Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: William Latham, III, Dept. of Economics. Includes bibliographical references.

The meteoric rise and prevalent usage of wireless networking technologies for mobile communication applications have captured the attention of media and imagination of public in the recent decade. One such proliferation is experienced in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), where multimedia enabled elements are fused with integrated sensors to empower tightly coupled interaction with the physical world. As a promising alternative to antiquated wired systems and traditional WSNs in a multitude of novel application scenarios, the newly renovated WSNs have inspired a wide range of research among which investigation on data acquisition techniques is a fundamental one. In this dissertation, we address the problem of data acquisition in next generation WSNs. As wireless sensors are powered with limited energy resources while they are expected to work in an unattended manner for a long duration, energy conservation stands as the primal concern. Also, to enable in-situ sensing in different rate-constrained applications, routing decisions should care about the medium access feasibility of achievable end-to-end data rates. Driven by the fact, we first design cross-layer medium contention aware routing schemes for rate-constrained traffic in single-channel WSNs that maximize network lifetime. Three sufficient conditions on rate feasibility, referred to as rate-based, degree-based, and mixed constraints, are incorporated into the routing formulations to guarantee the practical viability of the routing solutions. Next, with the aim to mitigate interference and hence to enhance network capacity, we extend our work by proposing energy and cross-layer aware routing schemes for multichannel access WSNs that account for radio, MAC contention, and network constraints. In that context, we first derive three new sets of sufficient conditions that ensure feasibility of data rates in multichannel access WSNs. Then, utilizing these sets, we devise three different MAC-aware routing optimization schemes, each aiming to maximize the network lifetime while meeting data rate requirements of end-to-end flows. Finally, we perform extensive simulation studies to evaluate and compare the performance of the proposed routing approaches under various network conditions. So far works are done in milieu of WSNs with both fixed access node and sensor nodes. In the subsequent part of the dissertation, we present the continuation of our work focusing on reliable data acquisition in Mobile WSNs for a promising application namely free-ranging animal tracking/monitoring. To accomplish that goal, we concentrate on providing sufficient conditions on access-point density that limit the likelihood of buffer overflow. We first derive sufficient access-point density conditions that ensure that the data loss rates are statistically guaranteed to remain below a given threshold. Then, we evaluate and validate the derived theoretical results with both synthetic and real-world data. / Graduation date: 2012

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 222 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-222).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.260-338).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-288). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Augmentative communicators are perceived to have difficulty with reading and writing. This research investigates the effect of increased opportunity to communicate via telecommunications on the reading and writing of adult augmentative communicators who are severely disabled. Two case studies were conducted utilizing a single subject, repeated measure design. The subject of each case study participated in on-line interactive Blissymbol telecommunications sessions with a speaking partner for nine hours per week over ten months. Reading and language tests were administered at two month intervals. Written transcripts of on-line conversations were collected and coded according to macro and micro language functions. Following the increased opportunity to communicate via telecommunications, case study two paralleled the results found in case study one displaying increased reading ability as demonstrated by the upward trends on the multiple reading measures utilized. Case study two also corroborated case study one in the written communication as demonstrated by the increased use of complex language functions, initiations, and response to statements. The findings suggest that providing augmentative communicators with meaningful and functional reading, writing, and 'speaking' opportunities, similar to those provided with the telecommunications opportunity in this research, will have a positive effect on reading and writing.

Thesis (DBA) -- Swinburne University of Technology, Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, 2006. / Dissertation submitted to Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Business Administration, 2006. Typescript. Bibliography: p. 157-166.

Zugl.: Zürich, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2007

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): John E. Mutty, Bill D. Hatch. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-48). Also available online.