Next Generation Networks Systems and Services
PhD Studentship in "Resource Modeling for Multimedia Distribution and Consumption over the Internet"
Ulster Supervisors: Prof Gerard Parr, Prof Bryan Scotney, Dr Philip Morrow
BT Advisor: Dr. Steve Appleby
Expected start date: October 2009
Overview:
The following PhD project has been created under the auspices of the
India-UK Advanced Technology Centre (IU-ATC) of Excellence in Next Generation
Networks Systems and Services
(www.iu-atc.com).
During the lifetime of the project there will be opportunities to spend
a period of time as part of a related internship at BT Adastral Park in Martlesham,
UK and/or to visit one or more partner research institutes in India.
The successful candidate should therefore be willing to travel and spend some
time overseas as part of the research project. An Internship will be
supported by BT whilst any visits to India will be supported by our associated
UKIERI-DST project for the IU-ATC Virtual Graduate Research School.
Arrangements for the internship / visits will be made by the supervisory
team of the PhD project.
Project Specification:
There are various paradigms for digital multimedia production, distribution and
consumption over the internet - from a few Hollywood studios to many consumers over a
video-on-demand delivery network, to YouTube and BBC iPlayer browsing. In order to be able
to test proposed network-based delivery architectures, the objective of this project is to
develop statistical models of consumer behaviour in multimedia asset browsing and
consumption. The intention is to find a quantifiable way to express the various influences
on a consumer's choice of multimedia content on the internet. Some influences may come
from within a consumer's social group, such as recommendation by a colleague or friend.
Others will be external to that group, such as a publicity campaign that would follow the
release of a major film. Other influences may be intermediate to these two extremes, such
as critical reviews published online.
Each different kind of influence has associated with it a different communications topology, and a different dynamic, driven by the consumer access technology and infrastructure (e.g. fixed broadband, wireless access, 3G/4G). For example, in the case of a major publicity campaign, communications propagate across the internet simultaneously to a large population (possibly globally) over a fixed period of time. On the other hand, when opinions about a particular multimedia asset (video, image, music file) propagate by 'word of mouth', the spatial and temporal aspects of opinion formation will be quite different. Internet applications, such as social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Bebo, Twitter), are not only changing the mechanisms by which people communicate, but are also putting pressure on the resources of the logical and physical topologies of the access and core networks. They are also influencing the Quality of Experience / Quality of Service dynamics required by the consumer. What is required is the development of a model which will take into consideration the above issues and will allow us to obtain a quantifiable view on how such aspects might affect multimedia consumption dynamics.
The interest in the propagation of consumer opinion, and the corresponding consumption decisions are far more general than just multimedia. It is anticipated that there is already a considerable body of work on opinion propagation and on aggregate models of choice where consumers share opinions on particular Internet content. Two areas which would seem to be worthy of investigation would be to combine Percolation Theory with Discrete Choice Theory. Percolation Theory would model the propagation of opinion through a given communications topology, and therefore provide a means to estimate network resource utility, and Discrete Choice theory would provide means to model the conversion of utility to consumption decisions subject to economic and QoS constraints.
Eligibility:
Applicants should hold ordinary UK residence to be eligible for both fees
and maintenance. Non UK residents who hold ordinary EU residence may also
apply but if successful will receive fees only. All applicants should
hold a first or upper second class honours degree in Computer Science,
Electronic Engineering or a cognate area. It is desirable that candidates will have a
Masters degree in a related subject and have a good understanding of statistical /
mathematical modelling and telecommunications networking.
Successful candidates will enrol on a full-time programme of research studies leading to the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The studentship will comprise fees and an annual stipend of approximately £19,600 (stipends are normally tax exempt). It will be awarded for a period of up to three years subject to satisfactory progress and is tenable in the School of Computing and Information Engineering at the Coleraine Campus, Northern Ireland, UK.
The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 25th September 2009.
For further information on the application process please visit our website: http://www.compeng.ulster.ac.uk/rgs/.
Please follow the guidance notes regarding the completion of the application form.
Application materials are available from:
Research Office,
University of Ulster,
Cromore Road,
Coleraine,
BT52 1SA,
Tel: 028 7032 4729,
e-mail; hj.campbell@ulster.ac.uk,
Web:
http://research.ulster.ac.uk/info/prospective/apply.html