A downlink beamforming assisted by locally positioned communication devices

Recently, multiple cell types with overlapping coverage have been deployed simultaneously to increase cellular network capacity. Cross‐tier interference is one of the key technical challenges in the use of this method. A simple and practical beamforming scheme assisted by locally positioned communication devices for the downlink of a multi‐cell wireless hierarchical cell structure system is proposed in this paper to maximize the capacity of the embedded small cell and simultaneously ensure minimal impact on the performance of existing macrocells. The locally positioned communication devices can be implemented with low complexity and at low cost and can continuously provide helpful and accurate information to base stations for the proper configuration of geographical cell coverage, allowing neighboring cells to cooperate effectively with each other. Simulation results verify that the proposed scheme can provide a significant gain over conventional systems not using the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐Performance,Transparent Thin Film Hydrogen Gas Sensor Using 2D Electron Gas at Interface of Oxide Thin Film Heterostructure Grown by Atomic Layer Deposition

A high‐performance, transparent, and extremely thin (<15 nm) hydrogen (H₂) gas sensor is developed using 2D electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of an Al₂O₃/TiO₂ thin film heterostructure grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD), without using an epitaxial layer or a single crystalline substrate. Palladium nanoparticles (≈2 nm in thickness) are used on the surface of the Al₂O₃/TiO₂ thin film heterostructure to detect H₂. This extremely thin gas sensor can be fabricated on general substrates such as a quartz, enabling its practical application. Interestingly, the electron density of the Al₂O₃/TiO₂ thin film heterostructure can be tailored using ALD process temperature in contrast to 2DEG at the epitaxial interfaces of the oxide heterostructures such as LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃. This tunability provides the optimal electron density for H₂ detection. The Pd/Al₂O₃/TiO₂ sensor detects H₂ gas quickly with a short response time of <30 s at 300 K which outperforms conventional H₂ gas sensors, indicating that heating modules are not required for the rapid detection of H₂. A wide bandgap (>3.2 eV) with the extremely thin film thickness allows for a transparent sensor (transmittance of 83% in the visible spectrum) and this fabrication scheme enables the development of flexible gas sensors.     

Improving Radio Frequency Transmission Properties of Graphene via Carrier Concentration Control toward High Frequency Transmission Line Applications

Graphene has been gradually studied as a high‐frequency transmission line material owing to high carrier mobility with frequency independence up to a few THz. However, the graphene‐based transmission lines have poor conductivity due to their low carrier concentration. Here, it is observed that the radio frequency (RF) transmission performance could be severely hampered by the defect‐induced scattering, even though the carrier concentration is increased. As a possible solution, the deposition of the amorphous carbon on the graphene is studied in the high‐frequency region up to 110 GHz. The DC resistance is reduced by as much as 60%, and the RF transmission property is also enhanced by 3 dB. Also, the amorphous carbon covered graphene shows stable performance under a harsh environment. These results prove that the carrier concentration control is an effective and a facile method to improve the transmission performance of graphene. It opens up the possibilities of using graphene as interconnects in the ultrahigh‐frequency region.     

Sub‐5 nm Dendrimer Directed Self‐Assembly with Large‐Area Uniform Alignment by Graphoepitaxy

Directed self‐assembly (DSA) using soft materials is an important method for producing periodic nanostructures because it is a simple, cost‐effective process for fabricating high‐resolution patterns. Most of the previously reported DSA methods exploit the self‐assembly of block copolymers, which generates a wide range of nanostructures. In this study, cylinders obtained from supramolecular dendrimer films with a high resolution (<5 nm) exhibit planar ordering over a macroscopic area via guiding topographical templates with a high aspect ratio (>10) and high spatial resolution (≈20 nm) of guiding line patterns. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that this property is related to geometrical anchoring on the meniscus region and physical surface anchoring on the sidewall. Furthermore, this DSA of dendrimer cylinders is demonstrated by the non‐regular geometry of the patterned template. The macroscopic planar alignment of the dendrimer nanostructure reveals an extremely small feature size (≈4.7 nm) on the wafer scale (>16 cm²). This study is expected to open avenues for the production of a large family of supramolecular dendrimers with different phases and feature dimensions oriented by the DSA approach.     

High Areal Capacitance of N‐Doped Graphene Synthesized by Arc Discharge

The lack of cost effective, industrial‐scale production methods hinders the widespread applications of graphene materials. In spite of its applicability in the mass production of graphene flakes, arc discharge has not received considerable attention because of its inability to control the synthesis and heteroatom doping. In this study, a facile approach is proposed for improving doping efficiency in N‐doped graphene synthesis through arc discharge by utilizing anodic carbon fillers. Compared to the N‐doped graphene (1–1.5% N) synthesized via the arc process according to previous literature, the resulting graphene flakes show a remarkably increased doping level (≈3.5% N) with noticeable graphitic N enrichment, which is rarely achieved by the conventional process, while simultaneously retaining high turbostratic crystallinity. The electrolyte ion storage of synthesized materials is examined in which synthesized N‐doped graphene material exhibits a remarkable area normalized capacitance of 63 µF cm^?2. The surprisingly high areal capacitance, which is superior to that of most carbon materials, is attributed to the synergistic effect of extrinsic pseudocapacitance, high crystallinity, and abundance of exposed graphene edges. These results highlight the great potentials of N‐doped graphene flakes produced by arc discharge in graphene‐based supercapacitors, along with well‐studied active exfoliated graphene and reduced graphene oxide.     

λ/64‐spaced compact ESPAR antenna via analog RF switches for a single RF chain MIMO system

In this study, an electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) antenna via analog radio frequency (RF) switches for a single RF chain MIMO system is presented. The proposed antenna elements are spaced at λ/64, and the antenna size is miniaturized via a dielectric radome. The optimum reactance load value is calculated via the beamforming load search algorithm. A switch simplifies the design and implementation of the reactance loads and does not require additional complex antenna matching circuits. The measured impedance bandwidth of the proposed ESPAR antenna is 1,500 MHz (1.75 GHz–3.25 GHz). The proposed antenna exhibits a beam pattern that is reconfigurable at 2.48 GHz due to changes in the reactance value, and the measured peak antenna gain is 4.8 dBi. The reception performance is measured by using a 4  4 BPSK signal. The measured average SNR is 17 dB when using the proposed ESPAR antenna as a transmitter, and the average SNR is 16.7 dB when using a four‐conventional monopole antenna.     

JPEG Pleno: Providing representation interoperability for holographic applications and devices

Guaranteeing interoperability between devices and applications is the core role of standards organizations. Since its first JPEG standard in 1992, the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) has published several image coding standards that have been successful in a plethora of imaging markets. Recently, these markets have become subject to potentially disruptive innovations owing to the rise of new imaging modalities such as light fields, point clouds, and holography. These so‐called plenoptic modalities hold the promise of facilitating a more efficient and complete representation of 3D scenes when compared to classic 2D modalities. However, due to the heterogeneity of plenoptic products that will hit the market, serious interoperability concerns have arisen. In this paper, we particularly focus on the holographic modality and outline how the JPEG committee has addressed these tremendous challenges. We discuss the main use cases and provide a preliminary list of requirements. In addition, based on the discussion of real‐valued and complex data representations, we elaborate on potential coding technologies that range from approaches utilizing classical 2D coding technologies to holographic content‐aware coding solutions. Finally, we address the problem of visual quality assessment of holographic data covering both visual quality metrics and subjective assessment methodologies.