This paper introduces the recent design and development of a converged IPTV service that has been deployed within a live test-bed (Living Lab) at Lancaster University for thousands of students. High quality audio-visual content is distributed over heterogeneous IP-based content networks, on both set-top box and web-based platforms. Peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies are exploited to provide energy efficient and low-cost delivery for commercial and user-generated content. The infrastructure and functional components are first presented exploring a number of key designs that facilitate the entire eco-system of content ingest, transcoding, P2P tracking, distribution, statistics, end systems, as well as integration of social networking. Due to the dynamic nature of P2P distribution, a quality measurement service with respect to user experience is also essential for the service evaluation and diagnosis. A multimodal QoE measurement framework which evaluates the IPTV services by collaborating measurements with a variety of different aspects is presented. Results of a use case are also described to verify the effectiveness of the measurement framework in exploiting relevant metrics from service components.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technologies provide efficient and low-cost delivery for commercial and user-generated content. Although a number of audio-visual content distribution services have been developed using P2P-based mechanisms, it is still a challenge to guarantee satisfactory user experience on high quality video streaming services due to the dynamic nature of P2P distribution. An objective assessment service is the key enabler of service quality monitoring and management. However, this complex task can not be achieved by any individual objective model that only captures a certain aspect of service quality. This paper introduces a multimodal quality evaluation framework that is specifically designed and implemented for the assessment of video streaming services in P2P-based IPTV systems. Results of initial experiments show the effectiveness of this framework.

This paper documents some of the socio-technical issues involved in developing security measures for a community environment, looking at the users of a wireless mesh network deployed within a rural village in north west England. We adopt an interdisciplinary methodological approach in eliciting requirements, to analyse the success of treating a community as an 'organisation' and implementing an approach, an OCTAVE method; in its original form designed to uncover security elements for businesses. Using a focus group technique we chart some of the assets and security concerns of the community members, leading to a greater understanding of people's perceptions of security, both personally and within the community, and the role of security in their regular computer usage.