A gain-clamped SOA with distributed Bragg reflectors fabricated under both ends of active waveguide with different lengths

We demonstrate a gain-clamped semiconductor optical amplifier (GC-SOA) which has gratings under both end regions of an active waveguide. Two gratings of the new GC-SOA are fabricated in different lengths. Their lasing modes and gain characteristics are measured and analyzed with different combinations of grating lengths. It shows different gain and noise characteristics according to the measurement direction in asymmetric grating combinations.     

Electrical and optical properties of deep-red top-surface-emittinglasers

By studying thermal behavior of all-MBE surface-emitting lasers, barrier heights and optimum cavity design parameters are obtained. The barrier heights for holes between hetero-interfaces of Al_0.3Ga_0.7As-Al_0.65Ga_0.35As and AlAs-Al_0.65Ga_0.35As (Δx=-0.35) are measured to be 77 meV at zero bias for the deep-red top-surface-emitting laser. The barrier height decreases linearly with forward bias voltage, explaining the nonlinearity in current-voltage characteristics of the top-surface-emitting laser. The contribution of electrons to electrical resistance is estimated to be negligibly small compared to that of holes for the structure consisting of Δ_x =0.35. Minimum threshold current and maximum differential quantum efficiency observed around 200 K indicate slight mismatch between gain maximum and Fabry-Perot resonance for the deep-red top-surface-emitting laser     

An uplink CDMA system architecture with diverse QoS guarantees forheterogeneous traffic

The uplink access control problems for cellular code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems that service heterogeneous traffic with various types of quality-of-service (QoS) and use multicode CDMA to support variable bit rates are addressed. Considering its distinct QoS requirements, class-I real-time traffic (e.g., voice and video) is differentiated from class-II non-real-time traffic (e.g., data). Connection-oriented transmission is achieved by assigning mobile-oriented code channels for class-I traffic, where each corresponding mobile needs to pass an admission test. Class-II traffic is transmitted in a best-effort manner through a transmission-rate request access scheme which utilizes the bandwidth left unused by class-I traffic. Whenever a mobile has class-II messages to transmit, the mobile requests code channels via a base station-oriented transmission-request code channel, then, according to the base station scheduling, the transmission is scheduled and permitted. Addressed are the admission test for class-I connections, transmission power allocation, and how to maximize the aggregate throughput for class-II traffic. The admission region of voice and video connections and the optimum target signal-to-interference ratio of class-II traffic are derived numerically. The performance of class-II traffic transmissions in terms of average delay is also evaluated and discussed     

ATM switch with distributed queue windowing scheme

The input queueing switch can be enhanced using a non-first come-first-service (non-FCFS) discipline like window scheme. However, large window sizes are not feasible in centralised contention resolution algorithms due to the increased internal bit rate. Based on the distributed queue concept, a new window scheme for the ATM switch is proposed where the window size can be easily extended. The proposed scheme does not require that the scheduling hardware be speeded up in proportion to the window size, which is essential in the conventional window scheme     

MMSE Filter Design for Multi-source and Multi-destination MIMO Amplify-and-Forward Relay Systems

Wireless Personal Communications - Multiple antenna source, relay, and destination filter sets are developed that minimize the sum mean-squared error (MSE). Motivated by the equivalence of the...     

High Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells Exceeding 22% via a Photo-Assisted Two-Step Sequential Deposition

One of the most effective methods to achieve high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is to employ additives as crystallization agents or to passivate defects. Tri-iodide ion has been known as an efficient additive to improve the crystallinity, grain size, and morphology of perovskite films. However, the generation and control of this tri-iodide ion are challenging. Herein, an efficient method to produce tri-iodide ion in a precursor solution using a photoassisted process for application in PSCs is developed. Results suggest that the tri-iodide ion can be synthesized rapidly when formamidinium iodide (FAI) dissolved isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution is exposed to LED light. Specifically, the photoassisted FAI–IPA solution facilitates the formation of fine perovskite films with high crystallinity, large grain size, and low trap density, thereby improving the device performance up to 22%. This study demonstrates that the photoassisted process in FAI dissolved IPA solution can be an alternative strategy to fabricate highly efficient PSCs with significantly reduced processing times.     

Bulk Undoped GaAs–AlGaAs Substrate-Removed Electrooptic Modulators With 3.7-V-cm Drive Voltage at 1.55 $mu$ m

Substrate removed bulk GaAs-AlGaAs electrooptic modulators with 3.7-V-cm drive voltage at 1.55 mum were realized. The 1.94-mum-thick undoped GaAs-AlGaAs epilayer removed from its substrate behaves as an electrooptic dielectric layer and has electrodes placed directly on both sides. This allows a very strong modulating electric field overlapping very well with the optical mode. The propagation loss in the presence of electrodes is less than 2.9dB/cm. There is very good agreement between the measured and simulated values     

A 17-GHz Push–Push VCO Based on Output Extraction From a Capacitive Common Node in GaInP/GaAs HBT Technology

This paper presents a new push-push voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) technique that extracts a second harmonic output signal from a capacitive common node in a negative-g_m oscillator topology. The generation of the second harmonics is accounted for by the nonlinear current-voltage characteristic of the emitter-base junction diode causing: 1) significant voltage clipping and 2) different rise and fall times during the switching operation of the core transistors. Comparative investigations show the technique is more power efficient in the high-frequency region than a conventional push-push technique using an emitter common node. A prototype 17-GHz VCO realized in GaInP/GaAs HBT technology produces an output power of -6dBm and a phase noise of -110.4dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset, which is equivalent to a VCO figure-of-merit of -184.3dBc/Hz, while drawing 4.38 mA from a 3.0-V supply     

A variable step‐size diffusion affine projection algorithm

This paper presents a new variable step‐size diffusion affine projection algorithm (VSS‐DAPA) to advance the filter performance of the diffusion affine projection algorithm (DAPA). The proposed VSS strategy is developed for the DAPA, which can solve the distributed estimation problem over diffusion networks well. To obtain the optimal step size reasonably, we seek the update recursion of mean‐square deviation (MSD) that is suitable for the DAPA. The step size is optimally given through the minimization for the MSD of the DAPA at each iteration. The derived step size through the MSD minimization improves the filter performance with respect to the convergence and the estimation error in steady state. The results based on simulations demonstrate that the proposed VSS‐DAPA performs better than the existing algorithms with a system‐identification scenario in diffusion network. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Balancing control of a single-wheel inverted pendulum system using air blowers: Evolution of Mechatronics capstone design

Inverted pendulum systems are one of typical control systems suitable for cross-disciplinary education. This article delivers the historical evolution of inverted pendulum systems as Mechatronics capstone design projects for undergraduate students. A wheeled inverted pendulum system is quite a challenging and interesting system to appeal students as a design project. Several design examples from two-wheel to one-wheel inverted pendulum system are elaborated. As a current design, a one-wheel inverted pendulum system which is our main contribution, is presented to deliver novel ideas of using air power to balance the system. The roll angle is regulated by air pressure generated from ducted fans while the pitch angle is controlled by a dc motor. Air pressure is controlled by linear control methods to keep the balancing in the roll direction. Experimental studies demonstrate the successful balancing performance.