Procedure for verification of sound source coverage over façades according to the International Standard ISO 140–5

This paper presents a new verification procedure for sound source coverage according to ISO 140–5 requirements. The ISO 140–5 standard applies to the measurement of façade insulation and requires a sound source able to achieve a sufficiently uniform sound field in free field conditions on the façade under study. The proposed method involves the electroacoustic characterisation of the sound source in laboratory free field conditions (anechoic room) and the subsequent prediction by computer simulation of the sound free field radiated on a rectangular surface equal in size to the façade being measured. The loudspeaker is characterised in an anechoic room under laboratory controlled conditions, carefully measuring directivity, and then a computer model is designed to calculate the acoustic free field coverage for different loudspeaker positions and façade sizes. For each sound source position, the method provides the maximum direct acoustic level differences on a façade specimen and therefore determines whether the loudspeaker verifies the maximum allowed level difference of 5 dB (or 10 dB for façade dimensions greater than 5 m) required by the ISO standard. Additionally, the maximum horizontal dimension of the façade meeting the standard is calculated and provided for each sound source position, both with the 5 dB and 10 dB criteria. In the last section of the paper, the proposed procedure is compared with another method used by the authors in the past to achieve the same purpose: in situ outdoor measurements attempting to recreate free field conditions. From this comparison, it is concluded that the proposed method is able to reproduce the actual measurements with high accuracy, for example, the ground reflection effect, at least at low frequencies, which is difficult to avoid in the outdoor measurement method, and it is fully eliminated with the proposed method to achieve the free field requisite.     

56 dB Gain EYDFA with improved noise figure with dual-stage partial double pass configuration

An efficient erbium/ytterbium co-doped fiber amplifier (EYDFA) is demonstrated by using a dual-stage partial double pass structure with a band pass filter (BPF). The amplifier achieves the maximum small signal gain of 56 dB and the corresponding noise figure of 4.66 dB at 1536 nm with an input signal power and total pump power of ?50 dBm and 140 mW, respectively. Compared with a conventional single-stage amplifier, the maximum gain enhancement of 16.99 dB is obtained at 1544 nm with the corresponding noise figure is improved by 2 dB. The proposed amplifier structure only uses a single pump source with a partial double pass scheme to provide a high gain and dual-stage structure to provide the low noise figure.     

Theory and experiment of flat-top all-fiber comb filter based on two high birefringence fiber Sagnac loop filters

A simple flat-top all-fiber comb filter based on two high birefringence fiber (HBF) Sagnac loop filters is presented. The proposed flat-top comb filter consists of two HBF Sagnac loop filters with two polarization controllers (PCs) and a fiber circulator. According to the theoretical analysis, with proper settings of the polarization state of the PCs, the comb filter can realize flat-top passband and the channel spacing also can be switched when the comb filter is convex spectrum. The 0.3 dB bandwidth of the flat-top passband is 0.49 nm with a free spectral range of 1.4 nm. The maximum extinction ratio is nearly 20 dB. The comb filter with switchable channel spacing can be obtained from 0.7 nm to 1.4 nm.     

Estimating the model-specific uncertainty of aircraft noise calculations

Aircraft noise contours are estimated with model calculations. Due to their impact, e.g., on land use planning, calculations need to be highly accurate, but their uncertainty usually remains unaccounted for. The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the uncertainty of calculated average equivalent continuous sound levels (L_Aeq) of complex scenarios such as yearly air operations, and to establish uncertainty maps. The methodology was developed for the simulation program FLULA2. In a first step, the partial uncertainties of modelling the aircraft as a sound source and of modelling sound propagation were quantified as a function of aircraft type and distance between aircraft and receiver. Then, these uncertainties were combined for individual flights to obtain the uncertainty of the single event level (L_AE) at a specified receiver grid. The average L_Aeq of a scenario results from the combination of the L_AE of many single flights, each of which has its individual uncertainties. In a last step, the uncertainties of all L_AE were therefore combined to the uncertainty of the L_Aeq, accounting also for uncertainties of the number of movements and of prognoses. Uncertainty estimations of FLULA2 calculations for Zurich and Geneva airports revealed that the standard uncertainty of the L_Aeq ranges from 0.5 dB (day) to 1.0 dB (night) for past-time scenarios when using radar data as input, and from 1.0 dB (day) to 1.3 dB (night) for future scenarios, in areas where L_Aeq ⩾ 53 dB (day) and L_Aeq ⩾ 43 dB (night), respectively. Different uncertainty values may result for other models and/or airports, depending on the model sophistication, traffic input data, available sound source data, and airport peculiarities such as the specific aircraft fleet or prevailing departure and arrival procedures. The methodology, while established for FLULA2 on Zurich and Geneva airports, may be applied to other models and/or airports, but the partial uncertainties have to be specifically re-established to account for individual models and underlying sound source data.     

A filterless optical millimeter-wave generation based on frequency octupling

A novel method of a filterless optical millimeter-wave (MMW) signal generation with frequency octupling using four nested Mach–Zehnder modulators (MZMs) is proposed for Radio-over-fiber systems. By symmetrically biasing the MZMs and using two RF driving signals with 90 deg phase delay, a cost-effective, high-quality and filterless optical millimeter-wave at 80 GHz with an optical harmonic distortion suppression ratio exceeding 40 dB is obtained. The proposed system is insensitive to the MZM bias drift, which demonstrates a relatively higher stability. So it is a viable solution for the future ultra-high frequency MMW applications.     

A phase stable short pulse generator using a DPMZM and phase modulators for application in 160 GBaud DQPSK systems

A method of 40 GHz phase stable short pulses generation is experimentally demonstrated. It is based on a dual parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) driven by only one electrical sinusoidal clock and two cascaded phase modulators. The generated pulses are characterized with full-width-at-half-maximum pulse width of 1.9 ps, extinction ratio of 27 dB, timing jitter of 36 fs and signal to noise ratio over 30 dB. The high quality and phase stability of the pulses are further experimentally verified in a 4 × 40 GBaud differential quadrature phase shift keying (DQPSK) optical-time-division-multiplexing (OTDM) system.     

A miniaturized HTS microwave receiver front-end subsystem for radar and communication applications

This paper presents a miniaturized high performance high temperature superconducting (HTS) microwave receiver front-end subsystem, which uses a mini stirling cryocooler to cool a high selective HTS filter and a low noise amplifier (LNA). The HTS filter was miniaturized by using specially designed compact resonators and fabricating with double-sided YBCO films on LAO substrate which has a relatively high permittivity. The LNA was specially designed to work at cryogenic temperature with noise figure of 0.27 dB at 71 K. The mini cryocooler, which is widely used in infrared detectors, has a smaller size (60 mm × 80 mm × 100 mm) and a lighter weight (340 g) than the stirling cryocoolers commonly used in other HTS filter subsystem. The whole front-end subsystem, including a HTS filter, a LNA, a cryocooler and the vacuum chamber, has a size of only φ120 mm × 175 mm and a weight of only 3.3 kg. The microwave devices inside the subsystem are working at 71.8 K with a consumed cooling power of 0.325 W. The center frequency of this subsystem is 925.2 MHz and the bandwidth is 2.7 MHz (which is a fractional bandwidth of 0.2%), with the gain of 19.75 dB at center frequency and the return loss better than ?18.11 dB in the pass band. The stop band rejection is more than 60 dB and the skirt slope is exceeding 120 dB MHz^?1. The noise figure of this subsystem is less than 0.8 dB. This front-end subsystem can be used in radars and communication systems conveniently due to it’s compact size and light weight.     

Transmission of a spherical sound wave through a single-leaf wall: Mass law for spherical wave incidence

This paper examines the sound insulation of a single-leaf wall driven by a spherical wave. The transmitted sound field of an infinite elastic plate under a spherical wave incidence is theoretically analyzed and insulation mechanisms are considered. The displacement of the plate is formulated using the Hankel transform in wavenumber space and the transmitted sound pressure in the far-field is obtained by Rayleigh’s formula in an explicit closed form. Moreover, a reduction index is also derived in a closed form by introducing an approximation into the vibration characteristics of the plate. Deterioration of the insulation performance under the spherical wave incidence is caused by an apparent decrease of wall impedance that depends on the directivity of the transmitted sound wave. The mass law for a spherical wave incidence is different from that for a normal plane wave incidence: doubling the weight of the wall or the frequency gives an increase of 3 dB (c.f. 6 dB for a normal plane wave incidence), which is also smaller than the field incidence mass law.     

Improved flatness and tunable bandwidth of the supercontinuum generation in all-normal dispersion-flattened PCF using Littman–Metcalf optical bandpass filter

We have proved that in an all-normal dispersion-flattened photonic crystal fiber (PCF), the four-wave mixing (FWM) process dominantly affects the flatness of the generated supercontinuum (SC). The numerical results show that pulses with steepened edges can enhance the FWM conversion efficiency during the SC’s generation and the minima of the spectral oscillatory structure will be smoothed. A double-pass Littman–Metcalf optical bandpass filter is used to make the 1.60 ps hyperbolic-Secant shaped pulses obtain steepened edges. The experimental results show that the flatness of the SC generated from the 4 nm filtered pulses is improved by 0.21 dB. The SC with 10–65 nm tunable bandwidths is obtained by adjusting the filter bandwidth from 1 nm to 7 nm. Further numerical results show that the filter induced SC’s flatness improvement is more effective for pulses with 2.0–4.0 ps FWHM. The improved SC can be used for applications which require stable modulation carriers and flexible bandwidth.     

Sound field characteristics of underground railway stations – Effect of interior materials and noise source positions

In the case of most underground railway stations, no acoustical solutions are used to reduce train noise. Because the reflecting features of train noise in an underground station are not known, appropriate methods for controlling these features have yet to be established. The aim of this study was to clarify the sound field characteristics of underground stations by putting a sound source and receiver on the railway track and platform, respectively. The impulse responses for two vacant underground stations were measured to clarify the effects of the interior materials of the station (Comparison I), and the sound source was put in each station and tunnel to clarify the effect of the noise source positions (Comparison II). Results showed that the sound fields were similar between the stations whose lateral walls were covered with either metallic or fire-resistant wooden panels (Comparison I), and that the sound field for the sound sources near or in the tunnel presented a higher strength (G) by 5.1 dB and longer reverberation time (EDT) by 0.7 s compared to the sound source in the station (Comparison II). The sound sources in the tunnel presented strong and long reverberations at around 500 Hz due to the convergence effect of the tunnel. Therefore, this study proposes a platform screen with doors to limit noise transmission into the platform.     

A subcarrier demultiplexing scheme based on a coefficient-switchable microwave photonic filter in radio-over-fiber systems

A flexible method for subcarrier demultiplexing in radio-over-fiber (RoF) systems is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The subcarrier demultiplexer is realized by a coefficient-switchable microwave photonic filter, which is based on biasing Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) at different transmission slopes. The 2.4 GHz and 2.7 GHz subcarrier signals both modulated with 100 Mbps on-off keying (OOK) data are transmitted and demultiplexed in the RoF system. The experimental result shows that each of the two subcarriers can be individually selected out with the other one well depressed. The proposed subcarrier demultiplexing scheme is simple, feasible, cost-effective and has good potential applications in the multiplexed RoF systems.     

Sound insulation property of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels

Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels (1240 mm × 1100 mm) of different thicknesses and different densities were prepared by molten body transitional foaming process in Northeastern University. The experiments were carried out to investigate the sound insulation property of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels of different thicknesses and different densities under different frequencies (100–4000 Hz). Results show that sound reduction index (R) is small under low frequencies, large under high frequencies; thickness affects the sound insulation property of material obviously: when the thicknesses of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam sandwich panels are 12, 22, and 32 mm, the corresponding weighted sound reduction indices (R_W) are 26.3, 32.2, and 34.6 dB, respectively, the rising trend tempered; the increase of density of Al–Si closed-cell aluminum foam can also increase the sound insulation property: when the densities of aluminum foam are 0.31, 0.51, and 0.67 g/cm³, the corresponding weighted sound reduction indices (R_W) are 28.9, 34.3, and 34.6 dB, the increasing value mitigating.     

Novel attributes of AlGaN/AlN/GaN/SiC HEMTs with the multiple indented channel

In this paper, a high performance AlGaN/AlN/GaN/SiC High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) with the multiple indented channel (MIC-HEMT) is proposed. The main focus of the proposed structure is based on reduction of the space around the gate, stop of the spread of the depletion region around the source–drain, and decrement of the thickness of the channel between the gate and drain. Therefore, the breakdown voltage increases, meanwhile the elimination of the gate depletion layer extension to source/drain decreases the gate–source and gate–drain capacitances. The optimized results reveal that the breakdown voltage and the drain saturation current increase about 178% and 46% compared with a conventional HEMT (C-HEMT), respectively. Therefore, the maximum output power density is improved by factor 4.1 in comparison with conventional one. Also, the cut-off frequency of 25.2 GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency of 92.1 GHz for the MIC-HEMT are obtained compared to 13 GHz and 43 GHz for that of the C-HEMT and the minimum figure noise decreased consequently of reducing the gate–drain and gate–source capacitances by about 42% and 40%, respectively. The proposed MIC-HEMT shows a maximum stable gain (MSG) exceeding 24.1 dB at 3.1 GHz which the greatest gain is yet reported for HEMTs, showing the potential of this device for high power RF applications.     

Frequency sextupling technique using two cascaded dual-electrode Mach–Zehnder modulators interleaved with Gaussian optical band-pass filter

A frequency sextupling technique for the generation of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) is proposed and investigated. The proposed technique is comprised of two cascaded dual-electrode Mach–Zehnder modulators (MZMs), which are interleaved with Gaussian optical band-pass filter (GOBF). The first MZM, biased at minimum transmission, is only used for optical carrier suppression modulation, and the second MZM, biased at maximum transmission, is used for both even-order optical harmonic generation and data signal modulation. The GOBF between two MZMs is used to suppress the high-order optical harmonics beyond the first-order optical harmonics. On the basis of theoretical analysis and simulated demonstrations, it is concluded that with the use of an RF signal at 10 GHz, which carries the data signal and drives the MZMs, an mm-wave signal at 60 GHz can be obtained. The simulation results show that the proposed sextuple leads to a 7 dB improvement in receiver sensitivity in comparison with the modulation technique, i.e. using two cascaded dual-electrode MZMs without GOBF. Furthermore, the eye diagrams show that the quality of generated mm-wave signal is satisfactory. The proposed technique is verified by experiments.     

Microfiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer embedded in low index polymer

Microfiber Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MMZI) is demonstrated by micromanipulating an optical microfiber drawn from a single mode fiber (SMF) using a flame brushing technique. The MMZI shows good interference fringes with an extinction ratio of 13 dB and a free spectral range (FSR) of 0.52 nm at 1530 nm. The MMZI is then embedded in a polymer with the refractive index of 1.36 to increase the stability and robustnes of the device. It is found that the transmission spectrum of the packaged MMZI is changed by the polymer, which increases the FSR to 0.83 nm. The degradation in transmission loss and extinction ratio are attributed to the disturbance at the coupling area during the packaging. Compared with waveguide based mach zehnder interferometer, the proposed MMZI is favoured due to easy fabrication, compact size, and easy integration with the fiber system.     

An improved novel joint channel estimation algorithm for the 112 Gbit/s PDM CO-OFDM system

In this paper, an improved novel joint channel estimation algorithm is proposed for the 112 Gbit/s PDM CO-OFDM system. This method combines the advantages of the intra-symbol frequency domain averaging (ISFA) method and the time domain averaging (TA) method, which can realize more accuracy channel estimation. Simulation results show that this proposal could promise a relatively stable performance even under a rapidly time varying environment. It significantly outperforms the ISFA method by 2.2 dB when the DGD equals 1000 ps, and has the advantages of 0.5 dB over ISFA in considering the laser linewidth and frequency offset.     

Influence of loudspeaker directivity and measurement geometry on direct acoustic levels over façades for acoustic insulation tests with the International Standard ISO 140-5

The International Standard ISO 140-5 on field measurements of airborne sound insulation of façades establishes that the directivity of the measurement loudspeaker should be such that the variation in the local direct sound pressure level (ΔSPL) on the sample is ΔSPL < 5 dB (or ΔSPL < 10 dB for large façades). This condition is usually not very easy to accomplish nor is it easy to verify whether the loudspeaker produces such a uniform level. Direct sound pressure levels on the ISO standard façade essentially depend on the distance and directivity of the loudspeaker used. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the test geometry for measuring sound insulation and explains how the loudspeaker directivity, combined with distance, affects the acoustic level distribution on the façade.The first sections of the paper are focused on analysing the measurement geometry and its influence on the direct acoustic level variations on the façade. The most favourable and least favourable positions to minimise these direct acoustic level differences are found, and the angles covered by the façade in the reference system of the loudspeaker are also determined. Then, the maximum dimensions of the façade that meet the conditions of the ISO 140-5 standard are obtained for the ideal omnidirectional sound source and the piston radiating in an infinite baffle, which is chosen as the typical radiation pattern for loudspeakers.Finally, a complete study of the behaviour of different loudspeaker radiation models (such as those usually utilised in the ISO 140-5 measurements) is performed, comparing their radiation maps on the façade for searching their maximum dimensions and the most appropriate radiation configurations.     

Acoustic transmission performance of double-wall active sound packages in a tube: Numerical/experimental validations

A method based on the combination of the (u, p) formulation and the finite element approach is proposed for calculating the transmission loss of double-wall active sound packages with porous-material cores in a rectangular tube. The (u, p) formulation based on the displacement in the solid phase and the pressure in the fluid phase is rewritten to investigate sound propagation in porous materials, and the coupled boundary conditions and related parameters involved are given. The transmission loss of the double-wall active sound packages excited by a plane wave is calculated via the COMSOL environment with passive and active control. Moreover, a two source-location method is developed to measure the transmission loss of these double-wall active sound packages in a rectangular tube. Some results from numerical examples are shown to be in good agreement with the measured data. It is concluded that with active control, the transmission loss of double-wall active sound packages can be improved by more than 10 dB around resonance frequencies.