Nonlinear Photonics and All-Optical Technologies. Information is playing an increasing role in the modern society. The future progress in the information data processing is associated with a new generation of compact nanoscale optical devices operating entirely with light. The research programme aims to develop innovative concepts of all-optical communication and information technologies and to carry out both theoretical and experimental studies on the photonic-crystal physics and engineering, o ....Nonlinear Photonics and All-Optical Technologies. Information is playing an increasing role in the modern society. The future progress in the information data processing is associated with a new generation of compact nanoscale optical devices operating entirely with light. The research programme aims to develop innovative concepts of all-optical communication and information technologies and to carry out both theoretical and experimental studies on the photonic-crystal physics and engineering, optical solitons, and nanoscale nonlinear switching devices in order to promote the new field of photonic crystals, to enhance its development in Australia and provide linkages between leading edge R & D and industry in an important emerging technology.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear nanophotonics. This project will support world-leading research in nonlinear nanophotonics. It will develop theoretically and demonstrate experimentally novel concepts for confining and manipulating light in specially designed structures, making an essential step towards the creation of nanoscaled optical devices for storage, memory, and sensing. These developments will underpin the next generation of high-performance optical networks promising to revolutionize global communications. T ....Nonlinear nanophotonics. This project will support world-leading research in nonlinear nanophotonics. It will develop theoretically and demonstrate experimentally novel concepts for confining and manipulating light in specially designed structures, making an essential step towards the creation of nanoscaled optical devices for storage, memory, and sensing. These developments will underpin the next generation of high-performance optical networks promising to revolutionize global communications. This research program will keep Australia at the forefront of international research and provide training for students in breakthrough applications of nanophotonics and nanotechnology, contributing to the uptake of frontier technologies by Australian industries.Read moreRead less
All-optical technologies, nanophotonics, and metamaterials. This program will support a world-leading team in nanophotonics and metamaterials. It will introduce and demonstrate novel concepts for manipulating optical pulses in specially designed nanoscale structures, making an essential step towards the creation of all-optical devices which perform fast switching and processing of optical signals. These developments will underpin the next generation of high-performance networks promising to revo ....All-optical technologies, nanophotonics, and metamaterials. This program will support a world-leading team in nanophotonics and metamaterials. It will introduce and demonstrate novel concepts for manipulating optical pulses in specially designed nanoscale structures, making an essential step towards the creation of all-optical devices which perform fast switching and processing of optical signals. These developments will underpin the next generation of high-performance networks promising to revolutionize global communications. This research program will keep Australia at the forefront of international research and provide training for students in breakthrough applications of photonics and nanotechnology, contributing to the uptake of frontier technologies by Australian industries.Read moreRead less
Airborne passive radiometer for high resolution soil moisture monitoring. The project proposes to create a novel technology to measure soil moisture. Accurate knowledge of soil moisture profiles at high resolution is important for sustainable land and water management including efficient irrigation scheduling and cropping practices. A passive multi-band soil moisture-measuring radiometer at L-, Ku- and Ka-bands is proposed. The radiometer comprises a three-band shared aperture antenna array, a ....Airborne passive radiometer for high resolution soil moisture monitoring. The project proposes to create a novel technology to measure soil moisture. Accurate knowledge of soil moisture profiles at high resolution is important for sustainable land and water management including efficient irrigation scheduling and cropping practices. A passive multi-band soil moisture-measuring radiometer at L-, Ku- and Ka-bands is proposed. The radiometer comprises a three-band shared aperture antenna array, a receiving electronics, a digital controller and a data logger. The array antenna comprises dual polarised stacked patch elements. Beamforming networks form agile beams to scan the ground. Sensitive radiometer receivers apply brightness temperature downscaling for high resolution. The high-resolution passive radiometer would revolutionise airborne soil moisture monitoring by removing the mechanically steerable bulky and heavy scanheads.Read moreRead less
Markov Field Theory applied to Sensor Networks Analysis and Design. Ad hoc and sensor networks have a wide range of applications in defence, emergency services and agriculture because they do not require telecommunications infrastructure such as base stations or access points, hence are relatively easy to deploy in harsh environments. This project aims at improving the theoretical understanding of sensor and ad hoc networks, which enable improvements in performance in such networks. Australian d ....Markov Field Theory applied to Sensor Networks Analysis and Design. Ad hoc and sensor networks have a wide range of applications in defence, emergency services and agriculture because they do not require telecommunications infrastructure such as base stations or access points, hence are relatively easy to deploy in harsh environments. This project aims at improving the theoretical understanding of sensor and ad hoc networks, which enable improvements in performance in such networks. Australian defence industry and emergency services will benefit from this research by gaining access to improved ad hoc communications networks. The agricultural sector will also benefit from the improved sensor networks in applications such as monitoring soil conditions, stock and crop levels. Read moreRead less
Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects s ....Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects such as group delay, ripple and non-linear satellite power amplifiers. The design intends to include high-speed signal processing and coding architectures, plus real-time signal synthesis and acquisition to allow realistic performance testing and optimisation with satellite hardware from Thales Alenia Space.Read moreRead less
Communication networks for smart electricity grids. A smart grid will improve the efficiency of EnergyAustralia's electricity grid by minimizing cost and greenhouse gas emissions. A smart grid architecture will be researched and developed by using advanced communications and control engineering techniques offering significant economic, industrial, social and environmental benefits to Australia.
Anticipatory, Adaptive, and Scalable Mobility Infrastructure for On-board Information Access. The recent advances in wireless technologies are offering new opportunities for ubiquitous information access in on-board mobile computing. Realising an effective on-board mobile computing infrastructure poses significant technical challenges at both application and data transport layers. Our approach features the integration of techniques from satellite communications, anticipatory transport protocols ....Anticipatory, Adaptive, and Scalable Mobility Infrastructure for On-board Information Access. The recent advances in wireless technologies are offering new opportunities for ubiquitous information access in on-board mobile computing. Realising an effective on-board mobile computing infrastructure poses significant technical challenges at both application and data transport layers. Our approach features the integration of techniques from satellite communications, anticipatory transport protocols, and personalised data management systems. The final outcome will be generic techniques and concepts for effective and efficient on-board access to global information sources and services (e.g., weather information, stock quotes, and infotainment). These concepts and techniques will have wider application scope, such as aeronautical, maritime and terrestrial public transport systems.Read moreRead less
Reconfigurable antennas for satellite on-the-move communications. Reconfigurable antennas for satellite on-the-move communications. This project aims to design and develop low-cost reconfigurable end-user antennas that could be integrated with low-earth-orbit satellites so regional and remote Australians can access broadband. While broadband is taking its place alongside water and electricity as essential infrastructure, people in regional Australia lack genuine broadband services. These antenna ....Reconfigurable antennas for satellite on-the-move communications. Reconfigurable antennas for satellite on-the-move communications. This project aims to design and develop low-cost reconfigurable end-user antennas that could be integrated with low-earth-orbit satellites so regional and remote Australians can access broadband. While broadband is taking its place alongside water and electricity as essential infrastructure, people in regional Australia lack genuine broadband services. These antennas are expected to give these communities reliable access to e-health services and distance education, and make their businesses more productive with access to new markets. The proposed antennas should also make broadband services available in the air, at sea, or on the move.Read moreRead less
Discreet reading of printable multi-bit chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on polymer banknotes. Counterfeiting of banknotes is a serious and costly world-wide problem, and very sophisticated measures are necessary to thwart counterfeiters. This project will use radio frequency identification techniques to enable bank tellers and other staff handling cash to discreetly check banknotes as they count them in front of customers.