Advances in smart technologies, wireless networking, and increased interest in contextual services have led to the emergence of ubiquitous and pervasive computing as one of the most promising areas of computing in recent years. Smart Spaces, in particular, have gained significant interest within the research community. Currently, most Smart Spaces rely on physical components, such as sensors, to acquire information about the real-world environment. Although current sensor networks can acquire some useful contextual information from the physical environment, their information resources are often limited, and the data acquired is often unreliable. We argue that by introducing social network information into such systems, smarter and more adaptive spaces can be created. Social networks have recently become extremely popular, and are now an integral part of millions of people’s daily lives. Through social networks, users create profiles, build relationships, and join groups, forming intermingled sets and communities. Social Networks contain a wealth of information, which, if exploited properly, can lead to a whole new level of smart contextual services. A mechanism is therefore needed to extract data from heterogeneous social networks, to link profiles across different networks, and to aggregate the data obtained. We therefore propose the design and implementation of a Smart Spaces framework that utilizes the social context. In order to manage services and sessions, we integrate our system with the IP Multimedia Subsystem. Our system, which we call SocioSpace, includes full design and implementation of all components, including the central server, the location management system, the social network interfacing system, the service delivery platform, and user agents. We have built a prototype for proof of concept and carried out exhaustive performance analysis; the results show that SocioSpace is scalable, extensible, and fault-tolerant. It is capable of creating Smart Spaces that can truly deliver adaptive services that enhance the users’ overall experience, increase their satisfaction, and make the surroundings more beneficial and interesting to them. / Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-30 11:14:29.054

There is an international effort to develop smart grids to overcome the problems caused by aging power grids. However, to immigrate to the new grid, the IT infrastructure has to be integrated with the current power grid. There is currently an ongoing debate surrounding what would be the best choice for smart grid communication technology. One of the promising communication technologies for smart grid realization is powerline communication (PLC). PLC provides utilities the opportunity of managing their own network infrastructure. Power cables are everywhere; even rural areas are covered with power cables. However, because of its noisy environment and the low capacity of narrowband powerline communication (NBPLC), its viability for smart grid realization is being questioned. To investigate this issue, smart grid communication network requirements and powerline communication technologies and channel models are studied. Then, using MATLAB and Network Simulator-2, powerline communication and a smart grid communication network (SGCN) are simulated. The performance of different powerline channels for smart grid realization is investigated and a viable PLC infrastructure for smart grid communication network is proposed. Furthermore, to have a better understanding of the viability of powerline communication for the smart grid, some future smart grid advanced applications are investigated and integrated to the system. It is shown that although two types of powerline channels do not perform well, the proposed powerline communication infrastructure, even under advanced traffic, is capable of providing the smart grid with its communication prerequisites. / Thesis (Master, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-30 15:31:43.471

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Technische Universiteit Delft, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 335-348).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-63). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-194). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (doctoral)--Tampere University of Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 142-146). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed on Jan. 10, 2006) "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Management." Includes bibliographical references.