Les surfaces tactiles ayant connu un grand essor ces dernières années, le grand public les utilise quotidiennement pour de multiples tâches, telles que la consultation d'e-mail, la manipulation de photos, etc. En revanche, très peu d'applications 3D existent sur ces dispositifs, alors que de telles applications pourraient avoir un grand potentiel dans des domaines variés, telles que la culture, l'architecture, ou encore l'archéologie. La difficulté majeure pour ce type d'applications est d'interagir avec un espace défini en trois dimensions à partir d'une modalité d'interaction définie en deux dimensions. Les travaux effectués dans cette thèse explorent l'association entre surfaces tactiles et manipulation de contenu 3D pour le grand public. Les premières études ont été réalisées afin de comprendre comment l'utilisateur réagit pour manipuler un objet virtuel 3D avec une surface tactile sans lui imposer de techniques d'interaction particulières. De par les connaissances acquises sur les utilisateurs, les travaux suivants présentent l'élaboration de nouvelles techniques d'interaction ainsi que leur évaluation.

Simultaneous operation of different wireless applications in the same geographical region and the same frequency band gives rise to undesired interference issues. Since licensed (primary) applications have been granted priority access to the frequency spectrum, unlicensed (secondary) services should avoid imposing interference on the primary system. In other words, secondary system’s activity in the same bands should be in a controlled fashion so that the primary system maintains its quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this thesis, we consider collocated point-to-multipoint primary and secondary networks that have simultaneous access to the same frequency band. Particularly, we examine three different levels at which the two networks may coexist: pure interference, asymmetric co-existence, and symmetric co-existence levels. At the pure interference level, both networks operate simultaneously regardless of their interference to each other. At the other two levels, at least one of the networks attempts to mitigate its interference to the other network by deactivating some of its users. Specifically, at the asymmetric co-existence level, the secondary network selectively deactivates its users based on knowledge of the interference and channel gains, whereas at the symmetric level, the primary network also schedules its users in the same way. Our aim is to derive optimal sum-rates (i.e., throughputs) of both networks at each co-existence level as the number of users grows asymptotically and evaluate how the sum-rates scale with the network size. In order to find the asymptotic throughput results, we derive two propositions; one on the asymptotic behaviour of the largest order statistic and one on the asymptotic behaviour of the sum of lower order statistics. As a baseline comparison, we calculate primary and secondary sum-rates for the time division (TD) channel sharing. Then, we compare the asymptotic secondary sum-rate in TD to that under simultaneous channel sharing, while ensuring the primary network maintains the same sum-rate in both cases. Our results indicate that simultaneous channel sharing at both asymmetric and symmetric co-existence levels can outperform TD. Furthermore, this enhancement is achievable when user scheduling in uplink mode is based only on the interference gains to the opposite network and not on a network’s own channel gains. In other words, the optimal secondary sum-rate is achievable by applying a scheduling strategy, referred to as the least interference strategy, for which only the knowledge of interference gains is required and can be performed in a distributed way.

Simultaneous operation of different wireless applications in the same geographical region and the same frequency band gives rise to undesired interference issues. Since licensed (primary) applications have been granted priority access to the frequency spectrum, unlicensed (secondary) services should avoid imposing interference on the primary system. In other words, secondary system’s activity in the same bands should be in a controlled fashion so that the primary system maintains its quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this thesis, we consider collocated point-to-multipoint primary and secondary networks that have simultaneous access to the same frequency band. Particularly, we examine three different levels at which the two networks may coexist: pure interference, asymmetric co-existence, and symmetric co-existence levels. At the pure interference level, both networks operate simultaneously regardless of their interference to each other. At the other two levels, at least one of the networks attempts to mitigate its interference to the other network by deactivating some of its users. Specifically, at the asymmetric co-existence level, the secondary network selectively deactivates its users based on knowledge of the interference and channel gains, whereas at the symmetric level, the primary network also schedules its users in the same way. Our aim is to derive optimal sum-rates (i.e., throughputs) of both networks at each co-existence level as the number of users grows asymptotically and evaluate how the sum-rates scale with the network size. In order to find the asymptotic throughput results, we derive two propositions; one on the asymptotic behaviour of the largest order statistic and one on the asymptotic behaviour of the sum of lower order statistics. As a baseline comparison, we calculate primary and secondary sum-rates for the time division (TD) channel sharing. Then, we compare the asymptotic secondary sum-rate in TD to that under simultaneous channel sharing, while ensuring the primary network maintains the same sum-rate in both cases. Our results indicate that simultaneous channel sharing at both asymmetric and symmetric co-existence levels can outperform TD. Furthermore, this enhancement is achievable when user scheduling in uplink mode is based only on the interference gains to the opposite network and not on a network’s own channel gains. In other words, the optimal secondary sum-rate is achievable by applying a scheduling strategy, referred to as the least interference strategy, for which only the knowledge of interference gains is required and can be performed in a distributed way.

This thesis analyzes and solves the problems of monitoring of constructions strains (small resistance changes) in a number of points of the structure. The essence of investigated systems is test of the strain gauges small resistance changes proportional to displacement or strain and reaching only thousandths of parts of percent. The main objects of research is strain detection circuits working under automatic multipoint balanced Wheatstone bridge and the current balancing methods. The introduction reveals the importance of investigated problem, formulates the aim and tasks, introduces publications and presentations of the author’s and the structure of the dissertation. The first chapter is a review of literature. It analyzes practical use of strain measurement methods, their advantages and disadvantages, opportunities to use these methods in automated systems. The chapter ends with formulated conclusions. The second section presents balanced methods of the strain monitoring. Analysis of balanced Wheatstone bridge device is made. New strain monitoring device by balancing currents are proposed and investigated. There are two possible ways: with two current sources and one current source. The third and fourth sections provide results of computer simulation and experimental models. The proposed devices of balancing currents has been modeled and tested in practice. Stability of the devices was tested and their work simulating in real conditions. Conclusions, references and the... [to full text] / Disertacijoje nagrinėjamos ir sprendžiamos konstrukcijų deformacijų (varžų mažų pokyčių) nustatymo daugelyje konstrukcijos taškų problemos. Tiriamų sistemų funkcionavimo esmė yra įtempių jutiklių varžos mažų pokyčių proporcingų poslinkiui ar deformacijai ir siekiančių tik tūkstantąsias procento dalis nustatymas. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai yra automatinių daugiataškių balansuojamo Vitstono tiltelio ir srovių balansavimo metodais veikiantys deformacijų nustatymo grandynai. Įvadiniame skyriuje nagrinėjamas problemos aktualumas, formuluojamas darbo tikslas ir uždaviniai, pristatomi autoriaus pranešimai ir publikacijos, pateikiama disertacijos struktūra. Pirmajame skyriuje pateikta literatūros apžvalga. Jame analizuojami praktikoje naudojami deformacijų nustatymo metodai, pateikiami jų privalumai ir trūkumai, galimybės naudoti šiuos metodus automatizuotose sistemose. Antrajame skyriuje pateikti konstrukcijų deformacijų balansuojami nustatymo būdai. Yra atlikta balansuojamo Vitstono tiltelio metodo analizė. Pateiktas naujas deformacijų stebėjimo balansuojant sroves metodas ir atlikta jo analizė. Jame išskiriami du galimi būdai: su dviem srovės šaltiniais ir su vienu srovės šaltiniu. Trečiajame ir ketvirtajame skyriuose pateikti kompiuterinio modeliavimo ir eksperimentinių tyrimų rezultatai. Buvo sumodeliuotas ir praktiškai patikrintas pasiūlyto srovės balansavimo metodo praktinis veikimas. Patikrintas įrenginių stabilumas ir jų darbas imituojant realias sąlygas. Disertacijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Disertacijoje nagrinėjamos ir sprendžiamos konstrukcijų deformacijų (varžų mažų pokyčių) nustatymo daugelyje konstrukcijos taškų problemos. Tiriamų sistemų funkcionavimo esmė yra įtempių jutiklių varžos mažų pokyčių proporcingų poslinkiui ar deformacijai ir siekiančių tik tūkstantąsias procento dalis nustatymas. Pagrindiniai tyrimo objektai yra automatinių daugiataškių balansuojamo Vitstono tiltelio ir srovių balansavimo metodais veikiantys deformacijų nustatymo grandynai. Įvadiniame skyriuje nagrinėjamas problemos aktualumas, formuluojamas darbo tikslas ir uždaviniai, pristatomi autoriaus pranešimai ir publikacijos, pateikiama disertacijos struktūra. Pirmajame skyriuje pateikta literatūros apžvalga. Jame analizuojami praktikoje naudojami deformacijų nustatymo metodai, pateikiami jų privalumai ir trūkumai, galimybės naudoti šiuos metodus automatizuotose sistemose. Antrajame skyriuje pateikti konstrukcijų deformacijų balansuojami nustatymo būdai. Yra atlikta balansuojamo Vitstono tiltelio metodo analizė. Pateiktas naujas deformacijų stebėjimo balansuojant sroves metodas ir atlikta jo analizė. Jame išskiriami du galimi būdai: su dviem srovės šaltiniais ir su vienu srovės šaltiniu. Trečiajame ir ketvirtajame skyriuose pateikti kompiuterinio modeliavimo ir eksperimentinių tyrimų rezultatai. Buvo sumodeliuotas ir praktiškai patikrintas pasiūlyto srovės balansavimo metodo praktinis veikimas. Patikrintas įrenginių stabilumas ir jų darbas imituojant realias sąlygas. Disertacijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This thesis analyzes and solves the problems of monitoring of constructions strains (small resistance changes) in a number of points of the structure. The essence of investigated systems is test of the strain gauges small resistance changes proportional to displacement or strain and reaching only thousandths of parts of percent. The main objects of research is strain detection circuits working under automatic multipoint balanced Wheatstone bridge and the current balancing methods. The introduction reveals the importance of investigated problem, formulates the aim and tasks, introduces publications and presentations of the author’s and the structure of the dissertation. The first chapter is a review of literature. It analyzes practical use of strain measurement methods, their advantages and disadvantages, opportunities to use these methods in automated systems. The chapter ends with formulated conclusions. The second section presents balanced methods of the strain monitoring. Analysis of balanced Wheatstone bridge device is made. New strain monitoring device by balancing currents are proposed and investigated. There are two possible ways: with two current sources and one current source. The third and fourth sections provide results of computer simulation and experimental models. The proposed devices of balancing currents has been modeled and tested in practice. Stability of the devices was tested and their work simulating in real conditions. Conclusions, references and the... [to full text]

Beaucoup de protocoles et d'applications nécessitent un mécanisme de découverte pour permettre à des clients de localiser un ou plusieurs noeuds spécifiques engagés dans la même communication. Ces noeuds spécifiques qui peuvent être des routeurs ou des machines hôtes sont usuellement appelés agents. Il n'existe pas actuellement de protocole de recherche d'agent prêt à remplir ce service au niveau de la couche réseau. Chaque protocole implémente habituellement sa propre solution. En particulier les protocoles multipoints utilisent souvent une technique de recherche appelés recherche par anneaux croissants. Cette méthode recherche des noeuds spécifiques dans toutes les directions et donc utilise beaucoup de bande passante. Cependant une recherche typique peut habituellement se limiter à une direction spécifique. Pour répondre à ce problème, nous proposons un service de recherche au niveau réseau en remplacement de la recherche par anneaux croissants. Ce service est basé sur un protocole de diffusion multipoint orientée de façon à obtenir une efficacité plus élevée que celle de la recherche par anneaux croissants. Le principe de la diffusion multipoint orientée est de canaliser la diffusion multipoint des paquet de recherche en direction d'un noeud spécial impliqué dans la communication de façon à balayer seulement une zone limitée du réseau. Nous décrivons le service et le protocole dynamique de recherche d'agent au niveau réseau ainsi que le protocole de diffusion multipoint orientée et nous fournissons des résultats de simulations comparatifs entre notre service et la recherche par anneaux croissants.

L'Internet est devenu sans conteste en trois décades le support matériel majeur de l'ère de l'information. Durant cette courte période, il a subi deux mutations importantes. Tout d'abord, il a subi une mutation de taille : de quelques dizaines de systèmes interconnectés suivant une topologie fixée et bien connue, l'Internet est passé à une taille phénoménale de plus de 285 millions d'hôtes suivant une topologie désormais à dimension libre dûe au fait que son développement n'est plus centralisé. De plus, il a subi une mutation de forme : nous sommes passés des gros systèmes interconnectés par de simples lignes téléphoniques à des ordinateurs personnels mobiles interconnectés par des technologies radio en bordure de réseau et par des routeurs gigabits reliés par fibre optique en coeur de réseau. Ces deux mutations entraînent deux défis importants pour les chercheurs qui oeuvrent à l'amélioration de l'Internet. Premièrement, il est nécessaire de connaître avec le plus de précision possible, la topologie de l'Internet. Seules des méthodes macroscopiques et statistiques permettent désormais de connaître cette topologie car plus personne n'a autorité sur l'organisation et l'expansion du réseau Internet. De plus, étant donné sa dynamicité, il est aussi souhaitable que cette topologie soit mise à jour fréquemment. Deuxièmement, l'évolution rapide des technologies a fait que les paradigmes qui sous-tendaient à la création des protocoles initiaux de l'Internet ne sont plus valables à l'heure actuelle. Les notions de mobilité, de sécurité et de diffusion quasi-inexistantes à l'origine sont désormais ardemment souhaitées par les utilisateurs mais difficiles à mettre en oeuvre dans les protocoles actuels. Il faut donc trouver les moyens d'offrir ces nouvelles fonctionnalités en conservant les propriétés initiales des protocoles qui ont fait le succès d'Internet. Dans ce mémoire d'habilitation, nous présentons des contributions qui tentent de répondre à certains aspects de ces deux défis majeurs. Nous nous concentrons tout particulièrement sur la cartographie de l'Internet, le stockage d'états dans les routeurs exécutant des protocoles multipoints, l'implémentation de fonctionnalités réseaux dans les hôtes et la conception de réseaux recouvrants.

Il lavoro analizza gli effetti della multimarket competition sulle principali undici aziende multinazionali operanti nel fashion retailing, e approfondisce l’analisi del posizionamento strategico che le imprese scelgono in ciascun mercato. L’analisi empirica mostra che, per le aziende che si confrontano su diversi mercati comuni, il grado di market commonality con i concorrenti è negativamente associato alla redditività a livello di gruppo. Inoltre, i risultati mostrano che le imprese differenziano il posizionamento sulla base dell’ importanza strategica del mercato: minore risulta essere l’importanza strategica, maggiore è il markup applicato. Le imprese tendono quindi a ricercare, nei mercati strategicamente poco rilevanti, un posizionamento più alto, che giustifichi un markup più elevato rispetto al posizionamento ottenuto a livello globale. Inoltre, la dimensione del mercato influisce sull’effetto che le scelte di posizionamento generano sulla redditività locale. Nello specifico lo studio mostra che: (a) nei mercati grandi la redditività maggiore è associata ad aziende che registrano simultaneamente quote di mercato elevate e livelli di markup maggiori; (b) nei mercati piccoli la redditività maggiore è basata alternativamente sulla ricerca di quote di mercato maggiori o di un prezzo più alto (elevato markup). / This study investigates the outcomes of multimarket competition using data on the top eleven global fashion retailers, and deepens the analysis of the strategic positioning that firms choose in each foreign market where they operate. Empirical results suggest that the level of international market commonality with direct competitors is negatively related to their corporate financial performance. Moreover, focusing on the strategies of the single local units, the results of the analysis show that firms do not choose the same positioning in all their international markets, but they rather differentiate their positioning. In markets that constitute a small fraction of a firm’s total export, fashion retailers tend to skim the market commanding fairly higher price compared with their average global pricing level. Furthermore, market size also has influence on strategic positioning and on the relationship between strategic positioning and financial performance. Specifically, this study shows that: (a) in large markets, the winning strategy requires both a high market share and a high pricing; (b) in small markets, winning strategies can be based either on large market share or on high pricing.

<p>This dissertation investigates the optimal aerodynamic performance and design of conventional and coaxial helicopters in hover and forward flight using conventional and higher harmonic blade pitch control. First, we describe a method for determining the blade geometry, azimuthal blade pitch inputs, optimal shaft angle (rotor angle of attack), and division of propulsive and lifting forces among the components that minimize the total power for a given forward flight condition. The optimal design problem is cast as a variational statement that is discretized using a vortex lattice wake to model inviscid forces, combined with two-dimensional drag polars to model profile losses. The resulting nonlinear constrained optimization problem is solved via Newton iteration. We investigate the optimal design of a compound vehicle in forward flight comprised of a coaxial rotor system, a propeller, and optionally, a fixed wing. We show that higher harmonic control substantially reduces required power, and that both rotor and propeller efficiencies play an important role in determining the optimal shaft angle, which in turn affects the optimal design of each component. Second, we present a variational approach for determining the optimal (minimum power) torque-balanced coaxial hovering rotor using Blade Element Momentum Theory including swirl. We show that the optimal hovering coaxial rotor generates only a small percentage of its total thrust on the portion of the lower rotor operating in the upper rotor's contracted wake, resulting in an optimal design with very different upper and lower rotor twist and chord distributions. We also show that the swirl component of induced velocity has a relatively small effect on rotor performance at the disk loadings typical of helicopter rotors. Third, we describe a more refined model of the wake of a hovering conventional or coaxial rotor. We approximate the rotor or coaxial rotors as actuator disks (though not necessarily uniformly loaded) and the wake as contracting cylindrical vortex sheets that we represent as discrete vortex rings. We assume the system is axisymmetric and steady in time, and solve for the wake position that results in all vortex sheets being aligned with the streamlines of the flow field via Newton iteration. We show that the singularity that occurs where the vortex sheet terminates at the edge of the actuator disk is resolved through the formation of a 45 degree logarithmic spiral in hover, which results in a non-uniform inflow, particularly near the edge of the disk where the flow is entirely reversed, as originally hypothesized by previous authors. We also quantify the mutual interference of coaxial actuator disks of various axial spacing. Finally, we combine our forward flight optimization procedure and the Blade Element Momentum Theory hover optimization to form a variational approach to the multipoint aerodynamic design optimization of conventional and coaxial helicopter rotors. The resulting nonlinear constrained optimization problem may be used to map the Pareto frontier, i.e., the set of rotor designs for which it is not possible to improve upon the performance in one flight condition without degrading performance in the other. We show that for both conventional and coaxial rotors analyzed in hover and high speed flight, a substantial tradeoff in performance must be made between the two flight conditions. Finally, computational results demonstrate that higher harmonic control is able to improve the Pareto efficiency for both conventional and coaxial rotors.</p> / Dissertation

Les applications en temps réel, telles que les systèmes de conférence multi-utilisateurs, ont des exigences de qualité de service élevées pour garantir une qualité d'expérience décente. De nos jours, la plupart de ces conférences sont effectuées sur des appareils sans fil. Ainsi, les appareils mobiles hétérogènes et la dynamique du réseau doivent être correctement gérés pour fournir une bonne qualité d’expérience. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons deux algorithmes pour construire et gérer des sessions de conférence basées sur un réseau défini par logiciel qui utilise à la fois la distribution multicast et l’adaptation de flux. Le premier algorithme configure la conférence téléphonique en créant des arborescences de multidiffusion pour chaque participant. Ensuite, il place de manière optimale les emplacements et les règles d’adaptation des flux sur le réseau afin de minimiser la consommation de bande passante. Nous avons créé deux versions de cet algorithme: le premier, basé sur les arborescences les plus courtes, minimise la latence, tandis que le second, basé sur les arborescences, minimise la consommation de bande passante. Le deuxième algorithme adapte les arborescences de multidiffusion en fonction des modifications du réseau qui se produisent pendant un appel. Il ne recalcule pas les arbres, mais ne déplace que les emplacements et les règles d’adaptation des flux. Cela nécessite un calcul très faible au niveau du contrôleur, ce qui rend notre proposition rapide et hautement réactive. Des résultats de simulation étendus confirment l'efficacité de notre solution en termes de temps de traitement et d'économies de bande passante par rapport aux systèmes de conférence existants basés sur une unité de contrôle multipoint et une multidiffusion de couche d'application. / Real-time applications, such as Multi-party conferencing systems, have strong Quality of Service requirements for ensuring a decent Quality of Experience. Nowadays, most of these conferences are performed on wireless devices. Thus, heterogeneous mobile devices and network dynamics must be properly managed to provide a good quality of experience. In this thesis, we propose two algorithms for building and maintaining conference sessions based on Software-Defined Network that uses both multicast distribution and streams adaptation. The first algorithm set up the conference call by building multicast trees for each participant. Then, it optimally places the stream adaptation locations and rules inside the network in order to minimize the bandwidth consumption. We have created two versions of this algorithm: the first one, based on the shortest path trees is minimizing the latency, while the second one, based on spanning trees is minimizing the bandwidth consumption. The second algorithm adapts the multicast trees according to the network changes occurring during a call. It does not recompute the trees, but only relocates the locations and rules of stream adaptation. It requires very low computation at the controller, thus making our proposal fast and highly reactive. Extensive simulation results confirm the efficiency of our solution in terms of processing time and bandwidth savings compared to existing conferencing systems based on a Multipoint Control Unit and Application Layer Multicast.