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2011

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Articles 4441 - 4470 of 5801

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Safe Power Vermont: A Look Into The Campaign To Retire The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station., Dylan M. Kreis Jan 2011

Safe Power Vermont: A Look Into The Campaign To Retire The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station., Dylan M. Kreis

Capstone Collection

This case study provides an in-depth look into the campaign to retire an aging nuclear power plant located in the southeast corner of Vermont. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) began commercial operations in 1972 under a forty year operating license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Opposition to the plant’s existence has been unwavering and has increased in intensity since the sale of the plant in 2002. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation (VYNPC), a consortium of local and regional utilities, sold VY to an out-of-state corporation owner known as Entergy. The company was quick to apply …

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Theoretical Study Of Beam Transformations By Volume Diffraction, Sergiy V. Mokhov Jan 2011

Theoretical Study Of Beam Transformations By Volume Diffraction, Sergiy V. Mokhov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Laser beams can be manipulated by volume diffractive elements in addition to conventional optical elements like mirrors, lenses, and beam splitters. Conventional optical elements can be described by applying the basic laws of reflection and refraction at the surfaces of the elements. Even diffraction by surface gratings utilizes relatively simple mathematics. This is to be contrasted with the volume diffraction, which requires coupled wave theory in the slowly varying envelope approximation (SVEA) to obtain accurate results. Efficient spatially distributed diffraction of laser beams is possible due to the high coherence of laser light, and it occurs at specific resonant Bragg …

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Electromagnetic Propagation Anomalies In Waveguiding Structures And Scattering Systems, Alessandro Salandrino Jan 2011

Electromagnetic Propagation Anomalies In Waveguiding Structures And Scattering Systems, Alessandro Salandrino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects related to diffraction and interference are ubiquitous in phenomena involving electromagnetic wave propagation, and are accurately predicted and described within the framework of classical electrodynamics. In the vast majority of the cases the qualitative features of the evolution of a propagating wave can be inferred even without detailed calculations. A field distribution will spread upon propagation, will accumulate phase along the direction of power flow, will exert mechanical forces upon scattering objects in the direction of propagation etc. When such predictions fail, counterintuitive effects and new functionalities can be engineered. In this work a series of exceptional cases …

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Mechanical Characterization And Numerical Simulation Of A Light-Weight Aluminum A359 Metal-Matrix Composite, James P. Demarco Jan 2011

Mechanical Characterization And Numerical Simulation Of A Light-Weight Aluminum A359 Metal-Matrix Composite, James P. Demarco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aluminum metal-matrix composites (MMCs) are well positioned to replace steel in numerous manufactured structural components, due to their high strength-to-weight and stiffness ratios. For example, research is currently being conducted in the use of such materials in the construction of tank entry doors, which are currently made of steel and are dangerously heavy for military personnel to lift and close. However, the manufacture of aluminum MMCs is inefficient in many cases due to the loss of material through edge cracking during the hot rolling process which is applied to reduce thick billets of as-cast material to usable sheets. In the …

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Modeling Of Thermal Properties Of Fiber Glass Polyester Resin Composite Under Thermal Degradation Condition, Marvin S. Tsoi Jan 2011

Modeling Of Thermal Properties Of Fiber Glass Polyester Resin Composite Under Thermal Degradation Condition, Marvin S. Tsoi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composites, though used in a variety of applications from chairs and office supplies to structures of U.S. Navy ships and aircrafts, are not all designed to hold up to extreme heat flux and high temperature. Fiber-reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC) have been proven to provide the much needed physical and mechanical properties under fire exposure. FRPC notable features are its combination of high specific tensile strength, low weight, along with good corrosion and fatigue resistance. However FRPC are susceptible to thermal degradation and decomposition, which yields flammable gas, and are thus highly combustible. This property restricts polymeric material usage. This study …

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Ultra High Density Spectral Beam Combining By Thermal Tuning Of Volume Bragg Gratings In Photo-Thermo-Refractive Glass, Derrek Drachenberg Jan 2011

Ultra High Density Spectral Beam Combining By Thermal Tuning Of Volume Bragg Gratings In Photo-Thermo-Refractive Glass, Derrek Drachenberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High power lasers with diffraction limited beam quality are desired for many applications in defense and manufacturing. A lot of applications require laser beams at the 100 kW power level along with divergence close to the diffraction limit. The figure of merit for a beam used in such applications should be radiance which determines the laser power delivered to a remote target. One of the primary limiting factors is thermal distortion of a laser beam caused by excessive heat generated in the laser media. Combination of multiple laser beams is usually considered as a method to mitigate these limitations. Spectral …

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Perceptual Image Quality Of Launch Vehicle Imaging Telescopes, Joshua K. Lentz Jan 2011

Perceptual Image Quality Of Launch Vehicle Imaging Telescopes, Joshua K. Lentz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A large fleet (in the hundreds) of high quality telescopes are used for tracking and imaging of launch vehicles during ascent from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. A maintenance tool has been development for use with these telescopes. The tool requires rankings of telescope condition in terms of the ability to generate useful imagery. It is thus a case of ranking telescope conditions on the basis of the perceptual image quality of their imagery. Perceptual image quality metrics that are well-correlated to observer opinions of image quality have been available for several decades. However, these are …

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Few-Cycle Pulses Amplification For Attosecond Science Applications Modeling And Experiments, Michael Hemmer Jan 2011

Few-Cycle Pulses Amplification For Attosecond Science Applications Modeling And Experiments, Michael Hemmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of mode-locked oscillators providing pulses with durations as short as a few electric-field cycles in the near infra-red has paved the way toward electric-field sensitive physics experiments. In addition, the control of the relative phase between the carrier and the pulse envelope, developed in the early 2000’s and rewarded by a Nobel price in 2005, now provides unprecedented control over the pulse behaviour. The amplification of such pulses to the millijoule level has been an on-going task in a few world-class laboratories and has triggered the dawn of attoscience, the science of events happening on an attosecond timescale. …

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The Development Of A Human Centered Methodology For The Identification Of Communication Needs And The Assessment Of Hand-Held Communication Devices Used To Support Communication Flow In High Consequence Emergency Management, Mohammad Imraan Jeelani Jan 2011

The Development Of A Human Centered Methodology For The Identification Of Communication Needs And The Assessment Of Hand-Held Communication Devices Used To Support Communication Flow In High Consequence Emergency Management, Mohammad Imraan Jeelani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Communication has been identified as a critical component in the outcome of emergency response. Post-mortems of “what went wrong” in disaster responses often point toward breakdown in communication between first responders, those directing rescue efforts, and the general population as one of the primary impediments to rendering timely aid and communicating adequate safety and weather information. Due to the high resilience, relatively low costs, and advanced features of modern hand-held communication devices, these devices are in a position to drastically improve communication flow during emergency management situations. Due to the lack of official implementation of these devices and the lack …

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Cmos Rf Cituits Sic] Variability And Reliability Resilient Design, Modeling, And Simulation, Yidong Liu Jan 2011

Cmos Rf Cituits Sic] Variability And Reliability Resilient Design, Modeling, And Simulation, Yidong Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work presents a novel voltage biasing design that helps the CMOS RF circuits resilient to variability and reliability. The biasing scheme provides resilience through the threshold voltage (VT) adjustment, and at the mean time it does not degrade the PA performance. Analytical equations are established for sensitivity of the resilient biasing under various scenarios. Power Amplifier (PA) and Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) are investigated case by case through modeling and experiment. PTM 65nm technology is adopted in modeling the transistors within these RF blocks. A traditional class-AB PA with resilient design is compared the same PA without such design …

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Patterns Of Motion: Discovery And Generalized Representation, Imran Saleemi Jan 2011

Patterns Of Motion: Discovery And Generalized Representation, Imran Saleemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we address the problem of discovery and representation of motion patterns in a variety of scenarios, commonly encountered in vision applications. The overarching goal is to devise a generic representation, that captures any kind of object motion observable in video sequences. Such motion is a significant source of information typically employed for diverse applications such as tracking, anomaly detection, and action and event recognition. We present statistical frameworks for representation of motion characteristics of objects, learned from tracks or optical flow, for static as well as moving cameras, and propose algorithms for their application to a variety …

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Improving Traffic Safety And Drivers' Behavior In Reduced Visibility Conditions, Hany Mohamed Hassan Jan 2011

Improving Traffic Safety And Drivers' Behavior In Reduced Visibility Conditions, Hany Mohamed Hassan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is concerned with the safety risk of reduced visibility on roadways. Inclement weather events such as fog/smoke (FS), heavy rain (HR), high winds, etc, do affect every road by impacting pavement conditions, vehicle performance, visibility distance, and drivers’ behavior. Moreover, they affect travel demand, traffic safety, and traffic flow characteristics. Visibility in particular is critical to the task of driving and reduction in visibility due FS or other weather events such as HR is a major factor that affects safety and proper traffic operation. A real-time measurement of visibility and understanding drivers’ responses, when the visibility falls below …

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Interdiffusion Behavior Of U-Mo Alloys In Contact With Al And Al-Si Alloys, Emmanuel Perez Jan 2011

Interdiffusion Behavior Of U-Mo Alloys In Contact With Al And Al-Si Alloys, Emmanuel Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0003747

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Ultra-Abrupt Tapered Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors, B. Li, J. Lan, W. Sumei, L. Zhou, Hai Xiao, Hai-Lung Tsai Jan 2011

Ultra-Abrupt Tapered Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors, B. Li, J. Lan, W. Sumei, L. Zhou, Hai Xiao, Hai-Lung Tsai

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A fiber inline Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) consisting of ultra-abrupt fiber tapers was fabricated through a new fusion-splicing method. By fusion-splicing, the taper diameter-length ratio is around 1:1, which is much greater than those (1:10) made by stretching. The proposed fabrication method is very low cost, 1/20-1/50 of those of LPFG pair MZI sensors. The fabricated MZIs are applied to measure refractive index, temperature and rotation angle changes. The temperature sensitivity of the MZI at a length of 30 mm is 0.061 nm/°C from 30-350 °C. The proposed MZI is also used to measure rotation angles ranging from 0° to 0.55°; …

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Automatic Segmentation Of Subfigure Image Panels For Multimodal Biomedical Document Retrieval, Beibei Cheng, Sameer K. Antani, R. Joe Stanley, George R. Thoma Jan 2011

Automatic Segmentation Of Subfigure Image Panels For Multimodal Biomedical Document Retrieval, Beibei Cheng, Sameer K. Antani, R. Joe Stanley, George R. Thoma

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Biomedical images are often referenced for clinical decision support (CDS), educational purposes, and research. The task of automatically finding the images in a scientific article that are most useful for the purpose of determining relevance to a clinical situation is traditionally done using text and is quite challenging. We propose to improve this by associating image features from the entire image and from relevant regions of interest with biomedical concepts described in the figure caption or discussion in the article. However, images used in scientific article figures are often composed of multiple panels where each sub-figure (panel) is referenced in …

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Frequency Domain Turbo Equalization For No-Cp Single-Carrier Mimo Underwater Acoustic Communications, Longbao Wang, Jun Tao, Yahong Rosa Zheng Jan 2011

Frequency Domain Turbo Equalization For No-Cp Single-Carrier Mimo Underwater Acoustic Communications, Longbao Wang, Jun Tao, Yahong Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a frequency-domain turbo detection scheme for single-carrier, multiple-input, multiple output (MIMO) underwater acoustic (UWA) transmission without using cyclic prefix (CP), aiming to achieve a low detection complexity and a high transmission efficiency simultaneously. The received data stream is divided into consecutive blocks, and each block is equalized in the frequency domain. to enable the frequency-domain equalization, inter-block-interference (IBI) cancellation and CP reconstruction are necessary for each block. the IBI is removed by using the currently estimated channel and the detected symbols from the previous block. the CP reconstruction for the current iteration of the turbo equalization is …

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Neural Network-Based Optimal Control For Trajectory Tracking Of A Helicopter Uav, David Nodland, H. Zargarzadeh, S. Jagannathan Jan 2011

Neural Network-Based Optimal Control For Trajectory Tracking Of A Helicopter Uav, David Nodland, H. Zargarzadeh, S. Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Helicopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may be widely used for both military and civilian operations. Because these helicopters are underactuated nonlinear mechanical systems, high-performance controller design for them presents a challenge. This paper presents an optimal controller design for trajectory tracking of a helicopter UAV using a neural network (NN). the state-feedback control system utilizes the backstepping methodology, employing kinematic and dynamic controllers. the online approximator-Based dynamic controller learns the infinite-horizon Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation in continuous time and calculates the corresponding optimal control input to minimize the HJB equation forward-in-time. Optimal tracking is accomplished with a single NN utilized for …

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Editorial, Mauro Forti, Paolo Nistri, Vittal S. Rao Jan 2011

Editorial, Mauro Forti, Paolo Nistri, Vittal S. Rao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

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Reducing Dimensionality Of Hyperspectral Data With Diffusion Maps And Clustering With K-Means And Fuzzy Art, Louis Du Plessis, Rui Xu, Steven Damelin, Michael Sears, Donald C. Wunsch Jan 2011

Reducing Dimensionality Of Hyperspectral Data With Diffusion Maps And Clustering With K-Means And Fuzzy Art, Louis Du Plessis, Rui Xu, Steven Damelin, Michael Sears, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is very difficult to analyse large amounts of hyperspectral data. Here we present a method based on reducing the dimensionality of the data and clustering the result in moving toward classification of the data. Dimensionality reduction is done with diffusion maps, which interpret the eigenfunctions of Markov matrices as a system of coordinates on the original dataset in order to obtain an efficient representation of data geometric descriptions. Clustering is done using k-means and a neural network clustering theory, Fuzzy ART (FA). The process is done on a subset of core data from AngloGold Ashanti, and compared to results …

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Hierarchical Mission Management, Emad William Saad, John Lyle Vian, Ryan J. Meuth, Donald C. Wunsch Jan 2011

Hierarchical Mission Management, Emad William Saad, John Lyle Vian, Ryan J. Meuth, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The different advantageous embodiments further provide a system for hierarchical mission management comprising a number of mission planners, a data processing system, and a communication system. The number of mission planners are associated with a number of agent groups. The data processing system is configured to execute the number of mission planners. The communication system is configured to provide communication between the number of mission planners.

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Tsv Fault-Tolerant Mechanisms With Application To 3d Clock Networks, Chiao Ling Lung, Jui Hung Chien, Yiyu Shi, Shih Chieh Chang Jan 2011

Tsv Fault-Tolerant Mechanisms With Application To 3d Clock Networks, Chiao Ling Lung, Jui Hung Chien, Yiyu Shi, Shih Chieh Chang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) has become an emerging technology in view of its advantages in packing density and flexibility in heterogeneous integration. through Silicon Via (TSV) formation is one of the keys enabling technologies for 3D ICs. While TSVs provide vertical connections between different dies for higher performance, they suffer from random open defects and thermo-mechanical stress. the potential yield loss can significantly increase the mass production cost, which in turn affects the profitability of 3D ICs. to address the TSV reliability issues, double TSV, shared spare TSV and TSV fault tolerant unit (TFU) techniques have been developed. in …

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Improve Or Perish, Revisited -- Again, Johnny J. Moye, Petros J. Katsioloudis Jan 2011

Improve Or Perish, Revisited -- Again, Johnny J. Moye, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article reviews the articles "A Major Problem in Education: Improve or Perish," by M. Ray Karnes and "Improve or Perish-Revisited," by John V. Gallagher.

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Design Mentoring Tool, Bob Mccullouch, Walter Land Jan 2011

Design Mentoring Tool, Bob Mccullouch, Walter Land

JTRP Technical Reports

In 2004 a design engineer on-line mentoring tool was developed and implemented The purpose of the tool was to assist senior engineers mentoring new engineers to the INDOT design process and improve their technical competency. This approach saves senior engineers time while developing a consistent mentoring approach and standardizing technical knowledge in road and bridge design. It is a self-guided tool that utilizes multi-media and web-based technologies, trains engineers in the design process and provides resources to use for developing plans and specifications. Available resources include INDOT design practices, design standards, design memos, specification and construction standards, procedures, and check …

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Implicit Methods For Efficient Musculoskeletal Simulation And Optimal Control, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Dimitra Blana, Dieter Heinrich Jan 2011

Implicit Methods For Efficient Musculoskeletal Simulation And Optimal Control, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Dimitra Blana, Dieter Heinrich

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The ordinary differential equations for musculoskeletal dynamics are often numerically stiff and highly nonlinear. Consequently, simulations require small time steps, and optimal control problems are slow to solve and have poor convergence. In this paper, we present an implicit formulation of musculoskeletal dynamics, which leads to new numerical methods for simulation and optimal control, with the expectation that we can mitigate some of these problems. A first order Rosenbrock method was developed for solving forward dynamic problems using the implicit formulation. It was used to perform real-time dynamic simulation of a complex shoulder arm system with extreme dynamic stiffness. Simulations …

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A Highly Linear Voltage Controlled Oscillator With Low Power Dissipation, Sourabh Sharma Jan 2011

A Highly Linear Voltage Controlled Oscillator With Low Power Dissipation, Sourabh Sharma

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

A voltage controlled oscillator using 90 nm CMOS technology has been presented with the extremely low power dissipation of 1.35 mW and provides 1.45 mW (with use of buffers) output AC power. It has highly linear voltage to frequency transformation, with only 4.85% of maximum error this VCO Works in the long range from 5.1 to 9.099 GHz while the controlling voltage varies from 0 to .5 volts, The oscillator is powered by a 1 volt power supply.

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Improvement In The Performance Of 3g Wireless Communications Systems Using An Ica Based Signal Processing Block, Winston Dsouza Jan 2011

Improvement In The Performance Of 3g Wireless Communications Systems Using An Ica Based Signal Processing Block, Winston Dsouza

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In this thesis, we have implemented a signal processing block in the receiver of a third generation (3G) cellular system to provide improvement in the quality of service. Each block of the cellular system, including the complete transmitter, channel and the receiver is implemented in Matlab. The multiplexing scheme is implemented using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA). The signal processing block is based on the concept of independent component analysis (ICA), and a rake receiver is used at the receiver to mitigate inter symbol interference due to the multi-paths. The signal processing block (SPB) is further extended to a …

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Microarray Image Denoising Using Complex Gaussian Scale Mixtures Of Complex Wavelets, Lakshmi Srinivasan Jan 2011

Microarray Image Denoising Using Complex Gaussian Scale Mixtures Of Complex Wavelets, Lakshmi Srinivasan

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The scientific world has witnessed an explosion in the development of comprehensive and high-throughput methods for molecular biology experimentation. High density DNA microarray technology, allows researchers to monitor the expression levels of thousands of genes in an organism simultaneously, to characterize geneticdiseases at the molecular level and to direct new treatment for specific cellular aberrations. The microarray analysis is rapidly becoming a standard research tool. But, the images produced by microarray experiments, are not perfect and includes noisysources, that contaminate them during the various stages of its formation. These microarray images need to be denoised to ensure reliable and accurate …

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Online Learning Algorithms For Differential Dynamic Games And Optimal Control, Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis Jan 2011

Online Learning Algorithms For Differential Dynamic Games And Optimal Control, Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Optimal control deals with the problem of finding a control law for a given system that a certain optimality criterion is achieved. It can be derived using Pontryagin's maximum principle (a necessary condition), or by solving the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation (a sufficient condition). Major drawback of optimal control is that it is offline. Adaptive control involves modifying the control law used by a controller to cope with the facts that the system is unknown or uncertain. Adaptive controllers are not optimal. Adaptive optimal controllers have been proposed by adding optimality criteria to an adaptive controller, or adding adaptive characteristics to an …

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Compressive Sensing And Wireless Network Capacity With Performance Analysis, Davis Kirachaiwanich Jan 2011

Compressive Sensing And Wireless Network Capacity With Performance Analysis, Davis Kirachaiwanich

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation contains five reseach topics. In chapter 1, the performances of a noncoherent slow frequency-hopping system with M-ary frequency-shift-keyed modulation (NC-FH/MFSK) under various hostile jamming strategies are studied. Then, the knowledge obtained is used in developping a new "combined-jamming" interference model. The model can be used in analyzing the performance of NC- FH/MFSK networks, where transmissions from each network node can interfere with one another. An example application of the proposed model is the channel assignment in a multiradio FH/MFSK wireless mesh network (MR-FH/MFSK WMN). In chapter 2, the multiradio frequency-hopping wireless mesh networks (MR- WMN) is still being …

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Guided-Mode Resonance Devices: Omnidirectional Reflectors, Wideband Absorbers, Sensors And Narrowband Filters, Wenhua Wu Jan 2011

Guided-Mode Resonance Devices: Omnidirectional Reflectors, Wideband Absorbers, Sensors And Narrowband Filters, Wenhua Wu

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In this thesis, a series of guided-mode resonance (GMR) devices are developed and optimized in the optical spectral region. Some of these devices are designed by inverse algorithms such as genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization. One-dimensional subwavelength silicon and germanium gratings providing high omnidirectional reflectivity within specific band are designed respectively for TE and TM polarization. A simple amorphous silicon waveguide grating is proposed to enhance the absorbance for solar cells by 60% comparing with unpatterned structure. Another presented grating absorbs light nearly totally in the ~ 0.3-0.6 ìm wavelength band for all incidence angles independent of polarization, namely …

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