Mobile collaborative cloudless computing

Although the computational power of mobile devices has been increasing, it is still not enough for some classes of applications. In the present, these applications delegate the computing power burden on servers located on the Internet. This model assumes an always-on Internet connectivity and implies a non-negligible latency. The thesis addresses the challenges and contributions posed to the application of a mobile collaborative computing environment concept to wireless networks. The goal is to define a reference architecture for high performance mobile applications. Current work is focused on efficient data dissemination on a highly transitive environment, suitable to many mobile applications and also to the reputation and incentive system available on this mobile collaborative computing environment. For this we are improving our already published reputation/incentive algorithm with knowledge from the usage pattern from the eduroam wireless network in the Lisbon area.

FEW phone file system

Trabalho apresentado no âmbito do Mestrado em Engenharia Informática, como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Utilization of remote experimentation in mobile devices for education

In this paper the authors intend to demonstrate the utilization of remote experimentation (RE) using mobile computational devices in the Science areas of the elementary school, with the purpose to develop practices that will help in the assimilation process of the subjects taught in classroom seeking to interlink them with the daily students? activities. Allying mobility with RE we intend to minimize the space-temporal barrier giving more availability and speed in the information access. The implemented architecture utilizes technologies and freely distributed softwares with open code resources besides remote experiments developed in the Laboratory of Remote Experimentation (RExLab) of Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in Brazil, through the physical computation platform of the ?open hardware of construction of our own. The utilization of open code computational tools and the integration of hardware to the 3D virtual worlds, accessible through mobile devices, give to the project an innovative face with a high potential for reproducibility and reusability.

Collaborative environment to support a professional community

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

Extending access to remote labs from mobile devices in educational contexts

This paper describes how to extend the access to remote experiments from mobile devices, aiming to better engage digital native students who expect a more interactive and ubiquitous access mode. The extension is based on features of HTML5 and the jQuery Mobile framework, which allow accessing the experiments from different operating systems via the browser or native applications. As a result, users have a richer interaction mode with the experiments, which includes access from simple hand-held devices such as smartphones and PDAs. Extending the access to remote experiments, from simple devices, enables its use in other educational stages, such as high schools, where teachers struggle to engage students in STEM learning. By enabling students to use their everyday "technological companions", e.g. cellular phones, to access remote experiments, we seek to increase the educational value of this technology-enhanced learning resource.

EduMCA: an approach to Educational Mobile Content Adaptation

As the variety of mobile devices connected to the Internet growts there is a correponding increase in the need to deliver content tailored to their heterogeneous characteristics. At the same time, we watch to the increase of e-learning in universities through the adoption of electronic platforms and standards. Not surprisingly, the concept of mLearning (Mobile Learning) appeared in recent years decreasing the limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices. However, this large number and variety of Web-enabled devices poses several challenges for Web content creators who want to automatic get the delivery context and adapt the content to the client mobile devices. In this paper we analyze several approaches to defining delivery context and present an architecture for deliver uniform mLearning content to mobile devices denominated eduMCA - Educational Mobile Content Adaptation. With the eduMCA system the Web authors will not need to create specialized pages for each kind of device, since the content is automatically transformed to adapt to any mobile device capabilities from WAP to XHTML MP-compliant devices.

Segurança de Redes em Sistemas de Experimentação Remota

O crescimento dos sistemas de informação e a sua utilização massiva criou uma nova realidade no acesso a experiências remotas que se encontram geograficamente distribuídas. Nestes últimos tempos, a temática dos laboratórios remotos apareceu nos mais diversos campos como o do ensino ou o de sistemas industriais de controlo e monitorização. Como o acesso aos laboratórios é efectuado através de um meio permissivo como é o caso da Internet, a informação pode estar à mercê de qualquer atacante. Assim, é necessário garantir a segurança do acesso, de forma a criar condições para que não se verifique a adulteração dos valores obtidos, bem como a existência de acessos não permitidos. Os mecanismos de segurança adoptados devem ter em consideração a necessidade de autenticação e autorização, sendo estes pontos críticos no que respeita à segurança, pois estes laboratórios podem estar a controlar equipamentos sensíveis e dispendiosos, podendo até eventualmente comprometer em certos casos o controlo e a monotorização de sistemas industriais. Este trabalho teve como objectivo a análise da segurança em redes, tendo sido realizado um estudo sobre os vários conceitos e mecanismos de segurança necessários para garantir a segurança nas comunicações entre laboratórios remotos. Dele resultam as três soluções apresentadas de comunicação segura para laboratórios remotos distribuídos geograficamente, recorrendo às tecnologias IPSec, OpenVPN e PPTP. De forma a minimizar custos, toda a implementação foi assente em software de código aberto e na utilização de um computador de baixo custo. No que respeita à criação das VPNs, estas foram configuradas de modo a permitir obter os resultados pretendidos na criação de uma ligação segura para laboratórios remotos. O pfSense mostrou-se a escolha acertada visto que suporta nativamente quaisquer das tecnologias que foram estudadas e implementadas, sem necessidade de usar recursos físicos muito caros, permitindo o uso de tecnologias de código aberto sem comprometer a segurança no funcionamento das soluções que suportam a segurança nas comunicações dos laboratórios remotos.

Welfare analysis of regulating mobile termination rates in the UK with an application to the Orange/T-Mobile merger

We present a calibrated model of the UK mobile telephony market with four mobile networks; calls to and from the fixed network; network-based price discrimination; and call externalities. Our results show that reducing mobile termination rates broadly in line with the recent European Commission Recommendation to either pure long-run incremental cost ; reciprocal termination charges with fixed networks; or Bill & Keep (i.e. zero termination rates), increases social welfare, consumer surplus and networks profits. Depending on the strength of call externalities, social welfare may increase by as much as £ 990 million to £ 4.5 billion per year, with Bill & Keep leading to the highest increase in welfare. We also apply the model to estimate the welfare effects of the 2010 merger between Orange and T-Mobile under different scenarios concerning MTRs, and predict that consumer surplus decreases strongly.

Dynamic adaptation of interaction models for stateful web services

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

AGNI: an API for the control of automomous service robots

With the continuum growth of Internet connected devices, the scalability of the protocols used for communication between them is facing a new set of challenges. In robotics these communications protocols are an essential element, and must be able to accomplish with the desired communication. In a context of a multi-­‐‑agent platform, the main types of Internet communication protocols used in robotics, mission planning and task allocation problems will be revised. It will be defined how to represent a message and how to cope with their transport between devices in a distributed environment, reviewing all the layers of the messaging process. A review of the ROS platform is also presented with the intent of integrating the already existing communication protocols with the ServRobot, a mobile autonomous robot, and the DVA, a distributed autonomous surveillance system. This is done with the objective of assigning missions to ServRobot in a security context.

Impact performance prediction of injection-molded talc-filled polypropylene through thermomechanical environment assessment

Due to the fact that different injection molding conditions tailor the mechanical response of the thermoplastic material, such effect must be considered earlier in the product development process. The existing approaches implemented in different commercial software solutions are very limited in their capabilities to estimate the influence of processing conditions on the mechanical properties. Thus, the accuracy of predictive simulations could be improved. In this study, we demonstrate how to establish straightforward processing-impact property relationships of talc-filled injection-molded polypropylene disc-shaped parts by assessing the thermomechanical environment (TME). To investigate the relationship between impact properties and the key operative variables (flow rate, melt and mold temperature, and holding pressure), the design of experiments approach was applied to systematically vary the TME of molded samples. The TME is characterized on computer flow simulation outputsanddefined bytwo thermomechanical indices (TMI): the cooling index (CI; associated to the core features) and the thermo-stress index (TSI; related to the skin features). The TMI methodology coupled to an integrated simulation program has been developed as a tool to predict the impact response. The dynamic impact properties (peak force, peak energy, and puncture energy) were evaluated using instrumented falling weight impact tests and were all found to be similarly affected by the imposed TME. The most important molding parameters affecting the impact properties were found to be the processing temperatures (melt andmold). CI revealed greater importance for the impact response than TSI. The developed integrative tool provided truthful predictions for the envisaged impact properties.

The EU as a security provider in its neighbourhood: the case of non-proliferation of WMD in the Mediterranean area

As a consequence of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the US-led war against Iraq, WMD and their proliferation have become a central element of the EU security agenda. In December 2003, the European Council adopted even a EU Strategy against Proliferation of WMD. The approach adopted in this Strategy can be largely described as a ‘cooperative security provider’ approach and is based on effective multilateralism, the promotion of a stable international and regional environment and the cooperation with key partners. The principal objective of this paper is to examine in how far the EU has actually implemented the ‘cooperative security provider’ approach in the area which the Non-proliferation Strategy identifies as one of its priorities – the Mediterranean. Focusing on the concept of security interdependence, the paper analyses first the various WMD dangers with which the EU is confronted in the Mediterranean area. Afterwards, it examines how the EU has responded to these hazards in the framework of the Barcelona process and, in particular, the new European Neighbourhood Policy. It is argued that despite its relatively powerful rhetoric, the EU has largely failed, for a wide range of reasons, to apply effectively its non-proliferation approach in the Mediterranean area and, thus, to become a successful security provider.

Submission to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas

The Institute of Public Health in Ireland is an all-island body which aims to improve health in Ireland by working to combat health inequalities and influence public policies in favour of health. The Institute promotes co-operation in research, training, information and policy in order to contribute to policies which tackle inequalities in health.   Over the past ten years the Institute has worked closely with the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland to build capacity for public health across the island of Ireland.   The Institute takes the view that health is determined by policies, plans and programmes in many sectors outside the health sector as well as being dependent on access to and availability of first class health services. The importance of other sectors is encapsulated in a social determinants of health perspective which recognises that health is largely shaped and influenced by the physical, social, economic and cultural environments in which people live, work and play. Figure 1 illustrates these multi-dimensional impacts on health and also serves to highlight the clear and inextricable links between health and sustainable development. Factors that impact on long-term sustainability will thus also impact on health.

Tapiola-ryhmän Yhtiökokousjärjestelmä-ohjelmiston määrittely ja suunnittelu

Tässä insinöörityössä selvitettiin mahdollisuuksia parantaa Tapiola-ryhmän Yhtiökokousjärjestelmä-ohjelmiston ominaisuuksia ja tietoturvallisuutta. Järjestelmää käytetään Tapiola-ryhmän vakuutusyhtiöiden yhtiökokouksiin osallistuvien osakkaiden kirjaamiseen ja heidän äänten laskentaan. Tutkimuksen perusteella tehtiin järjestelmän määrittely ja suunnittelu, joiden tuloksena syntyivät toiminnallinen ja tekninen määrittelydokumentaatio, jotka toimivat pohjana uuden Yhtiökokousjärjestelmän toteutukselle. Työ tehtiin Tapiola-ryhmälle Tieto-Tapiola Oy:n tilauksesta. Työn alussa tutkittiin erilaisia mahdollisuuksia toteuttaa järjestelmän ohjelmisto- ja tietokanta-arkkitehtuuri, joiden perusteella määrittelyä ja suunnittelua alettiin toteuttaa. Tutkimuksen perusteella päädyttiin käyttämään Java SE -arkkitehtuuria sovelluksen toteutukseen ja SQL Server -tietokantaa järjestelmän tietovarastona. Valittuihin ratkaisuihin päädyttiin niiden hyvien tietoturvallisuus- ja kertakirjausominaisuuksien takia. Toiminnallisessa määrittelydokumentissa käydään läpi järjestelmälle asetettuja vaatimuksia ja kuvataan sen toiminnot, liiketoimintaluokkamalli, käyttöliittymä ja tulosteet. Lisäksi siinä otetaan kantaa järjestelmän käyttöympäristöön, ulkoisiin tietokantaliittymiin, käyttäjän tunnistautumiseen ja tietoturvallisuuteen sekä käydään läpi sen toiminta käyttäjien näkökulmasta. Toiminnallisen määrittelydokumentin pohjalta luotiin tekninen määrittelydokumentti. Siinä kuvataan järjestelmän ympäristö ja ohjelmisto- sekä tietokanta-arkkitehtuuri yleisellä tasolla. Tämän lisäksi järjestelmän arkkitehtuuria käydään myös tarkemmin läpi sekä kuvataan moduulit ja toiminnot niin tarkasti, että niiden perusteella voidaan toteuttaa koko järjestelmä. Työn tuloksena syntyivät kattava toiminnallinen ja tekninen määrittelydokumentaatio, joissa käydään läpi kaikki järjestelmän toteuttamiseen tarvittavat elementit sillä tarkkuudella, että järjestelmän toteuttaminen voidaan aloittaa.

Interfaz Siebel ‐ Intranet

Una empresa que da servicios de asistencia a usuarios para una entidad bancaria gestiona y registra las incidencias que los empleados u oficinas puedan tener mediante un software CRM. Los empleados del banco no tienen acceso a dicho software, con lo que necesitan alguna forma de poder llegar a cierta información. Este proyecto rellena dicho hueco, estableciendo una conexión extremo a extremo de forma segura y eficaz. Por medio de ficheros XML se envían las solicitudes y las respuestas desde la intranet del banco (mediante un formulario de registro de incidencias) hasta los sistemas CRM.