ITC/USA 2005 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2005 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper discusses using the CAN (Control Area Network) Bus protocol for control and status of flight test data acquisition systems. The application of the CAN (Control Area Network) on an F/A-18 aircraft will be discussed in detail.

ABSTRACT In recent years China's rapid rise and low-cost advantages, has brought the greatest impact on the printed circuit board industry, low-cost competition for the majority of Taiwanese companies are not strengths, combined with the financial crisis began in 2008, followed by 2009, the world consumer electronics market tightening, are tested in Taiwan for the production of printed circuit board industry base in the viability of manufacturers. In this study, through the study of Taiwan as a production base in case the printed circuit board companies, in the face of financial crisis in 2008, and follow-up to internal and external changes in the industry and the growth and decline of national competitiveness, the restructuring strategy is adopted to overcome the external environmental challenges of rapid change, which concludes with Taiwan as a production base of the printed circuit board industry, in the face of financial turmoil and economic environment changes and the overall production of cross-strait ECFA signed, to the advantage of strengths and talents of Taiwan culture resources, so printed circuit board manufacturing industry can continue to Taiwan as a production base, more competitive challenges towards internationalization. In this study, the research method is qualitative research in the case study method, the scope of the production base of a Taiwanese printed circuit board industry, the use of literature survey and data compilation, and the case company interviews, and data collation, the first stage first motive of enterprise transformation, analysis and use of five forces analysis and diamond model to understand the background and conditions of business transformation, the second stage, the case company interviews, SWOT analysis summarized the case company and the feasibility assessment and develop transformation strategies, and understanding of the transformation strategy of the key success factors. The study concludes on the hope that the production base in Taiwan for the printed circuit board industry in the face of changing external environment when assessing the feasibility of transformation strategy and development, and further development of Taiwan companies for the future a reference transformation strategy. Keywords¡GPrinted Circuit Board (PCB), Five Forces Analysis, Diamond Model, SWOT Analysis, Transformation Strategies

Recent development in electronics for mobile devices has led to the decrease in sizes and cost of autonomous complex embedded systems such as satellites. It is now possible to build a satellite quicker and only for a fraction of previous costs by using Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components. Yet, there are some obstacles that need to be overcome before a successful small satellite can be designed. Among these are the radiation environment, thermal issues, the overall system complexity and tight schedules. This thesis addresses these issues and proposes an overall approach for designing small satellites’ electronics. This approach can be summarised in 6 recommendations: Keep it simple Use fast hardware iterations Do not use space grade components Use a single string design on the system level (no redundancy) Design with limited trust in the software Use simple, accessible and easy updatable documentation With respect to those recommendations an on board data processing system, the Processing Board, has been designed for the ICEYE-1 satellite. The ICEYE-1 satellite is a fully commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite that will be launched in December 2017. The designed board has been manufactured and verified during airborne test campaigns. / Nya elektronikutvecklingar för mobiltelefoner har lett till en minskning av storlek och kostnader för andra autonoma komplexa inbyggda system som t.ex. satelliter. Så kallade småsatelliter kan numera byggas snabbare och för endast en bråkdel av tidigare kostnader med hjälp av Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) komponenter. Det finns dock vissa hinder som måste övervinnas om man vill designa en pålitligt fungerande småsatellit. Till dessa kan räknas strålningsmiljön, väl fungerande värmeledning, det totala systemets komplexitet samt snäva tidtabeller. Detta examensarbete behandlar dessa frågor och föreslår en övergripande strategi för att designa elektronik för småsatelliter. Detta tillvägagångssätt kan sammanfattas i 6 rekommendationer: Håll det enkelt Implementera snabba hårdvaruiterationer Använd inte rymdklassade komponenter Använd ingen redundans på systemnivå Designa med en begränsad tilltro på mjukvaran Dokumentera på ett enkelt, tillgängligt och lätt uppdateringsbart sätt Dessa rekommendationer har använts till att utveckla ett databehandlingssystem, kallat "Processing Board", till småsatelliten ICEYE-1. ICEYE-1 är en kommersiell Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellit som kommer att skjutas i omloppsbana i december 2017. Databehandlingssystemet i fråga har utvecklats och verifierats i samband med flygplansburna testkampanjer.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is damage detection strategy for aerospace, civiland mechanical infrastructure. This project tries to show that Lamb waves, that are being generated and sensed with piezoelectric transducers, can be used for damage detection in a SHM system. For these piezoelectric transducers to work, filtering and amplification circuits needs to be connected to them. This report include the design,simulation, assembly and testing of these circuits. Due to lack of time, it was not possible to generate and sense actual Lamb waves. The result of the thesis is thatsimulations and tests show that it is possible to generate and sense Lamb waves for damage detection in a SHM system / Structural health monitoring (SHM) är en skadedetekteringsstrategi för flyg-,civil- och mekanisk infrastruktur. Detta projekt försöker visa att Lambvågor, som genereras och avkänns med piezoelektriska givare, kan användas för skadedetektering i ett SHM-system. För att dessa piezoelektriska givare ska fungera krävs att filtrerings- och förstärkningskretsar är anslutna till dem. Denna rapport inkluderar design, simulering, montering och testning av dessa kretsar. På grund av tidsbrist var det inte möjligt att generera eller avkänna Lambvågor. Resultatet av examensarbetet är att simuleringar och tester visar att det är möjligt att generera och avkänna Lambvågor för skadedetektering i ett SHM-system.

Outer space is a very harsh environment that can cause electronics to not operate as they were originally intended. Aside from the extreme amount of radiation found in space, temperatures can also change very dramatically in a relatively small time frame. In order to test electronics that will be used in this environment, they first need to be tested on Earth under replicated conditions. Vanderbilt University designed a dewar that allows devices to be tested at these extreme temperatures while being radiated. For this thesis, a test setup that met all of the dewar's constraints was designed that would allow a 12-bit, 16-channel analog-to-digital converter to be tested while inside.

In this study, the wastewater generated from etching process of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) was treated by a process including both acidification and coagulation/sedimentation and then followed by the catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) over different catalysts (either Pt/SiO2¡PAl2O3 or Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3) process in series. Although the initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration of the wastewater is as high as 7740-12700 mg/L, the effluent of the pretreatment process was measured to have COD value in ranges of 3050-4260 mg/L. Several re-action parameters, such as reaction temperatures (200-260¢J), oxygen partial pressures (0-3 MPa), and two kinds of catalysts were performed experimentally to investigate the COD reduction of the wastewater during the CWAO process. Both reaction temperature and variety of catalyst are found most effectively on the COD reduction. However, the effect of oxygen partial pressure on the COD reduction is just in little. Results showed that the COD reduction during the CWAO over the Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalyst process is the most significant, which with a tow-step re-action and both the two reactions do obey first-order reaction kinetics. A change from a higher reaction activity of the CWAO reaction to a slower one implies a decrease of the reaction rate. On basis of our experiments data, the effective operating conditions of CWAO for the COD reduction was observed to be at temperature of 260¢J under oxygen partial pressure of 2.0 MPa and at a retention time period of 60 min. The COD conversion was calculated as high as 75%; however, it could be enhanced up to 78% and 91%, respectively, when the CWAO was conducted in presence of the Pt/SiO2¡PAl2O3 and Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalysts, respectively. It can be seen that the organic compound of the wastewater was mineralized most completely (with a COD/TOC ratio of 3.7¡Ó0.2) after the CWAO over the Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalyst process. Furthermore, a higher COD/TOC ratio of 3.9¡Ó0.3 was achieved when the Pt/SiO2¡PAl2O3 catalyst was in presence of the CWAO process, and the primitive WAO process had the highest COD/TOC ratio of 4.8¡Ó0.4. The experimental data showed that both a higher reaction temperature (¡Ù260¢J) and an application of catalyst are more important factors for the min-eralization of the organic compound of the wastewater during the CWAO process. In our investigation, BOD5/COD ratio has been used to assess if the WAO and/or the CWAO process treatment yield products more amenable to biodegradation. The BOD5/COD ratio was 0.68-0.93 when the reaction temperature was above 220¢J and the retention time was as long as 60 min. Unfortunately, the BOD5/COD ratio of the effluent from the CWAO process came out a lower value (0.45-0.65) though it was under the same reaction conditions. It is probable that the biodegradable portion of the organic compounds of the wastewater were decomposed easier during the CWAO process than during the WAO process. In addition, it was found that the products of the wastewater was decomposed partially into CO2 and into some low molecular weigh acids, such as formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, etc. The activation energy with respect to COD was calculated to be 38.42 kJ/mole and 83 kJ/mole, respectively, for the first-step reaction and for the second-step reaction, respectively, of the WAO process. It was al-so calculated that the first-step reaction of the CWAO over the Pt/SiO2¡PAl2O3 catalyst process has activation energy of 18.25 kJ/mole and 25.76 kJ/mole is for the second-step reaction. However, 16.05 kJ/mole and 49.61 kJ/mole are calculated for the first-step and the sec-ond-step reactions, respectively, of the CWAO over the Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalyst process. It can be seen that the application of both the Pt/SiO2¡PAl2O3 and the Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalysts has a significant effect on reducing the activation energy of the WAO. It was observed that the total COD conversion of the wastewater is as high as 96% and the BOD5/COD ratio of the effluent has been en-hanced up to more than 0.6. The combination of both the CWAO over the Pt¡PX/£^-Al2O3 catalyst and the biological treatment is a promising tech-nique for the PCB¡¦s wastewater treatment to fit the wastewater control regulation in Taiwan, which requests the COD value of the wastewater discharged should be less than 120 mg/L.

Outer space is a very harsh environment that can cause electronics to not operate as they were originally intended. Aside from the extreme amount of radiation found in space, temperatures can also change very dramatically in a relatively small time frame. In order to test electronics that will be used in this environment, they first need to be tested on Earth under replicated conditions. Vanderbilt University designed a dewar that allows devices to be tested at these extreme temperatures while being radiated. For this thesis, a test setup that met all of the dewar's constraints was designed that would allow a 12-bit, 16-channel analog-to-digital converter to be tested while inside.

In this study, the plant layout problem of a worldwide Printed Circuit Board (PCB) producer company is analyzed. Machines are grouped into cells using grouping methodologies of Tabular Algorithm, K-means clustering algorithm, and Hierarchical grouping with Levenshtein distances. Production plant layouts, which are formed by using different techniques, are evaluated using technical and economical indicators.

Rising fuel costs and concerns about air pollution have significantly increased interest in electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are equipped with rechargeable batteries that can be fully recharged by connecting to an external electrical source. However, the wider adoption of EVs is hindered by the need for an on-board charger system that is both lightweight and efficient. EVs utilize two main charging methods: on-board chargers (OBC) for regular charging and off-board (fast) chargers for quick refills of battery pack. Most EVs currently use 400V battery packs paired with 6.6kW or 11kW OBCs, while larger vehicles with over 100 kWh battery packs employ 16.5kW or 19.2kW OBCs, constrained by household voltage and current limits. Some manufacturers are transitioning to 800V battery packs to lower costs and enhance fast charging capabilities, necessitating the development of 800V OBCs with high efficiency and power density. For household use, EVs can charge via OBC in a grid-to-vehicle transfer and can supply energy back to the home or grid (vehicle-to-grid) for emergency use or to support smart grid functionalities, requiring bidirectional OBCs. Advanced power semiconductor devices have been instrumental in advancing power conversion technology. The introduction of power semiconductor devices based on wide bandgap (WBG) materials marks a revolutionary shift, offering potential improvements over silicon-based devices. These WBG devices are capable of achieving higher efficiency, and higher power density in power conversion at higher operation frequency. Elevating the switching frequency diminishes the voltage-second across the transformer, facilitating the utilization of printed-circuit-board (PCB) technology for the windings as opposed to Litz wire implementations. Compared to traditional Litz wire-based transformers, the manufacturing process is significantly streamlined, and the management of parasitic is considerably more straightforward. Furthermore, the integration of resonant inductors with PCB-based transformer results in a reduction in the overall number of magnetic components and improved power density. This dissertation focuses on the DC/DC conversion stage of a bi-directional battery charger. It aims to achieve high power density and high efficiency using a PCB-based integrated transformer, enhancing manufacturing processes. The dissertation details the specific accomplishments in this area: Firstly, a two-stage on-board charger structure for 800 V battery EVs is proposed. The first stage is a four-phase bridgeless totem pole AC/DC converter working at critical conduction mode (CRM) so that soft switching can be achieved for all the fast switches. The second stage is single phase CLLC (1PCLLC) converter which is attractive due to its less component counts of devices and driver circuits. A novel matrix integrated transformer with controllable built-in leakage inductance for bi-directional 1PCLLC converter was proposed. Integrating three UI-core-based (1UI-based) elemental transformers with non-perfectly interleaved winding structures into one 3UI-based integrated transformer can reduce the core loss significantly with a smaller footprint compared with three EI-core-based integrated transformers. The proposed integrated magnetics can be scalable for higher voltage and higher power converters by assembling more 1UI-based elemental transformers. A SiC-based 1PCLLC converter prototype operating at 250-kHz switching frequency for 11-kW OBC applications was built with the proposed integrated transformer, and it can achieve a power density of 250 W/in3 with maximum efficiency of 98.4%. Secondly, the challenge of increased common mode (CM) noise after adopting PCB-based windings in the design was discussed. The inter-winding capacitors between the primary and secondary windings act as a conduction path for high dv/dt CM noise, which can lead to electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues. To address this, a winding cancellation method for an integrated matrix transformer in a 1PCLLC converter was proposed and validated. This approach was tested in an 11-kW 1PCLLC converter. The EMI measurement results align with the analysis, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed method, which achieved a reduction in CM noise by 17dB. Furthermore, the 1PCLLC converter, incorporating the proposed planar matrix integrated transformer and winding cancellation technique, attained a power density of 420 W/in³ and a peak efficiency of 98.5%. Thirdly, to enhance efficiency further, the 1PCLLC converter is substituted with the proposed three-phase CLLC (3PCLLC) resonant converter equipped with three-phase rectifiers. The 3PCLLC converter becomes more promising for high power applications as its lower RMS current stress and automatic current sharing capabilities. It can achieve soft switching under all conditions. In addition, due to the symmetrical resonant tank, it is more suitable for bi-directional operation. Variable DC-link voltage is adopted so that the DC/DC stage can always work at its optimized point, providing best efficiency for the entire battery voltage. An improved core structure for the three-phase integrated transformer was proposed to reduce the core loss and simplify the magnetic components by integrating three primary resonant inductors, three secondary resonant inductors and three transformers into one magnetic component. A systematic method of converter design which includes the design of integrated transformer, converter loss optimization was adopted to design an 11kW 3PCLLC resonant converter. A SiC-based 3PCLLC converter prototype operating at 250-kHz switching frequency for 11-kW OBC applications was built with the proposed integrated transformer, and it can achieve a power density of 330 W/in3 with peak efficiency of 98.7%. Fourthly, the power level of OBC continues to increase to make up the large capacitance battery pack inside the EVs to relief the concern of mileage range. To address this challenge of higher power, a scalable matrix integrated transformer for multi-phase CLLC converter was proposed. A universal method of integrating magnetizing inductance with built-in leakage inductance based on multiple perfectly coupled transformers (PCTs). The integration of built-in leakage inductance can be achieved by connecting several PCTs using a standardized core type for cost considerations or can be further integrated into a customized core with interleaved magnetomotive force polarities across transformer legs to achieve better flux distribution and smaller core loss. The proposed concept can be applied to single-input single-output, and multiple-inputs multiple-outputs integrated transformer applications. A 3x3 PCTs-based integrated transformer built with PCB windings was designed for a 3PCLLC resonant converter, which integrates three primary resonant inductors, three secondary resonant inductors, and three transformers into one magnetic core to simplify the complexity of the converter. The effectiveness of the proposed concept was demonstrated through a high-efficiency, high-power density 3PCLLC DC/DC converter for an 800V 16.5kW OBC. The designed converter can achieve a power density of 500 W/in3 and a peak efficiency of 98.8%. / Doctor of Philosophy / Rising fuel costs and concerns about air pollution have significantly increased interest in electric vehicles (EVs). EVs are equipped with rechargeable batteries that can be fully recharged by connecting to an external electrical source. However, the wider adoption of EVs is hindered by the need for an on-board charger system that is both lightweight and efficient. The dissertation presents advances in OBC technology to address these challenges, focusing on the development of efficient, high-power density OBCs suitable for various EV applications. EVs utilize two main charging methods: on-board chargers (OBC) for regular charging and off-board (fast) chargers for quick refills of battery pack. Most EVs currently use 400V battery packs paired with 6.6kW or 11kW OBCs, while larger vehicles with over 100 kWh battery packs employ 16.5kW or 19.2kW OBCs, constrained by household voltage and current limits. Some manufacturers are transitioning to 800V battery packs to lower costs and enhance fast charging capabilities, necessitating the development of 800V OBCs with high efficiency and power density. For household use, EVs can charge via OBC in a grid-to-vehicle transfer and can supply energy back to the home or grid (vehicle-to-grid) for emergency use or to support smart grid functionalities, requiring bidirectional OBCs. Advanced power semiconductor devices have been instrumental in advancing power conversion technology. The introduction of power semiconductor devices based on wide bandgap (WBG) materials marks a revolutionary shift, offering potential improvements over silicon-based devices. These WBG devices are capable of achieving higher efficiency, and higher power density in power conversion at higher operation frequency. Elevating the switching frequency diminishes the voltage-second across the transformer, facilitating the utilization of printed circuit board (PCB) technology for the windings as opposed to Litz wire implementations. Compared to traditional Litz wire-based transformers, the manufacturing process is significantly streamlined, and the management of parasitic is considerably more straightforward. Furthermore, the integration of resonant inductors with PCB-based transformer results in a reduction in the overall number of magnetic components and improved power density. Addressing cost concerns, a novel, cost-effective single-phase converter design was proposed, achieving high efficiency with integrated magnetics. Additionally, the research tackled the challenge of electromagnetic interference (EMI) through a winding cancellation technique, significantly reducing common-mode noise and further improving the converter's performance. The research introduces an improved core structure for a three-phase integrated transformer, significantly reducing core loss and simplifying the design by combining multiple components into a single unit. This approach facilitated the creation of a high-efficiency, SiC-based converter prototype, demonstrating remarkable power density and peak efficiency compared with state-of-the-art solutions. To accommodate the increasing power requirements of OBCs, a scalable, matrix integrated transformer design was developed for multi-phase converters, optimizing cost and performance. This design simplifies the converter architecture, enhancing efficiency and power density, and is adaptable to both single and multiple output applications. These advancements offer promising solutions to the challenges hindering the wider adoption of EVs. The dissertation underscores the potential of advanced power conversion technologies, including the application of WBG devices, integrated magnetics to streamline converter design and enhance both the efficiency and power density of battery chargers.

The FDR (Frequency Disturbance Recorder) is a data acquisition device for the power system. The device is portable and can be used with any residential wall outlet for frequency data collection. Furthermore, the FDR transmits calculated frequency data to the web for access by authorized users via Ethernet connection. As a result, Virginia Tech implemented Frequency Monitoring Network (FNET) with these FDR devices. FNET is a collection of identical FDRs placed in different measurement sites to allow for data integration and comparison. Frequency is an important factor for power system control and stabilization. With funding and support provided by ABB, TVA and NSF the FDRs are placed strategically all over the United States for frequency analysis, power system protection and monitoring. The purpose of this study is to refine the current FDR hardware design and establish a new design that will physically fit all the components on one Printed Circuit Board (PCB). At the same time, the software that is to be implemented on the new board is to be kept similar if not the same as that of the current design. The current FDR uses the Axiom CME555 development board and it is interfaced to the external devices through its communication ports. Even through the CME555 board is able to meet the demands of the basic FDR operations, there are still several problems associated with this design. This paper will address some of those hardware problems, as well as propose a new board design that is specifically aimed for operations of FDR. / Master of Science