This dissertation explores the integration and optimization of advanced communication technologies within the collaborative mobile system (CMS), focusing on the system design, implementation, and evaluation over unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Collectively, this dissertation tackles the key challenges of connectivity and performance within CMS. This work demonstrates practical implementations and sheds light on the challenges and opportunities for CMS. The dissertation emphasizes the importance of adaptability and scalability in network design and implementation, particularly in leveraging the integration of hardware and software to adapt to promising architectures. By providing insights into performance under real-world conditions, this work explores the interplay of innovations in UAVs, mobile communications, network architecture, and system performance, paving the way for future network investigation and development.

<p dir="ltr">This Research focuses on developing artificial intelligence tools to detect and mitigate cyber-attacks targeting unmanned aerial vehicles. </p>

Due to the increasing demand of broadband capability and reconfigurability for mobile applications, there is an enormous interest to develop appropriate analog receiver front-ends. In this respect, one promising candidate group is the Six-Port-based direct conversion receiver. The presented work focuses on the investigation of Six-Port-based mobile receiver front-ends with their specific systematical signal processing. Thereby, issues of spurious interfering signals which are generated within the down conversion process of such receivers are of special interest. Based on a comprehensive description of the analog signal processing within additive frequency conversion, a reason could be identified why existing Six-Port receivers have not found any practical application in mobile communication yet – the dynamic DC-offset. With this insight compensation techniques were developed to overcome the negative influences of the dynamic DC-offset. Furthermore, this work presents novel Six-Port-based receiver architectures which, on the one hand, keep the advantages of additive mixing systems like: low power consumption, broadband capability and simplicity of implementation especially for mm-wave transmissions. On the other hand, these novel architectures comprise compensation techniques such that systematically generated spurious signals are inherently compensated in the analog part of the receiver. Moreover, the influence of impairments of phase and amplitude within the IQ-branches of a receiver was investigated. The resulting, unwanted IQ-imbalance was shown to be a mixing method (multiplicative or additive) independent spurious effect. It is suggested to compensate for IQ-imbalance in the digital part of the receiver system. This can be realized with the use of adaptive algorithms. The comparison with conventional analog receiver architectures (especially homodyne receivers) with respect to the reception of today’s and future digitally modulated transmission signals indicate the proposed Six-Port-based receiver architectures to be suitable candidates to fulfill the difficult tasks of modern mobile communication.

Due to the increasing demand of broadband capability and reconfigurability for mobile applications, there is an enormous interest to develop appropriate analog receiver front-ends. In this respect, one promising candidate group is the Six-Port-based direct conversion receiver. The presented work focuses on the investigation of Six-Port-based mobile receiver front-ends with their specific systematical signal processing. Thereby, issues of spurious interfering signals which are generated within the down conversion process of such receivers are of special interest. Based on a comprehensive description of the analog signal processing within additive frequency conversion, a reason could be identified why existing Six-Port receivers have not found any practical application in mobile communication yet – the dynamic DC-offset. With this insight compensation techniques were developed to overcome the negative influences of the dynamic DC-offset. Furthermore, this work presents novel Six-Port-based receiver architectures which, on the one hand, keep the advantages of additive mixing systems like: low power consumption, broadband capability and simplicity of implementation especially for mm-wave transmissions. On the other hand, these novel architectures comprise compensation techniques such that systematically generated spurious signals are inherently compensated in the analog part of the receiver. Moreover, the influence of impairments of phase and amplitude within the IQ-branches of a receiver was investigated. The resulting, unwanted IQ-imbalance was shown to be a mixing method (multiplicative or additive) independent spurious effect. It is suggested to compensate for IQ-imbalance in the digital part of the receiver system. This can be realized with the use of adaptive algorithms. The comparison with conventional analog receiver architectures (especially homodyne receivers) with respect to the reception of today’s and future digitally modulated transmission signals indicate the proposed Six-Port-based receiver architectures to be suitable candidates to fulfill the difficult tasks of modern mobile communication.

En la actualidad, la Internet de las Cosas (Internet of Things, IoT) es una tecnología esencial para la próxima generación de sistemas inalámbricos. La conectividad es la base de IoT, y el tipo de acceso requerido dependerá de la naturaleza de la aplicación. Uno de los principales facilitadores del entorno IoT es la comunicación machine-to-machine (M2M) y, en particular, su enorme potencial para ofrecer conectividad ubicua entre dispositivos inteligentes. Las redes celulares son la elección natural para las aplicaciones emergentes de IoT y M2M. Un desafío importante en las redes celulares es conseguir que la red sea capaz de manejar escenarios de acceso masivo en los que numerosos dispositivos utilizan comunicaciones M2M. Por otro lado, los sistemas celulares han experimentado un tremendo desarrollo en las últimas décadas: incorporan tecnología sofisticada y nuevos algoritmos para ofrecer una amplia gama de servicios. El modelado y análisis del rendimiento de estas redes multiservicio es también una tarea desafiante que podría requerir un gran esfuerzo computacional. Para abordar los desafíos anteriores, nos centramos en primer lugar en el diseño y la evaluación de las prestaciones de nuevos mecanismos de control de acceso para hacer frente a las comunicaciones masivas M2M en redes celulares. Posteriormente nos ocupamos de la evaluación de prestaciones de redes multiservicio y proponemos una nueva técnica analítica que ofrece precisión y eficiencia computacional. Nuestro principal objetivo es proporcionar soluciones para aliviar la congestión en la red de acceso radio cuando un gran número de dispositivos M2M intentan conectarse a la red. Consideramos los siguientes tipos de escenarios: (i) los dispositivos M2M se conectan directamente a las estaciones base celulares, y (ii) forman grupos y los datos se envían a concentradores de tráfico (gateways) que les proporcionan acceso a la infraestructura. En el primer escenario, dado que el número de dispositivos añadidos a la red aumenta continuamente, esta debería ser capaz de manejar el considerable incremento en las solicitudes de acceso. El 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) ha propuesto el access class barring (ACB) como una solución práctica para el control de congestión en la red de acceso radio y la red troncal. El ajuste correcto de los parámetros de ACB de acuerdo con la intensidad del tráfico es crítico, pero cómo hacerlo de forma dinámica y autónoma es un problema complejo cuya solución no está recogida en las especificaciones del 3GPP. Esta tesis doctoral contribuye al análisis del rendimiento y al diseño de nuevos algoritmos que implementen efectivamente este mecanismo, y así superar los desafíos introducidos por las comunicaciones masivas M2M. En el segundo escenario, dado que la heterogeneidad de los dispositivos IoT y las arquitecturas celulares basadas en hardware imponen desafíos aún mayores para permitir una comunicación flexible y eficiente en los sistemas inalámbricos 5G, esta tesis doctoral también contribuye al diseño de software-defined gateways (SD-GWs) en una nueva arquitectura propuesta para redes inalámbricas definidas por software que se denomina SoftAir. Esto permite manejar tanto un gran número de dispositivos como el volumen de datos que estarán vertiendo en la red. Otra contribución de esta tesis doctoral es la propuesta de una técnica novedosa para el análisis de prestaciones de redes multiservicio de alta capacidad que se basa en un nuevo enfoque del modelizado analítico de sistemas que operan a diferentes escalas temporales. Este enfoque utiliza el análisis del transitorio de una serie de subcadenas absorbentes y lo denominamos absorbing Markov chain approximation (AMCA). Nuestros resultados muestran que para un coste computacional dado, AMCA calcula los parámetros de prestaciones habituales de un sistema con mayor precisión, en comparación con los resultados obtenidos por otr / Nowadays, Internet of Things (IoT) is an essential technology for the upcoming generation of wireless systems. Connectivity is the foundation for IoT, and the type of access required will depend on the nature of the application. One of the leading facilitators of the IoT environment is machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and particularly, its tremendous potential to offer ubiquitous connectivity among intelligent devices. Cellular networks are the natural choice for emerging IoT and M2M applications. A major challenge in cellular networks is to make the network capable of handling massive access scenarios in which myriad devices deploy M2M communications. On the other hand, cellular systems have seen a tremendous development in recent decades; they incorporate sophisticated technology and algorithms to offer a broad range of services. The modeling and performance analysis of these large multi-service networks is also a challenging task that might require high computational effort. To address the above challenges, we first concentrate on the design and performance evaluation of novel access control schemes to deal with massive M2M communications. Then, we focus on the performance evaluation of large multi-service networks and propose a novel analytical technique that features accuracy and computational efficiency. Our main objective is to provide solutions to ease the congestion in the radio access or core network when massive M2M devices try to connect to the network. We consider the following two types of scenarios: (i) massive M2M devices connect directly to cellular base stations, and (ii) they form clusters and the data is forwarded to gateways that provide them with access to the infrastructure. In the first scenario, as the number of devices added to the network is constantly increasing, the network should handle the considerable increment in access requests. Access class barring (ACB) is proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a practical congestion control solution in the radio access and core network. The proper tuning of the ACB parameters according to the traffic intensity is critical, but how to do so dynamically and autonomously is a challenging task that has not been specified. Thus, this dissertation contributes to the performance analysis and optimal design of novel algorithms to implement effectively this barring scheme and overcome the challenges introduced by massive M2M communications. In the second scenario, since the heterogeneity of IoT devices and the hardware-based cellular architectures impose even greater challenges to enable flexible and efficient communication in 5G wireless systems, this dissertation also contributes to the design of software-defined gateways (SD-GWs) in a new architecture proposed for wireless software-defined networks called SoftAir. The deployment of these SD-GWs represents an alternative solution aiming at handling both a vast number of devices and the volume of data they will be pouring into the network. Another contribution of this dissertation is to propose a novel technique for the performance analysis of large multi-service networks. The underlying complexity of the network, particularly concerning its size and the ample range of configuration options, makes the solution of the analytical models computationally costly. However, a typical characteristic of these networks is that they support multiple types of traffic flows operating at different time-scales. This time-scale separation can be exploited to reduce considerably the computational cost associated to determine the key performance indicators. Thus, we propose a novel analytical modeling approach based on the transient regime analysis, that we name absorbing Markov chain approximation (AMCA). For a given computational cost, AMCA finds common performance indicators with greater accuracy, when compared to the results obtained by other approximate methods proposed in the literature. / En l'actualitat, la Internet de les Coses (Internet of Things, IoT) és una tecnologia essencial per a la propera generació de sistemes sense fil. La connectivitat és la base d'IoT, i el tipus d'accés requerit dependrà de la naturalesa de l'aplicació. Un dels principals facilitadors de l'entorn IoT és la comunicació machine-to-machine (M2M) i, en particular, el seu enorme potencial per oferir connectivitat ubiqua entre dispositius intel · ligents. Les xarxes mòbils són l'elecció natural per a les aplicacions emergents de IoT i M2M. Un desafiament important en les xarxes mòbils que actualment está rebent molta atenció és aconseguir que la xarxa siga capaç de gestionar escenaris d'accés massiu en què una gran quantitat de dispositius utilitzen comunicacions M2M. D'altra banda, els sistemes mòbils han experimentat un gran desenvolupament en les últimes dècades: incorporen tecnologia sofisticada i nous algoritmes per oferir una àmplia gamma de serveis. El modelatge i análisi del rendiment d'aquestes xarxes multiservei és també un desafiament important que podria requerir un gran esforç computacional. Per abordar els desafiaments anteriors, en aquesta tesi doctoral ens centrem en primer lloc en el disseny i l'avaluació de les prestacions de nous mecanismes de control d'accés per fer front a les comunicacions massives M2M en xarxes cel · lulars. Posteriorment ens ocupem de l'avaluació de prestacions de xarxes multiservei i proposem una nova tècnica analítica que ofereix precisió i eficiència computacional. El nostre principal objectiu és proporcionar solucions per a alleujar la congestió a la xarxa d'accés ràdio quan un gran nombre de dispositius M2M intenten connectar-se a la xarxa. Considerem els dos tipus d'escenaris següents: (i) els dispositius M2M es connecten directament a les estacions base cel · lulars, i (ii) formen grups i les dades s'envien a concentradors de trànsit (gateways) que els proporcionen accés a la infraestructura. En el primer escenari, atès que el nombre de dispositius afegits a la xarxa augmenta contínuament, aquesta hauria de ser capaç de gestionar el considerable increment en les sol · licituds d'accés. El 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) ha proposat l'access class barring (ACB) com una solució pràctica per al control de congestió a la xarxa d'accès ràdio i la xarxa troncal. L'ajust correcte dels paràmetres d'ACB d'acord amb la intensitat del trànsit és crític, però com fer-ho de forma dinàmica i autònoma és un problema complex, la solució del qual no està recollida en les especificacions del 3GPP. Aquesta tesi doctoral contribueix a l'anàlisi del rendiment i al disseny de nous algoritmes que implementen efectivament aquest mecanisme, i així superar els desafiaments introduïts per les comunicacions massives M2M en les xarxes mòbils actuals i futures. En el segon escenari, atès que l'heterogeneïtat dels dispositius IoT i les arquitectures cel · lulars basades en hardware imposen desafiaments encara més grans per permetre una comunicació flexible i eficient en els sistemes sense fil 5G, aquesta tesi doctoral també contribueix al disseny de software-defined gateways (SD-GWS) en una nova arquitectura proposada per a xarxes sense fils definides per programari que s'anomena SoftAir. Això permet gestionar tant un gran nombre de dispositius com el volum de dades que estaran abocant a la xarxa. Una altra contribució d'aquesta tesi doctoral és la proposta d'una tècnica innovadora per a l'anàlisi de prestacions de xarxes multiservei d'alta capacitat que es basa en un nou enfocament del modelitzat analític de sistemes que operen a diferents escales temporals. Aquest enfocament utilitza l'anàlisi del transitori d'una sèrie de subcadenes absorbents i l'anomenem absorbing Markov chain Approximation (AMCA). Els nostres resultats mostren que per a un cost computacional donat, AMCA calcula els paràmetres de prestacions habituals d / Tello Oquendo, LP. (2018). Design and Performance Analysis of Access Control Mechanisms for Massive Machine-to-Machine Communications in Wireless Cellular Networks [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/107946

本研究探討長期投資人之最適資產配置問題，並著重於通貨膨脹風險之分析。第一部份討論確定提撥退休金制度下，機構投資人或高所得自然人如何擬定投資策略規避通貨膨脹風險，達到極大化期末財富效用期望值。此研究擴展Battocchio與Menoncin (2004)所建構資產模型，不僅探討市場風險，亦考量通貨膨脹不確定性與基金費用誘因、下方風險保護兩機制，研究對資產配置行為之影響，並依動態規劃方法求得投資策略公式解。第二部份則強調下方風險之重要性，檢視在最低保證收益下，長期投資人跨期資產配置之財富管理議題，並回顧Deelstra et al.(2003)之模型架構，依平賭方法求得投資策略公式解，研究結果顯示基金投資策略可表示為最適CRRA(γ,T)型態共同基金與最低收益避險之組合。另一方面，如何估計通貨膨脹風險亦為本文強調之重點。Campbell和Viceira (2001)首次納入通貨膨脹風險並探討跨期投資議題，結論市場缺乏通貨膨脹連動投資標的時，投資人將減碼長期債持有比例。Brennan和Xia (2002)假設通貨膨脹率服從Ornstein-Uhlenbeck過程，結論投資人之避險需求隨持有債券到期日與投資期限改變。但以上結論未將通貨膨脹學習機制納入模型，因此，在第三部份提出依學習機制修正之投資策略可顯著增加財富效用，並分析在不同參數設定下，學習機制對於期末財富效用之影響。 / In this study, we study three essays of asset allocation problem for long term investors, which means that in this discourse we emphasis the importance of inflation risk. In the first topic, we derive the dynamic optimal investment strategy of the defined contribution pension schemes which include two mechanisms of partial floor protection and incentive fees and their benchmarks. We find investors should hold high proportion of stock index fund to hedge the inflation risk; moreover, the ratio of incentive fees to the setting of benchmark will change the optimal investment trend of underlying assets. In the second topic, we introduce the optimal investment portfolio with minimum guarantees and show that the fund manager should adjust the optimal weights of underlying assets with the ratio of the guarantee fund's value to the value of fund. Finally, this work focuses on how to precisely predict the dynamics of inflation rate. We apply learning method to adjust the prediction of inflation process and we use numerical analysis to study the effect of learning mechanism under different parameter setting.

Dans cette thèse, nous présentons nos travaux dans le domaine de l'algorithme de décodage non-binaire pour les classes générales de codes LDPC non-binaires. Les Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes ont été initialement présentés par Gallager en 1963, et après quelques avancées théoriques fondamentales, ils ont été pris en compte dans les normes comme le DVB-S2, WI-MAX, DSL, W-LAN etc. Plus tard, Les codes LDPC non-binaires (NB-LDPC) ont été proposés dans la littérature, et ont montré de meilleures performances lorsque la taille du code est petite ou lorsqu'il est utilisé sur des canaux non-binaires. Toutefois, les avantages de l'utilisation des codes LDPC non-binaires entrainent une complexité de décodage fortement accrue. Pour un code défini dans GF (q), la complexité est de l'ordre O(q^2). De même, la mémoire nécessaire pour stocker les messages est d'ordre O(q). Par conséquent, l'implémentation d'un décodeur LDPC-définie sur un ordre q> 64 devient pratiquement impossible.L'objectif principal de la thèse est de développer des algorithmes a complexité réduite, pour les codes LDPC non-binaires qui démontrent un rendement excellent et qui soient implémentable. Pour optimiser les performances de décodage, non seulement l'algorithme de décodage est important, mais aussi la structure du code joue un rôle important. Avec cet objectif à l'esprit, une nouvelle famille de codes appelés codes cluster-NB-LDPC a été élaboré et des améliorations spécifiques du décodeur NB pour les codes de cluster-NB-LDPC ont été proposés. Notre principal résultat est que nous étions en mesure de proposer des décodeurs de codes cluster-NB-LDPC avec une complexité réduite par rapport à décodeurs d'habitude pour les codes LDPC-NB sur les corps de Galois, sans aucune perte de performance en matière de la capacité de correction d'erreur. / In this thesis we present our work in the domain of non-binary decoding algorithm for general classes of non-binary LDPC codes. Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes were originally presented by Gallager in 1963, and after some fundamental theoretical advancements, they were considered in standards like DVB-S2, WI-MAX, DSL, W-LAN etc. Later on, non-binary LDPC (NB-LDPC)codes were proposed in the litterature, and showed better performance for small lengths or when used on non-binary channels. However, the advantages of using NB-LDPC codes comes with the consequence of an heavily increased decoding complexity. For a code defined in GF(q), the complexity is of the order O(q^2). Similarly, the memory required for storing messages is of order O(q). Consequently, the implementation of an LDPC-decoder defined over a field order q > 64 becomes practically impossible.The main objective of the thesis is to develop reduced complexity algorithms for non-binary LDPC codes that exhibit excellent performance and is practically im-plementable. For better decoding performance, not only the decoding algorithm is important, but also the structure of the code plays an important role. With this goal in mind, a new family of codes called cluster-NB-LDPC codes was developped and specific improvements of the NB decoder for cluster-NB-LDPC codes were proposed. Our principal result is that we were able to propose decoders for cluster-NB-LDPC codes with reduced complexity compared to usual decoders for NB-LDPC codes on fields, without any performance loss in error correction capability.

By 2020 there will be 50 billion connected devices over the Internet. With the fast-increasing data traffic demand in both fixed and mobile networks, network operators need to migrate networks towards next generation solutions. The network migration requires the enormous investment in equipment and infrastructure, while the revenues are not expected to grow significantly. Therefore, one of the main challenges for network operators is to find out a proper cost-effective optical network solution that can match future high capacity demand and flexibly support multiple network services on a common network infrastructure. The first part of the thesis addresses the Active Optical Network (AON) and its migration strategies towards Next Generation Optical Access (NGOA) solutions. Several migration strategies are proposed from the perspective of network topology, data plane and control plane. A general methodology for Techno-Economic analysis has been developed and applied to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculation of different NGOA solutions. The thesis provides a complete cost evaluation of AON migration paths, which can be used by network operators to assess the economic feasibility of network migration. A converged Optical Transport Network (OTN) that can serve both fixed and mobile network services is beneficial from the cost-saving perspective. However, the different types of services, require different network performance. The second part of the thesis focuses on the investigation of the converged OTN that can be flexibly and timely adjusted to satisfy varying service conditions. A programmable OTN featured with Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) in the data plane and Software Defined Networking (SDN) in control plane has been proposed. To demonstrate the benefits of the converged OTN, the thesis also provides a multi-domain orchestration architecture for the multiple network services.  The resource orchestration, across three network domains: OTN, mobile network and cloud, enables agile service creation and optimized resource allocation among the multiple domains. / <p>QC 20170512</p>

La tendance à la numérisation de nombreux secteurs industriels tels que l’automobile, l’agriculture, les transports, la gestion urbaine, etc. révèle la nécessité de nouveaux usages des services de communication point-à-multipoint, tels que la fourniture massive de mises à jour logicielles et livraison fiable de messages d’alerte à la population, etc. D’un autre côté, la mise en logiciel des réseaux de nouvelle génération, avec notamment l’adoption croissante des réseaux définis par logiciel (SDN), apporte au réseau la flexibilité et les capacités de programmation permettant de prendre en charge des services de distribution point-à-multipoint de manière rentable. Cette thèse contribue au problème général de la fourniture de services de communication point-à-multipoint avec des exigences de qualité de service (QoS) dans un réseau SDN multi-domaines. Il considère également que certains des domaines sont des réseaux multi-sauts sans-fil. Tout d’abord, une technique d’agrégation de topologie de domaine basée sur une arborescence de Steiner, combinée à un algorithme heuristique d’allocation de ressources, sont proposés pour prendre en charge des services point-à-multipoint couvrant plusieurs domaines. Ensuite, un service de découverte de topologie générique est proposé pour les réseaux multi-sauts sans-fil basés sur le SDN afin de permettre au contrôleur SDN de créer et de gérer une vue complète du réseau avec divers attributs de nœud et de liaison sans-fil. Le contrôleur peut alors exposer des vues personnalisées aux applications de contrôle du réseau, telles que, par exemple, l’application en charge de la fourniture de services point-à-multipoint sur un réseau multi-sauts sans-fil basé sur le paradigme SDN. Un algorithme basé sur la programmation linéaire en nombres entiers et un algorithme génétique sont également proposés pour l’allocation de liens virtuels point-à-multipoint sur un réseau sans-fil multi-radio, multi-canaux et multi-sauts basé sur SDN. Enfin, pour traiter le cas des services dynamiques point-à-multipoint, nous proposons un schéma de réallocation de ressources qui répond aux exigences changeantes tout en réduisant les interuptions de service. / The movement towards the digitalization of many industry sectors such as automotive, agriculture, transportation, city management, etc. is revealing the need for novel usages of point-to-multipoint network delivery services, such as massive delivery of software updates to objects, secure and reliable delivery of alert messages to population, etc. On another side, the softwarization of next generation networks, with amongst, the increasing adoption of Software Defined Networks (SDN) is bringing to the network the flexibility and programming capabilities that enable the support of point-to-multipoint delivery services in an efficient and cost-effective way. This PhD work contributes to the general problem of providing point-tomultipoint delivery services with Quality of Service (QoS) requirements in a multidomain SDN network. It also considers that some of the domains are wireless multi hop networks. First, a Steiner tree based network domain topology aggregation combined with a resource allocation heuristic algorithm is proposed to support point-to-multipoint delivery services that span multiple domains. Then, a generic topology discovery service is proposed for SDN based wireless multi-hop networks to let the SDN controller build and maintain a comprehensive view of the network with various node and wireless link attributes. From there, customized views can be exposed by the controller to network control applications, as, for instance, the application in charge of provisioning point-to-multipoint services on a SDN based wireless multi-hop network. An Integer linear programming based algorithm and a genetic algorithm are also proposed for the embedding of point-to-multipoint services on a SDN based multi-radio, multi-channel and multi-hop wireless network. Last, to address the case of dynamic point-to-multipoint services, we propose a resource reallocation scheme that meets the changing requirements while reducing service disruption.

The purpose of this research was to study the synthesis and remodeling of extracellular matrix (ECM) by fibroblasts with special emphasis on the culture environment (media composition and initial ECM composition) and the resulting mechanical integrity of the ECM. This was investigated by culturing fibroblasts for 3 weeks in a variety of culture conditions consisting of collagen gels, fibrin gels, or media permissive to the self-production of ECM (Cell-Derived Matrix), and quantifying the mechanics of the resulting ECM. The mechanical characteristics were related to the biochemistry of the resulting ECM, notably in terms of collagen accumulation and collagen fibril diameters. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the collagen gels and fibrin gels at the end of the 3-week period was 168.5 ± 43.1 kPa and 133.2 ± 10.6 kPa, respectively. The ultimate tensile strength of the cell-derived matrices was 223.2 ± 9 kPa, and up to 697.1 ± 36.1 kPa when cultured in a chemically-defined medium that was developed for the rapid growth of matrix in a more defined environment. Normalizing the strength to collagen density resulted in a UTS / Collagen Density in these groups of 6.4 ± 1.9 kPa/mg/cm3, 25.9 ± 2.4 kPa/mg/cm3, 14.5 ± 1.1 kPa/mg/cm3, and 40.0 ± 1.9 kPa/mg/cm3, respectively. Cells were synthetically more active when they produced their own matrix than when they were placed within gels. The resulting matrix was also significantly stronger when it was self-produced than when the cells rearranged the matrix within gels that corresponded to a significantly larger fraction of non-acid and pepsin extractable collagen. These studies indicate that cell-derived matrices have potential both as in vitro wound healing models and as soft connective tissue substitutes.