Centralized vs. Distributed Connection Management Schemes under Different Traffic Patterns in Wavelength-Convertible Optical Networks

Centralized and Distributed methods are two connection management schemes in wavelength convertible optical networks. In the earlier work, the centralized scheme is said to have lower network blocking probability than the distributed one. Hence, much of the previous work in connection management has focused on the comparison of different algorithms in only distributed scheme or in only centralized scheme. However, we believe that the network blocking probability of these two connection management schemes depends, to a great extent, on the network traffic patterns and reservation times. Our simulation results reveal that the performance improvement (in terms of blocking probability) of centralized method over distributed method is inversely proportional to the ratio of average connection interarrival time to reservation time. After that ratio increases beyond a threshold, those two connection management schemes yield almost the same blocking probability under the same network load. In this paper, we review the working procedure of distributed and centralized schemes, discuss the tradeoff between them, compare these two methods under different network traffic patterns via simulation and give our conclusion based on the simulation data.

Group Rekeying Schemes for Secure Group Communication in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are promising solutions for many applications. However, wireless sensor nodes suffer from many constraints such as low computation capability, small memory, limited energy resources, and so on. Grouping is an important technique to localize computation and reduce communication overhead in wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we use grouping to refer to the process of combining a set of sensor nodes with similar properties. We propose two centralized group rekeying (CGK) schemes for secure group communication in sensor networks. The lifetime of a group is divided into three phases, i.e., group formation, group maintenance, and group dissolution. We demonstrate how to set up the group and establish the group key in each phase. Our analysis shows that the proposed two schemes are computationally efficient and secure.

Rerouting Schemes for Dynamic Traffic Grooming in Optical WDM Mesh Networks

Traffic grooming in optical WDM mesh networks is a two-layer routing problem to effectively pack low-rate connections onto high-rate lightpaths, which, in turn, are established on wavelength links. In this work, we employ the rerouting approach to improve the network throughput under the dynamic traffic model. We propose two rerouting schemes, rerouting at lightpath level (RRAL) and rerouting at connection level (RRAC). A qualitative comparison is made between RRAL and RRAC. We also propose the critical-wavelength-avoiding one-lightpath-limited (CWA-1L) and critical-lightpath-avoiding one-connection-limited (CLA-1C) rerouting heuristics, which are based on the two rerouting schemes respectively. Simulation results show that rerouting reduces the connection blocking probability significantly.

Effects of a synthetic gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist, leuprolide, on rut-associated events in male red deer

This study examined the effectiveness of leuprolide, a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist, in suppressing rut-associated events in farmed male red deer. In mid-January (~6 weeks before the rut period in the southern hemisphere) adult red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) stags that had been allocated to three groups (n = 10 per group) received leuprolide, administered subcutaneously in a 90-day release formulation, at zero (control), low (22.5 mg) or high (45 mg) doses. Following treatment with leuprolide there was evidence of suppression of mean plasma luteinising hormone concentration that was significant (P < 0.05) at 9 weeks. Mean plasma testosterone concentration of all three groups rose following treatment, then declined prematurely in the low- and high-dose leuprolide-treated groups, so that it was significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed (0.66 ± 0.29 and 2.0 ± 0.88 ng mL–1, low and high dose respectively) in early April when the peak value (9.0 ± 1.94 ng mL–1) was recorded from control stags. A reduction in mean liveweight occurred in all three groups through February–April and this did not differ among treatments. However, a corresponding reduction in mean body condition score was greater in the control stags (P < 0.05). There was little effect of leuprolide treatment on aggressive behaviours, but it lowered roaring frequency in the latter period of the rut. The results indicate that this gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist has potential for application in the deer farming industry to suppress undesirable effects of the rut.