Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-97)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Architecture / Master / Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Design and Management

<p>Much effort today in the Internet research community isaimed at providing network services for applications that werenot under consideration when the Internet was originallydesigned. Nowadays the network has to support real-timecommunication services that allow clients to transportinformation with expectations on network performance in termsof loss rate, maximum end-to-end delay, and maximum delayjitter. Today there exist two quality of service (QoS)architecture for the Internet: The integrated services, whichis usually referred to as intserv, and the differentiatedservices referred to as diffserv. Although the intserv clearlydefines the quality levels for each of its three serviceclasses, the limited scalability of this QoS architecture is acontinuous topic for discussion among the researchers. Theanalysis of the tradeoffs of the two QoS architecturesmotivated us to design a new QoS architecture which will takethe strength of the existing approaches and will combine themin a simpler, efficient and more scalable manner.</p><p>In this LicentiateThesis we introduce a guaranteed servicefor the Internet, which definition is similar to the one inintserv: The guaranteed service (GS) is a network servicerecommended for applications with firm requirements on qualityof end-to-end communication. The service should provide zeropacket loss in routers and tightly bound the end-to-end delay.The capacity for a GS connection should be explicitly reservedin every router along a path of a connection. However, incontrary to intserv the necessary quality level will beprovided without per-flow scheduling in the core routers, whichis the major drawback of the intserv architecture. We use thediffserv principle of dealing with aggregates in the corenetwork since this approach is proven to be scalable andefficient.</p><p>The thesis considers two major building blocks of the newarchitecture: The packet scheduling and the signaling protocol.We have developed a special scheduling algorithm. Our formaland experimental analysis of its delay properties shows thatthe maximum end-to-end delay is acceptable for real-timecommunication. Moreover, our scheme provides a fair service tothe traffic of other service classes. In order to achieve thedesired QoS level, a sufficient amount of capacity should bereserved for the GS connections in all intermediate routersend-to-end. We have developed a both simple and robustsignaling protocol. The realization of our protocol shows thatrouters are able to process up to 700,000 signaling messagesper second without overloading the processor.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester, 1986. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Much effort today in the Internet research community isaimed at providing network services for applications that werenot under consideration when the Internet was originallydesigned. Nowadays the network has to support real-timecommunication services that allow clients to transportinformation with expectations on network performance in termsof loss rate, maximum end-to-end delay, and maximum delayjitter. Today there exist two quality of service (QoS)architecture for the Internet: The integrated services, whichis usually referred to as intserv, and the differentiatedservices referred to as diffserv. Although the intserv clearlydefines the quality levels for each of its three serviceclasses, the limited scalability of this QoS architecture is acontinuous topic for discussion among the researchers. Theanalysis of the tradeoffs of the two QoS architecturesmotivated us to design a new QoS architecture which will takethe strength of the existing approaches and will combine themin a simpler, efficient and more scalable manner. In this LicentiateThesis we introduce a guaranteed servicefor the Internet, which definition is similar to the one inintserv: The guaranteed service (GS) is a network servicerecommended for applications with firm requirements on qualityof end-to-end communication. The service should provide zeropacket loss in routers and tightly bound the end-to-end delay.The capacity for a GS connection should be explicitly reservedin every router along a path of a connection. However, incontrary to intserv the necessary quality level will beprovided without per-flow scheduling in the core routers, whichis the major drawback of the intserv architecture. We use thediffserv principle of dealing with aggregates in the corenetwork since this approach is proven to be scalable andefficient. The thesis considers two major building blocks of the newarchitecture: The packet scheduling and the signaling protocol.We have developed a special scheduling algorithm. Our formaland experimental analysis of its delay properties shows thatthe maximum end-to-end delay is acceptable for real-timecommunication. Moreover, our scheme provides a fair service tothe traffic of other service classes. In order to achieve thedesired QoS level, a sufficient amount of capacity should bereserved for the GS connections in all intermediate routersend-to-end. We have developed a both simple and robustsignaling protocol. The realization of our protocol shows thatrouters are able to process up to 700,000 signaling messagesper second without overloading the processor. / NR 20140805

No description available.

This study argues for the need to ensure that host countries derive appropriate benefits from natural resources exploited within their territories. In this regard, the most important return from petroleum extraction, is from the fiscal take. Taxation of the extractive sector is thus a major revenue source. The host country interest from the extractive activities is in parallel to the interest of investor countries to share in the revenues derived from investments in the extractives sector by entities from those countries. Further, the capital exporting countries assert interest in protecting the investors from the risks associate with foreign investments, particularly in developing host countries. Historically, International Oil Companies enjoyed an upper hand in negotiating investment protection and stability terms as a result of information asymmetries. Many agreements concluded between the investor entities with developing host countries have been askew and overly favourable to the investor to the extent of endearing unconscionability. This study reveals that Tanzania's existing Production Sharing Agreements contain fiscal terms which do not allocate an appropriate share of financial benefits to the host country. It also reveals that arrangements to protect and provide investment stability have employed terms which are inimical to the economic and social well-being of the Peoples of Tanzania, for example through the excessive and wasteful grant of tax concessions. It was observed that Tanzania has offered fiscal terms to IOCs that do not allow the country to enjoy appropriate benefits from the exploitation of its natural resources. This project, therefore, establishes the effect of stabilisation terms as embedded in the Tanzanian fiscal regime, what redress measures should be sought to correct the imbalance and inequitableness engraved in the abusive use of stabilization arrangements through the PSAs.

The Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefits (GMWBs) are optional riders provided by insurance companies in variable annuities. They guarantee the policyholders' ability to get the initial investment back by making periodic withdrawals regardless of the impact of poor market performance. With GMWBs attached, variable annuities become more attractive. This type of guarantee can be challenging to price and hedge. We employ two approaches to price GMWBs. Under the constant static withdrawal assumption, the first approach is to decompose the GMWB and the variable annuity into an arithmetic average strike Asian call option and an annuity certain. The second approach is to treat the GMWB alone as a put option whose maturity and payoff are random. Hedging helps insurers specify and manage the risks of writing GMWBs, as well as find their fair prices. We propose semi-static hedging strategies that offer several advantages over dynamic hedging. The idea is to construct a portfolio of European options that replicate the conditional expected GMWB liability in a short time period, and update the portfolio after the options expire. This strategy requires fewer portfolio adjustments, and outperforms the dynamic strategy when there are random jumps in the underlying price. We also extend the semi-static hedging strategies to the Heston stochastic volatility model.