Digital Unit Research Articles

Digital data acquisition for fast neutron metrology: defining the digital light output parameter

The application of a CAEN DT5730 digitizer unit for fast neutron metrology and applications has been explored. The standard methods implemented to obtain a calibrated light output parameter from the integrated anode output has a high sensitivity to the selection of pulse integration time. We report on measurements made at the n-lab within the Department of Physics at the University of Cape Town which explored alternative approaches to determining the light output parameter with the digital acquisition system, aiming for a high degree of consistency.

Design of Anomalous Reflectors by Phase Gradient Unit Cell-Based Digitally Coded Metasurface

In this letter, we propose the designs of 1-bit and 2-bit digitally coded metasurfaces, which achieve anomalous reflection-based beam-steering. First, we demonstrate the systematic design flow of coded metasurface using phase gradient digital unit cells to achieve anomalous reflection in the preferred direction for a normally incident plane wave. Initially, the design procedure is analytically implemented to get the phase profiles for 1-bit and 2-bit digitally coded metasurfaces having equal sizes of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10\lambda _{0} \times 10\lambda _{0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> (where <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> is the free space wavelength at 5.9 GHz) for a specific reflection angle, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(\theta _{r}=30^{0},\phi _{r}=0^{0})$</tex-math></inline-formula> , and subsequently, the far-field plots are generated. Furthermore, these phase profiles are used to generate 3D-CAD models of the 1-bit and 2-bit metasurfaces using CST, and the desired far-field patterns are obtained having half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5^{0}$</tex-math></inline-formula> . It is observed that the 1-bit coded metasurface produces additional side-lobe levels, which are minimized by use of 2-bit coding. Finally, the proposed 1-bit and 2-bit coded metasurfaces are fabricated, and the anomalously reflected far-field beam is detected by the received power at desired reflection angle and comparing the results with a perfect electric conductor (PEC). The proposed design is suitable for V2X communications and can be scaled to other frequencies.

Review and Analysis of Beamforming's Power Allocation Studies for (5G) Networks

The necessity to investigate viable spectrum areas for satisfying the anticipated needs has been prompted by the rising cellular data traffic demands. As a result, the scientific community has given (mmWave) communication a lot of attention. In (5G) wireless networks, massive (mmWave MIMO) communications are often accomplished using hybrid transceivers that combine lower and higher as a digital and analog processing units phase shifters and power amplifiers respectfully. This hybrid beamforming (HB) architecture lowers costs and power use, which is consistent with the (5G) network's objective for (EE) of design. In this work, using system models of hybrid transceiver architectures, both digital (DB) and analog (AB) beamforming arrays with possibilities for antenna design, and hybrid beamforming (HB) in heterogeneous wireless networks, they trace the development of (HB) for massive MIMO connections. Authors widen in discussion by focusing on hybrid beamforming to solve resource management issue and examine the applicability of hybrid beamforming (HB) techniques while also highlighting the fascinating difficulties that lie ahead for this field. The main aim of this work is to analyse the many studies and show the advantages and weak points of each single study based on the general and famous parameters as well as explaining the efficiency of all studies. We got an overview of the hybrid beamforming, which covers topics such as application areas; In order to reduce upfront costs and continuing operating costs, the fully-connected architecture can achieve full beamforming gain per RF chain, but at the expense of increased hardware complexity. On the other hand, the low-complexity sub-connected architecture offers reduced beamforming gain.

Supporting first-year students in learning molecular orbital theory through a digital learning unit

Abstract A large number of chemistry students drop out of their studies, often because of high requirements for content knowledge. Quantum chemical models of atomic bonding such as molecular orbital (MO) theory are particularly challenging. We aimed to develop an intervention on MO theory based on the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning framework. First, students work independently with interactive learning videos. Then, they create concept maps about core concepts of MO theory. In this paper, we present the evaluation of this intervention in terms of content knowledge, considering person-specific characteristics. Additionally, we compare three different treatment groups with varying materials and group arrangements, and prospective chemistry teachers with other first-year students. Our results show that students can answer single-choice questions well with the prior knowledge from their first-year chemistry course. Answering open-ended questions is more difficult. Nevertheless, they can improve significantly in both categories by working with the learning videos; creating concept maps does not lead to significant content knowledge changes. There are also no significant differences between the three treatment groups, or between teacher students and other chemistry freshmen. Regarding prior knowledge, differences depending on gender and school-leaving grades can be measured, whereas the choice of courses in school has no effect.

Development of a gating grid driver of TPC for exotic beam experiments

The Multi-purpose Time Projection Chamber (TPC) for nuclear AsTrophysical and Exotic beam experiments (MATE) is being upgraded for the decay and active target experiments at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). We have developed a gating grid driver to control the transitions between the closed and open states of the gating grid of the MATE-TPC to detect interesting rare decay events from a large amount of implanted ions. The gating grid driver is mainly composed of a digital control unit and a high-voltage switch unit. The digital control unit responds to the external trigger and generates control signals for the operation of the high-voltage control part based on the presetting instruction. The high-voltage switch unit is connected to two negative high voltages with different values and changes the voltages of neighboring wires of the gating grid based on the request for closing or opening the gate. A 500 ns switching time of the gating grid driver has been achieved from the closed to open state. The duration of the open state can be adjusted from 1 µs to 99 ms based on the experimental requirements. This gating grid driver can be used in a particle detector with a high voltage bias of up to ± 3000 V.

Quarterly business review for digital transformation: insights from the automotive industry

PurposeAs quarterly business reviews (QBRs) remained unexplored in the scholarly community, this paper sheds light on what QBRs are, how they are being used across organisations and provides deep insights into the implementation of the QBR at an incumbent car manufacturer’s digital transformation business unit. Particular attention has been paid to decision processes, portfolio management, challenges and success factors.Design/methodology/approachGiven the explorative nature of the research, a case study is well suited to explore the phenomenon in its real-world context, especially given the dynamic and volatile business environment. This article is based on insights from an incumbent car manufacturer undergoing a business-wide transformation.FindingsThe car manufacturer introduced the QBR process and themes to improve business effectiveness and efficiency through (1) focusing on the biggest issues, (2) concentrating efforts, (3) providing autonomy and stability, (4) building and maintaining strong relationships, and (5) building domain expertise. Through the QBR process, themes were (de)prioritised, resources allocated, financial value (estimates) agreed upon, and key performance indicators (e.g. £m/FTE; FTE, full-time equivalent employees) introduced. Digital product managers’ were assigned to the prioritised themes, and portfolio management structures were presented.Originality/valueManaging short- and long-term objectives is challenging for most businesses but essential to perform well in uncertain environments. The QBR process can help organisations continuously (de)prioritise work and reallocate resources based on changing environments and aligned with strategic priorities.

Fronthaul latency and capacity constrained cost-effective and energy-efficient 5G C-RAN deployment

The third-generation partnership project (3GPP) has identified different new functional split points, defined as options 1–7, between the baseband unit (BBU) and the remote unit (RU) for the 5G centralized radio access networks (C-RANs). The functional splits facilitate lower fronthaul line rate and latency requirements while imposing technical complexity and cost-efficiency trade-offs. Among all the functional split options, the standardization groups such as 3GPP, Open RAN (O-RAN), and small cell forum have selected option-7 as the most suitable choice for the 5G C-RAN deployment that can meet the operator’s requirements. One of the biggest challenges for designing option-7 functional split-based C-RAN is the capacity and latency requirement fulfillment as specified by 3GPP, while minimizing the deployment cost. In this regard, we propose an optimization model for cost-effective and energy-efficient option-7 functional split-based C-RAN architecture using wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (WDM-PON) in the fronthaul. For the given locations of the next-generation core (NGC) and the set of RUs, the proposed optimization model explores the most suitable locations for the placement of BBU pools and arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs). It provides complete interconnection details among NGC, BBU pools, AWGs, and RUs. It also provides the optimal number of digital units in each selected BBU pool, the splitting ratio of each AWG, and maximum fronthaul reach, satisfying the fronthaul latency, capacity, and power budget constraints. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time, we estimate the worst-case queuing delay for the upstream traffic flow using the G/G/1 queuing model and investigate its impact on fronthaul latency and deployment cost for different RU configurations. We compare the performance of the proposed option-7 functional split-based C-RAN with the traditionally used option-8 functional split-based C-RAN in terms of the deployment cost and fronthaul latency improvement.

Flexibly control of vortex beams based on all-dielectric Pancharatnam-Berry phase transmission encoding metamaterials

Because the ohmic loss of metal materials affects the transmission efficiency of metasurface, we design a transmission-type all-dielectric coded metasurface element structure based on the principle of Pancharatnam-Berry geometric phase. We digitally encode these cell structures to construct a coded metasurface. In order to flexibly regulate the transmission angle of vortex beam encoded metassurface, we introduce the Fourier convolution principle in digital signal processing to perform the Fourier convolution addition operation for two different coding sequences. A new coding sequence is constructed by Fourier convolution operation of digital coding unit. Through this operation, the number of elements on the coded metasurface is constant, and the scattering angle of the vortex beam is flexibly controlled. In order to realize the multifunctional integration of phase vortex beams, we introduce the principle of digital coding addition in the complex domain to add two digitally coded metasurface sequences with different functions to realize the multifunctional superposition.

Recovery of fuel from real waste oily sludge via a new eco-friendly surfactant material used in a digital baffle batch extraction unit

This study focused on developing a new cocktail extraction agent (CEA) composed of solvent and a new surfactant material (SM) for enhancing the efficiency of fuel recovery from real waste oil sludge (WSO). The effects of different solvents (e.g. methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), naphtha, petrol and kerosene), SMs (Dowfax and sodium thiosulfate), extraction time (10–20 min), extraction temperatures (20–60 °C) and CEA/sludge ratios (1–4) on the extraction performance were investigated. SMs and DBBE design enhanced the extraction efficiency by increasing the dispersion of solvent in WSO and enhancing the mixing and mass transfer rates. Results proved that Dowfax was the best SM for oil recovery under various conditions. The best CEA (e.g. MEK and Dowfax) provides the maximum fuel recovery rate of 97% at a period of 20 min, temperature of 60 °C and 4:1 CEA/sludge ratio. The produced fuel was analysed and fed to the distillation process to produce diesel oil. The characteristics of diesel oil were measured, and findings showed that it needs treatment processes prior its use as a finished fuel.

Meta-Scheduling Framework With Cooperative Learning Toward Beyond 5G

In this paper, we propose a novel meta-scheduling framework with cooperative learning that fully exploits a functional split structure of the base station (BS) consisting of a central unit (CU) and digital units (DUs). To this end, we first design a meta-scheduling policy structure to find a scheduling strategy that can be applied to any BS regardless of BS-specific characteristics such as the number of users, various quality-of-service requirements, and the number of resource blocks. In the proposed framework, the CU only needs to manage objective-specific meta-scheduling policies in a centralized manner while each DU performs scheduling in a decentralized manner by simply using the policy at the CU without any responsibility to manage or train policies. Besides, the policies at the CU can be cooperatively trained using the experiences obtained from all DUs. Therefore, the proposed framework not only provides computational efficiency but also supports network scalability. We show via experiments that the proposed meta-scheduling framework achieves competitive performances compared with the near-optimal conventional schedulers tailored to each BS even though it manages and exploits only one meta-scheduling policy for each objective. Furthermore, our meta-scheduling framework effectively adapts to the change of BS-specific characteristics.

Design, Development and Testing of a Monitoring System for the Study of Proton Exchange Fuel Cells and Stacks.

This article is about the design, development and validation of a new monitoring architecture for individual cells and stacks to facilitate the study of proton exchange fuel cells. The system consists of four main elements: input signals, signal processing boards, analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) and a master terminal unit (MTU). The latter integrates a high-level graphic user interface (GUI) software developed by National Instruments LABVIEW, while the ADCs are based on three digital acquisition units (DAQs). Graphs showing the temperature, currents and voltages in individual cells as well as stacks are integrated for ease of reference. The system validation was carried out both in static and dynamic modes of operation using a Ballard Nexa 1.2 kW fuel cell fed by a hydrogen cylinder, with a Prodigit 32612 electronic load at the output. The system was able to measure the voltage distributions of individual cells, and temperatures at different equidistant points of the stack both with and without an external load, validating its use as an indispensable tool for the study and characterization of these systems.

Experimental studies of using the digital control system in power conversion equipment of high-voltage power supply systems in spacecrafts with a hydrogen energy accumulator

Solar-hydrogen energy for spacecraft, space interplanetary stations, space bases on the planets of the solar system must reliably provide energy: spacecraft during peak periods (repairs at a space facility, energy-consuming experiments, cleaning of facilities, regeneration of waste to extract oxygen and hydrogen, etc. .d.) and bases on planets, especially where the night lasts for a long time.The onboard hydrogen module of the solar-hydrogen plant includes: a container with water; distiller; deionizer; water lines with adjustable shut-off valves; electrolyzer; cryogenic side tanks with hydrogen and oxygen; fuel cell, hydrogen safety sensor systems based on leakage and concentration sensors; level gauges; cryogenic and gas pipelines of hydrogen and oxygen; onboard cryo-refrigerator; automatic control system for the hydrogen module. The article presents the results of experimental studies of static, dynamic and mass-dimensional characteristics of power conversion equipment (hereinafter - PCE) in the power supply system (hereinafter - PSS) of the spacecraft (hereinafter - spacecraft) with a digital control system. The purpose of experimental research is to verify the theoretical results obtained earlier in the design of digital PCE control systems of high-voltage PSS spacecraft, including the study of static and dynamic characteristics. We developed and manufactured an experimental PCE sample with an output power of 2500W in this research. It includes: four voltage stabilization modules and the 100V load supply output bus filter. Each voltage stabilization module includes a battery energy conversion channel, a solar battery energy conversion channel and a digital control system unit. The power conversion channel of the accumulator battery is designed and made on the basis of a bridge volt-booster inverter-transformer circuit. Voltage control in energy converter of accumulator battery is based on phase shift in control pulses of transistors in adjustable inverter rack related to unregulated one. The power conversion channel of the solar battery is designed and made on the basis of a two-phase circuit of a direct voltage converter of an increasing type with switching throttles. The digital control system of the voltage stabilization module is designed on the basis of analogues in the modern electronic component base in the Space class and consists of four identical channels. Each channel of the control system controls its own voltage stabilization module. We obtained the following results during our experimental studies: some pulsations of the output voltage of the energy conversion equipment during operation on an active load, transient processes of the output voltage of the energy conversion equipment during pulsations of the load current without changing the mode of operation, transient processes of the output voltage of the energy conversion equipment when changing the modes of its operation and weight and size characteristics for different values of the output power. The obtained results of experimental studies confirm the previously obtained theoretical results, and also showed that the use of a distributed digital control system will increase the specific energy characteristics of the newly developed PSS spacecraft while ensuring the given static and dynamic characteristics of output voltage quality. The results of the work are designed to create a new on-board power conversion equipment for power supply systems of promising spacecraft. The area of application of the project results is space instrumentation.

Magnetic Interference Compensation Using the Adaptive LMS Algorithm

The aim of this study is to evaluate the method for the compensation of magnetic field interference from the mains, which consists primarily of components with a frequency of 50 (60) Hz and its multiples. The setup compensates for the interfering field using three Helmholtz coils, magnetic field sensors, a digital processing unit, and power amplifiers. The processing unit implements an adaptive least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm to calculate the currents through coils that are necessary for compensation. The prototype fully compensates for interfering with the magnetic field at 50, 150, 250, and 350 Hz down to the noise level of the sensor arrangement within 20 s and reduces higher harmonics. The overall reduction in the rms value of the interfering field is better than 28 dB, and a significantly better reduction is achieved in the frequency range from 0 Hz to 400 Hz.

IMPLEMENTATION OF METHODS FOR DIGITAL TWIN AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Business practices in areas like geographical information systems and environmental scanning are becoming more and more crucial, especially in light of the fierce competition in the technology sector. Organizations are less likely to hunt for information that they can act on right away than they are to experiment without trustworthy information, which results in organizational inattention. On the other hand, many companies are wasting money on initiatives that were either evaluated with insufficient data or that they were unable to absorb. In order to help enterprises design the best strategy for efficient environmental scanning and analysis, this study offers a new method based on environmental turbulence and aerial vehicles. Many businesses find it useful to measure the design of virtual models based on physical entities when creating their own virtual workshop models for scheduling and optimizing workshop production, but a single virtual workshop model cannot capture the interaction of physical and information objects necessary for intelligent manufacturing. To represent the fusion of virtual and real, however, and to therefore maximize the production of the workshop, the workshop for digital twins is an effective strategy. The digital twin system cooperative production unit is used as an example in this study to validate the suggested approach for building the digital twin workshop, which focuses on the definition and function of digital twin engines in a DT workshop. Keywords: Environmental scanning, digitalization, digital twin, information technologies.

QiCells: A Modular RFSoC-based Approach to Interface Superconducting Quantum Bits

Quantum computers will be a revolutionary extension of the heterogeneous computing world. They consist of many quantum bits (qubits) and require a careful design of the interface between the classical computer architecture and the quantum processor. For example, even single nanosecond variations of the interaction may have an influence on the quantum state. Designing a tailored interface electronics is therefore a major challenge, both in terms of signal integrity with respect to single channels, as well as the scaling of the signal count. We developed such an interface electronics, an RFSoC-based qubit control system called QiController. In this article, we present the modular FPGA firmware design of our system. It features so-called digital unit cells, or QiCells. Each cell contains all the logic necessary to interact with a single superconducting qubit, including a custom-built RISC-V-based sequencer. Synchronization and data exchange between the cells is facilitated using a special star-point structure. Versatile routing and frequency-division multiplexing of generated signals between QiCells and converters are also supported. High-level programmability is provided using a custom Python-based description language and an associated compiler. We furthermore provide the resource utilization of our design and demonstrate its correct operation using an actual superconducting five-qubit chip.

Coordinating digital regulation in the UK: is the digital regulation cooperation forum (DRCF) up to the task?

ABSTRACT The shift to online commerce and communication in the global pandemic, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the cancel culture exacerbated by social media platforms have demonstrated our increasing reliance on digital platforms. Digital regulation is receiving increasing scrutiny globally and, in the UK, as exemplified by the recent Digital Markets and Digital Services Act by the European Union and the establishment of the Digital Markets Unit within the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK. In July 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Office of Communications formed the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to coordinate digital regulation between various regulators. In April 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority also joined the DRCF as a full member. Against this backdrop, the paper explores the coordination of digital regulation in the UK and analyses how effective the DRCF is in contributing to this objective. It is argued that to effectively respond to the challenges posed by digital technologies, coordination between various regulatory authorities must be extended and formalised to avoid fragmented enforcement. Whilst the DRCF is a step in the right direction, it needs to engage more closely with other relevant stakeholders.

Investigating the Design Parameters’ Influence in a Fast Switching Valve – An Approach to Simplify the Design Process

Designing Fast Switching Valves (FSVs) for digital displacement units is a complicated process pushing the technology to the limit. The system dynamics and the interaction of the fluid, mechanical structure, actuator and control hence calls for advanced modelling, including CFD and FEA, to capture, e.g. fluid stiction effects, end-damping and impact contact stresses. Unfortunately, this essentially renders optimization processes infeasible due to the computational burden involved, although this is precisely what is required for this type of complex multi-domain problem. Therefore, the focus of the current article is on how a complex mechatronic design problem, like designing an FSV, may be aided by considering decomposing and simplification through sensitivity analysis and analyzing correlations between the design and output parameters. This is done to significantly reduce the original design problem without compromising the investigated design space. The paper focuses specifically on the results related to an FSV and the flow delivering part of this, showing the influence of the various design parameters. However, the approach and considerations may be generalized to an other areas as well.

Examining a generic streaming architecture for smart manufacturing's Big data processing in Anomaly detection: A review and a proposal

The smart manufacturing industry has witnessed a rapid increase in data generation due to the integration of sensors, IoT devices, and other advanced technologies. With this huge amount of data, the need for efficient data processing methods becomes critical for identifying anomalies in real-time. With the rise of Industry 4.0 practices, digitally enabled manufacturing units are shifting their focus towards Smart Manufacturing paradigm for better productivity, throughput and increased business volume. Traditionally digital manufacturing units have considered different AI approaches like Neural Network, Statistical Methods, Deep Learning etc. to detect and predict anomalies in their production lines. But with the Smart Manufacturing ecosystem, a manufacturing unit must integrate manufacturing intelligence in real-time across entire production lines through sensor data of IOT devices. Hence the traditional anomaly detection systems fall short to respond well, under the changed scenario, where large volumes of unstructured and varied types of data are being generated at high velocity, to be processed at (soft) real time. The article reviews the current state-of-the-art in big data processing for anomaly detection in smart manufacturing. The review covers various aspects such as data collection, data processing, anomaly detection, and real-time monitoring. The current paper also proposes a novel stateful data streaming computational model for big data processing in smart manufacturing units which conceptually lays the foundation on top of which any discrete anomaly detection engine would be able to work. The proposed architecture has several benefits, including its ability to handle the large volume, velocity, and variety of data generated in smart manufacturing. The architecture can be applied to various smart manufacturing applications, including predictive maintenance, quality control, and supply chain optimization. It is expected that this proposed architecture will pave the way for the development of more efficient and effective smart manufacturing systems in the future.

Meta-mechanotronics for self-powered computation

There is an unceasing quest to create novel forms of intelligent active matter that exhibits sensing, energy harvesting, actuating, computing, and communication functionalities. Realizing such capabilities can provide new road maps to autonomous and electronic materials with numerous applications in robotics, human–machine interfacing, micro/nano-electromechanical systems, and flexible electronics. Here, we introduce “mechanical metamaterial electronics (meta-mechanotronics)” as a platform for designing intelligent matter that can sense external stimuli, self-power and process the information to create an integrated closed-loop control system. We achieve these advanced functionalities by fusing mechanical metamaterials, digital electronics and triboelectric nano energy harvesting technologies. Meta-mechanotronic systems use only their constituent components and integrated nanogenerator mechanisms to perform self-powered mechanical–electrical-logic and information storage operations. Thus, they establish a direct interaction mechanism between the external environment and electronics, which is a radically different approach from conventional electrically-controlled units. We demonstrate digital unit cells as building blocks for meta-mechanotronics to perform various self-powered computation functionalities. Analytical models, numerical simulations and experimental studies are performed to design a suite of electronic mechanical metamaterials capable of synthesizing discrete mechanical configurations, performing binary/ternary computations, and realizing digital logic gates, i.e., AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOR, and XNOR. We demonstrate the capability of the framework by creating self-powered mechanically-responsive data storage devices that can store various ASCII codes. Further discussion is provided on how meta-mechanotronics and the associated circuitry can lead to developing future mechanical metamaterial computers, complementing traditional electronics with electronics made of mechanical metamaterials.

Transmission of Digital Data to Cascaded H-Bridge Converters Through the Power Line

Power line communication (PLC) technologies enable the point-to-point linking between distributed power production and consumption units, thus overlaying enhanced monitoring and control capabilities to the overall power system. A novel PLC method for cascaded H-bridge converters is presented in this article, which enables the transmission of digital data by a remote terminal computer to the individual power modules synthesizing a cascaded H-bridge power converter through their power circuits. The proposed PLC method comprises an integrated framework of a digital data transmitter, receiver, and communication protocol, without using additional coupling circuits, which is suitable for cascaded H-bridge power converters with either a dc or an ac output. Its operation was tested using an experimental prototype consisting of a two-module cascaded H-bridge inverter and a field-programmable gate array device hosting the digital transmitter and receiver units. The experimental results verified the successful transmission of digital parameterization commands from a central terminal computer to the individual power modules of the cascaded H-bridge converter, along with the simultaneous transmission of ac or dc power to the load over the common power cable.