Radio-frequency (RF) switches are widely used in electrical systems, telecommunications, and wireless applications. In RF systems, it is often desirable to change the signal path effectively, by us-ing couplers, duplexers, and RF switches for signal division and combining. Typically, in modern RF systems, the RF switch is mostly capitalized in order to reduce the RF footprint but with efficient switch characteristics. A simple method to reduce transceiver space requirement is to integrate RF switches with the frontend module on a single chip. Recent advances in Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology allows RF designers to design faster, smaller, and efficient components using this technology. With high data rates in demand for wireless communication systems, wideband characteristics are needed in modern systems [1]. Therefore, it is desirable to design wideband circuits; such as, mixers, amplifiers, and switches. In this work, a comprehensive study of NRC GaN150 HEMT is conducted to design broadband RF switches. Single pole and double pole switch topologies operating at 1-12 GHz are designed to evaluate GaN 0.15μm RF switches. The main objectives were to design compact sized switches, while having high power handling, low insertion loss, high isolation and high return loss. Additionally, a transmit-receive switch is designed for integration into a frontend module and further fabricated to operate at 10 GHz. There are many applications of RF switches in an RF transceiver, one of which is an impedance tuner. Impedance tuner are attractive for many applications where mobile devices are used for wireless communications. As mobile technology continues to evolve, they are designed to be com-pact, leaving minimal space for the antenna. Consequently, the radiating element is often electrically small and sensitive to near-field coupling requiring tuning. Matching networks aim to tune matching conditions; for example, loading effects due to human hand [2]. For such situations, specialized matching networks can be designed to account for specific loading environmental effects. However, for mobile systems, the environment is unknown; thereby, yielding unpredictable antenna loading, especially for electrically small antennas that have rapidly changing real and imaginary impedance. As a result, it is necessary to design a reconfigurable impedance-matching network to account for possible load impedances. In this work, a 16-bit reconfigurable impedance tuner design comprising of passive microwave components and NRC GaN 0.15μm FET operating at X-band is presented to evaluate its performance for integration with the frontend module on a single chip to reduce cost and increase efficiency of the system.

Les progrès des technologies Silicium permettent aujourd’hui de concevoir des circuits électroniques fonctionnant en bande de fréquence millimétrique, grâce à des composants de plus en plus performants. Ces évolutions sont possibles grâce aux performances des transistors, dont les fréquences de fonctionnement sont désormais au-delà de 300 GHz. Pour assurer la conception de circuits dont la taille diminue drastiquement de technologie en technologie, les composants disponibles, et plus particulièrement les transistors, doivent être fidèlement modélisés. Leur modélisation est basée sur des caractérisations en paramètres S, en puissance ainsi qu'en bruit. La caractérisation en bruit permet une extraction des quatre paramètres de bruit des transistors, afin de représenter finement leur comportement bruyant. En bande D (110-170 GHz), l'instrumentation sur-table dédiée n'est pas disponible dans le commerce. Il est donc nécessaire de développer des solutions de test intégrées sur Silicium, afin de limiter les pertes induites par les accès au dispositif sous test. Ces travaux de thèse ont eu pour objectif de concevoir, en technologie BiCMOS 55 nm de STMicroelectronics, un banc de caractérisation en bruit in-situ. Ce dernier est composé d’un récepteur de bruit, d’un synthétiseur d'impédances, d’un amplificateur faible bruit ainsi que d’une source de puissance. L'extraction des quatre paramètres de bruit d'un transistor bipolaire est alors effectuée grâce à plusieurs étapes de filtrage. Enfin, les perspectives liées à ces travaux de recherche sont évoquées, en particulier l'intégration du banc in-situ dans des sondes de test permettant de caractériser de manière industrielle. / The progress of the silicon technologies allows today the design of electronic circuits working in the millimeter-wave frequency band, thanks to more and more efficient components. These evolutions are possible thanks to the performances of transistors, which operating frequencies beyond 300 GHz. To insure the design of circuits which size decreases drastically from technology to technology, the available components, and more particularly transistors, must be faithfully modelled. Their modelling is based on characterizations in S parameters, power and noise. The noise characterization of transistors allows to know their noisy behaviors by extracting their four noise parameters. In the D-band (110-170 GHz), the commercial characterization tools are not available. Thus, it is necessary to develop integrated test solutions on silicon in order to limit losses due to accesses and probes and make the measurement suitable. This thesis research aimed at designing, with the BiCMOS 55 nm technology of STMicroelectronics, an in-situ noise characterization bench. The latter consists of a noise receiver, an impedance synthesizer, a low noise amplifier as well as a D-band power source. The extraction of four noise parameters of a bipolar transistor is then made thanks to several steps of filtering. Finally, the perspectives bound to these research works are evoked, in particular the integration of the in-situ bench in test-probes allowing to characterize in an industrial way.

Pitcher is a prototype which makes it easier for inexperienced guitar players to tune their guitars without any prior knowledge required. This thesis will explore how the construction varies between the usage of DC and a stepper motor, how reliable the tuner is and how long it takes to tune the guitar. The tuner will capture sound with a microphone and calculate the current frequency of the string with YIN autocorrelation. Based on the frequency a control system regulator is used to determine the speed and direction of a motor which turns the tuning peg, this is repeated until the string is in tune. 30 tests were conducted from different starting frequencies, and the time it took for the tuner to find the right pitch and the string’s corresponding frequency was measured. Some of the measurements were a couple of Hz off pitch, and only about half of the frequencies measured belonged to the interval where there is no noticeable dierence of the pitch, therefore the tuner could not be considered reliable. The time it takes to tune the guitar is dependent on how far off pitch the string is andthe dierence in time does not depend linearly with the starting frequency, it increases faster the further off pitch the string is.The tuner is portable and to apply the tuner to the guitar it is held and placed on the tuning peg with one hand as the other hand is plucking the string. / Den automatiska gitarrstämmaren, Pitcher, är en prototyp som möjliggör för oerfarna gitarranvändare utan förkunskaper att stämma en gitarr. Den här avhandlingen kommer att undersöka hur konstruktionen skiljer sig åt vidanvändning utav en stegmotor respektive en likströmsmotor, hur lång tid det tar att stämma gitarren samt hur tillförlitligprototypen är. Stämmaren avläser ljudsignaler med en mikrofon och beräknar sedan frekvensen av strängen med hjälp av YIN autokorrelation. Den beräknade frekvensen behandlas i en regulator som avgör vilken hastighet och i vilken riktningmotorn ska rotera stämskruven. Detta repeteras tills korrekt frekvens erhålls. 30 test gjordes då gitarren stämdes från olika startfrekvenser där tiden att stämma strängen respektive dess frekvens mättes. Några mätningar hade en frekvens som avvek flera Hz från korrekt frekvens, och cirka hälften av frekvenserna från alla mätningar tillhörde frekvensintervallet där ingen skillnad kan höras på tonen, därför kan gitarrstämmaren ej anses vara tillförlitlig. Tidendet tar att stämma en sträng är beroende på hur ostämd den är och skillnaden i tid beror inte linjärt av startfrekvens, utan den ökar snabbare desto mer ostämd gitarren är. Stämmaren är portabel och för att applicera den på gitarren placeras munstycket på stämskruven medan den andra handen slår an strängen.

This bachelor thesis in Mechatronics account for the process of constructing an automatic guitar tuner by means of a piezo-electric sensor, a stepper motor and Arduinobased control. The E4 - string on an acoustic guitar was used as a proxy for tuning any other possible guitar string. The accuracy and tuning-speed of the construction was examined through physical experimentation. Accuracy was measured in terms of the average distance from a piezo calibrated frequency value. The tuning-speed was appraisedby counting the number of times a guitar string had to be plucked before the motor stopped within an acceptable tuning interval. The automatic guitar tuner were able to reliably get the E4 - string in tune by plucking it once within an interval of ±2 Hz and +3.8 cents and −5.1 cents from the theoretical value. The average error was −3.4 cents from the targeted value. / I följande kandidatexamensarbete kontrueras en automatisk gitarrstämmare med hjälp av en piezosensor, en stegmotor och en Arduino-mikrokontroller. E4-strängen på en akustisk gitarr användes som substitut för hur stämningsproceduren skulle kunna fungera för vilken annan gitarrsträng som helst. Noggrannheten samt stämningshastigheten undersöktes genom experiment. Genomsnittet av frekvensskillnaderna mellan de piezo-kalibrerade avläsningsvärdena och E4-strängens värden definierade måttet på noggrannhet. Hastigheten på strängstämningen beräknades i form av hur många gånger en sträng behövdes slås an innan strängen var inom ett godkänt intervall. Den automatiska gitarrstämmaren visade sig pålitiligt kunna stämma E4-strängen på ett försök inom ett noggrannhetsintervall på ±2Hz från det teoretiska värdet. Stämmaren kunde stämma inom +3.4 cents och−5.1 cents samt var var i genomsnitt −3.4 cents i från det teoretiska värdet.

Les nano-antennes optiques sont de nouveaux éléments, généralement métalliques, permettant d’améliorer les interactions électromagnétiques entre le rayonnement lumineux et un objet sub-longueur d’onde. Ces dispositifs innovants, fonctionnant dans une gamme de longueur d’onde correspondant au spectre visible et proche infrarouge, répondent à certaines contraintes inhérentes à l’optique lorsque les échelles d’interactions relèvent du nanomètre. En particulier, les propriétés des antennes optiques métalliques sont régies par l’apparition de résonances plasmons qui permettent, d’une part de confiner le champ électromagnétique dans des volumes très inférieurs aux limites imposées par la diffraction, et d’autre part d’exalter fortement les processus optiques à faibles sections efficaces. L’objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre par l’expérience quels sont les paramètres clés qui caractérisent une nano-antenne optique afin d’en contrôler son fonctionnement. Ces paramètres ont été accessibles expérimentalement grâce au développement d’une microscopie adaptée basée sur une illumination diascopique à faible ouverture numérique avec soit une détection coronographique confocale ou conoscopique. Cet appareillage nous a permis de mesurer la capacité d’une antenne optique unique à diffuser un rayonnement lumineux. Les études ont débutées avec des systèmes modèles simples (nanoparticules) pour évoluer vers des antennes couplées (dimères). Par analogie avec le domaine radiofréquences, les paramètres importants d’une antenne optique que sont la plage fréquentielle, le désaccord, le gain et le diagramme de rayonnement ont été définis et mesurés. L’influence des caractéristiques morphologiques de l’antenne sur ces paramètres a complété l’étude. Toujours par comparaison avec les antennes radiofréquences, nous avons introduit le concept de tuner optique. Le principe est de modifier la réponse optique de la charge de l’antenne, c’est-à-dire le milieu dans lequel elle émet son rayonnement. Dans ce but, nous avons utilisé un milieu anisotrope composé des molécules de cristal liquide dont l’orientation de l’ellipsoïde des indices peut être commandée par un champ électrostatique. Le fonctionnement du tuner, c’est-à-dire l’accord de l’antenne à une fréquence de travail, a été démontré pour des antennes optiques couplées. / Optical nanoantennas are a new class of optical devices, generally constituted of metal nanoparticles, used for enhancing the interaction between an electromagnetic wave and a nano-scale object. These components are operating in the visible to near infra-red part of the spectrum and are offering solutions for the inherent limitations of optics at the nanometer scale. In particular, the properties of optical antennas are governed by the surface plasmon resonances of the underlying structure. These resonances are associated with a large field confinement, beyond the diffraction limit, and an enhancement of the local electromagnetic response that is used to amplify weak optical processes. The objective of this doctoral thesis is to understand by an experimental approach what are the key parameters characterizing an optical antenna with the aim to control its operation. Through the development of an original microscopy based on a low numerical aperture diascopic illumination and a subsequent spatial filtering, the scattering characteristics of a single optical nano-antenna were successfully measured. Our approach was first tested with simple model antennas (nanoparticles) before investigating multi-element coupled antennas (dimers). In analogy to radiofrequency theory, we have defined and measured important antenna characteristics: operating frequency, detuning factor, gain and emission diagram. We have studied the influence of the morphology of the antenna on these characteristics. Continuing the comparison with microwave antennas, we have introduced the concept of an optical tuner. The operating principle is to modify the medium in which the antenna is emitting its radiation i.e. the load of the device. To this aim, we have employed anisotropic liquid crystal molecules. With this load medium, the orientation of the anisotropy can be controlled by a static electric field. The operation of the optical tuner, i.e. tuning of the antenna to a broadcasting frequency, is demonstrated for electromagnetically coupled antennas.

In this thesis, an intelligent controller for gun and/or sight stabilization of turret subsystems is developed using artificial neural networks. A classical proportional, integral and derivative (PID) controller equipped with a non-linear unbalance compensation algorithm is used as the low-level controller. The gains of this PID controller are tuned using a multilayered back-propagation neural network. These gains are modeled as a function of the error between the command and feedback signals and this model is generated by the function fitting property of neural networks as an estimate. The network is called as the &ldquo / Neural PID Tuner&rdquo / and it takes the current and previous errors as inputs and outputs the PID gains of the controller. Columb friction is the most important non-linearity in turret subsystems that heavily lower the efficiency of the controller. Another multilayered back-propagation neural network is used in order to increase the performance of the PID controller by identifying and compensating this Columb friction. This network utilizes the error between the output of the PID controller driving the physical system with Columb friction and the output of the identical PID controller driving a virtual equivalent linear system without Columb friction. The linear dynamics of the physical system is identified using a single layer linear neural network with pure linear activation function and the equivalent virtual linear system is emulated using this identification. The proposed methods are applied to both computer simulations and hardware experimental setup. In addition, sensitivity and performance analysis are performed both by using the mathematical model and hardware experimental setup.

Manufacturers of commercial, power-generating, gas turbine engines continue to develop combustors that produce lower emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in order to meet the environmental standards of governments around the world. Lean, premixed combustion technology is one technique used to reduce NOx emissions in many current power and energy generating systems. However, lean, premixed combustors are susceptible to thermo-acoustic oscillations, which are pressure and heat-release fluctuations that occur because of a coupling between the combustion process and the natural acoustic modes of the system. These pressure oscillations lead to premature failure of system components, resulting in very costly maintenance and downtime. Therefore, a great deal of work has gone into developing methods to prevent or eliminate these combustion instabilities. This dissertation presents the results of a theoretical and experimental investigation of a novel Fuel System Tuner (FST) used to damp detrimental combustion oscillations in a gas turbine combustor by changing the fuel supply system impedance, which controls the amplitude and phase of the fuel flowrate. When the FST is properly tuned, the heat release oscillations resulting from the fuel-air ratio oscillations damp, rather than drive, the combustor acoustic pressure oscillations. A feasibility study was conducted to prove the validity of the basic idea and to develop some basic guidelines for designing the FST. Acoustic models for the subcomponents of the FST were developed, and these models were experimentally verified using a two-microphone impedance tube. Models useful for designing, analyzing, and predicting the performance of the FST were developed and used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the FST. Experimental tests showed that the FST reduced the acoustic pressure amplitude of an unstable, model, gas-turbine combustor over a wide range of operating conditions and combustor configurations. Finally, combustor acoustic pressure amplitude measurements made in using the model combustor were used in conjunction with model predicted fuel system impedances to verify the developed design rules. The FST concept and design methodology presented in this dissertation can be used to design fuel system tuners for new and existing gas turbine combustors to reduce, or eliminate altogether, thermo-acoustic oscillations.

This work is focused on proposal of receiver with Integrated Antenna Tuner operating at 28 MHz. The design was primarily focused on simplicity and low power consumption. The receiver is adapted for SSB modulation. This work was realized for the transmission of audio signals. SSB modulation is far more efficient in terms of the radio spectrum used. First part of this thesis describes about the Antenna Tuner and block diagram of a receiver. Next parts are focused on proposal of individual blocks of the receiver, especially its most important parts. Finally, the overall evaluations of the design characteristics of SSB receivers with Integrated Antenna Tuner are discussed.

Laser-initiierte Freie Elektronen Laser (FEL) und Energy Recovery Linearbeschleuniger (ERL) erfordern höchste Stabilität der beschleunigten Elektronenpakete. Die zeitliche Streuung der Elektronenpakete und die mittlere Energieabweichung in den Undulatoren sollten in der Grössenordnung von Femtosekunden bzw. im Promille Bereich liegen. Das erfordert eine Regelung der Hochfrequenz (HF) Beschleunigungsfelder in den supraleitenden Hohlraumresonatoren bis zu 0.02° Phasen- und 1e-4 Amplitudengenauigkeit. Die TESLA Resonatoren des 2.3 GeV Linearbeschleunigers des geplanten BESSY-FEL sollen im Dauerstrichbetrieb bei geringer Strahllast betrieben werden. Die HF Resonanzbreite ist folglich sehr schmalbandig und liegt im Bereich von 10 Hertz. Um die erreichbare Feldstabilität zu erfassen, wurden die Resonatoren einem umfangreichen Messprogramm in der HoBiCaT Testanlage unterzogen. Eine Charakterisierung der vollständigen Resonatoreinheit hinsichtlich der mechanischen Verstimmung durch Mikrophonie, statische -und dynamische Lorentzkraftverstimmung, ihrer mechanischen Eigenschaften und HF-System Rauschen erbrachte wichtige Daten, um die zu erwartende Feld -und somit Strahlstabilität im Linac zu simulieren. Die gemessene Mikrophonie betrug 1-5 Hz rms, ist somit eine dominante Fehlergröße und wirkt sich limitierend auf die Strahlstabilität im Linac aus. Um sie zu minimieren, wurden aktive Dämpfungsmethoden entwickelt. Dazu wurden unterschiedliche mechanische Abstimmungssysteme mit integrierten Piezoelementen getestet. Ein adaptiver, vorauskompensierender Regelungsalgorithmus wurde entwickelt, welcher die gemessene Transferfunktion der Abstimmvorrichtung beinhaltet. Damit wurde eine Kompensierung der Mikrophonie um einem Faktor von zwei bis sieben erreicht. Die Einbeziehung dieser Regelung in die Linacsimulationen zeigte, dass diese einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Erreichbarkeit der benötigten Strahlstabilität für zukünftige FELs und ERLs darstellt. / In seeded High-Gain-Harmonic-Generation free electron lasers or energy recovery linear accelerators the requirements for the bunch-to-bunch timing and energy jitter of the beam are in the femtosecond and per mill regime. This implies the ability to control the cavity radio-frequency (RF) field to an accuracy of 0.02° in phase and up to 1e-4 in amplitude. For the planned BESSY-FEL it is envisaged to operate 144 superconducting 1.3 GHz cavities of the 2.3 GeV driver linac in continuous wave mode and at a low beam current. The cavity resonance comprises a very narrow bandwidth of the order of tens of Hertz. Such cavities have been characterized under accelerator like conditions in the HoBiCaT test facility. It was possible to measure the error sources affecting the field stability in continuous wave (CW) operation. Microphonics, the main error source for a mechanical detuning of the cavities, lead to an average fluctuation of the cavity resonance of 1-5 Hz rms. Furthermore, the static and dynamic Lorentz force detuning and the helium pressure dependance of the cavity resonance have been measured. Single cavity RF control and linac bunch-to-bunch longitudinal phase space modeling containing the measured properties showed, that it is advisable to find means to minimize the microphonics detuning by mechanical tuning. Thus, several fast tuning systems have been tested for CW operation. These tuners consist of a motor driven lever for slow and coarse tuning and a piezo that is integrated into the tuner support for fast and fine tuning. Regarding the analysis of the detuning spectrum an adaptive feedforward method based on the least-mean-square filter algorithm has been developed for fast cavity tuning. A detuning compensation between a factor of two and up to a factor of seven has been achieved. Modeling the complete system including the fast tuning scheme, showed that the requirements of the BESSY-FEL are attainable.

This dissertation presents the research on several different projects. The first project is a via-less CPW RF probe pad to microstrip transition; The second, the third, and the fourth one are reconfigurable microwave circuits using RF MEMS switches: an X-band reconfigurable bandstop filter for wireless RF frontends, an X-band reconfigurable impedance tuner for a class-E high efficiency power amplifier using RF MEMS switches, and a reconfigurable self-similar antenna using RF MEMS switches. The first project was developed in order to facilitate the on-wafer measurement for the second and the third project, since both of them are microstrip transmission line based microwave circuits. A thorough study of the via-less CPW RF probe pad to microstrip transition on silicon substrates was performed and general design rules are derived to provide design guidelines. This research work is then expanded to W-band via-less transition up to 110 GHz. The second project is to develop a low power reconfigurable monolithic bandstop filter operating at 8, 10, 13, and 15 GHz with cantilever beam capacitive MEMS switches. The filter contains microstrip lines and radial stubs that provide different reactances at different frequencies. By electrically actuating different MEMS switches, the different reactances from different radial stubs connecting to these switches will be selected, thus, the filter will resonate at different frequencies. The third project is to develop a monolithic reconfigurable impedance tuner at 10 GHz with the cantilever DC contact MEMS switch. The impedance tuner is a two port network based on a 3bit-3bit digital design, and uses 6 radial shunt stubs that can be selected via integrated DC contact MEMS switches. By selecting different states of the switches, there will be a total of 2^6 = 64 states, which means 64 different impedances will be generated at the output port of the tuner. This will provide a sufficient tuning range for the output port of the power amplifier to maximize the power efficiency. The last project is to integrate the DC contact RF MEMS switches with self-similar planar antennas, to provide a reconfigurable antenna system that radiates with similar patterns over a wide range of frequencies.