Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2002. / Adviser: Charles Schweger. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-188).

Resource location is a necessary operation for computer applications. In large scale peer-to-peer systems, random search is a scalable approach for locating dynamic resources. Current peer-to-peer systems can be partitioned into those which rely upon the Internet for message routing and those which utilize an overlay network. These two approaches result in different connectivity topologies. This thesis analyzes the effect of topological differences on the effectiveness of random search. After demonstrating the benefits of an overlay network, we propose a hybrid approach for resource location. Our proposed protocol provides deterministic searching capabilities which can help prevent request failures for sensitive applications.

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In every market, competition is a vital ingredient for any working market economy. Large stores like IKEA, OnOff and El-Giganten are often positioned in locations near each other. Shopping areas like Gekås have proven to have large attraction power towards the customers. In down-town shopping areas it is common that large stores take advantage of each other’s capabilities to invoke customers’ interest. By doing so, businesses work together to create a large customer base. The purpose of this paper is to determine how owners and managers of medium sized retail stores should choose location for their shop. Both a qualitative and quantitative approach were used in this thesis; the qualitative approach was used for conducting interviews with 6 people involved in running the stores and municipality. This was done to collect information from actors that had the experience and knowledge about the subject of the thesis. The quantitative approach involved a survey done upon shopping habits of consumers in the same area. The reason for conducting both these researches was to diminish the biased answers that we would have got from conducting the research from one group only. By asking the store managers/owner and customers, as well as a representative of the municipality, we were able to provide a complete perspective on the situation. Our findings showed that there were some major differences between a down-town shopping area and a shopping mall. It also became clear that the preferences and capabilities of the stores were important for selecting locations. Consumer preference on where to go shop was showed to be almost the same for A6 and down-town with a slight advantage towards A6. Still, the requirements on opening a store in a shopping mall oppose down-town was different.

Fault location in distribution systems is a critical component of outage management and service restoration, which directly impacts feeder reliability and quality of the electricity supply. Improving fault location methods supports the Department of Energy (DOE) “Grid 2030” initiatives for grid modernization by improving reliability indices of the network. Improving customer average interruption duration index (CAIDI) and system average interruption duration index (SAIDI) are direct advantages of utilizing a suitable fault location method. As distribution systems are gradually evolving into smart distribution systems, application of more accurate fault location methods based on gathered data from various Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) installed along the feeders is quite feasible. How this may be done and what is the needed methodology to come to such solution is raised and then systematically answered. To reach this goal, the following tasks are carried out: 1) Existing fault location methods in distribution systems are surveyed and their strength and caveats are studied. 2) Characteristics of IEDs in distribution systems are studied and their impacts on fault location method selection and implementation are detailed. 3) A systematic approach for selecting optimal fault location method is proposed and implemented to pinpoint the most promising algorithms for a given set of application requirements. 4) An enhanced fault location method based on voltage sag data gathered from IEDs along the feeder is developed. The method solves the problem of multiple fault location estimations and produces more robust results. 5) An optimal IED placement approach for the enhanced fault location method is developed and practical considerations for its implementation are detailed.

Mining operations can produce highly localized, low intensity earthquakes that are referred to as microseismic events. Monitoring of microseismic events is useful in predicting and comprehending hazards, and in evaluating the overall performance of a mine design. <p>A robust localization algorithm is used to estimate the source position of the microseismic event by selecting the hypothesized source location that maximizes an energy function generated from the sum of the time--aligned sensor signals. The accuracy of localization for the algorithm characterized by the variance depends in part upon the configuration of sensors. Two algorithms, MAXSRC and MINMAX, are presented that use the variance of localization error, in a particular direction, as a performance measure for a given sensor configuration.<p>The variance of localization error depends, in part, upon the energy spectral density of the microseismic event. The energy spectral density characterization of sensor signals received in two potash mines are presented and compared using two spectral estimation techniques: multitaper estimation and combined time and lag weighting. It is shown that the difference between the the two estimation techniques is negligible. However, the differences between the two mine characterizations, though not large, is significant. An example uses the characterized energy spectral densities to determine the variance of error for a single step localization algorithm.<p>The MAXSRC and MINMAX algorithms are explained. The MAXSRC sensor placement algorithm places a sensor as close as possible to the source position with the maximum variance. The MINMAX sensor placement algorithm minimizes the variance of the source position with the maximum variance after the sensor has been placed. The MAXSRC algorithm is simple and can be solved using an exhaustive search while the MINMAX algorithm uses a genetic algorithm to find a solution. These algorithms are then used in three examples, two of which are simple and synthetic. The other example is from Lanigan Potash Mine. The results show that both sensor placement algorithms produce similar results, with the MINMAX algorithm consistently doing better. The MAXSRC algorithm places a single sensor approximately 100 times faster than the MINMAX algorithm. The example shows that the MAXSRC algorithm has the potential to be an efficient and intuitively simple sensor placement algorithm for mine microseismic event monitoring. The MINMAX algorithm provides, at an increase in computational time, a more robust placement criterion which can be solved adequately using a genetic algorithm.

This thesis investigates the suitability of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals for cellular phone location. The requirement is to determine and report the location of a phone during an emergency call.<p> The thesis analyzes acquisition and tracking techniques suitable for very weak signals as received by a cellular phone indoors. The L1 and L5 signals from GPS satellites and the L1 signal from Galileo satellites are considered. It is shown that long integration times and coherent integration are required for the weakest expected signals. Long coherent integration times require a precise knowledge of the Doppler shift due to the range rate of the satellite. The tolerance to Doppler shift can be increased by using FFTs in the analysis of the data. Non-coherent averaging techniques improve the Doppler tolerance but compared to coherent averaging, the loss of signal to noise ratio is too large for the weakest signals.<p> Coherent averaging of the GPS L1 signal requires data removal that can be accomplished with assistance from the cellular network. The GPS L5 and Galileo L1 signals include a data-less or pilot channel. The GPS L5 pilot channel includes a 20 bit Neuman Hoffman code with a bit period of 1 ms. This code has to be acquired or removed before coherent averaging. Similarly the Galileo pilot channel includes a 25 bit short code.<p> Once code acquisition has been accomplished, it is necessary to track the signals from at least four satellites for long enough to compute a position estimate. A discussion of tracking techniques is included to show the signal to noise ratio limitations for adequate tracking accuracy.<p> The results show that GNSS signals are suitable for cellular phone location in a large number of situations. Increased receiver sensitivity would permit location in additional situations. In rural situations GNSS may be the only available option.

Abstract Title: Innovation and its influence of LBS company: Jiepang in China Level: Final assignment for Master of Business Administration   Author: Yang OU, Zijian LI   Supervisor: Maria. Fregidou-Malama   Date: 2012-June   Aim: Chinese firms desire to win the market, and they should consider innovation. The aim of the study is to explore the effects of innovation for LBS firm to gain success in China. Method: The main research method is case study. Jiepang as our case company is a LBS firm in China. And we interview two persons from different department, and one is its co-founder. Result &amp; Conclusions: Innovative action and behavior must cover whole organization, all employees should be participant. In China, LBS is a rising industry, but LBS firms face to many threats from competitors and substitutes too. Thereby in order to survive in the market and gain success, innovation is a very important strategy for LBS firm, but not the unique method.       Suggestions for future research: Open innovation process is becoming a hot topic currently, so how to innovate with customer or user, how to cooperate with them? And if the data collection can take from multi-cases, it would be make research result more convincing.         Contribution of the thesis: In this study, we introduce and popularize a new industry, LBS in China. And we give a deeper understanding of the importance of innovation and how innovation can improve the competitiveness of the company in this industry.

A private telecom carrier partnered with the University of Waterloo to examine opportunities to improve their asset management processes. A reliance on traditional CAD technology made it difficult to generate an enterprise view of operational assets, such as poles and cables, since CAD documents were limited to neighbourhood scale coverage. The CAD documents had to communicate logical and locational properties of these assets. These requirements were often at odds since the elements in these CAD documents were occasionally moved to clarify logical aspects, the most common being connectivity with other telecommunications hardware. Elements within the drawings were also restricted to two dimensions, a legacy of early adoption of CAD technology within the telecom carrier. Developments in GIS and architectural technology that have occurred since the introduction of CAD offer opportunities to manage assets using enterprise geospatial systems with three dimensional content. Prominent technologies and standards, such as CityGML and Oracle, will be examined to develop a model to support requirements related to service location. A service location for this paper is a site that requires the deployment of specific resources to meet the needs of a service request. Additionally, as location displacement is an issue that needs to be addressed, an evaluation of data quality processes related to location will be presented. The results from this evaluation will then be used to construct a final standards based 3D geospatial service location model, one that should address the needs of the partner carrier.