A Divergent Path of Industrial Upgrading: Emergence and Evolution of the Mobile Handset Industry in China

Starting from almost null in the late 1990s, China's mobile phone handset industry has grown to account for more than 40 percent of the current world production. While export growth has been overwhelmingly led by multi-national corporations (MNCs), increasingly fierce competition in the domestic market ignited by the advent of local handset makers has induced unique industrial evolution: (1) outgrowth of independent design houses specialized in handset development and (2) emergence of IC fabless ventures that design core ICs for handsets. In the background of this evolutionary industrial growth there are factors such as, the scale and increasing diversity of China's domestic market that advantages local firms vis-a-vis MNCs; modularization of handset and semiconductor technologies; policy interventions that supports local startups. The emergence and evolution of China's handset industry is likely to have international implications as the growth of the global demand for low-cost and multi-function mobile phone handsets is expected to accelerate. Thus, our case suggests that the conventional view of latecomer industrialization and upgrading that emphasizes the key role of international production networks organized by MNCs needs to be modified in order to accommodate China's rise into perspective.

Auto component supply chain: a path to global India

Supply chain management works to bring the supplier, the distributor, and the customer into one cohesive process. The Supply Chain Council defined supply chain as ‘Supply Chain: The flow and transformation of raw materials into products from suppliers through production and distribution facilities to the ultimate consumer., and then Sunil Chopra and Meindl, (2001) have define Supply chain management as ‘Supply Chain Management involves the flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total profitability.’ After 1950, supply chain management got a boost with the production and manufacturing sector getting highest attention. The inventory became the responsibility of the marketing, accounting and production areas. Order processing was part of accounting and sales. Supply chain management became one of the most powerful engines of business transformation. It is the one area where operational efficiency can be gained. It reduces organizations costs and enhances customer service. With the liberalization of world trade, globalization, and emergence of the new markets, many organizations have customers and competitions throughout the world, either directly or indirectly. Business communities are aware that global competitiveness is the key to the success of a business. Competitiveness is ability to produce, distribute and provide products and services for the open market in competition with others. The supply chain, a critical link between supplier, producer and customer is emerged now as an essential business process and a strategic lever, potential value contributor a differentiator for the success of any business. Supply chain management is the management of all internal and external processes or functions to satisfy a customer’s order (from raw materials through conversion and manufacture through logistics delivery.). Goods-either in raw form or processed, whole sale or retailed distribution, business or technology services, in everyday life- in the business or household- directly or indirectly supply chain is ubiquitously associated in expanding socio-economic development. Supply chain growth competitive performance and supporting strong growth impulse at micro as well as micro economic levels. Keeping the India vision at the core of the objective, the role of supply chain is to take up social economic challenges, improve competitive advantages, develop strategies, built capabilities, enhance value propositions, adapt right technology, collaborate with stakeholders and deliver environmentally sustainable outcomes with minimum resources.

Aerial Remote Sensing in Agriculture: A Practical Approach to Area Coverage and Path Planning for Fleets of Mini Aerial Robots

In this paper, a system that allows applying precision agriculture techniques is described. The application is based on the deployment of a team of unmanned aerial vehicles that are able to take georeferenced pictures in order to create a full map by applying mosaicking procedures for postprocessing. The main contribution of this work is practical experimentation with an integrated tool. Contributions in different fields are also reported. Among them is a new one-phase automatic task partitioning manager, which is based on negotiation among the aerial vehicles, considering their state and capabilities. Once the individual tasks are assigned, an optimal path planning algorithm is in charge of determining the best path for each vehicle to follow. Also, a robust flight control based on the use of a control law that improves the maneuverability of the quadrotors has been designed. A set of field tests was performed in order to analyze all the capabilities of the system, from task negotiations to final performance. These experiments also allowed testing control robustness under different weather conditions.

OSIA: Out-of-order scheduling for in-order arriving in concurrent multi-path transfer.

One major problem of concurrent multi-path transfer (CMT) scheme in multi-homed mobile networks is that the utilization of different paths with diverse delays may cause packet reordering among packets of the same ?ow. In the case of TCP-like, the reordering exacerbates the problem by bringing more timeouts and unnecessary retransmissions, which eventually degrades the throughput of connections considerably. To address this issue, we ?rst propose an Out-of-order Scheduling for In-order Arriving (OSIA), which exploits the sending time discrepancy to preserve the in-order packet arrival. Then, we formulate the optimal traf?c scheduling as a constrained optimization problem and derive its closedform solution by our proposed progressive water-?lling solution. We also present an implementation to enforce the optimal scheduling scheme using cascaded leaky buckets with multiple faucets, which provides simple guidelines on maximizing the utilization of aggregate bandwidth while decreasing the probability of triggering 3 dupACKs. Compared with previous work, the proposed scheme has lower computation complexity and can also provide the possibility for dynamic network adaptability and ?ner-grain load balancing. Simulation results show that our scheme signi?cantly alleviates reordering and enhances transmission performance.

Modelling of corrosion-induced cover cracking in reinforced concrete by an embedded cohesive crack finite element

Corrosion of a reinforcement bar leads to expansive pressure on the surrounding concrete that provokes internal cracking and, eventually, spalling and delamination. Here, an embedded cohesive crack 2D finite element is applied for simulating the cracking process. In addition, four simplified analytical models are introduced for comparative purposes. Under some assumptions about rust properties, corrosion rate, and particularly, the accommodation of oxide products within the open cracks generated in the process, the proposed FE model is able to estimate time to surface cracking quite accurately. Moreover, emerging cracking patterns are in reasonably good agreement with expectations. As a practical case, a prototype application of the model to an actual bridge deck is reported.

Adaptive control system based on lineal control theory for the path-following problem of a car-like mobile robot

The objective of this paper is to design a path following control system for a car-like mobile robot using classical linear control techniques, so that it adapts on-line to varying conditions during the trajectory following task. The main advantages of the proposed control structure is that well known linear control theory can be applied in calculating the PID controllers to full control requirements, while at the same time it is exible to be applied in non-linear changing conditions of the path following task. For this purpose the Frenet frame kinematic model of the robot is linearised at a varying working point that is calculated as a function of the actual velocity, the path curvature and kinematic parameters of the robot, yielding a transfer function that varies during the trajectory. The proposed controller is formed by a combination of an adaptive PID and a feed-forward controller, which varies accordingly with the working conditions and compensates the non-linearity of the system. The good features and exibility of the proposed control structure have been demonstrated through realistic simulations that include both kinematics and dynamics of the car-like robot.

Crack mechanical failure in lithium niobate crystal under ion irradiation; novel simulation by extended finite elements

Swift heavy ion irradiation (ions with mass heavier than 15 and energy exceeding MeV/amu) transfer their energy mainly to the electronic system with small momentum transfer per collision. Therefore, they produce linear regions (columnar nano-tracks) around the straight ion trajectory, with marked modifications with respect to the virgin material, e.g., phase transition, amorphization, compaction, changes in physical or chemical properties. In the case of crystalline materials the most distinctive feature of swift heavy ion irradiation is the production of amorphous tracks embedded in the crystal. Lithium niobate is a relevant optical material that presents birefringence due to its anysotropic trigonal structure. The amorphous phase is certainly isotropic. In addition, its refractive index exhibits high contrast with those of the crystalline phase. This allows one to fabricate waveguides by swift ion irradiation with important technological relevance. From the mechanical point of view, the inclusion of an amorphous nano-track (with a density 15% lower than that of the crystal) leads to the generation of important stress/strain fields around the track. Eventually these fields are the origin of crack formation with fatal consequences for the integrity of the samples and the viability of the method for nano-track formation. For certain crystal cuts (X and Y), these fields are clearly anisotropic due to the crystal anisotropy. We have used finite element methods to calculate the stress/strain fields that appear around the ion-generated amorphous nano-tracks for a variety of ion energies and doses. A very remarkable feature for X cut-samples is that the maximum shear stress appears on preferential planes that form +/-45º with respect to the crystallographic planes. This leads to the generation of oriented surface cracks when the dose increases. The growth of the cracks along the anisotropic crystal has been studied by means of novel extended finite element methods, which include cracks as discontinuities. In this way we can study how the length and depth of a crack evolves as function of the ion dose. In this work we will show how the simulations compare with experiments and their application in materials modification by ion irradiation.

Crack mechanical failure in ceramic materials under ion irradiation: case of lithium niobate crystal

Swift heavy ion irradiation (ions with mass heavier than 15 and energy exceeding MeV/amu) transfer their energy mainly to the electronic system with small momentum transfer per collision. Therefore, they produce linear regions (columnar nano-tracks) around the straight ion trajectory, with marked modifications with respect to the virgin material, e.g., phase transition, amorphization, compaction, changes in physical or chemical properties. In the case of crystalline materials the most distinctive feature of swift heavy ion irradiation is the production of amorphous tracks embedded in the crystal. Lithium niobate is a relevant optical material that presents birefringence due to its anysotropic trigonal structure. The amorphous phase is certainly isotropic. In addition, its refractive index exhibits high contrast with those of the crystalline phase. This allows one to fabricate waveguides by swift ion irradiation with important technological relevance. From the mechanical point of view, the inclusion of an amorphous nano-track (with a density 15% lower than that of the crystal) leads to the generation of important stress/strain fields around the track. Eventually these fields are the origin of crack formation with fatal consequences for the integrity of the samples and the viability of the method for nano-track formation. For certain crystal cuts (X and Y), these fields are clearly anisotropic due to the crystal anisotropy. We have used finite element methods to calculate the stress/strain fields that appear around the ion- generated amorphous nano-tracks for a variety of ion energies and doses. A very remarkable feature for X cut-samples is that the maximum shear stress appears on preferential planes that form +/-45º with respect to the crystallographic planes. This leads to the generation of oriented surface cracks when the dose increases. The growth of the cracks along the anisotropic crystal has been studied by means of novel extended finite element methods, which include cracks as discontinuities. In this way we can study how the length and depth of a crack evolves as function of the ion dose. In this work we will show how the simulations compare with experiments and their application in materials modification by ion irradiation.

Improvement of the Dynamic Performance of a Buck Converter using Controlled Current Source as an Additional Energy Path

This work is related to the improvement of the dynamic performance of the Buck converter by means of introducing an additional power path that virtually increase s the output capacitance during transients, thus improving the output impedance of the converter. It is well known that in VRM applications, with wide load steps, voltage overshoots and undershoots ma y lead to undesired performance of the load. To solve this problem, high-bandwidth high-switching frequency power converter s can be applied to reduce the transient time or a big output capacitor can be applied to reduce the output impedance. The first solution can degrade the efficiency by increasing switching losses of the MOSFETS, and the second solution is penalizing the cost and size of the output filter. The additional energy path, as presented here, is introduced with the Output Impedance Correction Circuit (OICC) based on the Controlled Current Source (CCS). The OICC is using CCS to inject or extract a current n - 1 times larger than the output capacitor current, thus virtually increasing n times the value of the output capacitance during the transients. This feature allows the usage of a low frequency Buck converter with smaller capacitor but satisfying the dynamic requirements.

Crack origin and detection in thin cristallyne solar cells in a production line

In order to reduce cost and make up for the rising price of silicon, silicon wafers are sliced thinner and wider,eading to weaker wafers and increased breakage rates during fabrication process. In this work we have analysed different cracks origins and their effect on wafer’s mechanical strength. To enhance wafer’s strength some etching methods have been tested. Also, we have analysed wafers from different points of an entire standard production process. Mechanical strength of the wafers has been obtained via the four line bending test and detection of cracks has been tested with Resonance Ultrasonic Vibration (RUV) system, developed by the University of South Florida.

Five-year results of a slant-path propagation experiment at 20 GHz in Madrid

Satellite operators are starting to use the Ka-band (30/20 GHz) for communications systems requiring higher traffic capacity. The use of this band is expected to experience a significant growth in the next few years, as several operators have reported plans to launch new satellites with Ka-band capacity. It is worth mentioning the Ka-Sat satellite in Europe, launched in 2010, and ViaSat-1, of 2011, with coverage of USA1. Some other examples can be found in other parts of the World. Recent satellite communications standards, such as DVB-S22 or DVB-RCS3, which provide means to mitigate propagation impairments, have been developed with the objective of improving the use of the Ka-band, in comparison with previous technical standards. In the next years, the ALPHASAT satellite will bring about new opportunities4 for carrying out propagation and telecommunication experiments in the Ka- and Q/V-bands. Commercial uses are focused on the provision of high speed data communications, for Internet access and other applications. In the near future, it is expected that higher and higher data rates will also be needed to broadcast richer multimedia contents, including HD-TV, interactive content or 3D-TV. All of these services may be provided in the future by satellites of the current generation, whose life span can extend up to 2025 in some cases. Depending on local regulations, the available bandwidth for the satellite fixed and broadcasting services in the Ka-band is in excess of several hundred MHz, bidirectional, comprising more than 1 GHz for each sub-band in some cases. In this paper, the results of a propagation experiment that is being carried out at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain, are presented5. The objective of the experiment is twofold: gathering experimental time series of attenuation and analyzing them in order to characterize the propagation channel at these frequencies6. The experiment and statistical results correspond to five complete years of measurements. The experiment is described in more detail in Section II. Yearly characteristics of rain attenuation are presented in Section III, whereas Section IV is dedicated to the monthly, seasonal, and hourly characteristics. Section V covers the dynamic characteristics of this propagation effect, just before the conclusions are described in Section VI.

Crack width control in RC elements with recycled steel fibres and applications to integral structures : theoretical and experimental study

El presente trabajo trata de elementos reforzados con barras de armadura y Fibras Metálicas Recicladas (FMR). El objetivo principal es mejorar el comportamiento a fisuración de elementos sometidos a flexión pura y a flexión compuesta, aumentando en consecuencia las prestaciones en servicio de aquellas estructuras con requerimientos estrictos con respecto al control de fisuración. Entre éstas últimas se encuentran las estructuras integrales, es decir aquellas estructuras sin juntas (puentes o edificios), sometidas a cargas gravitatorias y deformaciones impuestas en los elementos horizontales debidas a retracción, fluencia y temperatura. Las FMR son obtenidas a partir de los neumáticos fuera de uso, y puesto que el procedimiento de reciclado se centra en el caucho en vez que en el acero, su forma es aleatoria y con longitud variable. A pesar de que la eficacia del fibrorefuerzo mediante FMR ha sido demostrada en investigaciones anteriores, la innovación que representa este trabajo consiste en proponer la acción combinada de barras convencionales y FMR en la mejora del comportamiento a fisuración. El objetivo es por tanto mejorar la sostenibilidad del proyecto de la estructura en HA al utilizar materiales reciclados por un lado, y aumentando por el otro la durabilidad. En primer lugar, se presenta el estado del arte con respecto a la fisuración en elementos de HA, que sucesivamente se amplía a elementos reforzados con barras y fibras. Asimismo, se resume el método simplificado para el análisis de columnas de estructuras sin juntas ya propuesto por Pérez et al., con particular énfasis en aquellos aspectos que son incompatibles con la acción de las fibras a nivel seccional. A continuación, se presenta un modelo para describir la deformabilidad seccional y la fisuración en elementos en HA, que luego se amplía a aquellos elementos reforzados con barras y fibras, teniendo en cuenta también los efectos debidos a la retracción (tension stiffening negativo). El modelo es luego empleado para ampliar el método simplificado para el análisis de columnas. La aportación consiste por tanto en contar con una metodología amplia de análisis para este tipo de elementos. Seguidamente, se presenta la campaña experimental preliminar que ha involucrado vigas a escala reducida sometidas a flexión simple, con el objetivo de validar la eficiencia y la usabilidad en el hormigón de las FMR de dos diferentes tipos, y su comportamiento con respecto a fibras de acero comerciales. Se describe a continuación la campaña principal, consistente en ensayos sobre ocho vigas en flexión simple a escala 1:1 (variando contenido en FRM, Ø/s,eff y recubrimiento) y doce columnas a flexión compuesta (variando contenido en FMR, Ø/s,eff y nivel de fuerza axil). Los resultados obtenidos en la campaña principal son presentados y comentados, resaltando las mejoras obtenidas en el comportamiento a fisuración de las vigas y columnas, y la rigidez estructural de las columnas. Estos resultados se comparan con las predicciones del modelo propuesto. Los principales parámetros estudiados para describir la fisuración y el comportamiento seccional de las vigas son: la separación entre fisuras, el alargamiento medio de las armaduras y la abertura de fisura, mientras que en los ensayos de las columnas se ha contrastado las leyes momento/curvatura, la tensión en las barras de armadura y la abertura de fisura en el empotramiento en la base. La comparación muestra un buen acuerdo entre las predicciones y los resultados experimentales. Asimismo, se nota la mejora en el comportamiento a fisuración debido a la incorporación de FMR en aquellos elementos con cuantías de armadura bajas en flexión simple, en elementos con axiles bajos y para el control de la fisuración en elementos con grandes recubrimientos, siendo por tanto resultados de inmediato impacto en la práctica ingenieril (diseño de losas, tanques, estructuras integrales, etc.). VIIIComo punto final, se presentan aplicaciones de las FMR en estructuras reales. Se discuten dos casos de elementos sometidos a flexión pura, en particular una viga simplemente apoyada y un tanque para el tratamiento de agua. En ambos casos la adicción de FMR al hormigón lleva a mejoras en el comportamiento a fisuración. Luego, utilizando el método simplificado para el análisis en servicio de columnas de estructuras sin juntas, se calcula la máxima longitud admisible en casos típicos de puentes y edificación. En particular, se demuestra que las limitaciones de la práctica ingenieril actual (sobre todo en edificación) pueden ser aumentadas considerando el comportamiento real de las columnas en HA. Finalmente, los mismos casos son modificados para considerar el uso de MFR, y se presentan las mejoras tanto en la máxima longitud admisible como en la abertura de fisura para una longitud y deformación impuesta. This work deals with elements reinforced with both rebars and Recycled Steel Fibres (RSFs). Its main objective is to improve cracking behaviour of elements subjected to pure bending and bending and axial force, resulting in better serviceability conditions for these structures demanding keen crack width control. Among these structures a particularly interesting type are the so-called integral structures, i.e. long jointless structures (bridges and buildings) subjected to gravitational loads and imposed deformations due to shrinkage, creep and temperature. RSFs are obtained from End of Life Tyres, and due to the recycling process that is focused on the rubber rather than on the steel they come out crooked and with variable length. Although the effectiveness of RSFs had already been proven by previous research, the innovation of this work consists in the proposing the combined action of conventional rebars and RSFs to improve cracking behaviour. Therefore, the objective is to improve the sustainability of RC structures by, on the one hand, using recycled materials, and on the other improving their durability. A state of the art on cracking in RC elements is firstly drawn. It is then expanded to elements reinforced with both rebars and fibres (R/FRC elements). Finally, the simplified method for analysis of columns of long jointless structures already proposed by Pérez et al. is resumed, with a special focus on the points that conflict when taking into account the action of fibres. Afterwards, a model to describe sectional deformability and cracking of R/FRC elements is presented, taking also into account the effect of shrinkage (negative tension stiffening). The model is then used to implement the simplified method for columns. The novelty represented by this is that a comprehensive methodology to analyse this type of elements is presented. A preliminary experimental campaign consisting in small beams subjected to pure bending is described, with the objective of validating the effectiveness and usability in concrete of RSFs of two different types, and their behaviour when compared with commercial steel fibres. With the results and lessons learnt from this campaign in mind, the main experimental campaign is then described, consisting in cracking tests of eight unscaled beams in pure bending (varying RSF content, Ø/s,eff and concrete cover) and twelve columns subjected to imposed displacement and axial force (varying RSF content, Ø/s,eff and squashing load ratio). The results obtained from the main campaign are presented and discussed, with particular focus on the improvement in cracking behaviour for the beams and columns, and structural stiffness for the columns. They are then compared with the proposed model. The main parameters studied to describe cracking and sectional behaviours of the beam tests are crack spacing, mean steel strain and crack width, while for the column tests these were moment/curvature, stress in rebars and crack with at column embedment. The comparison showed satisfactory agreement between experimental results and model predictions. Moreover, it is pointed out the improvement in cracking behaviour due to the addition of RSF for elements with low reinforcement ratios, elements with low squashing load ratios and for crack width control of elements with large concrete covers, thus representing results with a immediate impact in engineering practice (slab design, tanks, integral structures, etc.). Applications of RSF to actual structures are finally presented. Two cases of elements in pure bending are presented, namely a simple supported beam and a water treatment tank. In both cases the addition of RSF to concrete leads to improvements in cracking behaviour. Then, using the simplified model for the serviceability analysis of columns of jointless structures, the maximum achievable jointless length of typical cases of a bridge and building is obtained. In XIIparticular, it is shown how the limitations of current engineering practice (this is especially the case of buildings) can be increased by considering the actual behaviour of RC supports. Then, the same cases are modified considering the use of RSF, and the improvements both in maximum achievable length and in crack width for a given length and imposed strain at the deck/first floor are shown.

Utzon and the sun path as an organizing element of life in a house

The present text intends to analyze the hypothesis stating that the path of the sun can be an organizing element for how you live in the houses designed by Jørn Utzon. To do so, I have selected twenty houses and building complexes designed by him between the years 1950-94, in Denmark, Sweden, The United Kingdom and Spain. In these projects I will look for elements which are repeated and their possible meaning. The aim is to reach practical conclusions that could help us decide how to orientate a house.

An embedded cohesive crack model for finite element analysis of quasi-brittle materials

This paper presents a numerical implementation of the cohesive crack model for the anal-ysis of quasibrittle materials based on the strong discontinuity approach in the framework of the finite element method. A simple central force model is used for the stress versus crack opening curve. The additional degrees of freedom defining the crack opening are determined at the crack level, thus avoiding the need for performing a static condensation at the element level. The need for a tracking algorithm is avoided by using a consistent pro-cedure for the selection of the separated nodes. Such a model is then implemented into a commercial program by means of a user subroutine, consequently being contrasted with the experimental results. The model takes into account the anisotropy of the material. Numerical simulations of well-known experiments are presented to show the ability of the proposed model to simulate the fracture of quasibrittle materials such as mortar, concrete and masonry.