Discussion about the validity of virtual practices in subjects in the radioccomunication area. Results of the educational experience

[EN]Nowadays we are living a virtual learning boom. Mainly, it is due to two facts: first, easy spreading of the knowledge and second, virtual learning is cheaper than classic instrumentation laboratories. This cost is even bigger in radiocommunication and high frequency area. In fact, time and time again there are more universities that give up offering the realization of laboratory practice. In the present report we propose a discussion about the increase of virtual practices when contact with instrumentation and circuits is basic. The experience of seven lecturers of the Communications Engineering Group (GIC) will be exposed.

Data summarization techniques for big data - a survey

In current digital era according to (as far) massive progress and development of internet and online world technologies such as big and powerful data servers we face huge volume of information and data day by day from many different resources and services which was not available to human kind just a few decades ago. This data comes from available different online resources and services that are established to serve customers. Services and resources like Sensor Networks, Cloud Storages, Social Networks and etc., produce big volume of data and also need to manage and reuse that data or some analytical aspects of the data. Although this massive volume of data can be really useful for people and corporates it could be problematic as well. Therefore big volume of data or big data has its own deficiencies as well. They need big storage/s and this volume makes operations such as analytical operations, process operations, retrieval operations real difficult and hugely time consuming. One resolution to overcome these difficult problems is to have big data summarized so they would need less storage and extremely shorter time to get processed and retrieved. The summarized data will be then in "compact format" and still informative version of the entire data. Data summarization techniques aim then to produce a "good" quality of summaries. Therefore, they would hugely benefit everyone from ordinary users to researches and corporate world, as it can provide an efficient tool to deal with large data such as news (for new summarization).

ChainCluster : engineering a cooperative content distribution framework for highway vehicular communications

The recent advances in wireless communication techniques have made it possible for fast-moving vehicles to download data from the roadside communications infrastructure [e.g., IEEE 802.11b Access Point (AP)], namely, Drive-thru Internet. However, due to the high mobility, harsh, and intermittent wireless channels, the data download volume of individual vehicle per drive-thru is quite limited, as observed in real-world tests. This would severely restrict the service quality of upper layer applications, such as file download and video streaming. On addressing this issue, in this paper, we propose ChainCluster, a cooperative Drive-thru Internet scheme. ChainCluster selects appropriate vehicles to form a linear cluster on the highway. The cluster members then cooperatively download the same content file, with each member retrieving one portion of the file, from the roadside infrastructure. With cluster members consecutively driving through the roadside infrastructure, the download of a single vehicle is virtually extended to that of a tandem of vehicles, which accordingly enhances the probability of successful file download significantly. With a delicate linear cluster formation scheme proposed and applied, in this paper, we first develop an analytical framework to evaluate the data volume that can be downloaded using cooperative drive-thru. Using simulations, we then verify the performance of ChainCluster and show that our analysis can match the simulations well. Finally, we show that ChainCluster can outperform the typical studied clustering schemes and provide general guidance for cooperative content distribution in highway vehicular communications.

How to improve engineering-management communications.

Mode of access: Internet.

A qualitative analysis of local community communications

This paper explores how people communicate in reference to local interests and suggests information and communication technology (ICT) design for enhancement of local community networks. Qualitative data was gathered from participant observations of local community collective action and open interviews with active community members. Data analysis revealed concepts, leading to categories in relation to local interactions and interests. Design suggestions consider introducing people to local community private-strategic activity via public displays that indicate simple entry points to active participation, and creating information collections according to local community perspectives for long-term reference.

Towards model round-trip engineering : an abductive approach

Providing support for reversible transformations as a basis for round-trip engineering is a significant challenge in model transformation research. While there are a number of current approaches, they require the underlying transformation to exhibit an injective behaviour when reversing changes. This however, does not serve all practical transformations well. In this paper, we present a novel approach to round-trip engineering that does not place restrictions on the nature of the underlying transformation. Based on abductive logic programming, it allows us to compute a set of legitimate source changes that equate to a given change to the target model. Encouraging results are derived from an initial prototype that supports most concepts of the Tefkat transformation language

Designing interaction for local communications : an urban screen study

This paper discusses the ongoing design and use of a digital community noticeboard situated in a suburban hub. The design intention is to engage residents, collect and display local information and communications, and spark discussion. A key contribution is an understanding of Situated Display navigation that aids retrieval from a long-term collection created by and for suburban community, and engaging qualities of this collection.

Channel tracking algorithms for highly efficient wireless broadband communications in rural areas

High-speed broadband internet access is widely recognised as a catalyst to social and economic development, having a significant impact on global economy. Rural Australia’s inherent dispersed population over a large geographical area make the delivery of efficient, well-maintained and cost-effective internet a challenging task. The novel and highly-efficient Multi-User-Single-Antenna for MIMO (MUSA-MIMO) broadband wireless communication technology can effectively be used to deliver wireless broadband access to rural areas. This research aims to develop for the first time, an efficient and accurate algorithm for the tracking and prediction of Channel State Information (CSI) at the transmitter, by characterising time variation effects of the wireless communication channel on the performance of a highly-efficient MUSA-MIMO technology particularly suited for rural communities, improving their quality of life and economic prosperity.

Efficient wireless broadband communications to rural area

This paper discusses how internet services can be brought one step closer to the rural dispersed communities by improving wireless broadband communications in those areas. To accomplish this objective we describe the use of an innovative Multi-User-Single-Antenna for MIMO (MUSA-MIMO) technology using the spectrum currently allocated to analogue TV. MUSA-MIMO technology can be considered as a special case of MIMO technology, which is beneficial when provisioning reliable and high-speed communication channels. This paper describes channel modelling techniques to characterise the MUSA-MIMO system allowing an effective deployment of this technology. Particularly, it describes the development of a novel MUSA MIMO channel model that takes into account temporal variations in the rural wireless environment. This can be considered as a novel approach tailor-maid to rural Australia for provisioning efficient wireless broadband communications.

An observational study of how objects support engineering design thinking and communication : implications for the design of tangible media

There has been an increasing interest in objects within the HCI field particularly with a view to designing tangible interfaces. However, little is known about how people make sense of objects and how objects support thinking. This paper presents a study of groups of engineers using physical objects to prototype designs, and articulates the roles that physical objects play in supporting their design thinking and communications. The study finds that design thinking is heavily dependent upon physical objects, that designers are active and opportunistic in seeking out physical props and that the interpretation and use of an object depends heavily on the activity. The paper discusses the trade-offs that designers make between speed and accuracy of models, and specificity and generality in choice of representations. Implications for design of tangible interfaces are discussed.