Archive for M.Sc. Project

Another talk on the Mozilla Community and Projects

October 8, 2009 at 10:50 am · Filed under M.Sc. Project, Mozilla Talks ·Tagged , ,

The second talk on the Mozilla Community and Projects took place on September 25, 2009. Like the first one, we had it at the University of Cape Town. The first one was on October 1, 2008, and here is a link to my blog post on it. We had close to 30 attendees in this year’s talk, and I was glad to meet guys, who have also been ‘hacking’ the Mozilla framework. A guy told he submitted a patch to the Mozilla on opening a new tab close to the current tab (like IE 8). Another guy said he had used the framework in the past to develop an application.

I played a short video on my work (The TransferHTTP extension) during the presentation and got a pointer from one of the attendees. Coincidentally, I got the Mozilla Service Week T-Shirts from the Courier few hours before the presentation; so, I had more giveaways for the attendees. The presentation lasted an hour, and they found it interesting, as mentioned by some of them. Check out the pictures on the Google Picasa, and here is a link to the updated slides, which now contain getting started and benefits. The previous slides are still available; they can be found here.

During the Mozilla Community and Projects talk

During the Mozilla Community and Projects talk

http://bit.ly/16UqHt

Comments (2)

Projects Videos

September 13, 2009 at 10:37 pm · Filed under M.Sc. Project, Mozilla Talks, Ph.D Project, Technologies (Mobicents, Mozilla, e.t.c.) ·Tagged , ,

I was thinking that it would be a great idea to make available videos of my projects. Below are two videos; the first video is an interaction between two instances of the Mozilla firefox, while the second video shows how the proxy functions. Some of the things demonstrated here are Web session transfer blocking and session handoff between two browsers. The proxy keeps log of SIP INVITE and SIP MESSAGE requests and actions taken on them based on user’s settings.

The TransferHTTP Clients Interaction (15MB)
The TransferHTTP Proxy (2.8MB)

Leave a Comment

TransferHTTP 1.3 is out!!!

July 6, 2009 at 8:08 pm · Filed under M.Sc. Project, Ph.D Project

TransferHTTP is my Web browser extension for the Mozilla Firefox. A number of bugs have been fixed in this new version. No more frequent crash. YES! Below are some of the new features.

  • It now works in a client-server model.
  • It also reports most of the SIP Response/error messages, such as 404 (Not found) and 408 (Request Timeout).

Those are some of the newly added features; go download and install it from http://transferhttp.mozdev.org I hope to update the extension for Firefox 3.x soon. Lest I forget, I blogged on the extension here last year

Leave a Comment

Another paper gets accepted

January 18, 2009 at 10:34 pm · Filed under M.Sc. Project

Few days ago, I got reviewers’ comments on another paper I submitted to a conference. The conference is WEBIST 2009, and the paper is titled “A SIP-based Web Session Migration Service.” It will taking place about the same time the IEEE WCNC 2009 will take place. I already have a paper accepted in the IEEE WCNC 2009, and I blogged it last year. “The reviews are good,” said my supervisor.  The two papers presented different information. They are, however, parts of my thesis. I submitted both papers before I submitted my thesis. The WEBIST paper, which just got accepted, discussed the development of the Web browser extension using Data Flow Diagram (DFD), possible billing method for the service, and comparison of the approach with other existing approaches. In the WCNC paper, how the two prominent SIP mobility types could be mapped into a  service in the Web-browsing context was discussed.  In addition, the footprint of the SIP stack and the performance of the Web browser after the integration were discussed.  Two use case scenarios  were used to describe the service in the paper.

In the next few days, I will be discussing inferences I could make from the two papers. The comments on the papers have been impressive, and I think I could start working on the identified future work in the papers and my thesis as my Ph.D work.

Here is a pdf format of the three reviewers’ comments on the paper.

Leave a Comment

M.Sc.(Eng.) Graduation Ceremony

December 10, 2008 at 3:57 pm · Filed under M.Sc. Project ·Tagged

There are not so many things to talk about. However, I would say it was fun. I could say I am now “Master’s Degrees holder” but not “A Master’s Degree Holder.” What I mean is that I just finished my second Master’s degree. The first one was M.Eng., which I earned from Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria; and the second, which I just earned, is M.Sc.(Eng.). This second one has just been earned from University of Cape Town, and I will be continuing my studies in the same institution to earn a Ph.D. So help me God!!

Walking away from the Podium

Walking away from the Podium

Comments (1)

M.Sc. (Eng.) result leaves me with more questions

November 29, 2008 at 10:57 am · Filed under M.Sc. Project ·Tagged

Two days ago, I wrote on a kitchen-sink technology that got ratified at an IEEE flagship conference and promised that I would blog my thesis result, as soon as I get it. The result is out and impressive, I think. However, I am left with more unanswered questions than I thought of. One internal and one external examiner vetted the thesis. At first, I wanted to upgrade my M.Sc.(Eng.) to a Ph.D. Unfortunately, mind blowing ideas, which could be convincing enough to scholars, were not forthcoming neither was I getting the needed support. So, I decided to round-off my programme as an M.Sc.

In my mind, I had expected the examiners to make contributions (i.e. other things I could do), alongside the usual need to examine the contents of the thesis. That was not the case, on going through the reports. Nonetheless, the paper, which got accepted at the IEEE flagship now indicates that the idea is worthwhile. At present, I am thinking of other areas that a SIP-integrated web browser could find use, though I mentioned some in my thesis.

For those interested in the outcome of the review, below are scanned copies of the reports.

Summarily, the external examiner succinctly read the thesis, most notably his brief summary of the thesis, and made no request for corrections in it. And for the internal examiner, although he also thoroughly read the thesis, he only asked that some sentences be added to one or two chapters. The corrections made are included in the gallery above.

Although the thesis review indicates an impressive work done by the candidate (me), I am more worried than before on a probable Ph.D topic that I could work on. My resolution, at present, is to keep reading literature and extending my web browser extension to do other new things. At the end of the day, I might discover something that contributes to the body of knowledge, which is what a Ph.D is all about.

Leave a Comment

A kitchen-sink technology that gets ratified at an IEEE flagship conference

November 27, 2008 at 4:16 am · Filed under M.Sc. Project ·Tagged , , ,

Here comes the first result. Getting a paper accepted in one of the IEEE flagship conferences is a dream come true. An excerpt from the conference website is this : “IEEE WCNC is the premier wireless event for wireless communications researchers, industry professionals, and academics interested in the latest development and design of wireless systems and networks. Sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society, IEEE WCNC has a long history of bringing together industry, academia, and regulatory bodies.“

It’s not about my paper that has just been accepted; rather, it’s about the idea. The paper, titled “Mapping Third Party Call Control and Session Hand-off in SIP Mobility to Content Sharing and Session Hand-off in the Web Browsing Context,” presented an idea, which was earlier referred to as a “Kitchen-sink technology.” A developer, who I interacted with on one of the Mozilla IRC Channels, called the idea of migrating web sessions using SIP a Kitchen-sink technology. In the academic world, it seems feasible, and the paper got accepted, after giving two use case scenarios to illustrate the problems. I must say that not all scholars bought the idea though. One of these people, who I often interact with, did not like the idea of migrating stateful web sessions between web browsers, though I said session data were encrypted in transit. In a nutshell, content sharing is a cool idea, but he is not too pleased with session handoff, based on one of replies to my mail. This work is my M.Sc. research work, and I have been blogging it for sometime. See one of my previous posts.

And for the paper, I managed to make the reviewers (researchers) buy the idea. I was skeptical about the paper’s acceptance, so also my supervisor, most notably, because we submitted it to one of the IEEE flagship conferences. The paper title is long, and making them buy the idea of mapping SIP mobility types to session handoff and content sharing in the Web browsing context is awesome.

Below is a screenshot of the review.

IEEE WCNC Review Screenshot

IEEE WCNC Review Screenshot

And what lessons or inspirations have I got from here? Don’t throw up the towel on what you are doing, some people will appreciate it, sooner or later. In addition, I feel I could leverage this result to pursue my Ph.D. I am also waiting for my thesis result and will blog it as soon as I get it. The ideas on what I could do for my Ph.D keep coming, and here is a confirmation.

Leave a Comment

A SIP Integrated Web Browser for HTTP Session Mobility and Multimedia Services

September 7, 2008 at 6:34 am · Filed under M.Sc. Project ·Tagged , , ,

Introduction

This is my M.Sc. project in the University of Cape Town. I have only made available some excerpts from the whole thesis. In the work, I identified common problems faced by the Internet users and described these problems using two use case scenarios. Below are the two use case scenarios. These scenarios are followed by a pointer to the repository where the implementation screenshots and source code can be found. Next to the implementation screenshots and source code are specific contributions of this research work.

Content Sharing and Session Handoff in the web browsing context

This thesis proposes a new service called Content Sharing and Session Handoff. The service is introduced via the web browser interface to address common problems faced by users. The problems are regularly encountered, most notably among peers, and in some cases an individual. Two Use Case Scenarios are described below to illustrate the problems.

1. Bob is in a laboratory at school browsing a newspaper website when he comes across an interesting article that he wants to share with Alice. Alice, his colleague, is in a coffee shop also browsing a different website, via a wireless access point provided in the coffee shop. Assuming that both of them are online on Facebook and Yahoo Messenger, Bob quickly copies the URL of the article and sends to Alice via one of the Instant Messaging services. At the same time, he invites Alice to a voice chat to discuss the article. In a situation where Alice is not online, Bob sends the URL in an email to Alice and asks if they could discuss the article later.

2. Alice, researching on her project, is asked to fill in a form before she can download software she needs for the project. She has only logged in minutes ago and now asked to fill a form that requires a number that she cannot recall off hand. She realizes that she would have to restart the whole processes when she reaches home. Finally, she quits the website and tries to do something else until she gets home when she will be able to continue her project.

These problems are very similar to what individuals face today when surfing the Internet. Scenario one shows slow and inefficient ways to referring someone else to view the same web page being viewed at the same time. This problem is identified as one of the ways the web browsing experience could be improved if an efficient solution exists. The solution should cater for sending the URL to the intended recipient by a click or not more than two processes rather than copying the URL and using another software or service to accomplish the task. Better still, the solution should also cater for the voice interaction.

In scenario two, referred to as session handoff, the user, Alice, would like to continue filling the form at home without having to log-in again and navigate the website to the form page. Most times, individuals want to continue viewing the same web page later and at a different place. A large amount of HTTP signalling is involved moving from one link to the other, and a cost is incurred in the signalling, most notably where Internet access is expensive, though the cost could be small.

This thesis proposes a new service called Content Sharing and Session Handoff. The service is introduced via the web browser interface to address these common problems faced by users.

The Implementation Screenshots and Source Code

TransferHTTP Extension

TransferHTTP Extension

See http://transferhttp.mozdev.org


Specific Contributions

First, a new service, referred to as content sharing and session handoff between web browsers, has been provided. This implementation has provided a fast and efficient way of referring someone else to the same web page currently viewed by the referrer rather than the slow way of copying, pasting and sending the URL in a chat session or an email. Second, integrating a SIP stack into a web browser offers the advantage of extending a web browser to act as a SIP client. In this case, web browsers can now act as SIP clients thereby setting up multimedia session between two or more users. Most notably, web browsers now have unique SIP addresses to interact with one another like PCs, which have unique Media Access Control (MAC) or IP addresses.

In summary, while session handoff has been widely explored, content sharing is a new service in the web-browsing context that could encourage collaboration or community interaction between the Internet users. In addition, having shown that the integration of a SIP stack into a web browser makes no significant change on the memory footprint or quality of experience, the inclusion of SIP in commercial web browsers is not only feasible, but also will offer new services to end users. SIP is an extensible protocol that is not only used in multimedia services provisioning, but also in control and automation, such as smart homes. Should Free Open Source Software (FOSS) and Open Standards be widely adopted, more new and innovative solutions, like this project, would be introduced into the web browsing experience and found in this Web 2.0 era as services are rapidly converging.

I am happy to provide more information should anyone be interested in this project.

Comments (1)