets. This essay examines marketplace trends driving regulators' change of humor, and considers the path of spectrum policy liberalization in light of emerging technologies, theories of unlimited bandwidth, reforms such as FCC license auctions, and recent progress in deregulating wireless markets in the U.S. and around the globe.

U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform

The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform was created by Congress to assess U.S. immigration policy and make recommendations regarding its implementation and effects. Mandated in the Immigration Act of 1990 to submit an interim report in 1994 and a final report in 1997, the Commission has undertaken public hearings, fact-finding missions, and expert consultations to identify the major immigration-related issues facing the United States today.LBJ School of Public Affair

Reports to the President

A compilation of annual reports for the 1989-1990 academic year, including a report from the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as reports from the academic and administrative units of the Institute. The reports outline the year's goals, accomplishments, honors and awards, and future plans

Molecular phylogeny of horseshoe crab using mitochondrial Cox1 gene as a benchmark sequence

An effort to assess the utility of 650 bp Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (DNA barcode) gene in delineating the members horseshoe crabs (Family: xiphosura) with closely related sister taxa was made. A total of 33 sequences were extracted from National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) which include horseshoe crabs, beetles, common crabs and scorpion sequences. Constructed phylogram showed beetles are closely related with horseshoe crabs than common crabs. Scorpion spp were distantly related to xiphosurans. Phylogram and observed genetic distance (GD) date were also revealed that Limulus polyphemus was closely related with Tachypleus tridentatus than with T.gigas. Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda was distantly related with L.polyphemus. The observed mean Genetic Distance (GD) value was higher in 3rd codon position in all the selected group of organisms. Among the horseshoe crabs high GC content was observed in L.polyphemus (38.32%) and lowest was observed in T.tridentatus (32.35%). We conclude that COI sequencing (barcoding) could be used in identifying and delineating evolutionary relatedness with closely related specie

Crab and cockle shells as heterogeneous catalysts in the production of biodiesel

In the present study, the waste crab and cockle shells were utilized as source of calcium oxide to transesterify palm olein into methyl esters (biodiesel). Characterization results revealed that the main component of the shells are calcium carbonate which transformed into calcium oxide upon activated above 700 °C for 2 h. Parametric studies have been investigated and optimal conditions were found to be catalyst amount, 5 wt.% and methanol/oil mass ratio, 0.5:1. The waste catalysts perform equally well as laboratory CaO, thus creating another low-cost catalyst source for producing biodiesel. Reusability results confirmed that the prepared catalyst is able to be reemployed up to five times. Statistical analysis has been performed using a Central Composite Design to evaluate the contribution and performance of the parameters on biodiesel purity

Reports to the President

A compilation of annual reports for the 1999-2000 academic year, including a report from the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as reports from the academic and administrative units of the Institute. The reports outline the year's goals, accomplishments, honors and awards, and future plans