Computer Networks Laboratory

Sigaku Tei Professor	Hirokuni Kurokawa Assistant Professor	Feilong Tang Visiting Researcher

Research Development of ubiquitous platform We have proposed a situation-aware model to specify the situations of the users, dene actions on the situations, so that when the situations really happen, dened actions will be triggered to provide services to the users. In order to realized the proposed model, we implement a ubiquitous platform called ubiquitous tiles system, by which users identications and location can be acquired with corresponding relation between a user and his/her location, to detect the situations. A language called SDML (Situation Description Markup Language) was discussed in AY2007, and a link-based situation description method has been proposed. Ubiquitous learning applications In this research, we focus on using smart artifacts for supporting a learner in ubiquitous environment. We had developed some ubiquitous learning applications such as ubiquitous school bags, which can grasp a learners life and learning activities and give advices to the learner to prompt him/her to review at right time and right place Moreover, a searching method is proposed to help the learner in the real world for searching some useful things/objects for experiencing learning. Investigation of functional safety methods in embedded systems Functional safety is a concept regarding safety, which means even though the device has some problems or failures, the system should have some ways to guarantee people/equipment get less damages than a designed level. Concepts and methods of functional safety have been used in many traditional industries, such as nuclear energy industry, railway, etc. for years, but have not been well used in ubiquitous systems. In this project, we compare the difference of ubiquitous system with the systems used in traditional industries. Then we pose some problems which should be solved for the functional safety in ubiquitous environment and discuss some ideas for solving the problems. In 2007, a member of this lab, investigate the trend of world on functional safety for embedded systems. The investigation is supported by METI and IPA/SEC. RIDEE(Realtime Interactive Distance Education Environment) In this research, a computer system, RIDEE system, had been improved and used in CFS2007 which was performed as a real-time distance seminar between a software company in Tokyo and our university. Another improvement in RIDEE system is its GUI. Now RIDEE can be used either in mobile computers or desktop computers with different resolution of screens. The next improvement in RIDEE system should be its scalability in IPv4 environment. New platform is needed for performing real time interactive multicast streaming over private networks connected the Internet by NAT (Network Address Transfer) devices. Network Camera Smart Control Network camera is widely used in remote control, monitoring and distance education activities. In this research, we have developed a network camera driver for our research support system based on the idea of Virtual Surface Based Control. By this new component, the network camera can be controlled by an OS independent Java application program. Computer Programming Contest Support PC Kosien, a nationwide high school student personal computer programming contest, is an important educational activity performed and managed by the University of Aizu. The goal of this research is to nd some way to support the programming contest, not only for the players, but also for the visitors, especially providing services to the visitors; making them more exciting, giving them more enjoyment, so that they will know more about computer, programming, and our university. As the result, a programming contest management support system will be developed and used in PC Kosien. Education Courses Members of our laboratory taught the following courses in AY2007. Undergraduate courses Communication Networks Computer Languages Programming Java (Only exercise class) Graduate courses Computer Communications and Networking (801) Distributed Algorithms (808) Programming Languages (CV2) Supervising students 1 Ph.D students, 7 master students, 10 seniors did their research work under the supervision of the professors in the lab. Theses 4 Masters, and 8 seniors nished their theses in AY2007 and graduated, under the supervision of the professors in the lab.. Aizu IT Nisshikan factory A factory for experiencing venture starting up is established, as a part of Good Practice program supported by MEXT. Around 7 students attended the projects. Contribution to local region Professors of this laboratory helped for preparation and operation of U. Aizu Computer Science Summer Camp. Professor Aiguo He made big contribution to the PC KOSHIEN (PC contest sponsored by the Fukushima prefecture). Professors of this laboratory gave an o-campus lecture to a high-school in the Fukushima prefecture).

Refereed Journal Papers

[aiguo-01:2007]

Zhaomin Zhang, Aiguo He, and Daming Wei. A Mobile Network-based Multimedia Teleconference System for Homecare Services. Telemedicine and e-Health, 4(2):147-155, 2 2008.

As most research and development for homecare services have focused on providing connections between home and service centers, the goal of the present work is to develop techniques and create realtime communications to connect service centers and homecare workers in mobile environments. A key technical issue for this research is how to overcome the limitation of bandwidth in mobile media and networks. Effort has been made to balance performance of communication and basic demands in telehealth through optimized system design and technical implementation. Implementations using 3G (third generation) FOMA (Freedom Of Mobile multimedia Access) and PHS (Personal Handyphone System) were developed and evaluated. We conclude that the system we developed based on 3G FOMA provides sufficient and satisfactory functions for use in homecare services.

Refereed Proceeding Papers

[aiguo-02:2007]	Aiguo He. An Implementation of Understanding Information Management System for Real-time Interactive Distance Education Environment. In Proceedings of 21st International Conference on Advanced Information Net- working and Applications (AINA2007), volume 2, pages 1017-1022. IEEE Computer Society, 2007.
	RIDEE-UIM(Understanding Information Management system for Real-time Interactive Distance Education Environment) has been proposed for giving understanding information of each participant to the lecturer during real time distance education activities. For each participant, RIDEE-UIM keeps his understanding values about each minimum unit of the materials offered by the lecturer. The usefulness of RIDEE-UIM has been conrmed by experiments. This paper reports the implementation and the experiments of RIDEE-UIM.
[aiguo-03:2007]	Aiguo He. A Case Study: Online Operation Guidance for Real-time Distance Education Environment. In Proceedings of 2007 International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP 2007), pages 31-35. IEEE Computer Society, 2008.
	Computer support system is useful for improving the effect of real time and interactive distance education activities especially in the case that every participant uses his own computer connected to the system. A problem in such a distance education environment is that the participants need information about the usage of the support system. So it is important that the system can support the participants to learn the system itself. Online document about the system is not so good for easily guiding the participants to operate the system. This paper reports the result of a case study on the online operation guidance of a real time and interactive distance lecture support system. The effectiveness of this e proposal has been conrmed by experiment.
[z-cheng-01:2007]	L. Jing, Z. Cheng, and T. Huang. Search in Virtual and Study in Real: A Ubiquitous Query/Answer System. In 5th International Workshop on Databases in Networked Information Systems (DNIS 2007), pages 309{321. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), Vol.4777, Springer-Verlag, Oct. 2007.
	U-Learning has emerged with the development of UbiComp. In the precomputer era, people can only learn from surrounding environment or other people. Given a subject, it is difficult to nd out the concerning learning contents in the real environment. In the era of CAI and M-Learning, people can choice to learn in the virtual world and rapidly nd out the related virtual learning contents. But they still could not rapidly nd the right learning contents in the real world which has conne the learner's learning practice. U-Learning, by making use of digital artifacts in the ubiquitous environment, has provided the possibility for a learner to learn from more extensive learning contents including both of the virtual contents and real contents, and bridge the virtual and real contents seamlessly. In such a system, people learn not only from books or web pages, but also they can explore their knowledge in the real world as well. In this paper, the architecture of a ubiquitous query and answer system for pupils is presented to show the possibility of integration of searching and providing real and virtual learning contents in a ubiquitous environment. And a matching algorithm is proposed for nd out the proper learning contents by matching the learning contents database with the ubiquitous learning environment database. Finally, the scene of learning by such a system is shown through a concrete example.

Grants

[z-cheng-02:2007]	Zixue Cheng.
	Ministry of Education Scientic Research Fund, 2006- 2008.

Ph.D. and Other Theses

[aiguo-04:2007]	Saeko Nagao. The Development of C Program Visualization Tool PROVIT, Undergraduate school, 2007.
[aiguo-05:2007]	Takaaki Furukawa. The Improvement of Real-time Interactive Distance Education Environment by Full Screen Size GUI, Undergraduate school, 2007.
[aiguo-06:2007]	Miku Honda. The Development of Network Camera Control Driver for Virtual Serface-Based Network Camera Smart Control, Undergraduate school, 2007.
[z-cheng-03:2007]	Masashi Nemoto. Graduation Thesis:A Real-world Oriented and Interactive Courseware for Children's Safety Education, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-04:2007]	Toru Harima. Graduation Thesis: Experiment for Improvement of RFID Embedded in Satchel Accurately, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-05:2007]	Eri Kato. Graduation Thesis: Adding Sound Effects to a Children's Traffic Safety Education System, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-06:2007]	Takayuki Seino. Master Thesis: A Framework for Context-aware Service Based on Relations between Individuals, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-07:2007]	Shin Hoshino. Graduation Thesis:A System for Providing Reminding Services based on Adjustable Context-aware Services, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-08:2007]	Jing Jiang. Graduation Thesis: U-kizuna: A Child's Home Safety Support System Using Sensor Network Technology, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-09:2007]	Takuya Ikeda. Master Thesis: Situation Description Mechanism for Ubiquitous Services Based on Situation Theory, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-10:2007]	Murakoshi. Master Thesis:, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng
[z-cheng-11:2007]	Tou. Master Thesis:, University of Aizu, 2007. Thesis Advisor: Zixue Cheng

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