In this thesis study, a new method for automatic recognition of intrapulse modulations has been proposed. This new method deals the problem of modulation recognition with a feature-based approach. The features used to recognize the modulation type are Instantaneous Frequency, Instantaneous Bandwidth, Amplitude Modulation Depth, Box Dimension and Information Dimension. Instantaneous Bandwidth and Instantaneous Frequency features are extracted via Autoregressive Spectrum Modeling. Amplitude Modulation Depth is used to express the depth of amplitude change on the signal. The other features, Box Dimension and Information Dimension, are extracted using Fractal Theory in order to classify the modulations on signals depending on their shapes. A modulation database is used in association with Fractal Theory to decide on the modulation type of the analyzed signal, by means of a distance metric among fractal dimensions. Utilizing these features in a hierarchical flow, the new modulation recognition method is achieved. The proposed method has been tested for various intrapulse modulation types. It has been observed that the method has acceptably good performance even for low SNR cases and for signals with small PW.

Die Datenerfassung für Wetterprognosen basiert bis heute auf konventionellen Radarsystemen, die mit einer verhältnismäßig hohen Leistung arbeiten und für große Reichweiten ausgelegt sind. Da jedoch Wetterphänomene primär in Bodennähe auftreten und deren ausschlaggebenden Charakteristika ebendort zu detektieren sind, bringt dieses einige Nachteile mit sich. Hierzu zählen z.B. Einschränkungen bezüglich der räumlichen Auflösung und der Aktualisierungsrate, die stark eingeschränkten Möglichkeiten der flächendeckenden Erfassung bodennaher Effekte, aber auch die nicht voll polarimetrischen Detektionsmöglichkeiten bestehender Systeme. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt den Ansatz des 'Digital Beamforming Weather Radar' (DB-WR) vor, welcher die beschriebenen Nachteile maßgeblich reduziert bzw. vermeidet. Die Systemarchitektur basiert hierbei auf engmaschigen Netzwerken von Phased-Array Radargeräten mit signifikant geringeren Reichweiten und Sendeleistungen. Grundlage hierfür bilden polarimetrische Sende-Empfangsmodule ('Software-Defined Radars'), welche die Realisierung der neuartigen 'Arbiträren Polarimetrischen Multiparameter Intrapulsmodulation' (APMIM), einem Verfahren welches beliebige Modulationen innerhalb des Sendepulses zulässt, ermöglichen. Der Fokus richtet sich diesbezüglich auf die Umsetzung eines breitbandigen Stand-Alone Experimentalsystems für diese neuartige Wetterradartechnologie, mit dem das Systemkonzept des DBWR getestet und die Möglichkeiten der APMIM in Kombination mit einer multiplen Empfangssignalauswertung evaluiert werden können. Darüber hinaus werden die Möglichkeiten dieses Experimentalsystems veranschaulicht und die Funktionalitäten in entsprechenden Messungen verifiziert. / Data acquisition for weather forecasts is still based on conventional radar systems, which operate at a relatively high power and are designed for long ranges. However, since weather phenomena primarily occur near the ground and their decisive characteristics have to be detected there, this brings with it a number of disadvantages. These include, for example, limitations with respect to spatial resolution and update rate, the severely restricted possibilities of area-wide detection of near-ground effects, but also the not fully polarimetric detection capabilities of existing systems. This dissertation presents the Digital Beamforming Weather Radar (DBWR) approach, which significantly reduces or avoids the described drawbacks. The system architecture is based on close-meshed networks of phased-array radars with significantly lower ranges and transmission powers. The basis for this is formed by polarimetric transmit-receive modules ('Software-Defined Radars'), which enable the realization of the novel 'Arbitrary Polarimetric Multiparameter Intrapulse Modulation' (APMIM), a method which allows arbitrary modulations within the transmit pulse. In this respect, the focus is on the implementation of a broadband stand-alone experimental system for this novel weather radar technology, with which the system concept of the DBWR can be tested and the possibilities of the APMIM in combination with a multiple received signal evaluation can be evaluated. Furthermore, the capabilities of this experimental system are illustrated and the functionalities are verified in corresponding measurements.

Broadband spectral content is required to support ultrashort pulses. However this broadband content is subject to dispersion and hence the pulse duration of corresponding ultrashort pulses may be stretched accordingly. I used a commercially-available adaptive ultrashort pulse shaper featuring multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan technology to characterise and compensate for the dispersion of the optical system in situ and conducted experimental and theoretical studies in various inter-linked topics relating to the light-matter interaction. Firstly, I examined the role of broadband ultrashort pulses in novel light-matter interacting systems involving optically co-trapped particle systems in which inter-particle light scattering occurs between optically-bound particles. Secondly, I delivered dispersion-compensated broadband ultrashort pulses in a dispersive microscope system to investigate the role of pulse duration in a biological light-matter interaction involving laser-induced cell membrane permeabilisation through linear and nonlinear optical absorption. Finally, I examined some of the propagation characteristics of broadband ultrashort pulse propagation using a computer-controlled spatial light modulator. The propagation characteristics of ultrashort pulses is of paramount importance for defining the light-matter interaction in systems. The ability to control ultrashort pulse propagation by using adaptive dispersion compensation enables chirp-free ultrashort pulses to be used in experiments requiring the shortest possible pulses for a specified spectral bandwidth. Ultrashort pulsed beams may be configured to provide high peak intensities over long propagation lengths, for example, using novel beam shapes such as Bessel-type beams, which has applications in biological light-matter interactions including phototransfection based on laser-induced cell membrane permeabilisation. The need for precise positioning of the beam focus on the cell membrane becomes less strenuous by virtue of the spatial properties of the Bessel beam. Dispersion compensation can be used to control the temporal properties of ultrashort pulses thus permitting, for example, a high peak intensity to be maintained along the length of a Bessel beam, thereby reducing the pulse energy required to permeabilise the cell membrane and potentially reduce damage therein.

The thesis describes a model of electromagnetic pulses from sources between 100MHz and 100GHz for use in the development of Knowledge-Based systems. Each pulse, including its modulations, is described as would be seen by a definable receiving system. The model has been validated against a range of Knowledge-Based systems including a neural network, a Learning systems and an Expert system.