CMOS low-power bandpass IF filter for Bluetooth

Design of a CMOS 18th-order IF (intermediate frequency) bandpass filter for integrated low-IF Bluetooth receivers is presented. The centre frequency and bandwidth of the filter are 3 and 1 MHz, respectively. The proposed filter is based on unity gain fully differential voltage buffers and provides efficient, low power and a small area design solution. The filter, including its automatic tuning circuit, occupies an area of 0.6 mm² in a standard 0.5 mum-CMOS chip. Experimental results show that the filter satisfies the selectivity and dynamic range requirements of Bluetooth while operating from a total supply current of 0.9 mA     

Analysis of traffic accidents at urban intersections in Riyadh

Previous studies have shown that intersection-related accidents account for about 50% of all accidents registered annually in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). More than half of these accidents are classified as severe. In this study, an attempt was made to investigate traffic accidents that occurred at both intersections and non-intersection sites. The goal was to analyze the nature of such accidents to determine their characteristics so that remedies could be sought or at least future research could be suggested. For this purpose, a sample of 1774 reported accidents was collected in a systematic random manner for the period 1996-1998 (651 severe accidents (accidents resulting in at least one personal injury or fatality) and 1123 property-damage-only (PDO) accidents). Conditional probability and contingency table analyses were used to make inferences from the data. The study found that improper driving behavior is the primary cause of accidents at signalized urban intersections in Riyadh; running a red light and failing to yield are the primary contributing causes. The analysis indicates that there is an urgent need to review existing intersection geometry along with the traffic control devices installed at these sites. In addition, public education campaigns and law enforcement strategies are urgently needed.     

Characterization of Se88Te12 nanostructured chalcogenide prepared by ball milling

The present work deals with the structural and optical studies of Se₈₈Te₁₂ chalcogenide nanoparticles prepared by ball milling. Polycrystalline Se₈₈Te₁₂ chalcogenide prepared by melt quenching was used as a starting material. The ball milling was performed in a Laboratory 8000 M-Mixer/Mill (SPEX) mill using hardened steel balls and a vial with a ball-to-powder weight ratio of 10:1. After various times of milling, a small amount of material was taken from the container to be characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy and optical measurements in thin film form within the wavelength region 400-1000 nm. Optical absorption measurements indicate that the absorption mechanism is due to direct transition. It has been observed that the optical band gap increases with the increase of milling time. The results are interpreted in terms of the change in concentration of localized states due to the shift in Fermi level.     

Facile green synthesis, optical and photocatalytic properties of zinc oxide nanosheets via microwave assisted hydrothermal technique

Novel hexagonal two dimensional ZnO nanosheets were successfully and economically synthesized using zinc acetate and urea based on a facile microwave hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and size of the ZnO nanosheets were investigated by X-ray diffraction (X-ray), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive analysis of x-ray (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). X-ray analysis showed that the obtained ZnO nanosheets are crystalline corresponding to the pure ZnO phase with an average particle size of 12 nm. Optical properties of ZnO nanosheets were investigated by UV-Vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. The band gap energy of ZnO nanosheets was found to be 3.29 eV. The photoluminescence (PL) measurement shows a strong UV emission, blue emission and blue-green emission bands. ZnO nano sheets possess a higher photocatalytic activity leading to the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The ZnO nanosheets are expected to have new opportunities in vast research areas and for application in catalysts and optoelectronic devices.     

Performance evaluation of a triangular pyramidal fly-eye diversity detector for optical wireless communications

Background noise and multipath propagation are the major impairments in indoor optical wireless links. They can introduce heavy distortion in the received optical signal and can degrade the system performance. An investigation into the optical wireless system performance has been carried out for two configurations: a hybrid system, and a diffuse system with a single detector and a triangular pyramidal fly-eye diversity receiver (PFDR). Original results for both systems that employ a PFDR antenna, under different fields of view (FOVs), are presented. The design goal is to reduce the effect of signal spread and improve the signal-to-noise ratio when the system operates under the constraints of background noise and multipath dispersion. It is demonstrated that through PFDR FOV optimization the directional background interference can be reduced and the received pulse shape improved.     

Marker-Based and Marker-Less Motion Capturing Video Data: Person and Activity Identification Comparison Based on Machine Learning Approaches

Biomechanics is the study of physiological properties of data and the measurement of human behavior. In normal conditions, behavioural properties in stable form are created using various inputs of subconscious/conscious human activities such as speech style, body movements in walking patterns, writing style and voice tunes. One cannot perform any change in these inputs that make results reliable and increase the accuracy. The aim of our study is to perform a comparative analysis between the marker-based motion capturing system (MBMCS) and the marker-less motion capturing system (MLMCS) using the lower body joint angles of human gait patterns. In both the MLMCS and MBMCS, we collected trajectories of all the participants and performed joint angle computation to identify a person and recognize an activity (walk and running). Using five state of the art machine learning algorithms, we obtained 44.6% and 64.3% accuracy in person identification using MBMCS and MLMCS respectively with an ensemble algorithm (two angles as features). In the second set of experiments, we used six machine learning algorithms to obtain 65.9% accuracy with the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm (two angles as features) and 74.6% accuracy with an ensemble algorithm. Also, by increasing features (6 angles), we obtained higher accuracy of 99.3% in MBMCS for person recognition and 98.1% accuracy in MBMCS for activity recognition using the KNN algorithm. MBMCS is computationally expensive and if we re-design the model of OpenPose with more body joint points and employ more features, MLMCS (low-cost system) can be an effective approach for video data analysis in a person identification and activity recognition process.     

Structural analytical and electrical conduction mechanisms of 2,7,12,17-tetra-tert-butyl-5,10,15,20-tetraaza-21H,23H-porphine nanostructure films

The 2,7,12,17-tetra-tert-butyl 5,10,15,20-tetraaza-21,23H-porphine (TTBTP) films were prepared using thermal evaporation technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the powder showed that TTBTP is polycrystalline with a tetragonal system. Also, the analysis of XRD pattern shows that the TTBTP film of thickness 55 nm has a crystallite size of 24.69 nm which tends to increase with the film thickness. By SEM of 177 nm thick TTBTP film, the topography of the surface is characterized by significant spherical granules. The mean diameter was estimated to be 250 nm for the spherical granules. It was observed that the conductivity increases with increasing the film thickness. Also, the TTBTP is a semiconductor film with thermally activated conduction mechanisms. The current–density–voltage (J–V) characteristics showed Ohmic drives in low voltage, whereas the space charge limited conductivity mechanism is familiar in the high voltage region. The carrier mobility values of TTBTP film are relatively the same for other organic molecules. The 50 nm TTBTP film has a carrier mobility of 1.48?×?10^??9 cm² V^??1 s^??1, which increases with increasing the film thickness.

     

Structural,Electrical and Photoresponse Properties of Si-based Diode with Organic Interfacial Layer Containing Novel Cyclotriphosphazene Compound

The electrical and photoresponse properties of Al/p-Si/organic layer/Al diode were investigated. Organic layer containing novel 2,2-bis[spiro(7,8-dioxy- 4-methylcoumarin)]-4,4,6,6-bis[spiro(2’,2”-dioxy-1’,1”- biphenylyl)]cyclotriphosphazene compound was coated by drop casting method on p-Si having ohmic contact. The structural characterization of novel cyclotriphosphazene compound was confirmed by using ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P-NMR, elemental analysis and FT-IR spectroscopic techniques. The diode exhibits a photoconducting and photodiode behavior under solar light illumination. The electrical parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance of the diode were determined from I-V characteristics. It is seen that the photocurrent of the diode under illumination is higher than dark current. Also, the frequency dependence of capacitance (C) and conductance (G) was explained on the basis of interface states. It is evaluated that the hybrid photodiode can be used as a photosensor in organic photodetector applications.