Broadband Video Streaming with Built-in Resiliency

Mobile TV services are being actively developed for a variety of last hop, broadband wireless technologies. Application layer error control mechanisms such as Broadband Video Streaming seek to reduce packet loss from raw UDP transport. This paper goes further than existing streaming protocols by integrating source-coded error resilience through data-partitioning and intra-refresh macroblocks with the error control mechanism. Results show that for a temporally complex sequence, up to 6.23 dB gain in video quality (PSNR) can result, depending on burst error lengths across an IEEE 802.16e link

The Industry 4.0 Knowledge & Technology Framework

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit manufacturing industries on an unprecedented scale. Traditional manufacturing paradigms are severely disrupted, and proactive integration of Industry 4.0 becomes an urgent matter for decision makers to mitigate future economic shocks. The proposed Industry 4.0 Knowledge & Technology Framework (IKTF) provides guidance to decision makers by achieving a multi-level sequential framework based on a micro-meso-macro approach. The aim of the IKTF is to allow for first steps to initiate an informed and successful integration of Industry 4.0 in a corporate context. The IKTF presents an answer to the challenge to provide definitions of relevant concepts on the complex topic of Industry 4.0 in a systemic manner of a micro-meso-macro analysis that additionally functions as a foundational support tool for Industry 4.0 integration and decision-making. As a first step, the structure and contents of the IKTF are introduced and described. In a second and final step the applicability of the IKTF is demonstrated and discussed on a theoretical and practical level with the help of a case study

Hypotheses concerning complexity surges in modern and future industrial information systems

Background: This paper has the central aim to provide an analysis of increases of system complexity in the context of modern industrial information systems. An investigation and exploration of relevant theoretical frameworks is conducted and accumulates in the proposition of a set of hypotheses as an explanatory approach for a possible definition of system complexity based on information growth in industrial information systems. Several interconnected sources of technological information are investigated and explored in the given context in their functionality as information transferring agents, and their practical relevance is underlined by the application of the concepts of Big Data and cyber-physical, cyber-human and cyber-physical-cyber-human systems. Methods: A systematic review of relevant literature was conducted for this paper and in total 85 sources matching the scope of this article, in the form of academic journals and academic books of the mentioned academic fields, published between 2012 and 2019, were selected, individually read and reviewed by the authors and reduced by careful author selection to 17 key sources which served as the basis for theory synthesis. Results: Four hypotheses (H1-H4) concerning exponential surges of system complexity in industrial information systems are introduced. Furthermore, first foundational ideas for a possible approach to potentially describe, model and simulate complex industrial information systems based on network, agent-based approaches and the concept of Shannon entropy are introduced. Conclusion: Based on the introduced hypotheses it can be theoretically indicated that the amount information aggregated and transferred in a system can serve as an indicator for the development of system complexity and as a possible explanatory concept for the exponential surges of system complexity in industrial information systems

Standardisation of UK Electric Vehicle Charging Protocol, Payment and Charge Point Connection

Standardisation is fundamental to ensuring that new technologies develop and grow unhindered by manufacturer-led standards. Dismissing this vital issue can have a detrimental effect on society regarding adopting new technologies, particularly when government targets and regulations are crucial for their success. We have witnessed competing global industries struggle for dominance, such as Betamax versus VHS, where each had a similar user outcome, but the confusion of differing formats slowed growth. We analyse emerging standards for electric vehicle rapid charging and investigate how standardisation challenges affect stakeholders by reviewing the existing literature on single-mode and polymodal harmonisation. By assimilating existing evidence, we then develop a new understanding of the science behind multi-model standardisation (MMS) approaches. Our literature review reveals three primary standardisation issues: (1) charge connections, (2) car to charger communication protocols, and (3) charge payment methods. We then analyse each mode type’s benefit, observing how each example contributes to the overall outcome, and suggest that their impact depends on car to charger handshake timing and intuitive user interaction. Using a structured survey of 282 respondents, we analyse end-user satisfaction for factors affecting growth in the EV sector and compare these findings with the factors identified during our literature review. We consequently articulate a programme for future research to understand EV rapid charger standardisation better, proposing recommendations for vested stakeholders that embrace sponsors in societal, technological and scientific transformation

Broadband Video Streaming with Built-in Resiliency

Mobile TV services are being actively developed for a variety of last hop, broadband wireless technologies. Application layer error control mechanisms such as Broadband Video Streaming seek to reduce packet loss from raw UDP transport. This paper goes further than existing streaming protocols by integrating source-coded error resilience through data-partitioning and intra-refresh macroblocks with the error control mechanism. Results show that for a temporally complex sequence, up to 6.23 dB gain in video quality (PSNR) can result, depending on burst error lengths across an IEEE 802.16e link

E-commerce: A New Framework Aggregates Culture with Website Design

In the modern market, e-commerce is absolutely essential in business marketing and advertising. Many studies have been conducted to explore the relations between players and companies by creating the trust within security and culture. Various models have been proposed to show the reliability of trust that in a successful e-commerce website. In this paper, we have built a new framework to aggregate the e-commerce culture with the facilities of the websites that can attract more players to increase the trust between the players and companies. This paper also explores factors in e-commerce related to Jordanian culture and religions, in the context of the great increase in the use of smart phones by all sectors of society around the country. Our new framework will explore the vision for companies to enhance services with increasing the trust by considering many different keys such as scalability, delivery on time and protected accounts with more website facilities

Effective Multi-Connection Video Streaming Over WiMAX

The idea of multi-connection congestion control was originally applied to aggregate flows passing from computer cluster to cluster communicating over the public Internet. This paper considers the extension of multi-connection streaming to wired/wireless networks and in doing so reviews theoretical results for multi-connection streaming, including virtual multi-connections within a single physical connection. Streaming a single video over multiple TCP-Friendly Rate Control connections is a promising way of separately coping with both wireless channel losses and traffic congestion, without the need for cross-layer intervention or retransmission delay at the data-link layer. At the same time, the wireless channel is properly utilized, as throughput improves with an increasing number of connections. Nevertheless, over IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX) tuning is needed to select the number of connections and the Time Division Duplex (TDD) frame size. The paper assesses the impact on video quality of packet drops due both to channel loss over a WiMAX access link and router buffer overflow across an all-IP network, consisting of broadband wireless access and core network. The paper also considers end-to-end delay and start-up delay when employing several connections. Results show that provided the TDD frame size is selected appropriately then using multiple connections preserves video quality and improves wireless channel utilization, with a minimal impact on end-to-end delay. As a trade-off, there is an increase in start-up delay arising from the need to avoid possible buffer underflow

Smart Education Environment System

This paper proposes a Smart Education Environment System (SEES) framework that upgrades the traditional, book-based library to meet the interests of an emerging IT-aware generation. The library will remain as the information center of the university but will also become the base for knowledge exchange using cutting-edge technology. As described in the paper, high-bandwidth wireless technology, social networks, and integrated databases can all facilitate the role of the library, which is to act as a centralized resource in support of research and learning. The framework consists of three sub-systems: electronic bookshelves (for ease of access and management of the book stock); virtual white space (for discussion of information found within the library and, by extension to the whole of the academic environment); and a social network with an integrated innovation database (to disseminate new ideas). The paper shows how these sub-systems can be arranged to support the SEES

Complexity Space Modelling for Industrial Manufacturing Systems

The static and dynamic complexity of an industrial engineered system are integrated in a complexity space modelling approach, where information complexity boundaries expand over time and serve as an indicator for system instability in a static complexity space. In a first step, model-based static and dynamic conceptions of complexity are introduced and described. The necessary capabilities are theoretically demonstrated, alongside a set of assumptions concerning the behavior of industrial system complexity and its functions as a core foundation for the proposed complexity space model. In a second step, the successful application of the proposed modelling approach on a real-world industrial system is presented. Case study results are briefly presented and discussed as a first proof of concept for the general applicability of the proposed modelling approach for current and future industrial systems. In a final step a short research outlook is provided