Multimedia transmission is the effective way of transmitting multimedia elements (comprising voice, audio, video, data etc) from one place to the other via internet enabled protocols and other means. The term 'effective' is used because multimedia transmission is a nightmare if the conveyance is not smooth, seamless and efficient. Over time, the world has seen tremendous improvement that started from the era of the first generation of multimedia generation to the point of multimedia transmission. Much has been said and done in this area and the world has become a connected enterprise because of the transmission of multimedia. In spite of these successes that have been recorded in these areas, there are still many challenges facing multimedia transmission. What determines the progress of technology globally is the trends of evolution that multimedia transmission has gone through. An important challenge facing multimedia transmission is one that has been neglected for a long time. There has been deep neglect of the devices that are used in transmission while much emphasis has been on the protocols and the software that are being developed for multimedia transmission. Devices play a very important role in the realization of seamless transmission of media. Lately, the world seems to have realized the fact that devices that do the actual transmission needs more attention. These devices are the ones that do the distribution and the transmission of the multimedia streams or signals. This has been highlighted in a recent research study that was referenced in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning that showed that the expectations of meeting the world's target on multimedia has been reduced by half because of problems arising from the inefficiency of multimedia devices and not really from the protocol perspective as earlier perceived. It is inline with the above that this research was titled "improving multimedia transmission through enhanced multimedia devices". Multimedia devices are the end to end units that are used in multimedia transmission. This research investigated the current devices that are being used, their deficiencies and the reasons that make them unstable for multimedia transmission. It focused on the real time multimedia transmission over the internet protocol (IP) through enhancing limited capabilities of the current multimedia devices. This will make way for new studies into newer devices that are better designed for the efficient multimedia flow. It will assure better quality end-to-end solutions in the area of multimedia distribution and transmission. This research is broad enough to cover most of the major areas of multimedia transmission and cut across several industries and technologies. These might include industries that specialize in internet telephony; design and manufacture multimedia devices and multimedia technologies. Despite the huge number of fields that this research cut across, the focus remained unchanged in highlighting this challenge and proffering a solution through enhanced end to end multimedia elements. It is hoped that this research work will contribute to the solution of this area of challenge and bring to fore the work that should be done in this regard. The advantages of improved multimedia transmission cannot be over emphasized as there will be a tremendous reduction in the cost of long distance communication globally and smoother media transmission which makes use of the readily available internet protocols. In spite of these successes that have been recorded in these areas, there are still many challenges facing multimedia transmission. What determines the progress of technology globally is the trends of evolution that multimedia transmission has gone through. An important challenge facing multimedia transmission is one that has been neglected for a long time. There has been deep neglect of the devices that are used in transmission while much emphasis has been on the protocols and the software that are being developed for multimedia transmission. Devices play a very important role in the realization of seamless transmission of media. Lately, the world seems to have realized the fact that devices that do the actual transmission needs more attention. These devices are the ones that do the distribution and the transmission of the multimedia streams or signals. This has been highlighted in a recent research study that was referenced in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning that showed that the expectations of meeting the world's target on multimedia has been reduced by half because of problems arising from the inefficiency of multimedia devices and not really from the protocol perspective as earlier perceived. It is inline with the above that this research was titled "improving multimedia transmission through enhanced multimedia devices". Multimedia devices are the end to end units that are used in multimedia transmission. This research investigated the current devices that are being used, their deficiencies and the reasons that make them unstable for multimedia transmission. It focused on the real time multimedia transmission over the internet protocol (IP) through enhancing limited capabilities of the current multimedia devices. This will make way for new studies into newer devices that are better designed for the efficient multimedia flow. It will assure better quality end-to-end solutions in the area of multimedia distribution and transmission. This research is broad enough to cover most of the major areas of multimedia transmission and cut across several industries and technologies. These might include industries that specialize in internet telephony; design and manufacture multimedia devices and multimedia technologies. Despite the huge number of fields that this research cut across, the focus remained unchanged in highlighting this challenge and proffering a solution through enhanced end to end multimedia elements. It is hoped that this research work will contribute to the solution of this area of challenge and bring to fore the work that should be done in this regard. The advantages of improved multimedia transmission cannot be over emphasized as there will be a tremendous reduction in the cost of long distance communication globally and smoother media transmission which makes use of the readily available internet protocols. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Multimedia transmission is the effective way of transmitting multimedia elements (comprising voice, audio, video, data etc) from one place to the other via internet enabled protocols and other means. The term 'effective' is used because multimedia transmission is a nightmare if the conveyance is not smooth, seamless and efficient. Over time, the world has seen tremendous improvement that started from the era of the first generation of multimedia generation to the point of multimedia transmission. Much has been said and done in this area and the world has become a connected enterprise because of the transmission of multimedia. In spite of these successes that have been recorded in these areas, there are still many challenges facing multimedia transmission. What determines the progress of technology globally is the trends of evolution that multimedia transmission has gone through. An important challenge facing multimedia transmission is one that has been neglected for a long time. There has been deep neglect of the devices that are used in transmission while much emphasis has been on the protocols and the software that are being developed for multimedia transmission. Devices play a very important role in the realization of seamless transmission of media. Lately, the world seems to have realized the fact that devices that do the actual transmission needs more attention. These devices are the ones that do the distribution and the transmission of the multimedia streams or signals. This has been highlighted in a recent research study that was referenced in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning that showed that the expectations of meeting the world's target on multimedia has been reduced by half because of problems arising from the inefficiency of multimedia devices and not really from the protocol perspective as earlier perceived. It is inline with the above that this research was titled "improving multimedia transmission through enhanced multimedia devices". Multimedia devices are the end to end units that are used in multimedia transmission. This research investigated the current devices that are being used, their deficiencies and the reasons that make them unstable for multimedia transmission. It focused on the real time multimedia transmission over the internet protocol (IP) through enhancing limited capabilities of the current multimedia devices. This will make way for new studies into newer devices that are better designed for the efficient multimedia flow. It will assure better quality end-to-end solutions in the area of multimedia distribution and transmission. This research is broad enough to cover most of the major areas of multimedia transmission and cut across several industries and technologies. These might include industries that specialize in internet telephony; design and manufacture multimedia devices and multimedia technologies. Despite the huge number of fields that this research cut across, the focus remained unchanged in highlighting this challenge and proffering a solution through enhanced end to end multimedia elements. It is hoped that this research work will contribute to the solution of this area of challenge and bring to fore the work that should be done in this regard. The advantages of improved multimedia transmission cannot be over emphasized as there will be a tremendous reduction in the cost of long distance communication globally and smoother media transmission which makes use of the readily available internet protocols. In spite of these successes that have been recorded in these areas, there are still many challenges facing multimedia transmission. What determines the progress of technology globally is the trends of evolution that multimedia transmission has gone through. An important challenge facing multimedia transmission is one that has been neglected for a long time. There has been deep neglect of the devices that are used in transmission while much emphasis has been on the protocols and the software that are being developed for multimedia transmission. Devices play a very important role in the realization of seamless transmission of media. Lately, the world seems to have realized the fact that devices that do the actual transmission needs more attention. These devices are the ones that do the distribution and the transmission of the multimedia streams or signals. This has been highlighted in a recent research study that was referenced in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning that showed that the expectations of meeting the world's target on multimedia has been reduced by half because of problems arising from the inefficiency of multimedia devices and not really from the protocol perspective as earlier perceived. It is inline with the above that this research was titled "improving multimedia transmission through enhanced multimedia devices". Multimedia devices are the end to end units that are used in multimedia transmission. This research investigated the current devices that are being used, their deficiencies and the reasons that make them unstable for multimedia transmission. It focused on the real time multimedia transmission over the internet protocol (IP) through enhancing limited capabilities of the current multimedia devices. This will make way for new studies into newer devices that are better designed for the efficient multimedia flow. It will assure better quality end-to-end solutions in the area of multimedia distribution and transmission. This research is broad enough to cover most of the major areas of multimedia transmission and cut across several industries and technologies. These might include industries that specialize in internet telephony; design and manufacture multimedia devices and multimedia technologies. Despite the huge number of fields that this research cut across, the focus remained unchanged in highlighting this challenge and proffering a solution through enhanced end to end multimedia elements. It is hoped that this research work will contribute to the solution of this area of challenge and bring to fore the work that should be done in this regard. The advantages of improved multimedia transmission cannot be over emphasized as there will be a tremendous reduction in the cost of long distance communication globally and smoother media transmission which makes use of the readily available internet protocols. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Scientific computing is used frequently in an increasing number of disciplines to accelerate scientific discovery. Many such computing problems involve the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDE). In this thesis we explore and develop methodology for high-performance implementations of PDE solvers for shared-memory multiprocessor architectures. We consider three realistic PDE settings: solution of the Maxwell equations in 3D using an unstructured grid and the method of conjugate gradients, solution of the Poisson equation in 3D using a geometric multigrid method, and solution of an advection equation in 2D using structured adaptive mesh refinement. We apply software optimization techniques to increase both parallel efficiency and the degree of data locality. In our evaluation we use several different shared-memory architectures ranging from symmetric multiprocessors and distributed shared-memory architectures to chip-multiprocessors. For distributed shared-memory systems we explore methods of data distribution to increase the amount of geographical locality. We evaluate automatic and transparent page migration based on runtime sampling, user-initiated page migration using a directive with an affinity-on-next-touch semantic, and algorithmic optimizations for page-placement policies. Our results show that page migration increases the amount of geographical locality and that the parallel overhead related to page migration can be amortized over the iterations needed to reach convergence. This is especially true for the affinity-on-next-touch methodology whereby page migration can be initiated at an early stage in the algorithms. We also develop and explore methodology for other forms of data locality and conclude that the effect on performance is significant and that this effect will increase for future shared-memory architectures. Our overall conclusion is that, if the involved locality issues are addressed, the shared-memory programming model provides an efficient and productive environment for solving many important PDE problems.

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a proposal for a future linear electron--positron collider that could achieve collision energies of up to 3 TeV. In the CLIC concept the main high energy beam is accelerated using RF power extracted from a high intensity drive beam, achieving an accelerating gradient of 100 MV/m. This scheme places strict tolerances on the drive beam phase stability, which must be better than 0.2 degrees at 12 GHz. To achieve the required phase stability CLIC proposes a high bandwidth (>17.5 MHz), low latency drive beam "phase feedforward" (PFF) system. In this system electromagnetic kickers, powered by 500 kW amplifiers, are installed in a chicane and used to correct the phase by deflecting the beam on to longer or shorter trajectories. A prototype PFF system has been installed at the CLIC Test Facility, CTF3; the design, operation and commissioning of which is the focus of this work. Two kickers have been installed in the pre-existing chicane in the TL2 transfer line at CTF3 for the prototype. New optics have been created for the line to take these changes in to account, incorporating new constraints to obtain the desired phase shifting behaviour. Three new phase monitors have also been installed, one for the PFF input and two to verify the system performance. The resolution of these monitors must be significantly better than 0.2 degrees to achieve CLIC-level phase stability. A point by point resolution as low as 0.13 degrees has been achieved after a series of measurements and improvements to the phase monitor electronics. The performance of the PFF system depends on the correlation between the beam phase as measured at the input to the PFF system, and the downstream phase, measured after the correction chicane. Preliminary measurements found only 40% correlation. The source of the low correlation was determined to be energy dependent phase jitter, which has been mitigated after extensive efforts to measure, model and adjust the machine optics. A final correlation of 93% was achieved, improving the theoretical reduction in jitter using the PFF system from a factor 1.1 to a factor 2.7. The performance and commissioning of the kicker amplifiers and PFF controller are also discussed. Beam based measurements are used to determine the optimal correction timing. With a maximum output of around 650 V the amplifiers provide a correction range of ±5.5 ± 0.3 degrees. Finally, results from operation of the complete system are presented. A mean phase jitter of 0.28 ± 0.02 degrees is achieved, in agreement with the theoretical prediction of 0.27 ± 0.02 degrees for an optimal system with the given beam conditions. The current limitations of the PFF system, and possible future improvements to the setup, are also discussed.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta técnicas de reordenação para minimização de banda, perfil e frente de malhas de elementos finitos. Um conceito unificado relacionando as malhas de elementos finitos, os grafos associados e as matrizes correspondentes é proposto. As informações geométricas, disponíveis nos programans de elemnetos finitos, são utilizadas para aumentar a eficiência dos algoritmos heurísticos. Com base nestas idéias, os algoritmos são classificados em topológicos, geométricos, híbridos e espectrais. Um Grafo de Elementos Finitos - Finite Element Graph (FEG)- é definido coo um grafo nodal(G), um garfo dual(G) ou um grafo de comunicação(G.), associado a uma dada malha de elementos finitos. Os algoritmos topológicos mais utilizados na literatura técnica, tais como, Reverse- CuthiiMcKee (RCM), Collins, Gibbs-Poole-Stockmeyer(GPS), Gibbs-King (GK), Snay e Sloan, são inventigados detalhadamente. Em particular, o algoritmo de Collins é estendido para consideração de componentes não conexos nos grafos associados e a numeração é invertida para uma posterior redução do perfil das matrizer correspondentes. Essa nova versão é denominada Modified Reverse Collins (MRCollins). Um algoritmo puramente geométrico, denominado Coordinate Based Bandwidth and Profile Reduction (CBBPR), é apresentado. Um novo algoritmo híbrido (HybWP) para redução de frente e perfil é proposto. A matriz Laplaciana [L(G), L(G) ou L (G.)], utilizada no estudo de propriedades espectrais de grafos, é construída a partir das relações usuais de adjacências entre vértices e arestas. Um algoritmo automático, baseado em propriedades espectrais de FEGs, é proposto para reordenação de nós e/ou elementos das malhas associadas. Este algoritmo, denominado Spectral FEG Resequencing (SFR), utiliza informações globais do grafo; não depende da escolha de um vértice pseudo- periférico; e não utiliza o conceito de estrutura de níveis. Um novo algoritmo espectral para determinação de vértices pseudo-periféricos em grafos também é proposto. Os algoritmos apresentados neste trabalho são implementados computacionalmente e testados utilizando- se diversos exemplos numéricos. Finalmente, conclusões são apresentadas e algumas sugestões para trabalhos futuros são propostas. / [en] This work presents resequencing techniques for minimizing bandwidth, profile and wavefront of finite element meshes. A unified approach relating a finite element mesh, its associated graphs, and the corresponding matrices is proposed. The geometrical information available from conventional finite element program is also used in order to improve heuristic algorithms. Following these ideas, the algorithms are classified here as a nodal graph (G), a dual graph (G) or a communication graph (G.) associated with a generic finie element mesh. The most widely used topological algorithms, such as Reverse-Cuthill-McKee (RCM), Collins, Gibbs-Poole-Stockmeyer (GPS), Gibbs-King (GK), Snay, and Sloan, are investigated in detail. In particular, the Collins algorithm is extended to consider nonconnected components in associated graph and the ordering provide by this algorithm is reverted for improved profile. This new version is called Modified Reverse Collins (MRCollins). A purely geometrical algorithm, called Coordinate Based Bandwidth and Profile Reduction (CBBPR), is presented. A new hybrid reordering algorithm (HybWP) for wavefront and profile reduction is proposed. The Laplacian matrix [L(G), L(G) or L(G.)], used for the study of spectral properties of an FEG, is constructed from usual vertex and edge conectivities of a graph. An automatic algorithm, based on spectral properties of an FEG, is proposed to reorder the nodes and/or elements of the associated finite element meshes. The new algorithm, called Spectral FEG Resequencing (SFR), uses global information in the graph; it does not depende on a pseudoperipheral vertex in the resequencing process; and it does not use any kind of level structure of the graph. A new spectral algorithm for finding pseudoperipheral vertices in graphs is also proposed. The algorithmpresented herein are computationally implemented and tested against several numerical examples. Finally, conclusions are drawn and directions for futue work are given.

Memory system design is increasingly influencing modern multi-core architectures from both performance and power perspectives. Both main memory latency and bandwidth have im-proved at a rate that is slower than the increase in processor core count and speed. Off-chip memory, primarily built from DRAM, has received significant attention in terms of architecture and design for higher performance. These performance improvement techniques include sophisticated memory access scheduling, use of multiple memory controllers, mitigating the impact of DRAM refresh cycles, and so on. At the same time, new non-volatile memory technologies have become increasingly viable in terms of performance and energy. These alternative technologies offer different performance characteristics as compared to traditional DRAM. With the advent of 3D stacking, on-chip memory in the form of 3D stacked DRAM has opened up avenues for addressing the bandwidth and latency limitations of off-chip memory. Stacked DRAM is expected to offer abundant capacity — 100s of MBs to a few GBs — at higher bandwidth and lower latency. Researchers have proposed to use this capacity as an extension to main memory, or as a large last-level DRAM cache. When leveraged as a cache, stacked DRAM provides opportunities and challenges for improving cache hit rate, access latency, and off-chip bandwidth. Thus, designing off-chip and on-chip memory systems for multi-core architectures is complex, compounded by the myriad architectural, design and technological choices, combined with the characteristics of application workloads. Applications have inherent spatial local-ity and access parallelism that influence the memory system response in terms of latency and bandwidth. In this thesis, we construct an analytical model of the off-chip main memory system to comprehend this diverse space and to study the impact of memory system parameters and work-load characteristics from latency and bandwidth perspectives. Our model, called ANATOMY, uses a queuing network formulation of the memory system parameterized with workload characteristics to obtain a closed form solution for the average miss penalty experienced by the last-level cache. We validate the model across a wide variety of memory configurations on four-core, eight-core and sixteen-core architectures. ANATOMY is able to predict memory latency with average errors of 8.1%, 4.1%and 9.7%over quad-core, eight-core and sixteen-core configurations respectively. Further, ANATOMY identifie better performing design points accurately thereby allowing architects and designers to explore the more promising design points in greater detail. We demonstrate the extensibility and applicability of our model by exploring a variety of memory design choices such as the impact of clock speed, benefit of multiple memory controllers, the role of banks and channel width, and so on. We also demonstrate ANATOMY’s ability to capture architectural elements such as memory scheduling mechanisms and impact of DRAM refresh cycles. In all of these studies, ANATOMY provides insight into sources of memory performance bottlenecks and is able to quantitatively predict the benefit of redressing them. An insight from the model suggests that the provisioning of multiple small row-buffers in each DRAM bank achieves better performance than the traditional one (large) row-buffer per bank design. Multiple row-buffers also enable newer performance improvement opportunities such as intra-bank parallelism between data transfers and row activations, and smart row-buffer allocation schemes based on workload demand. Our evaluation (both using the analytical model and detailed cycle-accurate simulation) shows that the proposed DRAM re-organization achieves significant speed-up as well as energy reduction. Next we examine the role of on-chip stacked DRAM caches at improving performance by reducing the load on off-chip main memory. We extend ANATOMY to cover DRAM caches. ANATOMY-Cache takes into account all the key parameters/design issues governing DRAM cache organization namely, where the cache metadata is stored and accessed, the role of cache block size and set associativity and the impact of block size on row-buffer hit rate and off-chip bandwidth. Yet the model is kept simple and provides a closed form solution for the aver-age miss penalty experienced by the last-level SRAM cache. ANATOMY-Cache is validated against detailed architecture simulations and shown to have latency estimation errors of 10.7% and 8.8%on average in quad-core and eight-core configurations respectively. An interesting in-sight from the model suggests that under high load, it is better to bypass the congested DRAM cache and leverage the available idle main memory bandwidth. We use this insight to propose a refresh reduction mechanism that virtually eliminates refresh overhead in DRAM caches. We implement a low-overhead hardware mechanism to record accesses to recent DRAM cache pages and refresh only these pages. Older cache pages are considered invalid and serviced from the (idle) main memory. This technique achieves average refresh reduction of 90% with resulting memory energy savings of 9%and overall performance improvement of 3.7%. Finally, we propose a new DRAM cache organization that achieves higher cache hit rate, lower latency and lower off-chip bandwidth demand. Called the Bi-Modal Cache, our cache organization brings three independent improvements together: (i) it enables parallel tag and data accesses, (ii) it eliminates a large fraction of tag accesses entirely by use of a novel way locator and (iii) it improves cache space utilization by organizing the cache sets as a combination of some big blocks (512B) and some small blocks (64B). The Bi-Modal Cache reduces hit latency by use of the way locator and parallel tag and data accesses. It improves hit rate by leveraging the cache capacity efficiently – blocks with low spatial reuse are allocated in the cache at 64B granularity thereby reducing both wasted off-chip bandwidth as well as cache internal fragmentation. Increased cache hit rate leads to reduction in off-chip bandwidth demand. Through detailed simulations, we demonstrate that the Bi-Modal Cache achieves overall performance improvement of 10.8%, 13.8% and 14.0% in quad-core, eight-core and sixteen-core workloads respectively over an aggressive baseline.

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) are a class of infrastructure less network architecture which are formed by a collection of mobile nodes that communicate with each other using multi-hop wireless links. They eliminate the need for central management, hence each node must operate cooperatively to successfully maintain the network. Each node performs as a source, a sink and a router. Future applications of MANETs are expected to be based on all-IP architecture, carrying a multitude of real-time multimedia applications such as voice, video and data. It would be necessary for MANETs to have an efficient routing and quality of service (QoS) mechanism to support diverse applications. This thesis proposes a set of cooperative protocols that provide support for QoS routing. The first is the on-demand, Non-Disjoint Multiple Routes Discovery protocol (NDMRD). NDMRD allows the establishment of multiple paths with node non-disjoint between source and destination node. It returns to the source a collection of routes with the QoS parameters. The second part of the protocol is the Node State Monitoring protocol for the purpose of monitoring, acquisition, dissemination and accumulation of QoS route information. The third part of the protocol implements the QoS route selection based on a Genetic Algorithm. The GA is implemented online with predetermined initial population and weighted-sum fitness function which operates simultaneously on the node bandwidth, media access delay, end to end delay and the node connectivity index (NCI). The term node connectivity index is a numerical value designed to predict comparatively the longest time a node-pair might be connected wirelessly.

Neste trabalho propomos e analisamos algoritmos de alocação dinâmica de banda para rede óptica passiva (PON) de acesso padrão GPON (Gigabit PON). Estes algoritmos utilizam dados oriundos de SLA (service level agreement) para gerenciar a alocação de banda e classificar em 4 contêineres de tráfego (T-CONT) o tráfego gerado em 16 ONUs (optical network unit). Na transmissão upstream é utilizada a técnica de multiplexação por divisão de tempo (TDM) para gerenciar o acesso ao meio, evitando colisões. O primeiro algoritmo proposto aloca banda garantida para as ONUs e distribui a banda não utilizada de acordo com critério baseado em três SLAs. A taxa de bit upstream é 1,25 Gbps e o desempenho do algoritmo é analisado com base na variação do atraso de pacotes em função do tráfego gerado nas ONUs. O segundo algoritmo proposto utiliza ponderação de tráfego. Neste, analisamos o comportamento dos atrasos e a quantidade de banda solicitada e atendida por ONU quando as bandas garantida e extra são alteradas. Por fim, acrescentamos em nossa implementação um intervalo para o processamento do algoritmo de alocação dinâmica de banda (DBA) e resposta do hardware relacionado ao ciclo de interrogação. Então, analisamos o atraso de pacotes quando variamos o intervalo de processamento do DBA. Ao final, propomos uma solução preliminar para minimizar estes atrasos. Os resultados obtidos por meio de simulação computacional mostram a versatilidade dos algoritmos. / In this work we propose and analyze the performance of dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms for optical passive networks (PON) in GPON standard (Gigabit PON). These algorithms use data from SLA (service level agreement) to manage bandwidth allocation and classify in 4 traffic containers (T-CONT) the traffic generated by 16 ONUs (optical network unit). In the upstream transmission the time division multiplexing (TDM) technique is used to manage the medium access, avoiding collisions. The first proposed algorithm allocates guaranteed bandwidth for the ONUs and distributes the bandwidth not used according to the criteria based on three SLAs. The upstream bit rate is 1.25 Gbps and the algorithm performance is analyzed based on the packets delay variation versus the traffic generated by ONUs. The second proposed algorithm uses weighted traffic. In this, we analyze the delay performance and the required bandwidth for each ONU and how much it is served when the guaranteed and extra bandwidth are changed. Finally, we added in our implementation an interval for the processing of the dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm (DBA) and response of the hardware related to the interrogation cycle. In the end, we propose a preliminary solution to minimize these delays. The results obtained by means of computational simulation show the versatility of the algorithms.

O crescente aumento da demanda de tráfego nas redes celulares vem aumentando a necessidade de uma melhor utilização dos recursos do sistema, já que sua expansão é custosa. Nas estações rádio base (ERB), a disponibilidade de largura de faixa de freqüências é limitada e desta maneira, em uma rede de comunicação móvel celular, o controle de admissão de chamadas exerce grande influência no desempenho do sistema, pois determina a utilização de banda das ERBs e se uma determinada quantidade de recursos (banda) será alocado ou não para uma determinada chamada. O desempenho da rede pode ser atrelado a determinados parâmetros, como a probabilidade de bloqueio de novas chamadas, probabilidade de bloqueio de chamadas handoff e a utilização de banda da rede. Este trabalho propõe um controle de admissão de chamadas que, no atendimento de uma chamada, faz o empréstimo de banda de chamadas em andamento na célula no caso de banda insuficiente. O sistema adota um mecanismo heurístico que determina a banda disponível para novas chamadas conforme os valores de certos parâmetros do sistema. O empréstimo de banda é realizado em chamadas em andamento nas células até níveis mínimos estabelecidos para cada tipo de chamada, que se diferenciam pelas necessidades de banda de cada uma. O algoritmo foi aplicado às bandas e características de uma rede de terceira geração (3G), que possui chamadas de voz, videoconferência, interação multimídia, e-mail, downloads e transferência de arquivos e a uma rede GSM/GPRS (global system for mobile communications/ general packet radio service), que possui chamadas de voz e de dados. Os resultados mostram melhorias na probabilidade de bloqueio de novas chamadas, probabilidade de bloqueio de handoff e na utilização de banda do sistema. / The recent growth in traffic loads in cellular networks has seen the need for a better use of system resources as its expansion is expensive. In the base transceiver station (BTS), the bandwidth availability is limited. Thus, in cellular networks the call admission control greatly influences the system performance because it determines the bandwidth use of the BTSs and if an amount of resources will or will not be allocated to a call. The network performance can be evaluated by parameters such as blocking probability of new calls, dropping probability of handoff calls and bandwidth use. This work proposes a call admission control that carries out the bandwidth borrowing when a call arrives and there is not enough bandwidth. The system makes use of a heuristic mechanism that determines the available bandwidth for the new calls according to some parameter values of the system. The bandwidth borrowing is applied to the cell ongoing calls until the minimum levels for each type are met. The algorithm was applied to the bandwidths and characteristics of a third generation cellular network, which supports voice calls, videoconference, multimedia interaction, e-mails, downloads and file transfers. It was also applied to a GSM/GPRS (global system for mobile communications/ general packet radio service), which supports voice and data calls. The results show improvements in the blocking probability of new calls, dropping probability of handoff calls and in the bandwidth use of the system.

Os circuladores tradicionais são amplamente utilizados em telecomunicações e defesa militar para o simultâneo envio e recepção de sinais por um único meio. Esses circuitos passivos, fabricados a partir de materiais ferromagnéticos, possuem a desvantagem do aumento de dimensões, peso e custos de fabricação com a diminuição da frequência de operação definida no projeto destes dispositivos, inviabilizando sua aplicação em frequências abaixo de 500 MHz. O circulador ativo surgiu como uma alternativa aos tradicionais, tendo aplicações em frequências desde o nível DC até a ordem de dezenas de gigahertz. As suas maiores aplicações ocorrem quando são necessários dispositivos compactos, de baixo custo e de baixa potência. Os primeiros circuitos propostos possuíam uma grande limitação em termos de frequência de operação e de potência entregue à carga. Entretanto, com os avanços tecnológicos na eletrônica, tais problemas podem ser amenizados atualmente. Neste trabalho é apresentado o desenvolvimento de um circuito circulador ativo para a utilização em instrumentação eletrônica, em particular para a operação em frequências na ordem das utilizadas em equipamentos de ultrassom Doppler de ondas contínuas, na faixa de 2 MHz a 10 MHz. As possíveis vantagens da implementação de circuladores em sistemas de ultrassom estão relacionadas ao incremento da relação sinal-ruído, aumento da área de recepção do transdutor, simplificação da construção do transdutor, simplificação do circuito de demodulação/ processamento, e maior isolação entre os circuitos de transmissão e recepção de sinais. Na fase inicial, o circulador ativo proposto é modelado por equacionamento, utilizando-se tanto o modelo ideal dos amplificadores operacionais como o seu modelo de resposta em frequência. Simulações computacionais foram executadas para confirmar a validade do equacionamento. Um circuito montado em placa de prototipagem rápida foi apresentado, e testes de prova de conceito em baixas frequências foram realizados, mostrando uma grande semelhança entre o teórico, o simulado e o experimental. A segunda parte contou com o projeto do circuito circulador para a operação em maiores frequências. O circuito proposto é composto por três amplificadores operacionais de realimentação por corrente e vários componentes passivos. Uma análise de sensibilidade utilizando os métodos de Monte-Carlo e análise do pior caso foi aplicada, resultando em um perfil de comportamento frente às variações dos componentes do circuito e às variações da impedância de carga. Uma placa de circuito impressa foi projetada, utilizando-se de boas práticas de leiaute para a operação em altas frequências. Neste circuito montado, foram realizados os seguintes testes e medições: comportamento no domínio do tempo, faixa dinâmica, nível de isolação em relação à amplitude do sinal, largura de banda, levantamento dos parâmetros de espalhamento, e envio e recepção de sinais por transdutor de ultrassom Doppler de ondas contínuas. Os resultados dos testes de desempenho foram satisfatórios, apresentando uma banda de transmissão de sinais para frequências de 100 MHz, isolação entre portas não consecutivas de 39 dB na frequência de interesse para ultrassom Doppler e isolação maior que 20 dB para frequências de até 35 MHz. A faixa dinâmica excedeu a tensão de 5 Vpp, e o circuito teve bom comportamento no envio e na recepção simultânea de sinais pelo transdutor de ultrassom. / Traditional circulators are widely used in both telecommunications and military defense for sending and receiving signals simultaneously through a single medium. These passive circuits which are manufactured from ferromagnetic materials, have the disadvantages of having suffered an increase in dimensions, weight, and manufacturing costs along with the decrease in the operation frequency established in the designs of such devices, thus preventing their useful employment in frequencies below 500 MHz. The active circulator emerged as an alternative to the traditional ones, and has applications on frequencies ranging from a DC level to levels involving dozens of gigahertz. It is applicable when compact devices are made necessary, at a low cost, and for low frequencies. The first circuits to be introduced had a major limitation in terms of operating frequency and power delivered to the load. However, due to technological advances in electronics, problems such as the aforementioned can now be minimized. This research work presents the development of an active circulator circuit to be used in electronic instrumentation, particularly for operation at frequencies such as those used in continuous wave Doppler ultrasound equipment, ranging from 2 MHz to 10 MHz. The advantages made possible by implementing ultrasound systems with circulators are related to an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio, an increase in the transducers reception area, a simplified construction of the transducer, simplification of the demodulation/processing circuit, and a greater isolation between the transmission circuits and signal reception. In the initial phase, the proposed active circulator was modeled by means of an equating method, using both the ideal model of operational amplifiers and the model of frequency response. Computer simulations were carried out in order to confirm the validity of the equating method. A circuit mounted upon a breadboard was introduced and proof of concept assessments were performed at low frequencies, showing a great similarity among the theoretical, simulated and experimented data. The second phase is when the circulator circuits design was developed in order make its operation at higher frequencies possible. The proposed circuit is comprised of three currentfeedback operational amplifiers and several passive components. A sensitivity analysis was carried out using Monte-Carlo methods and worst-case analyses, resulting in a certain behavioral profile influenced by variations in circuit components and variations in load impedance. A printed circuit board was designed, employing good practice layout standards so that operation at high frequencies would be achieved. The following evaluations and measurements were performed on the circuit that was assembled: time domain behavior, dynamic range, isolation level relative to signal amplitude, bandwidth, survey of the scattering parameters, and transmission and reception of signals by a continuous wave Doppler ultrasound transducer. The results of the performance tests were satisfactory, presenting a 100 MHz signal transmission band, isolation between non-consecutive ports of 39 dB at the frequency of interest to the Doppler ultrasound, and an isolation greater than 20 dB for frequencies of up to 35 MHz. The dynamic range exceeded the 5Vpp and the circuit performed satisfactorily in the simultaneous transmission and reception of signals through the ultrasound\'s transducer.