Depuis près de quarante ans, la recherche sur le parrainage s’inscrit dans la mouvance d’un phénomène qui ne cesse de se développer. A ce jour, plus de 55 milliards de dollars sont consacrés dans notre monde à cette pratique (Kantar, 2014). La France n’est pas en reste avec près de 2 milliards d’euros d’investissement en 2013 (FPI, 2014). Le parrainage sportif représente la majeure partie de ces dépenses, ce qui en fait l’un des secteurs les plus dynamiques de l’activité de communication marketing. La recherche porte principalement sur son impact externe (spectateurs, consommateurs,…) dans le cadre du parrainage d’entités ou d’événements sportifs au fort potentiel marketing (Jeux Olympiques, Championnats du Monde, clubs professionnels…) par de grandes entreprises. Le terrain des PME-PMI s’avère peu investi. De même, peu de recherches relatives aux conséquences de cette pratique sur le public interne du parrain ont vu le jour. Notre travail met en relief les effets de ce type de parrainage sportif sur le public interne des PME-PMI. Cette recherche base sa réflexion sur la problématique suivante : Le parrainage sportif à faible potentiel marketing et commercial par une PME-PMI engendre-t-il des effets sur les employés du parrain ?Nous développons notre réflexion autour de cette question en trois temps. Premièrement, nous précisons respectivement l’intérêt théorique et managérial de cette recherche. Une revue de la littérature sur la thématique du parrainage et du parrainage sportif est proposée. Celle-ci permet d’ériger notre définition du concept principal mobilisé dans ce travail. Puis, une étude qualitative réalisée auprès de 18 dirigeants de PME-PMI parrain confirme l’intérêt managérial du sujet et l’impact possible du parrainage sportif sur le public interne. Deuxièmement, nous réalisons une étude qualitative auprès de 16 employés de PME-PMI parrain sportif. A partir de leur discours, nous développons une data-structure qui met en relief un processus d’impact du parrainage sportif affectant leur identité organisationnelle. De plus, des effets notoires sur leur satisfaction au travail et leur implication organisationnelle sont identifiés. Troisièmement, nous confirmons l’existence de ces effets à travers une troisième étude, de nature quantitative, réalisée auprès de 421 employés de 41 PME-PMI parrains sportifs. Suite aux résultats obtenus, nous indiquons la relative méconnaissance et inexploitation du potentiel du parrainage sportif au sein de ces entreprises. Des lors, d’un point de vue managérial, cette recherche souligne les conditions optimales à mettre en place afin d’utiliser efficacement le parrainage sportif à faible ampleur marketing et commercial en tant que moyen de communication interne au sein des PME-PMI / Over the last 40 years, research on sponsorship has been growing, and so have investments in this communication instrument. Today, worldwide sponsorship investments exceed 55 billion US Dollars (Kantar, 2014), while investments in France total more than two billion Euros (FPI, 2014). Roughly two thirds of these investments concern the area of sport making sport sponsorship one of the most dynamic fields of marketing communication. In the past, research has focused mainly on the impact of sponsorship on the external targets of the sponsor, typically analyzing large multinational companies supporting large scale events with high marketing potential (Olympic games, Soccer World championships, auto racing, etc.). Very few studies have targeted the use sponsorship by SMEs. Moreover, there is a lack of research on the internal consequences of this practice. Our study focuses on the effects of sport sponsorship on the internal public of SMEs by addressing the following question: How do employees of SMEs perceive the little-mediated sponsorship activities of their employers and how are they impacted by them?This work is structured in three parts. First, a literature review about sport sponsorship highlights the theoretical and managerial interests of the research and proposes a definition of sport sponsorship. A qualitative study conducted on 18 directors of SME confirms the managerial interest of this research and sheds light on the potential impact of sport sponsorship on the internal public of this kind of company. Second, based on a qualitative study on 16 employees of SMEs, a data-structure is developed which allows to grasp the organizational identification processes that result from sponsorship activities, and the effects of these activities in terms of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In a third part, the existence of these effects is further analyzed through a quantitative survey upon 421 employees of 41 different SMEs sponsors. Overall, results show the lack of awareness and the quite confidential use of sport sponsorship within these organizations. From a managerial perspective, our research highlights the optimal conditions required to make effective use of sport sponsorship with minor marketing and sales potential by SMEs

Cognitive radios have applied various forms of artificial intelligence (AI) to wireless systems in order to solve the complex problems presented by proper link management, network traffic balance, and system efficiency. Casebased reasoning (CBR) has seen attention as a prospective avenue for storing and organizing past information in order to allow the cognitive engine to learn from previous experience. CBR uses past information and observed outcomes to form empirical relationships that may be difficult to model apriori. As wireless systems become more complex and more tightly time constrained, scalability becomes an apparent concern to store large amounts of information over multiple dimensions. This thesis presents a renewed look at an abstract application of CBR to CR. By appropriately designing a case structure with useful information both to the cognitive entity as well as the underlying similarity relationships between cases, an accurate problem description can be developed and indexed. By separating the components of a case from the parameters that are meaningful to similarity, the situation can be quickly identified and queried given proper design. A data structure with this in mind is presented that orders cases in terms of general placement in Euclidean space, but does not require the discrete calculation of distance between the query case and all cases stored. By grouping possible similarity dimension values into distinct partitions called "similarity buckets", a data structure is developed with constant (O(1)) access time, which is an improvement of several orders of magnitude over traditional linear approaches (O(n)). / Master of Science

Distributed computing is very popular in the field of computer science and is widely used in web applications. In such systems, tasks and resources are partitioned among several computers so that the workload can be shared among the different computers in the network, in contrast to systems using a single server computer. Distributed system designs are used for many practical reasons and are often found to be more scalable, robust and suitable for many applications. The aim of this thesis is to study the properties of a distributed tree data-structure that allow searches, insertions and deletions of data elements. In particular, the b- tree structure [13] is considered, which is a generalization of a binary search tree. The study consists of analyzing the effect of distributing such a tree among several computers and investigates the behavior of such structure over a long period of time by growing the network of computers supporting the tree, while the state of the structure is instantly updated as insertions and deletions operations are performed. It also attempts to validate the necessary and sufficient invariants of the b-tree-structure that guarantee the correctness of the search operations. A simulation study is also conducted to verify the validity of such distributed data-structure and the performance of the algorithm that implements it. Finally, a discussion is provided in the end of the thesis to compare the performance of the system design with other distributed tree structure designs.

Distributed computing is very popular in the field of computer science and is widely used in web applications. In such systems, tasks and resources are partitioned among several computers so that the workload can be shared among the different computers in the network, in contrast to systems using a single server computer. Distributed system designs are used for many practical reasons and are often found to be more scalable, robust and suitable for many applications. The aim of this thesis is to study the properties of a distributed tree data-structure that allow searches, insertions and deletions of data elements. In particular, the b- tree structure [13] is considered, which is a generalization of a binary search tree. The study consists of analyzing the effect of distributing such a tree among several computers and investigates the behavior of such structure over a long period of time by growing the network of computers supporting the tree, while the state of the structure is instantly updated as insertions and deletions operations are performed. It also attempts to validate the necessary and sufficient invariants of the b-tree-structure that guarantee the correctness of the search operations. A simulation study is also conducted to verify the validity of such distributed data-structure and the performance of the algorithm that implements it. Finally, a discussion is provided in the end of the thesis to compare the performance of the system design with other distributed tree structure designs.

Turing Award winner Niklaus Wirth famously noted, `Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs', and it follows that data structures should be carefully considered for effective application development. In fact, data structures are the main focus of program understanding, performance engineering, bug detection, and security enhancement, etc. Our research is aimed at providing effective techniques for analyzing and improving data structure usage in fundamentally new approaches: First, detecting data structures; identifying what data structures are used within an application is a critical step toward application understanding and performance engineering. Second, selecting efficient data structures; analyzing data structures' behavior can recognize improper use of data structures and suggest alternative data structures better suited for the current situation where the application runs. Third, detecting memory leaks for data structures; tracking data accesses with little overhead and their careful analysis can enable practical and accurate memory leak detection. Finally, offloading time-consuming data structure operations; By leveraging a dedicated helper thread that executes the operations on the behalf of the application thread, we can improve the overall performance of the application.

Distributed computing is very popular in the field of computer science and is widely used in web applications. In such systems, tasks and resources are partitioned among several computers so that the workload can be shared among the different computers in the network, in contrast to systems using a single server computer. Distributed system designs are used for many practical reasons and are often found to be more scalable, robust and suitable for many applications. The aim of this thesis is to study the properties of a distributed tree data-structure that allow searches, insertions and deletions of data elements. In particular, the b- tree structure [13] is considered, which is a generalization of a binary search tree. The study consists of analyzing the effect of distributing such a tree among several computers and investigates the behavior of such structure over a long period of time by growing the network of computers supporting the tree, while the state of the structure is instantly updated as insertions and deletions operations are performed. It also attempts to validate the necessary and sufficient invariants of the b-tree-structure that guarantee the correctness of the search operations. A simulation study is also conducted to verify the validity of such distributed data-structure and the performance of the algorithm that implements it. Finally, a discussion is provided in the end of the thesis to compare the performance of the system design with other distributed tree structure designs.

Distributed computing is very popular in the field of computer science and is widely used in web applications. In such systems, tasks and resources are partitioned among several computers so that the workload can be shared among the different computers in the network, in contrast to systems using a single server computer. Distributed system designs are used for many practical reasons and are often found to be more scalable, robust and suitable for many applications. The aim of this thesis is to study the properties of a distributed tree data-structure that allow searches, insertions and deletions of data elements. In particular, the b- tree structure [13] is considered, which is a generalization of a binary search tree. The study consists of analyzing the effect of distributing such a tree among several computers and investigates the behavior of such structure over a long period of time by growing the network of computers supporting the tree, while the state of the structure is instantly updated as insertions and deletions operations are performed. It also attempts to validate the necessary and sufficient invariants of the b-tree-structure that guarantee the correctness of the search operations. A simulation study is also conducted to verify the validity of such distributed data-structure and the performance of the algorithm that implements it. Finally, a discussion is provided in the end of the thesis to compare the performance of the system design with other distributed tree structure designs.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / At present, there is no means of instrument direct measurement to frequency deviation when it is up 500kHz. But the frequency deviation of high bit rate telemetry transmitter is 700kHz or more. In this paper, an indirect measurement method using spectrum analyzer and counter is put forward. It effectively solves the measurement problem of frequency deviation and frequency response of high bit rate telemetry transmitters. Measuring theory, summary of experiences and difficulties in measuring work, have been deeply studied with the viewpoint of how to avoid the limitation of different methods of measurement. Focused on the establishment of an automatic measuring system, expert system, skilled data and software of the system are studied in detail. The data for comparison is also supplied. Finally, the analysis to the measuring error and general uncertainty is given.

En informatique ubiquitaire, l'observation du monde physique et de son "contexte" (une représentation haut niveau de la situation physique) est essentielle. Il existe de nombreux moyens pour observer le contexte. Typiquement, cela consiste en un traitement en plusieurs étapes commençant par la récupération de données brutes issues de capteurs. Diverses technologies de capteurs sont utilisées pour la récupération d'informations de bas niveau sur les activités physiques en cours. Ces données sont ensuite rassemblées, analysées et traitées ailleurs dans les systèmes d'information afin d'offrir une reconnaissance de contexte. Les applications déployées réagissent alors en fonction du contexte/de la situation détecté(e). Parmis les capteurs utilisés, les tags RFID, une technologie émergente, permettent de créer un lien virtuel direct entre les objets physiques et les systèmes d'information. En plus de stocker des identifiants, ils offrent un espace mémoire générique aux objets auxquels ils sont attachés, offrant de nouvelles possibilités d'architectures en informatique omniprésente. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une approche originale tirant parti de l'espace mémoire offerts aux objets réels par les tags RFID. Dans notre approche, les objets supportent directement le système d'information. Ce type d'intégration permet de réduire les communications requises par le traitement à distance. Pour ce faire, des données sémantiques sont tout d'abord attachées aux objets afin de les rendre auto-descriptifs. Ainsi, les données pertinentes concernant une entité physique sont directement disponibles pour un traitement local. Les objets peuvent ensuite être liés virtuellement grâce à des structures de données dédiées ou ad hoc et distribuées sur les objets eux-mêmes. Ce faisant, le traitement des données peut se faire de façon directe. Par exemple, certaines propriétés peuvent être vérifiées localement sur un ensemble d'objets. Une relation physique peut être déduite directement de la structure de données, d'où le nom de "structures de données tangibles". Vis-à-vis des approches conventionnelles tirant parti des identifiants, notre approche offrent des avantages en termes de vie privée, de mise à l'échelle, d'autonomie et d'indépendance vis-à-vis des infrastructures. Le défi se situe au niveau de son expressivité limitée à cause du faible espace mémoire disponible sur les tags RFID. Les principes sont validés dans deux prototypes aux applications différentes. Le premier prototype est développé dans le domaine de la gestion de déchets afin d'aider le tri et d'améliorer le recyclage. Le deuxième offre des services supplémentaires, tels qu'une assistance lors du montage et de la vérification d'objets composés de plusieurs parties, grâce aux structures de données distribuées sur les différentes parties. / Pervasive computing or ambient computing aims to integrate information systems into the environment, in a manner as transparent as possible to the users. It allows the information systems to be tightly coupled with the physical activities within the environment. Everyday used objects, along with their environment, are made smarter with the use of embedded computing, sensors etc. and also have the ability to communicate among themselves. In pervasive computing, it is necessary to sense the real physical world and to perceive its “context” ; a high level representation of the physical situation. There are various ways to derive the context. Typically, the approach is a multi-step process which begins with sensing. Various sensing technologies are used to capture low level information of the physical activities, which are then aggregated, analyzed and computed elsewhere in the information systems, to become aware of the context. Deployed applications then react, depending on the context situation. Among sensors, RFID is an important emerging technology which allows a direct digital link between information systems and physical objects. Besides storing identification data, RFID also provides a general purpose storage space on objects, enabling new architectures for pervasive computing. In this thesis, we defend an original approach adopting the later use of RFID i.e. a digital memory integrated to real objects. The approach uses the principle where the objects self-support information systems. This way of integration reduces the need of communication for remote processing. The principle is realized in two ways. First, objects are piggybacked with semantic information, related to itself ; as self-describing objects. Hence, relevant information associated with the physical entities are readily available locally for processing. Second, group of related objects are digitally linked using dedicated or ad-hoc data structure, distributed over the objects. Hence, it would allow direct data processing - like validating some property involving the objects in proximity. This property of physical relation among objects can be interpreted digitally from the data structure ; this justifies the appellation “Tangible Data Structures”. Unlike the conventional method of using identifiers, our approach has arguments on its benefits in terms of privacy, scalability, autonomy and reduced dependency with respect to infrastructure. But its challenge lies in the expressivity due to limited memory space available in the tags. The principles are validated by prototyping in two different application domains. The first application is developed for waste management domain that helps in efficient sorting and better recycling. And the second, provides added services like assistance while assembling and verification for composite objects, using the distributed data structure across the individual pieces.

Problemas de projeto de redes (PPRs) são muito importantes uma vez que envolvem uma série de aplicações em áreas da engenharia e ciências. Para solucionar as limitações de algoritmos convencionais para PPRs que envolvem redes complexas do mundo real (em geral modeladas por grafos completos ou mesmo esparsos de larga-escala), heurísticas, como os algoritmos evolutivos (EAs), têm sido investigadas. Trabalhos recentes têm mostrado que estruturas de dados adequadas podem melhorar significativamente o desempenho de EAs para PPRs. Uma dessas estruturas de dados é a representação nó-profundidade (NDE, do inglês Node-depth Encoding). Em geral, a aplicação de EAs com a NDE tem apresentado resultados relevantes para PPRs de larga-escala. Este trabalho investiga o desenvolvimento de uma nova representação, baseada na NDE, chamada representação nó-profundidade-grau (NDDE, do inglês Node-depth-degree Encoding). A NDDE é composta por melhorias nos operadores existentes da NDE e pelo desenvolvimento de novos operadores de reprodução possibilitando a recombinação de soluções. Nesse sentido, desenvolveu-se um operador de recombinação capaz de lidar com grafos não-completos e completos, chamado EHR (do inglês, Evolutionary History Recombination Operator). Foram também desenvolvidos operadores de recombinação que lidam somente com grafos completos, chamados de NOX e NPBX. Tais melhorias tem como objetivo manter relativamente baixa a complexidade computacional dos operadores para aumentar o desempenho de EAs para PPRs de larga-escala. A análise de propriedades de representações mostrou que a NDDE possui redundância, assim, foram propostos mecanismos para evitá-la. Essa análise mostrou também que o EHR possui baixa complexidade de tempo e não possui tendência, além de revelar que o NOX e o NPBX possuem uma tendência para árvores com topologia de estrela. A aplicação de EAs usando a NDDE para PPRs clássicos envolvendo grafos completos, tais como árvore geradora de comunicação ótima, árvore geradora mínima com restrição de grau e uma árvore máxima, mostrou que, quanto maior o tamanho das instâncias do PPR, melhor é o desempenho relativo da técnica em comparação com os resultados obtidos com outros EAs para PPRs da literatura. Além desses problemas, um EA utilizando a NDE com o operador EHR foi aplicado ao PPR do mundo real de reconfiguração de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica (envolvendo grafos esparsos). Os resultados mostram que o EHR possibilita reduzir significativamente o tempo de convergência do EA / Network design problems (NDPs) are very important since they involve several applications from areas of Engineering and Sciences. In order to solve the limitations of traditional algorithms for NDPs that involve real world complex networks (in general, modeled by large-scale complete or sparse graphs), heuristics, such as evolutionary algorithms (EAs), have been investigated. Recent researches have shown that appropriate data structures can improve EA performance when applied to NDPs. One of these data structures is the Node-depth Encoding (NDE). In general, the performance of EAs with NDE has presented relevant results for large-scale NDPs. This thesis investigates the development of a new representation, based on NDE, called Node-depth-degree Encoding (NDDE). The NDDE is composed for improvements of the NDE operators and the development of new reproduction operators that enable the recombination of solutions. In this way, we developed a recombination operator to work with both non-complete and complete graphs, called EHR (Evolutionary History Recombination Operator). We also developed two other operators to work only with complete graphs, named NOX and NPBX. These improvements have the advantage of retaining the computational complexity of the operators relatively low in order to improve the EA performance. The analysis of representation properties have shown that NDDE is a redundant representation and, for this reason, we proposed some strategies to avoid it. This analysis also showed that EHR has low running time and it does not have bias, moreover, it revealed that NOX and NPBX have bias to trees like stars. The application of an EA using the NDDE to classic NDPs, such as, optimal communication spanning tree, degree-constraint minimum spanning tree and one-max tree, showed that the larger the instance is, the better the performance will be in comparison whit other EAs applied to NDPs in the literatura. An EA using the NDE with EHR was applied to a real-world NDP of reconfiguration of energy distribution systems. The results showed that EHR significantly decrease the convergence time of the EA