Acoustic Signal Based Traffic Density Engineering Essay

Traffic monitoring and parametric quantities estimation from urban to battlefield environment traffic is fast-emerging field based on acoustic signals. This paper considers the job of vehicular traffic denseness appraisal, based on the information nowadays in cumulative acoustic signal acquired from a roadside-installed individual mike. The happening and mixture weightings of traffic noise signals ( Tyre, Engine, Air Turbulence, Exhaust, and Honks etc ) are determined by the prevalent traffic denseness conditions on the route section. In this work, we extract the short-run spectral envelope characteristics of the cumulative acoustic signals utilizing MFCC ( Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients ) . The ( Scaly Conjugate Gradient ) SCG algorithm, which is a supervised acquisition algorithm for network-based methods, is used to calculate the second-order information from the two first-order gradients of the parametric quantities by utilizing all the preparation datasets. Adaptive Neuro-F uzzy classifier is used to pattern the traffic denseness province as Low ( 40 Km/h and supra ) , Medium ( 20-40 Km/h ) , and Heavy ( 0-20 Km/h ) . For the development geographicss where the traffic is non-lane driven and helter-skelter, other techniques ( magnetic cringle sensors ) are unsuitable. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy classifier is used to sort the acoustic signal sections crossing continuance of 20-40 s, which consequences in a categorization truth of?95 % for 13-D MFCC coefficients, ~95 % for first order derived functions and ~95 % for 2nd order derived functions of cepstral coefficients. Keywords: Acoustic signal, Noise, Traffic, Density, Neuro-Fuzzy. Introduction As the figure of vehicle in urban countries is of all time increasing, it has been a major concern of metropolis governments to ease effectual control of traffic flows in urban countries [ 1 ] . Particularly in first-come-first-serve hours, even a hapless control at traffic signals may ensue in a long clip traffic jam doing a concatenation of holds in traffic flows and besides CO2 emanation [ 2 ] . Density of traffic on roads and main roads has been increasing invariably in recent old ages due to motorisation, urbanisation, and population growing. Intelligent traffic direction systems are needed to avoid traffic congestions or accidents and to guarantee safety of route users. Traffic in developed states is characterized by lane driven. Use of magnetic cringle sensors, picture cameras, and velocity guns proved to be efficient attack for traffic monitoring and parameter extraction but the installing, operational and care cost of these detectors significantly adds to the high operational disbursal of these devices during their life rhythms. Therefore research workers have been developing several Numberss of detectors, which have a figure of important advantages and disadvantages relative to each other. Nonintrusive traffic-monitoring engineerings based on ultrasound, radio detection and ranging ( Radio, Laser, and Photo ) , picture and audio signals. All above present different features in footings of hardiness to alterations in environmental conditions ; industry, installing, and fix costs ; safety ordinance conformity, and so forth [ 3 ] . Traffic surveillance systems based on picture cameras cover a wide scope of different undertakings, such as vehicle count, lane tenancy, velocity measurings and categorization, but they besides detect critical events as fire and fume, traffic jams or lost lading. The job of traffic monitoring and parametric quantity appraisal is most normally solved by deploying inductive cringles. These cringles are really intrusive to the route paving and, hence cost associated with these is really high. Most video analytics systems on main roads focus on numeration and categorization [ 4 ] , [ 5 ] , [ 6 ] , [ 7 ] , [ 8 ] . Using general intent surveillance cameras for traffic analysis is demanding occupation. The quality of surveillance informations is by and large hapless, and the scope of operational conditions ( e.g. , dark clip, inclement, and mutable conditions ) requires robust techniques. The usage of route side acoustic signal seems to be good attack for traffic monitoring and parametric q uantity appraisal intent holding really low installing, operation and care cost ; low-power demand ; operate in twenty-four hours and dark status. Conventional pattern categorization involves constellating developing samples and tie ining bunchs to given classs with restrictions of lacking of an effectual manner of specifying the boundaries among bunchs. On the contrary, fuzzed categorization assumes the boundary between two neighbouring categories as a uninterrupted, overlapping country within which an object has partial rank in each category [ 9 ] . In brief, we use fuzzed IF-THEN regulations to depict a classifier. Assume that K forms, p= 1, .. K are given from two categories, where is an n-dimensional chip vector. Typical fuzzed categorization regulations for n = 2 are like If is little and is really big so = ( ) belongs to C1 If is big and is really little so = ( ) belongs to C2 Where are the characteristics of form ( or object ) P, little and really big are lingual footings characterized by appropriate rank maps. The firing strength or the grade of rightness of this regulation with regard to a given object is the grade of belonging of this object to the category C. Most of the categorization jobs consist of medium and large-scale datasets, illustration: familial research, character or face acknowledgment. For this different methods, such as nervous webs ( NNs ) , support vector machines, and Bayes classifier, have been implemented to work out these jobs. The network-based methods can be trained with gradient based methods, and the computations of new points of the web parametric quantities by and large depend on the size of the datasets. One of the network-based classifiers is the Neuro-Fuzzy Classifier ( NFC ) , which combines the powerful description of fuzzed categorization techniques with the larning capablenesss of NNs. The Scaled Conjugate Gradient ( SCG ) algorithm is based on the second-order gradient supervised learning process [ 10 ] . The SCG executes a trust part measure alternatively of the line hunt measure to scale the measure size. The line hunt attack requires more parametric quantities to find the measure size, which consequences in increasing preparation clip for any learning method. In a trust part method, the distance for which the theoretical account map will be trusted is updated at each measure. The trust part methods are more robust than line-search methods. The disadvantage associated with line-search method is eliminated in the SCG by utilizing the trust part method [ 10 ] . We start with a word picture of the route side cumulative acoustic signal which consisting several noise signals ( tyre noise, engine noise, air turbulency noise, and honks ) , the mixture weightings in the cumulative signal varies, depending on the traffic denseness conditions [ 11 ] . For low traffic conditions, vehicles tend to travel with medium to high velocities, and therefore, their cumulative acoustic signal is dominated by tyre noise and air turbulency noise [ 11 ] , [ 12 ] . On the other manus, for a to a great extent congested traffic, the acoustic signal is dominated by engine-idling noise and the honks. Therefore, in this work, we extract the spectral characteristics of the wayside acoustic signal utilizing Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients ( MFCC ) , and so Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Classifier is used to find the traffic denseness province ( low, Medium and Heavy ) . This consequences in 95 % truth when 20-30 s of audio signal grounds is presented. We begin with description of the assorted noise signals in the cumulative acoustic signal in Section II. Overview of past work based on acoustic signal for traffic monitoring is provided in Section III, followed by characteristic extraction utilizing Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients in IV. Finally, the experimental apparatus and the categorization consequences by SCG-NFC are provided in Section V, and the decision is summarized in Section VI. VEHICULAR ACOUSTIC SIGNAL A vehicular acoustic signal is mixture of assorted noise signals such as tyre noise, engine tick overing noise, noise due to wash up, engine block noise, noise due to aerodynamic effects, noise due to mechanical effects ( e.g. , axle rotary motion, brake, and suspension ) , air-turbulence noise and the honks. The mixture weighting of spectral constituents at any location is depends upon the traffic denseness status and vehicle velocity. In former instance if we consider traffic denseness as freely fluxing so acoustic signal is chiefly due to tyre noise and air turbulency noise. For medium flow traffic acoustic signal is chiefly due to broad set thrust by noise, some honks. For heavy traffic status the acoustic signal is chiefly due to engine tick overing noise and several honks. A typical vehicle produces assorted noise depends on its speed, burden and mechanical status. In general, estimate can be done as vehicular acoustic signal is categorized as, Tyre noise Tyre noise refers to resound produced by turn overing Sur as an interaction of turn overing Sur with route surface. The tyre noise is besides considered as chief beginning of vehicle ‘s entire noise at a velocity higher than 50 kilometers per hours [ 12 ] , [ 13 ] . Tyre noise has two constituents: air noise and vibrational noise [ 13 ] , [ 14 ] . Air noise dominant in the frequence ranges between 1 KHz to 3 KHz. On the other manus vibrational noise is dominant in the frequence scope 100 Hz to 1000 Hz. Effect is generated by route and Sur, which forms a geometrical construction that amplifies the noise ( elaboration consequences in tyre noise constituent in the frequence scope 600 Hz to 2000 Hz ) , produced due to tyre-road interaction [ 14 ] , [ 15 ] , [ 16 ] . The directionality of horn depends upon tyre geometry, tyre yarn geometry, weight and torsion of Sur. The entire Sur noise power along with horn consequence lies in the frequence scope 700-1300 Hz. Fig. 1. Relationship between the noise of the Sur and the noise of the vehicle harmonizing to its velocity. The Sur noise is caused by three different factors: The Sur hitting the land ( Fig 2 ) The quiver of the air through the tread form ( Fig 3 ) The quivers go throughing through the Sur ( Fig 4 ) ( B ) ( degree Celsius ) Fig. 2. ( a ) Tyre hitting the land, ( B ) Vibration of the air through the pace form, ( degree Celsius ) Vibrations go throughing through the Sur Engine noise Engine noise is produced due to internal burning of engine. Engine noise contains a deterministic harmonic train and stochastic constituent due to aerate intake [ 11 ] . The fuel burning in engine cylinder leads to deterministic harmonic train where lowest harmonic tone refers to cylinder fire rate. On the other manus stochastic constituent is mostly due to the turbulent air flow in the air consumption, the engine chilling systems, and the alternator fans. The engine noise varies with velocity and the acceleration of vehicle [ 11 ] , [ 17 ] . A stationary vehicle produces distinguishable engine tick overing noise whereas traveling vehicle produces different engine noise in correspondence with cylinder fire rate. In the recent old ages, makers designs quieter engine to stamp down the noise degree. So engine noise might be strong on front side of auto compared to other waies. Exhaust noise The exhaust noise is produced due to full fumes system. The system goes from the engine burning compartment through exhaust tubings to the exhaust silencer nowadays at the dorsum of the vehicle bring forthing exhaust noise. The exhaust noise is straight relative to burden of the vehicle [ 18 ] . The exhaust noise is characterised by holding power spectrum around lower frequences. Exhaust noise is affected by turbo coursers and after ice chest [ 18 ] , [ 19 ] . Air Turbulence noise Air turbulency noise is produced due to the air flow generated by the boundary bed of the vehicle. It is outstanding instantly after the vehicle base on ballss by the detector ( e.g. mike ) . It produces typical drive-by-noise or whoosh sound. The Air turbulency noise depends on the aeromechanicss of the vehicle, wind velocity and its orientation [ 20 ] , [ 21 ] . ACOUSTIC SIGNALS FOR TRAFFIC MONITORING Today ‘s urban environment is supported by applications of computing machine vision techniques and pattern acknowledgment techniques including sensing of traffic misdemeanor, vehicular denseness appraisal, vehicular velocity estimate, and the designation of route users. Currently magnetic cringle sensor is most widely used detector for traffic monitoring in developing states [ 22 ] . However traffic monitoring by utilizing these detectors still have really high installing and care cost. This non merely includes the direct cost of labour intensive Earth work but besides, possibly more significantly, the indirect cost associated with the break of traffic flow. Besides these techniques require traffic to be orderly flow, traffic to be lane driven and in most instances it should be homogenous. Mentioning to the developing parts such India and Asia the traffic is non lane driven and extremely helter-skelter. Highly heterogenous traffic is present due to many two Wheelers, three Wheelers, four Wheelers, auto-rickshaws, multi-wheeled coachs and trucks, which does non follow lane. So it is the major concern of metropolis authorization to supervise such helter-skelter traffic. In such environment the cringle sensors and computer-vision-based trailing techniques are uneffective. The usage of route side acoustic signal seems to be good option for traffic monitoring intent holding really low installing, operation and care cost. Vehicular Speed Appraisal Doppler frequence displacement is used to supply a theoretical description of individual vehicle velocity. Premise made that distance to the closest point of attack is known the solution can suit any line of reaching of the vehicle with regard to the mike. [ 23 ] , [ 24 ] . Feeling techniques based on inactive sound sensing are reported in [ 25 ] , [ 26 ] . These techniques utilizes microphone array to observe the sound moving ridges generated by route side vehicles and are capable of capable of supervising traffic conditions on lane-by-lane and vehicle-by-vehicle footing in a multilane carriageway. S. Chen et Al develops multilane traffic feeling construct based inactive sound which is digitized and processed by an on-site computing machine utilizing a correlativity based algorithm. The system holding low cost, safe inactive sensing, unsusceptibility to adverse conditions conditions, and competitory fabrication cost. The system performs good for free flow traffic nevertheless for congested traffic public presentation is hard to accomplish [ 27 ] . Valcarce et Al. work the differential clip holds to gauge the velocity. Pair of omnidirectional mikes was used and technique is based on maximal likeliness rule [ 3 ] . Lo and Ferguson develop a nonlinear least squares method for vehicle velocity appraisal utilizing multiple mikes. Quasi-Newton method for computational efficiency was used. The estimated velocity is obtained utilizing generalized cross correlativity method based on time-delay-of-arrival estimations [ 28 ] . Cevher et Al. uses individual acoustic detector to gauge vehicle ‘s velocity, breadth and length by jointly gauging acoustic moving ridge forms. Wave forms are approximated utilizing three envelop form constituents. Consequences obtained from experimental apparatus shows the vehicle velocities are estimated as ( 18.68, 4.14 ) m/s by the picture camera and ( 18.60, 4.49 ) m/s by the acoustic method [ 29 ] . They besides had estimated a individual vehicle ‘s velocity, engine ‘s unit of ammunitions per minute ( RPM ) , the figure of cylinders, and its length and breadth based on its acoustical moving ridge forms [ 17 ] . Traffic Density Estimation Time appraisal for making from beginning to finish utilizing existent clip traffic denseness information is major concern of metropolis governments. J. Kato proposed method for traffic denseness appraisal based on acknowledgment of temporal fluctuations that appear on the power signals in conformity with vehicle base on ballss through mention point [ 30 ] . HMM is used for observation of local temporal fluctuations over little periods of clip, extracted by ripple transmutation. Experimental consequences show good truth for sensing of transition of vehicles Vehicular Categorization Classification larning strategies normally use one of the undermentioned attacks: Statistical classifiers based on Bayes determination theory, assume an implicit in chance distribution for unknown forms, e.g. maximal likelihood appraisal, maximal posterior chance appraisal, Gaussian mixture theoretical accounts, concealed Markov theoretical accounts or k-nearest neighbour method. Syntactic or structural classifiers based on additive or nonlinear interrelatednesss of characteristics in the characteristic vector lead to linear/non-linear classifier. Acoustic characteristic coevals are chiefly based on three spheres: clip, frequence, and both time-frequency sphere. Time sphere characteristic coevals offers really low computational demand, but characteristics are frequently hampered by environmental noise or air current effects. Frequency sphere characteristic coevals see a stationary spectrum in a given clip frame. As traveling vehicles are non-stationary signals, the influence of Doppler effects and signal energy alterations either have to be neglected or the investigated clip frame must be chosen short plenty to afford quasi stationary signal behaviour. Time-frequency sphere characteristic coevals see the non-stationary signal behaviour of go throughing vehicles and it lead to accurate steps of signal energies in clip and frequence sphere at the same time, these attacks are holding a high computational complexness. TABLE I. Vehicular acoustic characteristic extractors and classifiers Sphere Ref. Feature Extractor Classifier used Accuracy Time [ 31 ] TE, PCA Fuzzy Logic, MLNN 73-79 % 95-97.5 % [ 32 ] Correlation based algorithm Frequency [ 33 ] HLA NN Vehicle: 88 % Cylinder: 95 % [ 34 ] HLA, DWT, STFT, PCA k-NNS, MPP kNN: 85 % MPP: 88 % [ 35 ] AR mod. MLNN up to 84 % Time-Frequency [ 36 ] DWT MPP 98.25 % [ 34 ] HLA, DWT, STFT, PCA k-NNS, MPP kNN: 85 % MPP: 88 % TABLE II. Acronyms from subdivision III and IV TE Time Energy Distribution MLNN Multi Layer Neural Network. PCA Principal Components Analysis NN Artificial Neural Network HLA Harmonic Line Association k-NNS K – Nearest Neighbor Search DWT Discrete Wavelet Transform MPP Maximum Distance Approach STFT Short Time Fourier Analysis AR mod. Autoregressive Mold CWT Continuous Wavelet Transform FEATURE EXTRACTION USING MFCC An omnidirectional mike was placed on the prosaic pavement at approximately 1 to 1.5 m tallness, and it recorded the cumulative signal at 16000 Hz trying frequence. Samples were collected for clip continuances of around 30s for different traffic denseness province conditions ( low, medium and heavy ) . The assorted traffic denseness states induce different cumulative acoustic signals. To turn out the above statement, we have examined the spectrograph of the different traffic province ‘s cumulative acoustic signals. Fig. 3. Spectrogram of the low denseness traffic ( above 40 kilometers per hour ) . Fig. 4. Spectrogram of the Medium denseness traffic ( 20 to 40 kilometers per hour ) . Fig. 5. Spectrogram of the Heavy denseness traffic ( 0 to 20 kilometers per hour ) . For the low denseness traffic status in Fig. 3, we merely see the wideband drive-by noise and the air turbulency noise of the vehicles. No honks or really few honks are observed for low denseness traffic status. For the medium denseness traffic status in Fig. 4, we can see some wideband drive-by noise, some honk signals, and some concentration of the spectral energy in the low-frequency ranges ( 0, 0.1 ) of the normalized frequence or equivalently ( 0, 800 ) Hz. For the heavy denseness traffic status in Fig. 5, we notice about no wideband drive-by engine noise or air turbulency noise and are dominated by several honk signals. We note the several harmonics of the honk signals, and they are runing from ( 2, 6 ) kilohertz. The end of characteristic extraction is to give a good representation of the vocal piece of land from its response features at any peculiar clip. Mel-Frequency cepstral coefficients ( MFCC ) , which are the Discrete Cosine Transform ( DCT ) coefficients of a Mel-filter smoothed logarithmic power spectrum. First 13-20 cepstral coefficients of a signal ‘s short clip spectrum compactly capture the smooth spectral envelope information. We have decided to utilize first 13 cepstral coefficients to stand for acoustic signal for matching traffic denseness province. These coefficients have been really successfully applied as the acoustic characteristics in address acknowledgment, talker acknowledgment, and music acknowledgment and to vast assortment of job spheres. Features extraction utilizing MFCC is as follows, Pre-emphasis Pre-emphasis stage emphasizes higher frequences. The pre-emphasis is a procedure of go throughing the signal through a filter. It is designed to increase, within a set of frequences, the magnitude of some ( normally higher ) frequences with regard to the magnitude of the others ( normally lower ) frequences in order to better the overall SNR. Y [ n ] = x [ n ] -?x [ n-1 ] , ? ˆ ( 0.9, 1 ) ( 1 ) Where ten [ n ] denotes input signal, y [ n ] denotes end product signal and the coefficient ? is in between 0.9 to 1.0, ?= 0.97 normally. The end of pre-emphasis is to counterbalance the high-frequency portion that was suppressed during the sound aggregation. Framing and Windowing Typically, address is a non-stationary signal ; therefore its statistical belongingss are non changeless across clip. The acquired signal is assumed to be stationary within a short clip interval. The input acoustic signal is segmented into frames of 20~40 MS with optional convergence of 1/3~1/2 of the frame size. Typically each frame has to be multiplied with a overacting window in order to maintain the continuity of the first and the last points in the frame. Its equation is as follows, W [ n ] = ( 2 ) Where N is frame size Y [ n ] = X [ n ] * W [ n ] ( 3 ) Where Y [ n ] = Output signal Ten [ n ] = Input signal W [ n ] = Hamming Window Due to the physical restraints, the traffic denseness province could alter from one to another ( low to medium flow to heavy ) over at least 5-30 min continuance. Therefore, we decided to utilize comparatively longer primary analysis Windowss of the typical size 500 MS and displacement size of 100 MSs to obtain the spectral envelope. Fig. 6. Primary Windowss of size=500 MS and shifted by 100 MSs to obtain a sequence of MFCC characteristic vectors. DFT Normally, Fast Fourier Transform ( FFT ) is used to calculate the DFT. It converts each frame of N samples from clip sphere into frequence sphere. The calculation of the FFT-based spectrum as follow, Ten [ k ] = ( 4 ) Where N is the frame size in samples, x [ n ] is the input acoustic signal, and. X [ k ] is the corresponding FFT-based spectrum. Triangular bandpass filtering The frequences range in FFT spectrum is really broad and acoustic signal does non follow the additive graduated table. Each filter ‘s magnitude frequence response is triangular in form and equal to integrity at the Centre frequence and diminish linearly to zero at centre frequence of two next filters. We so multiply the absolute magnitude of the DFT samples by the triangular frequence responses of the 24 Mel-filters that have logarithmically increasing bandwidth and cover a frequence scope of 0-8 kilohertz in our experiments. Each filter end product is the amount of its filtered spectral constituents. Following equation is used to calculate the Mel for given frequence degree Fahrenheit in HZ: F ( Mel ) = 2595 * log 10 [ 1+f/700 ] ( 5 ) The ith Mel-filter bank energy ( is obtained as ( = ( * , thousand ˆ ( 0, N/2 ) ( 6 ) Where ( is the triangular frequence response of the ith Mel-filter. These 24 Mel-filter bank energies are so transformed into 13 MFCC utilizing DCT. DCT This is the procedure to change over the log Mel spectrum into clip sphere utilizing DCT. The consequence of the transition is called Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient. The set of coefficient is called acoustic vectors. = cos ( ?j ) , j ˆ ( 0, 12 ) ( 7 ) Data energy and Spectrum The acoustic signal and the frames alterations, such as the incline of a formant at its passages. Therefore, there is demand to add characteristics related to the alteration in cepstral characteristics over clip. 13 characteristic ( 12 cepstral characteristics plus energy ) . Energy=? X2 [ T ] ( 8 ) Where X [ t ] = signal Fig. 7. Input Acoustic signal, matching log filterbank energies and Mel frequence cepstrum for low traffic denseness province Fig. 8. Input Acoustic signal, matching log filterbank energies and Mel frequence cepstrum for Medium traffic denseness province Fig. 9. Input Acoustic signal, matching log filterbank energies and Mel frequence cepstrum for Heavy traffic denseness province ADAPTIVE NEURO FUZZY CLASSIFIER An adaptative web is a multi-layer feed-forward web where each node performs a peculiar map based on incoming signals and a set of parametric quantities refering to node. Fuzzy categorization systems, which are founded on the footing on fuzzy regulations, have been successfully applied to assorted categorization undertakings [ 37 ] . The fuzzed systems can be constituted with nervous webs, and attendant systems are called as Neuro-fuzzy systems [ 37 ] . The Neuro-fuzzy classifiers define the category distributions and demo the input-output dealingss, whereas the fuzzed systems describe the systems utilizing natural linguistic communication. Nervous webs are employed for developing the system parametric quantities in neuro-fuzzy applications. An ANFC consist of input, rank map, fuzzification, defuzzification, standardization and end product beds [ 37, 38, 39 ] . Fig. 10. An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Classifier Figure 10 demonstrates generalized classifier architecture with two input variables x1and x2. The preparation informations are categorized by three categories C1 and C2. Each input is represented by two lingual footings, therefore we have four regulations. Membership bed: The end product of the node is the grade to which the given input satisfies the lingual label associated to this node. Normally, bell-shaped rank maps are chosen to stand for the lingual footings. ( U ) = exp [ – ( ) 2 ] ( 9 ) Where [ ai1, ai2, bi1, bi2 ] is the parametric quantity set. The bell-shaped maps vary harmonizing to alterations in the values of these parametric quantities, therefore exhibiting assorted signifiers of rank maps on lingual labels Ai and Bi. In fact, any uninterrupted, such as trapezoidal and triangular-shaped rank maps are besides campaigners for node maps in this bed. The initial values of the parametric quantities are set in such a manner that the rank maps along each axis satisfy ˆ-completeness, normalcy and convexness. The parametric quantities are so tuned or trained with a descent-type method. Fuzzification bed: Each node generates a signal corresponding to the conjunctive combination of single grades of lucifer. All nodes in this bed are labelled by T, because we can take any t-norm for patterning the logical and operator. The nodes of this bed are called regulation nodes. In order to cipher the grade of belongingness to certain category label the additive combination of the firing strengths of the regulations at Layer 3 and use a sigmoid map at Layer 4. If we are given the preparation set { ( ) , k = 1, .. .. , K } where refers to the k-th input form and = Experimental Consequences We have collected the route side cumulative acoustic signal samples from chhatrapati square to T-point of Nagpur metropolis. Datas were collected with 16 KHz trying frequence. These informations covered three wide traffic denseness categories ( low, medium and heavy ) . Feature extraction is done utilizing MFCC where primary window size is 500 MS and displacement size is of 100 MS. Case 1: First 13 cepstral coefficients were considered. TABLE III. Classification truths of assorted traffic denseness categories based on individual frame. Traffic Density Class Accuracy ( % ) Low 74 Medium 64 Heavy 72 Case 2: The full characteristic vectors consisted of the first 13 MFCC coefficients and their first and 2nd order clip derived functions computed. This led to a 39-D characteristic vector per frame. TABLE IV. Classification truths of assorted traffic denseness categories based on first and 2nd order derived functions of first frame. Traffic Density Class First order derived function Second order derived function Low 75 74 Medium 66 64 Heavy 78 72 Case 3: MFCC coefficients correspond to full frames are considered ( i.e. T= sample signal length in clip, ex. T=30s ) . Decision This paper describes a simple technique which uses MFCC characteristics of route side cumulative acoustic signal to sort traffic denseness province as Low, Medium and Heavy utilizing Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Classifier. As this technique uses simple mike ( cost: 500 Rs ) so its installing, operational and care cost is really low. This technique work good under non lane driven and helter-skelter traffic status, and is independent of illuming status. Classification truth achieved utilizing Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy classifier is of ~95 % for 13-D MFCC coefficients, ~95 % for first order derived functions and ~95 % for 2nd order derived functions of cepstral coefficients. The research on vehicular acoustic signal which is mixture of engine noise, tyre noise, noise due to mechanical effects etc. expands from vehicular velocity appraisal to denseness appraisal. The usage of route side acoustic signal seems to be an alternate, research shows acceptable truth for acoustic signal. Vehicular categorization with Acoustic signals proved to be first-class attack peculiarly for battleground vehicles, and besides for metropolis vehicles. Clearer definitions of scenarios and applications are required to bring forth a more consistent organic structure of work. New application countries are likely to emerge for traffic signal timings optimisation utilizing cumulative acoustic signals and besides categorization of bikes proved to be emerging country for research. Finally the categorization systems can be extended in a manner that extracted characteristics are utilised as characteristic fingerprints, which affords trailing of vehicles over multiple detector nodes.

Information Technology Management Emphasis Essay

The Master of Business Administration—Information Technology Management is specifically designed for experienced business professionals and managers seeking upward career mobility in the information technology arena. The program prepares you for a mid-level to upper-level information technology management position in business, industry, and non-profit organizations. MBAITM Understanding the Competency-Based Approach Practically speaking, what does it mean when we say that WGU programs are competencybased? Unlike traditional universities, WGU does not award degrees based on credit hours or on a certain set of required courses. Instead, students earn their degrees by demonstrating their skills, knowledge, and understanding of important concepts through a series of carefully designed assessments. Progress through your degree program is governed, not by classes, but by satisfactory completion of the required assessments that demonstrate your mastery of the competencies. Of course, you will need to engage in learning experiences as you brush up on competencies or develop knowledge and skills in areas in which you may be weak. For this learning and development, WGU has a rich array of learning resources in which you may engage under the direction of your mentor. You will work closely with your mentor to schedule your program for completing the assessments. (We discuss assessments in much more detail later in this guide.) You will work closely with additional faculty members as you proceed through courses of study that are designed to lead you through the content you must master in order to pass individual assessments. The benefit of this competency-based system is that it makes it possible for people who are knowledgeable about a particular subject to make accelerated progress toward completing a WGU degree even if they lack college experience. You may have gained your skills and knowledge of a subject on  the job, accumulated wisdom through years of life experience, or, indeed, took a course on a particular subject. WGU awards a degree to you based on the skills and knowledge that you possess and can demonstrate, not the number of credits you have on your transcript. Accreditation Western Governors University is the only university in the history of American higher education to have earned accreditation from four regional accrediting commissions. WGU’s accreditation was awarded by (1) the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, (2) the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, (3) the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and (4) the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university’s accreditation status is now managed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The university is also accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), and the WGU Teachers College is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The Health Informatics program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The Degree Plan The focus of your program is your personalized Degree Plan. The Degree Plan is a detailed blueprint of the learning resources and assessments that comprise your program. The length of your program depends on both the amount of new information you need to learn and the amount of time you plan to devote each week to study. Students will vary widely in the specific skills and information they need to learn. For example, some may be highly knowledgeable in a subject matter and would not need to engage in new learning opportunities. Others may find that portions of the program require completely new learning and that they may need to take an online class or participate in a study module to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to pass the program competencies in that area. Some individuals may be able to devote as little as 15ï€ ­20 hours per week to the program, while others may have more time. For this reason, you will complete pre-assessments to help your mentor form a profile of your prior knowledge and experience for use in creating your Degree Plan. WGU’s Mentoring Approach ]Our mentoring approach is a powerful component of the WGU educational experience. When you enroll at WGU, you will begin interacting with your personal mentor, course mentors, and support staff. Your mentor takes an active role and a personal interest in your success. Whether by e-mail or phone, your mentor will be your ―point personâ€â€" of communication throughout your program. Your mentor will help motivate you to work hard to complete your program. When you have questions or concerns, your mentor team will help you resolve them. You and your mentor will work together to evaluate your educational background, strengths, and weaknesses. With this analysis, your mentors will help determine in which areas you are already competent (and can move quickly to assessment) and areas you need to work on; this will become your personalized Degree Plan. Your mentor will direct you to the Courses of Study that contain the best learning resources for you (courses, texts, independent study modules, etc.) and are supported by course mentors that serve as your content experts for each area of study. As you proceed through your academic program, you and your mentor will determine when you are ready for the required assessments. If you are ready, your assessment will be scheduled. You will follow this same process as you proceed through each domain. Connecting with Other Mentors and Fellow Students As you proceed through your Degree Plan, you may also have direct contact  with other faculty members. These communications can take a variety of forms, including participation in learning communities, office hours via the courses of study, and webinars. As a WGU student, you will have access to your own personal MyWGU Student Portal that will provide a gateway to courses of study, learning communities, and program communities where you will have interactions with faculty and other students. Courses of study and communities are specifically designed to support you as you develop competencies in preparation for your assessments through the utilization of threaded discussions, blogs, and chats that are guided by content experts. You will access your program community during the Education Without Boundaries introductory course to network with peers who are enrolled in your program and to receive continued support through professional enrichment and program-specific chats, blogs, and discussions. WGU also provides a Student Services Associate to help you and your mentor solve any special problems that may arise. Education Without Boundaries Orientation Education Without Boundaries (EWB) is a required orientation that focuses on acquainting the student with WGU’s competency-based model, distance education, technology, and other resources and tools available for students. You will also utilize tutorials, message boards, online MBAITM chats, and other activities to connect with other students in your program. This orientation is completed before you start your first term at WGU. Transferability of Prior College Coursework Because WGU is a competency-based institution, it does not award degrees based on credits but on demonstration of competency. However, if you have completed college coursework at another accredited institution, you may have your transcripts evaluated and may be able to have some lower-division or co-requisite assessments cleared. The guidelines for determining what will  Ã¢â‚¬â€¢clearâ€â€" through transfer vary based on the degree program. The following transfer guidelines generally apply to graduate programs: Graduate domains (i.e., subject areas) cannot be cleared through transfer. Requirements in the domains that can be considered the degree major cannot be cleared through transfer. Furthermore, WGU does not clear any requirements based on the student’s professional experience and does not perform a â€Å"resume review† or â€Å"portfolio review† that will automatically clear any degree requirements. Degree requirements and transferability rules are subject to change in order to keep the degree content relevant and current. Remember, WGU’s competency-based approach lets you take advantage of your knowledge and skills, regardless of how you obtained them. Even when you do not directly receive credit, the knowledge you possess may help you accelerate the time it takes to complete your degree program. Continuous Enrollment, On Time Progress, and Satisfactory Academic Progress WGU is a ―continuous enrollmentâ€â€" institution, which means you will be automatically enrolled in each of your new terms while you are at WGU. Your terms are six months long. Longer terms and continuous enrollment allow you to focus on your studies without the hassle of unnatural breaks between the shorter terms that you would experience in a more traditional environment. At the end of every six-month term, you and your mentor will review the progress you have made and revise your Degree Plan for your next six-month term. WGU requires that students make measurable progress toward the completion of their degree programs every term. We call this On Time Progress – denoting that you are on track and making progress toward on time graduation. As full-time students, graduate students must enroll in at least eight (8) competency units each term, and undergraduate students must enroll in at least twelve (12) competency units each term. Completing at least these minimum enrollments is essential to On Time Progress and serves as a baseline from which you may accelerate your program. We measure your progress based on the assessments you are able to pass, not on your accumulation of credit hours or course grades. Every time you pass an assessment, you are demonstrating that you have mastered skills and knowledge in your degree program. For comparison to traditional grading  systems, passing an assessment means you have demonstrated competency equivalent to a ―Bâ€â€" grade or better. WGU has assigned competency units to each assessment so that we can track your progress through the program. A competency unit is equivalent to one semester credit of learning.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION - Essay Example For example, in the case of an automobile manufacturer that is unwilling to develop a hybrid electric vehicle, competence will actually be lost rather than gained. Competency is a major factor in this case. Fuel-cell vehicles, on the other hand, are a more radical innovation that requires more significant changes to be made to the body of a vehicle, to its engine, and to the fueling infrastructure. Consumer behavior is also affected more radically, as the technology involved may be unfamiliar to many consumers, necessitating a change in attitude or thinking (Honda, 2009). Some may argue that fuel cell vehicles are competence-destroying for the petroleum companies, which exist dependent on the status quo of petroleum based engines, and perhaps even for many automakers. They might be competence enhancing for battery makers, since the vehicles will require much larger batteries. Until we know more about the changes consumers will have to make to use fuel-cell vehicles, it is difficult to assess whether the technology will be competence enhancing, competence destroying, or competence neutral for them. It would seem to be a situation in which there are currently too many variables; many are waiting for governments and infrastructure manufacturing private entities to choose one type of fuel technology. Currently, the field is rather crowded with options. The issue is bound to be simpler in the future, if there is a single standards of a more ecologically friendly vehicle, and a single accepted technological change. #2 Judging by the Honda case, I think that five main factors will influence the rate at which hybrid electric vehicles are adopted by consumers. The first, and perhaps most obvious, of these factors, is price. While many people are talking about a greener future and reducing individual carbon footprints in today’s ecologically

National Security Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

National Security - Case Study Example But could the security services in the country have done better in preventing these shocking attacks. According to the Guardian (2006), the reports on the cross party intelligence and security committee into the London terrorist's attacks of 7 July 2005 did not find any "evidence of an intelligence failure that could have prevented the bombings." It further says that it only identified "Intelligence gaps." The committee further states that the "comparatively small" capacity of the secret service to conduct conclusive investigations, had also to blame for the attacks. There have been attempts to protect the security forces from any blame or taking of responsibility of a possible failure on their part to prevent the bombings. However, serious questions arise. The first question is could have the security services known about any planned attacks on the British soil. The MI5, which is Britain's domestic spy service, the agency responsible for gathering intelligence on any internal attacks, insists that it did not have any information about the intended bombings. This is supported by the Intelligence and Security Committee Report into the London Terrorist Attacks, which claim that the Secret service had no prior information on possible attacks in London. It however notes that, one of the attackers Siddequine Khan was known to the Security Service before the attacks. These claims have drawn world wide criticism from different individuals, groups and media houses claiming that to the contrary, the security services had prior information about the possibility of an attack from as early as in 2004 but did not only act appropriately. According to WSWS 2007, there was also credible warning by the Saudi Arabian Intelligence about a plot to bomb the Britain. This warning was however dismissed by the security forces as irrelevant. The security forces and the government denied this, even though, The Guardian-2006 reports that there was even credible sources form the White House which confirmed the claim. It further claims that the information from the Saudi intelligence was so specific, that it even noted that the plot involved four Islamic extremists and that the target was London. This has since been confirmed by the Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United Kingdom. (WSWS 2007). (WSWS 2007) further reports that the Israelis Secret Intelligence Service had also warned the British security services about possible terror attack in London just a few days before the attacks. The Morning star (2007) also reports that the Saudi and French governments had warned the MI5 about the attacks. It from all these claims, it is pro bable that the secret service, had information about the possibility of an attack in the United Kingdom (UK) and more specifically on the UK's rail network. It however did not treat these warnings with the proper attention they deserved. According to WSWS(2007) a statement from the then Prime minister, (Tony Blair), which was quoted in the parliamentary report, revealed that the services had been alerted on a possible attack by terrorists who were British Citizens. It also reports that in May 2005, in the same parliamentary report, it is noted that there was security information that attacks similar to the Madrid bombings would be carried out in the United Kingdom. The Secret service has been criticized for having under surveillance two of the bombers and taking no serious actions to prevent the

The evolution of the oil and gas technology policy Research Paper

The evolution of the oil and gas technology policy - Research Paper Example Canada is one such country, which has an immense endowment of oil as well as natural gas resources, and by extracting, refining and also transporting these resources, it is not only providing high number jobs to its citizens but also strongly contributing to its economy as well as trade balance. Although, these oil and gas deposits have naturally developed more than a billion years ago, it is due to the expertise as well as technology adoption of the Canadians, they are able to effectively extract it, process it, transport it and achieve success. From finding the first deposits in 1850s to the current optimum expansion throughout Canada, oil and gas companies with the support of the government are carrying out extensive operations, both onshore as well as offshore. The support of the government is critical because with all the oil and gas resources belonging to the Federal government, their laws and policies plays a key role in the tapping of these oil and gas resources, particularly in the usage of technology. With government policies and use of technology being interrelated, the focus will be on how the evolution of the Canadian oil and gas sector and the resultant formulation of policies have impacted and still impacting the evolution of the oil and gas technology polici es as well. The Canadian crude oil and gas industry had its origins in 1850, when James Miller Williams, a carriage maker from Hamilton, Ontario, â€Å"dug and drilled the first commercial oil wells in southwestern Ontario and established North America’s first integrated oil company.† (Bott & Carson, 2012).The other key fuel of the petroleum era, natural gas, was first discovered in New Brunswick in 1859, with Eugene Coste, an entrepreneur, being the first Canadian to find and develop natural gas resources on a large scale, first in Ontario and later in Alberta. (Bott & Carson, 2012). From those humble beginnings, Canada has

Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Literacy Narrative - Essay Example The mode of realism that Eliot employs and her focus on the issues of gender has affected the way my fiction has been. This is a literacy narrative in as much as it was a shaping influence on my writing and the ways in which I read and understood literature. Apart from being the reading of a text, it was also the reading of a culture and an age in which that culture was set. The prospect of reading arguably the finest British novel ever was a daunting one. Prior to the reading of the book, I undertook a study of the Victorian age and looked at the general characteristics of this age. Set in one of the most turbulent eras of England, Eliot is able to look at the different aspects of Middlemarch as a town and look at the ideas of tradition and progress in an incisive manner. The process of reading the book in itself was an emotionally draining one as the fates of Dorothy Parker and the other characters in the novel seemed to unfold in front of my eyes. The sheer size of the novel and t he networks that it created was mind-boggling. Apart from this, it was also interesting to read of the ways in which the lives of different members of a society were interconnected and vital for the progress of another one. The process of reading the book also opened up many avenues through which to analyse the position of women even in contemporary society. This was thus, a profoundly unsettling experience. It was also, however, an experience that taught me to value the position of literature in the world. Following the process of reading the book, I was better informed regarding Victorian society and its culture. Apart from this, the intense positivity that comes from the climax of the novel stayed with me beyond the time that I was actually reading the novel. This event remains one that shaped the way I write poetry and prose. I have incorporated elements of the social realist style in my narratives. Also, the focus on women-centric issues is also something that I have tried to i nclude in my writing. The methods that Eliot employs in order to provide a clearer understanding of the society continue to inspire me as a writer. The incisiveness with which she analyses the electoral and social changes that took place during the Victorian era is something that I also look for in other writers. Middlemarch has become a work that I look to as part of the larger canon of works that has inspired me to write and read a greater number of works of literature. The importance given to the lower classes in this work also inspires me to always look at the condition of the subaltern in literature. This has greatly shaped the kind of books that I like. The event was, in the ultimate analysis, one that shaped the very way in which I looked at and analysed literature. Literature from then on was not something that merely was read for pleasure. It was intrinsically connected to the society from which it emerged. Eliot’s commitment to social issues was something that has s tayed with me and affected my love for literatures from postcolonial societies across the world. Her goal of representing the subaltern has led me to a greater commitment to literatures of this kind. However, the effect of this great novel was also to make me realize that the work of a novel was not mere analysis but also to move the audience. The fates of

East Asia Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

East Asia Studies - Essay Example Although much of the regional transformation in the recent years has been so positive, principally in the economic sphere, various challenges abound, this challenges pose the risk to stability in this region. It is rather hard to count on which of the two; economic and security, could trigger stability in the region. The discourse of security and economic situations has been hugely dominated by the rise of China’s economy which has a huge role of the foreign affairs and has also transformed the geographic landscape of the region, which has sent the policy makers in the region searching for effective ways to cooperate, while still evading uncertainty concerning its future course. Another trend that is being overlooked in the region is Japan’s own steady transformation. The growth of China in the region accompanied by global political influence and rapidly growing defense expenditures has stirred up the public sentiment of Japan towards China. Additionally, situations at the Korean peninsula have been in recent years has become increasingly destabilizing security and the geographical flashpoint. Most importantly the continued growth of China’s economy and its current modernization has the great security concern in the region (Beeson 187). Another reason for tension in the region and its neighbors is the use of water due to the increased population pressure; the whole per capita water accessibility has declined by between forty and sixty per cent. This creates a security concern in the scramble for resource now that there is a great rise of China population and the great industrialization in Japan the great weather that is experienced in the region does not come to of help to the highly populated region. The currency crisis has also been a major concern of the East Asian region. This issue has been of concern for quite a long time spreading from Thailand and becoming more regional. This issue has brought about retrospect in the imbalances of t he structure of the economy of Thailand which exposes it to short term debt; this has in turn affected the currency values of the countries that have had the same experience such as Koreas, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines (Beeson 206-210). Amongst these countries, some of them such as Indonesia did experience great currency movements; with their currency facing up to 80% loss of its value. It is significant to note that this financial crisis had an influence on the regional institutional development, and it affected the reputation and standing of the major powers in various ways with Japan suffering the greatest damage of its regional leadership ambitions (Beeson 203-206). With much concern to the environment, the capacity of China has faced some greater challenges which are associated with the continued processes of economic developments, which have also been extended beyond the borders. There is some indication of the impact of the population of China on the East Asian co untries with the growing prices of commodities and resources such as Oil. The consumption of such commodities in China continues to rise which brings about the continued thinking of the significant development and significant future of the East Asian. Some sources argue that unless the externalities that are associated wi

The Content Review of the Website - As You Sow Article

The Content Review of the Website - As You Sow - Article Example The author is credible enough given the method in which the information has been compiled and represented given also that this is a registered charity. Moreover, this information has been derived from official sources so this lends greater credibility to it. The information represented on this page is only partially complete as it covers public limited companies in large part. However, the accuracy of the information is not contestable as the author has included references to his source of information. The author has presented the perspectives of his organization on corporate social responsibility using properly cited official sources including reports and conference proceedings. References to the information are pervasive throughout the document and the author has made it a point to bolster his arguments by presenting references before advancing his argument. The document and the website are both updated given the state of the issues listed. In addition, the website displays current issues from 2012 in its menu which also points to the fact that the website is regularly updated. The current page on corporate social responsibility addresses the issue from a variety of perspectives. The author first defines corporate social responsibility and then relates corporate social responsibility to sustainability. This is followed by a discussion of socially responsible investors and corporate social responsibility. Finally, the author relates global reporting guidelines for corporate social responsibility and the document ends with a link for guides to corporate social responsibility reports and resources.

Human hand catching an object Essay Example for Free

Human hand catching an object Essay ANALYSING From this experiment I have found out that there are different factors that affect the resistance of a wire. The factors that I have investigated are the length and thickness of a wire. In the experiment, as the wire got shorter, the resistance decreased, and if the wire were increased then the resistance would increase too. If the thickness of a wire were to be changed then the thicker the wire, the less resistance and the thinner the wire the more resistance it will have. I have also found out that the resistance is calculated by dividing the voltage by the current. This calculation was used in my experiment and showed that the resistance is roughly constant. If some odd results were obtained, it was because at a low voltage the power packs are inaccurate and at a high current, we might gain a heating effect. Ohms law can be proved by the graph due to the fact that the graph has a straight line; therefore it has a constant gradient, meaning a constant resistance whatever current is passing through it, providing the temperature is constant. If the graph were a curved, then that would mean that the resistance was changing. If that were the case the resistance could be found for any point by taking the pair of values (V, I) from the graph and sticking them in the formula R= V/I. (Information obtained from physics revision guide. ) That would be disobeying Ohms law. In my opinion, the resistance of the 32- copper wire seemed odd since the thinnest wire is supposed to have the highest resistance. However a good conductor, which is what copper is, will allow current to flow through it easily. Therefore thats why the ammeter reading for the copper wire, which measures the current, was very high, compared to the reading of the other types of wire. A nichrome wire would have more resistance than a copper wire of the same size, because less current flows through it, making it not such a good conductor. We can also conclude that the thickest wire, type 26, had the highest resistance because less current could flow through it. EVALUATING: This investigation was conducted following the method above. By following those steps, I managed to obtain more than enough readings to plot a graph with and I managed to obtain accurate results, until the wire reached 30cm (TABLE 1). However my previous readings were fairly accurate, which were more enough for me to plot a graph with. I had seven readings when only 6 are needed to plot a graph. The results of the first experiment my group conducted, (TABLE 2) were much more accurate than the second one (TABLE 1). The resistance was very constant, however we did not complete the experiment. We planned to carry it on the next lesson, but it would not have been a fair test because we used a different power pack and the voltage was not the same. We found out that we were getting odd results to our previous ones; therefore we had to start the whole thing again. We made sure we finished that experiment and even had time to conduct another: an investigation to find out whether the thickness of a wire would affect the resistance. Since I only had to investigate five different wires, obtaining five results, this investigation was easier to conduct because there were fewer to do and I knew exactly what I was doing. It took me less time to set up the circuit and it was definitely a fair test. However when it came to the 32-copper wire the resistance was very high. I expected it to be high because it was one of the thinnest wires, however not that high. I suspect I either recorded the wrong reading or because at low voltage the power pack was inaccurate and at high current there was a heating effect. However, as I mentioned in the analysing section, there was a simpler explanation. From previous work, I remembered copper is a very good conductor, therefore the high current reading. In future if I conduct another similar experiment to this one there are some improvements that could be made: I could compare my results with other people to see if they got the same or near enough results. That way I would know whether I was on the right tracks. If I am stuck on connecting the circuit, I could draw a diagram first and follow that. I should finish every experiment the same day; so that I get more accurate results and can compare the results to the results of another experiment, on the same subject and would not have waste time having to start the same experiment again. I could have done some further research and find out what and if there are any other factors that affect the resistance of a wire and then I could have conducted an experiment.

ICT and Society Essay Example for Free

ICT and Society Essay My mobile phone is a Nokia 6020. I got it a year ago, for my birthday. It is on a pay as you go tariff, and I have to pay it all my self. I have had to get myself a paper-round to contribute towards some of the costs. I use it to make phone calls, but mainly to text, and take pictures, with the camera. I often use the video camera to make low quality videos. I quite like the look of my phone but it is getting slightly old now. It is still a very good, basic phone however I think that the memory is much too small. It can acess the internet; but I dont use that mainly because of the cost. Describe how you use the ICT technology. My phone is mostly used in the social category because I use it most to communicate with others. However, it can also come under the personal category because I use it to entertain myself by playing games on it among other things. Because I have to pay for it myself I tend not to spend as much as my friends, whos parents pay for it. I am probably more conscious about the cost than them too. I am not someone who relies on it completely, I have lost it for a whole week before, without even realising. Saying this I do tend to text friends who dont live near me. This way I can keep in touch with them. I would like to text them more but a phone is quite expensive to run and I would rather spread out my remaining money on other things. I also use my mobile to arrange outings with my school friends during the holidays or weekends. I like to text them because it is quick and easy. I dont really use any kind of predictive text when I write text messages. This is because I dont really like it that much. The avantages of it is that it writes texts quicker with less movement of fingers. However it doesnt have text talk words in the program, like 2moro so therefore the text is longer and you cant fit so much in the text. I find having a camera on the phone very useful too. Like most people I can take a picture any time, any where. This means I can caputure really cool pictures. I can send the good pictures to people via multimedia messages. If Im on holiday they can see what Im doing and generally keep in touch. Another thing which makes my phone more personal is the fact that I can change the background and the order of the lists in menu. I like to do this but it is quite complicated to do. I also use my phone for entertainment, I play games when I am bored like on the train. Although the games are not that advanced, they keep me entertained. I use the calculator appliance a bit but I cant use it in school because the school has banned mobiles. I often use the calander. The calander, if set, will remind me of peoples birthdays a week or so before. However it does take a while to set and add information. My phone also has an alarm, which I use when I am camping or sleeping in a hotel. I use most of t he things that are on my phone and usually they work well. What are the advantages of using the ICT technology. One of the things which I find most useful about having a mobile phone, is having so many things on one device. It has endless uses all in one tiny object. It saves people carrying around lots of different devices each with one use. The other thing which I find most useful about having a mobile is that it gives me freedom. This is so important. My parents will let me go out and know that I can phone them at any time. Theyll say well, as long as you have got your mobile with you. For my parents, it gives them a slight chance to relax. My parents also know that they can log onto a website and track my phone, this is an advantage for them. Say, should the worst happen, I was hurt and got rushed to hospital. The paramedics could look at my phone and find mum in my contacts and immediately let her know. Another reason for having a phone with lots of things on it, is money. It could actually save money, not having to buy a digital camera, ect. What are the disadvantages, if any, of the ICT technology. There were several studies recently that warned of a possible health risk to teens who use their phone a lot. It was worried about the waves that a phone uses damaging heavy users. Now I dont use my phone that much but I dont exactly like the thought. Nothing has been proved yet but, then again, nothing has been not proved. So at the moment I am just cautious. For me, the fact that my parents can track my phone is generally a bad thing. I dont want my parents to know exactly where I am all the time, theyve got to learn to let go a little. But if I got into trouble I think that I would be really glad so as long as they only use it when they are really worried its OK. The fact that it costs quite a lot to run a phone also is a bad thing. Handsets cost a lot to buy, the better and more features it has, the more expensive the price. Packages where users are lured into by the promise of free weekend texts or 100 free picture messages are often not right for the customers. Most people end up paying a set amount per month, say à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20. Thats fine if they would use à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20 credit on pay as you go tariff but most wont. They dont realise that theyd get a better deal if they went onto another tariff. I think this is how phone companies make all their money. Bullying is another major problem. More and more, younger and younger children possess phones for all the reasons I have listed above. Bullying via text messages is becoming a substantial problem, big enough for many schools to start to ban mobile phones. This leads us onto the next disadvantage. Many schools have banned phones completely. My school still allows us to have phones in school however were not allowed to use them or get them out during the day. We can turn them on at the end of the school but not otherwise. If a teacher sees them they confiscate them. This is a real pain because a parent needs to come in and collect it. A wider problem is security. If you have a phone apparently some hackers can hack onto phones, steal personal information and stuff. Also having a phone makes you a target to thieves and muggers. They will just whip your phone anytime. It has now been made harder for thieves as you can block the SIM card and make it un-useable. However if you take out the blocked SIM, and put in another the handset will still work perfectly. This still makes stealing a phone worth it. What companies need to develop is a way of blocking the handset too. If I lived and the mobile phone wasnt around today I wouldnt be able to keep in touch with my friends as easily or arrange to meet up with them. My parents would feel less comfortable with me going out so I would have less freedom and if I got into trouble I couldnt ring for help. The mobile is so convienient that many people would have to change too. So although there seem to be more disadvantages than advantages I still find a mobile the most useful piece of IT I use, secondary only to the computer. This is simply because it gives me the freedom I want in more than one way. The freedom to go out without my parents worrying and the freedom to walk around with one little device in my pocket.