House of Lords Reform Essay

House of Lords Reform Essay House of Lords Role and Powers In comparison with the House of Commons, the House of Lords powers are restricted. Their political clout is owed more to convention and tradition. The House has no influence on any bills relating to government finance and although it has the authority to stall any acts of parliament for up to a year, the Commons can cite the Parliament Act 1949 an act introduced by Labour that effectively removed the delaying privileges of the Lords to swiftly defeat any motion. However, the Lords do hold the jurisdiction to veto any bill that may prolong a governments tenure in office. Each government can only rule for five years without a general election. Therefore, the Lords can block any move by the Commons to extend a regime beyond their legal term. Incidentally, this power has never been used in practice. The Lords make a valuable contribution to improving the quality of legislation in parliament. 50 60% of the chambers time is devoted to the revision of Commons bills. During the 2007/08 parliamentary session, the Lords tabled 7,259 amendments to draft bills of which 2,625 were accepted by the Commons. These included the Counter Terrorism Bill which outlined plans to revise the period of time potential terrorism suspects could be detained in custody without charge. The proposal was rejected by a majority of 192. The Lords have the capacity to dedicate time to in-depth scrutiny of proposed bills. This allows the Commons to take a back seat role and concentrate their efforts on MP constituency responsibilities and other issues. Consequently, many of the most thorough and full proof amendments find their origins in the House of Lords. In fact, it has been argued that the Commons abuse the Lords time and expertise in order to rework incompetently contrived bills. The Lords posses equal powers on matters concerning Private Members Bills. In plain terms, like the Commons, they too can reject them outright. In 2005, Lord Joffe proposed a bill that legalised assisted suicide in the case of terminally ill individuals. This involved doctors having the discretion to prescribe patients with a fatal dose of medication. However, the bill was fervently opposed on moral grounds and subsequently overcome. Like their counterpart, the Lords is also safe guarded by parliamentary privilege. This means that the chamber is exempt from libel allegations and therefore permits peers the liberty of free speech within parliament. Legislative procedures aside, the House of Lords plays an important role in scrutinising the actions of parliament. This scrutiny takes the form of questions to ministers, debates in parliament and committee work. There is no Lords equivalent to Commons Questions Time. In its place, time is allocated at the start of each days session for questions to the Lords ministers. During the 2007/08 parliamentary session, 595 oral questions were put forth whilst 5,814 oral written questions were lodged. Debates in the chamber are reflective of the diverse membership of the house. Generally, they are said to be more civil than those that take place in the Commons. Furthermore, although still evident, party allegiance does not carry the same weight. The content of the issues discussed are said to be far more deliberated and comprehensive than those in the Commons. This can be explained by the caliber of representative the Lords can boast. The 2007/08 parliamentary session featured 80 general debates ranging from disputes about the state of the armed forces to the current economic situation in the UK. The House of Lords exhibits a number of committees globally acclaimed for their expertise. The coveted European Communities Committee is held in high regard and compliments the less detailed studies conducted by their Commons counterpart. The Science Technology Committee, founded in 1979, was responsible for a damning report in 2007 on e-crime. The review examined the role the internet has played in increasing crime levels, highlighting the dangers of online depravity and advised the government of the preventative measures that needed to be put in place. In 2005, the Lords Constitution Committee produced a report on the potential introduction of ID cards and concluded that it threatened to destroy the harmony between the state and citizen. As of October 2009, the judicial powers of the House of Lords were removed when the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 was brought into practice. Prior to this, the chamber was considered the highest court in the United Kingdom and was traditionally the court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases. Justice was administered via the Law Lords the countries most higher-ranking judges. However, with the creation of a new United Kingdom Supreme Court, the judicial role of the Lords was effectively rendered void. Composition of House of Lords In 1997, Tony Blairs Labour government came to power and immediately pledged to make the House of Lords more democratic and representative of the electorate. Up until this point, the chamber had comprised of life peers who had been honoured with their seat due to outstanding achievements in their field of work and the traditional hereditary peers who ascended to their position through birth. Due to the massive prevalence of Conservative supporters amongst hereditary peers prior to 1999, there existed an ingrown Conservative majority within the second Chamber of parliament. The House of Lords Act 1999 sought to fulfil the Labour partys 1997 manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. The Act served to remove more than 600 hereditary peers from membership. Consequently, this created greater equality between the Conservatives and Labour, leaving the balance of power being held by the cross-benchers and the Liberal Democrats. There was no longer a single party who dominated the House. This change in composition is reflected when comparing House of Lords Membership in January 1999 to that of November 2009. In January 1999, prior to the Acts ratification, the Conservatives had 473 peers sitting in the second chamber. As of November 2009, there were only 190 active Conservative peers. In stark contrast, in January 1999, Labour had 168 peers within the House. This figure had risen to 212 by November 2009 and therefore emphasises the close parity now in operation between Labour and Tory  peers. The number of Liberal Democrat peers has remained consistent. In 1999, the party had 67 peers. This figure had increased marginally to 71 by 2009. The removal of hereditary peers also resulted in a significant drop in cross-bench peers. In 1999, there were 310 working in the House. By 2009, this number had reduced to 183. The composition of the chamber has also been altered by the increasing numbers of life peers derived from common social standing. Whilst hereditary peers are traditionally bourn of upper class backgrounds, life peers offer a more socially representative alternative. However, it must be noted that despite this discrepancy, class issues still remain. In order to offer a life peerage, recipients will generally have achieved something of particular repute. Therefore, by the time peerage is granted, it is highly unlikely that the individual will be still considered of lower social standing. In turn, this severely hampers the chances of the chamber ever becoming a socially representative mechanism of the United Kingdom. The terms of the House of Lords Act 1999 has also increased the role played by woman within the House of Lords. In 1990, 80 women held peerage within the House. By November 2009, as a result of the changing composition, there were 148 women sitting with the Lords. This shows an increase from 7% of the total membership to 20 % of the total membership in just under two decades. The present day House of Lords is evidently different from that one that existed before Labour came to power in 1997. Its composition has been transformed in comparison with the Conservative stronghold that was in place pre reform and it now promotes a far more equal representation of political allegiance, gender and social status. More significantly, the vast majority of members are life peers and not hereditary peers. The Reforms Agenda Stage two of the Labour Governments plans to reform the House of Lords involved the consolidation of Stage One the removal of hereditary peers. It was designed to bolster and strengthen the move to a second chamber based purely on appointment. The idea was that the reforms would create a more representative chamber based on the votes a political party had acquired at the previous general election. Stage three of the reforms agenda outlined proposals for an expansive reform of the House of Lords. In theory, the government had anticipated that the successful implementation of an all-appointed second chamber would allow for more fundamental reforms to be made in order to stabilise the Lords position in Parliament. Secondly, the government planned to introduce a wider programme of constitutional change within the House. This hinged entirely on the success of the stage two reforms in ensuring the House of Lords maintained its legitimacy. Jack Straw, the secretary of state for justice, recently claimed that the reforms of 1999 dramatically changed the House of Lords for the better. However, many would argue this is not the case. Ultimately, the Labour government has failed to deliver on its promise of a wholly elected second chamber. In 2007 the House of Commons voted in favour of reforms leading to a 100% or 80% elected second chamber. This proposal was rejected outright by the House of Lords. Despite the governments insistence that the reforms would be pushed through using the will of the Commons, two years have since passed and the in-house squabbling still rages between those in power. This is the frank nature of the reforms debate. An unelected second chamber with no direct link to the people raises serious questions of legitimacy. The body itself is fundamental to the making of legislation. The Labour Party has been in power for close to 13 years and it has achieved very little. The successful implementation of Stage one of the Lords reform programme now appear as substantial as a gentle breeze. Despite overwhelming public favour for reform of the Lords and numerous votes for a fully elected chamber, Labour has not pushed through the reform agenda its 1997 manifesto guaranteed. Unfortunately, the governments plans have not came to fruition.. It looks likely that it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Sources Jones, B. Kavanagh, D. Moran, M. and Norton, P. (2007), Politics UK, 6th Edition Norton, P. (2005), Parliament in British Politics Russell, M. (2000), Reforming the House of Lords: Lessons from Overseas Direct Gov Website: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm The Works of the House of Lords: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/HoLwork.pdf UK Parliament Website: http://www.parliament.uk/index.cfm Appendix Questions to MP regarding House of Lord Reforms: 1. Please can you explain the term the â€Å"Poodle of the Prime Minister† and its relation to Stage One of the House of Lords reform agenda? 2. Why the change of heart regarding your stance on reform? 3. Where do the Governments major failings lie in terms of not delivering on its 1997 manifesto promise to reform the House of Lords? 4. Do you agree that an elected second chamber is an essential link to the people and not having one raises questions of legitimacy? 5. There are those who argue that the restraining influence of the Lords is crucial to the efficiency of the UK Parliamentary system. Why do we need an elected second chamber? Follow up; 1. Philip Norton Lord Norton of Louth Conservative peer and professor of government at the University of Hull. From 2001 to 2004 he was Chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution. He has been described in The House Magazine the journal of both Houses of Parliament as ‘our greatest living expert on Parliament. Mr Norton is extremely knowledgeable on the governments reform agenda and has written acclaimed publications on the matter. Serving as peer within the Lords, he would be able to give a view from the parapets. 2. Gerald Warner Scottish newspaper columnist and political commentator. He is a former policy advisor to the British Cabinet Minister. His daily blog for the Daily Telegraph attracts widespread debate and he regularly writes of the need for reform within the House of Lords. Mr Warner would be a useful port of contact as he has been immersed in the politics for a number of years and through his daily blog activity would be able to transmit an accurate portrayal of British consensus on Lords reform agenda. 3. Lord Hope Scottish Judge and Deputy Head of the Supreme Court of the UK. Lord Hope is a prestigious Law Lord and has served in the House of Lords in numerous important roles. It would be beneficial to gauge his reaction to the devolved judicial powers of the House of Lords now that the New Supreme Court is in operation. 4. Jonathan Freedland British Journalist who writes a weekly column for the Guardian. Recently expressed his views on the need for an elected second Chamber of Parliament. Therefore, the issue is of great interest to him and he will be knowledgeable on the subject matter. Also, hes a young journalist who might be able to give a fresh perspective on the House of Lords.

Chinese Pottery Essay -- essays research papers

Chinese pottery The earliest Chinese pottery of which we have any records is the Neolithic ware from the river plains and loess highlands of north and north-west China. It was made between 5000 and 2000 B.C. and contains bowls, jars, pots and beakers of low-fires earthenware. This pots were not turned on a wheel but were buildt up by what is known as the Coil Method. That is, a long sausage of clay was wound carefully up into a coil shape and this coil was smoothed and patted by hand into the shape of a pot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the T’ang Dynasty China became the greatest and most widespread empire in the world . T’ang pottery is powerful and lively with sweeping sinuous curves while its decoration is often made up of flamboyant shapes and contrasting colours.   &...

Bronchitis :: essays research papers fc

Bronchitis is an INFLAMMATION of the membrane that lines the air passages, or, bronchial tubes, of the LUNGS and results in the narrowing of these air passages. This disorder may be of either an acute or chronic type. Irritation of mucus-producing glands within the membrane results in the production of excess bronchial secretions. The main symptoms of bronchitis are cough and increased expectoration of sputum, with or without associated wheezing and shortness of breath. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by infection by one of the many viruses that cause the common COLD or INFLUENZA and is frequently associated with MEASLES. The patient may suffer from additional symptoms, such as chest discomfort, fever, and aching, that are characteristic of these diseases. WHOOPING COUGH is a form of severe bronchitis caused by the bacterium Hemophilus pertussis. Treatment of a pure viral infection is directed toward the relief of symptoms, but frequently secondary infections by bacteria complicate the condition. In such a case the patient's sputum may turn from white to yellow (purulent, or pus containing), and treatment with various antibiotics is recommended. Acute chemical bronchitis may be caused by the inhalation of irritating fumes, such as smoke, chlorine, ammonia, and ozone. Chronic bronchitis results from prolonged irritation of the bronchial membrane, causing cough and the excessive secretion of mucus for extended periods. By far the most common cause of chronic bronchitis is cigarette SMOKING, but air pollution and industrial fume and dust inhalation are also important irritants. Patients with chronic bronchitis are subject to recurrent infections with H. influenzae and pneumococci. Pulmonary EMPHYSEMA often coexists, and over a long period of time the patient may suffer from

Ramayana and Eldest Son Rama

Dasaratha — King of Ayodhya (capital of Kosala), whose eldest son was Rama. Dasaratha had three wives and four sons — Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna. Rama — Dasaratha's first-born son, and the upholder of Dharma (correct conduct and duty). Rama, along with his wife Sita, have served as role models for thousands of generations in India and elsewhere. Rama is regarded by many Hindus as an incarnation of the god Vishnu. Sita — Rama's wife, the adopted daughter of King Janak. Sita was found in the furrows of a sacred field, and was regarded by the people of Janak's kingdom as a blessed child.Bharata — Rama's brother by Queen Kaikeyi. When Bharata learned of his mother's scheme to banish Rama and place him on the throne, he put Rama's sandals on the throne and ruled Ayodhya in his name. Hanuman — A leader of the monkey tribe allied with Rama against Ravana. Hanuman has many magical powers because his father was the god of the wind. Hanuman's devotion to Rama, and his supernatural feats in the battle to recapture Sita, has made him one of the most popular characters in the Ramayana. Ravana — The 10-headed king of Lanka who abducted Sita. Kaushlaya — Dasaratha's first wife, and the mother of Rama.Lakshmana — Rama's younger brother by Dasaratha's third wife, Sumitra. When Rama and Sita were exiled to the forest, Lakshmana followed in order to serve. Ramayana: A Summary 1. Dasharatha, King of Aydohya, has three wives and four sons. Rama is the eldest. His mother is Kaushalya. Bharata is the son of his second and favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two are twins, Lakshman and Shatrughna. Rama and Bharata are blue, perhaps indicating they were dark skinned or originally south Indian deities. 2) A sage takes the boys out to train them in archery.Rama has hit an apple hanging from a string. 3) In a neighboring city the ruler's daughter is named Sita. When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom, at a ceremony called a swayamvara, the princes were asked to string a giant bow. No one else can even lift the bow, but as Rama bends it, he not only strings it but breaks it in two. Sita indicates she has chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around his neck. The disappointed suitors watch. 4) King Dasharatha, Rama's father, decides it is time to give his throne to his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest to seek moksha.Everyone seems pleased. This plan fulfills the rules of dharma because an eldest son should rule and, if a son can take over one's responsibilities, one's last years may be spent in a search for moksha. In addition, everyone loves Rama. However Rama's step-mother, the king's second wife, is not pleased. She wants her son, Bharata, to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years before, she gets the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to crown Bharata, even though the king, on bended knee, begs her not to dem and such things.Broken-hearted, the devastated king cannot face Rama with the news and Kaikeyi must tell him. 5) Rama, always obedient, is as content to go into banishment in the forest as to be crowned king. Sita convinces Rama that she belongs at his side and his brother Lakshman also begs to accompany them. Rama, Sita and Lakshman set out for the forest. Bharata, whose mother's evil plot has won him the throne, is very upset when he finds out what has happened. Not for a moment does he consider breaking the rules of dharma and becoming king in Rama's place.He goes to Rama's forest retreat and begs Rama to return and rule, but Rama refuses. â€Å"We must obey father,† Rama says. Bharata then takes Rama's sandals saying, â€Å"I will put these on the throne, and every day I shall place the fruits of my work at the feet on my Lord. † Embracing Rama, he takes the sandals and returns to Aydohya. 6) Years pass and Rama, Sita and Lakshman are very happy in the forest. Rama and Lakshman destroy the rakshasas (evil creatures) who disturb the sages in their meditations. One day a rakshasa princess tries to seduce Rama, and Lakshmana wounds her and drives her away.She returns to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon), and tells her brother (who has a weakness for beautiful women) about lovely Sita. Ravana devises a plan to abduct Sita. He sends a magical golden deer which Sita desires. Rama and Lakshman go off to hunt the deer, first drawing a protective circle around Sita and warning her she will be safe as long as she does not step outside the circle. As they go off, Ravana (who can change his shape) appears as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita steps outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabs her and carries her off the his kingdom in Lanka.7) Rama is broken-hearted when he returns to the empty hut and cannot find Sita. A band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita. Ravana has carried Sita to his pa lace in Lanka, but he cannot force her to be his wife so he puts her in a grove and alternately sweet-talks her and threatens her in an attempt to get her to agree to marry him. Sita will not even look at him but thinks only of her beloved Rama. Hanuman, the general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind, and Hanuman flies to Lanka and, finding Sita in the grove, comforts her and tells her Rama will soon come and save her.8) Ravana's men capture Hanuman, and Ravana orders them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman hops from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka afire. He then flies back to Rama to tell him where Sita is. 9) Rama, Lakshman and the monkey army build a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and cross over to Lanka. A might battle ensues. Rama kills several of Ravana's brothers and then Rama confronts ten-headed Ravana. (Ravana is known for his wisdom as well as for his weakness for women which may explai n why he is pictured as very brainy.)Rama finally kills Ravana. 10). Rama frees Sita. After Sita proves here purity, they return to Ayodhya and Rama becomes king. His rule, Ram-rajya, is an ideal time when everyone does his or her dharma and â€Å"fathers never have to light the funeral pyres for their sons. † ANALYSIS OF THE STORY HOW MY BROTHER LEON BROUGHT HOME A WIFE This might be my second read of How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife but this is definitely thefirst I’ve tried to digest the beauty of the prose as an experience in itself.However, unlike more fortunateliterature buffs who have their own copy of How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife (And Other Stories) , I had to rely on Baul to give me a similar fantastic ride to Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union. Shame! Manuel Viloriasays the collection was only twenty pesos. The story, like most of Arguilla’s prose, transpires in Barrio Nagrebcan in La Union, the birthplace of Manuel E. Arguilla himself . You ’ll immediately realize how the writer loves his hometown by the vivid imagery and sensuality that he offers on the plate .From the shapes and the sounds to even the scent of the air, Arguilla spares no detail to prove that beauty exists in Nagrebcan. From the title, you can surmise what type of story this is and how it could develop as it goes along. Leonis actually the big brother of the main protagonist, the wielder of the mystic point-of-view, but his wifetakes to him as Noel as the latter coinage is presumably a modern twist of Leon though obviously it is aninversion of the word. Baldo is the little brother and Maria, Baldo taking traditional names into mind ashe hears her name for the first time, is the wife whom Leon/Noel brought back home.Maria is actually city bred and Leon/Noel and Baldo are blatantly townsfolk. There’s the culture clashthat serves to be the conflict, though only between the father and the oblivious Maria. Since Leon/Noel brought Maria to Nag rebcan, it can be presumed that they’ll be staying there. As a precaution, unbeknownst to even Leon/Noel and Baldo , their father have asked the younger son to docertain things out of the norm just to see if the wife can really adjust to her new setting – the barrioand the family. Certain characters, with depth, to note are their sister Aurelia and the bull Labang.What I like about the short story is Arguilla’s character development. They seem to just pop out of thetext, giving the reader an impression that they could have been, and could very well be, real people . Most writers often base their characters on real life acquaintances. Whether Arquilla went deeper or not, he still pulled it off and impressively, if I may be so bold. The ending reflected Baldo’s attraction to Maria or, to be more specific, to the notion of finding hisown wife someday.In its entirety, How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife  focuses on the aforementioned cultureclash or the setting shift when someone from the barrio or the city is transported to the other. Theconcept is distinctly Filipino but essentially global. People outside of the Metro (Manila,specifically) wish to travel, and to a greater extent, live in the modernist capital because it is widelybelieved that they’ll find greater pleasures and successes there. In other words, it borders on aâ€Å"grass is green† idea or immigration issues. Arguilla makes me want to go visit Nagrebcan and spend one night there.

Create a raffle ticket corresponding to the numbers

There several ways of being fair in the distribution of raises (or bonuses). It should be specific first that the 25,000 raise is a one time disbursement and not a continuing one.A fair distribution for raises can mean dividing the money equally among all those who would be receiving the raise, but this is not the common practice. One way to compute the distribution of the raises in compensation should consider the tenure of the services rendered.A fair distribution can mean that the longer the length of service rendered should have a larger share of the US$ 25,000.00. It can be done by summing up all the years of service of each employee then getting the percentage of years of service rendered. This is done by dividing the number of years rendered by one, by the total number of years everybody has rendered, multiply by 100, thereby deriving the percentage. This percentage is multiplied by 25,000 and the corresponding product should be the amount the individual will receive.Another w ay of having a fair distribution is divide the lump sum of 25,000 into unequal amounts, some higher, some lower and some average. Put the divided amounts in envelopes and number the envelopes outside. Make sure that the number of envelopes is equal to the number of employees. Create a raffle ticket corresponding to the numbers of envelops and make everybody draw a number.If the 25,000 will not be distributed, what can be done is to create a savings and loan association. From this association, the employees can borrow money for providential purposes and repay through salary deduction with interest earnings. At the end of a fiscal year, the earning from the savings association can be distributed equally among everybody. Â  

Sms Based E Notice Board

Abstract The goal of this project is to design an embedded device which can control up to 8 devices by sending a specific SMS message from a cell-phone. This controller is extremely handy at places where we have to control the ON and OFF switching of the devices but no wired connection to that place is available. To implement this, a GSM modem is connected to a programmed microcontroller which would receive the SMS from a reference cell phone. The control signal part of the received SMS is extracted and is changed to microcontroller-preferred format.In regular intervals, the modem would also send the local temperature We have selected GSM because the ubiquity of its standard makes international roaming very common between mobile phone operators, enabling subscribers to use their phones in many parts of the world. A PC which is connected to the micro-controller using a serial communication through RS232 can be used for monitoring and transmission of the control signals to the modem. T he monitoring is also done by interfacing a LCD to the microcontroller. AT commands were used for controlling the functionality of modem. Main hardware requirements:Renesas SKP16C62P Starter Kit Plus This contains the micro-controller. (used for controlling the different external devices connected as per the SMS received ) GSM modem (GM28 from Sony-Ericsson) This GSM/GPRS terminal equipment is a powerful, compact and self contained unit with standard connector interfaces and has an integral SIM card reader. It is used for receiving the SMS from the mobile device and then to transmit to the Renesas SKP. A MAX232 chip This converter chip is needed to convert a TTL logic from a Microcontroller (TxD and RxD pins ) to standard serial interfacing for PC (RS232) A DB9 connectorThis takes the signals coming form the MAX232 chip to the PC. The typical applications of this serial modem is for developing a wide range of equipment like Security and alarms devices Monitoring and control devices Vending machines Utilities devices Fleet Management devices Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 3 2. Project Description Renesas SKP16C62P Starter Kit Plus Device 1 Device 2 MAX 232 Device 8 DB9 Connector DB9 Connector GM28 (GSM Modem with SIM card working in 850 MHz /1900 Hz) Antenna Computer (For displaying the received SMS) Figure 1: Block diagram of the project setupInitially the SMS is received from the person authorized to use this setup (destination) by the GSM modem (GM28) & is transferred to the Renesas SKP16C62P SKP with the help of a MAX 232 chip. As per the AT commands given by the microcontroller to the modem, the control signal from the SMS is extracted and is used to control the devices connected to it. We have to convert the ‘septets' of the phone to ‘octets' because the micro-controller need bytes with 8 bits length ( The ‘septet' is 1 byte with 7 bits length and ‘octet' is 1 byte with 8 bits length). All this process is necessary to decode the m essage from SMS.A program (for extracting the control signal part from received SMS) is loaded into Renesas SKP16C62P SKP, and then the circuit is connected to the modem. The microcontroller now tries to read the SMS from the 1st memory location of the modem and it keeps trying again until the modem receives any (programmed for every one second). Before implementing the control signal part of the SMS, the modem extracts the number from the SMS and verifies if this number has the access to control the device or not. For controlling the devices, the message will be sent in hexa decimal format.The hex data is converted to the equivalent binary and the particular output is enabled. For example if the message is â€Å"AB† the equivalent binary is â€Å"10101011† this implies that the output 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 are enabled and the remaining ports are disabled. We have connected LEDs to the ports of microcontroller to show the output and their status indicates whether the ports are set to ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’. The microcontroller is also programmed to read the temperature from the thermistor every 15 minutes and to send a SMS to the destination number. Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 4 3. Device Description 3. 1. Renesas SKP16C62P Starter Kit PlusThe SKP16C62P StarterKit Plus (SKP) is a low-cost environment for evaluating M16C/62P group of microcontrollers (MCU) and Renesas Technology America, Inc. software development tools. The SKP board provides an evaluation and development environment for the M16C/62P group of MCU. It has pushbutton switches, LED’s and LCD for user interface. Standard connector ports are available to expand the range of applications through the use of expansion boards, etc. The kit comes with an integrated software development environment, HEW (IDE, C-compiler, assembler, and linker), KD30 Debugger, and FoUSB (Flash-overUSBâ„ ¢) Programmer.A real-time, source-level debug environment is implemented using the K D30 debugging software with the RTA-FoUSB-MON Flash Programmer/In-Circuit Debugger (ICD). The Flash-over-USBTM (FoUSB) Programmer software, with the ICD, allows in-system programming of the M16C/62P flash MCU. The ICD and firmware provide a convenient USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface between the SKP16C62P board and the host PC. This interface reduces resource requirements on the M16C/62P MCU, allows faster code downloads and, can also be used with many other Renesas Flash MCU’s, SKP’s, and user’s target board.Figure 2: SKP16C62P System Connectivity (From the hardware manual of SKP16c62P ) Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 5 3. 2 GSM modem: (GM28 from Sony-Ericsson) Figure 3. a Figure 3. b Figure 3. c Figures 3. a, 3. b and 3. c show the different views of the GSM modem GM28 (From the Hardware Manual of GM28 Modem) The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world. It is the European standard for digit al cellular service that includes enhanced features. It is based on TDMA technology and is used on 850/1900 MHz. We are using the GM28, a GSM modem from Sony-Ericsson.This is a powerful GSM/GPRS Terminal with compact and self-contained unit. This has standard connector interfaces and has an integral SIM card reader. The modem has a RJ9 connector through which a speaker and microphone can be connected allowing audio calls being established, but this feature is not utilized in this project as only data transfer is needed. Following are few technical details of the modem. Interfaces: †¢ Data: RS232 9–way (V. 28) †¢ Power and Extended I/Os: 5 – 32VDC (RJ11) †¢ Audio 4-wire Handset Interface (RJ9) †¢ Antenna: 50 (FME male) †¢ SIM card reader: 3V/5V interface with SIM detectionFeatures: †¢ ME + SIM phone book management – read/write/find, call screening, groups †¢ SIM Application Toolkit Class 2 †¢ Real Time Clock †¢ Softwa re upgradeable †¢ Audio control †¢ Fixed dialing number †¢ UCS2 16 bit data supported. Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 6 SMS features †¢ Supports both Text and PDU modes †¢ MT/MO & CBM †¢ Cell Broadcast †¢ Concatenation – up to 6 SMS The TT4030 (SE-GM28) uses the following industry standard connectors to interface with the external application and the GSM network; †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ RJ11 (plug-in power supply connector). RJ9 (handset audio connector) Integral SIM card reader.FME male (antenna connector). Sub-D socket, 9 pin (RS232 serial port). 3. 3. Power Connections All electrical connections to the TT4030 (SE-GM28) are designed to meet the standard air (4 kV) and contact (8 kV) discharge ESD tests, of EN 301 489-1. Figure 4 RJ11 connector as power supply to the modem (From the Hardware Manual of GM28 Modem) 3. 4. Antenna Connections The used antenna (Figure 4. a) operates at 850/1900 MHz which is suitable for transmit ting and receiving of RF signals for the GSM modem (GM28) used. Some of the key features of this antenna are: †¢ Bandwidth is 280 MHz †¢ VSWR is +3. 0V Signal = 1 (HIGH) < -3. V Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 9 Pin No. Name Notes/Description 1 DCD Data Carrier Detect 2 RD Receive Data (a. k. a RxD, Rx) 3 TD Transmit Data (a. k. a TxD, Tx) 4 DTR Data Terminal Ready 5 SGND Ground 6 DSR Data Set Ready 7 RTS Request To Send 8 CTS Clear To Send 9 RI Ring Indicator Table 1 Pin description of a DB9 connector 6. GM28 in a Communication System Figure 10, Illustrates the main blocks of a wireless communication system using the TT4030 (SE-GM28). It also shows the communication principles of the system. The definitions in the figure are in accordance with the recommendations of GSM 07. 7. The MS (mobile station) represents the TT4030 (SE-GM28) modem plus SIM card. The modem excluding SIM card, is known as the ME (mobile equipment). The TE (terminal equipment) is a micro-controller and is a part of the application. Figure 10. a Main blocks in communication between the GM28 (modem) and the microcontroller (TE) (From the Hardware Manual of GM28 Modem) The end-to-end communication path to be established between the external telemetry/ telematics application and a remote terminal or host, via the GSM network is done through the serial communication.Serial data with flow control according to the RS232 signaling protocol operates between the modem and the external application. The modem performs a set of telecom services (TS) according to GSM standard phase 2+, ETSI and ITU-T. Control of the TT4030 (SE-GM28) is by the external application, via the RS232 serial interface, using a set of AT commands. The TT4030 (SEGM28) supports the full set of AT commands according to GSM 07. 05 and GSM 07. 07. It also supports an extended set of Ericsson proprietary AT commands to add extra functionality. Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 10AT commands are used to operate the modem a nd have a broad range of Functions including: Configuring general parameters of the modem (SE-GM28) Setting up and controlling communications to and from the GSM Network Configuring the modem to communicate across the RS232 serial interface Obtaining GSM network status information. Figure 10. b Interface between the GM28 (modem) and microcontroller (TE) (From the Hardware Manual of GM28 Modem) The modem also supports the Voice, Data, Fax services but since these are not required for the current application, they are not taken into consideration as of now. . AT commands The AT command set is the fundamental interface with the modem. An AT command is simply a string of characters preceded by the AT prefix that is sent to the modem. The commands typically instruct the modem to perform some action or set some characteristic within the modem. The modem has two states: command state and on-line state. In command state, the modem will accept and respond to AT commands. In the on-line state , the modem will transmit data, but ignore AT commands. Typically the modem is in the on-line state after dialing.AT commands has the following format: The command is prefixed with AT (Attention) The command is terminated by a carriage return (except the A/ command and escape sequence). The commands can be entered in upper case or lower case. The AT prefix can be in upper case or lower case, but both the A and the T must be the same case. Characters that precede the AT prefix are ignored. Multiple commands can be strung together on a single line and spaces may be included between commands but are not necessary. The command line interpretation begins upon receipt of the carriage return.These commands are used for request information about the current configuration or operational status of the mobile phone/modem and test availability and request the range of valid parameters, when applicable, for an AT command. Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 11 General Syntax of AT-Commands: Basic AT [=] [] Extended AT+= [] AT*= [] Read command AT+? AT*? AT? Test command AT+=? AT*=? Response command AT+ : AT* : Important AT command used to Test and Design: 1) ATD To dial a voice call from the modem. 2) AT+IPR To set the baud rate for the modem ( here for our application the baud rate is set as 9600) ) ATA To answer an incoming call. 4) AT+CHUP To hang up the initiated call. 5) AT+CFUN To set the phone functionality. Set to 0 to deactivate the modem. 6) AT+CLIP To identify caller number this command is set to 1 7) AT+CLIR For calling line Identification Restriction. 8) AT+CNUM To identify the subscriber number. 9) AT+CMGR To read the message at particular location . The location number is given as index. 10) AT+CMGD To delete the received message 11) AT+CMGS To send the message. 12) AT+CMGF To change the message format to PDU or Text mode. 13) AT+CMGL To see all the list of messages. 4) ATE To enable and disable command echo. 8. Installation and Functionality of modem To install this modem in the communication system to PC, the following procedure is adopted: †¢ †¢ †¢ Select the phone and modem options from the control panel. By browsing the disk for the modem drivers, the modem is selected and configured to a particular port through which it is connected to the PC. The terminal package like HyperTerminal is selected in the initial stage to check the functionality of the AT commands to control the GSM modem and later this hyper terminal is just used to monitor the serially received output.Hence finally a three way communication is established, the modem directly communicates with the micro controller to control the switching of devices externally and the hyper terminal package in PC is used just for monitoring the results (hence only receive and ground of connected to the PC). Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 12 †¢ †¢ The parameters for serial communication can be set in two ways; either by terminal equipment or by serial communicat ion with the micro controller. It should be noticed that the DTR pin should be enabled high in the initial tage to turn-on the modem, for this flow control of hardware is to be taken and the communication initially is 115200 bauds/second with 8-n-1 configuration (i. e. 8-Data bits, Parity none and 1-Stop bit). Later the baud rate can be changed to 9600 bps through the AT command: AT+IPR = . The settings for the hyper-terminal should have the default input translation and ASCII setup, the emulation can be either VT100 (preferable) or Auto-detect. To setup the serial port the following procedure has been followed: †¢ †¢ †¢ Select system from the control panel and thereby select the device manager in the hardware option.Now the exact serial COM port where the modem is configured is selected manually. Select port settings and then bits per second to get the exact baud rate. Now that the modem is configure it’s the task of setting up the volatile profile and enter t he AT commands required to select the SIM memory and then extract the text message. Hence, serial communication is established between GM28 and the microcontroller using a DB9 connector with a level shifter (MAX232). A level shifter is connected between the microcontroller (SKP) and the modem/computer and null modem connection is connected for the DB9 connector.The above discussed points are depicted in the Figure 9. Figure 9 Circuit for connecting the microcontroller to the modem/computer Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 13 9. Short Message Service (SMS) The GSM GM28 Modem supports the following SMS services. Sending, MO (mobile-originated) with both PDU (protocol data unit) and text mode supported. Receiving, MT (mobile-terminated) with both PDU and text mode supported. CBM (cell broadcast message), a service in which a message is sent to all subscribers located in one or more specific cells in the GSM network. This feature is network dependent.SMS STATUS REPORT according to GSM 03 . 40. SMS COMMAND according to GSM 03. 40. It should be noted that the maximum length of an SMS message is 160 characters when using 7- bit encoding. For 8-bit data, the maximum length is 140 characters. The Modem supports up to 6 concatenated messages to extend this function. Before we start working on the application design we should ensure the network subscription status Before the application is implemented, we must ensure that the chosen network provides the necessary telecommunication services. Else, the service provider should be contacted to obtain the necessary information.Since SMS features are used in this application, we have to ensure that these are included in the (voice) subscription. 10. PDU SMS format: There are two ways of sending and receiving SMS messages: by text mode and by PDU (protocol description unit) mode. We can switch from text mode to PDU mode and vice versa by selecting the AT+CMGF command. If AT+CMGF = 0 then PDU mode is selected and if the mode is 1 then text mode is selected. The text mode is just an encoding of the bit stream represented by the PDU mode. If we read the message on the phone, the phone will choose a proper encoding.An application capable of reading incoming SMS messages can thus use text mode or PDU mode. If text mode is used, the application is bound to the set of preset encoding options. In some cases, that's just not good enough. If PDU mode is used, any encoding can be implemented. The PDU string contains not only the message, but also a lot of metainformation about the sender, its SMS service center, the time stamp etc. But as of now for our application we require the phone number of the caller for authentication and the length of the message and the text message which contains the binary message.Let us take a example for the text message of â€Å"abcdef†. This message contains apart from the basic text message a lot of redundant data (meta information about the sender). In PDU mode the SMS looks li ke: 07914140279542F7000B816187220731F700006010413283900A0661F1985C3603 In TEXT mode the SMS looks like: +CMGR: â€Å"REC READ†,†16782270137†³,,†06/01/14,23:56:1720†³,129,0,0,0,†+14047259247†³,145,6 abcdef Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 14 The octets of the PDU message contain lots of information, in the above example the PDU can be divided and different octets signify the following information: 07 Length of SMSC information. 1 Type of address of SMSC. 4140279542F7 Encoded Service center number. 00 First octet of SMS delivery message. 0B Address length of the sender message. 81 Type of address of the sender number. 6187220731F7 Sender number with a trailing F. (number is 16872270137). 00 TP-Protocol Identification Address. 00 TP-Data coding Scheme. 601041328390 TP-SCTS Time stamp. 0A TP-User data length. 0661F1985C3603 Encoded Message â€Å"abcdef†. All the octets are hexa-decimal 8-bit octets, except the Service center number, the send er number and the timestamp; they are decimal semi-octets.The message part in the end of the PDU string consists of hexa-decimal 8-bit octets, but these octets represent 7-bit data. Basically the transformation of the septets to the octets is based on the GSM 03. 38 standard. This is helpful when we try to communicate with the PDU mode but if we use the CMGF command then text mode is activated to get the converted text message. So to get the message in the Text message we need to send the following commands AT+CMGF=1 to activate the text mode AT+CMGS=1 to check whether the modem supports the SMS message or not.AT+CMGR=I to read the message at the location I in the SIM card. 11. Code /*******************************************************************/ /* FILE :main. c DATE : Jan 2nd 2006 /* */ DESCRIPTION :Main Program To receive SMS from GM28 and to extract the control information part, then to control LEDs accordingly. Send the ambient temperature as SMS back to the user. AUTHORS: B. VAMSEE KRISHNA ; B. PRANEETH KUMAR */ /******************************************************************/ #include â€Å"skp_bsp. h†// include SKP board support package #include â€Å"string. h† void uartinit();Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 15 unsigned char result; char sms_text[200],sms_msg[10],num_text[10]; unsigned int f,f1,t,time=0,k=0,count=0,p=0; /* Prototype declarations */ void mcu_init(void); // MCU initialization void main(void); void timer_init(void); void uartinit(void); int map(char); #pragma INTERRUPT rx_isr void rx_isr(void); /* DEFINE QUEUES*/ #define Q_SIZE (200) typedef struct { unsigned char Data[Q_SIZE]; unsigned int Head; // points to oldest data element unsigned int Tail; // points to next free space unsigned int Size; // quantity of elements in queue Q_T; Q_T tx_q, rx_q; int Q_Empty(Q_T * q) { return q-;gt;Size == 0; } int Q_Full(Q_T * q) { return q-;gt;Size == Q_SIZE; } int Q_Enqueue(Q_T * q, unsigned char d) { // if queue is full, abort rather than overwrite and return // an error code if (! Q_Full(q)) { q-;gt;Data[q-;gt;Tail++] = d; Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 16 q-;gt;Tail %= Q_SIZE; q-;gt;Size++; return 1; // success } else return 0; // failure } unsigned char Q_Dequeue(Q_T * q) { // Must check to see if queue is empty before dequeueing unsigned char t=0; if (! Q_Empty(q)) { t = q-;gt;Data[q-;gt;Head]; -;gt;Data[q-;gt;Head++] = 0; // empty unused entries for debugging q-;gt;Head %= Q_SIZE; q-;gt;Size–; } return t; } void Q_Init(Q_T * q) { unsigned int i; for (i=0; iData[i] = 0; // to simplify our lives when debugging q->Head = 0; q->Tail = 0; q->Size = 0; } void timer_init(void) { //Timer initialisation ta0mr = 0x80;//timer mode ta0 = 0x927C;//for 50 msec delay ta0ic = 0x03;//timer priority tabsr=0x01; // starting the timer Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 17 } int map(char c) { int a=(int)c; switch (a) { case 48: return(0); break; case 49: eturn(1); break; case 50: return(2); break; case 51: return(3); break; case 52: return(4); break; case 53: return(5); break; case 54: return(6); break; case 55: return(7); break; case 56: return(8); Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 18 break; case 57: return(9); break; case 65: //returns 10 if ‘A' is entered return(10); break; case 97: //returns 10 if ‘a' is entered return(10); break; case 66: //returns 10 if ‘B' is entered return(11); break; case 98: //returns 10 if ‘b' is entered return(11); break; case 67: //returns 10 if ‘C' is entered return(12); break; ase 99: //returns 10 if ‘c' is entered return(12); break; case 68: //returns 10 if ‘D' is entered return(13); break; case 100: //returns 10 if ‘d' is entered return(13); break; case 69: //returns 10 if ‘E' is entered return(14); break; case 101: //returns 10 if ‘e' is entered Embedded Project- ECE 5101 Page 19 return(14); break; case 70: //returns 10 if ‘F' is entered return(15); break; case 102: //returns 10 if †˜f' is entered return(15); break; default: break; } } #pragma INTERRUPT timer_a0 void timer_a0(void) // the timer is set for every 50 milliseconds

Men and Women See the World Differently Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Men and Women See the World Differently - Essay Example As the paper declares despite the fact that the circumstances leading to a stressful situation may be similar between the two sexes, the way they respond to it is often quite different. Men, for example, tend to become moody and brood over the situations, and more often than not, they end up picking up fights with the people they love. Furthermore, men are more likely to prefer remaining alone until such a time as they feel better before needing any company. This is not the case with women who, when dealing with stressful situations, often seek the company of their friends and family to help them deal with the situation. It can therefore be said that while men are often aggressive when in a stressful situation, preferring to be alone, women on the other hand prefer to deal with the situation with the help of the people they love. This paper highlights that another way through which men and women view the world differently is in the use of new technology such as the internet in their daily lives. It has been found that men are more likely to use the internet on a daily basis than women are; in fact, men have been found to prefer doing practical things such as paying bills online instead of doing it physically. Women, on the other hand, prefer to handle things physically, and when making searches online, they are less likely to view a broad range of information sources. Instead, they often use those sources that they trust to get, and these are limited in number.