In this thesis we present new approaches in the domains of soft fault detection and location in complex wire networks, based on the properties of time reversal. When addressing the detection of soft faults, the idea is to adapt the testing signal to the network under test, instead of being predefined for all the tested networks, as opposed to standard reflectometry techniques. We prove that this approach, which we name the Matched Pulse approach (MP), is beneficial whenever the system is more complex, i.e., its response is richer in echoes, which is opposed to common understanding. The MP analysis is conducted via a formal mathematical analysis, followed by simulation and experimental results validating the proposed approach. In the domain of soft fault location, and based on the DORT (Décomposition de l’Opérateur de Retournement Temporel) properties, we derive a distributive non-iterative method able to synthesize signals that focus on the fault position. Through a statistical study we analyze some of the influencing parameters on the performance of the method, and then simulation and experimental results show that the method is able to synthesize signals directly focalizing on the soft fault position, without the need for iterations.
