2D Image Construction from Low Resolution Response of a New Non‐invasive Measurement for Medical Application

This paper presents an application of digital signal processing to data acquired by the radio imaging method (RIM) that was adopted to measure moisture distribution inside the human body. RIM was originally developed for the mining industry; we are applying the method to a biomedical measurement because of its simplicity, economy, and safety. When a two‐dimensional image was constructed from the measured data, the method provided insufficient resolution because the wavelength of the measurement medium, a weak electromagnetic wave in a VHF band, was longer than human tissues. We built and measured a phantom, a model simulating the human body, consisting of two water tanks representing large internal organs. A digital equalizer was applied to the measured values as a weight function, and images were reconstructed that corresponded to the original shape of the two water tanks. As a result, a two‐dimensional image containing two individual peaks corresponding to the original two small water tanks was constructed. The result suggests the method was applicable to biomedical measurement by the assistance of digital signal processing. This technique may be applicable to home‐based medical care and other situations in which safety, simplicity, and economy are important.     

Computation of the average power pattern of a reflector antennawith random surface errors and misalignment errors

To specify manufacturing tolerances of a reflector antenna, various errors such as random surface errors and misalignment errors must be considered at one time because superposition of the effects of those errors may not hold. Based on the Rahmat-Samii's formulation (1983), a method for computing efficiently the average power pattern of a reflector antenna with those errors is presented. Simulation results show that superposition of the effects of errors does not generally hold and demonstrate how those errors degrade the peak-gain and sidelobe levels     

Ultra-wideband (from DC to 110 GHz) CPW to CPS transition

A new ultra-wideband, low-loss and small-size coplanar waveguide (CPW) to coplanar strip (CPS) transition which can be used from DC to 110 GHz is presented. The proposed transition connects CPW with CPS by the reformed air-bridge. Two ground planes of CPW are tied at their ends by a line and the centre of the line is connected to the ground strip of CPS by another line. Owing to the symmetry of the proposed structure, the currents of two ground planes of CPW are combined with the same phase and transferred to the ground strip of CPS. With height of 3 μm, the signal line of CPW passes over two connecting lines and is connected to the signal strip of CPS. For the back-to-back transition structure, insertion loss <1 dB and return loss >15 dB are obtained from 0.5 to 110 GHz     

Numerical modeling of near corona wire electrohydrodynamic flow in a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator

Numerical modelling of the flow velocity fields for the near corona wire electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow was conducted. Solutions of the steady, two-dimensional momentum equations have been computed for a wire-plate type electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The equations were solved in the conservative finite-difference form on a fine uniform rectilinear grid of sufficient resolution to accurately capture the momentum boundary layers. The numerical procedure for the differential equations was used by SIMPLEST algorithm. The CFD code coupled with Poisson's electric field, ion transport equations and the momentum equation with electric body force, was used for the numerical simulation with the Chen-Kim k-epsiv turbulent model. The numerical results show that EHD secondary flow was clearly visible in the downstream regions of the corona wire despite the low Reynolds number for the electrode (Re _cw=12.4). Secondary flow vortices caused by the EHD increases with increasing discharge current or EHD number, hence pressure drop of ESP increases     

Physical model of drain conductance, gd, degradation ofNMOSFET's due to interface state generation by hot carrierinjection

Degradation of analog device parameters such as drain conductance, g_d, due to hot carrier injection has been modeled for NMOSFET's. In this modeling, mobility reduction caused by interface state generation by hot carrier injection and the gradual channel approximation were employed. It has been found that g_d degradation can be calculated from linear region transconductance, g_m, degradation which is usually monitored for hot carrier degradation of MOSFET's. The values of g_d degradation calculated from g_m degradation fit well to the measured values of g_d degradation The dependence of the g_d degradation lifetime on L_eff has been also studied, this model also provides an explanation of the dependence on L_eff. The model is then useful for lifetime predictions of analog circuits in which g_d degradation is usually more important than g_m degradation     

Spectrally stable Er-fiber laser for application in phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry

A high degree of frequency stability in an Er-fiber laser with the Fabry-Perot configuration was achieved using a long (25-km) optical-feedback loop. The frequency-drift rate was determined to be <1 MHz/min by observing temporal fringes in an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Instantaneous linewidth measured with a delayed self-heterodyne interferometer was less than the 3-kHz resolution limit. The laser was utilized in an optical time-domain reflectometry experiment to detect and locate a time-varying phase perturbation applied to an optical fiber.     

Deactivation of copper-ion-exchanged hydrogen-mordenite-type zeolite catalyst by SO2 for no reduction by NH3

Deactivation of copper-ion-exchanged hydrogen-mordenite-type zeolite catalyst by SO₂ for NO reduction by NH₃ was examined in a fixed-bed flow reactor. The deactivation of the catalyst was strongly dependent on reaction temperature. At high reaction temperatures over 300°C, the catalyst did not lose its initial activity up to 50 h of operation, regardless of SO₂ feed concentration from 500 to 20,000 ppm. However, at low reaction temperatures near 250°C, apparent deactivation did occur. Changes in the physicochemical properties such as surface area and sulfur content of deactivated catalyst well correlated with catalyst activity, depending upon reaction temperatures. The deactivation was due to pore blocking and/or filling by deactivating agents, which plugged and/or filled the pores of catalyst. The deactivating agents deposited on the catalyst surface were presumed to be (NH₄)₂SO₄ and/or (NH₄)HSO₄ from the results of TGA and ion-chromatography measurement.     

A novel high-efficiency linear transmitter using injection-locked pulsed oscillator

This letter presents a novel high-efficiency linear transmitter using pulse-width modulation (PWM). An envelope of radio frequency (RF) input signal is modulated by the PWM. The modulated signal is applied to the gate bias of a class F injection-locked power oscillator and switches it on and off. By filtering the pulsed oscillating output signal of the injection-locked oscillator using high-Q bandpass filter, the input signal is restored. This technique enables the transmitter to have high efficiency with good linearity. Also, there is little distortion near saturation point of an active device. The measured results show efficiency of 54.6% and very good linearity in PCS band at 26.4-dBm output power.