Samir Al-Khayatt

Fast Robust Fingerprint Feature Extraction and Classification

Automatic identification of humans based on their fingers is still one of the most reliable identification methods in criminal and forensic applications. Identification by fingerprint involves two processes: fingerprint feature extraction and feature classification. The basic idea of fingerprint feature extraction algorithms proposed is to locate the coarse features of fingerprints called singular-points using directional fields of the fingerprint image. The features are then classified by different types of neural networks. The “five-class” classification problem is addressed on the NIST-4 database of fingerprints. A maximum classification accuracy of 93.75% was achieved and the result shows a performance comparable to previous studies using either coarse features or the finer features called minutiae.

Performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11p for vehicular communication networks

IEEE 802.11p is an emerging standard which provides vehicular safety communication through wireless networks. In this paper, the architecture of Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment (WAVE) and IEEE 802.11p standard were analysed. The key parameters of this standard are implemented in ns-2 network simulator to accurately simulate vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). The performance of this standard was measured in ns-2 network simulation environment using realistic vehicular mobility models. The main performance metrics for vehicular safety communication; Throughput, End-to-End delay, and Packet loss ratio are analysed in the scenario. In addition, the effect of varying vehicle speed and different message sizes on the performance metrics were measured.

A Novel Quality of Service Assessment of Multimedia Traffic over Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

With the extensive growth of the Internet, wireless technology, and multimedia applications, quality of service (QoS) monitoring and measurement of the networks have become important. Network measurements are carried out to obtain information about important QoS parameters such as delay, loss and jitter. Each type of multimedia applications has its own requirements and limits on these parameters. To evaluate the QoS of multimedia applications transmitted over wireless networks, a fuzzy logic assessment system has been developed. The system showed how the end-to-end QoS could be measured without the necessity for complex mathematical models. The measured QoS were classified into three categories Good, Average, and Poor regions. In addition, and based on the proposed system, the distributions and the overall QoS were estimated. The results indicated that the measured QoS was a good indication of the network conditions and resource availability.

Assessment and improvement of quality of service in wireless networks using fuzzy and hybrid genetic-fuzzy approaches

Fuzzy and hybrid genetic-fuzzy approaches were used to assess and improve quality of service (QoS) in simulated wireless networks. Three real-time audio and video applications were transmitted over the networks. The QoS provided by the networks for each application was quantitatively assessed using a fuzzy inference system (FIS). Two methods to improve the networks’ QoS were developed. One method was based on a FIS mechanism and the other used a hybrid genetic-fuzzy system. Both methods determined an optimised value for the minimum contention window (CWmin) in IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol. CWmin affects the time period a wireless station waits before it transmits a packet and thus its value influences QoS. The average QoS for the audio and video applications improved by 42.8% and 14.5% respectively by using the FIS method. The hybrid genetic-fuzzy system improved the average QoS for the audio and video applications by 35.7% and 16.5% respectively. The study indicated that the devised methods were effective in assessing and significantly improving QoS in wireless networks.

A study of encrypted, tunneling models in virtual private networks

The concept of virtual private networks offers a simple and cheap alternative to dedicated secure networks in corporate networks and Internet environments. The choice, however, of authentication and encryption techniques and protocols affect issues such as data throughput and performance throughout the network. This paper looks into two virtual private network models within a corporate network. Two operating system platforms are implemented in this investigation; Novell Netware and Windows 2000. Performance of the two arrangements is, subsequently, analyzed and evaluated.

Performance of multimedia applications with IPSec tunneling

The concept of virtual private networks offers a simple and cheap alternative to dedicated secure networks in corporate networks and Internet environments. The choice, however, of authentication and encryption techniques and protocols affect issues such as data throughput and performance throughout the network. This paper looks into the effects of video and audio streaming on performance, while deploying secure communications. Two operating system platforms are implemented in this investigation: Novell Netware and Windows 2000. Performance of the two arrangements is, subsequently, analyzed and evaluated.

Strategic exploitation of ERP for e-business

Modern organisations currently face a multitude of technologies that are seeking to climb on to the budgetary agenda of management boards. Two of the main contenders are enterprise resource planning (ERP) and e-business related technologies. There appears to be a misunderstanding, which has not been well-publicised, regarding the relationship between ERP and e-business, particularly the viewpoint that ERP is a platform for e-business. This paper, based on research from an ongoing information systems (IS) investigation project at a large multinational company, examines this relationship. The paper discusses different scenarios of ERP implementation status that organisations may find themselves part of. It examines the components of e-business success, namely the visibility of information, processes and technology that will be either enabled or restricted by ERP. What transpires from this research is that, for many start-ups, e-business becomes synonymous with business in general. We argue that e-business should form part of the corporate strategy and that an IS or IT strategy should form the basis for determining ERP implementation structures, thereby ensuring that e-business requirements become the platform for ERP.

Corpora for sentiment analysis of Arabic text in social media

Different Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications such as text categorization, machine translation, etc., need annotated corpora to check quality and performance. Similarly, sentiment analysis requires annotated corpora to test the performance of classifiers. Manual annotation performed by native speakers is used as a benchmark test to measure how accurate a classifier is. In this paper we summarise currently available Arabic corpora and describe work in progress to build, annotate, and use Arabic corpora consisting of Facebook (FB) posts. The distinctive nature of these corpora is that they are based on posts written in Dialectal Arabic (DA) not following specific grammatical or spelling standards. The corpora are annotated with five labels (positive, negative, dual, neutral, and spam). In addition to building the corpora, the paper illustrates how manual tagging can be used to extract opinionated words and phrases to be used in a lexicon-based classifier.

Adaptive statistical sampling of VOIP traffic in WLAN and wired networks using Fuzzy Inference System

Real-time audio and video applications generate vast amount of data in form of information packets. The collection and processing of all these packets in real time are not practically feasible. Therefore, an appropriate sampling technique is required in order to reduce the amount of collected data and their processing. In this paper, a statistical adaptive sampling technique to adjust sampling rate based on the traffics statistics was developed using a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). The FIS determined the sampling rate by using a set of rules to interpret statistical variations in Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. A comparison of adaptive statistical sampling using FIS against systematic, stratified, and random sampling was also carried out. The Network Simulator- 2 (NS-2) was used to evaluate the operation of sampling techniques. The study indicated that biasness values of sampled traffic obtained from the developed adaptive sampling technique were closer to zero than the values obtained using conventional sampling techniques which indicates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Automated detection of Internet usage policy violation

The Internet is considered to be a powerful business tool, with its use increasing all the time. You may still find, however, negative aspects linked to its usage in various areas. Reports may be found so often in the computing press of how the Internet is being misused by employees. This paper suggests and puts forward the need for corporate Internet connections to be monitored along with the creation and evaluation of tools to aid the monitoring process. A tool is subsequently designed, implemented and evaluated.