Overlapped CDMA system in optical packet networks : resource allocation and performance evalutation

Dans cette thèse, la performance du système CDMA à chevauchement optique (OVCDMA) au niveau de la couche de contrôle d'accès au support (MAC) et l'allocation des ressources au niveau de la couche physique (PRY) sont étudiées. Notre but est d'apporter des améliorations pour des applications à débits multiples en répondant aux exigences de délai minimum tout en garantissant la qualité de service (QoS). Nous proposons de combiner les couches PRY et MAC par une nouvelle approche d'optimisation de performance qui consolide l'efficacité potentielle des réseaux optiques. Pour atteindre notre objectif, nous réalisons plusieurs étapes d'analyse. Tout d 'abord, nous suggérons le protocole S-ALOHA/OV-CDMA optique pour sa simplicité de contrôler les transmissions optiques au niveau de la couche liaison. Le débit du réseau, la latence de transmission et la stabilité du protocole sont ensuite évalués. L'évaluation prend en considération les caractéristiques physiques du système OY-CDMA, représentées par la probabilité de paquets bien reçus. Le système classique à traitement variable du gain (YPG) du CDMA, ciblé pour les applications à débits multiples, et le protocole MAC ±round-robin¿ récepteur/émetteur (R31), initialement proposé pour les réseaux par paquets en CDMA optique sont également pris en compte. L'objectif est d ' évaluer comparativement la performance du S-ALOHA/OY-CDMA en termes de l'immunité contre l'interférence d'accès lTIultiple (MAI) et les variations des charges du trafic. Les résultats montrent que les performances peuvent varier en ce qui concerne le choix du taux de transmission et la puissance de transmission optique au niveau de la couche PRY. Ainsi, nous proposons un schéma de répartition optimale des ressources pour allouer des taux de transmission à chevauchement optique et de puissance optique de transmission dans le système OY-CDMA comme des ressources devant être optimalement et équitablement réparties entre les utilisateurs qui sont regroupés dans des classes de différentes qualités de service. La condition d'optimalité est basée sur la maximisation de la capacité par utilisateur de la couche PHY. De ce fait, un choix optimal des ressources physiques est maintenant possible, mais il n'est pas équitable entre les classes. Par conséquent, pour améliorer la performance de la couche liaison tout en éliminant le problème d'absence d'équité, nous proposons comme une approche unifiée un schéma équitable et optimal pour l'allocation des ressources fondé sur la qualité de service pour des multiplexages temporels des réseaux par paquets en CDMA à chevauchement optique. Enfin, nous combinons cette dernière approche avec le protocole MAC dans un problème d'optimisation d'allocation équitable des ressources à contrainte de délai afin de mieux améliorer le débit du réseau et le délai au niveau de la couche liaison avec allocation équitable et optimale des ressources au niveau de la couche PHY

Scheduling Electric Power Restoration

After Tropical Storm Irene and the Halloweensnowstorm, everybody understands the need for rapid restoration of electric power. Optimal job scheduling is an NP-complete problem, which means, in ordinary English, that the only known solution is a full enumeration of all possible schedules. As near as we can tell, CL&P uses either a "First Come, First Served" (FCFS) policy or an "Outside In" policy for scheduling their crews. FCFS means that the jobs are scheduled in the order that they're called in, and "Outside In" means that crews are sent to the borders of affected areas and they then work their way in to the center of an affected area. This last method is equivalent to what's called the "Nearest Neighbor" algorithm, which is equivalent to "Shortest Travel Time First" scheduling. The authors wondered whether a scheduling algorithm known as "Longest Remaining Job First" (LRJF) might produce better results. LRJF is a "near-optimal" algorithm, apparently discovered by Prof. Todd in the early 90s, that when used for scheduling jobs for parallel processing, results in faster job completion times

Current localisation and redistribution as the basis of discontinuous current controlled negative differential resistance in NbOx

In-situ thermo-reflectance imaging is used to show that the discontinuous, snap-back mode of current-controlled negative differential resistance (CC-NDR) in NbOx-based devices is a direct consequence of current localization and redistribution. Current localisation is shown to result from the creation of a conductive filament either during electroforming or from current bifurcation due to the super-linear temperature dependence of the film conductivity. The snap-back response then arises from current redistribution between regions of low and high current-density due to the rapid increase in conductivity created within the high current density region. This redistribution is further shown to depend on the relative resistance of the low current-density region with the characteristics of NbOx cross-point devices transitioning between continuous and discontinuous snap-back modes at critical values of film conductivity, area, thickness and temperature, as predicted. These results clearly demonstrate that snap-back is a generic response that arises from current localization and redistribution within the oxide film rather than a material-specific phase transition, thus resolving a long-standing controversy.Comment: 21 Page

Schottky-Barrier-Induced Asymmetry in the Negative-Differential-Resistance Response of Nb/NbOx/Pt Cross-Point Devices

The negative differential resistance (NDR) response of Nb/NbOx/Pt cross-point devices is shown to have a polarity dependence due to the effect of the metal/oxide Schottky barriers on the contact resistance. Three distinct responses are observed under opposite polarity testing: bipolar S-type NDR, bipolar snap-back NDR, and combined S-type and snap-back NDR, depending on the stoichiometry of the oxide film and device area. In-situ thermoreflectance imaging is used to show that these NDR responses are associated with strong current localisation, thereby justifying the use of a previously developed two-zone, core shell thermal model of the device. The observed polarity dependent NDR responses, and their dependence on stoichiometry and area, are then explained by extending this model to include the effect of the polarity dependent contact resistance. This study provides an improved understanding of the NDR response of metal/oxide/metal structures and informs the engineering of devices for neuromorphic computing and non-volatile memory applications.This work is partly funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP150100693) and Varian Semiconductor Equipment/Applied Material

Developing a Personality Model for Speech-based Conversational Agents Using the Psycholexical Approach

We present the first systematic analysis of personality dimensions developed specifically to describe the personality of speech-based conversational agents. Following the psycholexical approach from psychology, we first report on a new multi-method approach to collect potentially descriptive adjectives from 1) a free description task in an online survey (228 unique descriptors), 2) an interaction task in the lab (176 unique descriptors), and 3) a text analysis of 30,000 online reviews of conversational agents (Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana) (383 unique descriptors). We aggregate the results into a set of 349 adjectives, which are then rated by 744 people in an online survey. A factor analysis reveals that the commonly used Big Five model for human personality does not adequately describe agent personality. As an initial step to developing a personality model, we propose alternative dimensions and discuss implications for the design of agent personalities, personality-aware personalisation, and future research.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, CHI'2

Development and optimization of quantitative PCR for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis with bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Background: The diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) remains challenging. Culture and histopathological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid are useful but have suboptimal sensitivity and in the case of culture may require several days for fungal growth to be evident. Detection of Aspergillus DNA in BAL fluid by quantitative PCR (qPCR) offers the potential for earlier diagnosis and higher sensitivity. It is important to adopt quality control measures in PCR assays to address false positives and negatives which can hinder accurate evaluation of diagnostic performance. Methods: BAL fluid from 94 episodes of pneumonia in 81 patients was analyzed. Thirteen episodes were categorized as proven or probable IPA using Mycoses Study Group criteria. The pellet and the supernatant fractions of the BAL were separately assayed. A successful extraction was confirmed with a human 18S rRNA gene qPCR. Inhibition in each qPCR was measured using an exogenous DNA based internal amplification control (IAC). The presence of DNA from pathogens in the Aspergillus genus was detected using qPCR targeting fungal 18S rRNA gene. Results: Human 18S rRNA gene qPCR confirmed successful DNA extraction of all samples. IAC detected some degree of initial inhibition in 11 samples. When culture was used to diagnose IPA, the sensitivity and specificity were 84.5% and 100% respectively. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis of qPCR showed that a cutoff of 13 fg of Aspergillus genomic DNA generated a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 77%, 88%, 50%, 96% respectively. BAL pellet and supernatant analyzed together resulted in sensitivity and specificity similar to BAL pellet alone. Some patients did not meet standard criteria for IPA, but had consistently high levels of Aspergillus DNA in BAL fluid by qPCR. Conclusion: The Aspergillus qPCR assay detected Aspergillus DNA in 76.9% of subjects with proven or probable IPA when the concentrated BAL fluid pellet fraction was used for diagnosis. There was no benefit from analyzing the BAL supernatant fraction. Use of both extraction and amplification controls provided optimal quality control for interpreting qPCR results and therefore may increase our understanding of the true potential of qPCR for the diagnosis of IPA.Supported by NIH grant R01 AI054703 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Dose Recommendations for Posaconazole in Infants and Children.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to investigate the population pharmacokinetics of posaconazole in immunocompromised children, evaluate the influence of patient characteristics on posaconazole exposure and perform simulations to recommend optimal starting doses. METHODS: Posaconazole plasma concentrations from paediatric patients undergoing therapeutic drug monitoring were extracted from a tertiary paediatric hospital database. These were merged with covariates collected from electronic sources and case-note reviews. An allometrically scaled population-pharmacokinetic model was developed to investigate the effect of tablet and suspension relative bioavailability, nonlinear bioavailability of suspension, followed by a step-wise covariate model building exercise to identify other important sources of variability. RESULTS: A total of 338 posaconazole plasma concentrations samples were taken from 117 children aged 5 months to 18 years. A one-compartment model was used, with tablet apparent clearance standardised to a 70-kg individual of 15 L/h. Suspension was found to have decreasing bioavailability with increasing dose; the estimated suspension dose to yield half the tablet bioavailability was 99 mg/m2. Diarrhoea and proton pump inhibitors were also associated with reduced suspension bioavailability. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest population-pharmacokinetic study to date in children, we have found similar covariate effects to those seen in adults, but low bioavailability of suspension in patients with diarrhoea or those taking concurrent proton pump inhibitors, which may in particular limit the use of posaconazole in these patients

Combinatorial discovery of polymers resistant to bacterial attachment

Bacterial attachment and subsequent biofilm formation are key challenges to the long term performance of many medical devices. Here, a high throughput approach coupled with the analysis of surface structure-property relationships using a chemometics approach has been developed to simultaneously investigate the interaction of bacteria with hundreds of polymeric materials on a microarray format. Using this system, a new group of materials comprising ester and hydrophobic moieties are identified that dramatically reduce the attachment of clinically relevant, pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and uropathogenic Escherichia coli). Hit materials coated on silicone catheters resulted in up to a 30 fold reduction in coverage compared to a commercial silver embedded catheter, which has been proven to half the incidence of clinically acquired infection. These polymers represent a new class of materials resistant to bacterial attachment that could not have been predicted from the current understanding of bacteria-surface interactions