Η συνεχής εξέλιξη των δικτύων που βασίζονται στο ΙΡ πρωτόκολλο και η ευρύτατη διάδοση και χρήση τους τα τελευταία χρόνια σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο καθοδηγεί την ανάγκη για την ανάπτυξη νέων τεχνολογιών και την αναβάθμιση των υπαρχόντων, προκειμένου να καλυφθούν οι συνεχώς μεταβαλλόμενες τάσεις και ανάγκες. Δύο από τις βασικότερες εξελίξεις που σχετίζονται με το επίπεδο του ΙΡ πρωτοκόλλου είναι η δυνατότητα για την παροχή εγγυήσεων ποιότητας (Quality of Service) σε τμήμα της συνολικής κίνησης που διακινείται μέσα από τα ΙΡ δίκτυα, καθώς και η ανάγκη αναβάθμισης του IPv4 πρωτοκόλλου προκειμένου (κυρίως) να εξαλειφθεί το πρόβλημα της φειδωλής διάθεσης μοναδικών και οικουμενικά δρομολογήσιμων διευθύνσεων, καθώς και να βελτιωθούν άλλες δευτερεύουσες ατέλειες του IPv4. Κεντρικό αντικείμενο αυτής της Διδακτορικής Διατριβής αποτελεί η μελέτη των τεχνολογιών για παροχή Quality of Service καθώς και η ανάπτυξη μηχανισμών και αλγορίθμων για την αποδοτική διαχείριση των πόρων, τον όσο το δυνατόν δίκαιο καταμερισμό της ποιότητας υπηρεσίας, καθώς και τη δυνατότητα συνεργασίας και διαλειτουργικότητας μεταξύ διαφορετικών αυτόνομων δικτυακών τμημάτων με αυτοματοποιημένο τρόπο (χωρίς δηλαδή να χρειάζεται η παρέμβαση ενός ανθρώπου διαχειριστή στις περισσότερες περιπτώσεις). Για το σκοπό αυτό έχουν προταθεί διάφορες προσεγγίσεις, οι οποίες μελετώνται στην εργασία αυτή, ενώ προτείνονται αλγόριθμοι και μηχανισμοί για τη βελτίωση της λειτουργίας και της απόδοσής τους. Επίσης, από το RFC 2638 της IETF έχει οριστεί η μονάδα του Bandwidth Broker που διαχειρίζεται συνολικά υπηρεσίες QoS σε ένα domain. Οι Bandwidth Brokers χρειάζεται να εγκαθιδρύσουν σχέσεις περιορισμένης εμπιστοσύνης με τις αντίστοιχες μονάδες στα γειτονικά domains, αντίθετα με άλλες αρχιτεκτονικές που απαιτούν τον καθορισμό των χαρακτηριστικών μιας ροής στους δρομολογητές κατά μήκος του από άκρο σε άκρο μονοπατιού. Επομένως η αρχιτεκτονική του Bandwidth Broker δίνει τη δυνατότητα να κρατηθεί η πληροφορία στο επίπεδο του διαχειριστικού domain, αντί να πρέπει να κρατηθεί σε κάθε δρομολογητή, και η DiffServ αρχιτεκτονική δίνει τη δυνατότητα να περιοριστεί η πληροφορία αυτή μόνο για τους ακραίους δρομολογητές κάθε domain. Στα πλαίσια της διδακτορικής αυτής διατριβής μελετήθηκε η αρχιτεκτονική DiffServ σε επίπεδο μηχανισμών χρησιμοποιώντας εργαλεία εξομοίωσης (NS-2 simulator) καθώς και πραγματικό δίκτυο ευρείας κλίμακας. Το IPv4 πρωτόκολλο έχει τη δυνατότητα υλοποίησης μηχανισμών QoS στο επίπεδο δικτύου με τη χρήση του πεδίου TOS (Type Of Service). Το IPv6 επεκτείνει και βελτιώνει την ιδέα αυτή, παρέχοντας δύο νέα πεδία στην στάνταρ επικεφαλίδα, τα Traffic Class και Flow Label, τα οποία μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν προς αυτήν την κατεύθυνση. Το αποτέλεσμα ήταν ο σχεδιασμός μιας ομάδας υπηρεσιών QoS (απόλυτης προτεραιότητας σε IP κίνηση, εγγυημένου εύρους ζώνης για L2 συνδέσεις μέσω ιδεατών δικτύων καθώς και κίνησης χαμηλής προτεραιότητας). Ο σχεδιασμός αυτός ολοκληρώθηκε με την υλοποίηση μιας πλήρους εφαρμογής bandwidth broker (κεντρικοποιημένη αρχιτεκτονική) που εκτελεί τις ακόλουθες εργασίες: μοντελοποίηση δικτύου, εφαρμογή του μοντέλου διαστασιολόγησης στην τρέχουσα κατάσταση, αποδοχή κλήσης QoS αιτημάτων, παραγωγή παραμέτρων ρύθμισης για τις δικτυακές συσκευές, παρακολούθηση λειτουργίας QoS στο δίκτυο, επικοινωνία με αντίστοιχους bandwidth brokers σε γειτονικά domains και πλήρη διαχείριση των αιτημάτων QoS. Επιπλέον, δεδομένου ότι οι ανάγκες των εφαρμογών για QoS αυξάνονται, πρέπει να δίνεται μεγαλύτερη ευελιξία μια QoS σηματοδοσία. Για το λόγο αυτό μελετήθηκε και υλοποιήθηκε μια εφαρμογή αυτόματης σηματοδοσίας χρησιμοποιώντας το ευρέως γνωστό πρωτόκολλο δρομολόγησης BGP. Το αποτέλεσμα είναι να επιτυγχάνεται δυναμική σηματοδοσία για QoS σε ένα δίκτυο μέσω μιας διεπαφής που βασίζεται σε Web service ή σε μια Βάση Δεδομένων. Το σύνολο της εργασίας αυτής δοκιμάστηκε και εφαρμόστηκε στο Εθνικό Δίκτυο Έρευνας & Τεχνολογίας και είναι διαθέσιμο σε αντίστοιχα ερευνητικά εθνικά δίκτυα. Επιπλέον, μια σημαντική παράμετρος της υποστήριξης QoS μηχανισμών από άκρο σε άκρο είναι η συνεργασία μεταξύ διαφορετικών αυτόνομων τμημάτων (domains) που απαιτείται προκειμένου η κίνηση να υφίσταται προνομιακή μεταχείριση καθ’ όλη τη διαδρομή της και να της παρέχονται οι αναγκαίες εγγυήσεις ποιότητας. Η διαπραγμάτευση της συνεργασίας αυτής είναι σαφές ότι πρέπει να είναι όσο το δυνατόν αυτοματοποιημένη για να μπορούν τέτοιου είδους υπηρεσίες να γνωρίσουν ευρύτερη διάδοση. Ο υλοποιημένος bandwidth broker επεκτάθηκε ώστε μέσω Web service διεπαφών να «συνομιλεί» με αντίστοιχους άλλων domains. Παράλληλα, στα πλαίσια της εργασίας αυτής ασχοληθήκαμε επίσης με κατανεμημένες αρχιτεκτονικές bandwidth broker όπου έγιναν υλοποιήσεις σε επίπεδο εξομοίωσης. Αρχικά υλοποιήθηκαν ή επεκτάθηκαν οι υλοποιήσεις των μηχανισμών QoS στον εξομοιωτή και δημιουργήθηκε και δοκιμάστηκαν QoS σενάρια. Στη συνέχεια υλοποιήθηκαν παραλλαγές bandwidth broker που ακολουθούσαν κεντρικοποιημένες και κατανεμημένες αρχιτεκτονικές. Στόχος της μελέτης ήταν να μελετηθεί το trade-off στη λειτουργία τους και να συσχετιστεί με τις εκάστοτε δικτυακές συνθήκες. Στην κατανεμημένη λειτουργία εξαρτάται σημαντικά από την τοπολογία του δικτύου, από την διαμόρφωση του bandwidth broker πάνω στη τοπολογία και από την κατανομή QoS αιτημάτων. Για το τελευταίο μελετήθηκε ένας αλγόριθμος προσαρμογής ενός κατανεμημένου bandwidth broker ώστε να επιλέγεται η βέλτιστη διαμόρφωσή του στο δίκτυο (με βάση τις συνθήκες δικτύου) με στόχο την ταχύτερη απόκριση. Τέλος, στα πλαίσια της εργασίας αυτής διερευνήθηκε το θέμα της «inter domain» δρομολόγησης σε μια πλήρη τοπολογία ανεξάρτητων – αυτόνομων domains για την εξεύρεση του βέλτιστου μονοπατιού που ικανοποιεί τις QoS απαιτήσεις. Ειδικότερα , μελετήθηκαν διάφορα μοντέλα και δοκιμάστηκαν πειραματικά σε επίπεδο εξομοίωσης, δίνοντας έμφαση σε θέματα αυτονομίας διαχείρισης στο εσωτερικό κάθε ανεξάρτητου domain και στην τήρηση των SLAs μεταξύ γειτονικών domains. / The main goal of this dissertation is the study of the provisioning of Quality of Service guarantees to part of the total traffic traversing ΙΡ networks. The study is focused on both IPv4 and IPv6 protocol, as IPv6 overcome the limitation that IPv4 has introduced. Also goal of this dissertation is the development of mechanisms and algorithms for the effective administration of resources, the best possible fairness in distributing the quality of service, and the possibility of cooperation and interoperability between different domains in an automated way (without the need for human intervention in most cases). For this reason, a number of approaches have been proposed related to Bandwidth Brokers. These approaches are studied in this dissertation, while new algorithms and mechanisms are proposed for the improvement of their operation and performance. IPv4 was capable of supporting QoS mechanisms at the network layer using the TOS field (Type of Service). IPv6 advances and improves on this idea, by supplying two new fields in the standard header, called Traffic Class and Flow Label, which can be used for this purpose. The usage of these fields, as well as the usage of IPv6 is still at an early stage. However, while IPv6 comes to the foreground and becomes mature enough to replace the dominant IPv4, it is especially interesting to investigate the way that IPv6 QoS capabilities are practically going to be exploited. An important parameter for supporting end-to-end QoS mechanisms is the interaction between multiple domains so that the designated traffic is subjected to preferential treatment along the whole path. The negotiation of this interaction clearly has to be as much automated as possible, if such services are to be widely supported. For this reason, RFC 2638 from IETF has defined the Bandwidth Broker entity. According to the RFC definition, it controls the network load by accepting or rejecting requests for specific bandwidth with QoS guarantees. Bandwidth Brokers only need to establish relationships of limited trust with their peers in adjacent domains, unlike schemes that require the setting of flow specifications in routers throughout an end-to-end path. In practical technical terms, the Bandwidth Broker architecture makes it possible to keep state on an administrative domain basis, rather than at every router and the service definitions of Premium and Assured service make it possible to confine per flow state to just the leaf routers. In the framework of this dissertation we studied a full QoS framework, including priority and assured bandwidth services for Greek Research and Technology Network. In addition, we studied and implemented a bandwidth broker that manages these services in the above network and it also communicate with adjacent domains (like Geant, the Pan-European Academic Network), providing end-to-end provisioning. The implemented bandwidth broker is based on open source tools and belongs to Grnet’s production services portfolio. Finally, it is available for use to other Research networks as well as the experience from the development. Additionally, we studied distributed architectures of bandwidth brokers using simulation tools. We implemented some enhancements on NS-2 simulator in order to have all the necessary tools for QoS tests and measurements. Next, we simulated and compared distributed and centralized models, focusing on the trade-off in their operation related to the network conditions. In distributed architectures, the operation is highly affected by topology and the distribution of service’s requests. Therefore, we studied an algorithm that adapts the distributed bandwidth broker according to several conditions, by changing the location of the main base station and the overall configuration. Finally, we studied several models for the inter-domain routing in a topology with many independent autonomous systems, aiming at investigate the best routing path that provides the QoS guarantees while the autonomous systems keeps the privacy and the SLAs in their domains.

10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) demands faster optical sources to support high modulation rates. At the same time, the allowable margin in the 10 GbE link power budget is decreasing. This means that a 10 GbE system is unable to support as many tight bends, and it is more difficult to avoid the costly downtime that results when the allowable margin is exceeded. The recent introduction of bend-optimized (BO) multimode fiber (MMF) provides a clear solution. 850 nm vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and MMFs have long been the most cost effective choice for short reach premise applications. As will be shown, the combination of BO-MMF with VCSELs is even more attractive.Historically, MMF systems operating at low bit rates of 10-100 Mbps used light-emitting diodes (LED) sources, which launch nearly equal power into every fibermode. This launch is approximated by the overfilled launch (OFL), which is still used to characterize the core diameter and numerical aperture of MMF. Unlike LEDs, VCSELs typically underfill the fiber core and are better represented by an encircled flux launch (EFL). Using OFL to evaluate a VCSEL-based MMF system could therefore produce inaccurate and misleading results. A recent study [1] characterized the macrobend loss of MMF with overfilled and restricted mode offset launch conditions. In this study, the MMFs performance with an EFL is evaluated, which is a more relevant launch condition for laser transmission. The impact of both launch conditions, OFL and EFL, on MMF performance is studied and compared.We characterize macrobend losses at small bend radii and their impact on thebandwidth for both standard 50/125 um MMF and a newly introduced BO-MMF.In addition, the 10 GbE link performance is also evaluated using the IEEE link model P802.3ae3.The simulation results illustrate that both macrobend loss and bandwidth are vital to the overall optical link performance. The 10 GbE link performance of the standard fiber deteriorates with macrobends, while the bend-optimized fiber is insensitive to the deployment conditions.

Microwave tunable filters are key components in radar, satellite, wireless, and various dynamic communication systems. Compared to a traditional filter, a tunable filter is able to dynamically pass the required signal and suppress the interference from adjacent channels. In reconfigurable systems, tunable filters are able to adapt to dynamic frequency selection and spectrum access. They can also adapt to bandwidth variations to maximize data transmission, and can minimize interferences from or to other users. Tunable filters can be also used to reduce size and cost in multi-band receivers replacing filter banks. However, the tunable filter often suffers limited application due to its relatively low Q, noticeable return loss degradation, and bandwidth changing during the filter tuning. The research objectives of this thesis are to investigate the feasibility of designing high Q tunable filters based on dielectric resonators (DR) and coaxial resonators. Various structures and tuning methods that yield relatively high unloaded Q tunable filters are explored and developed. Furthermore, the method of designing high Q tunable filters with a constant bandwidth and less degradation during the tuning process has been also investigated. A series of novel structures of dielectric resonators have been proposed to realize in a high Q miniature tunable filters. The first type of TME mode DR filter is designed to be tuned by piezoelectric bending actuators outside the cavity, and has achieved a tuning range from 4.97 to 5.22 GHz and unloaded Q better than 536 over the tuning range. The second type of TME mode tunable filters are integrated with various tuning elements: GaAs varactors, MEMS switches, and MEMS capacitor banks are employed. The designed filter with MEMS switches operates at 4.72 GHz, and has achieved a tuning ratio of 3.5% with Q better than 510 over the tuning range. The designed filter with GaAs varactors operates at 4.92 GHz, and has achieved a tuning ratio of 2% with Q better than 170 over the tuning range. Finally, the designed filter with MEMS capacitor bank operates at 5.11 GHz, delivering a tuning ratio of 3.5% with Q better than 530 over the tuning range. Cavity combline/coaxial resonators are also used in the design of high Q tunable filters. This thesis presents a novel approach to design a tunable cavity combline filter tuned by a MEMS switched capacitor bank. Instead of mechanically moving the tuning disk, the cavity combline filter is tuned with capacitances loading on the tuning disks, which are electrically adjusted by MEMS switched capacitor bank. The assembled 2-pole filter operates at 2.5 GHz with a bandwidth of 22 MHz, a tuning range of 110 MHz and a Q better than 374 over the tuning range. The assembled 6-pole filter operates at 2.6 GHz with a bandwidth of 30 MHz and has a tuning range of 44 MHz. Finally, the design of high Q tunable filter with constant bandwidth is explored. A 4-pole high Q cavity combline tunable filter with constant bandwidth is demonstrated. The tuning has been realized manually and by using a piezoelectric motor respectively. The designed filter operates at 2.45 GHz and has achieved a stable bandwidth of 30 ??1.1 MHz over a tuning range of 400 MHz and an unloaded Q better than 3000. This design method for a constant bandwidth filter is applicable to both cavity combline filters and dielectric resonator filters.

A networked control system (NCS) is a control system where sensors, actuators, and controllers are interconnected over a communication network. This dissertation presents a framework for modeling, stability analysis, optimal control, and bandwidth allocation of the NCS. A ball magnetic-levitation (maglev) system, four DC motor speed-control systems, and a wireless autonomous robotic wheelchair are employed as test beds to illustrate and verify the theoretical results of this dissertation. This dissertation first proposes an output feedback method to stabilize and control the NCSs. The random time delays in the controller-to-actuator and sensor-to-controller links are modeled with two time-homogeneous Markov chains while the packet losses are treated with Dirac delta functions. An asymptotic mean-square stability criterion is established to compensate for the network-induced random time delays and packet losses in the NCS. Then, an algorithm to implement the asymptotic mean-square stability criterion is presented. Experimental results illustrate effectiveness of the proposed output feedback method compared to conventional controllers. The proposed output feedback controller could reduce the errors of the NCS by 13% and 30–40% for the cases without and with data packet losses, respectively. The optimal bandwidth allocation and scheduling of the NCS with nonlinear-programming techniques is also presented in the dissertation. The bandwidth utilization (BU) of each client is defined in terms of its sampling frequency. Two nonlinear approximations, exponential and quadratic approximations, are formulated to describe the system performance governed by discrete-time integral absolute error (DIAE) versus sampling frequency. The optimal sampling frequencies are obtained by solving the approximations with Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions. Simulation and experimental results are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approximations and the bandwidth allocation and scheduling algorithms. In simulations and experiments, the two approximations could maximize the total BU of the NCS up to about 98% of the total available network bandwidth.

Despite the growing number of mobile devices equipped with multiple networking interfaces, they are not using multiple available networks in parallel. The simple network selection techniques only allow for single network to be used at a time and switching between different networks interrupts all existing connections. This work presents system that improves network connectivity in presence of multiple network adapters, not only through better network handovers, smarter network selection and failure detection, but also through increased bandwidth offered to the device over aggregated channels. The biggest challenge such a system has to face is the heterogeneity of networks in mobile environment. Different wireless technologies, and even different networks of the same type offer inconsistent link parameters like available bandwidth, latency or packet loss. The wireless nature of these networks also means, that most of the parameters fluctuate in unpredictable way. Given the intended practicality of designed system, all that complexity has to be hidden from both client-side applications and from the remote servers. These factors combined make the task of designing and implementing an efficient solution difficult. The system incorporates client-side software, as well as network proxy that assists in splitting data traffic, tunnelling it over a number of available network interfaces, and reassembling it on the remote side. These operations are transparent to both applications running on the client, as well as any network servers those applications communicate with. This property allows the system to meet one of the most important requirements, which is the practicality of the solution, and being able to deploy it in real life scenarios, using network protocols available today and on existing devices. This work also studies the most critical cost associated with increased data processing and parallel interface usage - the increase in energy usage, which needs to remain within reasonable values for this kind of solution being usable on mobile devices with limited battery life. The properties of designed and deployed system are evaluated using multiple experiments in different scenarios. Collected results confirm that our approach can provide applications with increased bandwidth when multiple networks are available. We also discover that even though per-second energy usage increases when multiple interfaces are used in parallel, the use of multi-interface connectivity can actually reduce the total energy cost associated with performing specific tasks - effectively saving energy.

This dissertation was motivated by the exponential growth in bandwidth capacity of the Internet, coupled with the immense growth of broadband adoption by the public. This has led to the development of a wide variety of new online services. Chief amongst the emerging applications is the delivery of multimedia contents to the end users via the network on-demand. It is the “on-demand” aspect that has led to problems which, despite the advances in hardware technology and network capacity, have hampered wide scale adoption of multimedia delivery. The focus of this dissertation was to address these problems, namely: scalability, cost-effectiveness, and network quality of service for timely presentation of multimedia contents. We proposed an architecture, which we referred to as “Delayed-Multicast”, to address the scalability problem. The new architecture introduced buffers within the network to reduce demands on core network bandwidth and server load. A feasibility study of the architecture was conducted through the use of a prototype. It was found that such a system is within reach by demonstrating the prototype using cheap, common-of-the-shelf (COTS) components, and with help of freely available system software such Linux with real-time support. The introduction of buffers within the network led to the requirement of how to minimize buffer space. We developed an optimal algorithm for allocating buffer space in a single level caching layout (i.e. only one buffer in the transmission path from the server to the end user). For the case of multi-levels network caching, we thoroughly examined different optimization problems from an algorithmic perspective. These problems included how to minimize total system memory, and minimize the maximum memory used per node. We proved that determining the optimal buffer allocation in many of these iv v cases is an NP-complete problem. Consequently, we developed heuristics to handle multi-level caching and showed through simulations that the heuristics greatly help in minimizing buffer space and network bandwidth requirement. An important aspect of the heuristics was how to handle the case when the arrival times of client requests were not known a priori. For these “online” problems we also proposed heuristics that can significantly reduce overall system resource requirements. If the cost of buffer space was also taken into account along with the cost of network bandwidth, a different optimization problem was how to minimize the total system cost. Here, we also proposed heuristics, which in simulations show that the total system cost can be significantly reduced. Besides the problems associated with resource allocation, in terms of buffer space and bandwidth, we also examined the problem of how to provision the necessary network quality of service on-demand. Most current networks rely on best-effort delivery which is ill suited for the delivery of multimedia traffic. We proposed a solution which relied on the use of a programmable network plane, that is present in many current routers, to dynamically alter the priority of flows within the network in real-time. We also demonstrated the effectiveness of the flow prioritization on an actual Nortel router. Finally, we examined the problem of how to admit and achieve fair bandwidth allocation for the end-users within a Differentiated Service (DiffServ) network. Diff- Serv is an IETF standard that aims to provide a “better than best-effort” network in a scalable manner, and is used widely, especially within the same autonomous domain for prioritization different classes of traffic. However, there are open problems on how to provide fair bandwidth allocation amongst competing flows. We proposed an edge-aware resource discovery loop, which as the name suggests, sent packets to gather information about the internal states of the core network. With this information, we proposed a price-based admission control algorithm for use within the DiffServ network that would allow fair admission, effective congestion control, and fair bandwidth allocation amongst different traffic flows.

Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο Ασύρματης Τηλεπικοινωνίας του τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών. Ο στόχος της εργασίας αυτής ήταν η μελέτη της προκαλούμενης βελτίωσης στην απόδοση εύρους ζώνης με χρήση πολλαπλών συστημάτων HAPS σε κοινή περιοχή κάλυψης. Με γνώμονα τη συνεχώς αυξανόμενη ανάγκη του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου για ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες υψηλών ταχυτήτων σε περιοχές οι οποίες είναι φτωχές σε τηλεπικοινωνιακή κάλυψη καθώς και σε περιοχές με αυξημένη τηλεπικοινωνιακή κίνηση καταλήγουμε στο συμπέρασμα ότι οι τηλεπικοινωνίες με τη χρήση εναέριων πλατφορμών (HAPS) οι οποίες δρουν σε πολύ χαμηλότερο ύψος από τους δορυφόρους και με σημαντικά μικρότερες ισχείς , αποτελούν μια πολλά υποσχόμενη τεχνολογία για τα επόμενα χρόνια. Σημαντικός παράγων στον οποίο βασίζεται οι τεχνολογία των HAPS είναι η εξοικονόμηση του φάσματος συχνοτήτων με τη χρήση κοινής συχνότητας εκπομπής από όλες τις πλατφόρμες , γεγονός που οδηγεί βαθμιαία σε αύξηση των παρεμβολών που λαμβάνουν οι χρήστες. Στόχος μας ήταν να προσδιορίσουμε τις κατάλληλες συνθήκες και παραμέτρους ώστε ο χρήστης στο έδαφος να λαμβάνει έναν ικανοποιητικό λόγο σήματος προς θόρυβο συν παρεμβολές (CINR) ώστε να υπάρχει επαρκές εύρος ζώνης για τις τηλεπικοινωνιακές του ανάγκες. Για την εξαγωγή των γραφικών παραστάσεων χρησιμοποιήθηκε το πρόγραμμα Matlab R2010b. / This diploma thesis was developed at the Laboratory of Wireless Communications, at the Department of Electrical an Computer Engineering. The objective of this work was to study the improvement in the bandwidth efficiency that occurs by using multiple high-altitude-platformsystems (HAPS) serving a common coverage area. Considering the even increasing need of the modern people for high speed broadband applications in areas that have poor telecommunication coverage and also in areas that have an increased telecommunication traffic we came to the conclusion that the use of the HAPS operating in lower altitude comparing to the satellites and using even lower power levels, is a very promising technology for the years to come. A very important factor on which the HAPS technology is based on is the saving of the frequency spectrum by using the same transmission frequency from all the platforms, a fact that leads to an increasing interference level that the users receive. Our goal was to determine the proper conditions and parameters so as to the users on the ground receive a satisfying level of CINR in order to have enough bandwidth efficiency for his telecommunication needs. In order to export the graphics, we used Matlab R2010b.

abstract: Despite the vast amount of research within the leadership and culture domains, a paucity of research has integrated the two literatures. This dissertation investigates leadership, organizational culture, and the dynamic interplay between them. It is composed of three papers with the objective to integrate leadership and culture research, theoretically and empirically, and generate novel insights about both phenomena. Paper 1 describes how leader-unit interactions foster culture emergence. I integrate insights from social learning theory, self-regulation theory, and event-structure theory to enumerate how leader-unit interactions create values, beliefs, and underlying assumptions that become shared among members in a nascent work unit. Paper 2 integrates team motivation theory with multilevel leadership theory to address CEO task leadership's paradoxical effect on firm performance through intervening social (i.e., organizational culture) and psychological (i.e., TMT engagement) mechanisms. Using data from 106 CEOs and 324 top management team members, structural equation modeling results revealed that CEO task leadership enhanced firm performance through its positive association with task culture, which in turn was positively related to TMT engagement, which positively contributed to firm performance. Conversely, CEO task leadership hindered firm performance through its negative, direct effect on TMT engagement. Paper 3 integrates various approaches to organizational culture bandwidth that have produced a fragmented view of culture and its effects on organizational outcomes. I draw upon organizational culture theory and bandwidth theory to examine the incremental predictive validity of culture configurations and culture dimensions on broad and narrow criteria. Hierarchical linear regression analyses, from data consisting of 567 employees in 130 bank branches, indicated that narrow culture dimensions predicted variance in narrow outcomes whereas configurations explained incremental variance in broad outcomes above and beyond culture dimensions. Through this dissertation, I take an initial step toward illuminating the interrelationship between leadership and culture by identifying mechanisms through which unit leaders foster culture emergence and by examining how organizational culture is a social normative lens through which followers filter leader behavior. Given culture's importance to leadership and organizational outcomes, the conditions in which culture should be examined as a broad or a narrow phenomenon are also enumerated. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Business Administration 2012

abstract: Loading a cavity-backed slot (CBS) antenna with ferrite material and applying a biasing static magnetic field can be used to control its resonant frequency. Such a mechanism results in a frequency reconfigurable antenna. However, placing a lossy ferrite material inside the cavity can reduce the gain or negatively impact the impedance bandwidth. This thesis develops guidelines, based on a non-uniform applied magnetic field and non-uniform magnetic field internal to the ferrite specimen, for the design of ferrite-loaded CBS antennas which enhance their gain and tunable bandwidth by shaping the ferrite specimen and judiciously locating it within the cavity. To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to examine the influence of the shape and relative location of the ferrite material, and also the proximity of the ferrite specimen from the probe on the DC magnetic field and RF electric field distributions inside the cavity. The geometry of the probe and its impacts on figures-of-merit of the antenna is of interest as well. Two common cavity backed-slot antennas (rectangular and circular cross-section) were designed, and corresponding simulations and measurements were performed and compared. The cavities were mounted on 30 cm $\times$ 30 cm perfect electric conductor (PEC) ground planes and partially loaded with ferrite material. The ferrites were biased with an external magnetic field produced by either an electromagnet or permanent magnets. Simulations were performed using FEM-based commercial software, Ansys' Maxwell 3D and HFSS. Maxwell 3D is utilized to model the non-uniform DC applied magnetic field and non-uniform magnetic field internal to the ferrite specimen; HFSS however, is used to simulate and obtain the RF characteristics of the antenna. To validate the simulations they were compared with measurements performed in ASU's EM Anechoic Chamber. After many examinations using simulations and measurements, some optimal designs guidelines with respect to the gain, return loss and tunable impedance bandwidth, were obtained and recommended for ferrite-loaded CBS antennas. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2013

In this thesis we design and implement a benchmarking tool for applications' sensitivity to main memory bandwidth contention, in a multi-core environment, on an ARM Cortex-A15 CPU. The tool is supposed to minimize usage of shared resources, except for the main memory bandwidth, allowing it to isolate the effects of the bandwidth contention only. The difficulty in doing this lies in using a correct memory access pattern for this purpose, i.e. which memory addresses to access, in which order and at what rate in order to minimize cache usage while generating a high and controllable main memory bandwidth usage. We manage to implement a tool with low cache memory usage while still being able to saturate the main memory bandwidth. The tool uses a proportional-integral controller to control the amount of bandwidth it uses. We then use the tool to investigate the memory behaviour of the platform and of some applications when the tool is using a variable amount of bandwidth. However, we have some difficulties in analyzing the results due to the lack of support for hardware performance counters in the operating system we are using and are forced to rely on hardware timers for our data gathering. Another difficulty is the platform's limited L2 cache bandwidth, which leads to a heavy impact on L2 cache read latency by the tool. Despite this, we are able to draw some conclusions on the bandwidth usage of other applications in optimal cases with the help of the tool.