WCDMA HSPA performance counters for monitoring 3G-radio access network

The objective of this project was to gather all the counters which are used on HSPA performance monitoring. The main purpose was to create a compact packet of HSPA performance counters and radio network monitoring which Ericsson's employees can then use in their daily work. The study includes a short introduction to the architecture of the 3G-radio access network. The HSPA technology and HSPA performance are presented including a functional description of performance counters and KPIs, which are used for performance management and monitoring. The theory part of the study also covers an overview of performance management in OSS-RC. The final part of the study covers an overview of the performance management tools, in-troducing how the counters are represented in these interfaces. MOShell and OSS-RC are tools used in this study. Tools were selected because the MOShell is Ericsson's inter-nal management tool and OSS-RC is a tool designed for customers.

Drivers and Barriers of Collaboration in the Value Chain of Paperboard-Packed Consumer Goods

Value chain collaboration has been a prevailing topic for research, and there is a constantly growing interest in developing collaborative models for improved efficiency in logistics. One area of collaboration is demand information management, which enables improved visibility and decrease of inventories in the value chain. Outsourcing of non-core competencies has changed the nature of collaboration from intra-enterprise to cross-enterprise activity, and this together with increasing competition in the globalizing markets have created a need for methods and tools for collaborative work. The retailer part in the value chain of consumer packaged goods (CPG) has been studied relatively widely, proven models have been defined, and there exist several best practice collaboration cases. The information and communications technology has developed rapidly, offering efficient solutions and applications to exchange information between value chain partners. However, the majority of CPG industry still works with traditional business models and practices. This concerns especially companies operating in the upstream of the CPG value chain. Demand information for consumer packaged goods originates at retailers' counters, based on consumers' buying decisions. As this information does not get transferred along the value chain towards the upstream parties, each player needs to optimize their part, causing safety margins for inventories and speculation in purchasing decisions. The safety margins increase with each player, resulting in a phenomenon known as the bullwhip effect. The further the company is from the original demand information source, the more distorted the information is. This thesis concentrates on the upstream parts of the value chain of consumer packaged goods, and more precisely the packaging value chain. Packaging is becoming a part of the product with informative and interactive features, and therefore is not just a cost item needed to protect the product. The upstream part of the CPG value chain is distinctive, as the product changes after each involved party, and therefore the original demand information from the retailers cannot be utilized as such – even if it were transferred seamlessly. The objective of this thesis is to examine the main drivers for collaboration, and barriers causing the moderate adaptation level of collaborative models. Another objective is to define a collaborative demand information management model and test it in a pilot business situation in order to see if the barriers can be eliminated. The empirical part of this thesis contains three parts, all related to the research objective, but involving different target groups, viewpoints and research approaches. The study shows evidence that the main barriers for collaboration are very similar to the barriers in the lower part of the same value chain; lack of trust, lack of business case and lack of senior management commitment. Eliminating one of them – the lack of business case – is not enough to eliminate the two other barriers, as the operational model in this thesis shows. The uncertainty of the future, fear of losing an independent position in purchasing decision making and lack of commitment remain strong enough barriers to prevent the implementation of the proposed collaborative business model. The study proposes a new way of defining the value chain processes: it divides the contracting and planning process into two processes, one managing the commercial parts and the other managing the quantity and specification related issues. This model can reduce the resistance to collaboration, as the commercial part of the contracting process would remain the same as in the traditional model. The quantity/specification-related issues would be managed by the parties with the best capabilities and resources, as well as access to the original demand information. The parties in between would be involved in the planning process as well, as their impact for the next party upstream is significant. The study also highlights the future challenges for companies operating in the CPG value chain. The markets are becoming global, with toughening competition. Also, the technology development will most likely continue with a speed exceeding the adaptation capabilities of the industry. Value chains are also becoming increasingly dynamic, which means shorter and more agile business relationships, and at the same time the predictability of consumer demand is getting more difficult due to shorter product life cycles and trends. These changes will certainly have an effect on companies' operational models, but it is very difficult to estimate when and how the proven methods will gain wide enough adaptation to become standards.

Possibility of press forming wood films into primary packaging

In recent times the packaging industry is finding means to maximize profit. Wood used to be the most advantageous and everyday material for packaging, worktables, counters, constructions, interiors, tools and as materials and utensils in the food companies in the world. The use of wood has declined vigorously, and other materials like plastic, ceramic, stainless steel, concrete, and aluminum have taken its place. One way that the industry could reduce its cost is by finding possibilities of using wood for primary packaging after which it can be safely recycled or burned as a carbon source for energy. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to investigate the possibility of press-forming a wood film into primary packaging. In order to achieve the stated objectives, discussion on major characteristics of wood in terms of structure, types and application were studied. Two different wood species, pine and birch were used for the experimental work. These were provided by a local carpentry workshop in Lappeenranta and a workshop in Ruokolahti supervised by Professor Timo Kärki. Laboratory tests were carried out at Lappeenranta University of Technology FMS workshop on Stenhøj EPS40 M hydraulic C-frame press coupled with National Instruments VI Logger and on the Adjustable packaging line machine at LUT Packaging laboratory. The tests succeeded better on the LUT packaging line than on the Stenhoj equipment due to the integrated heating system in the machine. However, there is much work to be done before the quality of a tray produced from the wood film is comparable to that of the wood plastic composite tray.

Power and Performance Management Strategies on NoC-Based Multicore Platforms, Using DVFS, Adaptive Algorithm and Task Parallelism

This work presents synopsis of efficient strategies used in power managements for achieving the most economical power and energy consumption in multicore systems, FPGA and NoC Platforms. In this work, a practical approach was taken, in an effort to validate the significance of the proposed Adaptive Power Management Algorithm (APMA), proposed for system developed, for this thesis project. This system comprise arithmetic and logic unit, up and down counters, adder, state machine and multiplexer. The essence of carrying this project firstly, is to develop a system that will be used for this power management project. Secondly, to perform area and power synopsis of the system on these various scalable technology platforms, UMC 90nm nanotechnology 1.2v, UMC 90nm nanotechnology 1.32v and UMC 0.18 μmNanotechnology 1.80v, in order to examine the difference in area and power consumption of the system on the platforms. Thirdly, to explore various strategies that can be used to reducing system’s power consumption and to propose an adaptive power management algorithm that can be used to reduce the power consumption of the system. The strategies introduced in this work comprise Dynamic Voltage Frequency Scaling (DVFS) and task parallelism. After the system development, it was run on FPGA board, basically NoC Platforms and on these various technology platforms UMC 90nm nanotechnology1.2v, UMC 90nm nanotechnology 1.32v and UMC180 nm nanotechnology 1.80v, the system synthesis was successfully accomplished, the simulated result analysis shows that the system meets all functional requirements, the power consumption and the area utilization were recorded and analyzed in chapter 7 of this work. This work extensively reviewed various strategies for managing power consumption which were quantitative research works by many researchers and companies, it's a mixture of study analysis and experimented lab works, it condensed and presents the whole basic concepts of power management strategy from quality technical papers.