Effect of Weak Noise on the Frequency Tuning of Mouse Inferior Collicular Neurons

In order to study the effect of weak noise on the sound signal extraction of mouse (Mus musculus Km) inferior collicular (IC) neurons from environments,we examined the changes in frequency tuning curves (FTCs) of 32 neurons induced by a weak noise relative to 5 dB below minimum threshold of tone (reMT-5 dB) under free field stimulation conditions.The results were as follows:① There were three types of variations in FTCs,sharpened (34.4%),broadened (18.8%),and unaffected (46.9%),nevertheless,only the alteration of sharpened FTCs was statistically different.② Sharpness of frequency tuning induced by a reMT-5 dB noise was very strong.Q 10 and Q 30 of FTCs were increased by (34.42±17.04)% (P=0.026,n=11) and (46.34±22.88)% (P=0.009,n=7).③ The changes of inverse-slopes (ISs,kHz/dB) between high (IS high) and low (IS low) limbs of FTCs were dissymmetry.The IS high of FTCs decreased markedly (P=0.046,n=7),however,there was little change (P=0.947,n=7) in IS low.Our data revealed for the first time that the weak noise could sharpen frequency tuning and increase the sensitivity on the high frequency of sound signal in IC neurons of mouse.

Third-order active-RC complex filter with automatic frequency tuning for ZigBee transceiver applications

A 3rd-order Butterworth active-RC complex band-pass filter was presented for Zig Bee(IEEE802.15.4) transceiver applications. The filter adopted cascaded complex pole stages to realize the 3 MHz bandwidth with a centre frequency of 2 MHz which was required by the Zig Bee transceiver applications. An automatic frequency tuning scheme was also designed to accommodate the performance deterioration due to the process, voltage and temperature(PVT) variations. The whole filter is implemented in a 0.18 μm standard process and occupies an area of 1.3 mm×0.6 mm. The current dissipation is 1.2 m A from a 1.8 V single power supply. Measurement results show that the image rejection ratio(IRR) of the filter is 24.1 d B with a pass-band ripple less than 0.3 d B. The adjacent channel rejection is 29.8 d B@7 MHz and alternate channel rejection 47.5 d B@12 MHz, respectively.

Comparative study on pump frequency tuning and self-injection locking in Kerr microcomb generation

The optical frequency comb has attracted considerable interest due to its diverse applications in optical atomic clocks,ultra-low-noise microwave generation,dual-comb spectroscopy,and optical communications.The merits of large frequency spacing,high integration,and low power consumption have shown that microresonator-based Kerr optical frequency combs will become mainstream in the future.Two methods of pump frequency tuning and self-injection locking were used to obtain Kerr combs in the same silicon nitride microresonators with free spectral ranges of 50 GHz and 100 GHz.Singlesoliton combs are realized with both methods.Simplicity,pump power,spectrum bandwidth,conversion efficiency,and linewidth are compared and analyzed.Our results show that the advantages of pump frequency tuning are a wider spectrum and higher soliton power while the advantages of self-injection locking are simplicity,compactness,low cost,significant linewidth narrowing,and high conversion efficiency.

A dual-mode complex filter for GNSS receivers with frequency tuning

A fifth/seventh order dual-mode OTA-C complex filter for global navigation satellite system receivers is implemented in a 0.18μm CMOS process.This filter can be configured as the narrow mode of a 4.4 MHz bandwidth center at 4.1 MHz or the wide mode of a 22 MHz bandwidth center at 15.42 MHz.A fully differential OTA with source degeneration is used to provide sufficient linearity.Furthermore,a ring CCO based frequency tuning scheme is proposed to reduce frequency variation.The measured results show that in narrow-band mode the image rejection ratio（IMRR）is 35 dB,the filter dissipates 0.8 mA from the 1.8 V power supply,and the out-of-band rejection is 50 dB at 6 MHz offset.In wide-band mode,IMRR is 28 dB and the filter dissipates 3.2 mA.The frequency tuning error is less than±2%.

A pseudo differential Gm-C complex filter with frequency tuning for IEEE802.15.4 applications

This paper presents a CMOS G;-C complex filter for a low-IF receiver of the IEEE802.15.4 standard.A pseudo differential OTA with reconfigurable common mode feedback and common mode feed-forward is proposed as well as the frequency tuning method based on a relaxation oscillator.A detailed analysis of non-ideality of the OTA and the frequency tuning method is elaborated.The analysis and measurement results have shown that the center frequency of the complex filter could be tuned accurately.The chip was fabricated in a standard 0.35μm CMOS process,with a single 3.3 V power supply.The filter consumes 2.1 mA current,has a measured in-band group delay ripple of less than 0.16μs and an IRR larger than 28 dB at 2 MHz apart,which could meet the requirements of the IEEE802.15.4 standard.

Frequency tuning with RFQ temperature in China ADS Injector Ⅱ

A 162.5 MHz four-vane radio frequency quadruple（RFQ） accelerator has been developed at the Institute of Modern Physics（IMP） for Injector II of the China ADS linac. The RFQ will operate in continuous wave mode at 100 k W. For the designed 10 mA beam, the additional RF power dissipation will induce a very large reflection of power. A water-temperature controlling system will be used to reduce the power reflection by tuning the frequency of the RFQ. The tuning capability of the water temperature is studied under different configurations of cooling water.Simulations and experiment are compared in this paper. The experimental results agree well with simulation using ANSYS. This can be used as a reference to tune the RFQ in beam commissioning.

A 0.33-THz second-harmonic frequency-tunable gyrotron

Dynamics of the axial mode transition process in a 0.33-THz second-harmonic gyrotron is investigated to reveal the physical mechanism of realizing broadband frequency tuning in an open cavity circuit. A new interaction mechanism about propagating waves, featured by wave competition and wave cooperation, is presented and provides a new insight into the beam-wave interaction. The two different features revealed in the two different operation regions of low-order axial modes （LOAMs） and high-order axial modes （HOAMs） respectively determine the characteristic of the overall performance of the device essentially. The device performance is obtained by the simulation based on the time-domain nonlinear theory and shows that using a 12-kV/150-mA electron beam and TE 3,4 mode, the second harmonic gyrotron can generate terahertz radiations with frequency-tuning ranges of about 0.85 GHz and 0.60 GHz via magnetic field and beam voltage tuning, respectively. Additionally, some non-stationary phenomena in the mode startup process are also analyzed. The investiga- tion in this paper presents guidance for future developing high-performance frequency-tunable gyrotrons toward terahertz applications.

Acoustic signal characteristic detection by neurons in ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus in mice

Under free field conditions, we used single unit extracellular recording to study the detection of acoustic signals by neurons in the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus(VNLL) in Kunming mouse(Mus musculus). The results indicate two types of firing patterns in VNLL neurons: onset and sustained. The first spike latency(FSL) of onset neurons was shorter than that of sustained neurons. With increasing sound intensity, the FSL of onset neurons remained stable and that of sustained neurons was shortened, indicating that onset neurons are characterized by precise timing. By comparing the values of Q10 and Q30 of the frequency tuning curve, no differences between onset and sustained neurons were found, suggesting that firing pattern and frequency tuning are not correlated. Among the three types of rate-intensity function(RIF) found in VNLL neurons, the proportion of monotonic RIF is the largest, followed by saturated RIF, and non-monotonic RIF. The dynamic range(DR) in onset neurons was shorter than in sustained neurons, indicating different capabilities in intensity tuning of different firing patterns and that these differences are correlated with the type of RIF. Our results also show that the best frequency of VNLL neurons was negatively correlated with depth, supporting the view point that the VNLL has frequency topologic organization.

Tunable circularly-polarized turnstile-junction mode converter for high-power microwave applications

Frequency tunability has become a subject of concern in the field of high-power microwave（HPM） source research.However, little information about the corresponding mode converter is available. A tunable circularly-polarized turnstilejunction mode converter（TCTMC） for high-power microwave applications is presented in this paper. The input coaxial TEM mode is transformed into TE（10） mode with different phase delays in four rectangular waveguides and then converted into a circularly-polarized TE（11） circular waveguide mode. Besides, the rods are added to reduce or even eliminate the reflection. The innovations in this study are as follows. The tunning mechanism is added to the mode converter, which can change the effective length of rectangular waveguide and the distance between the rods installed upstream and the closest edge of the rectangular waveguide, thus improving the conversion efficiency and bandwidth. The conversion efficiency of TCTMC can reach above 98% over the frequency range of 1.42 GHz–2.29 GHz, and the frequency tunning bandwidth is about 47%. Significantly, TCTMC can obtain continuous high conversion efficiency of different frequency points with the change of tuning mechanism.

Low Phase Noise VCO using Novel Harmonic Control Circuit Based on Quad-band Composite Right/Left-handed Transmission Line

In this paper, a novel Voltage-Controlled Oscillator （VCO） using the harmonic control circuit based on the quad-band Composite Right/Left-Handed （CRLH） Transmission Line （TL） is presented to reduce the phase noise without the reduction of the frequeacy tuning range and miniaturizing the circuit size. The phase noise has been reduced by the quad-band harmonic control circuit which has the short impedance for the second- and third- and fourth- and fifth-hannonic components. The CRLH TL with two Left-Handed （LH） （backward） and two Right-Handed （RH） （forward） pass bands are used to design the quad-band harmonic control circuit. The high- Q resonator has been used to reduce the phase noise, but it has the problem of the frequency timing range reduction. However, the frequency tuning range of the proposed VCO has not reduced because the phase noise has reduced without the high-Q resonator. The miniaturization of the circuit size is achieved by using the quad-band CRLH TL instead of the conventional RH TL, The phase noise of VCO is - 124.43～ - 122.67 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz in the tuning range of 5. 729 ～5.934 GHz.

A low power wide tuning range baseband filter for multistandard transceivers

This paper presents the design and implementation of a low power wide tuning range baseband filter with an accurate on-chip tuning circuit for reconfigurable multistandard wireless transceivers. The realized low pass filter （LPF） is a six-order Butterworth type by cascading three stage active-Gm-RC biquadratic cells. A mod- ified linearization technique is used to improve the filter linearity performance at low power consumption. A new process-independent transconductor matching circuit and a new frequency tuning circuit with frequency compen- sation are proposed to achieve a high precision filter frequency response. The proposed LPF is realized in a 130 nm standard CMOS technology. The measured results show that the LPF exhibits a high bandwidth programmability from 0.1 to 25 MHz with a tuning frequency error less than 2.68% over the wide tuning range. The power consump- tion is scalable, ranging from 0.52 to 5.25 mA, from a 1.2 V power supply while achieving a 26.3 dBm in-band IIP3.

A fully integrated CMOS VCXO-IC with low phase noise, wide tuning range and high tuning linearity

This paper describes a low phase noise, wide tuning range and high tuning linearity CMOS voltage controlled crystal oscillator IC （VCXO-IC） with LVCMOS and LVPECL output. A differential coupled frequency doubling Colpitts oscillator is adopted to obtain low noise 2x frequency output. Wide tuning range and high lin- earity are simultaneously achieved by using MOS varactor arrays. The measurement results show that the designed VCXO-IC achieves -134 dBc/Hz phase noise at 1 kHz offset frequency and 4-135 ppm output frequency tuning range within 3% linearity by using 40 MHz fundamental AT-cut crystal. The VCXO-IC is fabricated in the chartered 0.35/zm standard CMOS process and occupies a total silicon area of 2.4 mm2.

A reconfigurable OTA-C baseband filter with wide digital tuning for GNSS receivers

The design of a digitally-tunable sixth-order reconfigurable OTA-C filter in a 0.18-μm RFCMOS process is proposed.The filter can be configured as a complex band pass filter or two real low pass filters.An improved digital automatic frequency tuning scheme based on the voltage controlled oscillator technique is adopted to compensate for process variations.An extended tuning range（above 8：1） is obtained by using widely continuously tunable transconductors based on digital techniques.In the complex band pass mode,the bandwidth can be tuned from 3 to 24 MHz and the center frequency from 3 to 16 MHz.

A low power Gm-C filter with on-chip automatic tuning for a WLAN transceiver

A sixth-order Butterworth Gm-C low-pass filter（LPF） with a continuous tuning architecture has been implemented for a wireless LAN（WLAN） transceiver in 0.35μm CMOS technology.An interior node scaling technique has been applied directly to the LPF to improve the dynamic range and the structure of the LPF has been optimized to reduce both the die size and the current consumption.Measurement results show that the filter has 77.5 dB dynamic range,16.3 ns group delay variation,better than 3%cutoff frequency accuracy,and 0 dBm passband IIP3.The whole LPF with the tuning circuit dissipates only 1.42 mA（5 MHz cutoff frequency） or 2.81 mA（10 MHz cutoff frequency） from 2.85 V supply voltage,and only occupies 0.175 mm^2 die size.

A continuously and widely tunable analog baseband chain with digital-assisted calibration for multi-standard DBS applications

This paper presents a continuously and widely tunable analog baseband chain with a digital-assisted calibration scheme implemented on a 0.13μm CMOS technology.The analog baseband is compliant with several digital broadcasting system（DBS） standards,including DVB-S,DVB-S2,and ABS-S.The cut-off frequency of the baseband circuit can be changed continuously from 4.5 to 32 MHz.The gain adjustment range is from 6 to 55.5 dB with 0.5 dB step.The calibration includes automatic frequency tuning（AFT） and automatic DC offset calibration （DCOC） to achieve less than 6%cut-off frequency deviation and 3 mV residual output offset.The out-of-band IIP2 and IIP3 of the overall chain are 45 dBm and 18 dBm respectively,while the input referred noise（IRN） is 17.4 nV/√Hz.All circuit blocks are operated at 2.8 V from LDO and consume current of 20.4 mA in the receiving mode.

An eighth order channel selection filter for low-IF and zero-IF DVB tuner applications

An eighth order active-RC filter for low-IF and zero-IF DVB tuner applications is presented, which is implemented in Butterworth biquad structure. An automatic frequency tuning circuit is introduced to compensate the cut-off frequency variation using a 6-bit switched-capacitor array. Switched-resistor arrays are adopted to cover different cut-off frequencies in low-IF and zero-IF modes. Measurement results show that precise cut-off frequencies at 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 MHz in zero-IF mode, 5, 6, 7 and 8 MHz in low-IF mode can be achieved, 60 dB frequency attenuation can be obtained at 20 MHz, and the in-band group delay agrees well with the simulation. Two-tone testing shows the in-band IM3 achieves -52 dB and the out-band IM3 achieves -55 dB with -11 dBm input power. This proposed filter circuit, fabricated in a SMIC 0.18μm CMOS process, consumes 4 mA current with 1.8 V power supply.

A CMOS G_m-C complex filter with a reconfigurable center and cutoff frequencies in low-IF WiMAX receivers

This paper presents a reconfigurable fifth-order complex Gm-C filter for different data rates in low-IF WiMAX applications.The design procedure and linearized measures to realize the complex filter are described.In order to achieve the reconfigurability of bandwidth window,the center frequency and the cutoff frequency filter are adjusted simultaneously by changing capacitor values while keeping transconductors unchanged.Also,the filter integrates an on-chip automatic frequency tuning circuit based on a PLL.Experimental results show that it has an IRR of 32 dB,a THD of -43 dB,and an input-referred noise of 21μVrms.The chip is fabricated in 0.13μm CMOS process,occupies 0.7×1 mm2,and consumes 4.8 mA current from a 1.2 V power supply.

Low-noise sub-harmonic injection locked multiloop ring oscillator

A three-stage differential voltage-controlled ring oscillator is presented for wide-tuning and low-phase noise requirement of clock and data recovery circuit in ultra wideband（UWB） wireless body area network. To improve the performance of phase noise of delay cell with coarse and fine frequency tuning, injection locked technology together with pseudo differential architecture are adopted. In addition, a multiloop is employed for frequency boosting. Two RVCOs, the standard RVCO without the IL block and the proposed IL RVCO, were fabricated in SMIC 0.18 m 1P6 M Salicide CMOS process. The proposed IL RVCO exhibits a measured phase noise of –112.37 d Bc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the center frequency of 1 GHz, while dissipating a current of 8 m A excluding the buffer from a 1.8-V supply voltage. It shows a 16.07 d B phase noise improvement at 1 MHz offset compared to the standard topology.

Performanceanalysisofalowpowerlownoisetunablebandpassfilterformultiband RF front end

This paper presents a low power tunable active inductor and RF band pass filter suitable for multiband RF front end circuits. The active inductor circuit uses the PMOS cascode structure as the negative transconductor of a gyrator to reduce the noise voltage. Also, this structure provides possible negative resistance to reduce the inductor loss with wide inductive bandwidth and high resonance frequency. The RF band pass filter is realized using the proposed active inductor with suitable input and output buffer stages. The tuning of the center frequency for multiband operation is achieved through the controllable current source. The designed active inductor and RF band pass filter are simulated in 180 nm and 45 nm CMOS process using the Synopsys HSPICE simulation tool and their performances are compared. The parameters, such as resonance frequency, tuning capability, noise and power dissipation, are analyzed for these CMOS technologies and discussed. The design of a third order band pass filter using an active inductor is also presented.

Multi-belts coil longitudinal guided wave magnetostrictive transducer for ferromagnetic pipes testing

A new ultrasonic transducer with multi-belts coil for generating and receiving longitudinal guided wave in ferromagnetic material pipes is proposed.The theory backgrounds and transduction principle of the proposed transducer are presented and ana- lyzed.To verify the performance of the transducer,several experiments are performed.The performance of inspecting crack, frequency-tuned characteristic,effect of bias static magnetic field and dynamic magnetic field,lift-off effect and effect of the period number of the exciting current are investigated.The results show that the proposed coils not only could tune the center frequency but also could improve the amplitude and signal-to-noise(SNR)of the detected signals.Bias static magnetic field and dynamic magnetic field are two important factors influencing the amplitude of the longitudinal guided wave.The amplitude of the longitudinal guided wave is exponentially decreased versus the lift-off distance of the transmitter and receiver.Period number of excitation signal could influence the amplitude and wave width of the ultrasonic wave.The proposed transducer could easily control the wave modes and would be a better choice for pipes’monitoring and inspection compared to traditional single-belt coil transducer.