Showing papers by "Panasonic published in 2015"

Highly efficient planar perovskite solar cells through band alignment engineering

Abstract: The simplification of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), by replacing the mesoporous electron selective layer (ESL) with a planar one, is advantageous for large-scale manufacturing. PSCs with a planar TiO2 ESL have been demonstrated, but these exhibit unstabilized power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Herein we show that planar PSCs using TiO2 are inherently limited due to conduction band misalignment and demonstrate, with a variety of characterization techniques, for the first time that SnO2 achieves a barrier-free energetic configuration, obtaining almost hysteresis-free PCEs of over 18% with record high voltages of up to 1.19 V.

A review of demand side management business models in the electricity market

Abstract: Demand side management (DSM) can be defined as modifications in the demand side energy consumption pattern to foster better efficiency and operations in electrical energy systems. DSM activities, which are classified into “energy efficiency (EE)” and “demand response (DR)” are becoming more popular due to technological advances in smart grids and electricity market deregulation. However, it can be argued that ensuring DSM sustainability requires creating suitable business models. Business models are influenced by different factors such as electricity market regulation, mechanisms, power system characteristics and infrastructure. The proliferation of smart grid infrastructure, distributed generation, intermittent renewable energy resources and energy storage devices has affected DSM business models considerably. Therefore, in this paper, possible business models for EE and DR providers in different electricity market segments are analyzed and reviewed. The analysis covers three types of characteristics: DSM transaction characteristics, renewable energy correlation and DSM load control characteristics. In DSM transaction characteristics, the value proposition of DSM such as added value offered to the DSM purchaser and transaction triggers are discussed. In renewable energy correlation, the effect of increased renewable energy penetration on the business model is evaluated. In DSM load control characteristics, load control and aggregation aspects such as response speed, duration, advance notice, location sensitivity and actual usage frequency are analyzed.

Silolothiophene-linked triphenylamines as stable hole transporting materials for high efficiency perovskite solar cells

Abstract: In this work, we synthesized novel hole transporting materials (HTMs) and studied their impact on the stability of perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs). The steady-state maximum power output of devices in working condition was monitored to assess the stability and predict the lifetime of PSCs prepared using different HTMs. We showed that the HTM has a significant impact on the device lifetime and found that novel silolothiophene linked methoxy triphenylamines (Si-OMeTPAs) enable more stable PSCs. We reported Si-OMeTPA based devices with a half-life of 6 K h, compared to 1 K h collected for the state-of-the-art PSCs using spirofluorene linked methoxy triphenylamines (spiro-OMeTADs) as HTMs. We demonstrated that such a clear improvement is correlated to the superior thermal stability of silolothiophene compared to the spirofluorene linked triphenylamine HTMs.

Current-collapse-free operations up to 850 V by GaN-GIT utilizing hole injection from drain

Abstract: Current collapse at high drain voltage in a GaN-based transistor is successfully suppressed by the introduction of p-GaN region which is placed beside the drain of a Gate Injection Transistor (GIT). The additional p-GaN region enables hole injection which effectively releases trapped electrons at around drain region after the application of high drain voltages. The p-GaN region is electrically connected to the drain electrode so that this is named as Hybrid Drain-embedded GIT (HD-GIT). The fabricated HD-GITs are free from current collapse at 850 V of the drain voltage or over, which significantly helps to achieve stable system operations and is very promising for future switching power supply applications.

Contextualizing Object Detection and Classification

Abstract: We investigate how to iteratively and mutually boost object classification and detection performance by taking the outputs from one task as the context of the other one. While context models have been quite popular, previous works mainly concentrate on co-occurrence relationship within classes and few of them focus on contextualization from a top-down perspective, i.e. high-level task context. In this paper, our system adopts a new method for adaptive context modeling and iterative boosting. First, the contextualized support vector machine (Context-SVM) is proposed, where the context takes the role of dynamically adjusting the classification score based on the sample ambiguity, and thus the context-adaptive classifier is achieved. Then, an iterative training procedure is presented. In each step, Context-SVM, associated with the output context from one task (object classification or detection), is instantiated to boost the performance for the other task, whose augmented outputs are then further used to improve the former task by Context-SVM. The proposed solution is evaluated on the object classification and detection tasks of PASCAL Visual Object Classes Challenge (VOC) 2007, 2010 and SUN09 data sets, and achieves the state-of-the-art performance.

Gas barrier film, film substrate provided with gas barrier film, and electronic device including the film substrate

Abstract: A gas barrier film includes two or more first barrier layers each made of a first inorganic material and one or more second barrier layers each made of a second inorganic material different from the first inorganic material. Each of the two or more first barrier layers and each of the one or more second barrier layers are alternately stacked. The first inorganic material comprises aluminum oxide. Each of the two or more first barrier layers has a thickness of 3 nm or more. The total thickness of the two or more first barrier layers is 20 nm or less. The two or more first barrier layers and the one or more second barrier layers are formed by atomic layer deposition.

Array antenna device and radio communication device

Abstract: An array antenna device includes a plurality of slot array antennas which are arranged and each of which includes a plurality of slot antennas and a radiation surface, which is formed to be conformal, and a plurality of waveguides each of which supplies respective power to each of the slot array antennas. After bodies of the waveguides are formed by a resin molding method, surface treatment is performed with respect to inner surfaces of the waveguides with plating.

Light-emitting element and display device using same

Abstract: A self light emitting display device having high level of the external coupling efficiency and high grade image presentation as no optical cross-talk or blur can be obtained by a new light-emitting element. The device is constructed as follows. A plurality of picture elements, each of which picture elements has an organic layer composing light emitting areas, a transparent electrode and a reflective electrodes, are formed on a substrate. Between the picture elements, a bank which has a tilted reflective surface is formed so that the light emitting area is surrounded by the bank wherein the transparent optical waveguide layer is formed as optically isolated for each of the picture elements.

Millimeter-Wave Evolution for 5G Cellular Networks

Abstract: SUMMARY Triggered by the explosion of mobile traffic, 5G (5th Generation) cellular network requires evolution to increase the system rate 1000 times higher than the current systems in 10 years. Motivated by this common problem, there are several studies to integrate mm-wave access into current cellular networks as multi-band heterogeneous networks to exploit the ultra-wideband aspect of the mm-wave band. The authors of this paper have proposed comprehensive architecture of cellular networks with mmwave access, where mm-wave small cell basestations and a conventional macro basestation are connected to Centralized-RAN (C-RAN) to effectively operate the system by enabling power efficient seamless handover as well as centralized resource control including dynamic cell structuring to match the limited coverage of mm-wave access with high traffic user locations via user-plane/control-plane splitting. In this paper, to prove the effectiveness of the proposed 5G cellular networks with mm-wave access, system level simulation is conducted by introducing an expected future traffic model, a measurement based mm-wave propagation model, and a centralized cell association algorithm by exploiting the C-RAN architecture. The numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed network to realize 1000 times higher system rate than the current network in 10 years which is not achieved by the small cells using commonly considered 3.5 GHz band. Furthermore, the paper also gives latest status of mm-wave devices and regulations to show the feasibility of using mm-wave in the 5G systems.

A Phase-Shifted-PWM D-STATCOM Using a Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter (SSBC)—Part I: Modeling, Analysis, and Design of Current Control

Abstract: This paper presents and discusses a phase-shifted-PWM distribution static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM) using the modular multilevel cascade converter based on single-star bridge cells (MMCC-SSBC). A three-phase 140-V 10-kVA SSBC-based STATCOM with a cascade count $N=6$ is designed, constructed, and tested for verifying the performance and functionality of the medium-voltage D-STATCOM in both steady and transient states. The 13-level line-to-neutral (25-level line-to-line) voltage at the ac side yields an almost sinusoidal line current with a total harmonic distortion value of 1.7%. An analytical model for the phase-shifted PWM is proposed to design the current control gains. Two phase-shifted PWM methods, which are named as one-cell and all-cells update methods, are theoretically and experimentally compared. The all-cells update method can reduce the inherent time delay, thus resulting in a faster and more stable system response than the one-cell update method.

High-efficiency amorphous silicon solar cells: Impact of deposition rate on metastability

Abstract: Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films, used for light absorbers of p-i-n solar cells, were deposited at various deposition rates (Rd) ranging over two orders of magnitude (Rd ∼ 2 × 10−3–3 × 10−1 nm/s) by using diode and triode plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The impact of varying Rd on the light-soaking stability of the solar cells has been investigated. Although a reduction of Rd mitigates the light-induced degradation in the typical range of Rd (>10−1 nm/s), it remains present even in the very low Rd (<10−2 nm/s), indicating that the metastable effect persists in a-Si:H regardless of Rd. The best performing cell, whose a-Si:H absorber is characterized by low amount of metastable defect and high bandgap, can be obtained at Rd of ∼1–3 × 10−2 nm/s by triode PECVD. By applying such a-Si:H in the improved p-i-n devices, we demonstrate two record independently confirmed stabilized efficiencies of 10.22% for single-junction and 12.69% for a-Si:H/hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ...

Motion vector calculation method

Abstract: When a block (MB22) of which motion vector is referred to in the direct mode contains a plurality of motion vectors, 2 motion vectors MV23 and MV24, which are used for inter picture prediction of a current picture (P23) to be coded, are determined by scaling a value obtained from averaging the plurality of motion vectors or selecting one of the plurality of the motion vectors.

Highly reliable TaO x ReRAM with centralized filament for 28-nm embedded application

Abstract: For 28-nm embedded application, we have proposed a TaO x -based ReRAM with precise filament positioning and high thermal stability The cell was realized using several newly-developed process technologies and cell structures: low-damage etching, cell side oxidation and encapsulated cell structure As a result, we succeeded for the first time in forming a filament at the cell center In addition, we confirmed the feasibility of 20-nm cell size Excellent reliability was achieved in 2-Mbit 40-nm ReRAM: 100k cycles and 10 years' retention at 85 °C was demonstrated

Overview of the EVS codec architecture

Abstract: The recently standardized 3GPP codec for Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) offers new features and improvements for low-delay real-time communication systems. Based on a novel, switched low-delay speech/audio codec, the EVS codec contains various tools for better compression efficiency and higher quality for clean/noisy speech, mixed content and music, including support for wideband, super-wideband and full-band content. The EVS codec operates in a broad range of bitrates, is highly robust against packet loss and provides an AMR-WB interoperable mode for compatibility with existing systems. This paper gives an overview of the underlying architecture as well as the novel technologies in the EVS codec and presents listening test results showing the performance of the new codec in terms of compression and speech/audio quality.

Conditional Convolutional Neural Network for Modality-Aware Face Recognition

Abstract: Faces in the wild are usually captured with various poses, illuminations and occlusions, and thus inherently multimodally distributed in many tasks. We propose a conditional Convolutional Neural Network, named as c-CNN, to handle multimodal face recognition. Different from traditional CNN that adopts fixed convolution kernels, samples in c-CNN are processed with dynamically activated sets of kernels. In particular, convolution kernels within each layer are only sparsely activated when a sample is passed through the network. For a given sample, the activations of convolution kernels in a certain layer are conditioned on its present intermediate representation and the activation status in the lower layers. The activated kernels across layers define the sample-specific adaptive routes that reveal the distribution of underlying modalities. Consequently, the proposed framework does not rely on any prior knowledge of modalities in contrast with most existing methods. To substantiate the generic framework, we introduce a special case of c-CNN via incorporating the conditional routing of the decision tree, which is evaluated with two problems of multimodality -- multi-view face identification and occluded face verification. Extensive experiments demonstrate consistent improvements over the counterparts unaware of modalities.

Laser welding method

Abstract: A laser welding method of the present disclosure includes the step of irradiating a workpiece with a laser beam in a helical shape along a weld part of the workpiece. The helical shape is a combination of a circular trajectory in which a laser beam is moved circularly, and a movement trajectory in which the laser beam is moved in a proceeding direction along the weld part. Furthermore, first energy of the laser beam moving so as to have a component of the proceeding direction in the circular trajectory is larger than second energy of the laser beam moving so as to have a component of an opposite direction to the proceeding direction in the circular trajectory.

A Phase-Shifted PWM D-STATCOM Using a Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter (SSBC)—Part II: Zero-Voltage-Ride-Through Capability

Abstract: This paper provides an experimental discussion on zero-voltage-ride-through (ZVRT) capability of a phase-shifted pulsewidth-modulation distribution static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM) using the modular multilevel cascade converter based on single-star bridge cells (SSBC). The cluster-balancing control producing a significant effect on the ZVRT capability is modeled and analyzed with focus on either a low-pass filter (LPF) or a moving-average filter (MAF) to attenuate the 100-Hz (double the line frequency) component inherent in each dc capacitor voltage. The cluster-balancing control using the MAF is better in transient performance than that using the LPF. A three-phase downscaled SSBC-based D-STATCOM rated at 150 V and 10 kVA is designed, constructed, and tested to verify the ZVRT capability under the severest single-, two-, and three-phase voltage sags with a voltage depth of 100%. Experimental waveforms show that the STATCOM continues operating stably as if no voltage sag occurred.

High-efficiency microcrystalline silicon solar cells on honeycomb textured substrates grown with high-rate VHF plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract: The potential of high-rate growth of high-quality microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) films for solar cell applications is investigated by very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) under a high-pressure SiH4 depletion condition. It is found that the morphology of textured substrates plays an important role in not only light trapping but also µc-Si:H film growth. A high conversion efficiency of 11.1% is attained in a substrate-type µc-Si:H cell on a substrate with honeycomb textures, which has rounded concaves in a honeycomb arrangement with an appropriate period. It is also clarified that ZnO:B films grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are beneficial in terms of carrier collection compared with the standard In2O3:Sn (ITO) film grown by sputtering. On the basis of these findings, a new world-record µc-Si:H cell with a certified conversion efficiency of 11.8% is developed with a relatively high deposition rate of 1 nm/s.

A thin-film microprocessor with inkjet print-programmable memory

Abstract: The Internet of Things is driving extensive efforts to develop intelligent everyday objects. This requires seamless integration of relatively simple electronics, for example through ‘stick-on’ electronics labels. We believe the future evolution of this technology will be governed by Wright’s Law, which was first proposed in 1936 and states that the cost of a product decreases with cumulative production. This implies that a generic electronic device that can be tailored for application-specific requirements during downstream integration would be a cornerstone in the development of the Internet of Things. We present an 8-bit thin-film microprocessor with a write-once, read-many (WORM) instruction generator that can be programmed after manufacture via inkjet printing. The processor combines organic p-type and soluble oxide n-type thin-film transistors in a new flavor of the familiar complementary transistor technology with the potential to be manufactured on a very thin polyimide film, enabling low-cost flexible electronics. It operates at 6.5 V and reaches clock frequencies up to 2.1 kHz. An instruction set of 16 code lines, each line providing a 9 bit instruction, is defined by means of inkjet printing of conductive silver inks.

Review on CO2 heat pump water heater for residential use in Japan

Abstract: The present study presents an overview of CO2 heat pump water heater for residential use in Japan. The contents include the general background, current market, and the technology evolvement of the transcritical CO2 system, especially on the key components like compressor and gas cooler. Some cutting edge technology associated with the high efficient compressors and its integration with expander, such as swing compressor, sub-compressor, two-stage compressor, scroll expander, and dual-sided scroll-type expander are elaborated in this review. Some ingenious tube designs to promote the performance of gas cooler are also studied. In practice, the dominant thermal resistance may occur in the CO2 side or water side, thereby implementing twisted tube or dimple tubes may be quite effective. The placement of enhancement on the water side is especially effective when the operational pressure is close to the critical pressure whereas heat transfer enhancement is more helpful if the operational pressure is comparatively high. For augmentation on the CO2 side, it would be more beneficial to place enhancement a distance away from the pseudo-critical region.

Long-term maintenance of human induced pluripotent stem cells by automated cell culture system.

Abstract: Pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, are regarded as new sources for cell replacement therapy. These cells can unlimitedly expand under undifferentiated conditions and be differentiated into multiple cell types. Automated culture systems enable the large-scale production of cells. In addition to reducing the time and effort of researchers, an automated culture system improves the reproducibility of cell cultures. In the present study, we newly designed a fully automated cell culture system for human iPS maintenance. Using an automated culture system, hiPS cells maintained their undifferentiated state for 60 days. Automatically prepared hiPS cells had a potency of differentiation into three germ layer cells including dopaminergic neurons and pancreatic cells.

Device control method and device management system

Abstract: A method in a device management system for managing a plurality of target devices is provided. The method comprises: receiving, from a voice input apparatus associated with a first target device among the plurality of target devices, instruction information that includes first voice information indicating an operation instruction for any target device among the plurality of target devices; recognizing the operation instruction from the first voice information; determining whether or not second voice information indicating a second target device among the plurality of target devices is included in the instruction information; and transmitting, (i) if the second voice information is not included in the instruction information, a control command for executing the recognized operation instruction to the first target device, or, (ii) if the second voice information is included in the instruction information, the control command to the second target device.

Millimeter-Wave Wireless LAN and Its Extension toward 5G Heterogeneous Networks

Abstract: Millimeter-wave (mmw) frequency bands, especially 60 GHz unlicensed band, are considered as a promising solution for gigabit short range wireless communication systems. IEEE standard 802.11ad, also known as WiGig, is standardized for the usage of the 60 GHz unlicensed band for wireless local area networks (WLANs). By using this mmw WLAN, multi-Gbps rate can be achieved to support bandwidth-intensive multimedia applications. Exhaustive search along with beamforming (BF) is usually used to overcome 60 GHz channel propagation loss and accomplish data transmissions in such mmw WLANs. Because of its short range transmission with a high susceptibility to path blocking, multiple number of mmw access points (APs) should be used to fully cover a typical target environment for future high capacity multi-Gbps WLANs. Therefore, coordination among mmw APs is highly needed to overcome packet collisions resulting from un-coordinated exhaustive search BF and to increase the total capacity of mmw WLANs. In this paper, we firstly give the current status of mmw WLANs with our developed WiGig AP prototype. Then, we highlight the great need for coordinated transmissions among mmw APs as a key enabler for future high capacity mmw WLANs. Two different types of coordinated mmw WLAN architecture are introduced. One is the distributed antenna type architecture to realize centralized coordination, while the other is an autonomous coordination with the assistance of legacy Wi-Fi signaling. Moreover, two heterogeneous network (HetNet) architectures are also introduced to efficiently extend the coordinated mmw WLANs to be used for future 5 Generation (5G) cellular networks.

Self-propelled continuous-flow PCR in capillary-driven microfluidic device: Microfluidic behavior and DNA amplification

Abstract: Continuous-flow polymerase chain reaction (CF-PCR) in microfluidic devices has a great potential for on-site detection of various pathogens and food species because of their high speed deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) amplification. However, flow-controlled pumps such as syringe pumps are absolutely necessary, which cause complex and difficult operations. Here, we present a self-propelled CF-PCR (SP-CF-PCR) in a microfluidic device which requires no external pumps to control the flow. The PCR solution is simply dropped onto the inlet and is autonomously transported by capillary forces. One of the difficulties in addressing the capillary flow in PCR microfluidic device is that the temperature of the PCR solution is periodically switched. Differing from previous theoretical approaches which deal with single steady-state temperature zone, for the first time, the displacement of capillary flow during temperature switching was mathematically formulated and was simulated by using experimental values of viscosities and capillary pressures at each temperature as parameters for simulation. Basing on the excellent matching between simulated and experimental data of the capillary flow, we were able to reveal the optimized design of 150-μm-wide and 150-μm-deep microchannel that successfully transported over 1600 mm for carrying out PCR within less than 14 min solely by capillary forces. We also demonstrated the SP-CF-PCR for verifying our concept. The specific amplifications of 295 bp of β -actin from human genome, 232 bp of AH1pdm influenza virus and 95 bp of 16S rDNA of Escherichia coli genomic DNA were successfully achieved, proving the application potentials of our device.

Logical channel prioritization procedure for sidelink logical channels

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method to be performed at a user equipment and to a user equipment operable in a wireless communications system supporting direct communication between userequipments. Accordingly, a sidelink configuration is stored in the user equipment, 5 specifying aplurality of destination groups, each destination group including possible destinations for sidelink data as well a logical channel priority is stored for each logical channel out of logical channels configured for the sidelink destination groups. The terminal then selects a sidelink destination group with a sidelink logical channel having sidelink data available for transmission with the 10 highest logical channel priority among the sidelink logical channels having data available for transmission, and allocates radio resources to the sidelink logical channels belonging to the selected sidelink destination group in decreasing priority order.

Light-emitting device

Abstract: A light-emission device includes a substrate and a G light-emission layer; an R light-emission layer, a B light-emission layer, and a wiring layer made of metal that are each arranged above the substrate Each of the G light-emission layer, the R light-emission layer, and the B light-emission layer contains light-emission material An amount of heat that the B light-emission layer generates upon light emission is greater than an amount of heat that the G light-emission layer generates upon light emission Further, the B light-emission layer directly faces the wiring layer at a facing edge portion

Monitoring device, monitoring system and monitoring method

Abstract: A monitoring device is provided with a person image analyzer which has a person detector which detects a person from captured moving images and acquires positional information which relates to a person area, and an area state determinator which determines an area state which indicates the state of people in the person area based on the positional information, a mask image setter which sets the mask image which corresponds to the area state, and a moving image output controller which generates and outputs output moving images where the person area is changed to the mask image which corresponds to the area state based on the positional information and the area state which are output from the person image analyzer.

Power transmission device and wireless power transmission system

Abstract: A power transmission device includes an inverter, an oscillator, a foreign substance detector, and a power transmission control circuitry. The power transmission control circuitry causes the foreign substance detector to perform a series of multiple processes and determine whether a foreign substance is present before a transmission of first AC power starts, and then causes the inverter to start the transmission of the first AC power. After the transmission starts, a detection period in which foreign substance detecting is performed and a power transmission period in which transmission of the first AC power is performed are repeated. The series of multiple processes is divided and performed in the multiple repeated detecting periods. The foreign substance detector is caused to divide and perform the series of multiple processes using the detecting periods and determine whether a foreign substance is present.