Phase noise measurement of a pulsed W-band IMPATT source

A test method is described that uses the Delay Line Bridge (DLB) discriminator as a phase modulation (PM)- or amplitude modulation (AM) detector. A brief discussion is given to explain the different measurement requirements for pulsed sources used in Doppler RADAR with stationary or slow moving transmitter platforms, and fast moving transmitter platforms. A practical solution is offered to the problem of inadequate isolation in present day W-band PIN switches. This measurement set-up, provides a direct measure of the level of spurious oscillations of the IMPATT source, the relative noise content in the turn-on and turn-off region of the RF pulse, and the phase ripple. It also illustrates the influence of reference source injection locking level on the measured characteristics.     

Stochastic Calculus: Application to Dynamic Bifurcations and Threshold Crossings

For the dynamic pitchfork bifurcation in the presence of white noise, the statistics of the last time at zero are calculated as a function of the noise level and the rate of change of the parameter . The threshold crossing problem used, for example, to model the firing of a single cortical neuron is considered, concentrating on quantities that may be experimentally measurable but have so far received little attention. Expressions for the statistics of pre-threshold excursions, occupation density, and last crossing time of zero are compared with results from numerical generation of paths.     

Microwave complementary doped-channel field-effect transistors

In this paper, the device performance and complementary inverter of the InGaP/InGaAs/GaAs doped-channel field-effect transistors (DCFETs) by two-dimensional semiconductor simulation are demonstrated. Due to the relatively large conduction (valance) band discontinuity at InGaP/InGaAs interface, it provides good confinement effect for transporting carriers in InGaAs channel layer for the n-channel (p-channel) device. The large gate turn-on voltage is achieved due to the employment of the wide energy-gap InGaP material as gate layer. The _ft$f_t$ and _fmax$f_{max}$ are of 6.5 (2.1) and 25 (5) GHz for the n-channel (p-channel) device. Furthermore, the co-integrated structures, by the combination of n- and p-channel field-effect transistors, could form a complementary inverter and the relatively large noise margins are achieved.     

Annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbances due to structurally radiated noise from railway tunnels

In Norway, the requirement for structure borne noise from tunnels is L_pAFmax = 32 dB inside dwellings. According to the Norwegian Standard 8175 it is expected that up to 20% of the exposed population are disturbed by the noise at this level. However, the scientific basis for this noise limit is poor. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbances as a function of L_pAFmax. In the present study, 521 dwellings exposed to structural sound from railway rock-tunnels were identified. A questionnaire was sent to one randomly selected person above 18 years of age from each dwelling. The results showed that both noise induced annoyance and reported sleep disturbances were significantly related to L_pAFmax. Other factors that increased the annoyance were high pass-by frequency of freight trains per day, and degree of sound insulation of the windows. At L_pAFmax = 32 dB, 20% were slightly or more than slightly annoyed, and 4% were moderately or more than moderately annoyed. According to the pre-existing assumption that up to 20% of the exposed population are disturbed by the noise at this level, the present results give support to the Norwegian noise limit L_pAFmax = 32 dB inside dwellings of structure borne noise from railway tunnels.     

Investigation of the optical gain and noise figure for multi-channel amplification in EDFA under optimized pump condition

We present the results of an investigation of optical gain and noise figure for simultaneous multi-channel amplification of an erbium doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) under optimized pump condition. Different pump configurations with varying input signal levels show interesting features on gain flatness. In the experiment, population inversion along the fibre length which determines the gain-spectra and noise characteristics of the amplifier is adjusted through optimized fibre length and injected pump power in order to minimize the gain-tilt at C-band. It is observed that bi-directional pumping manifests the best combination of low noise and high gain of EDFA which are useful as in-line repeaters in WDM network. We obtain 30 ± 1.5 dB intrinsically flat small signal gain from 1538 nm to 1558 nm band of wavelength with noise figure <4 dB for 16-channel simultaneous amplification in a single stage EDFA without gain flattening filter.     

Range image noise suppression in laser imaging system

Laser radar is able to produce both intensity images and range images. These two images provide the full 3-D information of the target. The quality of the range image is negatively impacted by noise arising from dropouts and range anomalies. This paper proposes an algorithm for range image background suppression, utilizing the intensity image, a mathematical morphology (MM) filter and a mean filter. An order-mean-filter algorithm is applied to suppress the range anomaly. A comparison of the filter effects between various templates and templates in weighted mode was made, resulting in the selection of the order-mean-filter algorithm of the best multiple template. It was applied to the range image formed by the target in the actual radar.     

Total entropy production fluctuation theorems in a nonequilibrium time-periodic steady state

We investigate the total entropy production of a Brownian particle in a driven bistable system. This system exhibits the phenomenon of stochastic resonance. We show that in the time-periodic steady state, the probability density function for the total entropy production satisfies Seifert’s integral and detailed fluctuation theorems over finite time trajectories.     

Using power level difference for near field dual-microphone speech enhancement

In this contribution, a novel dual-channel speech enhancement technique is introduced. The proposed approach uses the dissimilarity between the power of received signals in the two channels as a criterion for speech enhancement and noise reduction. We claim that in near field conditions, where the distances between microphones and sound source are short, the difference in the received power levels at the two microphones is an estimate of the clean speech signal power. Then, apply this theory to present an optimum method for speech enhancement. Fortunately, the method has the ability to cope with problems such as transient noise and nearby microphones which are two of the main problems of the proposed dual-microphone speech enhancement techniques. Using objective speech quality measures and spectrogram analysis, we show that the proposed method results in improved speech quality.     

Numerical predictions of noise due to subsonic jets from nozzles with and without chevrons

Numerical simulations of round, compressible, turbulent jets using the Shear Stress Transport (SST k-ω) model have been carried out. The three-dimensional calculations have been done on a tetrahedral mesh with 0.9 million cells. Two jets, one cold and hot, have been simulated. The Mach number for both the cases is 0.75. Overall sound pressure levels (SPL) at far-field observer locations have been calculated using Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. The numerical predictions have been compared with experimental results available in the literature. Axial and radial variation of the mean axial velocity, axial variation of , radial variation of and overall SPL levels are compared. The potential core length is predicted well, but the predicted centerline velocity decay is faster than the measured value. The URANS calculations are not able to predict the absolute values for the overall SPL, but predict the trends reasonably well. The calculations predict the trends and absolute values of the variations of the spectral amplitude well for the aft receivers, but not for the forward receivers. Effect of chevrons on the noise from the jet is also investigated for cold and hot jets. In each case, two chevron taper angles, namely, 0° and 5° are considered. The latter nozzle produces the most significant modification to the baseline spectra and is less effective at high frequencies in abating the noise. The present calculations predict a reduction in the overall SPL for the chevron nozzle with 0° taper angle and a slight increase for chevron nozzle with 5° taper angle, for both cold and hot jets.