A 2-V, 1-10 GHz BiCMOS transceiver chip for multimode wirelesscommunications networks

This paper concerns the design consideration, fabrication process, and performance results for an ultra-broadband, low-voltage, low-power, BiCMOS-based transceiver chip for cellular-satellite-LAN wireless communication networks. The transceiver chip incorporates an RF amplifier, a Gilbert down-mixer, and an IF amplifier in the receive path, and an IF amplifier, a Gilbert up-mixer, and an RF amplifier in the transmit path. For an RF frequency in the 1-10 GHz band and an IF frequency in the 100-1000 MHz band, the developed transceiver chip consumes less than 60 mW at 2 V, to yield a downconversion gain of 40 dB at 1 GHz and 10 dB at 10 GHz and an upconversion gain of 42 dB at 1 GHz and 11 dB at 10 GHz. To avoid possible start-up problems caused during “stand-by” to “enable” mode transition, a simple switching technique is employed for enabling either the receive or the transmit path, by changing the value of a reference voltage applied to both the down- and the up-mixers. While the developed transceiver chip exhibits the best performance for a dc supply voltage of 2 V, it shows a graceful degradation for a ±0.15 V voltage deviation. The transceiver's chip size is 1.04 mm×1.04 mm     

Reconstruction of a signal using the spectrum-reversal technique

Our procedure of real-zero conversion uses a spectrum-reversal technique to convert the information of a bandlimited signal to real zeros. We conducted a simple reconstruction experiment and showed that our proposed method is essentially equivalent to the conventional technique of sine-wave crossings     

Poxvirus virions: their surface ultrastructure and interaction with the surface membrane of host cells

Virions of vaccinia and orf viruses were examined by ultrahigh-resolution scanning electron microscopy using a non-coating method. Intracellular mature particles of vaccinia virus appeared to be covered with a net and ultrastructurally their surface consists of many fine ridges and globules, while the surfaces of orf virus mature particles recovered from infected cells consist of spirally running protrusions. The ridge-like structures of vaccinia virus were presumed to correspond to surface tubules shown by negative staining of this virus, while the spiral protrusions of orf virus were presumed to correspond to spiral threads having a criss-cross appearance by the same staining. Using scanning electron microscopy in which the samples were prepared by the conventional method, we observed: (i) many virions, i.e. one or two hundreds, or occasionally more reaching about one thousand particles, of the IHD strain of vaccinia virus, (ii) many or a moderate number of virions, i.e. about one hundred or fewer particles, of the 58 strain of cowpox virus and (iii) rather few virions, i.e. several tens or fewer particles, of the Iwate strain of orf virus on the free surface of each cell infected with these viruses. It must be noted that the number of virions detected considerably differed in respective cells examined. Virus budding was frequently observed at the cell surface of monolayer cells infected with vaccinia virus but it was never detected with cowpox or orf virus, indicating a difference in the mechanism of virus release between vaccinia and the other two viruses. When whole cells infected with vaccinia virus were examined by a combination of high-voltage and scanning electron microscopies, virions on the cell surface and those inside the cells were clearly differentiated. All virions on the cell surface had an envelope, and some of the envelopes had a slack and/or one or more bulges.     

Creation of Superhydrophobic Electrospun Nonwovens Fabricated from Naturally Occurring Poly(Amino Acid) Derivatives

Creation of superhydrophobic materials bio‐inspired by nature fascinates many scientists. One of the most intriguing challenges in this field is the fabrication of these materials using biopolymers from the viewpoint of green chemistry and environmental chemistry. Here, superhydrophobic and biodegradable nonwovens are constructed by electrospinning from a naturally occurring poly(amino acid), poly(γ‐glutamic acid) (γ‐PGA), modified with a hydrophobic α‐amino acid, l ‐phenylalanine. The contact angle of a water droplet on the materials is 154°, and the droplet remains stuck to the material surface even if it is inverted, clearly indicating a petal‐type superhydrophobic property. Biodegradability and post‐functionalization of the nonwovens as well as cell adhesion on the superhydrophobic materials are also evaluated. As far as we know, this is the first report on biodegradable materials exhibiting a petal‐type superhydrophobicity. The material design and processing shown here can be applied to various bioresources and such functional materials will become a new class of functional materials satisfying some of the requirements in green science.     

Generation of pedestal-free 22-fs ultrashort pulse using highly nonlinear fiber and reverse-dispersion fiber

We present an all-fiber system for generating pedestal-free 22-fs ultrashort pulses with a single-peak spectrum. High-power Raman soliton pulses and a normally dispersive highly nonlinear fiber are used to generate a smooth, broadened single-peak spectrum. Then, the higher order dispersion is compensated for using a hybrid fiber composed of a reverse-dispersion fiber and a standard single-mode fiber, which allows pedestal-free ultrashort pulses to be successfully generated. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of pedestal-free 20-fs-class ultrashort pulse generation without spectral distortion using an all-fiber configuration.     

Photolithographic patterning of organic photodetectors with a non-fluorinated photoresist system

We report on the fabrication of organic photodetectors (OPD) based on isolated islands of P3HT:PCBM. Pattern transfer to the active material was done with photolithography based on non-fluorinated solvents and the excessive organic semiconductor was removed with oxygen plasma reactive ion etching. The photoresist system used was found to be benign to the P3HT:PCBM layer as confirmed by absorption, thickness and roughness measurements. Current–voltage characteristics and external quantum efficiency (EQE) remained unchanged after the patterning process. It was demonstrated that it is possible to photolithographically pattern isolated islands with 200 μm edge length with the same dark current density (<10⁻⁵ A/cm² at −2 V bias voltage) and photocurrent density (>5 × 10⁻³ A/cm² at −2 V). Furthermore, concerning the solar cell performance, the patterned, small-area devices showed power conversion efficiency of 2.1% and fill-factor of 60%. Dark current was observed to depend on the size of the remaining semiconductor island, which was demonstrated on OPDs with diameter of 50 μm. The presented results show the feasibility of fabrication of isolated devices based on organic semiconductors patterned with non-fluorinated photolithography.     

Complex Hydrides for Electrochemical Energy Storage

Complex hydrides have energy storage‐related functions such as i) solid‐state hydrogen storage, ii) electrochemical Li storage, and iii) fast Li‐ and Na‐ionic conductions. Here, recent progress on the development of fast Li‐ionic conductors based on the complex hydrides is reported. The validity of using them as electrolytes in all‐solid‐state lithium rechargeable batteries is also examined. Not only coated oxides but also bare sulfides are found to be applicable as positive electrode active materials. Results related to fast Na‐ionic conductivity in the complex hydrides are presented. In the last section, the future prospects for battery assemblies with high‐energy densities, and Mg ion batteries with the liquid and the solid‐state electrolytes are discussed.     

A 1 ns, 1 W, 2.5 V, 32 Kb NTL-CMOS SRAM macro using a memory cellwith PMOS access transistors

While an ECL-CMOS SRAM can achieve both ultra high speed and high density, it consumes a lot of power and cannot be applied to low power supply voltage applications. This paper describes an NTL (Non Threshold Logic)-CMOS SRAM macro that consists of a PMOS access transistor CMOS memory cell, an NTL decoder with an on-chip voltage generator, and an automatic bit line signal voltage swing controller. A 32 Kb SRAM macro, which achieves a 1 ns access time at 2.5 V power supply and consumes a mere 1 W, has been developed on a 0.4 μm BiCMOS technology     

A digital coherent receiver suitable for land-mobile satellitecommunications

Describes an advanced coherent demodulation technique suitable for land-mobile satellite communications. The proposed technique features a combined narrow/wide band dual open loop (DOL) carrier phase estimator, which effectively enables the coherent receiver to track fast phase fluctuations caused by fading, without degradation in phase slip characteristics. Additionally, an open loop phase estimator has inherent quick recovery performance. Its bit error rate (BER) performance is shown to be superior to that for existing detection schemes, achieving a 10^-2 BER at 6.3 dB E_b/N₀ (0.9 dB greater than the theoretical E_b/N₀ condition for perfect carrier phase tracking) for QPSK over a Rician fading channel with the 10 dB Rician factor and the 1/16 baud rate fading pitch. The paper also describes a quick bit timing recovery scheme, with interpolation, featuring an open loop structure. Further, it presents an experimental digital modem developed through the use of digital signal processors