A protocol class for stealing residual bandwidth in uncoordinated distributed wireless networks

The need for finding effective means of recycling spectrum is becoming increasingly apparent as the world becomes more crowded with wireless devices. While finding a policy solution to this problem will require years, "cognitive radio" is an immediately applicable technology-based solution. Our attention is focused on how a distributed uncoordinated cognitive group of "secondary" users (those with lower priority access to the spectrum) can push data through its network on a single band and in the presence of non-cognitive "primary" users (those with priority access to the spectrum). The main contribution is a novel class of cognitive radio protocols that accomplish this through feedback, where secondaries estimate residual bandwidth and adapt a performance-based parameter. This class of solutions is presented, its parameters are explored and a specific implementation is demonstrated with insights gained

A Feast for The Eyes: Visualising Flavour-to-Vision Synesthesia

Flavour-to-vision synesthesia is a rare neurological phenomenon, where a person consistently and involuntarily visualises abstract shapes, colours, or even textures whilst tasting the flavours of food. As this rare condition is currently still largely unknown to and misunderstood by many, this project aims to gain an insight into perceptual experiences of those diagnosed with synesthesia (also known as synesthetes), and to creatively and convey this abstract concept to the general public in the form of an artefact

Motor-sensory recalibration modulates perceived simultaneity of cross-modal events atdifferent distances

A popular model for the representation of time in the brain posits the existence of a single, central clock. In that framework, temporal distortions in perception are explained by contracting or expanding time over a given interval. We here present evidence for an alternative account, one which proposes multiple independent timelines coexisting within the brain and stresses the importance of motor predictions and causal inferences in constructing our temporal representation of the world. Participants judged the simultaneity of a beep and flash coming from a single source at different distances. The beep was always presented at a constant delay after a motor action, while the flash occurred at a variable delay. Independent shifts in the implied timing of the auditory stimulus towards the motor action (but not the visual stimulus) provided evidence against a central-clock model. Additionally, the hypothesis that the time between action and delayed effect is compressed (known as intentional binding) seems unable to explain our results: firstly, because actions and effects can perceptually reverse, and secondly because the recalibration of simultaneity remains even after the participant’s intentional actions are no longer present. Contrary to previous reports, we also find that participants are unable to use distance cues to compensate for the relatively slower speed of sound when audio-visual events are presented in depth. When a motor act is used to control the distal event, however, adaptation to the delayed auditory signal occurs and subjective cross-sensory synchrony is maintained. These results support the hypothesis that perceptual timing derives from and is calibrated by our motor interactions with the world