Understanding mobile network quality and infrastructure with user-side measurements

Measurement collection is a primary step towards analyzing and optimizing performance of a telecommunication service. With an Mobile Broadband (MBB) network, the measurement process has not only to track the network’s Quality of Service (QoS) features but also to asses a user’s perspective about its service performance. The later requirement leads to “user-side measurements” which assist in discovery of performance issues that makes a user of a service unsatisfied and finally switch to another network. User-side measurements also serve as first-hand survey of the problem domain. In this thesis, we exhibit the potential in the measurements collected at network edge by considering two well-known approaches namely crowdsourced and distributed testbed-based measurements. Primary focus is on exploiting crowdsourced measurements while dealing with the challenges associated with it. These challenges consist of differences in sampling densities at different parts of the region, skewed and non-uniform measurement layouts, inaccuracy in sampling locations, differences in RSS readings due to device-diversity and other non-ideal measurement sampling characteristics. In presence of heterogeneous characteristics of the user-side measurements we propose how to accurately detect mobile coverage holes, to devise sample selection process so to generate a reliable radio map with reduced sample cost, and to identify cellular infrastructure at places where the information is not public. Finally, the thesis unveils potential of a distributed measurement test-bed in retrieving performance features from domains including user’s context, service content and network features, and understanding impact from these features upon the MBB service at the application layer. By taking web-browsing as a case study, it further presents an objective web-browsing Quality of Experience (QoE) model

Comparative perspectives on initial primary teacher education and training in England and Pakistan

This study explored the extent to which initial teacher education and training programmes provide an adequate preparation for the needs of the primary school teachers in England and Pakistan. An integral part of this exploration was the identification of particular aspects of ITE programmes which had a significant impact in enhancing the professional development of teachers, the effectiveness of the ITE programmes and then overall quality. The second notable feature is that this study is a comparative one. The researcher chose two countries where initial teacher training programmes were being implemented, albeit in different ways. England and Pakistan are two contrasting countries from different global regions and having different cultural and social contexts. This is not a problem for comparison because the issue is whether they provide an adequate and enriching professional preparation for beginning teachers in their respective contexts. The study also aims to explore how far the English experience has potential for development and improvement in the Pakistani initial primary teacher education programme. The issue was examined in detail in different teacher education institutions located in England and Pakistan. For this purpose the researcher used Bereday‘s comparative methodology to investigate the juxtaposition of these two initial teacher education programmes. The researcher hopes thereby to add to the stock of theory through the use of a cross-national study.The study indicated to what extent the beginning teachers were adequately prepared for the demands of work and the responsibilities expected of them as perceived by the profession and other stakeholders. A number of factors were found to contribute to the perceived adequacy of the professional preparation of student teachers. An enriching curriculum together with availability and quality of physical facilities and educational resources contributed to this situation. At the same time, the support from the principal stakeholders in terms of funding and staff professional development was also cited as impacting upon the quality of pre-service teacher education provided to the beginning teachers in England and Pakistan. The aim of this research was to investigate initial teacher education in Pakistan and England to gain insights into two initial teacher education systems with a view to improving initial teacher education in Pakistan. To achieve this aim, a cross-cultural study using a multi-method approach was adopted. This research revealed how questionable it can be to merely state what the similarities and differences really are between two initial teacher education systems. Nonetheless, it did identify some important differences as between the two initial teacher education systems, namely in terms of:- cultural differences affecting initial teacher‘s attitude and values;- differences in governmental vision, political will, and government policies and institutional provision;- teacher education curricula, policies and delivery;- traditional and economic disparities; and theoretical underpinning.Having conducting this research, it is the view of the writer that it is possible for Pakistan to gain from certain aspects of the experience in England, especially in administration and quality control

Motivation and Attitude of BDS Students and House Officers in Their Postgraduate Career Selection

Objective: The objective of this research was to explore the motivational factors among BDS students and house officers for post graduate career selection. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. rd th Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted from 3 October to 19 December 2022 at Lahore Medical and Dental College. Materials and Methods: A total of 226 participants (77 from third year BDS, 84 from 4 year BDS and 65 House Officers) were asked to fill a questionnaire in which the first part consisted of biodata and the second part was based on questions related to motivation of students for post-graduation and their preferred field of choice either clinical sciences or basic sciences. Descriptive statistical analysis was done and significance testing between the variables was done using chi-square test. Significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Results of the study showed a significant difference (p=0.018) between the groups in reasons for choosing dentistry as a profession where majority 51.3% were internally motivated. It was found that 61% students were motivated for post-graduation and majority (68.5%) wanted to choose clinical subjects as compared to 13.2% for basic sciences. There was significant difference between the groups (p=0.00) as a clear majority (71.6%) believed that there were not enough options for post-graduation in Pakistan and 85.3% wanted the institute to conduct seminars for career counselling (p=0.048). Conclusion: The dental students were motivated to do post-graduation out of which a clear majority opted to pursue clinical studies. The students wanted the institute to conduct career counselling sessions to help them plan their career choices

Comparative perspectives on initial primary teacher education and training in England and Pakistan

This study explored the extent to which initial teacher education and training programmes provide an adequate preparation for the needs of the primary school teachers in England and Pakistan. An integral part of this exploration was the identification of particular aspects of ITE programmes which had a significant impact in enhancing the professional development of teachers, the effectiveness of the ITE programmes and then overall quality. The second notable feature is that this study is a comparative one. The researcher chose two countries where initial teacher training programmes were being implemented, albeit in different ways. England and Pakistan are two contrasting countries from different global regions and having different cultural and social contexts. This is not a problem for comparison because the issue is whether they provide an adequate and enriching professional preparation for beginning teachers in their respective contexts. The study also aims to explore how far the English experience has potential for development and improvement in the Pakistani initial primary teacher education programme. The issue was examined in detail in different teacher education institutions located in England and Pakistan. For this purpose the researcher used Bereday‘s comparative methodology to investigate the juxtaposition of these two initial teacher education programmes. The researcher hopes thereby to add to the stock of theory through the use of a cross-national study. The study indicated to what extent the beginning teachers were adequately prepared for the demands of work and the responsibilities expected of them as perceived by the profession and other stakeholders. A number of factors were found to contribute to the perceived adequacy of the professional preparation of student teachers. An enriching curriculum together with availability and quality of physical facilities and educational resources contributed to this situation. At the same time, the support from the principal stakeholders in terms of funding and staff professional development was also cited as impacting upon the quality of pre-service teacher education provided to the beginning teachers in England and Pakistan. The aim of this research was to investigate initial teacher education in Pakistan and England to gain insights into two initial teacher education systems with a view to improving initial teacher education in Pakistan. To achieve this aim, a cross-cultural study using a multi-method approach was adopted. This research revealed how questionable it can be to merely state what the similarities and differences really are between two initial teacher education systems. Nonetheless, it did identify some important differences as between the two initial teacher education systems, namely in terms of: - cultural differences affecting initial teacher‘s attitude and values; - differences in governmental vision, political will, and government policies and institutional provision; - teacher education curricula, policies and delivery; - traditional and economic disparities; and theoretical underpinning. Having conducting this research, it is the view of the writer that it is possible for Pakistan to gain from certain aspects of the experience in England, especially in administration and quality control

SURVEY OF HISTORY BASED ROUTING PROTOCOLS IN DELAY TOLERANT NETWORK

Frequent changes in topology and the lack of infrastructure compel disrupted networks to avoid the use of traditional routing protocols. Rather than defining paths towards destinations, the routing tables store access chances of known nodes towards a specific destination. History of a node’s encounter is maintained in three different ways to find out its power of access to the rest of network nodes. The survey paper discusses various routing schemes based on the past encounter patterns of network nodes.Keywords: (Delay Tolerant Network) DTN; routing protocols; history-based routing; frequency; encounter; inter-contact duration;  recency