Connectivity has a major role in the current transformation of smart manufacturing. 5G is foreseen as an integral part of an end-to-end networking infrastructure supporting smart manufacturing operation. The integration of 5G with time-sensitive networking (TSN)is seen as a holistic communication solution for smart factories. The next generation of industrialization consists of real-time processes, automation, fixed and cellular networks, and high diversity of devices. The integration of fixed and cellular devices in a single infrastructure to enable end-to-end deterministic communications requires high accuracy of time synchronization. The transport technologies in fixed networks have been evolving toward TSN and deterministic networking to fulfill the requirements for industrial communications. The latest cellular specifications for 5G are targeting ultra-reliable and low-latency communications that enable the Industrial Internet of Things. This article describes the state of the art for integrating TSN with 5G networks based on the support given in 3GPP TS 23.501 Release 16. The requirements for time synchronization in factory automation and integration with 5G networks are presented, together with the most recent advancements in the standardization process.

The fifth generation of mobile networks is planned to be commercially available in a few years. The scope of 5G goes beyond introducing new radio interfaces, and will include new services like low-latency industrial applications, as well as new deployment models such as cooperative cells and densification through small cells. An efficient realization of these new features greatly benefit from tight coordination among radio and transport network resources, something that is missing in current networks. In this article, we first present an overview of the benefits and technical requirements of resource coordination across radio and transport networks in the context of 5G. Then, we discuss how SDN principles can bring programmability to both the transport and radio domains, which in turn enables the design of a hierarchical, modular, and programmable control and orchestration plane across the domains. Finally, we introduce two use cases of SDN-based transport and RAN orchestration, and present an experimental implementation of them in a testbed in our lab, which confirms the feasibility and benefits of the proposed orchestration.

Stereoscopic 3D TV viewing puts different visual demands on the viewer compared to 2D TV viewing. Previous research has reported on viewers’ fatigue and discomfort and other negative effects. This study is to investigate further how severe and what symptoms may arise from somewhat longish 3D TV viewing. The MPEG 3DV project is working on the next-generation video encoding standard and in this process, MPEG issued a call for proposal of encoding algorithms. To evaluate these algorithms a large scale subjective test was performed involving Laboratories all over the world [(MPEG 2011; Baroncini 2012)]. For the participating Labs, it was optional to administer a slightly modified Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) before and after the test. One of the SSQ data sets described in this article is coming from this study. The SSQ data from the MPEG test is the largest data set in this study and also contains the longest viewing times. Along with the SSQ data from the MPEG test, we have also collected questionnaire data in three other 3D TV studies. We did two on the same 3D TV (passive film pattern retarder) as in the MPEG test, and one was using a projector system. As comparison SSQ data from a 2D video quality experiment is also presented. This investigation shows a statistically significant increase in symptoms after viewing 3D TV primarily related to the visual or Oculomotor system. Surprisingly, 3D video viewing using projectors did not show this effect.

Active optical networks (AONs) have been one of the most deployed fiber access solutions in Europe. However, with the increasing traffic demand, the capacity of the existing AONs is becoming insufficient. For the legacy AONs, there are two major variants of architectures, namely, point-to-point and active star. Considering the different characteristics of these two AON architectures, this paper proposes and analyzes several migration paths toward next-generation optical access (NGOA) networks offering a minimum 300 Mbit/s sustainable bit rate and 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate to every end customer. Furthermore, this paper provides detailed descriptions of the network cost modeling and the processes for AON migration. The total cost of ownership (TCO) is evaluated for the proposed migration paths, taking into account different migration starting times, customer penetration, node consolidation, and business roles in the fiber access networks. The migration from AON to NGOA can be economically feasible. The results indicate that a network provider plays a key business role and is responsible for the major part of the TCO for AON migration. Moreover, performing node consolidation during AON migration can be beneficial from a cost point of view, especially in rural areas.

AON, one of the most deployed fiber access solutions in Europe, needs to be upgraded in order to satisfy the ever growing bandwidth demand driven by new applications and services. Meanwhile, network providers want to reduce both capital expenditures and operational expenditures to ensure that there is profit coming from their investments. This article proposes several migration strategies for AON from the data plane, topology, and control plane perspectives, and investigates their impact on the total cost of ownership.

With increasing usage of the Internet, energy consumption of network equipment has become a crucial challenge from both an economic and an environmental point of view. This paper combines users’ behavior of accessing the network with energy saving algorithms for energy-aware network equipment, and investigates potential energy savings in the access network. The study is based on a set of traffic data that collected from a real residential fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network during three continuous months in 2013. The results show that on average every household link in the access network can potentially save at least 18% energy consumption with sleep-mode enabled equipment.

Many devices, such as tablets, smartphones, notebooks, fixed and portable navigation systems are used on a (nearly) daily basis, both in in- and outdoor environments. It is often argued that contextual factors, such as the ambient illuminance in relation to characteristics of the display (e.g., surface treatment, screen reflectance, display luminance …) may have a strong influence on the use of such devices and corresponding user experiences. However, the current understanding of these influence factors is still rather limited. In this work, we therefore focus in particular on the impact of lighting and display luminance on readability, visual performance, subjective experience and preference. A controlled lab study (N=18) with a within-subjects design was performed to evaluate two car displays (one glossy and one matte display) in conditions that simulate bright outdoor lighting conditions. Four ambient luminance levels and three display luminance settings were combined into 7 experimental conditions. More concretely, we investigated for each display: (1) whether and how readability and visual performance varied with the different combinations of ambient luminance and display luminance and (2) whether and how they influenced the subjective experience (through self-reported valence, annoyance, visual fatigue) and preference. The results indicate a limited, yet negative influence of increased ambient luminance and reduced contrast on visual performance and readability for both displays. Similarly, we found that the self-reported valence decreases and annoyance and visual fatigue increase as the contrast ratio decreases and ambient luminance increases. Overall, the impact is clearer for the matte display than for the glossy display.

We design and experimentally demonstrate the first resource orchestration across DWDM optical transport, radio access networks (RANs) and cloud domains based on SDN. The orchestration enables agile service creation and optimized resource allocation.

BackgroundGalloping economic growth and reform in China in the past 30 years has led to dramatic social changes. Attitudes towards sex and sexual behaviour have changed, and premarital sex has become more acceptable. The methods of contraception have changed, and the use of highly effective or long-acting contraceptive methods tends to be decreasing, especially in urban areas. Abortion is commonly used to end unintended pregnancy. The aim of this study was to survey the current situation of induced abortions in selected hospitals in 30 provinces in China.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in 295 randomly selected hospitals in 30 Chinese provinces between April and August, 2013. We collected data using a questionnaire filled by the abortion service providers for all women seeking abortion within 12 weeks of pregnancy during a period of two months. The information included self-reported demographic and economic characteristics, history of induced abortion, and use of contraception. The characteristics of women were summarised with counts (percentages) for categorical variables; mean (SD) and range for age of women. All participants signed a written informed consent of which they received a copy. Ethics approvals were obtained from both ethics committees of the National Research Institution for Family Planning (NRIFP), China, and of the Ghent University, Belgium.Findings79 174 women participated in the study (mean age 28·9 years (SD 1·7; range 13–58), of whom 27 134 (35%) were undergoing a first induced abortion, 28 637 (37%) a second abortion, and 22 682 (29%) a third or subsequent abortion. About a third of participants (31%) were not married and more than half (61%) were not local residents. The primary reasons for the unintended pregnancy were contraception failure (50%) and non-use of contraception (44%).InterpretationThis is the first nationwide large-scale study in 30 provinces to show that repeated induced abortion is high in China. A family planning programme for young and unmarried people is urgently needed to improve their access to information, advice, and services about contraception and to reduce unintended pregnancies and repeated induced abortion.FundingThe European Commission (EC) under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), project number 282490.

Next generation 5G mobile system will support the vision of connecting all devices that benefit from a connection. Transport networks need to support the required capacity, latency and flexibility. This paper outlines how 5G transport networks will address these requirements.

Crosstalk is a cause of a major perceptual problem in the 3D display system shown itself mostly as ghosting. In this work we aimed at investigating how much perceived crosstalk that is acceptable for the end-users in movie type contents played by 3D projection systems. Two types of 3D projection systems (one system using active shutter glasses, and the other system using passive polarized glasses) were compared in the experiment. The study included an objective measurement of crosstalk in the 3D projection system and a subjective users’ experience of the visible distortions. The results shows that 10% can be considered as a crosstalk threshold for end-users not to be annoyed (MOS<3.5) by the distortions and thus acceptable. The distortions start to be perceived at about 3% crosstalk. The study found a linear relationship between perceived crosstalk and the amount of crosstalk. The perceived crosstalk also varies largely depending on the video contents.

With the recent increased popularity and high usage of HTTP Adaptive Streaming (HAS) techniques, various studies have been carried out in this area which generally focused on the technical enhancement of HAS technology and applications. However, a lack of common HAS standard led to multiple proprietary approaches which have been developed by major Internet companies. In the emerging MPEG-DASH standard the packagings of the video content and HTTP syntax have been standardized; but all the details of the adaptation behavior are left to the client implementation. Nevertheless, to design an adaptation algorithm which optimizes the viewing experience of the end-user, the multimedia service providers need to know about the Quality of Experience (QoE) of different adaptation schemes. Taking this into account, the objective of this experiment was to study the QoE of a HAS-based video broadcast model. The experiment has been carried out through a subjective study of the end user response to various possible clients' behavior for changing the video quality taking different QoE-influence factors into account. The experimental conclusions have made a good insight into the QoE of different adaptation schemes which can be exploited by HAS clients for designing the adaptation algorithms

Readability of displays in bright outdoor surroundings is a problem for many types of visual displays. The wide range of lighting conditions that these displays should be able to operate in, makes the design of the test set-up very challenging. Mobile displays of today usually have LCDs with LED backlight or OLEDs, which gives the possibility to control the light levels from very low luminance or even zero luminance to very high luminance levels with good contrast and color rendering. There are many displays that can show high luminance (>1000 cd/m2) and with that are considered or claimed to have daylight or sunlight readability. However, these statements are rarely supported by scientific tests with test subjects. This paper will discuss and analyze the conditions for performing such experiments. Experimental results that the visual acuity is negatively affected by strong illuminance are presented.

In order to cater for user's quality of experience (QoE) requirements, HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) based solutions of video services have become popular recently. User QoE feedback can be instrumental in improving the capabilities of such services. Perceptual quality experiments that involve humans are considered to be the most valid method of the assessment of QoE. Besides lab-based subjective experiments, crowdsourcing based subjective assessment of video quality is gaining popularity as an alternative method. This paper presents insights into a study that investigates perceptual preferences of various adaptive video streaming scenarios through crowdsourcing based subjective quality assessment.

A shortcoming of traditional videoconferencing systems is that they present the user with a flat, two-dimensional image of the remote participants. Recent advances in autostereoscopic display technology now make it possible to develop video conferencing systems supporting true binocular depth perception. In this paper, we present a subjective evaluation of a prototype multiview autostereoscopic video conferencing system and suggest a number of possible improvements based on the results. Whereas methods for subjective evaluation of traditional 2D videoconferencing systems are well established, the introduction of 3D requires an extension of the test procedures to assess the quality of depth perception. For this purpose, two depth-based test tasks have been designed and experiments have been conducted with test subjects comparing the 3D system to a conventional 2D video conferencing system. The outcome of the experiments show that the perception of depth is significantly improved in the 3D system, but the overall quality of experience is higher in the 2D system.