3D Localization for Launch Vehicle Using Virtual TOA and AOA of Ground Stations

Wireless Personal Communications - Generally, a ground telemetry station for a launch vehicle (LV) includes a tracking function only; therefore, position measurements for LV depend on received...     

Reproducing consistent wireless protocol performance across environments

Full scale experimentation with wireless networks in deployment environments is difficult. Therefore a common validation technique is to test a prototype network in a convenient environment prior to deployment. In this paper, we consider the problem of obtaining comparable protocol performance when the test and deployment environments differ in RF propagation environment and/or inter-node spacing. To achieve comparable protocol behavior in the two settings, we propose the concept of “link usage spectrum”. Based on the hypothesis that the link usage spectrum is a gross predictor for network performance, we show how to replicate in the test setting the link usage spectrum of the protocol that is expected in the deployment setting. We show our technique for achieving comparable protocol behavior via experiments and simulations in multiple indoor and outdoor propagation environments. The link usage spectrum is protocol specific; we illustrate for a family of protocols how the link usage spectrum is calculated analytically, from the protocol metric for choosing forwarding links in the network, and how power scaling can be used to match the link usage spectrum across networks.     

KWTA networks and their applications

Winner-Take-All (WTA) or K-Winner-Take-All (KWTA) networks have been frequently used as the basic building blocks of complex neural networks. This paper introduces a new selection rule for network connections that implements stable KWTA networks. To widen the applications of WTA networks, a new class of WTA networks is proposed, and their efficient design methods are presented. We demonstrate the properties of the generalized class of WTA networks, through three application examples.     

Designing a Stable Cathode with Multiple Layers to Improve the Operational Lifetime of Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes

The short device lifetime of blue polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) is still a bottleneck for commercialization of self‐emissive full‐color displays. Since the cathode in the device has a dominant influence on the device lifetime, a systematic design of the cathode structure is necessary. The operational lifetime of blue PLEDs can be greatly improved by introducing a three‐layer (BaF₂/Ca/Al) cathode compared with conventional two‐layer cathodes (BaF₂/Al and Ba/Al). Therefore, the roles of the BaF₂ and Ca layers in terms of electron injection, luminous efficiency, and device lifetime are here investigated. For efficient electron injection, the BaF₂ layer should be deposited to the thickness of at least one monolayer (～3 nm). However, it is found that the device lifetime does not show a strong relation with the electron injection or luminous efficiency. In order to prolong the device lifetime, sufficient reaction between BaF₂ and the overlying Ca layer should take place during the deposition where the thickness of each layer is around that of a monolayer.     

New Organic Nonlinear Optical Polyene Crystals and Their Unusual Phase Transitions

A series of new nonlinear optical chromophores based on configurationally locked polyenes (CLPs) with chiral pyrrolidine donors are synthesized. All CLP derivatives exhibit high thermal stability with decomposition temperatures T_d at least > 270 °C. Acentric single crystals of enantiopure D ‐ and L ‐prolinol‐based chromophores with a monoclinic space group P2₁ exhibit a macroscopic second‐order nonlinearity that is twice as large than that of analogous dimethylamino‐based crystal. This is attributed to a strong hydrogen‐bonded polar polymer‐like chain built by these molecules, which is aligned along the polar crystallographic b‐axis. Five α‐phase CLP crystals with different donors grown from solution exhibit a reversible or irreversible thermally induced structural phase transition to a β‐phase. These phase transitions are unusual, changing the crystal symmetry from higher to lower at increasing temperatures, for example, from centrosymmetric to non‐centrosymmetric, enhancing their macroscopic second‐order nonlinear optical properties.     

Switched‐Capacitor Variable Gain Amplifier with Operational Amplifier Preset Technique

We present a novel operational amplifier preset technique for a switched‐capacitor circuit to reduce the acquisition time by improving the slewing. The acquisition time of a variable gain amplifier (VGA) using the proposed technique is reduced by 30% compared with a conventional one; therefore, the power consumption of the VGA is decreased. For additional power reduction, a programmable capacitor array scheme is used in the VGA. In the 0.13 μm CMOS process, the VGA, which consists of three‐stages, occupies 0.33 mm² and dissipates 19.2 mW at 60 MHz with a supply voltage of 1.2 V. The gain range is 36.03 dB, which is controlled by a 10‐bit control word with a gain error of ±0.68 LSB.     

Phase-separated polydimethylsiloxane as a dielectric surface treatment layer for organic field effect transistors

We suggest a novel method for treating the surfaces of dielectric layers in organic field effect transistors (OFETs). In this method, a blend of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-bithiophene) (F8T2) and dimethylsiloxane (DMS) with a curing agent is spin coated onto the surface of a dielectric substrate, silicon oxide (SiO₂), and then thermally cured. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and morphology analysis were used to show that the hydrophilic DMS layer is preferentially adsorbed on the SiO₂ substrate during the spin coating process. After thermal curing, the bottom DMS layer becomes a hydrophobic PDMS layer. This bottom PDMS layer becomes thinner during curing due to the upward motion of the hydrophobic PDMS molecules. The FET mobility of the cured system was 10^?2 cm²/Vs, which is similar to that of polymeric semiconductors on octadecyltrichlorosilane treated SiO₂ dielectric layers. We also discuss the possibility of using this blend method to increase the air-stability of polymeric semiconductors.     

Determination of the interface energy level alignment of a doped organic hetero-junction using capacitance–voltage measurements

A simple method based on capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements is reported to determine the interface energy level alignment at the junction of 15 mol% Cs₂CO₃ doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BPhen) and 1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylene hexacarbonitrile (HATCN) fabricated under high vacuum. The junction properties, such as the depletion layer thickness, built-in potentials and vacuum level shift were calculated with simple Mott–Schottky and Poisson’s equations with the boundary condition of a continuous electric flux density using the information from the C–V data. The interface energy level alignment determined by this method is well matched with the one determined using the in situ ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) experiments performed under ultra-high vacuum. This method can be applied to other semiconductor junctions such as the organic p–n homojunctions and heterojunctions with known energy levels, as long as the metal/semiconductor contact is Ohmic without referring to the photoemission spectroscopies. Moreover, the energy level alignment determined by the C–V measurement gives a more realistic result since the films for the measurements are formed under high vacuum which is a normal device fabrication environment rather than under ultra high vacuum.     

Organic Phenolic Configurationally Locked Polyene Single Crystals for Electro‐optic and Terahertz Wave Applications

We investigate a configurationally locked polyene (CLP) crystal 2‐(3‐(4‐hydroxystyryl)‐5,5‐dimethylcyclohex‐2‐enylidene)malononitrile (OH1) containing a phenolic electron donor, which also acts as a hydrogen bond donor. The OH1 crystals with orthorhombic space group Pna2₁ (point group mm2) exhibit large second‐order nonlinear optical figures of merit, high thermal stability and very favorable crystal growth characteristics. Higher solubility in methanol and a larger temperature difference between the melting temperature and the decomposition temperature of OH1 compared to analogous CLP crystals, are of advantage for solution and melt crystal growth, respectively. Acentric bulk OH1 crystals of large sizes with side lengths of up to 1 cm with excellent optical quality have been successfully grown from methanol solution. The microscopic and macroscopic nonlinearities of the OH1 crystals are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The OH1 crystals exhibit a large macroscopic nonlinearity with four times larger powder second harmonic generation efficiency than that of analogous CLP crystals containing dimethylamino electron donor. A very high potential of OH1 crystals for broadband THz wave emitters in the full frequency range of 0.1–3 THz by optical rectification of 160 fs pulses has been demonstrated.