This thesis proposes a multifaceted production test and post-manufacture yield enhancement framework for RF systems. This framework uses low-cost test and post-manufacture calibration/tuning techniques. Since the test cost and the yield of the RF circuits/sub-system directly contribute to the manufacturing cost of RF systems, the proposed framework minimizes overall RF systems' manufacturing cost by taking two approaches. In the first approach, low-cost testing methodologies are proposed for RF amplifiers and integrated RF substrates with an embedded RF passive filter and interconnect. Techniques are developed to test RF circuits by the analysis of low-frequency signal of the order of few MHz and without using any external RF test-stimulus. Oscillation principles are used to enable testing of RF circuits without any external test-stimulus. In the second approach, to increase the yield of the RF circuits for parametric defects, RF circuits are tuned to compensate for a performance loss during production test using on-board or on-chip resources. This approach includes a diagnosis algorithm to identify faulty circuits within the system, and performs a compensation process that adjusts tunable components to enhance the performance of the RF circuits. In the proposed yield improvement methodologies, the external test stimulus is not required because the stimulus is generated by the RF circuit itself with the help of additional circuitry and faulty circuits are detected using low-cost test methods developed in this research. As a result, the proposed research enables low-cost testing and self-healing of RF systems.

This thesis introduces a new photovoltaic (PV) system architecture employing low voltage parallel-connected PV panels interfaced to a high voltage regulated DC bus of a three-phase grid-tied inverter. The concept provides several improvements over existing technologies in terms of cost, safety, reliability, and modularity. A novel resonant mode DC-DC boost converter topology is proposed to enable the PV modules to deliver power to the fixed DC bus. The topology offers high step-up capabilities and a nearly constant efficiency over a wide operating range. A reduced sensor maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller is developed for the converter to maximize energy harvesting of the PV panels. The reduced sensor algorithm can be generally applied to the class of converters employing pulse frequency modulation control. A ZigBee wireless communication system is implemented to provide advanced control, monitoring and protection features. A testbench for a low cost 500 $W$ smart microconverter is designed and implemented, demonstrating the viability of the system architecture.

This thesis introduces a new photovoltaic (PV) system architecture employing low voltage parallel-connected PV panels interfaced to a high voltage regulated DC bus of a three-phase grid-tied inverter. The concept provides several improvements over existing technologies in terms of cost, safety, reliability, and modularity. A novel resonant mode DC-DC boost converter topology is proposed to enable the PV modules to deliver power to the fixed DC bus. The topology offers high step-up capabilities and a nearly constant efficiency over a wide operating range. A reduced sensor maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller is developed for the converter to maximize energy harvesting of the PV panels. The reduced sensor algorithm can be generally applied to the class of converters employing pulse frequency modulation control. A ZigBee wireless communication system is implemented to provide advanced control, monitoring and protection features. A testbench for a low cost 500 $W$ smart microconverter is designed and implemented, demonstrating the viability of the system architecture.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This master thesis presents the analysis and design of an electronic drive system for fluorescent induction lamps. This lighting technology, despite being patented since the 60s, is not widely diffused in the market context. However, it is an extremely attractive alternative due to long lifetime and high luminous efficiency. The analysis circuit consists of a power factor correction associated with a power control stage, which provides the lamp ignition and current limitation. An integration methodology is applied in order to reduce the number of active semiconductor switches. The resulting topology, called here SEPIC half-bridge, presents a shared switch able to act, both in the pre-regulator stage, as well as for the power control stage. The number of elements reduction also occurs by magnetic integration. In this case, the pre-regulator inductors are distributed in a single core. For electronic system flexibility, it was inserted the dimming capability, where the low frequency modulation technique was evaluated. This technique is suitable for high power variation rates and provides a stable operation. The topology is controlled by a feedback system ensuring a satisfactory response of the system when subjected to disturbances, in addition to ensuring the correct power to the lamp. The electronic ballast designed behavior was evaluated experimentally. In this situation, there was obtained a low input current distortion associated with a high power factor. The lamp power variation range was 70% (30 W to 100 W), with an average efficiency around 82%. / Neste trabalho de mestrado, apresenta-se a análise e o projeto de um sistema eletrônico de acionamento para lâmpadas fluorescentes de indução. Esta tecnologia de iluminação, apesar de ser patenteada desde a década de 60, ainda é pouco difundida em âmbito comercial. Entretanto, é uma alternativa extremamente atraente devido a longa vida útil e a elevada eficiência luminosa. O circuito analisado consiste de um estágio de pré-regulação do fator de potência associado a um estágio de controle de potência, capaz de prover as necessidades de partida e limitar a corrente aplicada à lâmpada. Para estes estágios, visando a redução do número de semicondutores ativos, é aplicada a metodologia de integração de interruptores. A topologia resultante, chamada de SEPIC half-bridge, apresenta um interruptor compartilhado, capaz de atuar tanto para o pré-regulador, quanto para o controle de potência. A redução do número de elementos se dá também pela integração de magnéticos. Nesta situação, os indutores do pré-regulador são distribuídos em um único núcleo. Buscando a flexibilidade do sistema eletrônico, neste foi inserido a capacidade de variação da intensidade luminosa, onde a técnica de modulação de baixa frequência foi avaliada. Tal técnica é apropriada para elevados índices de variação de potência, além de proporcionar uma operação estável do circuito. A topologia é controlada por um sistema de retroalimentação, capaz de garantir uma resposta satisfatória do sistema quando submetido a distúrbios, além de garantir a potência processada pela lâmpada. O comportamento do reator eletrônico projetado foi avaliado experimentalmente. Nesta situação, obteve-se uma baixa distorção da corrente de entrada e elevado fator de potência. A faixa de variação de potência foi de 70% (100 W à 30 W), com um rendimento médio de 82%.

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

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

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

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

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

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