The wireless communications have suffered, in these last years, one of the greater technological growth within the communications via radio. The application of multiple antennas, as much in transmission as in reception has taken to an impulse of the study of different models from propagation channels. Taking this into consideration, the different types from mentioned models are going to be studied. The work that the ISY department at the Institute of Technology of the Linköping University has proposed is to develop to a propagation channel model, with several antennas in reception and transmission, that one first approach allows a capacity of the channel study, in absence of measures of possible scenarios, as well as the development of a small simulator that allows to analyze its benefits.

This body of work forms a detailed and comprehensive guide for those interested in performing broadband wireless channel measurements. Discussion addresses the theoretical and practical aspects of designing and implementing a sliding correlator channel sounder, as well as how such a system may be used to measure and model the ultra-wideband wireless channel. The specific contributions of this work are as follows: Developed a systematic methodology for designing optimal sliding correlator-based channel sounders. Constructed a UWB channel sounder based upon a 17-bit LFSR that attained 1.66 ns of temporal resolution and 34 dB of dynamic range. Performed an exemplary measurement campaign of the UWB channel from which UWB angular spreads and RMS delay spreads are reported. The design procedure developed in Chapter 3 will allow researchers to build optimal channel sounders for investigating next-generation wireless channels. Chapter 4 s discussion addresses the real-world challenges of constructing a high performance sliding correlator channel sounder. Finally, the measurement campaign discussed in Chapter 5 outlines a procedure for investigating the spatio-temporal characteristics of the wireless channel and provides some of the first examples of UWB angular spread measurements.

Array-to-array, or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), links are known to provide extremely high spectral efficiencies in rich multipath environments, such as indoor wireless environments. The selection of a subset of receiver array antennas for a MIMO wireless link has been studied by many as a way to reduce cost and complexity in a MIMO system while providing diversity gain. Combined with a switched multi-beam beamformer, it becomes the beam selection system that can gain high signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) improvement in an interference-imited environment. The objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of low-complexity antenna or beam subset selection methods for small MIMO networks. The types of networks include (1) point-to-point MIMO links with out-of-system interference, (2)multi-user networks with a single, but possibly spatially distributed access point. We evaluate various selection techniques on measured indoor channels, which has not been done before. We propose a new practical selection metric, the peak-to-trough ratio of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) training symbols. We also compare antenna and beam selection on measured indoor channels under more general conditions than has previously been done. Finally, we consider some channel modeling issues associated with beamformers. We investigate the validity of three types of statistical MIMO channel models. A new beamformer is designed based on the ideal of the ``Weichselberger model.'

In the literature, most distributed detection developed so far mainly focuses on the test rule based on fixed sample size. However, in the real situations, sequential tests are more suitable to be utilized since it might achieve the same detection performance by using fewer number of samples as compared with the fixed-sample-size test. Thus, this theses will propose a new distributed sequential detection approach for the applications in wireless sensor networks(WSNs) and cognitive radios(CRs). First we refer to the sequential detection, and it has been developed by Wald in 1994, which is well known as the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT). The SPRT is proved to be able to decrease the required average sample numbers or reducing the average detection time. Indeed, the SPRT is the optimal sequential detection in terms of the minimizing the required number of samples given the constraint of false alarm and miss probabilities when the observation samples are independent and identical distributed (i.i.d.). However, if the observation samples are not dentically distributed, by simulation results show that the SPRT is not the optimal test. Based on a heuristic approach, this thesis then developed a new distributed detection scheme based on the sorted samples. Finally , the simulation results obtained by this thesis shows that the proposed scheme can further reduce the number of samples required for making the final decision as compared with SPRT.

In wireless communication system, convolutional coding method is often used to encode the data. In decoding convolutional code (CC), Viterbi algorithm is considered to be the best mechanism. Viterbi decoder (VD) was developed to execute the algorithm on mobile devices more effectively. This decoder is often used on 2G and 3G mobile phones. However, on 2G phones, VD consumes about one third of total power consumption of the signal receiver. Therefore it is very necessary to reduce the power consumption of VD on 2G and 3G phones. VD uses large amount of register in survivor metric unit (SMU), so that the decoder can receive enough CC and converge automatically. The goal of this thesis is to decrease power consumption of SMU by using path metric compare unit (PMCU) to find the best state of path metric unit (PMU). This way decreases half of registers and multiplexers required in SMU, leading to significant area reduction in decoder. During the process of signal transmission in wireless communication, different causes like the atmosphere, outer space radiation and man-made will interfere the signal by different degree. The stronger the noise is, the more interference CC will get. The error detection circuit used will mark the sections with noise interference before the CC enters the VD. If CC is interfered, it will be decoded by the whole VD. Otherwise, it will be decoded by low power decoder, where the controller will start clock gating mechanism on SMU to close up unnecessary power consumption block. The power consumption of is varying proposed Adaptive Viterbi decoder according to the interference degree. When interference degree is high, the power consumption is 21% less than conventional VD; when interference is low, it is 44% less. The results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the power consumption of VD.

Balun is a key component in radio frequency (RF) circuits. The conventional Si-based planar spiral balun presented a high insertion loss. To solve this problem, this thesis firstly develops a Si-based suspending spiral balun using electrochemical deposition and surface micromachining technology for the fourth generation of wireless communication system. To reduce the power dissipation of the conventional Si-based planar spiral balun, thesis utilized a suspending structure to reduce the power loss through the substrate and dielectric layer. The fabricated suspending spiral balun are constructed by three bottom GSG electrodes, thirty three supporting copper vias and a suspending spiral copper conducting layer. The main fabrication processes in this research including: (1) four thin-film deposition processes, (2) four photolithography processes, (3) two etching processes and (4) two copper electroplating processes. In addition, this thesis used the commercial software (Ansoft HFSS) to analysis the high frequency characteristic of Si-based suspending spiral balun. The finished Si-based suspending spiral balun were measured by a commercial network analyzer under 2~8 GHz testing frequency range. Based on the measurement results, the value of insertion loss is 1.26 dB at 5.2 GHz, magnitude imbalanced is lower than 0.86 dB, phase imbalanced is less than 3.4 degree and CMRR is more than 30 dB. Finally, this thesis successfully develops a Si-based suspending spiral balun using MEMS technology for the fourth generation wireless communication system.

The overarching goal of this dissertation project was to address several fundamental aspects of applying site-specific crop management for fiber quality in cotton production. A two-year (2005 and 2006) field study was conducted at the IMPACT Center, a portion of the Texas A&M Research farm near College Station, Texas, to explore the spatial variability of cotton fiber quality and quantify its relationship with in-season soil moisture content. Cotton samples and in-situ soil moisture measurements were taken from the sampling locations in both irrigated and dry areas. It was found that generally low variability (CV < 10%) existed for all of the HVI (High Volume Instrument) fiber parameters under investigation. However, an appreciable level of spatial dependence among fiber parameters was discovered. Contour maps for individual fiber parameters in 2006 exhibited a similar spatial pattern to the soil electrical conductivity map. Significant correlations (highest r = 0.85) were found between most fiber parameters (except for micronaire) and in-season soil moisture in the irrigated areas in 2005 and in the dry area in 2006. In both situations, soil moisture late in the season showed higher correlation with fiber parameters than that in the early-season. While this relationship did not hold for micronaire, a non-linear relationship was apparent for micronaire in 2006. This can be attributed to the boll retention pattern of cotton plants at different soil moisture levels. In addition, a prototype wireless- and GPS-based system was fabricated and developed for automated module-level fiber quality mapping. The system is composed of several subsystems distributed among harvest vehicles, and the main components of the system include a GPS receiver, wireless transceivers, and microcontrollers. Software was developed in C language to achieve GPS signal receiving, wireless communication, and other auxiliary functions. The system was capable of delineating the geographic boundary of each harvested basket and tracking it from the harvester basket to the boll buggy and the module builder. When fiber quality data are available at gins or classing offices, they can be associated with those geographic boundaries to realize fiber quality mapping. Field tests indicated that the prototype system performed as designed. The resultant fiber quality maps can be used to readily differentiate some HVI fiber parameters (micronaire, color, and loan value) at the module level, indicating the competence of the system for fiber quality mapping and its potential for site-specific fiber quality management. Future improvements needed to make system suitable for a full-scale farming operation are suggested.

Circuit breakers are used in the power system to break or make current flow through power apparatus. Reliable operation of circuit breakers is critical to the well- being of the power system and can be achieved by regular inspection and maintenance. A low-cost automated circuit breaker monitoring system is developed to monitor circuit breaker control signals. An interface is designed on top of which different local and system-wide applications can be developed which utilize the data recorded by the system. Some of the possible applications are proposed. Lab and field evaluation of the designed system is performed and results are presented.

The dissertation presents novel methodologies to realize a multi-band and multi-standard receiver with an interference-cancellation capability. First, the receiver specifications are derived from the wireless communication standard. These specifications are then used to obtain the required amount of TX leakage cancellation by using a proposed frequency selective feedback topology with multi-band capability. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated by the measurement of prototype integrated circuit (IC). To make the IC operate for multi-standard, another novel technique is also proposed for a channel-selection filter. With a proposed interpolated resistor bank, the active-RC channel-selection filter has programmable gain and pseudo-continuous bandwidth, which reduce the total power consumption and silicon area of the receiver. The measured result of a prototype silicon chip shows the effectiveness of the technique. With these two topologies, a multi-band multi-standard receiver that uses low power can be realized at a cost.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-197). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.