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Internet Television: The Present and the Future
Introduction

The emergence of the Internet has revolutionized the way people conduct their life and activities, without them being aware of it. Conventional activities like going to the library, reading books, and shopping have converged to a single activity of sitting at the personal computer. Not only these, technology-based activities like watching television, listening to music and communicating on the telephone etc., which had previously been considered developed beyond expectations, have radically changed even more. One no longer gets mesmerized by watching videos on the Internet or “streaming” news items from web sites such as www.mtv.com or www.bbc.co.uk, respectively. There is virtually no difference in carrying out activities, like the above, through a single PC or through the designated equipments like radio, television or video recorders. For technologists, convergence of the media has been a revolution that has changed the world and the way we live, partly because it opens new avenues for exploration and partly because technologists believe they can improve the quality of these technology-based activities. In particular, the convergence of the Internet with broadcasting technology has altered not only the consumer’s perception of “watching” television but also related technologies and industries. Today, media companies are investing heavily in broadcast research and development (R&D) and in Internet technology with the view to capture both types of consumer markets. What is more important in this race for changing the face of media is how technologists are developing even more complex media technologies to seamlessly converge broadcast and the Internet to offer a highly integrated environment for the future consumers. In the following discussion, the researcher shall explore how this historical revolution has come about, current development and future challenges.

History of Television Broadcast and Internet Television

Perhaps the most important development of television technology had been the vision of communications satellites in 1945 by Sir Arthur Clarke. The author used his knowledge of British Radar Establishment to outline the future of satellites. He wrote an article about using “extraterrestrial radio relays” for developing a global communications system to establish radio stations. What Clarke had not realized was that the relays he mentioned were illustrations of television signals, which has the same application today (Ippolito and Pelton 2004). Satellite communication system has become the foundation for television and radio broadcast, during the 1950s to date. Direct broadcast was introduced in 1960s and 1970s, also known as Direct to Home (DTH) or Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) or, in official terms, Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS). These initial BSS were dependent on the international route telecommunication backbone used for telephone and telex, and later for TV and radio program distribution. This period witnessed a slowdown in satellite revolution as the governments, organizations and public interest groups were concerned about developments of satellite transmission power to the homes and beyond geographical boundaries. They were of the view that such technology could cause cultural, political and social damage (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004). Despite their objections, TV channel frequency developed high satellite transmission frequency through Effective Radiated Power, which could transmit analogue signals to even small antennas. The first operational Direct Broadcast or DTH system was developed in Europe by the German and French, which was known as TV-Sat in Germany and TeleDiffusion Francais in France. During the 1980s, the International Telecommunications Union was adopted by the US and European countries to broadcast programs across the Atlantic (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004). Clay Whitehead, an American, was a pioneer in developing Ku-band frequencies, which altered the medium for “fixed service” satellite to broadcast TV directly to low receive-only dishes. The concept was furthered by Coronet, and then later acquired in 1984 by SES Astra. Astra became the true DBS satellites that were successful in transmitting high-frequency power to and from satellites, thus, providing a large number of TV channels to the users (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004).

However, academics believe that true broadcast challenges came about with the introduction of terrestrial and digital broadcasting during the 1990s when television content was funded by advertising, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch monopolised television rights. During this period, Sky offered customers channel broadcast at premium subscription, which other television channels, like ITV, took the first offensive to launch ON Digital in 1998, which was followed by the BBC’s Freeview, and other channels. (The Future of Internet Television 2006).

Parallel to these attacks on broadcast satellite had been the revolution in personal video recorders (PVRs), during the 1970s. The PVRs allowed users to tape TV content indefinitely without copyright issues. When the PVRs gave way to DVDs, the demand for “at home entertainment” did not diminish but, in fact, increased manifolds as users could now use electronic programming guides (EPG) to record television programs in high-quality broadcast that was made possible by digital television (The Future of Internet Television 2006).

Digital television was an equipment revolution rather than broadcast, as it allowed higher quality content to be transmitted from the standard definition television (SDTV or Digital Video Broadcast) to high definition television (HDTV or ATSC or ISDB), as it gradually has eaten up mainstream analogue signal broadcast and replaced it with high-definition channel broadcast. Although currently ATSC and ISDB standards are being used at high cost of implementation, nevertheless, it has become the trend as HD-DVD and Blue Ray have become part of this mainstream broadcast technology. These new technologies of the 1990s and 2000s have made digital transformation from broadcast satellite to digital networks, and the Internet, possible (The Future of Internet Television 2006).

Current Internet Television

Today, there is no limitation to watching television anywhere one can imagine – on the plane, in the kitchen, on the mobile phone, on walkways and even in the car, all made possible by the convergence of the Internet media and television broadcast technologies. Media convergence and interactivity have not only changed the cultural trend of television experience but also its functionality. The main emphasis is on viewer accessibility and near-video-on-demand (NVOD), which offers users the choice to watch broadcast content without the physical limitation of broadcast transmission to designated equipments or timing. Hence, the experience of watching television is no longer regarded as broadcast as it has changed its features from static to interactive, with different converged media functions. The computer furthered this technology of interactivity, while the Internet revolutionized the challenge of meeting user demand for a different type of experience (Crisell 2002).

High-speed peer-to-peer sharing systems have enabled users to share files of TV shows, PVRs, VOD, and made watching TV on mobile devices possible. For these reasons, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have also geared their networks to facilitate high-speed downloads through BitTorrent or such systems as they realized they need to capitalize on the shifting trend of watching television during primetime to “all the time”. Users prefer to watch TV at their ease and access it whenever their lifestyle allows them. With PVRs they are able to queue programs to be recorded, skip advertisements and watch ongoing broadcasts. The need to have an interactive medium has become more pronounced as technologists vie the Internet as the ideal medium for users to download compressed VODs and broadcast television programs. In the UK, this trend has gained popularity as users indicated their desire to watch popular programs and, at the same time, browse the Internet resources for new TV content and films (Brown and Barkhuus 2006).

Delivering quality Internet TV service has become possible with a combination of two key developments: high-speed internet and compression technology. TV programs, when converted from analogue through Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to digitized information files, they become extremely large, especially if they are high in resolution of pictures. Distribution of these audiovisual files over the Internet has become difficult, as the file would be too “heavy” for it to be transferred through the network. Even though digitization of TV, PVRs and DVDs reduced the size of such video streams, nevertheless, they still pose a challenge for ISPs. JPEG, MPEG (Motion Pictures Expert Group) and AVC (advanced video coding) video compression technologies, which were introduced by Microsoft to be integrated with Windows Media Video (WMV) to facilitate computer users to share high definition programming, emerged as the new format for audiovisual file interchange (Keen 2006). These files use Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) in Dirac codec and Fractual Compression compression processes for “streaming”. Unlike conventional broadcasting transmission, streaming involves progressive downloading of audiovisual files without having to wait for its complete download for playback. Audiovisual files can be streamed on the Internet “on-demand” (stored on server, available on request) or “live” (available at particular time such as life events). Streaming requires a high-speed Internet connection without traffic jams because the content cannot be streamed if the end user is carrying other traffic with the stream. Currently, only shorter TV content is offered for streaming (YouTube, Google Video), while longer and high quality contents such as shows and films are offered for download on request (MovieLink, CinemaNow, Sky By Broadband) (Keen 2006).

Previously, Internet audiovisual media content used dedicated software applications such as Microsoft Windows Media, RealVideo and QuickTime for playback that was separate from web browsers. Later applications, like Flash Players, allowed integrated streaming within the web browser, which makes it cost effective, as well as relatively easier for users to access broadcast content through Internet distribution (Keen 2006). Television content streaming uses the same applications with added features. Applications like Apple’s iTunes, Chinese program PPLive and BBC’s MyBBCPlayer allows television broadcasters to select programs for online streaming. As more and more television companies are transitioning online with new contents for streaming, users prefer to watch Internet TV than conventional television. To facilitate even more efficient peer-to-peer connections, the Internet architecture has been revolutionized for data transfer (The Future of Internet Television 2006). This has been achieved by specialist bandwidth providers called Content Distribution Networks (CDNs), which ensure streamlined and optimal content distribution through remote servers to client PCs without the hindrance of traffic jams. Companies like CacheLogic, Kontiki, and Grid Networks have been responsible for revolutionizing the commercial deployment of high-quality streaming services for Internet Television (Keen 2006).

Future of Internet TV Broadcasting

Broadcasting companies and TV operators in the last decade, according to Arino and Marsden (Brown and Picard 2005), have capitalized tremendously on the growth of the Internet to draw audiences away from traditional television broadcast. For some, the Internet may have been the reason for the demise of the conventional broadcast TV, while for others this new media is the new platform for digital TV. Internet TV is no longer about watching streamed programs from broadcast TV web sites. In fact, according to Noll (qt in Gerbarg, Groebel and Noam 2004), Internet TV has come to be defined as a television interface based on an interactive Internet platform for storage and transmission of audiovisual content streaming, as well as web activities. Thus, the future of the Internet TV involves Internet-enhanced TV that delivers both TV content, as well as web-based content. Convergence will no longer be limited to listening radio and watching downloaded content, but will also encompass chatting, messaging, conversing with hosts and participants of TV programs, and programming of content through complex transmissional services, consultational services and interactive television links (Arino and Marsden qt. Brown and Picard 2005). With the increase in broadband usage in the UK, it is expected that Internet TV services shall increase manifolds, which will make high quality digital movie file streaming available from various websites with lesser costs.

New technologies like webified video are expected to revolutionize next generation storage TV, to convert web content as well as TV programs to integrated information retrieval media for interface and interactivity (Miyamori and Tanaka 2005). Similarly SURFs (Simple UI to Retrieve Favourites) systems are being explored for transforming TV content into information portals which will allow users to interact with electronic devices within the household. The idea is to integrate TV with Internet content by allowing users to use unconventional remote controls to interact with the Internet TV platform (Halverson and Voutsas 2000). Contents may range from watching VODs, or news content or browsing the Internet. Not only this, but it is expected that the future holds new dimensions for the meaning of interactivity. Speech recognition and interactivity, according to Wittenburg et al (2006), is the next revolutionary interface for current prototype PVRs. These shall be used in conjunction with Internet TV to change the whole experience of interacting with TV and the Internet.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, one can conclude that the process of Internet and television convergence has revolutionized the experience of watching television. Convergence of these individual technologies has been possible with the developments of technologies in compression, streaming, digitization, and playback applications. However, to think that the revolution has stopped there is a mistake. As one reads in the above section, the development of Internet TV is not complete. The mix of Internet television services through chats, browsing, downloads and networking have yet to become even more revolutionized in the future as new technologies related to interface devices, broadband networks, and television content conversions become more common for all to be used. There is no doubt that Internet TV has affected the lives of its users as well as those who developed it. What makes this revolutionary unique is the fact that it has also influenced other dimensions of entertainment and information interactivity. For example, companies are exploring broadcasting dimensions using mobile phones, voice-activated interface, and information interchange technologies for viewing and interacting, not on conventional tube TV or PCs but on small mobile devices. Indeed, the future of Internet TV is not limited to its conventional infrastructure but rather shall reside in new ones.

References

Arino, M. and Marsden, C. (2005) “From Analogue to Digital” in Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe by Allan Brown and Robert G. Picard (eds) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Brown, B. and Barkhuus, L. (2006) The Television Will Be Revolutionized: Effects of PVRs and Filesharing on Television Watching. CHI April 22-27 ACM 2006.

Combat One. (2006) “The Future of Internet Television” Combat One. Online accessed on 4-12-2006 from: http://www.combatone.com/fullreport.php

Crisell, A. (2002) An Introductory History of British Broadcasting. Routledge: London pp.275.

Halverson, C. and Voutsas, D. (2000) SURFing the Home with Your TV. ACM Multimedia Copyright.

Ippolito, L. and Pelton, J. N. (2004) “Satellites Technology: The Evolution of Satellite Systems and Fixed Satellite Services” in Communications Satellites: Global Change Agents by Peter Marshall, Robert J. Oslund and Joseph N. Pelton (eds). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. pp. 33

Keen, B. (2006) Broadband delivery of film and TV content over the open internet. 09 October. The British Screen Advisory Council.

Miyamori, H. and Tanaka, K. (2005) Webified Video: Media Conversion from TV Program to Web Content and their Integrated Viewing Method. ACM Copyright May 10-14, Chiba, Japan.

Noll, A. M. (2004) “Internet Television: Definition and Prospects” in Internet Television by Darcy Gerbarg, Jo Groebel and Eli Noam (eds) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Wittenburg, K. et al (2006) The Prospects for Unrestricted Speech Input for TV Content Search. AVI ’06, May 23-26, 2006, Venezia, Italy. ACM Copyright.

Internet addiction among adolescents

Abstract

Today’s world is a technology driven world, where all the people are linked to the use of internet in one way or the other. Mainly it is the adolescents who use the internet services the most, be it for the gaming purposes, studies or any other. But with the advent of internet technology, life has obviously become easier on the part of adolescents. Each of the innovation brings along with it many of the hurdles or risks. One of the main risks that are associated with the use of internet is internet addiction among adolescents.

Keyword: Internet addiction, Adolescents, Internet technology, Internet services

Internet addiction among adolescents

The technological development of the internet in the initial stages was designed for the promotion of research and communication among various technological institutions. This is also linked to the usage of internet by the adolescents (Aydm, B., & San, S. V, 2011). This is because, in the technological institutions, there were mainly the adolescents only who used the internet for the research purposes. But with the advent of new technological era, HCL Company made various handy browsers that made the usage of internet by the adolescents more flexible and appropriate (Hamid, 2015). Then eventually after the coming in of the smart phones, the usage of internet became more accessible to the adolescents.

Diagnosis

Clinical disorders have been the most fatal things that have been identified to date in regards to the excessive usage of internet. In the clinical disorders have, it is insomnia and depression that are the most common among adolescents who have excessive usage of the internet technologies (Aydm & San, 2011). Insomnia is on the rise among adolescents who over use the internet because, they are deprived of the sleep as they all the time are glued to the internet. Moreover depression is on the rise among the adolescents (Esen et al., 2013). This is because most of the adolescents are inclined towards the usage of internet and mainly the social media. As a result, many of the adolescents engage themselves in the fake profiles. As a result, when the bitter truth is out, most of the people go in a state of depression. Thereby insomnia and depression are among the top most disorders that are linked to the internet addiction among adolescents.

Correlation to Personality Behaviours, Preferences and Environments

It has been found that whenever a person is stress or a stressful situation, people become stressed or engage themselves with the use of internet. This is something that is common among the adolescents. They immerse themselves in the cyber space in order to combat stress. Whereas some others who lack confidence level, escape themselves to online interaction. Also the personality traits like extroversion and high emotional instability are also some of the factors that are negatively correlated with internet addiction and are seen among the adolescents (Hariri et al, 2015). Among some others are insomnia and depression that affect the individuals or adolescents the most.

There are various advantages that the internet has provided to the adolescents. Like with the use of internet, it became easier for the adolescents to learn through the e-books. Moreover, they also were able to learn by sitting at one place through video conferencing via the internet. This was one of the most valuable advantages that the adolescents had with the use of internet (Kuss et al, 2013). Though it also leads to an addiction among the adolescents, as instead of the books, they were more attracted towards the e-books. This lead to all time screen usage, which in a way is not useful in relation to the health parameters.

Literature reviewed

First group of Study

As the use of technology is in the hands of the user, be it for the good or for the bad. It was seen with the advent of newer technologies that internet usage among the adolescents was increasing day by day, but on the wrong side. This is so because, the pornographic material was easily available on the internet and more and more adolescent’s age attracted towards it. This is also something that leads to internet addiction among the adolescents. In fact, it is the result of wrong usage of the technology only that the rise of cyber crime also increased (Israelashvili et al., 2012; Esen et al., 2013; Orsal et al., 2013). In the recent studies on the usage of internet, it was seen that almost 80% of the population comprises of the adolescents only who are addicted to the usage of internet and are a crime partner in most of the cyber crimes that occur all across the world.

Second group of study

Increase in the addiction of internet with adolescents, it was seen that there were many of the health problems also that came across. In China, it was seen that internet addiction has became the most significant mental health problem among the adolescents. The incidence rate of internet addiction among the Taiwan college students was 5.9% and almost 10.6 % among the Chinese college students. It was also seen that most of the Chinese adolescents who were addicted to the internet faced mental disorders like; they often became aggressive and also had some of the short term memory loss (Li et al., 2015; Sar et al., 2012; Usman et al., 2014).

Third group of Study

Some of the main domains of internet that are popular among the adolescents include, chatting rooms, e-mails, discussion forums etc. These are the main areas because most of the adolescents are attracted towards the usage of internet for the chatting or messaging purposes (Hariri et al., 2015; Esen et al., 2013; Aydm et al., 2011). The pitfalls were many when it was accessed in terms of the internet addiction. Like memory problems, health disorders and also the family problems that disturbed the overall life form of the individuals. In the research studies, it was found by many of the researchers that the common problems that existed among the adolescents who were addicted to the internet included, emotional sensitiveness, maladaptation, insomnia and also not been able to express themselves(Li et al., 2015). This is because most of the adolescents in this age are inclined towards the usage of social media. Thereby they get so much addicted towards it that they eventually face emotional sensitiveness and barriers. A survey conducted by Young, 1996, depicted a graph that illustrated the usage of internet by the adolescents and how has increased over the years.

Similarities

First Similarity

Apart from the social media, online gaming has been the most significant parameter linked with the internet that makes the adolescents linked to the internet all the times. Playing online games has increased the risk of being addicted to the internet by almost 2.7% every time. Previous researches have indicated that unlike the other kind of games forms like the browser and offline games, there are the online games that appear to have the high addictive potential. It is because of this only that vulnerable adolescents develop an addiction as a consequence of frequent engagement. Online games generally demand a large amount of the commitment and time investment and this is what makes the adolescents addicted to it (Esen et al., 2013; Aydm et al., 2011; Li et al., 2015; Orsal et al., 2013).

Second Similarity

Negativity was among the other important consequence that has been identified with the increased usage of the internet. With the internet addiction among the adolescents, they tend to go through various experiences that they relate to their real lives in one form or the other. Thereby in the process of relating, there arise many such situations when the person gets negative due to the higher usage of internet (Sar et al., 2012; Li et al., 2015). Moreover, this occurs because the viewpoint is consolidated towards a single side only.

Third similarity

Studies in different cultures have stated that internet addiction has only been seen as a concern in most of the cultures, rather than a benefit. As more and more time they spend on the internet, makes them have less time on practicing on their own. And as a result, they had lower grades as compared to the ones who did not use the internet (Li et al., 2015; Usman et al., 2014). This is the case when the other people in the conversation expect different way of reaction (Kuss et al., 2013; Hariri et al., 2014). The relationship among internet addiction and interpersonal problem is rapidly increasing day by day. These problems are mainly identified when the family members of the adolescents tend to complain about the adolescents who make excessive internet usage.

Differences

Gender Differences

The studies conducted on the usage of the internet among the adolescents have suggested that there are gender differences that have been seen after the addiction to internet. The studies done by the Turkish university have put forth that the male counterparts are the ones who spend more time on the internet than the female ones. Though some of the studies also suggest that the female members are high in number. It was also seen that the addiction among the women on the internet was more on the shopping sites and the other areas (Aydm et al., 2011; Li et al., 2015; Usman et al., 2014; Sar et al., 2012). Whereas in case of males, the access to internet was made mainly too social media and gaming areas.

Physical Differences

The internet addicted adolescents are very less likely to engage in the health promoting behaviours and rather are mostly against it. As due to the excessive internet usage they are not able to keep themselves fit. In order to overcome this deficiency, most of the adolescents tend to take health supplements. These actually tend to decrease their health and thereby leaving the internet addict prone to the diseases. Thereby, there are many physical differences also that come across with internet addiction among adolescents (Israelashvili et al., 2012; Kuss et al., 2013; Esen et al., 2013).

Work Differences

Many of the employers have seen that the excessive usage of internet has potentially reduced the level of work, rather than enhancement of productivity. Employers who make lesser usage of internet tend to improve more on scale of performance. And the ones who are addicted to internet, most likely develop a tendency to work less and thereby become lethargic also. Moreover, excessive usage of internet also causes delay of work to be accomplished in a sooner time period (Hamid et al., 2015; Orsal et al., 2013). Thereby the need is that internet usage must be reduced while the adolescents are on work, so that distractions can be less.

Thereby, these are the major differences that were encountered among different adolescents who are addicted to the internet.

Discussion

In order to identify that an adolescent is addicted to the internet or not, there are three basic classic mass media innovations (Aydm et al., 2012). These include surveillance, escape, companionship, identity and environment. It has been proved by many of the studies that the adolescents make the most usage of internet to reinforce relationships that at times also takes them into the negative room. It was stated that among the adolescents, college students are exposed to a higher risk of internet addiction (Usman et al., 2014). This is mainly due to the higher vulnerability of them using the internet for one or the other purpose in the college also.

There are approximately 922.3 million, who represent 44% of the world internet user population. It has been one of the majorly growing concerns, as it is compliable to the health issues also. If talked about China, it is yet another country that is facing the charges of internet addiction among the adolescents. In order to combat the internet addiction, the governments of Japan, China and South Korea have set up the boot camps. These are helpful in providing the therapy to make the adolescents free of any kind of internet addiction (Israelashvili et al., 2012).

Though there are many negatives that are seen among the adolescents with the use of internet, there are many of the advantages also. Unfortunately, Internet is misused by some of the groups of individuals if the adolescents get addicted to the internet for the learning and other useful purposes, then no more will it be known as addiction (Li et al., 2015). Rather when one can impart great knowledge from the use of internet if used for useful purposes. It has been identified in the studies from literature that if internet usage is made up to the mark by adolescents then it can reap better returns to them rather than making them an internet addict (Sar et al., 2012).

To conclude, it can well be stated that it is in the hands of adolescents only whether to use the internet for their own convenience or other means. If it is used appropriately, then it will serve as a boon or otherwise a curse.

Future Research and Studies

The internet usage among adolescents is studied further by considering the various different racist. If university and school used only the sites which are related to the students and blocking all the other sites then it will be advantage for the students that they cannot rely on internet for longer period of time. Further research can be done on the usage of the internet by studying the different universities and combining the studies on the basis of age and sex.

References

Aydm, B., & San, S. V. (2011). Internet addiction among adolescents. The role of self-esteem. Procedia- Social and Behavioural Science, 15, 3500-3505. Doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.325.

Esen, B. K., Aktas, E., & Tuncer, I. (2013). An Analysis of University Students’ Internet Use in Relation to Loneliness and Social Self-efficacy.Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences,84, 1504–1508. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.780

Hamid, S., Waycott, J., Kurnia, S., & Chang, S. (2015). Understanding student’s perceptions of the benefits of online social networking use for teaching and learning.TheInternetandHigherEducation,26,1–9.doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.02.004

Hariri, M. T. Al-, & Hattami, A. A. Al-. (2015). Utilization of internet by health collegesstudents at the University of Dammam.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences,10(1), 66–73. doi.org/10.1016/j.jtumed.2015.01.006

Israelashvili, M., Kim, T., & Bukobza, G. (2012). Adolescent’s over-use of the cyber world – Internet addiction or identity exploration?Journal of Adolescence,35(2), 417–424. doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.07.015

Kuss, D. J., Griffiths, M. D., & Binder, J. F. (2013). Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors.Computers in Human Behaviour, 29(3), 959–966. doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.024

Li, W., O’Brien, J. E., Snyder, S. M., & Howard, M. O. (2015). Characteristics of Internet Addiction/Pathological Internet Use in U.S. University Students: A Qualitative-MethodInvestigation.PLOSONE,10(2).doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117372

Azar, A. H., Gokturk, G. Y., Tura, G., & Kazaz, N. (2012). Is the Internet Use an Effective Method to Cope With Elderly Loneliness and Decrease Loneliness Symptom?Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences,55, 1053–1059. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.597

Orsal, O., Unsal, A., & Ozalp, S. S. (2013). Evaluation of Internet Addiction and Depression among University Students.Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences,82, 445–454. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.291

Usman, N. H., Alavi, M., & Shafeq, S. M. (2014). Relationship between Internet Addiction and Academic Performance among Foreign Undergraduate Students.Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences,114, 845–851. doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.795

Authors

Title/Journal

Year

Objective

Type of Participation

Methods

Results

Aydm, B.,& San, S. V.

Internet addiction among adolescents: The role of self-esteem.

2011

To examine the role of self-esteem on adolescents’ Internet addiction.

324 Adolescents.

Scores taken from the internet addiction.

Total self-esteem are negatively correlated with internet addiction among adults.

Esen, B. K., Aktas, E., & Tuncer, I.

An Analysis of University Students’ Internet Use in Relation to Loneliness and Social Self-efficacy.

2013

Relationship between university students on internet use.

507 University students.

High score refer to high social self-efficacy perception.

The higher use of internet by university students and more lonely they feel.

Hamid, S., Waycott, J., Kurnia, S., & Chang, S.

Understanding students’ perceptions of the benefits of online social networking use for teaching and learning.

2015

Students experience with online social networking

University lecturers and 46 University students.

By observing the students’ interaction for educational purposes.

Students view their interactions when using social technologies in higher education.

Hariri, M. T. Al-, & Hattami, A. A. Al.

Utilization of internet by health colleges’students at the University of Dammam.

2015

Students’ attitude towards using the internet.

231 University students.

College students’ has been recognized as an important way of gaining information.

Most of the health college students showed the positive response on internet use.

Israelashvili, M., Kim, T., & Bukobza, G.

Adolescents’ over-use of the cyber world – Internet addiction or identity exploration?.

2012

Internet for self concept clarity.

278 Adolescents.

A differentiation is proposed between over-users.

Internet over-use may reflect an effort on their part to clarify their self perception.

Kuss, D. J., Griffiths, M. D., & Binder, J. F.

Internet addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors.

2013

Levels of internet addiction and risks for internet addiction.

2257 students of an English University.

The assessment for computer and internet addiction-screener was used.

Online shopping and social activities increased the chances of internet addiction.

Li, W., O’Brien, J. E., Snyder, S. M., & Howard, M. O.

Characteristics of Internet Addiction/Pathological Internet Use in U.S. University Students: A Qualitative-Method Investigation.

2015

Internet use in U.S university students.

27 U.S University Students.

Descriptive data were collected during focus groups to describe participants.

Identified severe consequences of internet addiction.

Azar, A. H., Gokturk, G. Y., Tura, G., & Kazaz, N.

Is the Internet Use an Effective Method to Cope With Elderly Loneliness and Decrease Loneliness Symptom?

2012

Internet use for elderly people to cope with the loneliness.

569 Individual adult people.

Social emotional loneliness and depression were examined.

Internet use is an efficient method to deal with loneliness in old people.

Orsal, O., Unsal, A., & Ozalp, S. S.

Evaluation of Internet Addiction and Depression among University Students.

2013

Evaluate internet addiction and depression among university students.

Students with high family income.

Prepared survey forms were completed by the students under supervision.

Internet addiction is a major health problem first –year students.

Usman, N. H., Alavi, M., & Shafeq, S. M.

Relationship between Internet Addiction and Academic Performance among Foreign Undergraduate Students.

2014

Internet addiction and academic performance among foreign undergraduate students.

Foreign undergraduate students in Universities Technology Malaysia.

Inferential analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis of the study.

There is no relationship between internet addiction and academic achievements.

Divya Srinivasan, N.R.Raajan, Jayakumar V.K, Manonmani P
Abstract:

In this era where smartness is the key, automatic systems are preferred over manual ones. An important application of smart technology is efficient energy utilization, which is the need of the hour. Energy consumption can be minimized by turning off lights when they are not required, optimizing lighting levels to suit workers and by embracing green technology. One simple way to reduce carbon footprint is the usage of a lighting control system which delivers light as per the requirements and avoid unnecessary wastage. In this paper, a lighting control system using an android application has been proposed. Android is one of the widely used open source mobile platform and the user base is growing faster day by day. As more people are using smart phones, controlling light using an android application is cheaper, easier and cost effective.

Keywords: Light control, Arduino board, GSM/GPRS module, Relay board, Android application

I. INTRODUCTION

Reducing energy consumption and increasing user comfort have always been main objectives of any intelligent building in today’s scenario. Meeting these two demands is a complex task. This paper presents an effective way to reduce energy utilization and increase user comfort. In this paper, Arduino, a microcontroller is used. It is an open-source embedded platform where one can write programs and run it using hardware. Arduinos have the ability to sense the environment by getting input from different sensors and it can control its surroundings by controlling light, motors etc. The communication between a smart phone and microcontroller is established through a GSM/GPRS module. A GSM/GPRS module is same as that of the normal mobile phone and it needs a SIM card to communicate. It does the job of a normal mobile phone. This type of communication is called Machine to Machine (M2M) communication. What it means is that both wired and wireless systems are allowed to interact with other devices. It enables the flow of data between machines and finally between humans and machines. Irrespective of the nature of the data or machine, information flows in the same way, which is starts from a machine .Then it passes over a network and then through a checkpoint or gate to a system where it can be evaluated and acted upon. The aim of the M2M hardware is to provide an interface between the machine and the network. This paper deals with this M2M communication. Work to be done by the end user is very simple. Wireless communication makes human life easier and simpler. And especially with mobile, everything is instant and reachable. The block diagram of the proposed system is shown in fig 1.

Fig 1.General Block Diagram

II. GSM MODEMS

GSM modems are much like GSM devices which helps in providing GSM functionality according to our needs. A complete phone can be built using a GSM modem but that would be a waste of important resources like time, which is of the essence, and money, because a phone would work out to be more cost effective. DTMF can help us control remotely, but DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency signaling) in the aspects of monitoring has its own limitations.In these cases GSM modems can really be helpful. GSM modems can play a key role in projects which requires Remote Monitoring and Control. In this way Machine to Machine communication can be established. Pre-defined commands can be used to control GSM modems by sending them serially. These pre-defined commands are known as AT commands. In this paper the focus is on messaging only. AT commands also known as theHayes commands, is a specific command languageactually developed for theHayesSmartmodem. The command set comprises of a series of short text strings that combine together to give complete commands for operations like dialing of numbers, call termination and the required parameter changes of the connection network. The Hayes command set is one of the most commonly used and is available in numerous variations.

III. HAYES COMMANDS

Some basic commands which are required to perform basic telephony operations are mentioned below

Messaging

Set Message Type as Text –AT+CMGF=1
Set Message Destination Number & Type Message –AT+CMGS=”+91XXXXXXXXXX”

When this command is entered, there is a prompt of the GSM modem terminal wherein the message to be sent is typed. After the message in entered, Ctrl+Z is pressed to exit terminal prompt. Once all the above steps are followed, the message will be sent to the user by the GSM modem.

In addition to the above commands, a set of sequential messages will be sent by the GSM modem when an SMS or Call is received. Some of the messages are mentioned below.

Incoming SMS

Incoming SMS returns a message

+CMTI: “SM”, 23

Read SMS

To read the incoming SMS, the command used isAT+CMGR=Xwhere the number is X which is returned at the end of the+CMTI output above. For example it is 23

The SMS is received in the following way

+CMGR: “REC UNREAD”,”+91XXXXXXXXXX”,”phonebook entry”, “Date, Time”

Message Text

The above set of information is enough for to work with the GSM modem.

Using Arduino IDE, code is written to receive message from GSM modem and the message is processed in the controller. Light is switched on or off only when the incoming message matches with the string written in the program.

The Arduino Uno is a controller board based on theATmega328. It has 14 I/O pins (6 of which can provide PWM o/p)-Digital, a 16MHzceramic resonator, a USB connection, analog I/P-6, a power cord, an In Circuit Serial Programming(ICSP) header and a reset button. The specifications of Arduino Uno rev3 are shown in table 1.

Table 1: Arduino Uno Specifications

Microcontroller Used

ATmega328

Recommended Operating Voltage

5Volts

Recommended I/P Voltage

7-12Volts

Limiting I/P Voltage

6-20Volts

I/O Pins-Digital

14 (6 of which can provide PWM o/p)

I/P Pins-Analog

6

Current (DC) in each I/O Pin

40 mA

Current (DC) for 3.3Volts Pin

50 mA

Clock Speed

16MHz

EEPROM

1 KB (ATmega328)

Flash Memory

32 KB (ATmega328) of which Bootloader uses 0.5KB

SRAM

2 KB (ATmega328)

In addition to the above, dedicated functions are available for some of the pins:

Serial: 1 (TX-Transmission) and 0 (RX-Reception). It is used to receive and transmit TTL (Transistor -Transistor Logic) serial data. The pins are linked to the equivalent pins of theATmega8U2USB-to-TTL Serial chip.

External Interrupts: 2 and 3.These two pins can be designed to initiate an interrupt when any of the mentioned cases happens –a low value occurs, a falling or rising edge, a value change.

PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11.Provide 8-bit PWM output with theanalogwrite() function.

SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK).These pins support SPI communication using theSPI library.

LED: 13.There is an LED, which is in-built, is linked to the pin (digital) 13. If the pin has a HIGH value then it’s in ON state, if it has a LOW value it’s in OFF state

The Arduino UNO has the capability to communicate with a computer, another Arduino, or other controllers. Themicrocontroller used in this paper provides UART TT Logic (5Volts) serial communication, which is obtainable in pins (digital) 1 (TX) and 0 (RX).In anATmega16U2on the board serial communication is done over USB and appears as a virtual communication port. In the case when ATmega16U2 is used, external drivers are not required and the USB COM drivers (standard) are used.The Arduino software also includes controls which allow text based data to be sent and received. The Rx (Receive) and Tx (Transmit)LEDspresent will blink when data is being sent from USB to serial chip or to any other terminal. Aserial libraryin the form of a software present in Arduino permits serial communication on any of the pins (digital) of Uno. The Arduino software IDE is used to configure the Arduino Uno. TheATmega328on the Arduino Uno comes preburned with abootloaderwhich allows codes to be uploaded to the board without the use of a programmer who has expertise in hardware programming. Communication is possible through the use of STK500protocol. The bootloader can be bypassed and the controller is programmed using the ICSP (In-Circuit Serial Programming)

IV. HARDWARE CONNECTIONS
The SIM Card is inserted into the GSM modem.
The Tx (Transmit) pin of the GSM modem is connected to pin (digital) 3 of the Arduino.
The Rx (Receive) pin of the GSM modem is connected to pin (digital) 4 of the Arduino.
The Gnd(Ground) pin of the GSM modem is connected to the Gnd(Ground) pin of theArduino.
The GSM modem uses an external 12Volts DC Adaptor as power source (The+5Volts from internal source of Arduino is not sufficient).
It is made sure that the network LED flashes with a 2s delay and not 1s delay. 2s delay means it is connected to network, 1s delay means not unable to connect to network.

Once the connections are given and the code is uploaded to the Arduino board, the string which is given in the code is sent as a message, GSM will receive the message and it will send it to Arduino which in turn will process the message and the corresponding action will take place. If number of lights is counted, then for each light some string has to be given in the coding. Instead of sending each message, development of an android application user friendly. Through an android app, message can be given. Since the GSM SIM900A is a GSM/GPRS module, control lights through android app are also possible. Authorization can also be given. It will provide restricted access people to control lights.

The front end of the Android app looks like as shown in fig 2 and fig 3.

Fig 2.Android App Password Screen Fig 3.Android App User Interface

Using the swipe icon in the front panel, the lights can be turned on/off using this android app. Also only the users who know the password can control the lights. Number of lights which can be controlled depends on the number of ports the controller has. The controller output is given to relay boards and the output of the relay board is given to switches. In this way an android application and light is a terminal device. Also an admin is created and he/she will get the message that who is controlling the light. In this way, security can be improved.

V. CONCLUSION

Unnecessary lighting is one of the prime reasons for energy wastage. The most effective and easy way to curtail this is to turn off lights when they aren’t required. Lighting control systems can use factors such as occupancy, available daylight and time of day, thus providing significant energy and cost savings, a greater level of flexibility and control for building owners and added comfort for occupants. With increasing user comfort, energy can be saved to a larger extent. Also security is tightened with proper admin rights. Wireless systems reduce the labor, costs and wiring requirements of lighting control when compared to traditional systems. In short, wireless networking can usher in a new generation of smarter lighting control systems which reduce energy utilization and ensure a greener world.

This project is focused on implementing and coupling several functional blocks that will allow us to detect, extract and decode a wireless message that is being broadcasted in the Merz lab of computers. In the following sections, we will find the implementations of coherent and non-coherent receivers.

In the section 1 we define the basic background knowledge that will be commonly used in the posterior phases of the report. We define the basic structure and features of the transmitter as well as the message format that the system is intended to detect. Finally, we define what is a coherent and a non-coherent system and provide a classification about the different techniques.

In the section 2 we will analyse the non-coherent receiver implementation from the message acquisition, going to the filter section, signal scaling and refinement, using a DPSK demodulator to define the probable symbols represented, then establishing a synchronization for the symbol and finally presenting the message obtained.

The section 3 will focus in the realization of a coherent receiver, considering two possible variations on this type of implementation: the first will be developed using a differential coherent demodulator, in this technique we will not recover the carrier signal. The second implementation of this receiver, will be done using a carrier recovery technique, which is in this case a Costas Loop Algorithm.

Some common blocks are done in all the possible implementations that were carried out during this project: the first is the receiver front-end which is the responsible to acquire and prepare the signal for the posterior processing. To recover the symbol synchronization, we use a technique called early-late gate, this will let us know what is the most convenient instant of the time to sample the signal. For the case of coherent signal, we must adapt this technique to apply it separately for the signal I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature).

The section 4 contains analysis, conclusions and discussions of the results obtained during the realization of the phases.

The last sections of the report detail the references used for further explanations and the different programs used for implementing each block.

In each section, we include little further explanations that could be referred to understand the steps and details that have been done in the corresponding section.

1. Background knowledge
1.1. Aims and objectives

The focus of this project is to demonstrate the implementation and the behaviour of data links using Radio Frequency as media and different techniques. Basically, we use two techniques: coherent and non-coherent implementations. A further explanation of these techniques will be done in the following sections.

A second implementation of a coherent receiver will be carried out by using a phase recovery technique with the Costas Loop and coupling the posterior phase to this block.

The specifications of the system to be implemented could be defined as a set of blocks connected as follows:

Figure 1 System Specifications (Tsimenidis, 2016)

Where the transmitter has been already implemented, therefore the work will be carried out in the receiver algorithm to obtain the final data, which of course must be in a human readable format.

We also must consider that the format of the message that is being broadcasted wirelessly in the Merz lab has the following format:

Figure 2 Message format (Tsimenidis, 2016)

1.2. Digital modulation

The digital modulation process refers to a technique in which the digital representation of the information is embedded in a signal, a carrier typically a sinusoidal signal, in such a way that this information will modify an established parameter of the signal.

We can define a sinusoidal carrier in a general way as a signal that will correspond to the equation:

Where the information could be embedded in this will be called amplitude modulation, if the parameter this will be called frequency modulation and finally the phase modulation will be obtained if we embed the data in the expression.

Regard to the symbol this is called the angular frequency, it is measured in radians per second, this is related to the frequency (f) expressed in Hertz by the expression.

1.3. Coherent and non-coherent detection

Considering the receiver side, we can classify the demodulation or detection based on the use of the carrier’s phase information in the process of information recovery. In the case that the receiver uses this information to detect the signals it will be called coherent detection, and non-coherent detection otherwise. This are also called synchronous and asynchronous detection, respectively.

Coherent

Non-Coherent

Phase Shift Keying (PSK)

Diferential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK)

Frecuency Shift Keying (FSK)

Frecuency Shift Keying (FSK)

Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)

Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)

Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM)

Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM)

Figure 3 Non-coherent receiver (Tsimenidis, 2016)

Figure 4 Coherent receiver (Tsimenidis, 2016)

2. Non-coherent receiver
2.1. Receiver Front-End

This segment of the non-coherent receiver will consist of the first two blocks, which are common for both coherent and non-coherent implementations.

Figure 5 Receiver Front-End (Tsimenidis, 2016)

The first block is the responsible to take a sampled input expressed as bits, represent it as a float number and then normalise it to a range +/- 1.0.

The second stage applies a bandpass filter to the signal, this will attenuate the parasites components of frequency that could contaminate the signal that we received.

Figure 6 Frequency response of a passband filter (Tsimenidis, 2016)

To design the passband filter we must consider the following information: let = 4800 Hz, data rate = 2400 bps and sampling frequency = 48000 Hz.

These assumptions, led us to the following results:

Lower passband cut-off frequency:

= – = 3600 Hz

Upper passband cut-off frequency:

= + = 6000 Hz

Lower stopband cut-off frequency:

= – = 1200 Hz

Upper stopband cut-off frequency:

= + = 8400 Hz

The implementation of the filter will be done using the sptool command of Matlab, using the above defined values as parameters for the filter.

The following figure shows the result obtained in the realization of the lab, considering the number of filter coefficients of 101.

Figure 7 Band-pass filter response

Figure 8 Band-pass filter input/output

2.2. DPSK demodulator

To implement the non-coherent detection, we are going to use a DPSK demodulator, which was previously categorized as a non-coherent technique.

The DPSK demodulator will take advantage of two basic operation that occur on the transmitter: the first is the differential encoding, and the second is the phase-shift keying. In the transmitter, the signal will be advanced in phase, with respect to the current signal, if the symbol to be sent is 0, and the phase will be preserved if the bit corresponds to 1. In the side of the receiver, we have memory that will be able to compare the phase of two successive bit intervals, i.e. it determines the relative difference in phase of these two, determining the correspondent symbols without the need of having information about the phase of the signal in the transmitter.

Figure 9 Implemented DPSK demodulator (Tsimenidis, 2016)

The FIR matched filter block will correspond to a low-pass filter, this is required because the demodulation process, as it is a multiplication between two sinusoidal signals, will generate a low-band signal and a high-band signal, where the second one should be filtered.

2.3. Symbol synchronisation

The symbol synchronisation, also called symbol timing, is a critical process that consists in the continuous estimation and update of information of the symbol related to its data transition epochs. This is a critical process that must be conducted to keep the communication accuracy in acceptable levels.

Broadly speaking, the synchronization techniques could be classified in two groups: open-loop and closed-loop. The chosen technique for this project corresponds to the Early-Late Symbol Synchronization which is a closed-loop type. The most popular technique is the closed-loop synchronization because “Open-loop synchronizer has an unavoidable nonzero average tracking error (though small for large SNR, it cannot be made zero), a closed-loop symbol synchronizer circumvents this problem.”(Nguyen & Shwedyk, 2009)

The corresponding results of the output of the demodulator are the following figures, these corresponds to the signals before and after the signal is filtered with the FIR low-pass filter.

Notes:

The curve in blue corresponds to the signal containing the high-frequency parasite component, and the curve in red shows the result of filtering the high frequency component, i.e. this is the output signal of the filter.
The symbol correspondence is: symbol 0 for positive numbers, and symbol 1 for negative magnitudes.

Figure 10 Low-pass filter input/output

2.3.1. Early-late Symbol Synchronization (Reed, 2002)

The algorithm Early-late used for synchronization is supported by the idea that the sample of a symbol must be taken in the time where the energy is maximum, this will warranty a minimum error probability.

This algorithm exploits the symmetry of the signal, neglecting the distortion and noise. Considering the following figure, we can see that the optimal time to take the sample, identified as T, should be in the halfway between two points T0 + d and T0 – d, if the power in the T0 + d and T0 – d is, ideally, the same.

Figure 11 Optima sample time diagram

Suppose the following figure shows a symbol, we can notice that if we take an arbitrary sample, e.g. n=3 and depending on the thresholds, could be wrongly interpreted as 0, however the most appropriated value is 1.

Figure 12 Symbol with 40 samples (Tsimenidis, 2016)

With a buffer size of 20 registers, we can notice that in the following figure the power levels of the signal for n=0 and n=19 are different, then we need to move the whole buffer one space to the right.

Figure 13 Early-Late sample at an arbitrary point (Tsimenidis, 2016)

If we continue with the iteration and we follow the rules described in the flow diagram, we will converge in a finite number of iterations, where we can see that the result is located as expected, this could be seen in the following figure.

Figure 14 Early-Late sample at the maximum point of power (Tsimenidis, 2016)

The results of the application of this algorithm for our case are shown in the following figure:

Note:

The signal in red is the input of the early-late symbol synchronization block and the signal in blue is the value of Em that will finally determine the value that the symbol is representing, in each case.

Figure 15 Early-Late symbol synchronization input/output

2.4. Frame synchronisation

As was stated in the in the background section, the message frame will begin with the characters “++++” and the message has 72 bytes encoding the message using a ASCII characters. Therefore, this section will deal with two tasks: (1) Detect the message preamble and (2) Decode byte per byte of the data contained in the payload.

After the preamble section, we will detect 576 bits, corresponding to the 72 bytes that correspond to the ASCII characters. These characters will be dumped into an executable file that will then show the message that has been detected and decoded.

The specific implementation of the algorithm is attached in the appendix section of this report.

2.5. Results and evaluation

The result of applying the steps described in the sections from 2.1 to 2.4, we obtain the message, getting the result showed in the next figure:

Figure 16 Result of non-coherent receiver detection

3. Coherent receiver

The coherent receiver, also called synchronous receiver, implies certain degree of agreement or knowledge about parameters used in the transmitter side. For the case of the project, we have a signal of type DPSK, i.e. the codification is contained in the variation of the phase of the signal.

3.1. IQ Down-converter

The aim of this component is to decompose a complex signal in terms of its in-phase and quadrature elements.

To achieve this decomposition, we are going to perform the implementation using lookup-table oscillators, i.e. that for a given signal in-phase and quadrature components will be obtained by using the definitions given by:

Figure 17 IQ Downconverter (Tsimenidis, 2016)

Upon these definitions, the components that we obtain could be represented in two separated graphs, each one of them representing a different component table.

Figure 18 Sine and cosine table graphs

As for the index control of look-up table, we decide to use for loop to generate x2I[n] and x2Q[n], storing and transporting data to corresponding files as x2I.h and x2Q.h. These files will be used later to perform the conversion of values.

Figure 19 Index control flow (Tsimenidis, 2016)

After understanding the principle, we defined all of variables and initialized them to zero inside the main, and select the appropriate value of some variables such as state_mf, coeffs_mf and N_mf.Same as the picture over, the original data from bandpass output is also separated into two filters: Matched Filter I and Matched Filter Q, and the coefficients of the filters are the same with the original one. The benefit of using the lookup-table oscillators (setting x2 into x2I and x2Q) is to decrease the time of simulation because of the lower required sampling rate.A We can use via lookup table method to call them from x2I.h and x2Q.h, so that we can use it more efficiently in Matlab instead of shifting itself. And then, we multiplied x1 to x2I[n] and x2Q[n] one by one by using another for loop and got x3I and x3Q.Besides,the code of matched filter had been given by tutors and got x4I and x4Q.

{x4I=fir(x3I,coeff_mf,state_mf_I,N_mf);A //match filter I }

{x4Q=fir(x3I,coeff_mf,state_mf_Q,N_mf);A //match filter I }

Figure 20 Filter comparison (Tsimenidis, 2016)

We monitored and recorded x3I and x3Q in PicoScope and print screen. The wave of them spinning fixed at the origin point so three of these blows were selected to describe this wave batter.

Figure 21 Down-conversion: x3I vs. x3Q counter clockwise

After this, we can visualize the outputs of each one of the filters, now we are going to plot in the figure x4I and x4Q, obtaining:

Figure 22 Down-conversion: x4I vs. x4Q counter clockwise

3.2. Symbol synchronization

After IQ down-converter, the next stage is symbol synchronization. To achieve this, we create x5I[n] and x5Q[n] and sent x4I, x4Q one sample at the time. The procedure that we should do in this section is similar to the one seen in the non-coherent detection, however we must consider two buffers instead of one, one for I and other for Q parts.

The sum of the above established energies will correspond to the energy that can be seen as the total energy of the signal, which is similar to lab of the symbol synchronization for the non-coherent receiver.

The corresponding calculations to obtain the signals after the symbol synchronization process are defined as:

Then, plotting the results obtained, we see the following figure:

Figure 23 x6I vs. x6Q

Due to synchronization problems, we threated the jitter that was causing these inconsistences using the averaging approach, as described in the follows:

Figure 24 Averaging approach to overcome the jitter (Tsimenidis, 2016)

Figure 25 Code to solve the jitter

3.3. Differential coherent demodulator

In this section, we will implement a differential detector, also called a differential coherent demodulator.

Figure 26 Principle of the differential detector (Tsimenidis, 2016)

At first, we declare and initialize appropriately the required variables and define .In this differential detector, need to multiply ,1 symbol delay by .

N

N=1

N=2

N=3

After this, we defined x6I_prev and x6Q_prev to deal with this problem and let x6I_prev and x6Q_prev denote the values of x6I and x6Q from the previous symbol. It is very important to initialize them to zero at the declaration because we know . (Tsimenidis, 2016)

x6I_prev=x6I;

x6Q_prev=x6Q

On the same time,

dI contains the first two terms which stand for the In-phase part and dQ which contains the last two terms which stand for the Quadrature part.

Hard decision is then achieved by deciding whether the dI value is positive or negative, with a negative value indicating that a logic 1 was transmitted which might be used in the next step that is frame synchronization and message detection.

Now we obtain the plot showi

The Impact of the Widespread Use of Information and Communication Technologies on Civil Liberties
Abstract

Advances in information and communication technologies have presented new opportunities and problems for the society. The opportunities that have become obvious with regard to the application of these technologies include meeting the changing demands of the public for enhanced service delivery, an ability to communicate instantaneously over vast distances and being able to store or retrieve vast amounts of information as well as being able to interact with a large number of individuals or organisations by providing them with information over the internet etc. However, these new developments often leave the public sector actors confused because they are often bound by legacy values and outdated socio – economic morality. As democratic societies debate the ethics of the new situation with which they have been confronted, a potential exists for the occurrence of a large number of cases involving a serious misunderstanding of computers and computer based communication with implications for civil liberties in a society. Such misunderstandings can mean that a large number of individuals may have their privacy encroached upon, their computing equipment seized and their lives hampered for no real reason. Although governments do have a duty to ensure that various actors are not indulging in activities that are harmful to the society as a whole or to members of a society, it is also important that innocent individuals are not maligned. Information and communication technologies have placed an awesome power in the hands of those who have the imagination to dream up new uses for such technologies and lawmakers have to some how balance the rights of the individuals and those of the society as a whole. This brief essay takes a look at some of the implications of the widespread use of information and communications technologies on civil liberties.

Contents (Jump to)

Introduction

Advances in Technology Provide a Wider Range of Options on Civil Liberties

Conclusions

Bibliography/References

Introduction

Civil liberties refer to the freedoms that are enjoyed by the citizens of a state without interference from governments. Examples of civil liberties include freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to privacy, right to self defence and the right of due process in law as well as the right to a fair trial by a competent court (Wikipedia, 2006, Civil Liberties). The previously mentioned freedoms and rights are usually granted to citizens by virtue of legal enactments that have been written into the laws of a country, including its constitution. The constitutions of various states provide a varying degree of emphasis to civil liberties that can be enjoyed by citizens, but nearly all countries of the world today do offer some degree of protection against interference by a government or others in the lives of a private citizen. As an example, the Australian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the South Korean Constitution requires that the government protect the privacy as well as dignity of its citizens and the Constitution of the United States of America, through the first ten amendments that are called the Bill of Rights, requires that the government guarantee freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religious worship, the right to bear arms, prevent search and seizure without just cause, cruel and unusual punishment and self – incrimination as well as ensuring that a citizen is provided the rights to due process and a fair trial by an impartial jury. Any powers related to civil liberties or human rights that have not been explicitly granted to the Federal government in the United States Constitution are reserved by the citizens or the States of the Union. Although the United Kingdom lacks a codified constitution, this country along with many European countries are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, which stipulates the standards related to civil liberties and human rights in European countries that are signatory to this instrument. The Human Rights Act of the United Kingdom has been the vehicle for incorporation of many of the European Convention rights into United Kingdom law (Answers.com, 2006, “Civil Liberties”). Thus, many counties around the world have laws that extend guarantees associated with civil liberties to its citizens.

Proliferation of computers, information technology and communications in the present pervasive computing age has made it very convenient to maintain records related to persons and to indulge in surveillance as well as identification of individuals. Maintaining detailed records about all aspects of an individual’s private life, rapid searching and retrieval of information related to an individual, tapping of phone conversations and identification of suspicious communications from keywords as well as relatively foolproof identification of individuals from fingerprints or other biometric signatures such as dental records, DNA or the unique patterns of the iris and the transmission of very detailed records over vast distances in an instant are now quite possible (Akdeniz, 2001, Pp. 1 – 10), (Ashbourn, 2006, Pp. 1 – 20) and (Hassan, 2004, Pp. 1 – 7). It is, therefore, possible for a state or other vested interests to defame and abuse or try to take advantage of individuals as well as to deny them opportunities or to malign them in many ways through the power of information that can be manipulated by technology.

This brief essay takes a look at the impact of the widespread use of information and communication technologies on civil liberties in a society.

Advances in Technology Provide a Wider Range of Options on Civil Liberties

Whereas the menace of international terror and the activities associated with organised crime have meant that governments do have a duty to be vigilant about the safety and security of its citizens and the nation, it is also important that a state, its functionaries or other powerful or mischievous interests in a society desist, or be prevented from undue interference in the private activities of an individual (Greenberg, 2004, Pp. 165 – 168). Such interference may have an appeal for many who may want to try and take undue advantage of information about a citizen that can be readily gathered, stored, transmitted and analysed using the new information and communication technologies. However, technology not only provides a potential for abuse, but it also provides benefits and enhanced safety for all in a society (Campbell, 1998, “The Social Impact of New Communications Technologies”). Thus, the advent of technology has given a society and individual members of a society a greater power and a lot more options about what can be done to gather detailed information about an individual and to use such information in a number of ways by making it known to others. However, protecting civil liberties requires that such powers be controlled and that the gathering or release of information about individuals be restrained, unless sanctioned by competent and responsible members of a society in the wider interests of other members of the society, so that an individual is not unduly disadvantaged, threatened, abused or taken advantage of by the state or other vested interests in the society. The protection of civil liberties is essential for the evolution and development of an individual’s personality as well as for the protection of any advantages that may have been made available to an individual through their ingenuity, hard work, force of circumstance, manipulations by nature or as a result of a gift from the Divine (Tabata, 2006, Pp. 10 – 20 and 79 – 80), (De Boni, 2001, Pp. 1 – 3) and (Hutson, 2005, Pp. 7). However, it is equally important to safeguard the interests of all members of a society so that the activities of individuals or a group of individuals do not have a destructive impact on others (Lau, 2002, Pp. 1 – 3). Technology has, therefore, provided a greater number of options to a society about the values that it may want to maintain.

It is obvious that advances in technology do make it possible for the government of a nation, or other vested interests, such as private telecommunication companies or ISP providers etc, to take advantage of these advances in order to either liberate or to oppress the masses. Thus, the society is presented with choices and depending on what the interested powers want, a balance is struck between what may amount to oppression and what may be considered to be the legitimate authority of the state or others to protect their interests. Debates about civil liberties have always been carried out in democratic societies, even though such debates may have been discouraged or censored in the more authoritarian countries (American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, 2000, “Letter to the Senate on Legislation to Increase Law Enforcement Electronic Surveillance”). The more advanced nations have attempted to promote universal standards associated with civil liberties and human rights, but despite such efforts, what is acceptable as public law varies from one country to the other (Statewatch, 2006, “Current Lead Stories”). A dictatorial regime in a third world country will not feel any remorse about using all the technology at its disposal to neutralise its opponents or to repress the masses. However, in the more developed world, civil rights groups, public interest groups, the judiciary, business interests and various branches of the government come to some sort of an agreement about how the civil liberties of citizens ought to be protected and what can be considered to be acceptable conduct on the part of the government and other interests. Certainly, the widespread use of information and communications technologies has provided greater opportunities to abuse the civil rights of individuals (Taylor, 2001, “The Council of Europe Cyber crime Convention: a civil liberties perspective”). However, the previously mentioned technologies can also be used to safeguard civil liberties, educate the masses and provide better service to the community.

In the United Kingdom, a very substantial increase in the number of phone tapping warrants has been observed in recent years and although this can be attributed to the war against global terrorism and organised crime, it has to be appreciated that no one can intercept private communications in the United Kingdom without a judicial warrant (Akdinez, 2001, Pp. 1 – 5). Disclosure of any data that is considered to be private is also an offence against the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Although the use of covert human intelligence gathering about suspects is not illegal under the previously mentioned Act, such activities can be challenged under the Human Rights Act. Thus, the British and European societies in general have placed a reasonably high value on the protection of civil liberties and human rights in matters that are associated with the proliferation of information and communication technologies. In the lesser developed nations, such high standards are less likely to be maintained (Waters, 1997, “Telecommunications interception — extending the reach or maintaining the status quo?”). Surveillance is not just limited to law enforcement authorities, but in the United States such activities may also be carried out by an employer or others with a vested interest, without the consent of an employee or the individual (National Science Foundation, 1998, “Privacy Issues”) and (Hutson, 2005, Pp. 7).

Apart from an enhanced threat of surveillance or monitoring and threats to an individual’s privacy, advances in technology have also produced new problems related to what can be done to prevent interested parties from violating the human rights of others. The awesome power of the internet makes it possible to libel anyone anonymously by writing messages about them as web content. Also, any information that ever makes it to the web can be readily copied and distributed all over the world (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2006, “Free Speech”). In addition to activities that are designed to bring persons into disrepute, it is also necessary to control the so called investment companies, online gambling websites and the High Yield Investment Pools that seem to regularly rip off individuals by tantalising them with huge returns on their investment of E-Gold or other similar electronic currency (Pokerpulse.com, 2006, “Internet gambling and the Patriot Act”). Despite warnings about financial scams that are posted on law enforcement websites by governments of the so called developed world, it appears that the regulators of the World Wide Web have little interest in ensuring that any web content is not fraudulent. It also appears that law enforcement agencies, even in the developed countries, are unable or unwilling to locate financial scam websites despite these being registered by authorised web registrants (Goldpoll.com, 2006, “HYIP Ratings”). Not a single HYIP has ever delivered anything resembling the investment that an unsuspecting individual makes as a payback, yet these websites are operating with great impunity under the very noses of the global law enforcement agencies and regulators of the World Wide Web. Surely, civil liberties which include freedom of speech and freedom to engage in commerce do not extend to activities that are harmful to other members of the community. However, it has been observed that governments of the great democratic nations are willing to do precious little to regulate financial scams on the web, even though they have tried to control what can be posted on the web (Center for Democracy and Technology, 2006, “Reports and Articles – CDT Sends Letter Opposing Mandatory Labelling”). Thus, many new problems with a potential to damage members of a society by persons or groups with a vested interest have been created by advances in information and communication technologies. Although issues related to these new problems are being debated within societies and legislation is being gradually introduced to regulate new technologies, the process seems to be too slow and cumbersome to protect many who have already been victimised. Because of the global nature of the World Wide Web and the global reach of information and communication technologies, global cooperation is essential to regulate these new technologies in an ethical manner (Brosseau, 2002, Pp. 24 – 32). However, despite a dire need for cooperation, practical results have been exceedingly slow in materialising.

Conclusions

From the previous discussion it can be concluded that the widespread use of information and communication technologies has created new opportunities as well as new dangers for the protection of civil liberties and human rights. Technology offers power which can be used to do good or to do evil and societies around the world are grappling with the issues of just how to balance civil liberties in relation to protecting the broader interests of the society at large and those of its other members. Different countries have drawn different lines in the air, but a great need exists for a global understanding of the issues involved and some sort of a global cooperation to regulate these new technologies with a global reach.

Bibliography / References

Impact of Technology on Society

Abstract

The communication industry and the invention of communication devices marked a new phase in the interaction and social patterns of people. Taking into account the social needs of people, communication is an essential element that was made possible by telephones. Therefore, the technology of using telephones bridged the gap between the social needs and the geographical location (VanFossen, & Berson, 2008). This was a major problem when the world had no communication devices. This research paper will look into the telephone technology in detail and then outline a number of impacts related to this technology. Attention in this research paper will be paid to how the introduction of the telephone technology changed the world.

Impact of Technology on Society

Introduction

The technology chosen for this discussion is telephone. The telephone technology works by transmitting sounds and signals in distant places. This implies that people in far regions can communicate with ease without having to travel. This technology was conceived by Graham Bell in the 18^th century and has changed the way people interact to this day. During the development of the telephone, there was a high level of skepticism that surrounded many people about the effectiveness of these gadgets (Ling, 2004). These concerns were addressed by the successful launch and operations of the first telephone.

Societal Outlook after Introduction of Telephone Technology

The introduction of telephones in the human history changed communication and the way people interacted. From a social perspective, the situation improved because people would talk and make decisions while in distant places. There was a great deal of convenience that came about as a result of this technology. For example, the cost of travelling for the purpose of relaying information was reduced with interested parties talking while in different locations. Interaction was taken a notch higher after the introduction of this technology with people talking about various things over the telephone. There was also a new trend of exchanging information and ideas never seen before in human civilization. The question of building relationships and networks by talking to people on the telephone changed as a result of telephones.

Economically, there was increased trade between various regions. It should be noted that the telephone was good for business because traders would communicate with traders situated in other locations. From a business perspective, communication is an essential element in relation to the movement of goods and services. This means that communication means a lot in relation to the exchange of commodities. When the telephone was introduced, a new wave of business efficiency was experienced as a result of reduction in communication barriers that were prevalent at the time. Employment opportunities increased as a result of effective communication between various people doing business. In other words, capital inflows increased as a result of foreign investments. Communication was instrumental in terms of convincing investors from other parts of the world to come and invest in a given region (Lin & Atkin, 2002). Globalization can also be attributed to the use of the telephone in the early years. As a result of effective communication, the world was in a better position in terms of engaging with international partners. An increase in economic growth and development as a result of a high penetration of knowledge was experienced. A close review of the above mentioned changes shows that the telephone technology is a major invention that shaped the world in a major way. The open interaction system created by introduction of the telephone was a step in the right direction that improved the standards of living for most people. At the same time, the prices of commodities were standardized in relation to a connected world.

From a political perspective, the telephone was an invaluable tool in terms of administration and coordinating various projects. Thanks to the communication process between various people, administration issues were effectively sorted out. Playing an oversight role in anything without proper communication is a sham affair that is not viable. Thus, the telephone invention was a major step towards the management of regions and resources. In addition, those playing the management role with regards to the political systems of a given region were expected to utilize effective communication for the purpose of making their intentions known (Mitcham, 2005).

Welfare, Health and State of Environment

The welfare aspect of society was enhanced as a result of the introduction of telephone technology. There were many issues that were addressed with the advent of this technology. There was a transition felt by many people in relation to highlighting various events happening in the society. A good example that can be used to show the welfare impact of this technology was the discussion of events over the telephone by many people. The culture of discussing issues in groups changed drastically and transformed to detailed analysis of information through telephone communication.

The health of the society changed for the better with the emergence of telephone technology. For example, the communication and dissemination of information increased in a way that helped people to understand various issues happening in the society. From a mass communication point of view, attaining a healthy society entails taking into account how information and ideas are exchanged (Lin & Atkin, 2002). This is why regions with poor communication mechanisms are considered as less healthy. The expectation is that a society with effective communication systems is able to address issues with consideration and consultation. This is opposed to a society where the communication infrastructure is not well developed.

With regards to the state of the environment, telephone technology signaled a new phase in terms of environmental conservation issues. It is imperative to note that communication has a direct correlation with the state of the environment. For example, a society with diverse communication channels provides ample opportunities for deliberation on issues associated with the environment. In this case, those concerned about the environmental systems, used the communication aspect for the purpose of enlightening the public about the problems that needed to be addressed.

Functioning of Society after Implementation of Technology

The telephone enabled governments and other administration systems in terms of managing people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. From a leadership perspective, there is need for different people to have a common agenda that unites them as a country. This fete can only be attained through telephone communication. A look at regions with many cultures shows an improvement in the governance system as a result of effective movement of information from one point to another. By communicating in a common language such as English, which is widely spoken by people around the world, leaders were able to communicate their agenda to the public. According to analysts, communication played an influential role in terms of shaping governance systems and the consolidation of power (Mercer, 2006). Therefore, the influence of telephones on the political realm of people was widespread and changed the course of history in relation to leadership.

Education and the public system of teaching was enhanced as a result of this technology. By the time Bell discovered the telephone, education was a problem and was conducted in a way that was not viable for both students and teachers. The problem was that communication was not taking place in the right way. There are many instances where students did not receive the best learning curriculum due to breakdown in communication. It can be said that communication influenced the learning culture in a better way by introducing ideas from other regions. This was made possible as a result of communication between teachers in various parts of the world. As educational providers embarked on developing the best curriculum for their students, communication through the telephone was emphasized. This implies that the telephone technology improved learning by promoting curriculum development.

Negative and Positive Impacts of Telephones on Welfare and Health

Negative Impacts

The first demerit of the telephone technology in terms of health and welfare of the society was reduction in the physical contact among the people engaged in communication. There were worries that the new technology would affect the social bonds that people had considering that communicating through the telephone is devoid of meeting the person physically. This presented a social threat to the coexistence of people and was slated to create isolation due to talking over the telephone for a long time (Mitcham, 2005).

The other negative aspect of the telephone technology on welfare was the cost associated with making a call. The charges of making telephone calls at the time were high and discouraged other people from using the communication device. This explains why the technology was a preserve of the affluent. On the other hand, the ordinary people did not find it convenient to use the communication at a cost. This is an indication that despite the invention of this technology, the needs of people were not met.

Mental health complications were another impact of using the telephone technology. According to psychologists, the signals that coordinate communication between one person and the other can damage the brain cells. The damage caused by the waves to the brain cells is considered to have far reaching implications on the long term mental condition of a person. These signals react have the capability of reacting with brain cells hence, reducing functionality. The risk was high among those people who were using the technology repeatedly. As can be seen in the above description, the mode of communicating through the telephone was harmful to human health.

Positive Impacts

The main positive aspect of introducing the telephone technology was convergence of the world. Due to an increase in the number of people communicating, the entire world was interconnected and thereby fostered a new era of transport and trade agreements. As long as the whole world was connected through the telephone technology, there was every reason to believe that telephones helped in making the world a single compendium. In addition, the new connection of the globe helped nations and individuals to seek opportunities beyond their shore such as in the area of business and education. Nothing beats efficiency in terms of production and even relationships (VanFossen, & Berson, 2008). The telephone was an important addition that changed the landscape in a better way. For example, those doing business were able to expand their scope by travelling to new areas. In addition, there was increased cohesion around the world like never before. Lack of a definite communication structure interferes with the system of interaction by creating tension.

The second positive aspect about telephone technology is the idea of promoting freedom and democracy through deliberations. According to communication experts, the use of telephones was a game changer in terms of expression and the pursuit of universal rights on freedom of speech. The above mentioned elements of human rights could not have been achieved without the help of the telephone. It is logical to point that this technology opens up opportunities for users on many fronts such as economic, political and social.

Negative and Positive Impacts of Telephones on the Environment

Negative Impacts

The major problem brought about by the telephone technology was emission of waves that maybe harmful to the environment. The ecosystem is an important medium that humans need to survive and thus exposing the latter to these emissions pose a huge risk to human, animal and plant life. The erection of telephone poles and machinery that supported the operation of telephones was conducted in a way that was not environmentally viable. The question of this new technology being a burden rather than a solution was raised with regards to the negative impacts on the environment.

The second problem with the use telephones was over dependency. After this technology was introduced, the rate of dependency increased as a result of long distance relationships which had been maintained. There was also an unprecedented increase psychological issues related to the dependency mentioned in the previous statement (Lin & Atkin, 2002). The bottom line is that this technology changed the aspect of dependency that was prevalent before, the technology was conceived. The problem with this trend was that a small breakdown in the communication chain would affect relationships and plans in a major way.

Positive Impacts

The good side of using telephones with regards to the environment was effective coordination and interaction that created value. This was not the case during the days when telephones had not been invented. Value is normally created through the process of interaction. This also depends on the objectives of both parties in the interaction.

The negative impacts of telephones on the environment are many as compared to the positive attributes. This has been evidenced by the above analysis of negative and positive impacts of the telephone technology.

Impact of Telephone Technology and Engineering Practices

The example of the telephone technology outlined in this discussion shows the need for innovation and flexibility in the field. Innovation is a crucial requirement in the field of engineering since, the latter raises the prospects of addressing various challenges facing the society. Just like the genius concepts applied by Graham Bell during his discovery, the same approach should be used by engineers focused on improving their skills. A culture of innovation should be inculcated in the engineering field to help position developers in terms of developing viable solutions that address societal challenges.

Critical Thinking Skills and Evaluating Impact of Technology

The emergence of the telephone concept is a reflection of high level innovation and satisfaction of human needs (Ling, 2004). Since, the early years of development, a number of developments have been made and as the modern situation shows, communication is changing at a fast rate. The society is at the center of this change and provides an explanation of how best a given technology works for the needs of people.

Conclusion

The world is better and more informed because of the telephone technology. The scope of influence created by this technology is immense and has changed the way people interact and think. With the changing times, the system of communication has been taking a new turn with new trend coming up. The impacts of this technology on the environment, health and welfare of the society shows the strides made since, the early years.

References

Lin, C. A., & Atkin, D. J. (2002). Communication technology and society: Audience adoption and uses. Creskill, N.J: Hampton Press.

Ling, R. S. (2004). The mobile connection: The cell phone’s impact on society. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Mercer, D. (2006). The telephone: The life story of a technology. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.

Mitcham, C. (2005). Encyclopedia of science, technology, and ethics. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.

VanFossen, P. J., & Berson, M. J. (2008). The electronic republic: The impact of technology on education for citizenship. West Lafayette, Ind: Purdue University Press.

Theoretical Concepts and Technical Aspects on Image Segmentation

Image segmentation is a very significant area in computer vision. Image segmentation, partitions an image into multiple regions based on certain similarity constraints. This acts as the pre-processing stage in several image analysis problems like image compression, image recognition etc. Segmentation is the vital part for the successful extraction of image features and classification. Image segmentation can be defined as the partition of an image into several regions or categories. These regions can be similar in any features like color, texture, intensity etc. Every pixel in an image is assigned to any one of the categorised region. Quality of segmentation is described as pixels in the same region are similar in some characteristics whereas pixels in different regions differ in the characteristics. The segmentation process includes restoration, enhancement, and representation of the image data in the required form.

Image Segmentation Techniques

Image segmentation techniques can be broadly classified based on certain characteristics. Basic classifications of image segmentation techniques include local and global image segmentation techniques. The segmentation method that is concerned with segmenting specific parts or region of image is known as local image segmentation. The segmentation method that is concerned with segmenting the whole image, consisting of very large number of pixels is known as global image segmentation.

The next category of image segmentation method is based on the properties of the images to be segmented. It is categorised as discontinuity detection based approach and similarity detection based approach. In discontinuity detection based approach, the segmentation is based on discontinuities in the images like edge based segmentation and similarity detection based approach is based on similarity of regions like Threshold based, Region growing, Region Splitting and Merging etc. The segmentation technique which is based on the information of the structure of required portion of the image is known as structural segmentation. Most of the segmentation methods are stochastic type, where the segmentation is completely depended upon the discrete pixel values of the image.

Threshold based segmentation method is the simplest method of segmentation. The image pixels are segmented based on the intensity level. This kind of segmentation is more applicable for images where the objects are lighter than the background. This method is based on prior knowledge of the image features. There are mainly three types of threshold based segmentation. Global Thresholding: This method is done using a proper threshold value. The threshold value will be constant for the whole image. Output of the image is based on this threshold value. Variable Thresholding: In this type of segmentation method the value of threshold can vary in a single image. Multiple Thresholding: In this kind of thresholding, the output of segmentation is based on multiple threshold values. Threshold values can be computed from image histograms. In [1], threshold based level set approach based on threshold based segmentation and fast marching method [2] for medical image segmentation is proposed. To improve the image acquisition process in computer vision, threshold based segmentation method based on entropy criteria and genetic algorithm is mentioned in [3].

Edge based segmentation method is based on the sudden change of intensity values in an image. In image processing, object boundaries are represented using edge. Edge based segmentation works by identifying the region of abrupt intensity change in an image [4]. Mainly there are two types of edge based segmentation methods. Grey Histogram Technique: In this method the foreground is separated from the background based on a threshold value. Choosing the correct threshold value creates a problem. Gradient Based Method: Gradient can be defined as the first derivate of the image near the edge. Higher change in the intensity values between two regions is depicted by the high value of gradient magnitude. In order to perform multi scale image segmentation an edge based auto threshold generating method is introduced in [5]. Another method for edge detection using variance filter is introduced in [6].

Theory based segmentation method uses derivatives from several fields. Several types of this kind of algorithm includes, Clustering based segmentation: In this method clusters are formed based on the similarity criteria (size, color, texture etc). Methods include k-means clustering, fuzzy clustering, hard clustering etc [7]. Artificial Neural Network: In this method the neuron represents the pixels and segmentation is performed with the help of trained images. Methods using Wavelet Decomposition and Self Organization Map of artificial neural networks are proposed [8].

Region based segmentation [13] methods are similar to edge based segmentation. The advantage of region based segmentation upon edge based is that, the former is more immune to noise. In this method, the region of an image is either splitted or merged into areas based on similarity. Region Growing: the collection of pixels is grouped into a region with similar properties [9]. Region Splitting and Merging: Here the image is further subdivided into several regions based on some pre-defined criteria. Graph cut image segmentation is a very significant technique of segmentation under region based segmentation. Several techniques of region growing methods include techniques that combine edge and region based information using morphological watershed algorithms [10]. In this method, initially a noise filter along with magnitude gradient is used and pre segmentation is performed through region merging. A region similarity graph is then produced and final segmentation is performed using Multi Class Normalized Cut. This technique overpowers the Spectral clustering method. As the method mentioned is a time consuming task, new method is presented [11]. For the purpose of detecting objects sharply, least square method is used for region based segmentation. Here the local information is also considered by calculating the weight matrix. This segmentation technique is optimum and fast.

Graph-cut Image Segmentation

As mentioned in the above methods, the techniques either use the region information or use the boundary information [12]. This results in limited segmentation. In graph cut segmentation optimal result for energy function is computed and segmentation is based on that result.

Basics of Graph-Cut

An undirected graph, set of vertices and a set of edges, are considered. Vertex represents the pixels in an image and edges denote the connection between the adjacent pixels. There exists a source and sink node which holds the foreground and background respectively. In graph cut method, each edge is assigned with a non-negative weight which coins the term cost. [12] A graph cut is actually the partitioning of the edge set into several component sets. Graph cut method can be either min cut or max cut. Min cut can be defined as cut through minimum cost and max cut can be defined as the cut through maximum cost. That is after the cut performed, the vertices are divided into two sets, source and sink, which holds the foreground and background pixels respectively.

Implementing graph cut method assigns value 1 to the pixels in the foreground and 0 to the pixels in the background. This is achieved through minimum graph cut method by minimizing the energy function.

Types of Graph Cut Based Algorithm

The graph cut based segmentation can be mainly divided into three types. They are Speed-up based graph cut, Interactive based graph cut and Shape prior based graph cut. The speed up based graph cut method is used to improve the speed of the graph cut method through parallel computing. Earlier implementation was based on CUDA code [14]. The best way to speed up the computational time is to reduce the number of graph nodes while reconstructing the graph [15] [16]. Another method used for speed up based graph cut method is clustering based graph cut. Clustering based graph cut is based on reducing the number of nodes by grouping similar pixels into a single cluster and treating a cluster as a node. Watershed based method is another important speed up based approach where, gradient images are considered and the concept of catchment basins are used [15].

Interactive based graph cut plays a very important role in segmentation of natural images and the situations where the segmentation requires high precision. In this kind of methods the seed points are selected and then segmentation is performed based on these points. Several methods are performed using the concept of bounding box, where the centre portion of the bounding box corresponds to the object and histogram is constructed. The area outside the bounding box is considered as the background region [17] [18]. Certain interactive segmentation is performed by choosing both the foreground and background region together. Iterative interactive graph cut segmentation is also performed.

Shape prior based graph cut segmentation finds its importance where the image to be segmented is affected by noise, diffuse edge, obstructed objects etc. In this kind of segmentation, the shape information is included as the energy function [19] [20].

Case Study

In this chapter a graph based image segmentation method is explained. The efficient graph based image segmentation method initially considers the input image as a graph. The pixel values are considered as the nodes of the graph and edge is drawn between the adjacent pixels. The edge weight is represented by the difference between adjacent pixels. Initially, the considered edge set is sorted in the increasing order of edge weight. The segmentation process actually segments the entire vertices set into disjoint sets based on some similarity function. The vertex set is initially randomly partitioned into several component sets. This is considered as the initial segmentation.

The vertices producing the largest edge weight is considered first. Let the two vertices be v1 and v2. Then check whether these two vertices belong to disjoint component sets in the previous segmentation (initial segmentation). If the two vertices are in disjoint component sets then compare the edge weight connecting these vertices to the internal difference of these two component sets. If the weight of the edge connecting these vertices is smaller when compared to the internal difference, then these two components are merged. Otherwise, it is neglected. On continuing these steps till the smallest edge weight, a final segmentation of the input image is obtained.

Expected Outcome

In the proposed chapter, an exhaustive review on image segmentation such as threshold based, edge based, graph based and region based segmentation will be included. The various approaches employed for graph cut segmentation include interactive graph cut, efficient graph cut, shape based graph cut and speed up based graph cut. The chapter would conclude with results on a list of benchmark images. At the enclosure of the chapter, open research problems will be discussed.

Gait, as a promising unintrusive biometric, has attracted several researchers in recent years. In intelligent surveillance, the advantage of accessibility at a distance makes gait a promising behavior characteristic for recognition.

Human identification from arbitrary views may be a terribly very drawback, particularly once one is walking at a distance. Over the previous couple of years, recognizing identity from gait patterns has become a well-liked space of analysis in life science and pc vision, and one among the foremost made applications of image analysis and understanding. Also, gait recognition is being thought of as a next-generation recognition identification technology , with pertinence to several civilian and high security environments like airports, banks, military bases, car parks, railway stations etc. For these application situations, it’s unimaginable to capture the frontal face, and is of low resolution. therefore most of ancient approaches used for face recognition fail; but, many studies have shown that it’s doable to spot human notwithstanding frontal face isn’t visible, and it’s doable to ascertain the identity of the person victimization bound static and dynamic cues from face, ear, walking vogue, hand motion throughout walking etc. If automatic identification systems may be engineered supported victimization these identity specific cues, it’ll be a good contribution to police work and security space. And our aim is to ascertain identity by victimization long vary gait biometric in conelike read points. Gait may be a behavioural biometric that’s superior in person’s authentication. The attractiveness of gait as a biometric arises from the very fact that it’s nonintrusive and might be detected and measured even in low resolution video. Gait as a biometric technique has some blessings like being troublesome to cover, steal, or fake. what is more, gait may be recognizable from distance. However, most alternative life science may be captured solely by physical contact or at an in depth distance from the recording probe. Moreover, users don’t ought to unveil extra info concerning them apart from already obtainable. Despite the benefits enjoyed by gait, it faces several challenges that the present gait identification strategies ar sensitive to such as: variety of garments, illumination changes, person’s speed and directions. we tend to use human gait skeleton recognition system the peak of someone as another modality

Windows 7 or Windows 8 (32 or 64 bit)

Processor: 2.5 GHz (1.8 GHz recommended)
4 GB RAM (2 GB RAM recommended)
High-speed USB 3.0 recommended
Kinect XBOX 360 Sensor
Camera Features:

The Kinect works as a 3D camera by capturing a stream of colored pixels with data concerning the depth of every pixel. every component within the image contains a value that represents the space from the sensing element to an object therein direction. This hardware feature offer developers the means that for making a touch-less and immersive user expertise through voice, movement and gesture management though it doesn’t inherently perform any chase or recognition operations, feat all such process to package. Skeleton chase is usually handled by the SDK with gesture recognition left to the developer, although multiple libraries exist to help in recognition of gestures. additionally, speech recognition is finished by external SDKs like the Microsoft Speech Platform. The Kinect sensor as shown in Figure 6.1 has the following properties and functions:

An RGB Camera that stores three channel data in a 1280?960 resolution at 30Hz. The camera.s field of view as specified by Microsoft is 43?X vertical by 57?X horizontal. The system can measure distance from a 500mm to 3500mm.
An infrared (IR) emitter and an IR depth sensor used for capturing depth image.
An array of four microphones to capture positioned sounds.
A tilt motor which allows the camera angle to be changed without physical interaction and a three-axis accelerometer which can be used to determine the current orientation of the Kinect.
Hardware Interface

The sensor interface with the PC via a standard USB 2.0 port; however an additional power supply is needed because the USB port cannot directly support the sensors power consumption.

Hardware and Software Requirements

According to Microsoft, the PC that is to be used with the Kinect sensor must have the following minimum capabilities: (a) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processors,(b) Dual-core, 2.66-GHz or faster processor,(c) USB 2.0 bus dedicated to the Kinect, and (d) 2 GB of RAM. To access KinectaˆYs capabilities, the following software is also required to be installed on the developeraˆYs PC: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010/2012 Express or other Visual Studio edition. The development programming languages that can be used include C++, C# (C-Sharp), and Visual Basic.

Software Requirements
Operating System: Windows 7 or Windows 8
Programming Tool: Mat lab
MATLAB

MATLAB may be a superior language for technical computing. It integrates computation, visual image, associate degreed programming in an easy-to-use surroundings wherever issues and solutions area unit expressed in acquainted notation. Typical uses include:

Math and computation
Algorithm development
Data acquisition
Modeling, simulation, and prototyping
Data analysis, exploration, and visual image
Scientific and engineering graphics

Application development, together with graphical program building MATLAB is associate degree interactive system whose basic information component is associate degree array that doesn’t need orientating. this enables you to unravel several technical computing issues, particularly those with matrix and vector formulations, during a fraction of the time it might desire write a program during a scalar no interactive language like C or algebraic language.

The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally written to supply easy accessibility to matrix computer code developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK comes. Today, MATLAB engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS libraries, embedding the state of the art in computer code for matrix computation.

MATLAB has evolved over a amount of years with input from several users. In university environments, it’s the quality educational tool for introductory and advanced courses in arithmetic, engineering, and science. In trade, MATLAB is that the tool of selection for high-productivity analysis, development, and analysis.

Image Acquisition Toolbox
Acquire images and video from industry-standard hardware

Image Acquisition Toolbox™ permits us to accumulate pictures and video from cameras and frame grabbers directly into MATLAB® and Simulink®. you’ll notice hardware mechanically and piece hardware properties.

Advanced workflows allow you to trigger acquisition whereas process in-the-loop, perform background acquisition, and synchronize sampling across many multimodal devices. With support for multiple hardware vendors and business standards, you’ll be able to use imaging devices starting from cheap net cameras to high-end scientific and industrial devices that meet low-light, high-speed, and alternative difficult necessities. Together, MATLAB, Image Acquisition toolbox, and Image process Toolbox™ (and, optionally, Video and Image process Block set™) offer an entire atmosphere for developing custom-made imaging solutions. will acquire pictures and video, visualize information, develop process algorithms and analysis techniques, and build GUIs.

Key Features

Support for common OS interfaces for webcams, as well as Direct Show, QuickTime, and video4linux2.
Support for a variety of business and scientific hardware vendors.
Multiple acquisition modes and buffer management choices.
Synchronization of multimodal acquisition devices with hardware triggering.
Interactive tool for fast hardware configuration, image acquisition, and live video previewing.
Support for C code generation in Simulink.
Graphical Interface for Image and Video Acquisition

The Image Acquisition Tool could be a graphical interface for operating with image and video acquisition devices and is similar temperament for interactive configuration of cameras. you’ll browse all hardware devices out there on your laptop, amendment device settings, choose an Region Of Interest (ROI), preview a buying deal, acquire pictures and video, and record knowledge. A preview window helps verify and optimize your acquisition parameters by mechanically reflective any changes created to camera properties within the video stream. The Image Acquisition Tool is a place to begin within the development of automatic and custom image acquisition and process systems.

Image Acquisition in MATLAB

Image Acquisition toolbox provides graphical tools and a programmatic interface to assist to figure with image acquisition hardware in MATLAB. you’ll modify repetitive tasks, produce workflows combined with tasks like image process, and build standalone feasible that acquire pictures and video with MATLAB Compiler™.

The toolbox allows you to customize the acquisition method to incorporate integration image process practicality to spot objects, enhance imagination, or construct mosaics and bird’s-eye views because the information is acquired.

Connecting to Hardware

Image Acquisition toolbox mechanically detects compatible image and video acquisition devices. every device affiliation is encapsulated as associate object, providing associate interface for configuration and acquisition. you’ll be able to produce multiple affiliation objects for coinciding acquisition from as several devices as your laptop and imaging hardware support. Image Acquisition tool chest are often used on Windows®, Linux®, and Macintosh® systems, sanctioning you to recycle code once connecting to an equivalent camera in several operational systems.

Acquiring Image Data

Image Acquisition toolbox supports many modes, together with background acquisition and continuous acquisition, whereas process the noninheritable information. The chest mechanically buffers information into memory, handles memory and buffer management, and allows acquisition from an ROI. The image acquisition engine is meant to accumulate imagination as quick as your camera and laptop will support, sanctioning analysis and process of high-speed imaging applications.

Data are often noninheritable during a wide selection of information sorts, together with signed or unsigned 8-, 16-bit and 32-bit integers and single- or double-precision floating purpose. The chest supports any color area provided by the image acquisition device together with RGB, YUV, or grayscale. Raw sensing element information during a pain pill pattern are often mechanically born-again into RGB information.

Performing Image Acquisition in Simulink

Simulink could be a block-diagram based mostly setting unremarkably used for video system style and multi domain simulations. Image Acquisition tool case provides a Simulink block that allows you to capture pictures and video knowledge directly from any device supported by the tool case to be used in imaging system styles. Combined with Video and Image process Block set, the tool case helps you to perform simulation and verification of image or video process system styles with live image or video knowledge.

Code Generation

Image Acquisition toolbox enables you to generate a C code interface to a deployable library for the Simulink block. this permits you to style a video system and integrate acquisition practicality into your own applications while not having to perform low-level writing with hardware drivers. Code generation conjointly permits Simulink speedy Accelerator modes, that speed up simulations by providing higher performance and frame rates for image and video process simulations.

Triggering and Acquisition Customizations

Image Acquisition toolbox supports multiple trigger varieties to customise the acquisition process: immediate, manual, and hardware. Initiating a sale with a manual trigger offers in depth management over once to start acquisition.

In some applications, you’ll need to record at a high frame rate, perform acquisition only Associate in Nursing object is detected, or once a proximity warning is issued as a trigger. In these things, you’ll write MATLAB code to form the logic to activate a manual trigger that may be controlled by the tool chest. Hardware triggers, that ar device-specific, allow you to synchronize your acquisition among many multimodal devices to an external signal. this allows you to record imagery together with alternative analog and digital input sources.

How is human nature changed form technology?

In the late 20^th century, internet combined with World Wide Web start to hit a big in every society because it makes a possible of sharing the worldwide information. There is no doubt that computer network has a strong impact to people with its capacity of gathering and delivering information. However, as the information’s property is that it above all kinds of messages, which means that while people search for the useful information they also may receive some other useless information, for example, some information that called propaganda. The basic reason for the development of propaganda can be described as how to take advantages from the technological enhancement and the internal of human nature. Though the upgrading of technology provides a lot of benefits for human society, it also brings about so many problems; and human nature is like the catalyst to amplify the greedy of human desire. Propaganda, as an important way for advertisers to lure and brainwash the audiences, has developed in a rapid speed when technological enhancement and human nature continue influences people’s decisions.

Technological enhancement is like the top one assistant to help propaganda spread and exploded faster than decades before. In the article “Computer and the Pursuit of Happiness”, David Gelernter draws out a statement that “But using technology to defeat distance has been another goal of the industrial revolution from the start, from railroads through the Panama Canal and onward.” (138) What Gelernter’s clime is that no matter in which period, people are willing to use technology skills to link together from a long distance. Propaganda can be a well appropriate example to show this method. Assuming that if the president of a large country wants to announce a political decision by using propaganda as soon as possible, but the only way he can use is the traditional way to transmit it, such as railway or water route which will defiantly delay the speed of transmitting the announcement. However, with the assist of technology, people can use radio, TV, and then computer and networks, finally the latest one – internet which connected the whole world to overcome geography and be able to get the information in a fastest way. How come that advertiser will not take some benefits from that technological society by producing propaganda? Technology builds a bright and straight way for advertisers to broadcast various propagandas without any restriction from time or region. Furthermore, technology also makes the category of propaganda becomes copious and colorful. Advertisers can have plentiful technologic ways and skills to create propaganda so that it will be more attracted and alluring. Nobody would say no to the glamorous and creative propaganda which can draw your attention at the very beginning; and the advertisers know it extremely well than anybody else. In spite of the technology enhancement that improve the appearance and the hardware of propaganda, the people who are easily be allured by propaganda can be described as the human nature that is always be in the same pattern and is to simple too be penetrated.

From ancient time to the present, human nature seems like it has conflicting phenomenon. On the one side it remains the same in some aspects; on the other side, there are also have some changes. Ann McClintock mentioned a common sense when people see propaganda that “We are victims, content – even eager – to be victimized. We read advertisers’ propaganda messages in newspapers and magazines; we watch their alluring images on television …… We all do it – even those of us who claim to see through advertisers’ tricks and therefore feel immune to advertising’s charm”, (158) in her article “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising”. The author use the word “victim” to describe the people who truly buy the lie of propaganda in order to reveal a truth that people are vulnerable when they face the fascinating propaganda; and no matter how much the people convince to themselves that they know all tricks in propaganda; they still easily to be fooled by advertisers. So the answer to why it would happen is that the feature of the human nature. There is a common situation in almost everyone’s experience, when people come into a selection of two similar products, in most time people will chose the one with fancy appearance. This is one of the human natures that people will tend to be attracted by appearances but not the inside qualities, which has not changed in decades and will not be changed in future. As this reason, advertisers will try as hard as they can to improve the appearance of products or figures inside of the intrinsic and the qualities of it. Speaking of the change of human nature, it can show through the development of human mind and society. When communication between people from everywhere has fewer limits and people are more open to adapt new things from other country or culture, advertisers are able to have more opportunities to get profits from all over the world by broadcasting a proper propaganda. Considering the alteration and the uniformity of human nature, advertisers always can find a way to promote their “products” whether they are objects, figures or opinions.

In the war between audience and advertiser, the winner always is the advertiser, especially when advertisers can use technology flexible and know human nature like the back of their hands. In Ann McClintock’s article “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising”, McClintock points that “Every day, we are bombarded with slogans, print ads, commercials, packaging claims, billboards, trademarks, logos, and designer brands – all forms of propaganda.” (160-161) In this sentence, most of these media are partly connected to the technology, because technology makes these things become more and more common in the society; and technology is still showing its advantages to advertisers for how to improve tactics in producing propaganda. Nobody will doubt the ingenuity of human so it means that nobody can stop the development of technology. In that way, audiences will become more vulnerable in front of a well decorated propaganda. Similarly, David Gelernter mentioned his thoughts in the article “Computers and the Pursuit of Happiness” that “Human nature does not change; human needs and wants remain basically the same. Human ingenuity dreams up a new technology, and we put it to use – doing in a new way something we have always done in some other way.” (140) He claims that with the desire of human nature has never changed, we tend to invite more high-tech devices to replace some works which were done by human before. In some aspect, it is good for human life; on the contrary, this is how propaganda converts from paperwork into different forms, such like radio, video, or even lights. Human nature is like a flaw in a precious jade, everyone can see it, but cannot fix it. To contradict the information from propaganda but continue develop technology; we can try to concentrate more on the essence of human nature and be aware of the deliberate deception from advertisers. If advertisers put a good use of technology and human nature in propaganda, people will have highly risk of the propaganda might control the personal decisions and judgments.

Although people know that most propaganda are fictitious and deceitful, the majority will still buy and trust it. Someone may make an assertion that all these faults and influences are made by the development of technology and have no relevance with human nature. However, because human nature is deep inside human mind, people do not want to admit that they – themselves also are an aspect of being deceived by propaganda. On the one hand, technology does make human life become more convenient and efficient, so the society cannot only blame the technological changing. On the other hand, human nature is hard to change because it already inherits from generations to generations. In some aspect, this world cannot be operated well without propaganda. For instance, producers need it to sell their products, candidates need it to win the campaign and even the politicians or scholars need it to express their viewpoints. In order to really take some benefits from technology but not fooled by the deception of propaganda, people need to be more cautious and avoid the influence of human nature when they encountered with the diverse propaganda. If everyone can see through advertisers’ strategy, the winner of a propaganda war must be the audiences instead of the producers.

Work Cited:

Gelernter, David “Computers and the Pursuit of Happiness”. New Directions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005

McClintock, Ann “Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising”. New Directions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2005

Explain How Changes In Technology Have Contributed Towards Globalization Of Markets And Of Production?

Technology has dramatically changed people’s way of life all over the world and the world today has become a true manifestation of a global village. Not only the frequency of international travelling increased manifold but the possibilities of cross-border trading of goods and services have also increased exponentially. These impacts are collectively known as globalization.

(Hill, 2009) defines globalisation as a process which enables individuals, organisations and governments from different natins to come across each other and interact in an intergative manner. The end result of such intergation would be an intergated globalised market system which can act as a melting pot of indivual economies of different nations.

There are two ways in which globalisation can be envisaged, i.e. with the production perspective and thebmarket perspective. (Hill, 2009) defines the markets’ globalisation as melting down and convergence of individually independent market places into an amalgamated market place. Sharing of the sources of production from different geographical locations for levaraging the quality and cost of the goods and services produces is the idea behind the products’ globalisation. (Hill, 2009)

Many institutions have been formulated to help manage, regulate and police the phenomena of globalization and to promote the establishment of transnational treaties for global trade. A few are as following::

The World Trade Organization (WTO)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The World Bank
The United Nations (UN)

These institutions act on an international level to regulate and tackle any problems that the different countries, companies and individual may face when undergoing globalization e.g. The IMF provides monetary services and acts as a last resort for the members in financial distress (Gitman, 2008)

Now the question is how instead of what. How does globalization happen? What drives globalization? There are many drivers or rather changes that result in globalization. Generally, there are two macro drivers of globalization. These are the declining trade and investment barriers between countries and changes in technology

Organisations across the world now face lower level of obstacles to investing and trading in foreign lands. This flexibility allows the firms to choose global locations where they have to spend minimum on production costs and reap maximum benefits in return by strategically locating their production site, and service and product outlet locations. Design can thus be created in one global location, production at a second global site and the niche market can be a totally far off market at the other end of the world. Globalisation of production thus exploits cheap labour in the third world markets and rich buyers in the first world markets. (Arribas, 2009)

The technological changes are not just limited to the automation of the production line but it also includes the advancement in infrastructure and connectivity. The most important innovation has been the microprocessors. The developments in communication technologies like wireless, optic fibre, satellite communications and the rapid growth of the internet have brought the global business to a previously unimagined level. Improvements have also occurred in the field of transportation technology resulting in the development of commercial jet aircraft, which has reduced the time for transit.

Globalization is not only resulting from declining trade barriers or changes in technology but upon scrutinizing two other factors come into play. These are Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and increasing international trade.

Globalization is not a straight line event rather it has been maturing from many decades and the implications of this phenomenon are being strongly felt now. This has been going on since the 1960’s. In the 1960’s the US dominated the globe’s economy and the international trade picture and it also led the front when it came to FDI, similarly the US multinationals ranked high in international business (Hill, 2009). This has all changed due to globalization and other countries, firms and individuals have risen to compete in the global market place.

Much has changed in the demographics of the world when looking at world GDP and trade. China did not have a share in the worlds output in 1963, now has 11.5 % of the GDP in 2007 and 7.2% of the world’s export in 2006. This shows the tremendous effect of globalization in the current world marketplace. China in 2008 was listed as the 3rd largest Economy based on Nominal GDP. The share of world output generated by third-world countries has steadily increased since the 1960’s. There also has been a persistent growth in cross-border flow of FDI and it does not come as a surprise that China has been the largest receiver of FDI (Hill, 2009).

There are many facets to globalization and on a closer look there is the multinational enterprise. A multinational enterprise (MNE) is a type of business which has operations in two or more countries. A multinational enterprise can also be referred to as an International Corporation. MNE’s have powerful influence over local as well as the global economies and play an important role in international relations and globalization.

In the past the western market was closed for many economies but that trend has changed and many markets have opened up for the western market to invest in. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe has created a host opportunities for export and investment. The biggest opportunity emerged in China due to economic developed even with the continuing communist control. Also the change in democracy and the free market reforms in Latin America have also given a possibility for investment from foreign investors.

Going over all what globalization has to offer, a question comes to one’s mind that a shift towards a global marketplace a good thing? There many views on this particular question. Many experts believe that globalization is helping prosperity by providing more jobs, lower prices of labor, materials, land and thus resulting in more profitability. Whereas other experts suggest that globalization is not beneficial as managers who are managing transnational and multinational organizations have to take into account a lot more factors as compared to stereotypical administrators (Hill, 2009). Managing an international business differs from a typical business in four notable areas:

Differences in countries require companies to employ different practices in different countries.

Administrators face greater and complex range of problems.

Companies have to follow the different limits imposed by different governments in countries and have to work within those limits.

International business requires converting funds and is very susceptible to fluctuations in the exchange rate.

To overcome these insights about managing international organizations managers have to use un-structured solutions and practices that may require additional resources in terms of labor, capital and land. This brings us to our next thought, why so many experts against what globalization have to offer. (Artis, 2009)

Globalization has occasionally been regarded as a solution to problems like underdevelopment, malnutrition and violation of human rights, and important human rights institutions have been set up and incorporated into the global human rights regime. Governments are finding it increasingly difficult to violate their citizens’ human rights without attracting the attention of the media and international organizations as a result of developed telecommunications and global interdependence. Indeed, overall human rights practices have improved worldwide during the last decade or so. However, this improvement has neither been universal nor linear. (Bardhan, 2006)

The contemporary world order owes its existence to a large degree to the information power unleashed as a result of the free flow of ideas and communications across geographical boundaries without any restriction or obstacles with help of the latest communication technologies. While globalisation has made it possible for the human rights bodies to react on human rights abuses in the remote societies of the world, the same globalisation has in fact also exposed the autonomous societies to human rights abuses at hands of the more powerful actors in the global scenario. What might be a collateral damage for a powerful actor in the emerging world order might be a human rights abuse involving victimisation of defenceless children and females for the recipient. Thus with respect to human rights, globalisation is a double edged weapon and it can work in both ways. Not only do the weaker players in this world order risk the wrath of raw power of the more powerful actors but the multinationals and conglomerates tend to act as mighty powers in their own right. The citizens of the weaker nations are left at the mercy of powerful yet unelected global giants like IMF, the World Bank , peacekeeping forces and first world NGOs who increasingly control the lives and fates of the denizens of the weaker nations of the world.

We’ve talked about what globalization is, what the key component drivers of globalization are, how it affects the production process. In doing so we’ve talked about the MNC’s (MNE’s) and also how the demographics have changed since globalization started. This also has provided us with a picture of how managers who are working for transnational organization take into account different factors for their, planning, organizing and leading decisions. Advancement in technology did not globalize the production and marketplace but it has increased the momentum of globalization manifolds. Although globalization is widely considered as a positive phenomenon but as always everything has its virtues and vices. It all depends on the perspective one employs to look at globalization

References

Anon., 2010. International Labor Organization. [Online] Available at: http://www.ilo.org/ [Accessed 27 February 2010].

Christos Pitelis, R.S., 2000. The nature of the transnational firm. Routledge.

contributors, W., 2010. Multinational corporation. [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Multinational_corporation&oldid=345942736 [Accessed 27 February 2010].

Dunning, J.H., 1998. Location And The Multinational Enterprise: A Neglected Factor?. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES , 29(1), pp.45-66.

Hill, C., 2009. International Business.

Levitt, T., 1984. The globalization of Markets. THE McKINSEY QUARTERLY.

Luo, Y. & Tung, R.L., 2007. International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, pp.38, 481-498.

Sullivan, D., 1994. Measuring the Degree of Internationalization of A Firm. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES , 25(2), pp.325-42.