Ground Port Research Articles

A Confirmation of Elemental Factor Toward Perceived Port Quality

There is currently a lack of up-to-date knowledge on the fundamental variables as elemental factors that influence perceived cruise-port quality. This research aims to examine the confirmatory components of those factors in reflective and formative terms in order to develop a set of perceived port quality (PPQ) variables. The study adopts a quantitative research methodology, collecting data via a questionnaire survey. The research sample consisted of 305 respondents, while the collected data were analyzed using GSCA Pro software version 1.1.6. The research findings reaffirm the elemental factors of perceived port quality (PPQ), constructed from the following five significant categories as first-order constructs, namely cruise terminal facilities, port service encounter performance, port location, ground port transportation, and physical port environment quality. These were assessed through the 36 observed variables in this study, which included significant reflective and formative constructs. Executives, cruise tourism managers, and ports, will be able to use the results of the study as guidelines for designing policies and strategies to develop cruise tourism in the port area. Meanwhile, academics may employ these sets of variables to examine in combination with other factors in future research.

Packaging and Integration Strategy for mm-Wave Products

Abstract This paper is a follow on to the paper presented at the IMAPS 14th International Conference DEVICE PACKAGING and will provide more comprehensive case studies of few different system integration strategies for high frequency packaging. The packaging options vary widely based on the end market requirements, from performance, thermal, types and numbers of antenna arrays as well as the RF transceiver ICs. Tied closely to these performance related requirements is competing trade-offs of reliability, form factor and cost. We present assessment of packaging structures for (a) high performance mm-Wave network product and (b) consumer/mobile product and (c) automotive radar product. The former (a) is generally not challenged by form factor and can be enhanced by the addition of more antenna arrays and RFICs. However, care has to be taken to address the thermal solutions for effective heat dissipation as well as manufacturability issues as the package size may target ~400mm2 for Gen 1 and double or triple the area for subsequent generations. For (b), the primary drivers are cost and form factor. To manage antenna propagation and losses in a constrained form factor, mobile products generally require antenna in package (AiP) integration. The integration of the antenna within the same package as the RF IC greatly reduces the difficulty at the system level. This approach coupled to aggressive miniaturization of the antenna itself, using the same substrate technologies as the SiP leads to a new class of sub-systems termed Antenna in Package (AiP). This is extremely challenging from design, manufacturability and test perspectives. For example, Fan out wafer level packaging, such as eWLB packaging provides extremely smooth copper surfaces with tight etch tolerance compared to standard laminate based packaging. However, having multiport antenna structures fabricated in fan out technology with inductance matching and efficient ground ports, continue to be problematic. Hence adoption of 3D structures, in conjunction with SIP integration (with inductors and IPDs) can potentially provide relief. Inductors can also be built into the eWLB structure using the RDL as well as in the laminate packages using substrate embedded thin film cores.

Notice of Retraction: Near Field Shielding Performances of Absorbing Materials for Integrated Circuits (IC) Applications Part I: Lateral Excitation

Electromagnetic emission from electronic devices is one of the aspect to be considered from electromagnetic Engineers and Designers; its prediction can be essential to avoid the degradation of the performance of the system. Using absorbing material is one way to limit and control the emission from devices such as integrated circuits (ICs). This paper deals with the investigation of the performance of an absorbing material, in near field, applied to an IC. The contribution is divided in two parts. In Part I, the excitation and ground ports are placed as close as possible, in two adjacent pins of the IC. The absorber is so arranged in two different ways: as a patch on the top face of the IC plastic package or as lid completely covering the IC. The results, in terms of shielding effectiveness, absorption, reflection, and transmission are then compared in Part II with the configuration in which the signal and ground ports are as far as possible.

Multiband planar monopole antenna using coupling control feed structure for mobile handsets

In this article, a novel antenna for a small universal serial bus (USB) dongle is proposed. A new feeding structure consisting of a feeding loop and resonant loop makes the whole USB dongle body radiate to fully cover Wi-Fi service. The proposed antenna has a bandwidth of 160 MHz, from 2376 to 2536 MHz with a voltage standing wave ratio of two. The proposed antenna consists of a feeding line, a capacitor (C), an inductor (L), and a ground plane. The basis for the radiating USB dongle is to form a resonating structure on a thin ground line of the USB terminal where current is strong and to use the ground plane of the USB dongle as a radiator. A new feeding structure was designed on a thin line which is the USB ground port of a USB terminal; it does not require additional clearance area. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1400–1403, 2015

One-Hour Contact with the Earth’s Surface (Grounding) Improves Inflammation and Blood Flow—A Randomized, Double-Blind, Pilot Study

Earthing (grounding) refers to the human body being in contact with the surface of the Earth by barefoot exposure outdoors or using special indoor systems connected to the Earth. Previous studies have showed multiple beneficial effects as a result of such contact, including better sleep, normalization of cortisol, reduced inflammation, pain and stress, and better blood flow. To determine if Earthing for one hour improves facial blood circulation, forty middle-aged volunteers were divided into a grounded group and a sham-grounded group according to a double-blind procedure. They were asked to sit in a comfortable recliner chair equipped with a grounding mat, pillow and patches. The grounding systems were either grounded or sham-grounded via a wire to the ground port of a power outlet. An infrared imaging camera was used to measure changes in blood flow and temperature. Thermal imaging showed clearly improved circulation of fluids (including blood) throughout the torso, which in turn, translates into enhanced delivery of blood to the head and improved blood circulation in the face as well. The results of this innovative study demonstrate that even one-hour contact with the Earth appears to promote significantly autonomic nervous system control of body fluids and peripheral blood flow that may improve blood circulation in the torso and face, facial tissue repair, skin health and vitality and optimize facial appearance (face anterior view p = 0.002; face lateral views p = 0.017; full anterior torso view p = 0.002). Further study using larger comparison groups and following subjects for a longer period of time (longitudinal study) is warranted.

Grounding the Human Body Improves Facial Blood Flow Regulation: Results of a Randomized, Placebo Controlled Pilot Study

Earthing (grounding) refers to bringing the human body in direct contact with the negative electric charge of the earth’s surface by barefoot exposure outdoors or using special conductive indoor systems that are connected to the Earth. To determine if earthing improves facial blood circulation/flow, a double-blind study was designed with forty subjects either grounded or sham-grounded (27 grounded subjects and 13 sham-grounded subjects acting as controls) for at least one hour in a comfortable recliner chair equipped with conductive mat, pillow, and patches. The grounding systems were either grounded or sham-grounded via a wire to the ground port (third hole) of a power outlet. A Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging camera was used to continuously record changes in facial blood flow non-invasively. Facial blood flow regulation clearly improved among grounded— but not sham-grounded—subjects. The results demonstrate, for the first time, that even one-hour contact with the earth restores blood flow regulation to the face suggesting enhanced skin tissue repair and improved facial appearance with possible implications for overall health. Further studies, using larger comparison groups, longer monitoring times, and more measuring methods, are warranted in order to confirm the novel influence of the Earth as a protector of skin health and appearance.

Ultralow-Voltage Power Gating Structure Using Low Threshold Voltage

A novel power gating (PG) structure using only low-threshold-voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) is proposed to extend the PG to an ultralow-voltage region ( ~ 0.3 V). The proposed structure deploys series-connected low-V th footers with two virtual ground ports and selectively chooses the logic cells for connecting them to each virtual ground port according to the delay criticality. Furthermore, additional circuitry is designed to reduce not only the subthreshold leakage current but also the gate-tunneling leakage and to reduce the wake-up time and rush current compared to the conventional PG. The total PG switch size of the proposed PG structure including the additional circuits is less than the conventional one. The simulation results are compared to those of other well-known circuit schemes and show that, in the ultralow-voltage region, the other high-V th-based PG schemes cannot be used due to the impractical delay increase and long wake-up time, whereas the proposed PG structure keeps the balance among the critical PG issues. The proposed PG is evaluated using inverter chains and ISCAS85 benchmark circuits at 0.6-V supply voltage, which are designed using 45-nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor predictive technology model.

Circularly polarized antenna for 2.3–2.7 GHz WiMax band

AbstractA novel circularly polarized antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide is presented. Center conductor of the transmission line is protruded to form a semi‐circular shape and two ground ports of the transmission line are extensively connected to form a closed loop. By tuning width of the closed loop, we can make the return loss and axial ratio bandwidth to cover 2.3–2.7 GHz WiMAX band. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 2921–2923, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24749