Department of Computer Engineering
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Item Impact Analysis of Induced FM Radio Interferences on Aeronautical Radio Navigation Systems: Case Study of Kotoka International Airport, Accra-Ghana(International Conference on Computing, Computational Modelling and Applications, 2019-03-29) Sowah, R.; Acakpovi, A.; Tefutor, I.; Quist-Aphetsi, K.; Nwulu, N.; Abubakar, R.This paper investigates the effect of interference on Aeronautical Navigation systems by Frequency Modulation (FM) broadcasting signals. Precisely, the paper evaluated the impact of 3rd order intermodulation distortion on the VHF omnidirectional range and the instrument landing system (Localizer) used at the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The necessity of this study stems from the fact that, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) between FM audio broadcast and aeronautical radio communication services operating in the range of 85.7-108MHz and 108-117.975 MHz respectively is essential for safe flight operation. An analytical method of estimating the 3rd order intermodulation distortion has first been presented followed by simulation approach with the intermodulation analysis software v.10 and subsequent simulation with the Matlab software to determine and display the power spectral density of the output signals. All FM station frequencies in the Greater Accra region have been considered and paired to form dual tone signals that were considered input signal before assessing the impact of the 3rd order intermodulation harmonic. It was found that multiple 3rd order intermodulation harmonics distort and perturbate the aeronautical communication system in the Greater Accra region and these lead to severe safety implications for the operation of the aeronautical navigation system. It was recommended that broadcasting stations should implement cavity filters to reduce the effect of 3rd order intermodulation harmonics; they should respect the specification prescribed to them by the NCA and operate within limits allocated to them in order not to breach the international regulation of ITU that deems it an offense to interfere with the aeronautical communication system and to further ensure safety to the aviation navigation system.Item Modelling an Efficient Gap Filler for DTT Network Using ADS Software(International Conference on Computing, Computational Modelling and Applications, 2019-03-29) Sowah, R.; Mensah, F.; Acakpovi, A.; Osumanu, F.; Fifatin, F.N.; Nounangnonhou, T.C.This paper proposes the modelling and simulation of a special gap filler intended to cover grey areas in the DTT network of Accra. This has become necessary due to the numerous areas of low signal coverage in the Accra DTT and the incapability of previous methods to efficiently address the problem. The ADS simulation consists of arrangements of components from the DBV-T library which consists of filters, amplifiers and a power source. This setup mimics a gap filler system with a better noise reduction implementation, several frequency values are being used for the simulation process. A significant increase in the output signal as in comparison to the input means the shaded areas will be properly covered. The results derived from the simulation of the ADS setup highly improved upon the output signal values, when compared to the ITU standard. Three (3) out of five (5) simulation results show values beyond the minimum signal level requirement. Also using MATLAB, the RF propagation toolbox which has the map tool feature was able to implement the gap fillers into the Accra area and gave a visual representation of the signal strength. Modelling a gap filler system which has better noise cancellation and which propagates better with a dipole antenna was achieved in this paper. The outcome of the paper shows that the gap filler modelling increase signals in grey areas.Item A Fire-Detection and Control System in Automobiles: Implementing a Design That Uses Fuzzy Logic to Anticipate and Respond(IEEE Industry Applications Magazine, 2019-01) Sowah, R.; Ampadu, K.O.; Ofoli, A.R.; Koumadi, K.; Mills, G.A.; Nortey, J.Despite the immense benefits of fire detection in road transport, more than 2,000 vehicles are damaged by unexpected fires on a daily basis. On a global scale, incendiary-based losses for the automobile and insurance industries have run in to the billions of dollars in the past decade. One contributing factor is the lack of a sophisticated fire safety system in automobiles. This has been addressed by designing and implementing fuzzy logic control systems with feedback over an Arduino microcontroller system. The automatic system, consisting of flame, temperature, and smoke sensors as well as a re-engineered mobile carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) air-conditioning unit, was tested on a medium-sized physical car. Results suggest that the automobile fire-detection and control system, devoid of false alarms, detects and extinguishes fire in under 20s. An innovative, very promising modular solution for hardware implementation in fire detection and control for automobiles has been developed by using new algorithms and fuzzy logic.Item Developing a geo-spatial information framework to facilitate national identification system (NIS) in Ghana(Proceedings - UKSim 4th European Modelling Symposium on Computer Modelling and Simulation, EMS2010, 2010-11) Owusu-Banahene, W.; Nti, I.K.; Sallis, P.J.The National Identification System (NIS), an initiative of the government to create a computerized database of Ghanaians and foreign nationals resident in Ghana using a biometrie system of registration to captures the biodata of an individual and stores it in a database. The NIS is expected to provide some benefits such as development planning based on sufficient accurate population data, delivery of social services such as health, retirement benefits and social administration; delivery of credit facilities; and identification of individuals for voting, insurance, licensing and general national security purposes [8], The NIS lacks a geospatial database and this could be a setback to the realization of the benefits of the NIS to the citizenry in Ghana. Literature reviewed shows that high quality geographic database is essential to having an effective citizenry identification system, to take care of the spatio-temporal dynamics which is key to the sustainability of such a system. Also this will aid policy makers, social scientist and government to geovisualise available citizenry data for research and decision making. This paper attempts to propose answers to the following questions: Can the NIS keep track of the spatial information pertaining to an individual or a group of people due to relocation? How can spatial information be validated during NIS registration? The paper first investigates novel geo-coding system that would be appropriate for providing spatial information of persons in Ghana. Secondly, the paper looks at the architectural framework for integrating a distributed geo-database into the NIS of Ghana. The paper then proposes a prototype system in the form of a Geo-demographic Information System for delivery of geographical data, demographic data, mapping capabilities and geo-information services. A system for validating location information within the NIS is discussed. © 2010 IEEE.Item Visualisation techniques for modelling environmental influences in viticulture(18th World IMACS Congress and MODSIM09 International Congress on Modelling and Simulation: Interfacing Modelling and Simulation with Mathematical and Computational Sciences, Proceedings, 2009) Owusu-Banahene, W.; Shanmuganathan, S.; Sallis, P.The quality of wine is in its making but significantly also depends on the grape ripening conditions, such as environmental, weather and growing factors, as well as grape varietal characteristics. Some centuries-old Mediterranean grape growing tradition has helped the winemaking industry pool resources in an effort to gain further understanding of the interrelationships between genetic (or "cultivars") and environmental factors, such as climate and soil ( or "terrior"), The industry seems to be successful in using historic, in some cases, years old data to improve cultivation practices or "vintages" with an ultimate aim of producing finer wine. This paper outlines past research on enhancing data depiction methodologies generally used to represent environmental influence factors in viticulture along with some recent approaches, with special emphasis on data clustering techniques applied to analysing multivariate data sets using standard pixel representations and also some dependency relationship visualisation methodologies based on self-organising map (SOM) techniques. Literature reviewed reveals the limited research in the visualisation of environmental data in viticulture. The paper then elaborates upon a system design with some approaches being investigated for the implementation of novel visualisation techniques that could facilitate knowledge extraction from data on environmental influence factors in viticulture. The two main sets of approaches being referred to as neural net (NN) and non NN. The NN approach encompasses various visualisation techniques that utilises computational neural networks, such as SOM. Those in the non NN category are novel ways that are in complimentary to those in the NN with capabilities to overcome the limitations of the former, by creating a synergetic effect. An example of a possible non NN visualisation could be MIR-max and other algorithmic techniques. The system proposed herein attempts to integrate the two broad techniques into one system to enhance the visualization of environmental influence factors in viticulture especially for use in assessing any environmental impact with novel data visualisation techniques for decision making and in determining "what makes a good year for wine". The system would facilitate visualisation techniques over a distributed system, such as the Internet, and provide functions with user interface useful to both experts and novices in viticulture.Item A relay-based technique to reduce uplink transmit power in multi-operator mobile communication systems(Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 4th International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, ICAST 2012, 2012-10) Koumadi, K.M.; Acakpovi, A.; Kogue, D.W.; Hountondji, J.A.Coverage, capacity, and total power consumption are key issues in mobile communication systems. With the explosion of multimedia services, energy consumption of Mobile Stations (MS) becomes a special limiting factor in achieving high capacity in uplink transmission as well as in guaranteeing applications' required Quality of Service (QoS). Under a certain number of reasonable assumptions, this paper proposes a relay technique in which a Base Station (BS) of a foreign network provider (FBS) serves as a relay node between an MS and the base station of its registered home network (HBS). A proposed algorithm compares the power required for uplink transmission over the relay link (MS-FBS-HBS) and that required over the direct link (MS-HBS), under the various channel conditions, and then chooses the less-power-consuming link. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly reduces power comsumption. Furthermore, no core network equipment is actively involved, confirming the possiblibily of radio access network sharing among operators, as total capacity and coverage are boosted. © 2012 IEEE.Item Joint bandwidth and power allocation at mobile stations for QoS-constrained multimedia applications(Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 4th International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, ICAST 2012, 2012-10) Koumadi, K.M.; Sowah, R.A.; Acakpovi, A.Various multimedia applications will be supported by beyond third generation (B3G) mobile communication systems. Mobile users may choose to simultaneously launch various applications with quality of service (QoS) constraints. Subject to the chosen applications' respective QoS constraints, the user may have to allocate her/his available resources for satisfaction maximization. In this paper, a utility-based algorithm is proposed to jointly allocate available power and uplink bandwidth, at mobile station (MS) level. Using Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions and simulation, the algorithm is proved to be optimal. Under certain conditions, the algorithm (which may be applied in both downlink and uplink) is iterative and its convergence is shown by simulation. © 2012 IEEE.Item Design and development of GPS/GSM based vehicle tracking and alert system for commercial inter-city buses(Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 4th International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, ICAST 2012, 2012-10) Fleischer, P.B.; Nelson, A.Y.; Sowah, R.A.; Bremang, A.In this paper we proposed the design, development and deployment of GPS (Global Positioning System)/GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) based Vehicle Tracking and Alert System which allows inter-city transport companies to track their vehicles in real-time and provides an alert system for reporting armed robbery and accident occurrences. © 2012 IEEE.Item Design and development of an Android application to process and display summarised corporate data(Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 4th International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, ICAST 2012, 2012-12) Fiawoo, S.Y.; Sowah, R.A.In the corporate world today, managers are always faced with a lot of decisions to make based on data generated at their various offices. The decision-making process is very vital as decisions taken by management could make a company either overtake or stay within reach of its competitors. This paper presents the design and development of an Android application that would retrieve summarised data from a central database process and display that information on an android device so as to aid managers in their decision-making process. The components of designed and developed system include (1) a web application through which workers would input data at their various workplaces (2) a database hosted on a central server that would store information entered by workers (3) an application programming interface (API) that would take requests from the Android application, query the database and serve the results back to the Android application and (4) an android application that processes and displays results to users. The android application is developed using Eclipse in conjunction with android SDK tools. The application retrieves data from a database per user request and displays the retrieved information on an android device. Users of this application would be able to analyse data quicker hence make quick decisions as they would not be drowned in a flood of detailed information. There is also an added benefit of having access to company data on the go. © 2012 IEEE.Item Design and development of a microcontroller based traffic light control system using image processing techniques: - A case study prototype for Legon-Okponglo Junction, University of Ghana(Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 4th International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology, ICAST 2012, 2012-10) Asare, S.K.; Sowah, R.A.Traffic congestion on our roads especially in the urban cities is becoming overwhelming. Safety and comfort of road users is gradually becoming a matter of grave concern. Present Traffic Light Controllers (TLC) are based on microcontroller and microprocessor. The limitation with the TLC is that it uses the pre-defined hardware, which is functioning according to the program that does not have the flexibility of modification on real time basis. This proposed system makes use of embedded technology along with image processing analysis to control traffic at a local intersection that consists of a main road and two side roads and it is an improvement upon the efficiency of the current Traffic Light Controllers. Intervals between the green, amber and red states are based on current traffic density, which optimizes traffic light switching and avoids traffic congestion. A prototype for controlling traffic at the intersection is designed and simulated using the Proteus Design Suite. Using image processing technique via OpenCV, background differencing of an empty-lane road and a traffic congested road is performed. The resulting output is fed as input to the microcontroller system for traffic light control system on real-time data. © 2012 IEEE.