Stefano Mangione

Optimal capacitive compensation on radial distribution systems using nonlinear programming

Abstract A mathematical model for optimal capacitive compensation on radial distribution systems with both switched and fixed capacitors is illustrated in this paper. The objective is the optimization of the number, size, location and switching-on time of the capacitors in order to minimize the cost of both power and energy losses and of compensation equipment. The model includes constraints on voltage rise at system nodes. As the objective function and the constraints are nonlinear a nonlinear programming package has been used for the optimization of the model. An example of its application is reported.

An efficient greedy approach for minimum loss reconfiguration of distribution networks

Abstract This paper proposes a two-stage heuristic procedure, based on a greedy approach, for the minimum loss reconfiguration of MV distribution networks. The first stage of the procedure is based on a minimum flow rule and consists in the progressive opening of all switchgears which are initially assumed closed, in order to convert the meshed network into a completely radial network. From the radial network thus created, one then proceeds to search for further improvements minimizing the losses, applying a single branch exchange technique, which in turn is composed of two procedures: one is based again on the minimum flow rule whereas the other is based on a load transfer derived from that proposed by Civanlar et al. The entire procedure has been implemented in a software package which has been used to assess its efficiency. To this end, all examples of the application of the various methods found in the existing literature for which data were available have been reconsidered. The analysis of the results of this comparison has demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed procedure which at no time produced configurations with losses greater than those of the corresponding configurations arrived at with other methodologies.

Wireless OFDM-OQAM with a Small Number of Subcarriers

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based on offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM-OQAM) is a multicarrier signaling technique which trades off robustness for spectral efficiency when compared to conventional OFDM with a cyclic prefix. In this paper, a novel matrix model for passband OFDM-OQAM signaling with a small number of subcarriers over a multipath frequency selective fading channel is presented. Specifically, in OFDM-OQAM a frequency selective channel is divided into many smaller but still frequency selective overlapping channels, so approximating the frequency response of a subchannel by the channel frequency response sampled at the subcarrier frequency may be inadequate. Channel effects may be better characterized if the frequency response of each subchannel is represented as a Taylor expansion at the subcarrier frequency. Simulation results show how the matrix model implemented by means of this approximation is a suitable model for OFDM-OQAM with a small number of subcarriers.

A Simple Method for Evaluating Ground-Fault Current Transfer at the Transition Station of a Combined Overhead-Cable Line

When a substation is fed by a combined overhead-cable transmission line, a significant part of the ground fault current flows through cable sheaths and is discharged into the soil at the transition station where cables are connected to the overhead line. Such a phenomenon, known as ldquofault application transfer,rdquo may result in high ground potentials at the transition station which may cause shocks and equipment damage. The scope of this paper is to present new analytic formulas which can be used for the direct calculation of the fault current transferred at the transition station and its ground potential rise as well as the substation earth current. The proposed formulas allow evaluating the influence of the main factors to the fault application transfer phenomenon and can be employed, at the preliminary design stage, to easily assess the most appropriate safety conditions to avoid dangerous effects.

Voltage collapse proximity indicators for radial distribution networks

Based on the single-line equivalent system of a radial distribution network, two simple methods to evaluate two efficient voltage collapse proximity indicators are presented and discussed. The two methods differ on the determination of the parameters which define the equivalent system from which the indicators are derived. Both methods can be conveniently used jointly for on-line applications to assess the state of a distribution system from the viewpoint of voltage stability; the first to monitoring the stability margin of the whole system loading, the second to sharpen the stability analysis at the critical node when the system operating point is in the vicinity of the Readability limit. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is tested on a 11 kV radial distribution system of 85 nodes and results are compared with those found by a repetitive load flow calculation.

Recovery Capabilities of Rateless Codes on Simulated Turbulent Terrestrial Free Space Optics Channel Model

Free Space Optics (FSO) links are affected by several impairments: optical turbulence, scattering, absorption, and pointing. In particular, atmospheric optical turbulence generates optical power fluctuations at the receiver that can degrade communications with fading events, especially in high data rate links. Innovative solutions require an improvement of FSO link performances, together with testing models and appropriate channel codes. In this paper, we describe a high-resolution time-correlated channel model able to predict random temporal fluctuations of optical signal irradiance caused by optical turbulence. Concerning the same channel, we also report simulation results on the error mitigation performance of Luby Transform, Raptor, and RaptorQ codes.

Packet loss recovery in an indoor Free Space Optics link using rateless codes

Free Space Optics (FSO) systems present some important advantages if compared to Radio Frequency links, but they can be affected by several impairments that degrade the link quality and availability. In particular, due to temporary interruptions of the line-of-sight condition between the transmitter and the receiver, packet loss can occur during data transmission. In this work, we present an indoor Free Space Optics link, in which we have systematically generated interruptions of the beam. We demonstrate how the application of the most recent rateless codes, i.e., RaptorQ codes, can strongly improve the link quality by reducing packet loss. In particular, results show that the Packet Error Rate greatly decreases when employing RaptorQ codes. Finally, by choosing the most suitable encoding/decoding parameters, we can correctly recover all the lost packets, ensuring an error-free operation.

ARIANNA: A smartphone-based navigation system with human in the loop

In this paper we present a low cost navigation system, called ARIANNA, primarily designed for visually impaired people. ARIANNA (pAth Recognition for Indoor Assisted NavigatioN with Augmented perception) permits to find some points of interests in an indoor environment by following a path painted or sticked on the floor. The path is detected by the camera of the smartphone which also generates a vibration signal providing a feedback to the user for correcting his/her direction. Some special landmarks can be deployed along the path for coding additional information detectable by the camera. In order to study the practical feasibility of the ARIANNA system for human users that want to follow a pre-defined path (by only using the smartphone feedback signals), we study how to incorporate human behavior models into the feedback control loop. We also implement an Extended Kalman Filter for localization, in which the user coordinates, speed and orientation represent the filter state (whose updating law depends on the user reaction to the vibration signals), while the smartphones sensors provide the set of measurements used for state estimation.

On the Effects of Transmit Power Control on the Energy Consumption of WiFi Network Cards

Transmit power control has been largely proposed as a solution to improve the performance of packet radio systems in terms of increased throughput, spatial reuse and battery lifetime for mobile terminals. However, the benefits of transmit power control schemes on these different performance figures may strongly depend on the employed PHY technology and channel access mechanism. In this paper, we focus on the effects of power control on the energy consumption of WiFi network cards. By means of several experimental tests carried out under different operation conditions and modulation schemes, we try to justify why the reduction of the transmission power has a marginal effect on the overall energy consumption.

MUSIC-LS modal channel estimation for an OFDM-OQAM system

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based on offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM-OQAM) signaling over frequency selective multipath channels shows inter-symbol interference (ISI) and Inter-Channel Interference (ICI) that degrade its performance. Channel equalization and channel estimation are needed to combat these intrinsic interferences. In this paper a novel modal channel estimator based on the MUltiple signal classification (MUSIC) and least squares (LS) algorithms for a wideband passband OFDM-OQAM signaling over static multipath channels is presented. The effects of the frequency selective channel on the received signal are described considering a wideband OFDM-OQAM system model based on Taylor expansion of the channel transfer function. The spatial smoothing technique is employed to obtain time delay estimates based on the MUSIC algorithm from a single observation of the output data. The least squares estimate for the path gains is based on the knowledge of the estimated path delays. Numerical simulation results for the performance of the novel MUSIC-LS modal channel estimator are presented.