An Integrated CAD Methodology for Evaluating MOSFET and Parasitic Extraction Models and Variability

An integrated computer-aided design (CAD) framework for evaluating MOSFET and layout parasitic extraction (LPE) models and circuit simulators used in the timing and power analysis of CMOS products is presented. This unified CAD methodology builds a step-wise understanding of the underlying parameter values in the models and their impact on circuit performance. A number of circuit experiments are included to extract the contributions of key MOSFET parameters and physical layout sensitive parasitic elements from circuit simulation results. This CAD setup thus allows easy and detailed comparison of different technologies, device models, and LPE tools to prevent possible bugs in the software as well as inaccuracies in device and parasitic models and timing tools. The software code to carry out the circuit simulations, analysis, and display of the results in an automated fashion has been specifically developed to support this framework. Some of the experiments designed for this work are also placed on the product chip for model-to-hardware correlation. The comparison of the hardware data to the model predictions points to the sources of any discrepancies and aids in tuning the product design to reflect changes in the technology as part of an overall design for manufacturing (DFM) platform     

用无线传感器组成无线传感器网络

物联网的愿景之一是能够测量以前从未测量过的变量。无论应用是监视基础设施老化(例如桥梁、隧道或电力传输线的老化),还是实时提供停车及交通信息,都需要无线传感器网络(WSN)提供与有线网络类似的性能,而且适合实际部署。传感器网络要能够扩展至包含大量无线节点,而且在很多情况下,需要跨越很长的距离。     

Impact of the gain saturation dynamics in semiconductor optical amplifiers on the characteristics of an analog optical link

We evaluate both theoretically and experimentally the gain saturation dynamics of semiconductor optical amplifiers when inserted into an analog optical link. Its impact in terms of radio frequency response, nonlinearity, and noise is investigated. In particular, the frequency response is shown to be a peculiar high-pass filter exhibiting two characteristic frequencies.     

Superconducting microwave filter systems for cellular telephone base stations

In the second decade following the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), wireless communications has emerged as the earliest large commercial market. The enormous growth of the wireless industry coupled with its increasing technology demands has created a significant opportunity for HTS technology in wireless base stations. These systems combine high-performance HTS RF filters with cryocooled semiconductor preamplifiers to offer enhanced sensitivity to improve signal reception and exceptional selectivity to reject interfering signals. There are now thousands of installed HTS systems and the prospects are good for widespread future deployment. This paper discusses the underlying technologies that support HTS wireless applications, based upon the characteristic microwave properties of HTS thin films and substrates. HTS filter design technology has been under development for a decade and has gained a fair measure of maturity in terms of design tools, simulation techniques, and available topologies. The need for extremely narrow-band filters, highly selective filters, frequency-agile filters, and very compact filter designs has led to many technology advances. On the system level, comparable advances in cryocooler technology and cryopackaging have enabled the development of a broadly deployable technology. We discuss industry trends and the methodologies and results of simulations and real-world measurements of HTS filter systems.     

INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND SOLVENT ON THE PRECIPITATION OF ASPHALTENES

Asphaltenes has been precipitated from a Kuwait flash residue using different n-alkanes (n-C5 to n-C8) at various temperatures ranging from 4^°C to reflux temperatures of the used precipitants. Structures in the asphaltene fractions has been revealed using U.V. fluorescence spectroscopy, elemental analysis and to some extent 1H-nmr. These analysis shows that asphaltenes precipitated in the same amount but at different temperature and with different solvents have merely the same composition. For all n-alkanes the curves of precipitated amount versus temperature show maxima at about 25^°C, implying a shift in the solubility of the asphaltenes.The impact of alkane chain length on the aggregation of asphaltenes through hydrogen bonds is discussed using the alkane-alcohol system as a model. The asphaltene solubility is discussed with the help of the Scatchard-Hildebrand equation.     

Silver versus white sheet as a back reflector for microcrystalline silicon solar cells deposited on LPCVD‐ZnO electrodes of various textures

We compare the performance of two back reflector designs on the optoelectrical properties of microcrystalline silicon solar cells. The first one consists of a 5‐µm‐thick low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD)‐ZnO electrode combined with a white sheet; the second one incorporates an Ag reflector deposited on a thin LPCVD‐ZnO layer (with thickness below 200 nm). For this latter design, the optical loss in the nano‐rough Ag reflector can be strongly reduced by smoothing the surface of the thin underlying ZnO layer, by means of an Ar‐plasma treatment. Because of its superior lateral conductivity, the thin‐ZnO/Ag back reflector design provides a higher fill factor than the dielectric back reflector design. When decreasing the roughness of the front electrode with respect to our standard front LPCVD‐ZnO layer, the electrical cell performance is improved; in addition, the implementation of the thin‐ZnO/Ag back reflector leads to a significant relative gain in light trapping. Applying this newly optimized combination of front and back electrodes, the conversion efficiency is improved from 8.9% up to 9.4%, for cells with an active‐layer thickness of only 1.1 µm. We thereby highlight the necessity to optimize simultaneously the front and back electrodes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Mn and Nb Doped BaTiO3 in the Dielectric Properties in the Ba(Mn1/2Nb1/2)xTi1−xO3

Polycrystalline samples of BaTi_1?x (Mn_0.5Nb_0.5) _x O₃ with x = 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1, 0.125, 0.15, and 0.175 have been synthesized by the high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. The effects of cationic substitution of manganese and niobium for titanium at B sites of the BaTiO₃ perovskite lattice on symmetry and dielectric properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction at room temperature and dielectric permittivity in the temperature range from 85 K to 500 K and frequency range from 100 Hz to 2 × 10⁵ Hz were studied. The evolution from a normal ferroelectric to a relaxor ferroelectric is emphasized. T _C or T _m decreases when both manganese and niobium are introduced into the lattice of BaTiO₃. High dielectric constant of around 9000 at T _C = 280 K was found for Ba Ti_0.925(Mn_0.5Nb_0.5)_0.075O₃ ceramic. A relaxor ferroelectric with ΔT _m = 60 K and $ \varepsilon_{\rm{r}}^{\prime } $ of about 3500 at 10 kHz with T _m = 150 K was found for the BaTi_0.85(Mn_0.5Nb_0.5)_0.15O₃ sample.     

关注细节以确保Bluetooth+WiFi的服务质量

蓝牙和802.11b/g WiFi都是重要的无线技术,常被应用于笔记本电脑、PDA、个人多媒体播放器(PMP)以及手机等设备中.     

Toward a direct measure of video quality perception using EEG

An approach to the direct measurement of perception of video quality change using electroencephalography (EEG) is presented. Subjects viewed 8-s video clips while their brain activity was registered using EEG. The video signal was either uncompressed at full length or changed from uncompressed to a lower quality level at a random time point. The distortions were introduced by a hybrid video codec. Subjects had to indicate whether they had perceived a quality change. In response to a quality change, a positive voltage change in EEG (the so-called P3 component) was observed at latency of about 400-600 ms for all subjects. The voltage change positively correlated with the magnitude of the video quality change, substantiating the P3 component as a graded neural index of the perception of video quality change within the presented paradigm. By applying machine learning techniques, we could classify on a single-trial basis whether a subject perceived a quality change. Interestingly, some video clips wherein changes were missed (i.e., not reported) by the subject were classified as quality changes, suggesting that the brain detected a change, although the subject did not press a button. In conclusion, abrupt changes of video quality give rise to specific components in the EEG that can be detected on a single-trial basis. Potentially, a neurotechnological approach to video assessment could lead to a more objective quantification of quality change detection, overcoming the limitations of subjective approaches (such as subjective bias and the requirement of an overt response). Furthermore, it allows for real-time applications wherein the brain response to a video clip is monitored while it is being viewed.     

On the Energy Detection of Unknown Signals Over Fading Channels

This letter addresses the problem of energy detection of an unknown signal over a multipath channel. It starts with the no-diversity case, and presents some alternative closed-form expressions for the probability of detection to those recently reported in the literature. Detection capability is boosted by implementing both square-law combining and square-law selection diversity schemes