The aim of this project was to produce an integrate-able free space optical transceiver for Specks. Specks are tiny computing units that together can form a powerful network called a SpeckNet. The SpeckNet platform is developed by the SpeckNet consortium, which consists of five Scottish Universities and combines computer science, electrical engineering and digital signal processing groups. The principal goal of creating an optical transceiver was achieved by integrating in-house fabricated VCSELs (with lasing thresholds below 400 uA) and custom designed detectors on the SpeckNet platform. The transceiver has a very low power consumption (approximately 100 uW), which removes the need for synchronous communication through the SpeckNet thus making the network more efficient. I describe both static and dynamic beam control techniques. For static control, I used micro-lenses. I fabricated the lenses by greyscale electron beam lithography and integrated them directly on VCSEL arrays. I achieved a steering angle of 10 degrees with this design. I also looked at integrated gratings etched straight into a VCSEL and observed beam steering with an efficiency of 60% For dynamic control, I implemented a liquid crystal (LC) design. I built a LC cell with 30 individually controlled pixels, but I only achieved a steering angle of 1 degree. Furthermore, I investigated two different techniques for achieving beam steering by interference, using coupled VCSELs (a phased array approach). Firstly, using photonic crystals etched into the surface of the VCSEL, I built coupled laser cavities. Secondly, I designed and built bow-tie type VCSELs that were optically coupled but electrically isolated. These designs work by differential current injection causing an interference effect in the VCSELs far field. This technique is the first stepping stone towards realising a phased optical array. Finally, I considered signal detection. Using the same VCSEL material, I built a resonant-cavity detector. This detector had a better background rejection ratio than commercially available silicon devices.

Free-Space Optical (FSO) communication through the terrestrial atmospheric channel offers many benefits in the wireless communications arena, like power efficiency; suitability for secure communications; absence of electromagnetic interference; and potentially very high bandwidth. An optical beam propagating through the atmosphere is subject to optical turbulence. Optical turbulence is a random process that distorts the intensity and phase structure of a propagating optical beam and induces a varying signal at the receiver of an FSO communication link. This phenomenon (usually referred to as scintillation) degrades the performance of the FSO link by increasing the probability of error. In this dissertation we seek to characterize the effects of the scintillation-induced power fluctuations by determining the channel capacity of the optical link using numerical methods. We find that capacity decreases monotonically with increasing turbulence strength in weak turbulence conditions, but it is non-monotonic in strong turbulence conditions. We show that low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes provide strong error control capabilities in this channel if a perfect interleaver is used. Multiple transmit optical beams can be used to reduce scintillation. We characterize the spatial correlation of the atmospheric optical channel and determine a scintillation model for the multiple-beam scheme. With this model we can predict the effective reduction in scintillation as a function of the system design parameters. A Multi-channel FSO communications system based on orbital angular momentum (OAM)-carrying beams is studied. We analyze the effects of turbulence on the system and find that turbulence induces attenuation and crosstalk among OAM channels. Based on a model in which the constituent channels are binary symmetric and crosstalk is a Gaussian noise source, we find optimal sets of OAM states at each turbulence condition studied, and determine the aggregate capacity of the multi-channel system at those conditions. At very high data rates the FSO channel shows inter-symbol interference (ISI). We address the problem of joint sequence detection in ISI channels and decoding of LDPC codes. We derive the belief propagation equations that allow the simultaneous detection and decoding of a LDPC codeword in a ISI channel.

Neste trabalho analisamos o movimento de carga espacial monopolar livre em dielétricos, procurando fornecer subsídios para a interpretação de resultados experimentais. São mostradas as soluções para diversos tipos de distribuições iniciais de carga. A partir daí são encontradas relações que nos levam a algumas conclusões a respeito da relação entre distribuição e corrente externa produzida. São propostos métodos para a determinação da mobilidade dos portadores de carga no dielétrico e da concavidade de uma distribuição desconhecida. Analisamos também as condições para o aparecimento de inversão de corrente / On this work, we study the monopolar space charge motion in dielectrics in the aim of providing general information about it to the experimentalist. The electric current is obtained for many initial charge distributions and some relations are derived linking the behavior of the current to the initial charge distribution. We propose methods for obtaining the mobility of the carriers from experimental results. Finally the conditions for observation of current reversals are analyzed

Localização e Mapeamento Simultâneos (SLAM), fundamental para robôs dotados de verdadeira autonomia, é um dos problemas mais difíceis na Robótica e consiste em estimar a posição de um robô que está se movendo em um ambiente desconhecido, enquanto incrementalmente constrói-se o mapa de tal ambiente. Provavelmente o requisito mais importante para localização e mapeamento adequados seja um preciso reconhecimento de local, isto é, determinar se um robô estava no mesmo lugar em diferentes ocasiões apenas analizando as observações feitas pelo robô em cada ocasião. A maioria das abordagens da literatura são boas quando se utilizam sensores altamente expressivos, como câmeras, ou quando o robô está situado em ambientes com pouco ambiguidade. No entanto, este não é o caso, por exemplo, quando o robô equipado apenas com sensores de alcance está em ambientes internos estruturados altamente ambíguos. Uma boa estratégia deve ser capaz de lidar com tais ambientes, lidar com ruídos e erros nas observações e, especialmente, ser capaz de modelar o ambiente e estimar o estado do robô de forma eficiente. Nossa proposta consiste em traduzir sequências de medições de laser em uma representação de texto eficiente e compacta, para então lidar com o problema de reconhecimento de local usando técnicas de processamento lingüísticos. Nós traduzimos as medições dos sensores em valores simples computados através de um novo modelo de observação baseado em estimativas de densidade de kernel chamado de Densidade de Espaço Livre (FSD). Estes valores são quantificados permitindo a divisão do ambiente em regiões contíguas de densidade homogênea, como corredores e cantos. Regiões são representadas de forma compacta por simples palavras descrevendo o valor de densidade espacial, o tamanho e a variação da orientação daquela região. No final, as cadeias de palavras compõem um texto, no qual se buscam casamentos de n-gramas (isto é, sequências de palavras). Nossa técnica também é aplicada com sucesso em alguns cenários de operação de longo-prazo, onde devemos lidar com objetos semi-estáticos (i.e. que se movem ocasionalmente, como portas e mobílias). Todas as abordagens foram avaliadas em cenários simulados e reais obtendo-se bons resultados. / Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), fundamental for building robots with true autonomy, is one of the most difficult problems in Robotics and consists of estimating the position of a robot that is moving in an unknown environment while incrementally building the map of such environment. Arguably the most crucial requirement to obtain proper localization and mapping is precise place recognition, that is, determining if the robot is at the same place in different occasions just by looking at the observations taken by the robot. Most approaches in literature are good when using highly expressive sensors such as cameras or when the robot is situated in low ambiguous environments. However this is not the case, for instance, using robots equipped only with range-finder sensors in highly ambiguous indoor structured environments. A good SLAM strategy must be able to handle these scenarios, deal with noise and observation errors, and, especially, model the environment and estimate the robot state in an efficient way. Our proposal in this work is to translate sequences of raw laser measurements into an efficient and compact text representation and deal with the place recognition problem using linguistic processing techniques. First, we translate raw sensor measurements into simple observation values computed through a novel observation model based on kernel-density estimation called Free-Space Density (FSD). These values are quantized into significant classes allowing the division of the environment into contiguous regions of homogeneous spatial density, such as corridors and corners. Regions are represented in a compact form by simple words composed of three syllables – the value of spatial density, the size and the variation of orientation of that region. At the end, the chains of words associated to all observations made by the robot compose a text, in which we search for matches of n-grams (i.e. sequences of words), which is a popular technique from shallow linguistic processing. The technique is also successfully applied in some scenarios of long-term operation, where we must deal with semi-static objects (i.e. that can move occasionally, such as doors and furniture). All approaches were evaluated in simulated and real scenarios obtaining good results.

O teste de raios X é um teste rápido, simples, não destrutivo e de alta precisão, que possibilita examinar com detalhes, a morfologia interna da semente, identificar áreas danificadas, sua localização e tipos de danos. Uma das abordagens atuais da pesquisa sobre análise de imagens de sementes radiografadas é verificar até que ponto a relação entre o grau de desenvolvimento embrionário e o espaço disponível na cavidade interna da semente está associada ao desempenho da semente. Na literatura há diversos trabalhos com resultados promissores para diferentes espécies; porém, para sementes de citros são escassas estas informações. Neste sentido, os objetivos desta pesquisa foram: a) avaliar a eficiência do teste de raios X em relacionar a morfologia interna das sementes com a germinação das sementes de citrumelo \'Swingle\'; b) verificar a possibilidade de utilização do teste de raios X para avaliar a poliembrionia das sementes de citrumelo \'Swingle\'; c) verificar se há relação do espaço livre na cavidade interna com o desempenho das sementes de citrumelo \'Swingle\'. Foram utilizados sete lotes de sementes tratadas de citrumelo \'Swingle\'. A pesquisa foi dividida em três experimentos: experimento I - avaliação da morfologia interna das sementes de por meio de raios X; experimento II - avaliação da poliembrionia das sementes por meio do teste de raios X; experimento III - avaliação do potencial fisiológico das sementes por meio dos testes tradicionais de vigor e avaliação do espaço livre da cavidade interna das sementes por meio do software ImageJ. O primeiro e o segundo experimento foram conduzidos em uma época de avaliação, porém, o terceiro experimento foi conduzido em duas épocas, espaçada em oito meses de armazenamento (0 e 8 meses), durante esse período as sementes foram armazenadas em câmara fria com a temperatura de 5°C e umidade relativa do ar de 75 %. O teste de raios X foi realizado nos três experimentos e relacionado com a germinação, porém no experimento II foi relacionado também com o metódo direto (contagem dos embriões) e no experimento III as imagens radiográficas foram analisadas por meio do software ImageJ para determinar o espaço livre das sementes. Para determinar o potencial fisiológico, os lotes de sementes foram submetidos a testes de germinação e de vigor (primeira contagem de germinação, velocidade de germinação, tempo médio de germinação, emergência de plântulas em areia, comprimento e massa de matéria seca da parte aérea e raiz de plântulas), foi avaliado também número médio de plântulas por sementes e a taxa de poliembrionia de cada lote. Verificou-se que a análise de imagens de raios X permite indentificar danos internos na semente com efeitos negativos na germinação; é um método eficiente para avaliar a poliembrionia das sementes; e a alta porcentagem de sementes com espaço livre interno superior a 22,1% prejudica o potencial germinativo de sementes de citrumelo \'Swingle\'. / X-ray test is a fast, simple, non-destructive, high-precision test that allows you to examine in detail the internal morphology of the seed, identify damaged areas, their location and types of damage. One of the current approaches to X-ray seed imaging research is to ascertain the extent to which the relationship between the degree of embryonic development and the available space in the internal cavity of the seeds is associated with seed performance. In the literature there are several works with promising results for different species; however, this information is scarce for citrus seeds. In this sense, the objectives of this research were: a) to evaluate the efficiency of the X-ray test in relation to the internal morphology of the seeds with the germination of \'Swingle\' citrumelo seeds; b) to verify the possibility of using the X-ray test to evaluate the polyembryony of the \'Swingle\' citrumelo seeds; c) to verify if there is a relation of free space in the internal cavity with the performance of \'Swingle\' citrumelo seeds. Seven lots of treated \'Swingle\' citrumelo seeds were used, the research was divided into three experiments: experiment I - evaluation of the internal morphology of seeds by X-ray; experiment II - evaluation of seed polyembryony by X-ray test; experiment III - evaluation of the physiological potential of the seeds by traditional tests of vigor and evaluation of the free space of the internal cavity of the seeds by of ImageJ software. The first and second experiments were conducted at a time of evaluation, but the third experiment was conducted in two seasons, spaced in eight months of storage (0 and 8 months), during which time the seeds were stored cold chamber with temperature of 5 °C and relative humidity of 75 %. The X-ray test was performed in the three experiments and related to germination, but in experiment II it was also related to the direct method (counting of the embryos) and in experiment III the radiographic images were analyzed by of the ImageJ software to determine the space of the seeds. In order to determine the physiological potential, seed lots were submitted to germination and vigor tests (first germination count, speed of germination, mean time germination, emergence of seedlings in sand, length and dry mass of aerial part and root of seedlings), we also evaluated the average number of seedlings per seed and the polyembryony rate of each lot. It was verified that X-ray image analysis allows identification of internal damage in the seed with negative effects on germination; is an efficient method to evaluate the polyembryony of the seeds; and the high percentage of seeds with internal free space greater than 22.1% impairs the germination potential of \'Swingle\' citrumelo seeds.

In this thesis, a fully millimetre-wave (mm-wave) generation and transmission system is proposed for futuristic communications. Significant challenges have been dealt with regarding the proposed system, including designing the mm-wave generation and transmission technique, and its application in cellular networks. These challenges are presented through five main contributions and validated via Optiwave Design Software and MATLAB simulation tools. Firstly, three novel photonic generation methods are proposed and designed based on the characteristics of Brillouin fibre laser and the Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) effects with phase modulation. The mm-wave carriers are successfully generated with a tuning capability from 5 to 90 GHz. Also, these carriers are with good Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) up to 51 dB, and low noise signal power of about -40 dBm. The impact of these methods is obtaining stable mm-waves appropriate for Radio over Fibre (RoF) transmission systems in 5G optical networks. Secondly, a full-duplex RoF system with the generation of a 64 GHz mm-wave is proposed. Successful transmission of the mm-wave over a fibre link is achieved for up to 100 km of fibre with a data rate of 5 Gbits/s. The main impact of this system is cost reduction and performance improvement by simplifying mm-wave generation and transmission over fibre. Also, it ensures a useful communication link for small cell networks. Thirdly, a hybrid Fibre/Free-space optical (FSO) system for the generation and transmission of 64 GHz mm-wave is proposed. This optical system provides a low latency communication link and overcomes mm-wave high path losses. A successful mm-wave transmission is achieved over a 10 km fibre length, and 2 km FSO link length with a good Bit Error Rate (BER) of about 1.5×10-13 and a data rate of 10 Gbits/s. This system increases the network coverage area by transmitting the mm-wave over the FSO link to the areas with natural obstacles the laying of fibre cables impossible. Also, it can be used as an effective solution under emergency disaster conditions. Fourthly, a comprehensive study of the wireless propagation performance for different mm-wave bands (28, 60, and 73 GHz) as cellular networks is investigated and compared with the 2.4 GHz Ultra-High Frequency band (UHF). A map-based scenario is proposed for the deployment of Base Stations (BSs) within the Brunel University London Campus map to consider real blockage effects. This investigation involved specifying which mm-wave spectrum can enhance the futuristic cellular networks, by evaluating the coverage and rate trends. Comparative results show that the 73 GHz bands can achieve the higher rate with good coverage and the lowest interference effects than the other mm-wave bands. Finally, a simplified path loss model is proposed to estimate precisely the 28 GHz mm-wave performance, which is considered a key component in 5G networks in outdoor applications. The proposed path loss model captures the diffraction and specular reflection impacts on mm-wave wireless propagation.

Student Number : 0002066T - MSc dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Investigations of uni-directional, horizontally polarized waveguide antennas with longitudinal slotted arrays operating at 2.45GHz and their applications to wireless local area networks (WLAN) are presented in this paper. Requirements, considerations, and limitations associated with the design process of this particular waveguide are discussed and presented. Various antenna parameters were simulated using MATLAB® and SuperNEC® software simulation programs, and were applied to a sensitivity analysis of antenna design. End-fed and center-fed antennas were designed, built, and measured at WLAN frequencies. Measured antennas had high gain above 15dBi, broad beam around the azimuth, and high efficiency, but were limited by their impedance dependency and narrow bandwidth. The center-fed antenna had 3dBi higher gain than the 18dBi gain of the end-fed antenna. The VSWR ratio of both antennas was less than 1:1.5 at the operating frequency. The center-fed antenna had broader azimuth and elevation patterns by 40° and 10°, respectively. The end- fed antenna had more stable gain and VSWR, 50% wider VSWR bandwidth of 100MHz, and more directional elevation pattern. The design criteria generated using waveguide theory and simulated analysis was validated by the physical design and performance of the measured antennas.

This thesis encompasses a body of experimental work on the use of structured light in quantum cryptographic protocols. In particular, we investigate the ability to perform quantum key distribution through various quantum channels (fibre, free-space, underwater) in laboratory and realistic conditions. We first demonstrate that a special type of optical fibre (vortex fibre) capable of coherently transmitting vector vortex modes is a viable quantum channel. Next, we describe the first demonstration of high-dimensional quantum cryptography using structured photons in an urban setting. In particular, the prevalence of atmospheric turbulence can introduce many errors to a transmitted key; however, we are still able to transmit more information per carrier using a 4-dimensional scheme in comparison to a 2-dimensional one. Lastly, we investigate the possibility of performing secure quantum communication with twisted photons in an uncontrolled underwater channel. We find that though it is possible for low-dimensional schemes, high-dimensional schemes suffer from underwater turbulence without the use of corrective wavefront techniques.

Emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an aggressive invader from Asia that has killed millions of trees in North America. Recently EAB has been documented developing in a novel host, white fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus. I evaluated larval performance in two common ash species and white fringetree by infesting excised bolts with emerald ash borer eggs. In addition I evaluated several plant characteristics to determine which most influence larval development. I also conducted choice and no choice assays using the classical biological control agent, Tetrastichus planipennisi (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), to assess its ability to locate larval EAB in the different host plants. I found significantly lower survival rates of EAB larvae in white fringetree compared to white ash, F. americana. Larval phloem consumption and larval growth were lower in fringetree than in both ash tested. In choice and no choice assays T. planipennisi failed to parasitize larvae in fringetree. Failure of T. planipennisi to parasitize larvae within fringetree has implications for the efficacy of this classical biological control agent. Coupled with the use of white fringetree as a reservoir host, the enemy free space provided to EAB through use of this alternate host may have repercussions for EAB invasion dynamics.

Thesis (M.S.E.C.E.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Michael W. Haney, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.