In this thesis, I propose an algorithm for optimizing the cost involved with synchronizing the data contained in mobile wireless devices, named Expedient Trickle Sync (ETS). In this thesis, I focus on two significant cost factors: firstly, that of the cost of transmitting information across the network, and secondly, the cost associated with user access to out-of-date information. The ETS algorithm attempts to balance these two cost factors via a simple set of heuristics which calculate at regular intervals a test value, based on a variety of observations, and a threshold value which is recalculated on a daily basis. Additionally, the ETS algorithm will prioritize records based on their probability of access and the cost associated with synchronizing them, thus possibly deferring the synchronization of records with a low probability of access until it is possible to resolve their replication in a lower-cost network environment. This thesis evaluates the ETS algorithm alongside other optimistic replication algorithms in a custom developed simulation environment, the results of which show that in many use scenarios, the ETS algorithm can indeed reduce the cost of data synchronization.

Mobile devices are increasingly becoming essential in people's lives. The advancement in technology and mobility factor are allowing users to utilize mobile devices for communication, entertainment, financial planning, fitness tracking, etc. As a result, mobile applications are also becoming important factors contributing to user utility. However, battery capacity is the limiting factor impacting the quality of user experience. Hence, it is imperative to understand how much energy impact do mobile apps have on the system relative to other device activities. This thesis presents a systematic studying of the energy impact of mobile apps features. Time-series electrical current measurements are collected from 4 different modern smartphones. Statistical analysis methodologies are used to calculate the energy impact of each app feature by identifying and extracting mobile app-feature events from the overall current signal. In addition, the app overhead energy costs are also computed. Total energy consumption equations for each component is developed and an overall total energy consumption equation is presented. Minutes Lost (ML) of normal phone operations due to the energy consumption of the mobile app functionality is computed for cases where the mobile app is simulated to run on the various devices for 30 minutes. Tutela Technologies Inc. mobile app, NAT, is used for this study. NAT has two main features: QoS and Throughput. The impact of the QoS feature is indistinguishable, i.e. ML is zero, relative to other phone activities. The ML with only the TP feature enabled is on average 2.1 minutes. Enabling the GPS increases the ML on average to 11.5 minutes. Displaying the app GUI interface in addition to running the app features and enabling the GPS results in an average ML of 12.4 minutes. Amongst the various mobile app features and components studied, the GPS consumes the highest amount of energy. It is estimated that the GPS increases the ML by about 448%. / Graduate / 0544 / mustafa.abousaleh@gmail.com

Die rasante Weiterentwicklung der Technik eröffnet vielen Lebens- und Wirtschaftsbereichen völlig neue Möglichkeiten. So ist die stetige Verbesserung von mobilen Geräten auch ein Gewinn für die Kartographie. Im Bereich der erweiterten Realität sind dazu schon einige Anwendungen entwickelt worden. Diese Arbeit stellt verschiedene Augmented Reality Anwendungen vor, nicht nur aus dem Gebiet der Kartographie, sondern aus allen Lebensbereichen. Ein besonderes Augenmerk soll dabei auf der Anwendung mit mobilen Endgeräten liegen. Entstanden ist aus dieser Arbeit ein Campusführer, der nur die Namen der Gebäude anzeigt, welche der Nutzer von seiner Position aus auch tatsächlich sehen kann. Hierfür werden in der Arbeit Sichtbarkeitsanalysen im Allgemeinen und im Speziellen für GIS-Programme untersucht und vorgestellt. Auch die Beschriftung im dreidimensionalen Raum und auf dem Bildschirm von mobilen Geräten wird überblickshaft dargestellt. Abschließend wird der Campusführer getestet und bewertet sowie ein Fazit zum Thema Augmented Reality auf mobilen Endgeräten gegeben. / Undreamed-of possibilities in many areas of life and also in different economic sectors emerge owing to the rapid enhancement of technology. The constant advancement of mobile devices is also a gain for cartography. In this field some augmented reality applications have already been developed. In this thesis some augmented reality applications, not only with cartographic references, are introduced. Special attention is paid to their use on mobile devices. Furthermore a campus-guide is developed, which only displays the points of interest actually seen from the user's position. For this purpose the concept of viewsheds is introduced and examined both in general terms and especially in the use of GIS-programs. The labeling in a three-dimensional scene and on the screen of mobile devices is shortly discussed as well. Moving on, the campus-guide is tested and evaluated. Also a conclusion on the topic of augmented reality with mobile devices is given.

Society is increasingly on the move, mobile devices are commonly being used to coordinate group actions, and group communication features are rapidly being added to existing technologies. Despite this, little is known about how mobile groups act, or how communications technologies should be designed to augment existing behaviour. This is partially due to minimal research being done on the topic, but also to the lack of research methods available to study the topic with. Mobile groups are challenging to study because of frequent and long-duration movement, frequent distribution, and the rapidly changing environments they operate within. To address these issues, this research focuses on methodological issues surrounding the development of mobile devices for mobile groups and communities. More specifically it addresses backpackers, who are a relevant example of this type of community. The research primarily explores the convergence of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and the field of mobile device development. This enables the combination of emphasis on designing technologies for groups, social implications, mobile device design, and mobile settings. Major research outcomes presented in this thesis lie in three areas: 1) methods, 2) technology designs, and 3) backpacker culture. Five studies of backpacker behaviour and requirements form the core of the research. The methods used are in-situ and exploratory, and apply both novel and existing techniques to the domain of backpackers and mobile groups. Methods demonstrated in this research include: field trips for exploring mobile group behaviour and device usage, a social pairing exercise to explore social networks, contextual postcards to gain distributed feedback, and blog analysis which provides post-hoc diary data. Theoretical contributions include: observations on method triangulation, a taxonomy of mobility research, method templates to assist method usage, and identification of key categories leading to mobile group requirements. Design related outcomes include: 57 mobile tourism product ideas, a format for conveying product concepts, and a design for a wearable device to assist mobile researchers. Our understanding of backpacker culture has also improved as a consequence of the research. It has also generated user requirements to aid mobile development, methods of visualising mobile groups and communities, and a listing of relevant design tensions. Additionally, the research has added to our understanding of how new technologies such as blogs, SMS and iPods are being used by backpackers and how mobile groups naturally communicate.

In this thesis, I propose an algorithm for optimizing the cost involved with synchronizing the data contained in mobile wireless devices, named Expedient Trickle Sync (ETS). In this thesis, I focus on two significant cost factors: firstly, that of the cost of transmitting information across the network, and secondly, the cost associated with user access to out-of-date information. The ETS algorithm attempts to balance these two cost factors via a simple set of heuristics which calculate at regular intervals a test value, based on a variety of observations, and a threshold value which is recalculated on a daily basis. Additionally, the ETS algorithm will prioritize records based on their probability of access and the cost associated with synchronizing them, thus possibly deferring the synchronization of records with a low probability of access until it is possible to resolve their replication in a lower-cost network environment. This thesis evaluates the ETS algorithm alongside other optimistic replication algorithms in a custom developed simulation environment, the results of which show that in many use scenarios, the ETS algorithm can indeed reduce the cost of data synchronization.

The broad objective of the thesis is make implementation of CityScrabble, a network multiplayer game, for mobile devices based on the Android platform, using the programming language Java for Android. The specific objectives of this study were outlined as follows: a) To improve the communications protocol. b) To make the design, interface and the user interaction better. c) To correct errors in the last game. d) To implement new features. e) Evaluation session The idea to develop this game begins in a previous game that was developed by Diego Rodriguez Puerto, a student from University of Valladolid. He implemented the game using a Web service based on REST architecture, so the main aim of my project was replace the existing protocol and implement XMPP. It is an open and extensible protocol based on XML, originally designed for instant messaging. This is the protocol selected for Google messaging service Google Talk, Facebook and Myspace and other for chat. For this, I have integrated a Smack library that allows connecting, sending and receiving messages between the players’ devices and XMPP server. The most important reason why it was decided to change the protocol of the game is that if we have more than one scenario (more than a group of People playing CityScrabble at the same moment), we need to create another chat room in the server in order to differentiate between different kinds of games that are being run on the same server. In order to improve the design, as the last interface was adequate and worked property, some parts have been modified to optimize the game and make it more intuitive. A login screen, a progress dialog, a new toggle button and toasts have been integrated to correct errors in the system and improving the Diego Rodriguez version. Others objectives were also correct errors in the last application and implement new features. Some of these features have been proposed is the method of unlocking the game elements using GPS integrated in Android devices, a new login design that allows create and join games, different options depending of the scenario and program a real communications server. After completing the application, we have prepared an evaluation session in a real scenario with a group of people in order in order to see if the end user like the application has been designed and consider proposals to improve it in the future. / -

Τα σύγχρονα ασύρματα δίκτυα, διαρκώς εξελισσόμενα, δύναται να παρέχουν πλήθος σύγχρονων υπηρεσιών, ακόμα κι εκείνων που είναι ιδιαίτερα απαιτητικά σε πόρους. Αρχικά, στην εργασία αυτή, παρουσιάζονται τα χαρακτηριστικά, η δομή και η λειτουργία δύο ευρέως διαδεδομένων δικτύων:WLAN και UMTS, ενώ μελετάται η απόδοση τους σε διάφορες υπηρεσίες υπό αυξανόμενο αριθμό χρηστών. Κατόπιν, γίνεται μελέτη και προσομοίωση αυτών για διάφορα σενάρια και προκύπτουν αποτελέσματα για τη βέλτιστη αξιοποίηση των πόρων που παρέχει το κάθε δίκτυο στο χρήστη. Ακολούθως, υλοποιείται η διασύνδεση των δύο δικτύων προς σχηματισμό ενός διασυνεργαζόμενου δικτύου, με σκοπό την εκμετάλλευση των πλεονεκτημάτων που παρέχει κάθε δίκτυο ξεχωριστά. / Modern wireless networks, constantly evolving, can provide a range of modern services, even those that are highly demanding in resources. Initially, in this paper,we present the characteristics, structure and operation of two widespread networks: WLAN and UMTS, and study their performance in various departments under increasing number of users. Then, there is a simulation of these scenarios and resulting effects on the optimal use of resources provided by each network user. Subsequently we implement the interconnection of two networks to form one inter-network, in order to exploit the advantages offered by each network separately.

Submitted by Leonardo Cavalcante (leo.ocavalcante@gmail.com) on 2018-04-11T13:49:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Arquivototal.pdf: 2806305 bytes, checksum: 9bc4e21e4475e5dd6b2b19aa0bbb93f2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-11T13:49:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arquivototal.pdf: 2806305 bytes, checksum: 9bc4e21e4475e5dd6b2b19aa0bbb93f2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The research understands the dialogue as the main notion in the communication and learning definitions: it is impossible to have communication without dialogue and, therefore, learning without communication. Thenceforth, with historical and empirical support in distance learning and online teaching, we investigated the use of mobile devices in education. Our empirical and exploratory research - qualitative - had as methodological approach a study of multiple cases, carried out with the objective of analyzing the devices mobility in internet spaces , applied to undergraduate courses of Pedagogy and Languages (both in distance education) and Communication in Digital Media (formal learning), of Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). This investigation took into account the researcher's participant observations, as a student and an English teacher, in order to understand the use of mobile technologies in the learning process. The analysis allowed the understanding of the changes that the connected mobility have brought to the notions of time and space and thereby the reconfigurations on the way we learn. In this sense, participation, collaboration and interaction are seen as essential conditions for learning in mobility times. / A pesquisa entende o dialógico como noção central na definição da comunicação e aprendizagem: não é possível que ocorra comunicação sem diálogo e, por conseguinte, que intercorra aprendizagem sem comunicação. A partir daí, com amparo histórico e empírico na educação a distância (EAD) e no ensino online, investigamos o uso de dispositivos móveis na educação. A nossa pesquisa empírico-exploratória - de natureza qualitativa - teve como recurso metodológico um estudo de múltiplos casos, realizado com o objetivo de analisar a mobilidade de dispositivos em espaços da internet, aplicado aos cursos de Pedagogia (EAD), Letras (EAD) e Comunicação em Mídias Digitais (presencial), da Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). Na condução da investigação se levou em consideração as observações participantes da pesquisadora, na condição de aluna e professora de inglês, para ajudar a compreender a utilização de tecnologias móveis nos processos de aprendizagem. A análise permitiu apreender que a mobilidade conectada alterou as noções de tempo e espaço e, com isso, reconfigurou as formas de aprendizagem. Nesse sentido, participação, colaboração e interação são vistas como condições imprescindíveis para a aprendizagem em tempos de mobilidade.

With the resource constrained nature of mobile devices and the resource abundant offerings of the cloud, several promising optimisation techniques have been proposed by the green computing research community. Prominent techniques and unique methods have been developed to offload resource/computation intensive tasks from mobile devices to the cloud. Most of the existing offloading techniques can only be applied to legacy mobile applications as they are motivated by existing systems. Consequently, they are realised with custom runtimes which incur overhead on the application. Moreover, existing approaches which can be applied to the software development phase, are difficult to implement (based on manual process) and also fall short of overall (mobile to cloud) efficiency in software qualityattributes or awareness of full-tier (mobile to cloud) implications. To address the above issues, the thesis proposes a model-driven architecturefor integration of software quality with green optimisation in Mobile Cloud Applications (MCAs), abbreviated as Mango architecture. The core aim of the architecture is to present an approach which easily integrates software quality attributes (SQAs) with the green optimisation objective of Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC). Also, as MCA is an application domain which spans through the mobile and cloud tiers; the Mango architecture, therefore, takesinto account the specification of SQAs across the mobile and cloud tiers, for overall efficiency. Furthermore, as a model-driven architecture, models can be built for computation intensive tasks and their SQAs, which in turn drives the development – for development efficiency. Thus, a modelling framework (called Mosaic) and a full-tier test framework (called Beftigre) were proposed to automate the architecture derivation and demonstrate the efficiency of Mango approach. By use of real world scenarios/applications, Mango has been demonstrated to enhance the MCA development process while achieving overall efficiency in terms of SQAs (including mobile performance and energy usage compared to existing counterparts).

O presente trabalho versa sobre a importância da usabilidade no desenvolvimento de materiais educacionais digitais em dispositivos móveis voltados para o publico idoso. Para tanto, teve como objetivo construir um instrumento que possa auxiliar no processo de criação e avaliação de materiais educacionais digitais (MEDs) para dispositivos móveis voltados para o público idoso, denominado InstrUMEDS. As características da tecnologia digital podem instigar o uso pelos idosos que buscam um contato maior com a família e amigos ou simplesmente para se mantiver atualizado. Entre as tecnologias digitais, os dispositivos móveis, como smartphone e tablet, se tornaram atrativos pela facilidade na comunicação e mobilidade. Portanto, o aumento da procura por estas tecnologias, por parte dos idosos, possibilitou que diferentes estudos sejam realizados sobre usabilidade para estes dispositivos. Entendese que usabilidade é o fator que assegura que os produtos sejam eficientes, agradáveis e fáceis de usar, do ponto de vista do usuário. Neste sentido, é pertinente a construção de materiais educacionais digitais para atender os idosos, considerando não somente suas necessidades cognitivas e motoras, mas também seu contexto social e conhecimentos prévios de vida. Materiais educacionais digitais são aqueles que apresentam recursos digitais na sua elaboração. A metodologia deste estudo se constitui como quali-quantitativa, do tipo design science research. Os sujeitos da pesquisa selecionados foram 23 idosos com idade igual ou superior a 60 anos. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados três tipos de instrumentos: questionário, entrevista e observação participante. A partir da coleta de dados foi possível delimitar três categorias, bem como seus respectivos indicadores. Foram avaliados e validados 18 indicadores: Tecnológica (2 indicadores), Interface (10 indicadores) e Gerontoeducacional (7 indicadores). Para cada categoria é apresenta uma abordagem específica das áreas a serem consideradas, possibilitando, de forma significativa, a construção e avaliação dos MEDs para dispositivos móveis. Entende-se que o material resultante poderá possibilitar uma maior inclusão social para os idosos, pois o uso de materiais educacionais digitais apropriados em dispositivos móveis pode motivá-los a buscar novos horizontes e conhecimentos. / This paper discusses the importance of usability in the development of digital educational materials for mobile devices aimed at the elderly public. The goal was to build a tool that can assist in the creation and evaluation of digital educational materials (DEM) for mobile devices for the elderly in which was called InstrUMEDS. As characteristics of digital technology can instigate the use by the elderly who seek greater contact with family and friends or just to keep up. Among digital technologies, mobile devices such as smartphone and tablet, have become attractive for ease of communication and mobility. Therefore, the increased demand for these technologies, for the elderly, allowed different studies be conducted on usability for these devices. Usability is the factor that ensures that products are efficient, pleasant and easy to use, the user's point of view In this sense, it is pertinent to building digital educational materials to meet the elderly, considering not only their cognitive and motor needs but also its social context and previous knowledge of life. digital educational materials are those with digital resources in their manufacture. The methodology of this study is as qualitative and quantitative type design science research. The subjects of the research were selected 23 elderly aged over 60 years. For data collection were used three types of instruments: questionnaire, interview and participant observation. From the data collection it was possible to identify three categories and their respective indicators. They were assessed and validated 18 indicators Technology (2 indicators), interface (10 indicators) and gerontology-educational (7 indicators). For each category is presents a specific approach to the areas to be considered, allowing significantly, the construction and evaluation of MEDs for mobile devices. It is understood that the resulting material could enable greater social inclusion for the elderly, because the use of educational materials suitable for mobile devices can motivate them to seek new horizons and knowledge.