Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology

6

Authors: Baqai A., Umrani F.A., Chowdhry B.S.

In this paper the O-WBANs (Optical Wireless Body Area Networks) is presented as an alternative to the radio and microwave BANs which are plagued with issues like interference, power hungry, hazardous and costly spectrum. Various experiments performed in this work demonstrate the feasibility of LED (Light-Emitting Diode) based optical systems to be used for BANs. The system cost is kept as low as possible. Mainly the effects on the optical link are observed under ambient light and with different modulation schemes by varying link distance and line of sight in this paper. Experimental results reveal the satisfactory link availability up to the distance of 7 feet (around 2m, the optimum range of WBAN) and within the field of view of 30-60º. The low cost solution presented in this paper meets the WBANs data rate requirement for physiological data (i.e. 10-100 kbps). As IR (Infra-Red) signals do not provide any interference with the signals generated by the medical equipment of hospitals which is the problem in case of RF or microwave signals, additionally the IR signals are confined within a room hence IR signaling can prove to be potential candidate for WBAN fulfilling its security and limited access requirement.

8

Authors: Hamza A., Jan T., Ali A.

In this paper a blind estimation approach is proposed which directly utilizes the reverberant signal for estimating the RT (Reverberation Time).For estimation a very well-known method is used; MLE (Maximum Likelihood Estimation). Distribution of the decay rate is the core of the proposed method and can be achieved from the analysis of decay curve of the energy of the sound or from enclosure impulse response. In a pre-existing state of the art method Laplace distribution is used to model reverberation decay. The method proposed in this paper make use of the Rayleigh distribution and a spotting approach for modelling decay rate and identifying region of free decay in reverberant signal respectively. Motivation for the paper was deduced from the fact, when the reverberant speech RT falls in specific range then the signals decay rate impersonate Rayleigh distribution. On the basis of results of the experiments carried out for numerous reverberant signal it is clear that the performance and accuracy of the proposed method is better than other pre-existing methods

10

Authors: Naeem S., Islam M.H.,

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems reveal and pose non-typical risks due to its dependencies of interlinked business operations and process reengineering. Understanding of such type of risks is significant conducting and planning assurance involvement of the reliability of these complicated computer systems. Specially, in case of distributed environment where data reside at multiple sites and risks are of unique nature. Until now, there are brief pragmatic grounds on this public sector ERP issue. To analyze this subject, a partially organized consultation study was carried out with 15 skilled information systems auditors who are specialists in evaluating ERP systems risks. This methodology permitted to get more elaborated information about stakeholder?s opinions and customer experiences. In addition, interviewees mentioned a numerous basic execution troubles (e.g. inadequately skilled human resource and insufficient process reengineering attempts) that lead into enhanced hazards. It was also reported by the interviewees that currently risks vary across vendors and across applications. Eventually, in offering assurance with ERP systems participants irresistibly stresses examining the process instead of system end product.

10

Authors: Salman F., Warraich U.A.

The current study compares consumer behavior and Cultural Orientations between engineering and non-engineering students in Pakistan. Engineering students by virtue of their academic background are considered to have more technical know-how, more cognitive skills and can easily learn and adopt a new technology as compared to students from a non-engineering background. Furthermore the researchers were interested to find out that how the thinking skills and choice making of engineering students differ from other students and ultimately effects their consumer behavior and Cultural Dimensions. For this purpose three consumer behavior variables have been selected that are Customer Satisfaction, Customer Loyalty and Customer Switching. Cultural Dimensions are measured using the model proposed by Geert Hofstede. Two technologically sophisticated services are used in this study that is Mobile Phone and Debit Cards. The target population of the study consisted of 5000 students of which approximately 500 respondents were from various engineering universities in Pakistan. The comparison of consumer behavior and Cultural Dimensions differences was made through two group?s Discriminant Analysis. Differences in behavior and Cultural Dimensions have been reported among the engineering versus non-engineering students. Mobile Phone services satisfaction and loyalty were high among non engineering students whereas engineering student?s registered higher satisfaction and loyalty in Debit Card services. Another interesting finding is difference in switching behavior. In case of both the services engineering students reported a higher mean score for switching. Score for Cultural Dimensions were also different among the two students type; whereby mean score for Masculinity.

12

Authors: Shahid H.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three gain measurement methods which are H&P (Hakki & Paoli), SC (Segmented-Contact) and IA (Integrated-Amplifier) for the gain characterization of 1300nm (O-band) InAs/GaAs QD (Quantum Dot) laser devices. In this case, during continuous mode operation at a fixed heat-sink temperature of 17oC, the experimental conditions, measured spectral ranges and signal to noise ratio are compared and advantages are discussed. The devices used for the analysis are fabricated as multi-section, single mode structures. Before self-heating, each of the methods show identical results but SC proved to be better in terms of accuracy of internal loss measurement. The H&P method has been shown the only choice for high current density gain measurements at a fixed junction temperature under consideration. The method to remove self-heating effects via H&P is also discussed and via this method a high current density gain analysis upto 5.5kA/cm2(~ 8e-h pairs)is performed under 30oC fixed junction temperature condition. In comparison to other methods, the IA method has shown to be advantageous in terms of low current density measurements exhibiting the capability of accessing wider spectral ranges and performing the gain characterization where laser material operates in loss

14

Authors: Tasleem M., Khan N., Syed A.M.

In the growing business competitiveness TQM (Total Quality Management) and TM (Technology Management) practices have become important for organizational success. TQM fosters business excellence while TM helps to deal with process and product related technological challenges. However, in literature TM has received little consideration with TQM. This paper is a research study that attempts to identify any combined relationship of both concepts with OP (Organizational Performance) while taking into account different organizational contextual factors including ISO-9001 certification. Responses from 86 different organizations in Pakistan are collected through questionnaire survey and random sampling. Statistical analysis shows that OP is positively associated to TQM and TM. Results of this study indicate the significance of ISO-9001 certification for TQM but do not support it for OP. It is also observed that organizations of private sector are significantly better in TQM and TM practices, so in OP, in comparison to government or public sector organizations. The study contributes to explore and augment both practices for implementation to improve OP.

18

Authors: Hassan A., Shafi M., Khattak M.I.

This paper addresses UI (User Interface) designing based on multi-touch collaborative gesture recognition meant for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) - affected children. The present user interfaces (in the context of behavioral interventions for Autism Spectrum disorder) are investigated in detail. Thorough comparison has been made among various groups of these UIs. Advantages and limitations of these interfaces are discussed and future directions for the design of such interfaces are suggested.

20

Authors: Javaid Q., Memon F., Talpur S., Arif M., Awan M.D.

EPs (Extracting Frequent Patterns) from the continuous transactional data streams is a challenging and critical task in some of the applications, such as web mining, data analysis and retail market, prediction and network monitoring, or analysis of stock market exchange data. Many algorithms have been developed previously for mining FPs (Frequent Patterns) from a data stream. Such algorithms are currently highly required to develop new solutions and approaches to the precise handling of data streams. New techniques, solutions, or approaches are developed to address unbounded, ordered, and continuous sequences of data and for the generation of data at a rapid speed from data streams. Hence, extracting FPs using fresh or recent data involves the high-level analysis of data streams. We have suggested an efficient technique for the window sliding model; this technique extracts new and fresh FPs from high-speed data streams. In this study, a CPILT (Compacted Tree Compact Pattern Tree) is developed to capture the latest contents in the stream and to efficiently remove outdated contents from the data stream. The main concept introduced in this work on CPILT is the dynamic restructuring of a tree, which is helpful in producing a compacted tree and the frequency descending structure of a tree on runtime. With the help of the mining technique of FP growth, a complete list of new and fresh FPs is obtained from a CPILT using an existing window. The memory usage and time complexity of the latest FPs in high-speed data streams can efficiently be determined through proper experimentation and analysis.