Visuospatial complexity refers to the level of detail or intricacy present within a scene, takinginto account both spatial and visual properties of the dynamic scene or the place (e.g.moving images, everyday driving, video games and other immersive media). There havebeen several studies on measuring visual complexity from various viewpoints, e.g. marketing,psychology, computer vision and cognitive science. This research project aims atanalysing and evaluating different models and tools that have been developed to measurelow-level features of visuospatial complexity such as Structural Similarity Index measurement,Feature Congestion measurement of clutter and Subband Entropy measurement ofclutter. We use two datasets, one focusing on (reflectional) symmetry in static images,and another that consists of real-world driving videos. The results of the evaluation showdifferent correlations between the implemented models such that the nature of the sceneplays a significant role.

We present a comprehensive investigation of the low-¯eld hole mobility in strained Ge and III-V (GaAs, GaSb, InSb and In1¡xGaxAs) p-channel inversion layers with both SiO2 and high-· insulators. The valence (sub)band structure of Ge and III-V channels, relaxed and under strain (tensile and compressive) is calculated using an effcient self-consistent method based on the six-band k ¢ p perturbation theory. The hole mobility is then computed using the Kubo-Greenwood formalism accounting for non-polar hole-phonon scattering (acoustic and optical), surface roughness scatter- ing, polar phonon scattering (III-Vs only), alloy scattering (alloys only) and remote phonon scattering, accounting for multi-subband dielectric screening. As expected, we find that Ge and III-V semiconductors exhibit a mobility significantly larger than the \universal" Si mobility. This is true for MOS systems with either SiO2 or high-k insulators, although the latter ones are found to degrade the hole mobility compared to SiO2 due to scattering with interfacial optical phonons. In addition, III-Vs are more sensitive to the interfacial optical phonons than Ge due to the existence of the substrate polar phonons. Strain { especially biaxial tensile stress for Ge and biaxial compressive stress for III-Vs (except for GaAs) { is found to have a significant beneficial effect with both SiO2 and HfO2. Among strained p-channels, we find a large enhancement (up to a factor of 10 with respect to Si) of the mobility in the case of uniaxial compressive stress added on a Ge p-channel similarly to the well-known case of Si. InSb exhibits the largest mobility enhancement. In0:7Ga0:3As also exhibits an increased hole mobility compared to Si, although the enhancement is not as large. Finally, our theoretical results are favorably compared with available experimental data for a relaxed Ge p-channel with a HfO2 insulator.

Image coding is studied, with the work consisting of two distinct parts. Each part focuses on different coding paradigm. The first part of the research examines subband coding of images. An optimization-based method for the design of high-performance separable filter banks for image coding is proposed. This method yields linear-phase perfect-reconstruction systems with high coding gain, good frequency selectivity, and certain prescribed vanishing-moment properties. Several filter banks designed with the proposed method are presented and shown to work extremely well for image coding, outperforming the well-known 9/7 filter bank (from the JPEG-2000 standard) in most cases. Several families of perfect reconstruction filter banks exist, where the filter banks in each family have some common structural properties. New filter banks in each family are designed with the proposed method. Experimental results show that these new filter banks outperform previously known filter banks from the same family. The second part of the research explores normal meshes as a tool for image coding, with a particular interest in the normal-mesh-based image coder of Jansen, Baraniuk, and Lavu. Three modifications to this coder are proposed, namely, the use of a data-dependent base mesh, an alternative representation for normal/vertical offsets, and a different scan-conversion scheme based on bicubic interpolation. Experimental results show that our proposed changes lead to improved coding performance in terms of both objective and subjective image quality measures.

La demande croissante de dispositifs photoniques dans la gamme térahertz (THz) a conduit au développement des Lasers à Cascade Quantique (LCQ). Réalisés en 1994 dans l'infrarouge moyen, ces lasers unipolaires à semiconducteurs comptent désormais parmi les sources les plus prometteuses pour l'émission THz. Néanmoins, de nombreux phénomènes de pertes optiques limitent leurs performances et l'optimisation de ces dispositifs demeure d'actualité. Parmi les sources de pertes, l'absorption par porteurs libres, qui résulte de transitions intra- et inter-sousbande obliques activées par toute source de désordre brisant l'invariance par translation dans le plan des couches, doit être précisément modélisée. Ce processus est bien documenté pour les matériaux massifs où le modèle semi-classique de Drude peut être appliqué. En revanche, pour les LCQ, celui-ci prédit des coefficients d'absorption supérieurs aux réels gains laser. Ce travail de thèse expose un modèle quantique de l'absorption par porteurs libres dans les structures à cascade quantique suivant deux approches théoriques différentes : un développement perturbatif au premier ordre du potentiel de désordre et une diagonalisation numérique du Hamiltonien du système désordonné. Ces travaux montrent que l'absorption par porteurs libres est très faible et diffère radicalement du résultat semi-classique. Ils font également l'analyse des différentes contributions au spectre d'absorption ainsi que la possibilité d'ajuster la forme et la largeur de raie par ingénierie de dopage. D'importants effets de localisation spatiale des états électroniques par le désordre et leur influence sur les taux de diffusion ont également été étudiés. / The demand to produce reliable THz detectors and emitters has lead to a signicant improvement of the Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs). First demonstrated in 1994 in the mid-infrared range, these unipolar semiconductor lasers are one of the most promising photonic sources for THz emission. Nevertheless, various optical loss phenomena limit their performances and the improvement of these devices is intensively researched. Among the possible loss sources, the Free Carrier Absorption (FCA), that arises from intra- and inter-subband oblique transitions activated by any disorder source destroying the translational invariance in the layer plane, has to be accurately modeled. FCA is well documented for bulk materials where the semiclassical Drude model can be used. For QCLs, this model predicts FCA coefficients that are comparable or larger than the actual QCL gains. This work presents a quantum modeling of FCA in quantum cascade structures following two theoretical approaches : a perturbative expansion at the first order in the disorder potential and a numerical diagonalization of Hamiltonian in presence of disorder. These calculations show that FCA is very small in QCLs and radically differs from the semiclassical Drude result. Moreover, they point out the different contributions to the absorption spectrum and the possibility of ajusting the absorption linewidth and lineshape by dopant engineering. Important disorder-induced localization effects have been identified as well as their non negligible influence on the electronic scattering rates.

This theoretical thesis presents detailed study of negatively charged excitons - trions - confined in single quantum well in presence of perpendicular magnetic field. Complex valence band of GaAs/GaAlAs compound is described within Luttinger Hamiltonian framework. Singlet and triplet states of negative trion are introduced. Advanced theoretical analysis of Zeeman effect for different states of trion is performed. Landau gauge of magnetic field and unusual wavefunctions basis is chosen and its accuracy is tested. Evolution of ground state energy and photoluminescence spectra with magnetic field is evaluated for different values of Landé g-factors. Probability of occurrence of electrons with respect to the hole position and their spatial correlation function are investigated.

Pour augmenter les performances des MOSFET, il est indispensable de comprendre les différents phénomènes physiques qui dégradent la mobilité apparente des électrons et trous traversant le canal et qui limitent l’amélioration obtenue par réduction de sa longueur. Pour cela, une étude précise du transport par des simulations Monte-Carlo a été effectuée. Cette méthode de simulation semi-classique permet de résoudre l’équation de transport de Boltzmann en prenant en compte à la fois le régime quasi-balistique, les interactions avec les phonons, les impuretés ionisées, la rugosité de surface, et le confinement quantique, par génération aléatoire des électrons et de leurs interactions, décrites selon les lois de la mécanique quantique.Un modèle simple de mobilité a alors pu être établi et validé par les simulations. Il est basé sur trois paramètres importants : la mobilité à canal long, la résistance d’accès et la résistance balistique. Ce modèle de mobilité s’est avéré compatible avec des résultats expérimentaux, ce qui suggère que la résistance d’accès est déterminante dans la réduction de mobilité apparente.Par ailleurs, la contribution du transport balistique dans la mobilité a été calculée en tenant compte précisément du confinement quantique et des fonctions de distribution des différentes sous-bandes, ce qui a ainsi permis d’améliorer le modèle de mobilité apparente de Shur qui sous-estime (d’environ 50 Ω.µm) la résistance balistique. Cette résistance balistique est inférieure à la résistance d’accès mais elle pourrait avoir une incidence sur les dispositifs ultimes. / To improve the MOSFET performances, it is necessary to understand the physical phenomena contributing to the apparent mobility of electrons and holes crossing the channel, and limiting the improvement obtained by reducing the channel length. Therefore, a precise study of transport using Monte Carlo simulations was performed. This semi-classical simulation method allows for solving the Boltzmann transport equation, taking into account the quasi-ballistic regime, phonon and Coulomb scattering, surface roughness, as well as the quantum confinement, by randomly generating electrons and their scattering events described by the laws of quantum mechanics.A simple mobility model has been established and validated by the simulations. It is based upon three important parameters: the long channel mobility, the access resistance, and ballistic resistance. This mobility model proved compatible with experimental results, suggesting that the access resistance is determining in the apparent mobility reduction.By the way, the ballistic transport contribution in the mobility was calculated by taking into account the quantum confinement accurately and the distribution functions of the different subbands, allowing for an improvement of Shur’s apparent mobility model, which underestimates (of about 50 Ω.µm) the ballistic resistance. The latter is lower than the access resistance but it could have an incidence on the ultimate devices.Keywords: MOSFET, FDSOI, mobility degradation, analytical model, contact resistance, ballistic, multi-subband Monte Carlo, simulation.

This thesis is concerned with maximizing the coding efficiency, random accessibility and visual performance of scalable compressed video. The unifying theme behind this work is the use of finely embedded localized coding structures, which govern the extent to which these goals may be jointly achieved. The first part focuses on scalable volumetric image compression. We investigate 3D transform and coding techniques which exploit inter-slice statistical redundancies without compromising slice accessibility. Our study shows that the motion-compensated temporal discrete wavelet transform (MC-TDWT) practically achieves an upper bound to the compression efficiency of slice transforms. From a video coding perspective, we find that most of the coding gain is attributed to offsetting the learning penalty in adaptive arithmetic coding through 3D code-block extension, rather than inter-frame context modelling. The second aspect of this thesis examines random accessibility. Accessibility refers to the ease with which a region of interest is accessed (subband samples needed for reconstruction are retrieved) from a compressed video bitstream, subject to spatiotemporal code-block constraints. We investigate the fundamental implications of motion compensation for random access efficiency and the compression performance of scalable interactive video. We demonstrate that inclusion of motion compensation operators within the lifting steps of a temporal subband transform incurs a random access penalty which depends on the characteristics of the motion field. The final aspect of this thesis aims to minimize the perceptual impact of visible distortion in scalable reconstructed video. We present a visual optimization strategy based on distortion scaling which raises the distortion-length slope of perceptually significant samples. This alters the codestream embedding order during post-compression rate-distortion optimization, thus allowing visually sensitive sites to be encoded with higher fidelity at a given bit-rate. For visual sensitivity analysis, we propose a contrast perception model that incorporates an adaptive masking slope. This versatile feature provides a context which models perceptual significance. It enables scene structures that otherwise suffer significant degradation to be preserved at lower bit-rates. The novelty in our approach derives from a set of "perceptual mappings" which account for quantization noise shaping effects induced by motion-compensated temporal synthesis. The proposed technique reduces wavelet compression artefacts and improves the perceptual quality of video.

In system identification scenario, the linear approximation of the system modelled by its impulse response, is estimated in real time by gradient type Least Mean Square (LMS) or Recursive Least Squares (RLS) algorithms. In recent applications like acoustic echo cancellation, the order of the impulse response to be estimated is very high, and these traditional approaches are inefficient and real time implementation becomes difficult. Alternatively, the system is modelled by a set of shorter adaptive filters operating in parallel on subsampled signals. This approach, referred to as subband adaptive filtering, is expected to reduce not only the computational complexity but also to improve the convergence rate of the adaptive algorithm. But in practice, different subband adaptive algorithms have to be used to enhance the performance with respect to complexity, convergence rate and processing delay. A single subband adaptive filtering algorithm which outperforms the full band scheme in all applications is yet to be realized. This thesis is intended to study the subband adaptive filtering techniques and explore the possibilities of better algorithms for performance improvement. Three different subband adaptive algorithms have been proposed and their performance have been verified through simulations. These algorithms have been applied to acoustic echo cancellation and EEG artefact minimization problems. Details of the work To start with, the fast FIR filtering scheme introduced by Mou and Duhamel has been generalized. The Perfect Reconstruction Filter Bank (PRFB) is used to model the linear FIR system. The structure offers efficient implementation with reduced arithmetic complexity. By using a PRFB with non adjacent filters non overlapping, many channel filters can be eliminated from the structure. This helps in reducing the complexity of the structure further, but introduces approximation in the model. The modelling error depends on the stop band attenuation of the filters of the PRFB. The error introduced due to approximation is tolerable for applications like acoustic echo cancellation. The filtered output of the modified generalized fast filtering structure is given by (formula) where, Pk(z) is the main channel output, Pk,, k+1 (z) is the output of auxiliary channel filters at the reduced rate, Gk (z) is the kth synthesis filter and M the number of channels in the PRFB. An adaptation scheme is developed for adapting the main channel filters. Auxiliary channel filters are derived from main channel filters. Secondly, the aliasing problem of the classical structure is reduced without using the cross filters. Aliasing components in the estimated signal results in very poor steady state performance in the classical structure. Attempts to eliminate the aliasing have reduced the computation gain margin and the convergence rate. Any attempt to estimate the subband reference signals from the aliased subband input signals results in aliasing. The analysis filter Hk(z) having the following antialiasing property (formula) can avoid aliasing in the input subband signal. The asymmetry of the frequency response prevents the use of real analysis filters. In the investigation presented in this thesis, complex analysis filters and real'synthesis filters are used in the classical structure, to reduce the aliasing errors and to achieve superior convergence rate. PRFB is traditionally used in implementing Interpolated FIR (IFIR) structure. These filters may not be ideal for processing an input signal for an adaptive algorithm. As third contribution, the IFIR structure is modified using discrete finite frames. The model of an FIR filter s is given by Fc, with c = Hs. The columns of the matrix F forms a frame with rows of H as its dual frame. The matrix elements can be arbitrary except that the transformation should be implementable as a filter bank. This freedom is used to optimize the filter bank, with the knowledge of the input statistics, for initial convergence rate enhancement . Next, the proposed subband adaptive algorithms are applied to acoustic echo cancellation problem with realistic parameters. Speech input and sufficiently long Room Impulse Response (RIR) are used in the simulations. The Echo Return Loss Enhancement (ERLE)and the steady state error spectrum are used as performance measures to compare these algorithms with the full band scheme and other representative subband implementations. Finally, Subband adaptive algorithm is used in minimization of EOG (Electrooculogram) artefacts from measured EEG (Electroencephalogram) signal. An IIR filterbank providing sufficient isolation between the frequency bands is used in the modified IFIR structure and this structure has been employed in the artefact minimization scheme. The estimation error in the high frequency range has been reduced and the output signal to noise ratio has been increased by a couple of dB over that of the fullband scheme. Conclusions Efforts to find elegant Subband adaptive filtering algorithms will continue in the future. However, in this thesis, the generalized filtering algorithm could offer gain in filtering complexity of the order of M/2 and reduced misadjustment . The complex classical scheme offered improved convergence rate, reduced misadjustment and computational gains of the order of M/4 . The modifications of the IFIR structure using discrete finite frames made it possible to eliminate the processing delay and enhance the convergence rate. Typical performance of the complex classical case for speech input in a realistic scenario (8 channel case), offers ERLE of more than 45dB. The subband approach to EOG artefact minimization in EEG signal was found to be superior to their fullband counterpart. (Refer PDF file for Formulas)

Μελετάμε θεωρητικά το φάσμα εκπομπής και την δημιουργία υψηλών αρμονικών σε ημιαγώγιμη κβαντική δομή, παρουσία εξωτερικών ηλεκτρομαγνητικών πεδίων τα οποία αλληλεπιδρούν με δύο υποζώνες του κβαντικού συστήματος. Στην μελέτη μας λαμβάνουμε υπόψη το φαινόμενο της αλληλεπίδρασης ηλεκτρονίου-ηλεκτρονίου. Για την περιγραφή της δυναμικής του συστήματος χρησιμοποιούμε τις μη γραμμικές διαφορικές εξισώσεις των στοιχείων του πίνακα πυκνότητας, στα πλαίσια της προσέγγισης περιστρεφόμενου πεδίου. Οι διαφορικές εξισώσεις της μήτρας πυκνότητας λύνονται αριθμητικά για κβαντικό πηγάδι GaAs/GaAlAs. Δείχνουμε ότι το φάσμα εκπομπής και η δημιουργία υψηλών αρμονικών εξαρτάται από τα γεομετρικά χαρακτηριστκά της δομής, από τις παραμέτρους του εξωτερικού πεδίου (συχνότητα και ένταση), και από την επιφανειακή πυκνότητα ηλεκτρονίων. / We study theoretically the emission spectrum and the generation of high harmonics in a two-subband system in a semiconductor quantum well structure. In our study we take into account the effects of electron-electron interactions and consider the interaction of the two-subband system with external electromagnetic fields. For the description of the system dynamics we use the nonlinear differential equations of the density matrix elements, under the rotating wave approximation. These equations are solved numerically for a GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well structure. We show that the emission spectrum and the generation of high harmonics depends on the geometrical characteristics of the system, the external parameters (frequency and intensity of the applied fields) and on the electron sheet density.

[ES] Los sistemas de zonas de sonido personal (o sus siglas en inglés PSZ) utilizan altavoces y técnicas de procesado de señal para reproducir sonidos distintos en diferentes zonas de un mismo espacio compartido. Estos sistemas se han popularizado en los últimos años debido a la amplia gama de aplicaciones que podrían verse beneficiadas por la generación de zonas de escucha individuales. El diseño de los filtros utilizados para procesar las señales de sonido es uno de los aspectos más importantes de los sistemas PSZ, al menos para las frecuencias bajas y medias. En la literatura se han propuesto diversos algoritmos para calcular estos filtros, cada uno de ellos con sus ventajas e inconvenientes. En el presente trabajo se revisan los algoritmos para sistemas PSZ propuestos en la literatura y se evalúa experimentalmente su rendimiento en un entorno reverberante. Los distintos algoritmos se comparan teniendo en cuenta aspectos como el aislamiento acústico entre zonas, el error de reproducción, la energía de los filtros y el retardo del sistema. Además, se estudian estrategias computacionalmente eficientes para obtener los filtros y también se compara su complejidad computacional. Los resultados experimentales obtenidos revelan que las soluciones existentes no pueden ofrecer una complejidad computacional baja y al mismo tiempo un buen rendimiento con baja latencia. Por ello se propone un nuevo algoritmo basado en el filtrado subbanda, y se demuestra experimentalmente que este algoritmo mitiga las limitaciones de los algoritmos existentes. Asimismo, este algoritmo ofrece una mayor versatilidad que los algoritmos existentes, ya que se pueden utilizar configuraciones distintas en cada subbanda, como por ejemplo, diferentes longitudes de filtro o distintos conjuntos de altavoces. Por último, se estudia la influencia de las respuestas objetivo en la optimización de los filtros y se propone un nuevo método en el que se aplica una ventana temporal a estas respuestas. El método propuesto se evalúa experimentalmente en dos salas con diferentes tiempos de reverberación y los resultados obtenidos muestran que se puede reducir la energía de las interferencias entre zonas gracias al efecto de la ventana temporal. / [CA] Els sistemes de zones de so personal (o les seves sigles en anglés PSZ) fan servir altaveus i tècniques de processament de senyal per a reproduir sons distints en diferents zones d'un mateix espai compartit. Aquests sistemes s'han popularitzat en els últims anys a causa de l'àmplia gamma d'aplicacions que podrien veure's beneficiades per la generació de zones d'escolta individuals. El disseny dels filtres utilitzats per a processar els senyals de so és un dels aspectes més importants dels sistemes PSZ, particularment per a les freqüències baixes i mitjanes. En la literatura s'han proposat diversos algoritmes per a calcular aquests filtres, cadascun d'ells amb els seus avantatges i inconvenients. En aquest treball es revisen els algoritmes proposats en la literatura per a sistemes PSZ i s'avalua experimentalment el seu rendiment en un entorn reverberant. Els distints algoritmes es comparen tenint en compte aspectes com l'aïllament acústic entre zones, l'error de reproducció, l'energia dels filtres i el retard del sistema. A més, s'estudien estratègies de còmput eficient per obtindre els filtres i també es comparen les seves complexitats computacionals. Els resultats experimentals obtinguts revelen que les solucions existents no poder oferir al mateix temps una complexitat computacional baixa i un bon rendiment amb latència baixa. Per això es proposa un nou algoritme basat en el filtrat subbanda que mitiga aquestes limitacions. A més, l'algoritme proposat ofereix una major versatilitat que els algoritmes existents, ja que en cada subbanda el sistema pot utilitzar configuracions diferents, com per exemple, distintes longituds de filtre o distints conjunts d'altaveus. L'algoritme proposat s'avalua experimentalment en un entorn reverberant, i es mostra com pot mitigar satisfactòriament les limitacions dels algoritmes existents. Finalment, s'estudia la influència de les respostes objectiu en l'optimització dels filtres i es proposa un nou mètode en el que s'aplica una finestra temporal a les respostes objectiu. El mètode proposat s'avalua experimentalment en dues sales amb diferents temps de reverberació i els resultats obtinguts mostren que es pot reduir el nivell d'interferència entre zones grècies a l'efecte de la finestra temporal. / [EN] Personal Sound Zones (PSZ) systems deliver different sounds to a number of listeners sharing an acoustic space through the use of loudspeakers together with signal processing techniques. These systems have attracted a lot of attention in recent years because of the wide range of applications that would benefit from the generation of individual listening zones, e.g., domestic or automotive audio applications. A key aspect of PSZ systems, at least for low and mid frequencies, is the optimization of the filters used to process the sound signals. Different algorithms have been proposed in the literature for computing those filters, each exhibiting some advantages and disadvantages. In this work, the state-of-the-art algorithms for PSZ systems are reviewed, and their performance in a reverberant environment is evaluated. Aspects such as the acoustic isolation between zones, the reproduction error, the energy of the filters, and the delay of the system are considered in the evaluations. Furthermore, computationally efficient strategies to obtain the filters are studied, and their computational complexity is compared too. The performance and computational evaluations reveal the main limitations of the state-of-the-art algorithms. In particular, the existing solutions can not offer low computational complexity and at the same time good performance for short system delays. Thus, a novel algorithm based on subband filtering that mitigates these limitations is proposed for PSZ systems. In addition, the proposed algorithm offers more versatility than the existing algorithms, since different system configurations, such as different filter lengths or sets of loudspeakers, can be used in each subband. The proposed algorithm is experimentally evaluated and tested in a reverberant environment, and its efficacy to mitigate the limitations of the existing solutions is demonstrated. Finally, the effect of the target responses in the optimization is discussed, and a novel approach that is based on windowing the target responses is proposed. The proposed approach is experimentally evaluated in two rooms with different reverberation levels. The evaluation results reveal that an appropriate windowing of the target responses can reduce the interference level between zones. / Molés Cases, V. (2022). Filter Optimization for Personal Sound Zones Systems [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/186111