Modeling and Design of Switching Regulators

Various building blocks of a switching regulator are described in detail and mathematical models are developed for all building blocks in terms of transfer functions, which enable one to design a switching regulator for stability, desirable bandwidth, line rejection, and transient response. A step-by-step procedure to design compensation is illustrated using two examples. Various networks for compensation and their transfer functions are presented which the author hopes will be very handy to use and will become the reference source.     

Infrared signature studies of aerospace vehicles

Infrared (IR) emissions from aircraft are used to detect, track, and lock-on to the target. MAN Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) have emerged as a major cause of aircraft and helicopter loss. Therefore, IR signature studies are important to counter this threat for survivability enhancement, and are an important aspect of stealth technology. This paper reviews contemporary developments in this discipline, with particular emphasis on IR signature prediction from aerospace vehicles. The role of atmosphere in IR signature analysis, and relation between IR signature level and target susceptibility are illustrated. Also, IR signature suppression systems and countermeasure techniques are discussed, to highlight their effectiveness and implications in terms of penalties.     

Mercury’s Surface Composition and Character as Measured by Ground-Based Observations

Mercury’s surface is thought to be covered with highly space-weathered silicate material. The regolith is composed of material accumulated during the time of planetary formation, and subsequently from comets, meteorites, and the Sun. Ground-based observations indicate a heterogeneous surface composition with SiO₂ content ranging from 39 to 57 wt%. Visible and near-infrared spectra, multi-spectral imaging, and modeling indicate expanses of feldspathic, well-comminuted surface with some smooth regions that are likely to be magmatic in origin with many widely distributed crystalline impact ejecta rays and blocky deposits. Pyroxene spectral signatures have been recorded at four locations. Although highly space weathered, there is little evidence for the conversion of FeO to nanophase metallic iron particles (npFe⁰), or “iron blebs,” as at the Moon. Near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy indicate clino- and ortho-pyroxene are present at different locations. There is some evidence for no- or low-iron alkali basalts and feldspathoids. All evidence, including microwave studies, point to a low iron and low titanium surface. There may be a link between the surface and the exosphere that may be diagnostic of the true crustal composition of Mercury. A structural global dichotomy exists with a huge basin on the side not imaged by Mariner 10. This paper briefly describes the implications for this dichotomy on the magnetic field and the 3 : 2 spin : orbit coupling. All other points made above are detailed here with an account of the observations, the analysis of the observations, and theoretical modeling, where appropriate, that supports the stated conclusions.     

Hardware-Constrained Hybrid Coding of Video Imagery

The design, implementation, and performance of a video bandwidth compression system is described. In this system, compression is obtained by several methods including the use of DCT/DCPM hybrid coding, frame rate reduction, and resolution reduction. The overall compression ratio is up to 1000:1. The hardware-constrained design of the DCT and the DPCM is described and a new method is derived to solve the optimum integer bit-assignment problem associated with the block quantization process in the DPCM. Computer simulation results are presented which predict that the performance of the system using the derived optimal bit assignment method is superior to those obtained by other bit assignment methods. The real-time hybrid coding system design is optimized for a set of ?modified? average statistics to compress a wide variety of input video images. This approach eliminates the problem of nonzero dc mean value which could otherwise cause serious degradations in the system performance. The compression system is fully implemented and the quality of the reconstructed video as predicted by computer simulation has been demonstrated by the actual hardware performance. The PSNR of the reconstructed imagery is in excess of 36 dB at 2 bits per pixel.     

Influence of the Solar Cycle on the General Circulation of the Stratosphere and Upper Troposphere

The record of dynamical structure reveals a systematic variation that operates coherently with the 11-yr variation of UV irradiance. Involving periods shorter than 5 years, the systematic variation reflects the influence of the QBO on the polar-night vortex. It has the same basic structure as interannual changes associated with the residual mean circulation of the stratosphere. A signature of the solar cycle also appears in the direct correlation to solar flux, as recovered through regression of the entire monthly record. That signature, however, is sharply enhanced around solstice, when the residual circulation is active, and during extremal phases of the QBO. In the tropics, the solar signature follows, throughout the year, from a decadal modulation in the frequency of the QBO. The modulation is manifested to either side of the QBO’s mean frequency, in two spectral peaks where the QBO dwells: one at (24 months)⁻¹, reflecting a Biennial Oscillation (BO), and another at (36 months)^-1. Intrinsic to the QBO, those peaks are separated from its mean frequency by ∼11 years⁻¹.Through the QBO’s residual circulation, the decadal modulation introduces anomalies in the subtropics, with symmetry about the equator. Accompanying anomalous temperature in the subtropics is a stronger signature over the winter pole. Discovered by Labitzke and van Loon 1988, that solar signature reflects anomalous downwelling of the Brewer-Dobson circulation. It is shown to follow through the BO, which is intrinsic to the QBO and its modulation of the polar-night vortex.     

MHD ANALYSIS OF PETSCHEK-TYPE RECONNECTION IN NON-UNIFORM FIELD AND FLOW GEOMETRIES

Analytical studies of reconnection have, for the most part, been confined to steady and uniform current sheet geometries. In contrast to these implifications, natural phenomena associated with the presence of current sheets indicate highly non-uniform structure and time-varying behaviour. Examples include the violent outbursts of energy on the Sun known as solar flares, and magnetospheric phenomena such as flux transfer events, plasmoids, and auroral activity. Unlike the theoretical models, reconnection therefore occurs in a highly dynamic and structured plasma environment. In this article we review the mathematical tools and techniques which are available to formulate models capable of describing the effects of reconnection in such situations. We confine attention to variants of the reconnection model first discussed by Petschek in the 1960s, in view of its successful application in predicting and interpreting phenomena in the terrestrial magnetosphere. The analysis of Petschek-type reconnection is based on the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which describe the large-scale behaviour of the magnetic field and plasma flow outside the diffusion region, which we determine as a localised part of the current sheet in which reconnection is initiated. The approach we adopt here is to transform the MHD equations into a Lagrangian or so-called 'frozen-in' coordinate system. In this coordinate system, the equation of motion transforms into a set of coupled nonlinear equations, in which the presence of inhomogeneous magnetic fields and/or plasma flows gives rise to a term similar to that which appears in the study of the ordinary string equation in a non-homogeneous medium. As demonstrated here, this approach not only clarifies and highlights the effects of such non-uniformities, it also simplifies the solution of the original set of MHD equations. In particular, this is true for those types of problem in which the total pressure can be considered as a known quantity from the outset. To illustrate the method, we solve several 2D problems involving magnetic field and flow non-uniformities: reconnection in a stagnation-point flow geometry with antiparallel magnetic fields; reconnection in a Y-type magnetic field geometry with and without velocity shear across the current sheet; and reconnection in a force-free magnetic field geometry with field lines of the form xy = const. These case examples, chosen for their tractability, each incorporate some aspects of the field and flow geomtries encountered in solar-terrestrial applications, and they provide a starting point for further analytical as well as numerical studies of reconnection.     

Adaptive polarimetric target detection with coherent radar. II.Detection against non-Gaussian background

For pt. I see ibid., vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 1194-1206 (2001).This paper presents the derivation of a polarimetric coherent adaptive scheme to detect a radar target against a non-Gaussian background. This completes the results presented in Part I for the Gaussian background. A Texture Free-Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (TF-GLRT) detector is derived that exploits the polarimetric characteristics of the received radar echoes to improve the detection performance. The proposed polarimetric detector is shown to have Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) when operating against compound-Gaussian clutter with unknown parameters. Its performance is fully characterized by both theoretical analysis and simulation. Moreover, the application to recorded radar data demonstrates the performance improvement achievable in practice     

An IR,optical and X-ray study of the two state behaviour of GX 339-4

We review results of correlated IR, optical and X-ray observations of GX 339-4 made from March 1981 through May 1984. In the soft X-ray state, the object does not show outstanding optical and X-ray variability. Night-to-night smooth optical variations of 0.3 magnitudes were however present during one observing run. In contrast, the hard X-ray state is characterised by strong erratic optical and X-ray fluctuations on time scales from 20 milliseconds to seconds, as well as 7 to 20 second quasi-periodic oscillations. The optical counterpart appears much redder in the IR during the hard state. Particular attention is drawn to the hard to soft X-ray transition which occured in June 1981. The shape of the IR to X-ray energy distribution is discussed. The unusual features of this black hole candidate are examined in the framework of the current theories of accretion.Based partly on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.     

Composition of Light Solar Wind Noble Gases in the Bulk Metallic Glass flown on the Genesis Mission

We discuss data of light noble gases from the solar wind implanted into a metallic glass target flown on the Genesis mission. Helium and neon isotopic compositions of the bulk solar wind trapped in this target during 887 days of exposure to the solar wind do not deviate significantly from the values in foils of the Apollo Solar Wind Composition experiments, which have been exposed for hours to days. In general, the depth profile of the Ne isotopic composition is similar to those often found in lunar soils, and essentially very well reproduced by ion-implantation modelling, adopting the measured velocity distribution of solar particles during the Genesis exposure and assuming a uniform isotopic composition of solar wind neon. The results confirm that contributions from high-energy particles to the solar wind fluence are negligible, which is consistent with in-situ observations. This makes the enigmatic “SEP-Ne” component, apparently present in lunar grains at relatively large depth, obsolete. ²⁰Ne/ ²²Ne ratios in gas trapped very near the metallic glass surface are up to 10% higher than predicted by ion implantation simulations. We attribute this superficially trapped gas to very low-speed, current-sheet-related solar wind, which has been fractionated in the corona due to inefficient Coulomb drag.