A Simple Signal Shaper for GMSK/GFSK and MSK Modulator Based on Sigma-Delta Look-up Table

Due to wide power spectrums of rectangular data streams, it is important for base-band signals to be heavily band limited before modulation. That can be achieved by pulse shaping of rectangular bits. Some of the most common are a half-sine pulse shaper and a Gaussian pulse shaper which are used in Minimum Shift Keying (MSK), Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) and Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK) modulations, respectively. The most common solutions of such shapers use PCM based look-up-table (LUT), which requires an nbit D/A converter. We proposed the use of a 1-bit Sigma Delta Modulation (SDM) LUT, which results in smaller ROM capacity, a 1-bit wide output word, and a simple1-bit D/A converter realized as an out-of-chip first-order lowpass RC filter, or an in-chip charge pump. This article describes a simple, but efficient SDM LUT-based half-sine and Gaussian shaper that can be used for generation of MSK and GMSK/GFSK modulated signals. Oscillograms and power spectrums are measured on SDM LUT realized in FLEX AlteraTM PLD, for a 10-bit pseudo-noise sequence test input signal

Performances of Hybrid Amplitude Shape Modulation for UWB Communications Systems over AWGN Channel in a Single and Multi-User Environment

This paper analyzes the performance of the hybrid Amplitude Shape Modulation (h-ASM) scheme for the time-hopping ultra-wideband (TH-UWB) communication systems in the single and multi-user environment. h-ASM is the combination of Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) and Pulse Shape Modulation (PSM) based on modified Hermite pulses (MHP). This scheme is suitable for high rate data transmission applications because b = log2(MN) bits can be mapped with one waveform. The channel capacity and error probability over AWGN channel are derived and compared with other modulation schemes

Protein-DNA computation by stochastic assembly cascade

The assembly of RecA on single-stranded DNA is measured and interpreted as a stochastic finite-state machine that is able to discriminate fine differences between sequences, a basic computational operation. RecA filaments efficiently scan DNA sequence through a cascade of random nucleation and disassembly events that is mechanistically similar to the dynamic instability of microtubules. This iterative cascade is a multistage kinetic proofreading process that amplifies minute differences, even a single base change. Our measurements suggest that this stochastic Turing-like machine can compute certain integral transforms.Comment: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC129313/ http://www.pnas.org/content/99/18/11589.abstrac

New rate equation model to describe the stabilization of displacement damage by hydrogen atoms during ion irradiation in tungsten

The effect of deuterium (D) presence on the amount of displacement damage created in tungsten (W) during high-energy W-ion irradiation is investigated. For this purpose, we have performed modelling of experimental results where W was sequentially or simultaneously irradiated by 10.8 MeV W ions and exposed to 300 eV D ions. A novel displacement damage creation and stabilization model was newly developed and introduced into the MHIMS-Reservoir (Migration of Hydrogen Isotopes in MaterialS) code. It employs macroscopic rate equations (MREs) for solving the evolution of solute and trapped D concentrations in the material. The new displacement damage creation and stabilization model is based on spontaneous recombination of Frenkel pairs and stabilization of defects that are occupied by D atoms. By using the new model, we could successfully replicate the measured D depth profiles and D thermal desorption data, where a higher defect concentration was observed when D was present during W irradiation as compared to when no D was present. For this we utilized parameters, which include the number of distinct defect types, the de-trapping energies of their fill-levels, their saturation concentrations and their probability for stabilization if they contain a D during the W-ion irradiation. To successfully replicate the experimental results three distinct defect types were needed with several fill-levels. By comparing the de-trapping energies of the defect fill-levels with data available from the literature, the defect types were identified as single-vacancies, small vacancy clusters and large vacancy clusters. The effect of D presence was found to be largest in single vacancies as its concentration increased by about a factor of three, while the concentration of small vacancy clusters increased by about a factor of two. Large vacancy clusters were found to be largely unaffected as they showed very little increase in concentration when D was presentPeer reviewe

High frequency dynamics in a monatomic glass

The high frequency dynamics of glassy Selenium has been studied by Inelastic X-ray Scattering at beamline BL35XU (SPring-8). The high quality of the data allows one to pinpoint the existence of a dispersing acoustic mode for wavevectors ($Q$) of $1.5<Q<12.5$ nm$^{-1}$, helping to clarify a previous contradiction between experimental and numerical results. The sound velocity shows a positive dispersion, exceeding the hydrodynamic value by $\approx$ 10% at $Q<3.5$ nm$^{-1}$. The $Q^2$ dependence of the sound attenuation $\Gamma(Q)$, reported for other glasses, is found to be the low-$Q$ limit of a more general $\Gamma(Q) \propto \Omega(Q)^2$ law which applies also to the higher $Q$ region, where $\Omega(Q)\propto Q$ no longer holds.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. (Accepted

Family-wide analysis of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activity

The poly(adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose) polymerase (PARP) protein family generates ​ADP-ribose (​ADPr) modifications onto target proteins using ​NAD[superscript +] as substrate. Based on the composition of three ​NAD[superscript +] coordinating amino acids, the H-Y-E motif, each PARP is predicted to generate either poly(ADPr) (PAR) or mono(ADPr) (MAR). However, the reaction product of each PARP has not been clearly defined, and is an important priority since PAR and MAR function via distinct mechanisms. Here we show that the majority of PARPs generate MAR, not PAR, and demonstrate that the H-Y-E motif is not the sole indicator of PARP activity. We identify automodification sites on seven PARPs, and demonstrate that MAR and PAR generating PARPs modify similar amino acids, suggesting that the sequence and structural constraints limiting PARPs to MAR synthesis do not limit their ability to modify canonical amino-acid targets. In addition, we identify ​cysteine as a novel amino-acid target for ADP-ribosylation on PARPs.Rita Allen FoundationSidney Kimmel FoundationNational Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Cancer Center Support (Core) Grant P30-CA14051)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant RO1GM087465)Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research FundWellcome Trust (London, England)European Research Counci

Living IoT: A Flying Wireless Platform on Live Insects

Sensor networks with devices capable of moving could enable applications ranging from precision irrigation to environmental sensing. Using mechanical drones to move sensors, however, severely limits operation time since flight time is limited by the energy density of current battery technology. We explore an alternative, biology-based solution: integrate sensing, computing and communication functionalities onto live flying insects to create a mobile IoT platform. Such an approach takes advantage of these tiny, highly efficient biological insects which are ubiquitous in many outdoor ecosystems, to essentially provide mobility for free. Doing so however requires addressing key technical challenges of power, size, weight and self-localization in order for the insects to perform location-dependent sensing operations as they carry our IoT payload through the environment. We develop and deploy our platform on bumblebees which includes backscatter communication, low-power self-localization hardware, sensors, and a power source. We show that our platform is capable of sensing, backscattering data at 1 kbps when the insects are back at the hive, and localizing itself up to distances of 80 m from the access points, all within a total weight budget of 102 mg.Comment: Co-primary authors: Vikram Iyer, Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Anran Wang, In Proceedings of Mobicom. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 15 pages, 201

Stabilization of defects by the presence of hydrogen in tungsten : simultaneous W-ion damaging and D-atom exposure

The possible mutual influence and synergistic effect between defect production and the presence of hydrogen isotopes in the crystal lattice of tungsten is studied. For this purpose, we perform modeling of experimental data where polycrystalline tungsten samples were in one case sequentially irradiated by 10.8 MeV tungsten ions followed by low-energy deuterium exposure and in the other case simultaneously irradiated by tungsten ions, while exposed to deuterium atoms. Modeling of the measured deuterium depth profiles and thermal-desorption spectra for different irradiation temperatures is performed by the MHIMS (migration of hydrogen isotopes in materials) code. A model of trap creation due to tungsten ion irradiation during the deuterium atom exposures is implemented. In both experimental series, the deuterium desorption peaks corresponding to defects induced by tungsten irradiation are described by the same two de-trapping energies of 1.83 and 2.10 eV. The experiments give unambiguous proof that the presence of deuterium increases the overall trap density. The modeling reveals that the two trap concentrations are affected differently by the temperature and presence of deuterium: the concentration of the low-energy trap is significantly higher in the case of simultaneous exposure compared to sequential exposure, especially at high temperature (2.2 times higher at 1000 K). The concentration of the high-energy trap is only weakly affected by the presence of hydrogen.Peer reviewe

Neural superposition and oscillations in the eye of the blowfly

Neural superposition in the eye of the blowfly Calliphora erythrocephala was investigated by stimulating single photoreceptors using corneal neutralization through water immersion. Responses in Large Monopolar Cells (LMCs) in the lamina were measured, while stimulating one or more of the six photoreceptors connected to the LMC. Responses to flashes of low light intensity on individual photoreceptors add approximately linearly at the LMC. Higher intensity light flashes produce a maximum LMC response to illumination of single photoreceptors which is about half the maximum response to simultaneous illumination of the six connecting photoreceptors. This observation indicates that a saturation can occur at a stage of synaptic transmission which precedes the change in the post-synaptic membrane potential. Stimulation of single photoreceptors yields high frequency oscillations (about 200 Hz) in the LMC potential, much larger in amplitude than produced by simultaneous stimulation of the six photoreceptors connected to the LMC. It is discussed that these oscillations also arise from a mechanism that precedes the change in the postsynaptic membrane potential.

A Sublinear Variance Bound for Solutions of a Random Hamilton Jacobi Equation

We estimate the variance of the value function for a random optimal control problem. The value function is the solution $w^\epsilon$ of a Hamilton-Jacobi equation with random Hamiltonian $H(p,x,\omega) = K(p) - V(x/\epsilon,\omega)$ in dimension $d \geq 2$. It is known that homogenization occurs as $\epsilon \to 0$, but little is known about the statistical fluctuations of $w^\epsilon$. Our main result shows that the variance of the solution $w^\epsilon$ is bounded by $O(\epsilon/|\log \epsilon|)$. The proof relies on a modified Poincar\'e inequality of Talagrand