High-speed Broadband Networks Research Articles

Broadband for a sustainable digital future of rural communities: A reflexive interactive assessment

Stakeholders face an ongoing challenge of assessing impacts of large-scale interventions, such as rural broadband infrastructure, which involve both social and technological change. In order to determine immediate benefits, intermediate outcomes and long-term societal impacts of broadband Internet, this paper integrates latest approaches to assess social and technological change, which are known respectively as ‘reflexive learning’ and ‘reflexive governance’. This paper contextualises the integrated framework using case studies of broadband access and use among small businesses and community organisations from the first release areas of the heavily invested high-speed broadband network known as EORN (Eastern Ontario Regional Network) in Canada. EORN represents a major public-private partnership for rural telecommunications which began in 2009 and ended its first phase in 2014. Findings revealed location and sector specific benefits of broadband that rural small businesses and community organisations have realised from increased access to (including availability and affordability) as well as reliability of Internet connections. Also evident were early signs of transitions to more resilient and sustainable rural communities. Partly because of a new initiative, research evidence, however, was not sufficiently robust to determine system-level impacts or structural changes, such as closing rural-urban price gaps and reducing the price of rural broadband services.

The Need for More Efficient Public Funding of New Communications Infrastructure in EU Member States

A broad-scale coverage of new high-speed broadband networks as foreseen by the European Commission still appears to be a rather unrealistic objective in most EU member states without government intervention in terms of funding network deployment in unprofitable areas. We contend, however, that the current contract practice of fixing ex ante targets for network expansion is inefficient given the uncertainty about future returns on high-speed broadband services and the public authorities’ incomplete information about the costs of the network provider. This paper puts forward to delegate the choice of the network expansion to the typically much better informed network operator. Furthermore, we show that such contracts can be implemented based on existing accounting data and that it is not necessary to undertake any ex post verification of cost or demand data as is currently the case under claw-back rules.

The need for more efficient public funding of new communications infrastructure in EU member states

Ubiquitous coverage of new high-speed broadband networks, as foreseen by the European Commission, still appears to be a rather unrealistic objective in most European Union member states without government intervention in terms of funding network deployment in unprofitable areas. We contend, however, that the current contract practice of fixing ex ante targets for network expansion is inefficient given the uncertainty about future returns on high-speed broadband services and the public authorities’ incomplete information about the costs of the network provider. This paper suggests delegating the choice of the network expansion to the typically much better informed network operator. Furthermore, we show that such contracts can be implemented based on existing accounting data and that it is not necessary to undertake any additional ex post verification of cost or demand data as is currently the case under claw-back rules.

Basic theories and key technologies in next generation networks

T he next generation network is a high-speed broadband network based on the packets, which offers unrestricted access by users to different service providers. It supports generalized mobility which will allow consistent and ubiquitous provision of services to users. The wireless communication network is an important part of the next generation network. With the rapid development of wireless networks and smart-phone techniques, more and more image, video and other high data rate services are expected to be deployed, which lead to great interests to devise new innovative wireless technologies. There have been some breakthroughs in multiple access, advanced waveform technologies combined with advances in coding and modulation, algorithms and architecture.

Multi-site videoconferencing for home-based education of older people with chronic conditions: the Telehealth Literacy Project

We examined the acceptability of multi-site videoconferencing as a method of providing group education to older people in their homes. There were 9 groups comprising 52 participants (mean age 73 years) with an average of four chronic conditions. Tablet computers or PCs were installed in participant’s homes and connected to the Internet by the National Broadband Network (high-speed broad band network) or by the 4G wireless network. A health literacy and self-management programme was delivered by videoconference for 5 weeks. Participants were able to view and interact with all group members and the facilitator on their devices. During the study, 44 group videoconferences were conducted. Evaluation included 16 semi-structured interviews, 3 focus groups and a journal detailing project implementation. The participants reported enjoying home-based group education by videoconference and found the technology easy to use. Using home-based groups via videoconference was acceptable for providing group education, and considered particularly valuable for people living alone and/or with limited mobility. Audio difficulties were the most commonly reported problem. Participants connected with 4G experienced more problems (audio and visual) than participants on the National Broadband Network and those living in multi-dwelling residences reported more problems than those living in single-dwelling residences. Older people with little computer experience can be supported to use telehealth equipment. Telehealth has the potential to improve access to education about chronic disease self-management.

Research on the Information Management System of Subway Construction

Based on the construction of the subway analysis of risk factors, through the integration of the owners and the construction side of the interface and enhance training, established based on GIS (geographic information system) and artificial intelligence support to high-speed broadband networks as the basis, with advanced technology, massive data dynamic scheduling based on the use of three-dimensional visual representation of management information systems.

Application of Wireless Communication Technology Based on Visual C + + in Smart Home

The smart home is a kind of brand-new life concept, with the development of science and technology, people’s pursuit of quality of life is more and more high. The living concept "Safe and comfort, health and environmental protection, natural and harmony, people-oriented, efficient and convenient, personalized" has been received by most. With the rapid development of 4G networks, the Internet access technology based on mobile terminal and the family high-speed broadband network connectivity built a high-speed communication platform for the control and application of intelligent household life, and the high-speed platform created the condition for developing the richer remote intelligent household control application. Smart phones carry-on become bonds connecting smart home system and high-speed mobile communications platform, and remote control for smart phone will bring our life into a new field.

The impact of regulation and competition on the adoption of fiber-based broadband services: recent evidence from the European union member states

Fiber deployment of next-generation high-speed broadband networks is considered to be a decisive development for any information-based society, yet investment activities and especially the adoption of fiber-based broadband services take place only very gradually in most countries. This work employs static and dynamic model specifications and identifies the most important determinants of the adoption of fiber-based broadband services with recent panel data from the European Union member states for the years from 2004 to 2012. The results show that the more effective previous broadband access regulation is, the more negative the impact on adoption, while competitive pressure from mobile networks affects adoption in a non-linear manner. Finally, we also find evidence for substantial network effects underlying the adoption process.

Going abroad of korean health information systems.

Seoul National University Hospital has recently announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to export its hospital information systems to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [1]. The Korea Health and Welfare Information Service (KHWIS) has agreed to export its cloud computing based Public Healthcare Information System (PHIS) to the Philippines Ministry of Health. The Mongolian Ministry of Health is also interested in adopting the PHIS because a majority of its health institutes are public and they are widely spread out across a large territory. Both the Philippines and Mongolian government believe that the PHIS can reduce maintenance costs and easily implement the system without the use of highly skilled IT personnel. The BIT, a Korean IT Company, is developing the National Health Information System for Iraq and it recently exported a hospital information system to the International Medical Center in Mongolia. The Korea Digital Hospital Export Agency (KDHEA) has also signed an MOU to export information systems to military hospitals in Columbia. Healthcare institutions in Korea have become increasingly digitized in the past ten years. Almost all hospitals have adopted the computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system, patient management systems, and insurance claim systems using electronic data interchange (EDI). Over 80% of tertiary hospitals have adopted Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and picture archive and communication systems (PACSs) [2]. Over 3,500 public health institutes are implementing the Web-based PHIS using the cloud computing approach [3]. The high adoption rate of information systems in Korea is one of the highest in the world. Healthcare Informatics Research (HIR), the official journal of the Korean Society of Medical Informatics, has introduced the development and use of information systems for selected Korean hospitals since 2010 to enable them to share their experiences in developing and implementing systems. All nine hospitals that have appeared in HIR were implementing CPOE, EMR, PACS, and a clinical data repository or data warehouse. And three hospitals were implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems: Severance Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Gil Hospital. On the other hand, each hospital has unique features. For example, Yonsei University Severance Hospital has used medical record items to create clinical documents for EMRs, which allowed for easy data entry and improved the reusability of medical information [4]. Distinctive features of Asan Medical Information Systems (AMIS) were the high alert-medication recognition system, the integrated patient monitoring system, and the clinical indicator management system [5]. Samsung Medical Center extensively used smartphones to provide mobile access of patient information [6]. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, which is the first Stage 7 hospital outside of North America, has adopted and utilized an innovative and emerging information technology system to improve the efficiency and quality of patient care [7]. The closed-loop medication administration (CLMA) system automatically delivers containers of medication with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags from pharmacy to wards. At a ward, nurses use a PDA to scan a patient's wristband RFID tag before administering a medication. The PHIS developed by KHWIS covers 3,501 public institutes including 254 public health centers, 1,346 health sub-centers, and 1,901 health posts throughout the country with one server based on cloud computing architecture [3]. A high-speed broadband network allows for implementation of CPOE on a real-time basis. The PHIS supports 47 public health services including tuberculosis and vaccination in addition to clinical services, such as CPOE and EMR. Moreover, the PHIS supports a real-time information exchange with eight government agencies, including the Health Insurance Review Agency (HIRA) and Korea Center for Disease Control. The PHIS was patented by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and Patent Cooperation Treaty, and was accredited as ISO 9001. As the Korean government strongly promotes the export of such health information systems, several leading hospitals and government agencies, such as KHWIS and HIRA, are actively exploring the possibility of exporting their systems. While Korean health information systems have high technical excellence with a wide variety of functions, there are several weaknesses to overcome before they can become a leading product in a competitive international market. First, most Korean health information systems are based on EMR for the treatment of patients, rather than Electronic Health Records (EHRs) for life-time healthcare of individuals. Therefore, they lack EHR functionalities and interoperability. However, most countries emphasize the importance of a sharable EHR (life-time collection of summarized individual health and clinical information) for their national health information infrastructure in order to share patient information among public health institutes. Second, many Korean health information systems have not followed international health informatics standards, such as ISO/TC 215 or Health Level 7. Since standards are essential to ensure interoperability of EHRs, the successful deployment of Korean health information systems to health institutes abroad largely depends on how well Korean health institutes overcome these weaknesses.

The Impact of Australia’s Government Policy on Broadband Internet Access

The Australian government has recognised the importance of broadband for their social and economic development. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of policy issues on broadband Internet access in Australia. This research has clearly indicated that the state of broadband Internet access is closely related to the Government’s policy and regulatory framework. The Government based its actions on market forces as a principal driver for broadband Internet connectivity. The research has indicated that the previous regulatory competition regime, by and large, has failed to address concerns of market dominance and market power in the Telecommunications sector as is evidenced by a relatively lower speed and value of broadband services in Australia. To rectify the situation, the Australian government has recently adopted a unique National Broadband Network (NBN) plan, which is linked to the national digital economy strategy. Australia is the first country in the world where a national broadband network infrastructure company, NBN Co, is regarded as a regulated national infrastructure provider rather than as a telecommunication company. The NBN Co builds and operates an open access, wholesale only and non-discrimination high-speed broadband network, the National Broadband Network (NBN). The Australian Government's goal for the NBN is to reform the telecommunications sector and ensure every home and business across the country has access to the NBN by 2020. This paper examines the policies underlying the NBN and discusses current practices and potential benefits of the NBN.

The UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development

High-speed broadband networks are an essential element in today’s society, and access should be available on an equitable basis, worldwide. The infrastructure should have the same fundamental importance as the infrastructure associated with transport, power and water supply. This paper explores how that goal can be achieved, and describes the work being done by the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development. The Commission is working towards making broadband cost-effective and affordable to all, and towards increasing Internet user penetration in developing, as well as developed, countries. It is currently leading a trans-sectoral project aimed at the worldwide eradication of malaria, which will use digital technology such as smartphones to enable cohesive, trans-sector communications.

Performance Assessment for Digital Convergence Development in Taiwan

In this research, the top six determinants of evaluation, as shown in Table 2, were selected as objectives of developing the digital convergence policy of Taiwan, they are: (1)C11 Promoting telecommunication mobile value-added services; (2) C12expediting the digitization of cable and terrestrial TV; (3) C21promoting investment and development of the convergence industry; (4) C13adjusting the scope of regulating telecommunications and broadcasting ; (5) C31completing the digital convergence legislative framework and passing relevant legislation; and (6) C22 reducing the digital divide and popularizing services.”For this research, opinions and comments from experts and scholars were compiled with the objective of establishing the most effective research structure and means of evaluation. Subsequently, results show that the top criteria expedite Taiwan’s digital convergence is the development of high-speed broadband network infrastructure. Besides, Taiwan presently does not perform well in Harmonic Convergence Regulatory Environment. It also means that there is not a sound regulatory environment, particularly in “balance digital divide and universal service”. Thus, Taiwan should first improve “Harmonic Convergence Regulatory Environment”.

The Battle for the Next Generation of Mobility

AbstractThe development of the Internet Protocol (IP), which can be used to transport all kinds of content, combined with the digitization of content, the roll-out of high speed broadband networks and the availability of intelligent, multimedia devices have led to “convergence”. “Convergence” refers to the shift from vertical industry silos and from a situation where different services are provided through separate networks - fixed, mobile, cable TV, IP, to a situation in which a variety of electronic communication services are accessed and seamlessly used across various networks and platforms. This convergence has led to the entry of new players into each of the markets and increased competition between players from formerly separate markets (I).It would appear that those playerswho have a dominant position in one of the segments of the electronic communications eco-system are seeking to exploit that position to their advantage to extend their domination to other related segments of the electronics communications ecosystem. Nowhere is this truer than in the area of mobility. This paper will explore three of the major battles in the area of electronic communications mobility and, principally, how three of the major players - Google, Microsoft and Apple - are using (or being subjected to) legal mechanisms to advance or defend their economic interests (I.). The three major battles that are explored are: the battle for spectrum, which is necessary for rolling out next-generation mobile networks (II.) the battle of the “Gate Keepers” (those players with dominant positions in a segment of the market) (III.) and, finally, the battle for the Smartphone market (IV.).

In Search of the Korean Digital Wave

This article sets the context for this special themed issue on the ‘Korean digital wave’ by considering the symbiotic relationship between digital technologies, their techniques and practices, their uses and the affordances they provide, and Korea's ‘compressed modernity’ and swift industrialisation. It underscores the importance of interrogating a range of groundbreaking developments and innovations within Korea's digital mediascapes, and its creative and cultural industries, in order to gain a complex understanding of one of Australia's most significant export markets and trading partners. Given the financial and political commitment in Australia to a high-speed broadband network that aims to stimulate economic and cultural activity, recent technological developments in Korea, and the double-edged role played by government policy in shaping the ‘Korean digital wave’, merit close attention from media and communications scholars.

Automated age regression for personalized IPTV services

The increasing penetration rates of high speed broadband networks have infused strong impetus for IPTV adoption and usage. One of the more intriguing possibilities of personalizing the IPTV experience is to install automated age classification capabilities onto a display set. This allows the detection, by vision-based methods, of the demographic profile of the IPTV user and automatically suggest or stream services, advertisements and adjust settings to provide a personalized IPTV experience to the user. We describe a vision-based age estimation system, capable of estimating the age of a person using the near frontal face with a mean average error of 4.64 years, using various proposed techniques such as facial alignment and hierarchical manifold-based regression. We discuss the likely scenarios where such a capability can be applied, and the likely impact it will have on the user experience. Finally, the paper explores related user issues and the possible solutions within the IPTV context.

유비쿼터스 컴퓨팅 학습의 교육환경 설계

본 연구에서는 유비쿼터스 컴퓨팅 학습의 개념과 e-Learning과 u-Learning의 학습환경 및 유비쿼터스 학습환경의 설계, 그에 따른 문제점 및 해결방안을 모색하고 향후 발전방안에 대해서 고찰하였다. 최근 정보통신 및 컴퓨터의 기술발전에 따라 언제 어디서나 쉽게 원하는 학습을 할 수 있는 유비쿼터스컴퓨팅학습의 요구와 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 특히, DMB(Digital Multimedia Broadcast), WiBro, WCDMA와 같은 고속 이동 데이터 통신망의 등장과 소형의 DMB단말기, PDA, 고기능/고성능 휴대폰의 일반화는 유비쿼터스컴퓨팅 학습의 발전가능성을 더욱 촉진시킬 것이다. This article first defines the concept of ubiquitous learning, and then examine ways to design the educational environment for e-Learning and u-Learning. Next, identifies some disadvantages before seeking possible solutions. Finally, the article explores visions of how ubiquitous learning might look in the future. With the advent of information, communication and computer technologies, the needs and demands for ubiquitous learning are largely emerging, enabling students to easily access everything they want anytime, anywhere. In particular, the advance of high-speed broadband networks such as DMB, WiBro and WCDMA and the proliferation of portable digital devices including DMB, PDA and high-performance mobile phones will encourage the widespread adoption of u-Learning.

Scheduling in multihop WiMAX networks

IEEE 802.16, popularly known as WiMAX, is at the forefront of the technology drive because of the growing demand for high-speed wireless broadband networks. Multihop WiMAX networks are particularly useful as they increase the coverage area without the need to deploy expensive base stations. There are two kinds of multihop WiMAX networks - WiMAX mesh and Mobile Multihop Relay Networks. Scheduling is very important in both of these multihop WiMAX networks. The links have to be scheduled in such a way so that they do not interfere with each other while maximizing the throughput of the networks. As WiMAX networks are geared towards broadband applications, any scheduling scheme should accomodate the rate, latency and jitter requirements of the applications. This article provides an insight to the scheduling framework presented in the IEEE 802.16 standard. It also presents a few representative research proposals for centralized scheduling in WiMAX networks. We discuss some of the research issues and challenges that need to be addressed for multihop WiMAX networks to realize their full potential.

The routing policy of the next generation broadband academic network in Taiwan

To overcome the existing network's limitations and advance to the high-speed broadband network system in Taiwan, the NSC (National Science Council) has launched the National Broadband Experimental Network (NBEN) and TANet 2 projects to replace the existing TANet network backbone. The NBEN, the current network framework of the next generation networks (NGNs) of the broadband academic network in Taiwan is to deploy over ATM and the trend is towards deploying over SONET or DWDM. The major goal of the NGNs is to try to provide the capabilities to converge high-speed multimedia (video/audio) and data transmission, with cheaper and more efficient management. In this study, we have developed the new routing policy to ensure the success of running Fully Routed IP in the NBEN backbone.

Fractal engine: an affine video processor core for multimedia applications

The advances in VLSI technology, high-speed processor designs, Internet/Intranet implementations, broadband networks (ATM and ISDN), and compression standards (JPEG, MPEG, H.261, H.263, and G.273) are leading to the popularity of multimedia applications. Examples include video over the Internet, interactive TV, distance learning, telemedicine, and digital libraries. Visual media processing poses challenges from several perspectives, specifically from the points of view of real-time implementation and scalability. We first present an overview and categorization of the various architectural approaches for multimedia processing. The fundamental operations involved in a majority of visual processing tasks are then derived. We propose an affine transform-processor-core-based video processor architecture called the fractal engine that is capable of implementing the basic visual processing operations. The fractal engine is an open architecture, and is designed to be modular and scalable, and therefore has the potential to satisfy the heterogeneous computing requirements of the different media types in multimedia processing. Details of the individual modules of the fractal engine as well the implementation of the architecture in VHDL are also presented.

A QoS adaptive multimedia transport system: design, implementation and experiences

The long awaited `new environment' of high speed broadband networks and multimedia applications is fast becoming a reality. However, few systems in existence today, whether they be large scale pilots or small scale test-beds in research laboratories, offer a fully integrated and flexible environment where multimedia applications can maximally exploit the quality of service (QoS) capabilities of supporting networks and end-systems. In this paper we describe the implementation of an adaptive transport system that incorporates a QoS oriented API and a range of mechanisms to assist applications in exploiting QoS and adapting to fluctuations in QoS. The system, which is an instantiation of the Lancaster QoS Architecture, is implemented in a multi ATM switch network environment with Linux based PC end systems and continuous media file servers. A performance evaluation of the system configured to support video-on-demand application scenario is presented and discussed. Emphasis is placed on novel features of the system and on their integration into a complete prototype. The most prominent novelty of our design is a `distributed QoS adaptation' scheme which allows applications to delegate to the system responsibility for augmenting and reducing the perceptual quality of video and audio flows when resource availability increases or decreases.