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  • On the implementation of the gamma function for image correction on a endoscopic camera
    Publication . Mostafa, Sheikh Shanawaz; Sousa, L. Natercia; Ferreira, Nuno Fábio; Sousa, Ricardo M.; Santos, João; Dias, F. Morgado; Wany, Martin
    This paper describes part of project that implemented the image processing of a CMOS sensor for endoscopic purposes. The sensor is a small sized device of 1x1mm2 and the image processing has been done inside a FPGA. This part of the work describes the implementation of the Gamma function with a balance between the resources needed and the accuracy. A linear piecewise solution was used that stores the values for 31 gamma functions with values ranging from 1 to 4 with 0.1 steps. The solution developed is 10 bit based, was coded in VHDL and is implemented in a Spartan 6 FPGA. The results show that it is an accurate solution that has a small footprint in terms of used resources.
  • Simple computation of ignition voltage of self-sustaining gas discharges
    Publication . Almeida, P. G. C.; Almeida, R. M. S.; Ferreira, N. G. C.; Naidis, G. V.; Benilov, M. S.
    A robust, fast, and accurate numerical method is proposed for finding the voltage of the ignition of DC self-sustaining gas discharges in a wide range of conditions. The method is based on physical grounds and builds up from the idea that the ignition of a self-sustaining gas discharge should be associated with a resonance that would occur in a non-self-sustained discharge in the same electrode configuration. Examples of the application of the method are shown for various configurations: parallel-plate discharge, coaxial and wire-to-plane corona discharges, and a discharge along a dielectric surface. The results conform to the conventional Townsend breakdown condition for the parallel-plate configuration and are in good agreement with existing experimental data for the other configurations. The method has the potential of providing a reference point for optimization of the hold-off capability of high-power switchgear operating in low-frequency fields.
  • Full image-processing pipeline in field-programmable gate array for a small endoscopic camera
    Publication . Mostafa, Sheikh Shanawaz; Sousa, L. Natércia; Ferreira, Nuno Fábio; Sousa, Ricardo M.; Santos, João; Wäny, Martin; Dias, F. Morgado
    Endoscopy is an imaging procedure used for diagnosis as well as for some surgical purposes. The camera used for the endoscopy should be small and able to produce a good quality image or video, to reduce discomfort of the patients, and to increase the efficiency of the medical team. To achieve these fundamental goals, a small endoscopy camera with a footprint of 1 mm × 1 mm × 1.65 mm is used. Due to the physical prop erties of the sensors and human vision system limitations, different image-processing algorithms, such as noise reduction, demosaicking, and gamma correction, among others, are needed to faithfully reproduce the image or video. A full image-processing pipeline is implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to accomplish a high frame rate of 60 fps with minimum processing delay. Along with this, a viewer has also been developed to display and control the image-processing pipeline. The control and data transfer are done by a USB 3.0 end point in the computer. The full developed system achieves real-time processing of the image and fits in a Xilinx Spartan-6LX150 FPGA.
  • Modelling of low-current gas discharges by means of stationary solvers
    Publication . Ferreira, Nuno Fábio Gomes Camacho; Benilov, Mikhail S.
    Este trabalho È dedicado ‡ modelizaÁ„o da igniÁ„o de descargas autÛnomas de baixa corrente, e de caraterÌsticas tens„o-corrente mÈdias de descargas de coroa. Foi desenvolvida uma abordagem para simulaÁ„o de descargas quasi-estacion·rias de baixa corrente, sendo aplic·vel para descargas DC e tambÈm de baixa frequÍncia. Esta abordagem colmata a lacuna entre os mÈtodos modernos de modelizaÁ„o numÈrica e as abordagens de engenharia, e foi implementada como parte de um modelo numÈrico que simule as descargas referidas em ar de alta press„o. O modelo inclui equaÁıes de conservaÁ„o e transporte de espÈcies carregadas e a equaÁ„o de Poisson. Utiliza-se um modelo cinÈtico ímÌnimoíde processos quÌmicos no plasma, em descargas de baixa corrente em ar de alta press„o, que tem em conta os eletrıes, uma espÈcie eÖcaz de iıes positivos, e os iıes negativos s O
  • A practical guide to modeling low-current quasi-stationary gas discharges: Eigenvalue, stationary, and time-dependent solvers
    Publication . Benilov, M. S.; Almeida, P. G. C.; Ferreira, N. G. C.; Almeida, R. M. S.; Naidis, G. V.
    The work is concerned with the modeling of low-current quasi-stationary discharges, including the Townsend and corona discharges. The aim is to develop an integrated approach suitable for the computation of the whole range of existence of a quasi-stationary discharge from its inception to a non-stationary transition to another discharge form, such as a transition from the Townsend discharge to a normal glow discharge or the corona-to-streamer transition. This task includes three steps: (i) modeling of the ignition of a self-sustaining discharge, (ii) modeling of the quasi-stationary evolution of the discharge with increasing current, and (iii) the determination of the current range where the quasi-stationary discharge becomes unstable and the non-stationary transition to another discharge form begins. Each of these three steps is considered in some detail with a number of examples, referring mostly to discharges in high-pressure air.
  • Computational and experimental study of time-averaged characteristics of positive and negative DC corona discharges in point-plane gaps in atmospheric air
    Publication . Ferreira, Nuno G. C.; Almeida, Pedro G. C.; Benilov, Mikhail S.; Panarin, Victor A.; Skakun, Victor S.; Tarasenko, Victor F.; Naidis, George V.
    The use of stationary solvers instead of approximate solution methods or time-dependent solvers, which are standard tools in gas discharge modeling, allows one to develop a very fast and robust numerical model for studying the time-averaged characteristics of dc corona discharges. Such an approach is applied to dc corona discharges in point-plane gaps in ambi ent air. A wide range of currents of both voltage polarities and various gap lengths are investigated, and the simulation results are validated by comparing the computed current–voltage characteristics and spatial distributions of the radiation intensity with experimental results. Specific features of the numerical and experimental results at both polarities are discussed.
  • Simulation of pre-breakdown discharges in high-pressure air: II. Effect of surface protrusions
    Publication . Ferreira, N. G. C.; Naidis, G. V.; Benilov, M. S.
    Analysis of deviations from the similarity law, observed at high and very high pressures in experiments on discharge ignition and breakdown in corona-like configurations, can serve as a useful, albeit inevitably indirect, source of information about microprotrusions on the surface of the electrodes. In this work, such analysis was performed by means of 2D numerical modelling. Conical or cylindrical protrusions on the surface of the inner electrode were studied and the kinetic scheme includes the electrons, one species of positive ions, and negative ions O− 2 , O−, and O− 3 . It is shown that the deviations from the similarity law, observed in the experiment, may indeed be attributed to enhanced ionization of air molecules in regions of amplified electric field near the microprotrusions. A qualitative agreement with the experiment in all the cases is achieved for protrusion heights of the order of 50 µm. Such values may appear rather high, however there is no other explanation in sight at present. The enhancement of the field electron emission from the surface of the negative electrode due to the amplification of the electric field on the microprotrusion was estimated and found insignificant in the range of values of the protrusion aspect ratio where the enhanced ionization in the gas phase is already appreciable.
  • On the end-to-end delay analysis for an IEEE 802.11P/WAVE protocol
    Publication . Ferreira, N.; Fonseca, J.
    The use of IEEE 802.11p for supporting intelligent transportation systems (ITS) allows a wide spectrum of applications providing vehicle occupants useful information related to public safety and road efficiency. The Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment (WAVE) standard is specifically tailored for delivering safety and multimedia messages in a highly dynamic vehicular communication environment. Such dynamic characteristics along with the delay critical nature of safety services turn the medium access control protocol (MAC) timings very important. Therefore, it becomes of great interest to analyze a major performance metric, the end-to-end delay.
  • Simulation of pre-breakdown discharges in high-pressure air. I: The model and its application to corona inception
    Publication . Ferreira, N. G. C.; Santos, D. F. N.; Almeida, P. G. C.; Naidis, G. V.; Benilov, M. S.
    A ‘minimal’ kinetic model of plasmachemical processes in low-current discharges in high pressure air is formulated, which takes into account electrons, an effective species of positive ions, and three species of negative ions. The model is implemented as a part of numerical model of low-current quasi-stationary discharges in high-pressure air based on the use of stationary solvers, which offer important advantages in simulations of steady-state discharges compared to standard approaches that rely on time-dependent solvers. The model is validated by comparison of the computed inception voltage of corona discharges with several sets of experimental data on glow coronas. A good agreement with the experiment has been obtained for positive coronas between concentric cylinders in a wide range of pressures and diameters of the cylinders. The sensitivity of the computation results with respect to different factors is illustrated. Inception voltages of negative coronas, computed using the values of the secondary electron emission coefficient of 10−4 –10−3 , agree well with the experimental data. A simplified kinetic model for corona discharges in air, which does not include conservation equations for negative ion species, has been proposed and validated. Modelling of positive coronas in rod-to-plane electrode configuration has been performed and the computed inception voltage was compared with experimental data.