Analytic phase-factor equations for Talbot array illuminations

Under specific circumstances the fractional Talbot effect can be described by simplified equations. We have obtained simplified analytic phase-factor equations to describe the relation between the pure-phase factors and their fractional Talbot distances behind a binary amplitude grating with an opening ratio of (1/M). We explain how these simple equations are obtained from the regularly rearranged neighboring phase differences. We point out that any intensity distribution with an irreducible opening ratio (M(N)/M) (M(N) < M, where M(N) and M are positive integers) generated by such an amplitude grating can be described by similar phase-factor equations. It is interesting to note that an amplitude grating with additional arbitrary phase modulation can also generate pure-phase distributions at the fractional Talbot distance. We have applied these analytic phase-factor equations to neighboring (0, pi) phase-modulated amplitude gratings and have analytically derived a new set of simple phase-factor equations for Talbot array illumination in this case. Experimental verification of our theoretical results is given.     

Single development project

An often-cited problem in undergraduate software engineering courses states that some topics are difficult to teach in a university setting and, although laboratory work is a useful supplement to the lectures, it is difficult to make projects realistic and relevant. In recognition of this problem, and based on our past experience, we started preparing a new course by examining the pedagogies and curricular aspects of software engineering that are important for the Net Generation of software engineers.The course project described in this paper concentrates on those aspects that can be dealt with effectively within the environment, i.e., the software lifecycle, system interdependences, teamwork, and realistic yet manageable project dynamics, all supported by various means of communication. The workload per students must be balanced with their lack of knowledge and skills, so that their unpreparedness to deal with complex issues does not abate their motivation.The approach was tested on six large projects over the period of one semester. We believe that the results reflect the students’ strong interest and commitment, and demonstrate their ability to stay focused and work at a level that is well above the obvious.     

Overlapping decentralized approach to automation generation control of multi-area power systems

An overlapping decentralized control scheme is presented and applied to automatic generation control (AGC) for multi-area power systems. Based on the inclusion principle, the system is first decomposed in the expanded space as a group of pair-wise subsystems (areas). Then, the decentralized controllers designed, by standard linear quadratic (LQ) control laws are implemented in each pair-wise subsystem. Finally, the overlapping decentralized controller is obtained by coordinating and contracting the pair-wise decentralized controllers from the expanded space to the original space, preserving the inclusion conditions. When applied to AGC of a four-area power system, the proposed methodology not only guarantees AGC qualities, but also increases the system reliability with respect to a wide variety of structured perturbations. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the presented approach both in the general case of information structure constraints and in the cases when some pairs of subsystems are disconnected by unpredicted faults.     

Dissipativity-based adaptive and robust control of UPS in unbalanced operation

In this paper, we investigate the output voltage control for three phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) using controllers based on ideas of dissipativity. To provide balanced sinusoidal output voltages even in the presence of nonlinear and unbalanced loads, we first derive a dissipativity-based controller using a conventional /spl alpha//spl beta/ (fixed frame) representation of system dynamics and a frequency-domain representation of system disturbances. Adaptive refinements have been added to the controller to cope with parametric uncertainties. Second, based on the structure of the first adaptive controller, we propose another controller that leads to a linear time-invariant (LTI) closed loop system which is directly connected to synchronous frame harmonic voltage control. This controller, denoted as robust, avoids the most computationally demanding parameter estimation during adaptation, and offers important advantages for implementation. For the proposed robust controller, a sufficient condition in terms of the design parameters is presented to guarantee stability of the desired equilibrium and robustness against certain parametric uncertainties. Finally, simulation and experimental results on a three-phase prototype show effectiveness and advantages of the proposed class of controllers.     

Introducing time-frequency distribution with a `complex-time'argument

A distribution, highly concentrated along the instantaneous frequency, is introduced using a `complex-time' signal argument. Realisation of a signal with complex argument, using a signal with a real argument, is presented     

Issues in Distributed Processing - an Overview of Two Workshops

Two workshops on distributed processing were held at Brown University in 1976 and 1977, sponsored by the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research. The workshops had three goals:     

Control-based reduction of pulsating torque for PMAC machines

Control methods in torque pulsating reduction for surface-mounted permanent magnet motors are discussed in this paper. The pulsating torque is a consequence of the nonsinusoidal flux-density distribution caused by the interaction of the rotor's permanent magnets with the changing stator reluctance. The proposed control method is estimator based. To assure parameter convergence, Lyapunov's direct method is used in estimator design for the flux Fourier's coefficients. A novel nonlinear torque controller based on flux/torque estimate is introduced to reduce the influence of the flux harmonics. The influence of the cogging torque is considerably reduced at lower motor speed using the internal model principle and adaptive feedforward compensation technique. The overall control scheme and experimental results are also presented     

Biosynthesis of the Fungal Organophosphonate Fosfonochlorin Involves an Iron(II) and 2-(Oxo)glutarate Dependent Oxacyclase

The fungal metabolite Fosfonochlorin features a chloroacetyl moiety that is unusual within known phosphonate natural product biochemistry. Putative biosynthetic genes encoding Fosfonochlorin in Fusarium and Talaromyces spp. were investigated through reactions of encoded enzymes with synthetic substrates and isotope labelling studies. We show that the early biosynthetic steps for Fosfonochlorin involve the reduction of phosphonoacetaldehyde to form 2-hydroxyethylphosphonic acid, followed by oxidative intramolecular cyclization of the resulting alcohol to form (S)-epoxyethylphosphonic acid. The latter reaction is catalyzed by FfnD, a rare example of a non-heme iron/2-(oxo)glutarate dependent oxacyclase. In contrast, FfnD behaves as a more typical oxygenase with ethylphosphonic acid, producing (S)-1-hydroxyethylphosphonic acid. FfnD thus represents a new example of a ferryl generating enzyme that can suppress the typical oxygen rebound reaction that follows abstraction of a substrate hydrogen by a ferryl oxygen, thereby directing the substrate radical towards a fate other than hydroxylation.     

Analysis of fork-join program response times on multiprocessors

Models for two processor sharing policies called task scheduling processor sharing and job scheduling processor sharing are developed and analyzed. The first policy schedules each task independently and allows parallel execution of an individual program, whereas the second policy schedules each job as a unit, thereby not allowing parallel execution of an individual program. It is found that task scheduling performs better than job scheduling for most system parameter values. The performance of the task scheduling processor sharing is compared to a first come first serve policy. First come first serve performs better than processor sharing over a wide range of system parameters. Processor sharing performs best when the task service time variability is high. The performance of processor sharing and first come first serve is studied with two classes of jobs, and for when a specific number of processors is statically assigned to each of the classes     

Adaptive load sharing in heterogeneous distributed systems

In this paper, we study the performance characteristics of simple load sharing algorithms for heterogeneous distributed systems. We assume that nonnegligible delays are encountered in transferring jobs from one node to another. We analyze the effects of these delays on the performance of two threshold-based algorithms called Forward and Reverse. We formulate queuing theoretic models for each of the algorithms operating in heterogeneous systems under the assumption that the job arrival process at each node in Poisson and the service times and job transfer times are exponentially distributed. The models are solved using the Matrix-Geometric solution technique. These models are used to study the effects of different parameters and algorithm variations on the mean job response time: e.g., the effects of varying the thresholds, the impact of changing the probe limit, the impact of biasing the probing, and the optimal response times over a large range of loads and delays. Wherever relevant, the results of the models are compared with the M/M/ 1 model, representing no load balancing (hereafter referred to as NLB), and the M/M/K model, which is an achievable lower bound (hereafter referred to as LB).