Power-optimised multi-radio network under varying throughput constraints for rural broadband access

The use of complementary radio access technologies within a network allows the advantages of each technology to be combined to overcome individual limitations. In this paper we show how 5~GHz and ``TV White Space'' overlay networks can be combined to provide fixed wireless access coverage within a rural environment. By creating a model of the whole network we derive the optimum assignment of stations between the two overlay networks to maximise the capacity of individual stations given a desired individual station data rate. Through simulation we show how the power consumption of a base station can be minimised by dynamically adjusting station assignments based on network data rate requirements changing over the course of a day

The Rhythm of Combat: Understanding the Role of Music in Performances of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and Lion Dance

Toronto’s Hong Luck Kung Fu Club has promulgated martial arts, lion dance and percussion music since 1961. Drawing on my fieldwork there, this paper argues that these practices structure—and are structured by—a combative approach to rhythm. Students begin with martial arts and train without music, but percussion accompanies public demonstrations, creating an unfamiliar situation that I position as a distinct phase of the transmission process. Martial arts performances are both fuelled by musical energy and challenged by the requirement of remaining asynchronous to it. Lion dancers, however, treat drum patterns like signals coordinating manoeuvres on the performance battlefield.Le club de kung fu Hong Luck de Toronto met de l’avant, depuis 1961, les arts martiaux, la danse du lion et la musique à base de percussions. À partir du travail de terrain que j’y ai effectué, j’avance dans cet article que ces pratiques structurent—et sont structurées par—une approche combattive du rythme. Les étudiants commencent par les arts martiaux et s’entraînent sans musique, mais les percussions qui accompagnent les démonstrations publiques créent une situation inédite que je situe comme une phase distincte du processus de transmission. Les performances d’arts martiaux sont alimentées par l’énergie de la musique en même temps qu’elles sont contrariées par l’exigence de rester asynchrones à celle-ci. Par contre, ceux qui effectuent la danse du lion se servent des schémas rythmiques comme de signaux pour coordonner leurs manoeuvres sur ce champ de bataille qu’est la représentation

Music of the Martial Arts: Rhythm, Movement, and Meaning in a Chinese Canadian Kung Fu Club

This dissertation is an investigation of the percussion used to accompany Chinese martial arts and lion dancing at Toronto, Canada’s Hong Luck Kung Fu Club. It is based on six years of participant-observation and performance ethnography there, as well as a nine-month period of comparative fieldwork in Hong Kong. The diasporic environment presented questions of identity, and the research also engaged with the emerging field of martial arts studies. The discussion’s primary lines of inquiry are the use of percussion-accompanied lion dance and kung fu in the construction of identity for performers and audiences in a multicultural context; embodied knowledge in the movement and music that undergirds a Chinese, martial way of being-in-the-world; and the experience of learning, performing, and observing these practices. This study draws on phenomenology, semiotics, practice theory, and cognitive semantics, which have been tempered by discipleship at Hong Luck. The primary argument of this dissertation is that, despite the challenges of diaspora, Hong Luck’s transmission process uses intense physical training to engrain a distinctly Chinese, martial habitus onto practitioners; this set of dispositions is the prerequisite for becoming a drummer and is sonically—and physically—manifested in percussion-accompanied kung fu and lion dancing with important implications for the identity of performers and patrons. The main thesis is augmented by an argument for experiencing combat skills through music. With over fifty years of history, the ideals of self-strengthening, resistance to domination, and respect for Chinese culture that are embodied in Hong Luck’s practices have had a lasting impact on not only the local Chinatown community, but also the Greater Toronto Area and beyond

Multi-radio network optimisation using Bayesian belief propagation

In this paper we show how 5 GHz and “TV White Space” wireless networks can be combined to provide fixed access for a rural community. Using multiple technologies allows the advantages of each to be combined to overcome individual limitations when assigning stations between networks. Specifically, we want to maximise throughput under the constraint of satisfying both the desired individual station data rate and the transmit power within regulatory limits. For this optimisation, we employ Pearl's algorithm, a Bayesian belief propagation implementation, which is informed by statistics drawn from network trials on Isle of Tiree with 100 households. The method confirms results obtained with an earlier deterministic approach

A hybrid approach for rural broadband access networks

Recent regulatory developments by the US’s Federal Communications Commission and the UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) have opened up new opportunities for wireless systems to utilize unoccupied TV ‘White Space’ (TVWS) channels now available after analog switchover for secondary use as shown in Fig. 1a. TV-band spectrum has favourable radio propagation characteristics that allow signals to travel relatively long distances over hilly terrain or in built-up urban areas. This, coupled with the fact that the regulations currently being drawn up by the FCC and Ofcom are widely expected to allow licence-exempt access to TVWS spectrum, make TVWS attractive for applications such as: i) rural broadband; ii) high-definition CCTV transmissions in towns and cities; iii) data offloading for already-congested cellular networks; iv) machine-to-machine (M2M) communications; etc

Clinical Efficacy of Vorinostat in a Patient with Leiomyosarcoma

Leiomyosarcoma is a heterogeneous tumor group, representing <1% of all new cancers diagnosed in United States. Treatment choice is based upon site, grade, and extent of disease. However, prognosis for metastatic or unresectable sarcoma is very poor with reported median survival of 12 months. Response to chemotherapy has been approximately 8% to 39% based upon the chemotherapeutic agent and whether used alone or in combination. Vorinostat is an orally active, potent, and competitive inhibitor of histone deacetylases approved for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. There are limited preclinical data illustrating the activity of histone deacetylase inhibitors in sarcoma. Here is a case of a lady with leiomyosarcoma who has progressed through multiple chemotherapeutic agent who has achieved a partial response to vorinostat treatment

"WindFi" - a renewable powered base station for rural broadband

The HopScotch rural wireless broadband access test bed uses a network of low power base stations, powered by renewable energy sources to provide a low-cost rural broadband solution. In this paper we discuss the low power design aspects of the HopScotch base station and the impact on the required generation potential of renewable sources, battery bank sizing and the use of tracking PV arrays

Enabling rural broadband via TV "white space"

The use of multiple frequency bands within a wireless network allows the advantages of each band to be exploited. In this paper we discuss how HopScotch, a rural wireless broadband access test bed running in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, uses both 5 GHz and ultra high frequency "white space" bands to offer large data rates and expansive coverage whilst reducing the number of base stations or required transmission power. This reduction in energy consumption allows HopScotch to provide a low-cost and green solution for rural broadband delivery