Resource management research in Passive Optical Networks (PON)

Next Generation Access Networks (NGAN) are the new step forward to deliver broadband services and to facilitate the integration of different technologies. It is plausible to assume that, from a technological standpoint, the Future Internet will be composed of long-range high-speed optical networks; a number of wireless networks at the edge; and, in between, several access technologies, among which, the Passive Optical Networks (xPON) are very likely to succeed, due to their simplicity, low-cost, and increased bandwidth. Among the different PON technologies, the Ethernet-PON (EPON) is the most promising alternative to satisfy operator and user needs, due to its cost, flexibility and interoperability with other technologies. One of the most interesting challenges in such technologies relates to the scheduling and allocation of resources in the upstream (shared) channel. The aim of this research project is to study and evaluate current contributions and propose new efficient solutions to address the resource allocation issues in Next Generation EPON (NG-EPON). Key issues in this context are future end-user needs, integrated quality of service (QoS) support and optimized service provisioning for real time and elastic flows. This project will unveil research opportunities, issue recommendations and propose novel mechanisms associated with the convergence within heterogeneous access networks and will thus serve as a basis for long-term research projects in this direction. The project has served as a platform for the generation of new concepts and solutions that were published in national and international conferences, scientific journals and also in book chapter. We expect some more research publications in addition to the ones mentioned to be generated in a few months.

XML-based information management environment for PE technologies

Printed electronics is an emerging concept in electronics manufacturing and it is in very early development stage. The technology is not stable, design kits are not developed, and flows and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools are not fixed yet. The European project TDK4PE addresses all this issues and this PFC has been realized on this context. The goal is to develop an XML-based information system for the collection and management of information from the technology and cell libraries developed in TDK4PE. This system will ease the treatment of that information for a later generation of specific Design Kits (DK) and the corresponding documentation. This work proposes a web application to generate technology files and design kits in a formatted way; it also proposes a structure for them and a database implementation for storing the needed information. The application will allow its users to redefine the structure of those files, as well as export and import XML files, between other formats.