Οι κομμουνιστές θα μας πάρουν τα σπίτια (uncensored version)

Δυστυχώς έχω (πάρα) πολύ καιρό να γράψω. Περίμενα ότι εδώ και καιρό θα είχα άφθονο χρόνο, αλλά δυστυχώς μόνο το αντίθετο ισχύει. Παρολαυτά, δε μπορούσα παρά να κάνω ένα σχόλιο για τις επερχόμενες εκλογές. Όχι για αυτές καθαυτές, μιας και δεν έχω το χρόνο να αναπτύξω πλήρως τις θέσεις μου. 

Θα πω μόνο ότι κάτι που δοκιμάστηκε επί 40+ χρόνια και απέτυχε παταγωδώς επί 4 συναπτές δεκαετίες είναι σχιζοφρένεια να του δώσεις ακόμη μία ευκαιρία, για πολλοστή φορά. Επίσης, αξιωματικά δε μπορεί να φέρει κυβερνητικές ευθύνες κάποιος που δεν κυβέρνησε ποτέ. Αυτά ισχύουν εκ των πραγμάτων και όποιος τα αμφισβητεί, αμφισβητει hard facts και την ίδια τη Μαθηματική Λογική.

Δυστυχώς τα ΜΜΕ βλέποντας ότι κινδυνεύουν να χάσουν τα προνόμια της διαπλοκής, έχουν επιδοθεί σε μία άνευ προηγουμένου κινδυνολογία. Όσον αφορά την παρούσα προεκλογική περίοδο, δεν έχω (ακόμα) συλλέξει χαρακτηριστικά screenshots, αλλά αν πάμε λίγο καιρό πίσω, θα βρούμε αρκετά.

Ας δούμε το τελευταίο δελτίο ειδήσεων του Ant1 στην προεκλογική περίοδο των Ευρωεκλογών (Παρασκευή 23/05/2014) του Μαϊου με τα crawls να αποτελούν πραγματικούς τίτλους, χωρίς να έχουν πειραχθεί:

Η ξεφτίλα του Ant1 ήταν τόσο ξεδιάντροπη που η ίδια η Χούκλη αναγκάστηκε να απολογηθεί σχετικά τη Δευτέρα 26/05/2014 live on air και ο Τσίπρας να σημειώσει την αγανάκτησή του ευθέως και δημόσια στη ΔΕΘ το Σεπτέμβρη. Το αίσχος συνεχίστηκε ανάμεσα στη δεύτερη και στην τρίτη διαδικασία εκλογής ΠτΔ το Δεκέμβριο:

Επαναλαμβάνω και πάλι ότι δεν έχουν πειραχτεί οι τίτλοι. Στο ίδιο κλίμα όλα τα καθεστωτικά ΜΜΕ (τηλεοράσεις, εφημερίδες, ραδιόφωνα και websites). Στο βασικό πρόγραμμα του κόμματος που προηγείται στις δημοσκοπήσεις υπάρχει ένα bullet που τους πονάει:

Ενεργοποιούμε άμεσα τις διατάξεις των νόμων, οι οποίες:
(α) επιτρέπουν στην Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος ή στις αρμόδιες εισαγγελικές αρχές να διενεργούν ελέγχους για την προέλευση της χρηματοδότησης των επιχειρήσεων ενημέρωσης,
(β) ισχύουν για όλες τις Ανώνυμες Εταιρείες και προβλέπουν ότι μια ζημιογόνος επιχείρηση δεν είναι δυνατόν να λειτουργεί επ΄ αόριστον χωρίς να ανακεφαλαιοποιείται.
Προκηρύσσουμε από μηδενική βάση διαγωνισμό για τις άδειες λειτουργίας των ΜΜΕ.

Και γι'αυτό τα Νέα έφτασαν μέχρι εδώ:

με το left.gr να παίρνει αμέσως την πάσα (σσ. αναφέρεται σε αυτό το μυθικό video). Μετά λοιπόν από τις αρκούδες, περιμενουμε τους επόμενους τίτλους των καθεστωτικών ΜΜΕ μέχρι την Παρασκευή, με τον Ant1 να πρωτοπορεί :

και φυσικά το Mega να ακολουθεί κατά πόδας:

και:

Η καταστροφολογία-κινδυνολογία είναι το μόνο όπλο που έχει μείνει στο Συστημα, μόνο που το εχει ήδη χρησιμοποιησει (και μάλιστα εις διπλούν) το Μαϊο και τον Ιούνιο του 2012. Τότε έπιασε, όταν ο λαός φοβηθηκε ότι με το ΣΥΡΙΖΑ θα έχει ανεργία 30%, πρώτα θα πληρώνει ενοίκιο για το σπίτι που του ανήκει (ΕΝΦΙΑ) και μετά θα του το πάρουν οι κομμουνιστές (άρση ισχύος νόμου Κατσέλη από 01/01/2015), ότι η ύφεση θα συνεχιστει για χρόνια, ότι οι νέοι θα μεταναστεύσουν στο εξωτερικό, ότι οι τράπεζες θα σταματήσουν να δίνουν δάνεια κοκ. Oh wait :).

Οι ανεδαφικές απειλές περί δήθεν εξόδου από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση και την Ευρωζώνη συνεχίζονται και το 2015, μόνο που τώρα ο λαός ξέρει ότι ό,τι τον απειλούσαν ότι θα πάθαινε με το ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, τα έπαθε στο πολλαπλό τελικώς το 2010-2015. Ο Σαμαράς παίζει και πάλι το παιχνιδι του φόβου. Είναι τρομακτικό το ότι το πρώτο σε ψήφους κόμμα του 2012 επένδυσε σχεδόν όλη του την προεκλογική στρατηγική στο φόβο και στις απειλες περί ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, πέρα από μια χούφτα αποσπασματικές "δεσμεύσεις", χωρίς να πει κουβέντα για το πλέον σημαντικό ζήτημα της χώρας σήμερα : την παραγωγική ανασυγκρότηση της χώρας. Μόνο ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ αναφέρεται σε αυτήν. Και αυτό δεν το λέω εγώ, αλλά ο ιδιοκτήτης και διευθυντής σύνταξης του capital.gr και της εφημερίδας "Κεφάλαιο" και κατά καιρούς οικονομικός σύμβουλος του Σαμαρά Θανάσης Μαυρίδης .

Και φυσικά, ως κερασάκι στην τούρτα, για την άνοδο των spreads το φθινόπωρο και τη μη ολοκλήρωση της συμφωνίας της Κυβερνησης με την τροϊκα εδώ και ένα πεντάμηνο, φταίνε οι 71 βουλευτές του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ και όχι οι 155 της Συγκυβέρνησης, με τη ΝΔ να κάνει μία τομή στον πολιτικό λόγο της Μεταπολίτευσης  :

(το πραγματικά λυπηρό με τα καθεστωτικά ΜΜΕ είναι ότι πλέον δυσκολεύεσαι ιδιαίτερα να ξεχωρίσεις ποιοι τίτλοι και ποια πρωτοσέλιδα είναι πραγματικά και ποια όχι)

Links

Links

1. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/introduction.html

2. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/technical-specifications.html

3. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-mobility-security-issues-and.html

4. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/mobile-wimax-technical-specifications.html

5. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-standardization-process.html

6. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/ieee-80216-wg-for-wimax.html

7. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-forum-for-wimax.html

8. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/itu-for-wimax.html

9. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/itu-for-wimax.html

10. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-i.html

11. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-ii.html

12. http://voithostyrempora2.blogspot.gr/2013/07/wimax-iii.html

Dilbert on Standards

One of my favorite online comics, along with xkcd and PhDcomics, is Dilbert (http://www.dilbert.com) , who is a capable engineer  in a dead-end and no-future company. His boss is the pointy-haired guy, who is a moron, has no technical education and keeps assigning impossible tasks to Dilbert. The bald-headed guy with the glasses is the department’s lawyer and the little dog is the evil Dogbert, who in different strips has different role, from Human Resources Manager to CEO. Here are my top 4 Dilbert comic strips about patents and standards:

Source: http://www.dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/100000/20000/9000/800/129847/129847.strip.gif

Source: http://www.dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/60000/6000/400/66480/66480.strip.zoom.gif

Source: http://www.dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/100000/60000/2000/800/162864/162864.strip.gif

Source: http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/100000/30000/3000/100/133183/133183.strip.gif

Sources

Sources

[1] M. Nakamura, T. Chujo, T. Saito, Standardization Activities for WiMax, Fujitsu Science Technology Journal, July 2008

[2] K. Etemad, M.Y. Lai, WiMax Technology and Network Evolution, Chapter 1

[3] M. Riegel, Interpretation of the WiMax Standards, WiMax Congress presentation, Amsterdam, June 2009

[4] M. Nakamura, WiMax Standardization, Fujitsu Laboratories presentation, December 2008

[5] RF Spectrum Utilization in WiMax, Fujitsu Microelectronics America White Paper, November 2004

[6] S. Omerovic, WiMax Overview, University of Ljubljana Report

[7] The History of WiMax: A Complete Survey of the Evolution in Certification and Standardization for IEEE 802.16 and WiMax

[8] J. Hasan, Security issues of IEEE 802.16 (WiMax), Australian Information Security Management Conference ,  Edith Cowan University, 2006

[9] J.M. Smits, Regulations and Standards for Wireless Communications (0EL70), Eindhoven University of Technology, course’s slides 2013

[10] H.d.Vries, Fundamentals of Standards and Standardization

[11] Wikipedia WiMax webpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX

[12] Wikipedia IEEE 802.16 webpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/802.16

[13] Tutorialspoint WiMax webpage: http://www.tutorialspoint.com/wimax/index.htm

[14] WiMax Forum webpage: http://www.wimaxforum.org/about

[15] J. Grivolas, J. Hellstrom, S. Nicoletti, P. Warner, WiMax Regulation: an overview, Ovum, 2006

[16] WiMax Forum Air Interface Specifications, WiMax Forum proprietary, March 2013

[17] M. Moghazi, WiMax Spectrum, NTRA Egypt presentation

[18] M. Nohara, IEEE 802.16/WiMax Broadband Wireless Access, ITU-T Workshop “NGN and its transport networks”, April 2006

[19] Website article: http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/18/itu-reverses-its-decision-lte-wimax-and-hspa-are-now-4g/

Figures

1. Source [3], slide 3

2. Source [5], page 5

3. Source [17], slide 4

4. www.tutorialspoint.com/images/wimax_reference_network.gif

5. http://www.electronicproducts.com/images2/farcagilent_web_1_nov2008.gif

6. Source [18], slide 9

7. Source [3], page 7

8. Source [1], page 2

9. Source [4], slide 7

10. Source [4], slide 8

11. Source [7], page 1190

12. Source [7], page 1195

13. Source [1], page 287

14. Source [2], page 9

Tables

1. www.tutorialspoint.com/images/wimax_ieee_standards.gif

2. Source [3], slide 11

Conclusions and Overview of WiMax Standardization

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave access is a wireless communication standard operating at a frequency of a few Gigahertzes (mainly at 2.5 , 3.5 and 5.8), which could initially provide 30 to 40 megabits per  second and increased to 1 Gigabit with the 2011 update. It can operate at a radius of several kilometers (in principle up to ~50 kilometers with a bitrate of a couple of megabits), covering very large areas. The first final version of WiMax was IEEE 802.16-2004 in 2004 and the most recent is IEEE 802.16m in 2011. WiMax has achieved some considerable penetration in developing countries mainly in Southeastern Asia, but has until today failed to compete GSM/CDMA in the Western World. Even though no one can be sure about the future, it seems to be very difficult for WiMax to gain a big market share in the West. Nevertheless, the developing countries around the world sum up to a very big percentage of the global population and can create a critical subscribers’ mass for WiMax. Until now, it can probably be considered to be a failure in general (maybe because of the great initial expectations created), but things can change in the future [7].

The standardization of WiMax involves three different entities: IEEE with the 802-16 Working Group, the WiMax Forum and the International Telecommunications Union. IEEE 802.16 WG develops the basic technical specifications, closer to the physical layer. WiMax Forum adds some extra features, closer to the application layer and issues compatibility and interoperability certificates for vendors. ITU gives a more formal and official recognition, mainly to the spectrum allocated and used for WiMax worldwide. WiMax standardization allows vendors to produce equipment compatible with each other’s in big quantities, that drop the manufacturing cost. Furthermore, as good practices are adopted in the standard, the hardware and software used achieve the best possible result with the minimum price (value for money), thus decreasing even more the costs [1].

What has been learnt from the WiMax standardization process is that developing a new standard should not be blind to new features and characteristics that can dramatically change the way forward, with the example of the spectrum, as IEEE was initially researching the 10-66 GHz spectral region, which would not allow a very large coverage area from a base station and would cause many problems in both amplifying the signal and processing it digitally, compared to the region of 2-11 GHz that was later researched. The importance of the certification from the WiMax Forum is also significant, as interoperability is a key feature for the widespread penetration of any technology. Finally, the collaboration with other international organizations (like ITU) can rise the esteem of a standard and facilitate new deployments and development.

Alternative WiMax applications and security issues

The first obvious and straightforward application of WiMax is the retail wireless Internet access at a mobile basis, replacing today 3G Internet access of GSM and CDMA worldwide.  Apart from that though, WiMax can be a real alternative for 4G wireless networks [11]. The main problem in that is that there is not a market of an adequate size from vendors for personal mobile devices. This can be overcome if the demand rises, but it is a “chicken and egg” problem (the demand is waiting for the industry and the industry is waiting for the demand). WiMax was proposed as an alternative to DVB-T for the digital television, but DVB-T was preferred.

A very promising alternative use for WiMax is as a substitute for the last mile [11]. The copper from the central offices of a provider to the subscriber’s premises is, usually in the Western World, public-owned and each provider pays a monthly fee for every local loop they use. As the management of the last mile across the country is a relatively difficult operation for a non-telecommunications company, in most cases the management (extension, upgrade, maintenance and of course the lease) is conducted by the incumbent telecommunications provider of each country ( eg British Telecom for the UK, Deutsche Telekom for Germany, KPN for the Netherlands, NTT for Japan etc), which is a now a privatized company and a former state monopoly. The contradiction of the incumbent of being simultaneously retail provider and manager of the access network used by its competitors (so the incumbent is responsible for activating the subscribers’ connections of its own competitors) leads to competition problems (margin squeeze, unethical competition with deliberately delayed activations and unfixed failures etc). The monopoly of the incumbent in the last mile cannot be easily overcome in many cases, even though many regulatory efforts have been made. The only 100% effective solution is to change the physical medium of the last mile. One solution is fibers, with Fiber To The Home (FTTH) networks, but when we talk about wireless solutions, this could be WiMax. One Base Station with a WiMax antenna can cover an area of tens of square kilometers ( , with r the cell radius) and (in theory even) hundreds of thousands of potential subscribers. In this case, the activation of the services would not depend on the last mile manager company, but on the provider itself, as only a terminal device (Customer’s Premises Equipment) and the credentials would be needed. Unfortunately for the competition, this has not worked in almost any country. It is characteristic that for example in Greece, the incumbent (OTE, former state monopoly and Deutsche Telekom owned today) has bided for a WiMax license, won it, but never used it commercially, for some analysts just in order to block the WiMax penetration and to keep its competitors dependent on the last mile that OTE manages.

Regulation in WiMax is mainly focused on the spectrum used. The channels at 2.5 and 3.5 GHz need a license, while the ones at 5.8 GHz do not. Licenses in countries are either given in auctions or at a first-come-first-serve basis [15]. Just like GSM and all other wireless communications, spectrum shortage is a critical issue. Especially for the lower frequencies (which are more attractive, as they experience less attenuation over distance), there is a significant spectral congestion with loads of technologies claiming part of the spectrum. 

There are a few security issues in WiMax mainly coming mainly from the fact that the physical medium (air interface) is shared and not dedicated for each user. Confidentiality and resistance to interception and eavesdropping are the main concerns. Message authentication is needed in order to ensure the integrity of both the message and the sender, while Denial of Service (DoS) attacks affect the availability of the service. The main types of attacks are: man-in-the-middle attack, message replay attack on authentication and authenticated key formation protocols, parallel session attack, interleaving attack, attack due to type flaw, reflection attack, attack due to name omission and attack due to misuse of cryptographic services. In the IEEE 802.16 standard, the privacy sublayer (PS) is on top of the physical layer, so the PS guards only the data link layer and not the physical layer, leaving it in general vulnerable to attacks [8].

Jamming is conducted with a source of strong noise in order to decrease the channel capacity, causing DoS problems, but it is easily detected with radio analyzers. Scrambling is jamming for a short period for time, but it is not trivial to implement it, because synchronization at certain time intervals is needed. Identity theft is also an issue in WiMax, which is done by reprogramming a device with the hardware address of another device. This is also difficult to be done, as the attacker must keep transmitting at the exact timeslots that the Base Station is, of course with a stronger signal. Water torture attack is also possible, where a series of frames that drain the receiver’s battery are transmitted. This can be neutralized with a data authenticity technology. There are two types of certificate in WiMax: one of the manufacturer’s and one at the Subscriber Station. There is not a certificate for the Base Station, so the Subscriber Station certificate is verified with a public key, making the scheme vulnerable. If there also is a Base Station certificate, making a mutual authentication, this vulnerability will vanish. Furthermore, the state of the Security Associations (SA) does not differentiate from one timeslot to the other, so a replay attack is possible. Also, the Cipher Block Chaining uses a 56-bit key, which can be decrypted with brute force with present computing power. Finally, an Authorization Key (AK) lasts for up to 70 days, while a Traffic Encryption Key (TEK) for 30 minutes, so a data Security Associations can use 3.360 TEK’s over the AK’s lifetime. The Security Associations Identifier is 2 bits long, but for 3.360 at least 12 bits are needed ( different TEK’s) [8].

Security mechanisms are always expensive processes. They require extensive research, evaluation and implementation outcomes. The mobility of IEEE 802.16e makes WiMax more vulnerable to attacks, so more precautions must be taken. Nevertheless, we must always keep in mind that “what locks, can be unlocked”. 

Overview of the standardization and importance

A standard, according to De Vries (1997) is “an approved specification of a limited set of solutions to actual or potential matching problems, prepared for the benefits of the party or the parties involved, balancing their needs and intended and expected to be used repeatedly or continuously during a certain period, by a substantial number of the parties for whom they are meant” [10]. The six basic principles of standardization are: voluntary, open, consensus, public, general purpose for the society and compatibility between generation [9]. According to Simons and De Vries (2002), a standard is considered to be “good” when:

·         it provides a solution for a matching problem

·         it fulfills the need of parties (workable and acceptable)

·         there is more than one party involved

·         its lifetime is longer than the process for creating the standard

·         it is not in contradiction with other valid, operational standards

·         it has backwards compatibility

·         it does not block a priori future improvements and developments

·         it is easily readable and unambiguous

·         it fits for repetitive, frequent application

WiMax standardization aims towards these targets and has achieved most of them. To start with, the initial suggestions within the IEEE differ quite a lot from the final standards. At the first years of 802.16 WG, the focus was mainly on the spectrum of 10 to 66 GHz, before shifting to the lower frequencies of 2 to 11 GHz [1]. IEEE includes three different physical layers (SC, OFDM and OFDMA), but only one MAC protocol, with new features still being added at every single major release and amendment. IEEE has maintained close contacts with ITU, which has included WiMax in IMT-2000 and later in the 4G wireless technologies. This provides WiMax with global recognition and prestige. WiMax Forum is responsible for the fixed WiMax and the mobile WiMax profiles, with extra features apart from those originally implemented by the IEEE 802.16 WG. The WiMax certification ensures interoperability and global roaming among the vendors’ equipment [7].

De facto standards are the standards that are used by the industry and get adopted by managing to acquire a big market share. They are market-driven standards not developed by law and official standardization organizations. On the other hand, de jure standards are developed by such organizations. All members are encouraged to take part in the development process and consensus is one of the main targets. Usually, de jure standards take more time to finalize, as they have more formal and bureaucratic processes and the members typically pay a fee in order to be members. In this context, WiMax standardization is de jure standardization, international, open and compulsory. It is conducted by IEEE, WiMax Forum and ITU, any member can take part in the standardization process, it holds in international level and the standards have to be applied to a product, so that it will be able to operate according to the WiMax technology.

ITU contribution to WiMax standardization

ITU launched the program of International Mobile Telecommunications in 2000 (IMT-2000) for third generation (3G) wireless networks defined by a set of independent ITU Recommendations. In 2006 IEEE proposed to ITU to include WiMax in IMT-2000 as IP-OFDMA, based on IEEE 802.16-2004, IEEE 802.16e-2005 and Release 1.0 of the WiMax Forum. ITU approved of that addition in 2007. Later on , the IEEE 802.16-2009 and WiMax Forum Release 1.5 were used for more up to date features (for example, the frequency division duplexing). ITU published a new version, the IMT Advanced in 2007, where the WiMax standard was again included and in December 2010 WiMax was regarded as a fourth generation (4G) technology by the ITU (along with Long Term Evolution-LTE and High Speed Packet Access Plus-HSPA+) [19].

Even though at the first glance the ITU standardization may not occur to have obvious advantages, the truth is far from this. The standardization itself can be conducted by the IEEE and the WiMax Forum, but the recognition from the ITU added international credibility and global reputation, at the same level with HSPA and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) . Furthermore, part of the spectrum (especially around the 2.5 GHz) allocated for the IMT-2000 technologies can now be used by WiMax, as it belongs to them [7].