Adaptive 3D ray tracing approach for indoor radio signal prediction at 3.5 GHz

This paper explained an adaptive ray tracing technique in modelling indoor radio wave propagation. As compared with conventional ray tracing approach, the presented ray tracing approach offers an optimized method to trace the travelling radio signal by introducing flexibility and adaptive features in ray launching algorithm in modelling the radio wave for indoor scenarios. The simulation result was compared with measurements data for verification. By analyzing the results, the proposed adaptive technique showed a better improvement in simulation time, power level and coverage in modelling the radio wave propagation for indoor scenario and may benefit in the development of signal propagation simulators for future technologies.

Design and Evaluation of a Tunable PUF Architecture for FPGAs

FPGA-based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF) have emerged as a viable alternative to permanent key storage by turning effects of inaccuracies during the manufacturing process of a chip into a unique, FPGA-intrinsic secret. However, many fixed PUF designs may suffer from unsatisfactory statistical properties in terms of uniqueness, uniformity, and robustness. Moreover, a PUF signature may alter over time due to aging or changing operating conditions, rendering a PUF insecure in the worst case. As a remedy, we propose CHOICE , a novel class of FPGA-based PUF designs with tunable uniqueness and reliability characteristics. By the use of addressable shift registers available on an FPGA, we show that a wide configuration space for adjusting a device-specific PUF response is obtained without any sacrifice of randomness. In particular, we demonstrate the concept of address-tunable propagation delays, whereby we are able to increase or decrease the probability of obtaining “ 1 ”s in the PUF response. Experimental evaluations on a group of six 28 nm Xilinx Artix-7 FPGAs show that CHOICE PUFs provide a large range of configurations to allow a fine-tuning to an average uniqueness between 49% and 51%, while simultaneously achieving bit error rates below 1.5%, thus outperforming state-of-the-art PUF designs. Moreover, with only a single FPGA slice per PUF bit, CHOICE is one of the smallest PUF designs currently available for FPGAs. It is well-known that signal propagation delays are affected by temperature, as the operating temperature impacts the internal currents of transistors that ultimately make up the circuit. We therefore comprehensively investigate how temperature variations affect the PUF response and demonstrate how the tunability of CHOICE enables us to determine configurations that show a high robustness to such variations. As a case study, we present a cryptographic key generation scheme based on CHOICE PUF responses as device-intrinsic secret and investigate the design objectives resource costs, performance, and temperature robustness to show the practicability of our approach.

Morphodynamic limits to environmental signal propagation across landscapes and into strata

The sedimentary record contains unique information about landscape response to environmental forcing at timescales that far exceed landscape observations over human timescales. However, stochastic processes can overprint and shred evidence of environmental signals, such as sediment flux signals, and so inhibit their transfer to strata. Our community currently lacks a quantitative framework to differentiate between environmental signals and autogenic signals in field-scale analysis of strata. Here we develop a framework and workflow to estimate autogenic thresholds for ancient sediment routing systems. Crucially these thresholds can be approximated using measurements that are readily attainable from field systems, circumventing the low temporal resolution offered by strata. This work demonstrates how short-term system dynamics can be accessed from ancient sediment routing systems to place morphodynamic limits on environmental signal propagation across ancient landscapes and into strata.

Real Time Fault Location Using the Retardation Method

A new method for short circuit fault location is proposed based on instantaneous signal measurement and its derivatives, and is based on the retardation phenomena. The difference between the times in which a signal is registered in two detectors is used to locate the fault. Although a description of faults in terms of a lumped circuit is useful for elucidating the methods for detecting the fault. This description will not suffice to describe the fault signal propagation hence a distributed models is needed which is given in terms of the telegraph equations. Those equations are used to derive a transmission line transfer function, and an exact analytical description of the short circuit signal propagating in the transmission line is obtained. The analytical solution was verified both by numerical simulations and experimentally.

A study on the Delta-Bullington irregular terrain radiofrequency propagation model : assessing model suitability for use in decision support tools

Modeling the propagation of radiofrequency signals over irregular terrain is both challenging and critically important in numerous Army applications. One application of particular importance is the performance and radio connectivity of sensors deployed in scenarios where the terrain and the environment significantly impact signal propagation. This report investigates both the performance of and the algorithms and assumptions underlying the Delta-Bullington irregular terrain radiofrequency propagation model discussed in International Telecommunications Union Recommendation P.526-15. The aim is to determine its suitability for use within sensor-planning decision support tools. After reviewing free-space, spherical earth diffraction, and terrain obstacle diffraction losses, the report dis-cusses several important tests of the model, including reciprocity and geographic continuity of propagation loss over large areas of rugged terrain. Overall, the Delta-Bullington model performed well, providing reasonably rapid and geographically continuous propagation loss estimates with computational demands appropriate for operational use.

Channel Capacity of Molecular Signaling via Diffusion in Confined Microenvironment

Aims: To model molecular signal propagation in confined environment. Background: Molecular communication (MC) is rooted in the concepts of understanding, modeling, and engineering information exchange among naturally and artificially synthesized nanosystems. To develop or analyze an MC system, there is the need to model the communication channel through which the molecular signal diffuse, from the transmitter to the receiver. Many models for the diffusion-based MC channel have been proposed in the literature for evaluating the performance of MC systems. Most of the contemporary works assume, and rightly so for some scenarios, that the MC channels under consideration have infinite boundaries. However, this assumption becomes invalid in bounded domains such as the interiors of natural cells and artificially synthesized nanosystems. Objective: In this paper, the model of molecular propagation in a confined. microenvironment is employ to explore the effect of such an environment on the MC system. Method: The mutual information of the channel and specifically the closed-form expression of the channel capacity of the molecular signaling in the confined geometry is derive. Result: Numerical results showing the variation in the channel capacity as the function of the channel dimension are presented. Conclusion: Results showed that the channel capacity increases with the decrease in the channel dimension. Subsequently, as the dimension of the channel tends to the nanoscale range typical of many artificially synthesized nanosystems, the effect of the channel width on the capacity and by induction on many other system metrics increases.

Drosophila Mechanical Nociceptors Preferentially Sense Localized Poking

Mechanical nociception is an evolutionarily conserved sensory process required for the survival of living organisms. Previous studies have revealed much about the neural circuits and key sensory molecules in mechanical nociception, but the cellular mechanisms adopted by nociceptors in force detection remain elusive. To address this issue, we study the mechanosensation of a fly larval nociceptor (class IV da neurons, c4da) using a customized mechanical device. We find that c4da are sensitive to mN-scale forces and make uniform responses to the forces applied at different dendritic regions. Moreover, c4da showed a greater sensitivity to more localized forces, consistent with them being able to sense the poking of sharp objects, such as wasp ovipositor. Further analysis reveals that high morphological complexity, mechanosensitivity to lateral tension and active signal propagation in the dendrites altogether facilitate the mechanosensitivity and sensory features of c4da. In particular, we discover that Piezo and Ppk1/Ppk26, two key mechanosensory molecules, make differential but additive contributions to the mechanosensation of c4da. In all, our results provide updates into understanding how c4da process mechanical signals at the cellular level and reveal the contributions of key molecules.

Preliminary performance evaluation and verification of digital terrestrial television signal propagation

This article presents the computer simulation and field test measurement results on Channel 29 for the preliminary performance evaluation and verification of the newly-installed Lesotho digital terrestrial television network based on DVB-T2 standard following the guidelines and techniques specified by the ITU-R BT.2035-2. It evaluates, at predetermined outdoor locations for fixed and mobile reception, parameters such as received signal strength, signal quality, bit-error rate (BER) and threshold-of-visibility (ToV) together with TV signal decoding (observation of screen artefacts) for quasi error-free reception. The results indicate that at over 97% of the test sites/points at the university town of Roma, the main Berea Plateau transmitter from the capital city (Maseru) broadcasts digital television service with enough signal level and quality to be properly decoded. The measured signal strength threshold ranges above -50 dBm for good reception, -64 dBm to -50 dBm for acceptable reception and -69 dBm to -64 dBm for poor reception. With the noise floor at about -73 dBm, the minimum required C/N of around 23 dB for good reception and about 4 dB for ToV have been recorded. The relative values of minimum required respective signal strength and signal quality for ToV obtained from the set-top box are 33% and 18% for stationary reception, while they give 37% and 20% for mobile reception.