Half-bridge inverter using 4H-SiC gate turn-off thyristors

This paper reports on the first demonstration of a half-bridge power inverter constructed from silicon carbide gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs) operated in the conventional GTO mode. This circuit was characterized with input bus voltages of up to 600 VDC and 2 A (peak current density of 540 A/cm²) with resistive loads using a pulse-width modulated switching frequency of 2 kHz. We discuss the implications of the thyristor's electrical characteristics and the circuit topology on the overall operation of the half-bridge circuit. This work has determined the conservative critical rate of rise value of the off-state voltage to be 200 V/μs in these devices     

Interactions of electron beams with surfaces of MgO crystals

The strong interaction of electrons with the flat surfaces of small crystals has been investigated by high resolution CTEM and STEM instruments. When cubic crystals of MgO smoke with edges 20–300 nm are oriented so that the ?001? or ?011? zone axis is parallel to the optical axis, then two kinds of external fringes are observed at (100) surfaces. One kind is parallel to the surface, having spacings up to 0.4 nm. These are caused by interference among the electron channelled along the surface. Fresnel-diffracted ones and the remnant of the incident beam. Fringes of the other kind, which appear as fine structure in the first kind of fringes, are perpendicular to the crystal edge. When an electron beam is parallel to the ?011? axis, the second kind of fringe, whose spacing is 0.3 nm corresponding to d₀₁₁, shows the difference of the surface potential between magnesium atoms and oxygen atoms. Selected area diffraction patterns and microdiffraction patterns also show the same periodicities as in the two kinds of fringes. Simulated images, using the scattering amplitudes for ions, are compared with observations.     

Collision Detection and Multitone Tree Search for Multiple-Access Protocols on Radio Channels

The carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA-CD) protocol cannot be applied directly to radio channels because of the difficulty in sensing remote carrier in the presence of local transmission. Only recently, a new protocol called the CSMA with timesplit collision detection (CSMA-TCD) was introduced to overcome this problem on radio channels. This paper presents an extension of the CSMA-TCD protocol, called CSMA-TCD with multitone tree search (CSMA-TCD-MTTS). In CSMA-TCD, a preamble is transmitted before data transmission. For CSMA-TCD-MTTS, the preamble is modulated with one out ofNtones. In case of a collision, a resolution algorithm splits the terminals involved into anN-degree tree according to the tone chosen. This paper presents the throughput and approximate delay analysis of the CSMA-TCD-MTTS protocol.     

Effect of facet coatings on far fields of semiconductor lasers

A theoretical expression is derived for the far fields of semiconductor lasers with coated facets. It is shown that the far fields are different for uncoated, antireflection-coated and high-reflection-coated lasers. The correction factor for the far fields is shown to depend on the transmission coefficient of the facets.     

Front Cover

In this paper, the authors present the results of experiments which clearly demonstrate a technical basis confirming that the carrier frequency harmonics data can be used for diagnostics relative to motor stator insulation degradation.     

Implementation of a self-timed segmented bus

We propose an asynchronous structure for implementation on a SoC. An intersegment topological arrangement preserves parallelization and, through a so-called central arbiter, efficiently organizes communication with high signaling speed in the proposed structure. Researchers proposed the concept of segmenting buses primarily for multicomputer architectures. More recent approaches address on-chip implementation of segmented buses. We present an asynchronous segmented-bus architecture targeted for the modular design of high-performance SoC applications. The structure not only enables faster operation than a conventional bus system but also offers lower power consumption per transferred data item. This is possible because segmentation is realized in such a way that the majority of data transfers in the system are intrasegment transactions on relatively short wires with low or moderate capacitive loads.     

MetaModel: a program for modelling and control analysis of metabolic pathways on the IBM PC and compatibles

MetaModel is a user-friendly program for calculating steady-state fluxes and metabolite concentrations of metabolic systems on the IBM PC and compatible computers. For any steady state that is obtained, one can then calculate a matrix of elasticity coefficients at that steady state, or a matrix of control and response coefficients. It thus offers a simple way to calculate the control structure of a pathway: it provides not only an educational tool that allows the student to verify empirically the classic summation relationships of metabolic control analysis but also a research tool for addressing 'what if?' questions about the behaviour of metabolic systems. Results can not only be printed or stored in a file, but can also be written to a special file that can be read by popular spreadsheet programs, thereby giving access to rapid, flexible and powerful methods for subsequent analysis and plotting of these results.     

A Distributed State Estimator Utilizing Synchronized Phasor Measurements

With the creation of balancing authorities by the North American Reliability Council that span large portions of the North American interconnection, and stringent requirements for real time monitoring of power system evolution, faster and more accurate state estimation algorithms that can efficiently handle systems of very large sizes are needed in the present environment. This paper presents a distributed state estimation algorithm suitable for large-scale power systems. Synchronized phasor measurements are applied to aggregate the voltage phase angles of each decomposed subsystem in the distributed state estimation solution. The aggregated state estimation solution is obtained from the distributed solution using a sensitivity analysis based update at chosen boundary buses. Placement of synchronized phasor measurements in the decomposed subsystems is also investigated in this paper. Test results on the IEEE 118-bus test bed are provided     

Anfangsvorgänge bei Lichtenbergschen Figuren

Zusammenfassung Aufnahmen von Lichtenbergschen Figuren mit kurzen Spannungsstößen zeigen, daß bisher bekanntgewordene Bilder solcher Entladungsfiguren bereits ein verhältnismäßig weit vorgeschrittenes Stadium darstellen. Es gelingt mittels kurzer Stöße erste lawinenartige Anfänge der Figuren festzuhalten und einiges über Vorgänge im Anfangsstadium herauszulesen. Die negative Figur beginnt lawinenförmig an bevorzugten Stellen der Kathode. Bei nebeneinander entstandenen Lawinen ist sehr gut die gegenseitige Abstoßung infolge gleicher Ladung zu beobachten. Die Entladung hat einen geschichteten Aufbau. Die positiven Figuren bilden sich später aus. Es sprechen jedoch bisher keinerlei Anzeichen für ein Hinwachsen der Fäden zur Anode. Die Kanäle verjüngen sich zur Anode hin und selbst bei kurzen Stoßzeiten endet kein einziger vor der Anode. Auch die Art der gegenseitigen Abstoßung der positiven Fäden spricht mehr für ein Vorwachsen von der Anode aus. Aus den Farbaufnahmen ergibt sich für die filmschwärzende Strahlung eine Wellenlänge unter 450 m.