Electromagnetic waves are guided by open structures in a variety of applications at radio, microwave, millimetric and optical frequencies. Examples range from the propogation of radiowaves down the shaft of an oil rig to that of light through an optical fibre. As the guide is open, radiation may also be present, for example from a microstrip-fed patch or a slot antenna. These twin aspects of waveguiding and radiation are in fact closely interwoven and this book is the first to deal with the two by means of a single mathematical formalism.

Open resonator microwave sensors allow accurate sensing, monitoring and measurement of properties such as dimension and moisture content in materials including dielectrics, rubber, polymers, paper, fabrics and wood veneers. This book presents a coherent and entirely practical approach to the design and use of systems based on these sensors in industrial environments, showing how they can provide meaningful, accurate and industrially-viable methods of gauging.

The optical fiber industry has experienced a period of consolidation and reorganization and is now poised for a new surge in growth. To take advantage of that growth, and to respond to the demand to use fiber more efficiently, designers need a better understanding of fiber optics. Taking the approach that optical fibers are an extension of RF-based communications, the author explains basic optical concepts, applications, and systems; the nature and performance characteristics of optical fibers; and optical sources, connectors and splices. Subsequent chapters explore current applications of fiber optic technology. Appropriate for use as a college text, this is an accessible and thorough treatment of fiber optics, without an intimidating amount of mathematical derivations.

Optical MEMS are micro-electromechanical systems merged with micro-optics. They allow sensing or manipulating optical signals on a very small size scale using integrated mechanical, optical, and electrical systems and hold great promise specifically in biomedical applications, among others.

This book gives an exposition of recently developed approximate dynamic programming (ADP) techniques for decision and control in human engineered systems. ADP is a reinforcement machine learning technique that is motivated by learning mechanisms in biological and animal systems. It is connected from a theoretical point of view with both adaptive control and optimal control methods. The book shows how ADP can be used to design a family of adaptive optimal control algorithms that converge in real-time to optimal control solutions by measuring data along the system trajectories. Generally, in the current literature adaptive controllers and optimal controllers are two distinct methods for the design of automatic control systems. Traditional adaptive controllers learn online in real time how to control systems, but do not yield optimal performance. On the other hand, traditional optimal controllers must be designed offline using full knowledge of the systems dynamics. It is also shown how to use ADP methods to solve multi-player differential games online. Differential games have been shown to be important in H-infinity robust control for disturbance rejection, and in coordinating activities among multiple agents in networked teams. The focus of this book is on continuous-time systems, whose dynamical models can be derived directly from physical principles based on Hamiltonian or Lagrangian dynamics.

An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic (often a sine wave, a square wave, or a pulse trains) or a non-periodic (a double-mode wave or a chaotic wave) oscillating electronic signal. Oscillators convert direct current from a power supply to an alternating current signal, and are widely used in many electronic devices. This book surveys recent developments in the design, analysis and applications of this important class of circuits.

This second edition of the number one guide to oscillator design presents a comprehensive, unified approach to oscillator design that can be used with a wide range of active devices and resonator types. Resonator types covered include: L-C, crystal, SAW, dielectric resonator, coaxial line, stripline and microstrip. This text covers modern CAD synthesis and analysis techniques and is valuable to experienced engineers as well as to those new to oscillator design. The books topics include: Analysis fundamentals, oscillator fundamentals, limiting and starting, biasing, noise, computer simulation and examples and case studies.