Multiple-antenna capacity in correlated Rayleigh fading with channel covariance information

We analyze a mobile multiple input multiple output wireless link with M transmit and N receive antennas operating in a spatially correlated Rayleigh flat fading environment. Only the correlations between the channel coefficients are assumed to be known at the transmitter and the receiver. The channel coefficients are correlated in space and uncorrelated in time from one coherence interval to another. These coefficients remain constant for a coherence interval of T symbol periods after which they change to another independent realization according to the spatial correlation model. For this system we characterize the structure of the input signal that achieves capacity. The capacity achieving transmit signal is expressed as the product of an isotropically distributed unitary matrix, an independent nonnegative diagonal matrix and a unitary matrix whose columns are the eigenvectors of the transmit fade covariance matrix. For the case where the number of transmit antennas M is larger than the channel coherence interval T, we show that the channel capacity is independent of the smallest M-T eigenvalues of the transmit fade covariance matrix. In contrast to the previously reported results for the spatially white fading model where adding more transmit antennas beyond the coherence interval length (M>T) does not increase capacity, we find that additional transmit antennas always increase capacity as long as their channel fading coefficients are spatially correlated with the other antennas. We show that for fast hopping or fast fading systems (T=1) with only channel covariance information available to the transmitter and receiver, transmit fade correlations are beneficial. Mathematically, we prove this by showing that capacity is a Schur-convex function of the vector of eigenvalues of the transmit fade correlation matrix. We also show that the maximum possible capacity gain due to transmitter fade correlations is 10logM dB.     

Wetting Behavior and Reactivity of Molten Silicon with h-BN Substrate at Ultrahigh Temperatures up to 1750 °C

For a successful implementation of newly proposed silicon-based latent heat thermal energy storage systems, proper ceramic materials that could withstand a contact heating with molten silicon at temperatures much higher than its melting point need to be developed. In this regard, a non-wetting behavior and low reactivity are the main criteria determining the applicability of ceramic as a potential crucible material for long-term ultrahigh temperature contact with molten silicon. In this work, the wetting of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) by molten silicon was examined for the first time at temperatures up to 1750 °C. For this purpose, the sessile drop technique combined with contact heating procedure under static argon was used. The reactivity in Si/h-BN system under proposed conditions was evaluated by SEM/EDS examinations of the solidified couple. It was demonstrated that increase in temperature improves wetting, and consequently, non-wetting-to-wetting transition takes place at around 1650 °C. The contact angle of 90° ± 5° is maintained at temperatures up to 1750 °C. The results of structural characterization supported by a thermodynamic modeling indicate that the wetting behavior of the Si/h-BN couple during heating to and cooling from ultrahigh temperature of 1750 °C is mainly controlled by the substrate dissolution/reprecipitation mechanism.     

Plasma Spray Deposition Enhancement of Titanium Nitride Layer Using Nitrogen-Contained Plasma Irradiation of Titanium Substrate as a Pre-spraying Method

Reactive plasma spray of TiN ceramic coating attracts much attention over the years because of its ability to deposit thick layers on various metal surfaces. However, some mechanical properties of the coating such as its hardness should be improved. In this study, initially a thin layer of titanium nitride was prepared on a titanium substrate during irradiation of titanium substrate by a thermal DC nitrogen-contained plasma jet. Then, during reactive plasma spraying, Ti particles were injected into plasma jet, converted to titanium nitride and huddled on to the substrate. This new hybrid method (primary plasma irradiation and post-reactive plasma spraying) for deposition of TiN coatings would combine the advantages of both plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and reactive plasma spraying methods in part. It resulted in a thick and hard layer of titanium nitride film. Sample produced by this method was analyzed with x-ray diffraction confirming titanium nitride production. Vickers hardness was measured using optical microscopy which was around 1319 H_v300g. To study the cross section of the layer, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used.     

Introduction of an empirical classification system for evaluating tunneling impact on the discharge of springs (TIS) in the surrounding areas

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Water inflow caused by tunneling can have severe impacts on the springs’ discharge rate. If these impacts have not been predicted...     

Synthesis,characterization, and thermal behaviors of tannin stearates prepared from quebracho and pine bark extracts

Reported is the preparation of various condensed tannin stearates and the associated chemical characterization and thermal properties of these products. Stearate esters of condensed tannins from both quebracho and pine bark extracts were prepared in generally high, isolated yields from reaction with stearic acid chloride. Tannin esterification was confirmed by both Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the average degree of stearate substitution was calculated from ¹H‐NMR analysis. Product degree of substitution (DS) was observed to proportionately increase with higher stearic acid chloride ratio with maximum DS values of 4.0 and 5.1 achieved for quebracho and pine tannins, respectively. Thermal analysis revealed that tannin stearate products have increased thermal stability with a degradation onset at significantly higher temperature for those samples possessing relatively greater DS. Analysis using differential scanning calorimetry revealed isolated products to consist of multiple components which exhibit interesting melt behaviors, a likely result from their work up on isolation. However, multiple melt features of the individual components in products were lost on heating to give single, broad melt endotherms due to coalescence of sample components. Furthermore, tannin stearate samples with high DS show relatively greater endothermic melting at higher temperature than those samples with lower DS. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Multivariable data analysis of a cold rolling control system to minimise defects

This paper focuses on the application of principal component analysis (PCA) to thoroughly analyse and interpret multidimensional data from a cold rolling process. The analysis includes the effects of variables on the final properties of strips in a cold rolling mill. Unscrambler software was used to analyse and identify hidden variables. Variable correlations were also used to derive correlations between the control parameters. The results of this research will be used to improve the selection of material in order to reduce the occurrence of defects in the cold rolling process and to improve the adjustment of the set points that are performed in every pass or section of the cold rolling process. The hot rolled strips that enter the cold rolling mill are made of different materials and are produced by different strip manufacturers. Some strips break during the thickness reduction process in the cold rolling mill. This paper focuses on two possible causes of breakage: non-uniform strip material properties and failures in the rolling mill process. Two types of rolled strips (those that break and those that do not break) were compared to identify causes of breakage. The results indicate that breakages are caused by material or process failures. PCA was applied to the dataset in order to identify and analyse the relationships between the variables in the process. This information was used to interpret and diagnose the process behaviour. Swarm analysis and relating observations to process behaviour were able to distinguish between different start-up conditions, and between desirable and undesirable process conditions.     

Too much mobility limits the capacity of wireless ad hoc networks

We show that for highly mobile ad hoc networks, the benefits of mobility are overshadowed by the cost of mobility in terms of the increased channel uncertainty and network homogeneity. We assume a block-fading channel model with jointly isotropic fading. We allow relays which can transmit and receive simultaneously. Under fairly general assumptions for the users' channel fades and additive noise distributions we show that increasing the number of transmit antennas M at any node beyond the channel coherence time T_c (measured in units of channel uses) does not affect the capacity region of the ad hoc network. For a fast-fading (coherence time T_clesM) homogeneous network, we determine the exact capacity region of the ad hoc network for any partition of the nodes into source, destination, and relay nodes. The optimal strategy is such that only one pair of source-destination nodes is active at a time while all the other nodes are inactive. There is no benefit from relaying and at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) the total throughput grows at most double-logarithmically with the number of nodes. Even for the case of slow fading, where the channel variations are slow enough that the receiver can track the channel perfectly, the inability of the transmitter to track the network topology limits the total throughput growth rate to no more than logarithmic in the number of nodes. Spatial correlation is shown to enhance the capacity region of the Rayleigh-fading ad hoc network     

On the capacity of the vector MAC with feedback

In this correspondence, we determine the feedback capacity region of a two user Gaussian multiple-access channel (MAC) with multiple antennas at the base station and a single antenna at each user. The vector MAC with a single antenna at the base station and multiple antennas at each user is shown to be equivalent to a scalar MAC. We also determine the capacity enhancement due to feedback at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the scalar and vector MAC for any number of users. Extensions of the high SNR results to the vector broadcast channel are also provided.     

Degrees of Freedom Region of the MIMO X Channel

We provide achievability as well as converse results for the degrees of freedom region of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) X channel, i.e., a system with two transmitters, two receivers, each equipped with multiple antennas, where independent messages need to be conveyed over fixed channels from each transmitter to each receiver. The inner and outer bounds on the degrees of freedom region are tight whenever integer degrees of freedom are optimal for each message. With M = 1 antennas at each node, we find that the total (sum rate) degrees of freedom are bounded above and below as 1 les eta*x les 4/3. If M > 1 and channel matrices are nondegenerate then the precise degrees of freedom eta*x = (4/3)M. Thus, the MIMO X channel has noninteger degrees of freedom when M is not a multiple of 3. Simple zero forcing without dirty paper encoding or successive decoding, suffices to achieve the (4/3)M degrees of freedom. If the channels vary with time/frequency then the channel with single antennas (M = 1) at all nodes has exactly 4/3 degrees of freedom. The key idea for the achievability of the degrees of freedom is interference alignment-i.e., signal spaces are aligned at receivers where they constitute interference while they are separable at receivers where they are desired. We also explore the increase in degrees of freedom when some of the messages are made available to a transmitter or receiver in the manner of cognitive radio.