Early demonstration and research on the key technical issues of large-basin hydropower development under the concept of harmony

As a typical representative of hydropower development in China, the Dadu River is characterized by abundant water resources, poor geological conditions, many resettlements and limited environmental capacity. Therefore, the technical problems faced by Dadu River hydropower development are numerous and complex. We analysed these technical problems, such as the hydropower-development mode, normal water level, dam-site selection, damming technology, migration resettlement and environmental protection. The concept and characteristics of harmonious hydropower development are identified. The harmonious hydropower-development concept has been applied to all aspects of the Dadu River hydropower-development feasibility study to solve the key technical problems of hydropower development on the Dadu River and to promote the development of China’s hydropower.

Infrastructure Sharing for Cellular Networks in Tanzania

Infrastructure sharing is a practical resource utilization strategy among mobile network operators (MNOs). The rapid growth of data flow and technology migration has increased the costs for both infrastructure deployment and management. Hence, to ensure effective resource utilization, researchers propose a joint venture towers construction for the mobile network in Tanzania. Cost reduction analysis for tower construction has been done through game theory. It has been observed that there is significant cost saving by the MNOs sharing the infrastructure. Based on game theory, it was found that 50% of the cost can be saved when the MNOs cooperate in tower construction, which in turn improves services to the users and increase the network rollout to the remote area. In general, network infrastructure sharing (NIS) benefits both operators and the public at large. The MNOs can have a significant financial saving by avoiding the costs of construction or upgrading the overlapping sites, consolidating the existing sites, and by reducing expenses related to rents, maintenance, and transmission.

Efficient Development of Integrated Lab-On-A-Chip Systems Featuring Operational Robustness and Manufacturability

The majority of commercially oriented microfluidic technologies provide novel point-of-use solutions for laboratory automation with important areas in the context of the life sciences such as health care, biopharma, veterinary medicine and agrifood as well as for monitoring of the environment, infrastructures and industrial processes. Such systems are often composed of a modular setup exhibiting an instrument accommodating rather conventional actuation, detection and control units which interfaces with a fluidically integrated “Lab-on-a-Chip” device handling (bio-)sample(s) and reagents. As the complex network of tiny channels, chambers and surface-functionalised zones can typically not be properly cleaned and regenerated, these microfluidic chips are mostly devised as single-use disposables. The availability of cost-efficient materials and associated structuring, functionalisation and assembly schemes thus represents a key ingredient along the commercialisation pipeline and will be a first focus of this work. Furthermore, and owing to their innate variability, investigations on biosamples mostly require the acquisition of statistically relevant datasets. Consequently, intermediate numbers of consistently performing chips are already needed during application development; to mitigate the potential pitfalls of technology migration and to facilitate regulatory compliance of the end products, manufacture of such pilot series should widely follow larger-scale production schemes. To expedite and de-risk the development of commercially relevant microfluidic systems towards high Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), we illustrate a streamlined, manufacturing-centric platform approach employing the paradigms of tolerance-forgiving Design-for-Manufacture (DfM) and Readiness for Scale-up (RfS) from prototyping to intermediate pilot series and eventual mass fabrication. Learning from mature industries, we further propose pursuing a platform approach incorporating aspects of standardisation in terms of specification, design rules and testing methods for materials, components, interfaces, and operational procedures; this coherent strategy will foster the emergence of dedicated commercial supply chains and also improve the economic viability of Lab-on-a-Chip systems often targeting smaller niche markets by synergistically bundling technology development.

Software Defined IPv6 Network: A New Paradigm for Future Networking

Recent advancement in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has encouraged all stakeholders to move towards the new networking paradigm. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addressing, Software Defined Network (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are regarded as technologies for enhancing network efficiency and effectiveness. However, the technology migration becomes one of the central challenges for the stakeholders such as service providers, end users, and regulatory bodies. This is more challenging in case of developing countries due to lack of sufficient cost and skilled human resources. In this paper, we provide an overview and survey of SDN and IPv6 networking technologies, their benefits and future challenges. Then we introduce Software Defined IPv6 (SoDIP6) network as a next generation networking technologies and their unified approach of deployment over the Tier-3 ISPs of the developing nations that could help for speedy and smooth migration with optimized cost. The demonstrated superior features of SDN enabled IPv6 network from different perspectives with its contributions to green ICT are recognized as the networks of the future generation in the networking world.