A 533-MHz BiCMOS superscalar RISC microprocessor

This 533-MHz BiCMOS very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation of the PowerPC architecture contains three pipelines and a large on-chip secondary cache to achieve a peak performance of 1600 MIPS. The 15 mm×10 mm die contains 2.7 M transistors (2M CMOS and 0.7 M bipolar) and dissipates less than 85 W. The die is fabricated in a six-level metal, 0.5-μm BiCMOS process and requires 3.6 and 2.1 V power supplies     

Electrical and optical properties of oxygen doped GaN grown by MOCVD using N2O

Oxygen doped GaN has been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using N₂O as oxygen dopant source. The layers were deposited on 2″ sapphire substrates from trimethylgallium and especially dried ammonia using nitrogen (N₂) as carrier gas. Prior to the growth of the films, an AIN nucleation layer with a thickness of about 300? was grown using trimethylaluminum. The films were deposited at 1085°C at a growth rate of 1.0 μm/h and showed a specular, mirrorlike surface. Not intentionally doped layers have high resistivity (>20 kW/square). The gas phase concentration of the N₂O was varied between 25 and 400 ppm with respect to the total gas volume. The doped layers were n-type with carrier concentrations in the range of 4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ to 4×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ as measured by Hall effect. The observed carrier concentration increased with increasing N₂O concentration. Low temperature photoluminescence experiments performed on the doped layers revealed besides free A and B exciton emission an exciton bound to a shallow donor. With increasing N₂O concentration in the gas phase, the intensity of the donor bound exciton increased relative to that of the free excitons. These observations indicate that oxygen behaves as a shallow donor in GaN. This interpretation is supported by covalent radius and electronegativity arguments.     

A 2-GHz clocked AlGaAs/GaAs HBT byte-slice datapath chip

A byte-slice datapath for exploring multi-chip RISC processor development in AlGaAs-GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology has been designed, fabricated and tested. The circuits are implemented using differential current-mode logic (CML) and emitter-coupled logic (ECL) with signal swings of 250 mV. Each datapath chip contains a single slice, including an 8-bit by 32-word single-port register file with a 230-ps read access time, and an 8-bit carry-select adder with a 140-ps select path and a 380-ps ripple-carry path. Each unpackaged die was tested using an at-speed boundary scan test scheme. The register file and adder carry chain are also implemented in a special test chip for accurate performance characterization of these critical circuits     

Verkleinerung verfahrenstechnischer Versuchsanlagen — was ist erreichbar?

Scale-down of chemical engineering pilot plant – what is attainable? The use of fully automated experimental laboratory-scale plantoffer interesting possibilities for assessment of the economic operation and technical feasibility of new or modified processes. An important condition for the success of this kind of experimental approach is the availability of miniaturized equipment, machines, and sensors. The goal of such experimental plant can be both the process engineering development of individual process steps and also integrated running to model complete processes. Moreover, questions of scale-up can be studied and typical quantities can be provided. The state of the art is reported with the aid of selected examples of equipment and mechanical components and measurement and control units.     

Bestimmung des Endotoxin-Gehalts in Eiprodukten mit Hilfe eines miniaturisierten chromogenen Limulus-Tests

Zusammenfassung Die Eignung eines chromogenenLimulus-Tests zur Bestimmung des Endotoxin-Gehalts in Eiprodukten wurde gepruft. Dabei zeigte die Analyse verschieden stark bakteriell belasteter Volleimassen eine deutliche Korrelation zwischen Endotoxin-Konzentration und Gesamtkeimzahl (6 x 10⁴ cfu x ng^–1 Endotoxin) Bowie der Anzahl vonEnterobacteriaceen (7x10² cfu x ng^–1 Endotoxin). Vergleichbare Ergebnisse konnten auch mit Eigelb- und Eiweilßproben erzielt werden. Der Endotoxin-Nachweis wurde durch Hitzebehandlung (65 °C, 60 min) nicht beeinflußt. Endotoxinfreies steriles Volleimaterial hatte bis zu einer Konzentration im Testansatz von 10 mg x ml^–1 keinen Einfluß auf das Mcßergebnis. Im vorliegenden Bericht wird eine miniaturisierte Version des Testverfahrens vorgestellt, die im Mikro titerplatten-System durchgeführt werden kann.

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Determination of endotoxin in egg products with a miniaturized chromogenic Limulus test

Summary A chromogenicLimulus amoebocyte lysate assay was applied to monitor endotoxin concentration in egg products. Analysis of differently contaminated whole egg probes revealed a strong correlation of endotoxin concentration to total bacterial count 6 x 10⁴ cfu x ng^–1, where cfu=colony-forming unit) as well as to number ofEnterobacteriaceae (1 ng/7 x 10² cfu). Similar relations were also found for egg white and egg yolk probes. A significant influence of heat pretreatment of egg probes (65° C, 60 min) on endotoxin detection could be excluded. Up to a concentration of 10 mg x µl^–1 endotoxin-free whole egg material did not interfere with the test system. A miniaturized version of the chromogenicLimulus test, which can be carried out in microtiter plates, is described.

     

Intelligent wireless mesh path selection algorithm using fuzzy decision making

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are expected to be widely deployed due to their ability to provide ubiquity, convenience, cost-efficiency, and simplicity for both service providers and end-users. Recently, the IEEE 802.11s standard introduces the hybrid wireless mesh protocol (HWMP) which is inspired by a combination of on-demand and tree-based pro-active routing algorithms. In this paper, we argue that the proposed unimetric path selection algorithm in the standard is not reliable. We introduce and examine a novel multimetric wireless mesh path selection algorithm using fuzzy decision making under realistic wireless channel conditions. The proposed path selection algorithm is designed to improve the performance of both re-active and pro-active routing protocols of HWMP for not only single-channel but also multi-channel WMNs. The reported results show the superior performance of the proposed path selection algorithm in terms of delay and packet delivery ratio without increasing overhead significantly. Although some fuzzy-based routing algorithms have been defined in literature recently, to the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first one to introduce and examine the use of fuzzy logic in the path selection of single- and multi-channel wireless local area network-based WMNs under realistic wireless channel conditions.     

Mixed‐Conducting Perovskites as Cathode Materials for Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cells: Understanding the Trends in Proton Uptake

The proton uptake of 18 compositions in the perovskite family (Ba,Sr,La)(Fe,Co,Zn,Y)O_3‐δ, perovskites, which are potential cathode materials for protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs), is investigated by thermogravimetry. Hydration enthalpies and entropies are derived, and the doping trends are explored. The uptake is found to be largely determined by the basicity of the oxide ions. Partial substitution of Zn on the B‐site strongly enhances proton uptake, while Co substitution has the opposite effect. The proton concentration in Ba_0.95La_0.05Fe_0.8Zn_0.2O_3‐δ is found to be 10% per formula unit at 250 °C, 5.5% at 400 °C, and 2.3% at 500 °C, which are the highest values reported so far for a mixed‐conducting perovskite exhibiting hole, proton, and oxygen vacancy transport. A comprehensive set of thermodynamic data for proton uptake in (Ba,Sr,La)(Fe,Co,Zn,Y)O_3‐δ is determined. Defect interactions between protons and holes partially delocalized from the B‐site transition metal to the adjacent oxide ions decrease the proton uptake. From these results, guidelines for the optimization of PCFC cathode materials are derived.     

WDM Ethernet passive optical networks

WDM EPONs not only allow for cautious pay-as-you-grow upgrades of single-channel TDM EPONs but also avoid linearly increasing polling cycle times for an increasing number of ONUS. In this article, we first provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art of TDM EPONs and recently reported dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithms, including decentralized scheduling schemes. After reviewing previous work on WDM EPONs, we address the requirements of WDM upgraded EPONs and make recommendations on an evolutionary WDM upgrade at the architecture, protocol, and dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm levels, taking backward compatibility with MPCP and future-proofness against arbitrary WDM ONU structures into account. We describe and compare online and offline scheduling paradigms for WDM EPONs. Our simulation results indicate that online scheduling can achieve lower delays, especially at high loads. We outline areas of future research on WDM EPONs.     

Proton Conduction in Dense and Porous Nanocrystalline Ceria Thin Films

The electrical conductivity of ceria thin films (epitaxial as well as dense and porous nanocrystalline) is investigated in dry and wet atmosphere at temperatures below 500 °C. For the epitaxial and the fully dense nanocrystalline samples, no significant differences can be observed between dry and wet conditions. In marked contrast, the nanocrystalline porous films obtained via spin coating exhibit a considerable enhancement of the protonic conductivity below 300 °C in wet atmosphere. This outcome reveals that the residual open mesoporosity plays the key role for the enhancement of the proton transport at low temperatures and not the high density of grain boundaries. The quantitative analysis of the various pathways, along which the proton transport can take place, indicates that the observed proton conduction can arise not only from bulk water adsorbed in the open pores but also from the space charge zones on the water side of the water/oxide interface.     

Sn‐Based Nanoparticles Encapsulated in a Porous 3D Graphene Network: Advanced Anodes for High‐Rate and Long Life Li‐Ion Batteries

Sn‐based materials have triggered significant research efforts as anodes for lithium‐storage because of their high theoretical capacity. However, the practical applications of Sn‐based materials are hindered by low capacity release and poor cycle life, which are mainly caused by structural pulverization and large volume changes on cycling. Herein, a surfactant‐assisted assembly method is developed to fabricate 3D nanoarchitectures in which Sn‐based nanoparticles are encapsulated by a porous graphene network. More precisely, the graphene forms a 3D cellular network, the interstices of which only partially filled by the electroactive masses, thus establishing a high concentration of interconnected nanosized pores. While the graphene‐network itself guarantees fast electron transfer, it is the characteristic presence of nanosized pores in our network that leads to the favorable rate capability and cycling stability by i) accommodating the large volume expansion of Sn‐based nanoparticles to ensure integrity of the 3D framework upon cycling and ii) enabling rapid access of Li‐ions into Sn‐based nanoparticles, which are in addition prevented from agglomerating. As a result, the 3D Sn‐based nanoarchitectures deliver excellent electrochemical properties including high rate capability and stable cycle performance. Importantly, this strategy provides a new pathway for the rational engineering of anode materials with large volume changes to achieve improved electrochemical performances.