A wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter

In this article, an FPGA-based design and implementation of a fully digital wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter is presented. The advantages of the proposed architecture are that, it simultaneously generates a high frequency signal from a low frequency reference signal (i.e. synthesising), and synchronising the two signals (signals have the same phase, or a constant difference) without jitter accumulation issue. The architecture is portable and can be easily implemented for various platforms, such as FPGAs and integrated circuits. The frequency synthesizer circuit can be used as a part of SERDES devices in intra/inter chip communication in system-on-chip (SoC). The proposed circuit is designed using Verilog language and synthesized for the Altera DE2-70 development board, with the Cyclone II (EP2C35F672C6) device on board. Simulation and experimental results are included; they prove the synthesizing and tracking features of the proposed architecture. The generated clock signal frequency of a range from 19.8?MHz to 440?MHz is synchronized to the input reference clock with a frequency step of 0.12?MHz.     

Vehicle mass and injury risk in two-car crashes: A novel methodology

This paper introduces a novel methodology based on disaggregate analysis of two-car crash data to estimate the partial effects of mass, through the velocity change, on absolute driver injury risk in each of the vehicles involved in the crash when absolute injury risk is defined as the probability of injury when the vehicle is involved in a two-car crash. The novel aspect of the introduced methodology is in providing a solution to the issue of lack of data on the speed of vehicles prior to the crash, which is required to calculate the velocity change, as well as a solution to the issue of lack of information on non-injury two-car crashes in national accident data. These issues have often led to focussing on relative measures of injury risk that are not independent of risk in the colliding cars. Furthermore, the introduced methodology is used to investigate whether there is any effect of vehicle size above and beyond that of mass ratio, and whether there are any effects associated with the gender and age of the drivers. The methodology was used to analyse two-car crashes to investigate the partial effects of vehicle mass and size on absolute driver injury risk. The results confirmed that in a two-car collision, vehicle mass has a protective effect on its own driver injury risk and an aggressive effect on the driver injury risk of the colliding vehicle. The results also confirmed that there is a protective effect of vehicle size above and beyond that of vehicle mass for frontal and front to side collisions.     

Construction defect management using a telematic digital workbench

Real-time, rich-media data communication between the construction site and the off-site design office is becoming one of the important research areas in information technology for construction. This paper presents the concept of a telematic digital workbench, a horizontal tabletop user interface integrating mobile computing and wireless communication to facilitate synchronous construction site to office collaboration. We demonstrate the capabilities and potentials of this system concept for construction defect management. The on-site crew uses a handheld mobile device to collect defect information and transfers the information to the design office through wireless communication by sending the information to a database listener. The digital workbench application monitors the database and synchronizes the location of the visual information on the site with the 3D model on the server. Integrated with 3D viewing capability in a CAD system, designers can interact with the combined model/site data using a horizontal and vertical screen. A case study compared the telematic digital workbench against paper-based and Pocket PC-based methods for defect management in a controlled laboratory experiment. The case study results show that the telematic digital workbench has the potential to improve the accuracy of matching site data to digital data and reduce information loss between site and office collaboration.     

Remaining Fatigue Life Assessment of Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings

Ceramic functional coatings are frequently applied to structural materials, covering a wide range of thermomechanical and electrochemical applications. The main limiting feature is their reliability when subjected to cyclic transient thermal stresses. The study described in this article is a continuation of earlier research study focused on acoustic emission (AE) monitoring of the thermomechanical aging effects in ceramic coatings. Here, emphasis is placed on the usefulness of combining AE short-term monitoring with finite element modeling (FEM) to predict the performance of such coatings when subjected to cyclic thermal loads. The FEM study presented in this article is based on a three-dimensional, time-dependent approach, of the stress fields that developed within the coatings during the post-deposition cooling step and the thermal cycling. Experiments were conducted using yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and Alumina (Al₂O₃) ceramic coatings combined with a NiCr-based intermetallic bond coat.     

The sensitivity of estimates of regression to the mean

Estimations of the effectiveness of remedial treatments in road safety analysis are frequently bedevilled by the problem of regression to the mean (RTM). The number of accidents x observed at a site in the “before” period is a “noisy” quantity: x is Poisson distributed about an (unknown) true mean m for that site, so that x = m + e. Sites selected for treatment tend to have a positive random error component e, which will on average be zero in the “after” period, even if no treatment is applied.Methods for estimating RTM usually require some assumption about the underlying (prior) between-site distribution of the true means f₀(m): for example, in the empirical Bayes method, a gamma distribution is assumed. The paper considers the impact of different assumptions for this distribution and, indeed, whether any distributional form needs to be assumed. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, a variety of distributional forms are assumed for f₀(m) and applied to each of a number of real data sets, including that from a major study on the effectiveness of speed cameras. It is shown that, in some cases, the size of the estimated RTM effect can be quite sensitive to the choice of distribution.     

Residential Mobility,Locational Disadvantage And Spatial Inequality In Australian Cities

The purpose of this presentation is to contribute to the debate around the nature of spatial inequality in Australian cities. It takes issue with the view that the extensive spatial form of Australian cities is a major element in the transmission of social disadvantage – a view which has gained currency in recent urban policy debates about “sprawl” vs consolidation. The assumption (in some quarters) that households located at, or moving to, the newly developing urban periphery, have been forced there through housing market processes in which they have had little choice; and further, that once there the lack of proximate resources, particularly in social infrastructure, reinforce the already disadvantaged social and economic circumstances of these households does not stand scrutiny. The coincidence of locational disadvantage and social disadvantage has been assumed rather than demonstrated, seemingly in an attempt to bolster arguments about the need to alter the predominant form of urban growth – outward extension of low density suburbia.     

Simulation of the deflected cutting tool trajectory in complex surface milling

Since industry is rapidly developing, either locally or globally, manufacturers witness harder challenges due to the growing competitivity. This urges them to better consider the four factors linked to production and output: quality, quantity, cost and price, quality being of course the most important factor which constitutes their main concern. Efforts will be concentrated??in this research??on improving the quality and securing more accuracy for a machined surface in ball-end milling. Quality and precision are two essential criteria in industrial milling. However, milling errors and imperfections, due mainly to the cutting tool deflection, hinder the full achieving of these targets. Our task, all along this paper, consists in studying and realizing the simulation of the deflected cutting tool trajectory, by using the methods which are available. In a future stage, and in the frame of a deeper research, the simulation process will help to carry out the correction and the compensation of the errors resulting from the tool deflection. The corrected trajectory which is obtained by the method mirror will be sent to the machine. To achieve this goal, the next process consists??as a first step??in selecting a model of cutting forces for a ball-end mill. This allows to define??later on??the behavior of this tool, and the emergence of three methods namely the analytical model, the finite elements method, and the experimental method. It is possible to tackle the cutting forces simulation, all along the tool trajectory, while this latter is carrying out the sweeping of the part to be machined in milling and taking into consideration the cutting conditions, as well as the geography of the workpiece. A simulation of the deflected cutting tool trajectory dependent on the cutting forces has been realized.     

Switched-capacitor high-speed emulator for real-time fault location in electrical power systems

This research presents a discrete-time transmission line model based on the propagation of travelling waves. In this approach, the transmission line is emulated by means of many interconnected unit delay cells implemented with switched-capacitor (SC) circuits. The accuracy and limitations of this method is compared to existing transconductance–capacitor solutions and is evaluated in the frame of a novel power network fault location method based on the electromagnetic time-reversal principle. The impact of the non-ideal effects associated to analog CMOS SC circuits, such as amplifier finite gain, offset and switch charge injection is evaluated in the same context. A possible application of the model for the simulation of interconnected or multi-conductor lines is also discussed. After an AMS 0.35 µm process implementation, it is shown that the present method allows a fault location within 1% resolution and is a hundred times faster than nowadays digital solutions. This speed improvement allows a fault location within 160 ms, making thus real-time applications realistic.     

Cellular fluorescent indicators and voltage/ion probe reader (VIPR) tools for ion channel and receptor drug discovery

High throughput functional assays are increasingly relied upon to generate early and novel discovery leads for drug development. Ion transport proteins including channels, transporters, and pumps play central roles in cellular bioenergetics, excitability, and a multitude of other biological functions. Facile, robust methods for detecting ion transport activity in both native and heterologous systems is desirable for rapid functional analysis and drug discovery for these difficult but important targets. Here we discuss cell-compatible fluorescent probes, functional assays, and VIPR instrumentation that are used to monitor real-time target activity and screen large chemical libraries for potent and selective modulators. Advances and issues for both exogenously applied and fluorescent protein probes of cellular membrane potential, Ca2+, Cl-, and pH are addressed. High throughput screening (HTS) compatible, rapid kinetic and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assays are emphasized, in particular the use of voltage-sensitive FRET probes to assay ion channel activity in single cells and 96/384-well formats.     

The finite-element deformation modeling of superplastic Al-8090

The deformation behaviors of an Al-Li-Cu alloy (Aluminum 8090) during uniaxial and biaxial stress states were modeled using the nonlinear finite element analysis package ABAQUS 5.8. Two different material models were used for the purpose of comparison and to propose a valid and accurate superplastic material deformation behavior. Using a power law strain hardening model, the material was modeled with either constant or variable properties of strain-rate sensitivity and strain-hardening exponent. Results from the numerical models were compared to experimental results by Chen and Huang, who investigated the uniaxial and biaxial states of stress. Experimental data were primarily used to acquire the needed uniaxial material parameters for the model. The strain-rate sensitivity and strain-hardening exponent were dependent on the strain and strain rates. Comparing the two material models for both stress states indicated that the material model with variable properties better represented the true behavior of the material when compared to the experimental results. For more information, contact Noha M. Hassan, the American University in Cairo, 113 Kasr El Aini St., P.O. Box 2511, Cairo 11511, Egypt; +202-797-5336; fax +202-797-7565; e-mail nhassan@vt.edu.