Scintillation prediction models compared to measurements on a timebase of several days

The prediction models for scintillation variance of ITU-R and Karasawa et al. (1988) are compared to measurements on a time base which is much shorter than originally considered for these models. It is shown that even after averaging over just three days, a good correlation with the measured variance is found. Both models predict higher scintillation variance than is measured at 19.8 GHz on a 12.7° elevation path in Kirkkonummi, Finland     

Potentiometric and spectrophotometric titration of Cu2+ complexes with N-isopropyl-2-methyl-1,2-propanediamine

The complexation of Cu²⁺ by N-isopropyl-2-methyl-1,2-propanediamine (L) has been studied by potentiometric and spectrophotometric titration. The dominant complexes formed in this system are [CuL]²⁺, [CuL₂]²⁺, [Cu₂L₂(OH)₂]²⁺, and [CuL(OH)₂]. The data were thoroughly tested for different models with [CuL(OH)]⁺, [CuL(OH)]⁺, [Cu(OH)]⁺, and [Cu₂(OH)₂]²⁺ as additional species. The importance of steric factors is indicated by the d-d* spectra: for [CuL₂]²⁺, (λ_max = 499 nm) the absorption maximum is shifted by 50 nm to high energies relative to [Cu(en)₂]²⁺, (λ_max = 549 nm), whereas the opposite is true for the 1:1 complexes ([CuL]²⁺ : λ_max = 712 nm,s [Cu(en)]²⁺ : λ_max = 660 nm).     

Pentafluoroethylaluminates: A Combined Synthetic,Spectroscopic, and Structural Study

Salts of the tetrakis(pentafluoroethyl)aluminate anion [Al(C₂F₅)₄]⁻ were obtained from AlCl₃ and LiC₂F₅. They were isolated with different counter-cations and characterized by NMR and vibrational spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Degradation of the [Al(C₂F₅)₄]⁻ ion was found to proceed via 1,2-fluorine shifts and stepwise loss of CF(CF₃) under formation of [(C₂F₅)_4−nAlF_n]⁻ (n=1–4) as assessed by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry and supported by results of DFT calculations. In addition, the [(C₂F₅)AlF₃]⁻ ion was structurally characterized.     

Compact varactor-tuned meander line monopole antenna for DVB-H signal reception

A compact varactor-tuned meander line monopole antenna for DVB-H signal reception is presented. The operating frequency of the antenna is continuously tuned over the frequency range of the DVB-H standard 470-702 MHz. The antenna has an omnidirectional radiation pattern and covers the frequency range with requisite impedance bandwidth and gain level. The antenna element occupies a very small volume (0.7 cm³ ) and can be used in 40 x 100 x 10 mm devices.     

Frequency dependence of amplitude scintillation

In the prediction models of tropospheric scintillation on Earth-satellite paths from Karasawa, Yamada, and Allnutt and ITU-R, the frequency dependence of scintillation is expressed as a power law with a different exponent for each model. This is verified using a collection of measurement results from different satellite links in Europe, the US, and Japan at frequencies from 4 to 50 GHz and elevation angles from 2.5 to 52°. It shows that the exponent of the power law varies widely among the results from the different sites. Possible explanations of this are: (1) the frequency dependence of scintillation due to cloudy turbulence is different from that due to clear-sky turbulence and this kind of scintillation may be present to different extents in the various databases due to climatic differences and different clear-sky selection procedures or (2) angle-of-arrival fluctuations due to turbulence have a different frequency dependence and this effect may have some impact on the measured scintillation at some of the sites     

Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes of 2-(2'-pyridyl)-4,6-diphenylphosphinine: synthesis, structure, and reactivity

The coordination chemistry of the bidentate P,N hybrid ligand 2-(2'-pyridyl)-4,6-diphenylphosphinine (1) towards Pd(II) and Pt(II) has been investigated. The molecular structures of the complexes [PdCl(2)(1)] and [PtCl(2)(1)] were determined by X-ray diffraction, representing the first crystallographically characterized λ(3)-phosphinine-Pd(II) and -Pt(II) complexes. Both complexes reacted with methanol at the P=C double bond at an elevated temperature, leading to the corresponding products [MCl(2)(1H·OCH(3))]. The molecular structure of [PdCl(2)(1H·OCH(3))] was determined crystallographically and revealed that the reaction with methanol proceeds selectively by syn addition and exclusively to one of the P=C double bonds. Strikingly, the reaction of [PdCl(2)(1H·OCH(3))] with the chelating diphosphine DPEphos at room temperature in CH(2)Cl(2) led quantitatively to [PdCl(2)(DPEphos)] and phosphinine 1 by elimination of CH(3)OH and rearomatization of the phosphorus heterocycle.     

Two-mode dynamics in dispersed systems: the case of particle-stabilized foams studied by diffusing wave spectroscopy

The stabilization of aqueous foams solely by solid particles is an active field of research. Thanks to controlled particle chemistry and production devices, we are able to generate large volumes of such foams. We previously investigated some of their unique properties, especially the strongly reduced coarsening. Here we report another type of study on these foams: performing diffusing wave spectroscopy (DWS), we investigate for the first time the internal dynamics on the scales of both the particles and the bubbles. When compared to surfactant foams, unusual features are observed; in particular, two well-separated modes are found in the dynamics, both evolving with foam aging. We propose an interpretation of these specificities, taking into account both the scattering by free particles in the foam fluid (fast mode), and by the foam structure (slow mode). To validate our interpretation, we show that independent measurements of the interstitial fluid scattering length, obtained indirectly on the foam and directly on the drained liquid, are in good agreement. We have also identified the experimental conditions required to observe such two-process dynamics. Counter-intuitively, the fraction of free particles within the foam interstitial fluid has to be very low to get an optimal signature of these particles on the DWS correlation curves. This study also sheds light on the partitioning of the particles inside the foams and at the interfaces, as the foam ages. Lastly, the results shown here (obtained by analyzing the fluctuations of the transmitted light) implement the previous ones (obtained by analyzing the mean transmitted intensity), and prove that the foam structure is actually not fully frozen.     

On Design of Parallel Memory Access Schemes for Video Coding

Some of the modern powerful digital signal processors (DSPs) have byte-addressable internal data memory. This property is valuable especially in computationally demanding inter frame video encoding, where data accesses are typically unaligned according to word boundaries. The byte-addressable memory allows load or store command to start accessing from any byte-address, providing at most as many successive bytes from subsequent addresses as data bus can handle in parallel. Maybe the simplest way to construct such a byte-addressable memory is to use N 8-bit memory modules or banks to be accessed in parallel, when N is data bus width in bytes. However, in addition to byte-addressable subsequent bytes, memory consisting of parallel memory modules can provide much more versatile addressing capabilities with reasonable implementation cost. Versatile access formats can significantly reduce the need for data reordering in the register file. At first, we provide motivation for using parallel memory architecture with versatile access formats as an internal on-chip data memory of modern DSP. After this, notations are described and general view of parallel memory design is given. We propose some example parallel data memory architecture designs with data access formats especially helpful in H.263 encoding and MPEG-4 core profile motion and texture encoding. The examples are given for different data bus widths (16, 32, 64, and 128 bits). Finally, performance is shortly compared to other memory architectures and area, delay, and power figures are estimated.Jarno K. Tanskanen was born in Joensuu, Finland in 1975. He studied analog and digital electronics in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and computer architecture in the Department of Information Technology at Tampere University of Technology, where he received his M.Sc. degree in 1999. He is currently working as a research scientist in the Institute of Digital and Computer Systems at TUT. His Dr.Tech. research concerns parallel processing of video compression. jarno.tanskanen@tut.fiReiner Creutzburg received his Diploma in Mathematics in 1976 and attained his Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1984 from the Rostock University, Germany. Prof. Creutzburg has published 3 books, filed 2 patents, and produced approximately 100 articles, preprint, and conference papers. Professional Experience: Since 2000—Part-time Professor for Multimedia technology, Tampere University of Technology, Finland. Since 1992—Full-time Professor of Computer Science, Fachhochschule Brandenburg-University of Applied Sciences, Brandenburg, Germany. 1990 to 1992—Assistant Professor, University of Karlsruhe, Institute of Algorithms and Cognitive Systems, Germany. 1987 to 1989—Head of the Research Section Image Processing. 1986 to 1989—Founder and Head of the International Base Laboratory of Image Processing and Computer Graphics for East European countries at the Central Institute of Cybernetics and Information Processes of the Academy of Sciences (Berlin), Germany. 1976 to 1989—Researcher and Assistant Professor in various Universities and the Academy of Sciences, Central Institute of Cybernetics and Information, Berlin. creutzburg@fh-brandenburg.deJarkko T. Niittylahti was born in Orivesi, Finland, in 1962. He received the M.Sc, Lic.Tech, and Dr.Tech degrees at Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in 1988, 1992, and 1995, respectively. From 1987 to 1992, he was a researcher at TUT. In 1992–93, he was a researcher at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1993–95, he was with Nokia Consumer Electronics, Bochum, Germany, and in 1995–97 with Nokia Research Center, Tampere, Finland. In 1997–2000, he was a Professor at Signal Processing Laboratory, TUT, and in 2000–2002 at Institute of Digital and Computer Systems, TUT. Currently, he is a Docent of Digital Techniques at TUT and the managing director of Staselog Ltd. He is also a co-founder and President of Atostek Ltd. He is interested in designing digital systems and architectures. jarkko.niittylahti@tut.fi