Multipath tracking techniques for millimeter wave communications

L'obiettivo di questo elaborato è studiare il problema del tracciamento efficiente e continuo dell'angolo di arrivo dei cammini multipli dominanti in un canale radio ad onde millimetriche. In particolare, viene considerato uno scenario di riferimento in cui devono essere tracciati il cammino diretto da una stazione base e due cammini riflessi da ostacoli in diverse condizioni operative e di movimento dell'utente mobile. Si è assunto che l'utente mobile può effettuare delle misure rumorose di angolo di arrivo dei tre cammini, uno in linea di vista e gli altri due non in linea di vista, ed eventualmente delle misure di distanza tra esso e le tre "sorgenti" (ad esempio ricavandole da misure di potenza ricevuta). Utilizzando un modello "spazio degli stati", sono stati investigati due diversi approcci: il primo utilizza un fitraggio di Kalman direttamente sulle misure di angolo di arrivo, mentre il secondo adotta un metodo a due passi in cui lo stato è rappresentato dalle posizioni della stazione base e dei due ostacoli, dalle quali vengono valutate le stime degli angoli di arrivo. In entrambi i casi è stato investigato l'impatto che ha sulla stima la fusione dei dati ottenuti dai sensori inerziali integrati nel dispositivo, ovvero velocità angolare ed accelerazione del mobile, con le misure di angolo di arrivo. Successivamente ad una fase di modellazione matematica dei due approcci, essi sono stati implementati e testati in MATLAB, sviluppando un simulatore in cui l'utente possa scegliere il valore di vari parametri a seconda dello scenario desiderato. Le analisi effettuate hanno mostrato la robustezza delle strategie proposte in diverse condizioni operative

Masochism Between Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Through an interdisciplinary approach characterized by the analysis of philosophical and literary texts as much as from the analysis of artistic expression in cinema, performing arts and painting, my dissertation explores and agitates, through the notion of masochism, the boundaries between rationality and the drives. Philosophy has always placed as its cornerstone the question of boundaries. In order to formulate a concept that could dominate the world with the power of meaning, philosophy has always tried to demarcate the boundaries of everything \u2013 humanity, morality, law, nature, culture, life, and philosophy itself. The necessity for rationality\u2019s boundaries is not just the methodology and the object of philosophical research, but it is also the intrinsic structure of philosophy\u2019s nature. On the contrary, psychoanalysis gives an account of those moments of human existence that can be neither grasped nor understood since they are the moments in which the drives obtrude the life of the subject. The question of masochism, making impossible a limit between good and evil, pain and pleasure, or life and death, pushes philosophical thinking towards a question that cannot grasp any kind of response and in this way checkmates the structure of meaning that philosophy purports. Taking the work of Jacques Lacan, in particular the notion of the Real, as the basis for my analysis on masochism, my dissertation investigates so-called moments of \u201cnegativity\u201d in order to, on the one hand, bring to light through a psychoanalytic perspective the significance that masochism has for philosophical thought, and on the other, lead to a better comprehension of the division that characterized the subject as subject of meaning as much as subject of the drives

Masochism Between Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Through an interdisciplinary approach characterized by the analysis of philosophical and literary texts as much as from the analysis of artistic expression in cinema, performing arts and painting, my dissertation explores and agitates, through the notion of masochism, the boundaries between rationality and the drives. Philosophy has always placed as its cornerstone the question of boundaries. In order to formulate a concept that could dominate the world with the power of meaning, philosophy has always tried to demarcate the boundaries of everything \u2013 humanity, morality, law, nature, culture, life, and philosophy itself. The necessity for rationality\u2019s boundaries is not just the methodology and the object of philosophical research, but it is also the intrinsic structure of philosophy\u2019s nature. On the contrary, psychoanalysis gives an account of those moments of human existence that can be neither grasped nor understood since they are the moments in which the drives obtrude the life of the subject. The question of masochism, making impossible a limit between good and evil, pain and pleasure, or life and death, pushes philosophical thinking towards a question that cannot grasp any kind of response and in this way checkmates the structure of meaning that philosophy purports. Taking the work of Jacques Lacan, in particular the notion of the Real, as the basis for my analysis on masochism, my dissertation investigates so-called moments of \u201cnegativity\u201d in order to, on the one hand, bring to light through a psychoanalytic perspective the significance that masochism has for philosophical thought, and on the other, lead to a better comprehension of the division that characterized the subject as subject of meaning as much as subject of the drives

Do Competition and Ownership Matter? Evidence from Local Public Transport in Europe

This paper investigates how the ownership and the procedure for the selection of firms operating in the local public transport sector affect their productivity. In order to compare different institutional regimes, we carry out a comparative analysis of 72 companies operating in large European cities. This allows us to consider forms selected either through competitive tendering or negotiated procedures. The analysis of the data on 77 European firms over the period 1997-2006 indicates that firms operate under constant returns to scale. Retrieving the residuals we obtain a measure of total factor productivity, which we regress on firm and city characteristics. We find that when firms are totally or partially in public hands their productivity is lower. Moreover, firms selected through competitive tendering display higher total factor productivity. productivity.local public transport; public ownership; translog production function

Do Competition and Ownership Matter? Evidence from Local Public Transport in Europe

This paper investigates how the ownership and the procedure for the selection of firms operating in the local public transport sector affect their productivity. In order to compare different institutional regimes, we carry out a comparative analysis of 72 companies operating in large European cities. This allows us to consider firms selected either through competitive tendering or negotiated procedures. The analysis of the data on 77 European firms over the period 1997-2006 indicates that firms operate under constant returns to scale. Retrieving the residuals we obtain a measure of total factor productivity, which we regress on firm and city characteristics. We find that when firms are totally or partially in public hands their productivity is lower. Moreover, firms selected through competitive tendering display higher total factor productivity.Local Public Transport, Public Ownership, Translog Production Function

Small-Scale Compressed Air Energy Storage Application for Renewable Energy Integration in a Listed Building

In the European Union (EU), where architectural heritage is significant, enhancing the energy performance of historical buildings is of great interest. Constraints such as the lack of space, especially within the historical centers and architectural peculiarities, make the application of technologies for renewable energy production and storage a challenging issue. This study presents a prototype system consisting of using the renewable energy from a photovoltaic (PV) array to compress air for a later expansion to produce electricity when needed. The PV-integrated small-scale compressed air energy storage system is designed to address the architectural constraints. It is located in the unoccupied basement of the building. An energy analysis was carried out for assessing the performance of the proposed system. The novelty of this study is to introduce experimental data of a CAES (compressed air energy storage) prototype that is suitable for dwelling applications as well as integration accounting for architectural constraints. The simulation, which was carried out for an average summer day, shows that the compression phase absorbs 32% of the PV energy excess in a vessel of 1.7 m(3), and the expansion phase covers 21.9% of the dwelling energy demand. The electrical efficiency of a daily cycle is equal to 11.6%. If air is compressed at 225 bar instead of 30 bar, 96.0% of PV energy excess is stored in a volume of 0.25 m3, with a production of 1.273 kWh, which is 26.0% of the demand

multibody simulation of a small size farming tracked vehicle

Abstract In this paper, the Multibody (MTB) model of a small size tracked vehicle for farming applications is shown. These machines may encounter several working scenarios in their operating life when equipped with different working tools. Moreover, they are used in unstructured environments that are very difficult to predict in terms of terrain conditions and slope. Depending on these factors, the actual tractive force may vary a lot requiring often a high number of field tests to qualify the vehicle performance. The numerical model built in MSC ADAMS, wants to be a software environment where several working conditions can be exploited considering the dynamic properties of the vehicle. This work focuses on the global kinematic behavior, considering the difference between imposed motion laws and the actual one

Optimized Cool Coatings as a Strategy to Improve Urban Equivalent Albedo at Various Latitudes

This research study aimed to investigate the influences of angular-selective retro-reflective (AS-RR) and retro-reflective (RR) materials on the urban equivalent albedo (αeq). Full ray tracing solar analyses were conducted through the Monte Carlo-based numerical model validated in a previous work. Different geometry scenarios with different patterns of urban density were modelled. AS-RR and RR materials were alternately applied to the street and to the most irradiated façade. AS-RR materials were proposed to enhance the αeq of the urban environment particularly during summer. Solar analyses were reiterated for three latitudes (i.e., Oslo, Milan, Cairo). RR pavements and façades were capable of increasing the αeq throughout the year. However, implementing an angular-selective behavior allowed for a reduction of the mitigation potential of RR materials during the winter season. In their best application, RR and AS-RR materials enabled higher αeq in summer (122%) with negligible effects during the winter (7%). Finally, the study highlighted the need for exploiting numerical models capable of conducting full ray tracing solar analyses when investigating materials whose optical properties depend on the angle of incidence of the sunrays (such as RR materials)

Ethanol reforming for supplying molten carbonate fuel cells

An interesting application of agricultural renewable sources is the employment of ethanol for supplying Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFCs). For that purpose, ethanol has to be converted into hydrogen by a steam reforming process. MCFCs are particularly suitable for this kind of applications due to their high tolerability to the impurities which are contained into the reaction products and also for their high working temperatures (600-650°C) which allow integrating the reforming stage into the stack. This paper reports the results of ethanol reforming tests: pure ethanol and bioethanol obtained by sugar beet syrup fermentation were tested. Tests were carried out by a specific reactor designed for its integration into the anodic compartment of small size MCFCs

Experimental investigation on CO2methanation process for solar energy storage compared to CO2-based methanol synthesis

The utilization of the captured CO2 as a carbon source for the production of energy storage media offers a technological solution for overcoming crucial issues in current energy systems. Solar energy production generally does not match with energy demand because of its intermittent and non-programmable nature, entailing the adoption of storage technologies. Hydrogen constitutes a chemical storage for renewable electricity if it is produced by water electrolysis and is also the key reactant for CO2 methanation (Sabatier reaction). The utilization of CO2 as a feedstock for producing methane contributes to alleviate global climate changes and sequestration related problems. The produced methane is a carbon neutral gas that fits into existing infrastructure and allows issues related to the aforementioned intermittency and non-programmability of solar energy to be overcome. In this paper, an experimental apparatus, composed of an electrolyzer and a tubular fixed bed reactor, is built and used to produce methane via Sabatier reaction. The objective of the experimental campaign is the evaluation of the process performance and a comparison with other CO2 valorization paths such as methanol production. The investigated pressure range was 2–20 bar, obtaining a methane volume fraction in outlet gaseous mixture of 64.75% at 8 bar and 97.24% at 20 bar, with conversion efficiencies of, respectively, 84.64% and 99.06%. The methanol and methane processes were compared on the basis of an energy parameter defined as the spent energy/stored energy. It is higher for the methanol process (0.45), with respect to the methane production process (0.41–0.43), which has a higher energy storage capability