A 10-Bit,Low Power,Successive Approximation,Digitally Auto-Zeroed CMOS ADC Core for the NASA TRIO Smart Sensor System on a Chip

In spacecraft applications there is a great need for robust analogue to digital converters (ADC) that can withstand the harsh space environment. Commercially available ADCs cannot operate in the space environment due to radiation effects. In this paper we present an ADC that has been developed for the NASA TRIO smart sensor system on a chip (SoC), a versatile low power device specifically designed for spacecraft data acquisition and telemetry of several types of sensors such as temperature, voltage/current transducers, radFETs, etc. It is required for the ADC to operate in excess of 300 Krad total ionizing dose and to be robust to single event upsets. The successive approximation topology was chosen and it was enhanced with a special auto-zeroing technique to compensate for possible lifetime offset errors. Due to the comparator design, a rail-to-rail input capability is achieved, a feature very useful in some type of Vdd ratio metric sensors. It has 10-bit resolution for a reference in the range 0.1 to Vdd + 1 V, and for power supply in the range 2.5 to 5.5 V; the positive reference terminal V_ref+ is settable up to Vdd + 0.5 V and the negative voltage terminal is settable down to GND-0.5 V. The power dissipation is less than 2 mW at 50 Ksamlles/sec. The TRIO chip is used in several NASA spacecraft including CONTOUR, STEREO, MESSENGER, EUROPA, PLUTO, etc.George Kottaras was born in Athens, Greece in 1974. He received the Diploma degree (five years with thesis) in Electrical Engineering from Democritos University of Thrace, Greece in 1996. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree on Scientific Space Instruments and spacecraft avionics at Space Research Laboratory, DUTh. He has specialized in VLSI technologies at JHU/APL for about five years.His research interests include mixed signal analog/digital design, ADCs, design for testability, testing, smart sensors and data acquisition.Nikolaos P. Paschalidis was born is Serres, Greece in 1963. He received the Diploma and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Democritus University of Thrace (DUTh), Greece, in 1985 and 1992 respectively. He has been in appointment with the Johns Hopkins University, since 1989, where his research specialized in advanced microelectronics, space instrumentation, and space physics.He later joined the Space Department of JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) Laurel, MD, as a postdoctoral fellow and presently he is Principal Staff. His research interests are in analog and mixed signal microelectronics, microsensors, microsystems and their applications in in-situ and remote sensing spacecraft instruments and avionics. He pioneered in the Advanced Technology Development program of NASA for smaller better faster missions by leading efforts in the circuit level of: amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, ADC and DAC, PLLs, TDCs, SEU and radiation tolerant design, physical design, design for testability, testing and space qualification; in the system on a chip level flight ready chips including: the Time of Flight chip for precise time pickoff and time digitization, Energy chip for radiation energy measurement, the TRIO smart sensor chip for spacecraft data acquisition and control etc; in the instrument and spacecraft level: application of these technologies in particle and plasma spectrometers, laser altimeters, photon/particle imagers, TOF mass spectrometers, X-ray and gamma-ray instruments, spacecraft avionics. Space missions using these technologies include: Cassini, Image, Contour, Messenger, Pluto, Mars missions, etc. Dr. Paschalidis published extensively in microelectronics, space instrumentation, and space physics. He supervises research of graduate students in ECE and Applied Physics. He supervised DUTh graduate students at JHU/APL for many years. He participates as principal investigator and co-investigator in several space programs; he participates in communities with space related activities including: the IEEE Aerospace, Nuclear Sciences, NASA VLSI, IAA, and American Geophysical Union.Emmanuel T. Sarris was bom in Athens, Greece, in 1945. He received the physics degree from the University of Athens in 1967 and the Ph.D. degree in space physics from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1973.He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, from 1974 to 1976. From 1976 to 1977, he was a Research Scientist at the Max-Planck-Institut. He has been a Professor of Electrodynamics, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Thrace, Greece, and Director of the Laboratory of Electrodynamics and Space Research since 1977. He was the Director of the Institute of Ionospheric and Space Physics, National Observatory of Athens from 1990 to 1996. His research interests include space plasma electrodynamics, design, construction, and testing of space instrumentation, satellite communications, satellite remote sensing. He is coinvestigator in the international space missions: Ulysses, Geotail, Interball, Cluster. He is the author of 270 refereed publications and 300 presentations at international meetings. Dr. Sarris is a member of the COSPAR Council. He was elected Johns Hopkins Scholar Award in 1992 and received the Award for Academic Excellence in 1994.Nikos Stamatopoulos was born in Peloponnisos, Greece in 1969. He received the diploma degree (five years with thesis) of Electrical Engineering from Democritos University of Thrace, Greece in 1994. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree on Scientific Space Instruments at Space Research Laboratory, DUTh. He has specialized in VLSI technologies with emphasis in low noise analog design at JHU/APL for about five years.His main research interests are on Analogue CMOS VLSI design for fast time acquisition.Kostas Karadamoglou was born in Macedonia, Greece, in 1970. He received the diploma degree (five years with thesis) of Electrical Engineering from Democritos University of Thrace, Greece in 1994. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree on Scientific Space Instruments at Space Research Laboratory, DUTh. He has specialized in VLSI technologies with emphasis in high-speed digital design at JHU/APL for about five years.His main research interests are on the design of application specific Time to Digital Converters.Vassilis Paschalidis was born in Serres, Greece in 1964. He received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technological Institute of Kabala, Greece in 1988. He worked n the industry for electronic automation. He has specialized in VLSI technologies at JHU/APL for about five years with emphasis in physical design. His research interests include mixed signal analog/digital VLSI design.     

Autonomous terrain-following for unmanned air vehicles

This paper presents an integrated guidance and control design scheme for an unmanned air vehicle (UAV), and its flight test results. The paper focuses on the longitudinal control and guidance aspects, with particular emphasis on the terrain-following problem. An introduction to the mission, and the terrain-following problem is given first. Waypoints for climb and descent are defined. Computation of the reference trajectory in the vertical plane is discussed, including a terrain-following (TF) algorithm for real-time calculation of climb/descent points and altitudes. The algorithm is particularly suited for online computation and is therefore useful for autonomous flight. The algorithm computes the height at which the vehicle should fly so that a specified clearance from the underlying terrain is always maintained, while ensuring that the vehicle’s rate of climb and rate of descent constraints are not violated. The output of the terrain-following algorithm is used to construct a smooth reference trajectory for the vehicle to track. The design of a robust controller for altitude tracking and stability augmentation of the vehicle is then presented. The controller uses elevators for pitch control in the inner loop, while the reference pitch commands are generated by the outer altitude control loop. The controller tracks the reference trajectory computed by the terrain-following algorithm. The design of an electromechanical actuator for actuating the control surfaces of the vehicle during flight is also discussed. The entire guidance and control scheme is implemented on an actual experimental vehicle and flight test results are presented and discussed.     

Hydrophobic Chromophores in Aqueous Micellar Solution Showing Large Two‐Photon Absorption Cross Sections

A series of new hydrophobic two‐photon absorbing (2PA) chromophores with varied electron‐donating groups in quasi‐linear and multibranched structures are synthesized to correlate their structure/photophysical property relationships. The feasibility of using these large two‐photon absorption cross‐sectional (δ, expressed in GM = 1 × 10^–50 cm⁴ s photon^–1 molecule^–1) materials in aqueous solution is also explored. All four hydrophobic 2PA materials can be encapsulated into micelles generated by dispersing an amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(methacrylic acid)‐block‐polystyrene (PMAA‐b‐PS), into water. The micellar nanostructures are characterized using dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. After these dyes are incorporated into micelles, they exhibit strong fluorescence in water. It is found that the quantum yield and δ values of these chromophores are strongly dependent on the diameters of the micelles, concentrations of the PMAA‐b‐PS, and molecular structures of the 2PA chromophores. One of the compounds that has a strong triarylamino donor and a multibranched structure exhibits a large δ value of 2790 GM and high quantum yield (0.56) in micelle‐containing water. Although this value is smaller than the original value of 5300 GM in toluene, it is still substantially larger than the values of most water‐soluble 2PA materials, which have δ values of less than 100 GM.     

Silica‐Coated Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles as a Platform for Targeted Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging of Cancer Cells

Monodisperse silica‐coated manganese oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with a diameter of ～35 nm are synthesized and are aminated through silanization. The amine‐functionalized core–shell NPs enable the covalent conjugation of a fluorescent dye, Rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RBITC), and folate (FA) onto their surface. The formed Mn₃O₄@SiO₂(RBITC)–FA core–shell nanocomposites are water‐dispersible, stable, and biocompatible when the Mn concentration is below 50 µg mL^?1 as confirmed by a cytotoxicity assay. Relaxivity measurements show that the core–shell NPs have a T₁ relaxivity (r₁) of 0.50 mM ^?1 s^?1 on the 0.5 T scanner and 0.47 mM ^?1 s^?1 on the 3.0 T scanner, suggesting the possibility of using the particles as a T₁ contrast agent. Combined flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging studies show that the Mn₃O₄@SiO₂(RBITC)–FA nanocomposites can specifically target cancer cells overexpressing FA receptors (FARs). Findings from this study suggest that the silica‐coated Mn₃O₄ core–shell NPs could be used as a platform for bimodal imaging (both magnetic resonance and fluorescence) in various biological systems.     

任务驱动法在《数据库应用》教学中的应用

介绍了建构主义学习理论下的任务驱动法的基本思想及特征,论述了基于任务驱动法对数据库应用课程教学目的、内容、方法及考核机制的改革思路,就如何通过《数据库应用》课程的教学,培养财经类专业大学生数据库技术的应用能力、创新意识,提出了设想。     

Enhanced fair earliest due date first scheduling strategy for multimedia applications in LTE downlink framework

Guaranteeing a certain delay threshold for delay‐sensitive applications in long term evolution (LTE) cellular communication system is a very challenging mission. By implementing an optimal scheduling strategy, this mission will be achieved. In this article, a novel scheduler is introduced in order to meet a predefined level of service quality by guaranteeing a specific delay threshold for delay‐sensitive applications in LTE cellular systems. The proposed scheduler assigns the available resource blocks (RBs) to active user equipments (UEs) tacking into consideration several attributes. The expiration date of each packet, the channel quality, the average data rate previously achieved by each UE, and the number of dropped packets for each UE compared with the average number of packets totally dropped are all considered in the proposed scheduler working mechanism. Consequently, the proposed scheduling strategy reduces the number of packets dropped for multimedia applications, and at the same time maximizes the overall throughput of the network. Simulation results are provided to study and evaluate the performance of the proposed scheduling strategy. A comparative study is presented between the proposed strategy and the most recent scheduling techniques. The obtained results prove that the proposed scheduling strategy has considerably acceptable and appreciated results compared with the results of the state‐of‐the‐art scheduling techniques.     

Recent Advances of Cell Membrane‐Coated Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications

Surface modification of nanomaterials is essential for their biomedical applications owing to their passive immune clearance and damage to reticuloendothelial systems. Recently, a cell membrane‐coating technology has been proposed as an ideal approach to modify nanomaterials owing to its facile functionalized process and good biocompatibility for improving performances of synthetic nanomaterials. Here, recent advances of cell membrane‐coated nanomaterials are reviewed based on the main biological functions of the cell membrane in living cells. An overview of the cell membrane is introduced to understand its functions and potential applications. Then, the applications of cell membrane‐coated nanomaterials based on the functions of the cell membrane are summarized, including physical barrier with selective permeability and cellular communication via information transmission and reception processes. Finally, perspectives of biomedical applications and challenges about cell membrane‐coated nanomaterials are discussed.     

Mobile Commerce: Framework,Applications and Networking Support

Advances in e-commerce have resulted in significant progress towards strategies, requirements, and development of e-commerce applications. However, nearly all e-commerce applications envisioned and developed so far assume fixed or stationary users with wired infrastructure. We envision many new e-commerce applications that will be possible and significantly benefit from emerging wireless and mobile networks. To allow designers, developers, and researchers to strategize and create mobile commerce applications, we propose a four-level integrated framework for mobile commerce. Since there are potentially an unlimited number of mobile commerce applications, we attempt to identify several important classes of applications such as mobile financial applications, mobile inventory management, proactive service management, product location and search, and wireless re-engineering. We discuss how to successfully define, architect, and implement the necessary hardware/software infrastructure in support of mobile commerce. Also, to make mobile commerce applications a reality, we address networking requirements, discuss support from wireless carriers, and present some open research problems.     

A wireless brainwave-driven system for daily-life analyses and applications

Smartphones have become more popular in our lives. We will no longer need to use our hands to control phones to do such things as take pictures, switch music, or make phone calls in the future; we will use our brains: all that can be controlled with the use of brainwaves instead. In this study, we implement a novel system that contains the most commonly used functions of a smartphone, including camera use and music play, with an app that uses brainwave controls. In addition, we also provide an essential daily-use function which can remind us to concentrate when we drive, study, or do something important. Under the proposed system, when the wireless brainwave instrument is worn, brainwave signals transfer to the smartphone via Bluetooth automatically and execute the aforementioned functions. Experimental results indicate that the present system is effective and suitable for such applications in our lives. In the future, some more related applications will be developed with brainwave control for practical daily-life uses.     

Improving the Stability of Halide Perovskites for Photo-, Electro-, Photoelectro-Chemical Applications

Owing to their remarkable and adjustable optoelectronic properties, halide perovskites (HPs) have been regarded as a class of promising materials for various optoelectronic applications based on different energy conversion reactions, including photovoltaic cell, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems. However, the low stability of HPs upon exposure to ambient conditions (e.g., water, heat, light, electricity) greatly hinders the practical applications of HPs. In the past few years, significant efforts have been devoted to enhancing the eventual stability of the perovskite-based optoelectronic systems, mainly focusing on delivering improvements in the stabilities of halide perovskite materials and the relevant operation conditions of optoelectronic systems, which deserve in-depth and systematic summaries. In this comprehensive review, the in-depth environment-induced decomposition mechanisms of typical HPs are elucidated. Simultaneously, the strategies for addressing the instability issues of halide perovskite materials are critically reviewed, including dimension control, compositional engineering, ligand passivation, and encapsulation engineering. Furthermore, the photoelectric applications based on the modified HPs and operation conditions are discussed systematically. In the last part of this review, future perspectives and outlooks toward the stability of HPs and their photoelectric applications are envisaged respectively.