Application of asymptotic waveform evaluation to eigenmode expansion method for analysis of simultaneous switching noise in printed circuit boards (PCBs)

In this paper, the asymptotic waveform evaluation (AWE) technique is first applied to the conventional eigenmode expansion method for characterizing a power/ground (P/G) plane pair and analyzing the simultaneous switching noise on such plane pairs for printed circuit boards or multichip modules. The application of AWE avoids a large number of iterations in computing the impedance frequency response of a P/G plane pair structure and greatly reduces the computation time. Meanwhile, to obtain an accurate solution in an entire frequency range, we employ the complex frequency hopping technique which can help select multiple expansion points. In addition, the proposed approach can also be used to characterize the P/G plane pair structures with irregular shapes. Three examples demonstrate its high efficiency and good accuracy.     

Low RF noise and power loss for ion-implanted Si having an improved implantation process

Very-low-transmission line noise of <0.25 dB at 18 GHz and low power loss /spl les/0.6 dB at 110 GHz have been measured on transmission lines fabricated on proton-implanted Si. In contrast, a standard Si substrate gave much higher noise of 2.5 dB and worse power loss of 5 dB. The good RF integrity of proton-implanted Si results from the high isolation impedance to ground, as analyzed by an equivalent circuit model. The proton implantation is also done after forming the transmission lines at a reduced implantation energy of /spl sim/4 MeV. This enables easier process integration into current VLSI technology.     

Non‐reflecting artificial boundaries for transient scalar wave propagation in a two‐dimensional infinite homogeneous layer

This paper presents an exact non‐reflecting boundary condition for dealing with transient scalar wave propagation problems in a two‐dimensional infinite homogeneous layer. In order to model the complicated geometry and material properties in the near field, two vertical artificial boundaries are considered in the infinite layer so as to truncate the infinite domain into a finite domain. This treatment requires the appropriate boundary conditions, which are often referred to as the artificial boundary conditions, to be applied on the truncated boundaries. Since the infinite extension direction is different for these two truncated vertical boundaries, namely one extends toward x →∞ and another extends toward x→‐ ∞, the non‐reflecting boundary condition needs to be derived on these two boundaries. Applying the variable separation method to the wave equation results in a reduction in spatial variables by one. The reduced wave equation, which is a time‐dependent partial differential equation with only one spatial variable, can be further changed into a linear first‐order ordinary differential equation by using both the operator splitting method and the modal radiation function concept simultaneously. As a result, the non‐reflecting artificial boundary condition can be obtained by solving the ordinary differential equation whose stability is ensured. Some numerical examples have demonstrated that the non‐reflecting boundary condition is of high accuracy in dealing with scalar wave propagation problems in infinite and semi‐infinite media. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Apply geometric duality to energy-efficient non-local phenomenon awareness using sensor networks

A powerful concept to cope with resource limitations and information redundancy in wireless sensor networks is the use of collaboration groups to distill information within the network and suppress unnecessary activities. When the phenomena to be monitored have large geographical extents, it is not obvious how to define these collaboration groups. This article presents the application of geometric duality to form such groups for sensor selection and non-local phenomena tracking. Using a dual-space transformation, which maps a non-local phenomenon (e.g., the edge of a half-plane shadow) to a single point in the dual space and maps locations of distributed sensor nodes to a set of lines that partitions the dual space, one can turn off the majority of the sensors to achieve resource preservation without losing detection and tracking accuracy. Since the group so defined may consist of nodes that are far away in physical space, we propose a hierarchical architecture that uses a small number of computationally powerful nodes and a massive number of power constrained motes. By taking advantage of the continuity of physical phenomena and the duality principle, we can greatly reduce the power consumption in non-local phenomena tracking and extend the lifetime of the network.     

TEM method for rapid and precise evaluation of continuous recrystallization

With the aid of a double-tilt holder in a transmission electron microscope, a new method for a rapid and precise determination of the misorientations of a large number of subgrain or grain boundaries is given in this article. By use of the method, the continuous recrystallization can be rapidly and precisely evaluated when compared to the other conventional methods.     

Pull-out and fragmentation in model fibre composites

An experimental study has been carried out of debonding and fibre rupture in model composites. A single glass rod or fibre was embedded in the centre of a long transparent silicone rubber block. Strains in the rubber in close proximity to the rod or fibre were measured as the specimen was slowly stretched. Pull-out forces, strain distributions, and debonded lengths are compared with the predictions of a simple theory based on a fracture energy criterion for debonding, and taking into account friction at the debonded interface. Experiments were carried out with rods of different diameter, rubber blocks of varied cross-section, and with two levels of adhesion. By extrapolating the debonded length to zero, values of the debonding force in the absence of friction were obtained. They were in accord with fracture energies of about 50 J/m² for weak bonding and about 200 J/m² for strong bonding. Fibre fragmentation lengths were measured also. They were in reasonable agreement with the inferred fracture energies and the measured frictional properties of silicone rubber sliding on glass. In a separate study, it was found that the frictional stress between cast silicone rubber and glass was approximately constant, about 0.1 MPa, rather than proportional to pressure, for pressures exceeding about 0.02 MPa. This feature is attributed to a particularly smooth interface between the two materials.     

Extremum-seeking with variable gain control for intensifying biogas production in anaerobic fermentation.

A state-dependent variable-gain control system is implemented to follow the characteristics of a laboratory-scale up-flow anaerobic fixed-bed reactor dynamically. The transition from one state to another is determined on an hourly basis, depending on difference between the setpoint of the reactor pH and its true value. Considerable improvement of the process stability--reduction of oscillation in both the reactor pH and biogas production rate during high-rate operation, has been achieved, although the control structure is simple and intuitive.