This thesis examines methods to enhance the realism of signal strength simulations in a Radio Access Network (RAN) test environment by identifying and analyzing factors that influence signal strength in actual RAN settings. The study addresses different attenuation impacts using three technical reports: 3GPP TR 38.901 for path loss in various area scenarios, ITU-R P.838 for rain attenuation, and ITU-R P.840 for cloud and fog attenuation effects. This thesis also considers inter-cell interference as a proof of concept to understand its impact on signal quality. Key findings indicate that path loss substantially affects signal strength, significantly influenced by frequency, distance between transmitter and receiver, and the environmental context (e.g., rural or urban). Although rain and cloud attenuation also affect signal strength, their impact is minor but increases with higher frequencies. This thesis enriches our understanding of more accurately simulating signal strength in RAN environments by focusing on path loss, rain, cloud attenuation, and inter-cell interference. This work lays a foundation for subsequent studies to expand upon, particularly in integrating diverse attenuation factors, thereby driving forward the precision and reliability of future RAN simulations.

The use of mobile communication has remarkably increased during the last years. It is the usage of 2G, 3G and in particular LTE that has increased. With every year that passes the con- sumers are putting higher demands on data rate and coverage. To solve the problem with coverage the signal can be relayed and thus amplified at the receiver end. To know if it’s pos- sible to relay the signal it’s important to know what signal is received locally. The company Network Expertise has given us a problem, due to that we want to investigate two things in this thesis. 1) Which signal parameters are relevant and which signal levels are good and bad for LTE. 2) How can signal measurements be done for 2G, 3G and 4G with an Android based system. To solve the first problem, a literature study was conducted where we found information about how past measurements have been made and what is relevant when measuring an LTE signal. The second problem was solved by developing an application for Android which implements the relevant measurements that was defined in the literature study. The application and the possibilities in Android have been reviewed and compared with similar tools for signal measurements. The relevant parameters for LTE measurements are RSRP, RSRQ, EARFCN and neighboring cells RSRP, RSRQ and EARFCN. Additional relevant parameters are ECI, MCC and MNC. LTE parameters which are possible to retrieve with an Android based telephone through An- droid API are RSRP, RSRQ and ECI (with some telephone models). The telephone must also support API level 17. For 3G it’s possible to retrieve RSCP, EcNo (with some telephone mod- els) and for 2G it’s possible to retrieve RSSI. MCC and MNC are both possible to retrieve in Android. Information about neighboring cells are not available for neither of the technologies. The quality level for the LTE parameter RSRP is great above -80 dBm level, good down to -90 dBm, moderate down to -100 dBm and bad below -100 dBm. Signal level for the LTE parame- ter RSRQ is great above -10 dBm, good down to -15 dBm, moderate down to -20 dBm and bad below -20 dBm. With the available version of Android is not sufficient to do advance signal measurements. / Användningen av mobil kommunikation har ökat kraftigt under de senaste åren. Det är användningen av 2G, 3G och speciellt LTE som har ökat. För varje år som går ställer konsumenterna högre krav på hastigheter och mobiltäckning. För att lösa problemen med täckning kan signalen förstärkas på mottagarsidan i en så kallad repeater. För att veta om det är möjligt att förstärka signalen är det viktigt att veta vilken signal som tas emot lokalt. Företaget Network Expertise har ett behov som leder oss fram till att undersöka två saker i denna rapport. 1) Vilka signalparametrar är relevanta och vilka signalnivåer är bra och dåliga för LTE? 2) Hur kan signalmätningar göras för 2G, 3G och 4G med ett androidbaserat system? För att lösa första problemet genomfördes en litteraturstudie där vi tog fram information om hur tidigare mätningar har gjorts och vad som är relevant vid mätning av en LTEsignal. Det andra problemet löstes genom att utveckla en applikation för Android som kan göra relevanta mätningar som definierades i förstudien. Applikationen och möjligheterna som erbjuds i Android har utvärderats och jämförts med liknande verktyg för att mäta signaler. De relevanta parametrarna för LTE-mätningar är RSRP, RSRQ, EARFCN och närliggande cellers RSRP, RSRQ och EARFCN. Ytterligare information som har relevans är ECI, MCC och MNC. LTE-parametrarna som går att hämta med en androidbaserad telefon via Android API är RSRP, RSRQ och ECI (med vissa telefonmodeller). Telefonen måste också stödja API-nivå17. För 3G går det att hämta RSCP och EcNo (med vissa telefonmodeller) och för 2G går det att hämta RSSI. MCC och MNC går båda att hämta via API. Information om närliggande celler är inte tillgängligt för varken 2G, 3G eller 4G. Kvalitetsnivån för LTE-parametern RSRP är utmärkt över -80 dBm insignal, bra ner till -90 dBm, medel ner till -100 dBm och dålig under -100 dBm. Kvalitetsnivån för LTE-parametern RSRQ är utmärkt över -10 dB, bra ner till -15 dB, medel ner till -20 dB och dålig under -20 dB. I dagsläget är androidplattformen inte riktigt mogen för att göra avancerade signalmätningar.

This diploma thesis deals with the use of freely available data sets to estimate the signal strength in localities where measurements are missing. This work aimed to use interpolation and regression methods to estimate as accurately as possible the possible signal coverage in a given locality. First, data sets were analyzed, based on results, a test model for various methods has been created. The methods with the best results have been implemented on real data sets containing thousands of measurements. At the end of the work, accurate estimates are commented and circumstances to reduce the deviation of the measured and calculated values are specified.

Magister Artium - MA / This mini thesis seeks to explore two legacies of apartheid: the insecurity of decent and available housing that has led to a housing crisis, and the insecurity of Coloured identity as caused by apartheid’s racial and identity politics and its aftermath in a democratic South Africa. Furthermore, it is an examination of identity and its relation to place, specifically Coloured identity in the place of Cape Town. It focuses the ripple effect of belonging, as this research starts with Cape Town then expands to further find cause for this growing cause of belonging by focusing on racism, the housing crisis, nation-building, globalisation, capitalism. Through interviews and archival research, I explore questions of belonging, identity, and its relation to the housing crisis in Cape Town. This is done through a case study of tensions that erupted in Siqalo, in Mitchell’s Plain on 1 May 2018. Siqalo is a land occupation of isiXhosa speakers in the apartheid-era ‘Coloured’ area of Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town. When Siqalo residents organised a protest around issues of electricity and housing they faced violent retaliation by neighbouring community and residents of Colorado, populated mainly by people classified as Coloured, with claims being made by an organisation called Gatvol Capetonians for Siqalo residents to return to Eastern Cape. I examine the role of identity in the creation of narratives of Cape Town and establish two narratives, one in which Cape Town is represented as a home for all and one in which it is not, this is done to show how belonging is made through identity and narrative and the effect that this creates. This comes to frame this mini-thesis as the question of a home is represented in the symbolic and physical sense and highlights the tension between Gatvol’s protest of Coloured belonging and Siqalo residents’ protest for decent housing. Chapter Two reflects on this through the use of interviews from both sides of the protest. This chapter is written as an imagined debate that not only reflects on critiques of oral history but ways of writing history experimentally or speculatively Through investigating the source of the tension from the Siqalo protest, I argue that desegregation was, in theory, one of the first nation-building projects in South Africa, and its failure has deepened apartheid and colonial forms of classification that divide people. The views of Mahmood Mamdani, while rarely applied to African people classified as Coloured, are very important, as his book, Citizen and Subject was a premise for this research as it highlighted the pitfalls and requirements of African countries after independence from colonialism. At the same time, the literature on Coloured identity rarely brings up the question whether Coloureds can and do practice racism on those classified as black or African and how these categorisations have persisted in the post-apartheid era. This research asks: to what extent do present conditions enable a predatory dynamic to claims of Coloured identity? Based off the predatory argument which focuses on intensified competition for scarce resources under globalisation put forward by Arjun Appadurai, I highlight the influence that contemporary globalisation has had on both the dynamics of Coloured identity and on the housing crisis in Cape Town. This mini thesis concludes by providing two alternatives as to how the question of race can be assessed in South Africa.

Inter-Cell Interference (ICI) will be one of main problems for degrading the performance of future wireless networks at cell edge. This adverse situation will become worst in the presence of dense deployment of micro and macro cells. In this context, the Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technique was introduced to mitigate ICI in Next Generation Wireless Networks (NGWN) and increase their network performance at cell edge. Even though the CoMP technique provides satisfactory solutions of various problems at cell edge, nevertheless existing CoMP handover schemes do not prevent unnecessary handover initialisation decisions and never discuss the drawbacks of CoMP handover technique such as excessive feedback and resource sharing among UEs. In this research, new CoMP-based handover schemes are proposed in order to minimise unnecessary handover decisions at cell edge and determine solution of drawbacks of CoMP technique in conjunction with signal measurements such as Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Received Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). A combination of calculations of RSRP and RSRQ facilitate a credible decision making process of CoMP mode and handover mode at cell edge. Typical numerical experiments indicate that by triggering the CoMP mode along with solutions of drawbacks, the overall network performance is constantly increase as the number of unnecessary handovers is progressively reduced.