Application of multi-core and cluster computing to the Transmission Line Matrix method

The Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) method is an existing and established mathematical method for conducting computational electromagnetic (CEM) simulations. TLM models Maxwell s equations by discretising the contiguous nature of an environment and its contents into individual small-scale elements and it is a computationally intensive process. This thesis focusses on parallel processing optimisations to the TLM method when considering the opposing ends of the contemporary computing hardware spectrum, namely large-scale computing systems versus small-scale mobile computing devices. Theoretical aspects covered in this thesis are: The historical development and derivation of the TLM method. A discrete random variable (DRV) for rain-drop diameter,allowing generation of a rain-field with raindrops adhering to a Gaussian size distribution, as a case study for a 3-D TLM implementation. Investigations into parallel computing strategies for accelerating TLM on large and small-scale computing platforms. Implementation aspects covered in this thesis are: A script for modelling rain-fields using free-to-use modelling software. The first known implementation of 2-D TLM on mobile computing devices. A 3-D TLM implementation designed for simulating the effects of rain-fields on extremely high frequency (EHF) band signals. By optimising both TLM solver implementations for their respective platforms, new opportunities present themselves. Rain-field simulations containing individual rain-drop geometry can be simulated, which was previously impractical due to the lengthy computation times required. Also, computationally time-intensive methods such as TLM were previously impractical on mobile computing devices. Contemporary hardware features on these devices now provide the opportunity for CEM simulations at speeds that are acceptable to end users, as well as providing a new avenue for educating relevant user cohorts via dynamic presentations of EM phenomena

A mobile virtual electromagnetics laboratory for iPhone

Modern mobile devices have now advanced to a point where they can execute computationally-intensive mathematical problems. The Transmission Line Matrix Modelling method (TLM) is a time-domain method allowing the computation of two and three dimensional electromagnetic fields and structures. TLM is able to model complex scenarios whilst utilising a computationally simple method to model structures in discrete spatial units. This paper presents an iPhone Application (App) containing a TLM solver. The simulation output is presented on the screen as the simulation progresses. The performance of the iPhone is sufficient to visualise full-field simulations and to provide an interactive interface for the user

The Loughborough wave lab - a mobile virtual electromagnetics laboratory for iOS devices

Modern mobile devices have now advanced to a point where they can execute computationally-intensive mathematical problems. The Transmission Line Matrix Modelling method (TLM) is a time-domain method allowing the computation of two and three dimensional electromagnetic fields and structures. TLM is able to model complex scenarios whilst utilising a computationally simple method to model structures in discrete spatial units. This paper presents an iOS App based around a TLM solver. The simulation output is presented on the screen as the simulation progresses. The performance of the iPhone is sufficient to visualise full-field simulations and to provide an interactive interface for the user. Discussion of relative performance on successive generations of iOS devices will be presented

The InterLACE study: design, data harmonization and characteristics across 20 studies on women's health

The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events (InterLACE) project is a global research collaboration that aims to advance understanding of women's reproductive health in relation to chronic disease risk by pooling individual participant data from several cohort and cross-sectional studies. The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of contributing studies and to present the distribution of demographic and reproductive factors and chronic disease outcomes in InterLACE

A framework for teaching electromagnetic concepts using mobile devices

A novel pedagogical approach to the teaching of wave phenomena is presented. The growing popularity of smartphones is exploited to provide students with a personal, mobile modelling environment based on the Transmission Line matrix method (TLM). This supports material delivered by more traditional means. There are opportunities for features of the mobile device, together with the software delivery mechanism, to guide students through different levels of complexity in the teaching. This would allow the software on the device to give an accessible, hands-on experience to the students. No significant access to external computing resources is required, limiting the amount of data traffic generated by the use of the software. An initial proof of concept example is described with suggestions for development into a full learning framework

Supplemental Material for Sweet et al., 2022

Assemblies, annotations, output files, and control files involved in the assembly and annotation of the genome of Brueelia nebulosa, including the mitogenome and genome from the primary endosymbiont. The files include GFF annotation files for the Brueelia genome and primary endosymbiont, control file for the MAKER pipeline, output files from PSMC, and gene cluster lists and functions generated from Orthovenn.</p