Motion and structure interpretation of an optical switch

This paper focuses on tracking, reconstruction and motion estimation of a well-defined MEMS optical switch from a microscopic view. For out-of-view reconstruction, a homography capable of transforming feature points and feature lines between a microscopic image and a CAD model of the switch is implemented. The homography between two sequential microscopic images is decomposed and factorized for motion estimation. Optical flow has also been explored to provide rough estimations of rotation centre and angle. The paper also illustrates motion parameter optimization principles to deal with uncertainty inherent in micro world. After non-linear optimization, estimation accuracy for rotation angle and rotation centre can reach 0.06° and pixel level, respectively.     

Magnetic properties and thermal stability of CoFeNi-based amorphous films

CoNiFe-based amorphous films were magnetron-sputtered to investigate their structural and magnetic properties, including annealing-induced effects and interfacial influence from additional layers of Ta and Cu. The amorphous structure was confirmed by diffraction experiments. The magnetic measurements showed a well-defined uniaxial anisotropy in plane, arising possibly from atom oblique incidence effects competing with the stray field of the magnetron. The anisotropy could be influenced by using a Ta buffer layer, though the interfacial reaction gives rise to a dead layer. A coercive force H _c of 1–2 Oe and a magnetization of 680 emu/cm³ were measured at room temperature; properties which show promise for application in magnetotunneling junction devices. Thermal analyses showed a two-stage crystallization behavior, which started at 400°C and ended at about 600°C. The Curie temperature of the amorphous phase was estimated to be about 440°C.     

真空制盐蒸发结晶器的设计与实践

真空蒸发制盐外热式强制逆循环轴向出料蒸发结晶器，经多个厂家生产应用实践证明是成功的，具有生命力的。这种新型结构，作为一项新技术新设备应加强研究，总结提高，推广应用。不断完善。文章从流体力学、结晶机理角度要求，到具体工程设计参数和材质选用。论述了该罐的特点。     

Optimal diagonal precoder for multiantenna communication systems

In this paper, we examine a multiantenna single-user wireless communication system fitted with a QR-based successive cancellation receiver (QR receiver). Initially, our consideration is confined to uncoded binary phase shift keying (BPSK) signals transmitted through independent and identically distributed (IID) Rayleigh fading channels and to the design of an optimum precoder for the transmitter. For minimum feeding back of the channel state information (CSI) to the transmitter from the receiver, we stipulate the precoder to be in the form of a power loading square diagonal matrix. We proceed to develop the theory for the design of this diagonal matrix based on the minimization of the lower bound of the average bit error rate (BER) of transmission. The design obtained provides substantially lower error rates than most of other existing schemes under the same environment. The corresponding gain in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be several decibels. To further improve the performance, we extend the design to include an optimal detection order of the received bits using an iterative approach. This iterative process proves to have fast convergence and results in a design providing significant SNR gain. We also propose a subchannel dropping scheme for cases in which SNR is low, and when the minimum BER precoder is equipped with this scheme, its average performance can be substantially superior to the Vertical Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time (V-BLAST) detection. We extend our design of the optimum precoder to quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) modulation scheme and similar performance gain has been observed.     

Studies on the microstructure of the black-glazed bowl sherds excavated from the Jian kiln site of ancient China

The Jian kiln, located in present-day Jianyang county of Fujian province, mainly produced black-glazed tea bowls. Jian tea bowl was used as a utensil for tea tasting and was greatly appreciated by emperor Huizong of the Northern Song dynasty. The black glaze of Jian bowl was sometimes marked with streaks or spots, usually called “hare's fur” or “oil spot”, which are the crystalline markings of iron oxide precipitated during firing in the dragon kiln. In this study, black-glazed Jian bowl sherds excavated from the late Northern Song strata of Luhuaping and Daluhoumen Jian kiln sites were adopted as test samples. Based on the physico-chemical foundation for the formation of glaze microstructure, the correlation among composition, microstructure, and visual appearance has been investigated by means of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and field emission electron microscopy. For the first time, the study provides realizing proofs for two kinds of microstructural forming mechanics.     

One-to-Many and Many-to-One Optical Chaos Communications Using Semiconductor Lasers

A theoretical construction of one-to-many (OTM) and many-to-one (MTO) chaos synchronization communications using semiconductor lasers is presented. One center laser provides strong injections (strong link) to other side lasers, and the side lasers also provide weak injections (weak link) to the center one. Simulation results show that the side lasers synchronize with the center laser through injection-locking. In addition, messages transmitted via the strong links or the weak links experience strong chaos pass filtering, enabling us to realize OTM and MTO communications.     

Estimation for the number of components in a mixture model using stepwise split-and-merge EM algorithm

The main difficulty with EM algorithm for mixture model concerns the number of components, say g. This is the question of model selection, and the EM algorithm itself could not estimate g. On the contrary, the algorithm requires g to be specified before the remaining parameters can be estimated. To solve this problem, a new algorithm, which is called stepwise split-and-merge EM (SSMEM) algorithm, is proposed. The SSMEM algorithm alternately splits and merges components, estimating g and other parameters of components simultaneously. Also, two novel criteria are introduced to efficiently select the components for split or merge. Experimental results on simulated and real data demonstrate the effectivity of the proposed algorithm.     

Application of piece‐wise linear weight functions for 2D 8‐node quadrilateral element in contact problems

The present study is a continuation of our previous work with the aim to reduce problems caused by standard higher order elements in contact problems. The difficulties can be attributed to the inherent property of the Galerkin method which gives uneven distributions of nodal forces resulting in oscillating contact pressures. The proposed remedy is use of piece‐wise linear weight functions. The methods to establish stiffness and/or mass matrix for 8‐node quadrilateral element in 2D are presented, i.e. the condensing and direct procedures. The energy and nodal displacement error norms are also checked to establish the convergence ratio. Interpretation of calculated contact pressures is discussed. Two new 2D 8‐node quadrilateral elements, QUAD8C and QUAD8D, are derived and tested in many examples, which show their good performance in contact problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.