Abstract: A method and system may provide virtual port communications. A data frame, containing a destination identifier in a destination field and payload, may be modified by inserting a first virtual machine tag therein. The first virtual machine tag may include a first virtual port identifier for identifying a first logical interface of a first virtual machine on a virtual machine host.

Abstract: This paper deals with port competition and port selection for cargo to/from Austria. Austria is located centrally in Europe and seaports in at least five countries are used for imports and exports. Changes of market shares over time of different ports serving Austria are analysed. Switching of cargo between ports does take place, but friction prevents instantaneous switching. Consequently, it took a decade for the new potential of inland shipping to Austria, resulting from the opening of the Rhine-Main-Donau canal, was fully realised. A survey was held to analyse port choice decisions of two types of decision makers: shippers and forwarders. These results show shippers and forwarders have similar views on port selection, but shippers have a less price-elastic demand.

Abstract: This paper is an empirical attempt to measure the relative concentration of port-city functions in the context of globalisation. It reviews a number of urban and port issues regarding their complementary and contradictory aspects about the evolution of port cities. The main purpose is to verify how port function is more or less important to local economies, compared to other functions, through a temporal and global approach. Based on a matrix of port-city centrality and intermediacy, the main indicators available for international comparison are urban population and container throughput. An analysis of 653 places between 1970 and 2005 period is provided, using the relative concentration index proposed by Vallega. The appropriate geographical scale to measure the relative evolution of port cities at a global level is discussed. Results tend to question previous models which consider functional and spatial separation between the city and its port as an ineluctable process. The port-city evolution appears to be gradual rather than linear or chaotic, and in many cases largely influenced by regional factors and local strategies

Abstract: The present era of globalization and regional competition has witnessed the increasing influence of the global operations of the shipping lines on port development and the declining monopoly of ports. This warrants the need for an identification of the port selection criteria from the perspective of the shipping lines. Hence, an attempt is made to determine the port choice from the perspective of the shipping lines. Moreover, most port operators have designed their strategies based on the ‘stated preference’ of the shipping lines. However, the stated preference approach can have several shortcomings such as the shipping lines would tend to overstate their demands for services at the port. This directs for an examination of the port choice of the shipping lines based on a revealed preference approach. The ‘revealed preference’ approach aims at judging the port choice of shipping lines purely from their ‘actions’ rather than what they actually ‘state’. The empirical study in this article is based on a surve...

Abstract: Growing international trade and increasing congestion focus attention on trade facilitation. Ocean ports are a central and necessary component in facilitating trade. Yet, there is only limited comprehensive information available on the efficiency of ports or evidence of the effect of port efficiency on trade. We develop and apply a straightforward approach to estimate port efficiency. The approach uses detailed data on US imports and associated import costs, yielding estimates across ports, products, and time. These measures are incorporated into a gravity trade model where we estimate that improved port efficiency significantly increases trade volumes.

Abstract: This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports - Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge - and the Autonomous Port of Liège play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centres facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports and the Liège port complex in the period 2000 - 2005, with an emphasis on 2005. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information about the financial situation in each port. A global indication concerning the financial health of the companies studied is also provided. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. 2005 was a year of steady growth for most Flemish maritime ports, in terms of quantity of cargo handled and value added, although there was a slight deceleration in comparison to the previous year. The employment situation was, by contrast, somewhat mixed, while investment soared, far exceeding the pace recorded since 2000. The current changes in world trade patterns are having a substantial impact on the operations of the Flemish and Liège ports, situated at the heart of one of the wealthiest and busiest trading regions of the world. To cope with the accelerating internationalisation of port competition and the tremendous growth of containerised seaborne transport, the ports concerned need to constantly adapt their infrastructures, through innovation and investment. As major logistic centres, they have to face the challenge of responding to increasing demand in terms of capacity, while adding as much value as possible to the goods passing through them. Accessibility and seamless connections with the hinterland are key to their success and durability. This has become absolutely vital in a climate of growing regional and international competition, accentuated by the booming Asian economies. The port of Liège is striving to turn a threat into an opportunity. In the wake of the Cockerill Sambre blast furnace closure, the Liège port complex is undergoing a major restructuring. Cargo figures were down sharply in 2005, while the economic situation of the area was dominated by stagnation or decline in terms of value added, employment and investment. However, this fall could be shortlived since the revival expected from the development of value-added logistics will also generate increased activity, traffic and demand for manpower. The present report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details per economic sector, though the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2005.

Abstract: An HVAC control system that accommodates and/or facilitates control from a remote location. The HVAC control system may include a web-enabled building control appliance having a controller, a first port and a second port. The controller may implement a web server that is coupled to the first port for serving up one or more web pages on a first network and for receiving a number of responses. The controller may be coupled to the second port so as to communicate with one or more communicating thermostats via a second network. The web server may provide one or more web-pages via the first port that display a graphical floor plan of the building, and permit a user to drag and drop individual building control device images that correspond to the one or more building control devices onto the floor plan.

Abstract: An HVAC control system that accommodates and/or facilitates control from a remote location. The HVAC control system may include a web-enabled building control appliance having a controller, a first port and a second port. The controller may implement a web server that is coupled to the first port for serving up one or more web pages on a first network and for receiving a number of responses. The controller may also be coupled to the second port so as to communicate with one or more communicating thermostats via a second network. The web server may be adapted to provide an overview or summary web-page via the first port that displays information regarding the one or more thermostats, where the information that is displayed may be customized for a particular user.

Abstract: The shortage of the free space in the port areas is the reason to search for alternatives. This paper focuses on the dry port concept which is a new approach to solving the mentioned problem. The dry port concept is based on moving of intermodal terminals further to hinterland from the port areas. It helps to avoid traffic bottlenecks, to connect cargo handling from the port with other types of cargo at one common transport centre and it can help develop the hinterland areas. The BSR Interreg III B NP project Inloc (Integrating logistics centre networks in the Baltic Sea Region) showed an initiative to elaborate the concept and to study the feasibility to attract transport operators. The research was done partly by the authors of the article – partners of the Inloc project. Common results of the dry port research and conclusions of the approach elaborated by the article authors are presented.

Abstract: Recent academic debates about port competition have centered on the strategic responses of port authorities, operators, managers and owners to the emergence of global supply chains The competitive performance of a port authority or operator, given the rise of the integrated logistics sector, depends increasingly on its strategic relationship to these supply chains and rather less on traditional port competition factors such as hinterland size and physical infrastructure However, there are few empirical studies investigating the degree to which particular port actors are capable of inserting themselves into global supply chains In this article we ask what factors condition the supply chain strategies of port actors We hypothesize that the strategic supply chain choices of a port authority or operator are conditioned by the territorialized institutional framework in which the dominant actors in a port operate We apply these insights through a case study of the transformation of Dubai Port Authority, and the rise of Dubai Ports World (DPW)

Abstract: An HVAC control system that accommodates and/or facilitates control from a remote location. The HVAC control system may include a web-enabled building control appliance with a controller, a first port and a second port. The controller may implement a web server that is coupled to the first port for serving up one or more web pages on a first network and for receiving a number of responses. The controller may be coupled to the second port so as to communicate with one or more communicating thermostats via a second network. The web server may provide one or more web-pages via the first port that solicit and receive user rights privileges.

Abstract: An HVAC control system that accommodates and/or facilitates control from a remote location. The HVAC control system may include a web-enabled building control appliance with a controller, a first port and a second port. The controller may implement a web server that is coupled to the first port for serving up one or more web pages on a first network and for receiving a number of responses. The controller may be coupled to the second port so as to communicate with one or more communicating thermostats via a second network. The web server may provide one or more web-pages via the first port that solicit and receive information pertaining to one or more remote sensors that are to be connected to one of the one or more thermostats. The web server may provide a wiring diagram for the one or more remote sensors that is dependent on the received information pertaining to one or more remote sensors.

Abstract: If international container ports are to gain a proper appreciation of their various advantages, disadvantages and potential opportunities in a globally competitive environment, it is essential that they conduct effective evaluation of their operational performance. The present study applies five models of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to acquire a variety of complementary information about the operational efficiency of major container ports in the Asia-Pacific region and to identify trends in port efficiency. The study first establishes the causes of inefficiency on the basis of efficiency value analysis. Slack variable analysis is then used to identify potential areas of improvement for inefficient ports. This is followed by the utilization of return to scale analysis to assess whether each port is in a state of increasing, decreasing, or constant return to scale. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify which input or output variables have larger weights in terms of efficiency. The res...

Abstract: Because of their critical strategic role, ports have all traditionally been subject to some form of government control even if the legal form and the intensity of this control have varied across countries. The member countries of the European Union have not been different from the rest of the world in this respect. A significant difference however is the recurrent effort to integrate, in a coordinated way, the port sector in a trans-European transport network (TEN-T) through the adoption of a common legal framework. In this context, if the objective of the reforms is to ensure that port networks, integrated in combined transport networks, become competitors of the road network, the concept of port efficiency becomes central. This paper provides an overview of the evolution of the European Port Legislation and shows how comparative economic measures can be used to highlight the scope for port efficiency improvements, essential to allow short sea shipping transport to compete with road transport in Europe. To our knowledge, this paper is also the first effort of estimating technical efficiency of European Port Authorities. The average port efficiency in 2002 was estimated to be around 60%, denoting that ports could have handled 40% more traffic with the same resources.

Abstract: Computing process with a computational expression is executed using seed information including at least one of destination information and source information associated with a received packet It is preferable to select a physical port for transmission of the received packet based on the result of the computation It is also preferable to select a port group for transmission of the received packet based on the result of the computation Here, the computational expression is capable of being modified Meanwhile, the physical port for transmission of the received packet is selected from a plurality of candidate ports among the plurality of physical ports The port group for transmission of the received packet is selected from among a plurality of port groups including a mutually different candidate port

Abstract: Port Interface Modules (PIMs) are provided for ports of a Multi-Port Memory Controller. The PIMs include logic that is programmable to be compatible with different types of devices, processors or buses that can be connected to the ports. The PIMs can further include protocol bridges to enable one port PIM to connect to a device or another port PIM in a master/slave fashion.

Abstract: A method is provided for a port management system in which a switch is automatically provisioned with network resources. A command or set of commands are stored and automatically executed on the switch upon the occurrence of a defined network event. The command or set of commands may be associated with one or more ports on the switch. When executed, the commands cause a change to a port configuration and/or policy on the switch to control access to a network resource. The network resource may include any device or service accessible on the network. The defined network event may include any network event associated with a device or user connected to the network. The command or set of commands may reference variables, control structures, and functions to modify command execution.

Abstract: An approach to duplicating network traffic is described In one approach, a method of creating multiple copies of network traffic is detailed The method involves receiving network traffic, producing a duplicate copy of the network traffic, and forwarding the duplicate copy to a monitoring port The monitoring port forwards copies to a number of indicated ports

Abstract: This article is based on 183 819 port state control inspections from various port state control regimes for the time frame 1999 to 2004. Using binary logistic regression, we establish the differences of port state control inspections across several regimes, even though theory predicts there should be no significant differences in treatments of vessels. The results indicate that the differences towards the probability of detention are merely reflected by the differences in port states and the treatment of deficiencies and not necessarily by age, size, flag, class or owner as perceived by the industry and regulators. The analysis further shows that some differences can be found across ship types and regimes and that there appears to be room for further harmonization in the area of port state control.

Abstract: A communication interface for providing an interface between a data link and a data processor, the data processor being capable of supporting an operating system and a user application, the communication interface being arranged to: support a first queue of data received over the link and addressed to a logical data port associated with a user application; support a second queue of data received over the link and identified as being directed to the operating system; and analyse data received over the link and identified as being directed to the operating system or the data port to determine whether that data meets one or more predefined criteria, and if it does meet the criteria transmit an interrupt to the operating system.

Abstract: The object of this paper is to identify and assess the key determinants of port service quality and to determine the quality of service offered by two ports in Nigeria using SERVQUAL model and a Customer Satisfaction Index to measure port users’ level of satisfaction at these ports. Relevant literatures in port service quality were reviewed to give relevance to the survey. Data for the study were collected via a well-structured questionnaire, analysed, and perception and expectation gap scores evaluated. The findings of this survey reveal that service offered at Port Harcourt port had a favourable influence on actual perceptions of quality of service and that there is improved service at the port in comparison with Lagos. Also, the study reveals that there is a very strong relationship between the core and relational dimensions of service quality and satisfaction. The study also reveals that port managers should focus on those dimensions where customers perceive receiving a different service than expected...

Abstract: This article examines the scope and extent of port state jurisdiction in regard to marine pollution and marine capture fisheries and looks at such issues as access to port, conditions for entry into port, extraterritorial prescription, and in-port enforcement. One of the arguments put forward is that the justifiability of extraterritorial port state jurisdiction depends not only on an adequate jurisdictional basis, but also on the type of enforcement action taken. Port state jurisdiction is gradually moving from a voluntary basis regarding limited subject areas toward being comprehensive and mandatory through regional and global arrangements. The notion of a “responsible port state,” a state committed to making the fullest possible use of its jurisdiction under international law in furtherance of not just its own rights and interests, but also those of the international community, could play a key role in optimizing the use of port state jurisdiction (balanced by appropriate safeguards) and achieving mand...

Abstract: A system and method for configuring client access to a network includes at a first port, accessing a first server on a first local area network associated with the first port. An authorized local area network other than the first local area network is determined to which an authorized connection can be properly made based on information in a client request. The first port is assigned to the authorized local area network. Communications are handled with a new client configuration in the authorized local area network.

Abstract: Purpose – Using the extended task‐technology fit (TTF) model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of intranet usage on middle managers' performance in the port industry.Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted on 357 middle managers from various organisations in the Malaysian port industry.Findings – The structural equation modelling results indicate that TTF and usage significantly explains the variance on managers' performance. TTF is a predictor of perceived usefulness and usage but it does not predict user resistance. Perceived usefulness is a predictor of usage but it does not predict user resistance. User resistance does not predict managers' performance.Research limitations/implications – The study focuses only on the port industry in Malaysia and concentrates only on the management perspective of intranet usage.Practical implications – The results provide insights on how the Malaysian port industry and other organisations of a similar structure could improve on their in...

Abstract: Over the last few years, liner and stevedoring markets have been facing new challenges. The progressive concentration on the demand side (carriers) and the emergence of global alliances in the mid-1990s have triggered a similar process of consolidation on the supply side (stevedores). In turn, more recently, the strategic choices of pure terminal operators have led to the progressive involvement of carriers in port operations, both from a financial and a managerial point of view. This paper aims at analysing the current contest in northern Europe between customers and suppliers of port services. Substantial concentration in the stevedoring market and the emergence of dedicated facilities in that area, make this arm-wrestling stronger and stronger. At present, the liner market is following a number of strategic directions including the pursuit of economies of scale (larger vessels) and the supply of services using faster vessels (deployment of ‘fewer’ assets) in order to offer either new services or additi...

Abstract: The current model for flow establishment in the Internet: DNS Names, IP addresses, and transport ports, is inadequate. Not all of the problem is due to the small IPv4 address space and resulting NAT boxes. Even where global addresses exist, firewalls cannot glean enough information about a flow from packet headers, and so often err, typically by being over-conservative: disallowing flows that might otherwise be allowed. This paper presents a novel architecture, protocol design, and implementation, for flow establishment in the Internet. The architecture, called NUTSS, takes into account the combined policies of endpoints and network providers. While NUTSS borrows liberally from other proposals (URI-like naming, signaling to manage ephemeral IPv4 or IPv6 data flows), NUTSS is unique in that it couples overlay signaling with data-path signaling. NUTSS requires no changes to existing protocol stacks, and combined with recent NAT traversal techniques, works with IPv4 and existing NAT/firewalls. This paper describes NUTSS and shows how it satisfies a wide range of "end-middle-end"network requirements, including access control, middlebox steering, multi-homing, mobility, and protocol negotiation.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a rapid spanning tree protocol (RSTP) is executed on an intermediate network device. The RSTP may designate a first port of the device to a Root Port Role and designate one or more second ports of the device to Designated Port Roles, and place the one or more second ports in a forwarding state. Subsequently, the intermediate network device may reassign the Root Port Role from the first port to a third port of the device and blocking the first port. If the intermediate network device receives a proposal bridge protocol data unit (BPDU) message on the third port, rather than transition the one or more second ports to a blocking state, the intermediate device is adapted to maintain the one or more second ports in the forwarding state.

Abstract: The commercial maritime sector is highly vulnerable to theft and piracy, and presents a probable target for a major terrorist attack. The best way to prevent losses is to apply lessons learned in another arena - the struggle to curb drug smuggling. This effort has shown that successes can be achieved when effective and comprehensive security measures and procedures are implemented at key initial links in the cargo supply chain. The integrity and security of whole system are improved when efforts are focused at the primary 'choke point' - the load seaports and their ships. This book provides practical, experience-based, and proven knowledge - and a 'how-to-guide' - on maritime security. McNicholas explains in clear language how commercial seaports and vessels function; what threats currently exist; what security policies, procedures, systems, and measures must be implemented to mitigate these threats; and how to conduct ship and port security assessments and plans. Whether the problem is weapons of mass destruction or cargo theft, "Maritime Security" provides invaluable guidance for the professionals who protect our shipping and ports. This book holds the keys to successfully designing, implementing, and managing effective port and vessel security programs in a high-risk environment. It provides real-world experience in Maritime Security from the Managing Director of Phoenix Management Services Group in the USA and Panama. It offers specifics of a model port security program and case studies of effective tactics in a high-threat environment.