A computationally efficient selected mapping technique for reducing PAPR of OFDM

In orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, high value of peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is an operational problem that may cause non-linear distortion resulting in high bit error rate. Selected mapping (SLM) is a well known technique that shows good PAPR reduction capability but inflicts added computational overhead. In this paper, using Riemann sequence based SLM method, we applied reverse searching technique to find out low PAPR yielding phase sequences with significant reduction in computational complexity. Additionally, we explored side-information free transmission that achieves higher throughput but sacrifices PAPR reduction. Finally, to overcome this loss in PAPR reduction, we proposed application of Square-rooting companding technique over the output OFDM transmitted signal. Simulation results show that the proposed method is able to compensate the sacrifice in PAPR and achieved PAPR reduction of 8.9 dB with very low computational overhead.     

Design and performance evaluation of amplifier modules in stackable ROADMs for low-cost CWDM access networks

Coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) network has proven to be promising lower cost network architecture for a significant cost advantage over dense wavelength division multiplexing due to the lower cost of lasers and the filters used in CWDM modules. A compatible amplifier module having bidirectional amplification capability was deployed for introducing inside stackable reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers in realizing large-scale CWDM networks. The amplifier module for use in the bidirectional IP transmission confirmed that the insertion losses of the nodes and the losses of the fibers connecting the nodes can be compensated effectively, allowing the network administrator to increase the number of nodes and fiber length of the network. However, the noise generated from the amplification due to amplified spontaneous emission must be considered in network design issues. In this paper, optical power penalties due to the bidirectional amplification were estimated by conducting experimentation on minimum detectable power of optical transceivers. After analyzing the power penalty issue, an IP-over-CWDM ring network was implemented and the performance of network was evaluated by monitoring the power and packet transmissions before and after the amplifier module was turned on.     

Analysis of energy-tax for multipath routing in wireless sensor networks

Recently, multipath routing in wireless sensor networks (WSN) has got immense research interest due to its capability of providing increased robustness, reliability, throughput, and security. However, a theoretical analysis on the energy consumption behavior of multipath routing has not yet been studied. In this paper, we present a general framework for analyzing the energy consumption overhead (i.e., energy tax) resulting from multipath routing protocol in WSN. The framework includes a baseline routing model, a network model, and two energy consumption schemes for sensor nodes, namely, periodic listening and selective wake-up schemes. It exploits the influence of node density, link failure rates, number of multiple paths, and transmission environment on the energy consumption. Scaling laws of energy-tax due to routing and data traffic are derived through analysis, which provide energy profiles of single-path and multipath routing and serve as a guideline for designing energy-efficient protocols for WSN. The crossover points of relative energy taxes, paid by single-path and multipath routing, reception, and transmission, are obtained. Finally, the scaling laws are validated and performance comparisons are depicted for a reference network via numerical results.     

Non-Intrusive Monitoring of Everyday Behavioral Activities in an Indoor Environment

A non-intrusive design for monitoring everyday activities of an elderly person is presented. The proposed system is intended to be used in the bedroom, allowing the elders to stay at home in a safe environment. The required hardware design is simple in structure and cost effective. The sensor design is implemented by using capacitive sensors and an Arduino microcontroller unit. And a real time graphical user interface is implemented to monitor the elderly person. The performance analysis shows that the sensor design is able to differentiate between a human body and a house pet.     

IGCC for PAPR Reduction in OFDM Systems Over the Nonlinearity of SSPA and Wireless Fading Channels

High peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems seriously impacts power efficiency in radio frequency section due to the nonlinearity of high-power amplifiers. In this article, an improved gamma correction companding (IGCC) is proposed for PAPR reduction and investigated under multipath fading channels. It is shown that the proposed IGCC provides a significant PAPR reduction while improving power spectral levels and error performances when compared with the previous gamma correction companding. IGCC outperforms existing companding methods when a nonlinear solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) is considered. Additionally, with the introduction of \(\alpha , \beta , \gamma \), and \(\varDelta \) parameters, the improved companding can offer more flexibility in the PAPR reduction and therefore achieves a better trade-off among the PAPR gain, bit error rate (BER), and power spectral density (PSD) performance. Moreover, IGCC improves the BER and PSD performances by minimizing the nonlinear companding distortion. Further, IGCC improves signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) degradation (\(\varDelta _{\mathrm{SNR}}\)) and total degradation performances by 12.2 and 12.8 dB, respectively, considering an SSPA with input power back-off of 3.0 dB. Computer simulation reveals that the performances of IGCC are independent of the modulation schemes and works with arbitrary number of subcarriers (N), while it does not increase computational complexity when compared with the existing companding schemes used for PAPR reduction in OFDM systems.     

Side-Channel Information Characterisation Based on Cascade-Forward Back-Propagation Neural Network

Traditional cryptanalysis assumes that an adversary only has access to input and output pairs, but has no knowledge about internal states of the device. However, the advent of side-channel analysis showed that a cryptographic device can leak critical information. In this circumstance, Machine learning is known as a powerful and promising method of analysing of side-channel information. In this paper, an experimental investigation on a FPGA implementation of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) was conducted to explore the efficiency of side-channel information characterisation based on machine learning techniques. In this work, machine learning is used in terms of principal component analysis (PCA) for the preprocessing stage and a Cascade-Forward Back-Propagation Neural Network (CFBP) as a multi-class classifier. The experimental results show that CFBP can be a promising approach in characterisation of side-channel information.     

Laser-Induced Calcite—Aragonite Transition

High-pressure phases of CaCO₃, namely aragonite, calcite II, and possibly calcite III, were synthesized in air by exposing 10- to 20-μm-size particles of CaCO₃ (calcite I phase) to a CO₂ laser radiation at short pulse lengths (≤0.1 ms). The process, therefore, has the same effect as exposing the particles to at least several hundred megapascals pressure. Processing at higher pulse lengths resulted in the decomposition of CaCO₃ to CaO and CO₂. The extent of decomposition increased with increasing pulse length.