Cell-to-switch level planning in mobile wireless networks for efficient management of radio resources

A major step in effectively managing radio resources in a cellular network is to design an appropriate scheme for assigning cells to a location area (LA), serviced by a switch, and allocate resources for individual switches. However, this assignment is already proven in the literature to be an NP-hard problem [Merchant A, Sengupta B. Assignment of cells to switches in PCS networks. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking 3(5) (1995) 521–6] that requires efficient heuristic search techniques for obtaining real-time solutions. This work presents a state-space search technique, which is a variant of best first search heuristic technique. The algorithm called the block depth first search (BDFS), allocates cells to switches during switch level resource planning. Under various simulated performance criteria, we compare the performance of the proposed technique with other similar procedures in the literature. Our results indicate that the BDFS outperforms the meta-heuristic procedures in terms of both efficiency and quality of solutions. Hence, we conclude that our proposed technique can be effectively used for switch level planning leading to an efficient management of scarce radio resource in cellular networks.     

布什政府中东国际广播效能评析

为了缓解“9·11”事件后中东强烈的反关甚至仇美情绪，布什政府决定加大对中东的广播宣传。布什政府认为，从整体上讲，中东的媒体环境对美国是“不友好的”，甚至是“充满敌意的”；中东民众所接触到的有关美国的信息是“不真实的”，甚至是“被歪曲的”。这些“不真实”、“不可靠”的信息误导了中东民众，使他们对美国产生了“误解”和“仇恨”。正是基于这种逻辑，布什政府在“9·11”事件后不久很快建立起包括萨瓦电台、自由电视台、自由阿富汗电台等在内的中东广播网络，目的是宣传美国的外交政策，传播美国的价值观，舒缓中东民众对美国的敌意，增进中东民众对美国的好感。但是从2002年初至今的情况来看，布什政府对中东的广播宣传并没有达到预期的效果，其核心原因在于中东民众对美国中东政策的不满。     

Tracking (Im)mobilities at Sea: Ships,Boats and Surveillance Strategies

Abstract

This paper explores how national governments exercise regulatory power over spaces beyond their jurisdiction, when activities in those extra-territorial spaces have direct impacts within the boundaries of state concerned. Focusing explicitly on the control of shipping mobilities in the high seas and territorial sea zones, it is contended that apparatus of control, in particular, surveillance, are not only complex across spaces of alternate legal composition and between spaces of national and international law, but also across of the differing conditions and materialities of land, air and sea. Indeed, this paper argues that the immobilisation of the undesirable mobilities of ships and boats is inherently difficult at sea because of its very nature – its mobile legal boundaries, its liquidity compared to ‘landed’ fixity, and its scale and depth. Drawing on the case study of offshore radio pirates and the tender vessels which travelled ship to shore to supply them with necessary goods, it is reasoned that greater attention must be paid to mobilities at sea in view of forms of governance in this space. The sea is not like the land, or air, legally or materially, and mobilities cannot be governed, controlled and contained in the same ways therefore, as these connected spaces. Thinking seriously about the issues that arise when surveillance of mobilities is taken to sea, can help work towards better understandings for why security at sea proves so problematic and how those issues can be resolved, when the sea is the stage for contemporary geopolitical concerns in the twenty-first century.     

Radio Frequency Identification: A Panacea for Governments?

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been used to improve business supply chain management for over 35 years. As often happens, private sector technology migrates to the public sector where it is adapted for use. RFID use in governments is spreading far and wide at the federal and state levels with virtually no debate or performance analyses to inform adoption decisions. Implementation of RFID technology impacts government efficiency and effectiveness in many areas. Data show that most RFID applications promise enhanced effectiveness but also pose increased costs. A model is constructed to assist state and local managers in choosing to adopt RFID and to discern the status and impacts of this bold new innovation.

RFID as an Enabler of Improved Manufacturing Performance*

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) versus bar coding has been debated with little quantitative research about how to best use RFID's capabilities and when RFID is more advantageous. This article responds to that need by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing how RFID facilitates increased traceability and control in manufacturing, which in turn enables the use of more lot splitting and smaller lot sizes. We develop insights about operating policies (RFID vs. bar‐code tracking mechanisms, extent of lot splitting, and dispatching rules) and an operating condition (setup to processing time ratio) that affect the mean flow time and proportion of jobs tardy in a job shop. A simulation model is used to control factors in the experimental design and the output is evaluated using analysis of variance. The results show the following: (i) performance worsens when bar coding is used with extensive lot splitting, (ii) process changes such as extensive lot splitting may be required to justify RFID use instead of bar coding, (iii) the earliest operation due date dispatching rule offers an attractive alternative to other rules studied in previous lot splitting research, and (iv) the performance improvements with RFID and increased lot splitting are larger when the setup to processing time ratio is smaller. In a broader context, we fill a research void by quantitatively showing how RFID can be used as an advanced manufacturing technology that enables more factory automation and better performance along several dimensions. The article concludes by summarizing the results and identifying ideas for future research.     

企业RFID技术采纳行为研究现状评述

作为物联网的关键技术之一,RFID技术的采纳对于提高企业技术和管理水平具有重要意义。目前,国内外企业RFID技术采纳行为研究已取得一定进展。首先,从信息技术采纳的概念、理论基础、采纳行为理论的应用等3个方面对信息技术采纳行为进行了介绍;其次,从理论基础、研究模型、影响因素、研究方法等4个维度对企业RFID技术采纳行为的国内外研究现状进行了回顾,指出了其中的不足及未来研究方向。     

基于软件无线电的LTE-Advanced实时测试平台同步的设计与实现

基于GNU Radio和USRP以软件无线电方式构建了一个移动通信技术实时测试平台.在此平台上，利用LTE无线帧中的主/辅同步信号实现了符合LTE-Advanced物理层规范的实时通信.该测试平台为真实物理环境下移动通信技术的设计、测试及验证提供了技术手段.     

Development of an RFID‐based Traceability System: Experiences and Lessons Learned from an Aircraft Engineering Company

This paper presents a case study of the research and development of an RFID‐based traceability system in an aircraft engineering company in Hong Kong. We report the system design and implementation, and discuss our experiences and lessons learned. The aim of the RFID system is to effectively support the tracking and tracing of aeroplane repairable items in the company. The study reveals eight critical success factors for the successful implementation of RFID systems, namely, create strong internal and external motivation for improvement, stir up desire to keep abreast of the latest technology for global competitiveness, strive for cross organizational implementation, avoid major process changes/limit process changes, start with a small RFID project scope, facilitate equipment vendor's investment, use cost‐effectiveness reusable tags, and transfer RFID skills and knowledge from university to industry. We also summarize 13 lessons learned, including three lessons concerning RFID implementation at strategic level, six lessons at management level, and four lessons at operational level resulting from carrying out this project. Given the contextual details of the study, the lessons learned can help other firms to better anticipate the hurdles they will experience, and make them aware of the possible ways to cope with such difficulties before embarking on the journey of RFID implementation.     

Malawi goes to scale with anti-AIDS clubs and popular media

This paper evaluates a project in Malawi that aimed to provide in-school and out-of-school youth with the necessary tools and skills to avoid high-risk sexual behavior, in order to reduce HIV transmission. Project components were school curriculum; extra-curricular activities; out-of-school youth clubs; enabling environmental support; youth reproductive health services; and research, monitoring and evaluation. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Youth Technical Committees established 3200 anti-AIDS Clubs throughout Malawi. These Clubs positively influenced members' behavior and helped to ‘break the silence’. An enabling environment was created through two popular radio programs, advertisements and provision of sports equipment. The out-of-school youth clubs needed clearer criteria and objectives. Many objectives were achieved, but the aim of establishing health services for youth was over-ambitious, and not achieved. This program is exemplary for the national scale that it achieved, and for its approach of using diverse partners to implement locally adapted components.     

河北开放大学建设的基础:责任与使命

目前,我国开放大学的建设引起了社会广泛关注.本文分析了在河北广播电视大学的基础上创建河北开放大学的重要性与紧迫性,并指出,河北开放大学是河北建设学习型社会和终身教育体系的重要支柱,它必将为河北的经济社会发展与高等教育改革做出积极的贡献.