Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / Title from openning screen viewed Apr. 22, 2001. Includes bibliographical references.

There has been explosion in the number of digital hearing aids on the market in the last five years. This master thesis deals with some basic issues related to Digital Hearing Aids and more specifically, with the matter of compression in hearing aid devices. The classic frequency-domain compression uses FFT processing and the ideal and practical FFT systems are described. The underlying theory of Multirate Filter Banks and the Polyphase Decomposition as an efficient way of implementing them are presented. A different prototype filter design is thoroughly described and is proposed since it provides a minimum combined approximation error. Moreover, the approximation of the time-domain post filter with gain coefficients being adapted at the frequency domain is done by an all pole filter of lower degree. The simulation results provide us an evaluation of the proposed technique. Our contribution has been the design of a low-delay FIR filter which is extremely crucial for real-time speech processing applications. / Η τεχνολογία ακουστικών βαρηκοΐας έχει προχωρήσει δραματικά τα τελευταία χρόνια. Η εισαγωγή της Ψηφιακής Επεξεργασίας Σήματος (DSP) στα ακουστικά βαρηκοΐας έχει οδηγήσει σε προχωρημένους αλγορίθμους επεξεργασίας σήματος στους τομείς της έρευνας και της αγοράς. Στη παρούσα μεταπτυχιακή εργασία, ασχολούμαστε με το ζήτημα της συμπίεσης στα Ψηφιακά Ακουστικά Βαρηκοΐας δηλαδή τη μείωση του εύρους των επιπέδων του ήχου που βρίσκονται στο περιβάλλον έτσι ώστε να «ταιριάζουν» μέσα στο περιορισμένο εύρος ενός ατόμου με μειωμένη ακοή. Παραθέτουμε μια μελέτη πάνω στις υπάρχουσες τεχνικές συμπίεσης στο συχνοτικό πεδίο με χρήση FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) για τη σχεδίαση συστημάτων συμπίεσης. Στη συνέχεια, κάνοντας μια εισαγωγή στις τράπεζες φίλτρων (Filter Banks) προτείνουμε τη σχεδίαση ενός prototype φίλτρου με μικρό σφάλμα προσέγγισης, απότομη ζώνη μετάβασης και υψηλή εξασθένιση στη ζώνη αποκοπής. Με αυτό τον τρόπο, η προτεινόμενη τεχνική σχεδίασης παρέχει σημαντικό κέρδος σε αντιπαράθεση με την προτεινόμενη τεχνική με χρήση FFT καθότι οδηγεί σε μείωση της διαρροής ενέργειας μεταξύ γειτονικών συχνοτικών ζωνών. Επιπλέον, μελετήθηκε και αξιολογήθηκε η προσέγγιση του FIR φίλτρου των κερδών συμπίεσης από ένα IIR Auto-Regressive φίλτρο μικρότερης τάξης. Η συμβολή μας στο σημείο αυτό είναι η σχεδίαση ενός FIR φίλτρου συμπίεσης με χαμηλή καθυστέρηση. Το χαρακτηριστικό της χαμηλής καθυστέρησης είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντικό σε εφαρμογές σημάτων ομιλίας πραγματικού χρόνου όπως στη περίπτωση των ακουστικών βαρηκοΐας.

Ο αριθμός των συνδρομητών κινητής τηλεφωνίας έχει αυξηθεί σημαντικά τα τελευταία χρόνια. Σε μεγάλο βαθμό οι φωνητικές υπηρεσίες εξυπηρετούνται από κινητά δίκτυα, ενώ παράλληλα αυξήθηκε σε μεγάλο βαθμό η χρήση των δεδομένων στα δίκτυα εκείνα που εφαρμόστηκε το 3GPP High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), αποδεικνύοντας ότι οι χρήστες επιδοκιμάζουν τη χρήση δεδομένων που παρέχονται ασύρματα με ευρυζωνικές ταχύτητες. Ο μέσος αριθμός χρήσης δεδομένων ξεπερνά τα εκατοντάδες megabytes ανά χρήστη κάθε μήνα. Τα ασύρματα δίκτυα πρέπει να αυξήσουν τις ταχύτητες μετάδοσης δεδομένων έτσι ώστε να πλησιάσουν εκείνες της ενσύρματης επικοινωνίας. Οι χρήστες είναι συνηθισμένοι να χρησιμοποιούν ενσύρματα δίκτυα και έτσι περιμένουν από τα ασύρματα δίκτυα να προσφέρουν συγκρίσιμες αποδόσεις με χαμηλό κόστος μετάδοσης δεδομένων. Το 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) είναι σχεδιασμένο να επιτύχει αυτούς τους στόχους. Η τεχνολογία LTE προσφέρει κλιμακωτό εύρος ζώνης (απο 1.25 έως 20 MHz) με ρυθμούς μετάδοσης στα 100 Mbps για τον κατερχόμενο σύνδεσμο και στα 50 Mbps για τον ανερχόμενο. Αυτές οι πτυχές συνοδευόμενες από την τεχνολογία πρόσβασης που χρησιμοποιείται, η οποία είναι η OFDM (Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), βελτιώνουν τη ρυθμαπόδοση του χρήστη και τη χωρητικότητα, ενώ μειώνουν τις καθυστερήσεις προσφέροντας παράλληλα βελτιωμένες συνθήκες κατά την κινητικότητα του χρήστη. Η OFDM προσφέρει επίσης μεγαλύτερη ανέχεια σε φαινόμενα όπως η εξασθένιση και το multipath σε σύγκριση με τεχνολογίες που εφαρμόζονταν σε προηγούμενα δίκτυα. Επίσης, είναι σημαντικό να αναφερθεί ότι το LTE χρησιμοποιεί τη μεταγωγή πακέτων και χρησιμοποιεί την τεχνολογία πολλαπλών κεραιών καθώς επίσης πολυπλεξία στο επίπεδο του χρόνου και της συχνότητας. Τέλος, υποστηρίζει unicast και multicast μετάδοση, τόσο σε microcell (κελιά μικρότερου εύρους) όσο και macrocell (μεγαλύτερα κελιά) περιβάλλον. Το αντικείμενο που μελετάται σε αυτή τη διπλωματική είναι το πρόβλημα του περιορισμού των παρεμβολών οι οποίες επηρεάζουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό την απόδοση των LTE συστημάτων. Ιδιαίερη μελέτη γίνεται όσο αφορά στην Inter Cell παρεμβολή και στις Inter Cell Interference Coordination τεχνικές. Συγκεκριμένα, η έρευνα εστιάζει στη βελτίωση της απόδοσης των χρηστών μειώνοντας την παρεμβολή μέσω διαφόρων σχημάτων επαναχρησιμοποίησης συχνότητας. / The number of mobile subscribers has increased tremendously in recent years. Voice communication has become mobile in a massive way and the mobile is the preferred way for voice communication. At the same time the data usage has grown fast in those networks where 3GPP High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) was introduced indicating that the users find value in broadband wireless data. The average data consumption exceeds hundreds of Megabytes per subscriber per month. Wireless networks must make data rates higher in order to match the user experience provided by wireline networks. When customers are used to wireline performance, they expect the wireless network to offer comparable performance with low cost of data delivery. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is designed to meet those targets. LTE technology offers scalable bandwidth (from 1.25 up to 20 MHz), with transmission rates of 100 Mbps in downlink and 50 Mbps in uplink. These aspects accompanied with the access technology used, which is the OFDM (Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), improves end-user throughputs, sector capacity and reduces user plane latency, bringing significantly improved user experience with full mobility. OFDM also offers bigger tolerance in phenomena such as multipath and fading compared to technologies used in previous mobile networks. It is also important to be mentioned that LTE is fully packet switched and uses multiple antenna techniques along with FDD and TDD duplexing. Finally, it supports unicast and multicast transmission, in both microcell and macrocell environment. The subject studied in this thesis is the problem of mitigating Interferences which dramatically affects the performance of LTE system. Extensive study is done concerning Inter Cell Interference and Inter Cell Interference Coordination techniques. In particular, research focuses in enhancing users’ performance by reducing interference via varius schemes of frequency reuse.

Tumor initiation and progression is dependent on the acquisition and accumulation of multiple driver mutations that acti­vate and fuel oncogenic pathways and deactivate tumor suppressor networks. This complex continuum of non-stochastic genetic changes in accompaniment with error-prone mitoses largely explains why tumors are a mosaic of different cells. Contrary to the long-held notion that tumors are dominated by genetically-identical cells, tumors often contain many different subsets of cells that are remarkably diverse and distinct. The extent of this intratumor heterogeneity has bewildered cancer biologists’ and clinicians alike, as this partly illuminates why most cancer treatments fail. Unsurprisingly, there is no “wonder” drug yet available which can target all the different sub-populations including rare clones, and conquer the war on cancer. Breast tumors harbor ginormous extent of intratumoral heterogeneity, both within primary and metastatic lesions. This revelation essentially calls into question mega clinical endeavors such as the Human Genome Project that have sequenced a single biopsy from a large tumor mass thus precluding realization of the fact that a single tumor mass comprises of cells that present a variety of flavors in genotypic compositions. It is also becoming recognized that intratumor clonal heterogeneity underlies therapeutic resistance. Thus to comprehend the clinical behavior and therapeutic management of tumors, it is imperative to recognize and understand how intratumor heterogeneity arises. To this end, my research proposes to study two main features/cellular traits of tumors that can be quantitatively evaluated as “surrogates” to represent tumor heterogeneity at various stages of the disease: (a) centrosome amplification and clustering, and (b) mitotic frequency. This study aims at interrogating how a collaborative interplay of these “vehicles” support the tumor’s evolutionary agenda, and how we can glean prognostic and predictive information from an accurate determination of these cellular traits.

An ionospheric topside sounder is a high frequency radar system that is located above the ionosphere, ideally on-board a polar orbiting satellite to provide global coverage. The previous eight satellite sounders have measured the critical frequency of the F2 ionosphere region using traditional swept frequency methods. The most expensive part of these missions however is considered to be the large network of ground support stations required for collecting and processing data. This information has been invaluable in improving our global understanding of the upper ionosphere and the accuracy of critical frequency maps used by HF radio engineers to calculate communications routes and the optimum frequencies for early warning OTH radars. A new technique for the direct detection of critical frequency has been developed, which is called the 'Dispersion Method'. Real data from previous sounders is used in the development and verification of this method. This sounder will not only provide traditional lonograms but detects critical frequency and spread echoes directly from the dispersion of a returning radar pulse. This new method does not use traditional lonograms with their inherent processing complexity and is an order faster than any previous sounder. The 'Dispersion Method' therefore resolves the problems encountered with the past topside sounder missions and produces large quantities of real time data autonomously when required. Previous sounding satellites had little memory capacity, no on-board processing capability, required large antennas and transmitters on satellites with a mass of between 150 and 250 kg. This meant power requirements of about 60 watts per orbit average. A feasibility study to place a third generation topside sounder into low Earth orbit on a 50 kg microsatellite with an orbit average power capacity of only 20 watts has been successfully completed.

[pt] A propagação das ondas eletromagnéticas em freqüências superiores a 10 GHz sofre uma degradação causada pela chuva. O efeito da precipitação é particularmente importante em regiões de clima tropical e equatorial onde se observam as mais elevadas taxas de precipitação. Este trabalho apresenta resultados de um programa de medidas de propagação realizado no Brasil, desde 1987, utilizando radiômetros operando na faixa de 12 GHz e pluviômetros. A partir dos dados de atenuação e taxa de precipitação medidos simultaneamente em 6 locais em diferentes regiões do Brasil, durante pelo menos 1 ano, que forneceram distribuições estatísticas de 10 anos em 6 estações, foi desenvolvido um modelo de previsão da atenuação causada pela chuva em enlaces satélite. Apresenta-se ainda resultados do estudo do comportamento dinâmico da atenuação por chuvas. / [en] The rain attenuation is a major impairment on the radio wave propagation at frequencies above 10 GHz. The rain effect is particularly important in tropical and equatorial regions which experience the most severe rain rates. This work presents results of the propagation measurement campaign conducted in Brazil since 1987, using radiometers, operating at the frequency of 12 GHz, and raingauges. A rain induced attenuation prediction model for satellite- Earth links was developed from the data of 10 year- stations measured in Brazil. The results of the dynamic behaviour of rain attenuation are also presented.

The thesis describes the development of a generic nonlinear computer model of a pumped storage hydroelectric scheme. The model combines the hydraulic, electrical and control systems. In particular, this model includes the water hammer effects, the hydraulic coupling in the common water supply tunnel, the power system stiffness and the electrical coupling between the generator and the power system. The benefit of the simulation is that it gives insight into the plant characteristics and improves understanding of the physical phenomena involved. A specific case of the model for Dinorwig power station is tested against the plant responses and establishes a good degree of confidence in the simulation. The model is used to evaluate governor performance and establish stability boundaries for various operating conditions. The model is also used to design a new black-start regime which allows Dinorwig to energise the power system after blackout, with individual units picking up incremental loads up to 15% of machine rating while ensuring that frequency deviations remains within limits. Another application of the model is to explain why a period of sustained power oscillation occurred at Dinorwig and to identify under what circumstances this can take place. Linearised system models are used for governor tuning and root locus and Bode plot methods applied to establish the optimum governor settings for different operation conditions. The results demonstrate the significance of hydraulic coupling and the power system (grid) size on governor tuning. The final part of the work addresses conversion of the model to run in real-time and interfacing it with an actual unit governor. The results demonstrate the practicality of the hardware-in-the-loop simulation as a technique for safely implementing and testing new controllers or enhancements to the current controller.

CeiKNSBN is a new photorefractive material in the KNSBN family, which has some advantages compared to other crystals. Based on two-wave mixing theory, different methods are used to investigate the photorefractvie properties of the Ce:KNSBN crystal. Most parameters of the CeiKNSBN crystal are in the same orders with those of Cu:KNSBN crystal. The diffraction efficiency from the CeiKNSBN crystal is affected by the applied electric field. The applied field increases the response rate of the grating formation and enhances the diffraction efficiency. There exists an optimum applied field and grating spacing related to the maximum diffraction efficiency, and the history of applied field influences the value of diffraction efficiency. Fanning loss and thermal effects should be considered in the diffraction theory for the CeiKNSBN crystal. The phase conjugate properties of the CeiKNSBN crystal are demonstrated in the four-wave mixing configuration and in the SPPC CAT conjugator. The experimental results agree with the analytical solution under some conditions. The He-Ne laser generates higher SPPC in the CeiKNSBN crystal than that by the argon-ion laser. The Doppler frequency detuning technique is first, to our knowledge, applied in the SPPC CAT configuration. The SPPC reflectivity is enhanced and the uniformity of the reflectivity is improved by this technique.

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / In all radio frequency (RF) electronic communication systems, power amplifiers (PAs) are used to generate the final transmitted signal. Specifically, these PAs are used to increase the output power of the transmitted signal. The PA accomplishes this by converting the applied direct current (DC) power to the PA into RF power, while being driven by a RF input signal. The portion of DC power that is not converted into RF power is dissipated as heat. The power conversion mechanism that takes place in a PA is described by the power conversion efficiency (PE) and the power added efficiency (PAE). A CubeSat is a small satellite in the shape of a 10 × 10 × 10 cm cube, weighing less than 1 kg and contains a RF electronic communication system which allows communication with the satellite. A CubeSat requires a PA with high PE in order to increase the lifetime of the on-board battery, facilitate thermal management on-board the satellite, increase system reliability, and reduce the size and manufacturing cost of the satellite. To maximize the theoretical PE of a RF PA, several design techniques and classes of operation were investigated, the basis of which lies in the fulfilment of the necessary and sufficient conditions for a maximum PE. A PA, which uses the Class-F-1 (inverse Class-F) mode of operation, fulfils the necessary and sufficient conditions for a maximum theoretical PE, and therefore presents itself as a good option for a high efficiency PA. This thesis presents the design of a Class-F-1 PA, using the Cree CGH40010F GaN power active device. An optimum output matching network is used to terminate the drain of the GaN power active device with the required load impedances at the fundamental, 2nd and 3rd harmonic frequencies of operation. The designed PA delivers a maximum PE of 95 % at an operating frequency of 2.2 GHz, a maximum PAE of 82 % at an operating frequency of 2.2 GHz and a maximum output power of 40.6 dBm at an operating frequency of 2.2 GHz.

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / RF and microwave filters can be implemented using ceramic coaxial resonators. This technology has been widely employed in nanosatellite communications systems recently, owing to its large quality factor (Q), permitting them to have low loss and narrow bandwidth. Features such as high selectivity, high power handling, excellent rejection, and low passband insertion loss are just a few of the key performance areas offered by ceramic coaxial resonators. This feature makes them suitable for use in bandpass filters. Applications with demanding specifications requiring low volume and mass make use of this technology. Fulfilling the required performance goals can be challenging, given the size and weight restriction. Difficulties such as finding the correct length of resonators and the coupling capacitors’ structure to meet the size restriction, limit the type of ceramic coaxial resonators to use. This thesis presents the design of a bandpass filter using ceramic coaxial resonators, which provides evidence of the concept for F’SATI’s future needs. This design will be used in an imminent space mission and the intention is to mount the bandpass filter in the receiver communications system. An intensive investigation was conducted into the use of filters for nanosatellite communication systems. The Chebyshev LC ladder low pass prototype was used to derive the conventional bandpass filter. Thereafter, the coupled resonator bandpass filter was derived using the conventional bandpass filter topology combined with the admittance inverter. Following this, using the ceramic coaxial resonators datasheet and information provided by the manufacturers, the coupled resonator bandpass filter was converted into a 3D model for further simulations, using CST Microwave Studio®. The ceramic coaxial resonator filter fabricated using Rogers’s material provided satisfactory results at its operating frequency between 2.2 GHz and 2.3 GHz. A radiation level test was performed on the filter to justify the use of the metallic enclosure. The test presented a low level of radiation measured at the filter operating frequency (2.25 GHz). The filter was also subjected to temperature cycling. / French–South African Institute of Technology (F’SATI) National Research Foundation (NRF)