Acquisition of ultra-wideband signals by means of array antennas requires essentially frequency-independent radiation characteristics over the entire bandwidth of the signal in order to avoid distortions. Factors contributing to bandwidth limitation of arrays include array factor, radiation characteristics of the array element, and inter-element mutual coupling. Strictly speaking, distortion-free transmission or reception of ultra-wideband signals can be maintained if the magnitude of the radiated field of the array remains constant while its phase varies linearly with frequency over the bandwidth of interest. The existing wideband-array synthesis methods do not account for all factors affecting the array bandwidth and are often limited to considering the array factor and not the total field of the array in the synthesis process. The goal of this study is to present an ultra-wideband array synthesis technique taking into account all frequency-dependent properties, including array total pattern, phase of the total radiated field, element field, element input impedance, and inter-element mutual coupling. The proposed array synthesis technique is based on the utilization of frequency-adaptive element excitations in conjunction with expressing the total radiated field of the array as a complex Fourier series. Using the proposed method, element excitation currents required for achieving a desired radiation pattern, while compensating for frequency variations of the element radiation characteristics and the inter-element mutual coupling, are calculated. An important consideration in the proposed ultra-wideband array design is that the "phase bandwidth", defined as the frequency range over which the phase of the total radiated field of the array varies linearly with frequency, is taken into account as a design requirement in the synthesis process. Design examples of linear arrays with desired radiation patterns that are expected to remain unchanged over the bandwidth of interest are presented and simulated. Two example arrays, one with a wire dipole as its element and another using an elliptically-shaped disc dipole as the element are studied. Simulation results for far-field patterns, magnitude and phase characteristics, and other performance criteria such as side-lobe level and scanning range are presented. Synthesis of two-dimensional planar arrays is carried out by employing the formulations developed for linear arrays but generalized to accommodate the geometry of planar rectangular arrays. As example designs, planar arrays with wire dipoles and elliptical-shaped disc dipoles are studied. The simulation results indicate that synthesis of ultra-wideband arrays can be accomplished successfully using the technique presented in this work. The proposed technique is robust and comprehensive, nonetheless it is understood that the achieved performance of a synthesized array and how closely the desired performance is met also depends on some of the choices the array designer makes and other constraints, such as number of elements, type of element, size, and ultimately cost. / Ph. D.

FPGA fault recovery techniques, such as bitstream scrubbing, are only limited to detecting and correcting soft errors that corrupt the configuration memory. Scrubbing and related techniques cannot detect permanent faults within the FPGA fabric, such as short circuits and open circuits in FPGA transistors that arise from electromigration effects. Several Built-In Self-Test (BIST) techniques have been proposed in the past to detect and isolate such faults. These techniques suffer from routing congestion problems in modern FPGAs that have a large number of logic blocks. This thesis presents an improved BIST architecture for all Xilinx 7-Series FPGAs that is scalable to large arrays. The two primary sources of overhead associated with FPGA BIST, the test time and the memory required for storing the BIST configurations, are also reduced when compared to previous FPGA-BIST approaches. The BIST techniques presented here also eliminate the need for using any of the user I/O pins, such as a clock, a reset, and test observation pins; therefore, it is suitable for immediate deployment on any system with Xilinx 7-Series FPGAs. With faults detected, isolated, and corrected, the effective MTBF of a system can be extended. / Master of Science

The CSPI mini-MAP array processor is supported for use with a RATFOR preprocessor in the software environment defined by the Generalized Image Processing System (GIPSY). A set of interface routines presents the mini-MAP as a tightly-coupled slave processor with well-defined rules for control from the host computer. The slave is programmed by adapting host-based software, using a proscribed set of guidelines for conversion. A software protocol has been defined to allow mini-MAP data memory to be allocated dynamically. Several examples of modified GIPSY commands are examined. / Master of Science

Among the various challenges involved in the development of CubeSats lies the attitude determination and control of the satellite. The importance of a properly functioning attitude determination and control system (ADCS) on any satellite is vital to the satisfaction of its mission objectives. Due to this importance, three-axis attitude control simulators are commonly used to test and validate spacecraft attitude control systems before flight. However, these systems are generally too large to successfully test the attitude control systems on-board CubeSat-class satellites. Due to their low cost and rapid development time, CubeSats have become an increasingly popular platform used in the study of space science and engineering research. As an increasing number of universities and industries take part in this new approach to small-satellite development, the demand to properly test, verify, and validate their attitude control systems will continue to increase. An approach to CubeSat attitude determination and control simulation is in development at the Virginia Tech Space Systems Simulation Laboratory. The final test setup will consist of an air bearing platform placed inside a square Helmholtz cage. The Helmholtz cage will provide an adjustable magnetic field to simulate that of a low earth orbit (LEO), and the spherical air bearing will simulate the frictionless environment of space. In conjunction, the two simulators will provide an inexpensive and adjustable system for testing any current, and future, CubeSat ADCS prior to flight. Using commercial off the shelf (COTS) components, the Virginia Tech CubeSat Attitude Control Simulator (CSACS), which is a low cost, lightweight air bearing testing platform, will be coupled with a 1.5-m-long square Helmholtz cage design in order to provide a simulated LEO environment for CubeSat ADCS validation. / Master of Science / The attitude determination and control subsystem is a vital component of a spacecraft. This subsystem provides the pointing accuracy and stabilization which allows a spacecraft to successfully perform its mission objectives. The cost and size of spacecraft are dependent on their specific applications; where some may fit in the palm of your hand, others may be the size of a school bus. However, no matter the size, all spacecraft contain some form of onboard attitude determination and control. This leads us to the introduction of a miniaturized class of spacecraft known as CubeSats. Their modular 10×10×10 cm cube structural design allows for both low cost and rapid development time, making CubeSats widely used for space science and engineering research in university settings. While CubeSats provide a low cost alternative to perform local, real-time measurements in orbit, it is still very important to validate the attitude determination and control subsystem before flight to minimize any risk of failure in orbit. Thus, the contents of this thesis will focus on the development, design, and testing of two separate spacecraft attitude determination and control simulation systems used to create an on-orbit environment in a laboratory setting in order to properly validate university-built CubeSats prior to flight.

Eigenstructure based techniques have been studied extensively in the last decade to estimate the number and locations of incoming radiating sources using a passive sensor array. One of the early limitations was the computational load involved in arriving at the eigendecompositions. The introduction of VLSI circuits and parallel processors however, has reduced the cost of computation A tremendously. As a consequence, we study eigendecomposition algorithms with highly parallel and A localized data flow, in order to take advantage of VLSI capabilities. This dissertation presents a fast Recursive/Iterative Toeplitz (Hermitian) Eigenspace (RITE) algorithm, and its extension to the generalized strongly regular eigendecomposition situation (C-RITE). Both procedures exhibit highly parallel structures, and their applicability to fast passive array processing is emphasized. The algorithms compute recursively in increasing order, the complete (generalized) eigendecompositions of the successive subproblems contained in the maximum size one. At each order, a number of independent, structurally identical, non-linear problems is solved in parallel. The (generalized) eigenvalues are found by quadratically convergent iterative search techniques. Two different search methods, a restricted Newton approach and a rational approximation based technique are considered. The eigenvectors are found by solving Toeplitz systems efficiently. The multiple minimum (generalized) eigenvalue case and the case of a cluster of small (generalized) eigenvalues are treated also. Eigenpair residual norms and orthonormality norms in comparison with IMSL library routines, indicate good performance and stability behavior for increasing dimensions for both the RITE and C-RITE algorithms. Application of the procedures to the Direction Of Arrival (DOA) identification problem, using the MUSIC algorithm, is presented. The order-recursive properties of RITE and C-RITE permit estimation of angles for all intermediate orders imbedded in the original problem, facilitating the earliest possible estimation of the number and location of radiating sources. The detection algorithm based on RITE or C-RITE can then stop, thereby minimizing the overall computational load to that corresponding to the smallest order for which angle of arrival estimation is indicated to be reliable. Some extensions of the RITE procedure to Hermitian (non-Toeplitz) matrices are presented. This corresponds in the array processing context to correlation matrices estimated from non-linear arrays or incoming signals with non-stationary characteristics. A first—order perturbation approach and two Subspace Iteration (SI) methods are investigated. The RITE decomposition of the Toeplitzsized (diagonally averaged) matrix is used as a starting point. Results show that the SI based techniques lead to good approximation of the eigen-information, with the rate of convergence depending upon the SNR ar1d the angle difference between incoming sources, the convergence being faster than starting the SI method from an arbitrary initial matrix. / Ph. D.

Since Ebbesen's seminal work in 1998 observing extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) through nanohole arrays, much research has focused on the role of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in EOT. While the energy and momentum conditions have become clear, no consensus has been reached on the role of incident light polarization. This study presents a simple model that captures Bloch-SPP excitation, including the role of polarization, in general periodic plasmonic structures. Our model predicts that under certain conditions polarization conversion should occur in EOT light transmitted through the nanohole array. We experimentally measure polarization conversion in EOT and compare the experimentally obtained results to the predictions of our model. Using numerical simulations, we tie the far field experimental results to the near field underlying physics described by our model. In using polarization conversion to provide evidence supporting our model, we also establish a novel approach to achieving polarization conversion based on SPPs instead of hole shape or other techniques in literature, and present reasons why this approach to achieving polarization conversion may be better suited for applications in biomedical sensing and optical elements. / Master of Science / In 1998, Ebbesen et al¹ observed that when light is shown on a metal nanofilm perforated with nanoholes more light appears on the other side of the metal film than was incident on the nanoholes. The unexpectedly high transmission of light through the nanohole array was termed extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), and quickly found applications in diverse fields such as biomedical sensing^13,14, energy harvesting^12,31, and nonlinear optics^12–14,24 . As the importance of EOT in applications became clear, interest developed in understanding the fundamental physics involved. Over the next 20 years, researchers showed that the incident light (made up of electromagnetic fields) excites conduction electrons on the surface of the metal film¹¹ . Specifically, the light and the electrons couple to form quasiparticles known as surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) which propagate along the surfaces of the metal film. The SPPs on the back surface of the metal film then radiate free space transmitted light, which is observed as EOT. However, much of the physics involved how SPPs mediate EOT has remained unclear. The first focus of this work is theoretical, presenting a microscopic model for SPP mediated EOT. In contrast to many groups which aim to characterize SPPs from their far field properties, our model focuses on the near field microscopic physics and presents the far field properties as a consequence of the near field physics. Since the near field cannot be probed iv experimentally, we use numerical simulations to both verify our model’s predictions in the near field and predict the properties that should be measured in the far field. The second focus of this work is more applications driven. We notice that our model predicts that under certain conditions SPPs should cause a phenomenon known as polarization conversion to occur, which is when the polarization of the transmitted light is different from the polarization of the incident light. We experimentally measure the predicted polarization conversion, thereby providing substantial experimental evidence in support of our theoretical model. Our novel approach to achieving polarization conversion based on the behavior of SPPs differs substantially from the approaches in literature (usually based on hole shape²⁴). We present the reasons why our SPP-based approach to achieving polarization conversion is more robust to fabrication imperfections than the conventional approaches, and describe how our approach could affect various applications.

Ball Grid Array (BGA) solder joints are an array of solder alloy spheres sandwiched between package substrate and printed circuit board (PCB). These solder joints provide electrical connections and mechanical integrity to the assembly of package and PCB. Upcoming advanced packaging applications will involve heavier components, higher service temperatures and higher current densities, which will result in additional stresses on BGA joints accelerating their failure. Additionally, mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the substrate, solder balls and PCB results in fracture near the solder-substrate interface posing a reliability risk. Moreover, higher current densities at elevated temperatures, also aggravate electromigration (EM) failure. It is important to mitigate these reliability risks associated with accelerated thermal cycling (ATC) and high current density EM. In this dissertation, various approaches to improve the ATC and EM reliability of packages have been investigated. First, BGA solder alloy composition was modified by doping Bi in the conventionally used Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) and Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC405) alloys to improve the mechanical strength of the solder joints. The effect of 1-3% Bi doping on aging induced changes in hardness, creep strength, tensile strength, viscoplasticity and microstructure was studied. Second, a reliability improvement measure (RIM) to mitigate fatigue failure of BGA solder joints was investigated. The microstructures of solder joints subjected to ATC were investigated for fatigue fractures and recrystallization of grains. Third, RIM measures to prevent EM failure of packages caused by high current density were investigated. The ability of novel substrate designs in prolonging time to failure of solder joints in packages along with EM failure mechanisms have been discussed. This dissertation thus provides insights on the efficacy and mechanisms of various reliability improvement measures to mitigate the ATC and EM reliability risks in BGA solder joints to guide future packaging design.

Passive acoustic systems composed of hydrophone array have been shown useful for underwater acoustic source detection and tracking. The work presented here demonstrates use of a passive acoustic system for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) composed of a 2D hydrophone array along with a post processing algorithm for real time detection and tracking of surface vessels. Important design decisions for development of the hydrophone array are taken based on different factors such as the frequency range of broadband surface vessel noise, review of literature, financial as well as structural constraints of the AUV. The post-processing algorithm, developed using a phased array principle called acoustic beamforming, outputs real-time heading angles of the target surface vessels. Initial measurements conducted at Claytor Lake with the developed passive acoustic system to locate a white noise acoustic source showed better performance with functional beamforming technique among others. Various hydrophone array configurations are tested during these measurements to determine the optimal hydrophone placement. Furthermore, field tests are conducted at Norfolk Bay area to assess the performance of the developed system to real time detect and track surface vessels of different sizes in mission relevant environment. Cross-spectral matrix subtraction approach to subtract AUV's self noise is investigated to improve signal range and thus the detection range of these different surface vessels. This approach showed improvement in detection range of up to 350%. Another set of measurements again at Claytor Lake demonstrates real time detection and tracking of a small boat using an AUV integrated with the developed passive acoustic system operating at different propeller conditions. Results showed that low signal to noise ratio at higher AUV propeller rpm makes the detection and tracking difficult limiting the operating AUV propeller rpm up to 1500. This work also explores custom build hydrophones based on piezoelectric material of different shapes and sized to replace the expensive industry purchased hydrophones to lower the cost of developed system. / Master of Science / In field of underwater acoustic, hydrophone arrays have gained popularity for the detection and tracking of sound sources by just listening to them. This study presents design, development and testing of such hydrophone array attached to an AUV for real time detection and tracking of surface vessels. Multiple hydrophones in an array collect the underwater noise radiated by the target surface vessel which are essentially the unsteady pressure fluctuations. The phase difference between signals acquired by different hydrophones is then used to predict the direction of arrival of a sound wave from the target ship. Such a phased array principle called acoustic beamforming is used to develop a post processing algorithm which takes hydrophone array signals as input and outputs the heading angle of the target ship. This work first demonstrates capability of the developed hydrophone array and the algorithm to detect a white noise acoustic source (speaker) placed inside water at Claytor Lake. These measurements investigated performance of different acoustic beamforming techniques as well as different hydrophone array configurations. Furthermore, measurements conducted with actual surface vessel at Norfolk Bay area proved capability of the developed hydrophone array and the algorithm to detect and track ships in real time. The performance of the hydrophone array is characterized in terms of detection range and was observed to improve by 350% when the AUV's self noise is removed from the acquired hydrophone signals. Combined single unit of AUV and developed hydrophone array system also demonstrated real time detection and tracking of a small boat at Claytor Lake for different AUV operating conditions. Moreover, custom build hydrophones manufactured using piezoelectric material are found to be a feasible replacement for the expensive industry purchased hydrophones in order to reduce cost of the array.

No / The orientation-sensitive performance of the Schlumberger array, when used to survey narrow, linear features, has long been recognized in geophysical prospecting for geology. However, in spite of frequent use of the array for archaeological survey, particularly in eastern Europe and the Far East, this directional effect is not apparent in the survey of walls and ditches. In order to examine the array's performance some experiments were carried out in a shallow electrolytic tank using insulating and conducting cylinders. Broadside and longitudinal traverses with systematic expansion of the current electrode spacing facilitated the production of pseudosections. The results confirmed the high selectivity of the Schlumberger response to the orientation of the feature. Broadside traverse of the conductor and longitudinal traverse of the insulator produced very large changes: much smaller signals were recorded for the alternative orientations. A subsequent experiment, however, on a simulated ditch in bedrock revealed no signal. The directional effect for a linear insulator was confirmed in field studies of a simple stone-walled structure. Implications for survey of low-contrast linear archaeological features are discussed.

Yes / Monolayers of neurons and glia have been employed for decades as tools for the study of cellular physiology and as the basis for a variety of standard toxicological assays. A variety of three dimensional (3D) culture techniques have been developed with the aim to produce cultures that recapitulate desirable features of intact. In this study, we investigated the effect of preparing primary mouse mixed neuron and glial cultures in the inert 3D scaffold, Alvetex. Using planar multielectrode arrays, we compared the spontaneous bioelectrical activity exhibited by neuroglial networks grown in the scaffold with that seen in the same cells prepared as conventional monolayer cultures. Two dimensional (monolayer; 2D) cultures exhibited a significantly higher spike firing rate than that seen in 3D cultures although no difference was seen in total signal power (<50 Hz) while pharmacological responsiveness of each culture type to antagonism of GABAAR, NMDAR and AMPAR was highly comparable. Interestingly, correlation of burst events, spike firing and total signal power (<50 Hz) revealed that local field potential events were associated with action potential driven bursts as was the case for 2D cultures. Moreover, glial morphology was more physiologically normal in 3D cultures. These results show that 3D culture in inert scaffolds represents a more physiologically normal preparation which has advantages for physiological, pharmacological, toxicological and drug development studies, particularly given the extensive use of such preparations in high throughput and high content systems.