Configuration of the computing and communications systems found at home and in the workplace is a complex task that currently requires the attention of the user. Recently, researchers have begun to examine computers that would autonomously change their functionality based on observations of who or what was around them. By determining their context, using input from sensor systems distributed throughout the environment, computing devices could personalize themselves to their current user, adapt their behavior according to their location, or react to their surroundings. The authors present a novel sensor system, suitable for large-scale deployment in indoor environments, which allows the locations of people and equipment to be accurately determined. We also describe some of the context-aware applications that might make use of this fine-grained location information.

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A block coding scheme for the reduction of the peak to mean envelope power ratio of multicarrier transmission schemes is described. The principle of the scheme is illustrated with the specific example of a four carrier signal. The potential of the technique is investigated and it is shown that the application of a 1/2 rate code could typically result in a peak to mean envelope power ratio of around 3dB. The development of the technique in terms of the selection of suitable sets of code words based on Shapiro-Rudin sequences, Golay complementary sequences and other larger sets of code words is investigated. However, it is shown that none of these code sets are ideal.

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