Concatenated fibre-wireless channel identification in a multiuser CDMA environment

Radio-over-fibre (ROF) has received increasing attention for its ability to enable broadband wireless access. This fibre-based wireless access scheme meets the demand for broadband service by integrating the high capacity of optical networks with the flexibility of radio networks (the optical and wireless channels are concatenated with one another). There are, however, impairments that come with this appealing technology. The nonlinear distortion of the optical link and the multipath dispersion of the wireless channel are two of the major factors. In order to limit the effects of these distortions, estimation, and subsequently equalisation, of the concatenated fibre- wireless channel needs to be done. An estimation algorithm for the fibre-wireless uplink in a multiuser code division multiple access (CDMA) environment is presented using pseudonoise training sequences. It has already been shown by Fernando et al. (2001) that identification of the fibre- wireless uplink is possible in a single user CDMA environment. However, the more difficult task of identification in a multiuser spread spectrum environment, which is more realistic, is shown. In the multiuser case, the cumulative effect of multiuser interference, multipath dispersion, nonlinear distortion and noise should all be handled together which makes it more challenging. Numerical evaluations of the developed algorithm show that a good estimation of both the linear and nonlinear systems is possible in the presence of 16 independent users and an signal- to-noise ratio (SNR) of 22 dB. The estimation accuracy increases with the length of the PN sequence.     

Time courses of calcium and calcium-bound buffers following calcium influx in a model cell

Fixed and diffusible calcium (Ca) buffers shape the spatial and temporal distribution of free Ca following Ca entry through voltage-gated ion channels. This modeling study explores intracellular Ca levels achieved near the membrane and in deeper locations following typical Ca currents obtained with patch clamp experiments. Ca ion diffusion sets an upper limit on the maximal average Ca concentration achieved near the membrane. Fixed buffers restrict Ca elevation spatially to the outermost areas of the cell and slow Ca equilibration. Fixed buffer bound with Ca near the membrane can act as Ca source after termination of Ca influx. The relative contribution of fixed versus diffusible buffers to shaping the Ca transient is determined to a large extent by the binding rate of each buffer, with diffusible buffer dominating at equal binding rates. In the presence of fixed buffers, diffusible buffers speed Ca equilibration throughout the cell. The concentration profile of Ca-bound diffusible buffer differs from the concentration profile of free Ca, reflecting theoretical limits on the temporal resolution which can be achieved with commonly used diffusible Ca indicators. A Ca indicator which is fixed to an intracellular component might more accurately report local Ca concentrations.     

Shunting neural network photodetector arrays in analog CMOS

This paper describes a custom analog CMOS photodetector array IC that exploits nonlinear lateral inhibition to achieve dynamic range compression, edge enhancement, and adaptation to mean input intensity. The neural net array architecture, characterized by nearest-neighbor connections and multiplicative cell interaction, is modeled after biological vision systems. The fabricated IC successfully implements a portion of the compact and powerful nonlinear signal processing performed in the outer layers of the vertebrate retina. Measured results are presented for an optical input intensity range of nearly six decades. A scanning architecture that allows for preferential directional sensitivity is also demonstrated. Measured data agree well with models created using a spreadsheet program     

On mapping processes to processors in distributed systems

This paper is concerned with the implementation of parallel programs on networks of processors. In particular, we study the use of the network augmenting approach as an implementation tool. According to this approach, the capabilities of a given network of processors can be increased by adding some auxiliary links among the processors. We prove that the minimum set of edges needed to augment a line-like network so that it can accommodate a parallel program is determined by an optimal path cover of the graph representation of the program. Anoptimal path cover of a simple graphG is a set of vertex-disjoint paths that cover all the vertices ofG and has the maximum possible number of edges. We present a linear time optimal path covering algorithm for a class of sparse graphs. This algorithm is of special interest since the optimal path covering problem is NP-complete for general graphs. Our results suggest that a cover and augment scheme can be used for optimal implementation of parallel programs in line-like networks.A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the 6th IEEE Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM '87).This reseach is supported in part by National Semiconductor (Israel), Ltd.     

Trends in low flows of German rivers since 1950: Comparability of different low‐flow indicators and their spatial patterns

Climate change, land‐use shifts, reservoir storage, and water withdrawals impact low flows in rivers, creating challenges for ecological integrity and human uses. A systematic investigation of river discharges was carried out for 79 stream gauges in Germany. Available time series between 1950 and 2013 were analysed for trends in annual minimum low flows, discharge deficits, and low‐flow durations. The application of different low‐flow indicators led to similar spatial patterns, although each metric is used for different purposes in water management applications. Statistical tests identified significant discharge trends at more than half of the stations investigated. Low‐flow trends since 1950 tended to be catchment specific, suggesting that climate change has not been the dominant driver. Most of the gauges investigated showed statistically significant increases in low flows. This can be mainly attributed to reservoir management. For rivers showing snow‐ and icemelt‐dominated flow regimes, such trends are probably overlain by climate‐driven changes (increasing amounts of rainfall, earlier snowmelt in spring). In contrast, stations showing statistically significant decreases in low flows were correlated with areas of decreasing mining activity. Hydrologic impacts of climate change are widespread and significant, but the results here suggest that human river management remains the dominant hydrologic driver on many rivers.     

Motion processing using asymmetric shunting lateral inhibitory networks

Asymmetrically connected inhibitory shunting networks are believed to occur in many areas of the brain, including the visual system; they can explain many peripheral visual phenomena. This paper illustrates their usefulness in motion detection, and compares details of their performance with experimental results. Two stimuli are considered: drifting gratings and jumping bars. An elementary motion detector (EMD) is defined, consisting of a pair of opposite-directed asymmetric inhibitory networks. A frequency-space expansion (equivalent to a Volterra-Wiener expansion) is used to examine the EMD's response to a drifting grating. The EMD can be tuned to independent spatial and temporal frequencies: by summing the outputs of a number of EMDs, a velocity-tuned network is obtained. This velocity-tuned network is very well suited to certain field effect transistor (FET) implementations. Since the network is nonlinear, the response to a drifting grating does not fully characterize its behaviour. The response to a jumping bar stimulus is also examined. Two animals are considered: *Cats: the work of Emerson et al on the response of directionally selective (DS) complex cells in cat visual cortex to a white noise signal. *Flies: the work of Franceschini et al on the response of the fly H1 cell to stimulation of two neighbouring receptor cells, and that of Horridge and Marcelja on the fly H1 response to various jumping bar and edge stimuli. Agreement with all three of these experiments cannot be expected, because the results for the two animals are not consistent. There are two main differences: *Time development of the velocity-tuned signal: for the fly H1 cell this generally consists of two sharp (ON and OFF) responses to the second presentation of the bar signal, while for the cat DS cell a more slowly varying signal is observed. *Response to two presentations of the bar signal in the same position (i.e., a 'jumping bar' that jumps zero distance): for the fly H1 cell there is generally no response, while the cat DS cell responds significantly. The velocity-tuned network agrees well with the results for the cat DS cells.     

Bonded aerospace repairs under tensile loading: Wet chemical surface treatment and selected environmental conditions

Repair of composite structures and the impact of demanding environmental conditions is a crucial issue for the aircraft industry because of the increasing use of composites in modern aircraft. Consequently, the impact of environmental conditions common for aircraft applications on repair specimens in comparison to nonrepaired specimens is studied. All specimens are produced from a woven carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy-based prepreg. For the repair-specimens, an epoxy-based film adhesive is used for the soft patch repair approach. During the repair process, the surface of the precured prepreg is prepared by a mechanical method (sanding) and an additional chemical functionalization, respectively. Moisture absorption of the repair specimens is independent of the surface preparation method and higher for the repaired than for the nonrepaired specimens. The key influencing environmental conditions for the tensile strength and the failure mode of the repair specimens are elevated temperature testing as well as hot/wet conditioning and conditioning in deionized water. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47506.     

Fracture mechanical analysis of two commercial polyoxymethylene homopolymer resins

This research addresses the fracture mechanical analysis of two commercially available polyoxymethylene homopolymer resins. Two types of experiments are used: monotonic fracture toughness tests and cyclic fatigue crack growth tests. The resulting total lifetimes in the fatigue crack growth tests are split up into the appropriate parts of crack growth initiation and fatigue crack propagation. Fracture surfaces of monotonic and cyclic tests are analyzed using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Besides the mechanical tests, the morphology within the used compact tension specimens is examined in detail by using differential scanning calorimetry, small‐ and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering, and polarized light microscopy. The results are analyzed and discussed, considering observations in the previous studies published in the literature. It is shown that both materials can be well analyzed using linear elastic fracture mechanics and their fracture mechanical properties are presented in conjunction with a detailed documentation of the microstructure. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40831.