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Broadband local area network cable plant design is a time consuming work, it takes lots of computation and it depends a lot on designer's experience. In this thesis the author presents an approach to cable plant design automation, the expert system was implemented in language SCHEME, symbol manipulation was used to generate the data structure (tree) which represent the design results. Signal level simulation can be performed based on the data structure.

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This paper explores the patterns of innovation among firms by using unique survey data on more than 2000 Swedish firms. The purpose of the study is to examine if broadband availability has an impact on firm-level innovation and explore differences between firms in urban and rural municipalities. A probability likelihood method is used estimating the probability of a firm being innovative or not. Using two types of explanatory variables, firm characteristics and location characteristics, the analysis show that firm characteristics are the main determinants of firm innovation. A firm that wants to increase their chances to be innovative should choose an urban location. The availability of broadband increases the probability of innovation. Firms with a good broadband connection can reach other types of knowledge and information. Organisations should therefore strive to have a good broadband connection with a high-speed internet to access external knowledge and increase the innovative activity.

Satellite broadband has the potential to provide Internet connectivity to people and places that are unreachable using other wired/wireless technologies. It is therefore a critical component of any service seeking to provide universal coverage. A universal service needs to support a range of Internet applications. While there is existing work on bulk and interactive applications with a characteristic transmission rate, popular Internet applications such as web browsing, web video download or variable-rate voice result in a network traffic that varies its transmission rate. This thesis first investigates the interaction of satellite resource request mechanisms with the quality of service offered to these variable-rate applications using a satellite platform based on DVB-RCS2. It shows that a flexible QoS architecture can be achieved by a combination of resource request methods and network-layer queuing. Variable-rate traffic also poses challenges to the widely deployed Transport Control Protocol (TCP). Previous work analysed the interaction with the congestion control algorithms and proposed Congestion Window Validation (CWV) to constrain the congestion window to the amount of traffic a transport has sent. TCP JAGO studied this problem for variable-rate bursty applications and proposed new algorithms; but these were shown to have drawbacks and there were no guidance on how to implement. This thesis therefore presents, newCWV, a practical mechanism to provide an appropriate estimate of the available path capacity and corresponding congestion control behaviour. This benefits variable-rate applications with shorter transfer durations, but has a consequence of allowing larger traffic bursts into the network that can increase packet loss. Burst mitigation techniques, such as TCP pacing, are proposed to deal with this. These techniques are implemented and tested in the Linux TCP/IP stack, where newCWV improves the burst transfer time. This benefit is particularly significant for the large delay of broadband satellite systems.

Thesis (M.M. (ICT Policy and Regulation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / The rollout of broadband through Information Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) approaches can facilitate socio-economic growth in the country. Effective implementation of broadband programs under the policy guidance of the Department of Communications (DoC) and the Presidential Infrastructure and Coordination Committee (PICC) would enhance the availability of broadband, which in turn could improve delivery of many public and private services. Furthermore, municipalities should be key stakeholdersin promoting broadband rollout, using mechanisms that are suitable for either urban or rural areas. This research report presents a qualitative case study which attempts to establish the challenges for municipal broadband initiatives that are taking effect in South Africa. The study examinesa particular set of factors that affects the rollout of broadband and investigates how factors such as funding levels, technology adaptation, business models,policy intervention and regulatory effects either promote or inhibit broadband deployment. With attention to a single, in-depth case study, the reportconsiders the challenges that the City of Tshwane Municipality has experienced when rolling out pilot projects and the extent to whichthe success of municipal broadband infrastructure rollout depends on policy and regulatory interventions. The Broadband Policy (201 0) adopted by government to facilitate the broadband initiatives has beenreviewed in this ~tudy. The research findings indicate that decisions made in all three spheres of government i.e. national, provincial and local, influence these five factors, thus affecting the rollout of broadband at municipallevei.The findings indicated that the Ministry of Communications is reviewing the current broadband policy to include more detailed guidelines and ICASA is reviewing the regulatory framework. However, it remains unclear whether the importance of the five factors articulated here will be acknowledged in these revisions.Therefore, the recommendations in this report are directed to the policy maker, the Department of Communications and the ICT Policy Review Panel, to take cognisance of the factors that affect municipal broadband rollout. A coordinated inter-governmental approach on broadband initiatives is required to deliver high speed communications infrastructure to citizens.

Despite policy rhetoric of the importance of digital access and associated Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for businesses, many rural businesses remain underserved by their broadband service. Next Generation Broadband, sometimes referred to as Superfast Broadband, through commercial investment, predominantly reaches those in high population density areas. The BDUK NGB programme seeks to readdress this digital divide. This publicly funded technology project seeks to upgrade existing fixed telecommunication networks with NGB technology, thus improving rural digital connectivity for community and businesses alike. The value of small and micro businesses to the rural economy goes without saying, yet many remain underserved, or digitally excluded, from modern day business due to inadequate digital access. This doctoral thesis has followed the deployment of the NGB fixed telecommunication upgrades in the North East of Scotland, seeking to observe the changes in the technology as 'it happened' and the implications for Rural Small and Micro Business practices. The case study area included areas of accessible and remote rural classifications to establish how digital inclusion was developed. The research has specifically sought to observe businesses prior to the NGB deployment, track changes over the duration of this project, and ascertain the impact post deployment on business digital capabilities. The key findings established that the NGB deployment programme, due to a post code led approach, has significant gaps in meeting the digital needs of these rural businesses. It established that being geographically remote, does not always constitute being digitally remote, and as result of the tracking of broadband capabilities in the businesses, identified five new typologies and associated scenario outcomes which describes the current rural digital landscape and the ramifications of this on these rural businesses.