Solution of Helmholtz equation by Trefftz method

The application of the Trefftz method for calculating wave forces on offshore structures is presented. Indirect and direct formulations using complete and non-singular systems of Trefftz functions for the Helmholtz equation are posed in this paper. An effective technique using different interpolation functions for the velocity potential and wave force are suggested to improve the computational accuracy of the wave force. The numerical examples show that the present method is highly efficient and accurate.     

Current and future water issues in the Oldman River Basin of Alberta, Canada.

Long-term trends in alpine and prairie snow pack accumulation and melt are affecting streamflow within the Oldman River Basin in southern Alberta, Canada. Unchecked rural and urban development also has contributed to changes in water quality, including enhanced microbial populations and increased waterborne pathogen occurrence. In this study we look at changing environment within the Oldman River Basin and its impact on water quality and quantity. The cumulative effects include a decline in net water supplies, and declining quality resulting in increased risk of disease. Our data indicates that decreases in the rate of flow of water can result in sedimentation of bacterial contaminants within the water column. Water for ecosystems, urban consumption, recreation and distribution through irrigation is often drawn from waterholding facilities such as dams and weirs, and concern must be expressed over the potential for contaminate build-up and disproportionate potential of these structures to pose a risk to human and animal health. With disruption of natural flow rates for water resulting from environmental change such as global warming and/or human intervention, increased attention needs to be paid to use of best management practices to protect source water supplies.     

Stabilization of fixed modes in expansions of LTI systems

The objective of this note is to propose a method for stabilization of structurally fixed modes in expansions of LTI dynamic systems in the scope of overlapping decentralized control design based on the expansion/contraction framework, enabling successful design for a broader class of problems than considered so far. The method is based on a judicious choice of complementary matrices in the expanded space. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate simplicity and efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Generalized ACE Constrained Progressive Edge-Growth LDPC Code Design

In this letter, we propose a generalization of the progressive edge-growth (PEG) algorithm with the aim of designing LDPC code graphs with substantially improved approximated cycle extrinsic message degree (ACE) properties. The proposed realization of generalized PEG algorithm outperforms original PEG algorithm and its subsequent modification proposed by Xiao and Banihashemi.     

Modified Transition Matrix Simulations of Communication Systems

We apply appropriately enhanced transition matrix and multicanonical methods to communication systems. Our procedure not only predicts time-independent quantities such as the bit-error-probability but can also be applied to dynamic effects such as the distribution of fading times.     

Implementation of adaptive critic-based neurocontrollers for turbogenerators in a multimachine power system

This paper presents the design and practical hardware implementation of optimal neurocontrollers that replace the conventional automatic voltage regulator (AVR) and the turbine governor of turbogenerators on multimachine power systems. The neurocontroller design uses a powerful technique of the adaptive critic design (ACD) family called dual heuristic programming (DHP). The DHP neurocontrollers' training and testing are implemented on the Innovative Integration M67 card consisting of the TMS320C6701 processor. The measured results show that the DHP neurocontrollers are robust and their performance does not degrade unlike the conventional controllers even when a power system stabilizer (PSS) is included, for changes in system operating conditions and configurations. This paper also shows that it is possible to design and implement optimal neurocontrollers for multiple turbogenerators in real time, without having to do continually online training of the neural networks, thus avoiding risks of instability.     

Distributed Transmit Antenna Selection (DTAS) Under Performance or Energy Consumption Constraints

Motivated by the transmit antenna selection (TAS) concept, used in Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output systems, we argue for distributed transmit antenna selection (DTAS), which corresponds to a method of selecting a subset of available relays in cooperative diversity systems. Assuming amplify and forward relays, the proposed selection method represents a low-complexity tool for determining the optimum relaying set. Two optimization problems are studied: the error probability minimization subject to total energy consumption constraints, and the dual one, the total energy consumption minimization under error performance constraints. Numerical examples verify the advantage of the proposed method in adapting the number of relaying terminals to the desired performance-consumption tradeoff.     

Online and Offline Rotary Regression Analysis of Torque Estimator for Switched Reluctance Motor Drives

A new torque estimator for switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives based on 2-D rotary regression analysis is presented in this paper. The proposed torque estimator is composed of a bicubic regressive polynomial as a function of rotor position and input current. The regressive coefficients can be computed offline or online from the torque characteristics acquired either experimentally or from numerical computation. Furthermore, a torque estimation method by taking mutual coupling into consideration is proposed. It can be seen that the estimated and experimentally obtained self-coupling and mutual-coupling torque characteristics are in good agreement with each other. In addition, the dynamic torque waveforms with and without the mutual coupling, estimated by the proposed estimator, are found to be virtually the same as those obtained from the bicubic spline interpolation for SRM drives with single-pulse voltage, hysteresis current chopping, as well as with voltage pulse width modulation control. The success of all the case studies being reported is a good validation of the usefulness and accuracy of the proposed real-time torque estimator that, as described in this paper, can be used to quickly estimate the instantaneous output torque of SRM drives.     

An efficient electron-beam-pumped semiconductor laser for the green spectral range based on II–VI multilayer nanostructures

Emission characteristics of an electron-beam-pumped Cd(Zn)Se/ZnMgSSe semiconductor laser are studied. The laser’s active region consists of a set of ten equidistant ZnSe quantum wells containing fractional-monolayer CdSe quantum-dot inserts and a waveguide formed by a short-period superlattice with the net thickness of ～0.65 μm. Lasing occurs at room temperature at a wavelength of 542 nm. Pulsed power as high as 12 W per cavity face and an unprecedentedly high efficiency of ～8.5% are attained for the electron-beam energy of 23 keV.