Video coding and delivery challenges for next generation IPTV

Current generation, large-scale, Internet protocol television (IPTV) systems borrow heavily from the broadcast industry, which makes a number of delivery assumptions that do not apply to IP networks. Consequently we can perceive major improvements if we better match the delivery of IPTV services with the underlying network transport. We can expect next generation IPTV systems to adapt video streams dynamically to maximise throughput, allow constant quality delivery, and degrade gracefully in congested networks. This paper outlines the challenges in optimising IPTV delivery and the contribution that BT’s research has made to overcoming some of these.     

Thermal monitoring and testing of electronic systems

The paper presents a method for online overheating protection of electronic systems. The key elements of the implementation, the thermal sensor and a chip dedicated to thermal monitoring of the various components are presented in details. Beyond on line thermal monitoring, offline static and transient thermal testing are also enabled by the suggested method, using the standard test circuitry and boundary scan     

Bio-pulsating architecture for object-based processing in next generation vision systems

A novel and robust distributed architecture for real-time object-based processing is presented for tasks such as object size, centre and count determination. This approach uses the input image to enclose a feedback loop and realise a data-driven pulsating action, ideally suited for implementation in standard CMOS technologies.     

新一代通信设备和计算机系统所需的高容量SRAM产品

简介 美国Ramtron公司用改造了的DRAM单晶体管（1—T）专利技术开发出大容量的SRAM产品。这类单晶体管（1—T）SRAM（ESRAM,E代表Enhanced,是改良型的意思）在容量增大的同时,大幅度减低了每个位元（bit）的单价和功耗,使单晶体管（1—T）SRAM产品更适合通信设备和计算机系统设计的要求,解决了高价位,容量不够大,高功耗这些以往应用传统六晶体管（6T）SRAM产品所遇到的问题。 通信设备和计算机系统的设计工程师都一定会面对过到底是该选择高价位,高性能的SRAM,还是性能稍次,但价     

Future prospects of silicon photonics in next generation communication and computing systems

The recent progress is reviewed and future prospects of silicon photonics in next generation communication and computing systems are probed. Leveraging the many-billion-dollar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) industry, silicon photonics has promising prospects for realising very large-scale electronic and photonic integrated circuits with thousands of optical components and millions of transistors in the future to support very demanding integrated systems needs of next generation computing and communications. There are also a number of significant challenges in fulfilling such prospects.     

Investigation of phantom circuit benefits for next generation xDSL systems

This paper is focused on measurements and analysis of phantom mode benefits in G.fast and next generation xDSL systems. The investigation is based on real measurements performed for a multi‐quad metallic cable together with theoretical evaluations of phantom circuit potentials. Because the presence of phantom circuits leads into increasing the summary crosstalk level in a metallic cable, the application of a phantom mode is questionable in practice. That is why the investigation was performed, and conclusions provided in this paper can be helpful to decide potential benefits of this method for future applications. The elimination of a crosstalk can be performed by using advanced modulation techniques such as vectored discrete multi‐tone modulation (VDMT); however, its application in practice is limited because of its complexity and computational demands. That is why several scenarios are currently being discussed with either no VDMT application or with only partial crosstalk compensation. Because of that, this paper is focused on comparing the results for a first scenario without using any far‐end crosstalk (FEXT) elimination technique, whereas a second scenario is based on partial FEXT suppression by VDMT application, to decide the effectiveness of using phantom modes in practice. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QoS enabled voice support in the next generation Internet: issues,existing approaches and challenges

The Internet is under rapid growth and continuous evolution in order to accommodate an increasingly large number of applications with diverse service requirements. In particular, Internet telephony, or voice over IP is one of the most promising services currently being deployed. Besides the potentially significant cost reduction, Internet telephony can offer many new features and easier integration with widely adopted Web-based services. Despite these advantages, there still exist a number of barriers to the widespread deployment of Internet telephony. The most prominent one, however, is how to ensure the QoS needed for voice conversation. The purpose of this article is to survey the state-of-the-art technologies in enabling the QoS support for voice communications in the next-generation Internet. In this article, we first review the existing technologies in supporting voice over IP networks, including the basic mechanisms in the IETF Internet telephony architecture and ITU-T H.323-related Recommendations. We then discuss the IETF QoS framework, specifically the Intserv and Diffserv framework. Finally, we present two leading companies' (Cisco and Lucent) solutions to offering IP telephony services as examples to illustrate how real systems are implemented     

Zero-maintenance of electronic systems: Perspectives,challenges, and opportunities

Self-engineering systems that are capable of repairing themselves in-situ without the need for human decision (or intervention) could be used to achieve zero-maintenance. This philosophy is synonymous to the way in which the human body heals and repairs itself up to a point. This article synthesises issues related to an emerging area of self-healing technologies that links software and hardware mitigations strategies. Efforts are concentrated on built-in detection, masking and active mitigation that comprises self-recovery or self-repair capability, and has a focus on system resilience and recovering from fault events. Design techniques are critically reviewed to clarify the role of fault coverage, resource allocation and fault awareness, set in the context of existing and emerging printable/nanoscale manufacturing processes. The qualitative analysis presents new opportunities to form a view on the research required for a successful integration of zero-maintenance. Finally, the potential cost benefits and future trends are enumerated.     

Susceptibility of electronic systems to high-power microwaves: summary of test experience

For more than a decade, the Swedish Defence Authorities have, in cooperation with Swedish industry and other countries, studied the effects of high-power microwave (RPM) radiation on electronic systems. Testing at high-field levels has been carried out on military equipment as well as on civil equipment, such as cars, computers, and security systems. From these studies, it is concluded that the distance for RPM sabotage can reach about a kilometer. Experience from system testing has, besides giving information about system susceptibility, also demonstrated the need for a careful pre-analysis of the system under test. This is due to the fact that high-level testing, in most cases, includes only a small fraction of the threat parameter space, such as test frequencies and irradiation angles.     

The next generation of systems to support corporate grade ICT products and solutions

The delivery of next generation IT and communications services to corporate customers is a principal part of BT’s growth strategy. These services range from IP virtual private networks, to hosted applications, through to fully managed solutions spanning complex IT and network infrastructures. The cost and flexibility of such services is increasingly dependent on the operational support systems (OSS), which automate activities such as provisioning, change, billing, and incident management. However, the OSS challenges for the service provider have never been so great — not only to support a wide-ranging portfolio of legacy products, but also a new generation of convergent products, while at the same time trying to deliver both improved service and cost savings. Moreover, in the corporate sector, large contracts are typically won in partnerships, and through outsourcing. The OSS must therefore interwork seamlessly with the counterpart OSS in each of the partner’s operations, pulling together to deliver a single managed service to the customer. This paper outlines BT’s solution to these complex OSS challenges, the application of its systems capability matrix to corporate customers, the relationship to its alliance with HP, the importance of standards such as ITIL, and how BT is levering its research and venturing capabilities to deliver a competitive edge through OSS.     

日本拟主导下一代亚洲宽带网络及电子认证技术

日本政府信息技术战略总部最近召开会议,决定由日本政府出面支持建立亚洲地区的超高速宽带Imernet网,形成亚洲共同的电子交易市场。为此,将通过可传送图像等大容量信息的卫星通信网络,将亚洲各国和地区连接起来,并且要建立起网络交易所必须的电子认证制度。在开发这一下一代的亚洲宽带网络的过程中,日本打算掌握其主导权。     

Reliability and degradation mechanism of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for next generation mobile communication systems

Excellent reliability performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC substrates for next generation mobile communication systems has been demonstrated using DC and RF stress tests on 8 × 60 μm wide and 0.5 μm long AlGaN/GaN HEMTs at a drain voltage of V_d = 50 V. Drain current recovery measurements after stress indicate that the degradation is partly caused by slow traps generated in the SiN passivation or in the HEMT epitaxial layers. The traps in the SiN passivation layer were characterized using high and low frequency capacitance-voltage (CV) measurements of MIS test structures on thick lightly doped GaN layers.     

传统信令在NGN中应用的容灾保护

首先介绍了A5020软交换的基本结构和七号信令的三级结构。重点介绍了基于新一代电信网络的信令系统的两级容灾保护机制：系统级的保护和网络级的保护。并详细介绍了两级容灾保护机制的实现方法，通过上述的两层保护机制，信令系统在下一代网络中的可靠性得到了充分保证。     

Flow control and bandwidth management in next generation Internets

The Internet has traditionally relied on end-to-end congestion control performed at the transport layer, where sources reduce their offered traffic only after congestion sets in. By then, network resources have been wasted and effective throughput compromised. In next generation Internets, the delay-bandwidth product is large and bandwidth is a precious resourse. Hence, in this paper we present a link layer flow control for Internet backbones over ATM using the ABR service and flow control. We describe a backpressure mechanism that reduces packet losses and promotes effective utilization of allocated and unused resources along backbone links. We then show how to perform dynamic renegotiation of allocated backbone resources based on our flow control approach and on class based queueing. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

下一代曝光（NGL）技术的现状和发展趋势

通过介绍光刻技术的演变和所面临的挑战,揭示下一代光刻技术的发展潜力和研究现状。通过比较几种具有较大潜力的NGL(浸没式ArF光刻机、极紫外光刻和电子束曝光)的特点、开发现状和有待解决的关键技术,预言将来可能是以极紫外光刻、电子束曝光和某种常规光刻机结合的方式来实现工业、前沿科学技术需要的各种微米／纳米级图形的制备。