Low-frequency noise properties of dynamic-threshold (DT) MOSFET's

This paper shows that MOSFET operated in dynamic-threshold (DT) mode (V_body=V_gate) is more suitable for low-noise RF/analog applications than those operated in conventional mode (V_body=V_source). Detailed low-frequency noise properties of these two modes of device operation were compared for 0.31-μm gate MOSFET's, in which NMOS's are surface-channel devices (S.C.) and PMOS's are buried-channel (B.C.) devices. Experimental data show that when the devices are biased at same transconductance, the low-frequency noise in DT mode is 30 times lower (at g_m=2.2×10^-3 S) than that in the conventional mode for the B.C. devices and ten times (at g_m=2.0×10 ^-3 S) lower for the S.C. devices     

Augmented reachability trees for 1-place-unbounded generalizedPetri nets

An augmented reachability tree (ART) is proposed to extend the capability of the classical reachability tree (RT) for analyzing qualitative properties, such as liveness, of a class of unbounded generalized Petri nets, called 1-place-unbounded nets, where there is at most one unbounded place for each net. The idea is based on the computation of the minimal marking of each node in the tree. An algorithm for obtaining the minimal marking is shown. Examples are given to illustrate the technique. In addition to liveness, the proposed method can verify other properties such as reversibility and feasible firing sequences. Furthermore, properties verifiable by RT are also verifiable by ART     

A Heuristic Search Approach Using Approximate Solutions to Petri Net State Equations for Scheduling Flexible Manufacturing Systems

This paper proposes a new heuristic search approach based on an analytic theory of the Petri net state equations for scheduling flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) with the goal of minimizing makespan. The proposed method models an FMS using a timed Petri net and exploits approximate solutions of the net's state equation to predict the total cost (makespan) from the initial state through the current state to the goal. That is, the heuristic function considers global information provided by the state equation. This makes the method possible to obtain solutions better than those obtained using prior works (Lee and DiCesare, 1994a, 1994b) that consider only the current status or limited global information. In addition, to reduce memory requirement and thus to increase the efficiency of handling larger systems, the proposed scheduling algorithm contains a procedure to reduce the searched state space.     

Petri net dynamics-based scheduling of flexible manufacturing systems with assembly

This paper presents a heuristic search method based on Petri nets for scheduling flexible manufacturing systems with assembly (FMSA) by partially generating the reachability graph. FMSAs are modeled by two types of timed place Petri nets, called generalized symmetric (GSN) and asymmetric nets (GAN). GSN is a sub-class of GAN. The special Petri net structures of GSN and GAN allow us to efficiently solve their state equations for solutions that constitute a part of the proposed heuristic function. Considering the dynamic information of nets such as concurrency and synchronization, the part of the heuristic function is adjusted since state equation solutions may over-estimate the real cost. The adjustment is based on a lower bound of the real cost and on dynamically comparing the partial estimated cost and partial real cost during the search process. Extensive simulation study shows that in most cases this work obtain better solutions than prior work.     

Phosphorus‐containing epoxy resin for an electronic application

A phosphorus‐containing epoxy resin, 6‐H‐dibenz[c,e][1,2] oxaphosphorin‐6‐[2,5‐bis(oxiranylmethoxy)phenyl]‐6‐oxide (DOPO epoxy resin), was synthesized and cured with phenolic novolac (Ph Nov), 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS), or dicyandiamide (DICY). The reactivity of these three curing agents toward DOPO epoxy resin was found in the order of DICY > DDS > Ph Nov. Thermal stability and the weight loss behavior of the cured polymers were studied by TGA. The phosphorus‐containing epoxy resin showed lower weight loss temperature and higher char yield than that of bisphenol‐A based epoxy resin. The high char yields and limiting oxygen index (LOI) values as well as excellent UL‐94 vertical burn test results of DOPO epoxy resin indicated the flame‐retardant effectiveness of phosphorus‐containing epoxy resins. The DOPO epoxy resin was investigated as a reactive flame‐retardant additive in an electronic encapsulation application. Owing to the rigid structure of DOPO and the pendant P group, the resulting phosphorus‐containing encapsulant exhibited better flame retardancy, higher glass transition temperature, and thermal stability than the regular encapsulant containing a brominated epoxy resin. High LOI value and UL‐94 V‐0 rating could be achieved with a phosphorus content of as low as 1.03% (comparable to bromine content of 7.24%) in the cured epoxy, and no fume and toxic gas emission were observed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 353–361, 1999     

Quality improvement for RC06 chip resistor

This paper studies a quality improvement case of extremely thin and light chip resistor RC06. We use an L₁₈(2¹ × 3⁷) orthogonal array allocating eight control factors in an experimental plan. The quality response data are inevitably considered to be ordered categorical. Six categories are classified for the quality of chips. Both Taguchi's accumulation analysis method (1966) and Nair's scoring scheme (1986) are employed in analysing the data. Furthermore, we develop a weighted probability scoring scheme (WPSS) and a signal-to-noise (SN) ratio to reach an optimal solution. Finally, a comparison among the three approaches is made.     

Phosphorus containing epoxy for flame retardant II: Curing reaction of bis-(3-glycidyloxy) phenylphosphine oxide

The curing reaction of a phosphorus containing epoxide, bis-(3-glycidyloxy) phenylphosphine oxide (BGPPO), was studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) using dynamic and isothermal methods. Kinetic parameters and activation energy of the BGPPO cured with diamine or dianhydride curing agents were determined. The dynamic activation energies were significantly larger than the isothermal ones. Via isothermal analysis technique, the activation energies of BGPPO cured with 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane, dicyanodiamide, methyl tetrahydrogen phthalic anhydride, and phthalic anhydride were found to be 69.5, 83.5, 93.6, and 90.6 kJ/mol, respectively. These values were comparable with those of other commercial epoxy curing system. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Optimizing the mixture blending for castable aluminized plastic-bonded explosives

Castable aluminized plastic-bonded explosive (PBX) is a multiple components blending. To find an optimum mixture blending (formulation) for PBX to meet several required specifications is formidable. This is due to the fact that there are unlimited candidate formulations from which an appropriate one could be chosen. In general, trial and error type of engineering judgement is still the primary approach to reach the desired goal. This paper, however, employs a statistical approach named Mixture Experiments as well as an optimization routine called Eureka to find the optimum formulation, which meets five required specifications. Finally, two confirmation runs are performed. The results justify that the theroretical solution derived from the systematic statistical approach is indeed applicable.     

MIMO spread spectrum GFDM communication systems with index modulation

In the fourth-generation communication system (4G), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is widely used. However, due to the cyclic prefix (CP) being added, the low spectrum efficiency and high out-of-band radiation (OOB) cause OFDM not to be suitable for the beyond fifth-generation (B5G) communication system. Therefore, to meet the rigorous demands in B5G for the Internet of Things (IoT) and massive machine-type communications (MMTC), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) technology has received significant attention. On the other hand, index modulation (IM) can provide flexible settings of different parameters to achieve the ideal system goals. Therefore, this paper considers the combination of spread spectrum (SS) and IM under the framework of GFDM, called SS-IM-GFDM. In this scheme, the information bits are jointly conveyed by the indices of spreading codes and the conventional M-ary modulated symbols, which increase the spectrum efficiency and improve the bit error rate performance. Furthermore, a low-complexity maximum likelihood (ML) detector is proposed to recover the transmitted signal effectively at the receiver. Finally, the space-time block code (STBC) is employed to construct the multi-input multi-output SS-GFDM-IM (MIMO SS-GFDM-IM) system to improve the system's reliability. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is superior to the existing systems.