Showing papers by "Orange S.A. published in 2012"

Interpersonal Synchrony: A Survey of Evaluation Methods across Disciplines

Abstract: Synchrony refers to individuals' temporal coordination during social interactions. The analysis of this phenomenon is complex, requiring the perception and integration of multimodal communicative signals. The evaluation of synchrony has received multidisciplinary attention because of its role in early development, language learning, and social connection. Originally studied by developmental psychologists, synchrony has now captured the interest of researchers in such fields as social signal processing, robotics, and machine learning. This paper emphasizes the current questions asked by synchrony evaluation and the state-of-the-art related methods. First, we present definitions and functions of synchrony in youth and adulthood. Next, we review the noncomputational and computational approaches of annotating, evaluating, and modeling interactional synchrony. Finally, the current limitations and future research directions in the fields of developmental robotics, social robotics, and clinical studies are discussed.

ICP: Design and evaluation of an Interest control protocol for content-centric networking

Abstract: Content-centric networking (CCN) brings a paradigm shift in the present Internet communication model by addressing named-data instead of host locations. With respect to TCP/IP, the transport model is connectionless with a unique endpoint at the receiver, driving a retrieval process natively point to multi-point. Another salient feature of CCN is the possibility to embed storage capabilities into the network, adding a new dimension to the transport problem. The focus of this work is on the design of a receiver-driven Interest control protocol for CCN, whose definition, to the best of our knowledge, still lacks in literature. ICP realizes a window-based Interest flow control, achieving full efficiency and fairness under proper parameters setting. In this paper, we provide an analytical characterization of average rate, expected data transfer delay and queue dynamics in steady state on a single and multi-bottleneck network topology. Our model accounts for the impact of on-path caches. Protocol performance is also assessed via packet-level simulations and design guidelines are drawn from previous analysis.

Mobile Phones, Financial Inclusion, and Growth

Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of mobile phone rollout on economic growth in a sample of African countries from 1988 to 2007. Further, in light of the large financial infrastructure gap in African countries, we investigate whether mobile phone development fosters economic growth through better financial inclusion. In estimating the impact of mobile phone development on growth, we use mobile penetration rate as well as the cost of mobile local calls to capture mobile phone diffusion, while financial inclusion is measured by the number of deposits or loans per head. Using the System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator to address endogeneity issues, the results confirm that mobile phone development contributes significantly to economic growth in African countries. Part of the positive effect of mobile phone penetration on growth comes from greater financial inclusion.

Joint hop-by-hop and receiver-driven interest control protocol for content-centric networks

Abstract: Content-centric networking (CCN) advocates a new transport model tailored to named-data communication. Three features distinguish CCN transport from the TCP/IP model: unique endpoint at the receiver, pull-based data retrieval in a point to multi-point fashion and in-path caching.The definition of transport control mechanisms is of fundamental importance within the CCN architectural design and beyond, in the broader scope of information-centric networks. In this work, we propose a joint Hop-by-hop and Receiver-driven Interest Control Protocol (HR-ICP) to regulate user requests (Interests) either at the receiver and at intermediate nodes via Interest shaping. We prove that HR-ICP is stable and converges to an efficient and max-min fair equilibrium. Compared to controlling traffic only at the receiver, HR-ICP accelerates congestion reaction and reduces the loss rate, as we show by means of CCN packet-level simulations. In different network scenarios, we highlight the advantages of our solution in terms of faster convergence to the optimal throughput, robustness against misbehaving receivers and flow protection of delay-sensitive applications.

High-Speed Optical Wireless Demonstrators: Conclusions and Future Directions

Abstract: Two high-speed angle diversity optical wireless systems have recently been implemented, as part of a European Community funded project. One operates at 1.25 Gb/s offering a limited coverage area, and the other at 280 Mb/s, with room scale coverage. In this paper, we summarize the design approach for these systems and their performance. Implications of these results for the design and implementation of future systems are also discussed.

Information-centric networking: a natural design for social network applications

Abstract: Millions of people now use online social network applications such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. This kind of application offers the freedom for end users to easily share contents on the Internet. In parallel with the expansion of OSNs, a new networking paradigm emerges, the information-centric networking approach, where the focus is on the content the user wishes to obtain instead of the server that provides this content: a content-based approach instead of a host-centric one. Looking at the ICN concept, and more precisely the CCN (which stands for content-centric networking) solution in this article (based on Interest-Data messages), and at OSNs behavior (users subscribing to contents posted by another user in case of Twitter, or the notion of friends receiving contents from others friends in Facebook), we advocate that the CCN paradigm perfectly fits with the OSN applications behavior and can help to save network load. In this article, we describe how OSN applications can run with the CCN solution and the evaluation we have performed highlights the benefit of using such a CCN approach compared to the current classical IP-based delivery and to the CDN-based solution, for the use-case of Twitter. Depending on the CCN nodes location and the cache efficiency, the network load can be significantly reduced and the response time to get the content can be faster up to 60 percent.

Spatio-Temporal Convolutional Sparse Auto-Encoder for Sequence Classification.

Abstract: We present in this paper a novel learning-based approach for video sequence classification Contrary to the dominant methodology, which relies on hand-crafted features that are manually engineered to be optimal for a specific task, our neural model automatically learns a sparse shift-invariant representation of the local 2D+t salient information, without any use of prior knowledge To that aim, a spatio-temporal convolutional sparse auto-encoder is trained to project a given input in a feature space, and to reconstruct it from its projection coordinates Learning is performed in an unsupervised manner by minimizing a global parametrized objective function The sparsity is ensured by adding a sparsifying logistic between the encoder and the decoder, while the shift-invariance is handled by including an additional hidden variable to the objective function The temporal evolution of the obtained sparse features is learned by a long short-term memory recurrent neural network trained to classify each sequence We show that, since the feature learning process is problem-independent, the model achieves outstanding performances when applied to two different problems, namely human action and facial expression recognition Obtained results are superior to the state of the art on the GEMEP-FERA dataset and among the very best on the KTH dataset

Performance evaluation of the random replacement policy for networks of caches

Abstract: Caching is a key component for Content Distribution Networks and new Information-Centric Network architectures. In this paper, we address performance issues of caching networks running the RND replacement policy. We first prove that when the popularity distribution follows a general power-law with decay exponent α > 1, the miss probability is asymptotic to O( C1-α) for large cache size C. We further evaluate network of caches under RND policy for homogeneous tree networks and extend the analysis to tandem cache networks where caches employ either LRU or RND policies.

Enhanced user interface to transfer media content

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for sharing a media content displayed in a window of the touch input interface of a first electronic device with at least one second electronic device, said first electronic device comprising a processor controlling said touch input interface, the method being carried out by said processor and comprising the acts of enabling the displacement of the window responsive to the capture of a first touch input indicative of the initiation of the transfer, capturing a continuous touch input across the interface from an initial position in the window, displacing the window with each additional touch input of the continuous touch input, sending an activation message that the media content is to be played on the second device when determining that the window is within a given distance of a virtual representation of the second electronic device on the interface..

Method for providing an on-demand software execution service

Abstract: A method for providing an on-demand software execution service comprising the following steps: receiving from at least one terminal, at least one request for executing at least one software package, by a virtual machine launched on a virtual machine launching server from files from a set of files for launching virtual machines, and selecting from a set of servers at least one server to which the request will be directed, according to a rule for distributing the execution load of virtual machines by servers of said set of servers.

Silicon photonics for next generation FDM/FDMA PON

Abstract: Frequency division multiplexing/frequency division multi-access passive optical networks are shown to provide a possible solution in terms of performance, manufacturability and cost to the specification of the second next generation passive optical access systems (NG-PON2). The upstream capacity of a particular implementation is experimentally evaluated, and the implementation of the required optical network unit in silicon photonics is analyzed, as this complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible technology is well suited for mass market applications.

Influence of traffic variations on exposure to wireless signals in realistic environments

Abstract: In this article, the general public daily exposure to broadcast signals and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile telephone signals in indoor areas is investigated. Temporal variations and traffic distributions during a day at different indoor sites in urban and rural zones are presented. The goal is to analyze the real exposure compared to the maximum assessment imposed by radio protection standards and to characterize the ratio between daily and maximum theoretical values. Hence, a realistic maximum is proposed based on the statistical analysis performed using measurements. Broadcast signals remain constant over the day so they are best fitted with a Normal distribution while the mobile telephone signals depend on the traffic demand during the day so they fit a three-Gaussian distribution model. A general mask is also constructed for underlining the maximum equivalent active traffic for different periods in the day. Also, relations between the mean values over 24 h, the realistic maximal values (at 99%) and the maximal theoretical values are presented. The realistic maximum is also presented with a sliding time average of 6 min applied to the measurements in accordance with international standards. An extrapolation factor is given for the different systems to easily assess the maximum values starting from an instantaneous measurement. The extrapolation factor is also given for a broadband measurement to estimate the maximum potential exposure during the day. Bioelectromagnetics 33:288–297, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quality of experience model for 3DTV

Abstract: Modern stereoscopic 3DTV brings new QoE (quality of experience) to viewers, which not only enhances the 3D sensation due to the added binocular depth, but may also induce new problems such as visual discomfort. Subjective quality assessment is the conventional method to assess the QoE. However, the conventional perceived image quality concept is not enough to reveal the advantages and the drawbacks of stereoscopic images in 3DTV. Higher-level concepts such as visual experience were proposed to represent the overall visual QoE for stereoscopic images. In this paper, both the higher-level concept quality indicator, i.e. visual experience and the basic level concepts quality indicators including image quality, depth quantity, and visual comfort are defined. We aim to explore 3D QoE by constructing the visual experience as a weight sum of image quality, depth quantity and visual comfort. Two experiments in which depth quantity and image quality are varied respectively are designed to validate this model. In the first experiment, the stimuli consist of three natural scenes and for each scene, there are four levels of perceived depth variation in terms of depth of focus: 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 diopters. In the second experiment, five levels of JPEG 2000 compression ratio, 0, 50, 100, 175 and 250 are used to represent the image quality variation. Subjective quality assessments based on the SAMVIQ method are used in both experiments to evaluate the subject's opinion in basic level quality indicators as well as the higher-level indicator. Statistical analysis of result reveals how the perceived depth and image quality variation affect different perceptual scales as well as the relationship between different quality aspects.

Efficient information hiding in H.264/AVC video coding

Abstract: This paper proposes a new real-time information hiding algorithm on latest H.264/AVC video coding standard. The information is embedded into the Trailing Ones of 4×4 blocks during the Context-based Adaptive Variable Length Coding (CAVLC) process. This algorithm is efficient with low computational complexity. The simulation results show that the degradation of video quality is negligible, and the same overall bit-stream length is maintained. Based on this information hiding method, a video subtitle transmission scheme is proposed. Under the simulation of different RTP packet loss channels, the embedded information can be well recovered. The comparison with other algorithms shows the superiority of our proposed method.

Advanced IPTV Services Personalization Through Context-Aware Content Recommendation

Abstract: The advances in Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology enable new user-centric and interactive TV model, in which context-awareness is promising in making users' interaction with the TV dynamic and transparent. This paper considers user-centric personalized IPTV services applying context-awareness. We present a solution for enriched IPTV services personalization introducing context-awareness on top of IPTV architecture to gather different information on the user and his environment allowing each user to be distinguished by the system in a unique and real-time manner. Based on the different context information gathered, a novel solution for content recommendation is presented allowing to customize IPTV content according to the context of each user and his environment and hence guaranteeing better users' experience. We implemented the proposed solution on top of an IPTV platform considering the NGN IPTV architecture as a proof of concept and as a mean to evaluate the performance.

Towards Quality of Experience-based reputation models for future web service provisioning

Abstract: This paper concerns the applicability of reputations systems for assessing Quality of Experience (QoE) for web services in the Future Internet. Reputation systems provide mechanisms to manage subjective opinions in societies and yield a general scoring of a particular behavior. Thus, they are likely to become an important ingredient of the Future Internet. Parameters under evaluation by a reputation system may vary greatly and, particularly, may be chosen to assess the users' satisfaction with (composite) web services. Currently, this satisfaction is usually expressed by QoE, which represents subjective users' opinions. The goal of this paper is to present a novel framework of web services where a reputation system is incorporated for tracking and predicting of users' satisfaction. This approach is a beneficial tool which enables providers to facilitate service adaptation according to users' expectations and maintain QoE at a satisfactory level. Presented reputation systems operate in an environment of composite services that integrate client and server-side. This approach is highly suitable for effective QoE differentiating and maximizing user experience for specific customer profiles as even the service and network resources are shared.

Multi-person gestural authentication and authorization system and method of operation thereof

Abstract: A system of authorizing access to a resource including a processor obtaining sensor information related to at least two users from one or more sensors, the sensor information including one or more of image information and proximity information of each of the at least two users. Further, an act of identifying current gestures is performed for each of the at least two users in accordance with the sensor information. The current gestures may be compared with pre-stored gesture information related to predetermined gestures and an order of the predetermined gestures. Further, access to the resource may be authorized when it is determined that the current gestures are in accordance with the predetermined gestures and the order of the predetermined gestures.

Method for constructing geo-fences for a spatial recommendation and discovery system

Abstract: A system, method, device, computer program, user interface, and apparatus to associate an object of interest of a map in a location database with a geo-fence. The method includes selecting a first time interval; selecting a mode of transportation; determining terrestrial routes starting from the object of interest; for each determined terrestrial route, determining an end point that can be reach on the terrestrial route within the first time interval using the selected mode of transportation; and storing a geo-fence for the first time interval and mode of transportation in associating with the determined end points.

Tracking video objects with feature points based particle filtering

Abstract: For intelligent video surveillance, the adaptive tracking of multiple moving objects is still an open issue. In this paper, a new multi-object tracking method based on video frames is proposed. A type of particle filtering combined with the SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) is proposed for motion tracking, where SIFT key points are treated as parts of particles to improve the sample distribution. Then, a queue chain method is adopted to record data associations among different objects, which could improve the detection accuracy and reduce the computational complexity. By actual road tests and comparisons, the system tracks multi-objects with better performance, e.g., real time implementation and robust against mutual occlusions, indicating that it is effective for intelligent video surveillance systems.

Geo-spatial recommendation and discovery system

Abstract: A system, method, device, computer program, user interface, and apparatus for method of transmitting content to a user equipment. The method includes receiving an intent from a user of the user equipment; gathering a time window of validity for the intent; receiving location information from the user equipment; determining a mode of transportation based on the location information; and, for the duration of the time window, querying a location database of points of interest (POIs) to retrieve candidate POIs that match the user intent and are located within reach of the user equipment based on the time left of the time window and the mode of transportation; presenting the candidate POIs to the user equipment.

A novel watermarking method for software protection in the cloud

Abstract: With the rapid development of cloud computing, software applications are shifting onto cloud storage rather than remaining within local networks. Software distributions within the cloud are subject to security breaches, privacy abuses, and access control violations. In this paper, we identify an insider threat to access control which is not completely eliminated by the usual techniques of encryption, cryptographic hashes, and access-control labels. We address this threat using software watermarking. We evaluate our access-control scheme within the context of a Collaboration-oriented Architecture, as defined by The Jericho Forum. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SU/MU-MIMO in IEEE 802.11ac: PHY+MAC performance comparison for single antenna stations

Abstract: Most of studies dealing with single user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO) and multiple user MIMO (MU-MIMO) rely on physical (PHY) layer only or medium access control (MAC) layer only simulations. In the first case, the apparent considerable performance gains enabled by space division multiple access (SDMA) in downlink transmissions are often obtained without taking into account sounding and channel access induced overhead. In the second case, crosstalk interference (CTI) between stations served by the SDMA transmission is not always accounted for. Consequently, in order to take into account all the parameters and characteristics of these two transmission schemes, precise PHY+MAC modeling is needed. A realistic and fair comparison can thus be performed. The new approach presented in this paper is based on a multi-user simulation platform containing an all inclusive PHY layer combined with an elaborated MAC layer working in a symbiotic manner. In order to discriminate the characteristics of each transmission scheme, the SU/MU comparison is done for single antenna stations, channel inversion being used as the precoding scheme. In addition, the influence of CTI in SDMA transmissions is also studied so as to compare the real gains of MU-MIMO with the generally accepted gains.

PHY+MAC channel sounding interval analysis for IEEE 802.11ac MU-MIMO

Abstract: The emerging IEEE 802.11ac standard introduces spatial division multiplexing access, in its downlink version, to the wireless local access world. Through this multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) technique the access point (AP) can simultaneously transmit multiple independent groups of streams to different stations. The consequent precoding requires precise channel knowledge and thus regular channel sounding and feedback. The interval to choose for this sounding procedure is an important factor. A compromise between precise channel knowledge at the AP and reduction of the associated overhead is needed. The first is a physical (PHY) layer parameter and the second is evaluated at the medium access control (MAC) layer. In this paper we present a PHY+MAC analysis of the impact of the channel sounding interval on MU-MIMO transmissions for different scenarios.

Base stations evolution: Toward 4G technology

Abstract: Recently, a distributed architecture for base stations was proposed. In this new configuration, the base station is separated into two parts: the radio frequency part near the antenna and the baseband processing unit. The interface connection between them is ensured by an optical fiber. In this paper, we present the ongoing works on standardization of the optical interface and the proposed solutions by telecommunications equipment manufacturers for this new architecture. Moreover, key technologies of 4G are recalled and the effect of the evolution of base station models on future cellular systems is evaluated.

Widgets and composition mechanism for service creation by ordinary users

Abstract: Significant research work has been conducted in software engineering to facilitate and speed up the process of service creation by experienced developers. Recently, however, service creation by ordinary users has attracted more and more attention as non-technical people have begun to play an active role in service life cycles, especially in a Web 2.0 context. In addition, service creation by ordinary users tackles the heterogeneity, the dynamicity, and the spontaneous nature of users needs. We show that current technologies are mainly inspired by previous approaches and architectures conceived for experienced developers, which means that they are not really adequate for service creation by ordinary users. This article proposes a novel service creation environment for ordinary users. It is made up of a new Widget abstraction layer that exposes the graphical user interface of services as reusable components, and relies on a two-step mechanism to compose these services at runtime. A proof of concept prototype has been built. The new abstraction layer offers interfaces that are much more user friendly than the current service creation tools. It also enables the different capabilities of a service to be seamlessly handled throughout its usage lifecycle.

Method for notification of events on a device running multiple user identities

Abstract: The present method and system implements a method for presenting notifications on an electronic device partitioned into two or more distinct instances, each instance being aware of separate sets of events associated to applications running in that instance. The method includes collecting for each instance the notifications corresponding to the separate sets of events, rendering in the active instance the active instance notifications using a first display mode, while rendering the other instance notifications using a second display mode.

Dual-polarization multi-band OFDM versus single-carrier DP-QPSK for 100 Gbps long-haul WDM transmission over legacy infrastructure

Abstract: We experimentally compare the performance of coherent dual-polarization multi-band OFDM (DPMB-OFDM) and QPSK (DP-QPSK) for 100 Gbps long-haul transport over legacy infrastructure combining G.652 fiber and 10 Gbps WDM system. We show that DP-MB-OFDM and DP-QPSK have nearly the same performance at 100 Gbps after transmission over a 10x100 km fiber line.

European MIMO PLT field measurements: Overview of the ETSI STF410 campaign & EMI analysis

Abstract: PLT systems available today only use one transmission path between two outlets. It is the differential mode channel between the phase (or live) and neutral contact of the mains. These systems are called SISO (Single Input Single Output) modems. In contrast, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) PLT systems make use of the third wire, PE (Protective Earth), which provides several transmission combinations for feeding and receiving signals into and from the low voltage distribution network (LVDN). This paper gives an overview of the ETSI STF410 field measurement campaign which was performed in roughly 40 homes in six European countries. The measurement setup — including the couplers used — is described. The MIMO measurements include channel transfer function, noise, reflection and EMI measurements.