GPU Acceleration of a Configurable N-Way MIMO Detector for Wireless Systems

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless is an enabling technology for high spectral efficiency and has been adopted in many modern wireless communication standards, such as 3GPP-LTE and IEEE 802.11n. However, (optimal) maximum a-posteriori (MAP) detection suffers from excessively high computational complexity, which prevents its deployment in practical systems. Hence, many algorithms have been proposed in the literature that trade-off performance versus detection complexity. In this paper, we propose a flexible N-Way MIMO detector that achieves excellent error-rate performance and high throughput on graphics processing units (GPUs). The proposed detector includes the required QR decomposition step and a tree-search detector, which exploits the massive parallelism available in GPUs. The proposed algorithm performs multiple tree searches in parallel, which leads to excellent error-rate performance at low computational complexity on different GPU architectures, such as Nvidia Fermi and Kepler. We highlight the flexibility of the proposed detector and demonstrate that it achieves higher throughput than existing GPU-based MIMO detectors while achieving the same or better error-rate performance.     

Synchrotron X-ray Based Characterization of CdZnTe Crystals

Synthetic CdZnTe (CZT) crystals can be used for the room temperature-based detection of gamma radiation. Structural/morphological heterogeneities within CZT, such as secondary phases (namely, precipitates and inclusions), can negatively affect detector performance. We used a synchrotron-based x-ray technique, specifically extended x-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, to determine whether there are differences on a local structural level between intact CZT of high and low radiation detector performance. These studies were complemented by data on radiation detector performance and transmission infrared (IR) imaging. The EXAFS studies revealed no detectable local structural differences between the two types of CZT materials.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Calibration Methods and Factors Effecting the Statistical Nature of Radiation Measurement

The scintillator detectors are recalibrated against the datasheet given by the manufacturer. Optimal and mutual dependent values of (a) high voltage at PMT (Photomultiplier Tube), (b) amplifier gain, (c) average time to count the radiation particles (set by operator), and (d) number of instances/sample number are estimated. Total 5: two versions of Central Limit Theorem (CLT), (3) industry preferred Pulse Width Saturation, (4) calibration based on MPPC coupled Gamma-ray detector, and (5) gross method are used. It is shown that the CLT method is the most optimal method to calibrate the detector and its respective electronics couple. An inverse modeling-based Computerized Tomography method is used for verification. It is shown that statistically averaging results are more accurate and precise data than mode and median if the data is not skewed and a random number of samples are used during the calibration process. It is also shown that the average time to count the radiation particle is the most important parameter affecting the optimal calibration setting for precision and accurate measurements of gamma radiation.

     

Millimeter and submillimeter detection using Ga1−xAlxAs/GaAs heterostructures

We have shown that a Ga_1?xAl_xAs/GaAs heterostructure can be used as a sensitive tunable detector of mm-wave/sub-mm-wave radiation. The mechanism for detection requires the application of a magnetic field varying from approximately 0.2T at 94GHz (3.2mm wavelength) to 6.2T at 2500GHz (119μm wavelength). The responsivity and N.E.P. at 3.2mm have been roughly estimated at 200V/W and 5×10^?11W/?Hz respectively. The speed of such a detector could be several orders of magnitude greater than comparable InSb detectors.     

Independently accessed back-to-back HgCdTe photodiodes: A new dual-band infrared detector

We report the first data for a new two-color HgCdTe infrared detector for use in large dual-band infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs). Referred to as the independently accessed back-to-back photodiode structure, this novel dual-band HgCdTe detector provides independent electrical access to each of two spatially collocated back-to-back HgCdTe photodiodes so that true simultaneous and independent detection of medium wavelength (MW, 3–5 μm) and long wavelength (LW, 8–12 μm) infrared radiation can be accomplished. This new dual-band detector is directly compatible with standard backside-illuminated bump-interconnected hybrid HgCdTe IRFPA technology. It is capable of high fill factor, and allows high quantum efficiency and BLIP sensitivity to be realized in both the MW and LW photodiodes. We report data that demonstrate experimentally the key features of this new dual-band detector. These arrays have a unit cell size of 100 x 100 μm², and were fabricated from a four-layer p-n-N-P HgCdTe film grown in situ by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a CdZnTe substrate. At 80K, the MW detector cutoff wavelength is 4.5 μm and the LW detector cutoff wavelength is 8.0 μm. Spectral crosstalk is less than 3%. Data confirm that the MW and LW photodiodes are electrically and radiometrically independent.     

Radiation sensitive detector based on field-effect transistors

The possibility of developing radiation detectors based on field-effect transistors (FET) is investigated. Transistor saturation current is chosen as an informative parameter for modeling. Experimental results show that the drain saturation current of the FET with p-n junction as a gate is decreasing after irradiation. In metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) FETs during radiation-induced defect formation two effects are competing, therefore the result of radiation influence is highly dependent on the electro-physical properties of transistors before irradiation and on the absorbed radiation dose. It is shown that saturation current increases with absorbed radiation dose for all the transistors with low electron concentration in a channel above certain levels of absorbed radiation. While the opposite effect is observed for high electron concentration in a channel, i.e. the saturation current drops. Obtained dependences of the drain saturation current of FET on the irradiation dose facilitated development of simple detector design for low levels of radiation. The bridge circuit is used in the radiation sensor to minimize the effect of temperature fluctuations. The sensitivity of the detector is enhanced several times with the help of two pairs of FETs with the opposite sign of radiation sensitivity.     

The design of an animal PET: flexible geometry for achievingoptimal spatial resolution or high sensitivity

Presents the design of a positron emission tomograph (PET) with flexible geometry dedicated to in vivo studies of small animals (TierPET). The scanner uses two pairs of detectors. Each detector consists of 400 small individual yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAP) scintillator crystals of dimensions 2×2×15 mm³, optically isolated and glued together, which are coupled to position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes (PSPMTs). The detector modules can be moved in a radial direction so that the detector-to-detector spacing can be varied. Special hardware has been built for coincidence detection, position detection, and real-time data acquisition, which is performed by a PC. The single-event data are transferred to workstations where the radioactivity distribution is reconstructed. The dimensions of the crystals and the detector layout are the result of extensive simulations which are described in this report, taking into account sensitivity, spatial resolution and additional parameters like parallax error or scatter effects. For the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction a genuine 3-D expectation-maximization (EM)-algorithm which can include the characteristics of the detector system has been implemented. The reconstruction software is flexible and matches the different detector configurations. The main advantage of the proposed animal PET scanner is its high flexibility, allowing the realization of various detector-system configurations. By changing the detector-to-detector spacing, the system is capable of either providing good spatial resolution or high sensitivity for dynamic studies of pharmacokinetics     

基于电容读出的非制冷红外探测器

介绍了一种基于标准硅工艺的电容读出式微悬臂梁非制冷红外探测器的设计、制作以及集成读出电路的设计。该探测器用于探测室温下物体的红外辐射,其响应波长为8～12 μm 。由于氮化硅和铝的热膨胀系数相差很大,用这两种材料的薄膜做成的双材料微悬臂梁在红外辐射下会发生弯曲,微悬臂梁和衬底形成一个可变电容,通过检测电容的变化来反映微悬臂梁的弯曲,从而可以探测红外辐射的情况。采用和探测器集成的CMOS读出电路对探测器信号进行读取,微悬臂梁的电容灵敏度可达2.5 fF/K,温度分辨率为0.1 K。     

RECIPROCITY IN SIMULATIONS OF BOLOMETRIC DETECTORS IN TRANSMITTING MODE

Bolometric detectors used in radio-astronomical instruments such as the ESA Planck Surveyor, operate as incoherent receivers of electromagnetic radiation. Meanwhile, the optical (quasi-optical) parts of the instruments (feed horns, telescope mirrors) are conventionally designed in transmitting mode when a coherent source of radiation (supposedly, equivalent to the bolometric detector) replaces the detector and radiates the electromagnetic waves through the optical system to the sky. The rules of reciprocity in such a replacement of a detector by an “equivalent transmitter” located in a lossy (open) structure (a bolometric cavity coupled via the feed horn with the outer space) are not obvious and usually ignored. A conventional simplistic approach used in this problem may cause errors in the design of such systems. By considering simple, analytically solvable models that simulate bolometric detectors surrounded by some structures, we find the rules of reciprocity providing the necessary equivalence in replacing the receiver by an appropriate transmitter as needed for the rigorous simulations of infrared and submillimetre-wave bolometric systems.     

Novel detector implementations for 3G LTE downlink and uplink

We summarize our recent state-of-the-art programmable and reconfigurable detector and QR decomposition (QRD) implementations targeting 3G long term evolution (LTE) downlink and uplink requirements. The downlink transmission is based on the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, whereas the uplink transmission uses a single-carrier frequency-division multiple access. The downlink implementations are based on the programmable transport triggered architecture (TTA) which provides a flexible and energy efficient architecture template. In TTA detector implementation, the LTE detection rate requirements up to 20 MHz bandwidth and 4 × 4 antenna system with 64-QAM, are achieved by using 1–6 programmable cores in parallel. Each core runs at 277 MHz clock frequency and consumes 55.5–64.0 mW depending on the detector configuration. The downlink detector is based on the selective spanning with fast enumeration algorithm. The uplink field-programmable gate array (FPGA) detector implementation is targeted for 4 × 4 antenna system and 64-QAM achieving a detection rate requirement for 20 MHz bandwidth. The used FPGA board for uplink implementation is Xilinx Virtex-6 and the implementation has been carried out using Xilinx Vivado high level synthesis tool. Two different detector architectures are implemented. The first one achieves the detection rate requirement with a single processing block running at 231 MHz and the latter one with four blocks in parallel, each running at 247 MHz. The implemented detector is based on the K-best algorithm. A multiple-input multiple-output receiver requires QRD to produce valid inputs for the detector. In addition to detector implementations, QRD is also implemented on both TTA and FPGA. Modified Gram–Schmidt algorithm is used in both QRD implementations.     

微悬臂梁非致冷红外探测器的研制

介绍了一种基于标准硅工艺的微悬臂梁非致冷红外探测器的设计和制作.由于氮化硅和铝的热膨胀系数相差很大,用这两种材料的薄膜做成的双材料微悬臂梁在红外辐射下温度升高并发生弯曲,微悬臂梁和衬底形成一个可变电容,通过检测电容的变化来反映微悬臂梁的弯曲,从而可以探测红外辐射的情况.利用外部测试设备对单元探测器进行测试表明,该微悬臂梁对红外辐射有很高的响应.     

Spectral Response Model of Backside-Illuminated HgCdTe Detectors

Backside-illuminated HgCdTe detectors fabricated on thick CdZnTe substrates have an optical path such that the incident radiation traverses the antireflection (AR) coating layers, the thick CdZnTe substrate, and finally the different layers of the detector. Modeling the spectral response first involves a coherent calculation of the transmission and reflection of a multilayer AR coating on the backside of the CdZnTe substrate. Second, a coherent calculation is made of the reflection and transmission coefficients for the stack of detector materials including wavelength-dependent complex refractive indexes for the detector materials. Third, the transmission and reflection coefficients are then used in an incoherent calculation to account for the multiple reflections in the thick CdZnTe substrate. For the coherent calculations, a stack matrix is constructed from the multiplication of matrices that track the phase and amplitude of the waves propagating across interfaces and from one side of a layer to the other side. These calculations are combined to compute the spectral response and reflectance of the detector as a function of wavelength.     

一种新型非致冷红外探测器

介绍一种基于标准硅工艺、采用电容读出方式微悬臂梁非制冷红外探测器的设计、制作及性能测试.用这两种热膨胀系数相差很大材料(氮化硅和铝)的薄膜做成的双材料微悬臂梁在红外辐射下,温度升高并发生弯曲.通过检测微悬臂梁和衬底形成的一个可变电容变化可以得知微悬臂梁的弯曲情况,从而可以探测红外辐射的信息.利用外部测试设备对单元探测器进行测试表明微悬臂梁对红外辐射有很高的响应.     

Electric field probes--A review

Electric field probes consisting of a dipole antenna, RF detector, nonperturbing transmission line, and readout device have been implemented in a variety of ways. Three orthogonal dipoles are generally used in anE-field probe to provide a response which is nearly isotropic for all polarizations of the incident field. Diode detectors have been used with electrically short or resistivity loaded dipoles to produce very broadband devices (0.2 MHz to 26 GHz). Thermocouple detectors are used to provide true time-averaged data for high peak-power modulated fields. Optical fibers, together with a suitably modulated light source, may be used to form a wide-band nonperturbing data link from the dipole and detector to a remote readout. Application ofE-field probes range from the measurement of fields in living animals exposed to nonionizing radiation to the measurement of fields in air for electromagnetic compatability or radiation safety purposes. Probes are available that can measure field strengths from less than 1 V/m to over 1000 V/m (rms).     

TE/sub 01/ Mode Components in the 3-mm Region

In the 3-mm region (94 Gc) it is desirable to use waveguide components operating in the low loss TE/sub 01/ mode in circular waveguide rather than in fundamental-mode rectangular waveguide. Because this is a higher mode, mode purity is of major concern. A method of identifying undesired modes and their amplitudes is by means of radiation patterns from the end of the waveguide. Components developed to operate in this mode include a transition from rectangular to circular waveguide, standing wave detector, variable attenuator, directional coupler, flexible waveguide, fixed 90/spl deg/ bend and rotary joint.     

High performance SOI CMOS pixel sensor with surrounding N+ trench electrode

In this paper, an advanced SOI CMOS pixel (ASCP) detector structure with deep N+ trench electrode is researched and simulated. For this pixel structure, the N+ trench cathode surrounds the P+ trench anode, and they are both connected from the topside. The cathode is in the function of charge share shielding, it isolates the neighbor pixels, and avoids the crosstalk happening of electron hole pairs. Furthermore, the parallel trench electrodes between anode and cathode have reduced the fully depleted voltage, and the bias voltage can be controlled from the core I/O interface. In addition, the ASCP has the better radiation resistance capacity as compared with the Conventional SOI CMOS pixel detector and the Three-Dimension (3D) CMOS detector, due to the low fully depleted voltage and short carrier drift distance. Numerical simulation results show that the ASCP detector has the better charge collecting capacity in low driving voltage, and it is more suitable to detect the back-illumination X-ray ⁵⁵Fe.     

Investigation of sensing capabilities of organic bi-layer thermistor in wearable e-textile and wireless sensing devices

This study is stimulated by the discovery of high sensitivity of nanostructured layers of organic semiconductor α′-BEDT-TTF)2I_xBr_3-x [BEDT-TTF = bis(ethylendithio)-tetrathiafulvalene] to heat radiation. We present the development and assessment of the flexible lightweight highly sensitive film-based thermistor as (i) a separate sensor, (ii) a sensor integrated in e-textile and (iii) a sensor embedded in a wireless sensor node. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT), being two promising technologies, have already been applied in a number of monitoring scenarios. In spite of great progress achieved in sensing technologies and wireless embedded systems there is a gap in multidisciplinary research aimed at investigating the aggregate potential of these technologies. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed bi-layer organic thermistor has high potential for environmental and biomedical monitoring. They can be used as a part of wearable units or as sensing units on board of wireless sensing devices.     

Design of a Thin Film Infrared Barcode on a Flexible Substrate

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of an infrared barcode. This barcode is composed of a bilayer of titanium and amorphous silicon on a flexible Kapton substrate. Information encoded in the barcode shows high contrast when viewed with an infrared imaging system in the 8 to 12 μm spectral region. The barcode information is concealed under visible viewing conditions, i.e., the barcode appears as an untreated, uniform metal sheet to a detector of visible radiation (400 to 700nm).     

大气背景对红外目标探测的影响

针对大气背景是一个纵深背景而非一个平面,无法使用现有对比度计算公式计算的实际,基于红外焦平面探测器工作原理推导出了大气背景下探测器处辐射照度的对比度计算公式。通过对大气背景的红外辐射计算,并与报道的飞机红外辐射数据比较,应用对比度计算公式做分析可知:大气背景对探测的影响是必须考虑的;在3~5m大气窗口的大气背景辐射很小,选择3~5m大气窗口探测更容易发现目标;在8~12m大气窗口内10m附近的大气背景辐射较强,目标不易被探测。随着探测距离增加,探测器到无限远处的大气背景辐射亮度与探测器和目标之间的大气背景辐射亮度之差在减小,它会增大对比度,这是分析探测距离不可忽视的一个因素。     

Polarization of microwave noise source radiation in the 30 GHz to 300 GHz range

The radiation spectra of three microwave noise sources (C. P. Clare & Co., TN type series) have been compared to determine the frequency bandwidth and their polarization. A Lamellar Grating Fourier Transform spectrometer was used with a Helium cooled bolometer detector in the wavelength region of lmm to 10mm. The spectral regions were compared with the manufacturer's specifications and the results were in partial agreement. A secondary transmission region was observed to have an input current as well as a polarization dependence despite the directional output of the waveguide antenna.