Hydrogen technology has widely been acknowledged as a route to reduced carbon emissions and energy security. However, it is also recognised that technology development alone is not enough to cause a shift change in uptake and that public perception also needs to be considered. This paper identifies the public perception of hydrogen technology (with specific interest in biologically produced hydrogen) and determines whether it meets the public expectation in terms of its potential energetic output. The energetic viability of hydrogen (defined for this purpose as a net positive energy balance) is derived by determining the potential for agriculturally produced hydrogen using dark fermentative production techniques. A suitable range of energy crops have been identified using selection criteria including yield, harvest window and composition of the crops. Public perception of hydrogen energy was investigated through the use of two focus groups. This identified Welsh public opinions on the production and end use of hydrogen energy. Due to the rapid progress in wireless communication technologies and the increasing demands for new services; cutting edge techniques and research have developed wireless access delivery of broadband data. Such systems referred to as Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Systems (BFWA) or alternatively, Local Multipoint Distribution Systems (LMDS), are increasingly being regarded as a legitimate challenger to cable and digital subscriber lines (DSL), particularly in markets with poor cable or copper infrastructure. These systems have capabilities that go beyond the current WiFi and WiMAX technologies by providing users with higher bandwidths and faster data rates. The frequency of operation for such networks lies between 28 and 42 GHz according to the spectrum bands allocated for future LMDS networks. The presented work aims at proposing a generalized stochastic model for the LMDS urban/suburban propagation channel. The model is based on a physical electromagnetic representation of the millimetre wavelength channel, with particular emphasis on fading margins in line-of-sight (LOS) links. The study focuses on the analysis, modelling and measurements of the fading effects of signal scattering caused by building surfaces and the ground on the direct field in an LMDS link at millimetre­ waves. Outcomes have been validated against experimental results obtained in realistic propagation scenarios. More than 180 field measurement sets were taken at 40 GHz for model testing and validation purposes. The main innovation of this work is the solution proposed to address the problem of signal scatter at millimetre-wave lengths. The approach uses high-frequency approximations to the analytical solution given by Kirchhoff s tangent-plane representation of rough surfaces. The electromagnetic field and signal power at the receiver are considered random and are evaluated using the Physical Optics method over different possible realizations of the surface geometry and building architectural features. This has resulted in novel derivations of the mean field, mean power density and scatter distribution of the scattered field. In comparison to deterministic models, such as ray-tracing that require intensive computations and detailed (millimetric resolution) knowledge of topographical data that are almost impossible to obtain, the proposed model is rather efficient and yields accurate results. The model has also been employed in analysing the effects of building scatter on the variance of the main desired link and the adjacent- or co-channel interfering link arising from neighbouring cells in cellular LMDS networks. This has enabled predictions of signal-to-interference ratio statistics and distributions for a particular underlying propagation environment. Overall, compansons yielded very good agreements between measurements and predictions of the main statistical parameters, thus verifying the main assumptions relating to the received signal strength, as well as the validity of a Rician distribution in describing the signal envelope variability for both the main and interference links in complex millimetre-wave propagation environments.

Modern telecommunication systems and standards are mainly dependent on the availability of digital signal processing capabilities of appropriate hardware components. Two main categories can be distinguished in the development of digital signal processing units. On the one hand a number of general purpose digital signal processors are available on the market, which can be programmed through programming languages like C or C++ or - for higher performance purpose - directly in assembly code. The advantage of such devices is the ability of high flexibility and short time to market since there is no further hardware development, on the integrated circuit level, required. On the other hand hardware components are specifically developed for signal processing tasks, which are mainly application specific integrated circuits (ASIC). They are usually only programmable to a certain degree, always considering the area of application, i.e. wireless telecommunication systems. Although they do not offer the flexibility of general purpose digital signal processors, they offer the big advantage of less required hardware (measured as chip area or die size), lower power consumption and higher speeds. Usually hybrids are found on the market, which combine freely programmable Digital Signal Processor (DSP) with very specific hardware modules to support the specific application needs. This thesis describes the development of a Wireless Telecommunication System, describing the relevant development methodologies, regarding aspects of hardware and software split and actual implementations of components in hardware as well as in software. This is done specifically for the example of a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) wireless mobile system. The actual state of the art is described in detail, according to the relevant literature in the area of WCDMA systems. Programmable hardware is presented, which is covered through a portfolio of patents. The purpose and the application of each patent are described in detail as well as the area of application. Finally a classification of each patent is given, which aims to give an objective measure about the value of a patent. The presented patents show a significant contribution to knowledge enabling the development of low power mobile wireless telecommunication systems.

Hay that has been baled with incorrect moisture content or that has been under the influence of moisture has potential to generate heat and create a fire hazard. Traditional means of monitoring baled hay temperature in storage, by inserting a pipe probe with thermometer, are time consuming. A ZigBee wireless sensor network could be used to remotely monitor internal hay bale temperatures. Tests were conducted to determine the maximum amount of hay through which a 2.4 GHz ZigBee module could transmit data and the resulting signal strength (RSSI). Based on analysis of the data, a ZigBee transmitter with 2 mW transmitting power can transmit data through 9 ft of baled hay and a ZigBee transmitter with 50 mW transmitting power can transmit data through 18 ft of baled hay. In general, RSSI decreased significantly with each additional 3 ft of baled hay.

D.Ing. / This thesis sets out to propose and analyze a cellular Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Multiple Access (DSjSSMA) system for the Indoor Wireless Communication (IWC) Nakagami fading channel. The up- and downlink of the system implement Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) and Coherent Phase Shift Keying (CPSK) as modulation schemes respectively, and are analyzed using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) principles due to its reliability and accuracy. As a means to enhance system capacity and performance, different forms of diversity are investigated; for the up- and downlink, respectively, RAKE reception and Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) diversity together with Forward Error Control (FEC) coding are assumed. Further, the validity of the Gaussian Assumption (GA) is quantified and investigated under fading and non-fading conditions by calculating the missing information, using Minimum Relative Entropy (MRE) principles between the Inter- User Interference (IUI) distribution and a Gaussian distribution of equal variance.

As the need for faster, safer and more efficient healthcare delivery increases, medical consultants seek new ways of implementing a high quality telemedical system, using innovative technology. Until today, teleconsultation (the most common application of Telemedicine) was performed by transferring the patient from the Accidents and Emergency ward, to a specially equipped room, or by moving large and heavy machinery to the place where the patient resided. Both these solutions were unpractical, uneconomical and potentially dangerous. At the same time wireless networks became increasingly useful in point-of-care areas such as hospitals, because of their ease of use, low cost of installation and increased flexibility. This thesis presents an integrated system called MedLAN dedicated for use inside the A&E hospital wards. Its purpose is to wirelessly support high-quality live video, audio, high-resolution still images and networks support from anywhere there is WLAN coverage. It is capable of transmitting all of the above to a consultant residing either inside or outside the hospital, or even to an external place, thorough the use of the Internet. To implement that, it makes use of the existing IEEE 802.11b wireless technology. Initially, this thesis demonstrates that for specific scenarios (such as when using WLANs), DICOM specifications should be adjusted to accommodate for the reduced WLAN bandwidth. Near lossless compression has been used to send still images through the WLANs and the results have been evaluated by a number of consultants to decide whether they retain their diagnostic value. The thesis further suggests improvements on the existing 802.11b protocol. In particular, as the typical hospital environment suffers from heavy RF reflections, it suggests that an alternative method of modulation (OFDM) can be embedded in the 802.11b hardware to reduce the multipath effect, increase the throughput and thus the video quality sent by the MedLAN system. Finally, realising that the trust between a patient and a doctor is fundamental this thesis proposes a series of simple actions aiming at securing the MedLAN system. Additionally, a concrete security system is suggested, that encapsulates the existing WEP security protocol, over IPSec.

Les réseaux de capteurs constituent un axe de recherche très fertile ces dernières années. Cette technique se développe dans différents domaines comme l'environnement, l'industrie, le commerce, la médecine, l'armée, etc. Les réseaux de capteurs sont difficiles à concevoir parce qu'ils sont fortement contraints en énergie et que tous les éléments ont potentiellement une influence sur la durée de vie du système. Nous proposons un outil permettant l'aide au bon paramétrage et aux choix de paramètres optimaux pour la stabilité des applications.Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à deux problématiques : une classification des paramètres pour un outil d'aide à la décision pour la configuration d'un réseau de capteurs et la seconde, un outil de test de conformité du système dans un environnement réel. Le document est divisé en deux parties où la première partie est un état de l'art de différents protocoles existants et la deuxième partie décrit notre contribution dans ces deux problématiques.Dans la première contribution, nous avons analysé l'impact de la couverture radio puis de la topologie sur les performances d'un réseau de capteurs. Nous étudions le taux de perte et le niveau d'énergie pour en déduire la stabilité d'une application. Puis nous avons proposé une étude menant à une classification pour notre outil d'aide à la décision. Notre classification est basée sur une étude de divers paramètres de la couche MAC, physique, protocole de routage, nombre de nœuds et type d'application.Dans la deuxième contribution, nous nous sommes focalisés sur une approche pragmatique permettant de tester la conformité d'un réseau de capteurs dans un environnement réel. Pour tester la conformité dans un environnement réel, nous proposons une architecture d'exécution de test sur un réseau de capteurs réel. Ceci dans un but d'assurer un niveau correct de conformité et la stabilité de celui-ci durant son fonctionnement. / Wireless sensor networks is one of the hotest research topic in the last few years. This technology can be applied for different fields such as environment, industry, trading, medicine, military etc. Wireless sensor networks are hard to conceive because they require a lot of energy and because each of its component may have an influence on the lifetime of the whole system. What we suggest is a tool allowing to choose the correct and optimal parameters for the reliability of the applications.In this thesis, we focused on two major problems : firstly, a classification of the parameters for a tool allowing to make decisions about the configuration of a wireless sensors network, and secondly, a tool testing the compliance of the system with a real environment. The document is divided into two parts : the first part states the different protocols that exist, and the second part describes our contributions to those topics.In the first contribution, we analyzed how influential the radio cover and the network topology are on the network performances. Then, we deduced from the study of the loss rate and of the level of energy, the reliability of the application. Next, we suggested a study leading to a classification for our decision making tool. For this classification, we studied various parameters related to the MAC layer, the Physical layer, the network layer, the application layer the number of nodes involved in the network.In the second contribution, we adopted a pragmatic approach so we could test the conformity of a wireless sensors network in a real environment. In order to test its conformity in a real environment, we suggested a structured test execution on a real wireless sensor network. This task has been suggested in order to check the conformance level of the network while it was working.

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wireless LANs (WLANs), based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, have become the standard means for indoor wireless connectivity. At the same time, the rising number of smart mobile devices, broadband access speeds, and bandwidth hungry applications (e.g., high definition video streaming) have led to an increase not only of usage but also of demand for higher data-rates. This demand for higher rates is being met with newer IEEE 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11n/ac) that introduce new features and also increase the different possible settings for each feature. Inherent channel variations and the possible interference conditions when operating in unlicensed spectrum necessitate adaptation of the various medium access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layer features to ensure high performance. Selecting the values of those features to optimise a criterion such as throughput is the link adaptation problem. Link adaptation, the focus of this thesis, can play a key role in improving the performance of 802.11 WLANs. Increasing number of features and feature setting combinations with newer 802.11 standards is not only making link adaptation even more important but also more challenging. The contributions made in this thesis significantly advance the state of the art on link adaptation for 802.11 WLANs along three dimensions. First, we show that not knowing the exact cause of loss is not an impediment to effective link adaptation. Nevertheless, actions taken in response to losses are more crucial and they ought to be holistic and not solely dependent on the exact cause of loss. Second, we make significant methodological contributions for analysing the impact of multiple parameters on a given criterion, based on comprehensive experimental measurements. The application of this methodology on 802.11n measurements, examining the interaction of the protocols various parameters on performance under varying conditions, has lead to several valuable findings on how to perform efficient link adaptation in a complex WLAN scenario like 802.11n and future 802.11 standards. Adaptation should be holistic, based on the channel quality instead of the interference scenario, and independent of loss differentiation. Based on these insights, lastly and most importantly, we propose two novel holistic link adaptation schemes for legacy 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n WLANs, termed Themis and SampleLite, respectively. Both Themis and SampleLite take a hybrid approach relying on easily accessed channel quality information at the sender side to perform holistic adaptation. The hypothesis that adaptation should be holistic is validated by our results, with both Themis and SampleLite outperforming the current state of the art.

M.Ing. / In this thesis we investigated the characterization of wireless communication channels. The characterization of the channel itself focused on the analog as well as the discrete domains. This was done to provide a more complete treatment than that which is usually found in the literature (which normally focuses" on either one of the domains). We also provide a discussion on the basic issues that arise when trying to characterize a wireless communication channel. The analog characterization proceeded by means of the impulse response of the chan­ nel. We calculated the scattering function of the channel as well as the Delay and Doppler Power Spectra. From the wideband data we also derived the equivalent Narrowband en­ velope and phase and investigated the probability density functions of these. We also implemented the GMSK modulation scheme, used in the GSM system, in software. This included a simulation of the additive white Gaussian noise channel as well as the Rayleigh fading channel, the two most common assumed models. A complete discussion is provided on this implementation. The implementation above was used to obtain discrete channel models of GMSK on a Rayleigh fading channel. This also provided us with the opportunity to compare the performance of three of the most common discrete channel models : the Gilbert model, the Gilbert-Elliott model and the Fritchman model. Lastly we obtained equations that describe the behaviour of the Gilbert model's parameters as a function of average signal­ to-noise ratio.

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