Phase transition characteristics and dielectric properties of rare-earth (La,Pr, Nd,Gd) doped Ba(Zr0.09Ti0.91)O3 ceramics

A-site deficient rare-earth doped barium zirconate titanate (BZT) ceramics (Ba_1−yLn_2y/3)Zr_0.09Ti_0.91O₃ (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Gd) are obtained by a modified solid-state reaction method. Perovskite-like single-phase compounds were confirmed from X-ray diffraction data. Morphological analysis on sintered samples shows that the addition of rare-earth ions inhibits the growth of the grain and remarkably changes the grain morphology. The effect of rare-earth addition to BZT on phase transition and dielectric properties is analyzed. A dramatic fall in the transition temperature occurs when BZT ceramic is doped with rare-earths. Moreover, diffusivity degree of the phase transition increases and a relaxor-type behaviour is induced due to both the increment of the lanthanide content and the increase of the ionic radius of the dopant element. High values of dielectric tunability are obtained for lanthanum doped BZT. A direct relation between transition temperature and tunability is discussed. Conclusively, low permittivity and high tunability materials can be obtained by the adequate substitution of rare-earths into BZT ceramics.     

Ectropy of diversity measures for populations in Euclidean space

Measures to evaluate the diversity of a set of points (population) in Euclidean space play an important role in a variety of areas of science and engineering. Well-known measures are often used without a clear insight into their quality and many of them do not appropriately penalize populations with a few distant groups of collocated or closely located points. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of rigorous criteria to compare diversity measures and help select an appropriate one. In this work we define a mathematical notion of ectropy for classifying diversity measures in terms of the extent to which they tend to penalize point collocation, we investigate the advantages and disadvantages of several known measures and we propose some novel ones that exhibit a good ectropic behavior. In particular, we introduce a quasi-entropy measure based on a geometric covering problem, three measures based on discrepancy from uniform distribution and one based on Euclidean minimum spanning trees. All considered measures are tested and compared on a large set of random and structured populations. Special attention is also devoted to the complexity of computing the measures. Most of the novel measures compare favorably with the classical ones in terms of ectropy. The measure based on Euclidean minimum spanning trees turns out to be the most promising one in terms of the tradeoff between the ectropic behavior and the computational complexity.     

Kinetics of isothermal decomposition in polycrystalline β CuAlBe alloys

The kinetics of the microstructural evolution of the metastable β phase during isothermal aging in a Cu–22.60Al–3.26Be (at%) polycrystalline shape memory alloy has been studied by electrical resistivity measurements and microscopical examinations. With an isothermal treatment at around 820 K, the alloy rapidly decomposes into γ₂ phase with dendritic morphology, while between 670 K and 760 K the formation of α′ phase followed by the eutectoid decomposition is observed. A TTT diagram was estimated and the stability boundaries of the β phase in the studied alloy were compared with those of other Cu-based shape memory alloys.     

Design of a PLL with improved locking range and its biomedical applications

This paper describes a phase locked loop employing a low voltage VCO using modified ECL inverter cells. The VCO circuit employed, features a positive feed back scheme to improve the operating frequency. The phase detector used in the PLL also uses a positive feedback scheme to improve the locked range and to reduce supply voltage of operation of the entire circuit. An improvement of locked range of around 35% was obtained from circuit simulation (using PSPICE) as well as from practical circuit, using discrete components. The minimum supply voltage required here is 2.5 volts. Some biomedical applications of this PLL are also proposed.     

强耦合阵列中匹配网络设计及对天线性能影响

为研究强耦合阵列匹配网络对收发状态下性能影响以及评估该匹配网络在两种状态下的通用性,以网络散射理论为基础,分别在发射和接收耦合天线框架内讨论了该网络参数对阵列性能的影响,并给出了网络不同端接负载条件下的相关函数。理论和计算表明:对于强耦合组成的发射阵列,其匹配网络在收发状态下具有一定通用性;网络负载对天线分集性能具有明显的作用。文章中的理论和方法为研究强耦合阵列特性提供了便利和条件,也为工程实施和应用提供了较强的指导意义。     

MPPSK调制解调器研究

为深入研究多元位置相移键控(MPPSK)调制信号的功率谱特性且改善其接收端解调性能,给出了(M>2)时的MPPSK理论功率谱的一般表达式,并设计了一种新的基于BP神经网络的解调器。在MPPSK调制原理的基础上,利用交变波和稳态波分解法推导了(M=3)3PPSK的理论功率谱解析式,并推广得到了(M>3)时的MPPSK理论功率谱一般表达式,通过仿真验证了理论推导的正确性,分析了影响MPPSK功率谱的主要因素。同时,基于已有的锁相环解调和数字冲击滤波器多路判决解调的两种方案,充分利用数字冲击滤波器输出的显著波形差异,提出了一种基于BP神经网络的MPPSK解调器,并对三种解调方案进行了仿真。仿真结果表明:新的MPPSK解调器解调性能要明显好于已有的两种解调方案。      

室内多载波CDMA系统在深度衰落环境下的能量受控均衡策略

多载波CDMA(MC-CDMA)是将多载波调制OFDM与DS-CDMA结合起来的多址访问技术。如何从接收到的信号恢复出发送信号，涉及到频率分集接收和均衡。本文提出的能量受控均衡技术，在多用户的环境下能较好地恢复扩频码的正交性且避免信道深度衰落的影响，而且，实验表明该方法对于不同的信道状况均能很好适应。     

基于Turbo协同分集的通信方案的性能仿真

本文基于Turbo码和协同通信的相关理论,提出一种新的基于Turbo协同分集的协同通信方案。在加性高斯白噪声和瑞利快衰落的两种信道条件下的仿真结果表明,基于Turbo协同分集的协同通信方案比现有的基于Turbo编码的协同通信方案具有更优的误比特率性能。     

一种相变存储器读出电路及其快速读出方法

针对大规模相变存储器所具有的寄生电容大、可能出现读破坏现象等特性,提出了一种读电压模式的相变存储器读出电路及其快速读出方法。基于SMIC 40nm CMOS工艺的仿真结果表明,在2.5V电源电压下,该方法可以在90ns的读出周期内正确读出位线寄生电容为30pF的存储单元数据,同时,该读出周期随位线寄生电容的减小而减小。另外,该方法可以和传统的Burst等快速读出方式并存,非常适用于带数据预读机制的高端存储器技术。