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D. Melo

Publications and source records attributed to D. Melo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Study of Symbol Error Probability Constrained Precoding with Zero-Crossing Modulation for Wireless Systems with 1-Bit ADCs

The next generation of wireless communications systems will employ new frequency bands such as those in the upper midband, millimeter-wave and sub-terahertz frequency bands. The high energy consumption of analog-to-digital converters resulting from their high resolution constituted a major limitation for future wireless communications systems, which will require low energy consumption and low-complexity devices at the transmitter and at the receiver. In this regard, we present a novel precoding method based on quality of service constraints for a multiuser multiple-input multiple-output downlink system with 1-bit quantization and oversampling. For this scenario, we consider the time-instance zero-crossing modulation, which conveys the information into the zero-crossings of the signals. Unlike prior works the proposed constraint is given in terms of the symbol error probability related to the minimum distance to the decision threshold and is included in the proposed optimization problem that is used in the design of the precoder. Simulation results illustrate the performance of the proposed precoding method evaluated under different parameters and scenarios.

cs.IT

Study of Constrained Precoding with Zero-Crossing Modulation for Channels with 1-Bit Quantization and Oversampling

Future wireless communications systems are expected to operate at bands above 100GHz. The high energy consumption of analog-to-digital converters, due to their high resolution represents a bottleneck for future wireless communications systems which require low-energy consumption and low-complexity devices at the receiver. In this work, we derive a novel precoding method based on quality of service constraints for a multiuser multiple-input multiple-output downlink system with 1-bit quantization and oversampling. For this scenario, the time-instance zero-crossing modulation which conveys the information into the zero-crossings is considered. Unlike prior studies, the constraint is given regarding the symbol error probability related to the minimum distance to the decision threshold. Numerical results illustrate the performance of the proposed precoding method evaluated under different parameters

cs.IT

Measuring the CMB primordial B-modes with Bolometric Interferometry

The Q&U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is the first bolometric interferometer designed to measure the primordial B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Bolometric interferometry is a novel technique that combines the sensitivity of bolometric detectors with the control of systematic effects that is typical of interferometry, both key features in the quest for the faint signal of the primordial B-modes. A unique feature is the so-called "spectral imaging", i.e., the ability to recover the sky signal in several sub-bands within the physical band during data analysis. This feature provides an in-band spectral resolution of \Delta{\nu}/{\nu} \sim 0.04 that is unattainable by a traditional imager. This is a key tool for controlling the Galactic foregrounds contamination. In this paper, we describe the principles of bolometric interferometry, the current status of the QUBIC experiment and future prospects.

astro-ph.CO

Status of QUBIC, the Q&U Bolometer for Cosmology

The Q&U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is a novel kind of polarimeter optimized for the measurement of the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Back-ground (CMB), which is one of the major challenges of observational cosmology. The signal is expected to be of the order of a few tens of nK, prone to instrumental systematic effects and polluted by various astrophysical foregrounds which can only be controlled through multichroic observations. QUBIC is designed to address these observational issues with a novel approach that combines the advantages of interferometry in terms of control of instrumental systematics with those of bolometric detectors in terms of wide-band, background-limited sensitivity.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC IV: Performance of TES Bolometers and Readout Electronics

A prototype version of the Q & U bolometric interferometer for cosmology (QUBIC) underwent a campaign of testing in the laboratory at Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology laboratory in Paris (APC). The detection chain is currently made of 256 NbSi transition edge sensors (TES) cooled to 320 mK. The readout system is a 128:1 time domain multiplexing scheme based on 128 SQUIDs cooled at 1 K that are controlled and amplified by an SiGe application specific integrated circuit at 40 K. We report the performance of this readout chain and the characterization of the TES. The readout system has been functionally tested and characterized in the lab and in QUBIC. The low noise amplifier demonstrated a white noise level of 0.3 nV.Hz^-0.5. Characterizations of the QUBIC detectors and readout electronics includes the measurement of I-V curves, time constant and the noise equivalent power. The QUBIC TES bolometer array has approximately 80% detectors within operational parameters. It demonstrated a thermal decoupling compatible with a phonon noise of about 5.10^-17 W.Hz^-0.5 at 410 mK critical temperature. While still limited by microphonics from the pulse tubes and noise aliasing from readout system, the instrument noise equivalent power is about 2.10^-16 W.Hz^-0.5, enough for the demonstration of bolometric interferometry.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC I: Overview and ScienceProgram

The Q $\&$ U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is a novel kind of polarimeter optimized for the measurement of the B-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which is one of the major challenges of observational cosmology. The signal is expected to be of the order of a few tens of nK, prone to instrumental systematic effects and polluted by various astrophysical foregrounds which can only be controlled through multichroic observations. QUBIC is designed to address these observational issues with a novel approach that combines the advantages of interferometry in terms of control of instrumental systematic effects with those of bolometric detectors in terms of wide-band, background-limited sensitivity. The QUBIC synthesized beam has a frequency-dependent shape that results in the ability to produce maps of the CMB polarization in multiple sub-bands within the two physical bands of the instrument (150 and 220 GHz). These features make QUBIC complementary to other instruments and makes it particularly well suited to characterize and remove Galactic foreground contamination. In this article, first of a series of eight, we give an overview of the QUBIC instrument design, the main results of the calibration campaign, and present the scientific program of QUBIC including not only the measurement of primordial B-modes, but also the measurement of Galactic foregrounds. We give forecasts for typical observations and measurements: with three years of integration on the sky and assuming perfect foreground removal as well as stable atmospheric conditions from our site in Argentina, our simulations show that we can achieve a statistical sensitivity to the effective tensor-to-scalar ratio (including primordial and foreground B-modes) $\sigma(r)=0.015$.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC II: Spectro-Polarimetry with Bolometric Interferometry

Bolometric interferometry is a novel technique that has the ability to perform spectral imaging. A bolometric interferometer observes the sky in a wide frequency band and can reconstruct sky maps in several sub-bands within the physical band in post-processing of the data. This provides a powerful spectral method to discriminate between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and astrophysical foregrounds. In this paper, the methodology is illustrated with examples based on the Q \& U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) which is a ground-based instrument designed to measure the B-mode polarization of the sky at millimeter wavelengths. We consider the specific cases of point source reconstruction and Galactic dust mapping and we characterize the point spread function as a function of frequency. We study the noise properties of spectral imaging, especially the correlations between sub-bands, using end-to-end simulations together with a fast noise simulator. We conclude showing that spectral imaging performance are nearly optimal up to five sub-bands in the case of QUBIC.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC VII: The feedhorn-switch system of the technological demonstrator

We present the design, manufacturing and performance of the horn-switch system developed for the technological demonstrator of QUBIC (the $Q$\&$U$ Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology). This system is constituted of 64 back-to-back dual-band (150\,GHz and 220\,GHz) corrugated feed-horns interspersed with mechanical switches used to select desired baselines during the instrument self-calibration. We manufactured the horns in aluminum platelets milled by photo-chemical etching and mechanically tightened with screws. The switches are based on steel blades that open and close the wave-guide between the back-to-back horns and are operated by miniaturized electromagnets. We also show the current development status of the feedhorn-switch system for the QUBIC full instrument, based on an array of 400 horn-switch assemblies.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC V: Cryogenic system design and performance

Current experiments aimed at measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) use cryogenic detector arrays and cold optical systems to boost the mapping speed of the sky survey. For these reasons, large volume cryogenic systems, with large optical windows, working continuously for years, are needed. Here we report on the cryogenic system of the QUBIC (Q and U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology) experiment: we describe its design, fabrication, experimental optimization and validation in the Technological Demonstrator configuration. The QUBIC cryogenic system is based on a large volume cryostat, using two pulse-tube refrigerators to cool at ~3K a large (~1 m^3) volume, heavy (~165kg) instrument, including the cryogenic polarization modulator, the corrugated feedhorns array, and the lower temperature stages; a 4He evaporator cooling at ~1K the interferometer beam combiner; a 3He evaporator cooling at ~0.3K the focal-plane detector arrays. The cryogenic system has been tested and validated for more than 6 months of continuous operation. The detector arrays have reached a stable operating temperature of 0.33K, while the polarization modulator has been operated from a ~10K base temperature. The system has been tilted to cover the boresight elevation range 20 deg -90 deg without significant temperature variations. The instrument is now ready for deployment to the high Argentinean Andes.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC VI: cryogenic half wave plate rotator, design and performances

Inflation Gravity Waves B-Modes polarization detection is the ultimate goal of modern large angular scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments around the world. A big effort is undergoing with the deployment of many ground-based, balloon-borne and satellite experiments using different methods to separate this faint polarized component from the incoming radiation. One of the largely used technique is the Stokes Polarimetry that uses a rotating half-wave plate (HWP) and a linear polarizer to separate and modulate the polarization components with low residual cross-polarization. This paper describes the QUBIC Stokes Polarimeter highlighting its design features and its performances. A common systematic with these devices is the generation of large spurious signals synchronous with the rotation and proportional to the emissivity of the optical elements. A key feature of the QUBIC Stokes Polarimeter is to operate at cryogenic temperature in order to minimize this unwanted component. Moving efficiently this large optical element at low temperature constitutes a big engineering challenge in order to reduce friction power dissipation. Big attention has been given during the designing phase to minimize the differential thermal contractions between parts. The rotation is driven by a stepper motor placed outside the cryostat to avoid thermal load dissipation at cryogenic temperature. The tests and the results presented in this work show that the QUBIC polarimeter can easily achieve a precision below 0.1{\deg} in positioning simply using the stepper motor precision and the optical absolute encoder. The rotation induces only few mK of extra power load on the second cryogenic stage (~ 8 K).

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC III: Laboratory Characterization

A prototype version of the Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) underwent a campaign of testing in the laboratory at Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology in Paris. We report the results of this Technological Demonstrator which successfully shows the feasibility of the principle of Bolometric Interferometry. Characterization of QUBIC includes the measurement of the synthesized beam, the measurement of interference fringes, and the measurement of polarization performance. A modulated and frequency tunable millimetre-wave source in the telescope far-field is used to simulate a point source. The QUBIC pointing is scanned across the point source to produce beam maps. Polarization modulation is measured using a rotating Half Wave Plate. The measured beam matches well to the theoretical simulations and gives QUBIC the ability to do spectro imaging. The polarization performance is excellent with less than 0.5\% cross-polarization rejection. QUBIC is ready for deployment on the high altitude site at Alto Chorillo, Argentina to begin scientific operations.

astro-ph.IM

QUBIC VIII: Optical design and performance

The Q and U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC) is a ground-based experiment that aims to detect B-mode polarisation anisotropies in the CMB at angular scales around the l=100 recombination peak. Systematic errors make ground-based observations of B modes at millimetre wavelengths very challenging and QUBIC mitigates these problems in a somewhat complementary way to other existing or planned experiments using the novel technique of bolometric interferometry. This technique takes advantage of the sensitivity of an imager and the systematic error control of an interferometer. A cold reflective optical combiner superimposes there-emitted beams from 400 aperture feedhorns on two focal planes. A shielding system composedof a fixed groundshield, and a forebaffle that moves with the instrument, limits the impact of local contaminants. The modelling, design, manufacturing and preliminary measurements of the optical components are described in this paper.

astro-ph.IM

Reconstruction of air shower muon densities using segmented counters with time resolution

Despite the significant experimental effort made in the last decades, the origin of the ultra-high energy cosmic rays is still largely unknown. Key astrophysical information to identify where these energetic particles come from is provided by their chemical composition. It is well known that a very sensitive tracer of the primary particle type is the muon content of the showers generated by the interaction of the cosmic rays with air molecules. We introduce a likelihood function to reconstruct particle densities using segmented detectors with time resolution. As an example of this general method, we fit the muon distribution at ground level using an array of counters like AMIGA, one of the Pierre Auger Observatory detectors. For this particular case we compare the reconstruction performance against a previous method. With the new technique, more events can be reconstructed than before. In addition the statistical uncertainty of the measured number of muons is reduced, allowing for a better discrimination of the cosmic ray primary mass.

astro-ph.IM

A method to reconstruct the muon lateral distribution with an array of segmented counters with time resolution

Despite the significant experimental effort made in the last decades, the origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays is still unknown. The chemical composition of these energetic particles carries key astrophysical information to identify where they come from. It is well known that the muon content of the showers generated by the interaction of the cosmic rays with air molecules, is very sensitive to the primary particle type. Therefore, the measurement of the number of muons at ground level is an essential tool to infer the cosmic ray mass composition. We introduce a novel method to reconstruct the lateral distribution of muons with an array of counters buried underground like AMIGA, one of the Pierre Auger Observatory detector systems. The reconstruction builds on a previous method we recently presented by considering the detector time resolution. With the new method more events can be reconstructed than with the previous one. In addition the statistical uncertainty of the measured number of muons is reduced, allowing for a better primary mass discrimination.

astro-ph.IM

A composition dependent energy scale and the determination of the cosmic ray primary mass in the ankle region

At present there are still several open questions about the origin of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. However, great progress in this area has been made in recent years due to the data collected by the present generation of ground based detectors like the Pierre Auger Observatory and Telescope Array. In particular, it is believed that the study of the composition of the cosmic rays as a function of energy can play a fundamental role for the understanding of the origin of the cosmic rays. The observatories belonging to this generation are composed of arrays of surface detectors and fluorescence telescopes. The duty cycle of the fluorescence telescopes is ~10 % in contrast with the ~100 % of the surface detectors. Therefore, the energy calibration of the events observed by the surface detectors is performed by using a calibration curve obtained from a set of high quality events observed in coincidence by both types of detectors. The advantage of this method is that the reconstructed energy of the events observed by the surface detectors becomes almost independent of simulations of the showers because just a small part of the reconstructed energy, obtained from the fluorescence telescopes, comes from simulations. However, the calibration curve obtained in this way depends on the composition of the cosmic rays, which can introduce biases in composition analyses when parameters with a strong dependence on primary energy are considered. In this work we develop an analytical method to study these effects. We consider AMIGA, the low energy extension of the Pierre Auger Observatory corresponding to the surface detectors, to illustrate the use of the method.

astro-ph.HE

Study of the chemical composition of high energy cosmic rays using the muon LDF of EAS between $10^{17.25}$ eV and $10^{17.75}$ eV

We explore the feasibility of estimating primary cosmic ray composition at high energies from the study of two parameters of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) at ground and underground level with Monte Carlo simulations using the new EPOS and QGSJETII hadronic models tuned with LHC data. Namely, the slope and density at a given distance of the muon lateral distribution function are analysed in this work. The power to discriminate primary masses is quantified in terms of merit factor for each parameter. The analysis considers three different primary particles (proton, iron and gamma), four different zenith angles (0$^{\circ}$, 15$^{\circ}$, 30$^{\circ}$ and 45$^{\circ}$) and primary energies of $10^{17.25}$ eV, $10^{17.50}$ eV and $10^{17.75}$ eV.

astro-ph.HE

Digital Electronics for the Pierre Auger Observatory AMIGA Muon Counters

The "Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array" (AMIGA) project provides direct muon counting capacity to the Pierre Auger Observatory and extends its energy detection range down to 0.3 EeV. It currently consists of 61 detector pairs (a Cherenkov surface detector and a buried muon counter) distributed over a 23.5 km2 area on a 750 m triangular grid. Each counter relies on segmented scintillator modules storing a logical train of '0's and '1's on each scintillator segment at a given time slot. Muon counter data is sampled and stored at 320 MHz allowing both the detection of single photoelectrons and the implementation of an offline trigger designed to mitigate multi-pixel PMT crosstalk and dark rate undesired effects. Acquisition is carried out by the digital electronics built around a low power Cyclone III FPGA. This paper presents the digital electronics design, internal and external synchronization schemes, hardware tests, and first results from the Observatory.

astro-ph.IM

The lateral shower age parameter as an estimator of chemical composition

We explore the feasibility of estimating primary cosmic ray composition at ultra high energies from the study of lateral age parameter of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) at ground level. Using different types of lateral distribution functions, we fit the particle density of simulated EAS to find the lateral age parameter. We discuss the chemical composition calculating the merit factor for each parameter distribution. The analysis considers three different primary particles (proton, iron and gamma), four different zenith angles (0°, 15°, 30° and 45°) and three primary energies (10^{17.25} eV, 10^{17.50} eV and 10^{17.75} eV).

astro-ph.HE