A novel driver assist stability system for all-wheel-drive electric vehicles

A novel driver-assist stability system for all-wheel-drive electric vehicles is introduced. The system helps drivers maintain control in the event of a driving emergency, including heavy braking or obstacle avoidance. The system comprises a fuzzy logic system that independently controls wheel torque to prevent vehicle spin. Another fuzzy wheel slip controller is used to enhance vehicle stability and safety. A neural network is trained to generate the required reference for yaw rate. Vehicle true speed is estimated by a sensor data fusion method. The intrinsic robustness of fuzzy controllers allows the system to operate in different road conditions successfully. Moreover, the ease of implementing fuzzy controllers gives a potential for vehicle stability enhancement.     

Evanescently coupled photodiodes integrating a double-stage taper for 40-Gb/s applications-compared performance with side-illuminated photodiodes

The design, fabrication, and performance of double-stage taper photodiodes (DSTPs) are reported. The objective of this work is to develop devices compatible with 40-Gb/s applications. Such devices require high efficiency, ultrawide band, high optical power handling capability, and compatibility with low-cost module fabrication. The integration of mode size converters improves both the coupling efficiency and the responsivity with a large fiber mode diameter. Responsivity of 0.6 A/W and 0.45 A/W are achieved with a 6-/spl mu/m fiber mode diameter and cleaved fiber, respectively, providing relaxed alignment tolerances (/spl plusmn/1.6 /spl mu/m and /spl plusmn/2 /spl mu/m, respectively), compatible with cost-effective packaging techniques. DSTPs also offer a wide bandwidth greater than 40 GHz and transverse-electric/transverse-magnetic polarization dependence lower than 0.2 dB. Furthermore, a DSTP saturation current as high as 11 mA results in optical power handling greater than +10 dBm and a high output voltage of 0.8 V. These capabilities allow the photodiode to drive the decision circuit without the need of a broad-band electrical amplifier. The DSTP devices presented here demonstrate higher responsivities with large fiber mode diameter and better optical power handling capabilities and are compared with classical side-illuminated photodiodes.     

On the comparison between OFDM and single carrier modulation with aDFE using a frequency-domain feedforward filter

Most comparisons between single carrier and multicarrier modulations assume frequency-domain linear equalization of the channel. We propose a new frequency-domain decision feedback equalizer (FD-DFE) for single carrier modulation, which makes use of a data block transmission format similar to that of the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing with cyclic prefix (OFDM). The scheme is a nonadaptive DFE where the feedforward part is implemented in the frequency domain, while feedback signal is generated by time-domain filtering. Through simulations in a HIPERLAN-2 scenario, we show that FD-DFE yields a capacity very close to that of OFDM. This result is also confirmed by analytical derivations for a particular case. Furthermore, when no channel loading is considered, FD-DFE performs closely to OFDM for the same averaged frame error rate in a coded transmission. Design methods of the FD-DFE are investigated and a reduced complexity technique is developed, with the result that FD-DFE and OFDM have a similar computational complexity in signal processing     

A 1-V 10.7-MHz switched-opamp bandpass /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator using double-sampling finite-gain-compensation technique

A 1 V switched-capacitor (SC) bandpass sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) modulator is realized using a high-speed switched-opamp (SO) technique with a sampling frequency of up to 50 MHz, which is improved ten times more than prior 1 V SO designs and comparable to the performance of the state-of-the-art SC circuits that operate at much higher supply voltages. On the system level, a fast-settling double-sampling SC biquadratic filter architecture is proposed to achieve high-speed operation. A low-voltage double-sampling finite-gain-compensation technique is employed to realize a high-resolution /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator using only low-DC-gain opamps to maximize the speed and to reduce power dissipation. On the circuit level, a fast-switching methodology is proposed for the design of the switchable opamps to achieve a switching frequency up to 50 MHz. Implemented in a 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS process (V/sub TP/=0.82 V and V/sub TN/=0.65 V) and at 1 V supply, the modulator achieves a measured peak signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) of 42.3 dB at 10.7 MHz with a signal bandwidth of 200 kHz, while dissipating 12 mW and occupying a chip area of 1.3 mm/sup 2/.     

The measurement of solar array discharges in a simulated spaceenvironment

A spacecraft in a plasma builds up charge on all the dielectric surfaces and interfaces. Once the net charge exceeds the dielectric breakdown of the material, a discharge occurs. One of the more susceptible pieces of equipment is the antenna/receiver system. The radiated E-field may be strong enough to create an ambiguous signal which may be misinterpreted by the system electronics and cause a system malfunction. A technique is developed to monitor the radiated E-field of materials discharging in an electron environment, using vacuum chambers for measuring the material discharges which are made of highly reflective materials. These chambers affect the radiated E-field due to multiple reflections from the walls. The technique developed defines a method for correcting the effects caused by the measurement facilities. The methodology is: monitor the radiated E-field with a broadband dipole antenna, and digitize the radiated signal as a function of time. Determine the frequency response of the radiated E-field using an FFT algorithm. Measure the transmission and reflection characteristics of the two-port network inside the measurement chamber, and determine the impedance network from the measured E-parameters across the frequency band of interest. Transform the measured E-field frequency response through the impedance network to obtain the frequency response of the actual radiated discharge current. Find the inverse FFT of this response to obtain the actual radiated discharge current response. This technique aids in the prediction of the E-field coupling into receive antennas on-board actual satellites     

Non-resonant RF and microwave response: A novel technique for the characterization of superconducting materials

When examined using continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, the highT _c superconductors give rise to intense, low field, ‘non-resonant’ absorption signals in the superconducting state. This phenomenon can be used as a highly sensitive, contactless technique for the detection and characterization of superconductivity even in samples containing only minute amounts of the superconducting phase. Further, it can also be applied to the determination of material parameters of interest such asJ _c andH _c2 in addition to being a powerful way of distinguishing between weak-link superconductivity and bulk superconductivity. The details of these aspects are discussed.     

Long multifilament Bi-2223 Ag-sheathed superconducting tapes and solenoids

Multifilament Ag-sheathed BiPbSrCaCuO (2223) superconducting tapes containing 49 filaments were fabricated by the powder-in-tube route and the roll-anneal process. The transport critical current densityJ _c was 1.3×10⁴ A cm^–2 at 77 K and 7×10⁴ A cm^–2 at 4.2 K in self-field. A 12-m-long tape was used to construct superconducting solenoids (50, 28, and 14 mm internal diameters) generating dc fields 380–1070 G at 4.2 K. Measurements of the variation ofJ _c with field (0–1.6 T) and bend strain (0–5%) are used to explain the performance of the solenoids. The critical bend strain of tapes was about 1.5%.     

Effect of pulse time gate on CsI(T1) light output

The mass and charge identification of secondary particles with Z < 4 by a large CsI(T1) scintillation detector is performed using pulse shape analysis and time-of-flight methods. The dependence of the light output on E, A and Z is studied in the energy range of 1–20 MeV/A and special attention is paid to the integration time of the photomultiplier anode signal. It is found that the behaviour of the calibration curves strongly depends on the choice of the integration time interval.