Hybrid ventilation by revolving doors

The transfers of air driven by a revolving door connecting two rooms of initially different temperatures are investigated. The results of small-scale laboratory modelling show that a critical revolution rate exists for which transfers are maximal for a given combination of door geometry, revolution rate and temperature contrast. This critical revolution rate divides two possible transfer regimes for revolving doors. Potential implications of our findings to revolving door operation, to heat losses across the doorway and to ventilation driven by the door are discussed.

Climate resilience of schools: a case study

Social and political concerns are frequently reflected in the design of school buildings, often in turn leading to the development of technical innovations. One example is a recurrent concern about the physical health of the nation, which has at several points over the last century prompted new design approaches to natural light and ventilation. The most critical concern of the current era is the global, rather than the indoor, environment. The resultant political focus on mitigating climate change has resulted in new regulations, and in turn considerable technical changes in building design and construction. The vanguard of this movement has again been in school buildings, set the highest targets for reducing operational carbon by the previous Government. The current austerity measures have moved the focus to the refurbishment and retrofit of existing buildings, in order to bring them up to the exacting new standards. Meanwhile there is little doubt that climate change is happening already, and that the impacts will be considerable. Climate scientists have increasing confidence in their predictions for the future; if today’s buildings are to be resilient to these changes, building designers will need to understand and design for the predicted climates in order to continue to provide comfortable and healthy spaces through the lifetimes of the buildings. This paper describes the decision processes, and the planned design measures, for adapting an existing school for future climates. The project is at St Faith’s School in Cambridge, and focuses on three separate buildings: a large Victorian block built as a substantial domestic dwelling in 1885, a smaller single storey 1970s block with a new extension, and an as-yet unbuilt single storey block designed to passivhaus principles and using environmentally friendly materials. The implications of climate change have been considered for the three particular issues of comfort, construction, and water, as set out in the report on Design for Future Climate: opportunities for adaptation in the built environment (Gething, 2010). The adaptation designs aim to ensure each of the three very different buildings remains fit for purpose throughout the 21st century, continuing to provide a healthy environment for the children. A forth issue, the reduction of carbon and the mitigation of other negative environmental impacts of the construction work, is also a fundamental aim for the school and the project team. Detailed modelling of both the operational and embodied energy and carbon of the design options is therefore being carried out, in order that the whole life carbon costs of the adaptation design options may be minimised. The project has been funded by the Technology Strategy Board as part of the Design for Future Climates programme; the interdisciplinary team includes the designers working on the current school building projects and the school bursar, supported by researchers from the University of Cambridge Centre for Sustainable Development. It is hoped that lessons from the design process, as well as the solutions themselves, will be transferable to other buildings in similar climatic regions.

Demonstration of Radio-over-Fibre Transmission of Broadband MIMO over Multimode Fibre using Mode Division Multiplexing

Abstract (40-Word Limit): A novel method for sending MIMO wireless signals to remote antenna units over a single multimode fibre is proposed. MIMO streams are sent via different fibre modes using mode division multiplexing. Combined channel measurements of 2km MMF and a typical indoor radio environment show in principle a 2x2 MIMO link at carrier frequencies up to 6GHz.

Stack ventilation in multi-storey atrium buildings: A dimensionless design approach

Using a simplified mathematical model, a preliminary design strategy for steady stack ventilation in multi-storey atrium buildings is developed. By non-dimensionalising the governing equations of flow, two key dimensionless parameters are identified - a ventilation performance indicator, λ, and atrium enhancement parameter, E - which quantify the performance of the ventilation system and the effectiveness of the atrium in assisting flows. Analytical expressions are determined to inform the vent sizes needed to provide the desired balance between indoor air temperature, ventilation flow rate and heat inputs for any distribution of occupants within the building, and also to ensure unidirectional flow. Dimensionless charts for determining the required combination of design variables are presented with a view to informing first-order design guidance for naturally ventilated buildings. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Demonstration of radio-over-fibre transmission of broadband MIMO over multimode fibre using mode division multiplexing

A novel method for sending MIMO wireless signals to remote antenna units over a single multimode fibre is proposed. MIMO streams are sent via different fibre modes using mode division multiplexing. Combined channel measurements of 2km MMF and a typical indoor radio environment show in principle a 2×2 MIMO link at carrier frequencies up to 6GHz. © 2012 Optical Society of America.

Experimental investigation of antenna selection and transmit beamforming for capacity enhancement in 3×3 MIMO-enabled radio-over-fiber DAS

This paper examines the impact of two simple precoding schemes on the capacity of 3 × 3 MIMO-enabled radio-over-fiber (RoF) distributed antenna systems (DAS) with excess transmit antennas. Specifically, phase-shift-only transmit beamforming and antenna selection are compared. It is found that for two typical indoor propagation scenarios, both strategies offer double the capacity gain that non-precoding MIMO DAS offers over traditional MIMO collocated antenna systems (CAS), with capacity improvements of 3.2-4.2 bit/s/Hz. Further, antenna selection shows similar performance to phase-only beamforming, differing by <0.5% and offering median capacities of 94 bit/s/Hz and 82 bit/s/Hz in the two propagation scenarios respectively. Because optical DASs enable precise, centralized control of remote antennas, they are well suited for implementing these beamforming schemes. Antenna selection, in particular, is a simple and effective means of increasing MIMO DAS capacity. © 2013 IEEE.

Experimental evaluation of layout designs for 3 × 3 MIMO-enabled radio-over-fiber distributed antenna systems

This paper experimentally demonstrates that, for two representative indoor distributed antenna system (DAS) scenarios, existing radio-over-fiber (RoF) DAS installations can enhance the capacity advantages of broadband 3 × 3 multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radio services without requiring additional fibers or multiplexing schemes. This is true for both single-and multiple-user cases with a single base station and multiple base stations. First, a theoretical example is used to illustrate that there is a negligible improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when using a MIMO DAS with all N spatial streams replicated at N RAUs, compared with a MIMO DAS with only one of the N streams replicated at each RAU for N ≤ 4. It is then experimentally confirmed that a 3 × 3 MIMO DAS offers improved capacity and throughput compared with a 3 × 3 MIMO collocated antenna system (CAS) for the single-user case in two typical indoor DAS scenarios, i.e., one with significant line-of-sight (LOS) propagation and the other with entirely non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation. The improvement in capacity is 3.2% and 4.1%, respectively. Then, experimental channel measurements confirm that there is a negligible capacity increase in the 3 × 3 configuration with three spatial streams per antenna unit over the 3 × 3 configuration with a single spatial stream per antenna unit. The former layout is observed to provide an increase of ∼1% in the median channel capacity in both the single-and multiple-user scenarios. With 20 users and three base stations, a MIMO DAS using the latter layout offers median aggregate capacities of 259 and 233 bit/s/Hz for the LOS and NLOS scenarios, respectively. It is concluded that DAS installations can further enhance the capacity offered to multiple users by multiple 3 × 3 MIMO-enabled base stations. Further, designing future DAS systems to support broadband 3 × 3 MIMO systems may not require significant upgrades to existing installations for small numbers of spatial streams. © 2013 IEEE.

Biologically inspired visual odometer for navigation of a flying robot

Experimental research in biology has uncovered a number of different ways in which flying insects use cues derived from optical flow for navigational purposes, such as safe landing, obstacle avoidance and dead reckoning. In this study, we use a synthetic methodology to gain additional insights into the navigation behavior of bees. Specifically, we focus on the mechanisms of course stabilization behavior and visually mediated odometer by using a biological model of motion detector for the purpose of long-range goal-directed navigation in 3D environment. The performance tests of the proposed navigation method are conducted by using a blimp-type flying robot platform in uncontrolled indoor environments. The result shows that the proposed mechanism can be used for goal-directed navigation. Further analysis is also conducted in order to enhance the navigation performance of autonomous aerial vehicles. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.