Polarization characteristics of elliptic-core fibers with stress induced anisotropy

We present a simple analytical method to study birefringence and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of elliptic-core fibers with uniform or differential stress in the fiber cross section. The model takes account of both geometrical and stress birefringence, simultaneously. It is found that neglecting the geometrical birefringence, even under the weakly guiding approximation, can lead to significant errors in the calculation of PMD and the zero PMD wavelength. It is also found that one can obtain zero PMD in the single-mode region even by applying a suitable differential stress along the major axis. This is very attractive since then the geometrical and stress birefringences add up to give increased total birefringence.     

A framework for seamless roaming across cellular and wireless local area networks

In the future, wireless and mobile users will have increased demands for seamless roaming across different types of wireless networks, quality of service guarantees, and support for a variety of services. This awareness has led to research activities directed toward intersystem and global roaming, and can be noticed in numerous products like multimode handsets, interworking gateways, and ongoing standards and research work on intersystem roaming. The authors of this article proposed a global mobility management framework to support seamless roaming across heterogeneous wireless networks. In this article we provide details on the use of the framework to support roaming across cellular and wireless local area networks. Highlights of the framework include a robust architecture for mobility management for varying user mobility spans, provisioning for QoS mapping, intersystem message translation, and mechanisms in the WLAN to support user-subscribed services. Performance aspects related to handoff delays, data redirection, and processing overheads are presented and discussed. Performance comparison of intersystem roaming between cellular and WLAN with and without the framework is presented.     

A standard fiber-based loop mirror as a gain-flattening filter for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

We report flattening of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum from an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) using a standard fiber-based loop mirror (FLM), realized with an "over-coupled" fiber coupler. Through simulation, a bend-induced birefringent FLM as a gain-flattening filter is designed. Subsequently, an over-coupled coupler with a free spectral range of 140 nm is fabricated to realize the FLM, which is integrated to an EDF that is pumped by a 980-nm laser diode. By introducing an appropriate amount of bend-induced birefringence in the loop, the ASE spectrum of the EDF could be flattened within /spl plusmn/0.5 dB over a wavelength range of 32 nm in the C-band.     

Extraction of uranium(VI) by tri iso-amyl phosphate (TiAP) in ionic liquids

Batch extraction of uranium(VI) from uranyl nitrate solutions using TiAP in ionic liquids ([BMIM]PF₆ and [HMIM]PF₆) is studied. Effects of acidity, TiAP concentration in ionic liquid and temperature on distribution coefficient are studied. Results show that distribution coefficient increases with an increase in acidity and reduces with an increase in the alkyl chain length of the cation of the ionic liquid. Extraction of uranium(VI) by TiAP-[HMIM]PF₆ system is found to involve two molecules of the extractant per metal ion and extraction is found to change from being exothermic to endothermic as the percentage of the extractant is increased.     

An analysis for forced convection heat transfer from external surfaces to non-Newtonian fluids

A theoretical analysis has been proposed for the forced convection heat transfer from external surfaces immersed in non-Newtonian fluids of the power-law model. The integral treatment previously introduced for Newtonian fluids has been successfully extended to the non-Newtonian fluids over a flat plate and a wedge of an arbitrary included angle. The integral momentum and energy equations are transformed into a pair of characteristic equations, which can readily be solved for the velocity shape factor and the boundary layer thickness ratio, once the exponents in the expressions for the power-law model, free stream velocity and wall temperature variation are specified. It has been also found that an asymptotic expression derived under the assumption of large Prandtl number, is valid practically for all power-law fluids, and hence, can be used for a speedy, and yet accurate estimation of the local heat transfer to non-Newtonian fluids.     

Space charge induced surface stresses: implications in ceria and other ionic solids

Volume changes associated with point defects in space charge layers can produce strains that substantially alter thermodynamic equilibrium near surfaces in ionic solids. For example, near-surface compressive stresses exceeding -10 GPa are predicted for ceria. The magnitude of this effect is consistent with anomalous lattice parameter increases that occur in ceria nanoparticles. These stresses should significantly alter defect concentrations and key transport properties in a wide range of materials (e.g., ceria electrolytes in fuel cells).     

A 2-D random-walk mobility model for location-management studies in wireless networks

In this work, a novel two-dimensional (2-D) random-walk mobility model is proposed, which can be used for studying and analyzing the location-area crossing rate and dwell time of mobile users in wireless networks. The development and application of the model under two cell structures, namely the square and hexagon cells, have been detailed. The analytical results obtained for location-update rates and dwell times have been validated using simulated and published results. The highlights of the model are its simplicity, minimal assumptions, and adaptability to conduct both "location-crossing rate" and "dwell-time" studies using the same model with slight modifications for either the square or hexagon cells. Using symmetry of mobile-user movement, a reduced number of computational states was achieved. A novel wrap-around feature of the model facilitates reduced assumptions on user mobility, which has also resulted in considerably reduced mathematical computation complexity. A regular Markov chain model was used for computing the average location-area crossing rate. A slightly modified model with absorbing states was used to derive the dwell time. This is the first model of its kind that can be used for studying area-crossing rates. To further emphasize the flexibility of the model, we have extended the model to study an overlapped location-area strategy. The study and analysis of overlapped locations areas has hitherto been difficult due to the complexity of the models.     

Compositionally modulated ripples induced by sputtering of alloy surfaces

Sputtering of an amorphous or crystalline material by an ion beam often results in the formation of periodic nanoscale ripple patterns on the surface. In this Letter, we show that, in the case of alloy surfaces, the differences in the sputter yields and surface diffusivities of the alloy components will also lead to spontaneous modulations in composition that can be in or out of phase with the ripple topography. The degree of this kinetic alloy decomposition can be altered by varying the flux of the ion beam. In the high-temperature and low-flux regime, the degree of decomposition scales linearly with the ion flux, but it scales inversely with the ion flux in the low-temperature, high-flux regime.     

Darcy-Forchheimer natural,forced and mixed convection heat transfer in non-Newtonian power-law fluid-saturated porous media

The governing equation for Darcy-Forchheimer flow of non-Newtonian inelastic power-law fluid through porous media has been derived from first principles. Using this equation, the problem of Darcy-Forchheimer natural, forced, and mixed convection within the porous media saturated with a power-law fluid has been solved using the approximate integral method. It is observed that a similarity solution exists specifically for only the case of an isothermal vertical flat plate embedded in the porous media. The results based on the approximate method, when compared with existing exact solutions show an agreement of within a maximum error bound of 2.5%.Nomenclature A cross-sectional area - b _i coefficient in the chosen temperature profile - B ₁ coefficient in the profile for the dimensionless boundary layer thickness - C coefficient in the modified Forchheimer term for power-law fluids - C ₁ coefficient in the Oseen approximation which depends essentially on pore geometry - C _i coefficient depending essentially on pore geometry - C _D drag coefficient - C _t coefficient in the expression forK ^* - d particle diameter (for irregular shaped particles, it is characteristic length for average-size particle) - f _p resistance or drag on a single particle - F _R total resistance to flow offered byN particles in the porous media - g acceleration due to gravity - g _x component of the acceleration due to gravity in thex-direction - Grashof number based on permeability for power-law fluids - K intrinsic permeability of the porous media - K ^* modified permeability of the porous media for flow of power-law fluids - l _c characteristic length - m exponent in the gravity field - n power-law index of the inelastic non-Newtonian fluid - N total number of particles - Nux,_D,F local Nusselt number for Darcy forced convection flow - Nux,_D-F,F local Nusselt number for Darcy-Forchheimer forced convection flow - Nux,_D,M local Nusselt number for Darcy mixed convection flow - Nux,_D-F,M local Nusselt number for Darcy-Forchheimer mixed convection flow - Nux,_D,N local Nusselt number for Darcy natural convection flow - Nux,_D-F,N local Nusselt number for Darcy-Forchheimer natural convection flow - pressure - p exponent in the wall temperature variation - _Pe c characteristic Péclet number - _Pe x local Péclet number for forced convection flow - _Pe x modified local Péclet number for mixed convection flow - _Ra c characteristic Rayleigh number - _Ra x local Rayleigh number for Darcy natural convection flow - _Ra x local Rayleigh number for Darcy-Forchheimer natural convection flow - Re convectional Reynolds number for power-law fluids - Reynolds number based on permeability for power-law fluids - T temperature - T _e ambient constant temperature - T w,_ref constant reference wall surface temperature - T _w(X) variable wall surface temperature - T _w temperature difference equal toT w,_ref–T _e - T ₁ term in the Darcy-Forchheimer natural convection regime for Newtonian fluids - T ₂ term in the Darcy-Forchheimer natural convection regime for non-Newtonian fluids (first approximation) - T _N term in the Darcy/Forchheimer natural convection regime for non-Newtonian fluids (second approximation) - u Darcian or superficial velocity - u ₁ dimensionless velocity profile - u _e external forced convection flow velocity - u _s seepage velocity (local average velocity of flow around the particle) - u _w wall slip velocity - U c _M characteristic velocity for mixed convection - U c _N characteristic velocity for natural convection - x, y boundary-layer coordinates - x ₁,y ₁ dimensionless boundary layer coordinates - X coefficient which is a function of flow behaviour indexn for power-law fluids - effective thermal diffusivity of the porous medium - shape factor which takes a value of/4 for spheres - shape factor which takes a value of/6 for spheres - ₀ expansion coefficient of the fluid - _T boundary-layer thickness - T ₁ dimensionless boundary layer thickness - porosity of the medium - similarity variable - dimensionless temperature difference - coefficient which is a function of the geometry of the porous media (it takes a value of 3 for a single sphere in an infinite fluid) - ₀ viscosity of Newtonian fluid - ^* fluid consistency of the inelastic non-Newtonian power-law fluid - constant equal toX(2 ^2–n )/ - density of the fluid - dimensionless wall temperature difference