Spl Epsiv Research Articles

Marking Estimation of Petri Nets With Silent Transitions

In this paper we deal with the problem of estimating the marking of a labeled Petri net system based on the observation of transitions labels. In particular, we assume that a certain number of transitions are labeled with the empty string /spl epsi/, while a different label taken from a given alphabet is assigned to all the other transitions. Transitions labeled with the empty string are called silent because their firing cannot be observed. Under some technical assumptions on the structure of the T/sub /spl epsiv// -induced subnet, where T/sub /spl epsiv// denotes the set of silent transitions, we formally prove that the set of markings consistent with the observed word can be represented by a linear system with a fixed structure that does not depend on the length of the observed word.

Reconstructions of shear modulus, poisson's ratio, and density using approximate mean normal stress /spl lambda//spl epsiv//sub /spl alpha//spl alpha// as unknown

As a differential diagnosis technique for living soft tissues, we are developing ultrasonic-strain-measurement-based shear modulus reconstruction methods. Previously, we reported three-dimensional (3-D) and 2-D reconstruction methods utilizing a typical Poisson's ratio very close to 0.5 (nearly-incompressible). However, because a decrease in the accuracy of the reconstructed value was confirmed to be due to the difference between the original value and the set value, we proposed 3-D and 2-D methods of reconstructing Poisson's ratio as well. Furthermore, we proposed methods of reconstructing density and dealing with dynamic deformation. However, due to tissue incompressibility, the reconstructions of shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, and density became unstable. In this report, to obtain stable, unique reconstructions, we describe a new reconstruction method using mean normal stress approximated by the product of one of Lame's constants X and volume strain epsilon alpha alpha as an unknown. Regularization is simultaneously applied to the respective distributions to decrease the instability of the reconstructions due to measurement errors of the deformation. This method also enables stable, unique reconstructions of shear modulus and density under the condition that the mean normal stress remains unknown. We also verify the effectiveness of this method through 3-D simulations, while showing erroneous artifacts occurring when 2-D and 1-D reconstructions are performed.

Transmission-line directional couplers for impedance transforming

Normalized scattering parameters of a two-port circuit terminated in arbitrary impedances are derived and design equations of directional couplers for impedance transforming are derived. To verify the design equations, a microstrip directional coupler is designed at a center frequency of 2GHz, fabricated on a substrate (/spl epsiv//sub r/=3.5,H= 30mil, tan/spl delta/= 0.04) and measured. The measured performance shows good agreement with the simulated one.

Capacity of nearly decomposable Markovian fading channels under asymmetric receiver-sender side information

We investigate the following issue: if fast fades are Markovian and known at the receiver, while the transmitter has only a coarse quantization of the fading process, what capacity penalty comes from having the transmitter act on the current coarse quantization alone? For time-varying channels which experience rapid time variations, sender and receiver typically have asymmetric channel side information. To avoid the expense of providing, through feedback, detailed channel side information to the sender, the receiver offers the sender only a coarse, generally time-averaged, representation of the state of the channel, which we term slow variations. Thus, the receiver tracks the fast variations of the channel (and the slow ones perforce) while the sender receives feedback only about the slow variations. While the fast variations (micro-states) remain Markovian, the slow variations (macro-states) are not. We compute an approximate channel capacity in the following sense: each rate smaller than the "approximate" capacity, computed using results by Caire and Shamai, can be achieved for sufficiently large separation between the time scales for the slow and fast fades. The difference between the true capacity and the approximate capacity is O(/spl epsi/log/sup 2/(/spl epsi/)log(-log(/spl epsi/))), where /spl epsi/ is the ratio between the speed of variation of the channel in the macro- and micro-states. The approximate capacity is computed by power allocation between the slowly varying states using appropriate water filling.

Microwave-absorbing properties of de-aggregated flake-shaped carbonyl-iron particle composites at 2-18 GHz

We have investigated the microwave-absorbing properties for different shapes and aggregated states of carbonyl-iron particles dispersed in epoxy resin matrix at various volume concentrations. Here, we discuss the requirements of lower reflection coefficient for the microwave permittivity /spl epsiv//sub r/=/spl epsiv/'-j/spl epsiv/'' and permeability /spl mu//sub r/=/spl mu/'-j/spl mu/''. Compared to the aggregated sphere-shaped particles (SS), the de-aggregated flake-shaped carbonyl iron particles (FS) have higher permeability, lower permittivity, better filling characteristics in epoxy resin, and better absorbing properties in the frequency range of 2-18 GHz. For the FS composite with volume fraction of 0.60 at single-layer thickness of 1 mm, the calculated reflection loss at 2 GHz reaches -4.04 dB and the minimum reflection loss is -12.2 dB at 4.4 GHz, which indicates that the FS composite can be applied as a thinner microwave absorber in the S-band than if SS particles are used. The results also show that different volume concentrations can have high absorption at different wave bands, a fact on which the design of absorbing material can be based.

Characterization of copper germanide as contact metal for advanced MOSFETs

The material and electrical characteristics of /spl epsiv/-Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Ge as a contact metal were investigated. The samples were prepared by direct copper deposition on germanium wafers, followed by rapid thermal annealing. The /spl epsiv/-Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Ge formed at 400 /spl deg/C has a resistivity of 6.8 μ/spl Omega//spl middot/cm, which is lower than typical silicides for silicon CMOS. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy showed smooth germanide/germanium interface, with a series of nanovoids aligning close to the top surface. These voids are believed to be the results of Kirkendall effect arising from the different diffusion fluxes of copper and germanium. The specific contact resistivity of Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Ge, obtained from four-terminal Kelvin structures, was found to be as low as 8×10/sup -8/ /spl Omega//spl middot/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> for p-type germanium substrate. This low resistivity makes Cu <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> Ge a promising candidate for future contact materials.

New 5.8-GHz circularly polarized retrodirective rectenna arrays for wireless power transmission

This paper proposes two new circularly polarized retrodirective rectenna arrays, including a 2 /spl times/ 2 array and a 4 /spl times/ 4 array. A proximity-coupled microstrip ring antenna is used as the retrodirective rectenna array element, which can automatically block harmonic signals up to the third order from reradiating by the rectifying circuit. These arrays are printed on a Rogers Duroid 5880 substrate of /spl epsiv//sub r/=2.2 with a two-layer structure, with a total thickness of 1.5748 mm (or 62 mil). The new retrodirective rectenna array can track the incoming power source signals automatically and is less sensitive to the power incident angle variations, i.e., main-beam alignment deviation. It can provide a nearly constant dc output voltage within /spl plusmn/10/spl deg/ and 90% dc output voltage within /spl plusmn/45/spl deg/. The conversion efficiencies of the two arrays are 73.3% and 55%, respectively, when the power density is 10 mW/cm/sup 2/. The retrodirective rectenna array can be used in the low-power density applications for microwave wireless power transmissions.

Fuzzy H/sub /spl infin// output feedback control design for singularly perturbed systems with pole placement constraints: an LMI approach

This paper examines the problem of designing an H/sub /spl infin// output feedback controller with pole placement constraints for singular perturbed Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy models. We propose a fuzzy H/sub /spl infin// output feedback controller that not only guarantees the /spl Lscr//sub 2/-gain of the mapping from the exogenous input noise to the regulated output to be less than some prescribed value, but also ensures closed-loop poles of each subsystem are in a prespecified linear matrix inequality (LMI) region. In order to alleviate the numerical stiffness caused by the singular perturbation /spl epsiv/, the design technique is formulated in terms of a family of /spl epsiv/-independent linear matrix inequalities. The proposed approach can be applied both standard and nonstandard singularly perturbed nonlinear systems. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the design developed in this paper.

5.8-GHz circularly polarized dual-diode rectenna and rectenna array for microwave power transmission

This paper reports a new circularly polarized rectenna whose rectifying circuit includes two diodes. The rectenna consists of a coplanar stripline (CPS) truncated patch antenna and CPS bandpass filter, which can block harmonic signals up to the third order reradiating from the rectifying circuit. The rectenna is printed on Rogers Duroid 5880 substrate with /spl epsiv//sub r/=2.2 and a thickness of 20 mil. The new dual-diode rectenna can provide at least twice the dc output voltage than the traditional rectenna with only a single diode, which has the same layout dimension as the single-diode rectenna. The dual-diode rectenna achieves an RF-to-dc conversion efficiency of 76% at 5.8 GHz. The proposed rectennas can be interconnected to form the rectenna arrays by series, parallel, and cascaded connections. It is found that a cascade connected rectenna array can provide the highest output voltage. The antenna element can be easily extended to become a traveling-wave antenna or array suitable for high output voltage or current in wireless power transmission applications.

On the scaling limit of ultrathin SOI MOSFETs

In this paper, a detailed study on the scaling limit of ultrathin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFETs is presented. Due to the penetration of lateral source/drain fields into standard thick buried oxide, the scale-length theory does not apply to thin SOI MOSFETs. An extensive two-dimensional device simulation shows that for a thin gate insulator, the minimum channel length can be expressed as L/sub min//spl ap/4.5(t/sub Si/+(/spl epsiv//sub Si///spl epsiv//sub I/)t/sub I/), where t/sub Si/ is the silicon thickness, and /spl epsiv//sub I/ and t/sub I/ are the permittivity and thickness of the gate insulator. With t/sub Si/ limited to /spl ges/ 2 nm from quantum mechanical and threshold considerations, a scaling limit of L/sub min/=20 nm is projected for oxides, and L/sub min/=10 nm for high-/spl kappa/ dielectrics. The effect of body doping has also been investigated. It has no significant effect on the scaling limit.

Approximate processing of massive continuous quantile queries over high-speed data streams

Quantile computation has many applications including data mining and financial data analysis. It has been shown that an /spl epsi/-approximate summary can be maintained so that, given a quantile query (/spl phi/,/spl epsi/), the data item at rank /spl lceil//spl phi/N/spl rceil/ may be approximately obtained within the rank error precision /spl epsi/N over all N data items in a data stream or in a sliding window. However, scalable online processing of massive continuous quantile queries with different /spl phi/ and /spl epsi/ poses a new challenge because the summary is continuously updated with new arrivals of data items. In this paper, first we aim to dramatically reduce the number of distinct query results by grouping a set of different queries into a cluster so that they can be processed virtually as a single query while the precision requirements from users can be retained. Second, we aim to minimize the total query processing costs. Efficient algorithms are developed to minimize the total number of times for reprocessing clusters and to produce the minimum number of clusters, respectively. The techniques are extended to maintain near-optimal clustering when queries are registered and removed in an arbitrary fashion against whole data streams or sliding windows. In addition to theoretical analysis, our performance study indicates that the proposed techniques are indeed scalable with respect to the number of input queries as well as the number of items and the item arrival rate in a data stream.

Effects of Microstructural Defects in Multilayer LTCC Stripline

This paper proposes novel stripline models including embedded pores and sharpened conductor edges, which are commonly introduced during the multilayer low-temperature cofired-ceramic (LTCC) process. This model enables designers to obtain conductivity and tan/spl delta/ of the stripline that are difficult to obtain using the experimental methods from arbitrary frequencies. This paper confirms that the proposed models are appropriate for LTCC striplines by comparing the simulated results with the experimental results. We found that embedded pores contributed to increase in unloaded quality factor (Qu) and characteristic impedance in the range of 5% to 6% while effective /spl epsiv//sub r/ decreased in the range of 11%. Sharpened edges contributed to maximum peak in Qu and decreased characteristic impedance. These models will contribute to precision design of the future LTCC striplines.

A dual-strained CMOS structure through simultaneous formation of relaxed and compressive strained-SiGe-on-insulator

This letter reports on an integration of dual-strained surface-channel CMOS structure, i.e., tensile-strained Si n-MOSFET and compressive strained-SiGe p-MOSFET. This has been accomplished by forming the relaxed and compressive strained-SiGe layers simultaneously on an Si/SiGe-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, through varying SiGe film thicknesses, followed by a thermal condensation technique to convert the Si body into SiGe with different [Ge] concentration and with different strains (including the relaxed state). A thin Si film was selectively deposited over the relaxed SiGe region. The p-MOSFET in compressive (/spl epsiv//spl sim/ -1.07%) strained- Si/sub 0.55/Ge/sub 0.45/ and the n-MOSFET in tensile-strained Si over the relaxed Si/sub 0.80/Ge/sub 0.20/ exhibited significant hole (enhancement factor /spl sim/ 1.9) and electron (enhancement factor /spl sim/ 1.6) mobility enhancements over the Si reference.

Approximation algorithms for multiconstrained quality-of-service routing

We propose six new heuristics to find a source-to-destination path that satisfies two or more additive constraints on edge weights. Five of these heuristics become /spl epsi/-approximation algorithms when their parameters are appropriately set. The performance of our new heuristics is compared experimentally with that of two recently proposed heuristics for the same problem.

Analysis of the electric field and force in an arrangement of a conducting sphere and a plane electrode with a dielectric barrier

This paper presents an analysis of the electric field and dielectrophoretic force in an arrangement consisting of an uncharged conducting sphere and a plane electrode with a dielectric barrier. The electric field is calculated by using the method of multipole images using an iterative algorithm proposed for calculating the images of the dielectric barrier of finite thickness. The calculation results show electric field intensification due to the presence of the dielectric barrier having higher permittivity, /spl epsiv//sub S/, than that of the surrounding medium, /spl epsiv//sub E/; however, if the barrier is separated from the conducting sphere by at least the sphere radius, its influence is negligible. Inside the dielectric barrier, the electric field on the axis of symmetry becomes more uniform and the average field significantly increases with decreasing its thickness. For a case where dielectric barrier is sufficiently thin, the electric field at the contact point and the force on the conducting sphere vary approximately as power functions of /spl epsiv//sub S///spl epsiv//sub E/.

Extension and error analysis of the microstrip transmission-line method for the broad-band measurement of the permeability tensor

In this paper, the theory associated with a noniterative and broad-band method for measuring the permeability tensor components /spl mu/=/spl mu/'-j/spl mu/'' and /spl kappa/=/spl kappa/'-j/spl kappa/'' is extended in order to simultaneously determine the test sample-relative permittivity /spl epsiv/=/spl epsiv/'-j/spl epsiv/''. The error sources of the method are equally presented and quantified. Detailed theoretical and experimental studies are performed to estimate the errors in the determination of /spl mu/, /spl kappa/, and /spl epsiv/ due to the quasi-static approximation for their calculation, as well as the uncertainty in the measured S-parameters of the test cell and samples length. These define the frequency-validity domain of the method.

Electromagnetic and absorption properties of carbonyl iron/rubber radar absorbing materials

We measured the effective complex magnetic permeability /spl mu//sub eff//sup */ and dielectric permittivity /spl epsiv//sub eff//sup */ spectra in rubber radar absorbing material (RAM) with various carbonyl iron volume fractions by using the transmission/reflection method with a vector network analyzer. We studied the effects of carbonyl iron content and rubber thickness on the microwave absorption properties in the frequency range of 2.6 to 18 GHz. Our mathematical analysis is based on electromagnetic theory. The results indicate that the effective complex magnetic permeability and dielectric permittivity values of the RAM increase as the carbonyl iron volume fraction increases. For sample thickness of 3.0 mm, an increase in carbonyl iron content reduces the minimum reflection loss from -1.3 to -23.9 dB and shifts the frequency of the minimum reflection loss from 15.5 to 3.5 GHz. For an equal volume fraction of carbonyl iron, the frequency of the minimum reflection loss decreases as the thickness is increased. However, the dip in the reflection loss plot (in decibels) initially decreases to a minimum value before it increases with a further increase in thickness. We determined the value of the reflection loss for the samples by the impedance matching degree (reflection coefficient), which depends on the thickness and composition of the RAM.

Complex permittivity and permeability extraction for multilayered samples using S-parameter waveguide measurements

In this paper, a novel technique is presented for accurately extracting the complex constitutive parameters (/spl epsiv//spl circ/, /spl mu//spl circ/) for individual layers of a multilayer sample using S-parameter waveguide measurements. The technique is based on a modified sequential quadratic programming algorithm, which utilizes a large number of initial guess points, thereby alleviating the possibility of local minima trapping. The algorithm was found to be significantly faster and more accurate than traditional global optimization methods such as the genetic algorithm. Computer-generated S-parameter data sets were initially used to establish the achievable accuracy of the algorithm for one-, two-, and three-layer cases. Sensitivity of the S-parameters to changes in the constitutive parameters and layer thicknesses was also investigated. Two-port S-parameter measurements (8.2-10 GHz) were conducted on three material samples in single and multilayer arrangements. The algorithm accurately extracted the complex constitutive parameters for each layer. These values were then compared with values extracted using a modified short-circuit line (SCL) method (single-layer cases only). S-parameters were also generated using the extracted values and compared with the measured data. In all cases, results were found to be in good overall agreement with both the SCL method values and the measured data.

A theory of multimode traveling-wave modulators for RF photonics

This paper presents a rigorous and general approach to the analysis of multimode traveling-wave electrooptical modulators. Starting from the linear model derived by Di Donato et al. in 2004, where we demonstrated the accuracy of this approach for single mode electrooptic modulators and for quasi-degenerate modes, we now provide a compact, analytical solution to the system of coupled transmission-line equations describing multimode and multipolarization interaction. In addition, the analysis will consider the joint effect of a continuous and a time-space varying voltage. Small dielectric perturbations induced by the microwave fields (/spl Delta//spl epsiv//spl Lt//spl epsiv/) and large difference between the optical and modulating signal frequencies are the only hypotheses used in deriving the linear model by Di Donato et al. Some examples are discussed in order to demonstrate the main characteristics of the electrooptic modulators and some suggestions on the electrooptic modulator design are provided in order to realize polarization-independent devices.

Reconfigurable Scan-Beam Single-Arm Spiral Antenna Integrated With RF-MEMS Switches

A fully integrated solution providing scan-beam capability with a single antenna is presented in this paper for the first time. The proposed system includes a reconfigurable rectangular spiral antenna with a set of micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) switches, which are monolithically integrated and packaged onto the same substrate. The system is based on a single-arm rectangular spiral antenna, capable of changing its radiation pattern using radio frequency-MEMS (RF-MEMS) switches. The rectangular spiral and RF-MEMS switches are monolithically integrated on a conventional microwave substrate printed circuit board (/spl epsiv//sub r/=3.27 and tan/spl delta/=0.004) and quartz substrate (/spl epsiv//sub r/=3.78 and tan/spl delta/=0.0002). The spiral is made out of multiple lines, which are interconnected by RF-MEMS switches strategically located along the spiral. On activating these switches, the spiral overall arm length is changed and consequently its radiation beam direction is changed. The two proposed antennas radiate right hand circular polarization (RHCP) and left hand circular polarization (LHCP) for printed circuit board and quartz substrate respectively. The gain of the two antennas varies between 3/spl sim/6 dBi. They both satisfy the 3-dB axial ratio criterion at their operating frequency band, i.e., at 10 GHz and 6 GHz for the printed circuit board and the quartz substrate respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first truly reconfigurable printed antenna design using MEMS devices as active elements integrated in the same low loss substrate. The excellent performance of the proposed system emphasizes the importance of being able to integrate MEMS switches into the same low loss substrate for antenna applications. This technology pioneers the design of arbitrarily shaped reconfigurable antennas including the design of reconfigurable antenna arrays.