Metodologia de simulação numérica do comportamento térmico em equipamentos eletroeletrônicos

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Simulação sequencial na interpolação dos dados de entrada ou saída do modelo de lixiviação do software Araquá

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Irrigação e Drenagem) - FCA

Rentabilidade e Risco da Produção de Milho Safrinha Geneticamente Modificado e Convencional na Região de Guaíra/sp

The objective of this study was to dimension the economic risks and returns on adopters of genetically modified (GM) maize in one of the major corn producing regions of São Paulo state. We performed analysis of variation of the quantities and prices of insecticides used, productivity gains, and variation in the price differentials between GM maize and conventional hybrids seeds, according to account to the maize prices oscillation during the period studied. The net benefits methodology was used, in other words, the economic gains minus the costs of GM technology under risk conditions were calculated. The net benefits was calculated as a function of four critical variables: 1) GM maize productivity; 2) costs of pest control; 3) maize price; 4) GM seeds cost. The probability distribution functions of these critical variables were estimated and included in the net benefit equation. Using the Monte Carlo simulation methodology, the following indicator sets were estimated: central tendency measurements, variability in net benefits (total benefits minus total costs), sensitivity analysis of the net benefits in relation to the critical variables, and finally, a map of the risk to GM technology adopters. These indicators allow one to design economic scenarios associated with their probability of occurring. The results showed probability of 85% to positive gains to the farmers who adopted the transgenic maize seed cultivation. The variable with the greatest impact on the farmers' income was the reduction in productivity loss, that means, as higher is the maize productivity, higher will be the net income. The average gain was US$ 137,41 (R$ 2.45/US$)per hectare with the adoption of transgenic maize seed when compared to conventional maize seed.

Development of one-dimensional and two-dimensional computational tools that simulate steady internal condensing flows in terrestrial and zero-gravity environments

This dissertation presents an effective quasi one-dimensional (1-D) computational simulation tool and a full two-dimensional (2-D) computational simulation methodology for steady annular/stratified internal condensing flows of pure vapor. These simulation tools are used to investigate internal condensing flows in both gravity as well as shear driven environments. Through accurate numerical simulations of the full two dimensional governing equations, results for laminar/laminar condensing flows inside mm-scale ducts are presented. The methodology has been developed using MATLAB/COMSOL platform and is currently capable of simulating film-wise condensation for steady (and unsteady flows). Moreover, a novel 1-D solution technique, capable of simulating condensing flows inside rectangular and circular ducts with different thermal boundary conditions is also presented. The results obtained from the 2-D scientific tool and 1-D engineering tool, are validated and synthesized with experimental results for gravity dominated flows inside vertical tube and inclined channel; and, also, for shear/pressure driven flows inside horizontal channels. Furthermore, these simulation tools are employed to demonstrate key differences of physics between gravity dominated and shear/pressure driven flows. A transition map that distinguishes shear driven, gravity driven, and “mixed” driven flow zones within the non-dimensional parameter space that govern these duct flows is presented along with the film thickness and heat transfer correlations that are valid in these zones. It has also been shown that internal condensing flows in a micro-meter scale duct experiences shear driven flow, even in different gravitational environments. The full 2-D steady computational tool has been employed to investigate the length of annularity. The result for a shear driven flow in a horizontal channel shows that in absence of any noise or pressure fluctuation at the inlet, the onset of non-annularity is partly due to insufficient shear at the liquid-vapor interface. This result is being further corroborated/investigated by R. R. Naik with the help of the unsteady simulation tool. The condensing flow results and flow physics understanding developed through these simulation tools will be instrumental in reliable design of modern micro-scale and spacebased thermal systems.

Analysis of noise temperature sensitivity for the design of a broadband thermal noise primary standard

A broadband primary standard for thermal noise measurements is presented and its thermal and electromagnetic behaviour is analysed by means of a novel hybrid analytical?numerical simulation methodology. The standard consists of a broadband termination connected to a 3.5mm coaxial airline partially immersed in liquid nitrogen and is designed in order to obtain a low reflectivity and a low uncertainty in the noise temperature. A detailed sensitivity analysis is made in order to highlight the critical characteristics that mostly affect the uncertainty in the noise temperature, and also to determine the manufacturing and operation tolerances for a proper performance in the range 10MHz to 26.5 GHz. Aspects such as the thermal bead design, the level of liquid nitrogen or the uncertainties associated with the temperatures, the physical properties of the materials in the standard and the simulation techniques are discussed.

Efectos dinámicos debidos al tráfico de ferrocarril sobre la infraestructura de vía y las estructuras

La vía tradicional sobre balasto sigue siendo una selección para las líneas de alta velocidad a pesar de los problemas técnicos y la prestación del funcionamiento. El problema de la vía sobre balasto es el proceso continuo del deterioro de éste debido a las cargas asociadas al tráfico ferroviario. En consecuencia es imprescindible un mantenimiento continuado para mantener un alineamiento adecuado de la vía. Por eso se surge la necesidad de comprender mejor el mecanismo involucrado en el deterioro de la vía y los factores claves que rigen su progresión a lo largo de ciclos de carga con el fin de reducir los costos del mantenimiento de la vía y mejorar el diseño de las nuevas vías. La presente tesis intenta por un lado desarrollar los modelos más adecuados y eficientes del vehículo y de la vía para los cálculos de los efectos dinámicos debido al tráfico de ferrocarril sobre la infraestructura de la vía sobre balasto, y por otro evaluar estos efectos dinámicos sobre el deterioro de la vía sobre balasto a largo plazo, empleando un adecuado modelo de predicción del deterioro de la misma. Se incluye en el trabajo una recopilación del estado del arte en lo referente a la dinámica de la vía, a la modelización del vehículo, de la vía y de la interacción entre ambos. También se hace un repaso al deterioro de la vía y los factores que influyen en su proceso. Para la primera línea de investigación de esta tesis, se han desarrollado los diferentes modelos del vehículo y de la vía y la modelización de la interacción entre ambos para los cálculos dinámicos en dos y tres dimensiones. En la interacción vehículo-vía, se ha empleado la formulación de contacto nodo-superficie para establecer la identificación de las superficies en contacto y el método de los multiplicadores de Lagrange para imponer las restricciones de contacto. El modelo de interacción se ha contrastado con los casos reportados en la literatura. Teniendo en cuenta el contacto no lineal entre rueda-carril y los perfiles de irregularidades distribuidas de la vía, se han evaluado y comparado los efectos dinámicos sobre el sistema vehículo-vía en la interacción de ambos, para distintas velocidades de circulación del vehículo, en los aspectos como la vibración del vehículo, fuerza de contacto, fuerza transmitida en los railpads, la vibración del carril. También se hace un estudio de la influencia de las propiedades de los componentes de la vía en la respuesta dinámica del sistema vehículo-vía. Se ha desarrollado el modelo del asiento de la vía que consiste en la implementación del modelo de acumulación de Bochum y del modelo de hipoplasticidad en la subrutina del usuario \UMAT" del programa ABAQUS. La implementación numérica ha sido comprobado al comparar los resultados de las simulaciones numéricas con los reportados en la literatura. Se ha evaluado la calidad geométrica de la vía sobre balasto de los tramos de estudio con datos reales de la auscultación proporcionados por ADIF (2012). Se ha propuesto una metodología de simulación, empleando el modelo de asiento, para reproducir el deterioro de la geometría de la vía. Se usan los perfiles de la nivelación longitudinal de la auscultación como perfiles de irregularidades iniciales de la vía en las simulaciones numéricas. También se evalúa la influencia de la velocidad de circulación sobre el deterioro de la vía. The traditional ballast track structures are still being used in high speed railways lines with success, however technical problems or performance features have led to ballast track solution in some cases. The considerable maintenance work is needed for ballasted tracks due to the track deterioration. Therefore it is very important to understand the mechanism of track deterioration and to predict the track settlement or track irregularity growth rate in order to reduce track maintenance costs and enable new track structures to be designed. This thesis attempts to develop the most adequate and efficient models for calculation of dynamic track load effects on railways track infrastructure, and to evaluate these dynamic effects on the track settlement, using a track settlement prediction model, which consists of the vehicle/track dynamic model previously selected and a track settlement law. A revision of the state of the knowledge regarding the track dynamics, the modelling of the vehicle, the track and the interaction between them is included. An overview related to the track deterioration and the factors influencing the track settlement is also done. For the first research of this thesis, the different models of vehicle, track and the modelling of the interaction between both have been developed. In the vehicle-track interaction, the node-surface contact formulation to establish the identification of the surfaces in contact and the Lagrange multipliers method to enforce contact constraint are used. The interaction model has been verified by contrast with some benchmarks reported in the literature. Considering the nonlinear contact between wheel-rail and the track irregularities, the dynamic effects on the vehicle-track system have been evaluated and compared, for different speeds of the vehicle, in aspects as vehicle vibration, contact force, force transmitted in railpads, rail vibration. A study of the influence of the properties of the track components on the the dynamic response of the vehicle-track system has been done. The track settlement model is developed that consist of the Bochum accumulation model and the hipoplasticity model in the user subroutine \UMAT" of the program ABAQUS. The numerical implementation has been verified by comparing the numerical results with those reported in the literature. The geometric quality of the ballast track has been evaluated with real data of auscultation provided by ADIF (2012). The simulation methodology has been proposed, using the settlement model for the ballast material, to reproduce the deterioration of the track geometry. The profiles of the longitudinal level of the auscultation is used as initial profiles of the track irregularities in the numerical simulation. The influence of the running speed on the track deterioration is also investigated.

Efficient design and optimization of bio-photonic sensing cells (BICELLs) for label free biosensing

In previous works we demonstrated the benefits of using micro–nano patterning materials to be used as bio-photonic sensing cells (BICELLs), referred as micro–nano photonic structures having immobilized bioreceptors on its surface with the capability of recognizing the molecular binding by optical transduction. Gestrinone/anti-gestrinone and BSA/anti-BSA pairs were proven under different optical configurations to experimentally validate the biosensing capability of these bio-sensitive photonic architectures. Moreover, Three-Dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) models were employed for simulating the optical response of these structures. For this article, we have developed an effective analytical simulation methodology capable of simulating complex biophotonic sensing architectures. This simulation method has been tested and compared with previous experimental results and FDTD models. Moreover, this effective simulation methodology can be used for efficiently design and optimize any structure as BICELL. In particular for this article, six different BICELL's types have been optimized. To carry out this optimization we have considered three figures of merit: optical sensitivity, Q-factor and signal amplitude. The final objective of this paper is not only validating a suitable and efficient optical simulation methodology but also demonstrating the capability of this method for analyzing the performance of a given number of BICELLs for label-free biosensing.

Low-complexity timing synchronization scheme for MB-OFDM UWB receiver based on sign-bit

A unified low complexity sign-bit correlation based symbol timing synchronization scheme for Multiband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MB-OFDM) Ultra Wideband (UWB) receiver system is proposed. By using the time domain sequence of the packet/frame synchronization preamble, the proposed scheme is in charge of detecting the upcoming MB-OFDM symbol and it estimates the exact boundary of the start of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) window. The proposed algorithm is implemented by using an efficient Hardware-Software co-simulation methodology. The effectiveness of the proposed synchronization scheme and the optimization criteria is confirmed by hardware implementation results.

Design and Validation of an Optimized MB-OFDM Ultra Wideband Transceiver System

Esta tesis está incluida dentro del campo del campo de Multiband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Ultra Wideband (MB-OFDM UWB), el cual ha adquirido una gran importancia en las comunicaciones inalámbricas de alta tasa de datos en la última década. UWB surgió con el objetivo de satisfacer la creciente demanda de conexiones inalámbricas en interiores y de uso doméstico, con bajo coste y alta velocidad. La disponibilidad de un ancho de banda grande, el potencial para alta velocidad de transmisión, baja complejidad y bajo consumo de energía, unido al bajo coste de implementación, representa una oportunidad única para que UWB se convierta en una solución ampliamente utilizada en aplicaciones de Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). UWB está definido como cualquier transmisión que ocupa un ancho de banda de más de 20% de su frecuencia central, o más de 500 MHz. En 2002, la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC) definió que el rango de frecuencias de transmisión de UWB legal es de 3.1 a 10.6 GHz, con una energía de transmisión de -41.3 dBm/Hz. Bajo las directrices de FCC, el uso de la tecnología UWB puede aportar una enorme capacidad en las comunicaciones de corto alcance. Considerando las ecuaciones de capacidad de Shannon, incrementar la capacidad del canal requiere un incremento lineal en el ancho de banda, mientras que un aumento similar de la capacidad de canal requiere un aumento exponencial en la energía de transmisión. En los últimos años, s diferentes desarrollos del UWB han sido extensamente estudiados en diferentes áreas, entre los cuales, el protocolo de comunicaciones inalámbricas MB-OFDM UWB está considerado como la mejor elección y ha sido adoptado como estándar ISO/IEC para los WPANs. Combinando la modulación OFDM y la transmisión de datos utilizando las técnicas de salto de frecuencia, el sistema MB-OFDM UWB es capaz de soportar tasas de datos con que pueden variar de los 55 a los 480 Mbps, alcanzando una distancia máxima de hasta 10 metros. Se esperara que la tecnología MB-OFDM tenga un consumo energético muy bajo copando un are muy reducida en silicio, proporcionando soluciones de bajo coste que satisfagan las demandas del mercado. Para cumplir con todas estas expectativas, el desarrollo y la investigación del MBOFDM UWB deben enfrentarse a varios retos, como son la sincronización de alta sensibilidad, las restricciones de baja complejidad, las estrictas limitaciones energéticas, la escalabilidad y la flexibilidad. Tales retos requieren un procesamiento digital de la señal de última generación, capaz de desarrollar sistemas que puedan aprovechar por completo las ventajas del espectro UWB y proporcionar futuras aplicaciones inalámbricas en interiores. Esta tesis se centra en la completa optimización de un sistema de transceptor de banda base MB-OFDM UWB digital, cuyo objetivo es investigar y diseñar un subsistema de comunicación inalámbrica para la aplicación de las Redes de Sensores Inalámbricas Visuales. La complejidad inherente de los procesadores FFT/IFFT y el sistema de sincronización así como la alta frecuencia de operación para todos los elementos de procesamiento, se convierten en el cuello de la botella para el diseño y la implementación del sistema de UWB digital en base de banda basado en MB-OFDM de baja energía. El objetivo del transceptor propuesto es conseguir baja energía y baja complejidad bajo la premisa de un alto rendimiento. Las optimizaciones están realizadas tanto a nivel algorítmico como a nivel arquitectural para todos los elementos del sistema. Una arquitectura hardware eficiente en consumo se propone en primer lugar para aquellos módulos correspondientes a núcleos de computación. Para el procesado de la Transformada Rápida de Fourier (FFT/IFFT), se propone un algoritmo mixed-radix, basado en una arquitectura con pipeline y se ha desarrollado un módulo de Decodificador de Viterbi (VD) equilibrado en coste-velocidad con el objetivo de reducir el consumo energético e incrementar la velocidad de procesamiento. También se ha implementado un correlador signo-bit simple basado en la sincronización del tiempo de símbolo es presentado. Este correlador es usado para detectar y sincronizar los paquetes de OFDM de forma robusta y precisa. Para el desarrollo de los subsitemas de procesamiento y realizar la integración del sistema completo se han empleado tecnologías de última generación. El dispositivo utilizado para el sistema propuesto es una FPGA Virtex 5 XC5VLX110T del fabricante Xilinx. La validación el propuesta para el sistema transceptor se ha implementado en dicha placa de FPGA. En este trabajo se presenta un algoritmo, y una arquitectura, diseñado con filosofía de co-diseño hardware/software para el desarrollo de sistemas de FPGA complejos. El objetivo principal de la estrategia propuesta es de encontrar una metodología eficiente para el diseño de un sistema de FPGA configurable optimizado con el empleo del mínimo esfuerzo posible en el sistema de procedimiento de verificación, por tanto acelerar el periodo de desarrollo del sistema. La metodología de co-diseño presentada tiene la ventaja de ser fácil de usar, contiene todos los pasos desde la propuesta del algoritmo hasta la verificación del hardware, y puede ser ampliamente extendida para casi todos los tipos de desarrollos de FPGAs. En este trabajo se ha desarrollado sólo el sistema de transceptor digital de banda base por lo que la comprobación de señales transmitidas a través del canal inalámbrico en los entornos reales de comunicación sigue requiriendo componentes RF y un front-end analógico. No obstante, utilizando la metodología de co-simulación hardware/software citada anteriormente, es posible comunicar el sistema de transmisor y el receptor digital utilizando los modelos de canales propuestos por IEEE 802.15.3a, implementados en MATLAB. Por tanto, simplemente ajustando las características de cada modelo de canal, por ejemplo, un incremento del retraso y de la frecuencia central, podemos estimar el comportamiento del sistema propuesto en diferentes escenarios y entornos. Las mayores contribuciones de esta tesis son: • Se ha propuesto un nuevo algoritmo 128-puntos base mixto FFT usando la arquitectura pipeline multi-ruta. Los complejos multiplicadores para cada etapa de procesamiento son diseñados usando la arquitectura modificada shiftadd. Los sistemas word length y twiddle word length son comparados y seleccionados basándose en la señal para cuantización del SQNR y el análisis de energías. • El desempeño del procesador IFFT es analizado bajo diferentes situaciones aritméticas de bloques de punto flotante (BFP) para el control de desbordamiento, por tanto, para encontrar la arquitectura perfecta del algoritmo IFFT basado en el procesador FFT propuesto. • Para el sistema de receptor MB-OFDM UWB se ha empleado una sincronización del tiempo innovadora, de baja complejidad y esquema de compensación, que consiste en funciones de Detector de Paquetes (PD) y Estimación del Offset del tiempo. Simplificando el cross-correlation y maximizar las funciones probables solo a sign-bit, la complejidad computacional se ve reducida significativamente. • Se ha propuesto un sistema de decodificadores Viterbi de 64 estados de decisión-débil usando velocidad base-4 de arquitectura suma-comparaselecciona. El algoritmo Two-pointer Even también es introducido en la unidad de rastreador de origen con el objetivo de conseguir la eficiencia en el hardware. • Se han integrado varias tecnologías de última generación en el completo sistema transceptor basebanda , con el objetivo de implementar un sistema de comunicación UWB altamente optimizado. • Un diseño de flujo mejorado es propuesto para el complejo sistema de implementación, el cual puede ser usado para diseños de Cadena de puertas de campo programable general (FPGA). El diseño mencionado no sólo reduce dramáticamente el tiempo para la verificación funcional, sino también provee un análisis automático como los errores del retraso del output para el sistema de hardware implementado. • Un ambiente de comunicación virtual es establecido para la validación del propuesto sistema de transceptores MB-OFDM. Este método es provisto para facilitar el uso y la conveniencia de analizar el sistema digital de basebanda sin parte frontera analógica bajo diferentes ambientes de comunicación. Esta tesis doctoral está organizada en seis capítulos. En el primer capítulo se encuentra una breve introducción al campo del UWB, tanto relacionado con el proyecto como la motivación del desarrollo del sistema de MB-OFDM. En el capítulo 2, se presenta la información general y los requisitos del protocolo de comunicación inalámbrica MBOFDM UWB. En el capítulo 3 se habla de la arquitectura del sistema de transceptor digital MB-OFDM de banda base . El diseño del algoritmo propuesto y la arquitectura para cada elemento del procesamiento está detallado en este capítulo. Los retos de diseño del sistema que involucra un compromiso de discusión entre la complejidad de diseño, el consumo de energía, el coste de hardware, el desempeño del sistema, y otros aspectos. En el capítulo 4, se ha descrito la co-diseñada metodología de hardware/software. Cada parte del flujo del diseño será detallado con algunos ejemplos que se ha hecho durante el desarrollo del sistema. Aprovechando esta estrategia de diseño, el procedimiento de comunicación virtual es llevado a cabo para probar y analizar la arquitectura del transceptor propuesto. Los resultados experimentales de la co-simulación y el informe sintético de la implementación del sistema FPGA son reflejados en el capítulo 5. Finalmente, en el capítulo 6 se incluye las conclusiones y los futuros proyectos, y también los resultados derivados de este proyecto de doctorado. ABSTRACT In recent years, the Wireless Visual Sensor Network (WVSN) has drawn great interest in wireless communication research area. They enable a wealth of new applications such as building security control, image sensing, and target localization. However, nowadays wireless communication protocols (ZigBee, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth for example) cannot fully satisfy the demands of high data rate, low power consumption, short range, and high robustness requirements. New communication protocol is highly desired for such kind of applications. The Ultra Wideband (UWB) wireless communication protocol, which has increased in importance for high data rate wireless communication field, are emerging as an important topic for WVSN research. UWB has emerged as a technology that offers great promise to satisfy the growing demand for low-cost, high-speed digital wireless indoor and home networks. The large bandwidth available, the potential for high data rate transmission, and the potential for low complexity and low power consumption, along with low implementation cost, all present a unique opportunity for UWB to become a widely adopted radio solution for future Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) applications. UWB is defined as any transmission that occupies a bandwidth of more than 20% of its center frequency, or more than 500 MHz. In 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that UWB radio transmission can legally operate in the range from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz at a transmitter power of －41.3 dBm/Hz. Under the FCC guidelines, the use of UWB technology can provide enormous capacity over short communication ranges. Considering Shannon’s capacity equations, increasing the channel capacity requires linear increasing in bandwidth, whereas similar channel capacity increases would require exponential increases in transmission power. In recent years, several different UWB developments has been widely studied in different area, among which, the MB-OFDM UWB wireless communication protocol is considered to be the leading choice and has recently been adopted in the ISO/IEC standard for WPANs. By combing the OFDM modulation and data transmission using frequency hopping techniques, the MB-OFDM UWB system is able to support various data rates, ranging from 55 to 480 Mbps, over distances up to 10 meters. The MB-OFDM technology is expected to consume very little power and silicon area, as well as provide low-cost solutions that can satisfy consumer market demands. To fulfill these expectations, MB-OFDM UWB research and development have to cope with several challenges, which consist of high-sensitivity synchronization, low- complexity constraints, strict power limitations, scalability, and flexibility. Such challenges require state-of-the-art digital signal processing expertise to develop systems that could fully take advantages of the UWB spectrum and support future indoor wireless applications. This thesis focuses on fully optimization for the MB-OFDM UWB digital baseband transceiver system, aiming at researching and designing a wireless communication subsystem for the Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSNs) application. The inherent high complexity of the FFT/IFFT processor and synchronization system, and high operation frequency for all processing elements, becomes the bottleneck for low power MB-OFDM based UWB digital baseband system hardware design and implementation. The proposed transceiver system targets low power and low complexity under the premise of high performance. Optimizations are made at both algorithm and architecture level for each element of the transceiver system. The low-power hardwareefficient structures are firstly proposed for those core computation modules, i.e., the mixed-radix algorithm based pipelined architecture is proposed for the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT/IFFT) processor, and the cost-speed balanced Viterbi Decoder (VD) module is developed, in the aim of lowering the power consumption and increasing the processing speed. In addition, a low complexity sign-bit correlation based symbol timing synchronization scheme is presented so as to detect and synchronize the OFDM packets robustly and accurately. Moreover, several state-of-the-art technologies are used for developing other processing subsystems and an entire MB-OFDM digital baseband transceiver system is integrated. The target device for the proposed transceiver system is Xilinx Virtex 5 XC5VLX110T FPGA board. In order to validate the proposed transceiver system in the FPGA board, a unified algorithm-architecture-circuit hardware/software co-design environment for complex FPGA system development is presented in this work. The main objective of the proposed strategy is to find an efficient methodology for designing a configurable optimized FPGA system by using as few efforts as possible in system verification procedure, so as to speed up the system development period. The presented co-design methodology has the advantages of easy to use, covering all steps from algorithm proposal to hardware verification, and widely spread for almost all kinds of FPGA developments. Because only the digital baseband transceiver system is developed in this thesis, the validation of transmitting signals through wireless channel in real communication environments still requires the analog front-end and RF components. However, by using the aforementioned hardware/software co-simulation methodology, the transmitter and receiver digital baseband systems get the opportunity to communicate with each other through the channel models, which are proposed from the IEEE 802.15.3a research group, established in MATLAB. Thus, by simply adjust the characteristics of each channel model, e.g. mean excess delay and center frequency, we can estimate the transmission performance of the proposed transceiver system through different communication situations. The main contributions of this thesis are: • A novel mixed radix 128-point FFT algorithm by using multipath pipelined architecture is proposed. The complex multipliers for each processing stage are designed by using modified shift-add architectures. The system wordlength and twiddle word-length are compared and selected based on Signal to Quantization Noise Ratio (SQNR) and power analysis. • IFFT processor performance is analyzed under different Block Floating Point (BFP) arithmetic situations for overflow control, so as to find out the perfect architecture of IFFT algorithm based on the proposed FFT processor. • An innovative low complex timing synchronization and compensation scheme, which consists of Packet Detector (PD) and Timing Offset Estimation (TOE) functions, for MB-OFDM UWB receiver system is employed. By simplifying the cross-correlation and maximum likelihood functions to signbit only, the computational complexity is significantly reduced. • A 64 state soft-decision Viterbi Decoder system by using high speed radix-4 Add-Compare-Select architecture is proposed. Two-pointer Even algorithm is also introduced into the Trace Back unit in the aim of hardware-efficiency. • Several state-of-the-art technologies are integrated into the complete baseband transceiver system, in the aim of implementing a highly-optimized UWB communication system. • An improved design flow is proposed for complex system implementation which can be used for general Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) designs. The design method not only dramatically reduces the time for functional verification, but also provides automatic analysis such as errors and output delays for the implemented hardware systems. • A virtual communication environment is established for validating the proposed MB-OFDM transceiver system. This methodology is proved to be easy for usage and convenient for analyzing the digital baseband system without analog frontend under different communication environments. This PhD thesis is organized in six chapters. In the chapter 1 a brief introduction to the UWB field, as well as the related work, is done, along with the motivation of MBOFDM system development. In the chapter 2, the general information and requirement of MB-OFDM UWB wireless communication protocol is presented. In the chapter 3, the architecture of the MB-OFDM digital baseband transceiver system is presented. The design of the proposed algorithm and architecture for each processing element is detailed in this chapter. Design challenges of such system involve trade-off discussions among design complexity, power consumption, hardware cost, system performance, and some other aspects. All these factors are analyzed and discussed. In the chapter 4, the hardware/software co-design methodology is proposed. Each step of this design flow will be detailed by taking some examples that we met during system development. Then, taking advantages of this design strategy, the Virtual Communication procedure is carried out so as to test and analyze the proposed transceiver architecture. Experimental results from the co-simulation and synthesis report of the implemented FPGA system are given in the chapter 5. The chapter 6 includes conclusions and future work, as well as the results derived from this PhD work.

Metodología de simulación del almacenamiento geológico de CO2 como contribución a la solución al problema del Cambio Climático, aplicada a la estructura BG-GE-08 (oeste de la Comunidad de Murcia)

Una de las medidas de mitigación del Cambio Climático propuestas al amparo de la ONU por el IPCC (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change) en su ‘Informe de Síntesis 2007’ consiste en la puesta en marcha de acciones para la captación y almacenamiento de dióxido de carbono, existiendo tres tipos de formaciones geológicas idóneas para el almacenamiento geológico de este gas: yacimientos de petróleo y gas agotados, capas de carbón no explotables y formaciones salinas profundas. En el caso de las formaciones salinas profundas, el problema fundamental para llevar a cabo un estudio de almacenamiento de CO2, reside en la dificultad de obtención de datos geológicos del subsuelo en una cierta estructura seleccionada, cuyas características pueden ser a priori idóneas para la inyección y almacenamiento del gas. Por este motivo la solución para poder analizar la viabilidad de un proyecto de almacenamiento en una estructura geológica pasa por la simulación numérica a partir de la modelización 3D del yacimiento. Los métodos numéricos permiten simular la inyección de un caudal determinado de dióxido de carbono desde un pozo de inyección localizado en una formación salina. En la presente tesis se ha definido una metodología de simulación de almacenamiento geológico de CO2, como contribución a la solución al problema del Cambio Climático, aplicada de forma concreta a la estructura BG-GE-08 (oeste de la Comunidad de Murcia). Esta estructura geológica ha sido catalogada por el IGME (Instituto Geológico y Minero de España) como idónea para el almacenamiento de dióxido de carbono, dada la existencia de una capa almacén confinada entre dos capas sello. ABSTRACT One of the climate change mitigation proposals suggested by the IPCC (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change) in its ‘Synthesis Report 2007’ involves the launch of actions for capturing and storing carbon dioxide, existing three different geological structures suitable for gas storage: oil and gas reservoirs already drained, useless coal layers and deep saline structures. In case of deep saline structures, the main problem to develop a study of CO2 storage is the difficulty of obtaining geological data for some selected structure with characteristics that could be suitable for injection and gas storage. According to this situation, the solution to analyze the feasibility of a storage project in a geological structure will need numerical simulation from a 3D model. Numerical methods allow the simulation of the carbon dioxide filling in saline structures from a well, used to inject gas with a particular flow. In this document a simulation methodology has been defined for geological CO2 storage, as a contribution to solve the Climatic Change problem, applied to the structure BG-GE-08 (west of Murcia region). This geological structure has been classified by the IGME (Geological and Mining Institute of Spain) as suitable for the storage of carbon dioxide given the existence of a storage layer confined between two seal layers.

Development of effective approaches to the large-scale aerodynamic testing of low-rise buildings

Low-rise buildings are often subjected to high wind loads during hurricanes that lead to severe damage and cause water intrusion. It is therefore important to estimate accurate wind pressures for design purposes to reduce losses. Wind loads on low-rise buildings can differ significantly depending upon the laboratory in which they were measured. The differences are due in large part to inadequate simulations of the low-frequency content of atmospheric velocity fluctuations in the laboratory and to the small scale of the models used for the measurements. A new partial turbulence simulation methodology was developed for simulating the effect of low-frequency flow fluctuations on low-rise buildings more effectively from the point of view of testing accuracy and repeatability than is currently the case. The methodology was validated by comparing aerodynamic pressure data for building models obtained in the open-jet 12-Fan Wall of Wind (WOW) facility against their counterparts in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. Field measurements of pressures on Texas Tech University building and Silsoe building were also used for validation purposes. The tests in partial simulation are freed of integral length scale constraints, meaning that model length scales in such testing are only limited by blockage considerations. Thus the partial simulation methodology can be used to produce aerodynamic data for low-rise buildings by using large-scale models in wind tunnels and WOW-like facilities. This is a major advantage, because large-scale models allow for accurate modeling of architectural details, testing at higher Reynolds number, using greater spatial resolution of the pressure taps in high pressure zones, and assessing the performance of aerodynamic devices to reduce wind effects. The technique eliminates a major cause of discrepancies among measurements conducted in different laboratories and can help to standardize flow simulations for testing residential homes as well as significantly improving testing accuracy and repeatability. Partial turbulence simulation was used in the WOW to determine the performance of discontinuous perforated parapets in mitigating roof pressures. The comparisons of pressures with and without parapets showed significant reductions in pressure coefficients in the zones with high suctions. This demonstrated the potential of such aerodynamic add-on devices to reduce uplift forces.

Development of test-based wind-driven rain intrusion model for hurricane-induced building interior and contents damage

Major portion of hurricane-induced economic loss originates from damages to building structures. The damages on building structures are typically grouped into three main categories: exterior, interior, and contents damage. Although the latter two types of damages, in most cases, cause more than 50% of the total loss, little has been done to investigate the physical damage process and unveil the interdependence of interior damage parameters. Building interior and contents damages are mainly due to wind-driven rain (WDR) intrusion through building envelope defects, breaches, and other functional openings. The limitation of research works and subsequent knowledge gaps, are in most part due to the complexity of damage phenomena during hurricanes and lack of established measurement methodologies to quantify rainwater intrusion. This dissertation focuses on devising methodologies for large-scale experimental simulation of tropical cyclone WDR and measurements of rainwater intrusion to acquire benchmark test-based data for the development of hurricane-induced building interior and contents damage model. Target WDR parameters derived from tropical cyclone rainfall data were used to simulate the WDR characteristics at the Wall of Wind (WOW) facility. The proposed WDR simulation methodology presents detailed procedures for selection of type and number of nozzles formulated based on tropical cyclone WDR study. The simulated WDR was later used to experimentally investigate the mechanisms of rainwater deposition/intrusion in buildings. Test-based dataset of two rainwater intrusion parameters that quantify the distribution of direct impinging raindrops and surface runoff rainwater over building surface — rain admittance factor (RAF) and surface runoff coefficient (SRC), respectively —were developed using common shapes of low-rise buildings. The dataset was applied to a newly formulated WDR estimation model to predict the volume of rainwater ingress through envelope openings such as wall and roof deck breaches and window sill cracks. The validation of the new model using experimental data indicated reasonable estimation of rainwater ingress through envelope defects and breaches during tropical cyclones. The WDR estimation model and experimental dataset of WDR parameters developed in this dissertation work can be used to enhance the prediction capabilities of existing interior damage models such as the Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model (FPHLM).^

Identification of Microturbine Model for Long-term Dynamic Analysis of Distribution Networks

As one of the most successfully commercialized distributed energy resources, the long-term effects of microturbines (MTs) on the distribution network has not been fully investigated due to the complex thermo-fluid-mechanical energy conversion processes. This is further complicated by the fact that the parameter and internal data of MTs are not always available to the electric utility, due to different ownerships and confidentiality concerns. To address this issue, a general modeling approach for MTs is proposed in this paper, which allows for the long-term simulation of the distribution network with multiple MTs. First, the feasibility of deriving a simplified MT model for long-term dynamic analysis of the distribution network is discussed, based on the physical understanding of dynamic processes that occurred within MTs. Then a three-stage identification method is developed in order to obtain a piecewise MT model and predict electro-mechanical system behaviors with saturation. Next, assisted with the electric power flow calculation tool, a fast simulation methodology is proposed to evaluate the long-term impact of multiple MTs on the distribution network. Finally, the model is verified by using Capstone C30 microturbine experiments, and further applied to the dynamic simulation of a modified IEEE 37-node test feeder with promising results.

An approach to verifying and debugging simulation models governed by ordinary differential equations: Part 1. Methodology for residual generation

For dynamic simulations to be credible, verification of the computer code must be an integral part of the modelling process. This two-part paper describes a novel approach to verification through program testing and debugging. In Part 1, a methodology is presented for detecting and isolating coding errors using back-to-back testing. Residuals are generated by comparing the output of two independent implementations, in response to identical inputs. The key feature of the methodology is that a specially modified observer is created using one of the implementations, so as to impose an error-dependent structure on these residuals. Each error can be associated with a fixed and known subspace, permitting errors to be isolated to specific equations in the code. It is shown that the geometric properties extend to multiple errors in either one of the two implementations. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Controlled Software Evaluation Methodology: Case Simulation and Cognitive User Analysis

Software for use with patient records is challenging to design and difficult to evaluate because of the tremendous variability of patient circumstances. A method was devised by the authors to overcome a number of difficulties. The method evaluates and compares objectively various software products for use in emergency departments and compares software to conventional methods like dictation and templated chart forms. The technique utilizes oral case simulation and video recording for analysis. The methodology and experiences of executing a study using this case simulation are discussed in this presentation.