Non-Urgent
at uni weve been given this im in serious need of help!! btw i'm using eclipse as an editor? anyone can help! thanks
Background
Computers are often used to simulate real-life scenarios over complex phenomena in order to evaluate
complex situations or interdependencies. In this project you will write such a program. The skills
required to complete this project include nested loops, arrays, and if you want to, structures. It will also
consolidate your skills with functions, and general issues to do with program design. Your programs will
be assessed for credit, and feedback will be provided.
Tommy the Telecommunications Tuner
Tommy the telecommunications tuner works for a large networking company. Tommy is responsible
for identifying possible locations for network towers for the company’s mobile phone network, and for
making sure that there are no black spots in which there is no coverage. Tommy has studied Electrical
Engineering at the University, and has been told that when a mobile phone transmitter t has power Pt
(in Watts), then the available power Pd (also in Watts) at a distance d (in meters) from the tower can be
approximated by
Pd =
Pt
(1 + (d/10))4 ,
where in combination the two constants 10 and 4 reflect the dispersion of the signal as the distance from
the base station increases, and the absorption of the signal by the intervening atmosphere. (In particular,
the inverse-square law on power that would arise if the transmitter was a point source and in a vacuum
does not apply. The difference is caused by energy absorption in the atmosphere, and interference that
arises between a reflected ground wave and the primary signal. Study advanced telecommunications
engineering if you want to know more.)
Signals from different towers use different frequencies, and neither reinforce each other nor conflict
with each other. A mobile phone is “in range” of a tower if it receives the signal from that tower at a
power level greater than some minimum Wattage Pmin. In this work we will assume that Pmin = 10−6
Watts, and that the power output from a base station is fixed. (In practice, the base station can vary its
power and “reach out” to a distant phone, and the phone can – within limits – save energy by decreasing
its sensitivity when the signal is strong, but we are going to ignore those options in this project.)
Tommy is primarily interested in designing a mobile phone network covering the island of Sqone, a
one kilometer square island located in the Sea of Ignorance that until now has relied on carrier pigeons
for communications. As a model of the proposed network, he has a data file that contains four columns:
a one-character identifier for a phone base station; the x location (in meters from the south-west corner
of the island) of that base station; the y location (in meters, again from the south-west corner) of that
base station; and the Wattage Pt for that base station. For example, the two data rows
A 500.0 500.0 0.50
f 1000.0 0.0 0.25
represent a phone base station labeled A in the center of Sqone, with a 0.5 Watt signal strength, and
another base station labeled f of half that strength located in the south-east corner. Tommy’s data files,
one for each possible model of Sqone’s mobile phone network, contain one such data row for each base
station that is being suggested as part of that particular model.
What Tommy wants – and what you are to deliver in this project – is a program that helps Tommy
visualize each of the proposed network layouts, and alert Tommy to any black spots that might arise.
Originally Posted by Salem
