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The purpose of this research is to design a robust high-performance nonlinear multi-input multi-output heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system controller for temperature and relative humidity regulation. Buildings are complex systems which are subjected to many unknown disturbances. Further complicating the control problem is the fact that, in practice, buildings and their systems have static nonlinearities such as power saturation that make stability difficult to guarantee. Therefore, in order to overcome these issues, a control system must be designed to be robust (performance insensitive) against uncertainties, static nonlinearities and effectively respond to unknown heat load and moisture disturbances.

A state of the art nonlinear inverse dynamics (NID) technique is combined with a genetic algorithm (GA) optimisation scheme in order to improve robustness against uncertainty in the system's modelling assumptions. The parameter uncertainty problem is addressed by optimising the control system parameters over a specified range of uncertainty. The NID control structure provides further robustness with effective disturbance handling and a stability criteria that holds in the presence of actuator saturation.

The proposed method delivers significantly more energy efficient performance whilst achieving improved thermal comfort when compared with a current industry standard HVAC controller design such as proportional-integral-derivative. The expected excellent response to disturbances is also demonstrated.

This method can easily be extended to account for other parameters with a specified uncertainty range.

This research presents a method of optimised NID controller design which can be easily implemented in real HVAC controllers of building energy management systems with a high degree of confidence to provide high levels of thermal comfort whilst significantly reducing energy usage.

A novel HVAC optimised NID control strategy using the robust inverse dynamics estimation feedback control topology with GA optimisation for improved robustness and tuning over a range of parameter uncertainty is described, designed and its performance benefits shown through simulation studies.

This paper aims to design a dual mode X-band substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter in the conventional SIW structure. A pair of back-to-back square and split ring resonator is introduced in the single-layer SIW bandpass filter. The various coupling configurations of SIW bandpass filter using split square ring slot resonator is designed to obtain dual resonant mode in the passband. It is shown that the measured results agree with the simulated results to meet compact size, lower the transmission coefficient, better reflection coefficient, sharp sideband rejection and minimal group delay.

A spurious suppression of wideband response is suppressed using an open stub in the transmission line. The width and length of the stub are tuned to suppress the wideband spurs in the stopband. The measured 3 dB bandwidth is from 8.76 to 14.24 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 48.04% at a center frequency of 11.63 GHz, 12.59 GHz. The structure is analyzed using the equivalent circuit model, and the simulated analysis is based on an advanced design system software.

This paper discusses the characteristics of resonator below the waveguide cut-off frequency with their working principles and applications. Considering the difficulties in combining the resonators with a metallic waveguide, a new guided wave structure – the SIW is designed, which is synthesized on a planar substrate with linear periodic arrays of metallized via based on the printed circuit board.

This study has investigated the wave propagation problem of the SIW loaded by square ring slot-loaded resonator. The electric dipole nature of the resonator has been used to achieve a forward passband in a waveguide environment. The proposed filters have numerous advantages such as high-quality factor, low insertion loss, easy to integrate with the other planar circuits and, most importantly, compact size.

This paper aims to present the simulation, fabrication and testing of a novel ultra-wide band (UWB) band-pass filters (BPFs) with better transmission and rejection characteristics on a low-loss Taconic substrate and analyze using the coupled theory of resonators for UWB range covering L, S, C and X bands for radars, global positioning system (GPS) and satellite communication applications.

The filter is designed with a bent coupled transmission line on the top copper layer. Defected ground structures (DGSs) like complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs), V-shaped resonators, rectangular slots and quad circle slots (positioned inwards and outwards) are etched in the ground layer of the filter. The circular orientation of V-shaped resonators adds compactness when linearly placed. By arranging the quad circle slots outwards and inwards at the corner and core of the ground plane, respectively, two filters (Filters I and II) are designed, fabricated and measured. These two filters feature a quasi-elliptic response with transmission zeros (TZs) on either side of the bandpass response, making it highly selective and reflection poles (RPs), resulting in a low-loss filter response. The transmission line model and coupled line theory are implemented to analyze the proposed filters.

Two filters by placing the quad circle slots outwards (Filter I) and inwards (Filter II) were designed, fabricated and tested. The fabricated model (Filter I) provides transmission with a maximum insertion loss of 2.65 dB from 1.5 GHz to 9.2 GHz. Four TZs and five RPs are observed in the frequency response. The lower and upper stopband band width (BW) of the measured Filter I are 1.2 GHz and 5.5 GHz of upper stopband BW with rejection level greater than 10 dB, respectively. Filter II (inward quad circle slots) operates from 1.4 GHz to 9.05 GHz with 1.65 dB maximum insertion loss inside the passband with four TZs and four RPs, which, in turn, enhances the filter characteristics in terms of selectivity, flatness and stopband. Moreover, 1 GHz BW of lower and upper stopbands are observed. Thus, the fabricated filters (Filters I and II) are therefore evaluated, and the outcomes show good agreement with the electromagnetic simulation response.

The limitation of this work is the back radiation caused by DGS, which can be eradicated by placing the filter in the cavity and retaining its performance.

The proposed UWB BPFs with novel resonators find their role in the UWB range covering L, S, C and X bands for radars, GPS and satellite communication applications.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time, the authors develop a compact UWB BPFs (Filters I and II) with BW greater than 7.5 GHz by combining reformed coupled lines and DGS resonators (CSRRs, V-shaped resonators [modified hairpin resonators], rectangular slots and quad circle slots [inwards and outwards]) for radars, GPS and satellite communication applications.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a new type of sensor which uses microwave metamaterials and direct-coupled split-ring resonators (DC-SRRs) to measure the dielectric properties of solid materials in real time. The sensor uses a transmission line with a bridge-type structure to measure the differential frequency, which can be used to calculate the dielectric constant of the material being tested. The study aims to establish an empirical relationship between the dielectric properties of the material and the frequency measurements obtained from the sensor.

In the proposed design, the opposite arm of the bridge transmission line is loaded by DC-SRRs, and the distance between DC-SRRs is optimized to minimize the mutual coupling between them. The DC-SRRs are loaded with the material under test (MUT) to perform differential permittivity sensing. When identical MUT is placed on both resonators, a single transmission zero (notch) is obtained, but non-identical MUTs exhibit two split notches. For the design of differential sensors and comparators based on symmetry disruption, frequency splitting is highly useful.

The proposed structure is demonstrated using electromagnetic simulation, and a prototype of the proposed sensor is fabricated and experimentally validated to prove the differential sensing principle. Here, the sensor is analyzed for sensitivity by using different MUTs with relative permittivity ranges from 1.006 to 10 and with a fixed dimension of 9 mm × 10 mm ×1.2 mm. It shows a very good average frequency deviation per unit change in permittivity of the MUTs, which is around 743 MHz, and it also exhibits a very high average relative sensitivity and quality factor of around 11.5% and 323, respectively.

The proposed sensor can be used for differential characterization of permittivity and also as a comparator to test the purity of solid dielectric samples. This sensor most importantly strengthens robustness to environmental conditions that cause cross-sensitivity or miscalibration. The accuracy of the measurement is enhanced as compared to conventional single- and double-notch metamaterial-based sensors.

The purpose of this paper is to find the rate of intergenerational transmission of human capital and comparative schooling attainment between lower and higher income families using the labor force survey in Thailand.

Instrumental variable (IV) approach has been used in this paper. The author proposed an alternative instrument for parental education to identify the rate of transmission, which is the parents’ cohorts’ mean schooling in their respective provinces.

This paper found that the rate of transmission of human capital from father is higher than that from mother in Thailand. For both, the rate of transmission in Thailand is higher than that in the developed countries. In addition, it is found that children from lower income families are getting lesser education than those from higher income families in Thailand.

This paper is used as an alternative instrument that could solve the endogeneity problem in the literature of intergenerational transmission of human capital.

The results of rate of transmission can help to make educational policies in countries like Thailand. It also could help the policymakers to evaluate and redesign the student loan scheme (SLS) in Thailand.

This study is used as an alternative instrument for parental education to identify the rate of transmission in an IV approach. This paper is the first to identify the intergenerational transmission rate in Thailand. In addition, it evaluates Thai SLS in an intergenerational framework.

The purpose of this paper is to present a K-band modified hairpin bandpass filter on a planar circuit with harmonic suppression and compact size.

The inter-connect transmission lines of conventional hairpin filter are replayed by T-shaped open stub to achieve transmission zero for second harmonic. This filter is simulated and optimized by using electromagnetic simulation software and tested on-chip.

This proposed filter shows the return loss of better than −10dB, the insertion loss of better than 2 dB in pass-band and suppression of more than 40 dB at second harmonic.

The proposed filter can be designed on monolithic microwave integrated circuit, PCB or LTCC and it is useable for microwave and microwave and millimeter-wave systems.

The purpose of this paper is to design a tool for IIR digital filters obtained from analog prototypes, which preserves simultaneously the amplitude and the group delay response.

A new s-to-z transform is developed based on a second order formula used for numerical integration of differential equations. Stability of the newly obtained transfer functions in the z-domain is proved to be preserved. Distortions introduced by the new transform into the original amplitude and group delay responses are studied.

The new formula, when implemented to all-pole prototypes, exhibits lower selectivity than the original while reducing the pass-band group delay distortions. In the same time its structure is importantly simpler than the functions obtained by the well-known bilinear transform. When implemented to a prototype having “all kinds” of transmission zeros the resulting filter has almost ideally the same characteristic as the prototype.

The new transform may be used exclusively to synthesize even order filters. The new function is twice the order of the analog prototype. This kind of transformations are used to design IIR digital filters only. Low-pass transfer functions were studied being prototypes for all other cases.

This is a new result never mentioned in the literature. Its effectiveness is confined to a niche problem when simultaneous sharp selectivity and low group delay distortions are sought.

This paper is aimed to study the design of a miniaturized filter with tri-band characteristics. In this paper, perturbation is used to realize circuit miniaturization and multi-band by exploiting the inductive property. During this process, vias are added for twofold benefit, namely, circuit miniaturization and enhanced frequency selectivity at high frequency. Thus, with the introduction of the shorting via, the single-band dual-mode bandpass filter is converted into a tri-band filter with a smaller electrical size.

This paper presents the design and characterization of a miniaturized two-port filter with tri-band operating characteristics. The proposed filter is constructed using a square patch resonator operating at 5.2 GHz with a capacitively coupled feed configuration. A square perturbation is added to the corner of the square patch to achieve diagonal symmetry and to excite dual mode. The perturbation offers a sharp transmission zero defining bandwidth of the proposed filter. In addition, a shorting post is introduced to achieve an 88% size reduction by lowering the operating frequency to 1.8 GHz.

The prototype filter has insertion less than 1.2 dB and return loss better than 12 dB throughout all the realized frequency bands. The prototype filter is fabricated and the simulation results are validated using experimental measurements. The realized fractional bandwidths of the proposed bandpass filter are 11/5.6/1 at 1.8/4.6/5.85 GHz, respectively. The quality factor of the proposed antenna is greater than 80 and a peak Q-factor of 387 is realized at 5.85 GHz. The high Q-factor indicates low loss and improved selectivity. The rejection levels in the stopband are greater than 20 dB.

The results indicate that the proposed filter is a suitable choice for low-power small-scale wireless systems operating in the microwave bands. The realized filter has the smallest footprint of 0.36λ_eff  × 0.19λ_eff where λ_eff is the effective wavelength calculated at the lowest frequency of operation.

This paper aims at assessing the actual use of interregional transmission lines and the opportunity cost of unused capacity. The 13 electric power lines connecting the province of Quebec (Canada) to its neighbours (New Brunswick, New England, New York, Ontario) are analysed for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Hourly electricity transmission data from the Quebec Open Access Same‐Time Information System (OASIS) are analysed and matched with hourly market prices in New Brunswick, New England, New York and Ontario, for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Capacity factors of about 50 per cent are found for these lines. Although increasing from 2006 to 2008, this finding shows that interregional lines are far from being heavily congested. Furthermore, about 25 TWh of additional profitable exports could have taken place every year, given the market conditions and the availability of transmission lines. These exports represented an opportunity cost of about $1 billion per year.

Other network constraints and transaction costs could explain why these profitable transactions have not taken place. However, the lack of available energy most likely explains why exports were limited. The opportunity cost could also be overestimated by not taking into account the price impact of additional exports.

Price regulation in Quebec (with priority given to local loads) should be reviewed to maximize economic efficiency and environmental benefits in the Northeast region.

This is the first analysis of the use of interregional electricity transmission lines. It provides a preliminary estimate of the economic cost of not further integrating different neighbouring regions.

Some of the unique properties of distributed RC thick film components are reviewed and discussed. In particular the evolution of a method of functionally adjusting active low pass filters containing distributed RC components is presented. The use of a finite element computer programme, specially written for this work, to justify the validity of the trimming method is demonstrated. The problems remaining in the development of the technique are mentioned and the potential for overcoming them is discussed.