Authentication and Authorisation Mechanisms in support of Secure Access to WMN Resources

Over the past several years, a number of design approaches in wireless mesh networks have been introduced to support the deployment of wireless mesh networks (WMNs). We introduce a novel wireless mesh architecture that supports authentication and authorisation functionalities, giving the possibility of a seamless WMN integration into the home's organization authentication and authorisation infrastructure. First, we introduce a novel authentication and authorisation mechanism for wireless mesh nodes. The mechanism is designed upon an existing federated access control approach, i.e. the AAI infrastructure that is using just the credentials at the user's home organization in a federation. Second, we demonstrate how authentication and authorisation for end users is implemented by using an existing web-based captive portal approach. Finally, we observe the difference between the two and explain in detail the process flow of authorized access to network resources in wireless mesh networks. The goal of our wireless mesh architecture is to enable easy broadband network access to researchers at remote locations, giving them additional advantage of a secure access to their measurements, irrespective of their location. It also provides an important basis for the real-life deployment of wireless mesh networks for the support of environmental research.

Green Wireless-Energy Efficiency in Wireless Networks

Wireless networks have become more and more popular because of ease of installation, ease of access, and support of smart terminals and gadgets on the move. In the overall life cycle of providing green wireless technology, from production to operation and, finally, removal, this chapter focuses on the operation phase and summarizes insights in energy consumption of major technologies. The chapter also focuses on the edge of the network, comprising network access points (APs) and mobile user devices. It discusses particularities of most important wireless networking technologies: wireless access networks including 3G/LTE and wireless mesh networks (WMNs); wireless sensor networks (WSNs); and ad-hoc and opportunistic networks. Concerning energy efficiency, the chapter discusses challenges in access, wireless sensor, and ad-hoc and opportunistic networks.

An Architecture to offer Cloud-Based Radio Access Network as a Service

This paper addresses the novel notion of offering a radio access network as a service. Its components may be instantiated on general purpose platforms with pooled resources (both radio and hardware ones) dimensioned on-demand, elastically and following the pay-per-use principle. A novel architecture is proposed that supports this concept. The architecture's success is in its modularity, well-defined functional elements and clean separation between operational and control functions. By moving much processing traditionally located in hardware for computation in the cloud, it allows the optimisation of hardware utilization and reduction of deployment and operation costs. It enables operators to upgrade their network as well as quickly deploy and adapt resources to demand. Also, new players may easily enter the market, permitting a virtual network operator to provide connectivity to its users.

Effect of initial treatment strategy on survival of patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Several treatment strategies are available for adults with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma, but studies assessing two alternative standards of care-increased dose bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (BEACOPPescalated), and doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD)-were not powered to test differences in overall survival. To guide treatment decisions in this population of patients, we did a systematic review and network meta-analysis to identify the best initial treatment strategy. METHODS We searched the Cochrane Library, Medline, and conference proceedings for randomised controlled trials published between January, 1980, and June, 2013, that assessed overall survival in patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma given BEACOPPbaseline, BEACOPPescalated, BEACOPP variants, ABVD, cyclophosphamide (mechlorethamine), vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (C[M]OPP), hybrid or alternating chemotherapy regimens with ABVD as the backbone (eg, COPP/ABVD, MOPP/ABVD), or doxorubicin, vinblastine, mechlorethamine, vincristine, bleomycin, etoposide, and prednisone combined with radiation therapy (the Stanford V regimen). We assessed studies for eligibility, extracted data, and assessed their quality. We then pooled the data and used a Bayesian random-effects model to combine direct comparisons with indirect evidence. We also reconstructed individual patient survival data from published Kaplan-Meier curves and did standard random-effects Poisson regression. Results are reported relative to ABVD. The primary outcome was overall survival. FINDINGS We screened 2055 records and identified 75 papers covering 14 eligible trials that assessed 11 different regimens in 9993 patients, providing 59 651 patient-years of follow-up. 1189 patients died, and the median follow-up was 5·9 years (IQR 4·9-6·7). Included studies were of high methodological quality, and between-trial heterogeneity was negligible (τ(2)=0·01). Overall survival was highest in patients who received six cycles of BEACOPPescalated (HR 0·38, 95% credibility interval [CrI] 0·20-0·75). Compared with a 5 year survival of 88% for ABVD, the survival benefit for six cycles of BEACOPPescalated is 7% (95% CrI 3-10)-ie, a 5 year survival of 95%. Reconstructed individual survival data showed that, at 5 years, BEACOPPescalated has a 10% (95% CI 3-15) advantage over ABVD in overall survival. INTERPRETATION Six cycles of BEACOPPescalated significantly improves overall survival compared with ABVD and other regimens, and thus we recommend this treatment strategy as standard of care for patients with access to the appropriate supportive care.

Real-World Energy Measurements of a Wireless Mesh Network

Over the past several years the topics of energy consumption and energy harvesting have gained significant importance as a means for improved operation of wireless sensor and mesh networks. Energy-awareness of operation is especially relevant for application scenarios from the domain of environmental monitoring in hard to access areas. In this work we reflect upon our experiences with a real-world deployment of a wireless mesh network. In particular, a comprehensive study on energy measurements collected over several weeks during the summer and the winter period in a network deployment in the Swiss Alps is presented. Energy performance is monitored and analysed for three system components, namely, mesh node, battery and solar panel module. Our findings cover a number of aspects of energy consumption, including the amount of load consumed by a mesh node, the amount of load harvested by a solar panel module, and the dependencies between these two. With our work we aim to shed some light on energy-aware network operation and to help both users and developers in the planning and deployment of a new wireless (mesh) network for environmental research.

User and Machine Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure for Distributed Wireless Sensor Network Testbeds

The intention of an authentication and authorization infrastructure (AAI) is to simplify and unify access to different web resources. With a single login, a user can access web applications at multiple organizations. The Shibboleth authentication and authorization infrastructure is a standards-based, open source software package for web single sign-on (SSO) across or within organizational boundaries. It allows service providers to make fine-grained authorization decisions for individual access of protected online resources. The Shibboleth system is a widely used AAI, but only supports protection of browser-based web resources. We have implemented a Shibboleth AAI extension to protect web services using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Besides user authentication for browser-based web resources, this extension also provides user and machine authentication for web service-based resources. Although implemented for a Shibboleth AAI, the architecture can be easily adapted to other AAIs.

Mobile competence network for community health workers in rural Myanmar: a supportive information system that facilitates the improvement of health services.

The goal of this project is the development of international cooperation for fostering solutions to provide better access to basic healthcare services.

Critical Issues of Centralized and Cloudified LTE-FDD Radio Access Networks

Cloudification of the Centralized-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) in which signal processing runs on general purpose processors inside virtual machines has lately received significant attention. Due to short deadlines in the LTE Frequency Division Duplex access method, processing time fluctuations introduced by the virtualization process have a deep impact on C-RAN performance. This paper evaluates bottlenecks of the OpenAirInterface (OAI is an open-source software-based implementation of LTE) cloud performance, provides feasibility studies on C-RAN execution, and introduces a cloud architecture that significantly reduces the encountered execution problems. In typical cloud environments, the OAI processing time deadlines cannot be guaranteed. Our proposed cloud architecture shows good characteristics for the OAI cloud execution. As an example, in our setup more than 99.5% processed LTE subframes reach reasonable processing deadlines close to performance of a dedicated machine.

Fair Access to Energy Resources, Market Transfers and Climate Change in the WTO

This paper addresses the issues of dual pricing and export restrictions in the energy sector, stressing the comparability of their economic and climate change impacts. It assesses whether WTO disciplines relevant and applicable to such practices are well-equipped to ensure fair access to energy resources. It finds that relevant GATT disciplines are overall deficient in the case of dual pricing and export taxes, while the landscape of WTO-plus obligations generally consisting of a network of narrowly tailored commitments. It discusses possible avenues to address such practices under the ASCM to the extent that they distort domestic energy prices and subsidize consumption of cheap fossil fuels