3D Porous Cu Current Collectors Derived by Hydrogen Bubble Dynamic Template for Enhanced Li Metal Anode Performance

Lithium (Li) metal is the most ideal anode material for high‐energy density batteries. However, the high activity of Li metal, the large volume change, and Li dendrite formation during cycling hinder its practical application. Herein, 3D porous Cu synthesized through a simple time‐saving hydrogen bubble dynamic template method is used as a host for the improved performance Li metal anode. Contrary to the planar Cu foil, the synthesized 3D porous structure can reduce the local current density, suppress the mossy/dendritic Li growth, and buffer the volume change in the Li metal anode. Highly stable Coulombic efficiency is achieved at different specific current densities (0.5, 1, and 2 mA cm^?2) with a capacity of 1.0 mAh cm^?2. Moreover, symmetrical Li|Li‐3D Cu cells show more stable cyclic performance with a lower overpotential even at a high current density of 3 mA cm^?2.     

An effective back‐off selection technique for reliable beacon reception in VANETs

In safety‐critical scenarios, reliable reception of beacons transmitted by a subject vehicle is critical to avoid vehicle collision. According to the employed contention window sizes in IEEE 802.11p, beacons are transmitted with a small contention window size. As a result, multiple vehicles contend for the shared channel access by selecting the same back‐off slot. This is a perfect recipe for synchronous collisions wherein reliable beacon delivery cannot be guaranteed for any vehicle. We consider the problem of selecting the back‐off slots from the current contention window to provide reliable delivery of beacons transmitted by a subject vehicle to its neighbors. Given a safety scenario, we propose a Pseudo‐Random Number Generator (PRNG)‐inspired back‐off selection (PBS) technique. The proposed technique works on the hypothesis that synchronous collisions of beacons transmitted by a subject vehicle can be reduced if all its neighbors select different back‐off slots (ie, not the back‐off slot selected by the subject vehicle). The discrete‐event simulations demonstrate that PBS can increase the overall message reception from a subject vehicle, in comparison with the uniform random probability back‐off selection in IEEE 802.11p.     

Special Issue: Technological Advancements in Wireless and Optical Communication Systems

Wireless Personal Communications -     

SER and throughput analysis of space–time analog network coded relaying system over shadowed Rician fading channels

Wireless Networks - This research article presents an innovative approach based on analog network coding (ANC) in conjunction with space time block coding (STBC) which is termed as space time...     

New two CFOA-based sinusoidal RC oscillators with buffered outlet

Using a unified representation for a class of buffered-outlet two current-feedback operational amplifier (CFOAs)-based sinusoidal oscillators, new circuits of this type can be systematically discovered. A catalogue of four circuit structures, each structure realizing nine oscillator circuits, is presented. Moreover, using the RC:CR transformation, additional nine oscillator circuits can be obtained from each structure. While each circuit requires five passive elements, some of the circuits enjoy one or more of the following attractive features: use of grounded capacitors, feasibility of absorbing the parasitic components of the CFOAs and orthogonal tuning of the frequency and the startup condition of oscillation.     

A novel approach to high-level switching activity modeling withapplications to low-power DSP system synthesis

We address high-level synthesis of low-power digital signal processing (DSP) systems by using efficient switching activity models. We present a technology-independent hierarchical scheme that can be easily integrated into current communications/DSP CAD tools for comparing the relative power/performance of two competing DSP designs without specific knowledge of transistor-level details. The basic building blocks considered for such systems are a full adder, a half adder, and a one-bit delay. Estimates of the switching activity at the output of these primitives are used to model the activity in more complex building blocks of DSP systems. The presented hierarchical method is very fast and simple. The accuracy of estimates obtained using the proposed approach is shown to be within 4% of the results obtained using extensive bit-level simulations. Our approach shows that the choice of multiplier/multiplicand is important when using array multipliers in a datapath. If the input signal with smaller mean square value is chosen as the multiplicand, almost 20% savings in switching activity can be achieved. This observation is verified by an analog simulation using a 16 × 16 bit array multiplier implemented in a 0.6-μ process with 3.3 V supply voltage     

Large signal analysis of mixers with difference frequency injection

Large signal analysis of mixers excited by three tone signals is presented. The special case of two equal-amplitude sinusoids plus a difference-frequency injection is considered in detail and the results are compared, whenever possible, with previously published results. Contrary to previously published results, it is shown that even under large signal conditions and strong nonlinearity it is possible, at least in theory, to totally eliminate the third-order intermodulation when the amplitudes of the equal-amplitudes input sinusoids and the difference-frequency injection are equal.     

Cognitive Radio as the Facilitator for Advanced Communications Electronic Warfare Solutions

Throughout the 1990s, Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology was viewed almost exclusively as a solution for interoperability problems between various military standards, waveforms and devices. In the meantime, Cognitive Radio (CR) – a novel communication paradigm which embodies SDR with intelligence and self-reconfigurability properties – has emerged. Intelligence and on-the-fly self-reconfiguration abilities of CRs constitute an important next step in the Communications Electronic Warfare, as they may enable the jamming entities with the capabilities of devising and deploying advanced jamming tactics. Similarly, they may also aid the development of the advanced intelligent self-reconfigurable systems for jamming mitigation. This work outlines the development and implementation of the Spectrum Intelligence algorithm for Radio Frequency (RF) interference mitigation. The developed system is built upon the ideas of obtaining relevant spectrum-related data by using wideband energy detectors, performing narrowband waveform identification, extracting the waveforms’ parameters and properly classifying the waveforms. All relevant spectrum activities are continuously monitored and stored. Coupled with the self-reconfigurability of various transmission-related parameters, Spectrum Intelligence is the facilitator for the advanced interference mitigation strategies. The implementation is done on the Cognitive Radio test bed architecture which consists of two military Software Defined Radio terminals, each interconnected with the computationally powerful System-on-Module.     

Geometrical design of thin film photovoltaic modules for improved shade tolerance and performance

Partial shading in photovoltaic modules is an important reliability and performance concern for all photovoltaic technologies. In this paper, we show how cell geometry can be used as a design variable for improved shade tolerance and performance in monolithic thin film photovoltaic modules (TFPV). We use circuit simulations to illustrate the geometrical aspects of partial shading in typical monolithic TFPV modules with rectangular cells, and formulate rules for shade tolerant design. We show that the problem of partial shading can be overcome by modifying the cell shape and orientation, while preserving the module shape and output characteristics. We discuss two geometrical designs with cells arranged in radial and spiral patterns, which (i) prevent the reverse breakdown of partially shaded cells, (ii) improve the overall power output under partial shading, and (iii) in case of spiral design, may additionally improve the module efficiency by reducing sheet resistance losses. We compare these designs quantitatively using realistic parameters and discuss the practical aspects for their implementation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interconnecting networks with optimized service provisioning

Telecommunication Systems - A recent trend of peering at geo-diversified Internet exchange points (IXPs) has empowered decades-old proposal of inter-networking and opened up new avenues of business...