Microwave Photonics(MWP) has been defined as the study of photonic devices which operate at microwave frequencies and also their applications to microwave and optical systems. One or more electrical signals at microwave frequencies are transported over the optic link ,with electrical to optical and optical to electrical conversion on the transmission and receiving side respectively. The key advantages of microwave photonic links over conventional electrical transmission systems such as coaxial cables or waveguides ,includes reduced size, weight and cost, immunity to electromagnetic interference ,low dispersion and high data transfer capacity. Integrated Optics is the name given to a new generation of opto-electronic systems in which the familiar wires and cables are replaced by light-waveguiding optical fibers, and conventional integrated circuits are replaced by optical integrated circuits (OICs).Microwave Photonics with photonic integration can add the benefits of reduction in system size, losses, short path lengths leading to more efficient cost effective systems. In this thesis, a new approach for using 1-D linear arrays of curved waveguides as delay lines is presented. We propose a design for a passive phase shifter obtained by curved waveguide delay lines. The modulated RF signal obtains the phase shift in the optical domain which is transferred to the RF signal by heterodyning techniques .This phase shift is independent of the RF frequency and hence the Beam squinting which occurs in the conventional RF phase shifter systems is avoided in the proposed system. Switching between different lengths of the bent/curved waveguides can produce variable phase shifts ranging from 0 to 2 radians. The use of curved waveguides for delay generation and optimization of various parameters are the main topics of the research problem. The need for delay line is large and most of these were implemented previously using long optical fiber cables. More precise delays could be obtained by using waveguide delay lines as compared to fiber delay lines. Waveguides paves way for design in smaller dimensions ranging from m to nm in integrated optics. The differential phase shift for a signal propagating in a waveguide from waveguide theory is given as which clearly indicates that the differential phase shifts could be obtained in accordance with differential path lengths Δl with β as the propagation constant. S-bend waveguide sections of different lengths along with straight waveguide as reference for each section are employed. The phase delay is passively obtained by a differential path length change, where various phase shift values can be obtained by switching between different differential path lengths. Since the optical phase delay generated is in- dependent of the input RF frequency. A shift in the RF frequency, at the input will not change the phase or beam pointing angle when the phase shifter is employed for beam pointing in case of Phased Array Antenna applications. A 1-bit phase shifter is the firrst step in the design which could be further extended to n-bit phase shifter. Here 1-bit or n-bit ,is one where n can take any integer value. Each bit is composed of a reference phase signal pathway and a delayed phase signal pathway. When the optical signal goes every single bit through the reference phase the phase shift is ‘0’ radians ,the other is through the delayed path which is . For every n-bit, 2n delays can be obtained. For the 1-bit,2 delays are obtained. Switching between the path lengths is done using the directional coupler switches. Th optimization of different parameters of the S-bend waveguide delay line has been realized and studied. The design and optimisation of a 1-bit optical RF phase shifter is discussed which could be extended to n-bit phase shifters. These S-bends are studied analytically. Beam Propagation Method (BPM)is employed for modeling and simulation of the proposed device. An interferometric configuration is considered for practical measurement of optical phase. In this configuration the phase change is translated into amplitude or intensity measurement. One of the arms of the Maczehdner Interferometer has no path length change while the other arm has an S-bend structure which provides the path length difference as compared to the reference path, and hence produces the necessary phase shift at the output of the interferometer as required. By changing the path length difference between the two arms of the interferometer ,a change in intensity is produced at the output of the interferometer. In this study, integrated optic curved waveguide delay line phase shifters are designed and analyzed, considering the Titanium Di used Lithium Niobate Technology. This is because it has good electro-optic properties necessary for designing switches used for switching between delay segments. Practical parameters that can be fabricated are employed in the design and simulation studies reported here. Fabrication is also done using the Lithium Niobate Technology. However the fabrication studies are excluded from the main stream, as further fabrication studies are necessary to realise the actual devices de- signed. The fabrication aspects are left as scope for further development. The fabricated devices are shown as appendix to the thesis. Organisation of the thesis Chapter 1 gives the introduction to the fields of Microwave Photonics and Integrated optics and its applications. Chapter 2discusses the curved waveguide theory and design with coverage of materials and methods employed in the proposed system. Chapter 3 discusses the different types of delay lines and the design of the 1-bit phase shifter which can be extended to the design of a n-bit phase shifter with both analytical and simulation results. Chapter 4 discusses the method of phase measurement for the n-bit phase shifter and the possible applications where the phase shifter could be employed. Chapter 5 discusses conclusions and future work in the proposed area of work. Appendix A discusses the loss calculations for the Cosine S-bend waveguide. Appendix B gives the fabrication details. The references form the end part of the thesis.

In the last fifteen years, a great deal of effort has been put forth, worldwide, for investigating and enhancing various aspects of optical coherence tomography (OCT). This thesis begins with a description of the technique of OCT, and an analysis of its underlying theory. The design and construction of an OCT system is described, with particular emphasis on a novel delay scanning method, and novel signal processing. Application of OCT to non-destructive characterisation of seeds, examination of skin lesions, measurement of fluid flow, and refractive index determination, are then demonstrated. Two technological enhancements to OCT are presented in this thesis. The first, an extended-range Fourier domain optical delay line (FDODL), extends the scan range of the traditional FDODL by a factor of almost 9, by scanning the galvanometer mirror around the region of zero tilt-angle. Polarisation optics are used to prevent light coupling back into the interferometer after only a single pass through the FDODL. A non-coplanar version of the FDODL is also presented, which overcomes the losses associated with the polarisation-based design, but trades off scan range to do so. Both versions of FDODL demonstrated excellent linearity and scan uniformity. The second technology presented here, bifocal optical coherence refractometry (BOCR), affords OCT the ability to measure refractive indices within turbid media. It achieves this by generating two confocal gates within the sample. From knowledge of the system parameters, and measurements of the confocal gate separation, the refractive index within the medium is evaluated to within ±0.01. Refractive index mapping is then demonstrated in a number of turbid samples. Three other applications of OCT are also demonstrated in this thesis. The first is the use of OCT to measure full thickness in lupin seeds. Although OCT could not penetrate the entire thickness of the hull, it is demonstrated that the variation in thickness of the two layers observed with OCT, explained 81% of the variation in thickness of the entire hull measured under a SEM. OCT was then applied, for what is believed to be the first time, in a large scale seed screening program. The second application is a preliminary investigation of the suitability of OCT to aid in the diagnosis of skin lesions. Although our system did not possess sufficient positioning accuracy to enable a direct one-to-one comparison between OCT and histology, a number of correspondences between OCT and histology images were demonstrated. The final application of OCT demonstrated here is a novel phase-locked-loop based demodulation scheme, to perform Doppler OCT. This demodulation scheme demonstrated a dynamic range of 98dB, a velocity range of ±20mm/s, and velocity resolution of 0.5mm/s. Using this system, laminar flow was demonstrated in milk flowing through a capillary tube.

Abstract This thesis describes the development of a high precision time-to-digital converter (TDC) in which the conversion is based on a counter and three-stage stabilised delay line interpolation developed in this work. The biggest design challenges in the design of a TDC are related to the fact that the arrival moment of the hit signals (start and stop) is unknown and asynchronous with respect to the reference clock edges. Yet, the time interval measurement system must provide an immediate and unambiguous measurement result over the full dynamic range. It must be made sure that the readings from the counter and the interpolators are always consistent with very high probability. Therefore, the operation of the counter is controlled with a synchronising logic that is in turn controlled with the interpolation result. Another synchronising logic makes it possible to synchronise the timing signals with multiphase time-interleaved clock signals as if the synchronising was done with a GHz-level clock, and enables multi-stage interpolation. Multi-stage interpolation reduces the number of delay cells and registers needed. The delay line interpolators are stabilised with nested delay-locked loops, which leads to good stability and makes it possible to improve single-shot precision with a single look-up table containing the integral nonlinearities of the interpolators measured at the room temperature. A multi-channel prototype TDC was fabricated in a 0.6 μm digital CMOS process. The prototype reaches state-of-the-art rms single-shot precision of better than 20 ps and low power consumption of 50 mW as an integrated TDC.

Silicon photonics has been a rapidly growing subfield of integrated optics and optoelectronic in the last decade and is currently considered a mature technology. The main thrust behind the growth is its compatibility with the mature and low-cost microelectronic integrated circuits fabrication process. In recent years, several active and passive photonic devices and circuits have been demonstrated on silicon. Optical delay lines are among important silicon photonic devices, which are essential for a variety of photonic system applications including optical beam-forming for controlling phased-array antennas, optical communication and networking systems and optical coherence tomography. In this thesis, several types of delay lines based on apodized grating waveguides are proposed and demonstrated. Simulation and experimental results suggest that these novel devices can provide high optical delay and tunability at very high bit rate. While most of silicon photonics research has focused in the near-infrared wavelengths, extending the operating wavelength range of the technology into in the 3–5 µm, or the mid-wave infrared regime, is a more recent field of research. A key challenge has been that the standard silicon-on-insulator waveguides are not suitable for the midinfrared, since the material loss of the buried oxide layer becomes substantially high. Here, the silicon-on-sapphire waveguide technology, which can extend silicon’s operating wavelength range up to 4.4 µm, is investigated. Furthermore, silicon-on-nitride waveguides, boasting a wide transparent range of 1.2–6.7 μm, are demonstrated and iv characterized for the first time at both mid-infrared (3.39 μm) and near-infrared (1.55 μm) wavelengths.

Disertacijoje sprendžiama lėtinimo sistemų kraštinių ir galinių laidininkų įtakos modelių tikslumui įvertinimo problema. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai – daugialaidžių ir meandrinių mikrojuostelinių linijų matematiniai modeliai, skaitiniai analizės metodai. Darbo tikslas – sukūrus modelius, grįstus baigtinių skirtumų laiko srities metodu, ištirti galinių ir kraštinių laidininkų netolygumų įtaką meandrinių mikrojuostelinių vėlinimo linijų laiko ir dažninėms charakteristikoms, pasiūlyti meandrinių vėlinimo linijų konstrukcijų tobulinimo priemones. Darbe sprendžiami uždaviniai: matematinių pavienės, susietųjų ir daugialaidžių mikrojuostelinių linijų modelių sudarymas ir savybių tyrimas, taikant baigtinių skirtumų bei baigtinių skirtumų laiko srities analizės metodus; daugialaidžių mikrojuostelinių linijų sintezės ir meandrinių mikrojuostelinių vėlinimo linijų analizės algoritmų bei jų elektrinių charakteristikų skaičiavimo metodikų sudarymas. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, keturi skyriai, bendrosios išvados, naudotos literatūros ir autoriaus publikacijų disertacijos tema sąrašai. Įvadiniame skyriuje formuluojama tiriamoji problema, aptariamas darbo aktualumas, aprašomas tyrimų objektas, formuluojamas darbo tikslas bei uždaviniai, aprašoma tyrimų metodika, darbo mokslinis naujumas, rezultatų praktinė reikšmė, ginamieji teiginiai. Įvado pabaigoje pristatomi pranešimai konferencijose disertacijos tema bei pateikiama disertacijos struktūra. Pirmajame skyriuje pateikiama literatūros... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There are investigated accuracy issues of edges and ends evaluation problems of meander slow-wave systems in the dissertation. Objects of research – mathematical models of multiconductor and meander microstrip delay lines, numerical analysis methods. Aim of the work – after creating mathematical models, based on finite difference time domain method, explore ends and edges discontinuity effects on meander microstrip delay lines time and frequency characteristics, propose structural improvement measures of meander delay line. The dissertation approaches major tasks such as: mathematical individual, coupled, multiconductor microstrip lines models composition for performance and their properties investigation using finite difference and finite difference time domain methods of analysis; synthesis algorithm of multiconductor microstrip lines and analysis algorithm of meander microstrip delay line and methodology of their electrical characteristics calculation creation. The thesis consists of four parts including introduction, 4 chapters, conclusions, references. The introduction reveals investigated problem, importance of the thesis and object of research. It also describes the purpose and tasks of the dissertation, research methodology, scientific novelty and the practical significance of results examined in the thesis and defended statements. The introduction ends in presenting the author’s publications on the subject of the defended dissertation, offering the material of made... [to full text]

There are investigated accuracy issues of edges and ends evaluation problems of meander slow-wave systems in the dissertation. Objects of research – mathematical models of multiconductor and meander microstrip delay lines, numerical analysis methods. Aim of the work – after creating mathematical models, based on finite difference time domain method, explore ends and edges discontinuity effects on meander microstrip delay lines time and frequency characteristics, propose structural improvement measures of meander delay line. The dissertation approaches major tasks such as: mathematical individual, coupled, multiconductor microstrip lines models composition for performance and their properties investigation using finite difference and finite difference time domain methods of analysis; synthesis algorithm of multiconductor microstrip lines and analysis algorithm of meander microstrip delay line and methodology of their electrical characteristics calculation creation. The thesis consists of four parts including introduction, 4 chapters, conclusions, references. The introduction reveals investigated problem, importance of the thesis and object of research. It also describes the purpose and tasks of the dissertation, research methodology, scientific novelty and the practical significance of results examined in the thesis and defended statements. The introduction ends in presenting the author’s publications on the subject of the defended dissertation, offering the material of made... [to full text] / Disertacijoje sprendžiama lėtinimo sistemų kraštinių ir galinių laidininkų įtakos modelių tikslumui įvertinimo problema. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai – daugialaidžių ir meandrinių mikrojuostelinių linijų matematiniai modeliai, skaitiniai analizės metodai. Darbo tikslas – sukūrus modelius, grįstus baigtinių skirtumų laiko srities metodu, ištirti galinių ir kraštinių laidininkų netolygumų įtaką meandrinių mikrojuostelinių vėlinimo linijų laiko ir dažninėms charakteristikoms, pasiūlyti meandrinių vėlinimo linijų konstrukcijų tobulinimo priemones. Darbe sprendžiami uždaviniai: matematinių pavienės, susietųjų ir daugialaidžių mikrojuostelinių linijų modelių sudarymas ir savybių tyrimas, taikant baigtinių skirtumų bei baigtinių skirtumų laiko srities analizės metodus; daugialaidžių mikrojuostelinių linijų sintezės ir meandrinių mikrojuostelinių vėlinimo linijų analizės algoritmų bei jų elektrinių charakteristikų skaičiavimo metodikų sudarymas. Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, keturi skyriai, bendrosios išvados, naudotos literatūros ir autoriaus publikacijų disertacijos tema sąrašai. Įvadiniame skyriuje formuluojama tiriamoji problema, aptariamas darbo aktualumas, aprašomas tyrimų objektas, formuluojamas darbo tikslas bei uždaviniai, aprašoma tyrimų metodika, darbo mokslinis naujumas, rezultatų praktinė reikšmė, ginamieji teiginiai. Įvado pabaigoje pristatomi pranešimai konferencijose disertacijos tema bei pateikiama disertacijos struktūra. Pirmajame skyriuje pateikiama literatūros... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

The objective of the research presented in this thesis is to investigate alternative ways of information processing employing asynchronous, data driven, and analogue computation in massively parallel cellular processor arrays, with applications in machine vision and artificial intelligence. The use of cellular processor architectures, with only local neighbourhood connectivity, is considered in VLSI realisations of the trigger-wave propagation in binary image processing, and in Bayesian inference. Design issues, critical in terms of the computational precision and system performance, are extensively analysed, accounting for the non-ideal operation of MOS devices caused by the second order effects, noise and parameter mismatch. In particular, CMOS hardware solutions for two specific tasks: binary image skeletonization and sum-product algorithm for belief propagation in factor graphs, are considered, targeting efficient design in terms of the processing speed, power, area, and computational precision. The major contributions of this research are in the area of continuous-time and discrete-time CMOS circuit design, with applications in moderate precision analogue and asynchronous computation, accounting for parameter variability. Various analogue and digital circuit realisations, operating in the continuous-time and discrete-time domains, are analysed in theory and verified using combined Matlab-Hspice simulations, providing a versatile framework suitable for custom specific analyses, verification and optimisation of the designed systems. Novel solutions, exhibiting reduced impact of parameter variability on the circuit operation, are presented and applied in the designs of the arithmetic circuits for matrix-vector operations and in the data driven asynchronous processor arrays for binary image processing. Several mismatch optimisation techniques are demonstrated, based on the use of switched-current approach in the design of current-mode Gilbert multiplier circuit, novel biasing scheme in the design of tunable delay gates, and averaging technique applied to the analogue continuous-time circuits realisations of Bayesian networks. The most promising circuit solutions were implemented on the PPATC test chip, fabricated in a standard 90 nm CMOS process, and verified in experiments.

An analysis using numerical methods can calculate electrical and construction characteristics parameters of microwave devices quite accurately. However, numerical methods require a lot of computation resources and time for calculations to be made. Rapid perfection of the computer technologies and software with implementation of the numerical methods has laid down the conditions to the rapid design of the microwave devices using computers. / Disertacijoje nagrinėjamos mikrobangų įtaisų analizės ir sintezės proble-mos, taikant lygiagrečiąsias kompiuterines sistemas. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai yra daugialaidės mikrojuostelinės linijos ir meandrinės mikrojuostelinės vėlinimo linijos. Šie objektai leidžia perduoti, sinchronizuoti bei vėlinti siunčiamus signalus ir yra neatsiejama dalis daugelio mikrobangų prietaisų. Jų operatyvi ir tiksli analizė bei sintezė sąlygoja įtaisų kūrimo spartinimą. Pagrindinis disertacijos tikslas – sukurti lygiagrečiąsias metodikas ir algoritmus, skirtus sparčiai ir tiksliai atlikti minėtų linijų analizę ir sintezę. Sukurtų algoritmų ir metodikų taikymo sritis – mikrobangų įtaisų modeliavimo ir automatizuoto projektavimo progra-minė įranga.

Disertacijoje nagrinėjamos mikrobangų įtaisų analizės ir sintezės proble-mos, taikant lygiagrečiąsias kompiuterines sistemas. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai yra daugialaidės mikrojuostelinės linijos ir meandrinės mikrojuostelinės vėlinimo linijos. Šie objektai leidžia perduoti, sinchronizuoti bei vėlinti siunčiamus signalus ir yra neatsiejama dalis daugelio mikrobangų prietaisų. Jų operatyvi ir tiksli analizė bei sintezė sąlygoja įtaisų kūrimo spartinimą. Pagrindinis disertacijos tikslas – sukurti lygiagrečiąsias metodikas ir algoritmus, skirtus sparčiai ir tiksliai atlikti minėtų linijų analizę ir sintezę. Sukurtų algoritmų ir metodikų taikymo sritis – mikrobangų įtaisų modeliavimo ir automatizuoto projektavimo progra-minė įranga. / An analysis using numerical methods can calculate electrical and construction characteristics parameters of microwave devices quite accurately. However, numerical methods require a lot of computation resources and time for calculations to be made. Rapid perfection of the computer technologies and software with implementation of the numerical methods has laid down the conditions to the rapid design of the microwave devices using computers.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Electrical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013 / Networked Control Systems is a control system where the plant and the controller exchange information via a shared communication network and the network is considered as part of the closed loop control system. Unfortunately the network introduces network induced random varying time delays and data packet loss amongst the communication network imperfections. The network delays are considered to be between the controller and the actuator and between the sensor and the controller. These network imperfections degrade the performance of the closed loop control system and result in closed loop system instability. The complexity of measuring the communication network imperfection in networked control systems makes it difficult for the control engineers to develop methods for design of controllers that can incorporate and compensate these imperfections in order to improve the performance of the networked control systems. In this thesis a co-simulation toolset called LabNS2 is developed to address the first problem of measuring the communication network imperfections by providing an ideal environment that can be used to investigate the influence of network time delays or packet loss. The software environment of the toolset is based on LabVIEWTM and Network Simulator Version 2 (NS2). A new robust predictive optimal controller design method is developed to address the problem of the destabilising effect of the network induced time delay between the controller and the actuator. The design approach is based on time shifting of the optimisation horizon and a state predictor. The design of the controller is based on a model of the plant with delay in the control vector equal to the delay between the controller and the actuator or to the sum of the delays between the controller and the actuator and between the sensor and the controller. The time shifting approach allows the design of the controller to be performed for a model without time delay. Then the control action is based on the future values of the state space vector estimates. The state predictor is developed to predict these future values of the state using the present and past values of the state estimates and control actions. This technique is made possible by the use of the plant model Transition Matrix. A Discrete Kalman Filter is modified to address the problem of the destabilising effect of the network induced time delay between the sensor and the controller. An additional state estimation vector is added to the filter estimate at every current moment of time. iv The developed methods are implemented for networked control of a dish antenna driven by two stepper motors. The outcomes of the thesis can be used for the education and fundamental research purposes, but the developed control strategies have significant sense towards the Square Kilometer Array projects and satellite systems industry. / National Research Foundation