Protecting Voice-Activated Devices from Laser or Electromagnetic Attacks

Researchers have demonstrated that a laser beam or a high-frequency electromagnetic (EM) wave can be used to remotely and inaudibly gain control of a voice-based virtual assistant. This disclosure describes techniques to protect a voice assistant device from such laser or EM attacks. The techniques leverage the differing sensitivities of the multiple microphones of a virtual assistant device to a laser or to EM waves to flag a received voice command as authentic or suspicious. The techniques also determine a user’s proximity to the virtual assistant device to determine if a received command is authentic or suspicious

Display flicker detection using on-device optical sensor

Display flicker is an important electro-optical measure of the display quality of a thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD). Currently, displays are tuned at the factory using flicker detection equipment that is relatively expensive and bulky. This disclosure describes techniques that leverage the internal optical sensor of the display-under-test to measure display flicker. The techniques reduce factory test-fixture costs and sizes, and also simplify test procedures

The Optimization of Power Dispatch for Hydro-thermal Power Systems

AbstractA model in power market for hydro-thermal-nuclear power system has been proposed in this paper. Nuclear units, hydropower units and coal-fired power units are considered to have the renewable energy best used. The model contains two sub-models: Model1 and Model2. Model1 is used to solve the problem of allocating hydro loads and thermal loads, while Model2 is used to solve the problem of optimal power dispatch within hydro units and coal-fired units. Simulation and sensitivity analysis have been done in a case study. The results reveil that the proposed model is correct and the solution approach is effective

4-Bromo-1-[2,6-dichloro-4-(trifluoro­meth­yl)phen­yl]-5-(4-nitro­benzyl­idene­amino)-1H-pyrazole-3-carbonitrile

The title compound, C18H7BrCl2F3N5O2, is an L-shaped tricyclic imine. The pyrazole ring is essentially coplanar with the nitro-substituted benzene ring [dihedral angle = 3.6 (2)°] and approximately perpendicular to the trifluoro­methyl­substituted ring [dihedral angle = 88.5 (2)°]

STATCOM Control for Power System Voltage Control Applications

A static compensator (STATCOM) is a device that can provide reactive support to a bus. It consists of voltage sourced converters connected to an energy storage device on one side and to the power system on the other. In this paper the conventional method of PI control is compared and contrasted with various feedback control strategies. A linear optimal control based on LQR control is shown to be superior in terms of response profile and control effort required. These methodologies are applied to an example power syste

Control of STATCOM with Energy Storage Device

In this paper, the control method of a STATCOM with an energy storage device is discussed. To determine the switching level control, UPWM (unique pulse width modulation) and SPWM (sinusoidal pulse width modulation) methods are compared. A linearized model of a STATCOM with a battery is set up to derive monitoring level control strategies. All the control methods are verified by the PSCAD/EMTDC software package