Introduction to the Software-defined Radio Approach

Telecommunications have been in constant evolution during past decades. Among the technological innovations, the use of digital technologies is very relevant. Digital communication systems have proven their efficiency and brought a new element in the chain of signal transmitting and receiving, the digital processor. This device offers to new radio equipments the flexibility of a programmable system. Nowadays, the behavior of a communication system can be modified by simply changing its software. This gave rising to a new radio model called Software Defined Radio (or Software-Defined Radio - SDR). In this new model, one moves to the software the task to set radio behavior, leaving to hardware only the implementation of RF front-end. Thus, the radio is no longer static, defined by their circuits and becomes a dynamic element, which may change their operating characteristics, such as bandwidth, modulation, coding rate, even modified during runtime according to software configuration. This article aims to present the use of GNU Radio software, an open-source solution for SDR specific applications, as a tool for development configurable digital radio.

Experimental evidence for the sensitivity of the air-shower radio signal to the longitudinal shower development

We observe a correlation between the slope of radio lateral distributions and the mean muon pseudorapidity of 59 individual cosmic-ray-air-shower events. The radio lateral distributions are measured with LOPES, a digital radio interferometer colocated with the multidetector-air-shower array KASCADE-Grande, which includes a muon-tracking detector. The result proves experimentally that radio measurements are sensitive to the longitudinal development of cosmic-ray air showers. This is one of the main prerequisites for using radio arrays for ultra-high-energy particle physics and astrophysics.

Antennas for the detection of radio emission pulses from cosmic-ray induced air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is exploring the potential of the radio detection technique to study extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) addresses both technological and scientific aspects of the radio technique. A first phase of AERA has been operating since September 2010 with detector stations observing radio signals at frequencies between 30 and 80 MHz. In this paper we present comparative studies to identify and optimize the antenna design for the final configuration of AERA consisting of 160 individual radio detector stations. The transient nature of the air shower signal requires a detailed description of the antenna sensor. As the ultra-wideband reception of pulses is not widely discussed in antenna literature, we review the relevant antenna characteristics and enhance theoretical considerations towards the impulse response of antennas including polarization effects and multiple signal reflections. On the basis of the vector effective length we study the transient response characteristics of three candidate antennas in the time domain. Observing the variation of the continuous galactic background intensity we rank the antennas with respect to the noise level added to the galactic signal.

Audiological findings in patients treated with radio- and concomitant chemotherapy for head and neck tumors

Abstract Objective To evaluate the functionality of the auditory system in patients who underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment with cisplatin to treat head and neck tumors. Study Design Case series with planned data collection. Setting From May 2007 to May 2008 by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and the Department of Oncology/Radiotherapy at Faculdade de Medicina de Marília. Subjects and Methods Audiological evaluation (Pure Tone Audiometry (air and bone conduction), Speech Audiometry, Tympanometry, Acoustic Reflex testing and Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions) was performed in 17 patients diagnosed with head and neck neoplasia and treated with chemotherapy, using cisplatin, and radiotherapy. Results 12 left ears (70.5%) and 11 right ears (64.7%) presented bilateral decreased hearing soon after the treatment for the frequency 1 kHz (mild auditory damage) and for the frequency 8 kHz (more significant auditory damage). Conclusion Patients with head and neck cancer submitted to the conventional radiotherapy treatment, combined with the chemotherapy with cisplatin, presented a high incidence of decreased hearing by the end of treatment. Strong evidence was observed linking auditory alteration to the amount of radiotherapy treatment.

Celebración del Día del Libro (23 de abril de 2010) en el programa de radio Hoy por hoy

Emisión en directo, desde la Sala Polivalente del Edificio Central de la Biblioteca Universitaria del programa de radio de la cadena Ser "Hoy por hoy", el viernes 23 de abril de 2010, de 11.15 a 13 horas. Este programa estuvo dedicado al Día del libro y al servicio público que presta la Biblioteca Universitaria. Contó con la presencia de la Vicerrectora de Cultura y Deporte, doña Isabel Pascua Febles, la Directora de la Biblioteca Universitaria, doña María del Carmen Martín Marichal y los bibliotecarios Fernando Barrera Luján, María Dolores Orihuela Millares, Víctor Macías Alemán y Avelina Fernández Manrique de Lara. En la primera parte del programa se anunció a los ganadores del "Primer Premio de Relato Corto" organizado por la Biblioteca Universitaria de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria y se les hizo entrega de sus respectivos premios. El Primero recayó en la obra titulada "El Pacto" de Fernando Fernández Rodríguez, presentada bajo el seudónimo Agustín. El segundo lo obtuvo la obra "Subtítulo" de José Iván Rodríguez Macario firmado con el seudónimo León Miranda. Ambos premios serán incluidos en el Repositorio Institucional Acceda.

Contribuciones a la gestión de los recursos radio en redes móviles celulares de radio paquetes con soporte de calidad de servicio

Programa de doctorado: Tecnología de las Telecomunicaciones