Generalized software components for reconfiguring hyper-redundant manipulators

An application of Operational Software Components for Advanced Robotics (OSCAR) - a generalized robotic software framework - for kinematic control of hyper-redundant, self-reconfigurable systems is presented. OSCAR includes generalized kinematics, dynamics, device interfacing, and criteria-based decision making. The developed application allows an operator to interactively reconfigure modular chains into parallel mechanisms, gait structures, and multiarm systems while maintaining full kinematic control of each chain. Examples using spatial systems with various geometries are presented with application pseudocode to illustrate high-level program development using OSCAR.     

Asymptotic performance of single parity-check product codes

This article investigates the asymptotic performance of single parity-check (SPC) product codes (PCs) from a decoding point of view. Specifically, the probability of bit error is bounded before and after the decoding of each dimension, similar to the analysis of "iterated codes" by Elias (1954). It is shown that the asymptotic probability of bit error can be driven to zero as the number of dimensions, and hence the block length, increases at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) within 2 dB of capacity over the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel.     

High-yield flip-chip bonding and packaging of low-threshold VCSEL arrays on sapphire substrates

Oxide-confined top-emitting 850 nm and bottom-emitting 980 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) 8/spl times/8 arrays were designed and fabricated for applications of optical interconnects. The arrays were flip-chip bonded onto sapphire substrates that contain complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) driver and fan-out circuitries. The off-sited bonding contacts and minimized bonding force produced very high yield of the hybridization process without causing damage to the VCSEL mesas. The hybridized devices were further mounted either on printed circuit board (PCB) or in 68-pin pin-grid-array (PGA) packages. The transparent sapphire substrate allowed optical outputs from the top-emitting VCSEL arrays to transmit directly through without additional substrate removal procedure. Lasing thresholds below 250 /spl mu/A for 850 nm VCSELs and 800 /spl mu/A for 980 nm VCSEL were found at room temperature. The oxide confinement apertures of VCSELs were measured to be around 6 /spl mu/m in diameter. High-speed data transmission demonstrated a bandwidth of up to 1 Gbits/s per channel for these hybridized VCSEL transmitters.     

Wavelength tunable CW Raman fibre ring laser operating at 1486-1551nm

A continuous-wave, wavelength tunable Raman fibre ring laser has been demonstrated operating at 1485-1551 nm with peak output power of over 400 mW, pumped at 1420 nm by a 1.58 W fibre laser     

Estimation of co-channel signals with linear complexity

To increase wireless system capacity using co-channel signals and multiple receiver antennas, we develop the partitioned Viterbi algorithm (PVA). The PVA estimation complexity increases linearly with each additional co-channel signal rather than exponentially as it does with joint maximum-likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE). The estimation problem involves multiple signals simultaneously transmitted and observed through slow-fading, frequency-selective channels. Although transmission is assumed to be in bursts according to a time-division multiple-access scheme, more than one signal can occupy the same time and frequency slot (these signals are referred to as “co-channel” signals). Separation and estimation of the symbol bursts is accomplished by exploiting channel differences, PVA estimation consists of a set of Viterbi detectors, one per signal, that operate in parallel with cross-coupling to allow approximate interference cancellation by means of tentative decisions. The forward filter of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) is used to “prefilter” received signals prior to PVA estimation. Prefiltering delays the energy of interfering signals so that tentative decisions become reliable enough to use. Simulation results show PVA performance remains near-optimal with respect to the performance of joint MLSE     

Rapidly tunable optical add-drop multiplexer utilising relaxed beam splitters

A polarisation-independent four-port electro-optic tunable filter in the 1530 nm wavelength regime utilising non-polarising relaxed beam splitters and strain-induced polarisation converters on LiNbO₃ with 16 nm tuning range and 46 ns tuning speed is reported.     

Spectrally stable Er-fiber laser for application in phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry

A high degree of frequency stability in an Er-fiber laser with the Fabry-Perot configuration was achieved using a long (25-km) optical-feedback loop. The frequency-drift rate was determined to be <1 MHz/min by observing temporal fringes in an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Instantaneous linewidth measured with a delayed self-heterodyne interferometer was less than the 3-kHz resolution limit. The laser was utilized in an optical time-domain reflectometry experiment to detect and locate a time-varying phase perturbation applied to an optical fiber.     

Effects of bovine somatotropin on dry matter intake, milk yield and body temperature in Holstein and Jersey cows during heat stress

Thirty-one lactating Holstein and Jersey cows were used to determine the effect of daily injections of 0 or 20 mg of recombinant bST in hot, humid weather. The comparison period lasted 80 d, from mid-June through August. The maximum and minimum ambient temperature and relative humidity averaged 34.6 and 22.2 degrees C and 100 and 59.8%, respectively. Body temperatures of somatotropin-treated Holsteins were elevated over controls by .2 and .3 degrees C at the a.m. and p.m. milkings, respectively, whereas corresponding treatment effects for Jerseys were .5 and .6 degrees C, thus demonstrating a breed by treatment interaction. The response of milk and FCM yields and apparent efficiency of production to somatotropin administration depended on the level of production prior to treatment. Cows at low pretreatment production increased milk and FCM yields to a greater degree than did cows at higher production. A breed by treatment interaction showed that Holsteins increased milk and FCM yields more than Jerseys upon administration of somatotropin. Intake of DM was not affected by treatment. Cows administered bST lost BW and condition score. Greater heat stress was associated with the higher milk production of cows administered bST.     

The use of atmospheric pressure MOVPE for the growth of high performance uncooled 1300 nm DFB lasers

Manufacture of high performance uncooled 1300 nm distributed feed-back (DFB) lasers operating single mode over the −40 to +85°C range requires control of the wavelength variation across a 2″ wafer to less than 10nm and preservation of grating definition during processing and regrowth. We have used atmospheric pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, without substrate rotation to achieve the necessary uniformity. Material was assessed using photoluminescence, x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, electrochemical current/voltage profiling, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The devices are based on a strained quantum well structure with an n-type grating layer to provide gain coupling. The best result gave a wavelength spread across 32×32 mm center square of a 2″ InP wafer of 3 nm. Buried heterostructure DFBs manufactured with high yield in this way operate from −40 to +85°C, with thresholds at 85°C as low as 18 mA.     

Multilevel differential polarization shift keying

We analyze the performance of coherent optical communication systems which employ polarization shift keying (PolSK) modulation, introducing for the first time the requirements for multilevel, differential PolSK. For M-ary signal constellations with M>2, the three-dimensional (3-D) nature of the signal constellations within Stokes space requires the use of double-differential modulation and detection (M-DDPolSK). Coding constraints on the signals place an additional restriction on such systems. We present detailed analysis and simulations for a 6-DDPolSK modulation scheme in which the signal points are located at the vertices of an octahedron in Stokes space