This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 8903, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

The cycle of WILGA Symposia [wilga.ise.pw.edu.pl] on Photonics and Web Engineering, Advanced Electronic Systems, under the auspices of SPIE, IEEE, KEiT PAN and WEiTI PW was initiated in 1998 by a Research Team PERG/ELHEP ISE PW. The WILGA conferences take place two times a year and the participants are young scientists from this country and abroad. This paper debates chosen topical tracks and some papers presented during the 31 WILGA Multi-Conference, which took place on 8-10 February 2013 at the Faculty of WEiTI PW. The January conference was attended by around 100 persons. Here we discuss closer the subjects of biomedical photonics, electronics and informatics, as well as chosen aspects of applications of advanced photonic, electronic circuits and systems. The 32 nd WILGA Symposium took place on 27 May – 02 June 2013 in WUT WILGA resort near Warsaw. These two editions of WILGA Conferences - January and May have generated more than 250 articles, from which around 100 were chosen by the Symposium and Conference Committees to be published in this volume of Proc.SPIE. WILGA Symposium papers are traditionally submitted via the WILGA web page [wilga.ise.pw.edu.pl] to the SPIE Proceedings publishing system [spie.org]. Email for the correspondence is: photonics@ise.pw.edu.pl. All Wilga papers are published in journals Elektronika, IJET-PAN and in Proc.SPIE. Topical tracks of the symposium usually embrace, among others, new technologies for photonics, sensory and nonlinear optical fibers, object oriented design of hardware, photonic metrology, optoelectronics and photonics applications, photonics-electronics co-design, optoelectronic and electronic systems for astronomy and high energy physics experiments, JET and pi-of-the sky experiments development. The symposium In its two editions a year is a summary of the development of numerable Ph.D. theses carried out in this country and this geographical region in the area of advanced electronic and photonic systems. It is also a great occasion for SPIE, IEEE, OSA and PSP members, young researchers and students to meet together in a large group spanning the whole country with guests from this part of Europe. A digest of chosen Wilga references is presented.

Traditional WILGA Symposia are held two times a year since 1998. Each year the WILGA May edition gathers around 300 young researchers active in advanced photonics and electronics systems. The paper, as each year, presents a digest of chosen technical work results shown by young researchers from different technical universities from this country during the SPIE-IEEE Wilga 2013 Symposium on Photonics and Web Engineering. Topical tracks of the symposium embraced, among others, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for photonics, sensory and nonlinear optical fibers, object oriented design of hardware, photonic metrology, optoelectronics and photonics applications, photonics-electronics codesign, optoelectronic and electronic systems for astronomy and high energy physics experiments, CMS, ITER, JET – Joint European Torus, BRITE nanosatellite, and pi-of-the sky experiments development. The symposium is an annual summary in the development of numerable Ph.D. theses carried out in this and neighboring countries in the area of advanced electronic and photonic systems. It is also a great occasion for SPIE, IEEE, OSA and PSP students and young researchers to meet together in a large group spanning the whole country with guests from this part of Europe. A digest of Wilga references is presented [1-225].

Research and technical communities for optics, photonics and optoelectronics is grouped in this country in several organizations and institutions. These are: Photonics Society of Poland (PSP), Polish Committee of Optoelectronics of SEP, Photonics Section of KEiT PAN, Laser Club at WAT, and Optics Section of PTF. Each of these communities keeps slightly different specificity. PSP publishes a quarterly journal Photonics Letters of Poland, stimulates international cooperation, and organizes conferences during Industrial Fairs on Innovativeness. PKOpto SEP organizes didactic diploma competitions in optoelectronics. KEiT PAN takes patronage over national conferences in laser technology, optical fiber technology and communications, and photonics applications. SO-PTF has recently taken a decision to organize a cyclic event “Polish Optical Conference”. The third edition of this conference PKO’2013 was held in Sandomierz on 30.06-04.07.2013. The conference scientific and technical topics include: quantum and nonlinear optics, photon physics, optic and technology of lasers and other sources of coherent radiation, optoelectronics, optical integrated circuits, optical fibers, medical optics, instrumental optics, optical spectroscopy, optical metrology, new optical materials, applications of optics, teaching in optics. This paper reviews chosen works presented during the III Polish Optical Conference (PKO’2013), representing the research efforts at different national institutions.

This paper presents a surface shape measurement system based on laser deflectometry. System’s design aims at application in documentation of objects of cultural heritage. The system is composed of a semiconductor laser, a CCD camera and imaging optics. The principle of measurement involves ray tracing of the laser beam calculated from two positions of the detector along the optical axis to determine the angle of inclination of the measured surface. The object is scanned with the designed system and resulting surface normal vectors are integrated to form the output surface. Exemplary measurement results are presented and discussed.

In the article analysis of UV absorption and visible fluorescence of Sm³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions doped phosphate glass with molar composition: 65P₂O₅ + 8Al₂O₃ + 10BaO + 17(Na₂O + MgO + ZnO) have been investigated. As a result of optical pumping fabricated glass with radiation from a deuterium lamp four luminescence bands were observed near to the wavelength of 600 nm for Sm³⁺ ions and 550 nm for Tb³⁺ ions. It was found that larger energy gap between laser and ground levels leads to the strongest emission in the visible range in terbium doped glasses than in glasses doped with samarium ions. Both fabricated glasses are characterized by the ability to selectively detect the radiation in the UV range.

The optical properties of Yb³⁺/Ho³⁺ - codoped tellurite glass has been investigated. Upconversion luminescence at the wavelengths of 545 nm (⁵S₂ (⁵F₄) → ⁵I₈) and 654 nm (⁵F₅ → ⁵I₈) in holmium was obtained as a result of energy transfer between Yb³⁺ and Ho³⁺ ions. The optimization of the activator content and the concentration ratio were conducted with the purpose of maximizing the efficiency of energy transfer. Mechanism and energy diagram involved in observed emission were discussed. The highest upconversion emission intensity was obtained in thetellurite glass codoped with 0.5Yb₂O₃/0.1Ho₂O₃ molar ratio.

Optical characteristics of thin film carbon-palladium (C-Pd) nanocomposites are analysed theoretically. The multinanolayer model is used to explain its specific optical spectral properties. For analysis an advanced electrodynamical method of single expression is used what is able to perform analysis not only for linear but also nonlinear (intensity depended) boundary problems solution.

In this paper, the results for thin carbon-palladium (C-Pd) nanocomposites obtained by PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) and PVD/CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) method, carried out using Raman spectroscopy method are presented. Studies reveal the dominance of fullerene-like structure for PVD samples and graphite-like structures for CVD samples. The type of substrate and metal content have great impact on spectra shapes.

In the paper the analysis of upconversion luminescence in Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ co-doped tellurite glass and optical fiber has been investigated. Upconversion luminescence at 525 nm, 546 nm, 651 nm corresponding to the Er³⁺: ²H_11/2→⁴I_15/2, ⁴S_3/2→⁴I_15/2, (⁴F_9/2→⁴I_15/2) transitions, respectively was obtained as a result of energy transfer between Yb³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions. Developed tellurite glass characterized by highest intensity of upconversion luminescence (0.5mol% Yb₂O₃/0.1mol% Er₂O₃) was used as core of optical fiber. The analysis of influence of Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ co-doped tellurite optical fiber length on upconversion emission spectra was examinated.

In this paper an influence of the content of palladium on optical properties of fullerene-palladium nanocomposite was discussed, based on Effective Medium Theory (EMT). Since the complex refractive index of Pd is clearly different from the refractive index of fullerene, even a small admixture of metal leads to significant changes in value of effective index and consequently to change the reflection coefficient of the layer.

The article presents the luminescent based optical fiber transducer. The new construction of polymer optical fibre sensor with resonant energy transfer is shown. The idea and fabrication process of low cost optode is presented. The fluorescein and rhodamine B codoped polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) sensitive layer exhibits the wide range of absorption spectrum ensures high source to optode spectrum alignment. The luminescent response under 430 and 470nm Light Emitting Diode (LED) source is shown. The experimental characteristic of sensor in the range from 293 K to 403 K is shown. The article presents also the potential applications of presented sensor.

This paper describes electrical method for measuring junction temperature of high power LEDs. Designed and constructed system with thermal chamber and performed a number of studies in typical operating conditions luminaires with LEDs. The results allow for proper construction of a complete LED lighting system using for operation in ambient temperatures ranging from -10ºC to 100ºC, especially in terms of matching the effective supply.

The paper presents design, simulation analysis, and measurements of parameters of optical multi touch panel backlight system. Comparison of optical technology with commercially available solutions was also performed. The numerical simulation of laser based backlight system was made. The influence of the laser power, beam divergence, and placing reflective surfaces on the uniformity of illumination were examined. Optimal illumination system was used for further studies.

In this work, spectroscopic ellipsometry combined with transmittance measurements in a spectral range of 0.6 - 6.5eV (2.2μm – 193nm) have been used to determine the thickness and optical constants of carbon-palladium thin films. The C-Pd nanocomposite samples are synthesised by physical vapour deposition and chemical vapour deposition methods on to fused silica substrates. The C₆₀ fullerene and palladium acetate are used as the source materials. The effective complex dielectric functions [equation-see manuscript] of the particulate films are found to depend strongly on preparation technology and concentration of Pd nanoparticles embedded in the carbon matrix. Optical parameterisation with a Drude-Lorentz model of the dielectric functions has been applied to match the experimental data. Influence of chemical treatment and Pd nanoparticles on structural disorder and relevant optical and electronic properties of the C-Pd samples is analysed.

In the article effect of temperature on luminescent properties of antimony - silicate glass co - doped with 1.0mol%Yb³⁺/1mol%0.2Tm³⁺ under 976 nm was investigated. As a result of optical excitation with radiation with the wavelength of 976 nm three luminescence bands were obtained: 477 nm for ¹G₄→³H₆ quantum transition, 650 nm for ₁G₄→³F₄ and 698 nm for ³F_2,3→3H6 in thulium ions, formed by the efficient Yb³⁺ → Tm³⁺ energy transfer. It has been found that the increase in temperature of a glass leads to higher probability of phonon transitions from the ¹G₄ to the ³F_2,3 level leading to quenching of luminescence band with the wavelength within the band of 650 nm. The maximum sensitivity to temperature change is 0.02139 [K^-1] at 250°C. The nature of a change over a range of studied temperature from 5 to 250°C is linear. The results of the research indicate that the fabricated glass can be used to construct luminescence temperature sensors.

This paper describes the construction, fabrication and properties of large-area ultra violet detector that is transparent in the visible range. The device was made on n-type 4H SiC substrate with a double epitaxial layer in which aluminum was implanted to form a p-n junction close to the surface, and a SiO₂ layer was formed for passivation, without a guard ring. The design of the top and bottom electrodes of 4mm diameter UV sensitive area allows not less than 20% visible range transmission. This transmission was measured across sensitive area of examined devices and was only 5% lower than that of the substrate before implantation and electrodes deposition.

The task of a short baseline stereo matching algorithm is to calculate the disparity map given two rectified images of one scene. Most algorithms assume that a maximal possible disparity exists and search all disparities in the range from 1 to this maximal disparity. In the case of large images and wide disparity search range this can be very computationally demanding. In this article a simple coarse to fine hierarchical matching method based on the Gaussian pyramid and local stereo matching is investigated. Such an approach allows significant reduction of the number of disparities searched compared to the full search algorithm. Moreover it is shown, that grouping pixels into simple square regions is in most cases sufficient to avoid significant errors that typically appear at disparity map discontinuities when hierarchical schemes are used. Finally, it is presented that in most cases the quality of the disparity map obtained using the investigated algorithm is of comparable quality to a disparity map obtained using full-search local stereo algorithm.

New video coding systems use very efficient algorithms and coding methods. Encoded stream can be fit even into narrow transmission channel. That is why effective rate control algorithms are needed to maximize usage of transmission resources. This paper presents test results of bitrate estimation instead of basic rate control algorithms for video sequences with inter-frame prediction. This approach may simplify rate control process by excluding complex errorbased operations. It is an important goal as recent rate control algorithms are quite complex and its implementation, particularly in hardware structures, may be inconvenient.

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are extensively used in diverse fields, wherever inexpensive and easy-to-deploy platforms are required for close-range remote sensing. Applications proposed in archaeology to date include ortho-photography and 3-D modeling. On the other hand, use of image processing and feature detection methods, well developed in other fields is hardly used. After reviewing technologies and methods for UAS-based surveying and surface modeling, we propose feature detection methods (e.g. line detection, texture segmentation) dedicated to extraction of structures in the images that are significant for archaeological survey, planning, and documentation and show results on selected case studies.

One of the techniques which had the biggest impact on the development of microelectronics, optoelectronics, photonics and other similar technologies was doping the substrates with various elements. Although many techniques have been developed resulting in reliable industrial designs, still there is a need of further development and optimization of some of them for specific applications. A very interesting method of doping is the ion implantation based on LIS (Laser Ion Source). The great advantage of this method is its ability to implant ions from any solid state material onto any substrate. Besides – a control of the laser irradiation parameters gives also a flexibility in the parameters of the implantation process, i.e. the ion energy which corresponds to the implantation depth and the ion flux which results in the concentration. On the other hand there are also drawbacks of the direct method – usually the power density of the laser beam needs to be higher than that offered by standard industrial solution and together with the dopant the contaminations present in the projectile are implanted. Another issue for the applications requiring high precision of the implanted layer depth and width is the relatively broad energy spread of the laser produced ions. To deal with this problems the research at the IPPLM was focused on the extent characterization of laser produced ion streams in the direct variant of the method and optimization of the method with the application of electrostatic field to accelerate, focus and shape the ion beams.

Pi of the Sky is a system of wide field-of-view robotic telescopes, which search for short timescale astrophysic phenomena, especially for prompt optical GRB emission. The system was designed for autonomous operatio , monitoring a large fraction of the sky with 12m-13m range and time resolution of the order of 1 - 10 second , and automatic flash recognition in real time. System design and observation stratedy was successfully tested with a prototype detector operational in 2004- 2009 at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and moved to San Pedro de Atacama Observatory in March 2011. In October 2010 the first unit of the final Pi of the Sky detector system, with 4 CCD cameras, was successfully installed in the INTA El Arenosillo Test Centre in Spain. Three more units (12 CCD cameras) are being prepared for installation on a new platform in INTA, aiming at a total coverage of about 6400 square degrees. Observation strategy and background conditions are different than those in Chile. Therefore additional selection algorithm are needed to improve rejection of false flash candidates selected by the on-line selection algrithm.

The development of RF particle accelerators was undoubtedly the great achievement of science and civilization which allowed for unique observations being in line with the Standard Model theory. On the other hand, this technology reached its limits of performance and building RF devices which would allow for obtaining significantly higher energy is questionable from physical and economic point of view. Due to this fact, a development of a different acceleration technique became of utmost importance. The candidate method is Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWA). LWA may offer drastic reduction in the size of the accelerator; however; it demands an enormous laser systems to provide both high power density and average power. Presently operating laser systems offer sufficient power density but the crucial obstacle to overcome is the repetition rate which circumscribes the average power and the number of the collision events. To deal with this problem the ICAN (International Coherent Amplification Network) project has been proposed. It is aimed on the construction of high power, high repetition rate fiber laser which would be efficient for LWA for the particle accelerator and other applications including XFEL, transmutation, nuclear waste management and fundamental plasma research. It is worth mentioning that all technologies needed for the development of such a device are presently available just need to be upgraded and combined into one operating system. This contribution is a review of the mechanisms of acceleration of charged particles, fiber and optical techniques which will be employed in ICAN and its possible applications and perspectives.

The Pi of the Sky is a system of two wide field of view robotic telescopes, which search for short timescale astrophysical phenomena, especially for prompt optical GRB emission. The system was designed for autonomous operation, monitoring a large fraction of the sky with 12^m - 13^m range and time resolution of the order of 1 - 10 seconds. Two fully automatic Pi of the Sky detectors located in Spain (INTA) and Chile (SPDA) almost every night have been observing the sky in search of rare optical phenomena but also collect a lot of usefull observations which include e.g. many kinds of variable stars. To be able to draw proper conclusions from the data received, their adequate quality is very important. Data of the Pi of the Sky are subject to a systematic errors caused by various factors such as e.g. cloud cover seen as significant fluctuations in the number of stars observed by the detector, the problems with conducting mounting, a strong background of the moon or passing of a bright object near the observed star, such as a planet. Some of these adverse effects are already detected during the cataloging of individual measurements, but the quality of our data was still not satisfactory for us. In order to improve quality of our data we developed two new procedures which were based on two different approaches. In this article we will tell some words about these procedures, give an some examples and show how these procedures improve the quality of our data.

European X-Ray FEL – free electron laser is under construction in DESY Hamburg. It is scheduled to be operational at 2015/16 at a cost more than 1 billion Euro. The laser uses SASE method to generate x-ray light. It is propelled by an electron linac of 17,5GeV energy and more than 2km in length. The linac uses superconducting SRF TESLA technology working at 1,3 GHz in frequency. The prototype of EXFEL is FLASH Laser (200 m in length), where the “proof of principle” was checked, and from the technologies were transferred to the bigger machine. The project was stared in the nineties by building a TTF Laboratory -Tesla Test Facility. The EXFEL laser is a child of a much bigger teraelectronovolt collider project TESLA (now abandoned in Germany but undertaken by international community in a form the ILC). A number of experts and young researchers from Poland participate in the design, construction and research of the FLASH and EXFEL lasers.

This paper describes possible use of Sagnac interferometer, based on the polarization maintaining fiber, as an optical microphone. Operation of investigated setup is based on the refractive index changes induced by acoustic wave and fiber strain. In the conducted experiment, Sagnac interferometer working as an optical microphone was able to achieve 6 dB bandwidth up to 4.5 kHz. Possibilities for linear operation was examined as well. Experimental results are preceded by a mathematical analysis of the operating principles.

In this paper we present an evaluation of the chosen versions of Active Appearance Models (AAM) in varying background conditions. Algorithms were tested on a subset of the CMU PIE database and chosen background im- ages. Our experiments prove, that the accuracy of those methods is strictly correlated with the used background, where the differences in the success rate differ even up to 50%.

In this paper automated system for simultaneous measurement of spectral response and dispersion characteristics of optical fibers and passive fiber optic components (such as fiber Bragg gratings) is presented and validated. Using this setup transmitted and reflected spectra can be measured. The system is validated by comparison relative group delay characteristics of dispersion shifted fiber (DSF) obtained using presented setup as well as commercially available equipment. Moreover, the spectral reflection characteristics of linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating obtained using both presented system and optical spectrum analyzer are compared and discussed.

Pi of the Sky is a system of wide field-of-view robotic telescopes, which search for short time-scale astrophysical phenomena, especially for prompt optical GRB emission. On the other hand, the data could be used to search for variable stars. The analysis of variable star are based on precise photometry, which requires detailed image analysis. The main goal of cataloging procedure is to identify all objects in an image, and to add their measurements to the database. We would like to present new procedure to catalog data gathered with Pi of the Sky detector equipped with R filter in San Pedro de Atacama in season 2009-2011.

In this paper the numerical results of tapered fiber Bragg gratings modeling are shown. Presented model, based on coupled mode theory and transfer matrix method for tapered fiber Bragg gratings, gives highly accurate results for reflection width evaluation. Few simulations were made for three different configurations of tapered fiber Bragg structures, as well as comparison between theoretical and experimental results.

Silicon Carbide (SiC) photodiodes have been proposed in recent years for ultraviolet (UV) light detection because of their robustness even in harsh environments, high quantum efficiency in all the UV range (200nm-400nm), excellent visible and infra-red blindness excluding UV filters implementation, low dark current and high speed. 4H-SiC has a bandgap three times larger (3.26eV) than Si and, thus, SiC detectors should have much higher sensitivity than Si detectors. In this paper, we present an overview of results on 4H-SiC p-i-n junctions fabrication and characterization. We used implantation technique to obtain p-region of the investigated structure. The ohmic contacts were formed using evaporation, etching and lift-off. Current-voltage, contact resistance and electroluminescence are the main characteristics of the presented devices. All the diodes showed excellent rectification with leakage current density of less than 10^-9A/cm².

In this paper the comparative study of spectral transmission characteristics of tilted Bragg gratings made using uniform phase mask and chirped phase mask are presented. Results are focused on low tilt angles with special interest on cladding modes behavior. The spectral characteristic shape for simultaneously tilted and chirped Bragg gratings point out its potential applications as amplitude discriminator in fiber sensing applications and gain flattening element for EDFA.

Contemporary image acquisition devices introduce optical distortion into image. It results in pixel displacement and therefore needs to be compensated for many computer vision applications. The distortion is usually modeled by the Brown distortion model, which parameters can be included in camera calibration task. In this paper we describe original model, its dependencies and analyze orthogonality with regard to radius for its decentering distortion component. We also report experiments with camera calibration algorithm included in OpenCV library, especially a stability of distortion parameters estimation is evaluated.

This paper compares two face recognition methods based on Linear Discriminant Analysis: Subspace and Regularization method. These methods are tested for different parameters, different size of feature vector, Euclidean distance and modified Euclidean distance, for both LDA and Dual LDA method. Before using LDA, face images are described using selected frequency channels of DFT.

In this paper, I investigate a problem of finding most similar music tracks using, popular in Natural Language Processing, techniques like: TF-IDF and LDA. I de ned document as music track. Each music track is transformed to spectrogram, thanks that, I can use well known techniques to get words from images. I used SURF operation to detect characteristic points and novel approach for their description. The standard kmeans was used for clusterization. Clusterization is here identical with dictionary making, so after that I can transform spectrograms to text documents and perform TF-IDF and LDA. At the final, I can make a query in an obtained vector space. The research was done on 16 music tracks for training and 336 for testing, that are splitted in four categories: Hiphop, Jazz, Metal and Pop. Although used technique is completely unsupervised, results are satisfactory and encouraging to further research.

The aim of the paper is to show methods used by Pi of the Sky team to search for optical counterparts of GW event candidates during Looc-Up science run¹ and methods that we are planning to develop as part of the future Looc-Up. During the future joint GW-EM observations a new Pi of the Sky telescope unit could image more than 1/3 of GW candidate probability maps in less than 10 minutes, taking many pictures of the same observation eld. The system could automatically recognize optical transients and perform follow-ups of interesting events.

We present a review of short period variables of different types. In most cases there arc pulsating stars crossing instability strip on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Study of these stars allows us to examine internal structure theory for stars near the end of their lives.

Pi of the Sky is a system of wide field-of-view robotic telescopes designed for observations of short timescale astrophysical phenomena, especially for prompt optical GRB emission. The apparatus was designed for autonomous operation, follows the predefined observing strategy and adopts it to the actual conditions, monitoring a large part of the sky with time resolution of the order of 1 - 10 seconds and range 12m-13m. Observation strategy and system design was successfully tested with a prototype detector working in 2004-2009 at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and moved to San Pedro de Atacama Observatory in March 2011. In October 2010 the first unit of the final Pi of the Sky detector system, with 4 CCD cameras, was successfully installed in the INTA El Arenosillo Test Centre in Spain. Simultaneous observations from locations in Chile and Spain allow a systematic search for optical transients of cosmological origin. Accurate analysis of data arising from a wide-field system like Pi of the Sky is a real challenge because of a number of factors that can influence the measurements. We have developed a set of dedicated algorithms which remove poor quality measurements, improve photometric accuracy and allow us to reach uncertainties as low as 0.015– 0.02 mag. Three more units (12 CCD cameras) are being prepared for installation on a new platform in INTA, aiming at a total coverage of about 6400 square degrees. Status and performance of the detectors is presented.

The paper describes a number of research projects of the Faculty of Mechatronics of Warsaw University of Technology in order to illustrate the use of common mechatronics and optomechatronics approach in solving multidisciplinary technical problems. Projects on sensors development, measurement and industrial control systems, multimodal data capture and advance systems for monitoring and diagnostics of industrial processes are presented and discussed.

The purpose of this study was to describe the design of the electronic module for testing bioimpedance measuring devices, for example impedance cardiographs or impedance pneumographs. Artificial Patient was conceived as an electronic equivalent of the impedance of skin-electrode interface and the impedance between electrodes - measured one. Different approaches in imitating a resistance of skin and an impedance of electrode-skin connection were presented. The module was adapted for frequently applied tetrapolar electrode configuration. Therefore the design do not enclose the elements simulating impedance between skin and receiver electrodes due to negligible effect of this impedance on the current flow through the receiver. The Artificial Patient enables testing either application generators, or receiver parts, particularly the level of noise and distortions of the signal. Use of digitally controlled potentiometer allows simulating different tissue resistances changes such as constant values, very-low-frequency and low-frequency changes corresponding to those caused by breathing or heart activity. Also it allows distorting signals in order to test algorithms of artifacts attenuation.

The application of the digital stethoscope system is a new tendency in methods of cardiac auscultation. Heart sounds, generated by the fluctuations of blood velocity and vibrations of muscle structure, are an important signal in the primary diagnosis of heart diseases. Since the XIXs century for physical examination an analog stethoscope was used, but the development of microelectronics enable the construction of digital stethoscopes which started modern phonocardiography. The typical hardware of the system could be divided into analog and digital parts, respectively. The first one consists of microphone and pre-amplifier. The second one contains a microcontroller with peripherals for data saving and transmission. Usually the specialized software is applied for the signal acquisition and digital signal processing (filtering, spectral analysis and others). This paper presents an overview of methods used in cardiac auscultation and expected developing path in the future. It also contains the description of our digital stethoscope system, which is planned to be used in poliphysiographical studies.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect the body weight and position on the mechanical output of vibration platform measured as maximal acceleration of vertical sinusoidal oscillations of vibrating plate. We examined five subjects applying the frequencies 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 Hz and different amplifier’s voltage output fed to mechanical vibration generator. We found that at given frequency and voltage the greatest vibration of vibrating plate has been observed when subject stood on the forefoot; this effect was more distinctly pronounced at lower frequencies. The effect of body mass was less consistently evident. The effect of foot placement on the oscillations of vibration platform may be caused by different absorption of the mechanical energy by the body. We believe that in order to explain effect observed a mathematical model which accounts for body position on absorption of vibration along the trunk and mechanical properties of the platform should be constructed by combining already existing models of human body.

The aim of this paper is new application for de novo assembly DNA reads produced by next generation sequencers. The algorithm based on de Bruin graph is proposed, it uses both DNA strands: coding and complementary. The read errors are corrected. The repetitive sequences longer than read are correctly reconstructed in some cases. The application in client-server architecture was developed and tested on pseudo-random sequences and reads generated from genomes of model organisms.

This article describes new algorithm to combine shorter sequences representing fragments of DNA molecules, called contigs, into longer structure called scaffold. This algorithm is based on the constraint satisfaction approach. The computer program ‘PETconn’ which is using presented algorithm based on three-tier architecture was developed. User interface is accessible by browser. The algorithm properties explored on generated data are promising. Performed experiments proved the correctness of the algorithm, but its performance is insufficient for real data.

The aim of this article is to discuss the issue of comparing nucleotide sequences in order to detect chromosomal rearrangements (for example, in the study of genomes of two cucumber varieties, Polish and Chinese). Two basic algorithms for detecting rearrangements has been described: Smith-Waterman algorithm, as well as a new method of searching genetic markers in combination with Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm. The computer program in client-server architecture was developed. The algorithms properties were examined on genomes Escherichia coli and Arabidopsis thaliana genomes, and are prepared to compare two cucumber varieties, Polish and Chinese. The results are promising and further works are planned.

This paper presents a recording system optimized for long term measurement of bed headrest elevation angle in the Intensive Care Unit. The continuous monitoring of this parameter allows to find the correlation between the patient’s position in bed and the risk of the Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP), a very serious problem in therapy of critically ill patients. Recorder might be be an important tool to evaluate the “care bundles” – sets of preventive procedures recommended for treatment of patients in the ICU.

A soft-docking system is one of the features of modern intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) technology. It permits delivery of a single fraction of radiation to the surgically exposed tissue, whilst the treatment head is not in direct contact with the applicator. The aim of this study is to present the design of the positioning system for soft-docking of mobile linear accelerator that is being developed at the National Centre of Nuclear Research in Otwock-Świerk, Poland (NCBJ). Our proposed design includes four red laser beams installed along with the treatment head, and a specially prepared applicator with a pre-drawn reference circle. When the treatment head is correctly positioned, all four laser dots intersect with the circle. Numerical simulation showed that it is possible to minimize misalignment to around 0.5° angular and 1 mm linear with this model.

In the paper the authors present the developed optoelectronic system for controlled, repetitive exposure by electromagnetic radiation of biological structures in the Low Level Laser (LED) Therapy procedures. The set allows for objective selection and control of the irradiation parameters by light from spectral range of the tissues transmission window. Measurements of optical parameters of thin biological medium – spectral absorption coefficient and the amount of absorbed energy – can be implemented in the measuring chamber during irradiation treatment. The radiation source is the broadband illuminator consists of set of selected high power LEDs. The maximum optical power of single source is from 80 mW to 800 mW. Illuminator is controlled and powered by the multi-channel prototype control system, which allows independently control a current of each emitter. This control allows shaping spectral emission characteristic of broadband source in range 600-1000 nm. Illuminator allows providing in the working area of 700 cm² a uniform distribution of optical power density, of 10 mW/cm₂ for maximum. Set ensure uniform distribution of the spectral power density of up to 40 mW/nm.

The paper presents a methods of simplification of the human gait model. The experimental data were obtained in the laboratory of the group SATI in the Electronics Engineering Department of the University of Valencia. As a result of the Mean Double Step (MDS) procedure, the human motion were described by a matrix containing the Cartesian coordinates of 26 markers placed on the human body recorded in the 100 time points. With these data it has been possible to develop an software application which performs a wide diversity of tasks like array simplification, mask calculation for the simplification, error calculation as well as tools for signals comparison and movement animation of the markers. Simplifications were made by the spectral analysis of signals and calculating the standard deviation of the differences between the signal and its approximation. Using this method the signals of displacement could be written as the time series limited to a small number of harmonic signals. This approach allows us for a high degree of data compression. The model presented in this work can be applied into the context of medical diagnostics or rehabilitation because for a given approximation error and a large number of harmonics may demonstrate some abnormalities (of orthopaedic symptoms) in the gait cycle analysis.

Modern healthcare systems are designed to fulfill needs of the patient, his system environment and other determinants of the treatment with proper support of technical aids. A whole system of care is compatible to the technical solutions and organizational framework based on legal rules. The purpose of this study is to present how can we use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systemic tools in a new model of patient-oriented care, improving the effectiveness of healthcare for patients with chronic diseases. The study material is the long-term process of healthcare for patients with chronic illness. Basing on the knowledge of the whole circumstances of patient’s ecosystem and his needs allow us to build a new ICT model of long term care. The method used is construction, modeling and constant improvement the efficient ICT layer for the patient-centered healthcare model. We present a new constructive approach to systemic process how to use ICT for information management in healthcare system for chronic disease patient. The use of ICT tools in the model for chronic disease can improve all aspects of data management and communication, and the effectiveness of long-term complex healthcare. In conclusion: ICT based model of healthcare can be constructed basing on the interactions of ecosystem’s functional parts through information feedback and the provision of services and models as well as the knowledge of the patient itself. Systematic approach to the model of long term healthcare assisted functionally by ICT tools and data management methods will increase the effectiveness of patient care and organizational efficiency.

The aim of the Test Infrastructure and Accelerator Research Area – the TIARA project[1] is to consolidate and support the European R&D program in the field of physics and techniques of particle accelerators. This project, partially funded by the European Commission, groups 11 participants from 8 European countries, including Poland. Its present, threeyear (2011-2013) preparatory phase (PP) is shortly described in this paper. The project is divided into 9 work packages (WP). We will concentrate on four of them dedicated to governance, R&D infrastructures, joint R&D programming, and education and training, in which Polish participants are actively involved.

The results of thermal modeling of a new cable insulation scheme proposed for a new set of larger aperture Nb-Ti inner triplet quadrupole magnets for LHC upgrade are presented. The new insulation scheme, so called enhanced insulation, is aiming at a more efficient heat transport from the coil to the helium bath. This scheme relies on leaving open helium paths between the bath and the cable. This report summarizes a detailed study of helium cooling channels efficiency in enhanced cable insulation as well as the heat evacuation schemes with respect to different cable insulation winding scheme. A numerical calculations and validation with experimental results showed that heat transfer efficiency of enhanced insulation is reduced, indicating that effective helium channels cross-sections are significant smaller than the nominal ones. The ANSYS analysis confirmed a significant decrease of helium channels cross-section caused by applied pressure. Also a new independent calculation of heat transfer confirmed the results presented in this paper.

The paper describes a concept of automatic resources identification algorithm used in reconfigurable measurement systems. In the paper is also presented a concept of algorithm for automatic generation of HDL codes (firmware) and management of reconfigurable measurement and control systems. Following sections are described in details: definition of measurement system, FMC boards installation, automatic FPGA startup configuration, automatic FMC detection and automatic card identification. Reconfigurable measurement and control systems are using FPGA devices and mezzanines in FMC standard. This work is a part of a wider project for automatic firmware generation and management of reconfigurable systems.

The paper describes a concept of automatic firmware generation for reconfigurable measurement systems, which uses FPGA devices and measurement cards in FMC standard. Following sections are described in details: automatic HDL code generation for FPGA devices, automatic communication interfaces implementation, HDL drivers for measurement cards, automatic serial connection between multiple measurement backplane boards, automatic build of memory map (address space), automatic generated firmware management. Presented solutions are required in many advanced measurement systems, like Beam Position Monitors or GEM detectors. This work is a part of a wider project for automatic firmware generation and management of reconfigurable systems. Solutions presented in this paper are based on previous publication in SPIE.

The paper describes a concept of automatic configuration of FMC boards in reconfigurable measurement and control systems, which uses FPGA devices and mezzanines in the FMC standard. Following sections are described in details: architecture of software interface drivers, automatic configuration of FMC boards available in system, usage of a system after configuration, optional running of custom user applications from a control application level. Presented solutions are required in many advanced measurement and control systems, like Beam Position Monitors or GEM detectors. This work is part of a wider project for automatic firmware generation and management of reconfigurable systems. Solutions presented in this paper are based on previous publications in SPIE.

A paper describes a possibility of upgrading trigger RPC system at CMS detector for research of Heavy Stable Charged Particles (HSCPs). An experiment for the High Energy Physics (HEP) is located at CERN at the world's biggest accelerator complex mostly aimed to the research of particles and forces described in Standard Model (SM) theory. The SM explains the structure of matter but omits some important factors as the Gravity. There are three main branches of the New Physics that expand the SM: supersymmetry (SUSY), technicolors and additional dimentions. The SUSY provides the hipotetic HSCPs existence. Algorithms for search of those particles are implemented as a FPGA firmware in the RPC trigger system. Proposed methods expand the functionality of the existing trigger firmware. They are supposed to implement the simultaneous HSCPs and muons identification. The proposed solutions increase the trigger time resolution that is the important element of the system competitiveness to the other systems of the CMS detector. They also enable distinction between the particles produced inside the detector as the result of the collisions and the particles generated outside the detector that fly back through it. Such generation can be the result of the HSCP the reaction with rocks surrounding the detector cavern. The described methods are supposed to provide the selective trigger for the data most wanted for the HEP experiments research that could introduce the experimental science to the Great Unification.

This paper presents a simple system consisting of the FPGA core, network protocol and Linux kernel driver, aimed on efficient transmission of acquired data from the low resources FPGA equipped with Ethernet PHY to the embedded system, responsible for preprocessing of those data and sending them further via standard network links. The system has been optimized regarding the memory and logic consumption in the FPGA. Implementation based on the Layer 3 protocol allows to minimize latency of the packet acknowledge, which results in reduction of memory requirements on the FPGA side. The driver code has been optimized to avoid unnecessary copying of data between buffers in memory, allowing the user application to access received data via memory mapped buffer. The system has been successfully tested in real hardware. Sources of the whole system are published and freely available under Open Source licences ( partially under GPL, partially under BSD and partially as public domain).

This paper presents the tethered Forth system dedicated for testing and debugging of FPGA based electronic systems. Use of the Forth language allows to interactively develop and run complex testing or debugging routines. The solution is based on a small, 16-bit soft core CPU, used to implement the Forth Virtual Machine. Thanks to the use of the tethered Forth model it is possible to minimize usage of the internal RAM memory in the FPGA. The function of the intelligent terminal, which is an essential part of the tethered Forth system, may be fulfilled by the standard PC computer or by the smartphone. System is implemented in Python (the software for intelligent terminal), and in VHDL (the IP core for FPGA), so it can be easily ported to different hardware platforms. The connection between the terminal and FPGA may be established and disconnected many times without disturbing the state of the FPGA based system. The presented system has been verified in the hardware, and may be used as a tool for debugging, testing and even implementing of control algorithms for FPGA based systems.

The positive fractional linear systems and electrical circuits are addressed. New classes of fractional asymptotically stable and unstable electrical circuits are introduced. The Caputo and Riemann-Liouville definitions of fractional derivatives are used to analysis of the positive electrical circuits composed of resistors, capacitors, coils and voltage (current) sources. The positive fractional electrical and specially unstable different types electrical circuits are analyzed. Some open problems are formulated.

In the hardware video encoder, the quantization is responsible for quality losses. On the other hand, it allows the reduction of bit rates to the target one. If the mode selection is based on the rate-distortion criterion, the quantization can also be adjusted to obtain better compression efficiency. Particularly, the use of Lagrangian function with a given multiplier enables the encoder to select the most suitable quantization step determined by the quantization parameter QP. Moreover, the quantization offset added before discarding the fraction value after quantization can be adjusted. In order to select the best quantization parameter and offset in real time, the HD/SD encoder should be implemented in the hardware. In particular, the hardware architecture should embed the transformation and quantization modules able to process the same residuals many times. In this work, such an architecture is used. Experimental results show what improvements in terms of compression efficiency are achievable for Intra coding.

European Framework Research Projects have recently added a lot of meaning to the building process of the ERA – the European Research Area. Inside this, the accelerator technology plays an essential role. Accelerator technology includes large infrastructure and intelligent, modern instrumentation embracing mechatronics, electronics, photonics and ICT. During the realization of the European research and infrastructure project FP6 CARE 2004-2008 (Coordinated Accelerator Research in Europe), concerning the development of large accelerator infrastructure in Europe, it was decided that a scientific editorial series of peer-reviewed monographs from this research area will be published in close relation with the projects. It was a completely new and quite brave idea to combine a kind of a strictly research publisher with a transient project, lasting only four or five years. Till then nobody did something like that. The idea turned out to be a real success. The publications now known and valued in the accelerator world, as the (CERN-WUT) Editorial Series on Accelerator Science and Technology, is successfully continued in already the third European project EuCARD² and has logistic guarantees, for the moment, till the 2017, when it will mature to its first decade. During the realization of the European projects EuCARD (European Coordination for Accelerator R&D 2009-2013 and TIARA (Test Infrastructure of Accelerator Research Area in Europe) there were published 18 volumes in this series. The ambitious plans for the nearest years is to publish, hopefully, a few tens of new volumes. Accelerator science and technology is one of a key enablers of the developments in the particle physic, photon physics and also applications in medicine and industry. The paper presents a digest of the research results in the domain of accelerator science and technology in Europe, published in the monographs of the European Framework Projects (FP) on accelerator technology. The succession of CARE, EuCARD and EuCARD Projects is evidently creating a new quality in the European Accelerator Research. It is consolidating the technical and research communities in a new way, completely different than the traditional ones, for example via the periodic topical conferences.

Accelerator science and technology is one of a key enablers of the developments in the particle physic, photon physics and also applications in medicine and industry. EuCARD² is an European research project which will be realized during 2013-2017 inside the EC FP7 framework. The project concerns the development and coordination of European Accelerator Research and Development. The project is particularly important, to a number of domestic laboratories, due to some plans to build large accelerator infrastructure in Poland. Large accelerator infrastructure of fundamental and applied research character stimulates around it the development and industrial applications as well as biomedical of advanced accelerators, material research and engineering, cryo-technology, mechatronics, robotics, and in particular electronics – like networked measurement and control systems, sensors, computer systems, automation and control systems. The paper presents a digest of the European project EuCARD² which is Enhanced European Coordination for Accelerator Research and Development. The paper presents a digest of the research results and assumptions in the domain of accelerator science and technology in Europe, shown during the final fourth annual meeting of the EuCARD – European Coordination of Accelerator R&D, and the kick-off meeting of the EuCARD². There are debated a few basic groups of accelerator systems components like: measurement – control networks of large geometrical extent, multichannel systems for large amounts of metrological data acquisition, precision photonic networks of reference time, frequency and phase distribution, high field magnets, superconducting cavities, novel beam collimators, etc. The paper bases on the following materials: Internet and Intranet documents combined with EuCARD², Description of Work FP7 EuCARD-2 DoW-312453, 2013-02-13, and discussions and preparatory materials worked on by Eucard-2 initiators.

In simulation of VLSI Integrated Circuits (ICs) that operate at considerably high frequencies essential is distributed modeling of interconnects. In this paper a study of algorithms is proposed dedicated to simulation of nonlinear ICs together with their interconnects which are modeled by means of lossy, nondispersive, in general also coupled transmission lines. A vector model of the coupled transmission lines is proposed and discussed. This model is efficiently applicable in transient analysis of ICs where cts with such solution techniques as sparse matrix, band matrix, iterative approach and mixed approach. Numerical complexity of these techniques is analyzed and compared and the best approach is selected. Several simulation results are shown.

Logic simulation of digital circuits is a well explored research area. Most up-to-date CAD tools for digital circuits simulation use an event driven, selective trace algorithm and Hardware Description Languages (HDL), e.g. the VHDL. This techniques enable simulation of mixed circuits, as well, where an analog part is connected to the digital one through D/A and A/D converters. The event-driven mixed simulation applies a unified, digital-circuits dedicated method to both digital and analog subsystems. In recent years HDL techniques have been also applied to mixed domains, as e.g. in the VHDL-AMS. This paper presents an approach dual to the event-driven one, where an analog part together with a digital one and with converters is treated as the analog subsystem and is simulated by means of circuit simulation techniques. In our problem an analog solver used yields some numerical problems caused by nonlinearities of digital elements. Efficient methods for overriding these difficulties have been proposed.

The paper presents two techniques of balancing energy in ScaleFactor bands for Advanced Audio Coding. The techniques allows the AAC encoder to get a better audio quality. The first one modifies Scale Factors assigned to each band after the quantization whereas the second finds and changes offsets in the quantization - just before rounding down. The implementations of the algorithms have been tested and results discussed. Results show that these techniques significantly improve the quality. At last hardware implementation possibilities are discussed.

The paper presents the results of the simulation of the brusselator performed in the MATLAB environment. The brusselator is a kind of a chemical oscillating system (with periodically changing concentrations of reactants and the possibility of self-organizing), described by the Partial Differential Equation (PDE) system. The brusselator is analyzed by solving a set Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) obtained by the space discretization of the original PDE. The resulting ODE system is huge (the better accuracy expected, the more dense discretization and the larger ODE set), so its solving is a highly time-consuming task. This paper illustrates solving brusselator equations by means of the generic mathematical software (MATLAB), using both built-in integrating algorithms, as well as the dedicated iterated integration scheme, with the focus on the efficiency of the simulation.

The Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is one of 10 instruments on-board Solar Orbiter mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) scheduled to be launched in 2017. STIX is aimed to provide imaging spectroscopy of solar thermal and non-thermal hard X-ray emissions from 4 keV to 150 keV using a Fourier-imaging technique. The instrument employs a set of tungsten grids in front of 32 pixelized CdTe detectors. These detectors are source of data collected and analyzed in real time by Instrument Data Processing Unit (IDPU). In order to support development and implementation of on-board algorithms a dedicated detector hardware simulator is designed and manufactured as a part of Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) for STIX instrument. Complementary to the hardware simulator is data analysis software which is used to generate input data and to analyze output data. The simulator will allow sending strictly defined data from all detectors’ pixels at the input of the IDPU for further analysis of instrument response. Particular emphasis is given here to the simulator hardware design.

This paper presents a novel, three-stage approach to optimum selection of calibration standard lengths for broadband Vector Network Analyzers (VNA). First, an initial standard D-optimal calibration selection problem is reformulated such as to eliminate redundant locally optimal solutions. Second, good quality basic solution to the calibration selection problem is found, as a result of analytic investigation of the problem properties. Finally, a multistep numeric bi-criterion optimization procedure with variable frequency range is proposed to generate a set of candidate solutions, with different relationship of bandwidth and ripple of the normalized determinant of the Fisher matrix. Example results demonstrate high quality of the solutions found and high efficiency of the proposed optimization-based approach.

The paper attempts to summarize author’s investigation of parallel computation capability of MATLAB environment in solving large ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Two MATLAB versions were tested and two parallelization techniques: one used multiple processors-cores, the other – CUDA compatible Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). A set of parameterized test problems was specially designed to expose different capabilities/limitations of the different variants of the parallel computation environment tested. Presented results illustrate clearly the superiority of the newer MATLAB version and, elapsed time advantage of GPU-parallelized computations for large dimensionality problems over the multiple processor-cores (with speed-up factor strongly dependent on the problem structure).

ALICE designed as a general purpose heavy-ion detector for the CERN Large Hadron Collider successfully recorded pp, p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions at different centre of mass energies. The data analysis shows intriguing properties of the matter produced in Pb–Pb collisions. The results indicate that the created system is larger, hotter and denser compared to the one created in heavy-ion collisions at lower energies and it still behaves like a perfect, strongly interacting liquid.

ALICE is the dedicated heavy-ion experiment at the CERN LHC. The main aim of the experiment is the detailed characterization of the properties of the quark-gluon plasma, the deconfined state of matter produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. The experimental setup was optimised to study high-multiplicity heavy-ion collisions and it is well suited to also study elementary reactions which are an integral part of its program. ALICE is a complex device, composed of several sub-detectors systems of different technologies which measure complementary properties of the emitted particles produced in the collision. In this article, the detector and its most important capabilities are presented.

Accelerator science and technology is one of a key enablers of the developments in the particle physic, photon physics and also applications in medicine and industry. The paper presents a digest of the research results in the domain of accelerator science and technology in Europe, shown during the realization of CARE (Coordinated Accelerator R&D), EuCARD (European Coordination of Accelerator R&D) and during the national annual review meeting of the TIARA – Test Infrastructure of European Research Area in Accelerator R&D. The European projects on accelerator technology started in 2003 with CARE. TIARA is an European Collaboration of Accelerator Technology, which by running research projects, technical, networks and infrastructural has a duty to integrate the research and technical communities and infrastructures in the global scale of Europe. The Collaboration gathers all research centers with large accelerator infrastructures. Other ones, like universities, are affiliated as associate members. TIARA-PP (preparatory phase) is an European infrastructural project run by this Consortium and realized inside EU-FP7. The paper presents a general overview of CARE, EuCARD and especially TIARA activities, with an introduction containing a portrait of contemporary accelerator technology and a digest of its applications in modern society. CARE, EuCARD and TIARA activities integrated the European accelerator community in a very effective way. These projects are expected very much to be continued.

Parallel computing is emerging as an important area of research in computer architectures and software systems. Many algorithms can be greatly accelerated using parallel computing techniques. Specialized parallel computer architectures are used for accelerating speci c tasks. High-Energy Physics Experiments measuring systems often use FPGAs for ne-grained computation. FPGA combines many bene ts of both software and ASIC implementations. Like software, the mapped circuit is exible, and can be recon gured over the lifetime of the system. FPGAs therefore have the potential to achieve far greater performance than software as a result of bypassing the fetch-decode-execute operations of traditional processors, and possibly exploiting a greater level of parallelism. Creating parallel programs implemented in FPGAs is not trivial. This paper presents existing methods and tools for ne-grained computation implemented in FPGA using Behavioral Description and High Level Programming Languages.

The hardware random number generator based on the 74121 monostable multivibrators for applications in cryptographically secure distributed measurement and control systems with asymmetric resources was presented. This device was implemented on the basis of the physical electronic vibration generator in which the circuit is composed of two “loop” 74121 monostable multivibrators, D flip-flop and external clock signal source. The clock signal, witch control D flip-flop was generated by a computer on one of the parallel port pins. There was presented programmed the author's acquisition process of random data from the measuring system to a computer. The presented system was designed, builded and thoroughly tested in the term of cryptographic security in our laboratory, what there is the most important part of this publication. Real cryptographic security was tested based on the author's software and the software environment called RDieHarder. The obtained results was here presented and analyzed in detail with particular reference to the specificity of distributed measurement and control systems with asymmetric resources.

The paper presents results of stochastic analysis of deep metastability behavior of some bistable circuit models using frameworks of Stochastic Ordinary Differential Equations (SODE) and Randomized Ordinary Differential Equations (RODE). Three models of bistable circuits are investigated: the standard linear and two non-linear dynamics models. Random uncertainty is modeled with (additive) Gaussian noise. The paper demonstrates dependence of the stochastic distribution of response time of the bistable circuits on both the dynamics model and stochastic modeling framework used.

The ambitions of accelerator based science, technology and applications far exceed the present accelerator possibilities. Accelerator science and technology is one of a key enablers of the developments in the particle physic, photon physics and also applications in medicine and industry. The paper presents a digest of the research results and visions for the future in the domain of accelerator science and technology in Europe, shown during the final fourth annual meeting of the EuCARD – European Coordination of Accelerator Research and Development. The conference concerns building of the research infrastructure, including advanced photonic and electronic systems for servicing large high energy physics experiments. There are debated a few basic groups of such systems like: measurement – control networks of large geometrical extent, multichannel systems for large amounts of metrological data acquisition, precision photonic networks of reference time, frequency and phase distribution. The main subject is however the vision for the future of particle accelerators and next generation light sources.

Small satellite missions are becoming more popular. To reduce costs of such projects COTS are used to build the spacecraft and amateur bands are utilized to communicate with it. Although using the hamradio frequencies is free of charge and requires only coordination procedures [1], it is good habit to include on satellite some service for radioamateur society in return. The BRITE-PL-2 Heweliusz [2] satellite – the second Polish satellite from BRITE constellation – will have an S-Band beacon transmitting Morse code signals.

This paper focuses on the design and analysis of a MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor. The absolute pressure sensor with a 150μm wide and 3μm thick silicon membrane is modeled and simulated using CoventorWare™ softwareprofiting from a finite element method (FEM) implemented to determine specific electro-mechanical parameter values characterizing MEMS structure being designed. Optimization of piezoresistor parameters has been also performed to determine optimum dimensions of piezoresistors and their location referred to the center on the pressure sensor diaphragm. The output voltage measured on a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge has been obtained and compared for two different resistor materials along with and linearity error analysis.

The concept of autonomous wireless sensor networks involves energy harvesting, as well as effective management of system resources. Public-key cryptography (PKC) offers the advantage of elegant key agreement schemes with which a secret key can be securely established over unsecure channels. In addition to solving the key management problem, the other major application of PKC is digital signatures, with which non-repudiation of messages exchanges can be achieved. The motivation for studying low-power and area efficient modular arithmetic algorithms comes from enabling public-key security for low-power devices that can perform under constrained environment like autonomous wireless sensor networks. This paper presents a cryptographic coprocessor tailored to the autonomous wireless sensor networks constraints. Such hardware circuit is aimed to support the implementation of different public-key cryptosystems based on modular arithmetic in GF(p) and GF(2^m). Key components of the coprocessor are described as GEZEL models and can be easily transformed to VHDL and implemented in hardware.

GLORIA stands for “GLObal Robotic-telescopes Intelligent Array” and it is the first free and open-access network of robotic telescopes on the world. Based on a Web 2.0 environment amateur and professional users can do research in astronomy by observing with robotic telescopes, and/or analyzing data acquired with GLORIA, or from other free access databases. GLORIA project develops free standards, protocols and tools for controlling Robotic Telescopes and related instrumentation, for scheduling observations in the telescope network, and for conducting so-called off-line experiments based on the analysis of astronomical data. This contribution summarizes the implementation and results from the first research level off-line demonstrator experiment implemented in GLORIA, which was base on the data collected with the “Pi of the Sky” telescope in Chile.

The European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) is currently under construction in Germany in Hamburg area. Part of the XFEL is a 2.1 km long superconducting linear accelerator which consists of 100 accelerating cryomodules. Each accelerating cryomodule consist eight superconducting 9-cell Niobium cavities, one superconducting magnet and current leads unit. The mentioned components (current leads, cold magnets and current leads) are tested in dedicated test facilities before installing in the cryomodules. After completing each cryomodule is tested in dedicated test facility before installation in the XFEL tunnel. The testing procedures for tests of the cold magnets, current leads, cavities and cryomodules were prepared with use of DESY expertise from TTF (Tesla Test Facility) Collaboration and FLASH (Freie-Elektronen-Laser in Hamburg). This paper describes the whole testing procedure covering incoming and outgoing inspections. An update of testing procedures including the full automation of testing process and the preliminary tests results are presented as well.

This paper describes the embedded system used to store and transfer large amounts of data in a multichannel data acquisition system for the GEM detector. The stored data is used for diagnostics purposes. System consists of an embedded mini ITX motherboard connected through the PCI Express (PCIe) link to a backplane FPGA. The backplane FPGA is connected through the SerDes/GTP links to (up to) 4 carrier boards. Each carrier board is connected to (up to) 4 FMC modules. System allows for a high speed data transfers between the ITX motherboard and the backplane or carrier modules. Due to high performance/reliability requirements, special care is taken for a proper data error correction/packet retransmission scenarios. There is also need for a proper communications diagnostics and a system addressing abstraction. Due to a distributed nature of described data acquisition system, data stored in DDR memory has to have a specific structure. This structure allows for a proper synchronisation of data between all the carrier boards.

We report the efforts undertaken at NCBJ and some of its collaborating laboratories dedicated to prepare pure and flat lead film coated onto niobium to operate as superconducting photocathodes. Three approaches to lead cathodic arc deposition have been implemented and tested: active plasma flux filtering, passive filtering and unfiltered flux. None of them allowed us to find a proper balance between thickness and surface roughness of a cathode. At that point efforts were taken to establish post-deposition heat treatment of lead film.

Considerations concerned the problem pointed out in the title of the article are presented. Results of laboratory investigations of the vortex shedding phenomenon, with application of various research methods are described. During the tests the specific discoveries of the phenomenon properties were made. In the article the problems and threats related to the numerical simulation of von Karman vortex street phenomenon are discussed. Conditions of successful numerical simulation are specified.

The paper debates synchronization method of multi-wire, serial link of constant latency, by means of pseudo-random numbers generators. The solution was designed for various families of FPGA circuits. There were debated synchronization algorithm and functional structure of parameterized transmitter and receiver modules. The modules were realized in VHDL language in a behavioral form.

Estimating of time delay between two signals in the presence of impulsive noise is an important task since it has many practical application in signal processing, especially in passive and noise radar. In this paper a new robust method based on weighted myriad is presented. This method is dedicated to impulsive noises modeled by α − stable distribution, with low α. Its robustness and accuracy is compared with an l_ρ − norm minimization method. The advantage of the proposed method for very heavy tailed noise, with α ≤ 1 was experimentally confirmed.

This article presents a fast charge histogramming method for the position sensitive X-ray GEM detector. The energy resolved measurements are carried out simultaneously for 256 channels of the GEM detector. The whole process of histogramming is performed in 21 FPGA chips (Spartan-6 series from Xilinx) . The results of the histogramming process are stored in an external DDR3 memory. The structure of an electronic measuring equipment and a firmware functionality implemented in the FPGAs is described. Examples of test measurements are presented.

The goal of the paper is a discussion of benefits and fields of application of the optimal analog feedback communication systems (AFCS) and comparison of the approaches to their and digital communication systems (DCS) optimization. There is shown a deep difference between the mathematical tools used for the analysis and optimization of AFCS and DCS which permits to consider the approaches to their optimization as independent directions of research in information theory. The main reason of differences is qualitative difference of the sources of signals transmitted by the systems. Both analog and digital systems solve similar task but in completely different way. The results of analysis show that digital CS are irreplaceable for digital signals transmission. However, in all cases, where optimal AFCS can be applied, they transmit analog signals with the greater power-bandwidth efficiency than DCS designed for the same applications. The paper is based on previous author’s research and researches in AFCS theory carried out in the 1950-1960s.

One of the key issues in manufacturing of sub-ranging analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is the necessity to provide high precision of internal amplifiers gain values. The paper proposes two methods of reduction of the influence of amplifiers gain setting errors on the performance of adaptive cyclic ADCs (ACADCs), with and without their postproduction adjustment. The use of the proposed methods allows to significantly weaken the requirements to accuracy of amplifiers and to reduce complexity and sizes of ACADCs and their manufacturing costs. Effectiveness of the developed methods was examined in simulation experiments.

The aim of this work was to perform a set of RFID antennas on flexible plastic substrates designed for range of HF and UHF band. The samples was fabricated using inkjet printing technology and conductive material base on silver nanopartilces ink. Fabricated antennas have been characterized, and the results were compared with the parameters of antennas made with usage of classical PCB technology on FR4 laminate with copper metallization. The paper presents studies on the impact of elastic substrates and conductive materials on antennas electrical parameters, as well as the communication range of the resulting RFID tags. During the experiment two patterns of HF and three patterns of UHF antennas was examined and the antennas was realized on different types of substrates, such as PET, Kapton^® and FR4.

This article describes the design, construction and parameters of diagnostic medical system for air humidity measurement which can be proceeded in various places of human nasal cavities and also human throat. The system can measure dynamic changes of dew point temperature (absolute value of humidity) of inspired and expired air in different places of human upper airways. During regular respiration process dew point temperature is measured in nasal cavity, middle part cavity and nasopharynx. The presented system is the next step in construction of measurement system based on specialized microsystem for laryngological application. The microsystem fabricated on silicon substrate includes microheater, microthermoresistor and interdigitated electrodes. In comparison with previously built measurement system with current version some system functionalities and measurement parameters were improved. Additionally 3D printing technology was applied for rapid prototyping a measurement system housing. Presented measurement system is set of microprocessor module with signal conditioning circuits; heated measurement head based on specialized microsystem with disposable heated pipe for air sucking from various places of upper airways; power supplier and computer application for monitoring all system parameters and presenting on-line and off-line measured results. Some example results of constructed measurement system and dew point temperature measurements during respiration cycle are presented.

ATLAS is one of the four experiments at the LHC pp collider at CERN, Geneva. The experiment, designed to investigate wide range of physics processes, requires precise measurement of accelerator’s luminosity to predict rates of processes with small cross sections (e.g. production of Higgs boson). The ALFA detectors (Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS), located on av. 240 m on both sides from the ATLAS Interaction Point (IP), provide independent luminosity measurement by counting protons elastically scattered at small angles. The measurement can be performed only at low luminosity and special LHC optics (high β*) which allow close approaching the LHC beams by the ALFA detectors. Duration of such settings is limited and requires that the calibration of detectors have to run in parallel with the measurement. Distant location from the ATLAS IP creates challenges with integration and synchronization of ALFA local timing and triggering with the ATLAS Trigger and Data Acquisition System (TDAQ). This paper briefly reviews construction of the ALFA detectors, organization of the front-end electronics and concentrates on hardware integration with the ATLAS trigger system

How it is possible that unanimated matter can spontaneously create an exquisite beauty? How the simple dust or group of billion atoms can spontaneously create living human beings? These questions for hundred years were a domain of different religions or philosophy. Now, for the first time in a history – the science starts to answer such questions.

The ink-jet printing technology becomes especially promising for wide volume of production of cheap sensors, consumable electronics and other dedicated applications of everyday life like smart packaging, smart textiles, smart labels, etc. To achieve this goal new materials compatible with ink-jet printing should be developed. Currently on the market there is a growing number of inks with different properties, but their use requires many tests related to its printability and their interaction with other materials. The paper presents technological problems that are encountered by people associated with fabrication of various devices with using of inkjet printing techniques. Results presented in the paper show the influence of surface preparation techniques on the quality of achieved shapes, the impact of other materials already deposited and the impact of another external factors. During carried out experiments the printer Dimatix DMP 2831 and several inks base on nanosilver or dielectric UV curable was used.

This paper describes the embedded controller used for the multichannel readout system for the GEM detector. The controller is based on the embedded Mini ITX mainboard, running the GNU/Linux operating system. The controller offers two interfaces to communicate with the FPGA based readout system. FPGA configuration and diagnostics is controlled via low speed USB based interface, while high-speed setup of the readout parameters and reception of the measured data is handled by the PCI Express (PCIe) interface. Hardware access is synchronized by the dedicated server written in C. Multiple clients may connect to this server via TCP/IP network, and different priority is assigned to individual clients. Specialized protocols have been implemented both for low level access on register level and for high level access with transfer of structured data with "msgpack" protocol. High level functionalities have been split between multiple TCP/IP servers for parallel operation. Status of the system may be checked, and basic maintenance may be performed via web interface, while the expert access is possible via SSH server. System was designed with reliability and flexibility in mind.

The paper presents the results of investigations on the new approach to optimization of sub-ranging analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) working with the assumed level of their components imperfections caused by technological dispersions, errors, noises or disturbances. The suggested approach is based on application of digital estimation algorithms that take into consideration the anticipated parameters of the components imperfections. Implementation of the approach is possible in the sub-ranging ADCs whose digital parts permit to calculate output codes of ADCs by means of simple mathematical operation. The performance of ADCs operating according to this approach is analyzed for the imperfections of different ADC components in simulation experiments. The results obtained for the proposed ADC are compared with the results obtained for the conventional pipeline ADC employing the identical analog components.

The aim of this paper is to design and implement software application converting text of law acts documents from Microsoft Word file format to structural form of law acts in XML format. The structure of XML documents is consistent with the legislative rules and standards which are defined in XML Schema provided by Polish parliamentary units. This approach encompasses the following steps: analysis of software requirements, presentation of problem solving concept, design and implementation directions of the final application. Certain experiments and software testing were performed in order to verify the correctness of the solution. A brief summary and some comments were demonstrated in the final conclusion.

Our aim is to present the algebra of concepts in two formal languages. First, after introducing a primary relation between concepts, which is subsumption, we shall specify in a language that uses quantifiers, the Boolean algebra of general concepts. Next, we shall note down the same algebra in simplified non-quantifying language, in order to use it as basis for two specific implementations, i.e. to create the Boolean algebras of deontic concepts and axiological concepts.

This article summarises the results of implementation of a Graph Neural Network classi er. The Graph Neural Network model is a connectionist model, capable of processing various types of structured data, including non- positional and cyclic graphs. In order to operate correctly, the GNN model must implement a transition function being a contraction map, which is assured by imposing a penalty on model weights. This article presents research results concerning the impact of the penalty parameter on the model training process and the practical decisions that were made during the GNN implementation process.

The paper presents a method of the training set selection in order to improve the generalization of neural networks. The data search is based on the estimation of their influence on the network expressed by the influential statistics. This active learning method is presented by using the didactic example. It can be concluded that the designed neural network for regression achieved high generalization score avoiding overfitting while trained on the minimal training set.

With the help of silicon industry microfluidic processors were invented utilizing nano membrane valves, pumps and microreactors. These so called lab-on-a-chips combined together with molecular computing create molecular-systems-ona- chips. This work presents a new approach to implementation of molecular inference systems. It requires the unique representation of signals by DNA molecules. The main part of this work includes the concept of logic gates based on typical genetic engineering reactions. The presented method allows for constructing logic gates with many inputs and for executing them at the same quantity of elementary operations, regardless of a number of input signals. Every microreactor of the lab-on-a-chip performs one unique operation on input molecules and can be connected by dataflow output-input connections to other ones.