E-BAMA vs. RAMA [multiple access protocols]

The article presents a performance comparison of two random access protocols for wireless mobile signaling in which a single channel is dedicated to the signaling function, enhanced beacon assisted multiple access (E-BAMA) and resource auction multiple access (RAMA). Data traffic is transported separately on a set of orthogonal channels. The beacon assisted multiple access (BAMA) protocol was first presented as a method of providing mobility management functions, e.g., handover, while minimizing the processing burden placed on the mobile. In BAMA, throughout the duration of its call, an active user repeatedly and quasi-periodically broadcasts a beacon containing its ID using the Aloha protocol. Quasi-periodicity prevents a pair of users from repeatedly colliding with each other. When a base successfully receives the beacon and assigns a channel, it uses a separate downstream channel to send to the mobile an acknowledgement that contains the number of the assigned channel. The BAMA protocol includes a scheme to maintain lists of active mobiles in nearby cells and to exchange periodically these lists among the base-stations. The authors evaluate the capacity and delay performance of E-BAMA and RAMA. Then, they present a numerical comparison of the parameters. Finally, the results are summarized qualitatively. Some additional derivation is included in the appendix     

Photovaractor for remote optical control of microwave circuits

A photovaractor for the remote optical control of microwave circuits was studied. The photovaractor was fabricated as a p-i-n photodiode placed in a pigtailed fiber optical module. The study of the impedance in the frequency range up to 3 GHz in darkness and under illumination has shown that the photovaractor capacitance strongly depends on the incident optical power. The capacitance variation of the photovaractor diode under illumination is discussed     

A 20-Gb/s silicon bipolar 1:4-demultiplexer IC

This paper presents a 20-Gb/s 1:4-demultiplexer for future fiber-optic transmission systems. It uses an 0.4-μm emitter double polysilicon 21-GHz f_T Si bipolar foundry process. This is the highest data rate of a 1:4-DEMUX reported so far in any technology. The 1:4-DEMUX features a tree-type architecture with one frequency divider and a channel switch circuit. The circuit design was carefully optimized to achieve high speed and moderate power dissipation. It consumes 1.4 W with a single -4.5-V supply     

Effect of water inlet velocity on thermal stratification in a mantled hot water storage tank

Thermal stratification in a mantled hot water storage tank is analysed numerically for different water inlet velocities. The aim is to obtain higher thermal stratification and supply hot water for usage as long as possible. Twelve different water inlet velocities to the hot water storage tank are considered. The numerical method is validated by comparing its results against experimental and numerical results from the literature. It turned out that the results obtained from the numerical analysis have shown very good agreements with the results from previous works. As a result, the water temperature in the tank increases with the increase of the water inlet velocities to the mantle but this increment is not proportional. After a period of operation of 7.2 h, which corresponds to the average sunshine duration in Turkey, temperature increments of 6.5 and 35 K have been estimated for the hot water inlet velocities of 0.01 and 0.3 m s^?1, respectively, at a radial distance of 0.1 m and a height of 1 m inside the storage tank. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.