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With the development of IEEE 802.11 MAC (Medium Access Control) protocols, efficient utilization of wireless local area networks (WLANs) has become a very important issue. In typical IEEE 802.11 networks, the association between mobile users (MUs) and access point (AP) is based on the signal strength information. As a result, it often results in the extremely unfair bandwidth allocation among MUs. In this paper, we propose a distributed association algorithm to achieve load balancing among the APs. The proposed algorithm gradually balances the AP loads for the available multiple bit rate choices in a distributed manner. We analyze the stability and overhead of the proposed algorithm, and show the improvement of the fairness via computer simulation. Additionally, we have implemented a prototype on a testbed to prove its feasibility. (1) Index Terms--Distributed algorithm, WLANs, AP selection, association algorithm, fairness, and load balancing.

A set of standards for continuous media that support multimedia capabilities in open distributed processing is proposed. Continuous media involves a time-dependent factor involving audio and video, the quality of equipment required to provide the service, time management, and engineering requirements. These factors are analyzed through computational and engineering viewpoints. An appendix containing a solution to data synchronization using Esterel language is provided.

The International Standards Organization has developed the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing for application in integrated data communications and telecommunications. The model includes a section on definitions of architecture and communication language as well as clarification of key concepts, functions and rules. It was developed in response to the increasing capacities of communications networks, including multimedia and real-time data access.

For years multivendor network management has caused some of the biggest headaches in our industry. How do you spell relief? D-M-E. The most recent effort to define standards for multi-vendor [...]

OSI's Promise vs. Performance In 1984, with much fanfare, the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model, known as OSI, was approved and published as an international standard. It was to [...]

Organizations are building complex distributed computing environments and are relying on these systems to help them remain competitive. CIOs who want to link their distributed environments now face a difficult […]

No longer more myth than reality, DCE middleware has finally evolved, IBM's legacy customers are now really using it to ease data access at client/server sites, while keeping an eye […]

SAN FRANCISCO--Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell touted the grid religion during the OracleWorld conference here, talking about how the push would improve performance, reduce costs and ease management. But […]

A STATUS REPORT ON A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S TRANSFORMING THE WEB YOU CAN SCARCELY ATTEND AN INDUSTRY CONFERENCE OR READ A PRODuct brochure these days without hearing about XML. * Still, […]

Electronic business data interchange (EBDI) is being adopted by more companies as computer equipment improves and data communication protocols become more uniform. The EBDI system is used to facilitate document transfer between companies. General Motors (GM) has helped to spread the popularity of EBDI by forcing suppliers and bankers to adopt the standard. GM estimates that EBDI has saved the company $200 per automobile produced, through paperwork reduction. Conversion costs for transforming record-keeping systems to accommodate EBDI represent a barrier to EBDI use.

Despite the holy-war imagery surrounding the market for distributed computing software, vendors of the Object Management Group's (OMG's) CORBA software seem to be taking a pragmatic approach to Microsoft's rival […]

When four computer industry heavyweights joined forces last week to make their enterprise software and networking products more compatible, it came as welcome but long-overdue news to corporate information systems […]

Each day, object-oriented languages such as C++ are gaining ground with embedded developers. The benefits of object orientation-clearly defined interfaces, encapsulation and reusability-make object-oriented architectures a natural choice for distributed […]

The Open Software Foundation's (OSF) Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) has been billed as one of the most crucial sets of open systems standards yet. But DCE-compliant products have now been […]

Digital Equipment Corp. and Microsoft Corp.'s delay in releasing their jointly developed Common Object Model specification is giving competitors time to create their own distributed object technologies. The two companies […]

DME has been slowed. But many of its pieces will show up in the new best hope for standards-based UNIX system management, the COSE effort. In 1991, the Open Software […]

Microsoft believes Java is a great language, and it supports it as such. It has reservations, though, about Java as an operating system. Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems thinks Java is a […]

CORBA lives. Finally. Last week's agreement by four industry heavyweights to support the CORBA standard may be the best chance yet for users to see the computer industry move forward […]