Impact of Product Price and Brand Name on Quality Perception Essay Example for Free

Effect of Product Price and Brand Name on Quality Perception Essay In normal use, cost is the amount of installment or remuneration given by one gathering to another as a byproduct of products or administrations. In present day economies, costs are commonly communicated in units of some type of cash (For wares, they are communicated as money per unit weight of the item, for example Tshs per kilogram.) Although costs could be cited as amounts of different products or administrations this kind of trade is seldom observed. Costs are now and again cited regarding vouchers, for example, exchanging stamps and air miles. Brand is the name, term, structure, image, or whatever other element that distinguishes one venders great or administration as unmistakable from those of other sellers.Initially, Branding was embraced to separate one people dairy cattle from anothers by methods for a particular image consumed into the creatures skin with a hot iron stamp, and was along these lines utilized in business, showcasing and promoting. An advanced case of a brand is Coca Cola which has a place with the Coca-Cola Company. A brand is the most significant fixed resource of a Corporation. When all is said in done, the item is characterized as a thing created by work or exertion In showcasing, an item is whatever can be offered to a market that may fulfill a need or need. 2.0 PROBLEM ANALYSIS 3.0 OBJECTIVES 3.1 general destinations name on customer’s quality view of item To survey the impact of cost and brand 3.2 explicit targets * To survey the impact of cost on quality discernment * To survey the impact of brand name on quality discernment Speculations Invalid speculations * There is negative connection among cost and quality observation * There is negative connection between brand name and quality observation Elective speculations * There is sure connection among cost and quality discernment * There is certain connection between brand name and quality discernment Writing REVIEW The purchaser quality recognition has been a far from being obviously true point for the past such huge numbers of years around the globe; beforehand numerous scientists have contemplated this theme and discovered exploratory discoveries in various settings. The focal reason for the examination is to research the effect of item cost and brand name on consumer’s quality impression of the item. The advertiser must investigate the customer purchasing conduct by purchaser mental conduct and social concerns (Shabbir et.al 2012). As per Kurtulus et al. (2005) the impact of customer psychographics on their inclination to buy retailer marks, that must be legitimate and dependable so the shoppers are more cost cognizant and like and buy retailer brands. The majority of the customers need accommodation and quality items that firmly propel them to purchase a similar item more often later on (Ahuja, Gupta, Raman, 2003). Ahmad, Vays, (2011) found that the pre-choice time of shopper buying conduct perceived strong connection with the longing buying Behavior of the customers. Item cost The item value factor is constantly been a significant factor in client/shopper purchasing process in each specific situation. They generally inspect cost and brand name data contrastingly when they are making decisions on the components of value: usability, helpfulness, execution, solidness, and status (Brucks, Zeithaml Naylor, 2000). The advertising directors need to think more extensive to have a typical on two factors, for example, ability control and key unique valuing arrangements (Moe Fader, 2009). The client must be encouraged with certain bundles in items. Bie Chiao (2001) found that the showcasing supervisors should feature the administration quality just as yet in addition value reasonableness in all out buyer fulfillment program. As indicated by Chang Wildt (1998) the cost has its noteworthy impact on apparent quality when it is the main data demonstrated accessible. Concurring the investigation of purchaser wants to have a cost and quality instead of specialized viewpoints in strong merchandise (Chui et al. 2006). Brand name Another advantage of marking , from the client see point,is its capacity to build buy certainty and upgrade client loyality (Aaker,1991 ; chaudhuri amp; holbrook ,2001).Brands work by encouraging the clients purchasing decesions process.(Doyle,1990).In a serious market client face hundred of items and messages vieing for attention.the purchasing choices are dependent on their past experience and observation about an item and his ongoing purchasing process is related with brand unwaveringness

Student Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Understudy Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example The task Understudy Entrepreneurship attempts to decide different components that are answerable for dissuading or persuading the understudies from turning into a business person. Past specialists uncover huge measurements, where one of every four working Americans is required to act naturally utilized. Be that as it may, the genuine matter of worry for the development of the economy is a self-reliance of youth who overflow with new thoughts and inventive contemplations for setting up new organizations and being perceived as effective business visionaries sooner rather than later. This investigation means to distinguish and break down the inclination youth holds for picturing himself as a future boss or a skillful worker. Business enterprise is tied in with facing challenges; thus it plainly delineates the genuine nature, conduct, and normal for a person. Vulnerability and uncertainty mists a business, consequently the hazard inescapability or hesitance quality can likewise be assessed. Our present examination would surely encourage in fathoming the above regions of concern. Enterprise is the demonstration through which orderly and sorted out information, experience, abilities and other related properties could be all around applied for building up an inventive thought and changing it into a very much arranged game-plan. Business visionary, then again, is the individual who starts enterprise. He is the person who makes inexhaustible openings for work, encourages riches creation, applies current and inventive devices and strategies and gives a significant commitment towards the progression of monetary growth.... Writing REVIEW ‘Entrepreneurship is the demonstration through which methodical and sorted out information, experience, aptitudes and other related qualities could be very much applied for setting up an inventive thought and changing it into an all around arranged strategy. Business visionary then again is the individual who starts enterprise (Cooper, C An and Dunkelberg W. C., 1987). He is the person who makes inexhaustible openings for work, encourages riches creation, applies present day and inventive apparatuses and methods and gives an important commitment towards headway of monetary development (Schumpeter, J. A. (2000). In expressions of Amar Bhide, there is no ideal depiction of a business person. He can be a unique character or a gregarious one (Scherer, R. F., Brodzinski, J. D., and Wiebe, F. A, 1991). He can have explanatory abilities or instinctive. Business person might be chance averter or daring individual (Gartner, W. B, 1988). Past examines have likewise been le d to investigate (Gallaway, J. H and Bernasek A, 2002) impact on business enterprise. It has been seen that various reasons are liable for inspiring people for the equivalent. For females, freedom and feeling of accomplishment are the driving elements while for male privately-run companies were considered as the top most factor for rousing people to pick business enterprise. The past researcher’s have expressed that there is a ton of contrast between the manner in which the business is really led and the way in which it is grasped by the individuals everywhere (Shane, S., and Venkataraman, S, 2000). Greg Watson in his discoveries has uncovered that organizations are driven by corporate business morals which is characterized particularly by various people. Measurements show that US

Justifying Slavery - Free Essay Example

Slavery was not a new concept when the first slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. In fact, slavery was common practice throughout the history of the world, although in the past it more closely resembled indentured servitude. The Souths voracity and dependence on labor would transform slavery into an unprecedented institution. Abolitionists in the North argued against it, calling slavery morally reprehensible. However, pro-slavery arguments were so effective that it was not abolished until 1865, by the Thirteenth Amendment. The justification of slavery had a wide range of basis from philosophical, religious, economic, and even legal standpoints. Some of the oldest arguments in favor of slavery came from early Greek philosophers, Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle believed that there were only two kinds of people in the world; people who were born to be slaves and people who were not slaves. Since natural born slaves lacked the ability to live on their own the guidance from their masters was essential for survival, this was simply the natural order of the world. Plato agreed, stating that the inferior needed to be ruled by the better. This was how slavers in the South viewed their slaves. Multiple language barriers and vastly different customs contributed to the Southerners view of slaves as simple and incompetent. If it werent for the slavers looking after them, the slaves would not have been able to survive in the foreign land. In this way slavery actually benefitted the slaves, because they were being housed and fed by their masters/owners. Religion was an integral force in the lives of both Northerners and Southerners alike. To live a God-fearing, pious life was consistent with having good moral standing. By this logic, slavery was not morally reprehensible because it was present and acceptable in the Bible. Texts from the Old Testament were used to draw comparisons with the Israelites and their practice of slavery, as well as slave owners considering themselves to be worthy and virtuous. In comparison, their African slaves were thought of as the descendants of Ham, who was cursed by God to live a life of servitude. One of the strongest arguments for slavery was that it was beneficial to the economy. Despite the opposition it faced, slavery was a vital institution for both the South and the North. Southerners needed slave labor in order to sustain their plantation economies and genteel lifestyle, and the North relied on the raw goods produced by the slaves to power their industrialized society. At this time nearly everything being exported from the United States was based on slave-produced goods. The hypocrisy that tinged the Norths opposition only further cemented the fact that slavery was the backbone of the United States economy. The fact that slaves were viewed as property and not people was the Souths strongest defense against their actions. Their actions could not be morally wrong because they were providing their slaves with the minimum requirements to live. For slave masters providing slaves with unnecessary luxuries would come at a personal cost that they could not justify spending on property. To feel such sympathy for them would be akin to feeling sorry for their horse because it had to live in a stable. Additionally, slavery was not illegal in the Constitution. Clauses such as the 3/5th Compromise actually protected slavery. Since slavery was decided by the States, the southern states could legally continue using slave labor.

Analysis Of Grendel s Grendel - 728 Words

Martin Mraz Common Core English IV March 9, 2017 Grendel’s Pain In John Gardner s Grendel, Grendel states, Tedium is the worst pain (138). Grendel views boredom as an expression of his painful, purposeless existence. Perpetual boredom has steadily increased and intensifies in chapter ten leading Grendel to be anxious for something to happen. Ironically, Grendel claims nothing is happening, and all is boring, yet filled with longing and expecting for something big to happen soon. Grendel’s search intensifies and becomes desperate at the event of the Shaper’s death. He feels utterly alone and isolated. It seems Grendel can only talk to himself. In Chapter ten Gardner examines the significance of the astrological sign Capricorn, the†¦show more content†¦His bleak assessment of man’s state is heard in the icy statement, â€Å"The world is white† (148). Grendel believes himself to be the only one moved by the old priest’s words while standing in frozen company in the shadow of a funeral fire. Is he the only one moved by the Shaper’s death? Grendel sees everyone as stiff and frozen blue like ice. His own mother acts only to prevent him from deepening his pessimistic tendency revealed by the loss. She tries to get in his way. She attempts to block his view of the funeral procession. Grendel’s Nietzschean philosophy continues to take shape in the wake of the Shaper’s death. Grendel groans, We re on our own again. Abandoned (149). Grendel prefers to develop a loneliness and Isolation theme as he struggles for identity and purpose in life. He journeys past his mother’s attempts to protect him from feeling and moves her aside even though she is pained by his cool objection. Her whoops cannot stop him from moving on as he comforts himself to believe, â€Å"I will forget, tomorrow, so her pain is a matter of indifference† (147). His independent spirit persists in conflicted loneliness. The Shaper’s hopeful song about thaw and spring rain echoes from the lips of a young man only to meet empty, lonely space within Grendel. The people solemnly listen in funeral waiting and a distracted, dry-eyed king is seen by all to be unmoved. Grendel is restless and continues to move forward with his lonely,Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Grendel s Grendel 977 Words   |  4 Pages From the novel Grendel (Gardner, 1971), Grendel is one of the three antagonists along with his mother and the dragon. Grendel has t he combination of human and beast; he emerge in a society that mocks and threats him these scenes features racism and class level in the nineteenth century. Grendel is an individual who pleased to coexist with humanity, but also the murderous brute who kills for no reason. Grendel hears noises from the meadhall as he scramble through the woods. The twelve years of warRead MoreAnalysis Of Grendel s The Epic Of Grendel 1446 Words   |  6 PagesI could not help but to write you a letter after reading your own letter that you sent to Ms. Susie West and her students. Through your letter, you make several remarkable points about your book Grendel as well as the infamous title character; however, one thing stood out to me the most. In the 11th and 12th paragraphs of your letter, you mention a â€Å"real question†, talking about â€Å"†¦of there isn’t a reachable god, and if life has no inherent meaning how should one live†? The metaphorical cogs in myRead Mor eAnalysis Of Grendel s Mother 1066 Words   |  5 PagesYou are having a tough time because of your husband! How dare he makes you naked in front of everyone and ride horse as a test? Although it is a test to make sure you are a righteous woman, but it is a shame to treat you like that. I know Hrothgar s queen is the one every man thinks of righteous and beautiful, I do not think she has any autonomy! Hildeburh, daughter of the Danish king Hoc also did not do anything but mourn when she her son and brother were â€Å"killed in the first battle with [her husband]†Read MoreAnalysis Of Grendel s The Elegy / Epic Of Beowulf 1840 Words   |  8 Pagesreferences consistently. The protagonist that starts of the epic, Grendel, refers to as a descendant of Cain. His â€Å"monstrous† actions are often a direct reflection of the story of Cain and his brother found in Genesis chapter four. Although Grendel is known as a heinous monster, he is an embodiment of the faults of hu mans and a victim that has fallen prey to the power of jealousy, and the need to be known within a community. In other words, Grendel is a symbol of the possible evils that may arise throughRead MoreAnalysis Of Grendel s The Of The World s Weird Wall 1673 Words   |  7 Pages FINAL GRENDEL IOP SCRIPT       John Champlin Gardner, a well-known novelist that explores philosophy within his works of fiction. He is most notably known for his 1971 book Grendel which is based on the Old English epic poem: Beowulf retold from the monster’s perspective. Within the book, Grendel is repeatedly referenced to be a â€Å"walker of the world’s weird wall† and is forced into a life of isolation, with no ulterior purpose. (FLIP SLIDE—THESIS) In Grendel, John Gardner emphasises the titleRead MoreGrendel1242 Words   |  5 PagesGrendel as a Ridiculous Character Probably one of the greatest questions of the 19th century comes directly from John Gardner’s novel Grendel. Given a world with no inherent meaning, how should one live his or her life? Grendel lives in a world that he is not supposed to be in, acting out on emotion. Grendel represents the animalistic traits of humans. His actions are primitive and based around society’s acceptance throughout the novel. Grendel portrays a ridiculous character that is convincedRead MoreAnalysis Of John Gardner s The And The Brave Universe 1642 Words   |  7 PagesJohn Gardner s brilliantly composed Grendel is an analysis on the benefits and defects of both sorts of perspective: the existentialist significance free universe, and the brave universe, where each activity is pervaded with reason and power. Without a doubt, the book brings up numerous philosophical issues as to the significance of life and also to the way people characterize themselves. Furthermore, Gardner depicts persist ent examination, and last endorsement, of existentialist perspectivesRead MoreThe Individual Versus His Environment in The Stranger and Grendel1674 Words   |  7 Pages The Individual Versus His Environment in The Stranger and Grendel Due to the multifaceted nature of literature, analysis thereof is prone to generalization. One of the most grievous generalizations oft encountered involves failing to distinguish between a character and the novel it inhabits. Take John Gardener’s Grendel and Albert Camus’s The Stranger, for instance. It’s far too easy, when analyzing for dominant ideologies, to slap them both with the label of existentialism and be done withRead MoreBeowulf s Last Battle Of The Epic Hero954 Words   |  4 Pages Fifty years after killing the evil Grendel and his mother, the epic hero, Beowulf, faces his third and final monster, a dragon that has been attacking Geatland. But this last battle will be completely different than the ones before, and spells the end for our epic hero. !!!Beowulf s Last Battle Starting around line 2200 of the great epic poem __ Beowulf __, we have the entrance of the last of the monsters that Beowulf must overcome as part of the epic hero cycle. But this battle is unlikeRead MoreBeowulf As An Epic Hero Essay1545 Words   |  7 Pagesdestroyed in a war when he was an infant and he was sent to live on earth. Living in an innocent world where villains such Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Brainiac pose a threat, Superman seems to have no choice but to use his powers to protect everyone. It s only fair, considering the fact that he is the only being capable of doing so. Neither the police nor the military possesses the strength to take down these monsters. Even Batman initially didn’t have the desire to fight. It was the fact that he

Pans Labyrinth Analysis - 1012 Words

Visual Cues, Harassed Symbolism and the Grim Fantasy Unlike other blissfully enchanted film genres, this evocative fairytale becomes a surreal escape into the work of Guillermo Del Toro. This chilling story confines make believe verses reality through the eyes of a young girl. Two worlds are represented within Pan’s Labyrinth, a cold hard fascist regime in Spain, and a captivating fantasyland both conveyed through visual story telling. The striking surrealism of the fantasy world becomes reflections in reality, providing small visual cues that increase as the story unfolds, unveiling a grim interaction between Ophelia and the new world she has encountered. The style becomes the narrative within the film, and the use of mise-en-scene†¦show more content†¦These colors suggest a belonging for Ophelia, a place where she is wanted back. This feeling never goes away for Ofelia, she engages in different levels to get a chance at her new life in the fantasy world. Becoming homesick for a place she has never been or remembers. The clothing plays a role in sustaining the mise-en-scene in this film. Ofelia is dressed in drab clothing along with her mother. Fabricating the lifestyle from which they came from, and a disparity that is latched onto them when being brought to this new home. They instantly become the outsiders from the beginning, largely recognized during the panning shot of the camp while Ofelia becomes more intrigued by the fairies return. Tight, uniformed men lined up in a row contrasted against a young curious, dowdy girl. The style of clothing not only distinguishes the relationship between the newcomers, Ofelia and her Mother, to the military camp, but also positions an extra connection between Ofelia and Mercedes. As Mercedes arrives to explain the Labyrinth to Ofelia, her clothes are ordinary and dull much like that of Ofelia. The dissimilar impression that Mercedes has from the camp appeals to Ofelia, and a relationship is bonded. The clothing becomes a staple into the closeness that the se two characters will later share. This relationship is not only choice of style, rather the desire for an escape. WhenShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Cyclops And Pan s Labyrinth 1712 Words   |  7 Pages It seems fitting that analysis of The Cyclops would be done alongside Pan’s Labyrinth given the satyric nature of the former and the allusions to the greek god Pan of the latter. However, while the monstrous Pan (or, the Faun) may be represented as such in the film, the purpose for his inclusion is largely different from the purpose for the inclusion of Polyphemus in Euripides play. Modern storytellers having recognized that monstrosity may exist in any number of forms helps to develop a basisRead MoreAnalysis Of Guillermo Del Toro s Pans Labyrinth1764 Words   |  8 PagesIn Guillermo del Toro’s Pans Labyrinth, Ofelia struggles to find her roots back into the world where she is a legendary princess. She explores a labyrinth in which she meets a Faun, Pan, who t ells her she must complete three dangerous tasks to claim immortally. Through these dangerous tasks, del Toro clearly depicts the theme of rebellion. To further enhance the theme of rebellion, del Toro uses many elements of mise-en-scene. In scenes where Ofelia and other antagonists rebel, the props, lightingRead MoreAnalysis Of Pan s Labyrinth By Guillermo Del Toro Essay1846 Words   |  8 PagesPan’s Labyrinth set in 1940s deals with the end of the Spanish civil war and Franco’s fascist Spain. It also about escaping into the world of magic and imagination to avoid the cruel realities of the beginning of a fascist regime. On another level it focuses on gender equality and empowerment for females in a setting of male controlled society. The film is written by a male writer Guillermo del Toro who portrays power and strength possessed by male characters which at the end of the film, the rolesRead MoreAnalysis Of Like All Good Fairy Tales Guillermo Del Toro s Pan s La byrinth1344 Words   |  6 PagesEl Laberinto del Fauno Like all good fairy tales, Guillermo Del Toro s Pan s Labyrinth is just one big allegory disguising the horror of the real world with the fantasy of another. A look into the iconic images, fairytales, and tropes used throughout the film reveal a larger discussion about life, legacy, and lessons. Del Toro uses the guises of fairy-tails not to amuse or scare children, but to talk about some of the fears and struggles of adults. The film begins with the death of the main characterRead MorePan s Labyrinth : Fascism Faced With Fantasy1541 Words   |  7 PagesPan s Labyrinth: Fascism Faced with Fantasy Pan s Labyrinth is a film based in 1944 fascist Spain during the reign of Francisco Franco, following the Spanish civil war. His regime stressed rules and order as well as the repression of the individual. The very basis of fascism revolves around the idea that a country should be ruled by a single power and all others should follow this power regardless of their own individual opinions. It is this notion that brought the strict regulations and violentRead MoreDaniel Holland . Professor Milford . 1102 . 5/3/17 . Magical1586 Words   |  7 PagesDaniel Holland Professor milford 1102 5/3/17 Magical world vs. The real world In the movie pan s labyrinth, by Guillermo Del Toro, the lines between the magic world and the spirit world run a parallel from the view of the corrupted adults and the view of an innocent child. This comparison is significant because of, the many scenes and examples given by del Toro. Throughout this research paper you will learn about the comparisons of the 7 scenes from the movie and why they prove that theRead MoreWide Awake: Katy Perry Essay1727 Words   |  7 Pagesinspiring song â€Å"Wide Awake† made positive eye-catching news with critics, they valued her stern attitude, a â€Å"refreshing change from her other works.† â€Å"Refreshing change†, these words perfectly portray this music video. To explain, in this music video analysis of Perry’s controversial but inspirational song â€Å"Wide Awake,† Katy Perry shoes in vivid and discrete details that she broke free from the comprehension of evil that resides in the conspiracy of the Illumin ati. However, did this successful pop starRead MoreSpreading Your Wings Essay806 Words   |  4 Pageswith bronze, steel is a key component. One piece of Whiting’s collection which can be seen at the River Gallery Sculpture Garden is his representation of Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete in order to imprison the Minotaur. Minos imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus as well, though. However, being a craftsman, Daedalus constructed two pairs of wings from wax and feathers. When Icarus donned the wings and flew awayRead MoreAnimal Characters in Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland2137 Words   |  9 PagesWonderland disobey the animal characters in traditional fairytales? The animals in Alice argue with her, confuse her, and tell her upsetting stories instead of guiding her through the fairytale world she has created. This is parallel to Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth because the main animal characters, fairytales, faun, and paleman, have the weird physical features. It was really sickening to see them. They also have very outlandish behavior. This applied to Lewis Carroll’s book because he used the animalsRead More Analysis of Animal Characters in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll2568 Words   |  11 Pagesby Thomas C. Haliburton. It is related to my thesis because the animal characters in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland felt that they had authority to disobey the animal characters in other traditional fairytales. This is similar to Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth because there are main animal characters like fairytales, faun, and paleman. They have the weird physical features. It was really gross to see them. This applied to Lewis Carroll’s book because he used the animals in a weird way. For example, The

Ethics and Sustainability of Starbucks for Sustainable Business

Question: Discuss about theEthics and Sustainability of Starbucks for Sustainable Business. Answer: Overview of organization Company Starbucks started its operations in 1971 and now it is operating in more than 50 countries along with 16000 stores in all over the world. Main base of the business of Starbucks is its retail stores. The description of the company in terms of structure, mission, vision, culture and ethical practices are described below: Mission- Mission statement of Starbucks is to motivate and inspire the human spirit i.e. one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. Vision- According to the companys website, vision statement of Starbucks is to establish itself as the market leader in terms of good quality coffee in all over the world along with managing the principles to grow in the market. Structure- The most important characteristics of the organizational structure of Starbucks are that it includes decentralized decision making process. There are three separate districts of the organization so that various operations can be done effectively and keep the customers satisfied in the market. Starbucks has matrix organizational structure including various channels of communications. This type of structure is very effective to utilize all the communication channels. The matrix organizational structure of the company is helpful in serving the customers in better way. The matrix organizational structure focuses on the particular region and managers to oversee each and every region. Along with this, the current organizational structure of Starbucks is hybrid also. It includes horizontal structure, functional and geographical structure (Leinward Davidson, 2016). Culture- The organizational culture of Starbucks is based on the principles and values of the business. It should be noted that the culture of Starbucks is powerful as it is basically connected with the distinctive capabilities of the company. The culture of the company includes value of the employees and their contributions, establish strong bond with the employees, culture of inclusion and diversity and exceptional customer service. Company is focused on providing staff training to the employees so that customers can be served in the better way (Dudovskiy, 2017). Ethical practices- Starbucks Company is working directly with the farmers to make sure that there is full supply of quality coffee in the market. The company ensures that various ethical principles are followed in the coffee growing communities. The company is focused on implementing various measures to ensure the welfare of the farmers, employees and customers. Along with this, company has also established social, economic, environment and quality principles that are considered as the foundation of ethical sourcing. There are four key ethical coffee sourcing principles including product quality, environmental leadership, social responsibility and economic accountability (Kaptein, 2008). Ethical business strategies Starbucks is the leading coffee company in all over the company. The success of the company depends upon the strong ethical corporate culture. Company has implemented business ethics and compliance program in order to help the partners to make ethical decisions in the business. Along with this, the program is also helpful in facilitating legal compliance, providing ethical training and providing mechanism for the stakeholders. Further, Starbucks is also maintaining an audit line for the third parties like investors, vendors and customers to deal with the irregularities. In terms of ethical business strategies, Starbucks has implemented business ethics and compliance. The Starbucks business ethics and compliance includes Starbucks policy office is the program which support the mission of the company. This program is helpful in protecting the culture and reputation of the company by providing resources to the stakeholders so that they can make ethical decisions in the business operatio ns. Starbucks developed Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAF) and COCOA practices to ensure the long-term supply of high quality and ethically sourced coffee (Erwin, 2011). Starbucks is considered as one of the most ethical company in all over the world. The company makes efforts to become a responsible company and conducts the business in an ethical manner. At the national and international level, company is operating its business in the ethical way by community, environment, sourcing, diversity and wellness. The company openly reveals its commitment to being ethically responsible so that the customers know about the business operations of the company. By analyzing the company and its commitment to ethical responsibility, it is observed that company is able to achieve the profitable growth and improved the stakeholders value by conducting the business in the ethical manner (Ruiz-Palomino, Mart?nez-Canas Fontrodona, 2013). Importance of ethical practices- Ethical practices are important for Starbucks to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. The ethical behavior and corporate social responsibility brings significant benefits to the business as well as stakeholders. The ethical practices of the Starbucks provide comfortable environment for the employees and customers which is the key objective of the company. The ethical services of the company are helpful in providing satisfaction to the customers. For the employees, company does not cut their healthcare cost and various benefits at the time of recession. Along with this, company has positive relationship with the customers and suppliers and provides technical support to provide higher quality of coffee. So, business ethics practices are important for Starbucks as company may lead more productive workplace and promote the economy of the company (Segon Booth, 2015). Offensive or defensive strategy In the business operations, Starbucks is using defensive strategy to stay competitive in the market. In current time, there are two strong competitors of Starbucks i.e. McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. The services of McDonalds are very easy and fast. By the defensive strategy, Starbucks is focusing on differentiating products and services. Along with this, company can take advantage of the weak point of the competitors and can make up for its vanished spot. Starbucks can maximize its efforts on surpassing the competitors. The defensive strategy is helpful for the company to build up corporate image among the customers (Kapinos Rollins, 2013). Further, there is the cultural shift in Starbucks as the demands and needs of the customers are continuously changing. So, company is focused on attracting the customers by understanding their cultures. In different countries, customers are different cultures and norms so, it is important for the company to provide the products which suit to the culture of the customers. It includes major commitment and strong leadership in the company (Giberson, Resick Dickson, 2009). Effectiveness of TBL It is difficult to talk about ethical practices without triple bottom line of the company. This is an interactive thinking which takes into consideration environmental social and economic factors. These three considerations are described in the figure. Figure 1: Triple Bottom Line (Source: Haglund, 2010) Economic- In the business, economics has impact in the positive and negative manner. Starbucks in The business sector is focused on the profit and benefits. In order to sustain the economic business, Starbucks is not only concerned about the benefits of the financial forms but also care about people, society and environment as well. Along with this, company has involved in the competitive business by providing good quality coffee products in order to make the customers satisfy. These processes try to reduce the impact of negative impact on the environment. To develop the economic sustainability, company has to rely on the ethical business practices and this can be done without the responsible stakeholder i.e. customers, staffs and societies to enhance the profit and revenue. Social- The social accounting focuses on understanding people who have affected to the company. This area includes training, community relations, employment, product safety, donation and education. Starbucks is responsible for the communities both insides and outside by providing good environmental workplace, welfare, human rights and training skills. Along with this, company make good relationships with the community by various activities like donating money to the society and improving the society to become better life etc (Novelskait Markunait, 2015). Environment- Starbucks is operating in various countries and in those countries; there are various rules for the companies for their environmental performance. In order to protect the environment, company is focused on reducing the use of natural resources as some resources can be renewed again by the use of technological replacement. Along with this, company protects the environment by treating waste process effectively. This shows that the environment is important for Starbucks while operating business in various countries (Hough, Green Plumle, 2016). Impact of foreign social norms and standards There are different social norms and standards in every country which the companies have to follow while doing the business. Starbucks has to follow those rules and regulations in various countries for doing successful business. There are rights and laws related to labor in the countries which are imposed by the governments. Those labor rights are described below: Child labor- Every country and government is focused on reducing the issue of child labor. Because of the differences in the industry and various demands of the workers, there is similar but slightly different standard related to child labor in the beverage industry as compared to other bus8iness industry. There are codes of condemn for the use of child labor and they defined that the acceptable age anywhere for working between 14 and 18 year of age. Although there is no particular statement about child labor but countries are imposing rules and laws to reduce child labor. In UK, the set minimum age for the labor is 15 and this is legal minimum age. Starbucks also specifies that minors between the ages of 14 and 16 may only be employed at that time when they are not required to attend the school. Along with this, policy of Starbucks is that children should not be unlawfully employed as labors. The company also sells Fair Trade Certified coffee which is certified by licensing organization under th e Fair Trade Labeling Organization based on their standards. FLO has established the minimum age of 15 for most of the work but higher age of 18 for the work (The World Bank Group, 2003). Wages, benefits, and terms of employment- There are some codes in every country related to wages of salaries of the employees and the level of compensation for minimum and overtime depends upon the country of manufacture. There are some monitory guidelines and local laws in every country which has to follow by Starbucks. All the codes in some country state that minimum wages must be at least equal to the local minimum wages. On the other hand, most of the countries state that it must be greater of local minimum wage or industry standard. Starbucks follows The Fair Trade Standards i.e. salaries should be in line with regional average and official minimum wages for the similar works but level of salary can be increased. Along with this, Fair Trade Standards is also focused on reducing the wages differences and employment conditions among the permanent, seasonal and casual workers. Starbucks has confirmed with local laws and applicable international conventions regarding the rights and benefits of the workers for the continual improvement over the time (Forbes, 2016). Cradle to grave process The Cradle to grave Life Cycle analysis is used for the Starbucks product disposable coffee cups. The cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis includes various steps of products arbitrary life cycle; from the initial stage to end of the life of product. This includes various life stages but is basically involved in the material processing and manufacturing, extraction of raw material, usage, distribution, maintenance and disposal. In the life cycle analysis of disposable coffee cups, there are various processes including material choice, material extraction, material processing and manufacturing and then disposal. The reusable cups are environmental friendly as they are 100% recyclable. So, three key life stages for disposable coffee cups are raw material extraction, processing and manufacturing and disposal (Hocking Martin, 2012). Recommendations For the sustainability of the disposable coffee cups, there are some recommendations which must be used by Starbucks. Company should focus on the implementation of an environmental fee or tax on the cups as that fee can be used to properly recycle the cups. This tax should be used to raise the awareness among the people to use paper and cups when they are not in use. Company should focus on reducing the waste not to provide sleeves for heat. Customers should be provided the opportunity to purchase the reusable sleeves while purchasing the products. Company should focus on motivating the customers by providing at-the-till repayment. By this, company will be able to encourage the customers for saving money that easily adds up over their daily coffees (Reisch, Eberle Lorek, 2013). Legal responsibilities Starbucks is not only selling coffee, it also sells hot food and beverage products. It means there are various regulations and laws related to health and safety standards. Company has to insure that the food products are safe and fit for the purpose. Further, it is important for all the Starbucks coffee houses to apply for the permit from the health board to remain in the business. Starbucks uses compliance with the regulations to ensure that coffee house ahs high standard of cleanliness, employees are using appropriate tools and do their job safely quality of coffee and food reach at the set guidelines. Starbucks has responsibility towards product quality, social accountability, economic sustainability and environmental leadership (Enquist and Edvardsson, 2009). Ethical issues Starbucks is operating globally and there can be some issues for the company in terms of ethical compliance. Some of those issues are as follows: One of the major issues is that Starbucks had a lawsuit filed against the company for using anti-competitive tactics to deal with the competitors. The workers of the Starbucks went outside the local coffee shops and provided the sample of Starbucks coffee. So, Starbucks was sued as this tactic was illegal (Iqbal Selamat, 2016). According to the Kantianism theory, the actions of Starbucks are unethical as the company is disregarding small businesses to gain more customers and profits. Along with this, the expansion techniques of the company are not coming from the goodwill and employees are not rightfully motivated (Pimentel, 2004). Business ethics strategy of organization From the above discussion, it can be summarized that Starbucks is operating at the global level and to achieve the success in each country, company has to follow the environmental and legal rules and regulations imposed by various governments. Based on the analysis, it is observed that Company has implemented business ethics and compliance program in order to help the partners to make ethical decisions in the business. Along with this, the ethical practices of the Starbucks provide comfortable environment for the employees and customers which is the key objective of the company. In terms of TBL, it is analyzed that Starbucks is focusing on the three key factors i.e. social, economic and environmental factors. Starbucks is not only concerned about the benefits of the financial forms but also care about people, society and environment as well. Starbucks is responsible for the communities both insides and outside by providing good environmental workplace, welfare, human rights and train ing skills. In terms of product life assessment, Starbucks is using reusable coffee cups which are big initiative of the company to sustain the environment. So, it can be said that the ethical business strategies of Starbucks are very effective for the company to operate the business in the ethical manner (Schwartz, 2007). Improvement of organizations strategies There are some ways by which Starbucks can improve its organizational strategies in the business. Those strategies are as follows: Company can make the customers educated regarding the ethical extraction of the coffee by the seminars. There is no enough time for coffee education and most of the customers never experience a tasting inside the stores. Company can focus on spreading enthusiasm for the whole bean coffee with the customers. Along with this, company can follow the salary and wages standards to reduce the differences between the employees. Company can follow local laws and applicable international conventions regarding the rights and benefits of the workers for the continual improvement over the time. There are various companies in the world that are operating the business ethically. Two of the companies among those companies are Dell Inc. and Pepsico. Starbucks can learn by the ethical practices of Pepsico. Both of the companies believe in acting ethically and responsibly including respect for employees in the workplace, integrity in the marketplace, ethics in the business activities and performing responsibly with the shareholders. References Boychenko, M., (2012), It's Not Just Coffee, It's Starbucks, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://thecoffeeteam.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/3-more-ps.html Dudovskiy, J., (2017), Starbucks Organizational Culture: Focus on employees as the source of core competency, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://research-methodology.net/starbucks-organizational-culture-focus-on-employees-as-the-source-of-core-competency/ Enquist, B., and Edvardsson, B., (2009), Values-based Service for Sustainable business, UK: Rutledge Erwin, P.M., (2011), Corporate codes of conduct: The effects of code content and quality on ethical performance: Journal of Business Ethics, 99, pp. 535-548 Forbes, (2016), Let's Look At Starbucks' Growth Strategy, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/09/19/lets-look-at-starbucks-growth-strategy/#7c1724f33d71 Giberson, T. R., Resick, C. J., Dickson, M. W., (2009), Leadership and organizational culture: Linking CEO characteristics to cultural values: Journal of Business Psychology, vol. 24 (2), 123137 Hocking Martin, B. (2012), Reusable and Disposable Cups: An Energy-Based Evaluation: Environmental Management, 18 (6), 889-99 Hough, C., Green, K., Plumle, G., (2016), Impact of ethics environment and organizational trust on employee engagement: Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, 18 Iqbal, S. Z. Selamat, J., (2016), Food Safety: Basic Concepts, Recent Issues, and Future Challenges, Springer Kapinos, B., Rollins, J., (2013), Starbucks Scolded for Stifling Competition, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://businessethicscases.blogspot.in/2013/02/exchange-inc-v_3188.html Kaptein, M., (2008), Developing and Testing a Measure for the Ethical Culture of Organizations: The Corporate Ethical Virtues Model: Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(7), pp. 923-947 Leinward P. Davidson, V., (2016), How Starbuckss Culture Brings Its Strategy to Life, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://hbr.org/2016/12/how-starbuckss-culture-brings-its-strategy-to-life Novelskait, A., Markunait, L., (2015), The mediating role of leadership relationship in building organizational trust on ethical culture of an organization: Economics Sociology, 8(3), 11 Pimentel, D., (2004), Ethical Issues of Global Corporatization: Agriculture and Beyond: Poultry Science, 83, 321329 Reisch, L., Eberle, U., Lorek, S., (2013), Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies: SSPP Journal, 9(2) Ruiz-Palomino, P., Mart?nez-Canas, R., Fontrodona, J., (2013), Ethical culture and employee outcomes: The mediating role of personorganization fit: Journal of Business Ethics, 116(1), 173188 Schwartz, M., (2007), The business ethics of management theory: Journal of Management History, 13(1), pp. 43 54 Segon, M. Booth, C., (2015), Values Based Approach to Ethical Culture: A Case Study. Ethics, Values and Civil Society, 9, pp. 93-118 The World Bank Group, (2003), COMPANY CODES OF CONDUCT AND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS: AN ANALYTICAL COMPARISON, accessed on 17th November 2017 from https://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPSD/Resources/CSR/Company_Codes_of_Conduct.pdf

The Globe Theater Essays - William Shakespeare, Theatre, Kings Men

The Globe Theater The Globe Theater changed the course of English Theater forever. The Globe broke rules of ownership, class standards, and promoted the greatest playwright ever, William Shakespeare. Throughout its history the Globe Theater has produced the best of Shakespeare and his amazing plays and when it was closed London never felt the same. But once again Shakespeare is upon us. The newly re-built Globe gives us one more chance to re-live Shakespeare's plays. Through examining the history and collapse of the Globe Theater one can see how it has come to its recent re-birth, and that it is here to stay. The Globe Theater was opened in London in 1599. James Burbage, half owner of the theater, built the Globe. The other half of the theater belonged to five men of Lord Chamberlain's Acting Company. William Shakespeare was the most famous member and owner in the Company. During this time period, it was unusual for the players to actually be owners of the theater at which they performed (Miller-Schutz 1). The Globe was a central feature of London life. It was the place of the first performances of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. The Globe Theater was a gathering place for all social classes. Normally it would be uncommon for the Queen or any other royalty to be in the presence of so many commoners, but at the Globe it was different. There were no social standards on admission, only on where you were able to sit. The structure of the Globe was made out of timber and built in a round shape. The three-story theater had twenty wooden bays, oak pillars, a thatched roof, and a permanent stage. The Globe had an approximate diameter of a hundred feet, which allowed it to hold about three thousand spectators (Gurr 104). In 1613, during a performance of Henry VIII the Globe accidentally burned down, luckily none of the thousands of audience members were hurt. John Orrell describes that day best in his book, Rebuilding Shakespeare's Globe: The text [in Henry VIII] calls for ?Drum and trumpet, Chambers discharged', a ?warlike voice' to announce the arrival of ?a noble troop of strangers'. On the fatal day, however, the voice of the chambers, or cannon, accompanied a tongue of fire which accidentally caught the thatch. The wind rapidly fanned the flames all around the roof, and in an hour or two the house was in ruins.(93) After the fire, the playhouse was immediately rebuilt on its original foundations, but this time the roof was tiled not thatched to prevent future fires. John Orrell believes ?There seems to be no doubt, then, that the second Globe was a more beautiful structure than the first, and more expensive despite the fact that it was no bigger in plan and may even have been built of inferior materials? (94). From 1642 until 1660, the Puritans forbid theatrical performances in England. Because of this, the Globe was closed in 1642. Lord Chamberlain's Men obeyed the law, sold their wardrobe and stopped acting, but later on actors began putting on secret performances in other locations. In 1644, the Globe Theater was torn down to build tenements, and its foundations were buried (Brockett 219). In 1949, Sam Wanamaker comes to London to look for evidence of the Globe and is disappointed that all he can find is a plaque on a brewery wall. Twenty years later, Sam Wanamaker meets Theo Crosby who later becomes the architect for the Globe project. Bibliography Works Cited Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1974. Gurr, Andrew, and John Orrell. Rebuilding Shakespeare's Globe. London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1989. Shakespeare's Globe. Ed. Chantal Miller-Schutz. Jul. 1999. Reading University. 25 Jan. 2000 . Smith, Irwin. Shakespeare's Globe Playhouse. New York: New York University, 1964. Timeline: 1599 to 1999. Ed. Chantal Miller-Schutz. Jul. 1999. Reading University. 25 Jan. 2000 . Theater Essays

Difference Between Marvel and DC Comics

Difference Between Marvel and DC Comics DC vs Marvel Comic Many fans wonder what studio creates best comic books. In an opposition DC vs Marvel comic, who would be the winner? Which stories are more appealing to the public? Our article will help you understand the main differences between comics of two studios and answer the question: which is better Marvel or DC? Huge Differences Between Marvel and DC Comics #1. Origin of characters Most of Marvel books heroes of are originally ordinary people without super powers, who gained them under specific conditions (For-example, Iron Man, Capitan America, etc.). At the same time, DC heroes are can boast having their extraordinary abilities sine the time they were born (e.g. Wonder Woman, Superman). #2. Superpowers If to compare superpowers of heroes in DC comics vs Marvel comics, one can notice that the creators of Marvel books were not so generous in enduing their characters with force compared to DC writers. Most of Marvel characters possess one ability (like most of X-men), compared to flying, eye-beams shooting, speed and strength all given to one Superman. #3. Time of creation One more difference between Marvel and DC characters is that the latter were created much earlier in 30s and 40s. This is the reason why some of the Marvel characters have names, which reecho the names of DC heroes. For example, Iron Man vs Batman, Invisible Woman vs Wonder Woman, etc. Moreover, it is also a reason why most of DC comic books told about a single hero without putting him in a team. They had to present a hero to the world before making him a part of some superhero alliance. #4. Marvel vs DC comic: Who brings more magic? Except for such characters as Dr. Strange, Mephisto, and a couple of others, Marvel heroes do not often face magic in their fight against evil. On the other hand, we have DC comics where Justice League members with something mystical and magical. So, if you are a fan of magic and mythology, you are going to like DC stories more. #5. Fantasy, sci-fi, mystery in DC vs science fiction in Marvel If you still wonder Marvel or DC which is better? Just think about what you like most: science fiction stories with an interesting, however, a bit grounded plot or stories full of out-there things? If we forget for just a second that comics are based on made up events, heroes and villains, the weirdest staff you can find in Marvel books is a dragon as a result of a crazy experiment. At the same time, DC comic books are full of things like alien invasion, issues with Atlantis, Amazons and sorcerers, demons, members of Injustice Gang, time travelling, and even transportations between comic universes. #6. The quality of movies Speaking about and comparing DC vs Marvel comic, many fans stress the quality of movies based on the graphic novels. It is not a secret that Marvel movies are more popular among comic fans due to the fact that the movie makers managed to create memorable, interesting and bright characters who are liked by the public. A bit of heroism, a bit of seriousness, few drops of humor and we have what we call a good movie. In contrast, the films of DC studio can be characterized as too serious and sometimes even too noir (Watchmen). It can be suggested that the viewers are not always ready to something too deep and too philosophical in relation to comics. May be it is the reason why DC films have 47% average rate on Rotten Tomatoes. #7. Teamwork The other difference between DC comics vs Marvel comics characters is that many characters of Marvel were created as team players. It can be said about the X-men, Avengers, etc. At the same time, characters of DC were presented in 40s as separate units who never played in team. Many people can say that making teams is not always a good choice as less attention is paid to each particular character. Their responsibilities in a crew have to be divided between all its members. Lets say that one is a scientist, the other one is a technician, etc. However, such heroes as, for example, Batman can do all the staff on his own, which helps concentrate attention on one character and present him in more details. Nevertheless, creating teams in their fight against enemies is common to both studios (For example, Marvels Avengers and DCs Justice League). #8. Powers of Marvel characters are easier to explain We have already mentioned that Marvel characters have less powers, which are easier to explain compared to DC heroes. For example, Cyclopes shoots beams of energy out of his eyes, while Superman can fly, turn back time, has eye-rays, fast, superstring, etc. Iron Man is a genius inventor and scientist, who developed his robot-suit, while Batman is a scientist, ninja, detective, fast driver, technician among others. #9. Real and fictional location Every hero has its own city to protect. However, while Marvel superheroes usually protect real cities, DC characters tend to fight in fictional locations. Nevertheless, regardless of the fact that Gotham City cannot be found on any map in this world, it is not difficult to suggest that it is a prototype of a modern New York. This parallel is drawn considering that both studios are located in NY, which is sometimes too obvious. #10. Office hours Opposition Marvel vs DC comics is visible not only in books but also within the facilities of both studios. They differ not only in terms of heroes and their superpowers but also in terms of productivity of both teams. For comparison, DC issues 4 to 8 series per month, while Marvel creates up to 15!

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