Text communication is often perceived as lacking some components of communication that are essential in sustaining interaction or conversation. This interaction incoherency tends to make text communication plastic. It is traditionally devoid of intonation, pitch, gesture, facial expression and visual or auditory cues. Nevertheless, Instant Messaging (IM), a form of text communication is on the upward uptake both on PCs and on mobile handhelds. There is a need to rubberise this plastic text messaging to improve co-presence for text communications thereby improving synchronous textual discussion, especially on handheld devices. <br /> <br /> One element of interaction is gesture, seen as a natural way of conversing. Attaining some level of interaction naturalism requires improving synchronous communication spontaneity, partly achieved by enhancing input mechanisms. To enhance input mechanisms for interactive text-based chat on mobile devices, there is a need to facilitate gesture input. Enhancement is achievable in a number of ways, such as input mechanism redesigning and input offering adaptation. This thesis explores affective gesture mode on interface redesign as an input offering adaptation. This is done without a major physical reconstruction of handheld devices.<br /> <br /> This thesis presents a text only IM system built on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE). It was developed with a novel user-defined hotkey implemented as a one-click context menu to &ldquo / fast-track&rdquo / text-gestures and emoticons.<br /> <br /> A hybrid quantitative and qualitative approach was taken to enable data triangulation. Results from experimental trials show that an Affective Gesture (AG) approach improved IM chat spontaneity/response. Feedback from the user trials affirms that AG hotkey improves chat responsiveness, thus enhancing chat spontaneity.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-79). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: CMOS; Low noise amplifier; Multistandard RF transceivers. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-156).

One of the potential solutions to the radio frequency (RF) spectrum scarcity problem is optical wireless communications (OWC), which utilizes the unlicensed optical spectrum. Long-range outdoor OWC are usually referred to in the literature as free-space optical (FSO) communications. Unlike RF systems, FSO is immune to interference and multi-path fading. Also, the deployment of FSO systems is flexible and much faster than optical fibers. These attractive features make FSO applicable for broadband wireless transmission such as optical fiber backup, metropolitan area network, and last mile access. Although FSO communication is a promising technology, it is negatively affected by two physical phenomenon, namely, scintillation due to atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. These two critical issues have prompted intensive research in the last decade. To quantify the effect of these two factors on FSO system performance, we need effective mathematical models. In this work, we propose and study a generalized pointing error model based on the Beckmann distribution. Then, we aim to generalize the FSO channel model to span all turbulence conditions from weak to strong while taking pointing errors into consideration. Since scintillation in FSO is analogous to the fading phenomena in RF, diversity has been proposed too to overcome the effect of irradiance fluctuations. Thus, several combining techniques of not necessarily independent dual-branch free-space optical links were investigated over both weak and strong turbulence channels in the presence of pointing errors. On another front, improving the performance, enhancing the capacity and reducing the delay of the communication link has been the motivation of any newly developed schemes, especially for backhauling. Recently, there has been a growing interest in practical systems to integrate RF and FSO technologies to solve the last mile bottleneck. As such, we also study in this thesis asymmetric an RF-FSO dual-hop relay transmission system with both fixed and variable gain relay.

One consequence of the increasing number of small satellite missions is an increasing demand for high data rate downlinks. As the satellites transmit at high data rates, ground-side receivers need to demodulate the transmitted data as quickly as possible. While application specific hardware can be designed, software defined radio solutions for ground stations are attractive for their flexibility, adaptability, and portability. Another industry trend is the increasing use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in general-purpose processing. By performing many operations simultaneously, GPUs are capable of accelerating processing when given a problem that can be implemented in a parallel manner. Furthermore, once a parallel algorithm is implemented, further speedups are possible by increasing hardware resources without need for any revision in the algorithm. This project combines the above ideas by implementing a software defined radio algorithm to quickly demodulate high-speed data on a GPU. It demonstrates the viability of the GPU in software defined radio applications and particularly in the area of fast demodulation.

A evolução dos sistemas de comunicação sem fio ou wireless apresentam até agora três gerações em menos de duas décadas. Fazendo parte desta evolução estão os sistemas de telefonia celular e os emergentes Sistemas de Comunicação Pessoal ou PCS (Personal Communications Systems). Este trabalho visa apresentar duas questões importantes na evolução destes sistemas, primeiro a questão da segurança e segundo a questão da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. No trabalho, abordando a questão de segurança, são estudados, analisados e comparados os mecanismos de autenticação e privacidade implementados nos atuais padrões de telefonia celular digital e analógico, como sistemas AMPS (celular analógico americano), USCD (celular digital americano) e GSM (celular digital europeu). São identificadas a vulnerabilidade e os fraudes mais comuns nestes sistemas. Também são analisados as propostas das recentes pesquisas e o state of art em termos de segurança, para os sistemas PCS emergentes. Como conclusão apresentado um quadro comparativo resumindo as principais características de segurança adotados pelos sistemas abordados neste estudo. Uma vez apresentado os aspectos de segurança em forma isolada para cada um dos sistemas acima mencionados, é apresentado a questão segurança no contexto da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. A interconexão com redes heterogêneas é outro problema a ser resolvido na implementação da terceira geração de sistemas wireless, para fornecer o roaming automático e a mobilidade pessoal e de terminal. Neste trabalho são revisados os protocolos de sinalização SS7 (Signaling System Number 7) e MAP (Mobile Application Part), como requisitos importantes na solução da interconexão e interoperabilidade entre as redes fixas atuais com as futuras redes móveis. Como conclusão deste estudo é apresentado a proposta de uma arquitetura de protocolos de sinalização, representando a interconexão de um sistema PCS baseado no padrão J-STD-007, com a rede de telefonia celular IS-95. Esta interconexão é realizada através de uma interface de rede denominada IIF (Interworking and Interoperability Function) usando protocolos de sinalização por canal comum SS7 e MAP. Finalmente são apresentados as conclusões quanto aos objetivos alcançados, e é proposto um trabalho futuro, tomando como base o desenvolvido neste trabalho. / The evolution of wireless communications systems has developed into the third generation which is mainly represented by the Telephone Cellular Systems and PCS (Personal Communication systems). This work presents an overview about two importante issues in the evolution of the Wireless Communication Systems: Security and Interworking. Initially we carry out our study on the wireless communication security issue by analyzing and comparing some major authentication features and privacy characteristics implemented in the currently standardized cellular phone systems such as AMPS (American Analog Cellular), USCD (American Digital Cellular) and GSM (Euroupean Digital Cellular). For this end. we tentatively determine how vulnerable to the fraudulent attacks these systems are and what are those frauds commonly occurring in these systems. Also we analyze the state of art and some proposals for security problems in PCS systems found in the literature. We conclude our preliminary study with a table summarizing some principal systems' characteristics in the security issue. Next, we extend our discussion to the case of heterogeneous networks. In fact, the interconnection of heterogeneous networks is another important issue that needs to be deeply investigated in order to develop a rebust third generation of wireless communication systems, special those capable of providing automatic "roaming" and personal as well as terminal mobility. In this work we particularly discuss the protocols employed in the signaling system SS7 ( Signaling Systems Number 7) and MAP ( Mobile Application Part) which are important issues in terms of the interworking and interoperability of wireless and wireline networks. As a conclusion of this discussion, we propose a protocol architecture based on the RM-OSI model relating to the interconnection of a PCS system, J-STD-007, with the IS-95 cellular phone networks. Note that the proposed model uses the signaling systems SS7 and MAP. Finally we present some importante conclusion with respect to the objetives achieved in this work, and propose some future research activities based on this work.

A evolução dos sistemas de comunicação sem fio ou wireless apresentam até agora três gerações em menos de duas décadas. Fazendo parte desta evolução estão os sistemas de telefonia celular e os emergentes Sistemas de Comunicação Pessoal ou PCS (Personal Communications Systems). Este trabalho visa apresentar duas questões importantes na evolução destes sistemas, primeiro a questão da segurança e segundo a questão da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. No trabalho, abordando a questão de segurança, são estudados, analisados e comparados os mecanismos de autenticação e privacidade implementados nos atuais padrões de telefonia celular digital e analógico, como sistemas AMPS (celular analógico americano), USCD (celular digital americano) e GSM (celular digital europeu). São identificadas a vulnerabilidade e os fraudes mais comuns nestes sistemas. Também são analisados as propostas das recentes pesquisas e o state of art em termos de segurança, para os sistemas PCS emergentes. Como conclusão apresentado um quadro comparativo resumindo as principais características de segurança adotados pelos sistemas abordados neste estudo. Uma vez apresentado os aspectos de segurança em forma isolada para cada um dos sistemas acima mencionados, é apresentado a questão segurança no contexto da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. A interconexão com redes heterogêneas é outro problema a ser resolvido na implementação da terceira geração de sistemas wireless, para fornecer o roaming automático e a mobilidade pessoal e de terminal. Neste trabalho são revisados os protocolos de sinalização SS7 (Signaling System Number 7) e MAP (Mobile Application Part), como requisitos importantes na solução da interconexão e interoperabilidade entre as redes fixas atuais com as futuras redes móveis. Como conclusão deste estudo é apresentado a proposta de uma arquitetura de protocolos de sinalização, representando a interconexão de um sistema PCS baseado no padrão J-STD-007, com a rede de telefonia celular IS-95. Esta interconexão é realizada através de uma interface de rede denominada IIF (Interworking and Interoperability Function) usando protocolos de sinalização por canal comum SS7 e MAP. Finalmente são apresentados as conclusões quanto aos objetivos alcançados, e é proposto um trabalho futuro, tomando como base o desenvolvido neste trabalho. / The evolution of wireless communications systems has developed into the third generation which is mainly represented by the Telephone Cellular Systems and PCS (Personal Communication systems). This work presents an overview about two importante issues in the evolution of the Wireless Communication Systems: Security and Interworking. Initially we carry out our study on the wireless communication security issue by analyzing and comparing some major authentication features and privacy characteristics implemented in the currently standardized cellular phone systems such as AMPS (American Analog Cellular), USCD (American Digital Cellular) and GSM (Euroupean Digital Cellular). For this end. we tentatively determine how vulnerable to the fraudulent attacks these systems are and what are those frauds commonly occurring in these systems. Also we analyze the state of art and some proposals for security problems in PCS systems found in the literature. We conclude our preliminary study with a table summarizing some principal systems' characteristics in the security issue. Next, we extend our discussion to the case of heterogeneous networks. In fact, the interconnection of heterogeneous networks is another important issue that needs to be deeply investigated in order to develop a rebust third generation of wireless communication systems, special those capable of providing automatic "roaming" and personal as well as terminal mobility. In this work we particularly discuss the protocols employed in the signaling system SS7 ( Signaling Systems Number 7) and MAP ( Mobile Application Part) which are important issues in terms of the interworking and interoperability of wireless and wireline networks. As a conclusion of this discussion, we propose a protocol architecture based on the RM-OSI model relating to the interconnection of a PCS system, J-STD-007, with the IS-95 cellular phone networks. Note that the proposed model uses the signaling systems SS7 and MAP. Finally we present some importante conclusion with respect to the objetives achieved in this work, and propose some future research activities based on this work.

A evolução dos sistemas de comunicação sem fio ou wireless apresentam até agora três gerações em menos de duas décadas. Fazendo parte desta evolução estão os sistemas de telefonia celular e os emergentes Sistemas de Comunicação Pessoal ou PCS (Personal Communications Systems). Este trabalho visa apresentar duas questões importantes na evolução destes sistemas, primeiro a questão da segurança e segundo a questão da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. No trabalho, abordando a questão de segurança, são estudados, analisados e comparados os mecanismos de autenticação e privacidade implementados nos atuais padrões de telefonia celular digital e analógico, como sistemas AMPS (celular analógico americano), USCD (celular digital americano) e GSM (celular digital europeu). São identificadas a vulnerabilidade e os fraudes mais comuns nestes sistemas. Também são analisados as propostas das recentes pesquisas e o state of art em termos de segurança, para os sistemas PCS emergentes. Como conclusão apresentado um quadro comparativo resumindo as principais características de segurança adotados pelos sistemas abordados neste estudo. Uma vez apresentado os aspectos de segurança em forma isolada para cada um dos sistemas acima mencionados, é apresentado a questão segurança no contexto da interconexão com redes heterogêneas. A interconexão com redes heterogêneas é outro problema a ser resolvido na implementação da terceira geração de sistemas wireless, para fornecer o roaming automático e a mobilidade pessoal e de terminal. Neste trabalho são revisados os protocolos de sinalização SS7 (Signaling System Number 7) e MAP (Mobile Application Part), como requisitos importantes na solução da interconexão e interoperabilidade entre as redes fixas atuais com as futuras redes móveis. Como conclusão deste estudo é apresentado a proposta de uma arquitetura de protocolos de sinalização, representando a interconexão de um sistema PCS baseado no padrão J-STD-007, com a rede de telefonia celular IS-95. Esta interconexão é realizada através de uma interface de rede denominada IIF (Interworking and Interoperability Function) usando protocolos de sinalização por canal comum SS7 e MAP. Finalmente são apresentados as conclusões quanto aos objetivos alcançados, e é proposto um trabalho futuro, tomando como base o desenvolvido neste trabalho. / The evolution of wireless communications systems has developed into the third generation which is mainly represented by the Telephone Cellular Systems and PCS (Personal Communication systems). This work presents an overview about two importante issues in the evolution of the Wireless Communication Systems: Security and Interworking. Initially we carry out our study on the wireless communication security issue by analyzing and comparing some major authentication features and privacy characteristics implemented in the currently standardized cellular phone systems such as AMPS (American Analog Cellular), USCD (American Digital Cellular) and GSM (Euroupean Digital Cellular). For this end. we tentatively determine how vulnerable to the fraudulent attacks these systems are and what are those frauds commonly occurring in these systems. Also we analyze the state of art and some proposals for security problems in PCS systems found in the literature. We conclude our preliminary study with a table summarizing some principal systems' characteristics in the security issue. Next, we extend our discussion to the case of heterogeneous networks. In fact, the interconnection of heterogeneous networks is another important issue that needs to be deeply investigated in order to develop a rebust third generation of wireless communication systems, special those capable of providing automatic "roaming" and personal as well as terminal mobility. In this work we particularly discuss the protocols employed in the signaling system SS7 ( Signaling Systems Number 7) and MAP ( Mobile Application Part) which are important issues in terms of the interworking and interoperability of wireless and wireline networks. As a conclusion of this discussion, we propose a protocol architecture based on the RM-OSI model relating to the interconnection of a PCS system, J-STD-007, with the IS-95 cellular phone networks. Note that the proposed model uses the signaling systems SS7 and MAP. Finally we present some importante conclusion with respect to the objetives achieved in this work, and propose some future research activities based on this work.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores two key aspects of wireless ad hoc networks. The first aspect concerns the topic of stimulating cooperation between nodes in a wireless ad hoc network. The functionality of a wireless ad hoc network depends entirely on the willingness of nodes to relay messages on behalf of other nodes. Network functionality depends on ensuring cooperation between nodes, so that each node benefits from continued participation in the network. This suggests an important question: how can cooperation among individual nodes be managed to improve overall wireless ad hoc network performance? The second aspect explored in this thesis concerns the concept of optimal resource utilisation. Wireless ad hoc networks are characterised by limited bandwidth and energy resources, which facilitates deployment in situations in which traditional infrastructure based networks are not practical. This suggests another important question: how can the use of the limited energy and bandwidth resources of wireless ad hoc networks be optimised? This research relies on the concept of a credit-based market economy. Nodes in simulated ad hoc networks use credits to pay for the cost of sending their own traffic and earn credits by forwarding traffic on behalf of other nodes. We show that a credit-based market economy approach can be employed to stimulate and regulate cooperation between nodes in a wireless ad hoc network. We show that this approach can be implemented in a simple decentralised manner and that it has several variants depending on which node is considered to be paying for the service, what the price of each service should be and how we route packets around the network using information derived from the credit-based economy. This thesis demonstrates that several variants of a credit-based scheme can be implemented in a packet based simulator and that these variants result in the stable operation of the network and improve the overall performance. The credit-based mechanisms also show significant improvement to network performance in resource constrained conditions and represent an effective means for optimising limited energy and bandwidth resource. The effectiveness of the credit-based mechanisms increases as the load on the networks increases. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek twee belangrike aspekte van draadlose ad hoc-netwerke. Die eerste aspek het betrekking op die onderwerp van 'n stimulerende samewerking tussen die nodusse in 'n draadlose ad hoc-netwerk. Dat die network funksioneer hang daarvan af om samewerking tussen die nodusse te verseker sodat elke nodus voordeel put uit voortgesette deelname in die netwerk. Dit dui op 'n belangrike vraag: Hoe kan die samewerking tussen die individuele nodusse bestuur word om die prestasie van 'n draadlose ad hoc-netwerk te verbeter? Die tweede aspek wat in hierdie tesis ondersoek word, behels die konsep van optimale hulpbronbenutting. Draadlose ad hoc-netwerke word gekenmerk deur beperkte bandwydte- en energie-hulpbronne, wat ontplooiing bewerkstellig in situasies waar tradisionele infrastruktuur-gebaseerde netwerke nie practise moontlik is nie. Dit dui op 'n ander belangrike vraag: Hoe kan die gebruik van die beperkte energie- en bandwydte-hulpbronne van draadlose ad hoc-netwerke optimaal bestuur word? Hierdie navorsing berus op die konsep van 'n krediet-gebaseerde markekonomie. Nodusse in gesimuleerde ad hoc-netwerke gebruik krediete om te betaal vir die versending van hul eie verkeer en nodusse verdien krediete deur die verkeer van ander nodusse aan te stuur. Ons wys dat die benadering van 'n krediet-gebaseerde markekonomie gebruik kan word om die samewerking tussen die nodusse in 'n draadlose ad hoc-netwerk te stimuleer en te reguleer. Ons wys dat hierdie benadering geïmplementeer kan word op 'n eenvoudige gedesentraliseerde wyse. Ons ondersoek verskeie variasies van die benadering, na gelang van watter nodus oorweeg word om vir die diens te betaal, wat die prys van elke diens moet wees en hoe inligting afgelei van die krediet-gebaseerde ekonomie gebruik kan word om pakkies in die netwerk te roeteer. Hierdie tesis toon dat verskeie variante van 'n krediet-gebaseerde skema geïmplementeer kan word in 'n netwerksimulator en dat hierdie variante die stabiele bedryf van en algehele verbetering in die prestasie van die network tot gevolg het. Die krediet-gebaseerde meganismes toon 'n beduidende verbetering in hulpbronbenutting en netwerkprestasie in omgewings met beperkte hulpbronne en verteenwoordig 'n doeltreffende manier om die beperkte energie- en bandwydte-hulpbronne optimaal te benut. Laastens, die doeltreffendheid van die krediet-gebaseerde meganismes word verhoog as die las op die netwerke word verhoog.

In wireless communications systems, it is well known that the instantaneous received signal is a random variable that follows a given distribution. The randomness mainly stems from e ects such as multipath fading, shadowing, and interference. The received signal is a relevant metric, such that several distributions have been used in the literature to characterize it. However, as new radio technologies emerge, the known distributions are deemed insu cient to t simulated and measure data. Subsequently, as the wireless industry moves onto the fth generation (5G), newer distributions are proposed to well represent the received signal for new wireless technologies, including those operating in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band. These are mainly application speci c and may not be adequate to model complex 5G devices performance. Therefore, there is a need to unify and generalize the received signal distributions used for performance analysis of wireless systems. Secondly, an explosion of new radio technologies and devices operating in the same limited radio spectrum to collect and share data at alarming rates is expected. Such an explosion coupled with the 5G promise of ubiquitous connectivity and network densi cation, will thrust interference modeling in dense networks to the fore-front. Thus, interference characterization is essential when analyzing such wireless networks. Thirdly, the classical distributions used to model the received signal do not account for the inherent mobility feature for emerging radio technologies, such as avionics systems (e.g. drones), which may make the distributions inadequate as mobility e ects can no longer be ignored. Consequently, in this dissertation, we propose the use of a unifying distribution, the Fox's H-function distribution, with subsume ability to represent several traditional and future distributions, as a statistical tool to evaluate the performance of wireless communications systems. Additionally, two interference models, one with a xed number and the other with a random number of interferers, are considered to derive interference statistics, and further utilize the results to analyze system performance under the e ect of interference. Finally, we extend the classical distributions to include the mobility regime for several wireless network topologies, and perform network analysis. The analytical results are validated using computer Monte Carlo simulations. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection