The development of information/communication technology has made it possible to access substantial amounts of data and retrieve information. However, it is often difficult to locate the desired information, and it becomes necessary to spend considerable time determining how to access specific available data. This paper describes a method to quantitatively evaluate the usability of large-scale information-oriented websites and the effects of improvements made to the site design. This is achieved by utilizing the Cognitive Walkthrough for the Web and website modeling using Markov chains. We further demonstrate that we can greatly improve usability through simple modification of the link structure by applying our approach to an actual informational database website with over 40,000 records.

A prototype modem with unequal error protection (UEP) capability was developed using multiple block coded modulation (MBCM). Benefited from its unique structure, MBCM can be used to provide UEP straightforward. We propose a new method to increase the robustness of the carrier recovery process by taking advantage of the MBCM code structure. We also use a frame format to facilitate the synchronization operation. This modem was developed in preparation for the mobile satellite communication experiments using the Engineering Test Satellite of VIII-type (ETS-VIII). In addition of MBCM, some other types of modulation schemes have been implemented in the same modem to enable a range of communication experiments to be performed. The modem can operate at variable data rates. The results of laboratory measurements agreed well with computer simulation results. Typical link budgets based on the parameters of ETS-VIII are also presented.