Application-aware scheduling for VoIP in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are seen as a means to provide last mile connections in Next Generation Networks (NGNs). Because of their auto-configuration capabilities and the low deployment cost WMNs are considered to be an efficient solution for the support of multiple voice, video and data services in NGNs. This paper looks at the optimal provision of resources in WMNs for Voice over IP (VoIP) traffic, which has strict performance requirements in terms of delay, jitter and packet loss. In WMNs, because of the challenges introduced by wireless multi-hop transmissions and limited resources, providing performance quality for VoIP comparable to the voice quality in the traditional circuit-switched networks is a major challenge.This paper analyses different scheduling mechanisms for TDMA-based access control in mesh networks as specified in the IEEE 802.16-2004 WiMAX standard. The performance of the VoIP applications when different scheduling mechanisms are deployed is analysed on a variety of topologies using ns-2 simulation and mathematical analysis. The paper concludes that on-demand scheduling of VoIP traffic – typically deployed in 802.11-based WMNs – is not able to provide the required VoIP quality in realistic mesh WiMAX network scenarios and is therefore not optimal from a network operator’s point of view. Instead, it is shown, that continuous scheduling is much better suited to serve VoIP traffic. The paper then proposes a new VoIP-aware resource coordination scheme and shows, through simulation, that the new scheme is scalable and provides good quality for VoIP service in a wide range of network scenarios. The results shown in the paper prove that the new scheme is resilient to increasing hop count, increasing number of simultaneous VoIP sessions and the background traffic load in the network. Compared to other resource coordination schemes the VoIP-aware scheduler significantly increases the number of supported calls.     

Unveiling the hidden bride: deep annotation for mapping and migrating legacy data to the Semantic Web

The success of the Semantic Web crucially depends on the easy creation, integration, and use of semantic data. For this purpose, we consider an integration scenario that defies core assumptions of current metadata construction methods. We describe a framework of metadata creation where Web pages are generated from a database and the database owner is cooperatively participating in the Semantic Web. This leads us to the deep annotation of the database—directly by annotation of the logical database schema or indirectly by annotation of the Web presentation generated from the database contents. From this annotation, one may execute data mapping and/or migration steps, and thus prepare the data for use in the Semantic Web. We consider deep annotation as particularly valid because: (i) dynamic Web pages generated from databases outnumber static Web pages, (ii) deep annotation may be a very intuitive way to create semantic data from a database, and (iii) data from databases should remain where it can be handled most efficiently—in its databases. Interested users can then query this data directly or choose to materialize the data as RDF files.     

Processing of hybrid wood plastic composite reinforced with short PET fibers

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers (virgin, waste, and mixed) were incorporated in the composite poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)–wood. Hybrid composite panels were prepared by pressure molding. Toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) were used as cross-linking bonding agents for modification of wood fibers. Influence of cross-linking bonding agents, structure, and composition of PET fibers was examined by studying thermomechanical properties as well as moisture absorption. Moisture absorption was lower for composites with bonding agents. Mechanical testing revealed that the addition of PET fibers drastically enhances properties of the composites. Covalent and hydrogen bonds formed with the addition of bonding agents have also improved mechanical properties compared to the untreated composites.     

Electrical properties of lanthanum doped Bi4Ti3O12 thin films annealed in different atmospheres

Pure and lanthanum doped Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate using a polymeric precursor solution. Annealing in static air and oxygen atmosphere was performed at 700 °C for 2 h. The obtained films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The dielectric constant and dissipation factor were measured in the frequency region from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. Electrical characterization of the films pointed to ferroelectricity via hysteresis loop. Films annealed in static air possess a dielectric constant higher than films annealed in oxygen atmosphere due to differences in the grain size, crystallinity and structural defects. A regularly shaped hystereses loop is observed after annealing in static air. The obtained results suggest that the annealing in oxygen atmosphere can increase the trapped charge and the relaxation phenomenon.     

Responsive Knowledge Management for Public Administration: An Event-Driven Approach

SAKE, a responsive knowledge management system for public administration, detects changes in information sources and work contexts and proactively delivers relevant resources to each user.     

Improved sense-amplifier-based flip-flop: design and measurements

Design and experimental evaluation of a new sense-amplifier-based flip-flop (SAFF) is presented. It was found that the main speed bottleneck of existing SAFF's is the cross-coupled set-reset (SR) latch in the output stage. The new flip-flop uses a new output stage latch topology that significantly reduces delay and improves driving capability. The performance of this flip-flop is verified by measurements on a test chip implemented in 0.18 μm effective channel length CMOS. Demonstrated speed places it among the fastest flip-flops used in the state-of-the-art processors. Measurement techniques employed in this work as well as the measurement set-up are discussed in this paper     

An adaptive algorithm for differentially coherent detection in the presence of intersymbol interference

An adaptive equalization method is proposed for use with differentially coherent detection of M-ary differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals in the presence of unknown carrier frequency offset. A decision-feedback or a linear equalizer is employed, followed by the differentially coherent detector. The equalizer coefficients are adjusted to minimize the post-detection mean squared error. The error, which is a quadratic function of the equalizer vector, is used to design an adaptive algorithm of stochastic gradient type. The approach differs from those proposed previously, which linearize the post-detection error to enable the use of least mean squares (LMS) or recursive least squares (RLS) adaptive equalizers. The proposed quadratic-error (Q) algorithm has complexity comparable to that of LMS, and equal convergence speed. Simulation results demonstrate performance improvement over methods based on linearized-error (L) algorithm. The main advantages of the technique proposed are its simplicity of implementation and robustness to carrier frequency offset, which is maintained for varying modulation level.     

Lanthanum-doped Bi4Ti3O12 prepared by the soft chemical method: Rietveld analysis and piezoelectric properties

Bi_4−xLa_xTi₃O₁₂ (BLT) thin films and powders with x ranging from 0 to 0.75 were prepared by the polymeric precursor solution. The effect of lanthanum on the structure of BIT powders was investigated by Rietveld Method. The increase of lanthanum content does not lead to any secondary phases. Orthorhombicity of the bismuth titanate (BIT) crystal lattice decreased with the increase of lanthanum content due the reduction of a/b ratio. The BLT films show piezoelectric coefficients of 45, 19, 16 and 10 pm/V for x = 0, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75, respectively. The piezoelectric response is strongly reduced by the amount of lanthanum added to the system.     

A simple generalization of the CDMA reverse link pole capacityformula

A formula that computes the maximum number of users supported per base station in a cellular radio network is generalized to consider the frequency reuse number and arbitrary processing gains. The generalization quantifies a cost associated with in-cell interference by accounting for the lack of interference from the desired user on the total interference and by considering the impact of the frequency reuse number on the out-of-cell interference. This interference cost results in an increase in the received Eb/Io relative to FDMA which should be weighted against a reduction in the Eb/Io requirement resulting from using CDMA