Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cellular devices'

Narrowly dispersed amino-functionalised polystyrene microspheres, with a range of diameters, were successfully synthesised via emulsion and dispersion polymerisation. Fluorescent labelling allowed cellular translocation to be assessed in a variety of cell lines and was found to be very high, but controllable, whilst exhibiting no detrimental effect on cellular viability. In order to fully determine the mode of microsphere uptake, “beadfected” melanoma (B16F10) cells were studied using both chemical and microscopic methods. Uptake was found to be wholly unreliant upon energetic processes, with microspheres located cytoplasmically and not encapsulated within endosomes, an important characteristic for delivery devices. In order to demonstrate the effective delivery of exogenous cargo mediated by microspheres, short interfering (si)-RNAs were conjugated to beads and investigated for the gene silencing of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in cervical cancer (HeLa) and embryonic (E14) stem cells. EGFP knockdown was found to be highly efficient after 48 – 72 hours. Dual-functionalised microspheres displaying a fluorophore (Cy5) and siRNA allowed only those cells beadfected with the delivery vehicle (and thus containing siRNA) to be assessed for EGFP expression, yielding an accurate assessment of microsphere-mediated gene silencing. In addition, by manipulation of the microsphere preparation conditions, micro-doughnuts and paramagnetic microspheres were produced and their cellular uptake assessed. Paramagnetic microspheres were found to enter cells efficiently and were subsequently used to bias the movement of beadfected cells in response to an externally applied magnet, while micro-doughnuts were found to exhibit cell selective properties and were noted to traffic specifically to the liver in vivo.

This thesis investigates advanced silicon devices fabricated using phosphorous ion implantation. The novel devices presented are the silicon quantum cellular automata cell and the few-donor device implanted with controlled numbers of phosphorous donors. In addition, the thesis presents novel measurements of a phosphorous implanted silicon double-dot device, a crucial building block of a quantum cellular automata cell. The devices were fabricated using standard lithographic techniques and, in the case of few-donor devices, a new method of controlled single ion implantation using on-chip detector electrodes. The positional accuracy of the implanted ions was achieved using a resist mask defined by electron beam lithography. A series of subsequent process steps has also been developed to repair the substrate implantation damage, define surface control gates, and to define single electron transistors used for readout via the detection of sub-electron charge transfer signals in the device. The device operations were achieved at mK-temperatures using various measurement techniques. In the case of quantum cellular automata cells, the device operation was demonstrated directly by switching the polarization of the cells from one logic state to another and detecting the corresponding change in the electrostatic environment using single-electron transistors. The control gate limits necessary for stable QCA cell operation were also determined, indirectly demonstrating QCA logic state switching. The double-dot device operation was demonstrated using SET detection in both linear and for the first time in non-linear regimes. In addition, source-drain conductance detection of charge states, simultaneous detection using single-electron transistors and source-drain conductance, and source-drain bias spectroscopy measurements of these systems were also achieved. In the case of few-donor implanted devices, isolated charge transfers were detected in both MOS and PIN based devices. The signals corresponded to between 0.01 and 0.05 of a single electron charge, induced on the islands of the SETs. The magnetic field dependence of the charge transfers detected in few-donor implanted devices was also investigated, along with basic phosphorous donor ionization experiments. The devices were also measured using SETs operated in rf mode, yielding consistent results. The work presented in this thesis is a step towards realizing a silicon charge-based quantum computer and other advanced single-electron devices based on phosphorous ion-implantation in silicon.

In the present scenario of information technology, researchers are looking for new systems able to deal more efficiently with the increasing amount of information produced by modern society. Nowadays, these tasks are accomplished by CMOS transistors and FLASH memories. Despite their wide implementation, these devices are facing serious issues along their road of development, mainly related to stable operation and power dissipation managing. Advancements in this field could boost the application of artificial intelligence and Big Data analysis, as well as enable new data communication protocols. By taking inspiration from the brain, a very powerful system characterized by low power consumption and high interconnectivity, new proposed devices, such as RRAM memories, aim at overcoming these issues. Properly engineered systems of this typology could act moreover as platforms for more precise and comprehensive biomedical studies. In this thesis, a new class of electro-tunable optical devices is presented in the framework of next-generation memory systems. The model device possesses very favorable characteristics, such as high density and interconnectivity. Moreover, the optical readout, performed by a camera, enables parallel operation. Two realizations of this device concept were studied. The first one is a new configuration for Zero-Mode Waveguides (ZMWs), a well-known nanophotonic system used to perform studies on fluorophore dispersion at the single molecule level. In the proposed device, the interplay of an electric voltage allows to control fluorophore concentration and residence time inside the ZMWs. The light intensity coming from the ZMWs gives information about these two parameters. In the second realization, the developed ZMWs platform is used to perform an optical detection of cardiomyocytes action potentials (APs). The cells are cultured on a thin substrate placed above the fluorophore dispersion. The substrate features an array of pass-through electrodes, which allow the electric APs to be transferred from the cells to the fluorophore dispersion. APs were successfully measured with high SNR. Moreover, the device proved able to detect the effects of a drug administered to the cell culture. This device could find application as a new system for in-vitro electrophysiology, including drugs cardiotoxicity studies. Due to the optical readout scheme, it promises to offer very high spatial resolution, orders of magnitude higher than conventional multi-electrode arrays systems.

The engineering of biology strives on the creation of biological devices concerning society-impact applications. In this PhD thesis, we developed mathematical and experimental tools for the standard and rational design of living devices for biomedical purposes, offering robust and reliable responses. By breaking-up cellular device complexity into functional modules, we have analysed how extracellular information is detected, processed and transformed thanks to re-engineering intrinsic cellular components. We show how the desired range of action of a biosensor could be tuned by modifying the relative levels from two-component receptors’ biosensors. Regarding information processing, combining multicellularity and space permits to develop a 2D multi-branch approach inspired from printed electronics, allowing to perform logic computation by transferring device complexity into the geometrical arrangement. Sensing and processing capabilities have been applied as a proof-of-concept for the design of cellular devices for Diabetes Mellitus. Treating the cellular device closed-loop response as the fourth-functional module allowed to in silico decipher device characteristics on glycaemia regulation and design novel strategies based on dietary modulation, putting the manifest the need to combine both experimental and computational tools for living device application-based designs.<br>L’aplicació de principis d’enginyeria en biologia permet somniar en l’ús de dispositius biològics per abordar problemes de la societat. Concretament, en aquesta tesi doctoral, s’ha abordat el disseny de dispositius biològics per aplicacions biomèdiques mitjançant la combinació d’eines experimentals i computacionals. La creació d’aquests dispositius demana d’un disseny racional que ofereixi respostes robustes i fiables. L’estudi de la creació de dispositius biològics s’ha fet seguint una aproximació modular, on s’ha analitzat com es poden re-enginyeritzar components cel·lulars per obtenir una resposta que s’adeqüi a l’aplicació requerida. Hem demostrat com podem modular el rang de detecció de la capa sensora a través de la modulació de l’element receptor de sensors bastats en dos components. Hem analitzat com integrar informació de diferents fonts de manera sistemàtica i robusta introduint com a nou element de computació l’espai i la divisió de tasques; tot desenvolupant un marc teòric i validant experimentalment per un seguit de funcions lògiques. Finalment, hem desenvolupat dispositius biològics que responen a molècules fisiològiques. Concretament, hem abordat el disseny de dispositius biològics pel tractament de la Diabetes Mellitus. Una primera validació experimental ens ha permès establir l’ús d’aquests dispositius in vitro. Seguidament, hem aprofundit en l’estudi de la seva aplicació mitjançant l’ús d’un simulador de pacient diabètic que ens ha permès el seu tractament virtual i l’anàlisi de les característiques del dispositiu per la regulació de la glicèmia. Finalment, hem explorat com la combinació dels dispositius cel·lulars amb la regulació del patró d’ingestes introdueix millores en els nivells de glucosa en sang. Posant de manifest el potencial que ofereix la creació d’una plataforma hibrida pel disseny de dispositius cel·lulars per una determinada aplicació.

Cells in living organisms are constantly experiencing a variety of mechanical cues. From the stiffness of the extra cellular matrix to its topography, not to mention the presence of shear stress and tension, the physical characteristics of the microenvironment shape the cells’ fate. A rapidly growing body of work shows that cellular responses to these stimuli constitute regulatory mechanisms in many fundamental biological functions. Substrate strains were previously shown to be sensed by cells and activate diverse biochemical signaling pathways, leading to major remodeling and reorganization of cellular structures. The majority of studies had focused on the stretching avoidance response in near-uniform strain fields. Prior to this work, the cellular responses to complex planar strain fields were largely unknown. In this thesis, we uncover various aspects of strain sensing and response by first developing a tailored lab-on-a-chip platform that mimics the non-uniformity and complexity of physiological strains. These microfluidic cell stretchers allow independent biaxial control, generate cyclic stretching profiles with biologically relevant strain and strain gradient amplitudes, and enable high resolution imaging of on-chip cell cultures. Using these microdevices, we reveal that strain gradients are potent mechanical cues by uncovering the phenomenon of cell gradient avoidance. This work establishes that the cellular mechanosensing machinery can sense and localize changes in strain amplitude, which orchestrate a coordinated cellular response. Subsequently, we investigate the effect of multiple changes in stretching directions to further explore mechanosensing subtleties. The evolution of the cellular response shed light on the interplay of the strain avoidance and the newly demonstrated strain gradient avoidance, which were found to occur on two different time scales. Finally, we extend our work to study the influence of cyclic strains on the early stages of cancer development in epithelial tissues (using MDCK-RasV12 system), which was previously largely unexplored. This work reveals that external mechanical forces impede the healthy cells’ ability to eliminate newly transformed cells and greatly promote invasive protrusions, as a result of their different mechanoresponsiveness. Overall, not only does our work reveal new insights regarding the long-range organization in population of cells, but it may also contribute to paving the way towards new approaches in cancer prevention treatments.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>In this thesis, we develop a method to offload data in a clandestine fashion from an Android cellular mobile device. Due to the Short Message Service (SMS) message system's reliability and widespread availability, it is ideally suited as the vehicle through which to conduct data transmissions. This thesis found that using a transmission rate of one SMS message every ten seconds, combined with a total file size of 13.53 KB, produced a successful data file delivery rate of 100 percent.

Field-Coupled nanocomputing (FCN) paradigms offer fundamentally new approaches for digital computing without involving current transistors. Such paradigms perform computations using local field interactions between nanoscale building blocks which are organized with purposes. Among several FCN paradigms currently under active investigation, the Molecular Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (MQCA) is found to be the most promising and its unique features make it attractive as a candidate for post-CMOS nanocomputing. MQCA is based on electrostatic interactions among quantum cells with nanometer scale eliminating the need of charge transportation, hence its energy consumption is significantly decreased. Meanwhile it also possesses the potential of high throughput if efficient pipelining of information propagation is introduced. This could be realized adopting external clock signals which precisely control the adiabatic switching and direction of data flow in MQCA circuits. In this work, in order to model MQCA as electronic devices and analyze its information propagation with clock taken into account, an effective algorithm based on ab-initio simulations and modelling of molecular interactions has been applied in presence of a proposed clock mechanism for MQCA, including the binary wire, the wire bus and the majority voter. The quantitative results generated depict compelling clocked information propagation phenomena of MQCA devices and most importantly, provide crucial feedback for future MQCA experimental implementations

I present a theoretical study of fault tolerant properties in Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) devices. The study consists of modeling and simulation of various possible manufacturing, fabrication and operational defects. My focus is to explore the effects of temperature and dot displacement defects at the cell level of various QCA devices. Results of simple devices such as binary wire, logical gates, inverter, cross-over and XOR will be presented. A Hubbard-type Hamiltonian and the inter-cellular Hartree approximation have been used for modeling the QCA devices. Random distribution has been used for defect simulations. In order to show the operational limit of a device, defect parameters have been defined and calculated. Results show fault tolerance of a device is strongly dependent on the temperature as well as on the manufacturing defects.<br>Cell design -- Basic logic gates -- The exclusive or gate.<br>Department of Physics and Astronomy

En mobiltelefon är för många ett oumbärligt tillbehör som underlättar vårt moderna leverne. Med hjälp av den kan vi lätt få kontakt med vänner och bekanta via sociala nätverk eller så kan den användas som en portabel GPS, redo att användas när som helst nästan överallt på jorden. Dessutom är den förmånga synonym med en underhållningplattform. Man kan utan att överdriva säga att moderna s.k. smartphones är mycket mer avancerade och fokuserar mer på användbarhet i vardagen än deras föregångare gjorde. För att kunna åstadkomma denna ökade funktionalitet innehåller moderna smartphones en stor uppsättning hårdvarumoduler samt mjukvara som på olika sätt förstärker upplevelsen för användaren. Denna avhandling har som mål att utvärdera hur sensor- samt kommunikationshårdvaran i en modern mobiltelefon påverkar möjligheten att använda mobiltelefoner i mekatroniska tillämpningar. I uppsatsen ingår en sammanställning över avhandlingar som på ett eller annat sätt använder sig av mobiltelefoner i mekatroniska tillämpningar vilken används som diskussionsunderlag när huvudfrågan utvärderas. En utvärdering över eventuella trender i sensorprestanda hos mobiltelefoner utförs. Detta görs genom att sammanställa och kartlägga en rad olika datablad för sensorer som kan finnas i mobiltelefoner. Dessutom utförs en del tester med avsikt att undersöka avvikelser i samplingsfrekvens hos en accelerometer, ett gyroskop samt en magnetometer i en Android-baserad mobiltelefon. Ett mobiltelefonbaserat säkerhetssystem för motocrossförare kallat “Crossafe” utvecklades för att dels stärka den teoretiska analysen samt för att förkovra värdefulla insikter i en ingenjörsmässig utvecklingsprocess som använder mobiltelefoner i mekatroniska tillämpningar. Med den teoretiska analysen samt utfallet av säkerhetssystemet som bakgrund drogs slutsatsen att telefoner är lämpliga i mekatroniska applikationer med inte allt för högt ställda krav på prestanda och specifik funktionalitet. Det skall tilläggas att funktionaliteten dock kan utökas genom kommunikation med externa system genom telefonens kommunikationsteknologier.<br>For most of us, a cell phone is a must-have gadget that makes our modern living a lot easier. It helps us stay in touch with friends and family via social networks, it can be used as a handheld GPS ready to use on-the-fly almost everywhere on the planet or as an entertainment platform allowing us to capture photos, playing games or listen to our favorite music. To say the least, modern smartphones are far more advanced and focuses more on everyday usability than their predecessors did only a couple of years ago. To be able to achieve all this functionality, modern cell phones are packed with hardware and software that enhances the end user experience in a number of di!erent ways. This thesis aims to evaluate how the sensor and communication hardware in modern cell phones a!ects the feasibility of using cell phones in mechatronic applications. A compilation of previous work that utilizes cell phones in various mechatronic constellations is made and used as a reference when assessing the main question of this thesis. An evaluation of trends in cell phone sensor performance was made. This was done by compiling and mapping a number of di!erent cell phones and their corresponding sensor data sheets after which conclusions regarding general trends in sensor performance is drawn. Further, testing evaluating variations in the sampling rate of the accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer in an Android based cell phone is performed. A cell phone based safety system for motocross drivers named “Crossafe” is developed. From this, valuable insights could be acquired regarding di!erent aspects of an engineering development process that utilizes cell phones in mechatronic applications. Based on the theoretical evaluation and the results associated with the developed safety system, the cell phones was found to be suitable in mechatronic systems where requirements on performance and specific functionality are moderate. It shall be pointed out that the functionality can be extended by external systems communicating through the cell phones communication interfaces.

<p>This thesis investigates the use of mobile phones as service-delivery devices in a sign language machine translation system. Four sign language visualization methods were evaluated on mobile phones. Three of the methods were synthetic sign language visualization methods. Three factors were considered: the intelligibility of sign language, as rendered by the method<br>the power consumption<br>and the bandwidth usage associated with each method. The average intelligibility rate was 65%, with some methods achieving intelligibility rates of up to 92%. The average le size was 162 KB and, on average, the power consumption increased to 180% of the idle state, across all methods. This research forms part of the Integration of Signed and Verbal Communication: South African Sign Language Recognition and Animation (SASL) project at the University of the Western Cape and serves as an integration platform for the group's research. In order to perform this research a machine translation system that uses mobile phones as service-delivery devices was developed as well as a 3D Avatar for mobile phones. It was concluded that mobile phones are suitable service-delivery platforms for sign language machine translation systems.</p>

Phase change devices in both optical and electrical formats have been subject of intense research since their discovery by Ovshinsky in the early 1960’s. They have revolutionized the technology of optical data storage and have very recently been adopted for non-volatile semiconductor memories. Their great success relies on their remarkable properties enabling high-speed, low power consumption and stable retention. Nevertheless, their full potential is still yet to be realized. Operations in electrical phase change devices rely on the large resistivity contrast between the crystalline (low resistance) and amorphous (high resistance) structures. The underlying mechanisms of phase transformations and the relation between structural and electrical properties in phase change materials are quite complex and need to be understood more deeply. For this purpose, we compare different approaches to mathematical modelling that have been suggested to realistically simulate the crystallization and amorphization of phase change materials. In this thesis the recently introduced Gillespie Cellular Automata (GCA) approach is used to obtain direct simulation of the structural phases and the electrical states of phase change materials and devices. The GCA approach is a powerful technique to understand the nanostructure evolution during the crystallization (SET) and amorphization (RESET) processes in phase change devices over very wide length scales. Using this approach, a detailed study of the electrical properties and nanostructure dynamics during SET and RESET processes in a PCRAM cell is presented. Besides the possibility of binary storage in phase change memory devices, there is a wider and far-reaching potential for using them as the basis for new forms of arithmetic and cognitive computing. The origin of such potential lies in a previously under-explored property, namely accumulation which has the potential to implement basic arithmetic computations. We exploit and explore this accumulative property in films and devices. Furthermore, we also show that the same accumulation property can be used to mimic a simple integrate and fire neuron. Thus by combining both a phase change cell operating in the accumulative regime for the neural body and a phase change cell in the multilevel regime for the synaptic weighting an artificial neuromorphic system can be obtained. This may open a new route for the realization of phase change based cognitive computers. This thesis also examines the relaxation oscillations observed under suitable bias conditions in phase change devices. The results presented are performed through a circuit analysis in addition with a generation and recombination mechanism driven by the electric field and carrier densities. To correctly model the oscillations we show that it is necessary to include a parasitic inductance. Related to the electrical states of phase change materials and devices is the threshold switching of the amorphous phase at high electric fields and recent work has suggested that such threshold switching is the result of field-induced nucleation. An electric field induced nucleation mechanism is incorporated into the GCA approach by adding electric field dependence to the free energy of the system. Using results for a continuous phase change thin films and PCRAM devices we show that a purely electronic explanation of threshold switching, rather than field-induced nucleation, provides threshold fields closer to experimentally measured values.

The defects and fault tolerance study is essential in the QCA devices in order to know its characteristics. Knowing the characteristics, one can understand the flow of information in a QCA system with and without manufacturing and operational defects. The manufacturing defects could be at device level or cell level. At the device level, the cell could be rotated, displaced vertically or horizontally, the cell could be missing or the size of the cell could be different. At the cell level, there could be a missing dot, dot could be displaced from its position or the size of the dots could be different. The operational defects are due to its surrounding, such as temperature or stray charge. Each of these defects and fault tolerances can be studies in detail in order to find the optimum working conditions where the information can be safely transmitted to the appropriate locations in the device.The theoretical studies have shown that at absolute temperature and without any defect, the QCA devices are operational. But it is almost impossible to manufacture a perfect or defect free device, and also it is impractical to think about operating a system at absolute zero temperature environment.Therefore, it is important to investigate the fault tolerant properties with defects and higher temperatures to see how far the QCA device can operate safely. Many studies have been done to investigate the fault tolerant properties in QCA devices. However, these studies have not completely exhausted the study of defects and temperature effects. In this study, the dot displacement and missing dots with temperature effects are investigated for the basic QCA devices and a Full Adder. In order to study fault tolerant properties, the existing theoretical model and computer simulation programs have been expanded and used. The defect characteristics have been simulated using normal distribution.<br>Department of Physics and Astronomy

The new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technologies and their structures have opened up new approaches to logic design and synthesis. The main feature of an FPGA is an array of logic blocks surrounded by a programmable interconnection structure. Cellular FPGAs are a special class of FPGAs which are distinguished by their fine granularity and their emphasis on local cell interconnects. While these characteristics call for specialized synthesis tools, the availability of logic gates other than Boolean AND, OR and NOT in these architectures opens up new possibilities for synthesis. Among the possible realizations of Boolean functions, XOR logic is shown to be more compact than AND/OR and also highly testable. In this dissertation, the concept of structural regularity and the advantages of XOR logic are used to investigate various synthesis approaches to cellular FPGAs, which up to now have been mostly nonexistent. Universal XOR Canonical Forms, Two-level AND/XOR, restricted factorization, as well as various Directed Acyclic Graph structures are among the proposed approaches. In addition, a new comprehensive methodology for the investigation of all possible XOR canonical forms is introduced. Additionally, a new compact class of XOR-based Decision Diagrams for the representation of Boolean functions, called Kronecker Functional Decision Diagrams (KFDD), is presented. It is shown that for the standard, hard, benchmark examples, KFDDs are on average 35% more compact than Binary Decision Diagrams, with some reductions of up to 75% being observed.

The new family of Field Programmable Gate Arrays, CLI 6000 from Concurrent Logic Inc realizes truly Cellular Logic. It has been mainly designed for the realization of data path architectures. However, the realizable logic functions provided by its macrocells and their limited connectivity call also for new general-purpose logic synthesis methods. The basic cell of CLi 6000 can be programmed to realize a two-input multiplexer ( A*B + C*B ), an AND/EXOR cell ( A*B Ea C ), or the basic 2-input AND, OR and EXOR gate. This suggests to using these cells for tree-like expansions. These "cellular logic" devices require regular connection patterns in the netlists resulting from logic synthesis. This thesis presents a synthesis tree searching program PROMPT, which generates AND/EXOR tree circuits from given Boolean functions. Such circuits have the property that the gate structures are AND/EXOR ( A *B EB C ), AND and EXOR which could be realized by the CLI6000 cells. Also, the connection. way in the circuit is that usually the output of one level gate is the input of the next level gate of the tree. This matches ideally to the architecture of the CLI6000 bussing network where the macrocells have only connections to their neighboring cells. PROMPT is based on the Davio expansions ( an equivalent of the Shannon expansions for the EXOR gates ) as its Boolean decomposition methods. The program includes three versions: exact version, heuristic version and fixed-variable version. The exact version of PROMPT generates the Permuted Reed-Muller Tree circuit which has the minimum number of gates. Such tree circuit is obtained by searching through all possible combinations of the expansion variable orders to get the one which needs the least number of gates. The heuristic version of PROMPT is designed to decrease the time complexity of the search algorithm when dealing with logic functions having many input variables. It generates a Permuted Reed-Muller Tree which may not have the minimum number of gates. However, the tree searching time in this version decreases tremendously compared to the time necessary in the exact version. The fix-variable version is developed to generate Reed-Muller Tree circuits. Such circuits will have the same expansion variables at the same tree level, so they can be easier routed after the placement to the CLI6000 chips. In short, the program PROMPT generates the PRM and RM tree circuits which are particularly well matched to both the realization of logic cell and connection structure of the CLI6000 device. Thus, the PRM and RM circuits can be easily placed and routed on the CLI6000 FPGAs.

This thesis presents mathematical modeling and control techniques that can be used to predict and specify performance of biologically inspired actuation systems called cellular actuators. Cellular actuators are modular units designed to be connected in bundles in manner similar to human muscle fibers. They are characterized by inherent compliance and large numbers of on-off discrete control inputs. In this thesis, mathematical tools are developed that connect the performance to the physical manifestation of the device. A camera positioner inspired by the human eye is designed to demonstrate how these tools can be used to create an actuator with a useful force-displacement characteristic. Finally, control architectures are presented that use discrete switching inputs to produce smooth motion of these systems despite an innate tendency toward oscillation. These are demonstrated in simulation and experiment.

The goal of this research was to develop a system of individualized medicine that could be applied to dermal wounds serving as a wound dressing and synthetic extracellular matrix while delivering stem cells to the wound bed. First, fabrication parameters for electrospinning polymer fibers were determined. This involved evaluating fiber morphology with respect to polymer selection and solution concentration. Next, construct fabrication was examined to produce an integrated void space, or cargo area, suitable to maintain stem cells. In vitro studies to ensure stem cell viability and phenotype were conducted, and results supported the notion that cells could be administered to the wound site through construct pre-seeding. Lastly, in vivostudies were conducted to evaluate the construct as an applied biomaterial and as a cellular delivery device. Wound closure and quality were assessed, and neo-vascularization quantified. This project will provide insight into the tissue engineering field regarding cell-based therapies and dermal wound healing.

En cas d'infection, les cellules dendritiques matures (CDm) migrent des tissus périphériques vers les ganglions lymphatiques où ils déclenchent la réponse immunitaire adaptative. Ce déplacement impose une série de contraintes physiques sur les CDm. Au niveau cellulaire, la migration des CDm repose sur la contractilité du cytosquelette d’actine et de myosine. Toutefois, la réponse mécanique spécifique qui permet aux CDm d'adapter leur mode de migration aux contraintes physiques n'a pas été entièrement caractérisée. Dans ce travail, nous avons combiné une série d'approches, des outils microfluidiques aux modèles ex vivo, pour disséquer les réarrangements du cytosquelette nécessaires à l’adaptation du mode de migration des cellules dendritiques aux propriétés physiques de leur microenvironnement. Nous avons montré que les CDm sont capables de maintenir une vitesse constante tout en migrant à différents niveaux de confinement. Cela révèle la capacité des CDm à adapter leur mode de migration en réponse aux changements dans la géométrie de leur microenvironnement. Au niveau cellulaire, le confinement dans les microcanaux induit un remodelage rapide et spécifique du cytosquelette d’actine et de myosine. Il est essentiel à la plasticité migratoire des CDm et optimise le déplacement de ces cellules dans des environnements 3D complexes. Ces travaux conduisent à une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes permettant aux CDm d’adapter leur motilité face à des structures tissulaires spécifiques. Ils permettront de mieux appréhender le contrôle de la migration des leucocytes dans des espaces confinés et pouvoir ainsi la moduler avec précision afin de favoriser ou de prévenir les réponses immunitaire<br>Upon infection, mature dendritic cells (mDCs) migrate from peripheral tissue to lymph nodes and initiate the adaptive immune response. This fast and tightly regulated process imposes a series of physical constraints and is tuned by different microenvironmental factors, such as the physical properties of the tissue. Mechanistically, mDCs migration relies on actomyosin flow and contractility, which are dependent on non‐muscular Myosin IIA activity. However, the specific mechanoresponse that allows mDCs to adapt their migration machinery to irregular 3D landscapes has not been fully characterized. In this work, we combined a series of approaches, from micro‐fabricated devices to ex vivo skin models, to dissect the cytoskeleton rearrangements used by mDCs to overcome the physical barriers imposed by the tissue. We have shown mDCs are able to maintain a constant speed while migrating at different levels of confinement. This reveals the extreme capacity of mDCs to adapt their migration machinery in response to changes in the geometry of their microenvironment. At the cellular level, confinement in microchannels induces a fast and specific actomyosin remodelling in mDCs. This reveals a complete actomyosin rearrangement triggered by confinement, which is essential for mDCs migratory plasticity that allows these cells to move in intricate 3D geometries. The full understanding of how mDCs and other leukocytes adapt their motility to specific tissue structures will provide better knowledge on how cell migration is controlled in confined spaces and new insight to finely tune their migration to promote or prevent immune responses

Recently, Thoma and Bebeau (2008) reported moral judgment developmental trends among various samples of undergraduates and graduates where increases in Personal Interests reasoning and decreases in Postconventional reasoning were observed. In an attempt to explain such trends, they cited recent trends in increased narcissism among college students (Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, & Bushman, 2008) and also noted that certain types of technological devices (i.e. social networking websites, cell phones, etc.) may have adverse effects social decision-making and self-presentation. The current study, therefore, addresses the relationships among moral judgment development, narcissism, and electronic media and communication devices (EMCD's). Analyses support that the extent of EM CD usage, as well as the reasons for usage, contribute to decreased Postconventional reasoning, but have a negligible effect on Personal Interests reasoning.

The study of neuronal and neurodegenerative diseases requires the development of new tools and technologies to create functional neuroelectronics allowing both stimulation and recording of cellular electrical activity. In the last decade organic electronics is digging its way in the field of bioelectronics and researchers started to develop neural interfaces based on organic semiconductors. The interest in such technologies arise from the intrinsic properties of organic materials such as low cost, transparency, softness and flexibility, as well the biocompatibility and the suitability in realizing all organic printed systems. In particular, organic field-effect transistor (OFET) -based biosensors integrate the sensing and signal amplification in a single device, paving the way to new implantable neural interfaces for in vivo applications. To master the sensing and amplification properties of the OFET-based sensors, it is mandatory to gain an intimate knowledge of the single transistors (without any analytes or cells) that cannot be limited to basic characterizations or to general models. Moreover, organic transistors are characterized by different working principles and properties as respect to their inorganic counterpart. We performed pulsed and transient characterization on different OFETs (both p-type and n-type) showing that, even though the transistors can switch on and off very fast, the accumulation and/or the depletion of the conductive channel continues for times as long as ten seconds. Such phenomenon must be carefully considered in the realization of a biosensor and in its applications, since the DC operative point of the device can drift during the recording of the cellular signals, thus altering the collected data. We further investigate such phenomenon by performing characterizations at different temperatures and by applying the deep level transient spectroscopy technique. We showed that the slow channel accumulation (and depletion) is due to the semiconductor density-of-states that must be occupied in order to bring the Fermi energy level close to the conduction band. This is a phenomenon that can takes several seconds and we described it by introducing a time-depend mobility. We also proposed a technique to estimate the behavior, in time, of the position of the Fermi energy level as respect to the conduction band. To understand the electrochemical transduction processes between living cell and organic biosensor, we realized two-electrodes structure (STACKs) where a drop of saline solution is put directly in contact with the organic semiconductor. On these devices, we performed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at different DC polarizations and we developed an equivalent circuit model for the metal-organic semiconductor-solution structures that are typically used as transducers in biosensor devices. Our approach was extending the standard range of the bias voltages applied for devices that operate in water. This particular characterization protocol allowed to distinguish and investigate the different mechanisms that occur at the different layers and interfaces: adsorption of ions in the semiconductor; accumulation and charge exchange of carriers at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface; percolation of the ionic species through the organic semiconductor; ion diffusion across the electrolyte; ion adsorption and charge exchange at the platinum interface. We highlighted the presence of ion percolation through the organic semiconductor layer, which is described in the equivalent circuit model by means of a de Levie impedance. The presence of percolation has been demonstrated by environmental scanning electron microscopy and profilometry analysis. Although percolation is much more evident at high negative bias values, it is still present even at low bias conditions. In addition, we analyze two case studies of devices featuring NaCl (concentration of 0.1M) and MilliQ water as solution, showing that both cases can be considered as a particular case of the general model presented in this manuscript. The very good agreement between the model and the experimental data makes the model a valid tool for studying the transducing mechanisms between organic films and the physiological environment. Hence this model could be a useful tool not only for the characterization and failure analysis of electronic devices, such as water-gated transistors, electrophysiological interfaces, fuel cells, and others electrochemical systems, but also this model might be used in other applications, in which a solution is in intimate contact with another material to determine and quantify, if undesired mechanisms such as percolation and/or redox corrosive processes occur. Lastly, the knowledge gain on OFETs and STACKs were put together to realize electrolyte-gated field effect transistors (EGOFETs). We then developed a model to describes EGOFETs as neural interfaces. We showed that our model can be successfully applied to understand the behaviour of a more general class of devices, including both organic and inorganic transistors. We introduced the reference-less (RL-) EGOFET and we showed that it might be successfully used as a low cost and flexible neural interface for extracellular recording in vivo without the need of a reference electrode, making the implant less invasive and easier to use. The working principle underlying RL-EGOFETs involves self-polarization and back-gate stimulation, which we show experimentally to be feasible by means of a custom low-voltage high-speed acquisition board that was designed to emulate a real-time neuron response. Our results open the door to using and optimizing EGOFETs and RL-EGOFETs for neural interfaces.<br>Lo studio delle malattie neuronali e neuro-degenerative richiede lo sviluppo di nuovi strumenti e tecnologie per creare dispositivi neuro-elettronici funzionali che consentano sia la stimolazione che la registrazione dell'attività elettrica cellulare. Nell'ultimo decennio l'elettronica organica sta emergendo nel campo della bioelettronica e diversi gruppi di ricerca hanno iniziato a sviluppare interfacce neurali basate su semiconduttori organici. L'interesse per tali tecnologie deriva dalle proprietà intrinseche dei materiali organici quali basso costo, trasparenza, morbidezza e flessibilità, nonché la biocompatibilità e l'idoneità nella realizzazione di sistemi stampati completamente organici. In particolare, i biosensori basati sulla tecnologia a transistor ad effetto campo organico (OFET) integrano il sensing e l'amplificazione del segnale in un singolo dispositivo, aprendo la strada a nuove interfacce neurali impiantabili per applicazioni in vivo. Per padroneggiare le proprietà di rilevamento e amplificazione dei sensori basati su OFET, è obbligatorio acquisire una conoscenza approfondita dei singoli transistor (senza la presenza di analiti e/o cellule) che vadano oltre le caratterizzazioni di base o modelli generali. Inoltre, i transistor organici sono caratterizzati da diversi principi di funzionamento e diverse proprietà rispetto alla loro controparte inorganica. In questo lavoro abbiamo svolto caratterizzazioni impulsate e transienti su diversi OFET (sia di tipo p che di tipo n) mostrando che, anche se i transistor possono accendersi e spegnersi molto velocemente, l'accumulo e/o lo svuotamento del canale conduttivo continua per tempi che possono superare le decine di secondi. Tale fenomeno deve essere attentamente considerato nella realizzazione di un biosensore e nelle sue applicazioni, poiché il punto operativo DC del dispositivo può andare alla deriva durante la registrazione dei segnali cellulari, alterando così i dati raccolti. Questo fenomeno viene ulteriormente approfondito caratterizzano i dispositivi a diverse temperature e per mezzo della tecnica DLTS. Abbiamo dimostrato che il lento accumulo (e svuotamento) del canale è dovuto alla densità di stati del semiconduttore organico che devono poter essere occupati per portare il livello energetico di Fermi vicino alla banda di conduzione. Questo è un fenomeno che può richiedere diversi secondi che possiamo descrivere introducendo una mobilità dipendente dal tempo. Per comprendere i processi di trasduzione elettrochimica tra cellule viventi ed il biosensore organico, abbiamo realizzato una struttura a due elettrodi (STACK) in cui una goccia di soluzione salina viene messa direttamente a contatto con il semiconduttore organico. Su questi dispositivi, abbiamo eseguito la spettroscopia di impedenza elettrochimica a diverse polarizzazioni DC e abbiamo sviluppato un modello circuitale equivalente per le strutture metallo/semiconduttore organico/soluzione che vengono tipicamente utilizzate per la realizzazione di bio-trasduttori. Il nostro approccio prevede di estendere il range standard delle tensioni operative per questo genere di dispositivi. Ciò ha permesso di investigare e distinguere i diversi fenomeni che si verificano nei diversi strati e interfacce: adsorbimento di ioni nel semiconduttore; accumulo e scambio di cariche di portanti all'interfaccia semiconduttore/elettrolita; percolazione delle specie ioniche attraverso il semiconduttore organico; diffusione di ioni attraverso l'elettrolita; adsorbimento di ioni e scambio di carica all'interfaccia col metallo. Abbiamo evidenziato la presenza di percolazione ionica attraverso lo strato di semiconduttore organico, che è descritto nel modello circuitale per mezzo di un'impedenza di de Levie. La presenza di percolazione è stata dimostrata mediante microscopia elettronica a scansione ambientale e analisi profilometrica. Sebbene la percolazione sia molto più evidente a valori di bias negativi elevati, risulta presente anche a basse condizioni di bias. L'ottimo accordo tra il modello e i dati sperimentali rende il modello un valido strumento per studiare i meccanismi di trasduzione tra film organici e l'ambiente fisiologico. Quindi questo modello può essere uno strumento utile non solo per la caratterizzazione e l'analisi dei guasti dei dispositivi elettronici, come water-gated transistor, interfacce elettrofisiologiche, celle a combustibile e altri sistemi elettrochimici, ma anche nel caso in cui una soluzione è in intimo contatto con un altro materiale per determinare e/o quantificare se si verificano meccanismi indesiderati come percolazione e/o processi corrosivi. Infine, il bagaglio di conoscenze ottenuto studiando i dispositivi OFET e STACK è stato messo utillizato per realizzare dispositivi EGOFET. Abbiamo quindi sviluppato un modello per descrivere gli EGOFET come interfacce neurali. Abbiamo dimostrato che il nostro modello può essere applicato con successo per comprendere il comportamento di una classe più generale di dispositivi, compresi i transistor sia organici che inorganici. Abbiamo introdotto l'RL-EGOFET (reference-less EGOFET) e abbiamo dimostrato che questa struttura può essere utilizzata con successo come interfaccia neurale flessibile per il recording extracellulare in vivo senza la necessità di un elettrodo di riferimento, rendendo l'impianto meno invasivo e più facile da usare. I nostri risultati aprono la strada all'utilizzo e all'ottimizzazione di EGOFET e RL-EGOFET come interfacce neurali.

Most existing computers today are built upon a subset of the arithmetic system which is based upon the foundation of set theory. All formal systems can be expressed in terms of arithmetic and logic on current arithmetic computers through an appropriate model, then work with the model using software manipulation. However, severe speed degradation is the price one must pay for using a software-based approach, making several high-level formal systems impractical. To improve the speed at which computers can implement these high-level systems, one must either design special hardware, implementing specific operations much like math and image processing coprocessors, or execute operations upon multiple processors in a parallel fashion. Due to the increase in developing applications for the manipulation of logic functions, an interest in the logic machine has arisen. Many applications such as logic optimization, simulation, pattern recognition and image processing can be better implemented with a logic machine. This thesis proposes the design, hardware realization, and testing of the iterative logic unit (ILU) of the Cube Calculus Machine II (CCM2). The CCM2 is a general purpose computer with an architecture that emphasizes a data path designed to execute operations of cube calculus, a popular algebraic model used in the minimization of Boolean functions. The ILU is an iterative logic array of cells (ITs) using internal distributed control, enabling the execution of basic cube operations, while the Control Unit (CU) handles global signals from the host computer. The ILU of the CCM2 has been realized in hardware using Xilinx Logic Cell Arrays (LCAs). FPGAs offer the logic density and versatility of gate arrays, with the off-the shelf availability and time-to-market advantages of standard user-programmable devices. These devices can be reconfigured, allowing multiple revisions and future design generations to accommodate the same device, thus saving design and production costs, an ideal solution to the resource and financial problems plaguing the University environment.

The development of treatments for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease begins by understanding what these diseases affect and the consequences of further manifestation. One particular region where these diseases can produce substantial problems is the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is the selective diffusion barrier between the circulating blood and the brain. The barrier’s main function is to maintain CNS homeostasis and protect the brain from the extracellular environment. The progression of BBB research has advanced to the point where many have modeled the BBB in vitro with aims of further characterizing and testing the barrier. Particularly, the pharmaceutical industry has gained interest in this field of research to improve drug development and obtain novel treatments for patients so the need for an improved model of the BBB is pertinent in their discovery. In the Cal Poly Tissue Engineering lab, an in vitro tissue engineered BBB system has previously been obtained and characterized for the initial investigation of the barrier and its components. However, certain limitations existed with use of the commercial system. Therefore, the focus of this thesis was to improve upon the capabilities and limitations of this commercialized system to allow further expansion of BBB research. The work performed was based on three aims: first to design and develop an in-house bioreactor system that could be used to cultivate the BBB; second, to characterize flow and functional capabilities of the bioreactor; third, to develop protocols for the overall use of the bioreactor, to ultimately allow co-cultures of BAEC and C6 glioma cells, and further the progression toward creating an in vitro model of the BBB. The work of this thesis demonstrates development of an in-house custom bioreactor system that can successfully culture cells. Results showed that the system was reusable, could be sterilized and monitored, was easily used by students trained in the laboratory, and allowed non-destructive scaffold extraction. This thesis also discusses the next set of experiments that will lead to an in vitro model of the BBB.

As mobile phones get increasingly complicated the demands for an effective firmware update service increase. A proposed solution is Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) and the Open Mobile Alliance’s Device Management where mobile phones can be updated and managed via the mobile phone network. However, before these operations can be carried out, all FOTA capable mobile phones that should be served must be discovered and registered with a distributor of updates. The information provided must be sufficient to uniquely identify devices, initiate a Device Management session, and determine if a firmware update is needed. This thesis addresses the problems that a solution in automatically collecting this information. Several solutions are presented and their suitability evaluated on the basis of defined and analyzed requirements. The solutions most thoroughly examined are various manual solutions, retrieval of information from core network nodes, and utilizing the Short Message Service (SMS) or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). A phone application has been implemented according to the requirements from the Chinese network operator China Mobile Communications Corporation (CMCC). It is a part of a solution in which the information is delivered via a SMS session. The design and development phase of the application is described, accompanied by a brief description of the Symbian OS and the working environment (tools, devices, etc.) needed to implement this solution. This work took place at the Sony Ericsson office in Beijing, China. The application implemented is robust and it is impossible to avoid registration, furthermore the user can not be exposed to acknowledgement messages. It has been made possible on the cost of decreased phone performance (a few kB of memory) since the application runs all the time. Malfunctioning phone or network may hinder registration.<br>Mobiltelefoner blir ständigt mer komplicerade vilket medför att efterfrågan av en effektiv lösning för uppdateringar av mjukvaran i mobiltelefonerna ökar. Lösningen är Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) och Device Management; mobiltelefonerna uppdateras och sköts via mobiltelefonnätverket. Men innan förfaranden kan exekveras måste alla mobiltelefoner med FOTA som ska omfattas av tjänsten upptäckas och registreras hos den som distribuerar uppdateringarna. Den information som måste levereras måste vara tillräcklig för att kunna identifiera mobiltelefonen, genomföra en Device Management session och avgöra om en uppdatering av mjukvaran är nödvändig. Detta examensarbete behandlar de problem som en lösning i vilken information tillhandahålls möter. Ett flertal lösningar presenteras och deras lämplighet utvärderas på basis av definierade och analyserade krav. De mest ingående undersökta lösningarna är olika manuella lösningar, insamling av information från noderna av kärnnätverket samt utnyttjande av SMS eller USSD. En telefonapplikation har implementeras enligt krav från den kinesiska operatören CMCC. Applikationen är en del av en lösning i vilken informationen levereras via en SMS-session. Applikationens design och utvecklingsfasen är beskriven, samt en översiktlig beskrivning av Symbian operativsystem och utvecklingsmiljön (verktyg, mobiltelefoner, etc.) som behövdes för att implementera lösningen. Detta arbete genomfördes på Sony Ericssons kontor i Beijing, Kina.

In current cellular networks the demand of traffic is rapidly increasing and new techniques need to be developed to accommodate future service requirements. Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is one technique that has been proposed to improve the performance of the system by allowing devices to communicate directly without routing traffic through the base station. This technique has the means to improved performance and support new proximity based services.   Nowadays new applications based on geographical proximity are becoming more and more popular suggesting that D2D communications will have a high de- mand in the near future. Thus the study of the scalability of D2D communications is of paramount importance.   We define the scalability of D2D communications underlay cellular networks as the maximum number of D2D links that can share the cellular resources while assuring QoS to both D2D links and cellular users. In this thesis we study the scalability of D2D communication underlay cellu- lar networks in a multi-cell environment. We propose interference coordination schemes to maximize the number of D2D links while assuring QoS to D2D links and cellular users.   Three interference coordination schemes have been proposed considering dif- ferent levels of available channel state information (CSI). The first scheme is called no CSI centralized (N-CSIC) scheme and it is based on a centralized solution where no CSI is needed. The second is partial CSI distributed (P-CSID) scheme and it is based on a distributed solution where partial CSI is available. The last scheme is named full CSI optimal (F-CSIOp) scheme and it is achieved by formulating an optimization problem considering full CSI to be available.   Extensive mathematical and numerical analysis is conducted to develop and evaluate the proposed schemes. The results show that F-CSIOp scheme offers the best performance followed by the P-CSID and finally N-CSIC, thus a clear relationship is found between complexity and performance.   The P-CSID offers a practical solution for a low complexity interference co- ordination scheme that achieves good scalability and capacity for a wide range of strict QoS requirements. Moreover the results show that further improvement can be achieved if proper selection of the involved parameters is done along with the implementations of closed loop power control (CLPC) schemes.   The N-CSIC scheme provides a good solution for low SINR values of D2D links when the QoS of cellular users is low. Thus it is a good candidate for applications like sensor networks or M2M communications where the SINR requirements are rather low and there are no primary users to impose more interference constraints.   Finally we conclude that good scalability and capacity can be achieved with the proposed low complexity interference coordination schemes for D2D communications and provide interesting topics for future research.

The evolution of wireless networks towards 5G dictates the integration of a mul-titude of heterogeneous radio access technologies to the traditional macro-cell systems. Equipping the network with numerous small cell nodes, such as fem-tocell and picocell base stations (BSs), implies a spectrum efficient and network performance improving solution to support the rapidly increasing user demands. However, this can be proven to be a cost-inefficient method that increases the capital and operational expenditures of the network operators as well as the power consumption, especially in low-traffic network conditions where a number of BSs should be switched-off. To this end, device-centric solutions that leverage the potentials stemming from the proximity, mobility and increased dynamics of user devices should be considered. To this end, direct, proximity-based Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, where two close-ranged user equipments (UEs) are able to exchange data by bypassing the BS, is expected to play predominant role in improving the overall network welfare and ease part of the traffic developed on the BSs side. This thesis focuses on the soft integration of inband D2D communications in emerging cellular networks where D2D-enabled devices utilize the licensed spec-trum. In the introductory part of the thesis we highlight the merits that this communication paradigm can offer in terms of spectrum utilization, energy sav-ing, delay reduction and data rate improvement. We also provide an overview of the D2D use cases that enable opportunities for new services, its potential in improving the overall network performance as well as its offloading capability that can ease the traffic employed along the network. In the sequel, we proceed with our proposed methodology that aims at easing the coexistence of cellular and D2D users in emerging cellular networks. One of the main contributions of the thesis is the optimization of cell association for D2D UEs (DUEs). Cell association for D2D communications is an unexplored area and a rather fertile ground for research. Following the conventional motif, a user device would preferably couple with a high power macro cell BS that provides the user with the highest signal power. However, with the advent of D2D com-munications, this could be proven to be highly inefficient for users that want to communicate directly and are associated with different BSs because BS intercom-munication complexity and access delay is introduced. To this end, we propose a number of optimization formulations for D2D-based cell association that takes into consideration not only the nature of the inband D2D communications (un-derlay or overlay), but also performance-hindering factors such as user density, interference and so on. Other than the throughput enhancing and power saving attributes of the proposed framework, notable resource efficiency improvement is achieved. Indicatively, for both underlay and overlay D2D communications, more than 12% and 45% radio resource utilization mitigation is ensured compared to baseline methods. On top of optimizing cell association for D2D communications, we further investigate the problem of resource allocation in different D2D underlaying cellu-lar network scenarios where DUEs are permitted to reuse the cellular resources and, therefore, high levels of interference need to be prevented. By consider-ing different deployment scenarios, we propose a set of low-complexity heuristic algorithms with the aim to achieve high data rate performance for D2D com-munications with respect to meeting the cellular users’ quality of service (QoS) requirements. The proposed algorithms are evaluated in high-traffic networking scenarios where D2D communications underlay relay-enabled cellular networks. In aggregate, more than 10% of sum throughput performance is achieved against various resource allocation techniques. In the sequel, we explore the dynamics of virtualizing the radio resources for efficient sharing as, nowadays, we are witnessing higher network heterogeneity and the emergence of multiple stakeholders with the overarching need to significantly reduce deployment costs and achieve a sustainable network operation. Network virtualization has emerged as a promising technique to overcome the complexity of current network operation as well as facilitate inter-operators’ sharing. There-fore, disruptive approaches to manage radio and network-virtualized resources are expected to be a catalyst element of future mobile network architectures. Despite the fact that a number of solutions for radio access network (RAN) virtualization emerged over the last few years, it is worth pointing out that little attention has been placed on issues related to D2D virtualization. Therefore, based on the integration of an inter-tenant controller that enables the radio resource sharing between multiple operators, we devise a set of efficient algorithms to optimize the throughput performance of D2D communications in virtualized environments as well as reduce the utilization levels of the allocated radio resources. More than 12% of sum-rate performance improvement compared to legacy, intra-tenant ap-proaches where the radio resources are assigned based on which device initiates the communication per case. Finally, a summary of the research outcomes along with some future directions for D2D communications concludes this thesis.

To address the problem of radio spectrum congestion due to increasing demand for wireless communications services, cellular communication systems are going towards small cells with small transmit powers. At the same time, in-band fullduplex (FD) radio design has gained considerable attention due to achievements in signal processing that can make design of full-duplex radios possible for systems with small transmit power. In theory full-duplex radios can double the spectral efficiency of the system. However existing radios still do not provide enough self-interference (SI) cancelation to be used in large transmit power systems. Meanwhile device-to-device communication (D2D) is seen as a promising idea to increase the performance of wireless networks. In D2D, users in vicinity communicate directly without going through base station. So far, very limited work has been carried out to study the applicability of available full-duplex radios in D2D. In this thesis, we investigate full-duplex D2D and amount of self-interference cancelation required in D2D in cellular systems. While D2D users share the same radio resources with cellular users, both cellular and D2D pair will receive interference. Resource allocation and interference management become crucial in D2D communication. Both uplink and downlink resource sharing are considered. In uplink resource sharing, to handle the interference on the base station power control is used in D2D transmitter. To deal with the interference at D2D receivers from cellular user’s uplink transmission, interference-limited-area (ILA) method is used to select users with negligible interference on them. When D2D pair is using downlink resources of cellular users, users receive interference from D2D transmissions. Limiting this interference is also done using ILA method. On the other hand, for the purpose of resource sharing, the user with smallest downlink transmit power is selected to minimize the interference on D2D receivers. Half-duplex (HD) and full-duplex D2D scenarios are considered in both uplink and downlink resource sharing. Simulations show that how much of self-interference cancelation is required in different scenarios. Effects of the numbers of the selected users for resource sharing, distance between D2D users and also inter-cell interference is studied. It can be concluded that using available full-duplex radios in D2D communication can almost reach the theoretical doubling of throughput in full-duplex mode compared to half-duplex mode.

Increasing useof nanomaterials in consumer products and biomedical applications creates the possibilities of intentional/unintentional exposure to humans and the environment. Beyond the physiological limit, the nanomaterialexposure to humans can induce toxicity. It is difficult to define toxicity of nanoparticles on humans as it varies by nanomaterialcomposition, size, surface properties and the target organ/cell line. Traditional tests for nanomaterialtoxicity assessment are mostly based on bulk-colorimetric assays. In many studies, nanomaterials have found to interfere with assay-dye to produce false results and usually require several hours or days to collect results. Therefore, there is a clear need for alternative tools that can provide accurate, rapid, and sensitive measure of initial nanomaterialscreening. Recent advancement in single cell studies has suggested discovering cell properties not found earlier in traditional bulk assays. A complex phenomenon, like nanotoxicity, may become clearer when studied at the single cell level, including with small colonies of cells. Advances in lab-on-a-chip techniques have played a significant role in drug discoveries and biosensor applications, however, rarely explored for nanomaterialtoxicity assessment. We presented such cell-integrated chip-based approach that provided quantitative and rapid response of cellhealth, through electrochemical measurements. Moreover, the novel design of the device presented in this study was capable of capturing and analyzing the cells at a single cell and small cell-population level. We examined the change in exocytosis (i.e. neurotransmitterrelease) properties of a single PC12 cell, when exposed to CuOand TiO2 nanoparticles. We found both nanomaterials to interfere with the cell exocytosis function. We also studied the whole-cell response of a single-cell and a small cell-population simultaneously in real-time for the first time. The presented study can be a reference to the future research in the direction of nanotoxicity assessment to develop miniature, simple, and cost-effective tool for fast, quantitative measurements at high throughput level. The designed lab-on-a-chip device and measurement techniques utilized in the present work can be applied for the assessment of othernanoparticles' toxicity, as well.

The past few years have seen a major change in cellular networks, as explosive growth in data demands requires more and more network capacity and backhaul capability. New wireless technologies have been proposed to tackle these challenges. One of the emerging technologies is device-to-device (D2D) communications. It enables two cellular user equipment (UEs) in proximity to communicate with each other directly reusing cellular radio resources. In this case, D2D is able to offload data traffic from central base stations (BSs) and significantly improve the spectrum efficiency of a cellular network, and thus is one of the key technologies for the next generation cellular systems. Radio resource management (RRM) for D2D communications and how to effectively exploit the potential benefits of D2D are two paramount challenges to D2D communications underlaying cellular networks. In this thesis, we focus on four problems related to these two challenges. In Chapter 2, we utilise the mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) to model and solve the RRM optimisation problems for D2D communications. Firstly we consider the RRM optimisation problem for D2D communications underlaying the single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) system and devise a heuristic sub-optimal solution to it. Then we propose an optimised RRM mechanism for multi-hop D2D communications with network coding (NC). NC has been proven as an efficient technique to improve the throughput of ad-hoc networks and thus we apply it to multi-hop D2D communications. We devise an optimal solution to the RRM optimisation problem for multi-hop D2D communications with NC. In Chapter 3, we investigate how the location of the D2D transmitter in a cell may affect the RRM mechanism and the performance of D2D communications. We propose two optimised location-based RRM mechanisms for D2D, which maximise the throughput and the energy efficiency of D2D, respectively. We show that, by considering the location information of the D2D transmitter, the MINLP problem of RRM for D2D communications can be transformed into a convex optimisation problem, which can be efficiently solved by the method of Lagrangian multipliers. In Chapter 4, we propose a D2D-based P2P le sharing system, which is called Iunius. The Iunius system features: 1) a wireless P2P protocol based on Bittorrent protocol in the application layer; 2) a simple centralised routing mechanism for multi-hop D2D communications; 3) an interference cancellation technique for conventional cellular (CC) uplink communications; and 4) a radio resource management scheme to mitigate the interference between CC and D2D communications that share the cellular uplink radio resources while maximising the throughput of D2D communications. We show that with the properly designed application layer protocol and the optimised RRM for D2D communications, Iunius can significantly improve the quality of experience (QoE) of users and offload local traffic from the base station. In Chapter 5, we combine LTE-unlicensed with D2D communications. We utilise LTE-unlicensed to enable the operation of D2D in unlicensed bands. We show that not only can this improve the throughput of D2D communications, but also allow D2D to work in the cell central area, which normally regarded as a “forbidden area” for D2D in existing works. We achieve these results mainly through numerical optimisation and simulations. We utilise a wide range of numerical optimisation theories in our works. Instead of utilising the general numerical optimisation algorithms to solve the optimisation problems, we modify them to be suitable for the specific problems, thereby reducing the computational complexity. Finally, we evaluate our proposed algorithms and systems through sophisticated numerical simulations. We have developed a complete system-level simulation framework for D2D communications and we open-source it in Github: https://github.com/mathwuyue/py- wireless-sys-sim.

The next generation wireless networks i.e. 5G aim to provide multi-Gbps data traffic, in order to satisfy the increasing demand for high-definition video, among other high data rate services, as well as the exponential growth in mobile subscribers. To achieve this dramatic increase in data rates, current research is focused on improving the capacity of current 4G network standards, based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), before radical changes are exploited which could include acquiring additional/new spectrum. The LTE network has a reuse factor of one; hence neighbouring cells/sectors use the same spectrum, therefore making the cell edge users vulnerable to inter-cell interference. In addition, wireless transmission is commonly hindered by fading and pathloss. In this direction, this thesis focuses on improving the performance of cell edge users in LTE and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks by initially implementing a new Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) algorithm to mitigate cell edge user interference. Subsequently Device-to-Device (D2D) communication is investigated as the enabling technology for maximising Resource Block (RB) utilisation in current 4G and emerging 5G networks. It is demonstrated that the application, as an extension to the above, of novel power control algorithms, to reduce the required D2D TX power, and multihop transmission for relaying D2D traffic, can further enhance network performance. To be able to develop the aforementioned technologies and evaluate the performance of new algorithms in emerging network scenarios, a beyond-the-state-of-the-art LTE system-level simulator (SLS) was implemented. The new simulator includes Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna functionalities, comprehensive channel models (such as Wireless World initiative New Radio II i.e. WINNER II) and adaptive modulation and coding schemes to accurately emulate the LTE and LTE-A network standards. Additionally, a novel interference modelling scheme using the 'wrap around' technique was proposed and implemented that maintained the topology of flat surfaced maps, allowing for use with cell planning tools while obtaining accurate and timely results in the SLS compared to the few existing platforms. For the proposed CoMP algorithm, the adaptive beamforming technique was employed to reduce interference on the cell edge UEs by applying Coordinated Scheduling (CoSH) between cooperating cells. Simulation results show up to 2-fold improvement in terms of throughput, and also shows SINR gain for the cell edge UEs in the cooperating cells. Furthermore, D2D communication underlaying the LTE network (and future generation of wireless networks) was investigated. The technology exploits the proximity of users in a network to achieve higher data rates with maximum RB utilisation (as the technology reuses the cellular RB simultaneously), while taking some load off the Evolved Node B (eNB) i.e. by direct communication between User Equipment (UE). Simulation results show that the proximity and transmission power of D2D transmission yields high performance gains for a D2D receiver, which was demonstrated to be better than that of cellular UEs with better channel conditions or in close proximity to the eNB in the network. The impact of interference from the simultaneous transmission however impedes the achievable data rates of cellular UEs in the network, especially at the cell edge. Thus, a power control algorithm was proposed to mitigate the impact of interference in the hybrid network (network consisting of both cellular and D2D UEs). It was implemented by setting a minimum SINR threshold so that the cellular UEs achieve a minimum performance, and equally a maximum SINR threshold to establish fairness for the D2D transmission as well. Simulation results show an increase in the cell edge throughput and notable improvement in the overall SINR distribution of UEs in the hybrid network. Additionally, multihop transmission for D2D UEs was investigated in the hybrid network: traditionally, the scheme is implemented to relay cellular traffic in a homogenous network. Contrary to most current studies where D2D UEs are employed to relay cellular traffic, the use of idle nodes to relay D2D traffic was implemented uniquely in this thesis. Simulation results show improvement in D2D receiver throughput with multihop transmission, which was significantly better than that of the same UEs performance with equivalent distance between the D2D pair when using single hop transmission.

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication has become a promising candidate for future wireless communication systems to improve the system spectral efficiency, while reducing the latency and energy consumption of individual communication. With the assistance of cellular network, D2D communications can greatly reduce the transmit distance by utilizing the spatial dispersive nature of ever increasing user devices. Further, substantial spectrum reuse gain can be achieved due to the short transmit distance of D2D communication. It, however, significantly complicates the resource management and performance analysis of D2D communication underlaid cellular networks. Despite an increasing amount of academic attention and industrial interests, how to evaluate the system performance advantages of D2D communications with resource management remains largely unknown. On account of the proximity requirement of D2D communication, the resource management of D2D communication generally consists of admission access control and resource allocation. Resource allocation of cellular assisted D2D communications is very challenging when frequency reuse is considered among multiple D2D pairs within a cell, as intense inter D2D interference is difficult to tackle and generally causes extremely large amount of signaling overheads for channel state information (CSI) acquisition. Hence, the first part of this thesis is devoted to the resource allocation of cellular assisted D2D communication and the performance analysis. A novel resource allocation scheme for cellular assisted D2D communication is developed with low signaling overhead, while maintaining high spectral efficiency. By utilizing the spatial dispersive nature of D2D pairs, a geography-based sub-cell division strategy is proposed to group the D2D pairs into multiple disjoint clusters, and sub-cell resource allocation is performed independently for the D2D pairs within each sub-cell without the need of any prior knowledge of inter D2D interference. Under the proposed resource allocation scheme, tractable approximation for the inter D2D interference modeling is obtained and a computationally efficient expression for the average ergodic sum capacity of the cell is derived. The expression further allows us to obtain the optimal number of sub-cells that maximizes the average ergodic sum capacity of the cell. It is shown that with small CSI feedback, the system capacity/spectral efficiency can be improved significantly by adopting the proposed resource allocation scheme, especially in dense D2D deployment scenario. The investigation of use cases for cellular assisted D2D communication is another important topic which has direct effect on the performance evaluation of D2D communication. Thanks to the spatial dispersive nature of devices, D2D communication can be utilized to harvest the vast amount of the idle computation power and storage space distributed at the devices, which yields sufficient capacities for performing computation-intensive and latency-critical tasks. Therefore, the second part of this thesis focuses on the D2D communication assisted Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) network. The admission access control of D2D communication is determined by both disciplines of mobile computing and wireless communications. Specifically, the energy minimization problem in D2D assisted MEC networks is addressed with the latency constraint of each individual task and the computing resource constraint of each computing entity. The energy minimization problem is formed as a two-stage optimization problem. At the first stage, an initial feasibility problem is formed to maximize the number of executed tasks, and the global energy minimization problem is tackled in the second stage while maintaining the maximum number of executed tasks. Both of the optimization problems in two stages are NP-hard, therefore a low-complexity algorithm is developed for the initial feasibility problem with a supplementary algorithm further proposed for energy minimization. Simulation results demonstrate the near-optimal performance of the proposed algorithms and the fact that the number of executed tasks is greatly increased and the energy consumption per executed task is significantly reduced with the assistance of D2D communication in MEC networks, especially in dense user scenario.

Les infections nosocomiales liées aux dispositifs médicaux, et plus particulièrement ceux de la perfusion, sont un problème majeur dans le milieu hospitalier. Ces infections sont liées à la présence de biofilm. Pour lutter contre le biofilm, les mesures préventives en hygiène ne sont pas suffisantes. Les recherches se dirigent vers la modification des surfaces des matériaux des dispositifs médicaux: ajout de substances biocides, développement de surfaces antiadhésives par voie chimique ou topographique. L’objectif de cette thèse est de créer des polymères nanostructurés pouvant entrer dans la composition de dispositifs médicaux de la perfusion et de tester leur impact sur l’adhésion bactérienne et le développement du biofilm. Dans un premier temps, la technique de nanostructuration choisie repose sur la réplication d’un moule nanostructuré en alumine nanoporeuse qui se caractérise par des nanopores auto-organisés en nid d’abeille. Après avoir mis en place une station d’anodisation permettant la nanostructuration de ce moule, la reproductibilité du procédé de fabrication a été validée (diamètre des pores : 51 ± 6 nm, profondeur: 97 ± 9 nm, espace interpores: 102 ± 6 nm). Ensuite, les travaux de réplication ont été effectués avec le polymère ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiène-styrène). Plusieurs méthodes de réplication ont été testées à partir de dépôt de solutions de polymères ou de fonte du matériau sur le moule d’alumine. La méthode sélectionnée sur des critères de reproductibilité et de facilité de transposition industrielle donne des nanostructures de type nanopicots (diamètres des picots : 56 ± 7 nm, distances interpicots : 101 ± 16 nm, longueurs : 73 ± 33 nm). Les surfaces développées sont ensuite caractérisées (MEB, DSC analyse calorimétrique différentielle, spectrométrie Infra Rouge, angle de contact). La fabrication des nanostructures ne semble pas dégrader le matériau ABS et la modification topographique rend la surface plus hydrophile. Une étude de stabilité montre que les nanostructures résistent à plusieurs modes de stérilisation (oxyde d’éthylène, plasma H2O2 et rayon Beta) et sont conservés dans le temps, ce qui les rend applicables à la surface d’un dispositif médical. La seconde étape du travail consiste à évaluer l’adhésion bactérienne sur les surfaces témoins et nanostructurées. Différents tests de culture de biofilm ont été réalisés avec S. epidermidis en conditions statique ou dynamique. Après un temps de 3 à 48h, les bactéries sont décrochées de la surface puis dénombrées sur gélose. Il n’y a pas de différence significative d’adhésion bactérienne entre les deux types de surface. L’observation en microscopie électronique à balayage et confocale à 24h semble confirmer ce résultat. Des tests réalisés avec d’autres souches bactériennes (S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa) en condition statique montrent également que l’adhésion est également identique sur les deux surfaces. Par conséquent, nous pouvons conclure que nos surfaces ABS développées avec ces nanopicots spécifiques n’ont pas un effet anti-adhésion sur les bactéries testées. Des recherches récentes mettent en évidence que l’espacement entre les nanopciots est un facteur critique sur l’adhésion bactérienne. L’étape suivante de notre travail consiste à tester de nouvelles nanostructures réalisées avec un moule AAO ayant une distance interpore plus grande<br>Medical device-related infections are a public health concern and an economic burden. The role of biofilms in medical device-related infections is clearly established. Preventive hygiene measures are not often sufficient to prevent biofilms formation. One promising way of preventing device-related infections is the development of medical devices with surfaces or materials that reduce either microbial viability using biocidal substances or microbial adhesion with topographical modifications.Developing nanostructured polymeric surfaces, which could have applications in medical devices, and testing their impact on bacterial adhesion and biofilm development were the main goals of this thesis. First of all, the polymer was replicated on an aluminum anodized oxide nanostructured mold (AAO), characterized by highly ordered nanopores. An anodization station was made in order to create molds. Then, the reproducibility of the process fabrication was validated (pore diameter: 51 ± 6 nm, deepness 97 ± 9 nm, interpore espace: 102 ± 6 nm). Several replication techniques with ABS were tested including polymers solutions and melted polymers. The selected method was the one with the most reproducible results pillar diameter: 56 ± 7 nm, interpillar distance: 101 ± 16 nm, length: 73 ± 33 nm) and the most representative of industrial injection processes. The created surfaces were then characterized (MEB, DSC, ATR-FTIR, wettability). The fabrication process does not seem to degrade the ABS material and the topographical change increases the hydrophilicity of the surface. A stability study showed that the nanopillars were resistant to several sterilization processes (ethylene oxide, H2O2 plasma, Beta irradiation) and were maintained through time, which is an important element for applications in medical-devices.The second step of our work consisted of assessing bacterial adhesion on control and nanostructured ABS samples. Several biofilm tests were made with S. epidermis in static and dynamic conditions. Between 3 and 48 hours of culture, bacteria were removed from the surfaces and then viable plate counting was performed. No significant differences were observed between the samples. Microscopic observations (MEB, CSLM) seemed to confirm this result. Other bacteria with different morphologies were tested (S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa): bacterial adhesion was similar for the two surfaces. Therefore, we can conclude that our developed ABS surfaces with these specific nanopillars do not have an anti-adhesion effect on the tested bacteria. Recent researches showed that spacing between nanopillars is a critical factor on bacterial adhesion. The following step of our work would be to test new nanostructures using AAO molds with bigger interpore distance

Red blood cells (RBC), the essential oxygen-transporters of the human body, are near constantly exposed to deforming forces (i.e., shear stress) as they traverse the circulatory system. Given that the diameter of microcirculatory blood vessels may be as narrow as ~2 μm, RBC with a resting diameter of ~8 μm require an exceptional capacity to deform and change shape, while sustaining cell function. RBC are equipped with unique physical properties to accommodate cellular deformation under mechanical stress; the characteristic bi-concave disc-shape yielding favourable surface area to volume ratio, paired with a flexible, cytoskeletal mesh-network in the cell membrane, support flexibility of RBC. Recent studies, however, support the notion that RBC deformability is actively regulated by pathways involving second messenger molecules, primarily calcium-ions (Ca2+) and nitric oxide (NO). Exposure of RBC to shear stress is thought to increase endogenous production of NO enzymatically via nitric oxide synthase (RBC-NOS), while mechanically-gated ion channels permit entry of Ca2+ under shear. The physiological magnitude of shear stress exerted upon blood is thought to be limited to ~15 Pa; however, when patients require extracorporeal circulatory devices such as rotary blood pumps or dialysis machines, the resulting mechanical forces approximate values of >100 Pa, that are known to impair the physical properties of RBC. Thus, the aim of the current thesis was to explore the physical and biochemical properties of RBC when exposed to either physiological (i.e., <15 Pa) or supraphysiological (i.e., ~64 Pa) shear stress. To assess the primary aims, three distinct studies comprised of multiple respective experiments were conducted. In Study One, the recoverability of shear-induced changes in cell deformability was assessed by exposing RBC for 300 s to either 10 or 64 Pa shear stress (i.e., “shear conditioning”), using an ektacytometer (Experiment One). Moreover, the subsequent sensitivity to repeated shear exposure was investigated by exposing RBC to a second bout of the respective shear conditioning protocol (Experiment Two). Shear conditioning with 10 Pa resulted in a reversible increase in RBC deformability, indicating involvement of short-lived alterations potentially induced by second messenger molecules (e.g. Ca2+ and NO), while shear conditioning with 64 Pa induced a less reversible decrease in RBC deformability, which may indicate physical alterations of the cell membrane. To further characterise the biochemical alterations that may govern augmentation of RBC deformability observed post-shearing with 10 Pa, Study Two was designed to assess the effect of free radicals on biochemical pathways that govern cell deformability (Experiment One). Moreover, the potential of physiological shear conditioning to reverse negative effects induced by free radical exposure was also investigated (Experiment Two), with a primary focus on endogenous, enzymatic NO-generation by RBC-NOS, which is activated via the PI3/Akt kinase pathway facilitating cell deformability. Intracellular free radical generation significantly impaired the PI3/Akt kinase and RBC-NOS pathway in RBC, resulting in impaired cell deformability. Physiological shear conditioning activated the PI3/Akt kinase and RBC-NOS pathway in RBC exposed to free radicals, which partly restored cellular deformability that was previously impaired by free radical exposure. NO-mediated alterations, however, explained only part of the observed response of RBC to physiological shear conditioning; therefore, the final study was designed to investigate Ca2+-mediated responses of RBC to supraphysiological (i.e., 64 Pa for 300 s) and physiological (i.e., 10 Pa for 300 s) shear conditioning (Experiment One). Moreover, a novel system was developed that enabled shearing of RBC using a pressurised micropipette (tip diameter ~5 μm), coupled with visualisation and assessment of intracellular calcium-levels using fluorescent microscopy (Experiment Two). Addition of 2 mM CaCl2 in the shearing medium significantly impaired RBC deformability; in particular, cellular elongation at shears >5 Pa was limited. Physiological shear conditioning partly reversed these calcium-induced impairments, while supraphysiological shear conditioning appeared to paradoxically (albeit marginally) increase cell deformability that was previously impaired by calcium. Intriguingly, single RBC that were aspirated into the micropipette showed increases in intracellular calcium during passage of the aperture, indicating that maximal elongation facilitated influx of Ca2+. Moreover, the rate of Ca2+-influx was found to be proportional with the shear stress applied; increased shear stress led to more rapid influx of calcium. Collectively, the present thesis demonstrated that the response of RBC to shear stress is regulated by complex intracellular messaging in addition to classically-described external forces, which becomes “active” primarily when RBC are exposed to shears within the physiological range (i.e., <15 Pa). Upon supraphysiological shear exposure, however, the physical properties of RBC become significantly impaired; potential alterations in the intracellular messaging system that appears to regulate cell deformability post-mechanical damage remain elusive and worthy of future exploration.<br>Thesis (Masters)<br>Master of Medical Research (MMedRes)<br>School of Medical Science<br>Griffith Health<br>Full Text

Recently, with the increasing demand for local traffic, and the steep growth in mobile data traffic has gained a lot of attention. With current infrastructure deployments and radio resources, operators will not be able to cope with the upcoming demands. Consequently, discussions of the next generation of mobile networks, referred to as the fifth generation (5G), have started in both academia and industry. In addition to more capacity, stringent requirements for improving capacity, decreasing outage probability, low delays, low power consumptions and increasing reliability have been envisioned in 5G. Many solutions have been put forward, one of them being Device-to-Device (D2D) communications where Cellular User Equipments (CUEs) can transmit directly to one another bypassing the base station (BS) via uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) paths. In this dissertation, firstly we survey the background of D2D technologies, and a brief comparison of several popular D2D technologies and how they are integrated in cellular networks, possible requirements and challenges of D2D-enabled LTE-A networks. Then, we review the background of LTE-A physical and MAC layer and details of D2D communication in LTE-A. Secondly, we present the architecture of the multi-cell network scenario adopting frequency reuse across different cells, where Inter-Cell Interference (ICC) and Intra-Cell Interference (IACC) are consider, and present the mathematical formulation for SINR, capacity of both CUEs and D2D pairs in underlay and cellular mode. By exploiting frequency reuse, this research work aims to design wireless system level algorithms to utilize the spectrum resources efficiently in the next generation wireless heterogeneous network, where resource allocation and interference management algorithms to significantly improve user experience, system capacity, and avoidance outage probability for D2D communications underlaying wireless heterogeneous networks. A resource allocation for the D2D communications underlaying cellular network is given in this dissertation, which is applied the basic of Round Robin (RR) and Proportional Fair (PF) scheduling, and we also provided some techniques to improve the cell capacity while controlling outage probability in the presence of D2D communications (underlay mode) as RR-FAR, RR-FAR-OUT, PF2 and PF2-OUT, after that we propose a CUE and D2D capacity and outage probability analyze models of both underlay and cellular mode. Finally, the performance of D2D communication underlaying LTE-A system are investigate in a single-cell and multi-cells scenarios via system-level simulation with different settings and compared with other scheduler techniques and cellular mode (CELLM). The simulation results show that considerable performance capacities are achieved by enabling direct D2D data paths to replace conventional uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) data paths for local data traffic between proximate devices, and by allowing non-orthogonal resource reuse between D2D and cellular uplink transmission. The initial tests demonstrate that the proposed scheduling method successfully improves the capacity and mitigates interferences resulting from co-channel interference exists between a CUE and D2D pairs of the cell.

Device-to-device (D2D) communications in cellular networks will improve traditional cellular systems in many ways. By allowing user equipment (UE) in proximity to communicate through direct links, the transmitter would be able to transmit with lower power while the receiver could still receive better-quality signals. Both spectrum and energy eciency can be signicantly increased. Moreover, D2D communications in cellular networks will make an eective way for emerging proximity-based services. The introduction of D2D links into a cellular network complicates the interference situation. Traditional macro-cellular links will experience high interference from D2D links, especially if D2D links are reusing the cellular radio resources. This amplies the importance of power control and resource allocation techniques to mitigate interference. This thesis evaluates the performance of three power control algorithms, namely LTE power control, utility maximization, and hybrid power control. LTE power control plays the role of the most practical power control scheme as it has been standardized. Utility maximization power control is an optimal distributed power control designed to improve spectrum and energy eciency in a balanced manner. Hybrid power control is a scheme proposed in this thesis, which combines LTE power control for the cellular UEs and utility maximization power control for the D2D UEs. It is designed to have compatibility with existing LTE system as well as to protect cellular links. Four resource allocation algorithms are considered in this thesis, namely random resource allocation, balanced random allocation (BRA), cellular protection allocation (CPA), and minimum interference (MinInterf) allocation. They are all heuristic algorithms with dierent degrees of complexity. Numerical results are obtained with Monte Carlo simulations, modelling a cellular system with randomly dropped UEs in each iteration. System performance metrics resulted from dierent power control and resource allocation algorithms are evaluated and compared. The performance metrics of interest include both spectrum and energy eciency, SINR, and transmit power. The results show that LTE power control performs well in terms of D2D UEs' SINR if the path loss compensation factor is set to a suciently high value, e.g. 0.8. Meanwhile, the performance of utility maximization power control depends heavily on its tuning parameter. If the parameter is low, high spectrum efciency is achieved in the exchange of high transmit power, or vice versa. Hybrid power control is proven to yield better cellular UEs' SINR compared to other power control algorithms. This depends on an interference threshold parameter. If the threshold parameter is lower, the cellular links are better protected. Simulation results also show that the MinInterf allocation algorithm is superior than other resource allocation algorithms in terms of UEs' SINR. However, MinInterf is a complex algorithm which requires the knowledge of all cellular and D2D link qualities. Therefore, it might be preferable to use either of three other algorithms. Simulation results show that BRA performs better than random resource allocation, although in many cases their performance metrics are almost identical. CPA algorithm performs slightly better than random resource allocation and BRA in the low-SINR region, but it performs badly in the high-SINR region.

The steep growth in mobile data traffic has gained a lot of attention in recent years. With current infrastructure deployments and radio resources, operators will not be able to cope with the upcoming demands. Consequently, discussions of the next generation of mobile networks, referred to as the fifth generation (5G), have started in both academia and industry. In addition to more capacity, stringent requirements for improving energy efficiency, decreasing delays, and increasing reliability have been envisioned in 5G. Many solutions have been put forward, one of them being device-to-device (D2D) communications where users in close proximity can transmit directly to one another bypassing the base station (BS). In this thesis, we identify trade-offs and challenges of integrating D2D communications into cellular networks and propose potential solutions. To maximize gains from such integration, resource allocation and interference management are key factors. We start by introducing cooperation between D2D and cellular users in order to minimize any interference between the two user types and identifying the scenarios where this cooperation can be beneficial. It is shown that an increase in the number of cellular users within the coverage area and in the size of the cell is associated with a higher probability of cooperation. With this cooperation, we can potentially increase the number of connected devices, reduce the delay, increase the cell sum rate, and offload an overloaded cell. Next, we consider D2D communications underlaying the uplink of cellular networks. In such a scenario, any potential gain from resource sharing (time, frequency, or space) is determined by how the interference is managed. The quality and performance of the interference management techniques depend on the availability of the channel state information (CSI) and the location of nodes as well as the frequency of updates regarding such information. The more information is required, the more signaling is needed, which results in higher power consumption by the users. We investigate the trade-off between the availability of full CSI, which necessitates instantaneous information, and that of limited CSI, which requires infrequent updates. Our results show that with limited CSI, a good performance (in terms of the sum rate of both user types) can be achieved if a small performance loss is tolerated by cellular users. In addition, we propose a novel approach for interference management which only requires the information on the number of D2D users without any knowledge about their CSI. This blind approach can achieve a small outage probability with very low computational complexity when the number of scheduled D2D users is small. We then study the problem of mode selection, i.e., if a user should transmit in the D2D mode or in the conventional cellular mode. We identify the decision criteria for both overlay and underlay scenarios with two different objectives. We find out that the D2D communication is beneficial in macro cells or at cell boundaries. The area in which D2D mode is optimal varies with the objective of the network, transmit power, required quality-of-service, and the number of BS antennas. In the second part of this thesis, we study the effects of integration and coexistence of underlay D2D communications with another promising technology proposed for 5G, namely massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO). Potential benefits of both technologies are known individually, but the possibility of and performance gains from their coexistence are not adequately addressed. We evaluate the performance of this hybrid network in terms of energy efficiency and the average sum rate. Comprehensive analysis reveals that the performance highly depends on the D2D user density. We conclude that underlay D2D communications can only coexist with massive MIMO systems in the regime of low D2D user density. By introducing a high number of D2D users, gains from the massive MIMO technology degrade rapidly, and therefore in this case, the D2D communications should use the overlay approach rather than the underlay, or the network should only allow a subset of D2D transmissions to be active at a time.<br>Den stora ökningen i mobildatatrafik de senaste åren har tilldragit sig mycket intresse. Med nuvarande infrastruktur och radioresurser kommer inte mobiloperatörerna att kunna hantera de kommande kraven. Därför har diskussioner kring den femte generationens (5G) mobila nätverk startat inom både akademin och industrin. Utöver högre kapacitet så kommer strikta krav på ökad energieffektivitet, minskad fördröjning samt ökad tillförlitlighet att planeras för 5G. En av många lösningar som har föreslagits är enhet-till-enhetskommunikation (device-to-device communications, D2D, på engelska), vilket innebär att närliggande mobilanvändare kan sända direkt till varandra utan att gå genom basstationen.  I denna avhandling identifierar vi kompromisser och problem kring, samt föreslår lösningar för, integrering av D2D-kommunikation i cellulära nätverk. Viktiga faktorer för att maximera vinsten av sådan integrering är resursallokering och störningshantering. Avhandlingen börjar med att beskriva samarbetet mellan D2D- och cellulära användare för att minska störningen mellan de två användartyperna, samt för att identifiera scenarier där denna typ av samarbete kan vara fördelaktigt. Vi visar att samarbetssannolikheten ökar med antalet cellulära användare i täckningsområdet, samt när cellstorleken ökar. Denna typ av samarbete kan användas för att öka antalet ansluta enheter, minska fördröjningen, öka cellsummadatataken eller avlasta överlastade celler.  Härnäst studerar vi D2D-kommunikation underliggande upplänken i cellulära nätverk. I ett sådant scenario bestäms eventuell vinst från resursdelning (t.ex. i tid, frekvens eller rymd) av hur störningen hanteras. Kvaliteten och prestandan hos störningshanteringen beror på tillgängligheten av kanalkännedom och information om nodernas position, samt uppdateringsfrekvensen för dessa. Ju mer information som behövs, desto mer signalering krävs, vilket leder till högre effektförbrukning hos användarna. Vi undersöker kompromissen mellan fullt tillgänglig kanalkännedom, vilket kräver momentan information, och ett scenario där kanalkännedomen är begränsad, vilket enbart kräver uppdatering med låg frekvens. Våra resultat visar att god summadatatakt kan uppnås när enbart begränsad kanalkännedom är tillgänglig, om en liten prestandaförlust tillåts för cellulära användare. Vi föreslår dessutom en ny metod för störningshantering som enbart kräver information om antalet D2D-användare, utan vetskap om deras kanalkännedom. Denna blinda metod kan uppnå hög täckningssannolikhet med låg beräkningskomplexitet när antalet schemalagda D2D-användare är lågt. Vi studerar även lägesvalsproblemet, dvs. om en användare ska sända i D2D-läge eller i konventionellt cellulärt läge. Vi karaktäriserar beslutskriterierna för både överliggande och underliggande scenarier med två olika objektivfunktioner och visar att D2D-kommunikation är fördelaktig i makroceller samt vid cellkanterna. Området för D2D-optimalitet varierar med objektivfunktionen för nätverket, sändeffekten, servicekvalitetskraven och antalet basstationsantenner.  I den andra delen av avhandlingen så studerar vi effekter kring integrering och samexistens av underliggande D2D-kommunikation med en annan lovande teknologi för 5G, nämligen massiv multiple input-multiple output (massiv MIMO). De individuella fördelarna för de två teknologierna är välkända, men eventuella prestandavinster när teknologierna samexisterar har inte studeras tillräckligt. Vi undersöker prestanda i detta hybridnätverk i termer av energieffektivitet och genomsnittlig summadatatakt. En noggrann analys visar att prestandan beror på tätheten av D2D-användare. Vi drar slutsatsen att underliggande D2D-kommunikation bara kan samexistera med massiv MIMO när tätheten av D2D-användare är låg. När det existerar många D2D-användare minskas prestandavinsten från massiv MIMO snabbt och därför bör D2D-kommunikationen ske i överliggande läge istället för underliggande läge. Alternativt kan nätverket tillåta att enbart en delmängd av D2D-sändningar är aktiva samtidigt.<br><p>QC 20150529</p>

Over the past decade, the proliferation of internet equipment and an increasing number of people moving into cities have significantly influenced mobile data demand density and intensity. To accommodate the increasing demands, the fifth generation (5G) wireless systems standards emerged in 2014. Device-to-device communications (D2D) is one of the three primary technologies to address the key performance indicators of the 5G network. D2D communications enable devices to communicate data information directly with each other without access to a fixed wireless infrastructure. The potential advantages of D2D communications include throughput enhancement, device energy saving and coverage expansion. The economic attraction to mobile operators is that significant capacity and coverage gains can be achieved without having to invest in network-side hardware upgrades or new cell deployments. However, there are technical challenges related to D2D and conventional cellular communication (CC) in co-existence, especially their mutual interference due to spectrum sharing. A novel interference-aware-routing for multi-hop D2D is introduced for reducing the mutual interference. The first verification scenario of interference-aware-routing is that in a real urban environment. D2D is used for relaying data across the urban terrain, in the presence of CC communications. Different wireless routing algorithms are considered, namely: shortest-path-routing, interference-aware-routing, and broadcast-routing. In general, the interference-aware-routing achieves a better performance of reliability and there is a fundamental trade-off between D2D and CC outage performances, due to their mutual interference relationship. Then an analytical stochastic geometry framework is developed to compare the performance of shortest-path-routing and interference-aware-routing. Based on the results, the spatial operational envelopes for different D2D routing algorithms and CC transmissions based on the user equipment (UEs) physical locations are defined. There is a forbidden area of D2D because of the interference from the base stations (BSs), so the collision probability of the D2D multi-hop path hitting the defined D2D forbidden area is analysed. Depend on the result of the collision probability, a dynamic switching strategy between D2D and CC communications in order to minimise mutual interference is proposed. A blind gradient-based transmission switching strategy is developed to avoid collision within the collision area and only requires knowledge of the distances to the serving base station of the current user and the final destination user. In the final part of my research, the concept of LTE-U (Long term evolution for Unlicensed Spectrum), which suggests that LTE can operate in the unlicensed spectrum with significant modifications to its transmission protocols, is investigated. How the envisaged D2D networks can efficiently scale their capacity by utilising the unlicensed spectrum with appropriately designed LTE-Unlicensed protocols is examined.

5G will be different from previous cellular generations in the fact that it will enable the cellular industry, besides offering superior broadband services, to conquer vertical industries such as vehicular communication, factory automation, healthcare and many more. Many of these use cases have challenging and quite often contradicting requirements in terms of data rate, latency, power consumption and so on. This suggests that 5G needs to adopt a flexible architecture that can adapt to different devices and traffic requirements. Consequently, a fresh look onto how cellular networks are currently designed and deployed is needed. Historically, cellular networks have relied on the axiomatic role of cells as the cornerstone of the radio access network. Cellular systems have witnessed several recent trends such as the increased heterogeneity in infrastructure and spectrum as well as the rise of different traffic types with different requirements. These trends have called for a shift from the cell-centric architecture approach to a more device-centric architecture where a user or a device should be able to communicate with the network by exchanging information over multiple traffic flows through several sets of heterogeneous nodes. This design concept suggests to drop the rigid cell-centric concept and move to a more flexible design where information is exchanged in the most efficient way possible disregarding in which cell the device is located. This thesis features a comprehensive study of some of the technological enablers of the device-centric 5G architecture vision where we start by motivating the need for this architectural change by presenting the envisioned use cases and requirements of 5G and how the current cellular designs are lacking the flexibility and agility to satisfy the 5G ambition. The main contribution of the thesis is on Downlink and Uplink Decoupling (DUDe) where we pioneered the research on this disruptive 5G architectural design. The traditional way for users to associate to the cellular network is through coupled association where a device associates in both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) to the same cell. However, the ever increasing density and heterogeneity of cellular networks have rendered the traditional design concepts such as coupled cell association obsolete and highly suboptimal. In simple words, a device connecting in the DL to a high power macro cell from which it receives the highest signal power might want to connect in the UL to a small cell to which the pathloss is lower. Therefore, DUDe solves the UL and DL coverage imbalance problem caused by the different transmit powers from the different tiers. The UL and DL imbalance could also be caused by imbalance in the UL and DL loads, interference and traffic requirements. The concept of DUDe is ground breaking in the sense that it introduces the notion of treating the UL and DL as two separate network entities emphasizing the fact that these two entities have different transmission and traffic requirements. The thesis features a comprehensive simulation study on DUDe using Vodafone’s small cell live network deployment in conjunction with a high resolution 3D ray tracing propagation model as well as user deployments based on traffic measurements to guarantee the most realistic simulation setup. Using this setup, the superiority of DUDe compared to baseline LTE is shown in terms of data rate, outage, channel quality and many more parameters. The evaluation starts by examining the basic form of DUDe where the UL and DL associations are based on pathloss and DL received power respectively which is followed by a more complicated form of DUDe where the UL association takes into account the cell load and the backhaul capacity. An extensive theoretical evaluation of DUDe using tools from stochastic geometry is then presented where cell association and SINR/rate distributions are evaluated in great detail for a sub-6GHz deployment as well as a mixed millimeter wave and sub-6GHz deployment. In addition, the architectural aspect is extensively discussed highlighting the support of DUDe in current 4G networks as well as the changes needed for a native support in future 5G networks. The second aspect covered in this thesis is Device-to-Device (D2D) communications. D2D allows to establish a direct link between devices in the same vicinity to exchange data instead of going through the traditional way through the network infrastructure. D2D is considered to be another important aspect of the device-centric framework as it allows devices to exchange information in the most efficient way possible through a direct communications without the need to abide by the normal cellular way of conveying data. The cell association in a D2D enabled network is studied through an optimization framework considering a decoupled access regime. In addition, novel resource management techniques for D2D communications are presented considering bio-inspired genetic algorithms. Finally, the thesis is concluded by a summary of the findings and takeaways from the conducted research along with some directions for future work.

Due to an ever-increasing global population and limited resource availability, there is a constant need for detection of both natural and anthropogenic hazards in water, air, food, and material goods. Traditionally a different instrument would be used to detect each class of contaminant, often after a concentration or separation protocol to extract the analyte from its matrix. Raman spectroscopy is unique in its ability to detect organic or inorganic, airborne or waterborne, and embedded or adsorbed analytes within environmental systems. This ability comes from the inherent abilities of the Raman spectrometer combined with concentration, separation, and signal enhancement provided by drop coating deposition Raman (DCDR) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Herein the capacity of DCDR to differentiate between cyanotoxin variants in aqueous solutions was demonstrated using principal component analysis (PCA) to statistically demonstrate spectral differentiation. A set of rules was outlined based on Raman peak ratios to allow an inexperienced user to determine the toxin variant identity from its Raman spectrum. DCDR was also employed for microcystin-LR (MC-LR) detection in environmental waters at environmentally relevant concentrations, after pre-concentration with solid-phase extraction (SPE). In a cellulose matrix, SERS and normal Raman spectral imaging revealed nanoparticle transport and deposition patterns, illustrating that nanoparticle surface coating dictated the observed transport properties. Both SERS spectral imaging and insight into analyte transport in wax-printed paper microfluidic channels will ultimately be useful for microfluidic paper-based analytical device (𝜇PAD) development. Within algal cells, SERS produced 3D cellular images in the presence of intracellularly biosynthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNP), documenting in detail the molecular vibrations of biomolecules at the AuNP surfaces. Molecules involved in nanoparticle biosynthesis were identified at AuNP surfaces within algal cells, thus aiding in mechanism elucidation. The capabilities of Raman spectroscopy are endless, especially in light of SERS tag design, coordinating detection of analytes that do not inherently produce strong Raman vibrations. The increase in portable Raman spectrometer availability will only facilitate cheaper, more frequent application of Raman spectrometry both in the field and the lab. The tremendous detection power of the Raman spectrometer cannot be ignored.<br>Ph. D.

Antennas are one of the most sensitive elements in any wireless communication equipment. Designing small-profile, multiband and wideband internal antennas with a simple structure has become a necessary challenge. In this thesis, two planar antennas are designed, simulated and implemented on an effort to cover the LTE-M1 and NB-IoT radio frequencies. The cellular antenna is designed to receive and transmit data over the eight-band LTE700/GSM/UMTS, and the GNSS antenna is designed to receive signal from the global positioning system and global navigation systems, GPS (USA) and GLONASS. The antennas are suitable for direct print on the system circuit board of a device. Related theory and research work are discussed and referenced, providing a strong configuration for future use. Recommendations and suggestions on future work are also discussed. The proposed antenna system is more than promising and with further adjustments and refinement can lead to a fully working solution.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division, 2006.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-45).<br>There is a great need in the fields of biology, medicine, and pharmaceuticals to create high-throughput devices for the detection of specific cell states in a heterogeneous mixture of cells. The desire is to differentiate among diseased and healthy cells, cell age, and cell type with the minimum amount of sample pretreatment. This project addresses this need by developing microfluidic devices that exploit the adhesion differences between cell states and cell types to rapidly count cells of different types without the need for labels. There are two avenues in which to explore cell adhesion differences with these devices, the first is a net electrostatic change at the surface of the cell wall and the second is the presence of specific cell-membrane adhesion proteins. It is hypothesized that the forced interaction of the cell wall with the microfabricated microcapillary walls would result in a differential velocity based on cell type that could be detected simply using a microscope and video camera or an interferometer. The eventual integration of cell velocity detection would result in a portable all-inclusive lab-on-a-chip system that could be used in the field for detecting the presence of diseases, such as malaria and cancer as well as in a lab setting for drug discovery.<br>by Kristen M. Naegle.<br>S.M.

This thesis discusses the research, experimental methods, and data gathered for the investigation of a novel method for the diagnosis of melanoma skin cancer. First, a background about human skin tissue is presented. Then, a detailed description of melanoma along with current diagnosis techniques and treatment options are presented. In the experimental methods, the electrical properties of several types of tissue were analyzed, the purpose of which was to discover if a tissue type can be distinguished by its electrical properties alone. This would allow for the diagnosis of melanoma to be done by examining the electrical properties of the suspected tumor and comparing the results to known values of healthy and cancerous skin. After analyzing the data, it was concluded that tissue types can be identified by their electrical properties and it may be possible to diagnose melanoma through this method. Finally, the possibility of using a similar technology and radiofrequency tissue ablation to treat melanoma is presented.

La mécanique cellulaire est impliquée dans de nombreux processus biologiques tels que l'adhésion, la migration ou la différenciation. Évaluer les propriétés mécaniques des éléments cellulaires est essentiel pour comprendre leur fonction dans ces processus et permet d'anticiper les perturbations en cas d'altérations pathologiques. Cependant, les techniques traditionnellement utilisées pour caractériser mécaniquement les cellules ne permettent pas d’éliminer les interactions entre les différents éléments cellulaires lors des mesures. L’acoustique picoseconde offre une nouvelle opportunité grâce à la génération et à la détection d’ondes acoustiques dont les fréquences peuvent atteindre le térahertz. Nous avons élaboré un protocole expérimental pour effectuer des mesures d’acoustique picoseconde sur des cellules vivantes immergées dans un milieu de culture. À l’aide d’une chambre d’imagerie, conçue pour la microscopie directe et inversée, et d’un transducteur opto-acoustique biocompatible, nous pouvons réaliser des mesures non invasives des propriétés mécaniques avec une résolution spatiale micrométrique. Nous avons ensuite étudié l'impact de la fixation sur la structure interne du noyau, à l'aide de la diffusion Brillouin résolue en temps. Cette étude démontre que la célérité acoustique dans le noyau augmente avec la fixation. Ces changements ne sont pas homogènes, mais affectent principalement les éléments du nucléoplasme présentant la fréquence Brillouin la plus faible. Nous avons également démontré l’importance de maintenir l’hydratation des cellules fixées pour éviter les modifications irréversibles provoquées par la déshydratation. En effet, les cellules réhydratées ne retrouvent pas les mêmes propriétés mécaniques que celles qu’elles avaient avant la déshydratation. Enfin, nous avons étudié, grâce à une analyse statistique sur un grand nombre de cellules souches mésenchymateuses et d’ostéoblastes, comment la structure interne du noyau évolue avec la différenciation. En comparant les cellules incubées pendant 24 heures avec celles ayant été incubées pendant 14 jours dans un milieu ostéogénique, nous avons observé que les cellules différenciées présentaient une concentration de chromatine plus élevée que les cellules non différenciées. Cette concentration se traduit par une augmentation de la fréquence Brillouin, qui est attribuée à un changement de la rigidité du noyau<br>Cell mechanics is involved in several biological processes such as adhesion, migration, or differentiation. Evaluating the mechanical properties of cellular elements is essential to understand their function in these processes and allows anticipating disruptions in case of pathological alterations. However, the techniques traditionally used to mechanically characterize cells do not allow eliminating interactions between different cellular elements during measurements. Picosecond acoustics offer a new opportunity thanks to the generation and detection of acoustic waves whose frequencies can reach the terahertz. We have developed an experimental protocol to perform picosecond acoustic measurements on living cells immersed in a culture medium. Using an imaging chamber, designed for direct and inverted microscopy, and a biocompatible opto-acoustic transducer, we can perform non-invasive measurements of mechanical properties with micrometric spatial resolution. We then studied the impact of fixation on the internal structure of the nucleus, using time-resolved Brillouin scattering. This study shows that the acoustic velocity in the nucleus increases with fixation. These changes are not homogeneous but mainly affect the elements of the nucleoplasm presenting the lowest Brillouin frequency. We also demonstrated the importance of maintaining hydration of fixed cells to avoid irreversible modifications caused by dehydration. Indeed, rehydrated cells do not recover the same mechanical properties as they had before dehydration. Finally, we studied, thanks to a statistical analysis on a large number of mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblasts, how the internal structure of the nucleus evolves with differentiation. By comparing cells incubated for 24 hours with those incubated for 14 days in an osteogenic medium, we observed that differentiated cells had a higher chromatin concentration than undifferentiated cells. This concentration results in an increase in Brillouin frequency, which is attributed to a change in nuclear rigidity

L'explosion du trafic dans les réseaux mobiles d'aujourd'hui est l'une des préoccupations majeures des opérateurs mobiles. En effet, entre investir dans le développement de l’infrastructure pour supporter l’évolution des besoins des utilisateurs et faire face à la concurrence accrue des nouveaux acteurs du marché, l’enjeu est considérable. Dans ce contexte, les communications Device-to-Device (D2D) offrent aux opérateurs mobiles de nouvelles opportunités aussi bien financières que techniques, à travers les communications directes entre les appareils mobiles permettant de délester le réseau d'une partie du trafic. L'organisme de standardisation 3GPP a défini des évolutions de son architecture LTE/4G fonctionnelle pour supporter les communications D2D dans le cadre de Services de Proximité (ProSe). Cependant, les modèles économiques autour de ces nouveaux services sont encore flous et les solutions actuellement proposées par le 3GPP visent un déploiement à court terme d’un ensemble limité de services (ex : les services de sécurité publique). La première contribution proposée dans le cadre de cette thèse est une évolution de l'architecture ProSe vers une architecture cible distribuée dans laquelle les fonctions liées à ProSe sont mutualisées avec d'autres fonctions réseaux. La deuxième contribution porte sur l’intégration des services véhiculaires dans les réseaux mobiles en tant que services ProSe particuliers reposant sur les communications D2D. L'architecture CVS (Cellular Vehicular Services) est alors proposée comme solution pour un déploiement à grande échelle des services véhiculaires en s'appuyant sur une nouvelle évolution de l’architecture ProSe distribuée. Un algorithme de « clustering » ainsi que des procédures de communication en mode relais D2D sont utilisés dans la conception de la solution afin d’optimiser l'usage des ressources du réseau. Enfin, les performances de ces contributions sont évaluées à l'aide de modèles analytiques et de simulations afin de valider les approches et solutions proposées<br>The traffic explosion in today’s mobile networks is one of the major concerns of mobile operators. This explosion is mostly widening the gap between networks’ capacities and users’ growing needs in terms of bandwidth and QoS (Quality of Service), which directly impacts operators’ business profitability. In this context, Device-to-Device (D2D) communications offer mobile operators business and technical opportunities by allowing the network traffic offload with D2D direct communications between mobile devices. The recent standardization of D2D-based services as Proximity Services (ProSe) by the 3GPP provides already a set of enhancements to the current LTE/4G architecture to support these services. However, still in its infancy, the proposed solutions are envisioned for short-term market deployments and for a limited set of service categories (i.e public safety services). As a first contribution of this thesis, the proposed Distributed ProSe Architecture enhances the current ProSe architecture for a longer term deployment perspective of D2D-based services. On the basis of this enhanced architecture, vehicular communications and related services are further investigated as a specific implementation of ProSe as well as a new market opportunity for mobile operators. The CVS (Cellular Vehicular Services) solution is then introduced as an architecture framework that enables the integration of vehicular networks into mobile operators’ network infrastructure. A mobile network clustering algorithm and D2D relay-based communication mechanisms are used in the solution design in order to optimize the use of both core and radio network resources. Performance evaluation through analytical modeling and simulations are also carried out to validate the proposed contributions