Major differences of cloud computing adoption in universities: Europe vs. Middle East

The extensive use of cloud computing in educational institutes around the world brings unique challenges for universities. Some of these challenges are due to clear differences between Europe and Middle East universities. These differences stem from the natural variation between people. Cloud computing has created a new concept to deal with software services and hardware infrastructure. Some benefits are immediately gained, for instance, to allow students to share their information easily and to discover new experiences of the education system. However, this introduces more challenges, such as security and configuration of resources in shared environments. Educational institutes cannot escape from these challenges. Yet some differences occur between universities which use cloud computing as an educational tool or a form of social connection. This paper discusses some benefits and limitations of using cloud computing and major differences in using cloud computing at universities in Europe and the Middle East, based on the social perspective, security and economics concepts, and personal responsibility.

A survey of VANET technologies

Recent advancement in wireless communication technologies and automobiles have enabled the evolution of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) which addresses various vehicular traffic issues like traffic congestion, information dissemination, accident etc. Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) a distinctive class of Mobile ad-hoc Network (MANET) is an integral component of ITS in which moving vehicles are connected and communicate wirelessly. Wireless communication technologies play a vital role in supporting both Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communication in VANET. This paper surveys some of the key vehicular wireless access technology standards such as 802.11p, P1609 protocols, Cellular System, CALM, MBWA, WiMAX, Microwave, Bluetooth and ZigBee which served as a base for supporting both Safety and Non Safety applications. It also analyses and compares the wireless standards using various parameters such as bandwidth, ease of use, upfront cost, maintenance, accessibility, signal coverage, signal interference and security. Finally, it discusses some of the issues associated with the interoperability among those protocols.

Computing the Cassels–Tate pairing on the 3-Selmer group of an elliptic curve

We extend the method of Cassels for computing the Cassels-Tate pairing on the 2-Selmer group of an elliptic curve, to the case of 3-Selmer groups. This requires significant modifications to both the local and global parts of the calculation. Our method is practical in sufficiently small examples, and can be used to improve the upper bound for the rank of an elliptic curve obtained by 3-descent.

Intelli-lamp, ett intelligent ljussystem som kommunicerar trådlöst

Interactive Institute’s Power Studio i Eskilstuna har ett projekt som heter AWARE. AWARE är ett designorienterat forskningsprojekt som syftar till att öka människors medvetenhet om hur elenergi används i vardagen, speciellt i hemmen. Målet är att uppmärksamma människor om deras elanvändning samt ge de ett medel att kunna kontrollera och göra deras elanvändning mer effektiv.Som en del i AWARE ska en intelligent bärbar armatur som är batteridriven tas fram som ska få människor att tänka på att elenergi inte är något konstant och outtömligt. Det ska finnas visuella effekter som på ett bra sätt kan väcka dessa tankar. Vid laddning av dessa armaturer kan t.ex. ett svagt pulserande ljus användas för att ge effekten av att armaturen tankas med elenergi. Detta examensarbete bygger på att producera två prototyper av dessa armaturer som kan kommunicera trådlöst med varandra.Examensarbetet resulterade i två stycken fungerande prototyper. Dessa prototyper klarar av att kommunicera och styra varandra och utgör en enkel plattform för vidare utveckling. Med lite mer arbete kommer prototyperna

Expert system to calculate the cofficient of friction : an approach to enhance traffic safety

Friction plays a key role in causing slipperiness as a low coefficient of friction on the road may result in slippery and hazardous conditions. Analyzing the strong relation between friction and accident risk on winter roads is a difficult task. Many weather forecasting organizations use a variety of standard and bespoke methods to predict the coefficient of friction on roads. This article proposes an approach to predict the extent of slipperiness by building and testing an expert system. It estimates the coefficient of friction on winter roads in the province of Dalarna, Sweden using the prevailing weather conditions as a basis. Weather data from the road weather information system, Sweden (RWIS) was used. The focus of the project was to use the expert system as a part of a major project in VITSA, within the domain of intelligent transport systems

Cloud computing - Moving to the cloud

Cloud computing innebär användning av datorresurser som är tillgängliga via ett nätverk, oftast Internet och är ett område som har vuxit fram i snabb takt under de senaste åren. Allt fler företag migrerar hela eller delar av sin verksamhet till molnet. Sogeti i Borlänge har behov av att migrera sina utvecklingsmiljöer till en molntjänst då drift och underhåll av dessa är kostsamma och tidsödande. Som Microsoftpartners vill Sogeti använda Microsoft tjänst för cloud computing, Windows Azure, för detta syfte. Migration till molnet är ett nytt område för Sogeti och de har inga beskrivningar för hur en sådan process går till. Vårt uppdrag var att utveckla ett tillvägagångssätt för migration av en IT-lösning till molnet. En del av uppdraget blev då att kartlägga cloud computing, dess beståndsdelar samt vilka för- och nackdelar som finns, vilket har gjort att vi har fått grundläggande kunskap i ämnet. För att utveckla ett tillvägagångssätt för migration har vi utfört flera migrationer av virtuella maskiner till Windows Azure och utifrån dessa migrationer, litteraturstudier och intervjuer dragit slutsatser som mynnat ut i ett generellt tillvägagångssätt för migration till molnet. Resultatet har visat att det är svårt att göra en generell men samtidigt detaljerad beskrivning över ett tillvägagångssätt för migration, då scenariot ser olika ut beroende på vad som ska migreras och vilken typ av molntjänst som används. Vi har dock utifrån våra erfarenheter från våra migrationer, tillsammans med litteraturstudier, dokumentstudier och intervjuer lyft vår kunskap till en generell nivå. Från denna kunskap har vi sammanställt ett generellt tillvägagångssätt med större fokus på de förberedande aktiviteter som en organisation bör genomföra innan migration. Våra studier har även resulterat i en fördjupad beskrivning av cloud computing. I vår studie har vi inte sett att någon tidigare har beskrivit kritiska framgångsfaktorer i samband med cloud computing. I vårt empiriska arbete har vi dock identifierat tre kritiska framgångsfaktorer för cloud computing och i och med detta täckt upp en del av kunskapsgapet där emellan.

Intelligent Algorithms for a Hybrid FuelCell/Photovoltaic Standalone System : Simulation Of Hybrid FuelCell/Photovoltaic Standalone System

The Intelligent Algorithm is designed for theusing a Battery source. The main function is to automate the Hybrid System through anintelligent Algorithm so that it takes the decision according to the environmental conditionsfor utilizing the Photovoltaic/Solar Energy and in the absence of this, Fuel Cell energy isused. To enhance the performance of the Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic Cell we used batterybank which acts like a buffer and supply the current continuous to the load. To develop the main System whlogic based controller was used. Fuzzy Logic based controller used to develop this system,because they are chosen to be feasible for both controlling the decision process and predictingthe availability of the available energy on the basis of current Photovoltaic and Battery conditions. The Intelligent Algorithm is designed to optimize the performance of the system and to selectthe best available energy source(s) in regard of the input parameters. The enhance function of these Intelligent Controller is to predict the use of available energy resources and turn on thatparticular source for efficient energy utilization. A fuzzy controller was chosen to take thedecisions for the efficient energy utilization from the given resources. The fuzzy logic basedcontroller is designed in the Matlab-Simulink environment. Initially, the fuzzy based ruleswere built. Then MATLAB based simulation system was designed and implemented. Thenthis whole proposed model is simulated and tested for the accuracy of design and performanceof the system.

Ubiquitous computing in education : a SWOT analysis by students and teachers

Learning from anywhere anytime is a contemporary phenomenon in the field of education that is thought to be flexible, time and cost saving. The phenomenon is evident in the way computer technology mediates knowledge processes among learners. Computer technology is however, in some instances, faulted. There are studies that highlight drawbacks of computer technology use in learning. In this study we aimed at conducting a SWOT analysis on ubiquitous computing and computer-mediated social interaction and their affect on education. Students and teachers were interviewed on the mentioned concepts using focus group interviews. Our contribution in this study is, identifying what teachers and students perceive to be the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of ubiquitous computing and computer-mediated social interaction in education. We also relate the findings with literature and present a common understanding on the SWOT of these concepts. Results show positive perceptions. Respondents revealed that ubiquitous computing and computer-mediated social interaction are important in their education due to advantages such as flexibility, efficiency in terms of cost and time, ability to acquire computer skills. Nevertheless disadvantages where also mentioned for example health effects, privacy and security issues, noise in the learning environment, to mention but a few. This paper gives suggestions on how to overcome threats mentioned.

An Architectural Description Language for Enterprise Computing

Architectural description languages (ADLs) are used to specify high-level, compositional view of a software application. ADLs usually come equipped with a rigourous state-transition style semantics, facilitating specification and analysis of distributed and event-based systems. However, enterprise system architectures built upon newer middleware (implementations of Java’s EJB specification, or Microsoft’s COM+/ .NET) require additional expressive power from an ADL. The TrustME ADL is designed to meet this need. In this paper, we describe several aspects of TrustME that facilitate specification and anlysis of middleware-based architectures for the enterprise.