Architectural Methodology Based on Intentional Configuration of Behaviors

Intelligence has been an object of study for a long time. Different architectures try to capture and reproduce these aspects into artificial systems (or agents), but there is still no agreement on how to integrate them into a general framework. With this objective in mind, we propose an architectural methodology based on the idea of intentional configuration of behaviors. Behavior‐producing modules are used as basic control components that are selected and modified dynamically according to the intentions of the agent. These intentions are influenced by the situation perceived, knowledge about the world, and internal variables that monitor the state of the agent. The architectural methodology preserves the emergence of functionality associated with the behavior‐based paradigm in the more abstract levels involved in configuring the behaviors. Validation of this architecture is done using a simulated world for mobile robots, in which the agent must deal with various goals such as managing its energy and its well‐being, finding targets, and acquiring knowledge about its environment. Fuzzy logic, a topologic map learning algorithm, and activation variables with a propagation mechanism are used to implement the architecture for this agent.     

Direct vapor phase growth process and robust photoluminescence properties of large area MoS2 layers

There has been growing research interest in the use of molybdenum disulfide in the fields of optoelectronics and energy harvesting devices, by virtue of its indirect-to-direct band gap tunability. However, obtaining large area thin films of MoS2 for future device applications still remains a challenge. In the present study, the amounts of the precursors （S and MOO3） were varied systematically in order to optimize the growth of highly crystalline and large area MoS2 layers by the chemical vapor deposition method. Careful control of the amounts of precursors was found to the key factor in the synthesis of large area highly crystalline flakes. The thickness of the layers was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. The optical properties and chemical composition were studied by photoluminescence （PL） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The emergence of strong direct excitonic emissions at 1.82 eV （A-exciton, with a normalized PL intensity of -55 × 10^3） and 1.98 eV （B-exciton, with a normalized PL intensity of -5 × 10^3） of the sample at room temperature clearly indicates the high luminescence quantum efficiency. The mobility of the films was found to be 0.09 cm^2/（V.s） at room temperature. This study provides a method for the controlled synthesis of high-quality two-dimensional （2D） transition metal dichalcogenide materials, useful for applications in nanodevices, optoelectronics and solar energv conversion.     

An investigation of the effects of the tool path on the removal of material in polishing

Uniformity of removal affects the finishing, and in some cases, the form accuracy of the polished surface. Tool paths are required for the automation of surface polishing. How the tool path may affect the removal of material in polishing is investigated in this paper. An analysis of how removal at a location due to polishing along adjacent path lines is presented. Four tool paths reportedly used in polishing are covered: scanning, bi-scanning, Hilbert and Peano paths. Removal in the inner surface as well as near the edges of surfaces is examined through simulations and analysis. The results show that, for the same path pitch, the peak-to-valley height (h_pv) in the inner part of the removal map is the same for scanning, bi-scanning and Peano, while the texture of the removal maps can be quite different. The h_pv values of Hilbert are more than double those of Peano, although both are fractal paths. Removal near the edges is particularly severe for scanning-type tool paths. The ratio of the edge peak height to the inner peak height is about 1.6 on average for scanning. The uniformity of removal further deteriorates as the ellipticity of the tool contact increases. When the contact direction is closely aligned with the path line direction, that ratio goes up to about 2.9 for contact ellipticity of 2. Polishing experiments have also been conducted. Both experiments and simulations point to the presence of edge effects in scanning paths and its absence in Peano paths. It is further proposed that, for more uniform removal of material: (1) changes in the tool path direction should be well distributed and (2) the direction of the path lines should be well balanced over the entire surface.     

Influence of Photolithography on the Cross-Sectional Shape of Polysiloxane as an Optical Waveguide Material on Printed Circuit Boards

Optical waveguide cross-sectional shapes that deviate from rectangles or squares may cause significant loss of signal. In this study, a photolithography approach was adopted to fabricate waveguides on printed circuit boards, using photo-imageable polysiloxane as a waveguide material. The effects of I-line ultraviolet (UV) lamp exposure, 355-nm Nd:YAG laser direct imaging, and 248-nm excimer laser direct imaging on the cross-sectional shape of waveguides were investigated. For I-line UV lamp exposure, increasing the exposure time could cause changes in the tilt angle of the waveguides from negative (inverted trapezoid) to positive (trapezoid). To obtain rectangular waveguides, the optimum I-line UV lamp exposure time was found to be around 150 s. From the results for 355-nm Nd:YAG laser direct imaging, the width and tilt angle of the waveguides varied with the energy density of the laser beam irradiating the core materials, being controlled by the repetition rate and focus. Lowering the laser energy density could produce waveguides with small widths and tilt angles. Excimer laser direct imaging at 248 nm was found to be unsuitable for waveguide patterning since the core materials could not be cured at this wavelength.     

Tunable dual-wavelength-switching fiber grating laser

We report a tunable dual-wavelength-switching fiber grating laser by exploiting the large homogeneous gain broadening in erbium (Er)-doped fiber to suppress simultaneous lasing. Wavelength switching was accomplished through a novel design which has two overlapping cavities sharing a single-gain medium. The loss corresponding to one of the lasing wavelengths can be modulated via an optical chopper. Output power of about 6 mW and extinction ratio up to 50 dB were observed. The lasing wavelengths were tunable and switching was demonstrated for wavelength separations ranging from 0.35 to 23.5 nm     

On determination of the number of signals in spatially correlatednoise

A method for determining the number of signals in a correlated noise field using two well-separated linear arrays of receivers was given by Zhang and Wong (1993). In this paper, we improve on this method with the use of new penalty functions. Three criteria are given, and it is proved that for a large class of penalty functions, the probability of incorrect detections by each of the new criteria is exponentially decreasing when the moment-generating function of the squared Euclidean norm of the observation vector is finite at some point. It is also proved that with these new criteria, the estimates of the number of signals are strongly consistent. Randomized penalty functions for the three criteria, based on samples, are presented, and their uses are then shown to give consistent estimation of the number of signals. The finite sample behavior of the proposed approaches are studied by Monte Carte simulation     

A Power-Efficient High-Throughput 32-Thread SPARC Processor

This first generation of "Niagara" SPARC processors implements a power-efficient Chip Multi-Threading (CMT) architecture which maximizes overall throughput performance for commercial workloads. The target performance is achieved by exploiting high bandwidth rather than high frequency, thereby reducing hardware complexity and power. The UltraSPARC T1 processor combines eight four-threaded 64-b cores, a floating-point unit, a high-bandwidth interconnect crossbar, a shared 3-MB L2 Cache, four DDR2 DRAM interfaces, and a system interface unit. Power and thermal monitoring techniques further enhance CMT performance benefits, increasing overall chip reliability. The 378-mm² die is fabricated in Texas Instrument's 90-nm CMOS technology with nine layers of copper interconnect. The chip contains 279 million transistors and consumes a maximum of 63 W at 1.2 GHz and 1.2 V. Key functional units employ special circuit techniques to provide the high bandwidth required by a CMT architecture while optimizing power and silicon area. These include a highly integrated integer register file, a high-bandwidth interconnect crossbar, the shared L2 cache, and the IO subsystem. Key aspects of the physical design methodology are also discussed     

A Semi-Theoretical Fluorescent Lamp Model for Time-Domain Transient and Steady-State Simulations

Low-pressure discharge lamps obey a set of physical laws that are different from those of high-pressure discharge lamps. In this paper, these differences are addressed. Based on a recently developed HID lamp model frame, a semi-theoretical fluorescent lamp model that can be determined by genetic algorithms and simple electrical measurements is presented. This model does not require any lamp data from lamp manufacturers. Its parameters can be determined from electrical voltage and current measurements of the lamps under AC operation at mains frequency. With the same set of parameters, the model can predict the lamp terminal characteristics accurately under low, medium and high frequency operations. Good simulation results were achieved when the lamp power was reduced to 60% of rated power and when the lamp was operated under step-up and step-down transient processes. Simulation results for different sizes of tubular and compact fluorescent lamps agree well with their experimental results. Particularly, the differences between simulation results and experimental results under rated power are less than 10%. Hence, the proposed model shows a good degree of accuracy: 1) for different types of fluorescent lamps; 2) at different operating frequencies; 3) under different dimming levels; and 4) during step-up and step-down transient processes.     

Compact circular sector and annular sector dielectric resonatorantennas

We investigate circular sector and annular sector dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) geometries. The advantage these geometries offer, compared to conventional circular cylindrical DRAs are significant reductions in volume, making them potential candidates for use in compact applications such as mobile communication handsets. Approximate theory, simulation, and experimental results are provided to support the findings. In particular, a sector DRA is demonstrated to have 75% less volume than a conventional cylindrical DRA, with the same resonant frequency. The DRA volume minimization for compact antenna design is also discussed and a design is proposed and tested for a mobile telephone handset suitable for the DCS1800 system