Addressing climate change is a major undertaking. Agricultural soil has the potential to assist in decreasing the concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere by storing CO2 in the soil. Carbon offset markets have been suggested as a cost effective means of reducing GHG emissions. Farmers can increase their soil sink potential by applying Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs) that enhance carbon sequestration through improvements to soil, nutrient and livestock management practices (Fulton et. al., 2005). Whether or not a market for carbon offsets will emerge depends on a number of factors which mainly are related to the profitability of the BMPs and the costs of implementing a carbon contract. Provided that a market for carbon offsets emerges, the effectiveness of the market depends, in part, on the degree to which buyers and sellers in the market comply with the terms of the contracts they sign. The resource costs associated with monitoring and verification may result in incomplete monitoring. As long as monitoring is not perfect, non-compliance will be an issue. <p>The analysis that will be performed in this thesis introduces non-compliance in the economic analysis of carbon-offset market. The purpose of this work is to examine the overall cost effectiveness of the carbon-offset market when introducing non-compliance. <p>Firstly the theoretical model investigates the incentives for different farmers to participate in the carbon offsets market as well as incentives for engaging in cheating. The model recognizes farmers heterogeneity with respect to cost differences and examines the economic determinants of farmers non-compliance as well as the consequences of non-compliance on the performance of the carbon-offset market. Results support the standard finding that the extent of producers non-compliance decreases with an increase in the audit probability and/or an increase in the penalty per unit of non-compliance. In addition, the number of producers participating in the carbon offsets market is shown to increase with an increase in the carbon-offset price.<p> The analysis then introduces intermediaries in the market that will take care of trading carbon offsets as well as monitoring producers. The traders role in this study is played by an IOF (investor owned-firm) or a PA (producers association). Within the IOF, the analysis focuses on the monopoly and oligopoly structures. The key role of the traders is to guarantee, based on the amount of monitoring that is undertaken, that the emitters purchase only carbon offsets that actually correspond to sequestered carbon. The analysis then examines three cases for the group that monitors farmers compliance a group owned by for-profit traders, a government-run agency and a group owned by the PA trader. This part of the thesis examines what impact the involvement of the traders in the carbon-offset market has on non-compliance, as well as how the structure of the monitoring group affects non-compliance and the amount of carbon offsets traded in the market. The results of the analysis show that the monitoring groups always undertake sufficient monitoring to ensure that full compliance is achieved thus, while non-compliance is possible, it does not occur in equilibrium. The finding suggests that the formation of a government monitoring agency can potentially increase traded output and lower the price paid by emitters, still these changes are likely to be small, particularly when the trading sector is monopolistic. The overall analysis in this chapter shows that the optimal amount of enforcement, and as a result the cost effectiveness of a carbon-offset market, depends on the nature of the organization that undertakes the enforcement. <p>The next consideration of the thesis is the heterogeneity attributed to the timing of sequestration by different farmers. The analysis focuses on the carbon offsets pooling by considering two structures for the aggregator: a for-profit aggregator and a producers association. Pooling resources enables the farmers to benefit from economies of scale. The pricing schedule used by the aggregator is a two-part tariff. The two-part tariff is used as a way of providing an incentive for the farmers sequestering large amounts of carbon to participate in the pool. The study considers two alternatives for the coefficients that might be used to decide on the amount of carbon offsets to which each farmer will be entitled: default coefficient and custom coefficients. Each situation is modeled in a principal agent framework. <p>The analysis examines how the aggregator will target the monitoring service for different group of farmers. The investigation reveals that, under different scenarios, a PA or a FPA (for-profit aggregator) might lead to the formation of a heterogeneous pool or a homogeneous pool of each type. <p>The last issue investigated in this dissertation is the coexistence of a FPA and a PA in the default coefficient case. The analysis show that both aggregator structures can exist together in the market in the same time if the savings in the monitoring costs made possible by the PA are smaller than the cost of organizing the pool. If this condition is not satisfied the FPA cannot survive in the market and the producers association will dominate. <p>In addition to providing a better understanding of how the carbon-offset market may perform when introducing non-compliance, the results of this study can assist in assessing the cost effectiveness of the carbon-offset market when enforcement is undertaken by different organizations. Furthermore, the last consideration of the pooling option might help in selecting which type of pool a heterogeneous or a homogeneous one might perform better under different alternatives.

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was signed by almost 200 countries in order to define targets for future work within sustainability and to reduce further climate impact. Since then, the European Union has taken these targets in earnest and implemented purposeful legislation for all of its members. The Swedish government has introduced an even more ambitious climate policy framework in order to achieve as low national pollution levels as possible. By doing so, regional and local authorities have been forced to take action in order to meet the defined targets for 2030 and 2050. This implies that the Swedish transport sector is now facing a major challenge - to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 70 % as of the level of 2010. A common opinion is that electric vehicles may play an important role in this task. To establish electric drivelines within the transport sector has been a worldwide vision for decades and it seems to be one of the most promising options today. Sweco has together with AB Volvo, Volvo Cars AB, Göteborg Energi, ABB Ltd and Vattenfall AB financed the official project PussEL. Mainly, the purpose of this project was to estimate the potential of a full electrification of the transport sector in a medium size city by 2030. For this project, it was of particular interest to use Gothenburg, Sweden, as a case study. It has been most relevant to consider the electrification of road transport, including both private and public transport as well as goods distribution. The analysis has resulted in a message to residents, businesses and politicians, that an extensive electrification is doable. However, the results also indicate that the distribution grid will require a significant extension. It will definitely require serious effort and will rely on the implementation of smart and controllable vehicle charging. Nevertheless, this might be just what it takes to become one of the world leading countries in sustainable transports. Secondly, the purpose of this thesis is also to clarify the potential of the local parking company to act as an aggregator for charging and discharging of electric vehicles. By considering local driving patterns, parking profiles in car parks, as well as prerequisites of the electricity markets, it has been possible to identify the technical potential. It has been of interest to investigate services including both smart charging (V1G) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G), in order to support an extensive electrification. The estimation has been done using available software from MathWorks: MATLAB. Previous research states that battery degradation from V2G services varies according to the depth of discharge (DOD). Thus, it is desired to utilize services that require a small DOD in order to minimize the reduction of battery lifetime. Considering the economic potential, this thesis examines several available services as an aggregator. Due to the variable capacity in each car parkin combination with the requirements set by the electricity markets, some services have been excluded at an early stage of the analysis. Although, besides economic profitability, a key to success is to keep the concept user-friendly. It must be kept in mind that car owners most likely will prioritize the freedom of mobility rather than leasing their vehicles as mobile batteries. As the Swedish lawyer Thomas Thorild once said: To think freely is great, but to think rightly is greater.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine households attitudes and commitment to demand side flexibility as well as the various actors perceptions of the division of responsibilities in the electricity market and the information available to households. Research questions:                   – What are the main factors for private electricity customers to be able to contribute with demand side flexibility to the electricity system? – What challenges and opportunities can be identified with increased demand side flexibility? Method: The study was based on an abductive approach, where the collection of primary data is of a quantitative and qualitative nature. The qualitative part was collected through 9 semi-structured interviews with actors linked to the electricity market. Collection of quantitative data was done through a survey aimed at households with a total of 110 respondents. The results of the data collection have been analyzed thematically together with the theoretical framework. Conclusions: The main factors for increased demand flexibility are, firstly, a clear division of responsibilities between authorities, households and other players in the electricity market. Secondly, well-developed information channels are required that can be made possible through new technology. Finally, an electricity market is required that allows new actors such as an aggregator. The challenges include engaging households, currently low profitability for demand side flexibility and a set of regulations and tariffs that are lagging behind in development. The opportunities are future changes in the electricity price that speak in favor of increased profitability for demand side flexibility and a change to more dynamic and flexible electricity network tariffs.

This MSc Thesis was performed during a study stay at the Hochschule Furtwangen University, Furtwangen, Germany. This Master Project provides a theoretical background for understanding financial market principles. It focuses on foreign exchange market, where it gives a description of fundamentals and price analysis. Further, it covers principles of high-frequency trading including strategy, development and cost. FIX protocol is the financial market communication protocol and is discussed in detail. The core part of Master Project are sorting algorithms, these are covered on theoretical and practical level. Aggregator design includes implementation environment, specification and individual parts of aggregator application represented as objects. Implementation overview can be found in last Chapter.

Photographs, documents and other types of digitised data from the cultural heritage are collected in central databases to be made available to the public. These databases are known as aggregators. The aggregated data often have different purpose and formats, since they are created to suit the purpose of an individual institution. Metadata is data describing other data and is used to streamline the search through the different stored object within the aggregators.If all the stored metadata uses the same decided standard the search among the objects is quick and efficient. It is a common problem within aggregators that the stored metadata is of a lacking quality. When the quality of the metadata is lacking the search among the objects within the aggregator is slow, difficult and timeconsuming. The search may even give faulty results. In some cases data can go lost within large collections of data if the metadata is incorrect or missing. The knowledge about digitalisation and the resources to perform it, are often lacking in eg. a museum. This can sometimes lead to errors in the metadata. In 2019 a modell within machinelearning was developed during a project with the purpose to identify errors in the metadata of the swedish cultural heritage board’s aggregator K-samsök. In this study the modells ability to identify errors been evaluated. This evaluation was used to answer the following question: How can good quality of metadata be maintained whithin a organisation with support from a modell whithin machinelearning? This research contributes to the academy by informing the academy that there is still a problem that the quality of metadata in aggregators is of lacking quality. The research also provides suggestions for solutions to the problem, which in turn can give rise to further research. These solution suggestions are also of value to the Swedish National Heritage Board, as the study has been conducted with a focus on their aggregator K-samsök. The machine learning models can also be further developed and implemented by the Swedish National Heritage Board, which means that the models can provide value in the form of a basis to start from when improving the quality of the metadata stored in K-samsök

Due to its ubiquitous availability, Short Message Service (SMS), first introduced in the 1980s, became not only the most popular way of communication, but also stimulated the development of SMS-based value added services. This application-to-person traffic is delivered to end users through SMS aggregators who provide the link between service providers and mobile carriers. In order to perform optimal traffic routing, the aggregators need to estimate the quality of each potential international route to the specified destination. The evaluation criteria include end-to-end delivery time, as well as correct verification of delivered data. This thesis suggests a method of quality of service (QoS) assessment for international SMS service which combines two types of tests, end-to-end delay measurements and various verification tests. A prototype of the testing system for international SMS service was developed to generate SMS traffic, collect and analyze results, and evaluate the experienced QoS of the SMS route used in accordance with the proposed approach. As a part of end-to- end delay measurement tests, SMS traffic was sent to Singtel network in Singapore along two routes. The verification tests were executed via different routes to two mobile networks: Singtel and Tele2 (Sweden). The results of the performed measurements determined the route with the highest QoS, i.e. the one with bigger bottleneck bandwidth and lower data loss rate. The prototype of the SMS testing system can be used by SMS aggregators to verify delivery of a SMS message, check the integrity of the message, figure out interconnection type of the route supplier with the destination carrier and to identify the presence of load balancers in the path. The prototype also makes it possible to compare end-to-end delay times of several routes and compute bottleneck values for each of the tested routes.

The demand for electricity of a particular location can vary significantly based on season, ambient temperature, time of the day etc. High demand can result in very high wholesale price of electricity. The reason for this is very short operating duration of peaking power plants which require large capital investments to establish. Those power plants remain idle for most of the time of a year except for some peak demand periods during hot summer days. This process is inherently inefficient but it is necessary to meet the uninterrupted power supply criterion. With the advantage of new technologies, demand response can be a preferable alternative, where peak reduction can be obtained during the short durations of peak demand by controlling loads. Some controllable loads are with thermal inertia and some loads are deferrable for a short duration without making any significant impact on users' lifestyle and comfort. Demand response can help to attain supply - demand balance without completely depending on expensive peaking power plants. In this research work, an incentive-based model is considered to determine the potential of peak demand reduction due to the participation of residential customers in a demand response program. Electric water heating and air-conditioning are two largest residential loads. In this work, hot water preheating and air-conditioning pre-cooling techniques are investigated with the help of developed mathematical models to find out demand response potentials of those loads. The developed water heater model is validated by comparing results of two test-case simulations with the expected outcomes. Additional energy loss possibility associated with water preheating is also investigated using the developed energy loss model. The preheating temperature set-point is mathematically determined to obtain maximum demand reduction by keeping thermal loss to a minimal level. Case studies are performed for 15 summer days to investigate the demand response potential of water preheating. Similarly, demand response potential associated with pre-cooling operation of air-conditioning is also investigated with the help of the developed mathematical model. The required temperature set-point modification is determined mathematically and validated with the help of known outdoor temperature profiles. Case studies are performed for 15 summer days to demonstrate effectiveness of this procedure. On the other hand, total load and demand response potential of a single house is usually too small to participate in an incentive-based demand response program. Thus, the scope of combining several houses together under a single platform is also investigated in this work. Monte Carlo procedure-based simulations are performed to get an insight about the best and the worst case demand response outcomes of a cluster of houses. In case of electrical water heater control, aggregate demand response potential of 25 houses is determined. Similarly, in case of air-conditioning control (pre-cooling), approximate values of maximum, minimum and mean demand reduction amounts are determined for a cluster of 25 houses. Expected increase in indoor temperature of a house is calculated. Afterwards, the air-conditioning demand scheduling algorithm is developed to keep aggregate air-conditioning power demand to a minimal level during a demand response event. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. / Master of Science

台灣近年來傳統的音樂工業、影視娛樂業與廣播媒體業等產業正蓬勃發展，這些產業看似傳統，不像所謂「高科技產業」般大起大落，但隨著台灣文化資產的累積，這些所謂傳統產業卻逐漸形成一種新興的「文化創意產業」，若再將這些文化創意、創作的內容加以「數位化」，透過各種數位媒體通路加以傳播、付費收看收聽，便形成一種結合「內容」與「數位科技」的「數位內容加值服務產業」，若能有效將數位科技與文化內容的優勢充分結合，發揮綜效，台灣應有相當機會能在全球數位內容產業發展上佔有重要地位。 綜觀產業發展趨勢，可知數位內容產業在國內正不斷成長，而本文欲研究的「數位內容加值服務產業」為整體數位內容產業的一個子產業，概觀來說，數位內容加值服務產業便是將音樂、圖片、文字、影片等各式內容加以數位化，再透過寬頻網站、手機行動通訊、互動數位電視或Cable TV等三大電信與媒體通路來提供使用者各式加值服務的產業。科技先進大國中，國家資訊通訊高速公路NII均是由三大網路所組合，包括「電腦數據網路」、「無線電信網路」、「有線電視網路」三大網路，二十一世紀之3C產業將和三大網路結合，並對世界產生革命性的影響。 數位內容加值服務產業之市場主要可區分為三大市場，即寬頻影音網站市場、手機行動加值市場、互動數位電視市場。此三大市場中以寬頻影音網站發展最早也較為成熟。手機行動加值市場因MMS、Java download技術的創新，在近一兩年內開始成長，主要由遠傳、中華電信、台灣大哥大等五大電信公司與內容整合廠商合作經營，國內目前最大行動加值內容整合廠商即為滾石移動。至於互動電視與數位電視市場國內才剛起步，主要推動業者分為走ADSL系統的電信業者以及走Cable系統的有線電視業者， 因應整體產業價值鏈專業分工的需求，一種新興的角色：平台與內容整合廠商(Aggregator)也隨之誕生，在數位內容加值服務產業中扮演了非常關鍵的角色，然而國內幾乎沒有任何論文針對內容整合廠商之經營管理議題進行研究，因此本研究以內容整合廠商做為主要研究對象，並以下游合作電信系統廠商之研究加以比較。研究結果發現該產業中內容整合廠商與電信系統廠商實有密不可分之合作關係，而在經營策略與所需具備之核心能力方面各有其獨特之處。 以經營策略而言部份廠商選擇廣泛的進入三大市場，一方面增加獲利來源，一方面也可增加範疇經濟，有些廠商則選擇專注於某一塊市場，建立在該市場上的品牌地位與競爭優勢。而經營數位內容加值服務所需具備之核心能力，主要有三：(1)需有優秀的經營團隊與技術人才；(2)與上下游廠商建立密切合作關係並在平台系統上能相互整合；(3)擁有豐富影音內容，合作內容廠商廣泛。此外各廠商均有堅強的技術團隊，依據價值鏈地位與經營市場不同，建立自己獨特的數位內容管理系統及管理機制，此系統的功能通常包含內容本身的管理功能，以及與上下游廠商介接或提供使用者加值服務的功能模組，而像滾石移動的MASP系統更是一個多重接入的平台，能將電腦、行動通訊、電話三大系統整合於一套系統中。 跨足數位內容加值服務市場並非容易的事，要有足夠實力的技術人員開發內容管理系統，且依價值鏈不同地位要能與各大電信系統廠商建立合作關係，或是能整合上游唱片業、電視業、電影業、廣播業等內容來源，此外再加上擁有良好的專案管理能力，如此才能在此產業中長久經營，建立自己的競爭優勢。 本研究最後針對國內數位內容加值服務產業在寬頻影音、行動加值、數位互動電視三大市場的發展趨勢做一整理，並對政府機關、相關廠商提出具體之建議，期做為未來政府推動產業發展與業者投入產業經營之參考。 / An Exploratory Study on Business Management of Digital Content Aggregator:The Case of Digital Content Value-added Service Industry Advisor : Professor Paul C.B. Liu Author : C.H. Tsai Abstract The traditional musical industry, video entertainment industry, and broadcasting media industry in Taiwan are growing these years. Didn’t rise and fall violently like so called “high tech. companies”, these industries seem traditional and old-fashioned. Accompanies the accumulation of culture asset in Taiwan, however, these traditional industries gradually form a burgeoning “Creative Culture Industry”. If the cultural creativities and creative contents can be digitalized and been transmitted through variety of media with watching or listening fee, it becomes a new “Digital Content Value-added Service Industry” which is combined with “content” and “digitalization technology”. If we can integrate our digital technologies and rich cultural content efficiently to result in synergy, there is probably a big chance that Taiwan can play a major role of digital content industry in the world. Comprehensively surveying the trend of industry, we know the whole digital content industry is growing constantly. The “digital content value-added service industry” (DCVS) this thesis study on is a sub-industry of the whole digital content industry. Briefly speaking, the DCVS digitalize music, images, texts, videos, and any other types of contents, and provide variety value-added services to end users through three major telecommunication and media channels including broadband websites, cellular phones, and digital interactive TV or Cable TV. The DCVS can be divided to three major market segments including broadband website market, mobile valued-added market, and interactive digital TV market. Among these three markets the broadband website market is most mature. Since the technology innovation of MMS and Java Download, the mobile value-added market started growing in recent years. This market monopolized by Fareastone, CHT, TCC, etc. five major telecom companies and some aggregators. Rockmobile corp. is the largest content aggregator of mobile value-added market domestically. As regards to interactive digital TV market, it just grows up and set into action by ADSL and Cable modem operators. Resulting from the increasing demand of specialty division of the industrial value chain, an emerging “content aggregator” appears and plays a critical role in DCVS industry. However, there is seldom thesis study on the issue of the operation and management of aggregator companies. Therefore, in this thesis, we choose aggregators as the major study object and compare with the study of its cooperative telecom companies. In our study, we found out the aggregator and telecom companies have a very tight cooperation relationship, but each has their special operation strategies and core capabilities. As regarding to the business strategy, most companies choose to enter the three major markets extensively. On one hand, it can increase the source of revenue; on the other hand, it can develop a scope economy. Some others choose to focus on only one market in order to build its brand status and competitive advantages. There are three significant core capabilities on operation of DCVS: (1) excellent business and technology group. (2) Building a well relationship with vertical cooperative companies and a platform which can integration with other’s system. (3) Have numerous video contents and a lot of cooperation content providers. Besides, each company has its great tech. group and builds a special digital content management system according to its position of value chain and its market segments. It’s very tough to survive in DCVS market, and a company should have a great tech. group to develop their content management system. In additional, it should build a well relationship with each telecom companies or integrate the popular record industry, TV industry, movie industry, broadcasting industry, etc. according to its position in value chain and should have great project management ability. Hence, it can operate permanently and build it own competitive advantage. Finally, this thesis point out the trend of DCVS industry in three major markets and also gives some concrete suggestions to our government and the related companies. Hope it can be a reference for government to advance the industry and for business operation of related companies.

政府透過法律制度將原先具有非排他性及非敵對性等公共財性質之專利財產化，藉此鼓勵發明人進行研發，間接為整體社會帶來促進創新與阻礙創新等不同面向之影響，而專利之私有化使擁有專利之所有人取得排他獨佔權限，如此累積創新所帶來之結果便是形成專利叢林現象，使單一產品生產時須取得眾多專利，增加未取得專利之侵權風險，該專利叢林現象後續更促使訴訟成為新興專利聚集型態獲取利益之手段。 從專利取得之角度觀察，其取得專利之方式可系統化分為自行研發、併購等內化形式或取得專利授權等外部形式，而專利取得之動機則從單純產業利用轉變為企業策略性考量；現今專利市場中，更經常將取得之專利以授權或出售方式商品化，甚或以專利作為商業談判、利益交換之籌碼，使專利有貨幣化現象。從經濟學之角度思考，專利貨幣化或有交易、預防及投機等動機，並得從專利本質上與後續發展上之特性觀察到專利貨幣化之因素。 由於本文將專利市場分為專利聚集、專利交易平台、專利資訊提供者及一般個人、實際從事生產公司與研究機構等不同類型參與者，並將研究對象著重在專利聚集與專利交易平台二者，因此特於本文中討論專利聚集形成之階段與交易模式，且因應專利交易模式而衍生探討專利交易價金之計算。從本文可知，專利聚集得區分為攻擊型、防禦型、以授權營利型及混合型四大類，各類型專利聚集及專利交易平台皆有其創造價值之價值鏈活動安排、整體產業競爭作用力之五力分析與支援核心競爭優勢之相對應策略活動系統，並從各市場參與者之運作模式中亦得觀察可能存在之缺失。 攻擊型專利聚集表面上雖提供授權服務，然手段上具有強制性，以訴訟等手段迫使下游實際從事生產等公司支付授權金以取得專利授權，從模式上觀察，其存在未經挑選專利、擁有專利過多及組織體系過於龐雜等缺失；而防禦型專利聚集則從下游買方之迫切需求角度出發，以防禦目的之專利授權或出售為訴求，藉由廣泛涵蓋不同領域之專利組合滿足下游買方對於專利侵權風險之控管，然其現有模式可能因支付有限年費導致難以確保購買大量專利之品質，並有為符合眾多會員需求使專利相關性降低以及整體產業難以避免搭便車現象等缺失；至於以授權營利型專利聚集透過技術或產品標準定義之專利組合，包裹式將下游實際從事生產廠商需要之專利一次性授權，雖不見得有授權之急迫需求，但顯然降低下游買方取得授權之交易成本，惟其缺失為權利金分配制度之公平性與專利組合之區別標準。混合型專利聚集則涵蓋上述三種專利聚集之優勢，並以特殊之智財資本市場重新定位無形資產能夠創造之價值，對於下游買方及上游專利供應者而言，皆帶來產業結構變化之衝擊，同時以專利組合授權來滿足下游專利被授權人之需求，不過，混合型專利聚集管理複雜度高、經濟利潤有下降可能，並且長期將有價格扭曲之應變風險。 專利交易平台與專利聚集不同之處在於其不直接取得專利或專利授權，僅以專利供給方與需求方之交易中介者自居，然從廣義概念上，其亦為專利聚集之一種形態，有助於專利買賣雙方取得資訊，降低搜尋、談判或執行等交易成本，並透過其他業務互補專利交易平台業務可能之不足，惟其仍舊有所缺失，亦即價格決定機制之困難、服務範疇過大導致成本控管之不經濟與交易公開之接受程度等問題。從本文各章節之分析中，可比較各市場參與者之不同，亦得觀察彼此間之互動與缺失，從而提出未來可能之研究方向，並針對專利市場之管制與開放給予建議。 / The propertization of patents which intrinsically show the traits of public goods including non-excludable and non-rival was established to encourage inventors and therefore leads to positive and negative influence to the society indirectly. The privatization of patents protects the exclusive rights of the owners, whereas what we called the accumulated innovation set up the patent thickets that enhance the risks of infringement and promote the strategic litigations raised by new patent aggregators. The methods of acquiring patents could systematically divided into internalization which includes R&D and M&A, and externalization which includes licensing and so on. While the motivations of acquiring patents transform from industrial applications to strategic considerations, and the patents gradually become commercialized and even express its monetization. This paper classifies different players in the patent market, such as patent aggregators, patent transaction platforms, patent information providers and operating companies, while with the focus on patent aggregators and patent transaction platform. Besides, the patent aggregators could be categorized into “offensive patent aggregators”, “defensive patent aggregators”, “running by licensing patent aggregators” and “hybrid patent aggregators”. Moreover, the findings of this paper stand on what each patent aggregator and patent transaction platform has its scheduled activities of the value chain, the five forces model to the analysis of its industry and the strategic activities system for supporting its core competence, and even the demerits of its operating model. The offensive patent aggregators provide licensing services, while its services apparently contain compulsive licensing model by raising claims against the operating companies. Instead, defensive patent aggregators help the downstream buyers in need to fight against the offensive patent aggregators by licensing or selling patent portfolios which cover broad technological areas and benefit risk management. Next, the running by licensing patent aggregators package their patents by standards of technologies or products and provide “one-stop-shop licensing solutions” to the downstream buyers to save the transaction costs. Furthermore, the hybrid patent aggregators embrace the advantages of three kinds of patent aggregators mentioned above and try to create the IP capital market leading to the transformation of the industry structure. On the other hand, the patent transaction platforms are different from the patent aggregators in the ownerships of patents. The patent transaction platforms will never become the owner of the patents or acquire the rights of patent licensing, it just named themselves intermediaries of transaction that reduce the transaction cost and enhance the transparency of information. Nevertheless, the diversified operating models of different patent aggregators and patent transaction platforms exist its improvable or inevitable drawbacks. The analysis of each chapter in this paper could help to compare the players in patent market and contribute to observe the shortages and interactions between the ones. What’s more, this paper gives some suggestions for further researches in the future as the conclusion.

In this study, an examination regarding what benefits an aggregatedpopulation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) could result incompared to when the individual units in the population are being usedseparately has been executed. The increased flexibility and reducedsafety margins as results of the aggregation was also examined. Thestudy was executed on behalf of the smart energy service companyCheckWatt AB and the study furthermore rests upon results of earlierperformed master theses on behalf of the company. By investigating previous work and studies through a literature study,the enabling of anumerical study was done. The numerical study wasbased on a simple model of a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) where severalBESSs are smartly controlled in order to be used for both local peakshaving and as common providers of the frequency reserve FrequencyContainment Reserve - Normal (FCR-N). The study involved the formation of a numerical model which simulated cases of both aggregated and non-aggregated populations of up to 45 load profile units, this in order for advantages and differences to be distinguished. The data used inthe simulations was received mainly from the CheckWatt AB andconsisted of photovoltaic (PV) electricity production and load data of 45 customers of the company. A sensibility analysis of the numericalstudy was also performed, which showed that the studied model andsystem were quite stable. The results of the simulations of the case of the study proved thatthere are some advantages connected to aggregation of several BESSs,and that the aggregation enabled an added value and a higher level offlexibility within the system. The safety margins connected todelivery of FCR-N could be reduced when aggregating several BESS,while a more extensive study is requested regarding safety marginsconnected to peak shaving. The study’s results further showed that anaggregator can be used as a sustainable and flexible solution forbalancing the electrical grid in the transition to a sustainableenergy system allowing a higher penetration of intermittentenergy sources.