Energy harvesting (EH) nodes, which harvest energy from the environment in order to communicate over a wireless link, promise perpetual operation of wireless networks. The primary focus of the communication system design shifts from being as energy conservative as possible to judiciously handling the randomness in the energy harvesting process in order to enhance the system performance. This engenders a significant redesign of the physical and multiple access layers of communication. In this thesis, we address the problem of maximizing the throughput of a system that consists of rate-adaptive EH nodes that transmit data to a common sink node. We consider the practical case of discrete rate adaptation in which a node selects its transmission power from a set of finitely many rates and adjusts its transmit power to meet a bit error rate (BER) constraint. When there is only one EH node in the network, the problem involves determining the rate and power at which the node should transmit as a function of its channel gain and battery state. For the system with multiple EH nodes, which node should be selected also needs to be determined. We first prove that the energy neutrality constraint, which governs the operation of an EH node, is tighter than the average power constraint. We then propose a simple rate and power adaptation scheme for a system with a single EH node and prove that its throughput approaches the optimal throughput arbitrarily closely. We then arrive at the optimal selection and rate adaptation rules for a multi-EH node system that opportunistically selects at most one node to transmit at any time. The optimal scheme is shown to significantly outperform other ad hoc selection and transmission schemes. The effect of energy overheads, such as battery storage inefficiencies and the energy required for sensing and processing, on the transmission scheme and its overall throughput is also analytically characterized. Further, we show how the time and energy overheads incurred by the opportunistic selection process itself affect the adaptation and selection rules and the overall system throughput. Insights into the scaling behavior of the average system throughput in the asymptotic regime, in which the number of nodes tend to infinity, are also obtained. We also optimize the maximum time allotted for selection, so as to maximize the overall system throughput. For systems with EH nodes or non-EH nodes, which are subject to an average power constraint, the optimal rate and power adaptation depends on a power control parameter, which hitherto has been calculated numerically. We derive novel asymptotically tight bounds and approximations for the same, when the average rate of energy harvesting is large. These new expressions are analytically insightful, computationally useful, and are also quite accurate even in the non-asymptotic regime when average rate of energy harvesting is relatively small. In summary, this work develops several useful insights into the design of selection and transmission schemes for a wireless network with rate-adaptive EH nodes.

<p>The present society is highly dependant on complex electronics systems, which have a low damage threshold level. Therefore, there is a high risk of partial or total loss of the system’s electronics when they are exposed to a thunderstorm environment. This calls for a deep understanding on the mechanism related to the interaction of lightning generated electromagnetic fields with various large distributed/scattered systems. To accurately represent the interaction of lightning electromagnetic fields with electrical networks, it is necessary to have return stroke models capable to reproduce the electromagnetic field signatures generated by a lightning flash. Several models have been developed in the recent past to study the field-to-wire coupling mechanism. The most popular, simple and accurate among the available models is the Agrawal et al. model. On the other hand, ATP-EMTP is a well-known transient simulation package widely used by power engineers. This package has various built-in line models like Semlyen, Marti and Noda setups. There is a difficulty in applying the Agrawal et al. model with the built-in line models of ATP-EMTP, as the voltage source due to the horizontal component of electric field in Agrawal et al. model is in series with the line impedance and not in between two transmission line segments. Furthermore, when the electromagnetic field is propagating over a finite conducting ground plane, the soil will selectively attenuate the high frequency content of the electromagnetic field; causing a change in the field wave shape. A finite conducting ground will also produce a horizontal field component at the ground level. Several approximations are available in the literature to obtain the horizontal electric field; namely the wave-tilt and the Cooray-Rubinstein approximation. Consequently, it is important to investigate the change on the induced voltage signature when the power line is located over a finitely conducting ground. Additionally, to provide protection from lightning induced transients it is necessary to use Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) capable of diverting the incoming transients and provide protection level necessary to avoid damage in the equipment. However, standard test procedures of the SPDs do not take into account sub-microsecond structure of the transients. Therefore, to provide the required protection level to sensitive equipments connected to the low voltage power network, it is essential to understand the response of SPDs subjected to high current derivative impulses. This thesis is aimed to investigate the research problems as addressed above. Special attention will be given to a new proposed return stroke model, a simple circuit approach for efficient implementation of Agrawal et al. model using ATP-EMTP, the effect of the soil conductivity on the lightning induced overvoltage signatures and the response of surge protective devices subjected to high current derivative impulses.</p>

The present society is highly dependant on complex electronics systems, which have a low damage threshold level. Therefore, there is a high risk of partial or total loss of the system’s electronics when they are exposed to a thunderstorm environment. This calls for a deep understanding on the mechanism related to the interaction of lightning generated electromagnetic fields with various large distributed/scattered systems. To accurately represent the interaction of lightning electromagnetic fields with electrical networks, it is necessary to have return stroke models capable to reproduce the electromagnetic field signatures generated by a lightning flash. Several models have been developed in the recent past to study the field-to-wire coupling mechanism. The most popular, simple and accurate among the available models is the Agrawal et al. model. On the other hand, ATP-EMTP is a well-known transient simulation package widely used by power engineers. This package has various built-in line models like Semlyen, Marti and Noda setups. There is a difficulty in applying the Agrawal et al. model with the built-in line models of ATP-EMTP, as the voltage source due to the horizontal component of electric field in Agrawal et al. model is in series with the line impedance and not in between two transmission line segments. Furthermore, when the electromagnetic field is propagating over a finite conducting ground plane, the soil will selectively attenuate the high frequency content of the electromagnetic field; causing a change in the field wave shape. A finite conducting ground will also produce a horizontal field component at the ground level. Several approximations are available in the literature to obtain the horizontal electric field; namely the wave-tilt and the Cooray-Rubinstein approximation. Consequently, it is important to investigate the change on the induced voltage signature when the power line is located over a finitely conducting ground. Additionally, to provide protection from lightning induced transients it is necessary to use Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) capable of diverting the incoming transients and provide protection level necessary to avoid damage in the equipment. However, standard test procedures of the SPDs do not take into account sub-microsecond structure of the transients. Therefore, to provide the required protection level to sensitive equipments connected to the low voltage power network, it is essential to understand the response of SPDs subjected to high current derivative impulses. This thesis is aimed to investigate the research problems as addressed above. Special attention will be given to a new proposed return stroke model, a simple circuit approach for efficient implementation of Agrawal et al. model using ATP-EMTP, the effect of the soil conductivity on the lightning induced overvoltage signatures and the response of surge protective devices subjected to high current derivative impulses.

Transformers are the most expensive and critical asset in any electrical power network. Their failure results in long interruption of power supply with consequent loss of reliability and revenue. Understanding and detection of the failure mechanism helps in avoiding catastrophic failures, unplanned outages and improving the power system reliability. Oil impregnated paper (OIP) and pressboards form the main soild insulation in a transformer. Life of the transformer is governed mostly by the life of OIP insulation. Until recently, it was thought that ageing of the OIP insulation in power transformer and its eventual failure, is mainly a function of temperature and electrical stresses. However, it has now been realized that the moisture causes rapid degradation of OIP and needs a special attention. Considering its practical relevance, this research program was formulated with goals: (i) to study the ageing of OIP insulation under temperature and moisture stresses, (ii) to seek correlation between diagnostic ageing indices and end-of-life (EOL) and (iii) to develop a life model for OIP considering moisture along with the thermal stress. Observing that working with actual transformers or even the prototypes are rather inordinately expensive, experiments were conducted with paper strips immersed in oil in test tubes with paper to oil ratio kept same as that in power transformers. In order to cater for the statistical nature of the phenomena, adequate numbers of test specimens were employed (25 numbers for each experiment). Experiments were conducted for two years at temperatures 90°C, 110°C & 120°C and moisture 1%, 2% & 3%. Following the literature, the degree of polymerization (DP) was chosen as the primary index for ageing. As measurement of DP is not only destructive, but also impractical on most of the working transformers, with an aim to develop suitable diagnostic indices for ageing, 2-furfural (2-FAL) and oxides of carbon (CO and CO2) were also measured. Empirical relation between ageing and amount of stresses and time have been deduced for the relevant range. Limiting value of these indices to prescribe the end-of-life, as well as, their correlation with DP have been worked out and reported. In order to bring the role of moisture explicitly, based on earlier work on multi-stress ageing, a multiplicative power law supplementing the Arrhenius factor is envisaged. Accordingly, a phenomenological combined stress model involving the time to failure, temperature, and moisture content is deduced. Based on the experimental results, this model is statistically validated and the values of parameters appearing in the model is obtained. Thus the combined stress model enables one to estimate the life of OIP insulation at any temperature and moisture under synergy. In summary, this work through experimental and analytical approach has contributed to the evaluation of the aging of OIP insulation used in power transformers under the combined action of moisture and temperature.

We address the question of performance of large-scale networks with distributed feedback control. We consider networked dynamical systems with single and double integrator dynamics, subject to distributed disturbances. We focus on two types of problems. First, we consider problems modeled over regular lattice structures. Here, we treat consensus and vehicular formation problems and evaluate performance in terms of measures of “global order”, which capture the notion of network coherence. Second, we consider electric power networks, which we treat as dynamical systems modeled over general graphs. Here, we evaluate performance in terms of the resistive power losses that are incurred in maintaining network synchrony. These losses are associated with transient power flows that are a consequence of “local disorder” caused by lack of synchrony. In both cases, we characterize fundamental limitations to performance as networks become large. Previous studies have shown that such limitations hold for coherence in networks with regular lattice structures. These imply that connections in 3 spatial dimensions are necessary to achieve full coherence, when the controller uses static feedback from relative measurements in a local neighborhood. We show that these limitations remain valid also with dynamic feedback, where each controller has an internal memory state. However, if the controller can access certain absolute state information, dynamic feedback can improve performance compared to static feedback, allowing also 1-dimensional formations to be fully coherent. For electric power networks, we show that the transient power losses grow unboundedly with network size. However, in contrast to previous results, performance does not improve with increased network connectivity. We also show that a certain type of distributed dynamic feedback controller can improve performance by reducing losses, but that their scaling with network size remains an important limitation. / <p>QC 20160504</p>