RF power amplifier design optimization using measurement data and statistical methods

Abstract. Constantly growing number of mobile data users, and thus the mobile data, creates challenges for spectral efficient data transmission. A high data throughput of a base station requires linear modulation methods and broadband signals. Radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) as a part of base station has an important role making the output signal of the transceiver as linear and spectral efficient as possible. The key RF parameters such as peak power, efficiency, linearity and gain suffer from productional variety which needs to be taken into account in design process. In this thesis, the RF PA design is optimized to tolerate the productional variety of certain RF parameters. The effects of productional variety are pre-analyzed by building the design using corner sample transistors. The build consists of seven different PA module versions where the RF transistor’s internal matchings are modified. The best information of the PA performance is gathered from measurement results and therefore, the presented design optimization method is based on hardware measuring and tuning. Measurement results are compared to self-defined specification limits of each RF parameter and to the nominal version. Another method for analyzing a build which aims for illustrating large population of PA modules is statistical analysis. Along with the help of process capability index Cpk, the statistical behavior compared to the specification limits is evaluated. Peak power proved to be the optimized parameter. Changing the biasing of the transistor and tuning the external input matching network, the peak power results increased. The measurement results proved that the RF PA design is optimized to tolerate the productional variety better with the design optimization method presented in this thesis.RF-tehovahvistinsuunnittelun optimointi mittausdataa ja tilastollisia menetelmiä käyttäen. Tiivistelmä. Mobiilidatan käyttäjien, ja siten myös mobiilidatan määrä on jatkuvasti kasvussa, mikä luo haasteita spektritehokkaaseen datansiirtoon. Tukiaseman suuri datansyöttö vaatii laajakaistaisia signaaleja sekä lineaarisia modulointimenetelmiä. RF-tehovahvistimella on siis tärkeä rooli tukiaseman osana saada lähtösignaalista mahdollisimman lineaarinen ja spektritehokas. Tehovahvistimen RF-parametrit, kuten huipputeho, hyötysuhde, lineaarisuus sekä vahvistus kärsivät tuotannollisesta vaihtelusta, kun tehovahvistinmoduulia aletaan tuottaa suuria määriä. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on optimoida RF-tehovahvistimen suunnittelu sellaiseksi, että se on sietokykyinen tiettyjen RF-parametrien tuotannolliselle vaihtelulle. Tuotannollisen vaihtelun vaikutuksia analysoidaan etukäteen käyttämällä tehovahvistimessa kulmanäytetransistoria. Kulmanäytteet koostuvat seitsemästä erilaisesta versiosta, jossa RF-transistorin sisäisiä sovituksia on muunneltu. Paras tieto tehovahvistimen käyttäytymisestä saadaan mittaustuloksista, minkä takia työssä käytetään mittauksiin ja laitteiston hienosäätämiseen perustuvaa optimointimetodia. Kulmanäytteiden mittaustuloksia verrataan itse määrittelemiin RF-parametrien spesifikaatioihin sekä nominaaliversioon. Toinen analyysimetodi suuren tehovahvistinmoduulimäärän havainnollistamiseen on tilastollinen analyysi. Prosessin kyvykkyysindeksin Cpk analysoinnin kanssa, RF-parametrien tilastollinen käyttäytyminen spesifikaatiorajoihin verrattuna voidaan arvioida. Huipputeho osoittautui optimoitavaksi parametriksi. Transistorin biasoinnin muutoksella sekä tulon ulkoisen sovituspiirin muokkauksella huipputehoa saatiin kasvatettua. Mittaustulokset osoittavat, että työssä esitetyllä suunnittelun optimointimetodilla tehovahvistin saatiin sietämään tuotannollista vaihtelua paremmin

Corporate venture capitalists and independent venture capitalists: what do they know, who do they know, and should entrepreneurs care?

While a strong stream of research has examined the value-added by venture capitalists and some recent research has also explored the value added by corporate venture capitalists, the value-added provided by these two types of investors for their portfolio companies has not been compared systematically. This study proposes to make such an evaluation by comparing the social capital based and knowledge-based forms of value added provided by independent and corporate venture capitalists to their portfolio firms. Employing primary data collected from U.S. technology-based new firms that had recently received both corporate venture capital and independent venture capital funding, the present study demonstrates that the value-adding contributions of corporate venture capital and independent venture capital investors are different but complementary.Arthur M. Blank Center kr Entrepreneurship Babson College, Babson Park, Manachueetts 02457-0310 Kauffinan Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Kansas City. Missouri 64112-2776 Co-spcesoerd by Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship @ Strathclyde University of Strathclyde. Glasgow. Scotland Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow; Scotland The Entrepreneurial Exchange, Hamilton, Scotland Linc Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow City Council. Glasgow Scotlan

Developing a Global Healthcare Innovation Index

Our understanding of medicine is being revolutionised by the pace of science. But not all the potential innovations in life sciences and medical technology are taken up into everyday practice in healthcare, even when they are shown to be beneficial. For the poorest people in the world, many innovations are not accessible because they are either unaffordable or unsuitable for their health systems. Tackling this gap requires the development of appropriate and affordable health technologies and novel business models. In the more advanced health systems there is a disconnection between the effort on research and development (R&D) and how much of this makes it into mainstream healthcare practice. Even the most evidence-based and affordable innovations can fail or are only taken up patchily, whether we compare across countries, or between localities or health organisations within countries. And technological innovation can be a problem for those responsible for paying for health systems. New technologies often increase costs because they allow us to treat more people for a longer part of their lives. Yet the general view amongst politicians, managers and others involved in healthcare is that health systems across the world need new thinking. They are increasingly facing escalating demand from an ageing population and the growing incidence of chronic disease. Healthcare is consuming an ever-increasing share of gross domestic product (GDP). The search is on for ways of providing the best quality healthcare as affordably as possible. The health technology industries – pharmaceutical and biotechnology, medical devices, information technology and the built environment (design, engineering and construction) – drive much of the innovation that takes place in healthcare. They are very big business. Collectively these companies have global revenues in the order of USD 2 trillion a year, about a quarter of overall global spending on healthcare. But they too are experiencing a changing landscape – an evolving market for their products, a changing balance of power across health systems as governments and payers seek to control costs, hence pressure on their business models. Innovation is regarded by economists and politicians as one of the main drivers of economic growth. It helps to explain why some companies, regions and countries perform better than others in terms of higher productivity and income. For companies involved in the health technology sector, and governments in countries where they are located, there is concern to ensure that their business models are sustainable and continue to successfully deliver new products to the market

Fyysisen aktiivisuuden yhteys lannenikaman kokoon 20- ja 30-vuotiailla aikuisilla

Tiivistelmä. Nikaman pieni koko on tärkeä nikamamurtumien riskitekijä. Tutkimme, vaikuttavatko fyysinen aktiivisuus ja impaktilajeihin osallistuminen nikaman poikkipinta-alan kasvunopeuteen nuorilla aikuisilla. Tutkimusväestönämme käytimme Pohjois-Suomen syntymäkohortin 1986 osakohorttia (n = 375). Tutkimusväestömme kävi kliinisissä tutkimuksissa 15–19-vuotiaina ja täyttivät samalla kyselyn liittyen heidän elintapoihinsa ja terveyteensä. Tutkimuksessamme käytetyt MRI-kuvat otettiin 20- ja 30-vuotiaina. Käytimme yleistä arviointiyhtälöä (generalized estimating equation, GEE) mallintaaksemme yhteyttä muuttujiemme välillä. Kun tarkastelimme yhteyttä nikaman poikkipinta-alan, liikunnallisen aktiivisuuden ja korkean impaktin lajien välillä, emme löytäneet yhtään tilastollisesti merkitsevää tulosta. Aikainteraktion huomioiminen ei myöskään tuottanut yhtään tilastollisesti merkitsevää tulosta. Johtopäätöksenä liikunnan harjoittaminen ei auta kasvattamaan nikaman mittoja tai pinta-alaa, eikä siis sitä kautta ehkäise nikamamurtumia

Attenuated Semliki Forest virus for cancer treatment in dogs : safety assessment in two laboratory Beagles

Background: Dogs suffer from spontaneous tumors which may be amenable to therapies developed for human cancer patients, and dogs may serve as large-animal cancer models. A non-pathogenic Semliki Forest virus vector VA7-EGFP previously showed promise in targeting human tumor xenografts in mice, but the oncolytic capacity of the virus in canine cancer cells and the safety of the virus in higher mammals such as dogs, are not known. We therefore assessed the oncolytic potency of VA7-EGFP against canine cancer cells by infectivity and viability assays in two dog solid tumor cell lines. Furthermore we performed a 3-week safety study in two adult Beagles which received a single intravenous injection of similar to 2 x 10(5) plaque forming units of parental A7(74) strain. Results: VA7-EGFP was able to replicate in and kill both canine cancer cell lines tested. No adverse events were observed in either of the two virus-injected adult Beagles and no infective virus could be recovered from any of the biological samples collected over the course of the study. Neutralizing antibodies to Semliki Forest virus became detectable in the dogs at 5 days post infection and remained elevated until study termination. Conclusions: Based on these results, testing of the oncolytic potential of attenuated Semliki Forest virus in canine cancer patients appears feasible.Peer reviewe

Bioavailability of riverine dissolved organic matter in three Baltic Sea estuaries and the effect of catchment land use

Peer reviewe

A terminal assessment of stages theory : introducing a dynamic states approach to entrepreneurship

Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. An analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows no consensus on basic constructs of the approach, nor is there any empirical confirmations of stages theory. However, by changing two propositions of the stages models, a new dynamic states approach is derived. The dynamic states approach has far greater explanatory power than its precursor, and is compatible with leading edge research in entrepreneurship

Natural course of Fabry disease with the p Arg227Ter (pR227*) mutation in Finland: Fast study

BackgroundFabry disease is caused by a deficient or an absent alfa‐galactosidase A activity and is an X‐linked disorder that results in organ damage and a shortened life span, especially in males. The severity of the disease depends on the type of mutation, gender, skewed X‐chromosome inactivation, and other still unknown factors.MethodsIn this article, we describe the natural course of a common classic Fabry disease mutation, p.Arg227Ter or p.R227*, in Finland.ResultsFour males and ten females belonged to two extended families. The mean age was 46 years (SD 18.4). Six patients (43%) had cardiac hypertrophy, three patients (21%) had ischemic stroke, and none had severe kidney dysfunction. Three patients had atrial fibrillation; two patients who had atrial fibrillation also had pacemakers. All males over 30 years of age had at least one of the following manifestations: cardiac hypertrophy, stroke, or proteinuria. In females, the severity of Fabry disease varied from classic multiorgan disease to a condition that mimicked the attenuated cardiac variant. No one was totally asymptomatic without any signs of Fabry disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed on nine of 14 patients was the most sensitive for detecting early cardiac manifestations. Five patients (55%) had late gadolinium enhancement‐positive segments.ConclusionCardiac involvement should be effectively detected in females before considering them asymptomatic mutation carriers.</div