Search results for: Functional Performance
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 6365

Search results for: Functional Performance

4505 Academic Digital Library's Evaluation Criteria: User-Centered Approach

Authors: Razilan A. Kadir, Wan A. K. W. Dollah, Fatimah A. Saaid, S. Diljit

Abstract:

Academic digital libraries emerged as a result of advances in computing and information systems technologies, and had been introduced in universities and to public. As results, moving in parallel with current technology in learning and researching environment indeed offers myriad of advantages especially to students and academicians, as well as researchers. This is due to dramatic changes in learning environment through the use of digital library system which giving spectacular impact on these societies- way of performing their study/research. This paper presents a survey of current criteria for evaluating academic digital libraries- performance. The goal is to discuss criteria being applied so far for academic digital libraries evaluation in the context of user-centered design. Although this paper does not comprehensively take into account all previous researches in evaluating academic digital libraries but at least it can be a guide in understanding the evaluation criteria being widely applied.

Keywords: Academic digital libraries, evaluation criteria, performance, user-centered.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2371
4504 Neuromarketing: Discovering the Somathyc Marker in the Consumer´s Brain

Authors: Mikel Alonso López, María Francisca Blasco López, Víctor Molero Ayala

Abstract:

The present study explains the somatic marker theory of Antonio Damasio, which indicates that when making a decision, the stored or possible future scenarios (future memory) images allow people to feel for a moment what would happen when they make a choice, and how this is emotionally marked. This process can be conscious or unconscious. The development of new Neuromarketing techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), carries a greater understanding of how the brain functions and consumer behavior. In the results observed in different studies using fMRI, the evidence suggests that the somatic marker and future memories influence the decision-making process, adding a positive or negative emotional component to the options. This would mean that all decisions would involve a present emotional component, with a rational cost-benefit analysis that can be performed later.

Keywords: Emotions, decision making, somatic marker, consumer´s brain.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2137
4503 Physical Properties of Nine Nigerian Staple Food Flours Related to Bulk Handling and Processing

Authors: Ogunsina Babatunde, Aregbesola Omotayo, Adebayo Adewale, Odunlami Johnson

Abstract:

The physical properties of nine Nigerian staple food flours related to bulk handling and processing were investigated following standard procedures. The results showed that the moisture content, bulk density, angle of repose, water absorption capacity, swelling index, dispersability, pH and wettability of the flours ranged from 9.95 to 11.98%, 0.44 to 0.66 g/cm3, 31.43 to 39.65o, 198.3 to 291.7 g of water/100 g of sample, 5.53 to 7.63, 60.3 to 73.8%, 4.43 to 6.70, and 11 to 150 s. The particle size analysis of the flour samples indicated significant differences (p<0.05). The least gelation concentration of the flour samples ranged from 6 to 14%. The colour of the flours fell between light and saturated, with the exception of cassava, millet and maize flours which appear dark and dull. The properties of food flours depend largely on the inherent property of the food material and may influence their functional behaviour as food materials.

Keywords: Properties, staple food flours, Nigeria, cereals, tuber, root crops, fruits.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2312
4502 An Embedded System for Artificial Intelligence Applications

Authors: Ioannis P. Panagopoulos, Christos C. Pavlatos, George K. Papakonstantinou

Abstract:

Conventional approaches in the implementation of logic programming applications on embedded systems are solely of software nature. As a consequence, a compiler is needed that transforms the initial declarative logic program to its equivalent procedural one, to be programmed to the microprocessor. This approach increases the complexity of the final implementation and reduces the overall system's performance. On the contrary, presenting hardware implementations which are only capable of supporting logic programs prevents their use in applications where logic programs need to be intertwined with traditional procedural ones, for a specific application. We exploit HW/SW codesign methods to present a microprocessor, capable of supporting hybrid applications using both programming approaches. We take advantage of the close relationship between attribute grammar (AG) evaluation and knowledge engineering methods to present a programmable hardware parser that performs logic derivations and combine it with an extension of a conventional RISC microprocessor that performs the unification process to report the success or failure of those derivations. The extended RISC microprocessor is still capable of executing conventional procedural programs, thus hybrid applications can be implemented. The presented implementation is programmable, supports the execution of hybrid applications, increases the performance of logic derivations (experimental analysis yields an approximate 1000% increase in performance) and reduces the complexity of the final implemented code. The proposed hardware design is supported by a proposed extended C-language called C-AG.

Keywords: Attribute Grammars, Logic Programming, RISC microprocessor.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5087
4501 Automation of Fishhooks Objective Measures

Authors: S. Chabrier, G. Molle, E. Conte, C. Carlier

Abstract:

Fishing has always been an essential component of the Polynesians- life. Fishhooks, mostly in pearl shell, found during archaeological excavations are the artifacts related to this activity the most numerous. Thanks to them, we try to reconstruct the ancient techniques of resources exploitation, inside the lagoons and offshore. They can also be used as chronological and cultural indicators. The shapes and dimensions of these artifacts allow comparisons and classifications used in both functional approach and chrono-cultural perspective. Hence it is very important for the ethno-archaeologists to dispose of reliable methods and standardized measurement of these artifacts. Such a reliable objective and standardized method have been previously proposed. But this method cannot be envisaged manually because of the very important time required to measure each fishhook manually and the quantity of fishhooks to measure (many hundreds). We propose in this paper a detailed acquisition protocol of fishhooks and an automation of every step of this method. We also provide some experimental results obtained on the fishhooks coming from three archaeological excavations sites.

Keywords: Automated measures, extraction, fishhook, segmentation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1601
4500 Performance Evaluation of an Ontology-Based Arabic Sentiment Analysis

Authors: Salima Behdenna, Fatiha Barigou, Ghalem Belalem

Abstract:

Due to the quick increase in the volume of Arabic opinions posted on various social media, Arabic sentiment analysis has become one of the most important areas of research. Compared to English, there is very little works on Arabic sentiment analysis, in particular aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA). In ABSA, aspect extraction is the most important task. In this paper, we propose a semantic ABSA approach for standard Arabic reviews to extract explicit aspect terms and identify the polarity of the extracted aspects. The proposed approach was evaluated using HAAD datasets. Experiments showed that the proposed approach achieved a good level of performance compared with baseline results. The F-measure was improved by 19% for the aspect term extraction tasks and 55% aspect term polarity task.

Keywords: Sentiment analysis, opinion mining, Arabic, aspect level, opinion, polarity.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 463
4499 Advanced Pulse Width Modulation Techniques for Z Source Multi Level Inverter

Authors: B. M. Manjunatha, D. V. Ashok Kumar, M. Vijay Kumar

Abstract:

This paper proposes five level diode clamped Z source Inverter. The existing PWM techniques used for ZSI are restricted for two level. The two level Z Source Inverter have high harmonic distortions which effects the performance of the grid connected PV system. To improve the performance of the system the number of voltage levels in the output waveform need to be increased. This paper presents comparative analysis of a five level diode clamped Z source Inverter with different carrier based Modified Pulse Width Modulation techniques. The parameters considered for comparison are output voltage, voltage gain, voltage stress across switch and total harmonic distortion when powered by same DC supply. Analytical results are verified using MATLAB.

Keywords: Diode Clamped, Pulse Width Modulation, total harmonic distortion, Z Source Inverter.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2357
4498 Genetic Algorithm for Feature Subset Selection with Exploitation of Feature Correlations from Continuous Wavelet Transform: a real-case Application

Authors: G. Van Dijck, M. M. Van Hulle, M. Wevers

Abstract:

A genetic algorithm (GA) based feature subset selection algorithm is proposed in which the correlation structure of the features is exploited. The subset of features is validated according to the classification performance. Features derived from the continuous wavelet transform are potentially strongly correlated. GA-s that do not take the correlation structure of features into account are inefficient. The proposed algorithm forms clusters of correlated features and searches for a good candidate set of clusters. Secondly a search within the clusters is performed. Different simulations of the algorithm on a real-case data set with strong correlations between features show the increased classification performance. Comparison is performed with a standard GA without use of the correlation structure.

Keywords: Classification, genetic algorithm, hierarchicalagglomerative clustering, wavelet transform.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1224
4497 Reducing Pressure Drop in Microscale Channel Using Constructal Theory

Authors: K. X. Cheng, A. L. Goh, K. T. Ooi

Abstract:

The effectiveness of microchannels in enhancing heat transfer has been demonstrated in the semiconductor industry. In order to tap the microscale heat transfer effects into macro geometries, overcoming the cost and technological constraints, microscale passages were created in macro geometries machined using conventional fabrication methods. A cylindrical insert was placed within a pipe, and geometrical profiles were created on the outer surface of the insert to enhance heat transfer under steady-state single-phase liquid flow conditions. However, while heat transfer coefficient values of above 10 kW/m2·K were achieved, the heat transfer enhancement was accompanied by undesirable pressure drop increment. Therefore, this study aims to address the high pressure drop issue using Constructal theory, a universal design law for both animate and inanimate systems. Two designs based on Constructal theory were developed to study the effectiveness of Constructal features in reducing the pressure drop increment as compared to parallel channels, which are commonly found in microchannel fabrication. The hydrodynamic and heat transfer performance for the Tree insert and Constructal fin (Cfin) insert were studied using experimental methods, and the underlying mechanisms were substantiated by numerical results. In technical terms, the objective is to achieve at least comparable increment in both heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop, if not higher increment in the former parameter. Results show that the Tree insert improved the heat transfer performance by more than 16 percent at low flow rates, as compared to the Tree-parallel insert. However, the heat transfer enhancement reduced to less than 5 percent at high Reynolds numbers. On the other hand, the pressure drop increment stayed almost constant at 20 percent. This suggests that the Tree insert has better heat transfer performance in the low Reynolds number region. More importantly, the Cfin insert displayed improved heat transfer performance along with favourable hydrodynamic performance, as compared to Cfinparallel insert, at all flow rates in this study. At 2 L/min, the enhancement of heat transfer was more than 30 percent, with 20 percent pressure drop increment, as compared to Cfin-parallel insert. Furthermore, comparable increment in both heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop was observed at 8 L/min. In other words, the Cfin insert successfully achieved the objective of this study. Analysis of the results suggests that bifurcation of flows is effective in reducing the increment in pressure drop relative to heat transfer enhancement. Optimising the geometries of the Constructal fins is therefore the potential future study in achieving a bigger stride in energy efficiency at much lower costs.

Keywords: Constructal theory, enhanced heat transfer, microchannel, pressure drop.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1492
4496 Banks Profitability Indicators in CEE Countries

Authors: I. Erins, J. Erina

Abstract:

The aim of the present article is to determine the impact of the external and internal factors of bank performance on the profitability indicators of the CEE countries banks in the period from 2006 to 2012. On the basis of research conducted abroad on bank and macroeconomic profitability indicators, in order to obtain research results, the authors evaluated return on average assets (ROAA) and return on average equity (ROAE) indicators of the CEE countries banks. The authors analyzed profitability indicators of banks using descriptive methods, SPSS data analysis methods, as well as data correlation and linear regression analysis. The authors concluded that most internal and external indicators of bank performance have no direct influence the profitability of the banks in the CEE countries. The only exceptions are credit risk and bank size, which affect one of the measures of bank profitability – return on average equity.

Keywords: Banks, CEE countries, Profitability ROAA, ROAE.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2662
4495 A Study on Evaluation of Strut Type Suspension Noise Caused by Rubber Degradation

Authors: Gugyong Kim, Sugnsu Kang, Yongjun Lee, Sooncheol Park, Wonwook Jung

Abstract:

When cars are released from the factory, strut noises are very small and therefore it is difficult to perceive them. As the use time and travel distance increase, however, strut noises get larger so as to cause users much uneasiness. The noises generated at the field include engine noises and flow noises and therefore it is difficult to clearly discern the noises generated from struts. This study developed a test method which can reproduce field strut noises in the lab. Using the newly developed noise evaluation test, this study analyzed the effects that insulator performance degradation and failure can have on car noises. The study also confirmed that the insulator durability test by the simple back-and-forth motion cannot completely reflect the state of the parts failure in the field. Based on this, the study also confirmed that field noises can be reproduced through a durability test that considers heat aging.

Keywords: Insulator, noise, performance degradation, strut

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1722
4494 Performance Analysis of Brain Tumor Detection Based On Image Fusion

Authors: S. Anbumozhi, P. S. Manoharan

Abstract:

Medical Image fusion plays a vital role in medical field to diagnose the brain tumors which can be classified as benign or malignant. It is the process of integrating multiple images of the same scene into a single fused image to reduce uncertainty and minimizing redundancy while extracting all the useful information from the source images. Fuzzy logic is used to fuse two brain MRI images with different vision. The fused image will be more informative than the source images. The texture and wavelet features are extracted from the fused image. The multilevel Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Classifier classifies the brain tumors based on trained and tested features. The proposed method achieved 80.48% sensitivity, 99.9% specificity and 99.69% accuracy. Experimental results obtained from fusion process prove that the use of the proposed image fusion approach shows better performance while compared with conventional fusion methodologies.

Keywords: Image fusion, Fuzzy rules, Neuro-fuzzy classifier.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3058
4493 Hybrid Adaptive Modeling to Enhance Robustness of Real-Time Optimization

Authors: Hussain Syed Asad, Richard Kwok Kit Yuen, Gongsheng Huang

Abstract:

Real-time optimization has been considered an effective approach for improving energy efficient operation of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. In model-based real-time optimization, model mismatches cannot be avoided. When model mismatches are significant, the performance of the real-time optimization will be impaired and hence the expected energy saving will be reduced. In this paper, the model mismatches for chiller plant on real-time optimization are considered. In the real-time optimization of the chiller plant, simplified semi-physical or grey box model of chiller is always used, which should be identified using available operation data. To overcome the model mismatches associated with the chiller model, hybrid Genetic Algorithms (HGAs) method is used for online real-time training of the chiller model. HGAs combines Genetic Algorithms (GAs) method (for global search) and traditional optimization method (i.e. faster and more efficient for local search) to avoid conventional hit and trial process of GAs. The identification of model parameters is synthesized as an optimization problem; and the objective function is the Least Square Error between the output from the model and the actual output from the chiller plant. A case study is used to illustrate the implementation of the proposed method. It has been shown that the proposed approach is able to provide reliability in decision making, enhance the robustness of the real-time optimization strategy and improve on energy performance.

Keywords: Energy performance, hybrid adaptive modeling, hybrid genetic algorithms, real-time optimization, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1140
4492 Using Phase Equilibrium Theory to Calculate Solubility of γ-Oryzanol in Supercritical CO2

Authors: Boy Arief Fachri

Abstract:

Even its content is rich in antioxidants ϒ-oryzanol, rice bran is not used properly as functional food. This research aims to (1) extract ϒ-oryzanol; (2) determine the solubility of ϒ-oryzanol in supercritical CO2 based on phase equilibrium theory; and (3) study the effect of process variables on solubility. Extraction experiments were carried out for rice bran (5 g) at various extraction pressures, temperatures and reaction times. The flowrate of supercritical fluid through the extraction vessel was 25 g/min. The extracts were collected and analysed with high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The conclusion based on the experiments are as: (1) The highest experimental solubility was 0.303 mcg/mL RBO at T= 60°C, P= 90 atm, t= 30 min; (2) Solubility of ϒ-oryzanol was influenced by pressure and temperature. As the pressure and temperature increase, the solubility increases; (3) The solubility data of supercritical extraction can be successfully determined using phase equilibrium theory. Meanwhile, tocopherol was found and slightly investigated in this work.

Keywords: Rice bran, solubility, supercritical CO2, ϒ-orizanol.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2136
4491 Multi-objective Optimization of Vehicle Passive Suspension with a Two-Terminal Mass Using Chebyshev Goal Programming

Authors: Chuan Li, Ming Liang, Qibing Yu

Abstract:

To improve the dynamics response of the vehicle passive suspension, a two-terminal mass is suggested to connect in parallel with the suspension strut. Three performance criteria, tire grip, ride comfort and suspension deflection, are taken into consideration to optimize the suspension parameters. However, the three criteria are conflicting and non-commensurable. For this reason, the Chebyshev goal programming method is applied to find the best tradeoff among the three objectives. A simulation case is presented to describe the multi-objective optimization procedure. For comparison, the Chebyshev method is also employed to optimize the design of a conventional passive suspension. The effectiveness of the proposed design method has been clearly demonstrated by the result. It is also shown that the suspension with a two-terminal mass in parallel has better performance in terms of the three objectives.

Keywords: Vehicle, passive suspension, two-terminal mass, optimization, Chebyshev goal programming

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1759
4490 Switching Rule for the Exponential Stability and Stabilization of Switched Linear Systems with Interval Time-varying Delays

Authors: Kreangkri Ratchagit

Abstract:

This paper is concerned with exponential stability and stabilization of switched linear systems with interval time-varying delays. The time delay is any continuous function belonging to a given interval, in which the lower bound of delay is not restricted to zero. By constructing a suitable augmented Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional combined with Leibniz-Newton-s formula, a switching rule for the exponential stability and stabilization of switched linear systems with interval time-varying delays and new delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the exponential stability and stabilization of the systems are first established in terms of LMIs. Numerical examples are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the results.

Keywords: Switching design, exponential stability and stabilization, switched linear systems, interval delay, Lyapunov function, linear matrix inequalities.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1525
4489 A Combination of Similarity Ranking and Time for Social Research Paper Searching

Authors: P. Jomsri

Abstract:

Nowadays social media are important tools for web resource discovery. The performance and capabilities of web searches are vital, especially search results from social research paper bookmarking. This paper proposes a new algorithm for ranking method that is a combination of similarity ranking with paper posted time or CSTRank. The paper posted time is static ranking for improving search results. For this particular study, the paper posted time is combined with similarity ranking to produce a better ranking than other methods such as similarity ranking or SimRank. The retrieval performance of combination rankings is evaluated using mean values of NDCG. The evaluation in the experiments implies that the chosen CSTRank ranking by using weight score at ratio 90:10 can improve the efficiency of research paper searching on social bookmarking websites.

Keywords: combination ranking, information retrieval, time, similarity ranking, static ranking, weight score

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1666
4488 iDENTM Phones Automated Stress Testing

Authors: Wei Hoo Chong

Abstract:

System testing is actually done to the entire system against the Functional Requirement Specification and/or the System Requirement Specification. Moreover, it is an investigatory testing phase, where the focus is to have almost a destructive attitude and test not only the design, but also the behavior and even the believed expectations of the customer. It is also intended to test up to and beyond the bounds defined in the software/hardware requirements specifications. In Motorola®, Automated Testing is one of the testing methodologies uses by GSG-iSGT (Global Software Group - iDEN TM Subcriber Group-Test) to increase the testing volume, productivity and reduce test cycle-time in iDEN TM phones testing. Testing is able to produce more robust products before release to the market. In this paper, iHopper is proposed as a tool to perform stress test on iDEN TM phonse. We will discuss the value that automation has brought to iDEN TM Phone testing such as improving software quality in the iDEN TM phone together with some metrics. We will also look into the advantages of the proposed system and some discussion of the future work as well.

Keywords: Testing, automated testing, stress testing, software quality.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1491
4487 Performance Analysis of Wavelet Based Multiuser MIMO OFDM

Authors: Md. Mahmudul Hasan

Abstract:

Wavelet analysis has some strong advantages over Fourier analysis, as it allows a time-frequency domain analysis, allowing optimal resolution and flexibility. As a result, they have been satisfactorily applied in almost all the fields of communication systems including OFDM which is a strong candidate for next generation of wireless technology. In this paper, the performances of wavelet based Multiuser Multiple Input and Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (MU-MIMO OFDM) systems are analyzed in terms of BER. It has been shown that the wavelet based systems outperform the classical FFT based systems. This analysis also unfolds an interesting result, where wavelet based OFDM system will have a constant error performance using Regularized Channel Inversion (RCI) beamforming for any number of users, and outperforms in all possible scenario in a multiuser environment. An extensive computer simulations show that a PAPR reduction of up to 6.8dB can be obtained with M=64.

Keywords: Wavelet Based OFDM, Optimal Beam-forming, Multiuser MIMO OFDM, Signal to Leakage Ratio.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2616
4486 ACTN3 Genotype Association with Motoric Performance of Roma Children

Authors: J. Bernasovska, I. Boronova, J. Poracova, M. Mydlarova Blascakova, V. Szabadosova, P. Ruzbarsky, E. Petrejcikova, I. Bernasovsky

Abstract:

The paper presents the results of the molecular genetics analysis in sports research, with special emphasis to use genetic information in diagnosing of motoric predispositions in Roma boys from East Slovakia. The ability and move are the basic characteristics of all living organisms. The phenotypes are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Genetic tests differ in principle from the traditional motoric tests, because the DNA of an individual does not change during life. The aim of the presented study was to examine motion abilities and to determine the frequency of ACTN3 (R577X) gene in Roma children. Genotype data were obtained from 138 Roma and 155 Slovak boys from 7 to 15 years old. Children were investigated on physical performance level in association with their genotype. Biological material for genetic analyses comprised samples of buccal swabs. Genotypes were determined using Real Time High resolution melting PCR method (Rotor-Gene 6000 Corbett and Light Cycler 480 Roche). The software allows creating reports of any analysis, where information of the specific analysis, normalized and differential graphs and many information of the samples are shown. Roma children of analyzed group legged to non-Romany children at the same age in all the compared tests. The % distribution of R and X alleles in Roma children was different from controls. The frequency of XX genotype was 9.26%, RX 46.33% and RR was 44.41%. The frequency of XX genotype was 9.26% which is comparable to a frequency of an Indian population. Data were analyzed with the ANOVA test.

Keywords: ACTN3 gene, R577X polymorphism, Roma children, Slovakia, sports performance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1206
4485 Development and Optimization of Automated Dry-Wafer Separation

Authors: Tim Giesen, Christian Fischmann, Fabian Böttinger, Alexander Ehm, Alexander Verl

Abstract:

In a state-of-the-art industrial production line of photovoltaic products the handling and automation processes are of particular importance and implication. While processing a fully functional crystalline solar cell an as-cut photovoltaic wafer is subject to numerous repeated handling steps. With respect to stronger requirements in productivity and decreasing rejections due to defects the mechanical stress on the thin wafers has to be reduced to a minimum as the fragility increases by decreasing wafer thicknesses. In relation to the increasing wafer fragility, researches at the Fraunhofer Institutes IPA and CSP showed a negative correlation between multiple handling processes and the wafer integrity. Recent work therefore focused on the analysis and optimization of the dry wafer stack separation process with compressed air. The achievement of a wafer sensitive process capability and a high production throughput rate is the basic motivation in this research.

Keywords: Automation, Photovoltaic Manufacturing, Thin Wafer, Material Handling

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1671
4484 Overloading Scheme for Cellular DS-CDMA using Quasi-Orthogonal Sequences and Iterative Interference Cancellation Receiver

Authors: Preetam Kumar, Saswat Chakrabarti

Abstract:

Overloading is a technique to accommodate more number of users than the spreading factor N. This is a bandwidth efficient scheme to increase the number users in a fixed bandwidth. One of the efficient schemes to overload a CDMA system is to use two sets of orthogonal signal waveforms (O/O). The first set is assigned to the N users and the second set is assigned to the additional M users. An iterative interference cancellation technique is used to cancel interference between the two sets of users. In this paper, the performance of an overloading scheme in which the first N users are assigned Walsh-Hadamard orthogonal codes and extra users are assigned the same WH codes but overlaid by a fixed (quasi) bent sequence [11] is evaluated. This particular scheme is called Quasi- Orthogonal Sequence (QOS) O/O scheme, which is a part of cdma2000 standard [12] to provide overloading in the downlink using single user detector. QOS scheme are balance O/O scheme, where the correlation between any set-1 and set-2 users are equalized. The allowable overload of this scheme is investigated in the uplink on an AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels, so that the uncoded performance with iterative multistage interference cancellation detector remains close to the single user bound. It is shown that this scheme provides 19% and 11% overloading with SDIC technique for N= 16 and 64 respectively, with an SNR degradation of less than 0.35 dB as compared to single user bound at a BER of 0.00001. But on a Rayleigh fading channel, the channel overloading is 45% (29 extra users) at a BER of 0.0005, with an SNR degradation of about 1 dB as compared to single user performance for N=64. This is a significant amount of channel overloading on a Rayleigh fading channel.

Keywords: DS-CDMA, Iterative Interference CancellationOrthogonal codes, Overloading.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1716
4483 Impact of Node Density and Transmission Range on the Performance of OLSR and DSDV Routing Protocols in VANET City Scenarios

Authors: Yassine Meraihi, Dalila Acheli, Rabah Meraihi

Abstract:

Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a special case of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) used to establish communications and exchange information among nearby vehicles and between vehicles and nearby fixed infrastructure. VANET is seen as a promising technology used to provide safety, efficiency, assistance and comfort to the road users. Routing is an important issue in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network to find and maintain communication between vehicles due to the highly dynamic topology, frequently disconnected network and mobility constraints.

This paper evaluates the performance of two most popular proactive routing protocols OLSR and DSDV in real city traffic scenario on the basis of three metrics namely Packet delivery ratio, throughput and average end to end delay by varying vehicles density and transmission range.

Keywords: DSDV, OLSR, Quality of service, Routing protocols, VANET.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2276
4482 A Performance Analysis Study of an Active Solar Still Integrating Fin at the Basin Plate

Authors: O. Ansari, H. Hafs, A. Bah, M. Asbik, M. Malha, M. Bakhouya

Abstract:

Water is one of the most important and vulnerable natural resources due to human activities and climate change. Water-level continues declining year after year and it is primarily caused by sustained, extensive, and traditional usage methods. Improving water utilization becomes an urgent issue in order satisfy the increasing population needs. Desalination of seawater or brackish water could help in increasing water potential. However, a cost-effective desalination process is required. The most appropriate method for performing this desalination is solar-driven distillation, given its simplicity, low cost and especially the availability of the solar energy source. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of coupling integrated basin plate by fins with preheating by solar collector on the performance of solar still. The energy balance equations for the various elements of the solar still are introduced. A numerical example is used to show the efficiency of the proposed solution.

Keywords: Active solar still, Brackisch water, desalination, fins, solar collector.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 804
4481 Experimental and Numerical Study of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Column Subjected to Axial and Eccentric Loads

Authors: Chengfeng Fang, Mohamed Ali Sadakkathulla, Abdul Sheikh

Abstract:

Ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is a specially formulated cement-based composite characterized with an ultra-high compressive strength (fc = 240 MPa) and a low water-cement ratio (W/B= 0.2). With such material characteristics, UHPFRC is favored for the design and constructions of structures required high structural performance and slender geometries. Unlike conventional concrete, the structural performance of members manufactured with UHPFRC has not yet been fully studied, particularly, for UHPFRC columns with high slenderness. In this study, the behaviors of slender UHPFRC columns under concentric or eccentric load will be investigated both experimentally and numerically. Four slender UHPFRC columns were tested under eccentric loads with eccentricities, of 0 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, and 85 mm, respectively, and one UHPFRC beam was tested under four-point bending. Finite element (FE) analysis was conducted with concrete damage plasticity (CDP) modulus to simulating the load-middle height or middle span deflection relationships and damage patterns of all UHPFRC members. Simulated results were compared against the experimental results and observation to gain the confidence of FE model, and this model was further extended to conduct parametric studies, which aim to investigate the effects of slenderness regarding failure modes and load-moment interaction relationships. Experimental results showed that the load bearing capacities of the slender columns reduced with an increase in eccentricity. Comparisons between load-middle height and middle span deflection relationships as well as damage patterns of all UHPFRC members obtained both experimentally and numerically demonstrated high accuracy of the FE simulations. Based on the available FE model, the following parametric study indicated that a further increase in the slenderness of column resulted in significant decreases in the load-bearing capacities, ductility index, and flexural bending capacities.

Keywords: Eccentric loads, ductility index, RC column, slenderness, UHPFRC.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 973
4480 School Design and Energy Efficiency

Authors: B. Su

Abstract:

Auckland has a temperate climate with comfortable warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. An Auckland school normally does not need air conditioning for cooling during the summer and only need heating during the winter. The space hating energy is the major portion of winter school energy consumption and the winter energy consumption is major portion of annual school energy consumption. School building thermal design should focus on the winter thermal performance for reducing the space heating energy. A number of Auckland schools- design data and energy consumption data are used for this study. This pilot study investigates the relationships between their energy consumption data and school building design data to improve future school design for energy efficiency.

Keywords: Building energy efficiency, building thermal performance, school building design, school energy consumption

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1883
4479 Providing Additional Advantages for STATCOM in Power Systems by Integration of Energy Storage Device

Authors: Reza Sedaghati

Abstract:

The use of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices in a power system can potentially overcome limitations of the present mechanically controlled transmission system. Also, the advance of technology makes possible to include new energy storage devices in the electrical power system. The integration of Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) into Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) can lead to increase their flexibility in improvement of power system dynamic behaviour by exchanging both active and reactive powers with power grids. This paper describes structure and behaviour of SMES, specifications and performance principles of the STATCOM/SMES compensator. Moreover, the benefits and effectiveness of integrated SMES with STATCOM in power systems is presented. Also, the performance of the STATCOM/SMES compensator is evaluated using an IEEE 3-bus system through the dynamic simulation by PSCAD/EMTDC software.

Keywords: STATCOM/SMES compensator, chopper, converter, energy storage system, power systems.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3328
4478 Improved Estimation of Evolutionary Spectrum based on Short Time Fourier Transforms and Modified Magnitude Group Delay by Signal Decomposition

Authors: H K Lakshminarayana, J S Bhat, H M Mahesh

Abstract:

A new estimator for evolutionary spectrum (ES) based on short time Fourier transform (STFT) and modified group delay function (MGDF) by signal decomposition (SD) is proposed. The STFT due to its built-in averaging, suppresses the cross terms and the MGDF preserves the frequency resolution of the rectangular window with the reduction in the Gibbs ripple. The present work overcomes the magnitude distortion observed in multi-component non-stationary signals with STFT and MGDF estimation of ES using SD. The SD is achieved either through discrete cosine transform based harmonic wavelet transform (DCTHWT) or perfect reconstruction filter banks (PRFB). The MGDF also improves the signal to noise ratio by removing associated noise. The performance of the present method is illustrated for cross chirp and frequency shift keying (FSK) signals, which indicates that its performance is better than STFT-MGDF (STFT-GD) alone. Further its noise immunity is better than STFT. The SD based methods, however cannot bring out the frequency transition path from band to band clearly, as there will be gap in the contour plot at the transition. The PRFB based STFT-SD shows good performance than DCTHWT decomposition method for STFT-GD.

Keywords: Evolutionary Spectrum, Modified Group Delay, Discrete Cosine Transform, Harmonic Wavelet Transform, Perfect Reconstruction Filter Banks, Short Time Fourier Transform.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1611
4477 A Nonoblivious Image Watermarking System Based on Singular Value Decomposition and Texture Segmentation

Authors: Soroosh Rezazadeh, Mehran Yazdi

Abstract:

In this paper, a robust digital image watermarking scheme for copyright protection applications using the singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. In this scheme, an entropy masking model has been applied on the host image for the texture segmentation. Moreover, the local luminance and textures of the host image are considered for watermark embedding procedure to increase the robustness of the watermarking scheme. In contrast to all existing SVD-based watermarking systems that have been designed to embed visual watermarks, our system uses a pseudo-random sequence as a watermark. We have tested the performance of our method using a wide variety of image processing attacks on different test images. A comparison is made between the results of our proposed algorithm with those of a wavelet-based method to demonstrate the superior performance of our algorithm.

Keywords: Watermarking, copyright protection, singular value decomposition, entropy masking, texture segmentation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1763
4476 Interconnect Analysis of a Novel Multiplexer Based Full-Adder Cell for Power and Propagation Delay Optimizations

Authors: G.Ramana Murthy, C.Senthilpari, P.Velrajkumar, Lim Tien Sze

Abstract:

The proposed multiplexer-based novel 1-bit full adder cell is schematized by using DSCH2 and its layout is generated by using microwind VLSI CAD tool. The adder cell layout interconnect analysis is performed by using BSIM4 layout analyzer. The adder circuit is compared with other six existing adder circuits for parametric analysis. The proposed adder cell gives better performance than the other existing six adder circuits in terms of power, propagation delay and PDP. The proposed adder circuit is further analyzed for interconnect analysis, which gives better performance than other adder circuits in terms of layout thickness, width and height.

Keywords: Full Adder, Interconnect Analysis, Low-Power, Multiplexer, Propagation Delay, Parametric Analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1550