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As software products increasingly become part of larger ecosystems, research and development (R&D) units of software producers organize themselves around projects to become more responsive to the environment. Organizations participating in software ecosystems must continuously adapt and adjust their software development and maintenance processes to drive both medium-term and long-term innovation. Agile methods and practices are widely adopted to guide the collaboration within and between project teams in software development. Moreover, when successfully attained, agility can drive innovation by enabling software development organizations to cope with technological changes and exploit emerging opportunities in software ecosystems. In this article, we focus on how organizations attain agility in the maintenance and development of software products. To answer this question, we conduct a longitudinal case study of Agile Scrum implementation in the R&D unit of a major supplier of telecommunication equipment. We investigate the emerging tensions and highlight practices used to balance these tensions in the Agile Scrum implementation. We identify four capabilities and ten practices that support effective collaboration and coordination in the development and maintenance of software products. The study offers practical guidance for R&D managers to attain agility in software ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides two case studies of the occurrence of mold in telecommunication equipment and facilities and its impacts on the materials of the equipment and facilities. This is the seventy-third article in a series on telecommunication technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Device association (DA) and pairing (DP) are presented in this letter to evaluate the fairness of different services between enhanced mobile broadband devices (eMBBDs) and ultrareliability low latency communications devices (uRLLCDs) in RAN-slicing, which has emerged as a viable technique for enhancing total network throughput in heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) design. To optimize the eMBBDs' downlink (DL) sum rate while fulfilling the provisions of the uRLLC traffic. A cooperative Nash bargaining solution (NBS) is formulated to depict the association method. First, base stations (BSs) create random pairings between heterogeneous non-orthogonal multi-access (H-NOMA) devices. The BSs are classified into coalitions through the Hungarian approach. So, a two-band partition algorithm is evolved for the two BSs in each coalition to negotiate their allocated devices to improve the NBS utility. A multiplayer bargaining approach is constructed using this algorithm and the Hungarian technique. After finishing the DA process, we study the cooperative matching algorithm to optimize the pairing problem between devices' slices. Simulation results demonstrate that comparing the proposed approach to other schemes can achieve a significant DL rate distribution for eMBBDs, device-side latency for uRLLCDs, and fairness improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Task Scheduling Problem (TSP) in Multiprocessor Systems (MPS) is an emerging research area in heterogeneous distributed computing environments. Managing complex tasks and achieving optimal efficiency while scheduling tasks in MPS presents challenges. Although adding more processors to a single system greatly increases its processing power, the energy these processors produce is the main drawback. Here, we employed a multi-objective optimization strategy to reduce the makespan and Energy Consumption (EC). To reduce processor EC, we considered an effective Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) technique. Three distinct energy sources are considered, originating from the processors' communication, idle, and active states. The scheduling sequence of tasks and the assignment of tasks to processors are two vital aspects of TSP. Here, the tasks are arranged based on priority using the Upward Rank technique. To minimize the makespan and EC while allocating tasks to processors, we use the population-based metaheuristic method called Enhanced Honey Badger Optimisation (EHBO). We proposed three improvements to the HBO algorithm in EHBO. Initially, we addressed opposite learning-based population initialization to exclude the least suitable candidates and generate a candidate scheduling population that adheres to task precedence. Subsequently, the levy-flight technique is employed to improve the local and global search and preserve their ideal healthy balance. Finally, using dynamic values rather than constant value improves the ability to obtain maximum food. Several experiments are conducted on random task graphs and real-life data sets. Additionally, the results are compared with other upgraded meta-heuristic algorithms, demonstrating the superiority of EHBO. • The Focus is on resolving priority-based Task Scheduling Problems in heterogeneous multiprocessor systems. • Proposed algorithm is developed by enhancing the classical Honey Badger Algorithm (HBO). • The proposed algorithm's goal in task scheduling problems is to minimize both makespan and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum dot cellular automata (QCA) is considered an alternative to conventional technologies like CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology due to its potential for lower power consumption, higher speed, and increased device density. QCA introduces a novel approach to designing nano communication circuits and systems. Nano communications data mistakes are detected via parity generators and checkers. The parity bit of each data block ensures that the number of 1′s is either even or odd. Consequently, the system requires four circuits: an even parity generator, an odd parity generator, an even parity checker, and an odd parity checker. The whole system requires more space and cell complexity. In this work, we propose a QCA architecture that serves as a generator for both even and odd parities, as well as a checker for both even and odd parities. It is a quad-functioning circuit that performs four distinct operations within a single design, utilizing 118 QCA cells and occupying an area of 0.17 μm2. The recommended approach uses an efficient XOR gate, resulting in improvements across several performance metrics. QCAPro calculates energy dissipation and design parameters. The recommended QCA circuit outperformed similar QCA circuits in size, complexity, and energy dissipation. The circuit's design cost functions are also low. There has been a 17% reduction in latency and an 86% improvement in QCA-specific costs when compared to the optimal existing design. Moreover, it necessitates a 40% reduction in majority gate usage. The proposed design may compete effectively with other equivalent higher-order circuit designs by reducing the need for multiple blocks in conventional circuits to execute the same task. This architecture holds potential benefits for nano processors and nano communication networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Path ORAM, an extremely simple Oblivious RAM protocol with a small amount of client storage. Partly due to its simplicity, Path ORAM is the most practical ORAM scheme known to date with small client storage.We formally prove that Path ORAM has a O(log N ) bandwidth cost for blocks of size B = Ω(log² N ) bits. For such block sizes, Path ORAM is asymptotically better than the best-known ORAM schemes with small client storage. Due to its practicality, Path ORAM has been adopted in the design of secure processors since its proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructured optical fibres (MOFs) are fibres that contain an array of air holes that runs through the whole fibre length. The hole pattern of these fibres can be customized to manufacture optical devices for different applications ranging from high-power energy transmission equipment to telecommunications and optical sensors. During the drawing process, the size of the preform is greatly scaled down and the original hole pattern result might be modified, potentially leading to unwanted optical effects. Because only a few parameters can be controlled during the fabrication process, mathematical models that can accurately describe the fibre drawing process are highly desirable, being powerful predictive tools that are significantly cheaper than costly experiments. In this manuscript, we derive a new asymptotic energy equation for the drawing process of a single annular capillary and couple it with existing asymptotic mass, momentum, and evolution equations. The whole asymptotic model only exploits the small aspect ratio of a capillary and relies on neither a fitting procedure nor on any empirical adjustable parameters. The numerical results of the simplified model are in good accordance with experimental data available in the literature both without inner pressurization and when internal pressure is applied. Although valid only for annular capillaries, the present model can provide important insights towards understanding the MOF manufacturing process and improving less detailed approaches for more complicated geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have examined the relationship between total e-waste generation and its determinants. However, e-waste categories have not received appropriate attention, and thus important information is missing for policymakers. This paper advances the state of knowledge by studying e-waste categories individually. Statistical data of e-waste in the EU28 + 2 countries over the period 2000–2015 is disaggregated into single categories, namely temperature exchange equipment, screens and monitors, lamps, large equipment, small equipment, and small IT and telecommunication equipment. To examine the main driving forces of e-waste in each category, the STIRPAT model (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis are applied, using panel quantile regression as main method and pooled OLS to control robustness of findings. Results show that population, renewable energy consumption, trade openness, and urbanization are positively correlated with all e-waste categories. Renewable energy exploitation is a major e-waste driver of large and small equipment, screens and monitors, and small IT. Interestingly, an inverted U-shaped relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and the quantity of e-waste was found across all e-waste categories for most regressions when using the quantile regression method (28 out of 30 quantiles), and for all regressions when using the pooled OLS method. This confirms the EKC hypothesis and indicates that e-waste of all categories increases with GDP up to a certain level (turning point) but then decreases when GDP continues to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an event-triggered distributed state estimation mechanism is proposed for general linear systems that comprise several subsystems. Two distributed moving horizon estimation (MHE) algorithms that can handle constraints on disturbances and noise are proposed. An event scheduler is exploited to govern the evaluation of the estimators and networked information exchange between the plant and the estimators, such that good estimates can be provided while both the usage of processors and networked communication frequency can be reduced. The estimation error provided by the event-triggered estimation mechanism is proven to be convergent and bounded. A numerical example and a chemical process example are used to verify the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tech war is having an effect on U.S.-China trade. For high-tech products like telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, and computer accessories, there has been a sharp drop in trade in both directions. This is not simply a drop in demand in the U.S. for these items because imports of them from other partners has soared. Vietnam's exports to the U.S. jumped in the sensitive categories, and overall Vietnamese exports to the U.S. more than doubled between 2018 and 2021. Despite these effects from the tech war, however, overall U.S.-China trade has held up surprisingly well. The year 2022 will almost certainly see a new historical high for trade in both directions. This resilience of trade, in the face of tariffs and tech sanctions, indicates that there is a strong economic foundation for the two-way relationship. For both China and the U.S., it is hard to replace the other one as a trade partner. It is possible for production of a few specific items to shift from China to Vietnam, but there is no way to replace China's huge manufacturing output. From China's point of view, the technologically advanced countries are all allies of the U.S., and it is not easy for China to turn to Europe for the technology it cannot get from America. Because U.S.-China trade is based on strong fundamentals, it will probably continue at a high level, in an uneasy equilibrium in which certain trade and investment is off-limits, while other business goes on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneity of the multiple processing elements (PEs) is a feature of real-time embedded systems. General-purpose processors and several embedded processors, as well as dedicated high-speed interfaces, are among these elements. Communication between the processors is among the most significant characteristics of developing such complex systems. Furthermore, synchronization is a common issue during interprocessor communication in embedded systems. Debugging and testing such systems is time-consuming, difficult, and laborious, with the majority of the complexities centered on debugging real-time interprocessor communication, such as synchronization in terms of timing and accuracy. While the hardware design features of heterogeneous multiprocessor real-time embedded systems have received a lot of attention, the design and development of software-based solutions still have the potential to be addressed. In particular, software-based testing becomes challenging due to interprocessor communication and the synchronization of real-time applications. A knowledge-based technique that aids in testing high-speed serial interfaces in multiprocessor-based real-time embedded systems is proposed that needs debugging in real time while an application is running. It is becoming much more important to test and validate these interfaces in real time as the demand for high data transmission rates increases. The presented work uses a technique to simulate, create and enhance the knowledge base used as correlation-based error detection that reduces the development time. The proposed technique helps in detecting synchronization-related errors that occur during communication among multiple high-speed serial interfaces. The presented work also lists a series of experiments to validate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. The results show that the presented techniques are effective for error identification in real-time embedded systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copper cables are widely used in telecommunication equipment as data transmitters. One of the problems related to the use of these cables is the corrosion of the cable surface caused by the environmental conditions of the place of use. Corrosion of cable surface leads to change of surface condition and formation of corrosion products on it. In this article, samples of copper cable with a diameter of 0.4 mm have been tested as a telecommunication platform for information transmission. Some parts of this cable that have already been used in the environmental conditions of soil, atmosphere and water environment were prepared. The chemical composition of the corrosion product on the cable surface was identified using X-ray diffraction analysis. On the other hand, the electrical resistance of the investigated cable and a piece of healthy and uncorroded cable were measured using an ohmmeter. Also, to determine the data transfer speed, the desired cable was placed in the path of a modem and the noise and data transfer speed measurement software of ADSL service provider companies was used. The results showed that the corrosion products formed on the surface of the cable are different in different environments. The electrical resistance of the corroded cable in the aqueous environment was the highest value and the lowest value was obtained in the ambient atmosphere. The data transmission speed was the highest in the healthy cable without corrosion and the lowest in the corroded underground cable. It was also proved that the corrosion products on the surface of the corroded cable in the soil are of CuO type and have greatly increased the electrical resistance of the cable and led to an increase in noise and a significant decrease in transmission speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum technology promises to revolutionize how we learn about the physical world. An experiment that processes quantum data with a quantum computer could have substantial advantages over conventional experiments in which quantum states are measured and outcomes are processed with a classical computer. We proved that quantum machines could learn from exponentially fewer experiments than the number required by conventional experiments. This exponential advantage is shown for predicting properties of physical systems, performing quantum principal component analysis, and learning about physical dynamics. Furthermore, the quantum resources needed for achieving an exponential advantage are quite modest in some cases. Conducting experiments with 40 superconducting qubits and 1300 quantum gates, we demonstrated that a substantial quantum advantage is possible with todayÕs quantum processors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lagrangian averaging has been shown to be more effective than the Eulerian mean in separating waves from slow dynamics in two time scale flows. It also appears in many reduced models that capture the wave feedback on the slow flow. Its calculation, however, requires tracking particles in time, which imposes several difficulties in grid-based numerical simulations or estimation from fixed-point measurements. To circumvent these difficulties, we propose a grid-based iterative method to calculate the Lagrangian mean without tracking particles in time, which also reduces computation, memory footprint and communication between processors in parallelised numerical models. To assess the accuracy of this method several examples are examined and discussed. We also explore an application of this method in the context of shallow-water equations by quantifying the validity of wave-averaged geostrophic balance – a modified form of geostrophic balance accounting for the effect of strong waves on slow dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite contributions, most of the studies on electronic‐telecommunications trade are conducted within the framework of a global value chain and mainly based on an enterprise‐level. The global trade structure and dynamics of electronic‐telecommunications are still mysterious. In this paper, by deriving trade data of electronic‐telecommunications between countries (regions) from the UN Comtrade Database, characteristics in product, space and network of the global electronic‐telecommunications trade from 2000 to 2017 are explored, and the factors influencing its evolution. The results indicate that telecommunications equipment is gradually replacing electronic integrated circuits, thus leading the development of global trade on electronic‐telecommunications. In space, the global import pattern of electronic‐telecommunications has always been a tri‐polar pattern dominated by Asia‐Pacific, Europe, and North America, while the geography of global electronic‐telecommunications export has undergone fundamental changes, most notably the rise of the East Asia region represented by Mainland China. The global trade center in electronic and communication products has changed from USA to China. In terms of network structure, the global electronic‐telecommunications trade network continues to expand, showing significant small‐world and core‐peripheral characteristics, and a more competitive multi‐centric core is observed. In addition, Quadratic Assignment Procedure analysis indicates that culture proximity, innovation differences, and manufacturing differences have a positive effect on the international trade, while geographical distance, economic gap, openness gap, trade gap, and infrastructure gap play negative roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid crystals (LCs) have become indispensable materials in everyday life, with their applications ranging from high-resolution television displays to being a part of sophisticated and modern equipment for telecommunications and sensing purposes. Various important features of LC-based devices such as their response time, driving voltage, contrast ratio and brightness are controlled by the uniform alignment of the constituting molecules along the substrate surface. This alignment control can be achieved through various mechanical and non-mechanical techniques. Nanoparticles (NPs), which have become an underbelly of the latest technological developments, can also be incorporated into these tunable materials in order to achieve the desired alignment in them. The present review highlights the advantages of NPs -induced alignment technique over the other contemporary techniques available for aligning LCs. The NPs-induced alignment process is found to be cost-effective and reliable, and it does not require extreme physical conditions such as a low pressure for its operation. This alignment process enables manufacturers to effectively control the pretilt angle of the LC molecules by simply varying the concentration of the doped NPs in the host LC matrix. Furthermore, the alignment behavior in LCs is found to be a function of shape, size, concentration and solubility of the doped NPs in these materials. At the end, this review focuses on the methodology of developing new innovative devices based on this alignment process. With the fabrication of new NPs of different morphologies in recent times, the horizon of the LC nanoscience field is continuously increasing, thus paving way for new devices capitalizing on this alignment technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]