Browsing by Author "Senevirathne, I"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

item: Conference-Abstract
Enabling ITS applications with affordable communication technologies
(Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, 2020-12) Wickramarachchi, T; Dharmaraj, N; Malinda, D; Nettasinghe, G; Senevirathne, I; Weerasuriya, S; Dias, D; Samarasinghe, T; Hemachandra, K; Perera, HLK
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) aims to make travel and transportation safer, faster and more efficient. ITS includes but is not limited to emergency services, road safety, transportation infrastructure, traffic management as well as commercial and infotainment applications. This paper experimentally investigates the feasibility of using low-cost wireless technologies as an enabler for introducing ITS to Sri Lanka. We interpret our results with relevance to two ITS applications. With the growing vehicular traffic in the country, the need for ITS applications has become imperative. For instance, while the current manual highway toll collection is ineffective during traffic peaks, the electronic version causes delays and congestion due to its stop-and-go process. Poor control of level crossings has become a major cause of fatal accidents. Road signs are often unnoticed or are deliberately ignored by drivers and dynamic road situations such as pedestrians, constructions, landslides, etc., will make the driver indecisive until alerted. Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) is a standardized wireless technology for ITS, with its reliable operation in dense, high-speed vehicular environments. However, the high cost of the technology has restrained its penetration in the automobile industry and adoption by governments. DSRC is based on the IEEE802.11p standard. The IEEE802.11 family of standards also defines versions b, g, and n, better known as WiFi. The common root makes it possible to use WiFi which facilitates a subset of ITS applications with a significantly lower cost. Several types of wireless links are fundamental to ITSs; between vehicles (mobile to mobile), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (mobile to fixed), infrastructure to vehicles (fixed to mobile) and between infrastructure nodes (fixed to fixed). ITS applications rely on regular exchange of information (location, speed, bearing etc. or event-driven information such as the presence of a pedestrian) among vehicles in the neighbourhood via broadcast messages (data packets). Factors that influence the performance of the applications include packet loss, packet delay and communication range. This paper presents the experimental evaluation of fixed-tofixed and fixed-to-mobile communications links established via WiFi. We study the packet loss, delay and the communication range in each case. We then discuss the applicability of the results in relation to the following ITS applications: ● An Active Road Sign system which allows for messages to be relayed to drivers in the vicinity. Our results show that such messages can be received reliably over a range of 150m. ● A railway intersection warning system which allows warnings of approaching trains to be delivered to vehicles approaching the intersection. We demonstrate that vehicles within 200m distance of the intersection can be warned when the approaching train is 700m away. Further, our design achieves an end-to-end delay less than 100ms, satisfying the criteria stipulated for safety-related ITS applications. Furthermore, our system allows the warning messages to be conveyed via audio-visual means, with the intensity proportional to the level of attention required by the driver.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Establishment of the most common ground on which local arbitral awards become unenforceable in Sri Lanka
Hemantha, MD; Senevirathne, I
The parties select more adversarial arbitration process over other alternative dispute resolution methods mainly due to the enforceability of the arbitral award. If the arbitral award becomes unenforceable due to any reason, the selection of arbitral process is useless. In this scenario, in the absence of a comprehensive research in the arena, this research was conducted to investigate the status of enforcement of arbitral awards in Sri Lanka, specially to find out the most common ground on which local arbitral awards become unenforceable in Sri Lanka and to explore the reasons to occur the unenforceability under that most common ground with the expectation that this improved knowledge would assist to minimize the unenforceability of local arbitral awards. The research was conducted under the quantitative paradigm. A cross-sectional, retrospective and non-experimental study design was adopted. The arbitration cases registered at the High Court during 2009-2012 for the setting aside or for the enforcement of the awards and where the arbitral process conducted under the purview of Arbitration Act 1995 and the courts completed their proceedings were selected for the sample. The data collection process was a two tiered process. In the first tier a cross sectional survey was carried out at the High Court-Colombo to find out arbitral awards become unenforceable due to setting aside or refusal to enforce by the High Court. If the judgment of the High Court was appealed to the Supreme Court the judgment of the Supreme Court was also considered. Through the first tier of data collection, it was found that non adherence to the enforcement procedure is the most common ground on which local arbitral awards become unenforceable in Sri Lanka. During the second tier of data collection, semi structured interviews were conducted with parties who failed to enforce the arbitral award due to non adherence to enforcement procedure. Through the interviews it was found that performance defects of the legal counsel or of the officer in charge of the case are the main reasons for the unenforceability of arbitral awards under the most common ground. This is an avoidable circumstances with due diligence. The award creditors should be more vigilant of their right to enforce the award which obtained through a hard and expensive process. Therefore it is recommended to establish proper monitoring and reporting systems within the organizations involving with arbitral process to minimize arbitral awards becoming unenforceable.
item: Thesis-Full-text
An investigation of the critical success factors for adopting agile project management approach in it firms in Sri lanka
Karunasena, TWK; Senevirathne, I
Many Information Technology projects worldwide fail due to failures in project management. Most commonly used traditional project management approaches such as Project in Controlled Environment 2 and Project Management Body of Knowledge are widely criticised due to their limitations in accommodating changing business environments, frequently changing customer needs, unclear project objectives, poor communication among team members, and inappropriate project planning. As a result, many Information Technology (IT) project managers nowadays attempt to adopt agile project management practices in managing Information Technology projects. Agile project management has proven to overcome many problems associated with traditional project management approaches. Ability to better cope with changes to the project environment, increased efficiency in project communication, not requiring development of detailed project plans upfront, and ability to handle project risks effectively, for example, are seen as the merits of agile project management. Increasing adoption of agile project management approach in IT field creates a need to identify the best practices that influence the successful adoption of agile project management in IT firms. This research, therefore, aims to investigate the critical success factors for adopting agile project management practices in the IT firms in Sri Lanka. To fulfill the aim of the research several objectives of the research are formulated. They are to, examine the difference between the agile and traditional project management approaches, identify critical factors that affect the adoption of agile project management approach worldwide, develop a theoretical framework by hypothesizing the critical factors for adopting agile project management approach, and providing recommendations for IT organizations for successfully implementing agile project management practices. To fulfil the research objectives, based on the comprehensive review of the literature a theoretical framework is hypothesised by identifying the critical factors discussed, and by using the theories on technology adoption. The hypothesised framework is tested using the Structural Equation Modeling techniques with the use of survey data collected in Sri Lanka. The research findings reveal that organizational and cultural factors, team readiness, management readiness, relative advantage of using agile, agile project management compatible existing practices in the organization, and observability of the results of agile are the most critical factors for adopting agile project management in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Agile Project Management, Structured Project Management, IT Projects, Structural Equation Modelling