Thesis (M.E.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). "31 May 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. R1-R5). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The implosion of the mobile phones, mobile applications and social media in recent years has triggered a great interest for more dedicated user-generated contents. Mobile users being the focal point, these modern virtual platforms depend on and live for collecting, structuring and manipulating the very fine-grained details about users' day-to-day activities. Since every human activity takes place in a geographical context, location information ranks high among the set of data to gather about user's daily life. User's specific location details can help filter content to serve and retrieve from them. Therefore, location-based services have been developed and successfully integrated into most virtual platforms in the quest for these precious data. However, location-based services do not fulfil all requirements. They depend on a range of positioning systems which show numerous limitations. None of the existing positioning systems is perfectly accurate. Today, it is therefore difficult to pinpoint a user in a venue using location-based services. Nevertheless, with the set of existing technology and techniques, it is possible to estimate and track users’ whereabouts in real-time. Providing the best possible estimation of user's position within a given venue can help achieve better user engagement. Depending on the gap of accuracy, the end result may actually match the outcome expected from perfectly accurate positioning systems. In this work, the focus is to develop a prototype positioning system which provides the best estimation of user's position in real-time in relation to a targeted venue or location. Through a series of research and comparison study, the most suited technology and techniques are objectively selected to build the intended prototype. The challenge of indoor positioning is also addressed in this work – bearing in mind the fact that this prototype is set to work accurately and efficiently in any geographical location and structure. The prototype is evaluated according to a set of predefined standard metrics, and theories are extracted to grow knowledge about this trending topic.

Acompanha : Telefone celular: possibilidades de mediação pedagógica no espaço educativo / Na atualidade, existem diversos fatores que sugerem a necessidade de a escola rever as suas práticas de ensino: a rapidez com que as tecnologias de informação e comunicação – TIC – se alastram pela sociedade e, em especial, a utilização crescente do telefone celular por faixas etárias em idade escolar; o poder de convergência dessas TIC integrando recursos tecnológicos que podem ser utilizados como recursos didáticos; o fato de os estudantes atuais crescerem em um mundo tecnológico e apresentarem os seus padrões de pensamento funcionando de acordo com essa realidade; etc. Em contrapartida, observam-se: educadores, alheios à apropriação de TIC, apresentando, em muitos casos, resistência a elas; um descompasso entre como os sujeitos utilizam o celular, por exemplo, dentro e fora da escola; educadores, escolas, secretarias estaduais de educação posicionando-se contrários ao seu uso; projetos de lei e leis que regulamentam o seu uso no espaço educativo; etc. Por esses aspectos controversos investigou-se o uso do telefone celular como um recurso didático mediador em práticas do ensino de Física. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa aplicada, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa, de caráter exploratório quanto aos objetivos, e, participante quanto aos procedimentos técnicos adotados. Também foi utilizada a pesquisa documental e bibliográfica. Em seu desenvolvimento, inicialmente, via e-mail, foram coletados dados por meio de um questionário de múltipla escolha aplicados a professores de escolas particulares da Região Sul do Brasil, para identificar a realidade pesquisada e elaborar práticas de ensino possíveis de serem aplicadas na amostra estudada. As práticas construídas foram aplicadas em oficinas nas cidades de Ponta Grossa e Curitiba, estado do Paraná. Durante a aplicação, a coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de notas de campo do pesquisador, de gravação de sons e de um bate-papo ocorrido no msn messenger e de registros fotográficos. A análise dos dados foi realizada por triangulação. Os resultados mostraram a necessidade de se intensificarem cursos de formação continuada de professores e a produção de literatura nacional (artigos, dissertações, teses e livros) que explorem a temática do celular e suas funcionalidades em espaços educativos como recursos didáticos mediadores nas práticas do ensino de Física. Um livro foi organizado como produto final desta dissertação desenvolvida junto ao mestrado profissional do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino de Ciência e Tecnologia da UTFPR, Campus Ponta Grossa–PR, estado do Paraná. / Currently, there are several factors that suggest the need for the school to review their teaching practices: 1) the speed with which information and communication technologies - ICT are spread throughout society and in particular the increasing use of mobile phone by groups in school age;2) the scope and power of integrating ICT convergence of these technological resources, that can be used as teaching resources; 3) the fact that nowadays students grow up in a technological world and make their thought patterns operating in accordance with this reality, etc... In contrast, there are educators unrelated to the appropriation of ICT, presenting, in many cases, resistance to them. There is a incongruity between how individuals use mobile phones, for example, inside and outside the school. There are also educators, schools, public educational departments claiming to be against mobile phones usage; bills and laws regulating their use in educational space, etc... For these controversial aspects we have investigated whether cell phone use as a teaching resource practices mediator in Physics teaching. For this purpose, we developed an applied research with qualitative and exploratory approach about the objectives, adopting participant and the technical procedures. A documental and bibliographical research was taken. First of all, data were collected by e-mail, through a multiple choice questionnaire applied to private school teachers in southern Brazil, to identify the researched reality and develop teaching practices likely to be applied in the studied corpus. Then, such practices were applied in workshops located in Curitiba and Ponta Grossa cities, in Paraná state. During the application, data was collected by the researcher's field notes. Then, we recorded chats about the workshops from an instant message software (msn messenger), and we took photographic records. Data analysis was performed by triangulation. The results showed the need to enhance continuing education courses for teachers and the production of national academic literature, such as articles, dissertations, theses and books that explore the theme of the cell phone and its functionality in educational spaces as an educational resource mediator in the practices of teaching Physics. A book as well was organized as a final product of this work developed by the Professional Master's Program from the Graduate School of Science and Technology (UTFPR), in Ponta Grossa Campus, in Paraná state.

Acompanha : Telefone celular: possibilidades de mediação pedagógica no espaço educativo / Na atualidade, existem diversos fatores que sugerem a necessidade de a escola rever as suas práticas de ensino: a rapidez com que as tecnologias de informação e comunicação – TIC – se alastram pela sociedade e, em especial, a utilização crescente do telefone celular por faixas etárias em idade escolar; o poder de convergência dessas TIC integrando recursos tecnológicos que podem ser utilizados como recursos didáticos; o fato de os estudantes atuais crescerem em um mundo tecnológico e apresentarem os seus padrões de pensamento funcionando de acordo com essa realidade; etc. Em contrapartida, observam-se: educadores, alheios à apropriação de TIC, apresentando, em muitos casos, resistência a elas; um descompasso entre como os sujeitos utilizam o celular, por exemplo, dentro e fora da escola; educadores, escolas, secretarias estaduais de educação posicionando-se contrários ao seu uso; projetos de lei e leis que regulamentam o seu uso no espaço educativo; etc. Por esses aspectos controversos investigou-se o uso do telefone celular como um recurso didático mediador em práticas do ensino de Física. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa aplicada, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa, de caráter exploratório quanto aos objetivos, e, participante quanto aos procedimentos técnicos adotados. Também foi utilizada a pesquisa documental e bibliográfica. Em seu desenvolvimento, inicialmente, via e-mail, foram coletados dados por meio de um questionário de múltipla escolha aplicados a professores de escolas particulares da Região Sul do Brasil, para identificar a realidade pesquisada e elaborar práticas de ensino possíveis de serem aplicadas na amostra estudada. As práticas construídas foram aplicadas em oficinas nas cidades de Ponta Grossa e Curitiba, estado do Paraná. Durante a aplicação, a coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de notas de campo do pesquisador, de gravação de sons e de um bate-papo ocorrido no msn messenger e de registros fotográficos. A análise dos dados foi realizada por triangulação. Os resultados mostraram a necessidade de se intensificarem cursos de formação continuada de professores e a produção de literatura nacional (artigos, dissertações, teses e livros) que explorem a temática do celular e suas funcionalidades em espaços educativos como recursos didáticos mediadores nas práticas do ensino de Física. Um livro foi organizado como produto final desta dissertação desenvolvida junto ao mestrado profissional do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino de Ciência e Tecnologia da UTFPR, Campus Ponta Grossa–PR, estado do Paraná. / Currently, there are several factors that suggest the need for the school to review their teaching practices: 1) the speed with which information and communication technologies - ICT are spread throughout society and in particular the increasing use of mobile phone by groups in school age;2) the scope and power of integrating ICT convergence of these technological resources, that can be used as teaching resources; 3) the fact that nowadays students grow up in a technological world and make their thought patterns operating in accordance with this reality, etc... In contrast, there are educators unrelated to the appropriation of ICT, presenting, in many cases, resistance to them. There is a incongruity between how individuals use mobile phones, for example, inside and outside the school. There are also educators, schools, public educational departments claiming to be against mobile phones usage; bills and laws regulating their use in educational space, etc... For these controversial aspects we have investigated whether cell phone use as a teaching resource practices mediator in Physics teaching. For this purpose, we developed an applied research with qualitative and exploratory approach about the objectives, adopting participant and the technical procedures. A documental and bibliographical research was taken. First of all, data were collected by e-mail, through a multiple choice questionnaire applied to private school teachers in southern Brazil, to identify the researched reality and develop teaching practices likely to be applied in the studied corpus. Then, such practices were applied in workshops located in Curitiba and Ponta Grossa cities, in Paraná state. During the application, data was collected by the researcher's field notes. Then, we recorded chats about the workshops from an instant message software (msn messenger), and we took photographic records. Data analysis was performed by triangulation. The results showed the need to enhance continuing education courses for teachers and the production of national academic literature, such as articles, dissertations, theses and books that explore the theme of the cell phone and its functionality in educational spaces as an educational resource mediator in the practices of teaching Physics. A book as well was organized as a final product of this work developed by the Professional Master's Program from the Graduate School of Science and Technology (UTFPR), in Ponta Grossa Campus, in Paraná state.

While experiencing exponential growth worldwide, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are key factors in business today. The ubiquitous nature of the mobile phone in South Africa and the use of wireless technologies facilitate business in areas where current fixed infrastructure is limited or non-existent, thereby aiding in the development of rural areas. This descriptive study determines what factors will extend the use of mobile phone technology in business. The literature indicates business advantage can be gained from incorporating technology into a strategic framework but in so doing must consider the complexities of the technology and its lifecycle. Currently, e-mail and Internet access would be the most likely applications of data use via Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). As a technology-based study the methodology used e-mail to deliver a survey targeting staff from the three cellular network operators in Port Elizabeth. The mobile industry and Port Elizabeth were both considered good indicators of technology use and the progression of infrastructure throughout South Africa. The findings indicate that although most mobile phones have the features required by users, the current use of associated data applications is low. Email is the most appropriate application and expected to be significant in 2006. The technology is of strategic importance and can be applied to make idle time productive. Successful use depends on the removal of barriers. In the case of e-mail and Internet access; the most significant of these is the complexity of the initial set-up. Despite the complexity of technology evolution and the challenges of effective business application, substantial gains can be still be realised. Currently, technology is best deployed to meet specialised needs. The expected introduction of third generation technologies herald’s higher data transfer rates, providing the opportunity for more generalised application in business in the immediate future.

No description available.

M.Sc. (Computer Science) / The past couple of years have seen an explosion in the number of online fraud schemes – Total annual losses exceed tens of millions of Rands. Many people and organizations from all over the world have fallen victim to it. Nobody is safe; everybody is vulnerable. As we increasingly make use of the Internet and mobile technology to do our work and to perform chores such as online banking or shopping, we become even more vulnerable. Fraudsters make use of ever-more sophisticated techniques and clever schemes to target the unsuspecting end-users of mobile and Internet technology, and to trick them into surrendering their personal information so that electronic transactions can be carried out in their name. Examples include cheque and credit card fraud, phishing, identity theft and spyware, to name but a few. Services such as Internet- and cell phone banking especially, provide a haven of possibilities to make easy money because the technology is relatively new, and it is being used by evermore people who believe that it is fast, safe and secure and will therefore make their lives easier. One of the latest scams at the time of this writing is “SIM swap fraud”: Fraudsters target specific victims, perform SIM swaps on their cell phone numbers, and then proceed to empty the victims’ bank accounts. This is all done in a matter of minutes, so the victims only realize what has happened when it is too late to do anything about it. Needless to say, a solution must be found that will prevent unauthorized SIM swaps and strengthen online banking security. This dissertation does exactly that. It examines the digital world known as cyberspace, identifies how SIM swap fraudsters manage to defraud their targets, and presents a biometrics-based security system to combat SIM swap fraud.

Relays can be used in cellular systems to increase coverage as well as reduce the total power consumed by mobiles in a cell. This latter benefit is particularly useful for mobiles operating on a depleted battery. The relay can be a mobile, a car or any other device with the appropriate communication capabilities. In thesis we analyze the impact of using relays under different situations. We first consider the problem of reducing total power consumed in the system by employing relays intelligently. We find that in a simulated, fully random, mobile cellular network for CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), significant energy savings are possible ranging from 1.76 dB to 8.45 dB. In addition to reducing power needs, relays can increase the coverage area of a cell by enabling mobiles located in dead spots to place relayed calls. We note that use of relays can increase the useful service area by about 10% with real life scenarios. We observe that in heavy building density areas there is more need of relays as compared to low building density areas. However, the chance of finding relays is greater in low building density areas. Indeed, having more available idle nodes helps in choosing relays, so we conclude that unlike present day implementations of cellular networks, the base station should admit more mobiles (beyond the capacity of the cell) even if they are not placing calls since they can be used as relays. One constraint of using relays is the potential to add interference in the same cell and in neighboring cells. This is particularly true if the relays are not under power control. Based on our analysis, we conclude that in interference limited systems like CDMA the relays have to be under power control otherwise we will reduce the total capacity by creating more dead spots. Thus, we believe that either the base station should be responsible to allocate relays or relays should be provided with enough intelligence to do power control of the downlink. Finally, we show how utility of data services can be increased by use of relays.

This thesis presents enhancements made to software designed for simulating digital mobile radio communication systems. Internally generated two-ray Rayleigh fading channel models as well as imported spatially varying complex channel impulse responses can be utilized in simulations. Implementation of receiver timing jitter and timing recovery models, as well as modifications of the channel generation (two-ray model) and conversion (imported channel), are among the enhancements that have been added. The bit error rate and outage performance of the simulator is compared with analytical results. A study of the impact of the distribution of magnitude and phase components within a channel impulse response is performed. A study utilizing both timing recovery and timing jitter models is also included. It has been found that for site specific BER and outage prediction, more descriptive channel parameters than narrowband fading statistics and statistical moments of a channel's power delay profile are needed. The studies also indicate that for simulations of channels with large delay spread timing recovery is essential. / Master of Science

Three decades of mobile phone diffusion, thousands of mobile-phone-based health projects worldwide ("mHealth"), and tens of thousands of health applications in Apple's iTunes store, but fundamental questions about the effect of phone diffusion on people's healthcare behaviour remain unanswered. Empirical, theoretical, and methodological gaps in the study of mobile phones and health reinforce each other and lead to simplifying assumptions that mobile phones are a ubiquitous and neutral platform for interventions to improve health and healthcare. This contradicts what we know from the technology adoption literature. This thesis explores the theoretical link between mobile phone diffusion and healthcare access; develops and tests a new multidimensional indicator of mobile phone adoption; and analyses the effects of phone use on people's healthcare-seeking behaviour. My mixed methods research design - implemented in rural Rajasthan (India) and Gansu (China) - involves qualitative research with 231 participants and primary survey data from 800 persons. My research yields a qualitatively grounded framework that describes the accessibility and suitability of mobile phones in healthcare-seeking processes, the heterogeneous outcomes of phone use and non-use on healthcare access, and the uneven equity consequences in this process. Quantitative analysis based on the framework finds that mobile phone use in rural India and China increases access to healthcare, but it also invites more complex and delayed health behaviours and the over-use of scarce healthcare resources. Moreover, increasing phone-aided health action threatens to marginalise socio-economically disadvantaged groups further. I present here the first quantitative evidence on how mobile phone adoption influences healthcare-seeking behaviour. This challenges the common view that mHealth interventions operate on a neutral platform and draws attention to potential targeting, user acceptance, and sustainability problems. The framework and tools developed in this thesis can support policy considerations for health systems to evaluate and address the healthcare implications of mobile phone diffusion.