Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my parents,

I owe my deepest gratitude to my teacher advisor, Prof. Luı́s Veiga, who has the attitude and the substance of a genius: He continuously gave me support and guidance throughout the research and during the writing of this document. Without his guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible. I also would like to thank Eng. Paulo Chainho, my advisor from PT Inovação, for his tips and advices, during the design and development of this work. I share the credit of my work with my colleagues from PT Inovação and IST. Their help during my learning of the technologies and the development phase of this work was invalu-able. I wish to thank my friends and family because without their friendship and patience, it would be impossible to carry out this work. However, my special thanks go for my parents, António and Teresa. Their love and affection inspired me during my darkest and uninspired days. Finally, I also would like to thank my girlfriend, Mariana Daniel. She gave me motivation and strength to complete this work successfully