Experiments with small V-band waveguide reflector feeds

The radiation patterns of simple rectangular waveguide feeds have been measured at V band. A low-cost test arrangement, operating in the far field but without any absorbers, is shown to give better than 0.5 dB repeatability and more than 30 dB of dynamic range. The general rules of waveguide-feed design for reflector antennas are applicable, but the tendency of narrow feed patterns is somewhat emphasized compared to observations in earlier work at C or X band. For horizontal polarization, the difference is 5 dB at 90/spl deg/ between WR-28 and WR-90 hardware. This is partly caused by an increase in the relative guide material thickness at shorter wavelengths. No clear connection between pattern widths of the two linear polarizations was observed if the guide height was increased, the largest momentary deviation being 3 dB for a rectangular 7.1 by 7.1 millimeter feed. Changes in the guide width had a monotone effect up to 3 dB at 90/spl deg/ offset. Very small feed aperture sizes, around /spl lambda//4 or less, did not show respective widening of 1 dB patterns, although such expected effects were visible at lower amplitude levels.     

A robust detector for multicarrier spread spectrum transmission over partially jammed channels

Multicarrier spread spectrum (MC-SS) is an alternative to the conventional spread spectrum (SS) techniques that behave significantly better when the system is subject to narrow- or partial-band interference. However, successful implementation of the optimum detector requires knowledge of noise and interference variance in each subcarrier band. We propose a suboptimal detector for MC-SS that keeps the significant gain of MC-SS over the conventional SS, with a relatively low loss compared with the optimum MC-SS detector. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations that corroborate the theory are presented.     

Comparative Study of Different Adaptive Window Protocols

We study an Adaptive Window Protocol (AWP) with general increase and decrease profiles in the presence of window dependent random losses. We derive a steady-state Kolmogorov equation, and then obtain its solution in analytic form for particular TCP versions proposed for high speed networks, such as Scalable TCP and HighSpeed TCP. We also relate window evolution under an AWP to workload process in queueing systems; this observation gives us a way to compare various AWP protocols.     

On the complexity of sphere decoding in digital communications

Sphere decoding has been suggested by a number of authors as an efficient algorithm to solve various detection problems in digital communications. In some cases, the algorithm is referred to as an algorithm of polynomial complexity without clearly specifying what assumptions are made about the problem structure. Another claim is that although worst-case complexity is exponential, the expected complexity of the algorithm is polynomial. Herein, we study the expected complexity where the problem size is defined to be the number of symbols jointly detected, and our main result is that the expected complexity is exponential for fixed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrary to previous claims. The sphere radius, which is a parameter of the algorithm, must be chosen to ensure a nonvanishing probability of solving the detection problem. This causes the exponential complexity since the squared radius must grow linearly with problem size. The rate of linear increase is, however, dependent on the noise variance, and thus, the rate of the exponential function is strongly dependent on the SNR. Therefore sphere decoding can be efficient for some SNR and problems of moderate size, even though the number of operations required by the algorithm strictly speaking always grows as an exponential function of the problem size.     

Towards real-time business intelligence

Analysing data to predict market trends of products and services and to improve performances of enterprise business systems has always been part of running a competitive business. But it is becoming essential nowadays that not only is the analysis done on real-time data, but also actions in response to analysis results can be performed in real time and instantaneously change parameters of business processes. This paper discusses issues and problems of current business intelligence systems, and then outlines our vision of future real-time business intelligence. We present a list of emerging technologies which could contribute to the realisation of real-time business intelligence and some examples of applying them to improve BT’s systems and services.     

4-bit adder-accumulator at 41-GHz clock frequency in InP DHBT technology

A 41-GHz 4-b adder-accumulator test circuit implemented in InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) technology using 624 transistors is reported. High clock rates are obtained by combining the logic functions into pipelined latches. The adder-accumulator contains a single-level parallel-gated carry circuit that is used as a step toward reduced power consumption. The carry circuit has a maximum clock frequency of 55 GHz. The accumulator architecture employs modular, pipelined 2-b adders and is cascadable to 2 N-bits. The test circuit includes a 4-b digital to analog converter (DAC) that facilitates demonstration of high-speed operation.     

Autocorrelation model-based identification method for ARMA systems in noise

A novel method for parameter estimation of minimum-phase autoregressive moving average (ARMA) systems in noise is presented. The ARMA parameters are estimated using a damped sinusoidal model representation of the autocorrelation function of the noise-free ARMA signal. The AR parameters are obtained directly from the estimates of the damped sinusoidal model parameters with guaranteed stability. The MA parameters are estimated using a correlation matching technique. Simulation results show that the proposed method can estimate the ARMA parameters with better accuracy as compared to other reported methods, in particular for low SNRs.     

Arc root mobility on piezoelectrically actuated contacts in miniature circuit breakers

A novel contact opening mechanism has been developed using a piezoelectric actuator to open the contacts in a low contact opening velocity circuit breaker. The arc control on the contacts is critical for successful current interruption (10/sup 3/-10/sup 4/ A) in low voltage (<250V) devices. Previous work has shown how arc root commutation from the contact region into the arc chamber is affected by arc chamber materials, contact materials and the gap behind the moving contact for contact velocities between 1ms/sup -1/ and 10ms/sup -1/. This work is extended using a commercially available piezoelectric actuator to open the contacts. Contact opening speeds are assessed and the arc root mobility is characterized under this operating regime. A flexible test apparatus and solid-state high-speed arc imaging system are used to gather data on the arc root during the opening of the contacts. New experimental results are presented on the anode and cathode root velocity and arc root motion in an arc chamber with piezoelectrically actuated contact opening. These results can be used to improve the design of high current low voltage circuit breakers suitable for piezoelectric actuation.     

The effect of laser radiation on the formation of oriented cadmium sulfide layers under highly nonequilibrium conditions

The effect of low-power laser radiation on the formation of oriented cadmium sulfide layers from a vapor phase on a substrate cooled with liquid nitrogen (highly nonequilibrium conditions) is studied. The results of technological experiments, the results of a study of electron diffraction (electron diffraction patterns), and condensation diagram data are reported. It is found that, depending on the substrate temperature, laser radiation can both improve and worsen the crystal quality of films. It is shown that a condensation diagram of cadmium sulfide layers formed on a substrate exposed to low-power laser radiation is shifted to higher temperatures relative to a condensation diagram obtained without laser radiation. The experimental results are interpreted in the context of a solitonic heteroepitaxy model.     

High performance biofilm process for treating wastewater discharged from coal refining plants containing nitrogen, cyanide and thiocyanate.

Wastewater discharge from coal refining plants contains a number of biologically toxic compounds; 2000-2500 mg/l of COD of which 40% is composed of phenol, 100-400 mg/l of thiocyanate, 10-40 mg/l of cyanide, 100-250 mg/l of NH4+-N and 150-300 mg/l of total nitrogen. In order to treat this kind of high strength wastewater, we have developed a high performance biofilm process using fluidizing bio-carriers of the tube chip type. The fluidizing biofilm carriers are made of a composite of polyethylene and several inorganic materials, whose density is controlled at 0.97-0.98 g/ml. The fluidizing biofilm carriers show sound fluidization characteristics inside bioreactors. The wastewater is treated using three consecutive series reactors in oxic-anoxic-oxic arrangement. Each reactor is charged with the fluidizing biofilm carriers of 50 vol%. Furthermore, newly cultured active microorganisms for the thiocyanate biodegradation are added in the biofilm process. At total hydraulic retention time of 2.2 days, this process can achieve steady state removal efficiencies: COD, 99%; thiocyanate, 99%; NH4+-N, 99% and total nitrogen, 90%.