A study of the short message service of a nationwide cellular network
In recent years, cellular networks have experienced an astronomical increase in the use of Short Message Service (SMS), making it a popular communication means for inter-personal as well as content provider-to-person usage. Yet little is known about the traffic and message user behavior in real SMS systems. In this paper, we present a measurement study of SMS based on traces collected from a nationwide cellular carrier during a three-week period. We characterize message traffic at both the message level and the conversation thread level. We also examine the "store-and-forward" mechanism of SMS and present initial measurements on how messages are actually delivered.

title: An architectural infrastructure and topological optimization for end system multicast
abstract: Although IP-multicast has been proposed and investigated for the some time, there are major problems inherent in the IP-multicasting technique, for example, scalability problems, difficulty to allocate a globally unique multicast address, complexity to support higher level features such as reliable data transfer congestion/flow control and security, and more importantly, deployment problem due to architectural changes to core routers. Recently, end-system multicast (ESM) has been proposed as an alternative solution so that multicasting services can be quickly deployed. In this paper we consider the "architectural" and "optimization " issues on designing an ESM-tree. Specifically, we present a distributed algorithm on how to create and maintain an ESM-tree. We also propose a distributed algorithm to perform a tree optimization (TO) so that an ESM-tree can dynamically adapt to the changing network condition (e.g., drop in transfer bandwidth) so that nodes can receive the multicast data more efficiently. The propose distributed algorithm has the theoretical properties that at all times, a tree-topology can be maintained and that any node joining, leaving, as well as any tree optimization operation will not "partition" an ESM-tree. Therefore, our work can be used to provide an efficient architectural infrastructure for ESM services. We have implemented a prototype ESM system and carried out experiments to illustrate the effectiveness and performance of our ESM optimization protocol.

title: Spurious modulation on current-mode controlled DC/DC converters: an explanation for intermittent chaotic operation
abstract: We explain the mechanism that causes "intermittent" instability and chaos in a current-mode controlled switching converter. The circuit model used to study the phenomenon incorporates a coupling process through which a spurious signal is coupled to the current sensing and ramp compensation circuitry, resulting in a modulation of the compensation slope which causes the system to become unstable intermittently. We describe a way to find the parameter boundaries where intermittent chaotic operation emerges.

title: Stability Analysis of RED Gateway with Multiple TCP Reno Connections
abstract: It has been observed that a bottleneck random early detection (RED) gateway becomes oscillatory when regulating a flow in multiple TCP connections. The stability boundary of the TCP-RED system depends on various network parameters, making the adjustment of the RED gateway a difficult task. Based on a fluid-flow model, analytical conditions were formulated that describe the stable boundary of the RED gateway depending on the number of TCP Reno connections. The proposed model accurately generates a stability boundary surface in a four dimensional space, which facilitates the adjustment of parameters for stable operation of the RED gateway. The accuracy of the analytical results has been verified using the ns-2 network simulations.

title: On a service-oriented approach for an engineering knowledge desktop
abstract: Increasingly, manufacturing companies are shifting their focus from selling products to providing services. As a result, when designing new products, engineers must increasingly consider the life cycle costs in addition to any design requirements. To identify possible areas of concern, designers are required to consult existing maintenance information from identical products. However, in a large engineering company, the amount of information available is significant and in wide range of formats. This paper presents a prototype knowledge desktop suitable for the design engineer. The Engineering Knowledge Desktop analyses and suggests relevant information from ontologically marked-up heterogeneous web resources. It is designed using a Service-Oriented Architecture, with an ontology to mediate between Web Services. It has been delivered to the user community for evaluation.

title: Robust Appearance-based Tracking using a sparse Bayesian classifier
abstract: An appearance-based approach to track an object that may undergo appearance change is proposed. Unlike recent methods that store a detailed representation of object's appearance, this method allows an appearance feature with a reduced dimension to be used. Through the use of a sparse Bayesian classifier, high classification and detection accuracy can be maintained even if a reduced feature vector is used. In addition, the classifier allows online-training which enables online-updating of the original classification model and provides better adaptability. Experiments show that the method can be used to track targets undergoing appearance change due to the change in view-point, facial expression and lighting direction

title: Lightweight Agent Framework for Camera Array Applications
abstract: This paper describes a lightweight middleware agent framework (LAF) for coordinating a large array of computers with attached cameras to construct high resolution video-rate image sequences. Compared to existing camera middleware, LAF provides more than a remote sensor access API. The use of an agent framework allows reconfigurable and transparent access to cameras, as well as software agents capable of intelligent processing. It also eases maintenance by encouraging code reuse. Other features include an automatic discovery mechanism at startup, and multiple language bindings. Performance tests showed the lightweight nature of the framework while validating its correctness and scalability. Two different camera agents were implemented to provide access to a large array of distributed cameras. Correct operation of these camera agents was confirmed via several image processing agents.