Colorless Operation of WDM-PON Employing Uncooled Spectrum-Sliced Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

We demonstrate a low-cost wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical network based on colorless uncooled spectrum-sliced reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers. In this network, we achieve bit-error rates of better than 10^-10 over 32 100-GHz-spaced channels from 0 degC to 60 degC in 155-Mb/s transmissions. The penalties due to dispersion effect and Rayleigh backscattering interference over 25 km are almost negligible. We also present colorless operations over 16-channel coverage in outdoor temperature range     

Non-convex hybrid total variation for image denoising

Image restoration problems, such as image denoising, are important steps in various image processing method, such as image segmentation and object recognition. Due to the edge preserving property of the convex total variation (TV), variational model with TV is commonly used in image restoration. However, staircase artifacts are frequently observed in restored smoothed region. To remove the staircase artifacts in smoothed region, convex higher-order TV (HOTV) regularization methods are introduced. But the valuable edge information of the image is also attenuated. In this paper, we propose non-convex hybrid TV regularization method to significantly reduce staircase artifacts while well preserving the valuable edge information of the image. To efficiently find a solution of the variation model with the proposed regularizer, we use the iterative reweighted method with the augmented Lagrangian based algorithm. The proposed model shows the best performance in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the structure similarity index measure (SSIM) with comparable computational complexity.     

Packet‐Reduced Ranging Method with Superresolution TOA Estimation Algorithm for Chirp‐Based RTLS

In this paper, a packet‐reduced ranging method using a superresolution time of arrival estimation algorithm for a chirp‐based real‐time locating system is presented. A variety of ranging methods, such as symmetric double‐sided two‐way ranging (SDS‐TWR), have been proposed to remove the time drift due to the frequency offset using extra ranging packets. Our proposed method can perform robust ranging against the frequency offset using only two ranging packets while maintaining almost the same ranging accuracy as them. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm, the error performance of our proposed ranging method is analyzed and compared with others. The total ranging performance of TWR, SDS‐TWR, and our proposed TWR are analyzed and verified through simulations in additive white Gaussian noise and multipath channels in the presence of the frequency offset.     

Interference‐Limited Dynamic Resource Management for an Integrated Satellite/Terrestrial System

An integrated multi‐beam satellite and multi‐cell terrestrial system is an attractive means for highly efficient communication due to the fact that the two components (satellite and terrestrial) make the most of each other's resources. In this paper, a terrestrial component reuses a satellite's resources under the control of the satellite's network management system. This allows the resource allocation for the satellite and terrestrial components to be coordinated to optimize spectral efficiency and increase overall system capacity. In such a system, the satellite resources reused in the terrestrial component may bring about severe interference, which is one of the main factors affecting system capacity. Under this consideration, the objective of this paper is to achieve an optimized resource allocation in both components in such a way as to minimize any resulting inter‐component interference. The objective of the proposed scheme is to mitigate this inter‐component interference by optimizing the total transmission power — the result of which can lead to an increase in capacity. The simulation results in this paper illustrate that the proposed scheme affords a more energy‐efficient system to be implemented, compared to a conventional power management scheme, by allocating the bandwidth uniformly regardless of the amount of interference or traffic demand.     

Emergence of Multispinterface and Antiferromagnetic Molecular Exchange Bias via Molecular Stacking on a Ferromagnetic Film

Heterointerfaces may exhibit unexpected physical properties distinct from intrinsic properties of component materials. In particular, metal–organic interfaces can drive unique interfacial spin moments, which are often called molecular spinterface. Here, van der Waals stacking of molecular layers may lead to variations in the intra/interlayer exchange coupling resulting in multiple ground states, which is highly desired for multifunctional magnetic devices. In this report, the emergence of molecular multispinterface of paramagnetic cobalt‐octaethyl‐porphyrin (CoOEP) layers in a Fe/CoOEP heterostructure is demonstrated through the interfacial layer and a successive antiferromagnetic molecular spin chain. The disentangled interfacial ferromagnetic spins lead to multiple magnetic ground states and behave as additional spin‐dependent scattering centers, as evidenced through the magnetotransport study. In addition, the antiferromagnetic molecule spin chain derives tunable exchange bias, which signifies the dominance of the antiferromagnetic interfacial interaction. Theoretical calculations demonstrate spin configurations of the molecular chain and the antiferromagnetic interfacial coupling through oxygen intermediaries. The development of the molecular multispinterface and controllable exchange bias therein will provide a promising route for the active control of multivalued data processing at the nanoscale.     

Efficient Polymer Solar Cells with Surface Relief Gratings Fabricated by Simple Soft Lithography

Polymer‐based photovoltaic cells, with periodic sub‐micrometer structures as an efficient light‐trapping scheme, are investigated to improve the performance of organic solar cells based on poly(3‐hexylthiophene) and 1‐(3‐methoxycarbonyl)propyl‐1‐phenyl‐(6,6)C₆₁. A soft lithographic approach that uses photoresponsive azo polymer films as masters and poly(dimethylsiloxane) as stamps is used to form surface relief gratings (SRGs) on the active layers. The effect of periodic gratings on solar cell performance is precisely investigated according to various grating conditions such as period, depth, and dimension. The solar cells with 1D and 2D SRGs present improved incident‐photon‐to‐current conversion efficiencies and an overall increase in power conversion efficiencies, primarily resulting from the enhancement of short‐circuit current density, indicating that periodic structures induce further photon absorption in the active film.     

Array Calibration for CDMA Smart Antenna Systems

In this paper, we investigate array calibration algorithms to derive a further improved version for correcting antenna array errors and RF transceiver errors in CDMA smart antenna systems. The structure of a multi‐channel RF transceiver with a digital calibration apparatus and its calibration techniques are presented, where we propose a new RF receiver calibration scheme to minimize interference of the calibration signal on the user signals. The calibration signal is injected into a multichannel receiver through a calibration signal injector whose array response vector is controlled in order to have a low correlation with the antenna response vector of the receive signals. We suggest a model‐based antenna array calibration to remove the antenna array errors including mutual coupling errors or to predict the element patterns from the array manifold measured at a small number of angles. Computer simulations and experiment results are shown to verify the calibration algorithms.     

Highly Efficient Nonvolatile Magnetization Switching and Multi-Level States by Current in Single Van der Waals Topological Ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2

Robust multi-level spin memory with the ability to write information electrically is a long-sought capability in spintronics, with great promise for applications. Here, nonvolatile and highly energy-efficient magnetization switching is achieved in a single-material device formed of van-der-Waals (vdW) topological ferromagnet Fe₃GeTe₂, whose magnetic information can be readily controlled by a tiny current. Furthermore, the switching current density and power dissipation are about 400 and 4000 times smaller than those of the existing spin-orbit-torque magnetic random access memory based on conventional magnet/heavy-metal systems. Most importantly, multi-level states, switched by electrical current are also demonstrated, which can dramatically enhance the information capacity density and reduce computing costs. Thus, the observations combine both high energy efficiency and large information capacity density in one device, showcasing the potential applications of the emerging field of vdW magnets in the field of spin memory and spintronics.     

The role of functional data analysis for instantaneous frequency estimation

This paper proposes a method for estimating the instantaneous frequency of a nonstationary signal; this method is based on a combination of empirical mode decomposition and functional data analysis. The proposed method incorporates a basis expansion technique for a functional data into time-varying phase derived by empirical mode decomposition and Hilbert transform, which provides a stable instantaneous frequency function. The superiority of the proposed method for instantaneous frequency estimation is demonstrated by various simulation studies. The analysis of multicomponent signals by the proposed method is also discussed. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed method is highly effective for identifying groups (clusters) of nonstationary signals on the basis of the instantaneous frequency information.     

GA-Ensemble: a genetic algorithm for robust ensembles

Many simple and complex methods have been developed to solve the classification problem. Boosting is one of the best known techniques for improving the accuracy of classifiers. However, boosting is prone to overfitting with noisy data and the final model is difficult to interpret. Some boosting methods, including AdaBoost, are also very sensitive to outliers. In this article we propose a new method, GA-Ensemble, which directly solves for the set of weak classifiers and their associated weights using a genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm utilizes a new penalized fitness function that limits the number of weak classifiers and controls the effects of outliers by maximizing an appropriately chosen $p$ th percentile of margins. We compare the test set error rates of GA-Ensemble, AdaBoost, and GentleBoost (an outlier-resistant version of AdaBoost) using several artificial data sets and real-world data sets from the UC-Irvine Machine Learning Repository. GA-Ensemble is found to be more resistant to outliers and results in simpler predictive models than AdaBoost and GentleBoost.