Magister Scientiae - MSc / SIP is receiving much attention these days and it seems to be the most promising candidate as a signaling protocol for the current and future IP telephony services. Realizing this, there is the obvious need to provide a certain level of quality comparable to the traditional telephone service signalling system. Thus, we identified the major costs of SIP, which were found to be delay and security. This thesis discusses the costs of SIP, the solutions for the major costs, and the development of a low cost SIP application. The literature review of the components used to develop such a service is discussed, the networks in which the SIP is used are outlined, and some SIP applications and services previously designed are discussed. A simulation environment is then designed and implemented for the instant messaging service for wireless devices. This environment simulates the average delay in LAN and WLAN in different scenarios, to analyze in which scenario the system has the lowest costs and delay constraints. / South Africa

Nowadays, with the rapid development of GPS-equipped mobile devices, location-based social networks have been emerging to bridge the gap between the physical world and online social networking services. Various types of data, such as personal locations, check-ins, microblogs and social relations, have been available in location-based social networks. Efficiently managing and analyzing such data to meet users' daily query requirements become a challenging task. Among all the existing works in location-based social networks, group query is one of the most important research topics. In this thesis, we investigate query techniques for location-based services in social networking applications. Specifically, considering a location-based social network, we study spatial-aware interest group queries, geo-social {dollar}k{dollar}-cover group queries, and social-aware ridesharing group queries. Firstly, we study the spatial-aware interest group queries in location-based social networks. Recently, most of the location-based social networks release check-in services that allow users to share their visiting locations with their friends. These locations, considered as spatial objects, are usually associated with a few tags that describe the features of those locations. Utilizing such information, we propose a new type of \emph{Spatial-aware Interest Group} (SIG) query that retrieves a user group of size {dollar}k{dollar} where each user is interested in the query keywords and the users are close to each other in the Euclidean space. We prove this query problem is NP-complete, and develop two efficient algorithms IOAIR and DOAIR based on the IR-tree for the processing of SIG queries. We also validate the performance efficiency of the proposed query processing algorithms by empirical evaluation. Secondly, we study the problem of geo-social {dollar}k{dollar}-cover group queries for collaborative spatial computing. In this problem, we propose a novel type of geo-social queries, called \emph{Geo-Social K-Cover Group} (GSKCG) query, which is based on spatial containment and a new modeling of social relationships. Intuitively, given a set of spatial query points and an underlying social network, a GSKCG query finds a minimum user group in which the members satisfy certain social relationship and their associated regions can jointly cover all the query points. Albeit its practical usefulness, the GSKCG query problem is NP-complete. We consequently explore a set of effective pruning strategies to derive an efficient algorithm for finding the optimal solution. Moreover, we design a novel index structure tailored to our problem to further accelerate query processing. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our algorithm achieves desirable performance on real-life datasets. Thirdly, we study the problem of social-aware ridesharing group queries. With the deep penetration of smartphones and geo-locating devices, ridesharing is envisioned as a promising solution to transportation-related problems such as congestion and air pollution for metropolitan cities. Despite the potential to provide significant societal and environmental benefits, ridesharing has not so far been as popular as expected. Notable barriers include the social discomfort and safety concerns when traveling with strangers. To overcome these barriers, in this thesis, we propose a new type of \emph{Social-aware Ridesharing Group} (SaRG) query which retrieves a group of riders by taking into account their social connections besides traditional spatial proximities. Because the SaRG query problem is NP-hard, we design an efficient algorithm with a set of powerful pruning techniques to tackle this problem. We also present several incremental strategies to accelerate the search speed by reducing the repeated computations. Moreover, we propose a novel index tailored to the proposed problem to further speed up the query processing. Experimental results on real datasets show that our proposed algorithms achieve desirable performance. The works of this thesis show that the group query processing techniques are effective, which would facilitate the wider deployment of such query services in real applications

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013 / During the last few years it has become evident that first-year undergraduate computer science programming learners in the Financial Information Systems (FIS) programme at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa, encounter numerous barriers to successfully practice their programming skills, as well as to design, develop, test and electronically submit their computer science programming assignments. As a result, the formative and summative assessment marks of these learners over the past few years indicate a concerning downward trend year on year, a challenge with which most first-year learners find it difficult to come to terms with. This is primarily due to a plethora of obstacles that impede on learners' ability to complete and electronically submit their programming assignments, especially off-campus, as well as the inability to practice their programming skills outside the boundaries of the classroom. Upon investigation it was determined that this trend is primarily attributed to three major stumbling blocks, namely the limited availability of computers, the absence of the required software needed to complete programming assignments off-campus, and the limited availability of Internet access off-campus.

Orientador: Celso de Almeida / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T17:31:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramos_RodrigoPereira_D.pdf: 950853 bytes, checksum: f7285f4019c5e070e6dc3c92e1e16464 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: o desempenho dos sistemas de comunicações móveis baseados na técnica de acesso múltiplo CDMA é limitado pela interferência. Nesta tese, propomos um algoritmo de escolha de seqüências com comprimento fixo para a redução de interferência em sistemas CDMA em canais com desvanecimento seletivo em freqüência, que se baseia na minimização da probabilidade de erro de bit média do sistema. Dentre as classes de seqüências abordadas, podemos citar a de Walsh, a de Gold, a de comprimento máximo e também um novo tipo de seqüência de espalhamento baseado nas seqüências de comprimento máximo. Analisamos o desempenho de sistemas CDMA com arranjo de antenas na recepção e técnicas de diversidade de transmissão, mais especificamente codificação espaço-temporal. Desenvolvemos um limitante superior para a probabilidade de erro de bit média para estes sistemas. Também apresentamos a generalização do algoritmo proposto, para o caso com múltiplas antenas de transmissão e recepção. Com o objetivo de tornar o algoritmo de escolha mais efetivo no enlace reverso, é proposta uma sincronização dos usuários neste enlace / Abstract: The performance of mobile communication systems based on the CDMA technique is limited by interference. In this thesis, we propose a selection algorithm of spreading sequences with fixed length for interference mitigation on CDMA systems over frequency-selective fading channels, that is based on the minimization of the overall mean bit error probability of the system. The classes of sequences considered are Walsh, Gold, maximum length, and a new type of spreading sequences based on the maximum length sequences. We analyse CDMA systems performance with antenna array at the reception and diversity transmission techniques, specifically space-time coding. An upper-bound for the mean bit error probability of those systems is obtained. We also present a generalization of the proposed algorithm for multiple transmission and reception antennas. With the objective of making the selection algorithm more effective on the reverse link, it is proposed synchronization of the users on this link / Doutorado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica

[pt] Nos últimos anos, considerável debate tem ocorrido a respeito do tema gerência de mobilidade, face à necessidade de se fazer uso judicioso dos recursos de sinalização destinados para esse fim no âmbito de sistemas de comunicação móvel celular e de sistemas de comunicação pessoal (PCS). Dentre as estratégias de gerência de mobilidade, destaca-se a utilização do conceito de áreas de registro, amplamente empregadas a partir dos sistemas de 2a. geração, e permitindo reduzir o consumo de recursos devido a atualizações de localização. Outro conceito, o de áreas de paging, tem também se tornado bastante difundido, propiciando a economia de recursos gastos na procura de terminais móveis por ocasião de tentativas de completamento de chamadas para estes terminais. Este trabalho inicia-se com discussão a respeito de modelos de mobilidade empregados no estudo de problemas e técnicas da área de comunicações móveis. Dentre tais modelos, destacam- se no contexto do trabalho o modelo baseado em fluxo de fluídos e o modelo gravitacional. O problema de particionamento em áreas de localização (LAPP) é então tratado como um problema de particionamento de grafos, cuja elevada complexidade enseja a utilização de heurísticas capazes de propiciar a obtenção de soluções próximas da ótima. As heurísticas propostas destinam-se ao caso mais comum, em que áreas de localização são coincidentes com áreas de paging. Com base em metodologia utilizada para o LAPP, são propostas soluções para um outro problema, o ISHMP (Inter-Switch Handover Minimization Problem), cuja importância se prende não só ao elevado consumo de recursos mas também aos atrasos impostos pelo sistema aos usuários quando estes trocam de área de Mobile Switching Center. Assim, reduzir ao máximo a ocorrência de tais eventos é vantajoso tanto do ponto de vista do usuário quanto do sistema. As heurísticas propostas são essencialmente as mesmas para ambos os problemas, e mostram superioridade em termos de qualidade das soluções obtidas quando comparadas com propostas de outros autores, através de casos-padrão publicados na literatura e de testbed construído especialmente para a comparação. Apresenta-se ainda discussão a respeito de modelos de mobilidade empregados no estudo de problemas e técnicas da área de comunicações móveis. Dentre tais modelos, destacam- se o modelo baseado em fluxo de fluidos e o modelo gravitacional. O trabalho apresenta também estudo relativo às cargas de sinalização que ocorrem tnato na rede fixa (incluindo o tráfego de consultas e atualizações sobre as bases de dados) quanto na interface aérea. No apêndice, considerando o grafo que modela a rede celular, apresenta-se comprovação formal da conversão de pesos de nós e de arestas em novos pesos de arestas, permitindo o tratamento dos dois problemas de particionamento aqui abordados como problemas de edgepartitioning puros. / [en] In the past few years there hás been considerable debate over the question of mobility management in móbile cellular communication networks, due to the need of using the signaling system resources in a careful way. Among the strategies of location management, the utilization of registration areas has been difunded since the emergence of the second generation mobile communication systems, allowing to reduce the resource consumption due to location updates. Another concept, named paging areas, has also been extensively employed, allowing to save resources utilized localization of mobile terminals during the call setup for mobile stations. Initially, the Location Area Partitioning Problem (LAPP) is treated as a graph partitioning problem, largely recognized as NP-complete ([GARE 79], [LENG 90]) and leading to the utilization of heuristics, able to produce good sub-optimal solutions. The heuristics are proposed to solve the more usual case, where location areas are coincident with paging areas, and the frequency spectrum (radio resources). With the same methodology, another problem, named Inter- Switch Handover Minimization Problem (ISHMP), is adequately solved, being its relevance due to the elevated system resource consumption and to the severe delays imposed to users when their Mobile Switching Centers are changed. Thus, the diminution of the occurrence of such events id advantageous from both the user`s and the system`s points of view. The heuristics are eddentially the same for the two problems, and it is shown the superiority of the quality of the quality of the obtained solutions, when comparing them with other published results. The work also presents discussion about mobility models employed in the study of problems and techniques in the mobile communications area. Among such models, the fluid flow and the gravitational models are highlighted. A study concerning to the signaling load imposed to the fixed network (including queries and location update traffic over databases) and to the air interface is presented. Finally, starting from the average rate of mobile terminated calls and from a previously defined user impatience threshold, a new proposal for the definition of the optimal number of cells per paging area is presented.

[pt] O desafio de oferecer serviços de telefonia móvel celular a um número crescente de usuários passa necessariamente pelo aumento das cargas de sinalização e controle. Este trabalho analisa uma serie de estratégias para Paging e a Atualização da Localização e propõe uma alternativa a estes métodos, onde cada usuário é tratado de maneira individualizada. É feita uma avaliação comparativa de carga gerada e do impacto sobre os bancos de dados devido a utilização desta metodologia proposta. / [en] The challenge of offering mobile cellular telephone services to na ever growing number of subscribers, leads necessarily to an increasing amount of control and signaling information exchange. This work analyses a group of Paging and Location Update strategies and proposes an individualized alternative method. A comparative evaluation of the generated signaling load as well as an analysis on the impact on the network data bases due to the usage of the proposed algorithm is performed.

M.Ed. (Ict in Education) / South African learners are underperforming in Mathematics. Annual National Assessments for grade 9 and grade 12 results in Mathematics are shocking according to the Ministry of Education. This study investigates informal learning as an alternative method of addressing underperformance in Mathematics in South African schools. Informal learning with the use of mobile technology enhances engagement in Mathematics learning. The participants of this study had access to Nokia MoMaths on their mobile phones. A quantitative survey research was conducted in four schools in Sedibeng West. The data was analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Results indicated a positive relationship between engagement and informal mobile mathematics learning.

M.Phil. Information management) / A great deal of research has been conducted on mobile technology globally, however very little research has been conducted on the role of mobile technology in the customisation of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) within higher education institutions (HEIs) and in specific within the University of Johannesburg (UJ). This study focuses specifically on the current trends and possible implementation of mobile technology within the learning process of students at HEIs. To date, existing research mostly focuses on the effectiveness of the VLE; very little of the research is dedicated towards asynchronous learning and even less to the possibility of enhancing or customising the VLE towards being available and accessible via mobile devices to end-users who are 'learners on the move'. With its focus on learners on the move, this study follows the Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach in its research design to investigate the current trends and effectiveness of the VLE within HEIs and in particular at the UJ. It is also aimed at displaying the need for mobile technology to be developed and implemented at UJ. The research findings of this study are important as they provide HEIs generally, and the UJ specifically, a guide as to what appeals to digitally minded students in support of their learning experience through the possibility of mobile technology implementation. The UJ, as with all other HEIs, has a large responsibility in making this happen. HEIs must move forward in customising the VLE and act now to ensure a large acceptance from its end-users to engage in learning through collaboration. HEIs have to meet end-users' needs in order to make the mobile technology venture and m-learning enhancements in the near future successful. In summary, the v findings of this study show a clear demand for all modes of mobile access and learning from HEI students as end-users. M-learning is a new phenomenon; and universities that do not embrace it will soon be left behind if m-technology is not implemented. Keywords Virtual learning environment, higher education institutions, e-learning, mlearning, mobile technology, learning management systems, Blackboard, customisation

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