Simultaneous two wavelength operation of an optically pumped HCOOH laser on orthogonally polarized modes

Simultaneous laser operation in orthogonally polarized EH₁₁ and TE₀₁ waveguide modes is reported for pairs of cascade lines from an optically pumped formic acid vapour laser incorporating a strip grating output coupler. Observations were made for the 394 μm/406 μm and 433 μm/446 μm cascade sequences, the resonator length being adjusted so that the laser was simultaneously resonant on a mode of the primary transition polarized perpendicular to the strips of the output coupler and the same transverse mode of the secondary transition polarized parallel to the coupler strips. Power measurements showed that for the laser configuration used in this study the power of the primary transition was increased only slightly when the cascade lines were simultaneously resonant, whereas the secondary line could only lase under these conditions.     

Transparent thin-film TiO2 photocatalysts with high activity

A transparent, thin-film TiO2 layer prepared by sol-gel deposition is shown to be more active for photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of acetaldehyde, acetic acid, and toluene than Degussa P25 thin films. The sol-gel TiO2 adsorbs 30-70% less organic, but the PCO activity per adsorbed molecule is 3.5-8.5 times higher on the sol-gel TiO2 than on Degussa P25. In addition, less-reactive intermediates do not appear to form as readily on the sol-gel catalyst as they do on Degussa P25, and thus the sol-gel catalyst deactivates slower during toluene PCO. Rates were measured in transient experiments for a monolayer of adsorbed organic, and transient experiments are shown to be an effective way to measure rates, selectivities, surface coverages, and formation of less-reactive intermediates in the same set of experiments.     

A multiple access scheme for wireless access to a broadband ATM LANbased on polling and sectored antennas

An adaptive polling scheme for multiple access in a broadband wireless local area networks (LANs) is proposed. It is designed to accommodate asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) traffic with a large and variable range of bit rates. The radio architecture is microcellular, with switched sectored-beam antennas and a small frequency reuse factor. Features of the multiple access scheme include polling rate depending on a terminal's average bit rate, fixed-length frames divided into segments corresponding to base antenna sectors, and automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) for error control, combined with randomized sector segment ordering. The steady-state performance (cell loss, call blocking and dropping probabilities, waiting time, and buffer occupancy) are evaluated by simulation for an open indoor environment, and for handoff, ARQ, and simple power control enhancements; focusing mainly on the effects of the propagation and interference conditions     

Adaptive Equalization Techniques for HF Channels

Data transmission at rates of 1.2 kbits/s or higher through voiceband ionospheric channels is subject to impairment from severe linear distortion, fast channel time variations, and severe fading. In this paper, we have focused on the performance of DFE (decision feedback equalization) receivers for communication over 3 kHz bandwidth HF channels. We describe the results of simulations for a wide range of fading rates on simulated and real recorded HF channels, using fractionally spaced DFE receivers. Both LMS (least mean square) and FRLS (fast recursive least squares) adaptation algorithms with periodic restart were evaluated, and both ideal-reference and decision-directed operation was observed. The results indicate that FRLS adaptation yields superior performance to LMS in rapid fading conditions, but that this performance advantage diminishes at low signal-to-noise ratios. Also, fade rates greater than about 1 Hz produced relatively high error rates, irrespective of which adaptation method was employed. Finally, a novel modification of the simple LMS algorithm which improves its tracking ability was evaluated. This involved preceding the LMS DFE receiver with an adaptive lattice whitening filter.     

Comparison of DFE and MLSE Receiver Performance on HF Channels

Data communication at rates near or above 2 kbits/s on 3 kHz-baadwidth HF radio channels is subject to impairment from severe linear dispersion, rapid channel time variation, and severe fading. In this investigation, recorded 2.4 kbit/s QPSK signals received from HF channels were processed to extract a time-varying estimate of the channel impulse response. From the estimated channel impulse responses, performance-related parameters were computed for ideal matched filter reception, maximum-likelihood sequence-estimation (MLSE), and decision feedback equalization (DFE). The results indicated that the simpler DFE receiver suffered only a small theoretical performance degradation relative to the more complex MLSE receiver. Other HF channel impulse response statistics were also obtained to shed light on equalization and filter adaptation techniques.     

Traffic handling capability of a broadband indoor wireless networkusing CDMA multiple access

CDMA (code division multiple access) may be an attractive technique for wireless access to broadband services because of its multiple access simplicity and other appealing features. In order to investigate the traffic handling capabilities of a future network providing a variety of integrated services, this paper presents a study of a broadband indoor wireless network supporting high-speed traffic using CDMA multiple access. The results are obtained through the simulation of an indoor environment and the traffic capabilities of the wireless access to broadband 155.5 MHz ATM-SONET networks using the mm-wave band. A distributed system architecture is employed and the system performance is measured in terms of call blocking probability and dropping probability, the impacts of the base station density, traffic load, average holding time, and variable traffic sources on the system performance are examined. The improvement of system performance by implementing various techniques such as handoff, admission control, power control and sectorization are also investigated     

Extrapolation of near-field RCS measurements to the far zone

An algorithmic procedure for extrapolating near-field radar cross-section (RCS) measurements to the far zone has been derived, coded, and experimentally validated. The deviation of the extrapolation algorithm uses an optical model to estimate the surface currents induced on the scattering body by the incident field, and a specially weighted version of the Fourier transform to calculate the near-field scattering amplitudes associated with such surface currents. The extrapolation entails three steps. First, near-field measurements of the scattered electric and/or magnetic field are used to infer the monostatic vector potential. Next, the inverse Fourier transform of the inferred vector potential is multiplied by a special weighting function to estimate an equivalent obliquity factor. Finally, the far-field scattering pattern is estimated by taking the Fourier transform of the reweighted obliquity factor. This extrapolation procedure has been validated using anechoic-chamber data taken on a right-circular aluminium cylinder 25 λ high and 2.5 λ in radius at near-field range of 19% of 2 D²/λ where D is the nominal target diameter and λ the radiation wavelength. The extrapolated RCS pattern for this target was compared with an analytical estimate of its far-zone pattern and good amplitude and phase agreement was observed over a 20° cone of scattering angles