Electric and magnetic fields in the vicinity of strong sources of radiation (e.g. radar and broadcasting) can exceed the limits mentioned in the national standards for the exposition of persons. Field probes are needed to warn personnel if they are going too close to the RF-sources. For acceptance reasons the field probes should be universal in such a way that no user adjustment of frequency is required. The limits for power density, electric and magnetic field strength depend on the frequency. In contrast, field probes covering a large frequency range, e.g. 1 MHz to 18 GHz or even larger, normally have a flat frequency response. Therefore, the person using the field probe has to know the frequency of the electromagnetic field and to evaluate fieldstrength with respect to the frequency dependent limit value defined by law. Human mistakes while making that evaluation can lead to expositions above the limit value. On the other hand, the evaluation of the power density in the presence of multiple strong sources of radiation at different frequencies with different limit values also leads to measurement problems. A new approach has been undertaken to overcome these difficulties in the development of a rectifying field probe. It consists in shaping the antenna factor of the probe inversely proportional to the limit value. The isotropic response of field probes can be achieved, if three dipole antennas are arranged perpendicular to each other. The presence of dielectric supporting material leads to degradation of the isotropic response of such a field probe. The effect will be investigated. For typical substrates the isotropic response is degraded by up to 3.8 dB. An compensation for this effect will be proposed that leads to a residual unisotropic response of less than 0.2 dB.

The diploma thesis deals with the influence of machining technologies (turning, milling, grinding and polishing) on the surface texture of functional surfaces of selected materials from technical plastics. In the first part of the thesis there is a theoretical analysis of the possibilities of machining plastic materials. Furthermore, an analysis of the most commonly used parameters for evaluating the roughness of the machined surface and their effect on functionality is performed. The experimental part of the thesis describes samples preparation, analysis of measured data and subsequent evaluation with benefits for machinery industry.

Within the master’s thesis there is comparison of different structures of ARC oscillators with respect to their harmonic distortion. Individual blocks of oscillator are analyzed. Attention is paid to choosing and design of suitable ARC filter structure and possibilities of its tuning. Also possibilities of stabilization of amplitude are analyzed. Different types of controlled amplifiers and circuits for controlling of their amplification are discussed. Next captures are focused to designing and simulation of the ARC oscillator. The oscillator can be tuned in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 20 kHz with harmonic distortion smaller than 1%. At the end of the thesis, practical realization of the proposed circuit is described. Also results of the measurement of parameters of the oscillator are given.

This thesis deals with cues used by the human auditory system to identify the location of sound and methods for sound localisation based these cues, namely, vector based amplitude panning and ambisonics, which are described in detail. These methods have been implemented as a VST plug-in module. This thesis also contains listening tests of second order ambisonics along with acquired data analysis.

Tato disertační práce se věnuje studiu částečných výbojů (PD) způsobených poklesem spolehlivosti a životnosti elektronických zařízení a systémů. Diagnostika PD je dnes známá metoda pro vysoké napětí u vysoko-výkonných zařízení. V případě elektronických zařízení PD testování není ale běžně používáná metoda, přestože je zde také potenciál pro vysoké elektrické zatížení vzhledem k velmi krátké vzdálenosti. Tato práce je zaměřena na vyšetřování PD činnosti u elektronických zařízení. Bylo navrženo a provedeno pracoviště pro diagnostiku PD v elektronických zařízeních. Pracovní frekvence se pohybuje od několika stovek Hz až 100 kHz. Maximální amplituda PD testovaného napětí je vyšší než 10 kV. Navzdory jednoduché konstrukci toto zařízení přináší vysokou spolehlivost měření. Více než 300 PD testů bylo provedeno na různých elektronických zařízeních a elektronických součástí,např. na planárních transformátorech a elektronických komponentách používaných při vysoko-napěťových měničích

The present final thesis discusses the transmission of a narrowly directional parametric sound beam through an amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave, utilizing the effect of auto-demodulation in a nonlinear medium and ensuring the subsequent processing of the input signal for the parametric sound transmitter. Emphasis is placed on the mathematical tools that relate to parametric sound transmission in a nonlinear medium. The basic part of the thesis describes a parametric speaker and the associated amplitude modulation techniques, which constitute a major prerequisite for the processing of the transmitted signal. In the following section, the author then analyzes the computational intensity of these techniques, considering applicable hardware approaches. Finally, the fabrication and practical use of the proposed solution are discussed, including the measurement of typical parameters such as the spatial radiation characteristics, total harmonic distortion, and transmission channel bandwidth.

This thesis deals with the dynamic properties of electric pressure transducers. These are properties that are reflected in the measurement of rapid, time-dependent processes. They could be described in two ways. Either by using amplitude and phase frequency response characteristics, or just one particular value. Natural frequency, cutoff frequency or time constant. These parameters indicate the extreme values for the use of measuring devices in the measurement of time-dependent processes. In this work will be described procedures for determining these parameters.

The master´s thesis deals with theoretical research and practical application of the principle of spreading acoustic waves through nonlinear medium. The theoretical part describes five different types of amplitude modulation and their mathematic representation, which were verified by the program Matlab. Next, the impedance characteristic of ultrasound PZT transducer was measured and the design of PWM modulator and class D amplifier was described. The practical part of the master´s thesis contains the realization of the parametric loudspeaker assembled from the class D amplifier and the PWM modulator. In conclusion, the designed parametric loudspeaker was measured and the individual types of amplitude modulation were compared with respect to the total harmonic distortion of transmitted useful signal.

Speed, power and reliability of analogue integrated circuits (IC) exhibit temperature dependency through the modulation of one or several of the following variables: band gap energy of the semiconductor, mobility, carrier diffusion, current density, threshold voltage, interconnect resistance, and variability in passive components. Some of the adverse effects of temperature variations are observed in current and voltage reference circuits, and frequency drift in oscillators. Thermal instability of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is a critical design factor for radio frequency ICs, such as transceiver circuits in communication networks, data link protocols, medical wireless sensor networks and microelectromechanical resonators. For example, frequency drift in a transceiver system results in severe inter-symbol interference in a digital communications system. Minimum transconductance required to sustain oscillation is specified by Barkhausen’s stability criterion. However it is common practice to design oscillators with much more transconductance enabling self-startup. As temperature is increased, several of the variables mentioned induce additional transconductance to the oscillator. This in turn translates to a negative frequency drift. Conventional approaches in temperature compensation involve temperature-insensitive biasing proportional-to-absolute temperature, modifying the control voltage terminal of the VCO using an appropriately generated voltage. Improved frequency stability is reported when compensation voltage closely follows the frequency drift profile of the VCO. However, several published articles link the close association between oscillation amplitude and oscillation frequency. To the knowledge of this author, few published journal articles have focused on amplitude control techniques to reduce frequency drift. This dissertation focuses on reducing the frequency drift resulting from temperature variations based on amplitude control. A corresponding hypothesis is formulated, where the research outcome proposes improved frequency stability in response to temperature variations. In order to validate this principle, a temperature compensated VCO is designed in schematic and in layout, verified using a simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis tool using the corresponding process design kit provided by the foundry, and prototyped using standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. Periodic steady state (PSS) analysis is performed using the open loop VCO with temperature as the parametric variable in five equal intervals from 0 – 125 °C. A consistent negative frequency shift is observed in every temperature interval (≈ 11 MHz), with an overall frequency drift of 57 MHz. However similar PSS analysis performed using a VCO in the temperature stabilised loop demonstrates a reduced negative frequency drift of 3.8 MHz in the first temperature interval. During the remaining temperature intervals the closed loop action of the amplitude control loop overcompensates for the negative frequency drift, resulting in an overall frequency spread of 4.8 MHz. The negative frequency drift in the first temperature interval of 0 to 25 °C is due to the fact that amplitude control is not fully effective, as the oscillation amplitude is still building up. Using the temperature stabilised loop, the overall frequency stability has improved to 16 parts per million (ppm)/°C from an uncompensated value of 189 ppm/°C. The results obtained are critically evaluated and conclusions are drawn. Temperature stabilised VCOs are applicable in applications or technologies such as high speed-universal serial bus, serial advanced technology attachment where frequency stability requirements are less stringent. The implications of this study for the existing body of knowledge are that better temperature compensation can be obtained if any of the conventional compensation schemes is preceded by amplitude control. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

Les micro-expressions sont des expressions faciales brèves et subtiles qui apparaissent et disparaissent en une fraction de seconde. Ce type d'expressions reflèterait "l'intention réelle" de l'être humain. Elles ont été étudiées pour mieux comprendre les communications non verbales et dans un contexte médicale lorsqu'il devient presque impossible d'engager une conversation ou d'essayer de traduire les émotions du visage ou le langage corporel d'un patient. Cependant, détecter et reconnaître les micro-expressions est une tâche difficile pour l'homme. Il peut donc être pertinent de développer des systèmes d'aide à la communication exploitant les micro-expressions. De nombreux travaux ont été réalisés dans les domaines de l'informatique affective et de la vision par ordinateur pour analyser les micro-expressions, mais une grande majorité de ces méthodes repose essentiellement sur des méthodes de vision par ordinateur classiques telles que les motifs binaires locaux, les histogrammes de gradients orientés et le flux optique. Étant donné que ce domaine de recherche est relativement nouveau, d'autres pistes restent à explorer. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une nouvelle méthodologie pour l'analyse des petits mouvements (que nous appellerons par la suite mouvements subtils) et des micro-expressions. Nous proposons d'utiliser la pyramide de Riesz, une approximation multi-échelle et directionnelle de la transformation de Riesz qui a été utilisée pour l'amplification du mouvement dans les vidéos à l'aide de l'estimation de la phase 2D locale. Pour l'étape générale d'analyse de mouvements subtils, nous transformons une séquence d'images avec la pyramide de Riesz, extrayons et filtrons les variations de phase de l'image. Ces variations de phase sont en lien avec le mouvement. De plus, nous isolons les régions d'intérêt où des mouvements subtils pourraient avoir lieu en masquant les zones de bruit à l'aide de l'amplitude locale. La séquence d'image est transformée en un signal ID utilisé pour l'analyse temporelle et la détection de mouvement subtils. Nous avons créé notre propre base de données de séquences de mouvements subtils pour tester notre méthode. Pour l'étape de détection de micro-expressions, nous adaptons la méthode précédente au traitement de certaines régions d'intérêt du visage. Nous développons également une méthode heuristique pour détecter les micro-événements faciaux qui sépare les micro-expressions réelles des clignotements et des mouvements subtils des yeux. Pour la classification des micro-expressions, nous exploitons l'invariance, sur de courtes durées, de l'orientation dominante issue de la transformation de Riesz afin de moyenner la séquence d'une micro-expression en une paire d'images. A partir de ces images, nous définissons le descripteur MORF (Mean Oriented Riesz Feature) constitué d'histogrammes d'orientation. Les performances de nos méthodes sont évaluées à l'aide de deux bases de données de micro-expressions spontanées. / Micro-expressions are brief and subtle facial expressions that go on and off the face in a fraction of a second. This kind of facial expressions usually occurs in high stake situations and is considered to reflect a humans real intent. They have been studied to better understand non-verbal communications and in medical applications where is almost impossible to engage in a conversation or try to read the facial emotions or body language of a patient. There has been some interest works in micro-expression analysis, however, a great majority of these methods are based on classically established computer vision methods such as local binary patterns, histogram of gradients and optical flow. Considering the fact that this area of research is relatively new, much contributions remains to be made. ln this thesis, we present a novel methodology for subtle motion and micro-expression analysis. We propose to use the Riesz pyramid, a multi-scale steerable Hilbert transformer which has been used for 2-D phase representation and video amplification, as the basis for our methodology. For the general subtle motion analysis step, we transform an image sequence with the Riesz pyramid, extract and lifter the image phase variations as proxies for motion. Furthermore, we isolate regions of intcrcst where subtle motion might take place and mask noisy areas by thresholding the local amplitude. The total sequence is transformed into a ID signal which is used fo temporal analysis and subtle motion spotting. We create our own database of subtle motion sequences to test our method. For the micro-expression spotting step, we adapt the previous method to process some facial regions of interest. We also develop a heuristic method to detect facial micro-events that separates real micro-expressions from eye blinkings and subtle eye movements. For the micro-expression classification step, we exploit the dominant orientation constancy fom the Riesz transform to average the micro-expression sequence into an image pair. Based on that, we introduce the Mean Oriented Riesz Feature descriptor. The accuracy of our methods are tested in Iwo spontaneous micro-expressions databases. Furthermore, wc analyse the parameter variations and their effect in our results.