Hero Honda Success

‘Motorcycles are a hit in rural areas' Monday, April 15, 2002 Many continue to be surprised at the ability of India ‘s 2-wheeler segment to buck the present recessionary trend in the economy. What, they ask themselves, accounts for such resilience: competitive pricing? Quality? Technology? Or, is it ready availability? Mr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal, chairman, Hero Group of Companies, addresses some of these issues in an interview with Soumya Kanti Mitra. What makes the 2-wheeler segment so impervious to demand fluctuations? A 2-wheeler is the most necessary consumer durable good owned by lower Middle, and middle class, households. There is multiple ownership of this product in such households. Firstly, there is an income effect that influences 2-wheeler demand. Per Capita GDP growth of 3. 7 per cent per annum has been pushing households up into higher income brackets. The push effect is more in lower and middle- income groups – hence the increased demand. It also links up with the higher contributions of the service sector to GDP; the income impact of that has been greater on lower income households. A second major reason is the inadequate public transport. The percentage of people who use public transport has fallen from 85 per cent to 75. Entry-level transport options like two- and three-wheelers have mostly filled this gap. They have also become a sort of necessity and thus do not show heavy fluctuations in demand. Increased demand for two-wheelers from households has also led financial institutions to increase credit in a sustained way in the last three or four years. That too has imparted stability to this item, compared to others. A good proportion of sales owes to replacement demand. Are motorcycles gaining an edge over scooters? What is your experience as a market leader? There are few fresh issues with scooters. Firstly, the technology was dated. Secondly, most were two-stroke vehicles, less fuel-efficient compared to motorcycles. The only advantage was that one could carry along a spare tyre. But motor- cycles have been preferred in rural areas for better ground clearance, larger wheels and better suspension. They can easily be used on rough roads. Scooters are preferred in urban segments. New generation vehicles with four-stroke engines may soon hit the market and that will boost the sagging scooter market. For the last two years scooters sales have been less than a million per annum. Are you, and others in the industry, planning changes in output and investment? Considering the developments in household incomes and transport requirements we believe that the average annual growth of 2-wheelers for the next three years should be of around 8-10 per cent. There is over-capacity, but investments may be made in individual instances. The demand for motorcycles, however, is expected to grow by 15-18 per cent. That should attract investments. Abroad, certain top-end models in BMW's, Honda's or Ducati's ranges have actually become ‘lifestyle' statements for executives. Do you see anything like that happening in India ? The next 2-3 years may see a small beginning with the introduction of high-end motorcycles. But the concept is too early for India . We do not have nice roads where the customer can ride such high-end bikes. With affordability not being widespread, who will manufacture to cater to such small volumes? We may see some inroads after imports get fully liberalised, but I think it is early days for that. Are exports from the sector under siege owing to the international slowdown? That could be a major factor. Also, there is over capacity in most countries in the 2- wheeler industry. Markets in Latin America and Africa are impacted, while intra- Asian trade is very competitive.

Literature: the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Katrina Van Tassel

A. Compare and contrast the characters of Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt. Think about their job/social class position. Think about the different ways that they behave in general, and also toward Katrina Van Tassel. Think about how they experience each other. In the story the legend of sleepy hollow, the story takes place in lower region of New York in a town called Tarrytown. In the city of Tarrytown the town of Sleepy Hollow had received its name, for all the haunted spooky things that happened there, and the legendary story of the Headless horseman. There are several important characters that make up the story. Two with very important significance are Ichabod Crane and Brom Van Brunt. Ichabod Crane was a native from Connecticut who had moved to Sleepy Hollow to instruct the children of the Vicinity. He was a tall, lanky man who if looked at bared a resemblance to a scarecrow. He was a superstitious school teacher of the children in the town. He was a smart, yet easy lived man. Scholar man yet looked like he was famished and had not eaten in weeks, skinny long lanky arms and legs small head with big eyes. Brom Van Brunt on the other hand had bad intentions. He was a muscular good looking man who was very strong. He only cared about money, inheritance, and telling stories to scare people of the headless horseman. The one thing Brom Van Brunt and Ichabod Crane had in common was they both wanted to win the hand of Katrina Van Tressel. The only child of the Dutch farmer. Both men were after the same thing but behaved very differently. Ichabod was genuine, where as Brunt was not. He only wanted power and money. He wasn’t after love like crane was. He thought by telling scary stories of the headless horseman galloping through the woods hunting down people and killing them. Brunt enjoyed telling these stories to scare crane while he would be out alone in the woods. They both tried to steal the heart of Katrina. The difference between the characters is Crane had been kind and smart and his scholarly ways helped earn respect from Katrina, who he had wanted to ask him to marry her. Where as brunt only had his tough macho man ways which didn’t score much trust or liking from Katrina. There social classes were completely different. Crane was smart, kind, friendly and helpful with the children. He had gained respect from the mothers in town. Brunt didn’t he was the town rowdy. Wasn’t as mature as Crane was.

Of Thinking Globally and Acting Locally Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Of Thinking Globally and Acting Locally - Essay Example Thus, business organizations like Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola) Company take on the challenge of "thinking globally but acting locally." Coca-Cola is currently one of the most recognizable and widely sold commercial brands in the global arena. The company capitalizes on its extensive distribution network comprised of 9 million retailers in more than 200 countries (Klebnikov 2003). Amidst its being a global brand, what is apparent is the company's innate desire of satisfying each locale according to their needs. This aim of Coca-Cola can be seen its products and promotion strategies. Coke, the flagship brand of the company is marketed worldwide. It should be noted that this product has been warmly accepted by the global market because of its universal taste. Coke has a "universal taste" which discounts the differences in nationality, culture, and traditions. However, the company recognizes that the product portfolio offered in each foreign market should be differentiated as not all product appeal to all consumers. Thus, Coca-Cola strives to develop a product portfolio which is unique for each market. Quoting the company's annual report: "Consumer demand can vary from one locale to another and can change over time within a single locale.

Tax Law & Accounting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tax Law & Accounting - Research Paper Example The main objective is to simplify the rulings of previous tax laws with a purpose that supporting government operations will remain. However, the emerging of additional objectives that deals with the unfair imposition of income tax, and specialized economic objectives have made the structure of modern tax laws complicated. Many have expressed amazement and frustration with regard to the substantial complexity of tax laws, particularly in the ambiguity of tax requirements to the taxpayer. Instead of creating a comprehensive system for people to be honest in their tax liability, the system has provided the people/entities an excuse not to be honest. Tax is considered as an enforced contribution to the government which can be direct or indirect. Those taxes that are imposed to individuals with income and to legal entities like corporations are called direct tax while those that are financially charged through commodities are known as indirect tax. Taxes derived from income are determined through different effective rates which are imposed to all constituents throughout the world by subnational entities such as federal, state, and local governments. Based on the United States Constitution, the â€Å"power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and exercises, to pay the debts and provide the common defenses and general welfare of the United States† is vested to the Congress (â€Å"United States Constitution,† n.d.). Furthermore, tax statutes are created to make certain that U.S. tax setting and features will be in uniformed with other jurisdictions, and inequalities of tax burden will be avoided. The history of th e U.S. tax system has marked significant changes just to make the system fairer, simpler, and more consistent to all American taxpayers. This is also to further restrict the old yet growing tax evasion and tax avoidance strategies. These problems have pushed the idea that tax statutes should be construed strictly such as the passage of the 16th Amendment in 1913 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (Webley et al., 1991, p. 135). These ratifications are the forerunners of modern income tax statutes which are said to be complicated and economically harmful to individuals and businesses (â€Å"Fact Sheets: Taxes,† n.d.). This paper will address the objectives of modern income tax statutes, comparing and contrasting the GAAP and tax accounting, and finally how to differentiate between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Objectives of Modern Income Tax Statutes U.S. tax system is said to be fairly well-defined when taxation of income has been modified. By using the ability tax theory, the go vernment has given its constituents a practicable taxation system. However, modern income tax statutes enacted in 1913 appeared so highly complicated that cannot be understood by all taxpayers (Wilson, n.d.). According to Witte (1985), â€Å"the original modern income tax statutes passed in 1913 was a combination of earlier federal laws, state statutes, and the Britis income tax† (p. 246). Indeed, the scope has been broader and the degree of tax rates has increased wherein many have commented that this is the worst kind of tax. Many have asked if the objectives of imposing higher tax rates to low-income individuals and small business, reduction of exemptions, and continuing federal income tax, stipulated in modern tax laws are still constitutional. The government justified the scenario and said that there is no difference between modern tax laws and the earlier laws, because the former are seeking for the same objectives, and this is to raise government revenue to finance ope rations (Herrmann, 2002, p. 19). Despite of such argument, the economic objectives of modern laws are economically harmful not just to the employment of individuals but also to business operations. According to Webley et al.

Technology Forecast Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology Forecast - Assignment Example This paper discusses the forecasted development of information technology industry through the year of 2013. Industry Overview Davis (1989) defines information technology as the use of telecommunication equipment and computers to keep, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data mostly in the field of a business or any other activity. Davis (1989) adds that this term is mostly used as a replacement for computers and everything that has to do with them, including other information delivery technologies, such as television and telephones. In the business setting, Information Technology Association of America defined information technology as the studying, scheming, developing, instigating, applying technical support, as well as handling computer-based information systems. People who work in this field are responsible for network administration, installing and developing software and even planning and managing an organization’s life cycle, under which software and hardware is upheld, upgraded or exchanged. It is through such processes the information technology is being developed in such a way that it enhances productivity and efficiency of employees and organizations. Indisputably, introduction of information technology within the contemporary business environment has had great impact on human daily routine. Chesbrough and Spohrer (2006) assert that information technology demand is driven by the high rate of rapid technology improvements. The profit of a modern company heavily depends on technical know-how, innovative services as well as real advertising by means of hi-tech. Chesbrough and Spohrer (2006) add that large companies have advantages over small companies in that they have broad global reach as compared to small companies that may choose to compete by specializing in market niche. The small companies may as well choose to partner with the big ones to enable their services are being rendered at a more productive rate. The business worth of information technology depends on the mechanization of business procedures, providing information in making decision, linking the businesses with customers and providing other productive tools to increase efficiency. Organizations, businesses, and individuals continue to employ information technology features and systems within the operations with the main aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness. There is no doubt that since the coming of information technology many business operations, processes, and activities have considerably changed. The world continues to spend a lot of money to adopt and implement information technology in daily life at all levels. Amongst the aspects that the world spends so much money on in respect to information technologies there are devices, data system centers, enterprise software, information technology services, and telecom services, as illustrated in the following chart. The following charts show how global information technology has spread over the last two years. World spending in the year 2012 was found to amount at $3

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children Essay

The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children - Essay Example Viewers invariably have the entire family and perhaps none of the family members escape this all pervasive and negative influence. Children, with impressionable and tender psyches, are increasingly witnessing real-life violence, either in their homes, streets, schools, work places and almost everywhere. This violence has not only assumed epidemic proportions but is a sad and painful reflection on our society when recipients of violence are children, particularly in domestic environment. An environment which is otherwise supposed to protect and nurture young ones instead works to leave deep scars of hostile violence. To top it all provocations may be extremely trivial. This state of affair constitutes both a public health and moral/philosophical crises. The United States (US) has the highest homicide rate in the world. The US homicide rate for young men is 73 times greater than that observed in comparable industrialized nations. Largely uncontrolled proliferation of guns and other lethal weapons is linked directly, for one, to the increased homicide rates among children and for two, to the numbers of violent incidents that children may witness. On an average each day in the US, 9 children are murdered, guns wound 30 children, and 307 children are arrested for violent crimes. Purpose of the Study As the impact of violence on young children is the focus of this study, it is important to consider the culture in which children and their families are embedded. The social history of the US has always given more emphasis to traditions of individual rights and individualism over any perceived or real collective good. This philosophical stance underlies the tolerance of violence against women and the practices of corporal punishment in families. Historically, the emphasis on individual rights dictated that a man had unfettered rights on affairs of his household and that issues in family discipline were not the business of government or the courts. Prior to the late 1800s, children had few rights distinct from their families of birth. In fact it is an irony of societal logic that agencies were established to protect the rights of animals before agencies were established to protect the rights of children. It was not until the 1960s that state agencies were set up with specific legal ma ndates to protect children from familial abuse and neglect. This historical tradition of the supremacy of individual rights also contributed to the inability of the US to regulate gun ownership and possession. It is within this culture that families raise children. Definition of Terms The term violence encompasses a broad

See attched below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

See attched below - Essay Example ment would therefore be one which has been used by a particular party for a long time and where such long term use will allow him a proprietary right of usage over the easement, even if it is situated on land that belongs to the dominant land which is owned by someone else. On the basis of this, a legal easement is one that is legally enforceable in a court of law while in the case of an equitable easement, it must be registered under the Land Charges Act if it is to be enforceable. (b) In the case of Norman’s property, there are two easements that are under consideration (i) the lane at the rear that accesses the property and (ii) the road from Acacia road that leads over his property. Therefore, if another party acquires the title to the land at the rear of the property, the issue of legal versus equitable easement will arise in determining access and use of both these easements. In the first case, i.e, the lane at the back, Norman will still have the right to use it by virtue of it being an equitable easement, while in the case of the road in the front, the new owner will not have the right to use it without permission by virtue of its being a legal easement. The rationale for this conclusion is given below as follows: (i) Norman is currently the freehold owner of the land at the rear and has been enjoying the right to use the lane at the back for several years by virtue of his legal interest, since it was not in fact an easement at all but a part of his property. However, when the question of its sale arises, then this lane at the back of the property will be described as â€Å"appurtenant to† the dominant land,2 which belongs to Norman. When the land is transferred under Section 187(1) of the Law of property Act of 1925, then this easement will pass with it.3. But the easement must accommodate the dominant land because what is passed is only to ensure normal enjoyment of the land rather than to provide any undue advantage.4 An easement is a right of way

Young Peoples Use of Mobile and Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Young Peoples Use of Mobile and Internet - Essay Example Qualitative research method is based on observation and no scientific methods are applicable on it. There are two types of observations first is to simply observe and draw a conclusion and second is to ask questions from the other person and draw a conclusion. Observational method consists of observation of an individual by a trained observer can take place in a natural setting (watching a child interact with classmate) in an experimental situation. Observing a student, when he is trying to complete a test deliberately, designed to be too difficult to finish in the allotted time. Second type of research method is quantitative research method, which consists of systematic and scientific research method. In this method, the first step is to examine hypothesis and systematically further steps are followed. In this presentation, qualitative research method is followed. There are two ways of data collection in qualitative research method, primary data collection and secondary data collect ion. In the primary data collection, data has to be collect from the direct source and in the secondary data collection data is collected from the surroundings and not from the direct source. According to the BBC, behaviors of the people have remarkably changed due to the heavy exposure of media. In addition, the people have now especially the children totally rely on media and they have started to forget their real culture, norms and values. According to the BBC, people use media for fulfilling their two basic.

I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life Theological Study Essay Example for Free

I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life Theological Study Essay Jesus answered, â€Å"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. â€Å" When examining a Biblical verse, it is important to understand the historical context in which it’s written. Originally recorded by John, Son of Zebedee, whose main purpose in writing his Gospel can be found in John 20:31, â€Å"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. , is Jesus’ declaration â€Å"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me†. The passage of John 14:6 is part of an extensive conversation that Jesus had with his disciples during the â€Å"Last Supper† on the eve of the Passover Feast. Immediately preceding the statement, we read that Judas has been identified as the betrayer of Jesus and that Peter will deny Jesus three times before sunrise. Jesus has just advised his followers that he will be leaving them soon and He is attempting to comfort them. This one statement which focuses on the four thoughts, â€Å"way, truth, life, and coming to the Father†, is in essence a â€Å"recipe† for Christianity and completely fulfills the prophesy of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament. In examining the first word â€Å"way†, we find numerous accounts of The Way in the New Testament. The Way was a term used within the Jewish community to identify the â€Å"sect† of Jesus- the true Israel- as opposed to the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Zealots. We can see an example of this usage by Paul in the text of Acts 24:14, â€Å"However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are also Old Testament accounts such as in Isaiah 35:8 which speaks of the joy of the Redeemed, â€Å"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. † Jesus is the Way. He is the only way to Salvation; He is the only way the Father. Looking at the second word, â€Å"truth†, we can obtain a direct definition from the Expository Dictionary, in which the Greek translation means the â€Å"truth of God†. We can find many references to the word truth in the Bible. John 14:16-17, 1 John 4:6, and 2 John 2 contain multiple references to the Spirit of Truth and John 15:26 declares â€Å"When the Counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me†. In John 14: 9, Jesus says â€Å"†¦ Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. And in verse 11, He says â€Å"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The Truth is Jesus is the Christ- the Son of God, the personification of God, and part of the Trinity. Life, the third main word in the verse refers to Eternal Life. This is affirmed in various biblical verses such as John 3:16 â€Å"For God so loved the world that he gave his o ne and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life†. There are also several verses such as in John 5:40 and Acts 3:15 where Jesus is referred to as the Author of Life. In John 1:1-5 we can find the Prime Author idea expanded upon with â€Å"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it†. I do not believe it was an accident that Jesus was crucified in conjunction with the Passover Festival. Jesus became our sacrificial lamb and shed his blood so that the judgement of death would â€Å"pass over† us and allow us to obtain salvation.

Common Ground on Child Beauty Pageants Essay Example for Free

Common Ground on Child Beauty Pageants Essay I’m sure you all have seen the TV show â€Å"Toddlers in Tiaras.† It is a show about young children competing in beauty pageants to win a place in a higher ranked pageant, money, and the ownership of a winning title. Many people think differently about the show and the pageants. Some are all for the pageants and some are against them. People who are against the pageants complain that they should be eliminated because they exploit children and place them in harm’s way. They claim because of major dangers; no one under the age of eighteen should be placed in a beauty pageant. The children who are in the pageants are dressed up in adult’s clothing, have piles of make up on, and are harming their bodies. They are harming their bodies by putting the make up on and tanning. By putting make up on at such young of an age, their face ages faster. By tanning, they begin to get that urge that some adults have to tan, which makes their skin age and have wrinkles early. It also puts them at the risk of having skin cancer at an early age. They say it also appeals the children to sexual predators. When a child is half naked on stage and sometimes on TV, these sexual predators see them and may even try to meet them. Sexual predators are only part of the problem. Studies show that every child who may benefit from the competition, hundreds of others suffer damage to their self-esteem and have warped self-vision of themselves and their bodies. Many times, they use JonBenet, a young child who competed in these pageants at the age of six. She was murdered in the basement of her home by a sexual predator. The suspect claimed he became aware of her by the pageants being on television. People who are for the pageants and the TV shows claim that it brings their children fame and confidence. When a child has worked hard on a routine and they get on stage and accomplish it, there is no better reward than the applause and praise from the audience and family. Some also say that the tanning and make up does not harm their skin, it just makes them feel prettier. Someone once told me that when a person looks at themselves in the mirror, and they have their hair and make-up done, they feel better about themselves. That is what many moms claim their children feel whenever they have their make-up done, outfits on, and hair done. Moms of pageant children say that when their child has worked hard, and they have their name called on stage for a winning title, there is no happier feeling. They have worked and accomplished their goal. Call it what you want, but people have their own opinions. Some people think pageants hurt a child, and some think they help a child. Both of them could be right, depending on the child’s standpoint. If a child’s dream is to be in pageants, I would let that child fulfill their dream. What would you do? Works Cited Page Hilboldt-Stolley, Lise. Pretty Babies. Good Housekeeping 228.2 (1999): 102. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

Analysing New Challenges Posed By The Development In Government Policies Social Work Essay

Analysing New Challenges Posed By The Development In Government Policies Social Work Essay In this report, I am going to consider the new challenges posed by the latest development in government policies, and particularly those set out in the Every Child Matters and Youth Matters agendas and their impact on Children services especially Looked-After-Children in foster and residential care. I will first and foremost, look at the definition of what Looked-After-Children means, the development of foster and residential care for Looked-After-Children and theoretical knowledge, the legal and policy frameworks underpinning childrens services while considering the implications as well as ethical dilemmas for social work practice. Also, I will look at the effectiveness and impact of multi-agency working, professional autonomy versus employer direction, the balancing act of care and control and how effective the Care Programme Approach is used for those looked after and those leaving care. Furthermore, the regulations that guide placements and the roles of foster carers will also be critically examined. Looked-After-Children as defined in section 22(1) of Children Act 1989, refers to those children in the care of any local authority or provided with accommodation by any local authority for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting their welfare. For example, some children can not remain at home due to adverse conditions such as family crises, a disability or offending, domestic violence, abuse and neglect. Hence the local authority will have to intervene and adequate measures taken to safeguard and promote their welfare and in most cases they are taken into care (foster or residential care). Foster care arrangements is usually a family based care arrangement in which the child is placed in the foster carers own home. The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (2007), states that this kind of care arrangement could be in cases of emergency or non-emergency, for short or long term, on remand or respite, close relatives fostering or private foster carers providing the care need s of the child. However, Residential care is quite similar to foster care, in that adults look after the children on a day to day basis on a pro rota basis. The only difference is that residential care is more of a communal setting where a number of staff works rather than an intimate family unit (as in foster care) in providing the childs needs (DOH 1998a). Some background of foster care and residential care Children were first recognised as individuals in their own right by the implementation of the Children Act 1948 following recommendations from the Care of Children Committee 1946 known as The Curtis Report (Hayden et al 1999) which was influenced by the Monckton Inquiry 1945 into the appalling murder of Dennis ONeill who was in foster care. The report was published with regards to children being deprived of a normal home life during and after the second world war (Barnados 2007) as children from differing social stratifications were brought together into residential care (children homes at the time) as a consequence of the disruption of war . Although the Act established childrens departments and child officers, the general belief was that children should remain (where possible) with their primary caregivers. This decision was influence by John Bowlbys attachment theory in which he emphased the importance of the bond between a child and his/her primary caregiver (mother) and how sepa ration between mother and child could have detrimental effects on the development of the child (Hopkins, 2007). With the introduction of Children and Young Persons Act 1963, local authorities were further given powers and duties to support children in their own homes (Thomas, 2005). This development further strengthened the local authoritys decision and also reinforced Bowlbys attachment theory. However, Waterhouse et al (2002) noted that in the 1970s the use of residential care for primary school children had begun to decline and the shift was towards family oriented care. The 1980s saw a further rapid decline in Looked-After-Children in residential care. Residential care was only viewed as a last resource for adolescents who could not be placed in family settings (Thomas 2005). According to Ibid (2005) foster care or boarding out as it was referred to until the late 1980s, was generally a female orientated voluntary service for looking after deprived children within a family setting with an aim to normalise their experiences whilst in care. It should be noted however, that during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s residential care received significant negative attention through no fault of the children in care (Thomas 2005). In this era, horrific sexual, physical and emotional abuse was exposed, which led to major inquiries into children in care. The three most notable reports are the Pindown inquiry by Levy and Kahan (1991), the Leicestershire inquiry (1993) and the inquiry into the abuse of children in childrens homes in North Wales, known as the Waterhouse Report, 2000 (Thomas 2005). These reports changed the course of policy and practice. It is evident by Ibid (2005) that although these reports have depicted abuse in residential homes over the years, abuse in foster home goes largely undetected. The Waterhouse report (DOH 2000a) exposed no cohesive regulations of childrens homes adding that the responsible local authorities had adopted a tokenistic approach. Upon this report, recommendations for change were clearly defined. The New Labour Government responded to the report and published major policy initiatives such as Quality Protects and the Care Standards Bill (2000) under which the General Social Care Council (GSCC) was established to monitor and regulate all social care staff. The GSCC has been given the mandate to register all social care staff (qualified and non-qualified alike) and also to produce enforceable codes of conduct and practice (DOH 2000b). These were designed to prevent unsuitable people in the social care sector. Other recommendations included, a childrens complaints officer, criminal record checks, a designated field social work assigned to each Looked-After-Child. Accountable and independent regulatory inspection body was also recommended to inspect re sidential and foster homes to meet National Minimum Standards (DOH 2002). Policy and legislative frameworks. There are a host of policies and legislative frameworks underpinning the holistic needs of Looked-After-Children that I as a social worker must work to accordingly. However, working within the parameters of the law, meeting policy guidance and the constraints of limited resources is a complex task (Brammer 2007). The Children Act 1989 is the main legislative instrument that mandates all child care professionals to work towards the best interest of the child. The Act received royal assent in 1991 and arose from substantial research that exposed poor outcomes and significant failings in safeguarding, protecting and meeting childrens needs (Brayne Carr 2005). This same Act also introduced the welfare check list, to include factors that must be considered when professionals and the courts are deciding the future welfare of a child. Although the philosophy of the Act is that the child is best brought up in their own families, at times this is not in the best interests of the child. The local authority has a duty to safeguard and promote the childs welfare (s.22(3)). The overarching principle of the Act is that the welfare of the child is paramount (s.1) regardless of race, religion or culture. Although section 22(5)[c]) of the Act states that the local authorities must consider the childs religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background, this only applies to looked after children (Brammer 2007). Under the Race Relations (Amendment Act) 2000, local authorities have a duty to promote good race relations and equality, provide a culturally sensitive service and protect against racial discrimination. Whilst articles 3,5,6,8 and 14 within the Human Rights Act 1998 are important to children, it is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that provides a comprehensive framework for children to attain their full potential. It sets out over 40 substantive rights including protection from harm and exploitation, access to education and health and family life (DFES, 2003). The governments first attempt to transforms childrens services was the implementation of the Quality Protects initiative. Also part of a wider set of projects including Sure Start to help children in their early years and their families get off to a better start in life. The Quality Protects programme set out eleven key objectives (DOH 1999) for childrens services requiring all statutory agencies as corporate parents to work together, ensuring that childrens social services provide targeted care for disadvantaged children to enable them to take maximum advantages of universal services, most notably health and education. It was the key mechanism for delivering the aims of the government White Paper, Modernising Social Services (DOH 1998). Local authorities were required to submit a Management Action Plan informing the government on how they were going to meet these objectives. Choice Protects was a further initiative launched in 2002 to improve outcomes for looked-after-children throu gh providing better placement stability, matching and choice (Butler et al 2004) Further changes in legislation followed the death of Victoria Climbià © whilst in private foster care. Lord Lamings report made key recommendations for change following this inquiry (Victoria Climbià © Inquiry 2003). The governments response was a major reform of childrens services and the Children Act 2004, underpinned by the policies set out in Every Child Matters agenda (DFES, 2003). This focused on achieving five key outcomes for services to children, to work towards achieving their full potential. The Five Key Outcomes of the Every Child Matters are: Being healthy, Staying safe, Enjoying and achieving, Making a positive contribution and Achieving economic well-being. The 2004 Act also established childrens trusts, bringing together education, health and social services, as well as a childrens commissioner to promote the interests and views of children. Due to the profound importance of education, section 22(3) of the Children Act 1989 amended by section 52 of the Children Act 2004 now places a duty on local authorities to promote the educational attainment of Looked-After-Children (Brammer 2007). The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (DOH 2000b) and subsequent practice guidance was introduced as part of New Labours Quality Protects programme and replaced what was formerly the orange book. The three inter-related dimensions of the framework: Childs Development Needs, Parenting Capacity and Family and Environmental Factors and its sub-domains present the necessary ingredients to provide a holistic, specialist assessment of need used in conjunction with the Children Act 1989, that carers, other professionals and agencies can contribute. The domains can be adapted for the needs of disabled children and are useful for social workers in assessing placements to establish suitability in meeting the childs holistic needs (DOH, 2000b). Additionally, they can be used to evaluate progress within parenting capacities, particularly if key areas were targeted for improvement, thus determining whether the needs of the child will be sufficiently met if they are to return to their own home environment (Ibid, 2000b). The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) as proposed by Every Child Matters (DFES, 2003) is a relatively new standardised approach for assessing the need for services for children and is part of a wider government programme to provide integrated services including the need to improve multi-agency working. The CAF is a common language in assessment and is based upon the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (Brammer 2007). Every Child Matters raises questions of where looked-after-children should be (or get to) in relation to other children. The agenda aims to improve the lives of looked-after-children holistically across the five outcomes linking to the Articles in the UNCRC (Unicef 2006a). The objective is to improve and integrate childrens services, promote early intervention, provide strong leadership, bringing together different professionals in multi-disciplinary teams in order to achieve positive outcomes for children, using a matrix of specialist, targeted and universal services built around their needs. As a social work, I cannot over emphases the importance gaining a comprehensive assessment of a child under my care. This includes getting an in depth picture/knowledge of the childs past history throughout his/her development as this can inform me and others on how the child is likely to respond to particular situations, together with the possible triggers to specific behaviour of that individual, including the childs view of the relationship with his/her family. It is this kind of information, which Falhberg (1994) says is sometimes missing from case files, which could result in the child not receiving an appropriate care package or placement. However, it is important to remember that when gathering information childrens own perspectives on their experiences are an important source of knowledge as well (DOH 2000a p.8). Furthermore, this knowledge equips me with the significance of sharing information between professionals in order to be able promote and meet the childs holistic nee ds. In the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie ¢ and many other previous inquiries in to child protection failures it was noted that the quality of information sharing was often poor, systems were crude and information failed to be passed between hospitals in close proximity to each other. As the report commented, information systems that depend on the random passing of slips of paper have no place in modern services (The Victoria Climbie ¢ Inquiry Report, 2003, p13). In order to provide an effective system for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, all agencies and staff working with children need to work together in addressing the issue of information sharing and recording. Although personal information should always be respected (DOH 2000 p.45), there are times when the law permits the disclosure without consent in order to safeguard the child. Therefore, by explaining to the child at the outset why and how information is shared, there are no unnecessary surprises for the child. The Working together document (DOH, 1999) highlights the importance of multidisciplinary and inter agency working in children work force. This document was put together by Department Of Health, Department for Education and Employment and the Home Office. It serves as a guide to inter-agency working with a commitment to sharing information to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. However, it also provides improved guidance on child protection procedures and the newly reformed Local Safeguarding Childrens Boards. Implications on social work practice However, safeguarding children is never free from ethical dilemmas. For example, it is necessary at times to place children in secure accommodation under section 25 of the Children Act 1989 for their own and others safety (Brammer 2007). Although this conflicts with Article 5 of the UNCRC; Right to Liberty along with the potential to diminish their autonomy, this must therefore be a last resort to safeguard their welfare when other strategies and social work interventions have been ineffective. Yet another area of consideration is effective care planning for Looked-After-Children. This is key to promoting and meeting their holistic needs. Care plans should be child-centred/person-centred, needs based, focussed, proactive and written collectively with the social worker, the child (depending on age and maturity), parents/guardians and any prospective caregivers (National Childrens Bureau 2007). In this way, care can be delivered in a more open and understanding way. This also promotes partnership between all stakeholders involved in the care and welfare of the child. However, studies undertaken by Timms Thorburn (2006) revealed that children were not always involved in writing their care plan as much as they should be. The care plan is a continuing process based on a holistic assessment of the childs needs and how they will be met, including a statutory Health Plan and Personal Education Plan (including Special Educational Needs) which sets out targets, providing a valuable individual monitoring mechanism (DfES 2005). The requirement of statutory reviews laid out in section 26 of the Children Act 1989 reinforces this c ontinuum (Thomas 2005). The amendment to section 26 made by section 118 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, now requires that statutory reviews must be chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer, who ensures plans are timely, effective and sensitive and focussed on the childs needs, the placement, offering a safeguard to prevent drift and addressing poor practice (DfES 2004 p.8). However, this looks good on paper but the question remains as to how independent the Independent Reviewing Officer can be when he/she is employed or paid by the local authority for the services rendered. Furthermore, the Looked-After-Children documentation also contains significant component identifying age-related Assessment and Action records. These records are an achievable by way of assessing and reviewing the childs well being across the seven dimensions of the childs developmental needs located within the assessment framework (DOH 2000c). Additionally, these records identify each others roles in undertaking the tasks to effectively meet these outcomes (Thomas 2005). Walker et al (2003) emphasises that these records should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Related to the assessment and have a clear Time scale (SMART) for completion. Its been argued again and again that meeting the needs of black and minority ethnic children is a complex task for social workers given the controversial debates regarding same race/trans-racial placements (Thomas 2005). Is this not a way of further marginalising, discriminating and oppressing this group of children? Walker (2005) cited by Allain (2007, p137) stresses the importance of . . . developing culturally competent practice for working with children and young people cannot be overstated. Meaning as social workers we need to be cultural sensitive and aware that cultural norms and models of behaviour can vary considerably between communities and even families (Victoria Climbià © Inquiry 2003 para.16.5). However, many children who are fostered are from black and minority ethnic groups with entirely different cultures (Thomas 2005). Although there is research to suggest that trans-racial placements are not damaging to children (Tizard and Phoenix 1989) The Children Act 1989 (Guidance and Regulations vol 3 paras 2.40-2.42 DOH 1991) promotes same race placements within foster settings. As a social worker, I am aware that assessments are not value free. According to City of Salford Community and Social Services (2000) social workers bring their racial, cultural, gender, class and religious values to the assessment. Clear guides to good professional practice are maintained within the GSCC codes of practice. Anti-oppressive practice and valuing diversity in its broadest context are at the heart of social work together with a commitment to partnership working, being non-judgemental, trustworthy and respecting service users rights (GSCC 2002). Dominelli (1997) also states that in their quest to treat everyone as equals, social workers have inadvertently adopted a colour blind approach implying that skin colour is the only difference, thus reinforcing negative assumptions. In addition, she notes social workers have dumped black difficult children on to black foster carers highlighting racist assumptions that they can look after their own. According to Cross (1971 cited by DOH 2000a) black children struggle to gain a positive sense of racial identity. Therefore, in order for child care professional to assess and understand, Cross provides a model of identity that can be used to make the correlation between the childs own perception and their emotional development. Another highlight is that unaccompanied asylum seeking children are not only faced with language and cultural issues, but it appears that the Hillingdon Judgment and its subsequent guidance (LAC (2003)13) DOH 2003) is not being adhered to nationally (Nandy 2005). Children aged 16-17 are still being supported by section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (children in need) rather than having full section 20 status as per the recommendations, providing them with ongoing support post-18. The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 provides for, a holistic Pathway Assessment of needs, which informs the Pathway Plan for a continuum of care and support until the age of 21(beyond if in education) with a personal adviser. Section 24 of the Children Act 1989 sets out the duty of the local authority to advise, assist and befriend a child who leaves care after the age of 16. However, research indicates that although Looked-After-Children are the most vulnerable in society, they are pushed to independence ear lier than other children. Stein (2006 p.274) describes care leavers as having accelerated and compressed transitions to adulthood. Educational attainment for Looked-After-Children is unacceptably low, with only 12 per cent achieving 5 GCSEs grades A-C compared to 59 per cent of other children (DfES 2007). Research by Berridge et al (1998 cited by DOH 1998a) indicates that Looked-After-Children, particularly those in residential care are ill-equipped with adequate learning materials and staff felt that they were not sufficiently trained to provide teaching support to those who were excluded from school (DfES 2005). Guidance from the DfES (2005) aims to promote better partnership working including teacher training and additional support for Looked-After-Children in schools. Fundamental to the Children Act 1989 is that the children have a right to be heard and are individuals in their own right. The childs wishes and feelings must be sought by the local authority with regards to aspects of their circumstances and future plans (s.22(5)) and s.1(3) when courts are making decisions. This principle is enshrined in the Article 12 of the UNCRC (Unicef, 2006). However, Thomas (2005) notes that there is still a debate to what extent children have in determining their lives, although the general consensus is that they should be listened to. Leeson (2007) also states that childrens participation in decision making is questioned due to them being regarded as vulnerable, less competent beings in need of social work protection (p.268). Although children may not know what they want, they should be encouraged by all professionals to participate, (according to their age and understanding) thus empowering them and increasing their autonomy. Communication with children is the means to establishing a relationship, even when they do not want to engage verbally. Play, activity based work, writing, drawing and body language are also essential tools in the art of being receptive (Kroll 1995 cited by Thomas 2002). Disabled children may prefer other methods of communication such as the Picture Exchange Communication System, Makaton or British Sign Language. Additionally, they may have their own individual ways of communicating, therefore it is crucial that not only the child care professionals understand, but the child has confidence that their messages are heard (DFES, 2006). Foster carers and residential workers have a similar role. They work closely with social workers, families, doctors, psychologists, teachers, nurses, probation officers and other outside agencies in order to effectively promote the holistic needs of the child. Although it is the responsibility of the social worker to ensure that plans are implemented, reviewed and legalities adhered to, residential staff and foster carers are principally the ones to undertake the tasks (Thomas 2005). Studies by Whitaker et al 1998 cited by DOH (1998) highlighted the extensive skills and personal qualities that are required when working within group living, including knowledge and understanding of development, group dynamics, networks, listening, advocating, physical and emotional support. This list is not exhaustive and not exclusive to residential; on the contrary, foster carers should equally be proficient in these skills. Due to the challenging nature of the profession there is a high turnover of staff within residential care which amounts to children not being able to form adequate attachments, although key worker systems are used to enhance this. Colton et al (2007) analysed a number of factors from researchers and concluded that one of the key issues was emotional exhaustion from increasingly complex, volatile, chaotic and disruptive behaviour displayed by children towards staff. According to Fostering Network (2007) foster care turnover also remains high with a shortage of over ten thousand foster carer placements. According to Barter et al (2004) many children entering the care system are filling an available vacancy rather than receiving an appropriate provision to meet their complex needs. Furthermore, Triseliotis (2002) notes that children are far more likely to be in continual state of insecurity due to the legalities of impermanence and many felt that this anxiety was heightened from the carers behave or else stance. Although research has indicated that authoritative parenting within fostering has had the most success (Wilson et al 2004). The use of Social Learning Theory, particularly in the newly funded Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Project in England, considers that since behaviour is learned, it can be unlearned via therapeutic methods and living environment. MTFCE is targeted for those with complex needs, challenging behaviour and offenders (DFES, 2003). Under section 26 of the Children Act 1989, children have a statutory right to complain about the services they receive. Amendments to the Children Act 1989 via the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (s.119) created a new section (26(a)) which affords children and young people a statutory right to an advocate in the light of complaints (Brammer 2007). In addition, the White Paper Valuing People (DOH 2001) emphasises that children who have learning disabilities should also be included in such initiatives. Furthermore, Ward (1995) notes that the local authories should be playing a more active role and taking the initiative to seek the views of Looked-After-Children, as some of those looked after, are under duress (p.16) To ensure children are looked after properly, residential homes and fostering agencies are inspected by an independent body. As of April 2007, Ofsted began the regulation and inspection of childrens services building on the previous expertise of Commission for Social Care Inspection (Ofsted 2007). Residential homes are subject two annual visits (one announced and one unannounced) from the inspecting body to monitor performance against both the National Minimum Standards (DOH 2002) and the Childrens Homes Regulations 2001.Internal inspections are required by the registered manager to monitor matters set out in Schedule 6 of the regulations (34(1)) such as, menus, the quality of rotas, staffing and childrens complaints. Under regulation 33, a monthly inspection takes place by a statutory visitor to monitor performance against the five outcomes of Every Child Matters. Including speaking to the children and staff, checking files, care plans and placement plans. A report is then prepared and forwarded to Ofsted. Many children have a troubled and complex past (Thomas 2005). A good home offers attachments, permanence, identity, self esteem and promotes contact (where necessary) with the child and parent(s). Attachment theory originiates from the work of John Bowlby and has been elaborated considerably since. Attachment behaviour is reciprocal rather than unidirectional and is defined as a long enduring emotionally meaningful tie to a particular individual cited by Schaffer (1997 p.127). Bowlby theorised that lack of nurturing from an infants primary care giver would have serious consequences for the child in later life, leading to affectionless psychopathy (the inability to have deep feelings for others) in Rutter (1991). Social workers need to consider how a placement will promote healthy attachments and psychological development, furthermore, how they are provided, maintained and strengthened (Howe 1996, cited by Thomas 2005). However, Robinson (2002) criticises Howe for failing to mention t he attachments within the black community and families in his writings, merely referring to cultural variations. Research identified four attachment behaviours; secure, insecure/avoidant ambivalent and disorganised, secure being the most ideal (Howe 2002). A good understanding of these internalised behaviours assists social workers to differentiate between them when analysing assessments (Ibid 2002). Howe further notes that there is a tendency for these internal working models to become self fulfilling, where by the child acts in certain ways to elicit desired self-confirming reactions from others. However, research indicates that a child does not have to be at the mercy of the past (Schaffer 1992 p.40) depending on how resilient the child is to adapting to lifes complex variables. The prevalence of mental disorders is high in looked-after-children, particularly in residential care compared to foster care. According to the Office of National Statistics (2003) nearly three quarters of the children in residential care (72 per cent) were clinically diagnosed as having a mental disorder. The role of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services promotes the mental well being of children through commissioning services via a four-tier strategic framework (level four being severe) following an assessment (DFES, 2003). Most looked-after-children receive services at level three or four. However, Schaffer (1998) suggests that it is difficult to tell who will need therapeutic involvement and who will simply grow out of it. Leighton (In press) states that professionals must be aware of their own personal values and attitudes that could influence decision making as to whether a child will benefit from therapy. Furthermore, she adds that ethical challenges are plentiful in creating and respecting the childs autonomy whilst undertaking a balancing act with safeguarding their welfare and promoting their best interests. Thomas (2005, 2002) urges caution with the overall concept of best interests of the child as he suggests that it could be oppressive and dangerous if misused, particularly with regards to who is making the decisions in the best interests for example; professionals, the family or the child themselves. Although there is good evidence from research to indicate positive outcomes for children, these cannot assume a one size fits all solution to ensuring a desired individual result for there are other intricacies that need to be taken into account, for example religion and culture. With regards to child welfare, Fox-Harding (1997) states that the Children Act 1989 is in ideological conflict concerning the role of the state. She notes four different value positions; liassaz-faire, state paternalism, parents rights and childrens rights. The latter two are appropriate here. Firstly, she notes that the perspective of parents rights acts as a belief

Teenagers and their Credit Cards Essay -- credit

Teenagers and their Credit Cards Availability of credit cards have left young people in debt. College-age students and low-income consumers, typically deemed bad risks, are easy targets for credit card companies. Credit card companies should not target college-age students and low-income consumers because of their lack of financial stability. In 1996, twenty-something consumers owed an average of $2,400 on their credit cards, nearly triple what they owed in 1990, according to research by Claritas Inc., a marketing research firm in Virginia. If, payments of $75 were made monthly to pay off a $2,400 debt, it would take 3-1/2 years with a 16 percent-rate card, and you'd pay $ 750 in interest. "There's no question that young adults are the most heavily burdened by credit card debt," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. Many will plunge into debt. Many teens waste little time taking on debt after leaving home. The number of 18 and 19 year olds with credit cards in their own name is climbing, according to Teenage Research Unlimited. Of American teen between 18 and 20 years old, 41 percent have their own cards, compared with 36 percent last year. Across all age groups, the statistics don't paint a pretty picture. Bankruptcy fillings in the United States have more than doubled in the last decade, from 530, 436 in 1986 to 1.2 million last years. Americans owe $ 484.6 billion in credit card debit, up from $ 437.9 billion in 1996, according to the Federal Reserve Board. That National Foundation for Consumer... ...bsp; Works Cited Evans, David, Richard Schmalensee. Paying with Plastic: The Digital Revolution in Buying and Borrowing. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute, 2000 Citibank. Citibank, Nader and the Facts. New York: First National City Bank, 1974. Kaminow, Ira, James O'Brien. Studies In Selective Credit Policies. Philadelphia: Federal Reserve Bank, 1975. Mandell, Lewis. The Credit Card History: A History. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Manning, Robert. Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit. New York: Basic Books, 2000. Polto's, Pearl, Bob Oskam. Easy Guide to Good Credit. New York: Berkley Books, 1990. Wood, Oliver, William Barskdale. How to Borrow Money. New York: Van Nostrand, 1981.

Kant Essay -- Psychology, Human Reasoning

In the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant undermines many of our moral certainties. Our Western philosophical tradition teaches that choosing the right path to virtue is in ones own hands. Aristotle’s understanding of virtue comes from our moral bearings, which are taken from exemplars of virtue. Kant’s idea of morality is sought from a single individual. Only few people are universally accepted as this ideal conception of morality, such figures like Gandhi or Jesus. Kant believes that we cannot derive this idea of morality simply from examples of those around us but we can only decide morality from a specific principle. This notion of morality is rooted from an idea that is not used by most individuals. He has little faith in human morality because he sees them as easily corruptible; the Kantian moral method can only be true on the basis that human nature often struggles with desires and passions that don’t always fit in line with morality. Kant argues that human reasoning is limited in its ability to provide an example of true morality. In his essay, he states that what humans perceive as good morals does not necessarily fit the conditions of what can be categorized as universal law of morality. Kant believes that people must hold morality not solely as an idea or set of exceptions but as an absolute idea (Kant 408). This absolute idea should be free of human rationalization in order to create a pure example. He believes this to be the case because within this form of rationalizing what is good from what is wrong there are often cases that stray away from true virtue such as human behavior. Kant sees this as a unique quality in humankind; that they can act in accordance with acceptation to the law (412). He worries ... ...annot help themselves. Experiencing the process that happens between the realization of someone needs help to the solution is vital to understanding how to carry out a moral law. Without this someone may know what is moral but not have the means to know how to help. Morality in Kantian terms provokes many questions to the ordinary concepts people have placed it in. Having a universal law of morality, free from examples of others is hard to reach for any human being. It is possible for someone to create their own imperative to reach a working set of moral means. Many people could actively use a basic independent concept of morality. But this is not sufficient for the greater good. In order to understand the roots of universal moral law one must fully understand it through examples and experience so they can proceed through their own followings and incentives.

Equiano’s Travel Questions

1. Olaudah Equiano represented a confluence of African and European cultures. While he spent only his childhood in Africa, Equiano remained cognizant of his African heritage and tied to his cultural roots. Yet he also embraced British culture and customs with prodigious alacrity. Equiano imbibed British ideas about liberty, commerce, Protestant religion, and social habits and mores. He even married an Englishwoman, Susan Cullen, and lived out his days in London. In short, Equiano lionized British society and sought to emulate his white peers.How does Equiano define his identity? Is he African? Is he British? How do you explain this hybridity? 2. Equiano was baptized into the Christian faith at the age of fourteen in 1759. What role does religion play in his life? Discuss Equiano’s relationship with God and his belief in the fatalism of Providence. 3. Equiano purchased his freedom for forty pounds at the age of twenty-one in 1766. Throughout his narrative, he became an able and astute entrepreneur. What role does the economy play in Equiano’s life? In what ways does commerce make him a modern man?What is Equiano’s economic solution to slavery at the end of the book? 4. Equiano was familiar with the entire system of slavery from Africa to the Middle Passage to plantation life in the West Indies and United States. How do his experiences of African slavery and New-World slavery compare? What is his view of slavery? Is it so simple as a one-sided condemnation, or is it more complicated? Does Equiano accept slavery under any circumstances? Are their ways in which it is legitimized? 5. Autobiography is a literary genre that allows the author to recall and record events from his or her past.Intentionally or not, however, sometimes autobiographers reinvent their pasts to their advantage. Memory and interpretation can obscure what actually took place. In what ways does Equiano appeal to the reader? Does he present a judicious and balanced view of his life, or is this book merely an exercise in propaganda? 6. If all of these questions fail to stimulate your interest, creativity, and analytical apparatuses, you may create your own paper topic provided you receive my approval well in advance.

How Diversity Relates to Education Essay

In the general education system, it is very important that there is a wide array of diverse groups in the classroom. â€Å"It is important to have a diverse student body, not only to create a realistic setting but also to encourage people to grow outside their boundaries and learn something new about a culture they may not be familiar with. (Pendulum 1) I believe diversity is an important part of the educational system. It is something positive, and not something one should fear. I also believe that diversity I crucial to a growing child. In this essay, I will address how diversity relates to education in general and how it relates to me as a future teacher. Diversity and education in America is an important topic in today’s education system. Inclusion is a key factor in the classroom; it helps bring diversity in to the lives of many children all over the world. By having diversity in the classroom students can learn about peoples differences that make them special and unique. Through my time in taking this diversity class I have come to realize how important it is to teach children that everyone is different and special in their own way. As the student population in American schools becomes increasingly diverse, educators must respond with school reform efforts that meet the needs of all students. In order to do so, teachers need to be prepared to take on the diverse student population. Going through the school of education and this diversity class, I am able to understand now that teachers must develop a culturally sensitive curriculum that integrates multicultural viewpoints and histories, to apply instructional strategies that encourage all students to achieve, and review school and district policies related to educational equity. From my educational background so far I know that teachers must become adept at choosing printed, electronic, and audiovisual materials, and in selecting topics and assignments that value the wide variety of perspectives and interests that exist among the students in any given classroom. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect, it means understanding each student in the classroom is unique and recognizing their individual differences. â€Å"Children exposed to diverse cultures in the classroom learn to understand different points of view, which is an important part of education† (Canadian Teachers 1). Children learn to celebrate differences and learn how to work together to be successful. If teachers are accepting of students differences they will be able to look at students for their potential instead of with a bias in mind, and this will help them teach more successfully. As a future teacher, I think it is important to create a tolerant, accepting and caring classroom atmosphere and here are a couple things one can do as a teacher to incorporate diversity in the classroom. By discussing diversity, and why it is a positive thing, creating lesson plans that discuss the cultures of my students and cultures of the community I teach in, by discussing religious beliefs of the community, and by speaking to students about disabilities and at risk students will help children in my class realize that these differences do not make someone less than them. I would also teach students about socioeconomic issues and how they affect students, and will teach the differences in gender and about gender stereotypes. I will teach these stereotypes but allow both boys and girls in my classroom the same equal opportunities. I believe discussing these issues to today’s youth will help show students that all people have needs, and I would emphasize that it is important for students to accept and help each other in order to benefit themselves and the world around them. I think that by teaching lessons that incorporate diversity students can identify and overcome biases, and as a teacher I will also learn about my biases from the students in my care. As a teacher it is important to make sure the classroom atmosphere is comfortable in order to ensure productivity. Teaching students that differences are a good thing and those differences can be learned from and valued is a way to help ensure a positive classroom environment. As a teacher I will help my students understand biases, and I will help them be able to accept differences and treat people fairly by educating them about the differences of the people around them. I believe there are many ways a teacher can incorporate diversity lessons into the classroom. Overall, I believe that teaching students to respect each other despite their differences will benefit the students, the teachers, and the rest of the world. Diversity is an important topic today because everyone is different and unique; as a teacher I understand that I will never be in a school that is not a diverse teaching environment. I think that by taking this diversity class, it has helped me to realize and understand the importance diversity in the classroom and the community has to offer.

How Social Networking Has Affected the Way We Work Essay

Social networks are a fun way to communicate, interact with friends, and enjoy online schooling, but are also harmful due to the harassment of cyber bullies and predators. Social networks/medias show their good side when we are all having fun on them, communicating with our friends. It is a fun and interactive way to converse, and meet new people; it gives people opportunities to learn characteristics that they have in common with each other, and make stronger relationships. Some people use Facebook, Twitter, and even Myspace to communicate with their friends; usually it is to make them aware of what you’re doing, going to do, or already have done, and meet new people, all through a fun, inventive way. Cyber Predators find their victims through internet sources, which is often social media, to learn personal information, harass, and stalk their victims; in most cases causing physical, emotional, and/or mental harm to the victim. Cyber School is an effective way to receive an education over the internet and helps to balance a home, school, and work life; getting an education that is flexible to any schedule is a positive development. Social media is a fun and interactive way to converse with friends and meet new people; it gives people opportunities to learn about things that they have in common; and make a stronger relationship. Cyber Bullies and Predators usually affect the lives of teenagers and children because of their vulnerability; â€Å"75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their families in exchange for goods and services;† A Cyber Bully is someone who uses the internet to torment another person using cruel words and hateful sayings to purposefully discourage them; a Cyber Predator is usually an adult internet abuser that exploits children or teenagers because of their lack of wisdom and their large amount of vulnerability. Others might think that social networking isn’t helpful at all, that there is no use of it, and that it needs to be used less because of the lack of exercise children receive and connection it has to the increasing obesity growth rate or that it has only negative effects on its user’s safety. Social networking has changed how people live, work, and communicate by offering helpful schooling online, fun communication between others, but it also gives bullies and predators another method of victimizing others. Social media, though it may be a fun way to interact with others, can be harmful when it comes to your safety; many people don’t realize that putting much of their information on the internet can invite unwanted problems to your life.Andrew Ferguson, author of the web article, â€Å"R U Tweeting 2 Much?† published by Gale Opposing View Points In Context, in 2011, implies, people spend too much of their time on twitter and they tweet about any and everything based on impulse. Social media can be a powerful tool for social change and an alternative to more traditional methods of communication. â€Å"Consequences from over-sharing personal information include vulnerability to sexual or financial predators and lost job opportunities from employers finding embarrassing photos or comments.† No one would want their boss to see a picture on Facebook of their new employee getting drunk, so why would they put it up for the entire world to see? There is a saying that goes â€Å"If you wouldn’t want your pastor at church, your parents, or your boss to know/see, then don’t do it.† Socialnetworking.procon.org, updated in 2012, clarifies that, â€Å"43% of online sexual solicitors were identified as being adolescents (under 18), 30% were adults between the ages of 18 and 21, and 9% were adults over the age of 21 (as of Dec. 31, 2008).† Predators can be any age; so if someone gets a friend request from a random person that they’ve never met before, but is the same age as them, they will probably accept the request; they think that because we are the same age, that the person must want to get to know me. Most people don’t worry about the harm that an unknown Facebook friend, or Twitter follower is capable of; they mostly think â€Å"Yay! A new follower/friend! I’m so popular!† Well, yeah, maybe they’re popular in the mind of a predator, but people should still watch out for situations like that because you never know when your life is at risk. Cyber bullying is a form of harassment via social networks; it causes its victims – mainly teenagers between the ages of fourteen and seventeen – to become emotionally and mentally scarred by its use. The web article â€Å"Are Social Networking Sites Good for Our Society?† updated in September, 2012, urge, social networking sites make cyber bullying – a form of bullying that occurs online – easier and more public than bullying through other online activities such as email and instant messaging. Cyber bullying can be classified as just commenting on someone’s picture on Facebook, saying that their hair is really messed up. But other form’s of cyber bullying can be calling someone out in a status, calling them ugly, or fat, or any hurtful word. It can differ, but all forms of it can be hurtful and send anyone of the edge. The web article â€Å"Are Social Networking Sites Good for Our Society?† updated in September, 2012, â€Å"A 2009 study found that 17.3% of middle school students have been victims of cyber bullying; victims often experience a drop in grades, decreased self-esteem, and other symptoms of depression.† Well, kids would drop their self esteem because their self esteem is built by their surrounding peers; and if their peers are nothing but a bunch of bullies then it causes a decrease. The web article â€Å"Cyber Bullying Statistics†, published in early 2012, realizes, around half of teens have been the victims of cyber bullying. Many teenagers and children do not care for people who are outside of their groups of friends, so they feel that if they are different than them in any way, or they do things that they don’t do, then they are weird and they don’t like them, so they bully them for being different. Socialnetworks.procon.org, suggests, â€Å"Social networking sites make cyber bullying, a type of bullying that occurs online, easier and more public than bullying through other online activities such as email and instant messaging†. It’s easy for a child or a teenager to bully their peers, because kids just don’t care how they make each other feel; they don’t care about anyone but themselves in many situations. It’s also easy for a kid to call someone a mean name, but even easier to call them a mean name through a computer monitor; probably so they don’t have to deal with a conflict between the victims in person. Cyber predators find their victims through internet sources; which is often social media to learn personal information, harass, and stalk their victims in most cases causing physical, emotional and/or mental harm to them. Michelle Dean, author of the web article â€Å"Amanda Todd: Cyber Bullied,† published in October 2012, comments, â€Å"The systematic way the harasser allegedly followed Todd to new schools, repeatedly posting the images and threatening to do it again, makes it textbook harassment regardless of the medium.† Some Cyber predators will stop at nothing to get what they want from their victim, no matter how far off the edge it will make the victim go; of course predators only think of themselves when it comes to their own wants. The web article â€Å"Killer Created Facebook Profile to Lure Girl to Bushland,† published by Gale Opposing View Points in Context, in 2012, explains, A man [that stalks] a girl on Facebook, learns all about her life and interests to plot how he would murder her. A man kills a woman by making a fake Facebook profile and telling her that he is a part of an animal association, drawing her into his lies by knowing all of her interests because of shared online information. Cyber predators use the internet as their source to figure out any and everything that is in association with their victim’s life. They are a regular predator, searching the internet for, usually young, victims. Victims are younger because they are the ones that don’t really pay any attention to who they do and don’t talk to through the internet, and are the most open to making a conversation with a random person. Communication between others over the internet can be fun and entertaining, but also it can be taken as a way of decline in our communication skills. Jonathan Cummings, author of the article â€Å"___________________†, published by _________ in ____, insists, Communicating through the internet is not as meaningful or reliable as face to face relationships. Although communicating through a computer monitor can be quite engaging, it isn’t as meaningful as chatting with someone in person; you can’t get the fullness of the conversation because you can’t see their emotions and actions. It just isn’t as much fun as a regular, in person conversation. Jonathan Cummings, author of _______, published by ______, in ____, states, â€Å"Using the internet to build social relationships results in social interaction that is wanting, at least when it is explicitly compared to the standards of face-to-face and telephone communication, to social relationships that are primarily conducted offline, and to traditional small groups†¦the Internet is less effective than other means of forming and sustaining strong social relationships.† For instance, the internet can give you another form of communicating but it isn’t as insightful as having a conversation with someone in person. Many people are starting to enter the huge world that the internet holds, it may be very fun, but you can’t grasp the meaning of a good conversation when you are lacking one of the senses that most people include in their conversations; usually people’s actions or tone is what triggers a good, or meaningful conversation. Social networking has changed how people live, work, and communicate in a positive light by offering helpful schooling online, interesting social communication between others, and negatively by giving bullies and predators another method to victimize others. To help prevent these situations, people could not add others on social media websites that you do not know and are actually friends with. â€Å"Social networking sites have no way to verify that people are who they claim to be, leaving people vulnerable to solicitations from online predators who are able to mask their true identities.† Although it makes anyone seem like they’re super popular on Facebook when they have around 2,000 friends, they DON’T know them all. Maybe they know about 300 of them personally, but the rest are all people that they don’t even know. It’s not about having a lot of friends, it’s about having a safe life online. â€Å"Social media can be a powerful tool for social change and an alternative to more traditional methods of communication.† Works Cited Carter, Denise. â€Å"Living in Virtual Communities: Making Friends Online†. Taking Sides: Science, Technology, and Society. Eighth Edition. Thomas Easton. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. 2008. Print. 15 Sep. 2012. Dean, Michelle. â€Å"Amanda Todd: Cyber Bullied.† The New Yorker. Web. 15 Sep. 2012 Ferguson, Andrew. â€Å"R U Tweeting 2 Much?† Commentary 131.1 (2011): 72+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 12 Sep. 2012. â€Å"Killer created fake Facebook profile to lure girl to bushland.† Sydney Morning Herald [Sydney, Australia] 1 Sept. 2012: 5. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 12 Sep. 2012 â€Å"Social Networking.† SocialNetworking.ProCon.org. ProCon. 12 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Sep. 2012. Tsukayama, Hayley. â€Å"Dreams of Ray Bradbury: Predictions That Came True.† Washington Post 6 June 2012. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 12 Sep. 2012.

Chapter filipino

This chapter presents the research design, the respondents of the study, the research instruments and the statistical treatment to be used in the presentation and analysis of the data. Methods of Research used The descriptive method of research was used in this study. Descriptive method of research Is a fact finding study with adequate interpretation of the findings. It describes what Is. It describes with emphasis what actually exist such as current conditions, practices, situations, or any phenomena. Since the present study orInvestigation was concerned with the level of difficulty between algebra and geometry to sophomore of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School during school year 2012-2013, the descriptive method of research was the most appropriate method to use. Sampling Technique This research uses the random sampling in determining the number of respondents. The researchers will assess the difficulty level of algebra and geometry of 56 sophomore students In Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School during school year 2012-2013. Description of Respondents The respondent were the sophomores students in Santa Rosa Science andTechnology High School in school year 2012-2013 that includes six sections namely: Pasteur, Linnaeus, Mendel, Darwin, Watson and Hook. Distribution of Respondents Section Number of Students Pasteur 41 10 Linnaeus Mendel 37 9 Darwin Watson Hook Table 1: This table shows that two of the six sections contain 10 respondents while the remaining four had only 9 respondents. All of the six sections have near range of Research Instrument 1 . Questionnaire. This is a researcher-made questionnaire which is composed of 2 parts. Part I is the general information of the respondents that include the age and sex of the respondents.Part II is the questionnaire for the assessment of the level of difficulty between Algebra and Geometry to sophomore students of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School during school year 2012-2013. Data G athering Procedure Development of the instrument, after reading and studying samples of questionnaire from related studies, the researchers prepared their own questionnaire. The researchers also consulted some knowledgeable people about how to prepare one. The researchers saw to it that there were enough items to collect data to cover all aspects of the problem and to answer all the specific questions under the statement of the problem.Then the researchers submitted the questionnaire to their adviser, Dry. Scorer B. Escape for correction after which it was finalized. The copies of the questionnaire were then distributed personally by the researcher by the researcher to the respondents. After few days, all the copies Statistical Treatment of the Data The researcher will use the Weighted Mean, and the Relative Frequency. 1. Mean (x). This is to determine the average scores of some variables subject for study. X Where: x – the median n – the number of respondents 2. Relat ive Frequency.This will be used in the presentation and analysis of data gathered for problems using the formula: % = fin x 100 Where: f – frequency n – total number of respondents % – relative frequency Cover Letter Dear Respondents, Please be informed that we are conducting a study on the level of difficulty between Algebra and Geometry to sophomores of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School in school year 2012-2013. In this connection, we have constructed a questionnaire to gather adequate information to know the level of difficulty between Algebra and Geometry. In fact, our research teacher, Dry.Scorer B. Escape has encouraged us to conduct the survey and promised to help us get your cooperation. Your participation in the study by way of answering the questionnaire is very important. Without it, our study wouldn't be successful as it should be. Kindly fill up the questionnaire and return it to us. Please feel assured that your anonymity and the inform ation you will give will be treated with the strictest confidentiality. Thank you very much for your very kind response to our request and if you are interested, we will supply you with the results of the study. Very sincerely yours,

Analyze the handover between two WLAN, two Wimax and two UMTS networks

Analyze the handover between two WLAN, two Wimax and two UMTS networks ABSTRACT In recent years, telecommunication has flourished extensively so much that several areas of studies coexist now thanks to multiple technologies. One of them is heterogeneous handover which is a concept that aims to provide continuity of connection while crossing different networks. In this thesis, our main objective is to analyze the handover between two WLAN, two Wimax and two UMTS networks. The vertical handover decision is taken on the basis of various algorithms such as variance-based algorithm, taguchi algorithm, which calculates the variance of parameters such as delay, jitter, bandwidth and packet loss for the above networks, and selection of the network having most parameters with minimum score. These algorithms are calculated and the decision factors for each wireless network are compared, in order to detect and trigger a vertical handover. The factors can be classified as beneficial, i.e., the larger, the better, or on the basis of cost, i.e., the lower, the better. This algorithm is also compared with other algorithms such as MEW (Multiplicative experiment weighting), SAW (Simple Additive Weighting), TOPOSIS (Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) and GRA (Grey Relational Analysis). These algorithms are appropriate for different traffic classes. Simulation results for the proposed algorithm in Matlab is discussed and compared with other multiple attribute decision making algorithms on the basis of bandwidth, jitter, delay etc. It can be seen that the proposed algorithm causes the minimum packet delay than others. Jitter is also comparatively less than other algorithms. Besides, it provides the highest bandwidth than any other MADM algorithm. Keywords:-UMTS, SAW, MEW, GRA, TOPSIS, WLAN and Wimax Chapter-1 Introduction 1.1 History of mobile services ‘ The journey of mobile telephony began with the 1st generation services. The design for it was developed by AMPS (Advanced mobile phone system) in 1970 and it is based on analog cellular technology. The data bandwidth provided by the system was just 1.9 kbps and it used TDMA multiplexing. Then, the 2nd generation of mobile services was introduced in 1981.The 2G systems are still largely used for voice calls. The data bandwidth provided was 14.4 kbps [1] and the technology used was TDMA and CDMA. It is based on digital technology and also provided short messaging services or SMS along with voice communication. Similarly, it provided circuit switched data communication services at low speed. In 1999, the technology switched to 2.5 G, which used GPRS, EDGE as the standards. It provided higher throughput for data service up to 384 kbps. Later, in 2002, the 3G services were introduced, providing high quality audio, video and data services. Which also provided broadband data capabilities up to 2 Mbps. It mainly uses packet switched technology which utilizes the bandwidth more efficiently. In 2010, when 4th generation of cellular technology was introduced, it was expected to complement and replace the 3G networks. The key features of 4G mobile networks is that it can deliver information anywhere and anytime using seamless connection.4G network is an IP based network which gives access through collection of various radio interfaces. Its network provides access to best possible service with seamless handoff, combining multiple radio interfaces into a single network for subscriber to use. Thus, users have different services with an increased coverage. It does not matter whether there is failure or loss of one or more networks, the 4G technology keeps all the networks integrated into IP based system, which require vertical handoff for seamless connection between the networks. As the number of users are responsible for enhancing the qu ality of 4G service, the very process becomes an indispensable component. While the 4G technology has its genesis in the idea of invasive computing, software defined radio is the prominent adhesive behind the entire process. Here the software defined radio is programmable and able to transmit and receive a wide range of frequencies while emulating any transmission format. It should offer high speed of 100 Mbits for stationary mobile and 20 Mbits while travelling having network capacity 10 times faster than 3G networks. This increases the download speed to 1 second for 1Mbyte of file compared to 200 seconds in 3G networks. Which should support fast speed volume data transmission at lower cost. The obviously it should provide seamless connection between multiple wireless networks and mobile networks. For this, the support of vertical handoff is essential. Apart from it, it is expected that seamless multimedia services are provided it being an IP-based system, which also replaces SS7 (signaling system 7) that consumes considerable amount of bandwidth. Due to IP-based network, optimum usage of bandwidth is expected. 1.2 Motivation ‘ There are several communication systems such as the Ethernet, Wireless LAN, GPRS and 3G coexisting with their own different characteristics such as bandwidth, delay and cost. Wireless mobile users require high quality of service (QoS) and one of the factors directly affecting QoS is the number of call drops. Therefore, it has to be reduced or eliminated, possibly, to achieve high QoS. The number of call drops experienced by a system mainly depends on its channel assignment and handoff schemes. Since majority of WLANs are deployed in the areas like hotels, cafes, airports, offices, etc, the speed of the users are generally normalized within the WLAN coverage area. In WLAN/Cellular network interworking, a user can either have access from micro layer or from macro layer of cellular network depending whether he wants slow or fast speed. Basically, in cellular networks, user speed is the primary factor to determine whether a user is fast or slow and that information is subsequently used to handle vertical handoff. Since the speed information about the users are not directly available when they are in WLAN coverage area ,the vertical handoff schemes employed in cellular networks are not directly suitable for solving vertical handoff problem in Cellular/WLAN interworking. This raises to many important questions. Assume that the speed of each user in a WLAN coverage area is within small threshold value. Normally, when a user is outside WLAN coverage area, the type of user whether fast or slow, is determined on the basis of the user speed. Now the question is how to determine the type of user, whether fast or slow, when it is within the WLAN coverage area? A fast user can become slow temporarily due to various conditions such as traffic signals, turns, etc. Is the speed alone sufficient to determine whether a user is slow or fast? If not then (i) What other parameters can be used to determine whether a user is fast or slow and, ii) How can they be obtained? In fact, this lack of clarity inspired the researcher to develop a vertical Handoff decision algorithm to solve vertical handoff problems. 1.3 Scope of thesis ‘ With greater mobility and easy acces, telecommunication consumers have become demanding, seeking services anywhere and anytime. Thus, the integration of WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wimax and cellular networks such as WCDMA (wideband CDMA) system should be error free for seamless efficient communication which is the 4th generation technology. The seamless and efficient handover between different access technologies known as vertical handover is essential and remains a challenging problem. The 4G is seen as convergence and integration of various wireless access technologies. The existing cellular systems such as GSM and CDMA2000 support low bandwidth over a large coverage area. However, the wireless networks such as WLAN supports high bandwidth over a short coverage area. Moreover one of the major design issues of 4G is the support of vertical handover. Interestingly this is different from a ‘horizontal handoff’ between different wireless access points that use the same technology. Switching between two dissimilar networks for mobile terminal (e.g. between UMTS WLAN) is termed as Vertical Handover A vertical handover involves two different network interfaces for different wireless technologies. It can happen in two ways. Firmly when the mobile user moves into the network that has higher bandwidth and limited coverage, a vertical handover request is generated since the mobile user may want to change its connection to the higher bandwidth network to enjoy the higher bandwidth service. This type of vertical handover is called downward vertical handoff. Secondly when the mobile user moves out of its serving higher bandwidth network, it has to request a vertical handover to change its connection to the network with low bandwidth and wide coverage. This type of vertical handover is called upward vertical handover. Chapter-2 Research objectives 2.1 Objectives The present research aims at making comparison between various existing multiple attribute decision making algorithms for realization of vertical handoff such as MEW (Multiplicative Exponent Weighting), SAW (Simple Additive weighting), TOPSIS (Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions) and GRA (Grey relational Analysis) which are MADM (Multiple attribute decision making) ranking algorithms and the proposed vertical decision algorithm. For this comparison, various heterogeneous networks such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication services), WLAN (Wireless Local area networks), WiMAX (Worldwide interoperability for microwave access) need to be taken into consideration. Comparison will be mostly on the basis of various parameters such as bandwidth, jitter, packet delay, packet loss, etc. In addition, the comparison may be for different types of traffics such as data connections and voice connections. As all the above mentioned algorithms are multiple attribute algorithm, due importance is given to parameters to be considered in the algorithms. The performance evaluation of the proposed decision algorithm should be done on the basis of parameters mentioned above. For various types of traffics, how the algorithm performs can be seen. Depending on the performance, we can conclude Which algorithm is suitable for which traffics. In voice connections, 70 % importance is given to the packet delay and jitter i.e. by assigning weights to these parameters and equal distribution of weights to the other parameters or attributes. If any of the algorithms performs well then that particular algorithm can be considered to be best suited for voice connections. In da ta connections, 70% importance is given to the parameters such as bandwidth i.e. by assigning the weight to the bandwidth and remaining weight is equally distributed among the parameters. If any of the algorithm performs well in this case, then the particular algorithm is suitable for the data connections. The ultimate aim being development of a decision making algorithm which works well for both voice connections and data connections. ‘ 2.2 Methodology In order to realize vertical handoff using the existing multiple attribute decision making algorithm and evaluate the performance of each of the algorithms along with the proposed algorithm, we are considering the selection of network in 4G environment. Here, three types of networks such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication services), WLAN (Wireless Local area networks), WiMAX (Worldwide interoperability for microwave access) are combined and there will be two networks of each type. In this thesis, four decision criteria are evaluated and compared to realize vertical handoff considering the available bandwidth (Mbps), packet delay (ms), packet jitter and packet loss (per 106 packets). The range of value for various parameters are as follows: Available bandwidth for UMTS network 0.1-2Mbps, Packet delay for UMTS network 25-50ms, Jitter for UMTS network 5-10ms. Bandwidth for WLAN network 1-54Mbps, Packet delay for WLAN network 100-150ms, Jitter for WLAN network 10-20ms. Bandwidth for Wimax network is 1-60Mbps, while for packet delay for Wimax network is 60-100ms, and Jitter for Wimax network is 3-10ms.The values for the weights to be assigned for different services are considered as Case1: packet delay and jitter are given 70 % importance and the rest is equally distributed among other parameters, this case is suited for voice connections and whereas Case 2: available bandwidth is given as 70% importance, this case is suited for data connections. For each algorithm, 10 vertical decisions were considered of each case separately. Performance evaluation is done for two cases namely voice connections and data connections. These cases are evaluated using MATLAB v7.6 release 2009 software tool. Next, by using artificial neural network, we can design a system to take vertical handoff decision. Here, input parameters such as samples of received signal strength and bandwidth is applied to input layer, hidden layer does some processing depending upon the number of neurons and the algorithm chosen. The output layer gives the ID of selected candidate network. In, ANN-based method, there is handoff between WLAN and Cellular networks. Here, two parameters are taken into consideration i.e. RSS a Bandwidth as an input for neural network. The RSS samples for training neural network for both WLAN cellular networks are -60dBm,-70 dBm,-80 dBm,-90 dBm. Similarly, bandwidth samples for WLAN are 54, 30,10,1 Mbps. Bandwidth samples for cellular network are 14.4, 9.6, 4.5,2 kbps. By using combination of RSS bandwidth parameters, we could make 256 samples of input for ANN. These samples of output samples for vertical handoff decision are also fed to ANN. Using Levenberg-Marquardt method for ANN, 180 samples are used for training, 38 samples for validation and 38 samples for testing. Based on ANN developed system, it could take vertical handoff decision from cellular to WLAN. Lastly, ns-2 software tool can also be used. NS-2 simulation is done using nodes of 802.11 and nodes of 802.16 Wimax. Four nodes of 802.11 nodes (Access points) are used and four nodes of 802.16 nodes (Base station) NIST module of 802.16e are used in ns-2. In this case, out of the existing algorithm best algorithm with best score is selected for triggering vertical handoff decision. Here, in this case, various parameters such as Bandwidth, Bit error rate, trust level etc were considered for vertical handoff decision. This can be tested against various available traffics in ns2 such as CBR (Constant bit rate) which corresponds to real time traffic (for voice communication) and FTP (file transfer Protocol) which corresponds to non real time traffic. The performance evaluation for various traffics can be done on various parameters such as Packet delivery ratio, throughput, jitter and packet dropping ratio etc with simulation time. 2.3 Related Work Enrique Stevens Navarro and Vincent W.S.Wong [2], in their paper, have compared four different vertical handoff decision algorithm namely, MEW (Multiplicative Exponent Weighting), SAW (Simple Additive Weighting), TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), and GRA (Grey Relational Analysis). All four algorithms allow different parameters (e.g., bandwidth, delay, packet loss rate, cost) to be considered for vertical handoff decision [2]. Both Authors found that MEW, SAW, and TOPSIS provide almost the same performance to all four traffic classes. Only GRA gives a slightly higher bandwidth and lower delay for interactive and background traffic classes. Jose.D.Martinez, Ulises Pinedo-Rico and Enrique Stevens Navarro, in their paper, have given a comparative analysis of the multiple attribute decision algorithms [3]. In this paper, the authors provided a simulation study of several vertical handoff decision algorithms in order to understand its performance for different user applications. They considered two different applications: voice and data connections. Algorithms such as SAW (Simple Additive Weighting) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) are suitable for voice connections. These algorithms provided the lower values of jitter and delay packet available in a 4G wireless network. In a data connection case, GRA (Grey Relational Analysis) and MEW (Multiplicative Exponent Weighting) algorithms provided the solution with highest available bandwidth necessary for this application. Chapter-3 Classification of vertical handoff algorithms 3.1 Need for vertical handoff Currently, the trend in mobile communications is not one network technology replacing another, but the interoperability between different overlapping networks. Therefore it is obvious that many wireless networks will coexist and can complement each other in an all-IP based heterogeneous wireless network. This can facilitate mobile users’ access to internet easily and connectivity of IP anywhere, anytime using the ‘best’ possible network. This is mainly due to the fact that different wireless networking technologies have their own advantages and drawbacks. Access to various wireless systems results in heterogeneous networks that can offer overlapping coverage of multiple networks with different technologies. For example, low cost and high speed Wi-Fi (WLAN) network will be accessible within limited range of ‘hot-spot’ areas and will be complimented with cellular network offering wide area coverage such as UMTS or Wimax. As a consequence, some fundament al problems must be solved for the users to navigate a 4G wireless network seamlessly. For this, mobile terminal equipped with multiple interfaces to handle different technologies is required. Furthermore, applications running on mobile terminal with multi-mode terminals in a 4G environment can switch between different networks supporting different technologies without degrading the quality of the link. But the Internet routing model forces mobile terminal to find new IP address for an interface while roaming in another network in 4G environment. It is assumed that applications can easily manage mobility and can handoff to the best possible network; of course some method is required to adjust media streams to the bandwidth available. 3.1 Types of vertical handoff There are various ways to classify vertical handoff algorithms. In this thesis, we have classified the vertical handoff algorithms into four groups based on the handoff criteria as given below: RSS-based algorithms: RSS is used as the main handoff decision criteria in this group. Different strategies have been developed to compare the RSS of the present point of attachment. In this RSS-based horizontal handoff decision, strategies are classified into the following six subcategories namely: relative received signal strength, relative received signal strength with threshold, relative received signal strength with hysteresis and threshold, and prediction techniques. For vertical handoff decision, relative received signal strength cannot be applicable since the signal strength from different types of networks cannot be compared directly due to the different technologies involved. For example, different thresholds for different networks. Furthermore, other network parameters such as bandwidth are combined with RSS in the vertical handoff decision process. Bandwidth-based algorithms: Available bandwidth for a mobile terminal is the main criterion in this group. In some algorithms, both bandwidth and signal strength information are used in the decision process. Depending on whether RSS or bandwidth is the main criteria an algorithm is categorized either as signal strength based or bandwidth based. Cost function based algorithms: This class of algorithms combine metrics such as monetary cost, security, bandwidth and power consumption in a cost function based algorithm, and the handoff decision is made by comparing the score of this function for the candidate networks. Different weights are allotted to the different input parameters depending on the network conditions and user preferences. ANN and fuzzy logic based algorithms: These vertical handoff decision algorithms attempt to use richer set of inputs than others for making handoff decisions. When a large number of inputs are used, it is very difficult or impossible to develop, formulate handoff decision processes. Analytically hence, it is better to apply machine learning techniques to formulate the processes. The survey reveals that for the fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks based techniques can be used. The Fuzzy logic systems allow expertise of humans for qualitative thinking to be incorporated as algorithms to enhance the efficiency. If there exists comprehensive set of input-desired output pattern, artificial neural networks can be trained to create handoff decision algorithms. By using consistent and real-time learning techniques, the systems can monitor their performance and change their own structure to create very effective handoff decision algorithms. 3.3.1 RSS based vertical handoff In this, the handoff decisions are made by comparing RSS (received signal strength) of the current network with the preset threshold values. These algorithms are less complex and may be combined with other parameters such as bandwidth, cost etc to have a better handover decisions. We describe here three RSS based algorithms in the following sections. A) ALIVE-HO (adaptive lifetime based vertical handoff ) algorithm – Zahran, Chen and Sreenan proposed algorithm for handover between 3G networks and WLAN by combining the RSS with an estimated lifetime (duration over which the current access technology remains beneficial to the active applications). ALIVE-HO always uses an uncongested network whenever available. It continues using the preferred network (i.e. WLAN) as long as it satisfies the QoS requirements of the application [5]. Two different vertical handoff scenarios let us discuss: Moving out of the preferred network (MO) and Moving in to the preferred network (MI), where the preferred network is usually the underlay network that provides better and economical service. Hence, extending the utilization of WLAN as long as it provides satisfactory performance is the main consideration of vertical handoff algorithm design. We observe the method through the following scenarios. In the first scenario, when the MT moves away from the coverage area of a WLAN into a 3G cell, a handover to the 3G network is initiated. The handover is done under following conditions: (a) RSS average of the WLAN falls below predefined threshold. (MO threshold) and (b) the estimated lifetime is at least equal to the required handoff signaling delay. The MT continuously calculates the RSS mean using the moving average method.[4] [K] = Here [k] is RSS mean at time instant k, and Wav is the window size, a variable that changes with velocity of the velocity of mobile terminal. Then, the lifetime metric EL [k] is calculated by using [k], ASST Application signal strength threshold),S[k],RSS change rate. EL[k] = [k] ‘ ASST S[k] ASST (Application signal strength threshold) chosen to satisfy the requirements of the active applications. S[K] represents RSS decay rate. In second scenario, when the MT moves towards a WLAN cell, the handover to the WLAN is done if the average RSS is larger than MI Threshold. WLAN and the available bandwidth of the WLAN meet the bandwidth requirement of the application. Table 3.1 given below shows lost frames during the handoff transition area for the received stream. ASST (in dBs) -90 -89 -88 -87 -86 -85 Lost frames_100kbit/s 13.3 5 3 0.67 0 0 Lost frames_300kbit/s 38 28 4 0.33 0 0 Table 3.1 Frames lost corresponding to ASST [5] Based on the results obtained and subjective testing, the optimal value for UDP based streaming is chosen as -86dB. Firstly by introducing EL[k], the algorithm adapts to the application requirements and reduces unnecessary handovers. Secondly, there is an improvement on the average throughput for user because MT prefers to stay in WLAN cell as long as possible. However, packet delay grows due to the critical fading impact near the cell edges, which may result in severe degradation in the user perceived QoS. This phenomenon results in a tradeoff between improving the system resource utilization and satisfying the user QoS requirements. This issue can be critical for delay sensitive applications and degrade their performance. Here ASST is tuned according to various system parameters, including delay thresholds, MT velocities, handover signaling costs and packet delay penalties. B) Algorithm on Adaptive RSS Threshold Mohanty and Akyildiz, in their paper, have proposed a WLAN to 3G handover decision method [6]. In this method, RSS of current network is compared with dynamic RSS threshold (Sth) when MT is connected to a WLAN access point. We observe the following notations with reference to fig 3.1 which shows a handoff from current network (AP) referred as WLAN, to the future network (BS), referred as 3G. Fig 3.1 Analysis of handoff process [6] * Sth: The threshold value of RSS to initiate the handover process. Therefore, when the RSS of WLAN referred to as ORSS (old RSS) in fig 3.1 drops below Sth, the registration procedures are initiated for MT’s handover to the 3G network. * a:The cell size we assume that the cells are of hexagonal shape. d: It is the shortest distance between the point at which handover is initiated and WLAN boundary. We observe the Path loss Model given by; Pr(x) = Pr (d0) + Where x is the distance between the Access Point and Mobile Terminal, and Pr (d0) is the received power at a known reference distance (d0). The typical value of d0 is 1 km for macrocells, 100m for outdoor microcells, and 1m for indoor picocells. The numerical value of Pr (d0) depends on different factors such as frequency, antenna heights, and antenna gains, is the path loss exponent. The typical values of ranges from 3 to 4 and 2 to 8 for macrocellular and microcellular environment. – Is a Zero mean Gaussian random variable that represents the statistical variation in Pr(x) caused by Shadowing. Typical std. deviation of is 12 dB. We observe the path loss model applied to the scenario. Pr (a ‘ d) = Pr (a) + Pr (a ‘ d) = Pr (a) + 10 log Sth = Smin + 10 log When the MT is located at point P, the assumption is that it can move in any direction with equal probability, i.e. the pdf of MT’s direction of motion is f = – †.’.(1) As per assumption, that MT’s direction of motion and speed remains the same from point P until it moves out of the coverage area of WLAN. As the distance of P from WLAN boundary is not very large, this assumption is realistic. The need for handoff to cellular network arises only if MTs direction of motion from P is in the range [ ] can move in both directions. Where = arctan otherwise the handoff initiation is false. The probability of false handoff initiation is using (1) is Pa = 1 – P (unfavourable event ) = 1 ‘ P ( favourable event ) = 1 – = 1 – †.’.(2) When the direction of motion of Mobile Terminal from P is, the time it takes to move out of the coverage area of WLAN cell i.e. old base station is given by time = from fig 3.1 Cos = Sec = , x = d sec Hence t = t= †.’.(3) Pdf of is f = â€Å"{† 1/(2†_1 ) -†_1†Ã¢â‚¬ _1 {0 otherwise from (3) , t is a function of i. e. t = g ( ) in [ ] [3] g(†)=dsec†/v Therefore pdf of t is given by f_t (t)=’_i’f_(† (†_i ) )/(g^’ (†_i ) ) †.’.(4) Where †i are the roots of equation t = g ( ) in [ ] And for each of these roots f†(†i)= for i = 1 and 2 f = + f = †.’.(5) Where g is derivative of g given by g = †.’.(6) = = g = t Using (5) (6), the pdf of t is given by f = †.’.(7) { 0 otherwise The probability of handoff failure is given by Pf = { 1 { P ( t ) { 0 †.’.(8) – handoff signaling delay and P ( t ) – is the probability that t when P (t ) = = = = arccos( ) †.’.(9) Using (8) and (9) we get Pf = { 1 { cos { 0 Pf = Since, †1 =arctan ( d/v†) Pf = Here, it shows that Probability of handoff failure depends on distance from point p to the boundary of the cell, velocity and handoff signaling delay †. The use of adaptive RSS threshold helps reducing the handoff failure probability as well as reducing unnecessary handovers. The exact value of Sth will depend on MT’s speed and handoff signaling delay at a particular time. Adaptive Sth is used to limit handoff failure. However, in this algorithm, the handoff from 3G network to a WLAN is not efficient when MTS traveling time inside a WLAN cell is less than the handover delay. This may lead to wastage of network resources. 3.3.2 Bandwidth based vertical handoff algorithm A Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) Based algorithm Yang, in his paper,[7] presented a bandwidth based vertical handover decision method between WLANs and a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) network using Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) algorithm[7]. The SINR calculation of the WLAN (wireless LAN) signals is converted into an equivalent Signal to Interference and noise Ratio to be compared with the Signal to Interference and noise Ratio of the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access channel †AP =†AP [(1+ †BS/ †BS) WBS/ WAP -1] where †AP and †BS are the Signal to Interference and noise Ratio at the mobile terminal when associated with Wireless local area network and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, respectively. † is the dB gap between the uncoded Quadrature Amplitude Modulation and channel capacity, minus the coding gain, and †AP equals to 3dB for Wireless local area network and †BS equals to 3dB for Wireless local area network, as stated by the authors. WAP and WBS are the carrier bandwidth of wireless local area network and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access links. Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio based handovers can provide users with higher overall throughput than RSS based handovers since the available throughput is directly dependent on the Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio, and this algorithm results in a balanced load between the wireless local area network and the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access networks. But such an algorithm may also int roduce excessive handovers with the variation of the Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio causing the node to hand over back and forth between two networks, commonly referred to as ping-pong effect. A Wrong Decision Probability (WDP) Prediction Based algorithm C.Chi, Cao, Hao and Liu, in their paper ‘Modeling and analysis of Handover algorithms’, have proposed a Vertical Handover decision algorithm based [8] on the Wrong Decision Probability (WDP) prediction. The Wrong Decision Probability is calculated by combining the probability of unnecessary handoff and the missing handoff. Assume that there are two networks i and j with overlapping coverage, and bi and bj are their available bandwidth. An unnecessary handoff occurs when the mobile terminal is in network i and decides to handoff to j, but bj is less than bi after this decision. A missing handoff occurs when the mobile terminal decides to stay connected to network i, but bi is less than bj after this decision. A handover from network i to network j is initiated if Pr † x l0 or bj – bi ‘ L, where Pr is the unnecessary handover probability, † is the traffic load of network i, l0 = 0.001, and L is a bandwidth threshold. The authors show that this alg orithm is able to reduce the Wrong Decision Probability and balance the traffic load; however, received signal strength is not considered. A handoff to a target network with high bandwidth but weak received signal is not desirable as it may bring discontinuity in the service. 3.3.3 Cost Function based vertical handoff algorithm A Cost Function Based algorithm with Normalization and Weights Distribution Hasswa, N. Nasser, and H. Hassanein, in their paper ‘A context-aware cross-layer archi- tecture for next generation heterogeneous wireless networks’, have proposed a cost function based handover decision algorithm in which the normalization and weights distribution methods are provided. A quality factor of network is used to evaluate the performance of a handover target candidate as Qi = WCCi + WSSi + WPPi + WdDi + WfFi where Qi is the quality factor of network i, Ci, Si, Pi, Di and Fi stand for cost of service, security, power consumption, network condition and network performance, and Wc, Ws, Wp, Wd andWf are the weights of these network parameters. Since each network parameter has a different unit, a normalization procedure is used and the normalized quality factor for network n is calculated as Wc(1/Ci) WSSi WP(1/Pi) Qi = †__________ + __________ + _______ max((1/C1),’..(1/Cn)) max(S1,’..Sn) max((1/P1),’..(1/Pn)) WdDi WfFi + ________ + ________ max (D1,’..Dn) max(F1,’..Fn) A handoff necessity estimator is also introduced to avoid unnecessary handovers High system throughput and user’s satisfaction can be achieved by introducing Hasswa’s algorithm, however, some of the parameters such as security and interference levels are difficult to calculate. A Weighted Function Based Algorithm R. Tawil, G. Pujolle, and O. Salazar in their paper presented a weighted function based[10] Vertical handover decision algorithm which transfers the Vertical handover decision calculation to the visited network instead of the mobile terminal. The weighted function of a candidate network is defined as Qi = WBBi +WDp 1/DPi+WC 1/Ci Where Qi represents the quality of network i, Bi, DPi and Ci are bandwidth, dropping probability and monetary cost of service, and WB, WDp and WC are their weights, where, WB +WDp +WC = 1 The candidate network with the highest score of Qi is selected as the handover target. By giving the calculation to the visited network, the resource of the mobile node can be saved so that the system is able to achieve short handoff decision delay, low handoff blocking rate and higher throughput. However, the method requires extra cooperation between the mobile node and the point of attachment of the visited network, which may cause additional delay and excessive load to the network when there are large number of mobile nodes. 3.3.4 ANN based vertical handoff algorithm A Multilayer Feedforward Artificial Neural Network Based Algorithm N. Nasser, S. Guizani, and E. Al-Masri, in their paper, developed a [11] Vertical handover decision algorithm based on artificial neural networks (ANN). The topology of the ANN consists of an input layer, a hidden layer and an output layer. The input layer consists of five nodes representing various parameters such as cost, RSS, bandwidth etc of the handoff target candidate networks. The hidden layer consists of variable number of nodes (neurons) which are basically activation functions. The output layer has one node which generates the ID of the candidate network of the handover target. All the neurons use sigmoid activation function. The authors have assumed the same cost function as in this work and also for ANN training they have generated a series of user preference sets with randomly selected weights. Then the system has to be trained to select the best candidate network among all the candidates. The authors have reported that by properly selecting the learning rate and the acc eptable error value, the system is able to find the best available candidate network successfully. Nevertheless, the algorithm suffers from a long delay during the training process which may lead to connection breakdown. A Method That Uses Two Neural Networks Pahlavan, in his paper, has proposed two neural [12] network based decision methods of vertical handoff. Here, only the vertical handoff mechanism is discussed. In the method for vertical handoff, an artificial neural network is used for handoffs from the Wireless local area network to the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The Artificial neural network consists of an input layer, two middle layers and an output layer. Mobile node does periodical measurements of RSS and five most recent samples of RSS are fed into the ANN. The output is a binary signal: The value ‘1’ leads to a handover to the General Packet Radio Service, and the value ‘0’ means that the mobile terminal should remain connected to the access point. The ANN is trained before it is used in the decision process. Training is done by taking a number of RSS samples from the access point while minimizing the handover delay and ping-pong effect. This algorithm can reduce the number of handovers by eliminating the ping-pong effect, but the paper does not provide details on how exactly the neural network is trained and why the particular parameters are taken into consideration. This algorithm also has the short coming of the algorithm complexity and the training process to be performed in advance. Summary: From the above discussion, it can be concluded that RSS based Vertical handoff algorithms can be used between microcellular and macro cellular networks. The network candidate with most stable RSS being the selection criteria. These algorithms are simple, but due to the fluctuation of RSS, they are less reliable. Bandwidth based Vertical handoff algorithms can be used between any two heterogeneous networks. The network candidate with highest bandwidth is the selection criteria. These algorithms are simple. But, due to the changing available bandwidth, these algorithms are less reliable. Cost function based Vertical handoff algorithms can be used between any two heterogeneous networks. Here, the inputs are various parameters such as cost, bandwidth, security etc The network candidate with highest overall performance is the selection criteria. These algorithms are complex. But, due to the difficulty in measuring parameters such as security etc, they are less reliable. ANN and Fuzzy logic based Vertical handoff algorithms can be used between any two heterogeneous networks. Here, the inputs are various parameters such as RSS, cost, bandwidth, security etc depending on different methods. The network candidate with highest overall performance is the selection criteria. These algorithms are very complex. But, due to training of system, they are highly reliable. ‘ Chapter-4 Algorithms and Methodologies 4.1 Variance based vertical handoff algorithm Proposed algorithm is variance based algorithm which calculates the variance of parameters such as delay, jitter, bandwidth and packet loss for various networks such as UMTS,WLAN,Wimax and the network with most of the parameters with minimum variance being selected. In our proposed algorithm, handoff metrics such as delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss etc are included Fig 4.1 Flow Chart of variance based algorithm Variance = ‘(x-†)’^2/N , where x is any metrics such as delay, bandwidth, jitter etc and † is its mean of a set of samples of the particular parameters. N is set of samples. In this algorithm, whenever the signal strength of a mobile terminal drops below threshold ,there is request from mobile terminal for handoff to the network which is accessible. The algorithm checks whether the visitor network available or not, if visitor network is available ,it will broadcast required parameters such as packet delay, jitter, packet loss and bandwidth etc. The variance of the broadcasted parameters are calculated based on the number of samples received for each parameter. Then, the candidate network (Visitor network) having most of the minimum variance of the parameter is selected. In this case, variance of delay, jitter, packet loss and bandwidth are considered for the set of 100 samples received. Here, variance of packet delay is calculated as: †_d^2 = ‘(D-†_d)’^2/N Where, †d is the variance of the packet delay parameter, D is the packet delay at that instant ,†d is the mean of the packet delay values received and N is the total number of samples for packet delay parameters(which is 100 in this case). Similarly, variance of bandwidth is calculated as: †_B^2 = ‘(B-†_B)’^2/N Where, †B is the variance of the Bandwidth parameter, B is the Bandwidth at that instant ,†B is the mean of the bandwidth values received and N is the total number of samples for bandwidth parameters(which is 100 in this case). In the same way, variance of Jitter is calculated as: †_J^2 = ‘(J-†_J)’^2/N Where, †J is the variance of the Jitter parameter, J is the Jitter at that instant ,†J is the mean of the jitter values received and N is the total number of samples for jitter parameters(which is 100 in this case). In the same way, variance of Packet loss is calculated as: †_P^2 = ‘(P-†_P)’^2/N Where, †P is the variance of the packet loss parameter, P is the packet loss at that instant ,†P is the mean of the packet loss values received and N is the total number of samples for packet loss parameters(which is 100 in this case). Out of these variance †_d^2 , †_B^2, †_J^2, †_P^2, the candidate network most of them with minimum values will be selected. Score† =’arg’_(i=1)^MMAX(min †_d^2 , †_B^2, †_J^2, †_P^2) The candidate network which satisfies above equation is selected. Where M is the number of candidate network. 4.2 SNR based vertical handoff algorithm Proposed algorithm is an SNR based algorithm which calculates the value of SNR of parameters such as delay, jitter, bandwidth and packet loss for various networks such as UMTS, WLAN, Wimax with the network with maximum SNR being selected. In our proposed algorithm, handoff metrics such as delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, etc are included Pages: Page 1, Page 2