A novel experimental setup has been realized to measure weak magnetic moments which can be modulated at radio frequencies (~1–5 MHz). Using an optimized radio-frequency (RF) pickup coil and lock-in amplifier, an experimental sensitivity of 10 -15 Am2 corresponding to 10 -18 emu has been demonstrated with a one second time constant. The detection limit at room temperature is 9.3 10 -16 Am2/√Hz limited by Johnson noise of the coil. In order to demonstrate the sensitivity of this technique it was used to electrically detect the polarized spins in semiconductors in zero applied magnetic fields. For example in GaAs, the magnetic moment due to a small number (~ 7 x 108) of spin polarized electrons generated by polarization modulated optical radiation was detected. Spin polarization was generated by optical injection using circularly polarized light which is modulated rapidly using an electro-optic cell. The modulated spin polarization generates a weak time-varying magnetic field which is detected by the sensitive radio-frequency coil. Using a radio-frequency lock-in amplifier, clear signals were obtained for bulk GaAs and Ge samples from which an optical spin orientation efficiency of ~ 10–20% could be determined for Ge at 1342 nm excitation wavelength at 127 K. In the presence of a small external magnetic field, the signal decayed according to the Hanle Effect, from which a spin lifetime of 4.6 ± 1.0 ns for electrons in bulk Ge at 127 K was extracted. The spin dynamics in n-Ge was further explored and the temperature dependence of the spin lifetime was plotted for a temperature range of about 90 K to 180 K. The temperature dependence of the optical pumping efficiency was also measured though no quantitative conclusions could be derived. The signals observed for semi-insulating GaAs, n-GaAs, GaSb and CdTe which are direct gap semiconductors are much larger than expected (almost two orders of magnitude). An attempt was made to explain this unexpected behavior of these direct gap semiconductors using the spin hall effect.

Ce manuscrit porte sur la modélisation et l'estimation de certaines non-stationnarités dans les signaux audio. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement à une classe de modèles de sons que nous nommons timbre*dynamique dans lesquels un signal stationnaire, associé au phénomène physique à l'origine du son, est déformé au cours du temps par un opérateur linéaire unitaire, appelé opérateur de déformation, associé à l'évolution temporelle des caractéristiques de ce phénomène physique. Les signaux audio sont modélisés comme des processus gaussiens généralisés et nous donnons dans un premier temps un ensemble d'outils mathématiques qui étendent certaines notions utilisées en traitement du signal au cas des processus stochastiques généralisés.Nous introduisons ensuite les opérateurs de déformations étudiés dans ce manuscrit. L'opérateur de modulation fréquentielle qui est l'opérateur de multiplication par une fonction à valeurs complexes de module unité, et l'opérateur de changement d'horloge qui est la version unitaire de l'opérateur de composition.Lorsque ces opérateurs agissent sur des processus stationnaires les processus déformés possèdent localement des propriétés de stationnarité et les opérateurs de déformation peuvent être approximés par des opérateurs de translation dans les plans temps-fréquence et temps-échelle. Nous donnons alors des bornes pour les erreurs d'approximation correspondantes. Nous développons ensuite un estimateur de maximum de vraisemblance approché des fonctions de dilatation et de modulation. L'algorithme proposé est testé et validé sur des signaux synthétiques et des sons naurels. / This manuscript deals with the modeling and estimation of certain non-stationarities in audio signals. We are particularly interested in a sound class models which we call dynamic*timbre in which a stationary signal, associated with the physical phenomenon causing the sound, is deformed over time by a linear unitary operator, called deformation operator, associated with the temporal evolution of the characteristics of this physical phenomenon.Audio signals are modeled as generalized Gaussian processes. We give first a set of mathematical tools that extend some classical notions used in signal processing in case of generalized stochastic processes.We then introduce the two deformations operators studied in this manuscript. The frequency modulation operator is the multiplication operator by a complex-valued function of unit module and the time-warping operator is the unit version of the composition operator by a bijective function.When these operators act on generalized stationary processes, deformed process are non-stationary generalized process which locally have stationarity properties and deformation operators can be approximated by translation operators in the time-frequency plans and time-scale.We give accurate versions of these approximations, as well as bounds for the corresponding approximation errors.Based on these approximations, we develop an approximated maximum likelihood estimator of the warping and modulation functions. The proposed algorithm is tested and validated on synthetic signals. Its application to natural sounds confirm the validity of the timbre*dynamic model in this context.

Cette recherche visait à clarifier les mécanismes de bas niveau impliqués dans la détection de la modulation de fréquence (FM). Les sons naturels véhiculent des modulations d’amplitude et de fréquence saillantes essentielles à la communication. L’analyse des réponses de neurones auditifs du noyau cochléaire montre que les propriétés spectro-temporelles des stimuli de FM de basse cadence sont représentées par deux mécanismes distincts basés sur le verrouillage en phase à l’enveloppe temporelle (ENV) et à la structure temporelle fine (TFS). La contribution relative de chaque mécanisme s’avère très dépendante des paramètres de stimulation (fréquence porteuse, cadence de modulation et profondeur de modulation) mais aussi du type de neurones, chacun étant spécialisé pour un type de représentation ou l'autre. L’existence de ces deux mécanismes de codage neuronal a été confirmée chez les auditeurs humains en utilisant deux paradigmes psychophysiques. Les résultats de ces études démontrent également que le mécanisme de codage de TFS est efficace dans des conditions d'écoute défavorables (e.g. en présence de modulations interférentes). Cependant, le mécanisme de codage de TFS est susceptible de se dégrader avec l'âge et plus encore avec la perte auditive, alors que le mécanisme de codage d’ENV semble relativement épargné. Deux modèles computationnels ont été développés afin d’expliquer les contributions des indices d’ENV et de TFS dans le système auditif normal et malentendant. / This research aimed at clarifying the low-level mechanisms involved in frequency-modulation (FM) detection. Natural sounds convey salient amplitude- and frequency-modulation patterns crucial for communication. Results from single auditory neurons in the cochlear nucleus show that the spectro-temporal properties of low-rate FM stimuli are accurately represented by two distinct mechanisms based on neural phase-locking to temporal envelope (ENV) and temporal fine structure (TFS) cues. The relative contribution of each mechanism was found to be highly dependent on stimulus parameters (carrier frequency, modulation rate and modulation depth) and also on the type of neuron, with clear specializations for one type of representation or the other. The validity of those two neural encoding mechanisms was confirmed for human listeners using two psychophysical paradigms. Results from those studies also demonstrate that the TFS coding mechanism is efficient in adverse listening conditions, like in the presence of interfering modulations. However, the TFS coding mechanism is prone to decline with age and even more with hearing loss, while the ENV coding mechanism seems relatively spared. Two computational models were developed to fully explain the contributions of ENV and TFS cues in the normal and impaired auditory system.

Les signaux de communication, dont la parole, contiennent des modulations d'amplitude et de fréquence relativement lentes qui jouent un rôle capital dans l'identification et la discrimination des sons. Le but de ce programme de recherche doctorale est de comprendre plus finement les mécanismes impliqués dans la perception de l'AM et de la FM, et de clarifier les effets du vieillissement et de la perte auditive neurosensorielle sur ceux-ci. Les seuils auditifs de détection d'AM et de FM sont mesurés pour des sujets normo-entendants (NE) jeunes et âgés, ainsi que pour des sujets malentendants (ME) âgés, à basse fréquence porteuse (500 Hz) et à basse cadence de modulation (2 et 20 Hz). Le nombre de cycles de modulation, N, varie entre 2 et 9. Les seuils de détection de FM sont mesurés en présence d'une AM interférente, de façon à contraindre l'utilisation des indices d’enveloppe temporelle. Pour l'ensemble des groupes, les seuils de détection d'AM et de FM sont meilleurs à 2 qu'à 20 Hz. La sensibilité à l'AM et la FM s'améliore lorsque N augmente, démontrant une intégration temporelle des indices d’AM et de FM. Pour l’AM, les effets du vieillissement et de la perte auditive sont antagonistes: aux deux cadences de modulation, la sensibilité à l'AM décline avec l'âge, tandis qu'elle s'améliore en présence d'une perte auditive. L'intégration temporelle est similaire pour les deux groupes de NE, tandis que l'intégration temporelle est améliorée chez les sujets ME. Pour la sensibilité à la FM, l'âge dégrade sélectivement les seuils de détection de FM à basse cadence de modulation, tandis que la perte auditive a un effet délétère global aux deux cadences de modulation. L'intégration temporelle est similaire pour l'ensemble des groupes. Deux modèles computationnels (mono-bande et multi-bandes) utilisant un banc de filtres de modulation et un processus d'appariement de gabarit sont développés pour rendre compte des données. Pris ensemble, les données psychophysiques et de modélisation suggèrent que: 1) pour des cadences de modulation rapides, la détection d'AM et de FM sont encodés par un mécanisme commun, probablement basé sur les indices d’enveloppe temporelle. A l'inverse, à basse cadence de modulation, l'AM et la FM sont encodés par des mécanismes distincts, utilisant probablement et respectivement des indices d’enveloppe temporelle et de structure temporelle fine; 2) le vieillissement dégrade la sensibilité à l'AM et la FM (i.e. les indices d’enveloppe temporelle et de structure temporelle fine), mais affecte plus fortement ces derniers; 3) la perte auditive n'affecte pas la sensibilité à l'AM (indices d’enveloppe temporelle), mais dégrade la sensibilité à la FM aux deux cadences de modulation; 4) Les processus décisionnels et mnésiques impliqués dans l'intégration temporelle d'AM et de FM sont préservés par le vieillissement. En présence d'une perte auditive, l'intégration temporelle d'AM est améliorée, probablement en raison de la perte de compression cochléaire, tandis que l'intégration temporelle en FM reste préservée. Toutefois, certains aspects de l’efficacité de traitement (modélisés par un bruit interne) déclinent avec l’âge et encore plus fortement avec une perte auditive. Les implications de ces résultats pour la définition, le diagnostic et la réhabilitation de la presbyacousie sont discutés. / Communication sounds, including speech, contain relatively slow (<5-10 Hz) patterns of amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) that play an important role in the discrimination and identification of sounds. The goal of this doctoral research program was to better understand the mechanisms involved in AM and FM perception and to clarify the effects of age and hearing loss on AM and FM perception. AM and FM detection thresholds were measured for young and older normal-hearing (NH) listeners and for older hearing-impaired (HI) listeners, using a low carrier frequency (500 Hz) and low modulation rates (2 and 20 Hz). The number of modulation cycles, N, varied between 2 to 9. FM detection thresholds were measured with and without an interfering AM to disrupt temporal-envelope cues. For all groups of listeners, AM and FM detection thresholds were lower for the 2-Hz than for the 20-Hz rate. AM and FM sensitivity improved with increasing N, demonstrating temporal integration for AM and FM detection. As for AM thresholds, opposite effects of age and hearing loss were observed: AM sensitivity declines with age, but improves with hearing loss at both modulation rates. Temporal integration of AM cues was similar across NH listeners, but better for HI listeners. As for FM sensitivity, ageing degrades FM thresholds at the low modulation rate only, whereas hearing loss has a deleterious effect at both modulation rates. Temporal integration of FM cues was similar across all groups. Two computational models (a single-band and a multi-band version) using the modulation filterbank concept and a template-matching decision strategy were developed in order to account for the data. Overall, the psychophysical and modeling data suggest that: 1) at high modulation rates, AM and FM detection are coded by a common underlying mechanism, possibly based on temporal-envelope cues. In contrast, at low modulation rates, AM and FM are coded by different mechanisms, possibly based on temporal-envelope cues and temporal-fine-structure cues, respectively. 2) Ageing reduces sensitivity to both AM and FM (i.e., both temporal-envelope and temporal-fine-structure cues), but more so for the latter. 3) Hearing loss does not affect sensitivity to AM (temporal-envelope cues) but impairs FM sensitivity at both rates. 4) The memory and decision processes involved in the temporal integration of AM and FM cues are preserved with age. With hearing loss, the temporal integration of AM cues is enhanced, probably due to the loss of amplitude compression, while the temporal integration of FM cues remains unchanged. Still, some aspects of processing efficiency (as modeled by internal noise) decline with age and even more following cochlear damage. The implications for the definition, diagnosis and rehabilitation of presbyacysis are discussed.

La première partie de la thèse étudie le balayage des gradients de conductivité électrique avec la force de Lorentz induite par ultrasons (SECG-UILF). Pour réduire la puissance de stimulation instantanée du transducteur émetteur et en même temps la pression acoustique maximale du transducteur, cette thèse propose d'appliquer l'excitation de l'impulsion ultrasonore à la modulation de fréquence linéaire ou l'excitation de l'impulsion ultrasonore à fréquence sinusoïdale dans SECG-UILF. Pour les gradients de conductivité électrique à balayage avec la force de Lorentz induite par l’ultrasons à la modulation de fréquence linéaire (SECG-LFM-UILF), un signal électrique de puissance instantanée maximale de 39,54 dBm est utilisé pour exciter le transducteur de transmission, ce qui est inférieur de 25,5 dB à la puissance instantanée maximale de l'impulsion étroite haute tension négative (65,05 dBm) adopté dans le SECG-UILF traditionnel. Et en temps, la pression acoustique d'émission maximale dans le SECG-LFM-UILF est inférieure de 0,44 MPa à celle du SECG-UILF traditionnel. Des expériences de SECG-LFM-UILF sont effectuées en utilisant des fantômes de conductivité à la gélose saline à plusieurs formes de conductivité allant de 0,2 S/m à 0,5 S/m, ce qui montre que: (1) le SECG-LFM-UILF peut détecter avec précision la distance longitudinale des gradients de conductivité électrique; (2) le rapport signal sur bruit des images de balayage B reconstituées de la distribution de gradient de conductivité électrique par le SECG-LFM-UILF est comparable à celui obtenu par le biais du SECG-UILF traditionnel; et (3) en utilisant une largeur de bande de fréquence de modulation de 2 MHz et une durée de modulation de 500 μs, une résolution longitudinale de 1 mm est obtenue. Pour balayer des gradients de conductivité électrique avec une force de Lorentz induite par ultrasons à fréquence fréquentielle (SECG-SF-UILF), le schéma de démodulation en phase présente une implémentation matérielle plus simple que le schéma de démodulation IQ, mais ne peut détecter que la moitié de la plage longitudinale. Des expériences de SECG-SF-UILF sont effectuées sur un échantillon de feuille de cuivre à deux couches, qui démontrent qu’en utilisant une largeur de bande de fréquences de 2 MHz et 64 fréquences discrètes, la plage longitudinale de l’échantillon peut être détectée avec précision. La deuxième partie de la thèse étudie l'élastographie à base d'approche de corrélation croisée. Pour élargir la largeur de bande de fréquence du champ de déplacement de l’onde de cisaillement afin d’améliorer la qualité de la carte de vitesse de l’onde de cisaillement, cette partie étudie l’application de la force de Lorentz pour la génération de champs d’onde de cisaillement. Tout d'abord, la génération des sources des ondes de cisaillement sur la surface du support souple à travers le mécanisme de la force de Lorentz est étudiée en stimulant un anneau ou un patch conducteur non ferromagnétique avec un champ magnétique transitoire. La mesure de déplacement à l'aide d'une sonde laser interférométrique confirme les caractéristiques d'origine, de fréquence et d'amplitude de la force de Lorentz. Sous un champ magnétique transitoire dont la vitesse de changement est de 10,44 kTs-1, le patch génère une source de champ des ondes de cisaillement d'amplitude de 100 µm à la surface de l'échantillon de fantôme d'alcool polyvinylique (PVA). Ensuite, le potentiel des champs d'ondes de cisaillement générés pour la reconstruction de la vitesse des ondes de cisaillement basée sur la corrélation croisée est exploré. Sur la base de l’approche de corrélation croisée, les cartes qualitatives de la vitesse des ondes de cisaillement sont reconstruites à partir de 100 cadres des champs de déplacement, à partir desquels les interfaces ou les limites entre des régions de rigidité différente peuvent être clairement reconnues, lesquelles sont complètement dissimulées dans les images ultrasonores / The first part of the thesis studies the scanning electric conductivity gradients with ultrasonically induced Lorentz force (SECG-UILF). To reduce the instantaneous stimulation power to the transmitting transducer and at the same time the peak acoustic pressure from the transducer, this thesis proposes to apply the linearly frequency-modulated ultrasound pulse excitation or the sinusoidal step-frequency ultrasound pulse excitation in SECG-UILF. For the scanning electric conductivity gradients with linearly frequency-modulated ultrasound-induced Lorentz force (SECG-LFM-UILF), electrical signal of peak instantaneous power of 39.54 dBm is used to excite the transmitting transducer, which is 25.5 dB lower than the peak instantaneous power of the negative high-voltage narrow pulse (65.05 dBm) adopted in traditional SECG-UILF; and at the same time, the peak transmitting acoustic pressure in SECG-LFM-UILF is 0.44 MPa lower than that in traditional SECG-UILF. Experiments of SECG-LFM-UILF are done using multi-shaped saline agar phantoms of conductivity ranging from 0.2 S/m to 0.5 S/m, which show that: (1) the SECG-LFM-UILF can detect precisely the longitudinal distance of the electric conductivity gradients; (2) the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed B-scan images of the electrical conductivity gradient distribution by the SECG-LFM-UILF are comparable to that obtained through the traditional SECG-UILF; and (3) using modulation frequency bandwidth of 2 MHz and modulation duration of 500 μs, a longitudinal resolution of 1 mm is achieved. For the scanning electric conductivity gradients with step-frequency ultrasound induced Lorentz force (SECG-SF-UILF), the in-phase demodulation scheme is simpler in hardware implementation than the IQ demodulation scheme but can only detect half of the longitudinal range. Experiments of SECG-SF-UILF are done on a sample of two-layer copper foil, which demonstrate that, using a frequency bandwidth of 2 MHz and 64 discrete frequencies, the longitudinal range of the sample can be detected precisely. The second part of the thesis studies the cross-correlation approach based elastography. To expand the frequency bandwidth of the shear wave displacement field so as to improve the quality of the shear wave velocity map, this part studies application of the Lorentz force for generation of shear wave fields. First, generation of shear wave sources on the soft medium surface through the mechanism of the Lorentz force is investigated by stimulating a non-ferromagnetic conductive ring or patch with a transient magnetic field. The origin and the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the Lorentz force acting on the conductive ring are confirmed by the displacement measurement using an interferometric laser probe. Under a transient magnetic field of changing rate of 10.44 kTs-1, the patch generates a shear wave field source of amplitude of 100 μm at the surface of the sample of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) phantom. The shear wave fields created and propagating in the PVA phantom by experiments agree qualitatively well with the theoretical shear wave fields calculated through the analytical Green function solution. Then, the potential of the generated shear wave fields for the cross-correlation based shear wave velocity reconstruction is explored. Based on the cross-correlation approach, the qualitative shear wave velocity maps are reconstructed from 100 frames of the displacement fields, from which the interfaces or boundaries between regions of different stiffness can be clearly recognized, which are completely concealed in the ultrasound images

Railway signaling is of paramount importance to ensure traffic management andsafety on the rail network. The main lines are divided into sections called ‘blocks’,which are governed by a fixed signal installation. To prevent trains from colliding,each block allows one train at once. In France (and most European countries),train detection is performed by an electrical device called track circuit that consistsof a transmitter and a receiver installed at the track-side, and connected via therails. In the absence of a train, an electrical signal flows from the transmitter tothe receiver through the rails. As a train enters a track circuit, its axles shuntthe rails, provoking a short circuit (also called ‘shunt’): the signal transmitted tothe receiver drops. The detection of that signal drop results in the detection of atrain. This method rarely fails throughout the network, but there can be criticalcases where it may be inefficient. In this Master’s Thesis, new detection criteriaproposed in previous studies have been tested on signals measured in poor shuntingconditions. Three approaches have been tested: one in the time domain and two inthe frequency domain. The time approach compares the short-term and long-termstatistics of the received signals. The observation of a change in the spectra of thereceived signals around the 3rd order harmonic (3OH) has led to the implementationof two frequency criteria: the estimation of the band power around the 3OH andthe detection of the 3OH peaks. The obtained results show that better detection isachieved when the new criteria and the existing one are combined. / Tågsignalsystem är väsentliga för att garantera trafikstyrning och säkerhet i tågnätet.Spåren är indelade i sektioner, s.k. block, som övervakas med fasta signalinstallationer.För att hindra tåg från att krocka, tillåts bara ett tåg i taget per block. IFrankrike (och de flesta andra europeiska länder), detekteras tågen med en elektriskspårkrets som består av en sändare och en mottagare som är installerad bredvidspåret och ansluten till rälsen. När inget tåg finns på spåret, flyter en elektrisk signalfrån sändaren till mottagaren via spåret. När ett tåg anländer, kortsluts kretsenav hjulaxeln och signalen försvinner från mottagaren. Minskningen i signalstyrkaanvänds för att detektera tåget. Denna metod sällan misslyckas i tågnätet, men iovanliga fall kan det uppstå farliga situationer. I detta examensarbete utvärderasnya detektionsmetoder, som har föreslagits i tidigare studier, på signaler som haruppmätts under förhållanden med dålig kontakt mellan hjul och spår. Tre olika metoderhar testats, en i tidsdomänen och två i frekvensdomänen. Tidsdomänsmetodenjämför kortvarig och långvarig statistik för den mottagna signalen. I spektrum förden mottagna signalen, har man observerat en förändring runt den tredje övertonen,samt detektering av frekvenstoppar vid tredje övertonen. De erhållna resultatenvisar på förbättrad detektering när de nya och existerande kriterierna kombineras.

Ein tieffrequenter lauter Suppressorton verlagert das Corti-Organ periodisch in Richtung Scala vestibuli und Scala tympani. Simultan registrierte DPOAE (Distorsionsprodukte otoakustischer Emissionen) werden in beiden Richtungen unterschiedlich supprimiert. Bei Vorliegen eines endolymphatischen Hydrops (EH) ist die Beweglichkeit der Basilarmembran eingeschränkt, so daß keine oder eine nur geringe Modulation des DPOAE-Pegels entstehen kann. In dieser Arbeit wird die diagnostische Aussagekraft von Messungen tieftonmodulierter DPOAE bei zwei Patientenkollektiven mit Verdacht auf EH im Vergleich mit einem Normalkollektiv (n = 22) geprüft: bei Patienten mit M. Menière (n = 23) und Patienten mit Ohrdruckgefühl ohne Schwindelsymptomatik (n = 8). Bei den M. Menière-Patienten sind die ipsilateralen Modulationstiefen (MD) im Median hochsignifikant geringer als die des Normalkollektivs. Dies wird als Hinweis auf einen EH gewertet. Bei Primärtonpegeln mit L2 = 20 dB SL ergibt sich für den Grenzwert der MD mit 6 dB die Sensitivität von 64% und die Spezifität von 90%. Die kontralateralen MD der M. Menière-Patienten sind im Median signifikant geringer als die des Normalkollektivs. Für Primärtonpegel mit L2 = 20 dB SL liegen 33% der Werte unter dem Grenzwert, von diesen Ohren ist die Hälfte symptomfrei. Auch im kontralateralen Ohr kann ein – eventuell asymptomatischer – Hydrops vorliegen. Die Ergebnisse der Patienten mit Ohrdruckgefühl ohne Schwindel zeigen im Median hochsignifikant geringere MD als die der Normalhörenden und unterscheiden sich nicht signifikant von den Werten der ipsilateralen Ohren der M. Menière-Patienten. Das Ohrdruckgefühl kann auf einen cochleären Hydrops hinweisen und die weitere Entwicklung eines EH ankündigen. Bei den Verlaufsuntersuchungen zeigen die MD beider Patientenkollektive, deren Symptomatik sich während dieses Zeitraums änderte, Variabilitäten: mit Zunahme der Heftigkeit der spezifischen Symptome nimmt die MD ab und umgekehrt. Die Tieftonmodulation scheint den Zustand der Cochlea widerspiegeln zu können. Im Vergleich mit den in der Klinik gängigen Verfahren zur Hydropsdiagnostik wie der ECochG oder dem Glyceroltest erweist sich das in dieser Arbeit angewandte objektive Verfahren als vorteilhaft: es ist schnell durchführbar, nicht belastend und nicht invasiv. Es eignet sich als Screeningverfahren und kann zur Verlaufskontrolle eingesetzt werden. / The cochlear partition is moved periodically towards scala vestibuli and scala tympani by a low-frequency high-level suppressor tone. Simultaneously recorded DPOAEs (distortion product otoacoustic emissions) are suppressed differently in both directions. This modulation of the DPOAE level may be reduced or even missing if the displacement of the basilar membrane is inhibited by endolymphatic hydrops (EH). In this thesis the diagnostic significance of the low-frequency modulation of DPOAEs is tested in two patient groups with suspected EH: patients with Menière’s disease (n = 23) and patients with aural fullness without vertigo (n = 8), compared to a control group of normal hearing adults (n = 22). In the patients with Menière’s disease the ipsilateral modulation depths (median) are high significantly lower than in the control group. This can be interpreted as a sign of EH. At primary tone levels with L2 = 20 dB SL and a limiting value of 6 dB modulation depth (MD), a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 90% are found. The contralateral MDs of the patients with Menière’s disease (median) are significantly lower than in the control group. At primary tone levels with L2 = 20 dB SL, 33% of the MDs are below the limiting value, half of these ears are symptom-free. So in the contralateral ear a possibly asymptomatic hydrops may be present as well. The patients with aural fullness without vertigo show high significantly lower MDs (median) than the normal hearing adults and no significant difference to the ipsilateral MDs of the patients with Menière’s disease. Aural fullness can be a sign of cochlear hydrops and may indicate the further development of EH. During the course of disease the MDs of both patient groups vary when symptoms change: with increasing intensity of the specific symptoms the MD is reduced and vice versa. Low-frequency modulation seems to reflect the state of the cochlea. Compared to the generally used clinical tests for the assessment of EH like ECochG or the glycerol test, the objective method presented in this thesis is advantageous: it is fast, not straining and non-invasive. It is suitable for screening and can be used to monitor the course of disease.

This thesis deals with the design of Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) for Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) and EVs. More specifically, a tri-mode high-efficiency non-isolated half-bridge converter is developed for the LEV based HESS applications. A 2 kW, 100 V interleaved two-phase converter prototype was implemented. The peak efficiency of 97.5% and a minimum efficiency of 88% over the full load range are achieved. Furthermore, a power-mix optimizer utilizing the real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) data for the EV based HESS is proposed. For a specific design, it is shown that at the cost of less than 1.5% of the overall energy savings, the proposed scheme reduces the peak battery charge and discharge rates by 76% and 47%, respectively. A 30 kW bi-directional dc-dc converter is also designed and implemented for future deployment of the designed HESS into a prototype EV, known as A2B.

This thesis deals with the design of Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) for Light Electric Vehicles (LEV) and EVs. More specifically, a tri-mode high-efficiency non-isolated half-bridge converter is developed for the LEV based HESS applications. A 2 kW, 100 V interleaved two-phase converter prototype was implemented. The peak efficiency of 97.5% and a minimum efficiency of 88% over the full load range are achieved. Furthermore, a power-mix optimizer utilizing the real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) data for the EV based HESS is proposed. For a specific design, it is shown that at the cost of less than 1.5% of the overall energy savings, the proposed scheme reduces the peak battery charge and discharge rates by 76% and 47%, respectively. A 30 kW bi-directional dc-dc converter is also designed and implemented for future deployment of the designed HESS into a prototype EV, known as A2B.

Signal processing has been playing a key role in providing solutions to key problems encountered in communications, in general, and in wireless communications, in particular. Time-Frequency Signal Processing (TFSP) provides eective tools for analyzing nonstationary signals where the frequency content of signals varies in time as well as for analyzing linear time-varying systems. This research aimed at exploiting the advantages of TFSP, in dealing with nonstationary signals, into the fundamental issues of signal processing, namely the signal estimation and signal separation. In particular, it has investigated the problems of (i) the Instantaneous Frequency (IF) estimation of Linear Frequency-Modulated (LFM) signals corrupted in complex-valued zero-mean Multiplicative Noise (MN), and (ii) the Underdetermined Blind Source Separation (UBSS) of LFM signals, while focusing onto the fast-growing area of Wireless Communications (WCom). A common problem in the issue of signal estimation is the estimation of the frequency of Frequency-Modulated signals which are seen in many engineering and real-life applications. Accurate frequency estimation leads to accurate recovery of the true information. In some applications, the random amplitude modulation shows up when the medium is dispersive and/or when the assumption of point target is not valid; the original signal is considered to be corrupted by an MN process thus seriously aecting the recovery of the information-bearing frequency. The IF estimation of nonstationary signals corrupted by complex-valued zero-mean MN was investigated in this research. We have proposed a Second-Order Statistics approach, rather than a Higher-Order Statistics approach, for IF estimation using Time-Frequency Distributions (TFDs). The main assumption was that the autocorrelation function of the MN is real-valued but not necessarily positive (i.e. the spectrum of the MN is symmetric but does not necessary has the highest peak at zero frequency). The estimation performance was analyzed in terms of bias and variance, and compared between four dierent TFDs: Wigner-Ville Distribution, Spectrogram, Choi-Williams Distribution and Modified B Distribution. To further improve the estimation, we proposed to use the Multiple Signal Classification algorithm and showed its better performance. It was shown that the Modified B Distribution performance was the best for Signal-to-Noise Ratio less than 10dB. In the issue of signal separation, a new research direction called Blind Source Separation (BSS) has emerged over the last decade. BSS is a fundamental technique in array signal processing aiming at recovering unobserved signals or sources from observed mixtures exploiting only the assumption of mutual independence between the signals. The term "blind" indicates that neither the structure of the mixtures nor the source signals are known to the receivers. Applications of BSS are seen in, for example, radar and sonar, communications, speech processing, biomedical signal processing. In the case of nonstationary signals, a TF structure forcing approach was introduced by Belouchrani and Amin by defining the Spatial Time- Frequency Distribution (STFD), which combines both TF diversity and spatial diversity. The benefit of STFD in an environment of nonstationary signals is the direct exploitation of the information brought by the nonstationarity of the signals. A drawback of most BSS algorithms is that they fail to separate sources in situations where there are more sources than sensors, referred to as UBSS. The UBSS of nonstationary signals was investigated in this research. We have presented a new approach for blind separation of nonstationary sources using their TFDs. The separation algorithm is based on a vector clustering procedure that estimates the source TFDs by grouping together the TF points corresponding to "closely spaced" spatial directions. Simulations illustrate the performances of the proposed method for the underdetermined blind separation of FM signals. The method developed in this research represents a new research direction for solving the UBSS problem. The successful results obtained in the research development of the above two problems has led to a conclusion that TFSP is useful for WCom. Future research directions were also proposed.