Synthesis of a hexaalkoxybenzo[b]triphenylene mesogen

The synthesis of the first mesogenic hexaalkoxybenzo[b]triphenylene derivative is reported; this compound exhibits a broad columnar liquid crystal phase at temperatures only slightly above room temperature.     

Compact 21-W 2-mum intracavity optical parametric oscillator

We report on an intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) placed within a compact diode-pumped Nd:YALO laser cavity. This OPO utilizes a pair of KTP crystals, which are diffusion bonded together in a walk-off-compensated configuration. We have generated up to 21.4 W of 2-mum radiation, operating in a few-kilohertz range.     

Self-adaptive biasing technique for microwave bipolar amplifier linearisation

A novel linearised bipolar amplifier topology, integrating both reduction of baseband distortion and self-adaptive biasing techniques, is presented. The linearising circuit suppresses more than 25 dB of the spectral regrowth for the first-order sidelobes and reduces up to 36% DC bias power of the amplifying transistor     

Feedback Quantization Strategies for Multiuser Diversity Systems

In a system utilizing multiuser diversity, regular feedback of channel-quality predictions to the base station is required for each user. Typically, the measure of channel quality must be quantized at each mobile station before it can be sent back. In this paper, we present two distributed scalar quantization schemes that optimize two different performance criteria: a) the minimization of the probability P _e of incorrectly identifying the user with the best channel quality and b) maximization of the resulting throughput R. For a typical Rayleigh-fading system with 30 users per sector, numerical optimization results show that the P_e and R realized by the uniform quantization strategy with 16 quantization levels for each user can be achieved by only three quantization levels using the two proposed strategies. A practical approximation of the proposed schemes is studied and is shown to provide near-optimal performance for both performance criteria as the number of quantization levels becomes large     

An Efficient Volume Integral Equation Solution to EM Scattering by Complex Bodies With Inhomogeneous Bi-Isotropy

A generalized volume integral equation method is formulated for electromagnetic scattering by arbitrarily shaped complex bodies with inhomogeneous bi-isotropy. Based on the volume equivalence principle, the integral equations are represented in terms of a pair of coupled bi-isotropic polarized volume electric and magnetic flux densities. Reduction of the integral equations into the corresponding matrix equations is obtained using the method of moments (MoM) combined with the tetrahedral mesh. In the MoM solution, the three-dimensional solenoidal function is incorporated as the basis function defined over each tetrahedral element and the details of implementation, particularly the treatment of integral singularities, will be elucidated. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method are validated by illustratively supported examples.     

Metamorphic Heterostructure InP/GaAsSb/InP HBTs on GaAs Substrates by MOCVD

Good-quality metamorphic InP buffer layers have been successfully grown on GaAs substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Characterization by atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction, and Hall measurements indicated that the layers are of high crystalline quality, good mobility, and excellent surface morphology. On this buffer, we demonstrated the first metamorphic InP/GaAsSb/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with good material quality and device performance. Metamorphic DHBTs showed direct-current and radio-frequency characteristics that are comparable to those grown on lattice-matched InP substrates.     

On the analysis of peak-to-average ratio (PAR) for IS95 andCDMA2000 systems

Peak-to-average ratio (PAR) of a signal is an important parameter to a linear amplifier because it determines the backoff factor needed to be applied to the amplifier in order to avoid clipping and hence spectral regrowth. In this paper, we analyzed the PAR of the downlink direct code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) signal for the IS-95 (2G) and the CDMA2000 (3G) systems. Both the single-carrier (SC) and the multi-carrier (MC) situations are considered. For MC systems, an analytical model is developed to describe the PAR distribution. Closed-form expressions are obtained. Results are compared with simulations, and a nearly exact match is found. This is very useful since simulations for PAR distribution are very costly. Finally, PAR control by synthesis methods are proposed, and their effectiveness are discussed     

Integrated scheduling of handling equipment at automated container terminals

To improve the productivities of an automated container terminal, it is important to schedule different types of handling equipment in an integrated way. A mixed-integer programming model, which considers various constraints related to the integrated operations between different types of handling equipment, is formulated. A heuristic algorithm, called multi-layer genetic algorithm (MLGA) is developed with a view to overcome the computation difficulty for solving the mathematical model. A numerical experimentation is carried out in order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm.     

High-power high-efficiency GaAlAs superluminescent diodes with aninternal absorber for lasing suppression

The operation principles of a high-power high-efficiency GaAlAs superluminescent diode based on an internal absorber for lasing suppression is described. The absorber is based on an unpumped/reverse-biased section in the device, and the superluminescent diode characteristic depends heavily on the bias condition of the absorber section. The very high efficiency of the device arises from the strong waveguiding effect of the buried heterostructure. A theory which accurately describes the various device characteristics is described