Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία μελετά την ανίχνευση και παρακολούθηση της κίνησης των ανθρώπων μέσα από δίκτυα καμερών. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η υλοποίηση ενός συστήματος ανίχνευσης , παρακολούθησης εκ νέου ταυτοποίησης των ανθρώπων που διέρχονται μέσα από ένα δίκτυο καμερών καθώς και να προτείνει ένα μοντέλο για την κατανόηση της τοπολογίας του δικτύου των καμερών. Το κύριο πρόβλημα υποδιαιρείται σε τρία επιμέρους υπό – προβλήματα. Το πρώτο αφορά την ανίχνευση κίνησης. Το δεύτερο την παρακολούθηση των ανθρώπων και τέλος το τρίτο αφορά την αντιστοίχηση τους μεταξύ των καμερών. Σαν αποτέλεσμα στο τέλος έχουμε για κάθε άνθρωπο το μονοπάτι που διέγραψε μέσα στο δίκτυο. Η Ανίχνευση κίνησης υλοποιείται με αφαίρεση φόντου. Η παρακολούθηση υλοποιείται με δύο χαρακτηριστικά, αυτά του κέντρου μάζας και του χρωματικού ιστογράμματος. Η τοπολογία του δικτύου ανακαλύπτεται με ένα μοντέλο που καταγράφει σημεία εισόδου και εξόδου συσχετισμένα με την αντίστοιχη κάμερα από την οποία εισήλθαν ή στην οποία εξήλθαν αντίστοιχα οι άνθρωποι. Κατόπιν γίνεται αντιστοίχηση των σημείων αυτών στις κρίσιμες περιοχές της κάθε κάμερας και η πλειοψηφία των συσχετίσεων τους ορίζει την επικοινωνούσα , για αυτές τις περιοχές , κάμερα. Τέλος γίνεται η αντιστοίχηση των διαδρομών μεταξύ καμερών με έλεγχο χώρο-χρονικών χαρακτηριστικών και χαρακτηριστικών εμφάνισης. Το σύστημα υλοποιήθηκε σε Matlab και έτρεξε σε Intel i7 με συχνότητα 2.93 Ghz και 8GB μνήμης ram. Οι αλγόριθμοι λειτούργησαν ικανοποιητικά με πολύ καλά αποτελέσματα, και μπορούν να περάσουν ως είσοδοι σε πληθώρα εφαρμογών υψηλοτέρου επιπέδου που έχουν ως σκοπό την αναγνώριση της ανθρώπινης δραστηριότητας και την κατανόηση συμπεριφοράς. / This thesis deals with the detection and motion tracking through camera networks. Its purpose is to implement a system for monitoring human movement and perform re-identification in camera networks. It also proposes a model for discovering the topology of cameras network. The main problem is divided into three sub – problems. The first one deals with motion detection , the second one tracks every human located in the plane, and finally the third one has to do with the re-identification between the cameras. As a result we find and identify all human’s paths traced in the network. At first we start with detection that involves also background subtraction. The background is recovered in a dynamic way at every frame and involves median selection. Tracking is accomplished using two features, the centroid and the color histogram. Network topology is discovered from a model which reports entry and exit points associated with the corresponding camera. The system is implemented in Matlab and runs on Intel i7 with frequency 2.93 Ghz and 8GB of ram. The algorithms perform well producing very good results, and can be fed as inputs to a variety of applications that deal with problems related to higher level recognition of human activity and behavior understanding.

Pendant les 20 dernières années, les astrocytes, un type de cellules cérébrales ayant été jusque là relativement ignoré des neuroscientifiques, ont peu à peu gagné en notoriété grâce à de multiples découvertes. Contrairement aux neurones, ces cellules ne transmettent pas de signaux électriques mais communiquent par des changements intracellulaires de leurs concentrations en calcium. Des découvertes récentes semblent indiquer que, loin d'agir en autarcie, les astrocytes répondent à l'activité neuronale et sembleraient, bien que cela soit plus débattu, moduler la transmission synaptique par le relargage de molécules spécifiques appelées `gliotransmetteurs' (en référence aux neurotransmetteurs). Comme les neurones, les astrocytes forment des réseaux et communiquent leur activité calcique par diffusion d'un astrocyte à l'autre, formant ainsi de véritables vagues de calcium intercellulaires. Deux réseaux, de neuronnes et d'astrocytes, cohabitent ainsi dans le cerveau ; mais, alors que les réseaux de neuronnes ont fait l'objet de recherches expérimentales et théoriques, les réseaux d'astrocytes restent encore mal connus. Ainsi, il n'a été découvert que très récement que la topologie de ces réseaux pourrait s'averer plus complexe que la vision qui dominait jusqu'alors : celle d'un syncitium astrocytaire dépourvu de spécificités topologiques. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse portent principalement sur l'effet que ces différentes topologies pourraient avoir sur la signalisation calcique astrocytaire. En effet, autant au niveau subcellulaire qu'inter-cellulaire, les mécanismes gouvernant l'activité calcique des astrocytes restent mals connus. Même dans le cas le plus documenté de la réponse somatique des astrocytes à une stimulation neuronale, les caractéristiques précises que la stimulation doit avoir pour évoquer une réponse des astrocytes sont inconnues. Il en est de même pour la transmission de vagues de calcium dans des réseaux d'astrocytes : on ignore encore les possibles effets de la complexité récemment documentée des réseaux d'astrocytes sur la propagation de ces vagues. Enfin, au niveau subcelulaire, les astrocytes possèdent une morphologie ramifiée extrèmement complexe qui possède elle-même une activité calcique. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse utilisent des outils de modélisation et de simulation afin de déterminer les répercussions que l'organisation en réseaux des astrocytes pourrait avoir sur leurs dynamiques calciques. En résumé, nous proposons que la topologie des réseaux d'astrocytes a (1) des répercussion au niveau cellulaire, modulant la réponse des astrocytes à des stimulations neuronales ; (2) contrôle la propagation de vagues de calcium inter-astrocytaire en la favorisant lorsque les réseau sont peu couplés ; (3) joue un rôle important dans l’apparition de phénomènes de résonance stochastique. / Over the last 20 years, astrocytes, a hitherto under-investigated type of brain cells, have gradually rose to prominence owing to multiple experimental discoveries. In contrast with neurons, these cells do not propagate electrical signals but communicate instead through changes in their intracellular calcium concentration. Recent discoveries indicate that, far from being isolated cells, astrocytes respond to neuronal activity and, although this is still controversial, seem to modulate synaptic transmission through the release of `gliotransmitter' molecules (in reference to neurotransmitters). Like neurons, astrocyte are organized in networks and communicate their calcium activity by intercellular diffusion of second messengers, forming intercellular calcium waves. Two networks, one of neurons and the other of astrocytes, thus coexist in the brain; while neuronal networks have been the subject of intense experimental and theoretical investigations, astrocyte networks have been much less investigated. Notably, it was only discovered recently that astrocyte network topology could be more complex than what the hitherto dominant view held (astrocytes organized in a syncytium deprived of any topological specificities). The work presented in this thesis is mainly related to the effect that different network topologies could have on astrocyte calcium signaling. The mechanisms that drive calcium signaling in astrocytes are, at both subcellular and intercellular levels, still not completely understood. Even in the best documented case of astrocyte somatic response to neuronal stimulation, the precise characteristic required from the stimulation to elicit an astrocytic response are still unknown. Similarly, the mechanisms governing intercellular calcium wave propagation in astrocyte networks are not fully known; notably, the effects of the recently documented network heterogeneity on calcium wave propagation have not been investigated. Finally, at the subcellular level, astrocytes display an extremely ramified and complex morphology that also hosts calcium activity. The work presented in this thesis make use of modeling and simulation in order to determine the possible effects of astrocyte network organization on their calcium signaling. We propose that astrocyte network topology: (1) controls single-cell responses to neuronal stimulation; (2) drives the propagation of intercellular calcium waves by favoring it when networks are weakly coupled; (3) can determine the appearance of stochastic resonance phenomena; (4) can be modulated by neuronal activity.

A modelagem em tempo real dos sistemas elétricos de potência (SEP) é extremamente importante para se obter uma operação em tempo real segura e confiável dos mesmos. O configurador de redes (CR) é uma ferramenta fundamental, para modelagem em tempo real dos SEP. A função do CR é determinar, em tempo real, a topologia atual da rede e a correspondente configuração de medidores, no modelo barra-ramo. Para isso, o configurador processa medidas lógicas, que consistem em estados de chaves e disjuntores, bem como dados armazenados em um banco de dados estático, que descreve a conexão dos equipamentos do sistema com as seções de barramento. Em razão de os CRs exigirem algoritmos de busca em um grafo, o desempenho desses algoritmos torna-se fortemente afetado pela forma com que as árvores são computacionalmente representadas. Propõe-se, neste trabalho, um CR tracking, para efeito de estimação de estado, que se baseia em uma nova forma de representar árvores, denominada representação nó-profundidade (RNP). A RNP permite um acesso direto para cada nó de um grafo e pode representar eficientemente árvores (grafos conexos e acíclicos) e florestas (um grafo com uma ou mais árvores). O CR proposto possui as seguintes características: (i) A RNP possibilita uma rápida atualização da topologia da rede, no modelo barra-ramo; (ii) Esta estrutura também permite a realização das etapas configuração de subestação e de rede ao mesmo tempo, diminuindo assim o tempo de processamento necessário para a obtenção do modelo barra-ramo. Para isso, o CR proposto representa cada seção de barramento do SEP como nó de um grafo e usa a RNP e outras duas estruturas de dados, que serão apresentadas no capítulo 5; (iii) Possibilita a associação dos medidores aos componentes do SEP, no modelo barra-ramo, de forma direta. Para isso, o CR proposto usa a RNP e cria barras fictícias para representar os componentes shunt do SEP. Testes realizados comprovam a eficiência e a robustez do configurador proposto tendo em vista os resultados coerentes obtidos para todos os testes, mesmo para os casos em que a mudança nos estados dos dispositivos seccionadores acarretava uma alteração drástica na rede elétrica. / On-line models of power system networks have a wide variety of critical uses, covering from security monitoring and control to market operation. Network topology processor (NTP) is a key tool in providing robust and reliable on-line model of power networks. The function of NTP is the determination of the bus/branch topology model (BBTM) of the network and the assignment of metering devices to the components of the BBTM. In order to do this, the NTP processes: logical measurements that consist of switching-device (breakers and switchers) status; as well as a static data-base describing the network connectivity in terms of bus-sections and switching-devices. Since NTPs require search algorithms for graphs, their performance can be drastically affected by the adopted computational graph representation. This work proposes a new tracking NTP for state estimation purposes, that uses a new graph representation named node-depth representation (NDR). This encoding enables a straightforward access to each one of the graph nodes and can efficiently represent trees (acyclic and connected graphs) and forests (a graph with one or more trees). The proposed tracking NTP has the following characteristics: (i) Using NDR for representation of a BBTM of the network, this NTP can track, over time, the changes of the network connectivity in a very direct and fast way; (ii) Processes both steps substation and network configurations in the same time, reducing the CPU time necessary to obtain the BBTM. In order to do this, the proposed NTP represents each bus-section as a graph node and uses NDR and other two data structures, which will be presented in the chapter 5; and (iii) To assign metering devices to the components of the BBTM, in a straightforward way, the proposed NTP creates additional buses, called fictitious buses, to represent shunt devices. The results of several tests have shown the proposed NTP is reliable, fast and suitable for real-time operation.

A modelagem em tempo real dos sistemas elétricos de potência (SEP) é extremamente importante para se obter uma operação em tempo real segura e confiável dos mesmos. O configurador de redes (CR) é uma ferramenta fundamental, para modelagem em tempo real dos SEP. A função do CR é determinar, em tempo real, a topologia atual da rede e a correspondente configuração de medidores, no modelo barra-ramo. Para isso, o configurador processa medidas lógicas, que consistem em estados de chaves e disjuntores, bem como dados armazenados em um banco de dados estático, que descreve a conexão dos equipamentos do sistema com as seções de barramento. Em razão de os CRs exigirem algoritmos de busca em um grafo, o desempenho desses algoritmos torna-se fortemente afetado pela forma com que as árvores são computacionalmente representadas. Propõe-se, neste trabalho, um CR tracking, para efeito de estimação de estado, que se baseia em uma nova forma de representar árvores, denominada representação nó-profundidade (RNP). A RNP permite um acesso direto para cada nó de um grafo e pode representar eficientemente árvores (grafos conexos e acíclicos) e florestas (um grafo com uma ou mais árvores). O CR proposto possui as seguintes características: (i) A RNP possibilita uma rápida atualização da topologia da rede, no modelo barra-ramo; (ii) Esta estrutura também permite a realização das etapas configuração de subestação e de rede ao mesmo tempo, diminuindo assim o tempo de processamento necessário para a obtenção do modelo barra-ramo. Para isso, o CR proposto representa cada seção de barramento do SEP como nó de um grafo e usa a RNP e outras duas estruturas de dados, que serão apresentadas no capítulo 5; (iii) Possibilita a associação dos medidores aos componentes do SEP, no modelo barra-ramo, de forma direta. Para isso, o CR proposto usa a RNP e cria barras fictícias para representar os componentes shunt do SEP. Testes realizados comprovam a eficiência e a robustez do configurador proposto tendo em vista os resultados coerentes obtidos para todos os testes, mesmo para os casos em que a mudança nos estados dos dispositivos seccionadores acarretava uma alteração drástica na rede elétrica. / On-line models of power system networks have a wide variety of critical uses, covering from security monitoring and control to market operation. Network topology processor (NTP) is a key tool in providing robust and reliable on-line model of power networks. The function of NTP is the determination of the bus/branch topology model (BBTM) of the network and the assignment of metering devices to the components of the BBTM. In order to do this, the NTP processes: logical measurements that consist of switching-device (breakers and switchers) status; as well as a static data-base describing the network connectivity in terms of bus-sections and switching-devices. Since NTPs require search algorithms for graphs, their performance can be drastically affected by the adopted computational graph representation. This work proposes a new tracking NTP for state estimation purposes, that uses a new graph representation named node-depth representation (NDR). This encoding enables a straightforward access to each one of the graph nodes and can efficiently represent trees (acyclic and connected graphs) and forests (a graph with one or more trees). The proposed tracking NTP has the following characteristics: (i) Using NDR for representation of a BBTM of the network, this NTP can track, over time, the changes of the network connectivity in a very direct and fast way; (ii) Processes both steps substation and network configurations in the same time, reducing the CPU time necessary to obtain the BBTM. In order to do this, the proposed NTP represents each bus-section as a graph node and uses NDR and other two data structures, which will be presented in the chapter 5; and (iii) To assign metering devices to the components of the BBTM, in a straightforward way, the proposed NTP creates additional buses, called fictitious buses, to represent shunt devices. The results of several tests have shown the proposed NTP is reliable, fast and suitable for real-time operation.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2016-11-17T10:55:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Eduardo Nunes dos Reis__.pdf: 3241209 bytes, checksum: b350ca7207662ffbe86ca0164cf92887 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-17T10:55:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eduardo Nunes dos Reis__.pdf: 3241209 bytes, checksum: b350ca7207662ffbe86ca0164cf92887 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-18 / Nenhuma / Análise de Contingências em sistemas elétricos de transmissão são de fundamental importância tanto para o planejamento quanto para a operação do sistema. Conhecimento do nível de importância e o impacto de interrupções em condições de operação da rede, em cada linha e em todas as barras de carga é crucial para a análise de segurança da rede. Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar a fragilidade dos sistemas elétricos de transmissão através de cálculo e análise das centralidades das redes, identificando seus nós mais importantes. Desta forma, pode-se obter informações sobre a rede com um menor custo computacional que as ferramentas disponíveis no momento. Os testes foram aplicados em redes IEEE padrão e em redes reais de grande escala, como o Sistema Interligado Nacional brasileiro (SIN). Os resultados foram comparados com os obtidos no software ANAREDE, software este que possui maior penetração entre as empresas de transmissão, e é baseado em cálculo de fluxo de potência. Com essa comparação é possível avaliar o grau de confiabilidade do método proposto.Os dados analisados mostram que o método pode ser utilizado como uma ferramenta auxiliar de baixo custo computacional para a avaliação de contingências fornecendo subsídios para análises mais aprofundadas dos nós indicados como críticos. Através da utilização do coeficiente de Correlação de Spearman verifica-se que os resultados do cálculo de centralidades possuem boa proximidade aos resultados do ANAREDE, com menor custo computacional e possibilidade de rodarredes de grande densidade de forma completa. / Contingency analysis of an electricity transmission system is of fundamental importance for both planning and system operation. Knowledge of the level of importance and the impact of outage in operating conditions of the network, were each one of the lines and on every load baseline is crucial for the analysis of network security. This work aims to evaluate the fragility of the electricity transmission system through centrality analysis of networks, identifying the most important nodes in the network. On this way, important information of the network can be achieved with lower computation cost than current available tools.Tests were performed on standard IEEE and in actual large scale networks, as the Brazilian National Interconnected Power System (NIPS). The results were compared with optimal results obtained from ANAREDE software, which is based on power flow calculation to check if the centrality-based method is reliable.The data analyzed show that the method can be used as an auxiliary tool with low computational cost for the evaluation of contingencies, providing support for further analysis of the nodes listed as critical.Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was obtained for each centrality calculation and shows a close relation with results from ANAREDE software, with less computational cost and possibility to run high density networks at once.

Les réseaux de capteurs sans fils et mobiles constituent un champ de recherche dans lequel un grand nombre de capteurs de faible coût sont déployés dans un environnement pour observer un ou plusieurs phénomènes. Ces capteurs sont autonomes, communicant et disposent d'une réserve d'énergie limitée. Les problèmes issus de ce type de système sont nombreux : gestion de l'énergie, couverture, fusion de donnée, ...L'approche proposée dans cette thèse repose sur l'hypothèse que les réseaux de capteurs doivent exhiber des propriétés d'auto-organisation et d'autonomie. Chaque capteur est en soit autonome et peut interagir avec d'autres capteurs ce qui forme une organisation complexe. Ces capteurs ont un but à accomplir et le système possède les caractéristiques suivantes : i. le but du réseau ne peut généralement pas être résolu par un capteur uniqueii. Les capteurs doivent collaborer pour accomplir le but ou contribuer à une partie de ce but.iii. Chaque capteur réagit à son environnement en fonction de ses perceptions qui sont forcément locales et limitées.Après une introduction qui décrit le domaine et pose la problématique un état de l'art du domaine est présenté au chapitre 2. Deux contributions sont abordées dans cette thèse. D'une part, l'analyse des propriétés dynamiques de topologie des réseaux de capteurs sans fil et d'autre part la performance des liens de ce type de réseaux. Pour la topologie deux approches sont proposées : au chapitre 3 une première approche basée sur le modèle de mobilité et au chapitre 4 une approche basée sur des techniques de mesures. Pour la performance des liens, deux approches sont également proposées. La première, décrite dans le chapitre 5, est basée sur un modèle d'analyse linéaire. La deuxième, décrite au chapitre 6, repose sur une technique d'optimisation multi-objectif. / The measurability of Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is the precondition of itsmanagement, performance optimization and network resources re-allocations. However, MANET is an infrastructure-free, multi-hop, andself-organized temporary network, comprised of a group of mobile nodes with wirelesscommunication devices. Not only does its topology structure vary with time going by, butalso the communication protocol used in its network layer or data link layer is diverse andnon-standard.In order to solve the problem of interior links performance (such as packet loss rate anddelay) measurement in MANET, this thesis has adopted an external measurement basedon network tomography (NT). To the best of our knowledge, NT technique is adaptable for Ad Hoc networkmeasurement.This thesis has deeply studied MANET measurement technique based on NT. The maincontributions are:(1) An analysis technique on MANET topology dynamic characteristic based onmobility model was proposed. At first, an Ad Hoc network mobility model formalizationis described. Then a MANET topology snapshots capturing method was proposed to findand verify that MANET topology varies in steady and non-steady state in turnperiodically. At the same time, it was proved that it was practicable in theory to introduceNT technique into Ad Hoc network measurement. The fitness hypothesis verification wasadopted to obtain the rule of Ad Hoc network topology dynamic characteristic parameters,and the Markov stochastic process was adopted to analyze MANET topology dynamiccharacteristic. The simulation results show that the method above not only is valid andgenerable to be used for all mobility models in NS-2 Tool, but also could obtain thetopology state keeping experimental formula and topology state varying probabilityformula.IV(2) An analysis technique for MANET topology dynamic characteristic based onmeasurement sample was proposed. When the scenario file of mobile models could notbe obtained beforehand, End-to-End measurement was used in MANET to obtain thepath delay time. Then topology steady period of MANET is inferred by judging whetherpath delay dithering is close to zero. At the same time, the MANET topology wasidentified by using hierarchical clustering method based on measurement sample of pathperformance during topology steady period in order to support the link performanceinference. The simulation result verified that the method above could not only detect themeasurement window time of MANET effectively, but also identify the MANETtopology architecture during measurement window time correctly.(3) A MANET link performance inference algorithm based on linear analysis modelwas proposed. The relation of inequality between link and path performance, such as lossrate of MANET, was deduced according to a linear model. The phenomena thatcommunication characteristic of packets, such as delay and loss rate, is more similarwhen the sub-paths has longer shared links was proved in the document. When the rankof the routing matrix is equal to that of its augmentation matrix, the linear model wasused to describe the Ad Hoc network link performance inference method. The simulationresults show that the algorithm not only is effective, but also has short computing time.(4) A Link performance inference algorithm based on multi-objectives optimizationwas proposed. When the rank of the routing matrix is not equal to that of its augmentationmatrix, the link performance inference was changed into multi-objectives optimizationand genetic algorithm is used to infer link performance. The probability distribution oflink performance in certain time t was obtained by performing more measurements andstatistically analyzing the hypo-solutions. Through the simulation, it can be safelyconcluded that the internal link performance, such as, link loss ratio and link delay, can beinferred correctly when the rank of the routing matrix is not equal to that of itsaugmentation matrix.

To achieve the goal of efficient ”anytime, anywhere” communication, it is essential to develop mobile devices which can efficiently support multiple wireless communication standards. Also, in order to efficiently accommodate the further evolution of these standards, it should be possible to modify/upgrade the operation of the mobile devices without having to recall previously deployed devices. This is achievable if as much functionality of the mobile device as possible is provided through software. A mobile device which fits this description is called a Software Defined Radio (SDR). Reconfigurable hardware-based solutions are an attractive option for realizing SDRs as they can potentially provide a favourable combination of the flexibility of a DSP or a GPP and the efficiency of an ASIC. The work presented in this thesis discusses the development of efficient reconfigurable hardware for one of the most energy-intensive functionalities in the mobile device, namely, Forward Error Correction (FEC). FEC is required in order to achieve reliable transfer of information at minimal transmit power levels. FEC is achieved by encoding the information in a process called channel coding. Previous studies have shown that the FEC unit accounts for around 40% of the total energy consumption of the mobile unit. In addition, modern wireless standards also place the additional requirement of flexibility on the FEC unit. Thus, the FEC unit of the mobile device represents a considerable amount of computing ability that needs to be accommodated into a very small power, area and energy budget. Two channel coding techniques have found widespread use in most modern wireless standards -namely convolutional coding and turbo coding. The Viterbi algorithm is most widely used for decoding convolutionally encoded sequences. It is possible to use this algorithm iteratively in order to decode turbo codes. Hence, this thesis specifically focusses on developing architectures for flexible Viterbi decoders. Chapter 2 provides a description of the Viterbi and turbo decoding techniques. The flexibility requirements placed on the Viterbi decoder by modern standards can be divided into two types -code rate flexibility and constraint length flexibility. The code rate dictates the number of received bits which are handled together as a symbol at the receiver. Hence, code rate flexibility needs to be built into the basic computing units which are used to implement the Viterbi algorithm. The constraint length dictates the number of computations required per received symbol as well as the manner of transfer of results between these computations. Hence, assuming that multiple processing units are used to perform the required computations, supporting constraint length flexibility necessitates changes in the interconnection network connecting the computing units. A constraint length K Viterbi decoder needs 2K−1computations to be performed per received symbol. The results of the computations are exchanged among the computing units in order to prepare for the next received symbol. The communication pattern according to which these results are exchanged forms a graph called a de Bruijn graph, with 2K−1nodes. This implies that providing constraint length flexibility requires being able to realize de Bruijn graphs of various sizes on the interconnection network connecting the processing units. This thesis focusses on providing constraint length flexibility in an efficient manner. Quite clearly, the topology employed for interconnecting the processing units has a huge effect on the efficiency with which multiple constraint lengths can be supported. This thesis aims to explore the usefulness of interconnection topologies similar to the de Bruijn graph, for building constraint length flexible Viterbi decoders. Five different topologies have been considered in this thesis, which can be discussed under two different headings, as done below: De Bruijn network-based architectures The interconnection network that is of chief interest in this thesis is the de Bruijn interconnection network itself, as it is identical to the communication pattern for a Viterbi decoder of a given constraint length. The problem of realizing flexible constraint length Viterbi decoders using a de Bruijn network has been approached in two different ways. The first is an embedding-theoretic approach where the problem of supporting multiple constraint lengths on a de Bruijn network is seen as a problem of embedding smaller sized de Bruijn graphs on a larger de Bruijn graph. Mathematical manipulations are presented to show that this embedding can generally be accomplished with a maximum dilation of, where N is the number of computing nodes in the physical network, while simultaneously avoiding any congestion of the physical links. In this case, however, the mapping of the decoder states onto the processing nodes is assumed fixed. Another scheme is derived based on a variable assignment of decoder states onto computing nodes, which turns out to be more efficient than the embedding-based approach. For this scheme, the maximum number of cycles per stage is found to be limited to 2 irrespective of the maximum contraint length to be supported. In addition, it is also found to be possible to execute multiple smaller decoders in parallel on the physical network, for smaller constraint lengths. Consequently, post logic-synthesis, this architecture is found to be more area-efficient than the architecture based on the embedding theoretic approach. It is also a more efficiently scalable architecture. Alternative architectures There are several interconnection topologies which are closely connected to the de Bruijn graph, and hence could form attractive alternatives for realizing flexbile constraint length Viterbi decoders. We consider two more topologies from this class -namely, the shuffle-exchange network and the flattened butterfly network. The variable state assignment scheme developed for the de Bruijn network is found to be directly applicable to the shuffle-exchange network. The average number of clock cycles per stage is found to be limited to 4 in this case. This is again independent of the constraint length to be supported. On the flattened butterfly (which is actually identical to the hypercube), a state scheduling scheme similar to that of bitonic sorting is used. This architecture is found to offer the ideal throughput of one decoded bit every clock cycle, for any constraint length. For comparison with a more general purpose topology, we consider a flexible constraint length Viterbi decoder architecture based on a 2D-mesh, which is a popular choice for general purpose applications, as well as many signal processing applications. The state scheduling scheme used here is also similar to that used for bitonic sorting on a mesh. All the alternative architectures are capable of executing multiple smaller decoders in parallel on the larger interconnection network. Inferences Following logic synthesis and power estimation, it is found that the de Bruijn network-based architecture with the variable state assignment scheme yields the lowest (area)−(time) product, while the flattened butterfly network-based architecture yields the lowest (area) - (time)2product. This means, that the de Bruijn network-based architecture is the best choice for moderate throughput applications, while the flattened butterfly network-based architecture is the best choice for high throughput applications. However, as the flattened butterfly network is less scalable in terms of size compared to the de Bruijn network, it can be concluded that among the architectures considered in this thesis, the de Bruijn network-based architecture with the variable state assignment scheme is overall an attractive choice for realizing flexible constraint length Viterbi decoders.

The Internet of Things paradigm establishes interaction and communication with a huge amount of actors. The concept is not a new-from-scratch one; actually, it combines a vast number of technologies and protocols and surely adaptations of pre-existing elements to offer new services and applications. One of the key technologies of the Internet of Things is the Radio Frequency Identification just abbreviated RFID. This technology proposes a set of solutions that allow tracking and tracing persons, animals and practically any item wirelessly. Considering the Internet of Things concept, multiple technologies need to be linked in order to provide interactions that lead to the implementation of services and applications. The challenge is that these technologies are not necessarily compatible and designed to work with other technologies. Within this context, the main objective of this thesis is to design a heterogeneous framework that will permit the interaction of diverse devices such as RFID, sensors and actuators in order to provide new applications and services. For this purpose in this work, our first contribution is the design and analysis of an integration architecture for heterogeneous devices. In the second contribution, we propose an evaluation model for RFID topologies and an optimization tool that assists in the RFID network planning process. Finally, in our last contribution, we implemented a simplified version of the framework by using embedded hardware and performance metrics are provided as well as the detailed configuration of the test platform

Understanding the behavior of complex, large-scale, interconnected systems in a rigorous and structured manner is one of the most pressing scientific and technological challenges of current times. These systems include, among many others, transportation and communications systems, smart grids and power grids, financial markets etc. Failures of these systems have potentially enormous social, environmental and financial costs. In this work, we investigate the failure mechanisms of load-sharing complex systems. The systems are composed of multiple nodes or components whose failures are determined based on the interaction of their respective strengths and loads (or capacity and demand respectively) as well as the ability of a component to share its load with its neighbors when needed. Each component possesses a specific strength (capacity) and can be in one of three states: failed, damaged or functioning normally. The states are determined based on the load (demand) on the component. We focus on two distinct mechanisms to model the interaction between components strengths and loads. The first, a Loss of Strength (LOS) model and the second, a Customer Service (CS) model. We implement both models on lattice and scale-free graph network topologies. The failure mechanisms of these two models demonstrate temporal scaling phenomena, phase transitions and multiple distinct failure modes excited by extremal dynamics. We find that the resiliency of these models is sensitive to the underlying network topology. For critical ranges of parameters the models demonstrate power law and exponential failure patterns. We find that the failure mechanisms of these models have parallels to failure mechanisms of critical infrastructure systems such as congestion in transportation networks, cascading failure in electrical power grids, creep-rupture in composite structures, and draw-downs in financial markets. Based on the different variants of failure, strategies for mitigating and postponing failure in these critical infrastructure systems can be formulated.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation proposes a methodology for alarm processing aiming to solve the fault section estimation in electrical power system. The main motivation for this study is the fact that operators of control centers being subject to information overload during great contingencies. Accordingly, this work aims to support the operator decisions in order to enhance the service reliability and reduce the power restoration time. The approach integrates a legacy SCADA interpretation system working together with a new network topology processor to determine the protection alarms (circuit breakers, switches, protective relays and protection logical schemes), and the set of disconnected equipment after occurrence of fault. The fault diagnosis has been treated as an optimization problem, solved through two stages: event classification at equipment level, based on Bayes s Theorem; and the fault section estimation, which is formulated as a mixed integer programming problem, using the commercial software CPLEX to solve instances. The developed approach also identifies the malfunctioned protective devices as well the missing and false alarms. Possible fault scenarios were considered in part of a real Brazilian power system to validate the methodology. The results show that the proposed approach can find the optimal solution even in case of multiple faults or in case of failure of protection devices. / Esta dissertação propõe uma metodologia para o processamento de alarmes visando à estimação de secção em falta em sistemas elétricos de potência. A principal motivação para este estudo reside no fato de os operadores dos centros de controle estarem sujeitos a sobrecarga de informação durante grandes contingências. Deste modo, o trabalho pretende auxiliar o operador na tomada de decisão, favorecendo a confiabilidade do serviço e a redução do tempo de reestabelecimento. A abordagem integra a interpretação de dados históricos do SCADA em conjunto com um novo configurador de redes para determinar os alarmes de proteção (disjuntores, chaves seccionadoras, relés de proteção e esquemas lógicos de proteção), e o conjunto de equipamentos desligados após a falta. O diagnóstico sobre a falta é tratado como um problema de otimização, resolvido por meio de duas etapas: classificação de eventos em nível de equipamento, fundamentado no Teorema de Bayes; e a estimação da secção em falta, formulada como um problema de programação inteira mista, empregando o otimizador comercial CPLEX para resolver as instâncias. A abordagem proposta também identifica o mau funcionamento de dispositivos de proteção, bem como os alarmes falsos e falhos. Possíveis cenários de falta foram considerados em parte de um sistema de potência real brasileiro a fim de validar a metodologia. Os resultados mostram que a abordagem pode encontrar a solução ótima, mesmo em casos de múltiplas faltas ou em casos de falha em dispositivos de proteção.