Efficient and multiplierless design of FIR filters with very sharp cutoff via maximally flat building blocks

A new design technique for linear-phase FIR filters, based on maximally flat buildiing blocks, is presented. The design technique does not involve iterative approximations and is, therefore, fast. It gives rise to filters that have a monotone stopband response, as required in some applications. The technique is partially based on an interpolative scheme. Implementation of the obtained filter designs requires a much smaller number of multiplications than maximally flat (MAXFLAT) FIR filters designed by the conventional approach. A technique based on FIR spectral transformations to design new multiplierless FIR filter structures is then advanced, and multiplierless implementations for sharp cutoff specifications are included

Efficient and multiplierless design of FIR filters with very sharp cutoff via maximally flat building blocks

A new design technique for linear-phase FIR filters, based on maximally flat buildiing blocks, is presented. The design technique does not involve iterative approximations and is, therefore, fast. It gives rise to filters that have a monotone stopband response, as required in some applications. The technique is partially based on an interpolative scheme. Implementation of the obtained filter designs requires a much smaller number of multiplications than maximally flat (MAXFLAT) FIR filters designed by the conventional approach. A technique based on FIR spectral transformations to design new multiplierless FIR filter structures is then advanced, and multiplierless implementations for sharp cutoff specifications are included

A Communication Monitor for Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Software Defined Radio

Link quality estimation of reliability-crucial wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is often limited by the observability and testability of single-chip radio transceivers. The estimation is often based on collection of packer-level statistics, including packet reception rate, or vendor-specific registers, such as CC2420's Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Link Quality Indicator (LQI). The speed or accuracy of such metrics limits the performance of reliability mechanisms built in wireless sensor networks. To improve link quality estimation in WSNs, we designed a powerful wireless communication monitor based on Software Defined Radio (SDR). We studied the relations between three implemented link quality metrics and packet reception rate under different channel conditions. Based on a comparison of the metrics' relative advantages, we proposed using a combination of them for fast and accurate estimation of a sensor network link

Symbol Synchronization for SDR Using a Polyphase Filterbank Based on an FPGA

This paper is devoted to the proposal of a highly efficient symbol synchronization subsystem for Software Defined Radio. The proposed feedback phase-locked loop timing synchronizer is suitable for parallel implementation on an FPGA. The polyphase FIR filter simultaneously performs matched-filtering and arbitrary interpolation between acquired samples. Determination of the proper sampling instant is achieved by selecting a suitable polyphase filterbank using a derived index. This index is determined based on the output either the Zero-Crossing or Gardner Timing Error Detector. The paper will extensively focus on simulation of the proposed synchronization system. On the basis of this simulation, a complete, fully pipelined VHDL description model is created. This model is composed of a fully parallel polyphase filterbank based on distributed arithmetic, timing error detector and interpolation control block. Finally, RTL synthesis on an Altera Cyclone IV FPGA is presented and resource utilization in comparison with a conventional model is analyzed

The Omega Counter, a Frequency Counter Based on the Linear Regression

This article introduces the {\Omega} counter, a frequency counter -- or a frequency-to-digital converter, in a different jargon -- based on the Linear Regression (LR) algorithm on time stamps. We discuss the noise of the electronics. We derive the statistical properties of the {\Omega} counter on rigorous mathematical basis, including the weighted measure and the frequency response. We describe an implementation based on a SoC, under test in our laboratory, and we compare the {\Omega} counter to the traditional {\Pi} and {\Lambda} counters. The LR exhibits optimum rejection of white phase noise, superior to that of the {\Pi} and {\Lambda} counters. White noise is the major practical problem of wideband digital electronics, both in the instrument internal circuits and in the fast processes which we may want to measure. The {\Omega} counter finds a natural application in the measurement of the Parabolic Variance, described in the companion article arXiv:1506.00687 [physics.data-an].Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure, 2 table

Fractionally-addressed delay lines

While traditional implementations of variable-length digital delay lines are based on a circular buffer accessed by two pointers, we propose an implementation where a single fractional pointer is used both for read and write operations. On modern general-purpose architectures, the proposed method is nearly as efficient as the popularinterpolated circular buffer, and it behaves well for delay-length modulations commonly found in digital audio effects. The physical interpretation of the new implementation shows that it is suitable for simulating tension or density modulations in wave-propagating media.Comment: 11 pages, 19 figures, to be published in IEEE Transactions on Speech and Audio Processing Corrected ACM-clas

Measuring Earthquakes from Optical Satellite Images

Système pour l'Observation de la Terre images are used to map ground displacements induced by earthquakes. Deformations (offsets) induced by stereoscopic effect and roll, pitch, and yaw of satellite and detector artifacts are estimated and compensated. Images are then resampled in a cartographic projection with a low-bias interpolator. A subpixel correlator in the Fourier domain provides two-dimensional offset maps with independent measurements approximately every 160 m. Biases on offsets are compensated from calibration. High-frequency noise (0.125 m^-1 ) is ~0.01 pixels. Low-frequency noise (lower than 0.001 m^-1 ) exceeds 0.2 pixels and is partially compensated from modeling. Applied to the Landers earthquake, measurements show the fault with an accuracy of a few tens of meters and yields displacement on the fault with an accuracy of better than 20 cm. Comparison with a model derived from geodetic data shows that offsets bring new insights into the faulting process

Optical timing receiver for the NASA laser ranging system. Part 2: High precision time interval digitizer

The development of a high precision time interval digitizer is described. The time digitizer is a 10 psec resolution stop watch covering a range of up to 340 msec. The measured time interval is determined as a separation between leading edges of a pair of pulses applied externally to the start input and the stop input of the digitizer. Employing an interpolation techniques and a 50 MHz high precision master oscillator, the equivalent of a 100 GHz clock frequency standard is achieved. Absolute accuracy and stability of the digitizer are determined by the external 50 MHz master oscillator, which serves as a standard time marker. The start and stop pulses are fast 1 nsec rise time signals, according to the Nuclear Instrument means of tunnel diode discriminators. Firing level of the discriminator define start and stop points between which the time interval is digitized