OFDMA femtocells: a roadmap on interference avoidance - [topics in radio communications]

OFDMA femtocells have been pointed out by the industry as a good solution not only to overcome the indoor coverage problem but also to deal with the growth of traffic within macrocells. However, the deployment of a new femtocell layer may have an undesired impact on the performance of the macrocell layer. The allocation of spectrum resources and the avoidance of electromagnetic interference are some of the more urgent challenges that operators face before femtocells become widely deployed. In this article a coverage and interference analysis based on a realistic OFDMA macro/femtocell scenario is provided, as well as some guidelines on how the spectrum allocation and interference mitigation problems can be approached in these networks. Special attention is paid to the use of self-configuration and self-optimization techniques for the avoidance of interference.     

Accuracy of the zero crossings of the second directional derivative as an edge detector

In this paper the accuracy of the second directional derivative edge detector is analyzed, based on a number of idealized edge models. The results are compared with those for the Laplacian edge detector. Errors are shown to be small under a number of conditions. These conditions are less severe for the second directional derivative than for the Laplacian edge detector. Spurious or phantom edges can be removed by checking the sign of the third directional derivative, though this is not enough to remove all large errors. Indeed, it is also shown that large errors will be obtained if no threshold is set on the magnitude of a third order derivative.This work was supported by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO).     

Correlation between shielding effectiveness measurements andalternative methods for the characterization of shielding materials

The correlation between different methods for the characterization of shielding materials is discussed. It is found that a good agreement is obtained using basic methods, such as a four-point resistance measurement, or standard shielding effectiveness methods and using other methods allowing a quick control in the field during injection moulding process     

The gamma-filter-a new class of adaptive IIR filters withrestricted feedback

Generalized feedforward filters, a class of adaptive filters that combines attractive properties of finite impulse response (FIR) filters with some of the power of infinite impulse response (IIR) filters, are described. A particular case, the gamma filter, generalizes Widrow's adaptive transversal filter (adaline) to an infinite impulse response filter. Yet, the stability condition for the gamma filter is trivial, and LMS adaptation is of the same computational complexity as the conventional transversal filter structure. Preliminary results indicate that the gamma filter is more efficient than the adaptive transversal filter. The authors extend the Wiener-Kopf equation to the gamma filter and develop some analysis tools     

Reflectance pulse oximetry measurements from the retinal fundus

Conventional transmission pulse oximetry is a noninvasive technique for the continuous monitoring of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO₂) from peripheral vascular beds such as the finger tip or earlobe. It is proposed to exploit the unique transparency of the ocular media to make reflectance pulse oximetry measurements on the retinal fundus. This technique potentially offers significant advantages over conventional pulse oximetry, primarily in the ability to monitor cerebral, as opposed to peripheral, oxygen saturation. An in vitro system has been developed to simulate the retinal circulation and ocular optics. This system consists of a flexible cuvette located in a model eye and an extracorporeal blood circuit to simulate arterial blood flow. The system was used to investigate the relationship between SaO₂ and the R/IR ratio in reflectance pulse oximetry. To enable in vivo measurements to be made, a standard haptic contact lens was modified to hold the pulse oximeter probe in front of the pupil. In a preliminary study, the lens was fitted to an awake volunteer and cardiac-synchronous signals were detected by the retinal pulse oximeter     

Initial deployment of fibre in the local network for narrowband use in Spain: Technology,engineering and cost

This paper covers: (1) the field trials, with fibre in the local network systems, being conducted in Spain and intended for delivery telephone-based services to residential customers; (2) the technical and functional requirements of these types of system intended for commercial (regular) deployment to be started around late 1993/early 1994, and (3) the most relevant initial deployment scenarios and persubscriber investment aspects. The field trials are located in Madrid and in Barcelona: their rationale, technical characteristics and the lessons learned so far are described. Such trials are providing insight into what requirements and objectives are anticipated to be needed should such new technology be an actual alternative to copper-based subscriber loops. The requirement for such fibre in the local network systems intended for regular deployment in the near term are indicated, including technical and functional requirements of the optical line terminals (OLTs) (at local exchanges) and optical network units (ONUs) (located near customer premises); transmission requirements and optical distribution network (ODN) requirements and design aspects. For starting regular deployment, three preferred scenarios are identified. The chief parameters affecting persubscriber investments are illustrated including the number of fibres per ONU, and the number of users being served from each ONU. It is shown that in order to achieve cost parity with copper loop (which requires an initial investment of between $600 and $800) a capacity of some 60 narrowband (64 kb/s) channels per ONU should be required.     

All-fiber active add-drop wavelength router

We describe a fiber Bragg grating Mach-Zehnder interferometer (FBG-MZI) which utilizes active phase control. The active FBG-MZI is operated as a wavelength router, where the grating-selected wavelength channel can be actively routed. We believe this is the first demonstration of an all fibre FBG-MZI wavelength router.     

A 1-V 15 μW High-Accuracy Temperature Switch

A CMOS temperature switch with uncalibrated high accuracy is presented. The circuit is based on the classical CMOS bandgap reference structure, using parasitic PNPs and a PTAT multiplier. The circuit was designed in a standard digital 0.18 m CMOS process. The temperature switch has an in-designed hysteresis of 1.2°C around a threshold value of 128°C. At the switching-threshold all matched transistors have also matched operating conditions, yielding a temperature threshold that is highly independent of transistor output resistance and supply voltage. The chip area was minimized using a novel and generic strategy. With a chip area of only 0.03 mm², the onwafer 3 spread of the threshold temperature is 1.1°C. Power consumption is only 15 A at 1 volt supply.     

Orthogonal transmultiplexers in communication: a review

This paper presents conventional and emerging applications of orthogonal synthesis/analysis transform configurations (transmultiplexer) in communications. It emphasizes that orthogonality is the underlying concept in the design of many communication systems. It is shown that orthogonal filter banks (subband transforms) with proper time-frequency features can play a more important role in the design of new systems. The general concepts of filter bank theory are tied together with the application-specific requirements of several different communication systems. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to increase the visibility of emerging communication applications of orthogonal filter banks and to generate more research activity in the signal processing community on these topics