A QoS Controller Framework Compliant with the ETSI Network Function Virtualization Specification

The 5th generation of mobile networking introduces the concept of “Network slicing”, the network will be “sliced” horizontally, each slice will be compliant with different requirements in terms of network parameters such as bandwidth, latency. This technology is built on logical instead of physical resources, relies on virtual network as main concept to retrieve a logical resource. The Network Function Virtualisation provides the concept of logical resources for a virtual network function, enabling the concept virtual network; it relies on the Software Defined Networking as main technology to realize the virtual network as resource, it also define the concept of virtual network infrastructure with all components needed to enable the network slicing requirements. SDN itself uses cloud computing technology to realize the virtual network infrastructure, NFV uses also the virtual computing resources to enable the deployment of virtual network function instead of having custom hardware and software for each network function. The key of network slicing is the differentiation of slice in terms of Quality of Services parameters, which relies on the possibility to enable QoS management in cloud computing environment. The QoS in cloud computing denotes level of performances, reliability and availability offered. QoS is fundamental for cloud users, who expect providers to deliver the advertised quality characteristics, and for cloud providers, who need to find the right tradeoff between QoS levels that has possible to offer and operational costs. While QoS properties has received constant attention before the advent of cloud computing, performance heterogeneity and resource isolation mechanisms of cloud platforms have significantly complicated QoS analysis and deploying, prediction, and assurance. This is prompting several researchers to investigate automated QoS management methods that can leverage the high programmability of hardware and software resources in the cloud.

SMARTDIAB: a communication and information technology approach for the intelligent monitoring, management and follow-up of type 1 diabetes patients

SMARTDIAB is a platform designed to support the monitoring, management, and treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), by combining state-of-the-art approaches in the fields of database (DB) technologies, communications, simulation algorithms, and data mining. SMARTDIAB consists mainly of two units: 1) the patient unit (PU); and 2) the patient management unit (PMU), which communicate with each other for data exchange. The PMU can be accessed by the PU through the internet using devices, such as PCs/laptops with direct internet access or mobile phones via a Wi-Fi/General Packet Radio Service access network. The PU consists of an insulin pump for subcutaneous insulin infusion to the patient and a continuous glucose measurement system. The aforementioned devices running a user-friendly application gather patient's related information and transmit it to the PMU. The PMU consists of a diabetes data management system (DDMS), a decision support system (DSS) that provides risk assessment for long-term diabetes complications, and an insulin infusion advisory system (IIAS), which reside on a Web server. The DDMS can be accessed from both medical personnel and patients, with appropriate security access rights and front-end interfaces. The DDMS, apart from being used for data storage/retrieval, provides also advanced tools for the intelligent processing of the patient's data, supporting the physician in decision making, regarding the patient's treatment. The IIAS is used to close the loop between the insulin pump and the continuous glucose monitoring system, by providing the pump with the appropriate insulin infusion rate in order to keep the patient's glucose levels within predefined limits. The pilot version of the SMARTDIAB has already been implemented, while the platform's evaluation in clinical environment is being in progress.

Hierarchical Approach for Survivable Network Design

A central design challenge facing network planners is how to select a cost-effective network configuration that can provide uninterrupted service despite edge failures. In this paper, we study the Survivable Network Design (SND) problem, a core model underlying the design of such resilient networks that incorporates complex cost and connectivity trade-offs. Given an undirected graph with specified edge costs and (integer) connectivity requirements between pairs of nodes, the SND problem seeks the minimum cost set of edges that interconnects each node pair with at least as many edge-disjoint paths as the connectivity requirement of the nodes. We develop a hierarchical approach for solving the problem that integrates ideas from decomposition, tabu search, randomization, and optimization. The approach decomposes the SND problem into two subproblems, Backbone design and Access design, and uses an iterative multi-stage method for solving the SND problem in a hierarchical fashion. Since both subproblems are NP-hard, we develop effective optimization-based tabu search strategies that balance intensification and diversification to identify near-optimal solutions. To initiate this method, we develop two heuristic procedures that can yield good starting points. We test the combined approach on large-scale SND instances, and empirically assess the quality of the solutions vis-à-vis optimal values or lower bounds. On average, our hierarchical solution approach generates solutions within 2.7% of optimality even for very large problems (that cannot be solved using exact methods), and our results demonstrate that the performance of the method is robust for a variety of problems with different size and connectivity characteristics.

A Dynamic Approach to Stakeholder Theory: A Case Study of Labor - Management Relations at General Motors

The purpose of this thesis is to identify areas for improvement in the current stakeholder management literature. The current stakeholder management theories were analyzed to determine their benefits and detriments. To determine how these theories work in a corporation, General Motors was selected as a single-case study to determine the patterns of stakeholder management over time. These patterns demonstrated the need for dynamic stakeholder management over time, with an emphasis on collaboration and the necessity of recognizing the greater stakeholder network surrounding the corporation. Proper stakeholder management in the early years of General Motors would have prevented its failure, while the organizational culture as a path-dependent variable made it difficult for General Motors to alter long-standing stakeholder relationships.

Sarcoptes-World Molecular Network (Sarcoptes-WMN): integrating research on scabies

Parasites threaten human and animal health globally. It is estimated that more than 60% of people on planet Earth carry at least one parasite, many of them several different species. Unfortunately, parasite studies suffer from duplications and inconsistencies between different investigator groups. Hence, groups need to collaborate in an integrated manner in areas including parasite control, improved therapy strategies, diagnostic and surveillance tools, and public awareness. Parasite studies will be better served if there is coordinated management of field data and samples across multidisciplinary approach plans, among academic and non-academic organizations worldwide. In this paper we report the first 'Living organism-World Molecular Network', with the cooperation of 167 parasitologists from 88 countries on all continents. This integrative approach, the 'Sarcoptes-World Molecular Network', seeks to harmonize Sarcoptes epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and molecular studies from all over the world, with the aim of decreasing mite infestations in humans and animals.

Soils on the global agenda. Developing international mechanisms for sustainable land management

The objective of the report is to contribute towards developing international mechanisms for SLM. The report provides an overview of international actions concerned with sustainable land management, based on contributions from members of the IASUS (International Actions for the Sustainable Use of Soil) network made at the Eurosoil Symposium. It also aims to concretise possible follow-up actions. On the occasion of the ISRIC workshop “World Soils Issues and Sustainable Development” held on 10 March 2006, the creation of a World Soils Council (WSC) was initiated. The report presents in its final chapter the WSC’s proposed vision, objectives, and structure.

Hydrologic monitoring of an integrated low impact development (LID) underdrained stormwater management system

In 2005, Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI) installed an extensive Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater management system on their new office site in Gainesville, Virginia. The 4-acre site is serviced by a network of LID components: permeable pavements (two proprietary and one gravel type), bioretention cell / rain garden, green roof, vegetated swale, rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation, and slow-release underground detention. The site consists of heavy clay soils, and the LID components are mostly integrated by a series of underdrain pipes. A comprehensive monitoring system has been designed and installed to measure hydrologic performance throughout the LID, underdrained network. The monitoring system measures flows into and out of each LID component independently while concurrently monitoring rainfall events. A sensitivity analysis and laboratory calibration has been performed on the flow measurement system. Field data has been evaluated to determine the hydrologic performance of the LID features. Finally, hydrologic models amenable to compact, underdrained LID sites have been reviewed and recommended for future modeling and design.

Online distribution management framework by incorporating wind generation

In distribution system operations, dispatchers at control center closely monitor system operating limits to ensure system reliability and adequacy. This reliability is partly due to the provision of remote controllable tie and sectionalizing switches. While the stochastic nature of wind generation can impact the level of wind energy penetration in the network, an estimate of the output from wind on hourly basis can be extremely useful. Under any operating conditions, the switching actions require human intervention and can be an extremely stressful task. Currently, handling a set of switching combinations with the uncertainty of distributed wind generation as part of the decision variables has been nonexistent. This thesis proposes a three-fold online management framework: (1) prediction of wind speed, (2) estimation of wind generation capacity, and (3) enumeration of feasible switching combinations. The proposed methodology is evaluated on 29-node test system with 8 remote controllable switches and two wind farms of 18MW and 9MW nameplate capacities respectively for generating the sequence of system reconfiguration states during normal and emergency conditions.

Information integration and management through the design and construction phases of a project life cycle

Information management is a key aspect of successful construction projects. Having inaccurate measurements and conflicting data can lead to costly mistakes, and vague quantities can ruin estimates and schedules. Building information modeling (BIM) augments a 3D model with a wide variety of information, which reduces many sources of error and can detect conflicts before they occur. Because new technology is often more complex, it can be difficult to effectively integrate it with existing business practices. In this paper, we will answer two questions: How can BIM add value to construction projects? and What lessons can be learned from other companies that use BIM or other similar technology? Previous research focused on the technology as if it were simply a tool, observing problems that occurred while integrating new technology into existing practices. Our research instead looks at the flow of information through a company and its network, seeing all the actors as part of an ecosystem. Building upon this idea, we proposed the metaphor of an information supply chain to illustrate how BIM can add value to a construction project. This paper then concludes with two case studies. The first case study illustrates a failure in the flow of information that could have prevented by using BIM. The second case study profiles a leading design firm that has used BIM products for many years and shows the real benefits of using this program.

Resource management in location aware cognitive radio networks

Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) aims at utilizing spectral opportunities both in time and frequency domains at any given location, which arise due to variations in spectrum usage. Recently, Cognitive radios (CRs) have been proposed as a means of implementing DSA. In this work we focus on the aspect of resource management in overlaid CRNs. We formulate resource allocation strategies for cognitive radio networks (CRNs) as mathematical optimization problems. Specifically, we focus on two key problems in resource management: Sum Rate Maximization and Maximization of Number of Admitted Users. Since both the above mentioned problems are NP hard due to presence of binary assignment variables, we propose novel graph based algorithms to optimally solve these problems. Further, we analyze the impact of location awareness on network performance of CRNs by considering three cases: Full location Aware, Partial location Aware and Non location Aware. Our results clearly show that location awareness has significant impact on performance of overlaid CRNs and leads to increase in spectrum utilization effciency.

Arctic network builders : the Arctic Coal Company's operations on Spitsbergen and its relationship with the environment

In 1906, two American industrialists, John Munroe Longyear and Frederick Ayer, formed the Arctic Coal Company to make the first large scale attempt at mining in the high-Arctic location of Spitsbergen, north of the Norwegian mainland. In doing so, they encountered numerous obstacles and built an organization that attempted to overcome them. The Americans sold out in 1916 but others followed, eventually culminating in the transformation of a largely underdeveloped landscape into a mining region. This work uses John Law’s network approach of the Actor Network Theory (ANT) framework to explain how the Arctic Coal Company built a mining network in this environmentally difficult region and why they made the choices they did. It does so by identifying and analyzing the problems the company encountered and the strategies they used to overcome them by focusing on three major components of the operations; the company’s four land claims, its technical system and its main settlement, Longyear City. Extensive comparison between aspects of Longyear City and the company’s choices of technology with other American examples place analysis of the company in a wider context and helps isolate unique aspects of mining in the high-Arctic. American examples dominate comparative sections because Americans dominated the ownership and upper management of the company.

Water transport in complex, non-wetting porous layers with applications to water management in low temperature fuel cells

An experimental setup was designed to visualize water percolation inside the porous transport layer, PTL, of proton exchange membrane, PEM, fuel cells and identify the relevant characterization parameters. In parallel with the observation of the water movement, the injection pressure (pressure required to transport water through the PTL) was measured. A new scaling for the drainage in porous media has been proposed based on the ratio between the input and the dissipated energies during percolation. A proportional dependency was obtained between the energy ratio and a non-dimensional time and this relationship is not dependent on the flow regime; stable displacement or capillary fingering. Experimental results show that for different PTL samples (from different manufacturers) the proportionality is different. The identification of this proportionality allows a unique characterization of PTLs with respect to water transport. This scaling has relevance in porous media flows ranging far beyond fuel cells. In parallel with the experimental analysis, a two-dimensional numerical model was developed in order to simulate the phenomena observed in the experiments. The stochastic nature of the pore size distribution, the role of the PTL wettability and morphology properties on the water transport were analyzed. The effect of a second porous layer placed between the porous transport layer and the catalyst layer called microporous layer, MPL, was also studied. It was found that the presence of the MPL significantly reduced the water content on the PTL by enhancing fingering formation. Moreover, the presence of small defects (cracks) within the MPL was shown to enhance water management. Finally, a corroboration of the numerical simulation was carried out. A threedimensional version of the network model was developed mimicking the experimental conditions. The morphology and wettability of the PTL are tuned to the experiment data by using the new energy scaling of drainage in porous media. Once the fit between numerical and experimental data is obtained, the computational PTL structure can be used in different types of simulations where the conditions are representative of the fuel cell operating conditions.

On producing and sharing knowledge across boundaries: experiences from the interfaces of an international development research network

The number of large research networks and programmes engaging in knowledge production for development has grown over the past years. One of these programmes devoted to generating knowledge about and for development is National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North–South, a cross-disciplinary, international development research network funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Producing relevant knowledge for development is a core goal of the programme and an important motivation for many of the participating researchers. Over the years, the researchers have made use of various spaces for exchange and instruments for co-production of knowledge by academic and non-academic development actors. In this article we explore the characteristics of co-producing and sharing knowledge in interfaces between development research, policy and NCCR North–South practice. We draw on empirical material of the NCCR North–South programme and its specific programme element of the Partnership Actions. Our goal is to make use of the concept of the interface to reflect critically about the pursued strategies and instruments applied in producing and sharing knowledge for development across boundaries.

A communication and information technology infrastructure for real time monitoring and management of type 1 diabetes patients

This paper is focused on the integration of state-of-the-art technologies in the fields of telecommunications, simulation algorithms, and data mining in order to develop a Type 1 diabetes patient's semi to fully-automated monitoring and management system. The main components of the system are a glucose measurement device, an insulin delivery system (insulin injection or insulin pumps), a mobile phone for the GPRS network, and a PDA or laptop for the Internet. In the medical environment, appropriate infrastructure for storage, analysis and visualizing of patients' data has been implemented to facilitate treatment design by health care experts.