Nursing Reflection Essay Skills Assessment

Nursing Reflection Essay Skills Assessment According to the New Collins International Dictionary of the English language, a reflection is to reflect or to be in the state of reflection. (Collins Brash, 1983) In this essay, I aim to give a brief description of the skills assessment that I underwent, the thoughts and feelings it provoked, the evaluation and analysis of it ,conclusion and lastly my action plan. REFLECTION OF THE SKILLS ASSESSMENT 2.1 Description As part of the Fundamentals of Nursing (FON) skills assessment, I had to attend a test on week seven. Wound dressing and vital signs were the two subjects of this assessment. I had to draw lots to choose which room and subject I got and then proceed to sit outside the room to read the case scenario within the allocated five minutes. Once the case scenario of taking vital signs was clear to me, I was allowed to enter the evaluation room to perform the necessary procedure on the patient within twenty minutes. During the course of the procedure, all the vital signs such as pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure and temperature were recorded on a clinical chart. The entire procedure was then assessed and graded by an assessor, who was observing my nursing skills. 2.2 Thoughts and Feelings I felt really nervous and anxious before the skills assessment as I was seated outside the assessment room. When the time came for me to read and digest the background information, I felt overwhelmed as at that point in time, remembering the information on the sheet provided was just exhausting. As I was about to enter the room and the previous student came out crying, I felt even more nervous as that gave me an intuition that the assessment might be a challenging one . Despite that, I mustered all my confidence and proceeded with the nursing procedure when my turn came. I carried out the procedure in a calm and smooth manner. After my task was complete, I felt satisfied with my performance and happy with myself for having prepared well for the assessment before-hand as it turned out to be a good experience. 2.3 Evaluation On the whole, the skills assessment was a memorable experience for me as I felt that I had carried out the nursing procedure efficiently, keeping in mind all the protocols that had to be followed. Also, the six domains namely critical thinking, communication, technical skills, management of care, safe practice and professional and ethical practice were carried out to my ability in many instances. Then again, I could have done better in certain areas. For instance under the critical thinking component, I could have planned my working area carefully. Instead, I was immediately involved in attending to the patient and completing the procedure within the time limit which should not have been the case. As a result I had to move around quite a bit which could have been minimized with careful area planning. On the part of communication, I tried my level best to re-assure the patient and addressed his anxiety to a large extent. This skill I believe I portrayed well. In terms of technical skills, I was unsure about my readings for the systolic and diastolic blood pressures and I had to repeat the procedure twice in order to double check my first reading. Even then, I experienced some level of uncertainty with the readings. Thus, I have to improve my skills in this domain to become a better healthcare professional. To add on, I managed the patients care relatively well as I made it a point to ensure that he was feeling comfortable throughout the procedure. Keeping in mind the importance of understanding the emotions of the patient (Matsumoto Hwang, 2011), I took note of the changes in his facial expressions to make sure he was receiving good care and was not in any kind of stress. To ensure safe practice I had carried out good hand hygiene however ,I almost had forgotten to clean the ear plugs of the stethoscope, thereby downplaying on safe clinical practice on protecting myself. Furthermore, I had also plotted the readings on the wrong column which was an unacceptable mistake. Lastly, on the part of professionalism and ethical practice, I believe I had done a commendable job. I kept the patient informed on the risks he was taking by undergoing the cataract surgery. Also, I kept the staff nurse informed of his concerns and his rash that he had developed. Apart from these, all the procedures during the assessment were within the terms of ethical practice. 2.4 Analysis For in-depth examination, I have analyzed my skills in each of the above mentioned six domains. Critical thinking is defined as the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action (Paul, 1990). In nursing, critical thinking for clinical decision-making is the potential to think in a organized and sensible manner with the readiness to question and think carefully about the reasoning process used to ensure safe nursing practice and good care. (Heaslip, 1993) In the nursing profession, it is important to plan carefully to save valuable time while attending to the patient. During my practical assessment, I could have placed the hand sanitizer on the same table as I had placed the other medical requisites on. This would have prevented me from constantly shifting to the table close by to perform my hand rubs, saving time. As mentioned by Mr. Tan during lab sessions, area planning is very important. Nurses also need to apply their intellectual skills for sound reasoning. (Heaslip, 1993) Having noticed rashes on one of the patients arm, I chose to take blood pressure from the arm with no rashes as placing the non-sterile cuff on the affected hand could have worsened the rash. As for communication skills, I believe I played a good role as a nurse by clearly explaining the risks involved in the cataract surgery to the patient. As pointed out by Crow et. al, it is paramount for a patient to be aware of his/her medical condition and develop a better understanding of the procedures involved. (Crow, et al., 1999) To add on, I informed him of his various readings to ensure his awareness of his medical status. In terms of technical skills, I could not distinctively identify the Korotkoff sounds hence had to repeat the blood pressure measurement. When I re-took the blood pressure however, I found it hard to release the pressure as I had turned the valve a little too much making it too tight to be released. It is mandatory for nurses to be fluent in the procedures. (Rennie, 2009) Hence, I should keep in mind not to turn the valve too much to allow easy release of the valve in future. During the procedure, I constantly made an effort to ensure that the patient was feeling comfortable by questioning him frequently instead of just carrying out the nursing procedure silently. Reference to Bensing, reveals that it is important for nurses to communicate at an emotional level so that the patient feels cared for and also helps disclose his concerns which he might otherwise not reveal. (Bensing, 1991). Also, I addressed the presence of the rash on his left arm and questioned him on how it originated instead of only taking note of his vital signs. These actions I hope would have sent across the message to the patient that I cared for him well. In terms of ensuring safe practice, I kept the staff nurse informed about the rash the patient had developed on his arm and what medication he had previously consumed which might have led to the allergy. However, I had not plotted the readings taken on the correct column onto the clinical chart. I was unaware of this mistake until I read the remarks on the assessment sheet. Therefore, I have to strictly avoid such a mistake in the future as it may lead to further misinterpretations. My professionalism and ethical practice was portrayed rather well as I maintained a steady and confident poise which I trust would have also allowed the patient to place his trust in me to carry out the nursing procedure safely and effectively. Butts has given a detailed description of the ethics that needs to be followed in the nursing profession (Butts). Not only that, I ensured that the patient was aware of the side effects and risks involved in the surgery so as to maintain ethical practice. 2.5 Conclusion All in all, this reflection has helped me better identify my mistakes in this skills assessment and how I can further improve myself in the near future. Not only that, it has also aided me in the pursuit of realizing the importance of the six different domains that we were assessed on. This assessment was also a good platform for us to reflect upon ourselves and further improve our nursing competencies bringing our skills to a whole new level. At the end of the day, such assessments are the ones that mould us into trustworthy and reliable healthcare professionals. 2.6 Action Plan In similar situations in the future, first and foremost, I would quickly run through area planning in my mind so as to maintain minimal movement to save time when I am carrying out my nursing procedure. Then, when I am taking the patients blood pressure, I will remind myself not to turn the valve too hard so that it will be easier to release the pressure from the cuff when I am recording the blood pressure readings. Most importantly, I would ensure that I record my findings accurately onto the clinical chart. I hope all these precautions will help me carry out my duty as a nurse efficiently in years to come.

The Ira

The Irish Republican Army or IRA is Northern Ireland’s most notorious terrorist organization. Like many other groups, the IRA is a militant nationalist group with Marxist tendencies. They use violent attacks such as bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, extortion, and robberies that they used . to send their message. The ultimate goal of the IRA is to use militant behavior to make British rule in Northern Ireland obsolete, thus letting Northern Ireland become an independent republic, instead of two separate countries with different governments.The IRA was founded in 1919 as a successor to the Irish Volunteers, a militant nationalist organization that was founded in 1913. One of the alias’s for the group is Direct Action Against Drugs, or DADD. The IRA operates independently of any political control or party, and† in some periods actually took the upper hand in the independence movement. †(Britannica) Unlike some terrorist groups, the IRA does not carry out attacks on countries that are not in close vicinity of Northern Ireland. The majority of their operations are based out if Great Britain, and Ireland.Some of their most favored targets were senior British Government officials, British military and police in Northern Ireland, and Northern Irish Loyalist paramilitary groups. By attacking these individuals they hoped to demoralize Great Britain to the point of turning Ireland over to the people. The IRA did not want to overthrow the government and run it themselves, they simply wanted to see a change in the government so that it would benefit the people of Northern Ireland. The IRA is organized into small, tightly knit cells under the leadership of the Army Council.While they only have a few hundred members, they have thousands of sympathizers who contribute by donating money, supplies, shelter, and even weapons. â€Å"The IRA Is suspected of receiving funds, arms, and other terrorist-related materiel from sympathizers in the United S tates. †(Britannica) the IRA also received a large amount of support at one point from the PLO, a â€Å"freedom fighter† group from Libya. Not only do they receive aid from other terrorist groups with similar agendas, but in 2002 three suspected IRA members were arrested in Colombia on charges of assisting the FARC to improve its explosives capabilities.The IRA was in their prime during the late 1950’s and 1960’s, though they did play a big part in the Irish Civil war of 1922. As a result of this war, the IRA became more closely related to Sinn Fein, which is the Irish Nationalist party. â€Å"In December 1969, the IRA divided into â€Å"Official† and â€Å"Provisional† wings. Although both factions were committed to a united socialist Irish republic, the Officials preferred parliamentary tactics and eschewed violence after 1972, whereas the Provisionals, or â€Å"Provos,† believed that violence— particularly terrorism—w as a necessary part of the struggle to rid Ireland of the British. (Global Security) This was a result of a Sinn Fein conference that had taken place in August.After 1970, the IRA was slowly slipping into the darkness, as they had stopped attacking as much, and was not as big of a concern anymore. Because of â€Å"Bloody Sunday’, when thirteen innocent Catholic protestors were killed by British soldiers, the IRA gained support from the Catholic Church, which gave them their reputation back for a while. Eventually though, they were back where they had left off before Bloody Sunday. The IRA reorganized in 1977 into detached cells to protect against infiltration† and their arms dealing was back in full force. It was said that â€Å"in the late 1990s that the IRA had enough weapons in its arsenal to continue its campaign for at least another decade. †(Britannica) For a long time the IRA tried to use peaceful methods to gain equal treatment for the Catholic minority in the Protestant Northern Ireland. But they were were met with resistance. The Protestants and the British government met the peaceful attempts of the IRA with violence i. e. Bloody Sunday.The IRA had no other choice but to employ violent methods to gain equality and civil rights for the Catholic Minority in Ulster. The IRA began implementing methods such as Bombings, sniper attacks, and assassinations on British citizens. (www. CFR. org) The afore mentioned Sinn Fein, which means â€Å"We Ourselves† first emerged in the early 1900s. It is the oldest political party in Ireland’s history. It was a â€Å"federation of nationalist clubs and eventually, all nationalists to the left of the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster came to be popularly known as Sinn Feiners. (SinnFein. org) The party, like the IRA, was based on the demand for an Irish Republic. It won the 1918 election by a landslide and set up Dail Eireann which is translated to â€Å"Assembly of Ireland. † Following three years of war, led by an underground republican government, the party split in 1922 on the issue of the Treaty which partitioned Ireland into two separate provinces. The leader of Sinn Fein left the party in 1926, causing the party to lose a lot of credibility.However, its fortunes recovered and flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s with its new association to the IRA and their border campaign. During this time the group experienced a substantial amount of electoral success. In present day, Sinn Fein is split into two parties, Sinn Fein and Republican Sinn Fein. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) was formed in 1969 as the covert armed wing of Sinn Fein. The members of this group, called, â€Å"Provos† were formed from the Official Sinn Fein and the Official IRA.The Provisional IRA was the largest of the three republican armed resistance groups (Sinn Fein, IRA and PIRA). The policies of Sinn Fein under the new leadership of Gerry Adams led to a split in the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1997. One side accepted the new â€Å"Good Friday Agreement† and the New or Real IRA continuing armed resistance against the British. The PIRA has at this point accepted the ceasefire and is still most commonly confused with the real IRA because of their similar connections and name.The IRA and PIRA are not totally different groups, but they are actually two groups that used to function as one. It is my opinion that the split of the IRA into two factions is one of the major reasons why their goal was never accomplished. The army was in need of a way to make money and fundraise to support their cause. They became adept at raising money in Northern Ireland through â€Å"extortion, racketeering, and other illegal activities† and they policed their own neighborhoods through mock trials and beatings.As a result of this Mafia like enforcement, Sinn Fein began to play a more prominent role in trying to end the arms pr oblem that the IRA was causing. â€Å"Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness, together with John Hume, head of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), sought ways to end the armed struggle and bring republicans into democratic politics. They were successful in doing so, and in 1994 the IRA declared a cease fire with Britain so that Sinn Fein was able to legally engage in politics with the Irish Parliament.This ceasefire was shortly ended in 1996 when a bomb that was suspected to be from the IRA killed two civilians. However it was reinstated the following year, returning things back to being civilized between the IRA and Great Britain. Technically the IRA is still a functioning terrorist group, but due to the ceasefire they have been dormant since around 2002 when the final ceasefire was laid out and agreed upon. The IRA has a very important place in Irish history, as well as the history of terrorism because of their prominence in the 1950’s and 1960â€⠄¢s.

Network Based Mobile Positioning - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 15 Words: 4432 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Telecommunication Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? INTRODUCTION: With the rapid increase in number of mobile users, a massive number of calls originate from mobile subscribers, all over the world, everyday. With the increasing number of mobile users and originating calls, there is also an increase in emergency calls that originate from mobile stations. In many emergency cases the position is unknown to the caller, or he cannot explain properly. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Network Based Mobile Positioning" essay for you Create order Thus there is a strong need to locate any mobile user in emergency situation. Hence the scope of mobile positioning is vital. Due to importance of mobile positioning, the need to locate any mobile user in emergency was also called by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and European Countries. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a proposal to include location in the 911 emergency service number, which resulted in the E911 ruling [2]. Currently, all the legacy handsets used in public cellular networks in the USA must provide the location of the customer whenever this number is dialled. The European Commission (EC) adopted a similar regulation to include location in emergency services on 112 [2]. The FCC in USA took the first step in this direction. Initially by 2001, the mobile operators are required to provide the accurate location of an emergency caller. The current requirement of FCC is to locate 67% of emergency callers must be located within 100 meters and 95% of the callers must be located with an error of no more than 300 meters. [3] Applications: Mobile location can be used for a number of services by mobile operators. Some of them are discussed here: An important application of mobile location is to provide emergency services. By knowing the location of a mobile user, emergency vehicle can be directed to that location. Hence there is an increase in public safety and services. Another interest in exploiting the mobile location is to apply location sensitive billing. By knowing the location of mobile subscribers an operator can offer competitive tariff e.g. users can be offered more calls from their mobile to home or office. Asset tracking and fleet management is another application of mobile location. Using the location of mobile travellers can be informed about location. Mobile location can be used to effectively manage fleet and traffic conditions. There are two main categories for mobile positionin g,Handset Based positioning and Network based positioning. Handset Based techniques needs special type of handset hardware or the installation of specialized network software in existing handsets e.g. GPS and A-GPS. GPS receiver determines its own position by sending and receiving signals from at least four satellites. The time to reach satellite signal to GPS receiver is used as a parameter. The accuracy of GPS based systems is very high. And the coverage of satellite is very good in outdoor environment. However, drawback is inability of GPS to operate in indoor and heavily populated urban environment. GPS lacks positioning where signals of the satellite cannot be fully covered. Another problem is related to existing handsets in market. A large number of existing handsets lack the built in GPS receivers. Thus using this method a huge number of people can not get benefit or can not be located in case of emergency. Also Embedding a GPS receiver into mobile devices leads to increased cost, size, and battery consumption [1]. Thus hundreds of millions of handsets in market need to be replaced or modified. In contrast, Network Based Techniques determine the position of a mobile user by measuring its signal parameters when received at the network Base Station (BS). Here BS receives signal from Mobile Station (MS) and sends them to a central site where location estimation algorithms are used to estimate location. In this method there is no need to change or replace existing handsets. It would require change in a few thousands of network nodes (Base Stations) than to change hundred of thousands of mobile stations. Hence, it can be implemented easily, less costly using existing technology. And still can provide a very good estimate of position of a mobile user. The future technologies also support network based positioning. Infact many positioning techniques can not be implemented using existing GSM technology. Using advanced technologies their efficiency will grea tly increase. The Network based positioning is also feasible for network operators as it would help them to implement location sensitive billing and location related services. Thus based on a certain location the operator can implement a specific price plan e.g. less price calls to home or office number. It will also help them to generate more revenue. Another advantage of network based techniques is the security of the subscribers. Using an algorithm at network side also ensures that the position of subscriber is known only to emergency service or mobile operator. Thus it also increases the safety and security of the subscribers. The network based techniques have several advantages like low cost, ease of implementation, implementation using existing technologies and methods, beneficial for a large number of people. However, the main issue with this technique is its accuracy. Despite a number of efforts to reduce error and increase accuracy there is still no unbiased estimatio n method present. All of the methods produce good results under certain conditions or circumstances. Thus there is no general prediction for result using an algorithm. The main problems in incorrect positioning are multipath propagation, fading and low SNR. The efforts are continuously being made to minimize these and hence increase accuracy and thus performance. The project will emphasize on comparing various existing network based location techniques. Some of the common techniques will be studied in detail. Base on these existing methods, a number of positioning algorithms are also studied in detail to implement major positioning techniques. The algorithms will then be implemented using MATLAB. The results of algorithms will be compared to actual position of mobile station so as to measure the performance of each of them. Final thing is to develop an online benchmarking tool to compare location evaluation estimates using different techniques. The tool should be able to run user uploaded measurements in to its own algorithms. The results will then be compared to user submitted results to perform a benchmark. Existing Literature Review A number of mobile location techniques are common nowadays. These techniques can be divided into three main types: Mobile Based Techniques Network Based Techniques Indirect Techniques These techniques are briefly explained below: Mobile Based Techniques: In this method, a number of geographically separated transmitters are used by the mobile station to exploit its own position. It is also known as Self Positioning. Thus mobile station (MS) locates itself by using signals from a number of transmitters or base stations (BS). Example of mobile based positioning is GPS and A-GPS. In GPS based positioning GPS receiver uses signals from geographically distributed satellites to exploit its own position. Network Based Techniques: This method uses a number of transmitters in a network to locate position of an unknown receiver. It uses resources of the network only. The signals from the MS are used by a number of BS to locate the MS. This technique can be implemented using different type of parameters e.g. Cell Global Identity (CGI), Cell Global Identity with Timing Advance (CGI-TA), Enhanced Cell Global Identity (E-CGI), Time of Arrival (TOA), Angle of Arriva l (AOA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA). Indirect Techniques: In this technique mobile or network can be assisted to locate a mobile station. Thus base station can send positioning data to mobile station to locate itself. Similarly measurements can be uploaded from MS to BS to locate mobile station. It involves measurements sent from MS to BS for positioning at BS or vice versa. There are a number of network based mobile positioning techniques in use today. In such techniques a number of involved base stations (BS) use signal from mobile station (MS) to locate the position of MS. The common methods are Signal Strength, Time of Arrival, Time Difference of Arrival, Angle of Arrival, or hybrid techniques. Each of the existing method has its own advantages and disadvantages. A major problem with all methods is the accuracy. It depends on cell size, cell environment, number of cells, multipath propagations and distance between MS and serving base station. Some other common pa rameters for performance measurement include applicability, robustness, etc. The existing methods have been described in detail below: Cell Global Identity: The CGI method to locate a mobile user is most easy and straight forward. In this method, the position of mobile user is estimated by using the cell identity of serving base station. Thus the mobile can be located anywhere in a call coverage area. It is very simple to implement. However, the positioning error may range from a few meters to a few kilometres. The accuracy will be dependent on the size of serving base station. Another problem with this method is that mobile station is not always connected to nearest base station. In this case the location of mobile cannot be even estimated. Enhanced-CGI: To overcome errors in basic CGI technique another method is used. The basic idea was to split the coverage area of a base station into two or more areas, mostly three 120 degree areas. Each area within a base sta tion can then be issued with a separate identity. Hence in this way the position of mobile can be narrow down to a small area. Although this method is easy to implement yet error is large enough from practical point of view. CGI with Timing Advance: The CGI technique can also be improved by using the timing advance feature of GSM. Timing advance is a value that corresponds to the time it takes for a signal to reach from MS to BS. In GSM timing advance is a feature used by the base station to synchronise with mobile station. On step timing advance is equal to a change in 1100 m of round-trip time (the time signal takes to reach from base station to mobile and then back to base station). The timing advance is assigned by base station for each mobile station. Using the timing advance feature a mobile user can be located within 550 meters approximately. Time of Arrival: Although CGI method provides a good estimation of mobile position, the error is still large enough from em ergency view point. Another method to locate mobile is using the arrival time of signals at base stations involved. The distance of mobile can be estimated by using information about time of arrival i.e. D = t / c Where t is the time of arrival of signal at base station and c is the speed of light. The distance will be the estimated mobile position. However the mobile can be located anywhere on circular path centred at base station and radius equal to estimated distance D. The exact position of mobile can be estimated by using same type of measurements from two other neighbouring base stations. Ideally the positioning circles from all the three base stations must intersect at a point, which will be the position of mobile. However, practically, the circles dont intersect at a single point rather they make a small area in which the mobile is potentially located. This method is really better than CGI because it gives more accurate results. The time of arrival method requires accu rate synchronization or reference between mobile and base station to correctly measure the arrival time. The results, however, depends on environment of cell clutter, atmospheric conditions, and multipath propagation. In worst atmospheric conditions the results may vary severely. Angle of Arrival: In this method the position of the mobile is located by using the direction of signal arriving from mobile station to the serving and, at least one other base station. The direction or angle of arrival is measured at base station by using arrays of antennas. Angle measurement at one base station will give the position of mobile to be located at a straight line at a certain angle with base station. Measurement from another involved base station will produce another positioning line. Ideally the mobile must be located at the intersection of two lines from involved base stations. In practice, however, they may not intersect at all at a single point. The angle of arrival is good because it can be implemented using a small number of base stations. Thus it is best when the number of base stations visible to mobile is very low. The angle of arrival method is very sensitive to measurement errors of angle. So a very small error in angle measurement results in a much larger error in position of mobile. Time Difference of Arrival: The time of arrival method requires a strict synchronisation or reference between mobile and base station. To overcome this problem, the difference of arrival time at a pair of base station is used for measurements. A pair of base stations is used to record one time difference measurement. The result will be a circle on which mobile can be anywhere. Ideally the three circles will intersect at one point. This point will be the position of mobile. In actual practice the method will give a small area in which mobile must be located. The difference of arrival time eliminates the need of synchronisation as required by time of arrival. This met hod can be used as to run entirely on network side or to run with mobile assistance. The performance of time difference method is greatly improved than time of arrival. The main advantage of this method is elimination of timing requirement. However, on the other hand, the number of involved base station must be at least four including primary base station. Thus only then three sets of measurements can be obtained. The time difference of arrival method is more frequently used due to ease of implementation. Data correlation method: The Database Correlation Method makes use of the signal information seen by mobile station. The signal information from all of the coverage area seen by mobile station is stored in a database at network side. The signal information may include signal strength, signal timing, signal delay etc. When position of the mobile is required, the stored data in database is used by a positioning server to do so. The signal measurements sent to the database depen ds on the environment. The resolution of such measurements must be set so as to achieve certain accuracy. In GSM a sub-band resolution is used by the Base Station Controller (BSC) to facilitate the handover process. Pilot Correlation Method: Algorithms Search: There are a number of positioning algorithms in present literature. These algorithms make use of the measurements done by the mobile station. The measurements required for each algorithm may vary. However, some common measurements may include Cell ID, LAC, Signal Strength, Timing Advance, Time of Arrival, and Direction (Angle) of Arrival. Also these measurements may be carried out only on network side i.e., by primary base station or they can be performed with assistance of mobile station. The algorithms for all of the major positioning methods are studied in detail. Although there is a large number of algorithms in literature yet each of them has own advantages and disadvantages. Each algorithm is based on some assum ptions and limitations. For this reason we can not say which one is best. But the one which gives acceptable accuracy is thought to be the good one. Cell Global Identity (CGI): The Cell ID is the very basic method to locate mobile station. It is used to make a rough estimate of mobile position. With this method the mobile can be located anywhere within a cell. Thus the accuracy is very poor. The mobile station measures periodically the id of serving base station and up to 6 neighbouring base station. Thus no special algorithm is needed to locate Cell ID. By looking at mobile measurements the Cell ID can be located. Enhanced Cell ID: Due to very poor accuracy of basic Cell ID, a number of enhancements have been made to it. Thus measurements like signal strength, Timing Advance can be used in conjunction with Cell ID to improve accuracy. Two algorithms which show good results are Enhancement to CGI using Signal Strength and Positioning using Timing Advance. In the first al gorithm the signal strength is taken as a parameter. The power received by mobile station from primary base station and up to six neighbouring cells is feedback to primary base station. The primary base station thus knows the power transmitted by it and power received by mobile station. Then the distance calculation is possible by using the known path loss. Using Okumura-Hata Path Loss model [4] the distance between mobile and base station is calculated. The mathematical form of this model is [4]; Urban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R E Suburban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R C Open areas: LdB = A + B log10 R D A = 69.55 + 26.16 log10 fc 13.82 log10 hb B = 44.9 6.55 log10 hb C = 2 (log10 (fc / 28))2 + 5.4 D = 4.78 ( log10 fc )2 + 18.33 log10 fc + 40.94 E = 3.2 ( log10 ( 11.7554 hm ))2 4.97 for large cities, fc = 300MHz E = 8.29 ( log10 ( 1.54 hm ))2 1.1 for large cities, fc 300MHz E = ( 1.1 log10 fc 0.7 ) hm ( 1.56 log10 fc 0.8 ) for medium to small cities Definition of parameters: hm mobile station antenna height above local terrain height [m] dm distance between the mobile and the building h0 typically height of a building above local terrain height [m] lhbbase station antenna height above local terrain height [m] rgreat circle distance between base station and mobile [m] R=r x 10-3 great circle distance between base station and mobile [km] f carrier frequency [Hz] fc=f x 10-6 carrier frequency [MHz] ? free space wavelength [m] This model is fairly simple so it is used for a large number of situations. The distance calculation is easy from this model using known path loss in pre-defined environment. The mobile will be located anywhere on the circle of estimated distance with centre at base station. A minimum of three base stations are used for such measurements. Ideally the three circles will intersect at a single point. This point will be the position of mobile station. The triangulation technique is used to find the intersection coordinates of circles. Time of Arrival: Although CGI provides the position of mobile station yet the accuracy is not sufficient for many purposes. To improve accuracy the time of arrival method is used. It gives good results than CGI in most of the situations. A number of algorithms describing time of arrival method are in literature. Each of them has some advantages and some short comings. Also each algorithm works best under some specific conditions e.g. in line of sigh t (LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS) conditions. A good algorithm which gives acceptable results in many situations is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality. This algorithm uses a least square approach to estimate position of mobile station. The distance between mobile station and base station is estimated by using the fact that signals travel in free space at a speed equal to speed of light. Thus mathematically, Di =Ti / c i = 1, 2 N Where D is the estimated distance, T is the TOA measurement, i denote the number of base station and c is the speed of light. The mobile station will be located anywhere on the circle with radius D centered at base station i. Same TOA measurements are performed by at least three base stations. The position of mobile will be the intersection of three circles. Ideally this will be a single point. But in practice, due to multipath propagation and fading, it will give a small area. The mobile station will be located in this area. To reduce positioning error the algorithm uses a least square error approach. Thus the distance between every point in that area and each mobile station is calculated. The point where the sum of squares of distances is minimized will be the estimated position of mobile station. To get TOA measurements, base station and mobile station must be synchronized properly or there must be a reference point. Thus a strict timing requirement is necessary. Angle of Arrival: In LOS conditions this method is the best to use. A number of algorithms describing this method are in literature. All of these algorithms require a dominant LOS path to correctly perform angle of arrival measurements at base station. Thus this method is best in open areas and suburban areas. In dense urban environment this technique produces severe errors due to NLOS and multipath propagation. A number of algorithms are studied in detail. A good algorithm is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality. It produces results with acceptable accuracy. According to this algorithm, to perform angle of arrival measurements, base station must be provided with multiple antenna arrays. A minimum of two base stations will be required to perform such measurements. The signal from mobile station will reach base station at a certain angle with horizontal axis. This angle can be measured by base station using antenna arrays. Mathematically, it is given by tan (fi) =(y yi / x xi) , i = 1, 2, . . . , M. The angle of arrival measurement from one base station will result in a straight line. This line is also called Line of Bearing (LOB). It will be at a certain angle between horizontal axis and base station. The mobile will be located any where on the LOB. A similar measurement will be done using another involved base station. It will result in producing another angle of arrival or LOB. The point where the two line of bearing interse cts will be the position of mobile station. Ideally two lines will intersect at a unique point. However, practically they may not intersect at a point. In this situation the angle of arrival method need further measurements from other involved base station. This method produces very accurate results in LOS situation. However, the results depend critically on the measured angle. Thus a very small error in angle measurement may lead to positioning error of hundreds of meters. Another disadvantage is the cost of this method. It requires antenna arrays at each base station to measure AOA. Hence cost of implementation increases. Time Difference of Arrival: The time difference of arrival uses the difference in arrival times of signals at a pair of base stations. The time difference of arrival measurements are done with reference to primary base station. A good algorithm in literature is the Performance Comparison of TOA and TDOA Based Location Estimation Algorithms in LOS Env ironment. It explains the working of different types of TDOA approach. It also compares the performance of each of the type. However it uses a LOS approach. In open areas LOS assumption is valid but in heavily populated urban areas this assumption is invalid. Another good algorithm which explains the TDOA measurements is is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality . In this algorithm, the primary (Serving) base station is the reference base station. The time of arrival measurements are performed using the reference base station. Thus the estimated distance between mobile station and reference base station is d1 and that of mobile station and a neighbouring base station is di. Thus the TDOA measurements are given by, d1 = t1 / c di = ti / c, i = 2,3 .. N Where d1 is the distance between mobile station and reference (primary) base station and di are the distances between mobile station and other three neighbouring base stati ons. The TDOA measurement between reference and second base station is given by TDOA= d1-di i = 2,3, .N This will be the error free TDOA measurement at a pair of base stations. The measurement including error is given by; TDOA= (d1 di) + error The error is modelled as a Gaussian distributed random variable with zero-mean. Such measurements are taken from at least three pairs of base stations. The triangulation technique is then employed to get the position of mobile station. The TDOA method is superior to time of arrival (TOA) in sense that it eliminates the need for timing reference. Thus it is easy to implement. Due to no timing requirement TDOA method is more frequently used than TOA method. Database correlation method: Despite of a number of algorithm which perform fairly well in urban areas there is still a need to further improve it. Due to severe multipath and fading effects LOS assumption is not valid in urban areas. The Database Correlation Method is a go od method to counter effect multi path and fading. It can be implemented by utilizing the measurements performed in existing GSM systems. It can be implemented by making Signal Strength as a parameter. A ggod algorithm to implement Database Correlation Method is Database Correlation Method for GSM Location by Heikki Laitinen, Jaakko Lahteenmaki, Tero Nordstrom'. In this algorithm the DCM is implemented by using signal strength measurements performed by handset. The algorithm explains the way database correlation method can be implemented in GSM. The measurements performed in the coverage area are performed by mobile station and are stored in database. Thus the database will consists pre-measured samples of signal measurements in the coverage location. When the need to locate mobile station arises, the primary base station asks mobile station to perform signal strength measurements and feedback to it. The BS sends these measurements to location server. The location server then calcul ates the difference between stored fingerprint and actual measurement. The point where the difference between fingerprint and actual measurement is minimum will be the estimated position of mobile station. The estimated position will also contain some error in it due to fading, NLOS path and multipath propagation. However this error will be drastically less than the error in other techniques applied under same conditions. The database correlation method has the advantage that it can be implemented in any type of system like GSM, CDMA,UMTS,etc. References: Network-Based Wireless Location IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE JULY 2005 A New Time-Based Algorithm for Positioning Mobile Terminals in Wireless NetworksIsrael Martin-Escalona and Francisco Barcelo-Arroyo, EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing Mobile Positioning Using Wireless NetworksIEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE JULY 2005 Path loss models S-72.333 Physical layer methods in wireless communication systems Sylvain Ranvier / Radio Laboratory / TKK 23 November 2004 Performance Comparison of TOA and TDOA Based Location Estimation Algorithms in LOS Environment Guowei Shen, Rudolf Zetik, and Reiner S. Thoma A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality K.W. Cheung,1 H. C. So,1 W.-K.Ma,2 and Y. T. Chan3 Database Correlation Method for GSM Location Heikki Laitinen, Jaakko Lahteenmaki, Tero Nordstrom

Federal Governmental System - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1183 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/02/15 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Federalism Essay Did you like this example? Federalism is a division of power between a central government and smaller regional government. Both levels of government share authority over their citizens. In the United States federalism can be seen in the distribution of powers between the federal government and state governments (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). This duality is mandated and protected by the United States Constitution. The Framers of the Constitution recognized that the United States covered a vast area and consisted of a very diverse group of people. Therefore, they needed state governments to have some control to adapt to the unique situations that may occur. Framers also knew that a division of power between the federal government and the states would keep the federal government from obtaining too much power, which could potentially be abused (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Additionally, the state and local governments were closer to the people, where local citizens could participate and interact with the government. This also provided a training ground for future national politicians, allowing them to gain experience before running for federal offices (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Lastly, federalism encouraged each state to experiment with policy and democracy, in what Justice Brandeis called â€Å"laboratories of democracy† (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Federal Governmental System" essay for you Create order This concept of a â€Å"laboratories of democracy† refers to each state being able to implement different policies and legislation based on their unique problems, needs, desires and culture. Current United States Federal Judge Sutton writes, â€Å"Fifty imperfect solutions—each grounded in constitutional guarantees the States have chosen for themselves, crafted to meet the peculiar needs of each State, and implemented by accountable state officials—are almost certainly superior to one imperfect solution. (White, 2018). Furthermore, states can learn from one another about what policies are effective and which are not. Other states or even the nation can adopt successful legislation. Additionally, if policies are ineffective or have negative effects on citizens, these policies are limited to only impact one state instead of the entire nation (Gardener, 1996). However, it should be noted that states must still operate within the rules of their own Consti tution and the United States Constitution. Additionally, despite the term experiment, it is not a methodical process where two ideas are tested against one another to see which is better. Instead legislation is experimental because it may be unclear what the consequences, especially unintended consequences may be (Gardener, 1996). There is a hope that legislation will solve a problem, improve life, better the economy or right a social wrong in the state but the actual result is unknown (Gardener, 1996). Experimentation has been successful in many cases. Massachusetts was the first state to experiment with universal health care, something that has now been adapted at a national level. New York was the first to pass common core in education, with an emphasis own universal curriculum standards, something was eventually adapted by almost every state. Wisconsin pioneered Welfare to Work programs, which is now a national policy (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Experimentation can go also very wrong. States over turn their own laws on a regular basis, especially those revolving around tax rates. Additionally, states can attempt to pass laws that impede the rights of a group of citizens due to cultural pressure from the population, despite this being forbidden by the Constitution. Examples of this are the Jim Crow laws in the south that established segregation or more recently, state bans on gay marriage (White, 2018). In these cases, laws were challenged through the judicial system and eventually overturned by the United States Supreme Court. State experimentation continues to today. Oregon, Colorado, Arizona and other states are attempting to boost voter turnout by having the option to mail in ballots for elections. Four states have recently legalized marijuana. California has some of the strictest environmental protection laws (Greeve, 2001). States are experimenting with immigration policies on both ends of the spectrum. In these cases, each state is passing legislation based on the unique needs and wants of their people. States who are considering such legislation may wait and see the effectiveness of the legislation currently in use and may learn from their mistakes. Conversely, other states may not want these laws to be passed and are instead focused on other issues based upon their own needs and wants, allowing each state to adapt to their own micro culture. As the â€Å"laboratories of democracy† examples show, federalism is not always positive. For example, it can be difficult to determine if the state or federal government is responsible for an issue. This may cause delays in responses to issues, problems or crises (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Division of power can also make it difficult to hold elected officials accountable, as again it can be unclear who is responsible or at fault for an issue. Layers of government can also cause redundancies, inefficiencies and inequalities, making government less productive and effective (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Lastly, the lack of uniformity in laws can create conflict between states or between states and the national government. This is especially true with social laws that may express very different views compared to other regions of the nation. The above examples of the Jim Crow laws and gay marriage bans are specific examples (Magleby, Light and Nemachec k, 2015). These both cause social unrest, protesting and in some cases violence. Not all governments are federalist. In fact unitary systems of government are the most common. Under this system all governmental power resides at the national level. The national government can delegate power to smaller units as it sees fit and can also remove that delegated power at any time (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). The United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, and China are examples of countries with unitary systems of government (Magleby, Light and Nemacheck, 2015). Unitary systems are more efficient and cut through some of the red tape. However, errors in policy impact the entire nation and can be devastating. Additionally, there is more potential for power to be abused in this type of system. This unfortunately happens frequently in Africa. No governmental system is perfect. In fact the Framers of the Constitution were counting on this imperfection to keep tyranny and absolute power from occurring. Federalism is effective in the United States because we are diverse culture where each state has their own economy, culture, need and wants. By allowing each state to experiment with their own policies, states can learn from one another and chose legislation that best fits their micro culture. The Supreme Court can overrule laws that prohibit the rights of others, again keeping the balance of power in place. References: Gardener, J. (1996) The States-as-Laboratories Metaphor in State Constitutional Law, Valparaiso Law Review, Vol 30, Number 2. Pages 475-491. Retrieved from: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/httpsredir=1article=1888context=vulr Greve, M. (2001, March 21) Laboratories of Democracy: Anatomy of a Metaphor. American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.aei.org/publication/laboratories-of-democracy/print/ Magleby, D., Light, P. and Nemacheck, C. (2015) Government by the People: 2014 Elections and Updates Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson. White, Adam (2018, June 8) Laboratories of Liberty. The Weekly Standard. Retrieved from: https://www.weeklystandard.com/adam-j-white/laboratories-of-liberty