Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Ceramic and Materials Science and Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-163).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-199). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-94). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-109). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Chang, Gee-Kung, Committee Chair ; Zhou, G.Tong, Committee Member ; Copeland, John, Committee Member ; Riley, George, Committee Member ; Ingram, Mary Ann, Committee Member ; Ammar, Mostafa, Committee Member.

Η χρήση των οπτικών ινών στην κατασκευή μητροπολιτικών δικτύων είναι βασικός παράγοντας για την ποιότητα των υπηρεσιών που προσφέρονται στους τελικούς χρήστες, αφού οι οπτικές ίνες είναι η μόνη μακροπρόθεσμη λύση που μπορεί να παρέχει το απαιτούμενο εύρος ζώνης για πολυμεσικές και αλληλεπιδραστικές εφαρμογές σε παγκόσμιο και διεθνές επίπεδο. Η διπλωματική εργασία αυτή απευθύνεται σε άτομα που κατέχουν βασικές γνώσεις πάνω στην τεχνολογία επικοινωνιών και θέλουν να πληροφορηθούν περαιτέρω πάνω σε ζητήματα οπτικής ενίσχυσης σήματος και χρήσης νέων τεχνολογικών μέσων για τον χαρακτηρισμό και την πιστοποίηση long-haul ζεύξεων SMF οπτικών ινών. Στην διπλωματική αυτή αναλύονται θέματα όπως τα είδη εξασθένησης που συναντούμε στις μονότροπες οπτικές ίνες, η χρησιμότητα και η λειτουργικότητα της συσκευής OTDR (Optical time-domain reflectometer) στον χαρακτηρισμό δικτύων οπτικών ινών μεγάλου μήκους, όπως και η δυνατότητα οπτικής ενίσχυσης Raman, μιας μεθόδου με πολλά συγκριτικά πλεονεκτήματα σε σχέση με τις παρούσες τεχνολογίες ενίσχυσης οπτικού σήματος με ενισχυτές ίνας ερβίου. / -

H ευρυζωνικότητα δεν είναι μια στενή έννοια αλλά ένα δυναμικό πλαίσιο που αγγίζει ένα ευρύ φάσμα τεχνολογιών, υπηρεσιών και πολιτικοοικονομικών θεμάτων. Συνοπτικά θα λέγαμε ότι η ευρυζωνικότητα χαρακτηρίζει ένα περιβάλλον το οποίο συνίσταται: • Μια δικτυακή υποδομή που έχει τη δυνατότητα να αναβαθμίζεται συνεχώς με μικρό κόστος για να υποστηρίζει τις εκάστοτε ανάγκες των εφαρμογών σε εύρος ζώνης και διαθεσιμότητα • Γρήγορες, συνεχείς και με χαμηλό κόστος συνδέσεις χρηστών στην υποδομή αυτή για τις οποίες δεν τίθενται εγγενείς περιορισμοί που αφορούν τον τύπο τερματικού εξοπλισμού και συστημάτων μετάδοσης • Την ελευθερία επιλογής από το χρήστη της τεχνολογίας και του είδους της σύνδεσης, των υπηρεσιών και εφαρμογών και την δυνατότητα συμμετοχής στην παραγωγή περιεχομένου • Το κατάλληλο θεσμικό και νομικό πλαίσιο για την ενίσχυση της καινοτομίας και του ανταγωνισμού. Όσο αναφορά τις υποδομές και τις τεχνολογίες που χρησιμοποιούνται ευρέως στην σύγχρονη εποχή αυτές διαφοροποιούνται σε ενσύρματες και ασύρματες, και από εκεί και πέρα ποικίλουν. Χαρακτηριστικά αναφέρουμε την χρήση των καναλιών της καλωδιακής τηλεόρασης, των καλωδίων του ρεύματος, της οπτικής ίνας καθώς και την χρήση του wi-fi, του WiMAX και των δικτύων κινητής τηλεφωνίας. Θα κάνουμε μια πιο εκτενής ανάλυση της τεχνολογίας της οπτικής ίνας, οποία αποτελεί την βασικότερη υποδομή ενσύρματης δικτύωσης πλέον, περιγράφοντας τα χαρακτηριστικά της καθώς και τους διάφορους τρόπους δικτύωσης που συναντάμε σήμερα, κάνοντας ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στις τεχνολογίες FTTx. Η ανταγωνιστικότητα ενός κράτους στο νέο αυτό περιβάλλον υψηλής τεχνολογίας και ψηφιακής σύγκλισης, συσχετίζεται έντονα με την ύπαρξη προηγμένων δικτυακών υποδομών υψηλής ποιότητας, χωρητικότητας και απόδοσης, ορθολογικά ανεπτυγμένων και κοστολογημένων, οι οποίες προσφέρουν εύκολη, ασφαλή και αδιάλειπτη πρόσβαση στο διεθνές «ηλεκτρονικό πλέγμα» της γνώσης και του εμπορίου, με προσιτά τιμολόγια χωρίς τεχνητούς αποκλεισμούς. Παρά όμως την σχετικά γρήγορη διάχυση της ευρυζωνικότητας, προς το παρόν όλα τα κράτη είναι στα αρχικά βήματα στην εξάπλωση της. Ο ανταγωνισμός στην αγορά έχει παίξει μεγάλο ρόλο στην ανάπτυξη της ευρυζωνικότητας, δεν φαίνεται όμως να είναι αρκετός για την διασφάλιση της γρήγορης εφαρμογής της. Για το λόγο αυτό παγκοσμίως οι κυβερνήσεις διερευνούν και εφαρμόζουν τρόπους για την προώθηση των ευρυζωνικών υποδομών και των υπηρεσιών, την δημιουργία περιεχομένου και την διασφάλιση της δυνατότητας συμμετοχής στο περιβάλλον αυτό όλων των περιοχών και πολιτών. Καθώς όμως η ευρυζωνικότητα είναι ένα πολυσύνθετο θέμα, δεν φαίνεται να έχουν βρεθεί ευρέως αποδεκτές και ακολουθούμενες βέλτιστες πρακτικές. Αντίθετα κάθε κράτος ακολουθεί τις δικές του πρωτοβουλίες με βάση το θεσμικό του πλαίσιο, την πολιτική και την κουλτούρα του, τις οικονομικές και κοινωνικές συνθήκες που επικρατούν. Στα πλαίσια αυτής της εργασίας θα αναλύσουμε τους στόχους, τα σχέδια, τις πολιτικές και τις στρατηγικές των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών της Αμερικής για όλα αυτά που μόλις αναφέρθηκαν. Θα φανούν οι τρόποι με τους ποίους οι Η.Π.Α. σκοπεύουν να αναπτύξουν και να κάνουν προσβάσιμες τις ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες στους Αμερικανούς πολίτες, καθώς και τα οφέλη που οι ίδιοι αναμένουν να έχουν από τις υπηρεσίες αυτές σε πολλούς τομείς της καθημερινότητας όπως η εκπαίδευση, η υγεία, η ασφάλεια, η εργασία, η συμμετοχή στα κοινά. / Broadband is not a limited sense, but a dynamic framework that touches a broad range of technologies, services and political and economical issues. Synoptically the broadband features an environment that consists of the following: • A Web-based infrastructure which can be upgraded continuously with low cost due to support the needs of applications to bandwidth and the availability. • Fast, continuous and low cost of user connections to this infrastructure for which there are inherent limitations to the type of terminal equipment and transmission systems. • The user has the option of the technology and type of connection, services and applications and the ability to participate in content production. • The appropriate institutional and legal frame for fostering innovation and competition. The infrastructure and technologies which widely used in modern times are various, and they are divided into wired and wireless. In this point it should be mentioned the use of channels of cable television, cable current, the optical fiber and the use of Wi-Fi, the WiMAX and cellular networks. An extensive analysis of the optical fiber technology, which is the most basic infrastructure, where is now known as wired networking, with description of its characteristics and the various ways of networking in the modern world , with particular reference to technologies FTTx will be followed. The competitiveness of a country in this new environment of high technology and digital convergence correlates strongly with the presence of advanced network infrastructure quality, capacity and performance, rationally developed and costed, which offer easy, secure and uninterrupted access to the international "electronic network" of knowledge and commerce, with affordable rates without artificial exclusions. Despite the relatively rapid diffusion of broadband, currently all States are in the early steps in the spread. The market competition has strongly affected the development of broadband, but it is not sufficient to ensure the rapid implementation. For this reason, governments worldwide are investigating and implementing ways to promote broadband infrastructure and services, content creation and ensuring the participation of all regions and citizens in this environment. Due to the broadband is a complex issue, it seems that practises, which will be widely accepted and followed, are not established yet. Contrary each state follows its own initiatives under the institutional frames, policy and culture, economic and social conditions. As part of this thesis, it will analyze the targets, plans, policies and strategies of the United States of America for all those which were just mentioned. Providing the means that U.S. intend to develop in order to make accessible broadband services to all American citizens, and the expected benefits applying in many areas of daily life, such as education, health, safety, labor and citizenship, from the use of these services.

CAPES, CNPq), Fundação Araucária, Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP), FINEP / Neste trabalho é apresentado um estudo sobre a aplicabilidade de sensores em fibra ótica baseados em redes de período longo como ferramentas para avaliar combustíveis líquidos. O estudo pautou-se em investigação experimental e no levantamento das principais características metrológicas dos sensores, incluindo a estimativa de incertezas segundo diretrizes recomendadas por organizações internacionais de padronização. Nesse sentido, investigou-se o desempenho dos sensores na determinação do teor de etanol presente em misturas etanol-gasolina. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que concentrações de etanol foram mensuradas nessas misturas com resolução de até 0,14% v/v. Adicionalmente, avaliaram-se os comportamentos dos sensores na identificação do teor de etanol em misturas etanol-água e propuseram-se dois métodos para que tais determinações fossem unívocas para toda a faixa de concentração de etanol. Nessa aplicação foi possível medir concentrações de etanol com resolução de até 0,17% v/v. Os sensores foram ainda empregados nas avaliações de biodiesel, de óleo de origem e de óleo diesel presentes em misturas binárias e homogêneas. Para tanto, três métodos foram desenvolvidos com o intuito de superar as limitações impostas pelos elevados índices de refração dessas substâncias, possibilitando quantificações sem demandar segregação de componentes ou fibras óticas especiais. Dessa maneira, viabilizou-se a identificação de teores de biodiesel em misturas biodiesel-óleo diesel com resolução de até 0,05% v/v. Por fim, implementou-se um método de interrogação de redes de período longo a partir da leitura de sinais de reflexão disponibilizados por uma rede de Bragg, o qual foi utilizado para avaliar misturas contendo óleo de origem e biodiesel. Nesse caso, as determinações dos teores de óleo foram realizadas com resolução de 0,10% v/v. / This work shows a study about the applicability of optical fiber sensors based on long period gratings as tools for assessment of liquid fuels. The study was based on both experimental research and evaluation of the main metrological characteristics of the sensors, including the estimative of uncertainties according to guidelines recommended by international organizations for standardization. In a sense, it was evaluated the performance of sensors for determining the ethanol concentration in ethanol-gasoline blends. The results obtained showed that ethanol concentrations were measured in these mixtures with resolution up to 0.14% v/v. The use of the sensors to measure ethanol in ethanol-water blends was also investigated and two methods were proposed to establish the ethanol content without ambiguity for the whole ethanol concentration range. In this application it was possible to measure ethanol concentrations with resolution up to 0.17% v/v. Optical fiber sensors were also employed for evaluating biodiesel, vegetable oil and petrodiesel concentrations in binary and homogeneous mixtures. Three methods were developed in order to overcome the drawbacks imposed by the high refractive indices of these substances, allowing quantifications without requiring segregation of components or specialty optical fibers. Biodiesel concentrations could be identified in biodiesel-petrodiesel blends with resolution up to 0.05% v/v. Finally, an alternative method to interrogate long period gratings that employs the reflection provided by a fiber Bragg grating was implemented to evaluate mixtures of vegetable oil and biodiesel. In this case, oil concentrations were determined with resolution of 0.10% v/v.

CAPES; CNPq / Neste trabalho, os fundamentos da modulação acusto-óptica em redes de difração são apresentados. Através de uma análise detalhada dos modos de excitação mecânicos, mostrou-se que dois tipos predominantes de excitação acústica podem ser encontrados na fibra óptica dependendo da frequência acústica aplicada. Através da caracterização do modulador acusto-óptico, foi possível desenvolver novas aplicações, dentre as quais pode-se citar um dispositivo de inserção e retirada de canais em links ópticos cuja velocidade de chaveamento é uma das maiores apresentadas até agora na literatura, um compensador de dispersão sintonizável de banda estreita, um filtro óptico baseado na modulação acusto-óptica de uma rede de Bragg com uma diferença de fase, um novo método para controlar a escrita de redes de Bragg durante o processo de gravação utilizando-se da técnica da máscara de fase e um sensor de viscosidade, cuja aplicação pode ser considerada a mais promissora. / In this work, the fundamentals of the acousto-optic modulation in diffraction gratings are presented. By means of a detailed analysis of the mechanical excitation modes applied to the modulator set, it was noticed that two predominant modes of acoustic excitation can be found in the optical fiber depending on the applied acoustic frequency. Through this characterization, it was possible to develop new applications, such as a fast acousto-optic add-drop multiplexing for optical channels, which produces one of the fastest switching device presented in the literature, a narrow tunable single channel dispersion compensator, a tunable optical filter based on the acousto-optic modulation of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating, a new method to control the spectrum of Bragg gratings during the writing process and a viscosity sensor, whose application can be considered the most promising.