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     

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     

AlGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser responses to 4.5-MeV proton irradiation

We have irradiated single- and multimode AlGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays operating at a nominal wavelength of 780 nm with 4.5-MeV protons and doses ranging from 10 to 30 Mrad in the active region. We observed a peak power reduction of about 2% per Mrad in the 14-/spl mu/m aperture, multimode VCSELs. Single-mode VCSELs having an aperture of 6 /spl mu/m exhibited a smaller peak power reduction of 0.4%-1% per Mrad. A slight shift in the current threshold was observed only for the multimode VCSELs at dose levels above 10 Mrad. First results indicate a reduced VCSEL peak laser power output that is dominated by a temperature shift caused by the radiation induced increase in resistive heating. In contrast, the power reduction in edge-emitting lasers is dominated by the enhanced radiation induced nonradiative recombination rate. The VCSEL irradiation was performed with a focused ion micro beam that was rastered over the device surface, ensuring a very uniform exposure of a single device in the array.     

Error Probability of FSK Incoherent Diversity Reception with Fast Rice Fading

In this paper we compute the error performanceof noncoherent detection receivers for FSK signalstransmitted over fast frequency-flat Rician fadingchannels. Linearly time-varying fading models are used to derive closed-form expressions for the errorprobability of binary FSK signaling. Error bounds areestablished for the performance of M-ary orthogonal FSK.Simulation results are in excellent agreement with analytical predictions.     

Ultrasoft Liquid Metal Elastomer Foams with Positive and Negative Piezopermittivity for Tactile Sensing

Soft, capacitive tactile (pressure) sensors are important for applications including human–machine interfaces, soft robots, and electronic skins. Such capacitors consist of two electrodes separated by a soft dielectric. Pressing the capacitor brings the electrodes closer together and thereby increases capacitance. Thus, sensitivity to a given force is maximized by using dielectric materials that are soft and have a high dielectric constant, yet such properties are often in conflict with each other. Here, a liquid metal elastomer foam (LMEF) is introduced that is extremely soft (elastic modulus 7.8 kPa), highly compressible (70% strain), and has a high permittivity. Compressing the LMEF displaces the air in the foam structure, increasing the permittivity over a large range (5.6–11.7). This is called “positive piezopermittivity.” Interestingly, it is discovered that the permittivity of such materials decreases (“negative piezopermittivity”) when compressed to large strain due to the geometric deformation of the liquid metal droplets. This mechanism is theoretically confirmed via electromagnetic theory, and finite element simulation. Using these materials, a soft tactile sensor with high sensitivity, high initial capacitance, and large capacitance change is demonstrated. In addition, a tactile sensor powered wirelessly (from 3 m away) with high power conversion efficiency (84%) is demonstrated.     

A quantum amplifier model for predicting temporal variations in theoutput power from a semiconductor laser on a picosecond time scale

A new model for simulating temporal fluctuations in the power emitted by a semiconductor laser is described. Light in the cavity is assumed to circulate in the form of traveling photon packets, in which the photon number fluctuates due to the processes of spontaneous emission, stimulated emission, absorption, scattering, and reflection. The dipole dephasing time T plays a critical role in modeling the interaction of the photon packets and gain medium. The Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the temporal behavior of a continuously pumped Fabry-Perot laser. The laser output power is found to exhibit periodic fluctuations at the cavity transit time frequency (longitudinal mode beat frequency). The amplitude of these fluctuations, as well as the relaxation oscillation, which occurs at a much lower frequency, is strongly influenced by the magnitude of T. The results of these simulations are related to the temporal behavior expected from a conventional FP laser     

Microwave signal generation using an optical self-heterodyne technique

A new technique for mixing optical waves to generate microwave-frequency signals using an injection laser diode and a fibre-optic interferometer is reported. A beat signal is produced by interfering light from the laser with light from the same laser emitted earlier at a different frequency. The interferometer consists of an evanescent-field fibre coupler joined to a length of single-mode optical fibre. The laser is tuned by pulsed or bipolar current waveforms superimposed on a DC bias current. Feedback from an external cavity stabilises the laser frequency and reduces its linewidth. Efficient mixing at difference frequencies from 250 MHz to 2 GHz is obtained, with spectral widths of less than 1% of the centre frequency.     

The variation of bistatic rough surface scattering cross section for a physical optics model

The general behavior of a rough surface scattering cross section is examined as a function of incident and scattering angles, surface roughness, dielectric constant, and polarization for physical optics (PO) conditions. Quite distinct and complicated variations are observed. For some conditions, deep nulls occur in the normalized bistatic cross sectionsigma deg; as a function of seatlering angle, while other parameter sets yield no such pattern. These results are analyzed and interpreted. The differences in the angular variation insigma degfor different polarizations suggested that, for a given set of conditions, it would be possible to minimize the scattering from a rough surface. This topic is addressed in the second part of the paper. For the case of a given incident polarization, a technique is presented to optimize the bistatic observation of terrain scattering by using combinations of receiver polarization which vary as the scattering angles are changed.     

Maximum Likelihood Sequence Detection for QPSK on Nonlinear, Band-Limited Channels

A receiver structure based on maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) for receiving quaternary phase shift keyed signals over band-limited, nonlinear satellite channels, in the presence of additive downlink Gaussian noise, is derived. This work is an extension of work done by Mesiya et al. [2] for binary PSK transmission. Error performance of the receiver at low to moderate signal-to-noise ratios is estimated using computer simulation. For moderate to high signal-to-noise ratios, an upper bound on the probability of symbol error is obtained. A suboptimum receiver structure is then developed and its performance evaluated using computer simulation. It is shown that the performance of the suboptimum receiver is very close to that of the MLSE receiver.