Fourth-order discrete-time variable centre frequency bandpass sigma-delta modulator

Copyright © 2006 IEEEA design for a variable centre frequency bandpass sigma-delta modulator is presented. The modulator is based on a tunable discrete-time resonator using only one control parameter. The noise transfer function of the modulator is controlled by a 4-bit digital signal, which provides nine different centre frequencies distributed between 0.1-0.4 normalized frequencies. The measurement results show a stable modulator at all centre frequenciesY. Zhu, S.F. Al-Sarawi, C. C. Lim, and M.J. Liebel

Design of multi-plet perfect reconstruction filter banks using frequency-response masking technique

This paper proposes a new design method for a class of two-channel perfect reconstruction (PR) filter banks (FBs) called multi-plet FBs with very sharp cutoff using frequency- response masking (FRM) technique. The multi-plet FBs are PR FBs and their frequency characteristics are controlled by a single subfilter. By recognizing the close relationship between the subfilter and the FRM-based halfband filter, very sharp cutoff PR multi-plet FBs can be realized with reduced implementation complexity. The design procedure is very general and it can be applied to both linear-phase and low-delay PR FBs. Design examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Time-Interleaved Analog-to-Digital Converter (TIADC) Compensation Using Multichannel Filters

Published methods that employ a filter bank for compensating the timing and bandwidth mismatches of an M-channel time-interleaved analog-to-digital converter (TIADC) were developed based on the fact that each sub-ADC channel is a downsampled version of the analog input. The output of each sub-ADC is filtered in such a way that, when all the filter outputs are summed, the aliasing components are minimized. If each channel of the filter bank has N coefficients, the optimization of the coefficients requires computing the inverse of an MN times MN matrix if the weighted least squares (WLS) technique is used as the optimization tool. In this paper, we present a multichannel filtering approach for TIADC mismatch compensation. We apply the generalized sampling theorem to directly estimate the ideal output of each sub-ADC using the outputs of all the sub-ADCs. If the WLS technique is used as the optimization tool, the dimension of the matrix to be inversed is N times N. For the same number of coefficients (and also the same spurious component performance given sufficient arithmetic precision), our technique is computationally less complex and more robust than the filter-bank approach. If mixed integer linear programming is used as the optimization tool to produce filters with coefficient values that are integer powers of two, our technique produces a saving in computing resources by a factor of approximately (100.2N(M- 1)/(M-1) in the TIADC filter design.published_or_final_versio

Biquadratic Filter Applications Using a Fully-Differential Active-Only Integrator

A new class of active filters, real active-only filters is described and possible implementation issues of these filters are discussed. To remedy these issues, a fully-differential active-only integrator block built around current controlled current conveyors is presented. The integration frequency of the proposed circuit is adjustable over a wide frequency range. As an application, a real active-only filter based on the classical two-integrator loop topology is presented and designed. The feasibility of this filter in a 0.35µm CMOS process is verified through SPECTRE simulation program in the CADENCE design tool

A Review of Analog Audio Scrambling Methods for Residual Intelligibility

In this paper, a review of the techniques available in different categories of audio scrambling schemes is done with respect to Residual Intelligibility. According to Shannon's secure communication theory, for the residual intelligibility to be zero the scrambled signal must represent a white signal. Thus the scrambling scheme that has zero residual intelligibility is said to be highly secure. Many analog audio scrambling algorithms that aim to achieve lower levels of residual intelligibility are available. In this paper a review of all the existing analog audio scrambling algorithms proposed so far and their properties and limitations has been presented. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight for evaluating various analog audio scrambling schemes available up-to-date. The review shows that the algorithms have their strengths and weaknesses and there is no algorithm that satisfies all the factors to the maximum extent. Keywords: residual Intelligibility, audio scrambling, speech scramblin

New Realization of Quadrature Oscillator using OTRA

In this paper a new, operational transresistance amplifier (OTRA) based, third order quadrature oscillator (QO) is presented. The proposed structure forms a closed loop using a high pass filter and differentiator. All the resistors employed in the circuit can be implemented using matched transistors operating in linear region thereby making the proposed structure fully integrated and electronically tunable. The effect of non-idealities of OTRA has been analyzed which suggests that for high frequency applications self-compensation can be used. Workability of the proposed QO is verified through SPICE simulations using 0.18μm AGILENT CMOS process parameters. Total harmonic distortion (THD) for the proposed QO is found to be less than 2.5%.The sensitivity, phasenoise analysis is also discussed for the proposed structure

Practical Uses of A Semi-automatic Video Object Extraction System

Object-based technology is important for computer vision applications including gesture understanding, image recognition, augmented reality, etc. However, extracting the shape information of semantic objects from video sequences is a very difficult task, since this information is not explicitly provided within the video data. Therefore, an application for exttracting the semantic video object is indispensable and important for many advanced applications. An algorithm for semi-automatic video object extraction system has been developed. The performance measures of video object extraction system; including evaluation using ground truth and error metric is shown, followed by some practical uses of our video object extraction system. The principle at the basis of semi-automatic object extraction technique is the interaction of the user during some stages of the segmentation process, whereby the semantic information is provided directly by the user. After the user provides the initial segmentation of the semantic video objects, a tracking mechanism follows its temporal transformation in the subsequent frames, thus propagating the semantic information. Since the tracking tends to introduce boundary errors, the semantic information can be refreshed by the user at certain key frame locations in the video sequence. The tracking mechanism can also operate in forward or backward direction of the video sequence. The performance analysis of the results is described using single and multiple key frames; Mean Error and “Last_Error”, and also forward and backward extraction. To achieve best performance, results from forward and backward extraction can be merged

Design for testability of high-order OTA-C filters

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.A study of oscillation-based test for high-order Operational Transconductance Amplifier-C (OTA-C) filters is presented. The method is based on partition of a high-order filter into second-order filter functions. The opening Q-loop and adding positive feedback techniques are developed to convert the second-order filter section into a quadrature oscillator. These techniques are based on an open-loop configuration and an additional positive feedback configuration. Implementation of the two testability design methods for nth-order cascade, IFLF and leapfrog (LF) filters is presented, and the area overhead of the modified circuits is also discussed. The performances of the presented techniques are investigated. Fourth-order cascade, inverse follow-the-leader feedback (IFLF) and LF OTA-C filters were designed and simulated for analysis of fault coverage using the adding positive feedback method based on an analogue multiplexer. Simulation results show that the oscillation-based test method using positive feedback provides high fault coverage of around 97%, 96% and 95% for the cascade, IFLF and LF OTA-C filters, respectively. Copyright ÂPeer reviewe

A contribution to the monitoring of ceramic surface quality using a low-cost piezoelectric transducer in the grinding operation

The grinding process is usually one of the last stages in the manufacturing process chain since it can provide superior surface finish and closer dimensional tolerances. However, due to peculiarities of the grinding process, a workpiece material is susceptible to many problems, and demands a reliable real-time monitoring system. Some grinding monitoring systems have been proposed by means of sensors. However, the literature is still scarce in terms of employing time–frequency analysis techniques during the grinding of ceramics. Thus, this paper proposes an application of a low-cost piezoelectric transducer (PZT) in the analysis of the surface quality of ceramic workpieces during the grinding process by means of the frequency–time domain technique along with the ratio of power (ROP) parameter. An integrated, high-cost, commonly-used acoustic emission (AE) sensor was employed in order to compare the results with the low-cost PZT transducer. Tests were performed using a surface grinding machine. Three depth of cut values were selected in order to represent slight, moderate, and severe grinding conditions. Signals were collected at 2 MHz. The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) was studied in order to obtain the frequency variations over time. An analysis of the ROP values was performed in order to establish a correlation with the surface roughness. The ROP values are highly desirable for setting a threshold to detect the workpiece surface quality and for implementing it into a monitoring system. The results using the PZT transducer showed a great similarity to those obtained using the AE sensor