A semiotic approach to ad-hoc networked environments

The aim of the work in this thesis is to develop a new approach of interacting with adhoc networked environments. These are networks where devices connect on demand with no underlying network infrastructure. The intention of this work is to develop these environments so that devices and services on these networks can publish their services, query for other services and connect with each other when required. The devices need to be able to perform these actions without prior knowledge of each other, therefore a theory of communication, semiotics, is presented. Ad-hoc networks provide an appropriate test-bed for this application of semiotics as they allow services to `know' about each other and communicate with one another. By using semiotics, we aim to create a representation of communication that allows a system to communicate within the networked environment and ask for services and connections as well as interact with users and provide. This way a user can demand something from the surrounding environment and the elements within this environment can communicate with each other to provide the service the user required. To create an effective model for this representation, various research areas will be discussed such as smart environments, natural language processing, multicast environments and human computer interaction. Principles will be used from all these areas to implement an approach of interacting with smart environments. Different types of smart environments, such as as smart homes and m-commerce environments, will be used to observe how di erent contexts a ect communication. A prototype system was realised for proof of concept and evaluated by subjects. This work highlighted the feasibility of this approach and opened a new area worthwhile of further research.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

SPEECH RECOGNITION FOR CONNECTED WORD USING CEPSTRAL AND DYNAMIC TIME WARPING ALGORITHMS

Speech Recognition or Speech Recognizer (SR) has become an important tool for people with physical disabilities when handling Home Automation (HA) appliances. This technology is expected to improve the daily life of the elderly and the disabled so that they are always in control over their lives, and continue to live independently, to learn and stay involved in social life. The goal of the research is to solve the constraints of current Malay SR that is still in its infancy stage where there is limited research in Malay words, especially for HA applications. Since, most of the previous works were confined to wired microphone; this limitation of using wireless microphone type makes it an important area of the research. Research was carried out to develop SR word model for five (5) Malay words and five (5) English words as commands to activate and deactivate home appliances

RFID Technology in Intelligent Tracking Systems in Construction Waste Logistics Using Optimisation Techniques

Construction waste disposal is an urgent issue for protecting our environment. This paper proposes a waste management system and illustrates the work process using plasterboard waste as an example, which creates a hazardous gas when land filled with household waste, and for which the recycling rate is less than 10% in the UK. The proposed system integrates RFID technology, Rule-Based Reasoning, Ant Colony optimization and knowledge technology for auditing and tracking plasterboard waste, guiding the operation staff, arranging vehicles, schedule planning, and also provides evidence to verify its disposal. It h relies on RFID equipment for collecting logistical data and uses digital imaging equipment to give further evidence; the reasoning core in the third layer is responsible for generating schedules and route plans and guidance, and the last layer delivers the result to inform users. The paper firstly introduces the current plasterboard disposal situation and addresses the logistical problem that is now the main barrier to a higher recycling rate, followed by discussion of the proposed system in terms of both system level structure and process structure. And finally, an example scenario will be given to illustrate the system’s utilization