The s-mote: a versatile heterogeneous multi-radio platform for wireless sensor networks applications

This paper presents a novel architecture and its implementation for a versatile, miniaturised mote which can communicate concurrently using a variety of combinations of ISM bands, has increased processing capability, and interoperability with mainstream GSM technology. All these features are integrated in a small form factor platform. The platform can have many configurations which could satisfy a variety of applications’ constraints. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first integrated platform of this type reported in the literature. The proposed platform opens the way for enhanced levels of Quality of Service (QoS), with respect to reliability, availability and latency, in addition to facilitating interoperability and power reduction compared to existing platforms. The small form factor also allows potential of integration with other mobile platforms including smart phones.

A study of the RF characteristics for wireless sensor deployment in building environment

In this paper, The radio Frequency (RF) Monitoring and Measurement of the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) located in Cork city will be monitored and analyzed in both the Zigbee (2.44 GHz) and the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM 433 MHz). The main objective of this survey is to confirm what the noise and interferences threat signals exist in these bands. It was agreed that the surveys would be carried out in 5 different rooms and areas that are candidates for the Wireless Sensors deployments. Based on the carried on study, A Zigbee standard Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) will be developed employing a number of motes for sensing number of signals like temperature, light and humidity beside the RSSI and battery voltage monitoring. Such system will be used later on to control and improve indoor building climate at reduced costs, remove the need for cabling and both installation and operational costs are significantly reduced.

Phase estimation receiver for full-field detection: a novel receiver structure for electronic dispersion compensation of metropolitan area networks

The development of ultra high speed (~20 Gsamples/s) analogue to digital converters (ADCs), and the delayed deployment of 40 Gbit/s transmission due to the economic downturn, has stimulated the investigation of digital signal processing (DSP) techniques for compensation of optical transmission impairments. In the future, DSP will offer an entire suite of tools to compensate for optical impairments and facilitate the use of advanced modulation formats. Chromatic dispersion is a very significant impairment for high speed optical transmission. This thesis investigates a novel electronic method of dispersion compensation which allows for cost-effective accurate detection of the amplitude and phase of the optical field into the radio frequency domain. The first electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) schemes accessed only the amplitude information using square law detection and achieved an increase in transmission distances. This thesis presents a method by using a frequency sensitive filter to estimate the phase of the received optical field and, in conjunction with the amplitude information, the entire field can be digitised using ADCs. This allows DSP technologies to take the next step in optical communications without requiring complex coherent detection. This is of particular of interest in metropolitan area networks. The full-field receiver investigated requires only an additional asymmetrical Mach-Zehnder interferometer and balanced photodiode to achieve a 50% increase in EDC reach compared to amplitude only detection.

Techniques for engineering quantum states

In this thesis I theoretically study quantum states of ultracold atoms. The majority of the Chapters focus on engineering specific quantum states of single atoms with high fidelity in experimentally realistic systems. In the sixth Chapter, I investigate the stability and dynamics of new multidimensional solitonic states that can be created in inhomogeneous atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. In Chapter three I present two papers in which I demonstrate how the coherent tunnelling by adiabatic passage (CTAP) process can be implemented in an experimentally realistic atom chip system, to coherently transfer the centre-of-mass of a single atom between two spatially distinct magnetic waveguides. In these works I also utilise GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) computing which offers a significant performance increase in the numerical simulation of the Schrödinger equation. In Chapter four I investigate the CTAP process for a linear arrangement of radio frequency traps where the centre-of-mass of both, single atoms and clouds of interacting atoms, can be coherently controlled. In Chapter five I present a theoretical study of adiabatic radio frequency potentials where I use Floquet theory to more accurately model situations where frequencies are close and/or field amplitudes are large. I also show how one can create highly versatile 2D adiabatic radio frequency potentials using multiple radio frequency fields with arbitrary field orientation and demonstrate their utility by simulating the creation of ring vortex solitons. In the sixth Chapter I discuss the stability and dynamics of a family of multidimensional solitonic states created in harmonically confined Bose-Einstein condensates. I demonstrate that these solitonic states have interesting dynamical instabilities, where a continuous collapse and revival of the initial state occurs. Through Bogoliubov analysis, I determine the modes responsible for the observed instabilities of each solitonic state and also extract information related to the time at which instability can be observed.

A dual-band antenna enabling improved quality of service in multi-radio wireless sensor applications in indoor environments

Science Foundation Ireland (CSET - Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology, Grant No. 07/CE/11147)