Integration of Satellites in 5G through LEO Constellations

The standardization of 5G systems is entering in its critical phase, with 3GPP that will publish the PHY standard by June 2017. In order to meet the demanding 5G requirements both in terms of large throughput and global connectivity, Satellite Communications provide a valuable resource to extend and complement terrestrial networks. In this context, we consider a heterogeneous architecture in which a LEO mega-constellation satellite system provides backhaul connectivity to terrestrial 5G Relay Nodes, which create an on-ground 5G network. Since large delays and Doppler shifts related to satellite channels pose severe challenges to terrestrial-based systems, in this paper we assess their impact on the future 5G PHY and MAC layer procedures. In addition, solutions are proposed for Random Access, waveform numerology, and HARQ procedures.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) 201

The Relative Value of Pathways Towards A Life Well-Lived

People frequently encounter situations when they must choose between two pathways. Pathways in this context are a route, or series of decisions, that represent the things individuals’ value in pursuit of their happiness. As a result, the trade-off decisions an individual makes and believes to be worthwhile should, therefore, reflect the personal importance of that pathway. Those trade-offs might also be judged worthy by observers depending on the relative importance of the chosen versus unchosen pathway to the observer in question. The studies included in this paper examine the relationship between several distinct pathways to happiness (Security, Outlook, Autonomy, Relationships, Skilled and Meaningful Activity, and Contact with Nature) and their relative value to individuals (Haybron, 2013). I am interested in understanding individual differences in how these pathways are valued relative to one another. The first Study develops the Pathways to Happiness measure, while the second and third studies examine its validity. Results from the first study confirmed 5 out of 6 of Haybron’s Pathways to Happiness. These factors were utilized in the subsequent studies outlined in this paper. Results from Studies 2 and 3 confirmed the discriminant validity of the measure developed in Study 1 for all subscales; and the convergent validity for most subscales (the Autonomy subscale did not converge enough with other similar measures). A future study is introduced in the discussion section that proposes an examination of the relative valuation of pathways as measured by this scale and whether those scores predict how an individual perceives choices between two pathways

The kindest cut: Enhancing the user experience of mobile tv through adequate zooming

The growing market of Mobile TV requires automated adaptation of standard TV footage to small size displays. Especially extreme long shots (XLS) depicting distant objects can spoil the user experience, e.g. in soccer content. Automated zooming schemes can improve the visual experience if the resulting footage meets user expectations in terms of the visual detail and quality but does not omit valuable context information. Current zooming schemes are ignorant of beneficial zoom ranges for a given target size when applied to standard definition TV footage. In two experiments 84 participants were able to switch between original and zoom enhanced soccer footage at three sizes - from 320x240 (QVGA) down to 176x144 (QCIF). Eye tracking and subjective ratings showed that zoom factors between 1.14 and 1.33 were preferred for all sizes. Interviews revealed that a zoom factor of 1.6 was too high for QVGA content due to low perceived video quality, but beneficial for QCIF size. The optimal zoom depended on the target display size. We include a function to compute the optimal zoom for XLS depending on the target device size. It can be applied in automatic content adaptation schemes and should stimulate further research on the requirements of different shot types in video coding

La metamorfosi del personaggio nei romanzi neostorici di Roberto Pazzi

This is the first of three essays on Roberto Pazzi's narrative. A second article will focus on Vangelo di Giuda, and a final article will examine the author's non-historical narratives. This essay examines the novels which portray historical themes, from ancient Rome (La stanza sull'acqua) to the RussianRevolution (Cercando l'Imperatore), in order to show how the author attempts to find a transcendental value in reality. Such a revelation is only possiblethrough art, which, by manipulating characters and events, enables them to move from being contingent to being permanent, granting them a presencebased on mythical parameters. There ensues a symbolic narrative construction, given both by the intellectual rhythm of the narrative, based on a utopic return to myth, and by the psychoanalytic inquiry and the spatio-temporal determinants, which in turn become metaphors for a-temporal existential moments.Article text in Italia

I labirinti narrativi Di marcella cioni

In Marcella Cioni’s narrative, a competitive psychological tension prevails between the limits imposed by official culture and the desire for free and complete expression of the “I”. Her characters are all in search of their own identity and, after having discovered its coordinates, they make desperate attempts to give form to their profound feelings. Her women characters seem more able and more willing to take risks than the men, indeed they sometimes display an extreme, irrational desire for self-affirmation. The male characters are more conditioned by their socio-historical roles and their journeys are more complicated and more intellectual. Cioni’s ambitious narrative project is given germane expression by the intelligent, linguistically and structurally elaborate plots devised by this new Italian writer

Animal welfare and meat quality in pigs as affected by trailer type, travel distance and genotype

L’objectif de cette thèse consistait à évaluer les effets de la conception des véhicules pot-belly [PB] vs. flat-deck [FD] ainsi que les distances des transports (45 min vs. 7 h) sur le bien-être animal et la qualité de la viande des trois croisements Piétrain (Piétrain 50% HALNn (50Nn), 50% HALNN (50NN), et 25% HALNN (25NN). Les réponses comportementales et physiologiques ainsi que les paramètres de qualité de la viande ont été mesurées. Les relations entre la température corporelle juste avant l’abattage, mesurée par la thermographie infrarouge (IRT), et les paramètres de bien-être animal et de la qualité de la viande ont également été étudiées et comparées. L’ensemble des résultats obtenus des deux études sur les transports de longue et courte distance ont indiqué que la génétique a un impact plus important sur les paramètres de bien-être animal et de qualité de viande que le type de remorque. Toutefois, les effets négatifs du génotype sur les réponses physiologiques au stress et les paramètres de qualité de la viande sont plus marqués pour le modèle PB lorsque le transport est de courte durée. Les porcs issus de croisement Piétrain 50%, quel que soit le génotype HAL, ont produit des carcasses plus maigres, mais semblent être plus sensibles au stress lié au transport. La qualité de la viande n'a pas été affectée par la proportion de l'héritage Piétrain dans le croisement, mais par la présence du gène HAL. L’étude de la température corporelle par thermographie infrarouge suggère que l'IRT oculaire peut détecter des changements de la température corporelle associée à l'état physiologique des porcs et peut être considéré comme un outil potentiel pour prévoir les variations de la qualité de la viande dans des conditions commerciales.This thesis dealt with the effects of vehicle design (pot-belly [PB] vs. flat-deck [FD]) and transport distances (45 min vs. 7 h) on animal welfare and pork quality of three Pietrain crossbreds (Pietrain 50% HALNn (50Nn), Pietrain 50% HALNN (50NN), and Pietrain 25% HALNN (25NN). Behavioural and physiological responses and pork quality parameters were measured. The relationship between body temperature as measured by infrared thermography (IRT) in the restrainer before stunning and other animal welfare and pork quality parameters was also studied. Results obtained from both short and long distance transportation indicated that genetics has a larger impact on animal welfare parameters and pork quality traits than trailer type. However, under short distance transportation the PB trailer model augmented the negative genotype-related defects as measured by physiological responses to stress and pork quality parameters. Pigs with 50% Pietrain crossbreeding, regardless of the HAL genotype, produced leaner carcasses but appeared to be more responsive to transport stress. Pork quality was not detrimentally affected by the proportion of Pietrain inheritance in the crossbred but by the presence of the HAL gene. The study of IRT body temperature suggests that ocular IRT may detect changes in body temperature associated with the physiological condition of pigs and may be considered a potential tool to predict pork quality variation under commercial conditions

Energy Efficient Adaptive Network Coding Schemes for Satellite Communications

In this paper, we propose novel energy efficient adaptive network coding and modulation schemes for time variant channels. We evaluate such schemes under a realistic channel model for open area environments and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. Compared to non-adaptive network coding and adaptive rate efficient network-coded schemes for time variant channels, we show that our proposed schemes, through physical layer awareness can be designed to transmit only if a target quality of service (QoS) is achieved. As a result, such schemes can provide remarkable energy savings.Comment: Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 24 March 201

Adaptive Network Coding Schemes for Satellite Communications

In this paper, we propose two novel physical layer aware adaptive network coding and coded modulation schemes for time variant channels. The proposed schemes have been applied to different satellite communications scenarios with different Round Trip Times (RTT). Compared to adaptive network coding, and classical non-adaptive network coding schemes for time variant channels, as benchmarks, the proposed schemes demonstrate that adaptation of packet transmission based on the channel variation and corresponding erasures allows for significant gains in terms of throughput, delay and energy efficiency. We shed light on the trade-off between energy efficiency and delay-throughput gains, demonstrating that conservative adaptive approaches that favors less transmission under high erasures, might cause higher delay and less throughput gains in comparison to non-conservative approaches that favor more transmission to account for high erasures.Comment: IEEE Advanced Satellite Multimedia Systems Conference and the 14th Signal Processing for Space Communications Workshop (ASMS/SPSC), 201