<p>Data networks are an important part in an increasing number of applications with real-time and reliability requirements. To meet these demands a variety of approaches have been proposed. Forward error correction, which adds redundancy to the communicated data, is one of them. However, the redundancy occupies communication bandwidth, so it is desirable to control the amount of redundancy in order to achieve high reliability without adding excessive communication delay. The main contribution of the thesis is to formulate the problem of adjusting the redundancy in a control framework, which enables the dynamic properties of error correction control to be analyzed using control theory. The trade-off between application quality and resource usage is captured by introducing an optimal control problem. Its dependence on the knowledge of the network state at the transmission side is discussed. An error correction controller that optimizes the amount of redundancy without relying on network state information is presented. This is achieved by utilizing an extremum seeking control algorithm to optimize the cost function. Models with varying complexity of the resulting feedback system are presented and analyzed. Conditions for convergence are given. Multiple-input describing function analysis is used to examine periodic solutions. The results are illustrated through computer simulations and experiments on a wireless sensor network.</p>

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / In some flight test scenarios the telemetry link is noise limited at long slant ranges or during signal fade events caused by antenna pattern nulls. In these situations, a mitigation technique such as forward error correction (FEC) can add several decibels to the link margin. The particular FEC code discussed in this paper is a variant of a low-density parity check (LDPC) code and is coupled with SOQPSK modulation in the hardware tested. This paper will briefly cover lab testing of the flight-ready hardware then present flight test results comparing a baseline uncoded telemetry link with a LDPC-coded telemetry link. This is the first known test dedicated to this specific FEC code in a real-world test environment with flight profile tailored to assess the viability of an LDPC-coded telemetry link.

Σε μία εποχή όπου η ψηφιοποίηση δεδομένων έχει αυξηθεί ραγδαία η ανάγκη για τη βέλτιστη μετάδοσή τους είναι απαραίτητη. Από τα πλέον σημαντικά μέρη των προτύπων μετάδοσης είναι η κωδικοποίηση του καναλιού μέσω ειδικών αλγορίθμων ώστε να επιτευχθεί η εύρεση και διόρθωση τυχών λαθών. Οι κώδικες Bose, Chaudhuri και Hocquenghem (BCH) είναι τέτοιου είδους κώδικες που χρησιμοποιούνται ευρέως σε εφαρμογές όπως τα CD, DVD, σκληροί δίσκοι, δίσκοι στερεάς κατάστασης (SSD) και το πρότυπο δορυφορικής μετάδοσης τηλεόρασης υψηλής ανάλυσης (HDTV), DVB-S2. Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία σχεδιάστηκε και υλοποιήθηκε κωδικοποιητής και αποκωδικοποιητής BCH για τις 11 περιπτώσεις κανονικού πλαισίου που προσφέρει το πρότυπο DVB-S2. Κύριος στόχος ήταν η όσο το δυνατόν καλύτερη υλοποίηση με γνώμονα το μέγεθος, με τη χρήση κοινών κυκλωμάτων και για τις 11 περιπτώσεις. Αποτέλεσμα αυτής της βελτιστοποίησης μεγέθους, ήταν κάποιες τεχνικές βελτιστοποίησης της ταχύτητας αποκωδικοποίησης, όπως το shortening, να μη χρησιμοποιηθούν καθώς θα είχαν ως αποτέλεσμα την αύξηση της επιφάνειας μερών του αποκωδικοποιητή κατά περίπου 11 φορές. Καθώς σκοπός της διπλωματικής ήταν η μελέτη της απόδοσης των κωδίκων BCH, μελετήθηκε ο ρυθμός λαθών σε διάφορες τιμές της αναλογίας ενέργειας – θορύβου (Eb / N0 ), αφού πρώτα υλοποιήθηκε σε FPGA. / The amount of digital information is growing rapidly the recent decades, making transmission optimization one of the top priorities in digital information systems. One of the main parts of every transmission standard is channel encoding, with the use of algorithms aimed at finding and correcting errors (Forward Error Correction – FEC). Such codes are Bose, Chaudhuri and Hocquenghem (BCH) code, which are widely used in applications like CDs, DVDs, Hard Drives, Solid State Drives (SSDs) and DVB-S2, a satellite transmission standard mostly used for High Definition Television (HDTV). This thesis sets out to account for the design and implementation of a BCH encoder and decoder for all 11 different code rates proposed by the DVB-S2 standard for normal frames. The design was area optimized in order for all 11 code rate encoders and decoders to work on the same FPGA. This lead to some optimization techniques being unused. Even though the codes are shortened, no shortening algorithms which aim at clock cycle optimization were used. Were they used, would lead parts of the decoder to be almost 11 times larger. The main goal of the thesis is to analyze the performance of the codes, so the error rate was measured under different values of the energy to noise ratio (Eb/ N0 ).

Resulting from the deregulation and prosperity of the economic and financial sectors in Asia during 1980s, a significant increase in cross-bordered financial transactions ultimately accelerated the region of Southeast Asia to be on a process of financial integration and consequently diminished opportunities for portfolio diversification. Financial Integration is a multidimensional process through which allocation of financial assets becomes lastly borderless. This purpose of this paper is to examine a progress thus far in capital market integration or preferentially, the co-movement of the equity markets between the U.S. and the Southeast Asian nations: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines by employing the methodology of Gregory and Hansen Cointegration and Error Correction Analysis (ECM). The consequence of the U.S. market performance on each Southeast Asian national markets are extensively analyzed by decomposing monthly price-index time series into three distinct sub-periods based on an occurrence of the Subprime Mortgage Financial Crisis in 2007. The results indicate that these four emerging markets had been considerable influenced by the U.S. market performance, regardless of crisis or non-crisis periods. Nevertheless, some countries like Indonesia and the Philippines acted differently during the pre-crisis and crisis sub-periods respectively due to their domestic market infrastructure and regulation adjustment. However, these two markets had eventually turned to share an interdependent long-run relationship with the U.S. equity market since the ending of the Subprime financial downturn. Moreover, this finding suggests that ongoing capital market integration in the Southeast Asian region would mitigate portfolio diversification benefits for investors by virtue of increasing in correlation among securities and assets. Therefore, more exhaustive investigation about equity market integration is significantly beneficial in macroeconomic and financial perspective.

Η εργασία αφορά ένα ειδικό είδος κωδικοποίησης εντοπισμού και διόρθωσης λαθών, την κωδικοποίση Reed-Solomon. Οι κώδικες αυτού του είδους χρησιμοποιούνται σε τηλεπικοινωνιακές εφαρμογές (ενσύρματη τηλεφωνία, ψηφιακή τηλεόραση, ευρυζωνικές ασύρματες επικοινωνίες) και σε συστήματα ψηφιακής αποθήκευσης (οπτικοί, μαγνητικοί δίσκοι). Η κωδικοποίηση Reed-Solomon βασίζεται σε μία ειδική κατηγορία αριθμητικών πεδίων τα πεδία Galois (Galois Field). Στα πλαίσια της εργασίας πραγματοποιήθηκε μελέτη των ιδιοτήτων των πεδίων Galois. και σχεδιάστηκε κωδικοποιητής-αποκωδικοποιητής για κώδικες Reed Solomon. Η σχεδίαση υλοποιήθηκε σε υλικό (hardware) σε γλώσσα Verilog HDL. Η σύνθεση των κυκλωμάτων πραγματοποιήθηκε με τεχνολογία Πεδίων Προγραμματιζόμενων Πινάκων Πυλών (τεχνολογία FPGA) και τεχνολογία Ολοκληρωμένων Κυκλωμάτων Ειδικού Σκοπού (τεχνολογία ASIC). Ακολουθήθηκε η μεθοδολογία σχεδιασμού Μονάδων Διανοητικής Ιδιοκτησίας για ολοκληρωμένα κυκλώματα (IP core), σύμφωνα με την οποία η σχεδίαση είναι ανεξάρτητη της πλατφόμας υλοποίησης και μπορεί να υλοποιηθεί με καθόλου ή ελάχιστες αλλαγές σε διαφορετικές τεχνολογίες. Η έννοια των IP core βρίσκει ιδιαίτερη εφαρμογή σε Συστήματα σε Ολοκληρωμένα Κυκλώματα (System on Chip). / The present work is about a specific group of error detection and correction codes, the Reed-Solomon codes. Such codes are used in telecommunications applications (wire telephony, digital television, broadband wireless communications) and digital storage systems (optical, magnetic disks). The Reed Solomon codes are based on a specific category of numerical fields, called Galois Fields. The Work consists of the study of the properties of Galois fields and of the design of an codec for Reed Solomon codes. The design was implemented in hardware with the use of Verilog HDL language. The synthesis of the circuit targets Field programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Applications Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) technologies. The design methodology for Intellectual Property Units for integrated circuits (IP cores) was used. According to that methodology the design is platform independent and consequently the implementation can be achieved with minimal or no changes in different technologies. The IP cores model is widely applied in Systems on Integrated Circuits (System on Chips).

We explore the connection between quantum error correction and quantum cryptography through the notion of conjugate (or complementary) channels. This connection is at the level of subspaces and operator subsystems; if we use a more general form of subsystem, the link between the two topics breaks down. We explore both the subspace and subsystem settings. Error correction arises as a means of addressing the issue of the introduction of noise to a message being sent from one party to another. Noise also plays a role in quantum measurement theory: If one wishes to measure a system that is in a particular state via a measurement apparatus, one can first act upon the system by a quantum channel, which can be thought of as a noise source, and then measure the resulting system using a different measurement apparatus. Such a setup amounts to the introduction of noise to the measurement process, yet has the advantage of preserving the measurement statistics. Preprocessing by a quantum channel leads to the partial order "cleaner than" on quantum probability measures. Other meaningful partial orders on quantum probability measures exist, and we shall investigate that of cleanness as well as that of absolute continuity. Lastly, we investigate partial orders on vectors corresponding to quantum states; such partial orders, namely majorization and trumping, have been linked to entanglement theory. We characterize trumping first by means of yet another partial order, power majorization, which gives rise to a family of examples. We then characterize trumping through the complete monotonicity of certain Dirichlet polynomials corresponding to the states in question. This not only generalizes a recent characterization of trumping, but the use of such mathematical objects simpli es the derivation of the result. / The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

The purpose of the research presented here was to systematically investigate the role of speech perception on speech production in speakers of different ages and those with PD and hypokinetic dysarthria. For this, the experimental designs of auditory perturbation and mimicry were chosen. The initial research phase established that the magnitude of compensation to auditory vowel perturbation was reduced in 54 speakers of New Zealand English (NZE) when compared to previous studies conducted with speakers of American (AE) and Canadian English (CE). A number of factors were studied to determine possible predictors of compensation and distinguish between potential changes associated with ageing. However, no predictors of compensation were found for the overall group. Post-hoc analyses established an increased variability in response patterns in NZE when compared to previous studies of AE and CE. Subsequent follow-up analyses focused on the response-dependent categories of (1) big compensators, (2) compensators, (3) big followers, and (4) followers. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in big compensators, the magnitude of compensation was greater in speakers who exhibited larger F1 baseline standard deviation and greater F1 vowel distances of HEAD relative to HEED and HAD. F1 baseline standard deviation was found to have a similar predictive value for the group of compensators. No predictors of compensation were found for the other two subgroups. Phase two was set up as a continuation of phase one and examined whether a subset of 16 speakers classified as big compensators adapted to auditory vowel perturbation. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in the absence of auditory feedback alterations, big compensators maintained their revised speech motor commands for a short period of time until a process of de-adaptation was initiated. No predictors of adaptation were found for the group. Due to the unexpected results from the first two research phases indicating a dominant weighting of somatosensory feedback in NZE compared to auditory-perceptual influences, a different experimental paradigm was selected for phase three - mimicry. The purpose of this study was to determine whether eight speakers with PD and dysarthria and eight age-matched healthy controls (HC) are able to effectively integrate speech perception and speech production when attempting to match an acoustic target. Results revealed that all speakers were able to modify their speech production to approximate the model speaker but the acoustic dimensions of their speech did not move significantly closer to the target over the three mimicry attempts. Although speakers with moderate levels of dysarthria exhibited greater acoustic distances (except for the dimension of pitch variation), neither the perceptual nor the acoustic analyses found significant differences in mimicry behaviour across the two groups. Overall, these findings were considered preliminary evidence that speech perception and speech production can at least to some extent be effectively integrated to induce error-correction mechanisms and subsequent speech motor learning in these speakers with PD and dysarthria.

This study aims to explore the perceived benefits of three-way observation on the focal areas of objectives of the activities, error-correction techniques, and group-work in an upper-intermediate class in Bilkent University School of English Language. The data was collected through five classroom observations, six post-observation reflection sheets, five focus-group interviews with the students, and five post-observation interviews with the observer. A total of 15 upper-intermediate level students, one teacher, and one observer v were involved in the study. The data was analyzed qualitatively and with the use of descriptive statistics. The findings reveal that the perceptions of the students, teacher, and observer on the focal areas show variability in terms of quantity and quality. It was also discovered that student feedback reveals more detailed information about each focal area and that each perception has its own value and should be taken into consideration by the teacher, observer and students. In this study, the researcher formed a two-step three-way observation model. According to this model, the teacher transfers the information gathered from student interviews to the observer. Based on this information, the observer presents suggestions to the teacher by creating solutions to an existing problem, developing ideas related to classroom activities or increasing the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes in a class.

Studies of the relationship between market values and accounting numbers have long been a part of an established theme in capital markets research (CMR). These studies have taken various forms, most being conducted on a cross sectional basis, tied closely with the assumptions of equilibrium behaviour and efficient markets. Explanatory variables for market value have been dominated by firm-specific variables without incorporating macroeconomic variables. Recently, however, some studies have employed macroeconomic variables and dynamic specification in assessing the relationship between market values and accounting numbers (e.g. Bilson et al. 2001, Nissim and Penman, 2003, and Willett, 2003). The objective of this thesis is to investigate the nature of the relationship between share prices and accounting numbers on the Jakarta Stock Exchange for the period 1992-2002, using dynamic modelling principles in addition to the more usual cross sectional analysis. The approach to regression modelling (general-to-specific strategy)incorporated in this thesis relies less heavily than most CMR on prior economic theories of equilibrium behaviour. Apart from these novel aspects of approach and method, the study also provides valuable information about the emerging financial markets of Indonesia. The results of this thesis show that cointegration and the accompanying equilibrium correction relationship between market and book values for firms listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) can often be identified using accounting and macroeconomic regressors. The models are typically more informative, plausible and consistent than cross sectional models and are useful in interpreting the context in which the market to book relationship exists in Indonesia. A possibly surprising result is that in Indonesia, compared to similar models estimated using US data, the book value of net assets seems to have a stronger relationship with market value. This may be a function of the relative importance of financial statements as a source of information on the JSX.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) είναι το όνομα που έδωσε το 3GPP στο πρόγραμμα εξέλιξης των κινητών συστημάτων επικοινωνιών τρίτης γενιάς UMTS, με στόχο την αντιμετώπιση των μελλοντικών απαιτήσεων της αγοράς των κινητών δικτύων. Βασικοί στόχοι του νέου προτύπου LTE αποτελούν η αυξημένη απόδοση, το μικρότερο κόστος υλοποίησης, η μείωση της πολυπλοκότητας λειτουργίας και η παροχή νέων εξελιγμένων υπηρεσιών, κάνοντας χρήση νέων φασμάτων λειτουργίας. Οι προσδοκίες από το LTE είναι ιδιαίτερα υψηλές και βασίζονται στην παροχή υπηρεσιών απαλλαγμένων από τις απώλειες. Συνεπώς, η επιτυχία του LTE θα καθοριστεί από την ικανότητα παροχής κινητών συσκευών και ασύρματης υποδομής που θα ανταποκρίνονται στα πρότυπα του 3GPP και θα είναι ιδιαίτερα ανθεκτικά στις απώλειες της ασύρματης μετάδοσης, ώστε να προσφέρονται βελτιωμένες υπηρεσίες υψηλής απόδοσης. Μία βασική πτυχή των προδιαγραφών του συστήματος LTE είναι η ενίσχυση της υπηρεσίας Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services, όπου το ίδιο περιεχόμενο μεταδίδεται σε πολλαπλούς χρήστες που βρίσκονται σε μία συγκεκριμένη περιοχή μετάδοσης της υπηρεσίας. Η υπηρεσία MBMS πρωτοπαρουσιάστηκε σαν ένα νέο χαρακτηριστικό στην έκδοση 6 του 3GPP, ώστε να προσφέρει broadcast και multicast μετάδοση πολυμεσικού περιεχομένου σε κινητούς χρήστες μέσω MBMS ασύρματων φορέων μετάδοσης. Η υπηρεσία MBMS παρέχει δύο διαφορετικές μεθόδους διανομής περιεχομένου, τη μέθοδο download και τη μέθοδο streaming. Για να υποστηρίξει την αποδοτική διανομή MBMS περιεχομένου, το 3GPP συμπεριέλαβε ένα μηχανισμό Forward Error Correction στο επίπεδο εφαρμογών (AL-FEC). Το FEC είναι μία μέθοδος που προσφέρει έλεγχο λαθών κατά τη μετάδοση δεδομένων, η οποία χρησιμοποιείται για να υποστηρίξει ή να αντικαταστήσει άλλες μεθόδους παροχής αξιοπιστίας. Στο FEC, ο αποστολέας εισάγει πλεονάζουσα πληροφορία στη μετάδοση δεδομένων. Αυτή η πληροφορία επιτρέπει στο δέκτη να ανακατασκευάσει τα αρχικά δεδομένα. Τέτοια σχήματα αναπόφευκτα προσθέτουν ένα σταθερό overhead στα μεταδιδόμενα δεδομένα με αποτέλεσμα να είναι υπολογιστικά ακριβά. Παρόλα αυτά στα multicast πρωτόκολλα, η χρήση FEC τεχνικών προσφέρει πολύ ισχυρά κίνητρα. Η κωδικοποίηση μπορεί να εξαλείψει τις ανεξάρτητες απώλειες στους διαφορετικούς δέκτες. Επιπρόσθετα, η δραματική μείωση του ρυθμού απώλειας πακέτων μειώνει κατά ένα μεγάλο μέρος την ανάγκη επαναποστολής των χαμένων πακέτων από τον αποστολέα. Επομένως, οι FEC τεχνικές είναι πολύ εύκολο να εκπληρώσουν έναν πρωταρχικό σκοπό των multicast κινητών υπηρεσιών, που είναι η προσαρμοστικότητα σε εφαρμογές με μεγάλο αριθμό δεκτών. Αυτός είναι ο λόγος που το 3GPP συνιστά τη χρήση του AL-FEC για την υπηρεσία MBMS και πιο συγκεκριμένα, υιοθετεί τη χρήση των συστηματικών κωδίκων Raptor. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψιν τα παραπάνω, στόχος της παρούσας μεταπτυχιακής διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η μελέτη της απόδοσης του AL-FEC πάνω σε υπηρεσίες MBMS, εστιάζοντας στην υπηρεσία της streaming μεθόδου παράδοσης δεδομένων. Προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση, στην παρούσα εργασία μελετάμε την εφαρμογή του μηχανισμού AL-FEC πάνω σε multicast streaming υπηρεσίες των LTE, διερευνώντας πως το ποσό της πλεονάζουσας πληροφορίας ποικίλλει σε πολλαπλούς χρήστες χρησιμοποιώντας ρεαλιστικά περιβάλλοντα προσομοίωσης. Επίσης, εξετάζουμε την απόδοση του AL-FEC για διάφορες διατάξεις του δικτύου ασύρματης πρόσβασης, διάφορα μοντέλα κινητικότητας των χρηστών καθώς και διάφορες παραμέτρους της FEC κωδικοποίησης. / Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to improve the UMTS 3G mobile system standard to cope with future requirements. Goals include improving efficiency, lowering cost, reducing complexity and improving services, making use of new spectrum opportunities. Expectations are high for LTE and are based on the premise of fault-free performance. Therefore, LTE’s initial success will be determined by the ability of handset and radio infrastructure manufacturers to deliver products that conform to 3GPP standards and are robust enough to allow operators to introduce improved services. A key aspect of LTE specifications is the enhancement of Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services (MBMS), where the same content is transmitted to multiple users located in a specific service area. MBMS was firstly standardized as a new feature in 3GPP Release 6, in order to broadcast and multicast multimedia content to mobile terminals via MBMS radio bearer. The MBMS provides two different delivery methods, the download delivery and the streaming delivery method. To support efficient download and streaming delivery, 3GPP has included Application Layer Forward Error Correction (AL-FEC) in the MBMS standard. FEC is a method for error control for data transmission that is used to augment or replace other reliability methods. In FEC, the sender introduces redundant information in the data transmitted. This information allows the receiver to reconstruct the source data. Such schemes inevitably add a constant overhead in the transmitted data and are computationally expensive. In multicast protocols however, the use of FEC techniques has very strong motivations. The encoding eliminates the effect of independent losses at different receivers. This makes these schemes able to scale irrespectively of the actual loss pattern at each receiver. Additionally, the dramatic reduction in the packet loss rate largely reduces the need for retransmission of lost data from the sender. FEC schemes are therefore so simple as to meet a prime objective for mobile multicast services, which is scalability to applications with thousands of receivers. This is the reason why 3GPP recommends the use of AL-FEC for MBMS and, more specifically, adopts the use of systematic Raptor code. After taking into account the above analysis, objective of this master thesis is the study of AL-FEC in MBMS, focusing on the streaming delivery method. To this direction, in this work we study the application of AL-FEC for the streaming delivery method over LTE networks. We investigate how the amount of FEC overhead varies at multiple receivers using realistic simulation scenarios and we investigate the performance of AL-FEC overhead considering different cell deployments, user mobility models and FEC encoding parameters.