A 863-870-Mhz spread-spectrum direct conversion receiver design for wireless sensor

This paper presents simulation results of the receiver section of a frequency-hopped spread-spectrum transceiver operating in the 863–870 MHz European band for wireless sensor applications. The receiver is designed for binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK) modulation, communicating a maximum data rate of 20 kb/s. The receiver combines a low-noise amplifier with down conversion mixer, a low-pass channel-select filter and a limiter. The various block parameters of the receiver like noise figure, gain and IIP3 are simulated and optimized to meet receiver specifications. The receiver simulations show 51.1 dB conversion gain, -7 dBm IIP3, -15 dB return loss (S₁₁) and 10 dB NF.     

Optimum pumping scheme of dual-stage triple-pass erbium-doped fiber amplifier

The optimization of pump power for a new configuration of dual-stage triple-pass Erbium-doped fiber amplifier is successfully demonstrated. This configuration incorporates two-stage amplifiers with two independent 980-nm pump lasers. The first-stage amplifier consists of double-pass amplification to obtain high gains and the second-stage amplifier is single-pass amplification in backward pumping schemes. The maximum gain that obtained in the experiment does not have the minimum noise figure. Therefore, the optimum operating point is defined based on the ratio of gain to noise figure. The relationship between the pump-power distributions in the proposed configuration shows that the optimum pump ratio of the first-stage pump laser to the total pump power is around 0.3 to 0.5 depending on the signal powers.     

An 863-870 MHz spread-spectrum FSK transceiver design for wireless sensor

Simulation results of a 863-870 MHz frequency-hopped spread-spectrum (FHSS) transceiver with binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) modulation at 20 kb/s for wireless sensor applications is presented.The transmit/receive RF front end contains a BFSK modulator, an upconversion mixer, a power amplifier (PA), and an 863-870 MHz band pass filter (BPF) at the transmitter side and a low-noise amplifier with down conversion mixer to zero-IF, a low-pass channel-select filter, a limiter and a BFSK demodulator at the receiver side. The various block parameters of the transmit/receive RF front end like noise figure (NF), gain, 1 dB compression point (P-1 dB), and IIP3 are simulated and optimized to meet low power and low cost transceiver specifications.The transmitter simulations show an output ACPR (adjacent channel power ratio) of −22 dBc, 3.3 dBm P-1 dB of PA, and transmitted power of 0 dBm. The receiver simulations show 51.1 dB conversion gain, −7 dBm IIP3, −15 dB return loss (S11), and 10 dB NF. Low power arctangent-differentiated BFSK demodulator has been chosen and the BER performance has been co simulated with the analog receiver. The complete receiver achieves a BER of 10⁻³ at 10.5 dB of EbtoNo. The transceiver simulations show an RMS frequency error of 1.45 kHz.     

Electrical parameters degradation law of MOSFET during ageing

A new method to extract the different electrical parameters lifetime of MOS transistors submitted to hot carriers degradation is proposed. This method leads to error on the lifetime below 15%, even if the parameter variation measurement reaches only 8%. The robustness of this method has been tested for various biases of stress and different technologies representative of different ageing mechanisms. Finally this method is a good indicator of the degradation modes occurring during the stress.     

Forensic Investigation of Ultrathin Whitetopping Pavements in Florida

Developed in the early 1990s, ultrathin whitetopping (UTW) is a relatively new technique for asphalt pavement rehabilitation. To evaluate the applicability of UTW pavement in Florida, in 1997, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) constructed an experimental UTW pavement in a weigh station along I-10, located in north Florida. The performance of these test sections, however, was less than ideal, with the observation of some early cracking on the concrete surface, which developed into severe cracking with time. Therefore, a forensic investigation was conducted to determine the causes of the problems in these UTW sections, so that lessons could be learned from this experimental project, the use of UTW under Florida’s conditions could be adequately assessed, and UTW technology could be properly applied in the future. The scope of work consisted of field evaluation, laboratory testing, and pavement design evaluation. Field evaluation included a pavement condition survey, pavement temperature measurement, nondestructive load testing using a falling weight deflectometer, and slab thickness determination. Laboratory tests were performed to determine concrete and asphalt material properties. Other design and traffic data were also acquired from FDOT. Data collected from the field evaluation and laboratory testing were used in conjunction with a mechanistic UTW pavement design/evaluation procedure to determine the possible causes for premature failure. From this comprehensive evaluation, the primary cause for the failure was found to be inadequate UTW pavement design. The inadequacy of the combination of thickness and slab dimensions contributed to the early cracking of the UTW pavement.     

Multiple Magnetic Phases in Van Der Waals Mn-Doped SnS2 Semiconductor

2D van der Waals magnetic semiconductors have emerged along with the possibilities of achieving an efficient gate tunability and a proximity effect with a high magnetic anisotropy compared with 3D counterparts. Little explored are multiple magnetic phases with a single crystallographic phase. Herein, the multiple magnetic phases in a Mn-doped SnS₂ single crystal with different doping concentrations using a one-step self-flux method are reported. Two ferromagnetic phases with a canted spin direction exist regardless of the Mn-doping concentration at up to 5 at%. Antiferromagnetism coexists with the ferromagnetic order and strengthens at high Mn-doping concentrations. A magnetoresistance measurement conducted on a 2 at% Mn-SnS₂ flake exhibits a positive-to-negative crossover with a value of as high as 50% and clear anisotropy, confirming the presence of ferromagnetic order in the material. By revealing multiple magnetic phases in Mn-doped SnS₂, the study broadens the scope of state-of-the-art research on layered magnetic semiconductors.     

Effect of thermal ratcheting on the mechanical properties of Teflon and fiber based gasket materials

This paper discusses the effect of thermal ratcheting on the material properties of expand polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), virgin polytetrafluoroethylene (vPTFE), and compressed nonasbestos fiber (CNA) gasket materials. Comparison between the creep strain at constant temperature and when subjected to thermal ratcheting show a 7.7 and 28% increase in the creep strain of ePTFE and vPTFE, respectively. In addition, thermal ratcheting produces a substantial reduction of creep modulus of these materials. The CNA material does not exhibit significant change in creep strain or in creep modulus with thermal ratcheting. However, all three gasket materials show a momentous raise in the creep strain when the material temperature is reduced. On declining the gasket temperature from 212 to 100 °F at the end of 20th thermal cycle, the materials—ePTFE, vPTFE, and CNA exhibit 27, 48, and 15% increase in creep strain value, respectively. The percentage of thickness reduction raises with the increase of cyclic temperature and with increase of creep pre-exposure time, except for CNA where only a small variation is observed. The coefficient of thermal expansion of both PTFE materials shows a significant change due to cyclic temperature and initial creep exposure. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47265.     

On the use of plate theory to evaluate the load relaxation in bolted flanged joints subjected to creep

The effect of load relaxation due to creep has a major impact on the tightness of bolted flanged joints. Several leak incidents have been reported in the petrochemical and nuclear power plants related to creep. It is clear that the current flange design code does not address adequately the effect of high temperature on the mechanical and leakage integrities of bolted flange joints used in pairs or with blind cover plates. It is possible to include the creep analysis in the design methodology.

This paper outlines an analytical approach based on plate theory used to determine the creep effect of blind cover plates and flanges of a small size on the bolt and subsequently the gasket load relaxation in bolted flanged joints. It details the theoretical procedure to predict the creep effect of those flanges considered as plates. The results from the theoretical model are verified by comparison with 3D finite-element results.     

Simulation analysis of a high efficiency GaInP/Si multijunction solar cell

The solar power conversion efficiency of a gallium indium phosphide(GaInP)/silicon(Si)tandem solar cell has been investigated by means of a physical device simulator considering both mechanically stacked and monolithic structures.In particular,to interconnect the bottom and top sub-cells of the monolithic tandem,a gallium arsenide(GaAs)-based tunnel-junction,i.e.GaAs(n+)/GaAs(p+),which assures a low electrical resistance and an optically low-loss connection,has been considered.The J–V characteristics of the single junction cells,monolithic tandem,and mechanically stacked structure have been calculated extracting the main photovoltaic parameters.An analysis of the tunnel-junction behaviour has been also developed.The mechanically stacked cell achieves an efficiency of 24.27%whereas the monolithic tandem reaches an efficiency of 31.11%under AM1.5 spectral conditions.External quantum efficiency simulations have evaluated the useful wavelength range.The results and discussion could be helpful in designing high efficiency monolithic multijunction GaInP/Si solar cells involving a thin GaAs(n+)/GaAs(p+)tunnel junction.