Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Numerous problems with product quality and time-to-market launches can be traced back to the management of the product lifecycle. This research assignment provides insight into how an integrated value proposition design framework can address these issues by shifting the focus of product lifecycle management from being product-centric to being customer-centric. This framework combines tools, methods and processes from a variety of disciplines such as Systems Engineering, Marketing, Project Management, and Financial Management. The application of the framework during the product lifecycle management process is that of a planning and communication tool to ensure integration between multifunctional teams to increase customer value proposition quality and decrease product time to market. This research assignment was implemented in a new product development case study within a leading Telecommunications company in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bestuur van ‘n produk se lewensiklus veroorsaak verskeie probleme wat gepaard gaan met die kwaliteit van produkte en die verlengde tydperk wat dit neem om produkte aan die mark bekend te stel. Hierdie navorsingswerk verduidelik hoe die geïntegreerde waarde-stelling raamwerk die probleme met betrekking tot die bestuur van produkte se lewensiklusse aanspreek. Die raamwerk verskuif die fokus van die bestuur van ‘n produk se lewensiklus, wat produk-gesentreerd is, na ‘n kliënt-gesentreerde fokus. Die raamwerk maak gebruik van tegnieke, metodes en prosesse verkry uit die dissiplines van Sisteem Ingenieurswese, Bemarking, Projek bestuur en Finansiële bestuur. Die toepassing van die raamwerk verbeter die bestuur van ‘n produk se lewensiklus deur beplanning en kommunikasie te fassiliteer tussen multi-funksionele spanne. Genoemde raamwerk bevorder die samewerking tussen multi-funksionele spanne, verbeter die waarde-stellings aan kliënte, verhoog die kwaliteit van produkte en verkort die tydperk van produk bekendstelling aan die mark. Bogenoemde navorsingswerk is geïmplementeer in ‘n vooraanstaande Telekommunikasie maatskapy in Suid-Afrika, op ‘n nuwe produkontwikkeling gevallestudie.

La durée de vie des porteurs minoritaires est l'un des principaux paramètres mesurés dans les semi-conducteurs et la décroissance de photoconductivité (PCD) l'une des méthodes les plus largement utilisées pour ce type de mesure. Aujourd'hui, grâce aux divers équipements automatisés, la mesure de durée de vie est devenue une caractérisation de routine qui permet de juger de la qualité d'un matériau dans tous les secteurs utilisant les semi-conducteurs. Cependant, l'utilisation de micro- et nano-matériaux dans l'industrie du photovoltaïque et de la microélectronique requière l'adaptation des techniques existantes (PCD, photoluminescence etc.). En effet, avec la réduction des dimensions (couches ultraminces telles que les couches épitaxiées, couches SOI « silicon on insulator », et nanostructures), l'influence de la surface (états d'interfaces, pièges, etc.) devient prépondérante. La présence des substrats utilisés pour les croissances ou report de couche de ces différentes structures perturbe également les mesures. Ceci rend difficile l'adaptation des méthodes de mesure de durée de vie classiques comme, par exemple, le déclin de photoconductivité. Au cours de cette thèse nous nous sommes attachés à adapter des techniques de caractérisation de durée de vie à des matériaux de faibles dimensions. Nous avons tout d'abord caractérisé des échantillons massifs et des couches épitaxiées d'une épaisseur de l'ordre de la dizaine de micromètres. Nous avons proposé une technique qui consiste à déterminer simultanément la durée de vie en volume et la vitesse de recombinaison en surface des porteurs minoritaires dans d'une couche épitaxiée, à partir de la mesure de l'intensité de photoluminescence. La méthode développée consiste à calculer le rapport de l'intensité de photoluminescence (RPL) mesurée à différentes longueurs d'onde et pour différentes puissances d'excitation. Ces rapports RPL expérimentaux sont ensuite comparés aux rapports RPL simulés, ce qui permet d'évaluer la vitesse de recombinaison en surface et le temps de vie en volume. Nous avons ensuite étudié des couches semi-conductrices ultraminces de l'ordre de la centaine de nanomètres dans des structures de type SOI (silicon on insulator). Après un rappel des méthodes de fabrication et de quelques-unes des utilisations, nous avons analysé les méthodes électriques existantes permettant de déterminer la qualité des substrats SOI. Cela nous a amené à proposer une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation apportant des solutions aux limitations de ces techniques. Cette méthode se base sur une mesure courant-tension sous obscurité et sous éclairement en configuration PSEUDO-MOSFET où le substrat de la structure SOI sert de grille du transistor et deux pointes déposées sur le film de silicium servent de source et drain. Nous avons appliqué cette nouvelle méthode de caractérisation de la durée de vie des porteurs de charge à un substrat SOI et avec l'aide de la simulation numérique, nous avons pu expliquer les phénomènes de recombinaison aux interfaces et extraire les paramètres associés. Enfin, la dernière partie de ce travail de thèse concerne l'étude des nanofils pour des applications photovoltaïques. Dans les nanofils, le rapport surface sur volume augmente considérablement ce qui entraîne une diminution de la durée de vie effective due à l'augmentation de l'influence des surfaces. Le fonctionnement des cellules solaires à base de nanofils que nous avons étudiées est très dépendant de la qualité des interfaces. Nous avons analysé ces cellules grâce à la méthode RRT (« Reverse Recovery Transient ») basée sur la proportionnalité qui existe entre la quantité de charges stockées dans les régions neutres des jonctions pn polarisées et la durée de vie des porteurs minoritaires. Ce type de structure étant assez complexe, nous avons utilisé des simulations numériques pour analyser les phénomènes de recombinaison au sein de la cellule solaire et extraire les densités de défauts aux interfaces. / The minority carrier lifetime is one of the main parameters used to analyse the semiconductors quality and photoconductivity decay (PCD) is one of the most widely used lifetime characterization method. Thanks to the variety of automated equipment that has developed, lifetime measurement has become a routine technique to assess the quality of semiconductors. However, the micro and nano materials used in the photovoltaic and microelectronics industry require an adaptation of the existing methods (PCD, photoluminescence etc.). Indeed, with reduced dimensions (epitaxial layers, SOI “Silicon on Insulator”, nanostructures and nanowires), the influence of the surface (interface states density, traps, etc.) becomes predominant. The presence of the substrates used for the material growth or for the layer transfer can also influence the measures. Consequently traditional methods of lifetime measurement are difficult to apply to low dimensional materials. This thesis is focused on the measurement of minority carrier lifetime in micro and nano materials (bulk, epitaxial layer, silicon on insulator and nanowires) with a special emphasis on the adaptation of the characterization tools to the material thickness. We have studied first bulk samples and epitaxial layers (with thicknesses around 50µm) by photoluminescence. We have developed a method to determine simultaneously the bulk lifetime and the surface recombination velocity using room temperature photoluminescence measurement. The procedure consists in measuring the photoluminescence intensity ratio at different incident laser wavelengths and power. These photoluminescence ratios are then compared with analytical simulations, which allow us to evaluate the surface recombination velocity and the bulk lifetime. We have then investigated SOI (Silicon on insulator) structures with ultrathin semiconductor layers of the order of 100 nanometers. After a brief description of the manufacturing methods and of some of their uses, we have analyzed the existing electrical methods used to evaluate the quality of SOI substrates. This led us to propose a new characterization method to overcome the limitations of these techniques. This method is based on a current-voltage measurement in the dark and under illumination called PSEUDO-MOSFET (the substrate of the SOI structure serves as the transistor gate and the two contact points deposited on the silicon film are used as the source and drain). We applied this new method to characterize the lifetime of a SOI substrate and with the help of numerical simulation, we were able to explain the recombination mechanism associated with interfaces and extract the parameters. Finally, the last chapter concerns the study of nanowires for photovoltaic applications. In the nanowires, the surface to volume ratio greatly increases leading to a decrease of the effective lifetime due to the increased influence of the surfaces. In this chapter, we have studied the minority carrier lifetime in core-shell nanowire-based solar cells under dark conditions with a purely electrical approach called reverse recovery transient (RRT). This method is based on storage time measurement which depends essentially on the amount of stored charges in the biased junction and can be used to calculate the minority carrier lifetime. Numerical simulations have also been done to explain the measurements and to validate the theory and the hypotheses used for parameter extraction.

Afin de répondre à une demande de soins et traitements toujours mieux adaptés et plus performants, des dispositifs médicaux implantables (DMI) ont vu le jour. Il s’agit actuellement de dispositifs isolés et autonomes à l’intérieur de l’organisme hôte, dont la fonction ne nécessite pas d’interaction avec celui-ci, ou uniquement dans un sens (par la libération de molécules par exemple). Une nouvelle génération de DMI dont le fonctionnement s’appuie sur des échanges continus avec l’organisme vivant est toutefois en cours de développement, et un des points clefs de leur élaboration est l’enrobage. En effet, l’interface entre le DMI et le corps joue un rôle primordial puisqu’elle doit assurer une symbiose parfaite entre ces derniers. Les mécanismes inflammatoires et immunitaires étant si complexes et puissants, il est nécessaire de protéger ces dispositifs tout en leur permettant de communiquer avec l’organisme hôte. En outre, cette barrière protège aussi le corps d’éventuels éléments agressifs libérés par l’implant. Ainsi, le travail de recherche décrit dans ce manuscrit concerne la fabrication et la caractérisation d’un matériau qui peut être utilisé pour enrober des dispositifs symbiotiques implantables.Dans ce contexte, les hydrogels d’alcool polyvinylique (Polyvinyl alcohol) : PVA) polymérisés physiquement par un procédé de congélation/décongélation se sont révélés particulièrement intéressants. En effet, leur structure semi-cristalline permet de modifier leur porosité et leurs propriétés mécaniques en faisant varier les paramètres de fabrication. Nous avons donc caractérisé physico-chimiquement les hydrogels de PVA (propriétés mécaniques, porosité, diffusivité), avant d’étudier leur biocompatibilité in vitro et in vivo. Pour finir, nous nous sommes concentrés sur un DMI particulier qu’est la biopile à glucose implantable, en analysant les performances du PVA en tant qu’enrobage d’électrodes.Ainsi, nous avons déterminé un procédé de fabrication permettant d’obtenir une membrane enrobante solide et facile à manipuler, poreuse afin de laisser diffuser le glucose et l’oxygène de manière optimale jusqu’à l’électrode, et protectrice vis-à-vis des protéines de l’organisme de plus grandes tailles. / The development of implantable medical devices (IMD) provides for more efficient treatment in specific healthcare applications. Such devices are isolated and autonomous within the host organism. Their function does not usually require any input from the host, with the main function of the IMD being typically to stimulate tissues (e.g. muscles, nerves) or to release molecules (e.g. osmotic pump). New generations of IMD that rely on the on continuous duplex interactions with the living organism are being developed. The key aspect of such IMD is the interface with the internal environment of the body. This interface plays a crucial role because it must ensure a perfect symbiosis between the IMD and the host. For example, the interface must both protect the IMD from the complex and powerful inflammatory and immune mechanisms in addition to providing an efficient communication pathway with the host organism. Furthermore, this interface also protects the body from the potentially aggressive elements that can be released by the IMD. The research described in this manuscript is focused to the manufacture and characterisation of a material that can be used to coat IMD so as to optimise both the biocompatibility and efficient functions of the IMD.In this context, the research described here has focused on hydrogels of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) physically polymerized by a freeze/thaw method. Indeed, the semi-crystalline structure of PVA allows modification of the porosity and mechanical properties by varying the parameters of the production process. We therefore performed physico-chemical characterisations of PVA hydrogels (mechanical properties, porosity and diffusivity) before studying in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo biocompatibility. We tuned the PVA membranes to a specific IMD that relied upon duplex communication for its function (i.e. the implantable glucose biofuel cell) and analyzed the performance of PVA to provide an optimised coating. The results report an optimised manufacturing process for PVA that provides for the IMD (i) a solid and easily handled membrane, (ii) a porous membrane optimised for the diffusion of glucose and oxygen to the IMD bioelectrodes, and (iii) a protective membrane against proteins of larger dimension.

Cette étude porte sur la construction d’un modèle de prévision de la durée de vie à écaillage des barrièresthermiques protégeant les aubes de turbines aéronautiques, par le développement et l’exploitation d’essaisd’adhérence. La chaîne de modélisation de la durée de vie proposée comporte trois étapes. Tout d’abord, leschamps mécaniques dans les différentes couches du système sont évalués par un modèle semi-analytique decomportement de la structure multicouche, qui a été modifié pour favoriser son adaptabilité industrielle. Àpartir de l’histoire thermo-mécanique du substrat comme donnée d’entrée, qui peut être extraite d’un calculd’aube par EF, ce modèle prévoit la déformation de l’interface entre la pièce métallique et sa protectioncéramique lorsqu’un champ de contraintes lié à l’oxydation du métal lui est appliqué. Des mesures de rumpling,provoqué par le vieillissement du système à différentes températures, ont permis d’identifier et de valider lemodèle.Dans un deuxième temps, l’énergie d’adhérence est estimée au travers d’un modèle d’endommagements’appuyant sur la réponse mécanique du modèle de comportement précédent. L’endommagement, écrit àl’échelle de l’interface et découplé du comportement mécanique, a été identifié sur l’énergie d’adhérencequantifiée expérimentalement. Afin de caractériser au mieux l’énergie d’adhérence de la barrière thermiquesur son substrat, plusieurs essais ont été mis en oeuvre, permettant de solliciter l’interface dans une largegamme de mixité modale. Pour ce faire, des essais spécifiques ont été développés pour se rapprocher d’unepropagation de la fissure interfaciale en mode de cisaillement. Finalement, un critère énergétique permet dedéterminer la durée de vie du système, par comparaison de l’énergie d’adhérence et de l’énergie disponibledans le système pour la propagation d’une fissure interfaciale. Cette chaîne de prévision de la durée de vie estapplicable en post-traitement d’un calcul d’aube. Il a été montré que les tendances expérimentales sontcorrectement reproduites par la chaîne de durée de vie mise en place. / The aim of this study is to build a lifetime assessment model for thermal barrier coatings protecting aircraftturbine blades, by setting up and using adhesion tests. The model involves three steps: first, the mechanicalfields inside the layers are computed by a semi-analytical model of the multi-layered system behaviour, whichwas improved to fit the industrial demands. Given the thermo-mechanical history of the substrate (which canbe derived from FE computations), the model computes the interface strains between the metallic substrateand the ceramic protection under a stress field induced by oxidation. The model has been identified andvalidated with respect to rumpling measurements for different ageing temperatures of the system.During a second step, the interface toughness is estimated through a damage model depending on themechanical response of the multi-layered system. The damage parameters have been identified on toughnessmeasurements, and are not coupled to the multi-layer behaviour. In order to characterize the TBC toughness,several shear mode interface crack propagation tests have been developed and carried out.Finally, an energetic approach allows computing the system lifetime by comparing the decreasing interfacetoughness to the elastic stored energy. This lifetime assessment model can be applied as a post-processing of afinite element computation on a turbine blade and it has been shown that the experimental trends areconsistent with the lifetime given by the model.

The Cadmium Telluride thin film solar cell is one of the leading photovoltaic technologies. Efficiency improvements in the past decade made it a very attractive and practical source of renewable energy. Considering the theoretical limit, there is still room for improvement, especially the cell’s open circuit voltage (VOC). To improve VOC, the p-type carrier concentration and minority carrier lifetime of the CdTe absorber needs to be improved. Both these parameters are directly related to the point defect distribution of the semiconductor, which is a function of deposition stoichiometry, dopant incorporation and post-deposition treatments. CdTe films were deposited by the Elemental Vapor Transport (EVT) deposition method, which allowed in situ control of the vapor phase stoichiometry (Cd/Te ratio). Extrinsic doping of polycrystalline CdTe by in situ incorporation of antimony (Sb) and phosphorus (P) was investigated. The structural and electrical properties of CdTe thin films and solar cells were studied. Sb and P incorporation were found to increase the net p-doping concentration. Cl and Sb improved the minority carrier lifetime of polycrystalline CdTe, while lower lifetime with Cu and P doped films were indicated. Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) was performed on devices fabricated with different deposition stoichiometry, post-deposition treatments, and phosphorus dopant dose. Several majority and minority carrier traps were identified, and assigned to different point defects based on first principle studies in the literature and experimental conditions used for the deposition and processing of the thin films.

O moderno conceito de marketing, visto como filosofia empresarial, defende que a empresa deve ser centralizada no cliente, ou seja, ter todas as suas atividades integradas e alinhadas para entregar valor superior para seus consumidores. Até o final da década de 1990 havia uma clara lacuna entre o moderno conceito de marketing e as métricas existentes. Assim, as métricas de customer equity foram concebidas na tentativa de superar esse conflito entre filosofia e realidade prática de marketing. Customer equity pode ser definido como o valor monetário dos clientes enquanto um ativo da empresa, e foi apontado pela literatura como possível responsável pelo aumento da capitalização de mercado em algumas empresas. Esse estudo busca identificar a relação de causalidade entre customer equity, calculado pelo modelo de Gupta et al (2003), e a capitalização de mercado das empresas do setor de comunicação do mercado brasileiro utilizando uma série de modelos. Primeiramente rodou-se um modelo de regressão em painel com efeito aleatório, seguido de uma análise de causalidade Granger. Os resultados, em geral, não convergem com a literatura relacionada. Por fim foram discutidas as implicações gerenciais, limitações e sugestões para pesquisas futuras. / The modern concept of marketing, seen as business philosophy, holds that the firm must be customer centered, that is, all the activities must be integrated and oriented to deliver superior value to its customers. There was a clear gap between the modern concept of marketing and the existing metrics until the end of the 1990’s. Thus, the customer equity metrics were developed trying to overcome the conflict between philosophy and the managerial reality of marketing. Customer equity can be defined as the value of customers as an asset of the firm, and was held as a possible responsible for increasing the market capitalization of several companies. This study aims to identify the causal relationship between customer equity, using the approach proposed by Gupta and Lehmann (2003), and the market capitalization of several Brazilian communication companies. First it was conducted a panel regression analysis with random effects, then a series of Granger causality tests were made. The results, at large, do not converge with the related research. Finally, the limitations, managerial implications and recommendations for future research were discussed.

A pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as principais mudanças que vêm ocorrendo nos modos de ser aluno na contemporaneidade, mostrando como estes se constituem aprendentes frente à chamada “Sociedade da Aprendizagem”. Para isso, utilizei como instrumentos de pesquisa entrevistas e questões narrativas, para uma classe de vinte alunos e um Diário de Campo nas turmas onde exercia a docência, em uma escola privada de Novo Hamburgo/RS. A partir das análises dos dados foi possível condensar as recorrências em três Eixos Temáticos e tecer as seguintes considerações. No primeiro Eixo – O Aprendente Escolar da Infância e as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TICs) – observei que os alunos mantêm contato intenso com diversas TICs, conformando modos de subjetivação desses novos sujeitos, alunos caracterizados pelas ações multi-tarefas. O tema de casa se mostrou mais uma atividade sem conotação desafiadora e o ato de estudar em casa, nos moldes tradicionais, não faz parte de seus afazeres extra-escolares. No segundo Eixo – Os Saberes Escolares e o Currículo Cultural – percebi que os alunos, ao narrarem seus aprendizados e fazeres na escola, remetem-se prioritariamente aos conteúdos escolares, fazendo poucas relações com outros mundos onde circulam. Há um significativo espaço ocupado pelo Currículo Cultural, e, por conseguinte, na constituição do sujeito aprendente da infância. E, no terceiro Eixo – O Aprendente da Infância, O Currículo Cultural e as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação – mostrei a escola fora do foco principal para a busca do conhecimento, mas como lugar qualificado para o aluno aprender como ser aprendente por toda a vida. Por fim, a pesquisa possibilitou concluir que as crianças estão aprendendo a aprender por toda a vida. É como se houvesse um “antigo educando” e um “novo aprendente”: Antes, um sujeito educado para ser educável; agora, um sujeito educado para aprender, entretanto, ambos permanecem co-existindo atualmente. / The research aims to analyze the main changes occurring in the ways of being a student in the contemporary time, showing how these learners are facing the so-called "Learning Society”. For this, I used as research, tools narrative interviews and questions for a class of twenty students and a field journal where I worked as a teacher, in a private school of New Hamburgo / RS. From the data analysis it was possible to condense the three recurrences in the theme and make the following considerations. In the first axis – The childhood learner and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) - noticed that students maintain constant contact with various ICTs, according to modes of subjectivity of these new individuals; students are characterized by multi-tasking actions. The homework was more a challenging activity without connotation and the act of studying at home, in the traditional way, was not part of their extra-school activities. In the second axis - The School Knowledge and the Cultural Curriculum - I realized that students, when describing their learning and actions in school, to refer primarily to educational content, making few relations with other worlds where they circulate. There is a significant space occupied by the cultural curriculum, and therefore the constitution of the childhood learner. And on the third axis - The childhood learner, The Curriculum and Cultural Information and Communication Technologies - showed the school was the main focus for the pursuit of knowledge, but as qualified to the place where the student learn how to be learners for life. Finally, the research allowed me to conclude that children are learning to learn throughout life. It is as if there was a "former student" and a "new learner". Before, a man trained to be teachable, now an individual taught to learn, however, both remain co-existing nowadays.

Pour répondre à une demande, toujours croissante, des services multimédias avancés et pour supporter la connectivité électronique partout sur la planète, le développement de systèmes multimédias à large bande ubiquitaires gagne un grand intérêt aux niveaux académique et industriel. Les réseaux satellitaires en général et les constellations de satellites Low Earth Orbit (LEO) plus particulièrement jouent un rôle essentiel dans le déploiement de ces systèmes. Les constellations de satellites LEO telles que "Iridium" ou "Iridium-NEXT" sont extrêmement coûteuses à déployer et à maintenir. Par conséquent, le prolongement de la durée de leur vie est d'une importance cruciale. Dans la partie principale de cette thèse, nous proposons différentes techniques pour prolonger la durée de vie des services satellitaire dans les constellations de satellites LEO. Dans de telles constellations, les satellites peuvent passer plus de 30% de leur temps sous l'ombre de la Terre, temps pendant lequel ils sont alimentés par des batteries. Bien que les batteries soient rechargées par l'énergie solaire, la profondeur de décharge qu'elles atteignent pendant l'éclipse affecte considérablement leur durée de vie et, par extension, la durée de vie des satellites eux-mêmes. Pour des batteries du même type que celles qui alimentent les satellites "Iridium" et "Iridium-NEXT", une augmentation de 15% de la profondeur de décharge peut pratiquement réduire leur durée de vie de moitié. En raison de la nature très uniforme et symétrique des constellations de satellites LEO, il peut y avoir de nombreux chemins alternatifs entre deux noeuds d'un réseau de satellites. La décision relative à l'envoi de données sur un de ces chemins a un effet important sur la durée de vie du réseau. Dans ce contexte, nous nous concentrons tout d'abord sur le routage et nous proposons deux nouvelles métriques de routage, "LASER" et "SLIM", qui tentent de trouver un équilibre entre la performance et la profondeur de décharge de la batterie dans les constellations de satellites LEO. Notre approche de base est de tirer parti du mouvement déterministe des satellites pour favoriser le routage du trafic sur les satellites exposés au soleil plutôt que sur les satellites éclipsés, diminuant ainsi la moyenne de la profondeur de décharge de la batterie, le tout sans pénaliser les performances. Avec l'utilisation d'une topologie LEO réelle et des requêtes de trafic, nous montrons que LASER et SLIM peuvent augmenter la durée de vie de la batterie de près de 75 % et 100 %, respectivement. Ensuite, nous nous occupons de la consolidation des ressources, un nouveau paradigme pour la réduction de la consommation d'énergie. Il consiste à avoir un sous-ensemble, soigneusement sélectionné, de liens réseau à mettre en veille, et à utiliser le reste des liens pour transporter la quantité requise du trafic. Cela est possible sans causer des perturbations majeures aux activités du réseau, étant donné que les réseaux de communication sont conçus pour des périodes de pic de trafic, avec de la redondance, et des ressources surestimées. Comme solutions à ces problèmes, nous proposons deux méthodes différentes pour effectuer la consolidation des ressources dans les réseaux LEO. Premièrement, nous proposons une métrique sensible au trafic pour quantifier la qualité d'une topologie frugal, nommée "MLU". Le problème étant NP-difficile soumis à un seuil "MLU" donné, nous présentons deux heuristiques, "BASIC" et "SNAP", qui représentent différents compromis en termes de performances et de simplicité. Deuxièmement, nous proposons une nouvelle métrique légère n'utilisant pas de trafic pour quantifier la qualité d'une topologie frugal, nommée "ADI". Après avoir montré que le problème de minimisation de la consommation d'énergie d'un réseau LEO soumis à un seuil donné d'ADI est NP-difficile, nous proposons une heuristique nommé "AvOId" à résoudre. / To meet an ever-growing demand for advanced multimedia services and to support electronic connectivity anywhere on the planet, development of ubiquitous broadband multimedia systems is gaining a huge interest at both academic and industry levels. Satellite networks in general and LEO satellite constellations in particular will play an essential role in the deployment of such systems. Therefore, as LEO satellite constellations like Iridium or IridiumNEXT are extremely expensive to deploy and maintain, extending their service lifetimes is of crucial importance. In the main part of this thesis, we propose different techniques for extending satellite service life in LEO satellite constellations. Satellites in such constellations can spend over 30% of their time under the earth’s umbra, time during which they are powered by batteries. While the batteries are recharged by solar energy, the Depth of Discharge (DoD) they reach during eclipse significantly affects their lifetime – and by extension, the service life of the satellites themselves. For batteries of the type that power Iridium and Iridium-NEXT satellites, a 15% increase to the DoD can practically cut their service lives in half. We first focus on routing and propose two new routing metrics – LASER and SLIM – that try to strike a balance between performance and battery DoD in LEO satellite constellations. Our basic approach is to leverage the deterministic movement of satellites for favoring routing traffic over satellites exposed to the sun as opposed to the eclipsed satellites, thereby decreasing the average battery DoD– all without taking a significant penalty in performance. Then, we deal with resource consolidation – a new paradigm for the reduction of the power consumption. It consists in having a carefully selected subset of network links entering a sleep state, and use the rest to transport the required amount of traffic. This possible without causing major disruptions to network activities. Since communication networks are designed over the peak traffic periods, and with redundancy and over-provisioned in mind. As a remedy to these issues, we propose two different methods to perform resource consolidation in LEO networks. First, we propose trafficaware metric for quantifiying the quality of a frugal topology, the Maximum Link Utilization (MLU). With the problem being NP-hard subject to a given MLU threshold, we introduce two heuristics, BASIC and SNAP, which represent different tradeoffs in terms of performance and simplicity. Second, we propose a new lightweight traffic-agnostic metric for quantifiying the quality of a frugal topology, the Adequacy Index (ADI). After showing that the problem of minimizing the power consumption of a LEO network subject to a given ADI threshold is NP-hard, we propose a heuristc named AvOId to solve it. We evaluate both forms of resource consolidation using realistic LEO topologies and traffic requests. The results show that the simple schemes we develop are almost double the satellite batteries lifetime. Following the green networking in LEO systems, the second part of this thesis focuses on extending the resource consolidation schemes to current wired networks. Indeed, the energy consumption of wired networks has been traditionally overlooked. Several studies exhibit that the traffic load of the routers only has a small influence on their energy consumption. Hence, the power consumption in networks is strongly related to the number of active network elements. In this context, we extend the traffic-agnostic metric, ADI, to the wired networks. We model the problem subject to ADI threshold as NP-hard. Then, we propose two polynomial time heuristics – ABStAIn and CuTBAck. Although ABStAIn and CuTBAck are traffic unaware, we assess their behavior under real traffic loads from 3 networks, demonstrating that their performance are comparable to the more complex traffic-aware solutions proposed in the literature.

Les thèmes abordés et développés dans ce manuscrit ont pour objectif de proposer une nouvelle voie pour tester, d'une manière directe, la symétrie de renversement du temps (T) : voie offerte par le LHC grâce à la production copieuse de baryons beaux, spécialement le Λb dont les canaux de désintégration en ΛV(1-) révèleraient l'existence de nouvelles observables impaires par T. L'accent est mis sur l'importance de la polarisation initiale du Λb produit dans les collisions p-p et, surtout, sur celles des résonances intermédiaires issues du Λb. Nous présentons en premier lieu le cadre théorique du travail effectué et en second lieu les différentes voies concernant la recherche directe de la violation de T. Un modèle phénoménologique étudiant la désintégration Λb → Λ J/Ψ a été développé à partir duquel les distributions angulaires ont été calculées. Une étude approfondie de la reconstruction et de la sélection du canal Λb → Λ J/Ψ est exposée ainsi que celle du canal Bd0→ J/Ψ Ks0 ; canal utilisé pour valider la méthode d'extraction du temps de vie du Λb. Sur un autre plan et grâce au démarrage du LHC, une analyse préliminaire des premières données enregistrées par le LHCb a été effectuée ainsi qu'une première mesure prometteuse de la polarisation de l'hypéron Λ. / The topics discussed and developed in this dissertation aim to propose a new way to test, in a direct manner, the symmetry of time reversal (T): an opportunity is offered by the LHC through the copious production of beauty baryons, especially the Λb whose decay channels in ΛV (1-) would reveal the existence of new odd observables under T. The Emphasis is put on the importance of the Λb initial polarization produced in p-p collisions, and especially those of intermediate resonances coming from Λb. We first present the theoretical framework of this work and secondly the different procedures concerning the direct search of T violation. A phenomenological model considering the decay Λb → Λ J/Ψ has been developed, from which angular distributions are computed. A detailed study of the reconstruction and selection of the channel Λb → Λ J/Ψ is exposed as well as that of the channel Bd0 → J/Ψ Ks0 ; channel used to validate the extraction of the Λb lifetime. On another side and due to the start of the LHC, a preliminary analysis of data recorded by the LHCb has been made. A promising first measure of the hyperon Λ polarization was also performed.

A capacidade de o marketing mensurar e comunicar o valor de suas atividades e investimentos tem sido uma das prioridades de pesquisa na área nos últimos anos. Para atingir esse objetivo, a capacidade de mensurar adequadamente os ativos de marketing, como o Customer Lifetime Value e, de forma agregada, o Customer Equity, torna-se essencial, pois esses ativos são considerados os elementos capazes de traduzir em valores monetários o resultado dos diversos investimentos realizados pela área de marketing. Diante da mensuração desses valores, é possível o planejamento e a realização de ações mais precisas por parte dos profissionais de marketing. Sendo assim, no presente estudo objetivou-se construir e aplicar um modelo de estimação de Customer Lifetime Value no modo bottom-up (individual por cliente) em uma amostra de clientes de uma empresa do setor de serviços financeiros. O modelo bayesiano hierárquico aplicado, com três regressões estruturadas conforme o modelo Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR) (ZELNER, 1971), foi construído a partir dos trabalhos de Kumar et al. (2008), Kumar e Shah (2009) e Cowles, Carlin e Connet (1996). Os resultados evidenciaram (1) que o modelo foi capaz de estimar com consistência o valor futuro de 84% dos clientes analisados; (2) que esse valor estimado traduz o potencial de rentabilidade que pode ser esperado futuramente para cada cliente; (3) que a base de clientes pode ser segmentada a partir do Customer Lifetime Value. Diante do conhecimento do valor futuro de cada cliente, se vislumbrou possibilidades de ações que tragam melhorias para gestão de clientes tradicionalmente utilizada, principalmente no que diz respeito à alocação dos recursos de marketing. / The marketing capacity to measure and to communicate the value resultant of its activities and investments has been one of the area top research priorities in the last few years. In order to achieve this objective, the capacity to appropriately measure the marketing assets, as the Customer Lifetime Value and, in aggregate form, the Customer Equity, has been pointed out as essential, because this assets are considered elements capable of translating the result of marketing investments into monetary values. Given the measurement of those values, marketers become able to plan and take more precise actions. Thus, the objective of present study is to build and test a bottom-up Customer Lifetime Value estimation model to a sample of customers from a company of finance services. The bayesian hierarchical model, composed of three regressions structured according to the Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR) model (ZELNER, 1971), was built from the works of Kumar et al. (2008), Kumar and Shah (2009) and Cowles, Carlin and Connet (1996). The results show that (1) the model was capable to estimate with consistency the future value of 84% of the analyzed customers; (2) this estimated future values indicate the potential profitability of each customer; (3) the customer base can be segmented from the Customer Lifetime Value. Given the knowledge obtained about the future value of each customer and the segments established, several actions that can bring improvements to the traditional way of managing customers were suggested, in special those concerning marketing resource allocation.