Polytechnic University of Catalonia

About: Polytechnic University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Population. The organization has 16006 authors who have published 45325 publications receiving 949306 citations. The organization is also known as: UPC - BarcelonaTECH & Technical University of Catalonia.

Beyond the Tonks-Girardeau gas: strongly correlated regime in quasi-one-dimensional Bose gases.

Abstract: We consider a homogeneous 1D Bose gas with contact interactions and a large attractive coupling constant. This system can be realized in tight waveguides by exploiting a confinement induced resonance of the effective 1D scattering amplitude. By using the diffusion Monte Carlo method we show that, for small densities, the gaslike state is well described by a gas of hard rods. The critical density for cluster formation is estimated using the variational Monte Carlo method. The behavior of the correlation functions and of the frequency of the lowest breathing mode for harmonically trapped systems shows that the gas is more strongly correlated than in the Tonks-Girardeau regime.

Behaviour of normal grain growth kinetics in single phase titanium and titanium alloys

Abstract: The grain growth kinetics of commercially pure Titanium, Ti–0.2Pd in the α and β phases, Ti–6Al–4V and Ni–Ti in the β phase have been studied. The perimeter, diameter and area as grain size parameters have been measured by means of the image analysis technique for different heat treatment temperatures and times. The growth exponents and activation energies have also been determined. The influence of the grain size on the mechanical properties have been evaluated and for the Ni–Ti shape memory alloy, the influence of the grain growth on the transformation temperatures, thermodynamic magnitudes and on the transformation stresses has been determined.

A Bluetooth Low Energy Indoor Positioning System with Channel Diversity, Weighted Trilateration and Kalman Filtering.

Abstract: Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology are currently becoming real and available, which has made them grow in popularity and use. However, there are still plenty of challenges related to this technology, especially in terms of Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) fluctuations due to the behaviour of the channels and the multipath effect, that lead to poor precision. In order to mitigate these effects, in this paper we propose and implement a real Indoor Positioning System based on Bluetooth Low Energy, that improves accuracy while reducing power consumption and costs. The three main proposals are: frequency diversity, Kalman filtering and a trilateration method what we have denominated “weighted trilateration”. The analysis of the results proves that all the proposals improve the precision of the system, which goes up to 1.82 m 90% of the time for a device moving in a middle-size room and 0.7 m for static devices. Furthermore, we have proved that the system is scalable and efficient in terms of cost and power consumption. The implemented approach allows using a very simple device (like a SensorTag) on the items to locate. The system enables a very low density of anchor points or references and with a precision better than existing solutions.

EMI reduction in switched power converters using frequency Modulation techniques

Abstract: Frequency-modulation techniques have been used to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) produced by the clock of digital systems working in the range of hundreds of megahertz. The working principle consists of modulating the original constant clock frequency in order to spread the energy of each single harmonic into a certain frequency band, thus reducing the peak amplitude of EMI at harmonic frequencies. Nowadays, the switching frequency of power converters has increased up to values that make interesting the application of such techniques to reduce EMI emissions due to switching of power circuits. This paper presents the theoretical principles of frequency modulation using deterministic profiles for the modulating function. It shows the effectiveness of such methods in terms of EMI reduction for different modulation profiles and other parameters. The method is compared with other methods using random modulation. Tests carried out on a buck converter are presented for experimental validation of the method. A short discussion on optimal modulation profiles and parameters is also included.