How Evolving Network Access and Network Management Technologies are Redefining the Competitive Wireless Markets

This paper examines some of the key problems users encounter when accessing current generation wireless networks. Using a case study of a hypothetical user, the authors explore the emerging services and the new broadband wireless network technologies necessary to carry them out. This paper analyses the issues associated with an observed trend in the industry that exposes potential changes to the long-term, rigid commercial relation between wireless providers and users: as a result of a range of evolved broadband wireless access standards and technologies, autonomic communications and policy-based management, and new pricing schemes, consumers will likely face new opportunities to enter short-term and spot contracts with the new wireless providers. This new landscape also allow multiple competing Access Providers (APs) to dynamically assign prices, and poses new and interesting challenges to the regulatory function. The paper also discusses a framework for the integration of heterogeneous technologies and management policies based on the network context that make up this emerging, hybrid wireless landscape, and describes the economic characteristics of new markets likely to arise.

Semantic Federation of Product Information from Structured and Unstructured Sources

Product-related information can be found in various data sources and formats across the product lifecycle. Effectively exploiting this information requires the federation of these sources, the extraction of implicit information, and the efficient access to this comprehensive knowledge base. Existing solutions for product information management (PIM) are usually restricted to structured information, but most of the business-critical information resides in unstructured documents. We present a generic architecture for federating heterogeneous information from various sources, including the Internet of Things, and argue how this process benefits from using semantic representations. A reference implementation tailor-made to business users is explained and evaluated. We also discuss several issues we experienced that we believe to be valuable for researchers and implementers of semantic information systems, as well as the information retrieval community.

A Novel Dynamic Noise-Dependent Probabilistic Algorithm for Route Discovery in MANETs

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), broadcasting is widely used in route discovery and other network services. The most widely used broadcasting algorithm is simple flooding, which aggravates a high number of redundant packet retransmissions, causing contention and collisions. Proper use of dynamic probabilistic algorithm significantly reduces the number of retransmissions, which reduces the chance of contention and collisions. In current dynamic probabilistic algorithm, the retransmission probability (pt) is formulated as a linear/non-linear function of a single variable, the number of first-hop neighbors (k). However, such algorithm is suffers in the presence of noise due to increasing packet-loss. In this paper, the authors propose a new dynamic probabilistic algorithm in which ptis determined locally by the retransmitting nodes considering both k and the noise-level. This algorithm is referred to as the dynamic noise-dependent probabilistic (DNDP) algorithm. The performance of the DNDP algorithm is evaluated through simulations using the MANET simulator (MANSim). The simulation results show that the DNDP algorithm presents higher network reachability than the dynamic probabilistic algorithm at a reasonable increase in the number of retransmissions for a wide range of noise-level. The effects of nodes densities and nodes speeds on the performance of the DNDP algorithm are also investigated.

Enhancing Clustering in Wireless Sensor Networks with Energy Heterogeneity

While wireless sensor networks (WSN) are increasingly equipped to handle more complex functions, in-network processing still requires the battery-powered sensors to judiciously use their constrained energy so as to prolong the elective network life time. There are a few protocols using sensor clusters to coordinate the energy consumption in a WSN, but how to deal with energy heterogeneity remains a research question. The authors propose a modified clustering algorithm with a three-tier energy setting, where energy consumption among sensor nodes is adaptive to their energy levels. A theoretical analysis shows that the proposed modifications result in an extended network stability period. Simulation has been conducted to evaluate the new clustering algorithm against some existing algorithms under different energy heterogeneity settings, and favourable results are obtained especially when the energy levels are significantly imbalanced.

Performance-Enhanced Caching Scheme for Web Clusters for Dynamic Content

In order to improve the QoS of applications, clusters of web servers are increasingly used in web services. Caching helps improve performance in web servers, but is largely exploited only for static web content. With more web applications using backend databases today, caching of dynamic content has a crucial role in web performance. This paper presents a set of cache management schemes for handling dynamic data in web clusters by sharing cached contents. These schemes use either automatic or expiry-based cache validation, and work with any type of request distribution. The techniques improve response by utilizing the caches efficiently and reducing redundant database accesses by web servers while ensuring cache consistency. The authors present caching schemes for both horizontal and vertical cluster architectures. Simulations show an appreciable performance rise in response times of queries in clustered web servers.

Antecedents of Security Pillars in E-Commerce Applications

This paper investigates the relationship between internet security and e-business competence at banking and exchange firms in Jordan. The proposed conceptual model examines the antecedents and consequences of e-business competence and tests its empirical validity. The sample of 152 banking and exchange firms tests the posited structural equation model. The results consistently support the validity of the proposed conceptual model, the results also found that organizations realize the importance of e- business and are willing to proceed further with e-business. Beyond concerns about internet security, their awareness of security hazards and internet performance is minimal. The author concludes that the public awareness of ICT in general is low. In light of the data collected, the author makes recommendations for the interested authorities to improve e-business in Jordan.

Secure Video Transmission Against Black Hole Attack in MANETs

Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) are open to a wide range of attacks due to their unique characteristics like dynamic topology, shared medium, absence of infrastructure, and resource constraints. Data packets sent by a source node may reach destination through a number of intermediate nodes. In the absence of security mechanism, it is easy for an intermediate node to intercept or modify the messages, thus attacking the normal operation of MANET. One such attack is Black hole attack, in which, a malicious node called Black hole node attracts all the traffic of the network towards itself, and discards all the packets without forwarding them to the intended recipients. This paper evaluates the performance of Adhoc on-demand Distance Vector (AODV) and its multi-path variant Adhoc On-demand Multi-path Distance Vector (AOMDV) routing protocols under black hole attack. Non-cryptographic solutions Secure Blackhole AODV (SBAODV) and Secure Blackhole AOMDV (SBAOMDV) have been proposed to mitigate the effect of black hole attack. Through NS-2 simulations, the performance of the proposed protocols with video streaming is analyzed. The results show that the proposed solutions provide better performance than the conventional AODV and AOMDV.

Fuzzy Logic-based Mobility Metric Clustering Algorithm for MANETs

Mobile ad-hoc network, (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary communication network without using any existing infrastructure or centralized administration. To reduce routing overhead, computational complexity and overcome the problem of low bandwidth utilization, MANET is divided into several clusters. The authors propose a fuzzy logic based mobility metric for MANET that had been utilized as the basis of cluster formation in the algorithm viz., FUZZY CLUSTERING. This algorithm leads to more stable cluster formation compared to the existing MOBIC algorithm as evidenced by significant reduction in the number of clusterhead changes. As the frequency of cluster reorganization is a significant attribute, the proposed algorithm is expected to yield improved performance for MANETs.

The Role of Twitter in the World of Business

This paper examines the services people seek out on Twitter and the integration of Twitter into businesses. Twitter has experienced tremendous growth in users over the past few years, from users sharing to the world what they had for lunch to their opinions on world events. As a social media website, Twitter has become the third most popular behind only Facebook and YouTube. Its user base statistics ensure a wide audience for business to engage with. However, many find this a daunting prospect as there are no set guidelines as to how business might use the service. The ability to post quick short messages for the whole of the social network to see has encouraged people to use this microblogging platform to comment and share attitudes on company brands and products. The authors present how the business world is using the social network site as a new communication channel to reach customers and examine other possible uses for Twitter in a business context. This paper also discusses how Twitter plans to move forward and evolve with its service, ensuring that personal, business and third party developers’ best interests are catered to.