Project's supervised by Seán Murphy

I devise and supervise projects, which have varying levels of success (depending on many factors). Here is some information on projects that I've supervised or am in the process of supervising.

PhD projects

The PhD students that I work with are quite self-motivated and often find their own directions, so I don't have to be so prescriptive with their work. However, I have included here a brief synopsis of what they are trying to do. This can change a bit with time.

Distributed resource management in WirelessHUMAN systems (Omar Ashagi, in progress): Omar is investigating ways of operating WirelessHUMAN networks such that there is a minimum amount of interference between neighbouring systems and making the most efficient use of the available resources.
Investigation of approaches to realise handover between heterogeneous radio access networks with an emphasis on VoIP (John Fitzpatrick, in progress): John is looking at approaches which can facilitate handover of VoIP traffic between heterogeneous radio access networks. More specifically, John is focussing on approaches in which there is minimal handover support from the network and the handover intelligence resides in the terminal device.

Research Master's Projects

Development of a probe-based approach to facilitate VoIP admission control in WLANs (Philip McGovern, in progress): Philip is looking at an approach to realising admission control for VoIP over WLAN which resides in the terminal and requires minimal changes to network infrastructure. The approach involves probing the network to determine the level of quality the network can support.
A Study of the Performance of Voice over IP over IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks (Gráinne Hanley, 2005): Gráinne is using a simulation based approach to obtain an understanding of the performance of 802.11e in EDCF mode of operation with an emphasis on VoIP traffic. In particular, Gráinne focussed on an approach to improve the performance of the Medium Access Control mechanism to improve the throughput of the system. [Master's Thesis (PDF)][Abstract]
Comparison of MPEG-4 multiplexing options for object-based video (Stefan Goor, 2005): Stefan investigated the difference in performance of a number of different approaches to multiplexing MPEG-4 content. More specifically, he compared them in terms of transmission overhead and resulting video quality in the presence of a number of different loss and jitter patterns. [Master's Thesis (PDF)]
Multimedia server selection (Michael Searles, 2004): Michael investigated ways to construct a multimedia server selection system based on using network probing to determine path characteristics between the client and the server. He then studied the impact of the path characteristics on the quality of the streamed video and used this to devise a map which was used as the basis for selecting an appropriate server. [Master's Thesis (PDF)]

Taught Master's Projects

Adding 802.16 PHY model to Qualnet simulator (Colin Browne, in progress): In earlier work, we have developed some functionality to simulate aspects of the 802.16 MAC layer using the Qualnet simulator. However, the PHY model that was used was very inappropriate, being closer to a model of 802.11 transmission. The objective of this project is to develop a suitable abstraction of the 802.16 PHY which can be implemented in Qualnet.
Base Station Location Problem for WiMax network planning (Michael Mullen, in progress): There have been a number of algorithms proposed to address base station planning problems in a UMTS context. As mobility support is being added to WiMax systems, it is natural to investigate how these algorithms could be tailored to the WiMax case. The objective of this work, then, is to investigate how the different radio technologies impact the problem formulation and to develop a simple tool which can be used for base station location in this context.
Performance Evaluation of 802.11 WMM systems (Brendan Kearns, in progress): Brendan is performing an experimental evaluation of the performance of 802.11 WMM systems with an emphasis on VoIP. In particular, he is studying what levels of delays and losses are introduced by the radio access for these types of systems.
Development of a WLAN performance calculator (Bronagh Connolly, 2006): A number of analytical approaches have been proposed to determine the performance of WLAN in different circumstances. The objective of this work is to develop a single user-friendly tool which can be used to compare a number of different analytical approaches in terms of complexity and the results obtained using the formulation. [Report (PDF)]
Development of IEEE 802.16e Functionality in Qualnet (Stephen Roberts, 2006): The new 802.16e standard will provide support for mobility. In essence, this will be done by facilitating handover related signalling between the terminal and the BS. The objective of this project is to add such signalling to the 802.16 simulation functionality that we already have. [Report (PDF)]
Unified Access to 3G and WLAN-based Local Services (Michael Goulding, 2005): The objective of this project was to develop an approach to integrating location based services as offered by a cellular operator and some local services that may be offered by a local WLAN. The focus of this work was on the client side development: the work involved developing a single client which could be used to access services offered via either infrastructure. [Report (PDF)]
Development of DCCP-based adaptive VoIP client (Marie Camier, 2005): The objective of this project is to develop an adaptive VoIP client which can operate over the DCCP protocol. Marie had significant issues dealing with prototype software in this project and managed to get the DCCP stack operational and develop some ideas on how to obtain feedback from the stack. [Report (PDF)]
Simulation of IEEE 802.16a using Qualnet (Benoit Louazel, 2004): In this project, Benoit implemented a rudimentary 802.16a simulator for Glomosim. More specifically, he implemented functionality to perform some of the ranging and association functions between SS and BS using the 802.16a mechanisms. He developed functionality to simulate a data connection set up and was then able to simulate data transfer across an 802.16a(ish) network. [Report (PDF)]
Simulation of IEEE 802.11e in Glomosim (Daragh Kelleher, 2003): In this project, Daragh made some modifications to the Glomosim simulator to introduce some 802.11e functionality. Specifically, Daragh introduced different packet priorities and different MAC behaviour for different traffic classes. [Report (PDF)]
A Voice over Internet Protocol implementation using SIP (Yvonne O'Neill, 2003): In this project, Yvonne looked at modifying a number of different SIP-based systems to introduce new buffering algorithms that have been developed by PhD students in the lab. [Report (PDF)]

Undergraduate Projects

Final year undergraduate projects

Development of a GPRS-based mobile voting system (Liam Whelan, in progess): Liam is taking the project that was performed last year and is adding extra functionality to it. More specifically, Liam is adding the capability to perform SMS-based voting, graphics and a much more sophisticated management interface to the system. (Supported by O2 Ireland)
Development of an automatic Network Address Backup system using the MS Platform.: (Paul Costello, 2006): Paul developed functionality to copy information from the SIM card of a mobile device and store it on a network server, so that, in the event of the loss of the device, the information is stored and accessible for future download. (Originally Paul was assigned a project based on USSD, but it turned out that this was impossible due to the lack of support in the Java interfaces). (Supported by O2 Ireland) [Report (PDF)]
Development of a Symbian-based scheme which will facilitate automatic network storage of a user's addressbook (Dermot Kehoe, 2006): Dermot is developing a system which can be used to store a users addressbook on a network server so that in the event of loss/upgrade of phone, the user can easily download their addressbook from the network server. (Supported by O2 Ireland) [ Report (PDF)]
Development of RSS reader functionality for a mobile device (Kevin Hall, 2006): The objective of this project is to develop functionality to enable a mobile device to obtain content from RSS feeds. There are a couple of aspects to the project - enabling the user to specify which feeds to listen to in a reasonably intuitive way and to enable content to be downloaded when the device is quite idle or the network is unloaded (over night, for example). (Supported by O2 Ireland) [Report (PDF)]
Development of UI for an 802.16 simulation tool (Christina Thorpe, 2005): We have developed a basic 802.16 simulation tool which can be used to assess performance issues for 802.16 systems operating in close proximity to each other on the same channel - a scenario that can occur when unlicensed spectrum is being used. The user interface to the tool, however, is quite underwhelming. The objective of this project is to develop a much improved user interface.
Development of a GPRS-based mobile voting system (Eamonn Lawler, 2005): SMS based voting systems are very widely used at present. Current mobile networks, however, have support for more efficient means of data transmission; GPRS facilitates data transmission with more parsimonious use of radio resources. Further, SMS based interfaces to mobile voting systems are quite unnatural and an appropriate GPRS-based client could facilitate much more natural interaction with voting systems. The objective of this project is to develop a client and server for such a system.
Development of a mobile messaging client which uses a network operator's website for message transmission (Adrian Fleming, 2005): SMS-based transmission of messages is quite inefficient. Furthermore, it is generally quite costly. Many mobile network operators offer free messages via their websites. The objective of this project is to develop client messaging software which operates on a mobile device and can automatically log into an operator's website to transmit the message. Communications will be done via GPRS, potentially saving costs for the user.
Mobile cost monitoring system (James Dowling, 2005): Tariffs for mobile systems are very complex. In general, it is difficult for a user to know if they are using the most appropriate tariff for their usage pattern. The objective of this project is to develop functionality that can operate on a mobile device which monitors the usage of the user - in particular any usage that can incur costs - and records it. Periodically, this information is uploaded to a server and the server is queried for the most suitable tariffing scheme given the user's usage pattern.
Simulation of IEEE 802.11 PCF function in Glomosim (Michael Cloran, 2004): Michael investigated how to add PCF functionality to the existing DCF functions that exist in the 802.11 model of Glomosim. [Report (PDF)]
Implementing SIP for VoIP algorithms (Andrew Quinn, 2004): Andrew investigated how to modify the Vovida VOCAL software to add adaptive buffering to the code. [Report (PDF)]
Extending the Range of Wireless LANs using AODV (Yvonne Rooney, 2004): Yvonne looked at how the range of a wireless LAN can be extended by using ad hoc routing protocols such as AODV. [Report (PDF)]

Other undergraduate projects

Porting of 802.16a functionality from Glomosim to Qualnet (Valerian Perret, 2005): A previous student (Benoit) developed some functionality to simulate some aspects of 802.16a (with an emphasis on MAC functions) in the Glomosim simulator. Val took this work and ported it over to the more powerful Qualnet simulator.
Further analysis of relationship between network parameters and quality of streamed video (Cyril Rambeau, Summer 2004): Cyril is building on the work of Michael Searles (see above) to determine the relationship between network path characteristics and streamed video quality. The results obtained by Cyril are described in this paper.
Development of a non-SMS based mobile voting system (Hannah Fagan, 2004): Hannah looked at using J2ME to develop a simple voting client which can communicate with a simple voting server to provide a more natural way for users to interact with a voting system than the SMS based approach which is typically used today. [Report (PDF)]

Previous projects

For varying reasons, students have attempted some projects that I have proposed and they did not manage to complete them. Here are a list of projects that I am interested in, I have had people work on them, but they were not successfully completed.

Performance of ad hoc networking in the context of a ski-lift: In this project, we are looking at the use of ad hoc networking in the context of a ski-lift application. The basic idea is that ad hoc networks could facilitate communications between people on a ski-lift or between people on the lift and external entities if there was an access point at the lift terminus.
Determination of the capacity of WirelessHUMAN systems: The idea of this work is to investigate the use of the work of Toumpis and Goldsmith in determining good schedules for WirelessHUMAN systems. The student will develop a C++ variant of the Matlab code of Toumpis and Goldsmith which is compatible with a network entry/visualisation tool that we have.