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The Open Technology Project

Aims: These pages are intended to aid students in deciding whether or not to undertake The Open Technology Project

Information, Computer and Communications Technologies (ICCT) Programme Board PROJECTS

The nature of 'ICCT' projects

ICCT is concerned with the convergence of computer, communication and information technologies. Its subject matter thus extends over a broad spectrum including the design and application of instrumentation, monitoring, control, computers, communications and information technologies. Projects relevant to the ICCT field are therefore very varied. They may concern sensing, protection and control applications, computer networking (LANs and WANs), Internet issues and engineering, communication systems analysis and design, or artificial intelligence. Critical issues are also important and proposals for projects concerning the development, use and abuse of information, computer and communications technologies will be considered.

Applicants in this area are normally expected to have successfully completed at least one of the second-level core courses of the ICCT programme (e.g. T293; TM222/T223; DT200/THD204) together with at least two third-level OU ½-credit courses.

Over the last few years there has been an increasing number of project proposals based on developing particular pieces of software (e.g. databases, preprocessors for compilers, spreadsheets, etc.). Many of these proposals have been rejected because they were felt to be too focused on programming, and hence failed to meet the broader aims of T402. If you intend submitting a proposal based on software development, then it is essential that you identify how you will be addressing the broader technological issues set out in the aims of T402.

You should note that you do not necessarily have to produce a working prototype (hardware or software) in order to succeed at T402. If it turns out that you have to choose between constructing a fully working prototype, and completing a well-planned and presented study, then you may well be best advised to opt for the second choice.

Suggested project areas

This section gives examples of some previous projects, together with a list of other areas covered by the ICCT Programme Board. These may help you to identify a topic for your own proposal. Please note, however, that simply referring to one of these on your application form is not sufficient; you are still required to outline your own particular project on the application form.

You should be aware that not all these suggestions satisfy the criteria laid down by the IEE. Neither are they in any way representative of the full range of project possibilities in the general area of ICCT. Nevertheless, you may find them a useful starting point from which to develop your own proposal.

Some academic areas covered by ICCT Programme Board include:

Internet Technology and Networking

Components: Browsers, servers, net operating systems, Internet appliances, intranets, extranets, tunnels, firewalls, cache systems, security systems.

Internet protocols: development, descriptions and critiques of protocols, TCP/IP

Group working: groupware, conferencing systems, group scheduling and management systems.

The Cyborg within us

Cyberspace: the literature (fictional, critical and philosophical) on cyberspace and its influence on product development, investment, politics and self-image.

The future of the body: robotics, prosthetics, cyborgs, behaviour in cyberspace, the digital unconscious, sex on the net, cyberwarriors and digital warfare, analogies of the brain, posthuman beings.

Computer engineering

Architectures: processors, workstations, server architectures, net computers, digital signal processors

Data technologies: data formats, compression techniques, error correction, cacheing systems, data integrity

Telecommunications

Systems analysis: performance criteria, error correction, chaotic and classical traffic models, switching.

Data carriers: SDH, signalling systems, ATM, TCP/IP

System issues: analysis of success and failure, planning and prediction, legal and regulatory developments, service development, ethical behaviour.

Mobile systems: antennas, propagation, infra-red systems, spectrum sharing and management, satellite systems, GPS.

Management: network planning, time services, security policies, diagnostic tools.

Broadcasting and narrowcasting: digital TV, digital radio, distribution systems, interactive TV, commercial and domestic access to digital services.

Security, Privacy, Authorisation and Identity

Secure systems: different models of security, encoding techniques, encryption and key distribution, trusted agencies, smart card systems.

Politics: the law and privacy, establishing authority, security breaches, security policy.

Identification: passwords, biometrics, digital signature, authentication, verification, validation.

Distributed Systems

Identification: naming systems, directory services, object brokers

Computing: distributed operating environments, fault tolerance, transaction processing, distributed storage and synchronisation, industrial control systems.

Dependability: fault detection and correction. security policies, start up and shut down.

Intelligent Systems

Adaptive systems: neural nets, model reference systems, self-tuning control, mechatronic systems

Logical inference: user agents

Health Care Informatics

Medical sensors: patient monitoring, scanning technology, patient tracking, pharmaceutical screening systems

Medical record keeping: patient records, access issues, financial accounting.

Ethics: ethical considerations, equipment failure, risk assessment.

Music Technology

Instruments and sound systems: electronic instruments, application of MIDI, sampling, recording and amplifying systems.

Music tools: sequencers, notations, accompaniment generators, software development.

Social: Interaction between technological change, commercial interests and musical style.

Sensing and control systems

System studies: satellite sensing, surveillance, instrumentation.

Time and place: global positioning and its applications, distribution of time signals, time standards.

Plant control: industrial control, transducers, data transport, reliability.

Multimedia

People: physiology, psychology, performance requirements

Technology: data formats, system studies

Presentation: typography, video, graphic and aural design, critiques of existing products.

Business technology

Financial: technological infrastructure of financial products, risk assessment, processing actuarial data, legal considerations.

Marketing: data warehousing, data mining, data bases, Internet advertising, cookies, commercial data services.

Retail and distribution: point of sale equipment, network sales, telesales, customer tracking and loyalty cards.

Failure and safety

Failure: information failure studies, computer and communications systems failure, impacts on people.

Dependability: replication, proof studies and limitations, validation.

Management: safety legislation, risk assessment, diagnostics.

IT and education

IT in school or college: tools for teaching and learning, demonstrations and simulations, technological aids to self-assessment, technology to make learning more rewarding.

The internet classroom: delivery techniques, security mechanisms, authentication systems, payment systems, the media mix, maintenance and testing.

IT in the education infrastructure: conference systems, authoring software, aids for planning, administration and organisation.