This book covers the latest advances in the techniques employed to manage the THz radiation and its potential uses. It has been subdivided in three sections: THz Detectors, THz Sources, Systems and Applications. These three sections will allow the reader to be introduced in a logical way to the physics problems of sensing and generation of the terahertz radiation, the implementation of these devices into systems including other components and finally the exploitation of the equipment for real applications in some different field. All of the sections and chapters can be individually addressed in order to deepen the understanding of a single topic without the need to read the whole book. The THz Detectors section will address the latest developments in detection devices based on three different physical principles: photodetection, thermal power detection, rectification. The THz Sources section will describe three completely different generation methods, operating in three separate scales: quantum cascade lasers, free electron lasers and non-linear optical generation. The Systems and Applications section will take care of introducing many of the aspects needed to move from a device to an equipment perspective: control of terahertz radiation, its use in imaging or in spectroscopy, potential uses in security, and will address also safety issues. The text book is at a level appropriate to graduate level courses up to researchers in the field who require a reference book covering all aspects of terahertz technology.

The acquisition and interpretation of images is a central capability in almost all scientific and technological domains. In particular, the acquisition of electromagnetic radiation, in the form of visible light, UV, infrared, X-ray, etc. is of enormous practical importance. The ultimate sensitivity in electronic imaging is the detection of individual photons. With this book, the first comprehensive review of all aspects of single-photon electronic imaging has been created. Topics include theoretical basics, semiconductor fabrication, single-photon detection principles, imager design and applications of different spectral domains. Today, the solid-state fabrication capabilities for several types of image sensors has advanced to a point, where uncoooled single-photon electronic imaging will soon become a consumer product. This book is giving a specialists view from different domains to the forthcoming "single-photon imaging" revolution. The various aspects of single-photon imaging are treated by internationally renowned, leading scientists and technologists who have all pioneered their respective fields.

The book explores various aspects of existing and emerging fiber and waveguide optics sensing and imaging technologies including recent advances in nanobiophotonics. The focus is both on fundamental and applied research as well as on applications in civil engineering, biomedical sciences, environment, security and defence. The main goal of the multi-disciplinary team of Editors was to provide a useful reference of state-of-the-art overviews covering a variety of complementary topics on the interface of engineering and biomedical sciences.

Digital Functions and Data Reconstruction: Digital-Discrete Methods provides a solid foundation to the theory of digital functions and its applications to image data analysis, digital object deformation, and data reconstruction. This new method has a unique feature in that it is mainly built on discrete mathematics with connections to classical methods in mathematics and computer sciences. Digitally continuous functions and gradually varied functions were developed in the late 1980s. A. Rosenfeld (1986) proposed digitally continuous functions for digital image analysis, especially to describe the "continuous" component in a digital image, which usually indicates an object. L. Chen (1989) invented gradually varied functions to interpolate a digital surface when the boundary appears to be continuous. In theory, digitally continuous functions are very similar to gradually varied functions. Gradually varied functions are more general in terms of being functions of real numbers; digitally continuous functions are easily extended to the mapping from one digital space to another. This will be the first book about digital functions, which is an important modern research area for digital images and digitalized data processing, and provides an introduction and comprehensive coverage of digital function methods. Digital Functions and Data Reconstruction: Digital-Discrete Methods offers scientists and engineers who deal with digital data a highly accessible, practical, and mathematically sound introduction to the powerful theories of digital topology and functional analysis, while avoiding the more abstruse aspects of these topics.

Discusses the basic physical principles underlying Biomedical Photonics, spectroscopy and microscopy This volume discusses biomedical photonics, spectroscopy and microscopy, the basic physical principles underlying the technology and its applications. The topics discussed in this volume are: Biophotonics; Fluorescence and Phosphorescence; Medical Photonics; Microscopy; Nonlinear Optics; Ophthalmic Technology; Optical Tomography; Optofluidics; Photodynamic Therapy; Image Processing; Imaging Systems; Sensors; Single Molecule Detection; Futurology in Photonics. * Comprehensive and accessible coverage of the whole of modern photonics * Emphasizes processes and applications that specifically exploit photon attributes of light * Deals with the rapidly advancing area of modern optics * Chapters are written by top scientists in their field Written for the graduate level student in physical sciences; Industrial and academic researchers in photonics, graduate students in the area; College lecturers, educators, policymakers, consultants, Scientific and technical libraries, government laboratories, NIH.

This book highlights the latest advances and trends in advanced signal processing (such as wavelet theory, time-frequency analysis, empirical mode decomposition, compressive sensing and sparse representation, and stochastic resonance) for structural health monitoring (SHM). Its primary focus is on the utilization of advanced signal processing techniques to help monitor the health status of critical structures and machines encountered in our daily lives: wind turbines, gas turbines, machine tools, etc. As such, it offers a key reference guide for researchers, graduate students, and industry professionals who work in the field of SHM.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to advanced methods for image and video analysis and processing. It covers deraining, dehazing, inpainting, fusion, watermarking and stitching. It describes techniques for face and lip recognition, facial expression recognition, lip reading in videos, moving object tracking, dynamic scene classification, among others. The book combines the latest machine learning methods with computer vision applications, covering topics such as event recognition based on deep learning,dynamic scene classification based on topic model, person re-identification based on metric learning and behavior analysis. It also offers a systematic introduction to image evaluation criteria showing how to use them in different experimental contexts. The book offers an example-based practical guide to researchers, professionals and graduate students dealing with advanced problems in image analysis and computer vision.

This book initiates a new digital multimedia standards series. The purpose of the series is to make information about digital multimedia standards readilyavailable. Both tutorial and advanced topics will be covered in the series, often in one book. Our hope is that users will find the series helpful in deciding what standards to support and use while implementors will d- cover a wealth of technical details that help them implement those standards correctly. In today's global economy standards are increasingly important. Yet until a standard is widely used, most of the benefits of standardization are not realized. We hope that standards committee chairpeople will organize and encourage a book in this series devoted to their new standard. This can be a forum to share and preserve some ofthe "why" and "how" that went into the development of the standard and, in the process, assist in the rapid adoption of the standard. Already in production for this series are books titled Digital Video: - troduction to MPEG-2 and Data Compression in Digital Systems.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS, have become an efficient, reliable and standard tool for a wide range of applications. However, when processing GNSS data, the stochastic model characterising the precision of observations and the correlations between them is usually simplified and incomplete, leading to overly optimistic accuracy estimates. This work extends the stochastic model using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurements and time series analysis of observation residuals. The proposed SNR-based observation weighting model significantly improves the results of GPS data analysis, while the temporal correlation of GPS observation noise can be efficiently described by means of autoregressive moving average (ARMA) processes. Furthermore, this work includes an up-to-date overview of the GNSS error effects and a comprehensive description of various mathematical methods.

The contributions in this volume were presented at a NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Erice, Italy, 4-19 July 2013. Many aspects of important research into nanophotonics, plasmonics, semiconductor materials and devices, instrumentation for bio sensing to name just a few, are covered in depth in this volume. The growing connection between optics and electronics, due to the increasing important role plaid by semiconductor materials and devices, find their expression in the term photonics, which also reflects the importance of the photon aspect of light in the description of the performance of several optical systems. Nano-structures have unique capabilities that allow the enhanced performance of processes of interest in optical and photonic devices. In particular these structures permit the nanoscale manipulation of photons, electrons and atoms; they represent a very hot topic of research and are relevant to many devices and applications.
The various subjects bridge over the disciplines of physics, biology and chemistry, making this volume of interest to people working in these fields. The emphasis is on the principles behind each technique and on examining the full potential of each technique."

For more than a century, microscopy has been a centerpiece of extraordinary discoveries in biology. Along the way, remarkable imaging tools have been developed allowing scientists to dissect the complexity of cellular processes at the nano length molecular scales. Nanoimaging: Methods and Protocols presents a diverse collection of microscopy techniques and methodologies that provides guidance to successfully image cellular molecular complexes at nanometer spatial resolution. The book's four parts cover: (1) light microscopy techniques with a special emphasis on methods that go beyond the classic diffraction-limited imaging; (2) electron microscopy techniques for high-resolution imaging of molecules, cells and tissues, in both two and three dimensions; (3) scanning probe microscopy techniques for imaging and probing macromolecular complexes and membrane surface topography; and (4) complementary techniques on correlative microscopy, soft x-ray tomography and secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging. Written in the successful format of the Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and accessible, Nanoimaging: Methods and Protocols highlights many of the most exciting possibilities in microscopy for the investigation of biological structures at the nano length molecular scales.

The development of advanced dielectric photonic structures has enabled tremendous control over the propagation and manipulation of light. Structures such as waveguides, splitters, mixers, and resonators now play a central role in the telecommunications industry. This book will discuss an exciting new class of photonic devices, known as surface plasmon nanophotonic structures. Surface plasmons are easily accessible excitations in metals and semiconductors and involve a collective motion of the conduction electrons. The book will highlight several exciting new discoveries, while providing a clear discussion of the underlying physics, the nanofabrication issues, and the materials considerations involved in designing plasmonic devices with new functionality. It is written at the level of a first year graduate student with some background in electromagnetic theory and working knowledge of Maxwell's equations.

Dialect Accent Features for Establishing Speaker Identity: A Case Study discusses the subject of forensic voice identification and speaker profiling. Specifically focusing on speaker profiling and using dialects of the Hindi language, widely used in India, the authors have contributed to the body of research on speaker identification by using accent feature as the discriminating factor. This case study contributes to the understanding of the speaker identification process in a situation where unknown speech samples are in different language/dialect than the recording of a suspect. The authors' data establishes that vowel quality, quantity, intonation and tone of a speaker as compared to Khariboli (standard Hindi) could be the potential features for identification of dialect accent.

Mathematical morphology is a powerful methodology for the processing and analysis of geometric structure in signals and images. This book contains the proceedings of the fifth International Symposium on Mathematical Morphology and its Applications to Image and Signal Processing, held June 26-28, 2000, at Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, California. It provides a broad sampling of the most recent theoretical and practical developments of mathematical morphology and its applications to image and signal processing. Areas covered include: decomposition of structuring functions and morphological operators, morphological discretization, filtering, connectivity and connected operators, morphological shape analysis and interpolation, texture analysis, morphological segmentation, morphological multiresolution techniques and scale-spaces, and morphological algorithms and applications. Audience: The subject matter of this volume will be of interest to electrical engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians whose research work is focused on the theoretical and practical aspects of nonlinear signal and image processing. It will also be of interest to those working in computer vision, applied mathematics, and computer graphics.

This book is dedicated to the analysis and design of analog CMOS nonlinear function synthesizer structures, based on original superior-order approximation functions. A variety of analog function synthesizer structures are discussed, based on accurate approximation functions. Readers will be enabled to implement numerous circuit functions with applications in analog signal processing, including exponential, Gaussian or hyperbolic functions. Generalizing the methods for obtaining these particular functions, the author analyzes superior-order approximation functions, which represent the core for developing CMOS analog nonlinear function synthesizers.

The book focuses on the different aspects of sensing technology, i.e. high reliability, adaptability, recalibration, information processing, data fusion, validation and integration of novel and high performance sensors specifically aims to monitor agricultural and environmental parameters. This book is dedicated to Sensing systems for Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring offers to variety of users, namely, Master and PhD degree students, researchers, practitioners, especially Agriculture and Environmental engineers. The book will provide an opportunity of a dedicated and a deep approach in order to improve their knowledge in this specific field.

In a computational tour-de-force, this volume wipes away a host of problems related to location discovery in wireless ad-hoc sensor networks. WASNs have recognized potential in many applications that are location-dependent, yet are heavily constrained by factors such as cost and energy consumption. Their "ad-hoc" nature, with direct rather than mediated connections between a network of wireless devices, adds another layer of difficulty. Basing this work entirely on data-driven, coordinated algorithms, the author's aim is to present location discovery techniques that are highly accurate-and which fit user criteria. The research deploys nonparametric statistical methods and relies on the concept of joint probability to construct error (including location error) models and environmental field models. It also addresses system issues such as the broadcast and scheduling of the beacon. Reporting an impressive accuracy gain of almost 17 percent, and organized in a clear, sequential manner, this book represents a stride forward in wireless localization.

This edited monograph is written by leading experts in this area and is the first book entirely devoted to Raman amplification. Three sections include extensive background on Raman physics, descriptions of sub-systems and modules utilizing Raman technology, and a review of current state-of-the-art systems.

Perspectives in Spread Spectrum brings together studies and recent work on six exciting topics from the spread spectrum arts. The book gives a wide, collective view of trends, ideas, and techniques in the spread spectrum discipline, due to the authors' extensive work on spread spectrum techniques and applications from different vantage points. The inexorable march of electronics towards ever faster, ever smaller, and ever more powerful electronic and optical circuitry has wrought, and will continue to enable, profound changes in the spread spectrum arts, by allowing increasingly complex signalling waveforms and statistical tests to be implemented as the theory beyond spread spectrum continues to evolve. Perspectives in Spread Spectrum is divided into six chapters. The first chapter deals with sequence spreading design. There is not a single metric for design of spreading sequences; rather, the design is ideally tailored to the specific scenario of usage. This chapter delves into recent and very promising synthesis work. The second chapter deals with OFDM techniques. As channels become wider and trans-channel fading (or jamming) becomes frequency selective across the band, OFDM techniques may provide a powerful alternative design perspective. The third chapter is a generalization of the venerable Walsh functions. A new modulation scheme, Geometric Harmonic Modulation, GHM for short, is reviewed and characterized as a form of OFDM. From GHM, a further generalization of the Walsh functions is derived for non-binary signalling. The fourth chapter is concerned with some new and exciting results regarding the follower jammer paradigm. A counter-countermeasure technique is reviewed, notable for its counterintuitive characteristic which can be understood from a simple yet elegant game framework. The fifth chapter recounts some results pertaining to random coding for an optical spread spectrum link. The technique is based on laser speckle statistics and uses a coherent array of spatial light modulators at the transmitter but allows the receiver to be realized as a spatially distributed radiometric and therefore incoherent structure. The sixth and final chapter looks at an important and interesting application of spread spectrum to accurately locate a wideband, 'bent pipe', satellite transponder. It is, in a strong sense, an inverted GPS technique. Perspectives in Spread Spectrum serves as an excellent reference and source of ideas for further research, and may be used as a text for advanced courses on the topic.

Nonlinear Photonics and Novel Optical Phenomena contains contributed chapters from leading experts in nonlinear optics and photonics, and provides a comprehensive survey of fundamental concepts as well as hot topics in current research on nonlinear optical waves and related novel phenomena. The book covers self-accelerating airy beams, integrated photonics based on high index doped-silica glass, linear and nonlinear spatial beam dynamics in photonic lattices and waveguide arrays, the theory of polariton solitons in semiconductor microcavities, and Terahertz waves.

This book describes the algorithms and computer architectures used to create and analyze photographs in modern digital cameras. It also puts the capabilities of digital cameras into context for applications in art, entertainment, and video analysis. The author discusses the entire range of topics relevant to digital camera design, including image processing, computer vision, image sensors, system-on-chip, and optics, while clearly describing the interactions between design decisions at these different levels of abstraction. Readers will benefit from this comprehensive view of digital camera design, describing the range of algorithms used to compose, enhance, and analyze images, as well as the characteristics of optics, image sensors, and computing platforms that determine the physical limits of image capture and computing. The content is designed to be used by algorithm designers and does not require an extensive background in optics or electronics.

Optical microscopy and associated technologies advanced quickly after the introduction of the laser. The techniques have stimulated further development of optical imaging theory, including 3-dimensional microscopy imaging theory in spatial and frequency domains, the theory of imaging with ultrashort-pulse beams and aberration theory for high-numerical-aperture objectives. This book introduces these new theories in terms of modern optical microscopy. It consists of seven chapters including an introduction. The chapters are organized to minimize cross-referencing. Comparisons with classical imaging theory are made when the new imaging theory is introduced. The book is intended for senior undergraduate students in courses on optoelectronics, optical engineering, photonics, biophotonics and applied physics, after they have completed modern optics or a similar subject. It is also a reference for other scientists interested in the field.

This book is designed as an introductory course for undergraduate students, in Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Chemical and Petroleum engineering, who need fundamental knowledge of electrical circuits. Worked out examples have been presented after discussing each theory. Practice problems have also been included to enrich the learning experience of the students and professionals. PSpice and Multisim software packages have been included for simulation of different electrical circuit parameters. A number of exercise problems have been included in the book to aid faculty members.