Novel Metamaterial Compact Planar MIMO Antenna Systems with Improved Isolation for WLAN Application

In this paper, two element multiple input–multiple output (MIMO) meander line antenna systems with improved isolation performance and compact size are proposed and fabricated in WLAN frequency band. To increase isolation among antenna elements, a novel metamaterial spiral S-shaped resonator is embedded between two radiating elements. The proposed resonator has planar configuration and miniaturized size and is capable of blocking electromagnetic propagation between antenna elements by exhibiting negative effective permeability in the desired frequency band. To illustrate and evaluate the design process, two design samples are fabricated and tested in WLAN frequency band and the agreement among measurement and simulation results approves the design method. In the frequency range of 2.38–2.48 GHz, some MIMO communication system requirements like total active reflection coefficient, envelope correlation coefficient and capacity loss are tested on design samples which show satisfactory results, so this method can be employed in designing array antennas for small mobile communication systems. The designed MIMO antenna systems separated by 13.8 mm (less than λ/9), has better than ??40 dB isolation coefficient and near zero correlation coefficient and capacity loss at the operating frequency (2.4 GHz).

     

The microstructural characterization of semi-solid slurries

Due to recent interest in semi-solid metal (SSM) processing, there is a need for fundamental knowledge on the formation and solidification of primary particles. The primary particle size, distribution, morphology, and percentage are the main concerns because particle quantity and size affect not only the mechanical properties of as-cast SSM parts but also the flow characteristics of SSM slurries during die filling. Microstructural characterization is a basic tool for measuring the critical parameters that influence the resulting properties. This article describes the tools and techniques available for structural analysis of SSM slurries. It also attempts to elucidate the ambiguities and interpretations of special structural features.     

A machine learning-based dynamic link power control in wearable sensing devices

Wireless Networks - The main research challenges on developing Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) are related to the quality of the communication link and energy consumption. This article combines...     

Improving the reliability of Byzantine fault‐tolerant distributed software‐defined networks

This paper presents a method to improve the reliability and fault tolerance of distributed software‐defined networks. This method is called “BIRDSDN (Byzantine‐Resilient Improved Reliable Distributed Software‐Defined Networks).” In BIRDSDN, a group communication is implemented among the controllers of the whole clusters. This method can detect the crash failure and Byzantine failure of any controller and undertakes a fast detection and recovery scheme to select the controllers to take over the orphan switches. BIRDSDN takes into account the reliability of the nodes considering the failure probability of intracluster and intercluster links, topology, load, and latency. The numerical results show that this approach performs better than the other approaches regarding failure detection, recovery, latency, throughput, reliability, and packet loss.     

Securing Wireless Sensor Networks Against Denial‐of‐Sleep Attacks Using RSA Cryptography Algorithm and Interlock Protocol

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been vastly employed in the collection and transmission of data via wireless networks. This type of network is nowadays used in many applications for surveillance activities in various environments due to its low cost and easy communications. In these networks, the sensors use a limited power source which after its depletion, since it is non‐renewable, network lifetime ends. Due to the weaknesses in sensor nodes, they are vulnerable to many threats. One notable attack threating WSN is Denial of Sleep (DoS). DoS attacks denotes the loss of energy in these sensors by keeping the nodes from going into sleep and energy‐saving mode. In this paper, the Abnormal Sensor Detection Accuracy (ASDA‐RSA) method is utilized to counteract DoS attacks to reducing the amount of energy consumed. The ASDA‐RSA schema in this paper consists of two phases to enhancement security in the WSNs. In the first phase, a clustering approach based on energy and distance is used to select the proper cluster head and in the second phase, the RSA cryptography algorithm and interlock protocol are used here along with an authentication method, to prevent DoS attacks. Moreover, ASDA‐RSA method is evaluated here via extensive simulations carried out in NS‐2. The simulation results indicate that the WSN network performance metrics are improved in terms of average throughput, Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), network lifetime, detection ratio, and average residual energy.     

Phenylhydrazinium Iodide for Surface Passivation and Defects Suppression in Perovskite Solar Cells

In recent years, hybrid perovskite solar cells (HPSCs) have received considerable research attention due to their impressive photovoltaic performance and low‐temperature solution processing capability. However, there remain challenges related to defect passivation and enhancing the charge carrier dynamics of the perovskites, to further increase the power conversion efficiency of HPSCs. In this work, the use of a novel material, phenylhydrazinium iodide (PHAI), as an additive in MAPbI₃ perovskite for defect minimization and enhancement of the charge carrier dynamics of inverted HPSCs is reported. Incorporation of the PHAI in perovskite precursor solution facilitates controlled crystallization, higher carrier lifetime, as well as less recombination. In addition, PHAI additive treated HPSCs exhibit lower density of filled trap states (10¹⁰ cm^?2) in perovskite grain boundaries, higher charge carrier mobility (≈11 × 10^?4 cm² V^?1 s), and enhanced power conversion efficiency (≈18%) that corresponds to a ≈20% improvement in comparison to the pristine devices.     

Covert timing channels: analyzing WEB traffic

In case there is a communication contrary to the system security policies, a covert channel has been created. The attacker can easily disclosure information from the victim’s system with just one public access permission. Covert timing channels, unlike covert storage channels, do not have memory storage and they draw less attention. Different methods have been proposed for their identification, which generally benefit from the shape of traffic and the channel’s regularity. The application nature of HTTP protocol allows the creation of a covert timing channel based on different features of this protocol (or different levels) that has not been addressed in previous researches. This research tries to study the effect of using different features (or levels) of HTTP protocol on identifying the covert channel. The amount of channel’s entropy could be manipulated by changing the channel’s level or adding intentional noise on the channel to protect from the analyzer’s detection. The difference in the placement of the covert channel and the detector causes the amount of channel entropy to be far from the detection threshold. Therefore, we concluded that the analyzer must investigate traffic at all possible levels. Adding noise on the covert channel decrease its capacity, but as entropy increases, it would be harder to detect it.

     

A ring oscillator with very low phase noise and wide frequency range using carbon nanotube technology for PLL applications

This paper presents a wide frequency range three-stage voltage-controlled ring oscillator in CNTFET technology. The advantages of CNTFETs are the high speed of charge carriers, high signal to noise ratio, small size and ballistic transport. Therefore in comparison with MOSFETs, they have a higher frequency, and can operate at a wide frequency range with a very low phase noise if forward bulk bias and active inductor techniques are simultaneously used in the oscillators that employ CNTFETs. In this paper, the Stanford CNTFET model is implemented in Verilog-A, and the proposed CNT ring oscillator is simulated using ADS software over the 50–500 GHz frequency range. The phase noise of the oscillator is ? 136 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, which is suitable for PLL applications.

     

Exact analysis of antibody-coated silicon biological nano-sensors (SBNSs) to identify viruses and bacteria

In this paper, the vibration analysis of a Silicon Biological Nano-sensor (SBNS) with full coverage of Myosin as biologically adsorbent layer is investigated based on modified nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam model. This SBNS works based on calculating the shift of resonant frequency in the presence of Myosin layer and adsorbed viruses and bacteria. For this end, the effects of surface stresses, nonlocal parameter, and rotary inertia as well as the mass and stiffness of the adsorbent layer are taken into account, which can play a major role in changing the resonant frequency and the precision of SBNSs at nano-scale. The results illustrate that the effects of adsorbent layer, surface stresses, nonlocal parameter and rotary inertia may reduce resonant frequency of SBNS, which is significant especially at nano-scale. Finally, for the purpose of verification assessment, the numerical results were compared with the results of other studies and showed complete agreement. The present study can provide helpful insights for the design and characterization of accurate biological Nano-sensors.

     

Solving a new cost-oriented assembly line balancing problem by classical and hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms

Neural Computing and Applications - In this study, a new cost-oriented assembly line balancing problem is proposed and formulated. A single objective function consisting of minimizing the cost...