Multicast is an effective technology to save network bandwidth while transmitting data packets in WiFi networks. However, it lacks of a mechanism to recover lost packets. When interference or congestion occurs in wireless networks, the receiver cannot receive complete data. In this Thesis, we propose a multicast retransmission mechanism which integrates NACK in WiFi networks. Also, the sender can dynamically adjust retransmission parameters according to the network status reported from the receiver. To demonstrate our proposed mechanism, three parts are implemented on the Linux platform. First, the RTP header is added in each packet and the buffer is maintained in both the sender and the receiver before the sender can transmit data. Second, a module is installed in the wireless card driver to examine the CRC errors caused by interference. Then the sender can be notified by NACK such that the sender may know the reasons of packet loss and the numbers of dropped packets. Third, the sender utilizes RTCP to calculate RTT and derive RTO. The retransmission time is calculated based on RTO, interferences, and congestion. Finally, our measurement results show that the sender can effectively use multicast retransmission according to various background traffics. Besides, the number of retransmitted packets can be significantly reduced.

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have generated tremendous interest among researchers these years because of their potential usage in a wide variety of applications.<p> Sensor nodes are inexpensive portable devices with limited processing power and energy resources. Sensor nodes can be used to collect information from the environment, locally process this data and transmit the sensed data back to the user.<p> This thesis proposes a new reliable data delivery protocol for general point-to-point data delivery (unicasting) in wireless sensor networks. The new protocol is designed that aims at providing 100% reliability when possible as well as minimizing overhead and network delay. The design of the new protocol includes three components. The new protocol adopts a NACK-based hop-by-hop loss detection and recovery scheme using end-to-end sequence numbers. In order to solve the single/last packet problem in the NACK-based approach, a hybrid ACK/NACK scheme is proposed where an ACK-based approach is used as a supplement to the NACK-based approach to solve the single/last packet problem. The proposed protocol also has a new queue management scheme that gives priority to new data. By introducing the idea of a Ready_Bit and newer packet first rule in the transmission queue, nodes can detect and recover lost packets in parallel with the normal data transmission process. The performance of the new protocol is tested in a Crossbow MicaZ testbed. Experimental results show that the new protocol performs well under various system and protocol parameter settings.

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) have generated tremendous interest among researchers these years because of their potential usage in a wide variety of applications.<p> Sensor nodes are inexpensive portable devices with limited processing power and energy resources. Sensor nodes can be used to collect information from the environment, locally process this data and transmit the sensed data back to the user.<p> This thesis proposes a new reliable data delivery protocol for general point-to-point data delivery (unicasting) in wireless sensor networks. The new protocol is designed that aims at providing 100% reliability when possible as well as minimizing overhead and network delay. The design of the new protocol includes three components. The new protocol adopts a NACK-based hop-by-hop loss detection and recovery scheme using end-to-end sequence numbers. In order to solve the single/last packet problem in the NACK-based approach, a hybrid ACK/NACK scheme is proposed where an ACK-based approach is used as a supplement to the NACK-based approach to solve the single/last packet problem. The proposed protocol also has a new queue management scheme that gives priority to new data. By introducing the idea of a Ready_Bit and newer packet first rule in the transmission queue, nodes can detect and recover lost packets in parallel with the normal data transmission process. The performance of the new protocol is tested in a Crossbow MicaZ testbed. Experimental results show that the new protocol performs well under various system and protocol parameter settings.

This study deals with the complex phenomenon of occupational health. There is knowledge of how a good work environment should look like, but despite this, many employees experiences ill health in the workplace mainly in the form of neck and back pain. This study is a case study conducted in a high-risk workplace. The overall purpose was to describe and analyze the health situation of a specific company with neck and back problems. Mainly, eight interviews had been used as the data collection method, but additional observations had also been implemented. The sources used in this study are mainly reports of health, work environment, health promotion activities and neck and back pain. The results of this study showed that there are shortcomings in the work environment and they often experiences high levels of stress, but despite this, the employees thrived at work. The employees had a relatively good health despite the fact that all the interviewees indicated that they had some form of neck and back pain. The results also showed that the most important conditions to promote health were motivation, time, and healthcare in the workplace.