The application of Internet of Things (IoT) where sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects are linked through wired and wireless networks has shown a rapid growth over the past years in various domains with the benefits of improving efficiency and productivity, reducing cost, providing mobility and agility, etc. This dissertation focuses on developing signal processing and machine learning based techniques in IoT with applications to 1) smart energy generation and 2) robust indoor localization in smart city. Smart grids, in contrast to legacy grids, facilitate more efficient electricity generation and consumption by allowing two-way information exchange among various components in the grid and the users based on the measurements from numerous sensors located at different places. Due to the introduction of information communications, a smart grid is faced with the risk of external attacks which is aimed to take control of the grid. In particular, electricity generation from photovoltaic (PV) systems is a mature power generation technology utilizing renewable resources, owning to its advantages in clean production, reduced cost and high flexibility. However, the performance of a PV system can be susceptible and unstable due to various physical failures and dynamic environments (internal circuit faults, partial shading, etc.). To safeguard the system security, fault or attack detection technologies are of great importance for PV systems and smart grids. Existing approaches on fault or attack detection either rely on the prediction by a predetermined system model which acts as reference data for comparison or can be applied only within a certain set of component (e.g., several PV strings) based on local statistical properties without the capability of generalization. Furthermore, the output performance of a PV system is dynamic under different environmental conditions (irradiance level, temperature, etc.), which can be optimized by the technique of maximum power point tracking (MPPT). However, previous studies on MPPT usually require prior knowledge of the system model or high computational complexity for iterative optimization. Smart city, as another important application of IoT, relies on analysis of the measurement data from sensors located at users and environments to provider intelligent solutions in our daily life. One of the fundamental tasks for advanced location-based services is to accurately localize the user in a certain environment, e.g., on a certain floor inside a building. Indoor localization is faced with challenges of moving users, limited availability of sensors and noisy measurements due to hardware constraints and external interferences. This dissertation first describes our advanced fault/attack detection and localization methods for PV systems and smart grids, then develops our enhanced MPPT techniques for PV systems, and finally presents our robust indoor localization methods for smartphone users, based on statistical signal processing and machine learning approaches. In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, we proposes fault/attack detection method in PV systems and smart grids respectively in the framework of abrupt change detection utilizing sequential output measurements without assuming any prior knowledge of the system characteristics or particular faulty/attack patterns, such that an alarm will triggered regardless of the magnitude or the type of faulty/attack signals. Starting from the proposed fault detection method in Chapter 2, we present our fault localization method for PV systems in Chapter 4 where the central controller is able to identify the faulty PV strings without full knowledge of each local measurements. Chapter 5 studies the MPPT method under dynamic shading conditions where we adopt neural networks to assist the identification of the global maximum power point by depicting the relationship between the system output power and the operating voltage. In Chapter 6, to tackle the challenge of accurate and robust indoor localization for smart city when sensors provides noisy measurement data, we propose a cooperative localization method which exploits the readings of the received strengths of Wi-Fi signals at the smartphone users and the relative distances among neighboring users to combat the deterioration due to aggregated measurement errors. Throughout the dissertation, our proposed methods are followed by simulations (of a PV system or a grid under various operating conditions) or experiments (of localizing moving users with smartphones to record sensors' measurements). The results demonstrate that our proposed fault/attack detection and localization methods and MPPT schemes can achieve higher adaptivity and efficiency with robustness against various external conditions an lower computational complexity, and our cooperative localization methods have high localization accuracy even given large measurement errors and limited measurement data.

Les circuits intégrés (CI) de puissance sont utilisés dans les systèmes embarqués automobiles en raison de leur capacité à réunir sur la même puce des dispositifs basse tension et haute tension (HV). Dans de tels systèmes, le bruit de couplage électrique induit par la commutation des étages de puissance est un problème majeur. Pendant la commutation, les tensions et les courants parasites produisent un décalage local de la tension de substrat allant jusqu'à une centaine de millivolt, perturbant ainsi le circuit basse tension. Ces signaux parasites entraînent des dysfonctionnements. Les solutions existantes reposent sur le layout et sont difficiles à optimiser par simulation électrique. L'absence d'une stratégie de modélisation interdit de fait une stratégie de conception s'appuyant sur la prédiction de ces perturbations. Nous présentons ici une méthode d'extraction et de simulation post-layout pour la modélisation des parasites de substrats. Nous avons développé un logiciel (CAO) pour l'extraction du substrat fondé sur la reconnaissance de forme. L'extraction utilise un algorithme de maillage pour la génération du modèle du substrat. Les courants de substrat peuvent être pris en compte lors de la simulation post-layout, autorisant l'analyse des dysfonctionnements éventuels induits par les couplages à travers le substrat. Ce travail a été validé par plusieurs cas d'études industriels, une configuration en miroir de courant, et un test automobile standard en technologie amsHV. Cette méthodologie est aussi appliquée à une technologie HV BCD de STMicroelectronics. Ainsi, en utilisant notre approche, il devient possible de simuler des bruits de substrat avant fabrication. / Smart Power Integrated Circuits (ICs) are intensively used in automotive embedded systems due to their unique capabilities to merge low power and high voltage (HV) devices on the same chip. In such systems, induced electrical coupling noise due to switching of the power stages is a big issue. During switching, parasitic voltages and currents, lead to a local shift of the substrate potential that can reach hundreds of millivolts, and can severely disturb low voltage circuits. Such parasitic signals are known to represent the major cause of failure and costly circuit redesign in power ICs. Most solutions are layout dependent and are thus difficult to optimize using available electrical simulator. The lack for a model strategy prohibits an efficient design strategy and fails at giving clear predictions of perturbations in HV ICs. Here, we present a post-layout extraction and simulation methodology for substrate parasitic modeling. We have developed a Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tool for substrate extraction from layout patterns. The extraction employs a meshing algorithm for substrate model generation. The behavior of the substrate currents can be taken into account in post-layout simulation, and enables an exhaustive failure analysis due to substrate coupling. Several industrial test cases are considered to validate this work, the interferences of substrate currents in a current mirror configuration, and a standard automotive test in amsHV technology. This methodology is also applied to a HV BCD technology of STMicroelectronics. Eventually, by using the proposed CAD tool, it becomes possible to simulate the behaviors of substrate noises before fabrication.

The theme of this research is smart power in Iran’s foreign policy toward Arab national security in the Middle East [Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen]. This important and influential topic was explained and analyzed on the regional and international political scene. Also, it highlighted how the IRI managed in employing this type of power in its foreign policy with the purpose to penetrate Arab national security and exporting its Islamic revolution to the Arab surrounding, and the gains it had made, in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, and in line with what is stipulated in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran 1979. The study examined the case studies of Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen during the time period (2003- 2015), where 2003 witnessed a significant turning point that contributed to reviving Iran’s dual-strategy to expand in the Arab world and reshaping its map and regimes in preparation for exporting its Islamic revolution to it and extending its control over it, relying on its hard and soft power instruments on the one hand, and taking advantage of some regional and international shifts that turned the balance of power in favor of Iran - such as the US-led occupation of Iraq, the strategic buffer for the Arab region, in addition to the outbreak of the Arab Spring in late 2010, which crowned in the Iranian-backed Houthis group’s seizure of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in late 2014- that made the Middle East a fertile soil and conducive atmosphere to the implementation of Iranian agendas on the other hand. The research depended on Nay’s smart power model and Waltz’s neo-realism theory, as exclusive analytical frameworks. As well an interpretive case study was utilized as the main research method whose findings were derived from primary and secondary databases. The research concluded that the IRI had succeeded in employing smart power in its foreign policy, enabling it to occupy three Arab countries, which are considered fundamental pillars of Arab national security. This, in turn, has proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the IRI poses an existential danger and a serious threat to the Arab nation and its national security, as evidenced by the research databases.

In the 21st Century, violent non-state actors continue to pose an asymmetric threat to state actors. Given the increasing proliferation of lethal technologies, growing global social connectivity, and continued occurrences of failed or failing states, the quantity of violent non-state actors posing threats in global hotspots is likely to increase. The United States, already facing strategic overreach due to conflicts in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, will face enormous difficulties in engaging militarily against a multitude of violent non-state actors. Smart power, a selective employment of hard and soft power applications, presents an opportunity to limit and deter violent non-state actors in a resource-constrained environment. Smart power, previously viewed through a largely state-on-state lens must be looked at through the paradigm of containing and engaging violent non-state actors. / Master of Arts

Modernized and advanced electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure ensures reliable, efficient, and affordable delivery of electric power. The complexity of fault location problem increases with the proliferation of unusual topologies and with the advent of renewable energy-based power generation in the smart grid environment. The proliferation of new Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) provides a venue for the implementation of more accurate and intelligent fault location methods. This dissertation focuses on intelligent fault location methods for smart power grids and it aims at improving fault location accuracies and decreasing the cost and the mean time to repair damaged equipment in major power outages subsequently increasing the reliability of the grid. The developed methods utilize wavelet transformation to extract the traveling wave information in the very fast voltage and current transients which are initiated immediately after a fault occurs, support vector machines to classify the fault type and identify the faulted branches and finally Bewley diagrams to precisely locate the fault. The approach utilizes discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) for analysis of transient voltage and current measurements. The transient wavelet energies are calculated and utilized as the input for support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. SVM learns the mapping between inputs (i.e. transient voltages and/or currents wavelet energies) and desired outputs (i.e. faulty phase and/or faulty section) through processing a set of training cases. This dissertation presents the proposed methodologies applied to three complex power transmission systems. The first transmission system is a three-terminal (teed) three-phase AC transmission network, a common topology in high- and extra high-voltage networks. It is used to connect three substations that are wide apart from each other through long transmission lines with a tee-point, which is not supported by a substation nor equipped with a measuring device. The developed method overcomes the difficulties introduced by the discontinuity: the tee point. The second topology is a hybrid high voltage alternative current (HVAC) transmission line composed of an overhead line combined with an underground cable. The proposed fault location method is utilized to overcome the difficulties introduced by the discontinuity at the transition point from the overhead line to the underground cable and the different traveling wave velocities along the line and the cable. The third topology is a segmented high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line including an overhead line combined with an underground cable. This topology is widely utilized to transmit renewable energy-based electrical power from remote locations to the load centers such as from off-shore wind farms to on-shore grids. This dissertation introduces several enhancements to the existing fault type and fault location algorithms: improvement in the concept of fault type classification and faulty section identification by using SVMs with smaller inputs and improvements in the fault location in the complex configurations by utilizing less measurements from the terminals. / Ph. D.

Depuis les années 1970, bien avant l’entrée en vigueur du traité de Maastricht, le statut de l’UE dans les relations internationales et donc sa puissance est une source des débats conceptuels. Bien que la construction européenne soit souvent vue comme un processus de renoncement à la puissance, l’idée d’une Europe puissance qui se substitute à l’impuissance des Etats membres après la Seconde Guerre mondiale est toujours présente parmi les représentants de divers approches des relations internationales: puissance civile, puissance normative, puissance militaire, puissance douce, etc. Il faut remarquer que la recherche pour les nouveaux concepts supposés décrire toujours mieux la nature énigmatique de la puissance européenne continue. L’objectif de ce travail est de contribuer à ce débat en utilisant le concept de smart power, combinaison raisonné de hard et de soft power, pour décrire le rapport de l’UE à la puissance. Le concept de smart power parait pertinent pour expliquer le modèle de la puissance de l’Union, même si, en pratique, l’UE a des difficultés à exercer le smart power en raison du manque de volonté parmi ces pays membres. / Since the 1970s, even before the Maastricht Treaty comes into force, the status of the EU in international relations and therefore its power is a source of conceptual debates. Although European integration is often seen as a process of renunciation of power, the idea of a European power which replaces the powerlessness of member states after the Second World War is always present among the representatives of various approaches to international relations: civilian power, normative power, soft power, military power, etc. It should be noted that the search for new concepts to describe better the enigmatic nature of European power is in progress.The aim of this work is to contribute to this debate by using the concept of smart power, effective combination of hard power and soft power, in order to describe the nature of the power of the EU. The concept of smart power seems relevant to explain the model of the EU’s power, although, in practice, the EU has difficulties in exercising smart power because of the lack of will among the member countries.

Cette thèse de doctorat démontre pourquoi et comment la France et l’Australie sont actuellement engagées dans un processus de renforcement mutuel, diplomatiquement et économiquement, dans le cadre de leurs propres stratégies de « smart power ». Ce rapprochement a été possible grâce à trente ans d’efforts diplomatiques pour dépasser tensions et incompréhensions culturelles entre acteurs diplomatiques français et australiens. Cette recherche met en lumière les dynamiques historiques de cette relation bilatérale ambiguë. L’analyse se porte sur les acteurs, mécanismes et résultats de la transformation de la relation bilatérale franco-australienne, depuis 1985, années de vives tensions entre Paris et Canberra en raison de la politique française dans le Pacifique, jusqu’au temps présent où les deux pays n’ont jamais été aussi proches depuis la signature de leur partenariat stratégique approfondi en 2017. Cette thèse met en œuvre une approche originale : elle est fondée sur l’étude d’archives françaises et australiennes ainsi que sur des entretiens avec les acteurs principaux de la relation bilatérale. Ces sources sont étudiées à la lumière des théories constructivistes des Relations Internationales et du concept de « smart power » mis au point par Joseph Nye. Cette thèse affirme que la stratégie franco-australienne de renforcement mutuel est la réponse de deux puissances moyennes, une mondiale et l’autre régionale, face aux menaces du contexte international. Il s’agit également d’un outil de modernisation des diplomaties française et australienne. Ce renforcement progressif a été possible grâce à la résolution des trois principaux conflits qui empoisonnèrent la relation bilatérale, liés à la Politique Agricole Commune (PAC), aux essais nucléaires français dans le Pacifique Sud et à la politique française liée aux tensions en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Cependant, cette thèse démontre que le rapprochement progressif de la France et de l’Australie a été possible parce que leurs acteurs diplomatiques ont mis en œuvre de nombreuses opportunités de dialogue et de coopération afin de dépasser leur méfiance traditionnelle. La coopération franco-australienne, soutenue tout d’abord par les intérêts de leurs communautés économiques, a désormais la sécurité pour enjeu principal. Canberra et Paris partagent de plus en plus de menaces traditionnelles et non-traditionnelles, dans un contexte de transformation du concept de puissance par son déplacement à de nouveaux acteurs étatiques et sa diffusion à des acteurs non-étatiques. L’approfondissement du partenariat stratégique franco-australien constitue une réponse à ce défi mondial et témoigne du réengagement des deux pays dans l’aire Indo-Pacifique. Cette thèse permet de comprendre un enjeu crucial des Relations Internationales actuelles : l’adaptation des puissances moyennes aux enjeux régionaux et mondiaux par des processus de renforcement mutuel et la mise en œuvre de stratégies de « smart power ». / This thesis demonstrates why and how France and Australia are currently engaged in a process of diplomatic and economic mutual empowerment as part of their smart power strategies. This rapprochement has been possible owing to thirty years of diplomatic efforts to overcome ongoing culturally and historically constructed misunderstandings and conflicts. The research investigates the historical dynamics behind this ambiguous relationship. It analyses the actors, mechanisms and outcomes relevant to the transformation of the French-Australian bilateral relationship between 1985, a moment of strong tensions between both countries because of France’s Pacific policies, and the present time when Paris and Canberra are closer than they have ever been since the creation of their Enhanced Strategic Partnership in 2017. This thesis follows an original approach. It encompasses constructivist theories and Joseph Nye’s concept of “smart power”, and it is based on the study of French and Australian archives and on expert interviews. This thesis argues that mutual empowerment is the response of two different middle powers, one global and one regional, to global threats and is a modernising tool for France and Australia’s diplomacies. This progressive empowerment has been possible because of the settlement of three main conflicts between France and Australia pertaining to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), French nuclear testing as well as Australia’s opposition to French policies in New Caledonia. However, the progressive rapprochement between France and Australia has primarily been possible because French and Australian policy-makers have instituted constructive opportunities for dialogue and cooperation in order to overcome their ongoing misperceptions. French-Australian cooperation, originally supported by the economic interests of its business communities, primarily aims to tackle common security issues. Canberra and Paris increasingly share the same traditional and non-traditional threats to their security due to the current context of power transition among states and power diffusion to non-state actors. The enhancement of the French-Australian Strategic Partnership is a response to this challenging global context and takes part into Australia and France’s reengagement in the Indo-Pacific region. This thesis provides insight into a significant trend in International Relations: middle powers’ adaptation to regional and global challenges through mutual empowerment and smart power strategies.

Les circuits Smart Power, utilisés dans l’industrie automobile, se caractérisent par l’intégration sur une puce des parties de puissance avec des parties analogiques&numériques basse tension. Leur principal point faible vient de la commutation des structures de puissance sur des charges inductives. Celles-ci injectent des courants parasites dans le substrat, pouvant activer des structures bipolaires parasites inhérentes au layout du circuit, menant à une défaillance ou la destruction du circuit intégré.Ces structures parasites ne sont pas actuellement modélisées dans les outils CAO ni simulées par les simulateurs de type SPICE. L'extraction de ces structures à partir du layout et leur intégration dans les outils CAO est l’objectif du projet européen AUTOMICS, dans le cadre duquel cette thèse a été réalisée.La caractérisation du couplage substrat sur deux cas d’études a permis de valider les modèles théoriques et de les comparer aux simulations utilisant le nouveau modèle de couplage substrat. / Smart Power circuits, used in the automotive industry, are characterized by the integration on one chip of the power parts with low voltage analog and digital parts. Their main weak point comes from the switching of power structures on inductive loads. These inject parasitic currents in the substrate, capable of activating the bipolar parasitic structures inherent in the layout of the circuit, leading to failure or destruction of the integrated circuit.These parasitic structures are not currently integrated into CAD tools nor simulated by SPICE simulators. The extraction of these structures from the layout and their integration into the CAD tools is the objective of the European AUTOMICS project, in which this thesis is carried out.The characterization of the substrate coupling of 2 case study was used to validate theoretical models and compare them to simulations using the new substrate coupling model.

Išmanioji galia visiškai naujas reiškinys tarptautiniuose santykiuose, kuris apibrėžiamas kaip sumanus kietosios ir minkštosios galių instrumentų derinimas tarpusavyje konkrečioje situacijoje, siekiant efektyvaus užsienio politikos tikslų įgyvendinimo. Išmanioji galia neatsiejama nuo JAV atvejo, kurioje net ir aukščiausi pareigūnai savo retorikoje mini išmaniąją galią kaip siekį uţsienio politikos strategijoje. Todėl reikalinga ištirti, ar JAV užsienio politikoje Kinijos atžvilgiu po 2009 metų naudoja išmaniąją galią. Darbo objektas išmaniosios galios naudojimas JAV užsienio politikoje Kinijos atžvilgiu nuo 2009 metų. Darbo tikslas yra ištirti, ar JAV naudoja išmaniąją galią kaip užsienio politikos įrankį santykiuose su Kinija po 2009 metų. Šiam tikslui įgyvendinti išsikelti 4 tikslai: pristatyti tarptautinių santykių teoriją realizmą, bei pagrindines jo idėjas ir tipus, išskiriant neoklasikinį realizmą; aptarti galios terminą tarptautiniuose santykiuose, išskiriant kietosios ir minkštosios galių tipus, bei išsamiai pristatyti išmaniosios galios koncepciją, pabrėžiant jos ištakas, apibrėžimą, taikymą ir instrumentus; atlikti JAV oficialios retorikos Kinijos atžvilgiu po 2009 metų analizę, ištiriant JAV Nacionalinę saugumo strategiją ir aukščiausių JAV pareigūnų oficialias kalbas, ir įvertinant išmaniosios galios apraiškas jose; išanalizuoti išmaniosios galios raišką JAV užsienio politikoje Kinijos atžvilgiu po 2009 metų, naudojant struktūruoto tarptautinių santykių ekspertų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Smart power is a completely new phenomenon in international relations. It is defined as a smart combination of hard and soft powers„tools, which leads to effective foreign policy. Smart power is closely related with the case of the United States, in which even the highest officials in their rhetorics use the term of smart power. According to officials, smart power is an objective in foreign policy. Therefore there is a need to research if the USA uses smart power in its foreign policy towards China after 2009. The subject of this study is the use of smart power in foreign policy of the United States towards China since 2009. The aim of this study is to research if the U.S. uses the smart power as a tool of foreign policy in relations with China after the year 2009. To achieve this aim the following goals are settled: to present a theory of international relations realism, and its main ideas and types, distinguishing neoclassical realism; to discuss the term of power in international relations by distinguishing soft and hard power forms, and to present the concept of smart power by highlighting its origins, definition, application and tools; to perform an analyses of official U. S. rhetorics towards China after year 2009 by analyzing National security strategy and the speeches of the highest officials, and by evaluating the smart power evidence in those rhetorics; to analyze the smart power in U.S. foreign policy towards China after 2009 by using a structured interview method... [to full text]

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, July 2017 / This dissertation presents the design and testing of controllers intended to provide au- tonomous demand response, through the use of water heater loads and grid frequency measurements. The controllers use measured frequency as an indication of the strain on a utility grid, which allows demand side management to be isolated from any form of central control. Water heaters can operate as exible loads because their power consump- tion can be dispatched or deferred without directly impacting users. These properties make it possible to control individual water heaters based on the functioning of the grid, rather than end user input. The purpose of this research is to ultimately provide a low- cost alternative to a traditional Smart Grid, that will improve the resilience of a grid without negatively impacting users. The controllers presented here focus on ensuring that users receive hot water, while attempting to reduce any imbalance between power generated and power consumed on the grid. Simulations of these controllers in various situations highlight that while the controllers developed respond suitably to variations in the grid frequency and adequately ensure end users receive hot water, the practical bene t of the controllers depends largely on the intrinsic characteristics of the grid. / CK2018