An overwhelming number of models in the literature use average inter-cell interference for the calculation of capacity of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network. The advantage gained in terms of simplicity by using such models comes at the cost of rendering the exact location of a user within a cell irrelevant. We calculate the actual per-user interference and analyze the effect of user-distribution within a cell on the capacity of a CDMA network. We show that even though the capacity obtained using average interference is a good approximation to the capacity calculated using actual interference for a uniform user distribution, the deviation can be tremendously large for non-uniform user distributions. Call admission control (CAC) algorithms are responsible for efficient management of a network's resources while guaranteeing the quality of service and grade of service, i.e., accepting the maximum number of calls without affecting the quality of service of calls already present in the network. We design and implement global and local CAC algorithms, and through simulations compare their network throughput and blocking probabilities for varying mobility scenarios. We show that even though our global CAC is better at resource management, the lack of substantial gain in network throughput and exponential increase in complexity makes our optimized local CAC algorithm a much better choice for a given traffic distribution profile.

Cette thèse repose sur une analyse critique et une vérification de la compatibilité de deux éléments du domaine d’apprentissage d’une langue étrangère. Le point de départ de notre recherche est un problème constaté lors de la mise en application du CECR et de l’ALAO. Le premier a pour but d’harmoniser l’apprentissage linguistique tout en présentant un cadre de référence avec une échelle d’évaluation allant d’un niveau A1 à un niveau C2. Le deuxième (ALAO) représente une approche d’apprentissage linguistique qui se trouve parfois réduite à ces avantages techniques sans pour autant avoir été considéré pour ses avantages pédagogiques/didactiques. Le but de notre recherche est de vérifier la compatibilité d’un « système d’évaluation » (CECR) et d’un « système d’apprentissage » (ALAO). Ce travail est possible du fait que le « système d’évaluation » du CECR prétend provenir d’une approche d’apprentissage linguistique. En effet, nous avons analysé et comparé cette approche linguistique du CECR avec celle de l’ALAO. Le but était de voir si les deux sont compatibles et de chercher l’origine des problèmes de leur application. Le projet de notre recherche est de démontrer la nécessité d’améliorer l’éventuelle compatibilité des deux éléments. Nous avons appliqué dans notre analyse trois étapes. Dans un premier temps, la base scientifique a été analysée et comparée. Ensuite, les applications didactiques du CECR et de l’ALAO sont abordées ; enfin, nous avons choisi de regarder de plus près l’approche adoptée par le CECR et l’ALAO en ce qui concerne l’apprentissage d’une langue. / The objective of this PhD dissertation is to provide an analysis of the compatibility of two systems of foreign language learning, i.e. the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). CEFR aims to harmonize language learning through a framework of reference with a descriptor scale ranging from level A1 to C2 whereas CALL represents an approach to language learning which is sometimes reduced to its technical advantages instead of being accounted for its didactical and pedagogical advantages. Since the CEFR claims to arise from a linguistic approach to language learning, the objective of the study is to compare the linguistic approach of the CEFR “evaluation system” and the CALL “learning system” in order to verify their compatibility and to determine the origin of the problems associated with their application. The approach is threefold. First, the scientific basis of CEFR and CALL is analysed. Second, the didactic application of both systems is reviewed. Third, the approach to language learning of both systems is examined. The study demonstrates the necessity to improve the compatibility of CEFR and CALL.

This research thesis analyzes the characteristics of communication work in a call centre, by examining the communication work at a Swedish call centre which is outsourced to Latvia. The thesis studies the ways in which communication with the customers is organized, carried out and assigned meaning. Theoretically, the thesis draws on both critical and management-oriented perspectives of work. The empirical investigation combines participant observations at the call centre with individual interviews, mainly conducted with operators and management staff. The communication work is analyzed both as labour and as communicative activity. The concept of labour focuses upon the relation between employer and employee. Therefore, the analysis is placed within the framework of a capitalistic production system, through a survey of the economic and the organisational working conditions. The communicative activity deals with how the telephone conversations with the customers are enacted. In that part of the analyses, the working routines and the meaning making practices are illuminated. As examined in the current research, the communication work is indeed constructed in an alienated manner, through high levels of standardization, immobility, and estrangement from both customers and the customers’ culture. Nonetheless, merely being employed has meant significant economic security for the operators of the Latvian call centre. The operators are incumbents of a society affected by deep economic crises with high unemployment rates. In relation to their broader society, the employees have found meaning within their immediate social situation. This may explain why they endure the monotonous work with few opportunities for development.

Microarray technology provides a quantitative assessment of the number of gene transcripts gene using a high-throughput hybridization assay. Reliable detection of gene expression therefore requires reliable design of probes used in the hybridization assay. It is noted that microarray gene expression measurements are often characterized by variability, even among a series of technical replicate arrays. Therefore, sequence verification, used as a low-level filter to exclude probes exhibiting sequence inaccuracies, has previously been shown to reduce gene expression variability.Building on this work, the effects of sequence- and annotation-based filtering methods were quantified, and shown to be effective in reducing microarray variability among a set of technical replicates. Further, appropriate thresholds for filtering are recommended. A significant interaction in an analysis of variation model was found when a combination of sequence- and annotation-based filtering methods were explanatory factors, suggesting the use of the combination of filtering methods might be most beneficial.

In this paper I will describe and analyze the process of creating my thesis film, Call Me Cappy. I will start with stating the theme and discuss each aspect of this process in relation to the theme that originated this project. I will detail my biggest challenges and struggles. I will also try to show how the knowledge I absorbed through attending the graduate film program, and the literature I have read, has served my journey as a filmmaker. In the end, I will attempt to evaluate whether my theme found its full expression through this film. The final analysis will determine how well I was able to incorporate all the aspects of storytelling into creating a coherent piece of work.

MSc (Occupational Therapy), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Ergonomic interventions, addressing work and lifestyle factors, seem more effective in reducing computer related upper limb repetitive strain injury (RSI).This study considered the efficacy of such a programme on the resolution of RSI symptoms. A cross sectional survey, of 325 computer workers in a medical aid company call centres, in Gauteng, South Africa was used to establish a point prevalence of 30.23% for RSI symptoms, which correlates with those found elsewhere. An occupational therapy ergonomic intervention was then designed and piloted for efficacy. A randomised control trial conducted on 37 participants with RSI used the programme and computer generated “Break Software”. The six week intervention included the assessment of: three physical outcome measures and lifestyle factors for, the experimental and control groups. Results indicated positive effects on pain, grip strength, and lifestyle factors including feelings of inefficiency, pressure at the end of the day, depression and work capacity, but little extrapolation of ergonomic knowledge to the workplace.

Call centres have been described as an enabling resource for enhanced customer service, as a cost saving strategy, and a combination of both. Call centres are people intensive, resource demanding environments with complex management challenges. The call centre industry is growing rapidly and South Africa is fast becoming a desired destination for outsourced call centres. The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of outsourced call centre management specifically regarding their roles and challenges experienced when executing their daily activities. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges outsourced call centre managers encounter and provide suggestions to help address major challenges faced in relation to effective call centre management. The methodology used was of a qualitative nature as data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. Inductive reasoning was applied in this study. The call centre managers were purposively selected for the study based on their experience within the industry. The data gathered was transcribed, coded and organised into themes, categories and sub-categories. The study had five objectives and once analysed the following results were obtained: profiles of call centre management was determined, people management surfaced as a major challenge for call centre managers, numerous strategies are in place to deal with challenges, however they are limited due to company policies, cost efficiency was not the main reason organisations outsource their call centres and finally call centre managers perceive their roles to be the overall responsibility of the call centre, its employees and performance. The results revealed that scientific management principles and continuous improvement are major focus areas within the call centre environment. This is mainly driven by the fact that outsourced call centres have contractual obligations that need to be met otherwise they face financial penalties. The findings also revealed that being a manager in an outsourced call centre today is a dynamic and challenging task with many pressures both internally and externally. The study recommends that outsourced call centre managers be empowered and supported by the relevant support divisions as they assume a great responsibility while operating in a dynamic environment and they play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of outsourced call centres. The main limitation of this study is that it relies on outsourced contact centres situated in the Gauteng area that only services one telecommunication organisations customer queries limiting the ability to generalise to other populations. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

The appearance of Voice over IP (VoIP) revolutionized the telecommunications word, this technology delivers voice communications over the internet protocol (IP) networks instead of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), calls can be made between two VoIP phones as well as between a VoIP phone and an analog phone connected to a VoIP adapter [1]. The use of this technology gives access to more communication options compared to the conventional telephony but the users face different problems, mostly connectivity and performance issues related to different factors such as latency and jitter [2], these factors affect directly the call quality and can result in choppy voice, echoes, or even in a call failure. The main objective of this work was to create a tool for automatic analysis and evaluation from packet traces, identify connectivity and performance issues, reconstruct the audio streams and estimate the call quality. The results of this work showed that the objectives sated above are met, where a tool that automatically analyzes VoIP calls is created, this tool takes non encrypted pcap files as input and returns a list of calls with different parameters related to connectivity and performance such as delay and jitter, it does as well reconstruct the audio of every VoIP stream and plots the waveform and spectrum of the reconstructed audio for evaluation purposes.

For users away from the office or home, there is an increasing demand for mobile solutions that offer effective collaborative facilities on the move. The mobile cellular device, or “smart phone”, can offer a ubiquitous platform to deliver such services, provided that its many physical and technological constraints can be overcome. In an effort to better support mobile collaboration, this thesis presents a contributing Mobile Exchange Architecture (MEA) designed to improve upon the capabilities provided by mobile devices to enable synchronous exchange of digital media during a phone conversation using wireless networks and cellular devices. This research includes the design and development of one such MEA in the form of a fully functional Photo-conferencing service, supporting shared remote interaction techniques, simultaneous voice communication and seamless digital media exchange between remote and collocated mobile users. Furthermore, through systematic design, experimental evaluations and field studies we evaluate the effects of different shared remote interaction techniques – 'pointing', 'scaling', 'mixed' and 'hybrid' – assessing the task effort required by users when interacting around shared images across resource constrained mobile devices. This thesis presents a direction for the future development of technologies and methods to enable a new era of scalable always-to-hand mobile collaborative environments.

Leung Cheung-chi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-78). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Objective --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Overview of the Thesis --- p.3 / Chapter 2 --- APPLICATION OF VOIP IN CALL CENTER --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- An Intelligent IP-based Call Center Model --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Major Components --- p.7 / Chapter a) --- VoIP Gateways --- p.7 / Chapter b) --- Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) --- p.8 / Chapter c) --- Operators --- p.8 / Chapter d) --- Monitoring Tool --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Major Functions --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Experimental Study of an IP-to-IP Call Center - VoIP Application in Education --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Architecture --- p.11 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Voice Connection Server --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Call Establishment --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- A Preliminary Implementation --- p.14 / Chapter 3 --- THE ACD AND ITS SOFTWARE STRUCTURE --- p.17 / Chapter 3.1 --- Three-Layer Software Structure --- p.17 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Network Infrastructure Layer --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Call Management Layer --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Application Layer --- p.19 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Interoperation Between Layers --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2 --- Advantages of Adopting this Software Structure --- p.20 / Chapter 3.3 --- Functional Overview of the ACD --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Call Establishment --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Call Waiting --- p.23 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Call Forwarding --- p.25 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Routing Mechanism in the ACD --- p.26 / Chapter a) --- "Queues, Operator Groups and Operators" --- p.26 / Chapter b) --- Priority Based Call Routing --- p.28 / Chapter c) --- Routing of New Incoming Calls --- p.29 / Chapter d) --- Assigning Calls in Waiting Queues to Operators --- p.32 / Chapter 4 --- IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACD --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1 --- Requirements in implementing the ACD --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Asynchronous Method Call --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Transaction Planning --- p.36 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Failure Handling --- p.37 / Chapter 4.2 --- Available Technologies --- p.38 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) --- p.38 / Chapter a) --- Entity Bean --- p.40 / Chapter b) --- Session Bean --- p.40 / Chapter c) --- Usage of Session Beans and Entity Beans --- p.41 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- COM+ --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- EJB vs COM+ --- p.43 / Chapter 4.3 --- Implementation --- p.47 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Mapping the EJB model to the Implementation of the ACD --- p.47 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Design of Entity Beans --- p.49 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Design of Session Beans --- p.51 / Chapter 4.3.4 --- Asynchronous Method Call --- p.53 / Chapter 4.3.5 --- Transaction Planning --- p.55 / Chapter 4.3.6 --- Failure Handling --- p.57 / Chapter a) --- Failure Handling for VoIP gateways --- p.58 / Chapter b) --- Failure Handling in the ACD --- p.60 / Chapter 5 --- AN EXPERIMENT --- p.64 / Chapter 5.1 --- Experiment on the Call Center Prototype --- p.64 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Setup of the Experiment --- p.64 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Experimental Results --- p.66 / Chapter a) --- Startup Time for Different Components --- p.66 / Chapter b) --- Possessing Time for Different Requests --- p.67 / Chapter 5.2 --- Observations --- p.69 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Observations on Experimental Results --- p.69 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Advantages and Disadvantages of Using EJB --- p.70 / Chapter 6 --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.72 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.76