Throughput Optimization in High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)

In this paper, we investigate throughput optimization in High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). Specifically, we propose offline and online algorithms for adjusting the Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) used by the network to schedule data transmission. In the offline algorithm, a given target BLER is achieved by adjusting CQI based on ACK/NAK history. By sweeping through different target BLERs, we can find the throughput optimal BLER offline. This algorithm could be used not only to optimize throughput but also to enable fair resource allocation among mobile users in HSDPA. In the online algorithm, the CQI offset is adapted using an estimated short term throughput gradient without specifying a target BLER. An adaptive stepsize mechanism is proposed to track temporal variation of the environment. We investigate convergence behavior of both algorithms. Simulation results show that the proposed offline algorithm can achieve the given target BLER with good accuracy. Both algorithms yield up to 30% HSDPA throughput improvement over that with 10% target BLER

Experimental investigation and systems modeling of fractional catalytic pyrolysis of pine

The fractional catalytic pyrolysis of pine was studied both experimentally and through models. A preliminary stage economic analysis was conducted for a wood chip pyrolysis facility operating at a feed rate of 2000 wet ton/day for producing bio-oil. In the experimental study, multiple grams of bio oil were produced in a single run to facilitate the more extensive characterization of the oil produced from pyrolysis of biomass impregnated with different catalysts. Two reactors configurations, a screw extruder and a tubular pyrolysis reactor, were explored to perform fractional catalytic pyrolysis of biomass. The main aim of performing a wood pyrolysis reaction in a modified screw extruder is to facilitate the simultaneous collection of bio-oil produced from staged temperature pyrolysis of three main components of wood, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, at a reasonable scale. Apart from complete characterization of bio-oil, this will enable us to study the effect of various selected catalysts on the quality of bio-oil and the percentage of char produced, and the influence of process parameters on chemical composition of the pyrolysis oils. These experiments were later performed in a tubular pyrolysis reactor due to the difficulty of making different parts of the extruder work well together. The goal of these experiments is to produce bio-oil in multiple grams from fractional catalytic pyrolysis of wood. This will enable us to study the effect of catalyst on the chemical composition of the oil and percentage of char produced. In the modeling studies, a model of an auger reactor comprised of three different zones run at different temperatures to facilitate the collection of oil from pyrolysis of three major components of wood, namely cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, was developed. The effect of residence time distribution (RTD), and zone temperatures based on kinetic models on the yield of products was studied. Sensitivity of the Arrhenius rate constants calculated from synthetic data with respect to small variations in process parameters was evaluated. In the economic analysis of a wood chip pyrolysis facility, mass and energy calculations were performed based on a feed rate of 2000 wet tons/day of wood chips to the dryer. The cost of bio-oil at 10% return on investment was proposed and the sensitivity of the selling price of bio-oil with respect to capital and operating costs was analyzed. The experimental study will serve as a benchmark in exploring the above mentioned reactor configurations further. Alkali metal carbonates were used to study the quality of oil produced from pine pyrolysis. It was established that these catalysts, when added in the same molar ratio basis, increase the percentage of char. However, complete characterization of these oils for different catalysts needs to be done. Systems modeling of pyrolysis in an auger reactor established that the kinetic parameters (depending on experimental set up) and the RTD (Residence Time Distribution) parameters play a crucial role in determining the yield of oil. Variations in temperature of zone 3 play a crucial role in varying the output of oil whereas variations in temperatures of zones 2 and 1 do not significantly impact the output of oil. For a given reaction kinetic scheme for the pyrolysis reactions, calculated values of the kinetic rate constants are not sensitive to errors in experimental conditions. It was also established that the experimental error in calculation of the RTD parameters can induce error in calculation of the Arrhenius constants but these values can still predict the yield of products accurately. In the economic analysis of wood chip pyrolysis, the selling price of the bio-oil according to the cost calculation is projected to be $1.49/gal. The production cost of bio-oil is$ 1.20/gal. The cost of bio-oil is extremely sensitive to variations in operating cost (for example, cost of feed stock and selling price of char) and is not significantly affected by the variations in capital cost.MSCommittee Chair: Matthew J. Realff; Committee Co-Chair: John D. Muzzy; Committee Member: Christopher W. Jones; Committee Member: J. Rhett Mayor; Committee Member: Pradeep K. Agrawa

Block QIM watermarking games

While binning is a fundamental approach to blind data embedding and watermarking, an attacker may devise various strategies to reduce the effectiveness of practical binning schemes. The problem analyzed in this paper is design of worst-case noise distributions against L-dimensional lattice Quantization Index Modulation (QIM) watermarking codes. The cost functions considered are (1) probability of error of the maximum-likelihood decoder, and (2) the more tractable Bhattacharyya upper bound on error probability, which is tight at low embedding rates. Both problems are addressed under the following constraints on the attacker’s strategy: the noise is independent of the marked signal, blockwise memoryless with block length L, and may not exceed a specified quadratic-distortion level. The embedder’s quadratic distortion is limited as well. Three strategies are considered for the embedder: optimization of the lattice inflation parameter (aka Costa parameter), dithering, and randomized lattice rotation. Critical in this analysis are the symmetry properties of QIM nested lattices and convexity properties of probability of error and related functionals of the noise distribution. We derive the minmax optimal embedding and attack strategies and obtain explicit solutions as well as numerical solutions for the worst-case noise. The role of the attacker’s memory is investigated; in particular, we demonstrate the remarkable effectiveness of impulsive-noise attacks as L increases. The formulation proposed in this paper is also used to evaluate the capacity of lattice QIM under worst-noise conditions