Satellite Communications

This study is motivated by the need to give the reader a broad view of the developments, key concepts, and technologies related to information society evolution, with a focus on the wireless communications and geoinformation technologies and their role in the environment. Giving perspective, it aims at assisting people active in the industry, the public sector, and Earth science fields as well, by providing a base for their continued work and thinking

Mapping Digital Media: Singapore

The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Covering 60 countries, the project examines how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide: news about political, economic, and social affairs.The city-state of Singapore, with its five million people, has fully embraced the technology and opportunities presented by digitization. Nearly nine out of ten households have broadband access. Mobile phone penetration is 150 percent (most are smartphones), and there are 340 TV and 46 local and foreign radio channels.However, the government—and the Singaporean people—are still highly sensitive to the belief that the stability of their multi-ethnic population (Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians) is fragile, stoked by the memory of two bloody race and religious clashes in the 1950s and 1960s. This has long shaped the role of the media as non-adversarial.So individuals, groups, and media professionals operate within a state-sanctioned sphere and observe what are called "OB markers" ("out of bounds" lines used in sports to denote an area beyond which play is not allowed). These are the boundaries of acceptable and permissible political public discussion, which opposition politicians view as a form of self-censorship. The government has recently acknowledged openly that those markers are shifting.Despite the advances that have been made in recent years, there is a need for further steps to encourage diversity in content across all media. In addition, though Singapore has escaped the decline in professional standards that has accompanied media liberalization in many other countries, more needs to be done to retain talent and to raise the standards and skills of the city-state's 70,000 media professionals, particularly as demand increases for new forms of content creation and distribution

Broadband wireless communication systems for high mobility scenarios

Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e Comunicación en Redes Móbiles. 553V01[Resumen] A lo largo de los últimos años el uso de servicios multimedia y, en general, basados en el acceso a información “en la nube”, experimentó un auge sin precedentes. A diferencia respecto del pasado, los usuarios no solamente acceden a los servicios desde una ubicación estática; por contra, navegan libremente entre distintos lugares al tiempo que acceden, desde sus dispositivos móviles, a servicios en la nube. Debido al ritmo de vida actual, el tránsito entre zonas rurales y ciudades también se incrementó de modo notable, al ubicarse la mayor parte de los lugares de trabajo en ciudades o en sus respectivos entornos. Durante los períodos de transporte, cada vez más, los pasajeros emplean sus dispositivos móviles para trabajar, acceder a redes sociales o como dispositivos de entretenimiento. En la actualidad, GSM for Railways (GSM-R) es el sistema de comunicaciones más empleado entre los trenes y el resto de elementos involucrados en la infraestructura ferroviaria. Sin embargo, GSM-R no es adecuado para proporcionar servicios avanzados, tales como el control de piloto automático, así como para sustentar transmisiones de banda ancha a los operadores ferroviarios o proporcionar servicios de valor añadido a los pasajeros. Centrándonos en el mercado de dispositivos de comunicaciones de ámbito general, la explosión de usuarios y servicios multimedia de los últimos años motivó la migración, primero a las redes de tercera generación y, seguidamente, a las de cuarta, con Long Term Evolution (LTE) a la cabeza. Así, parece natural plantear a LTE como la tecnología candidata para la sustitución de GSM-R. En el presente trabajo se lleva a cabo un completo estudio de las prestaciones de sistemas de comunicaciones inalámbricas de banda ancha en vehículos de alta velocidad basado en campañas de medidas llevadas a cabo en entornos reales. Se estudió especialmente el caso de comunicaciones LTE en trenes de alta velocidad. Se proponen técnicas de reducción del coste y complejidad en relación a las evaluaciones en entornos de alta velocidad y se prueba su funcionamiento de modo analítico, mediante simulación y empíricamente. De cara a validar los desarrollos presentados en esta tesis en relación a los últimos avances en materia comunicaciones, se consideraron también las más novedosas propuestas para sistemas de quinta generación, actualmente aún en fase de definición. Es más, se evaluaron, tanto mediante simulación como vía medidas en entornos de alta velocidad, las prestaciones brindadas por las propuestas para sistemas de comunicaciones de quinta generación. El código fuente del GTEC Testbed y del GTEC 5G Simulator está disponible públicamente bajo la licencia GPLv3 en https://bitbucket.org/tomas_bolano/gtec_testbed_public.git.[Resumo] Ao longo dos últimos anos o uso de servizos multimedia e, en xeral, baseados no acceso a información contida “na nube”, experimentou un auxe sen precedentes. A diferencia respecto do pasado, os usuarios non soamente acceden aos servizos dende unha ubicación estática; pola contra, navegan libremente entre distintos lugares ao tempo que acceden, dende os seus dispositivos móbiles, a servizos na nube. Debido ao ritmo de vida actual, o tránsito entre zonas rurais e cidades tamén se incrementou de modo notable, ao ubicarse a maior parte dos lugares de traballo nas cidades ou nas súas respectivas contornas. Durante os períodos de transporte, cada vez máis, os pasaxeiros empregan os seus dispositivos móbiles para traballar, acceder a redes sociais ou como ferramenta de entretemento. O factor común da maior parte dos servizos típicamente empregados é a súa dependencia respecto do acceso á rede. Na actualidade, GSM for Railways (GSM-R), baseado no xa vetusto GSM, é o sistema de comunicacións máis empregado entre os trens e o resto dos elementos involucrados na infraestrutura ferroviaria. Sen embargo, GSM-R non é axeitado para proporcionar servizos avanzados, tales como o control de piloto automático, así como para sustentar transmisións de banda ancha aos operadores ferroviarios ou proporcionar servizos de valor engadido aos pasaxeiros. Botando unha ollada ao mercado de dispositivos de comunicacións de ámbito xeral, a explosión de usuarios e servizos multimedia dos últimos anos motivou a migración, primeiro ás redes de terceira xeración e, seguidamente, ás de cuarta, con Long Term Evolution (LTE) á cabeza. Así, parece natural plantexar LTE como o candidato para a substitución de GSM-R. No presente traballo lévase a cabo un completo estudo das prestacións de sistemas de comunicacións sen fíos de banda ancha en vehículos de alta velocidade baseado en campañas de medidas levadas a cabo en contornas reais de alta velocidade. Estudouse especialmente o caso de comunicacións LTE en trens de alta velocidade. Propóñense técnicas de redución de custo e complexidade en relación ás avaliacións en contornas de alta velocidade e valídase o seu funcionamento de xeito analítico, mediante simulación e empíricamente. Os desenvolvementos presentados nesta tese foron validados para os sistemas de quinta xeración, aínda en fase de definición. Avaliáronse, mediante simulación e experimentalmente en contornas de alta velocidade, as prestacións brindadas polas propostas para sistemas de comunicacións de quinta xeración. O código fonte do GTEC Testbed e do GTEC 5G Simulator está dispoñible públicamente baixo a licenza GPLv3 en https://bitbucket.org/tomas_bolano/gtec_testbed_public.git.[Abstract] Over the last few years multimedia and data-based services experienced a non-stopping growth. Unlike before, people do not use the services only from a static location, but they are continuously on the move between different scenarios, using their mobile devices to access data-based services. In parallel, commuter traffic from rural areas is also rising, since most of work places are in and around cities. During transportation, people intensively employ mobile devices to work, access to social networks, or as an entertainment means. Internet access is required for most of these services. Currently, GSM for Railways (GSM-R), which is based on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), is the most widely used communication system between trains and the elements involved in operation, control, and intercommunication within the railway infrastructure. However, GSM-R is not well suited for supporting advanced services such as automatic pilot applications or provisioning broadband services to the train staff and passengers. Besides trains, the increasing number of broadband services available for mobile devices motivated the migration from third-generation mobile networks to fourth generation ones, mainly Long Term Evolution (LTE). Therefore, LTE seems to be a good candidate to substitute the GSM as the fundamental technology for railway communications. In this work a complete study on the performance of high capacity broadband wireless communication systems for high speed vehicles is presented, based on measurement campaigns in actual high speed environments. Special attention is devoted to the case of LTE in high speed trains. Techniques to greatly reduce the cost and complexity of measurement-based evaluations in high speed scenarios are proposed and proven to work analytically, by means of simulations and by measurements in actual high speed environments. With the aim of checking the validity of the findings of this work for the latest advances in wireless communication systems, proposals for fifth generation (5G) communication systems, currently still under definition, were also considered. Moreover, the performance of the proposals for 5G communication systems was also evaluated by means of simulations as well as by measuring in high speed environments. The source code of both the GTEC Testbed and the GTEC 5G Simulator is publicly available under the GPLv3 license at https://bitbucket.org/tomas_bolano/gtec_testbed_public.git

Proceedings Of The 18th Annual Meeting Of The Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (Aogs 2021)

The 18th Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS 2021) was held from 1st to 6th August 2021. This proceedings volume includes selected extended abstracts from a challenging array of presentations at this conference. The AOGS Annual Meeting is a leading venue for professional interaction among researchers and practitioners, covering diverse disciplines of geosciences

Hyperspectral Imaging for Fine to Medium Scale Applications in Environmental Sciences

The aim of the Special Issue “Hyperspectral Imaging for Fine to Medium Scale Applications in Environmental Sciences” was to present a selection of innovative studies using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in different thematic fields. This intention reflects the technical developments in the last three decades, which have brought the capacity of HSI to provide spectrally, spatially and temporally detailed data, favoured by e.g., hyperspectral snapshot technologies, miniaturized hyperspectral sensors and hyperspectral microscopy imaging. The present book comprises a suite of papers in various fields of environmental sciences—geology/mineral exploration, digital soil mapping, mapping and characterization of vegetation, and sensing of water bodies (including under-ice and underwater applications). In addition, there are two rather methodically/technically-oriented contributions dealing with the optimized processing of UAV data and on the design and test of a multi-channel optical receiver for ground-based applications. All in all, this compilation documents that HSI is a multi-faceted research topic and will remain so in the future

Environmental Sciences Division: Summaries of research in FY 1996

This document describes the Fiscal Year 1996 activities and products of the Environmental Sciences Division, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Energy Research. The report is organized into four main sections. The introduction identifies the basic program structure, describes the programs of the Environmental Sciences Division, and provides the level of effort for each program area. The research areas and project descriptions section gives program contact information, and provides descriptions of individual research projects including: three-year funding history, research objective and approach used in each project, and results to date. Appendixes provide postal and e-mail addresses for principal investigators and define acronyms used in the text. The indexes provide indexes of principal investigators, research institutions, and keywords for easy reference. Research projects are related to climatic change and remedial action

Abstracts of manuscripts submitted in 1990 for publication

This volume contans the abstracts of manuscripts submitted for publication during calendar year 1990 by the staff and students of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. We identify the journal of those manuscripts which are in press or have been published. The volume is intended to be informative, but not a bibliography. The abstracts are listed by title in the Table of Contents and are grouped into one of our five deparments, Marine Policy Center, Coastal Research Center, or the student category. An author index is presented in the back to facilitate locating specific papers

Infrastructure Design, Signalling and Security in Railway

Railway transportation has become one of the main technological advances of our society. Since the first railway used to carry coal from a mine in Shropshire (England, 1600), a lot of efforts have been made to improve this transportation concept. One of its milestones was the invention and development of the steam locomotive, but commercial rail travels became practical two hundred years later. From these first attempts, railway infrastructures, signalling and security have evolved and become more complex than those performed in its earlier stages. This book will provide readers a comprehensive technical guide, covering these topics and presenting a brief overview of selected railway systems in the world. The objective of the book is to serve as a valuable reference for students, educators, scientists, faculty members, researchers, and engineers

Case studies for developing globally responsible engineers

Document realitzat amb un ajut financer de la Unió Europea. Per poder accedir al material complementari per a docents dels 28 casos estudi que formen el llibre, activeu el "Document relacionat"Col·lecció de 28 casos estudi per a professors d'enginyeria: 1. Rural development and planning in LDCs: the “Gamba Deve – Licoma axis”,district of Caia, Mozambique 2. Reducing the impact of soil erosion and reservoir siltation on agricultural production and water availability: the case study of the Laaba catchment (Burkina Faso) 3. Trade and Mobility on the Rooftop of the World: Gravity Ropeways in Nepal 4. Sustainable Development of Agriculture and Food systems with regard to Water 5. Conservation agriculture: a complex avenue to conserve and improve soils 6. The national rural water supply and sanitation programme in Tanzania 7. Use of statistical tools in a development context. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) 8. Water supply system in Kojani Island (Zanzibar, Tanzania) 9. Faecal sludge management in Lusaka, Zambia 10. Water balance on the Central Rift Valley 11. Rural electrification in developing countries via autonomous micro-grids 12. Photovoltaics electrification in off-grid areas 13. Development of a MILP model to design wind-photovoltaic stand-alone electrification projects for isolated communities in developing countries 14. Estimation if indoor air pollution and health impacts due to biomass burning in rural Northern Ghana 15.Improved cookstoves assessment 16. Supporting the adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels: why won’t people adopt the perfect stove? 17. Do-it-yourself approach as appropriate technology for solar thermal system: the example of CDF Médina, Dakar (Senegal) 18. Essential oil extraction with concentrating solar thermal energy 19. Survival in the desert sun: cool food storage 20. Energy roadmap in Ghana and Botswana 21. Social & ethical issues in engineering 22. Radio communications systems in rural environments 23. A Diffserv transport network to bring 3G access to villages in the Amazon forest 24. Finding the poynting’s theorem in a health centre in San Pablo (Peru) 25. Tanzania, Water and health 26. Flood assessment and warning system 27. Technical aspects of municipal solid waste collection: case studies from East Africa 28. Plastic recyclingPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version