Wi-Fi or wireless local area networks (WLANs) are among the most popular wireless internet access technologies used. The major challenge faced by WLANs is the provision of quality of service (QoS) for real-time applications at high congestion periods. IEEE 802.11e draft presents the only comprehensive QoS infrastructure for WLANs which proposes enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) that propounds the prioritization of medium access for different traffic classes. EDCA while making perceptible improvements for real-time applications neglects non-real-time applications by allocating their share of the bandwidth to the former in an inefficient manner. In our study, we have found that there are considerable design improvements possible for IEEE 802.11e-based QoS propositions. This paper proposes a novel medium access and transmission mechanism for IEEE 802.11 WLANs that is specifically designed to ensure QoS for triple play services. Based on our study regarding the traffic characteristics of triple play services, we propose a mechanism that adaptively uses the medium access and transmission parameters according to the traffic characteristics of the applications, for better utilization of the available bandwidth. The mechanism also proffers higher medium access priority to the access point as compared to the stations in order to cope with the issue of uplink/downlink traffic asymmetry. Simulation-based analysis of the proposed mechanism compares its performance with EDCA. The proposed mechanism offers promising results in terms of packet loss, packet delay and throughput, and thus ensures QoS for voice, video and data transfer applications.

Abstract-Research has found that relatively few people engage in regular exercise or other physical activities. Despite the availability of numerous mobile applications and specialized devices for self-tracking, people mostly lack the motivation for performing physical activities. In this article we present SmartFit, a mobile application that uses step count for promoting the physical activities in adults. This article points out that while considering walk, activity duration is not sufficient for determining users activeness state.Step count is another factor that should be taken into account. For this we propose an approach for converting the steps into duration for which activity has been performed. This duration is then used in Smartfit for categorizing user into different activeness levels. Gamification techniques have been incorporated in SmartFit as they are found to serve the purpose of motivating and encouraging the user. Gamification is used for awarding/deducting points to user in order to keep them engaged for longer period. Furthermore feedback is also provided to users depending upon their goal and achieved progress. The objective is to facilitate and motivate the user and then keep them engaged in carrying out the recommended level of physical activities.

Interoperability in today's healthcare world is big challenge. Although a number of standards have been developed in this domain yet the realization is still a key challenge. Health Level 7 (HL7) is an information exchange standard which formulates specifications for interoperable communication. HL7 V3 uses Messaging Infrastructure (MI) for the communication but it cannot provide flexible communication environment. It is required to have end-to-end sessions and business scenarios from real healthcare environment. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) provides a platform for system development and integration in order to achieve the main goal of interoperability along with flexibility. In HL7 V3, the communication between systems takes place using process artifacts (application roles, interactions, trigger events and information models). SOA based HL7 V3 infrastructure consists of application roles as services that are responsible for the interaction between communicating entities. Our system provides services that have business perspectives in terms of capturing healthcare business workflows. The work in this paper is based on the HL7 V3 specifications and also uses certain guidelines of Healthcare Service Specification Project (HSSP).

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