BITS Pilani Electronics & Instrumentation Magazine 'IMAGE 2010'

8/8/2019 BITS Pilani Electronics & Instrumentation Magazine 'IMAGE 2010'

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March 18, 2010

MESSAGE

I am happy to know that the Instrumentation Forum is bringing out its annual

magazine IMAGE-2010.

I appreciate the hard work put in by the editorial team to bring out the magazine. I

am sure that the articles contained in the magazine will provide useful information to the

readers and will help create new ideas in the minds of young students.

I wish the members of the editorial team success in their endeavour.

L.K.Maheshwari

Birla Institute of Science and TechnologyPILANI 333031 RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Prof L K Maheshwari

Vice Chancellor

Phone : +91-1596-242090Fax : +91-1596-244875

E-Mail : [email protected]

Web : www.bits-pilani.ac.in

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March 18, 2010

MESSAGE

My sincere appreciations and applaud to editorial team of Instrumentation forumsyearly magazine IMAGE 2010 to bring out ideas, experiences, new technology paradigm.

I am extremely pleased with their laudable efforts and trust that IMAGE reading willbe an exciting, eventful learning experience for one and all.

Surekha Bhanot


Prof. (Mrs.) Surekha Bhanot

Unit Chief, Instrumentation Unit

Phone : 01596-245073Fax : 01596-244183

E-Mail : [email protected]

Web : www.bits-pilani.ac.in

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Prof. V. K. Chaubey

Group Leader,Electronics and Instrumentation Group

Phone : +91-1596-245073

Fax : +91-1596-244183

E-Mail : [email protected] : www.bits-pilani.ac.in

March 18, 2010

MESSAGE

I am happy to know that the Instrumentation Forum annual magazine IMAGE2010 is bringing out students innovative ideas and will provide them an opportunity to

project their professional and technical capabilities in the text form. I am sure this issue ofthe magazine will make a glorious impact on the prestigious tradition of the studentsINSTRUMENTATION FORUM via introducing the latest trends in Electronics andInstrumentation.

I congratulate the Editorial Team for their fruitful effort and wish to all my dearstudents a happy and successful academic and professional career.

V K Chaubey

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As I start writing this editorial, one thing flashes across my mind.

This magazine is my last responsibility in BITS. Soon Ill be a psenti-semite, with lots of time to spare. Maybe, then I can look back at theyears spent in college, said to be the best days of life The farewellis still a sem away. Am I already getting nostalgic!!!

I had been waiting for the chance to script my editorial. But when themoment is finally here, I dont know what to write. So Ill relate to youmy journey through the making of IMAGE. Keeping in with the

quintessentially eventful ambience of BITS, the work for themagazine registered significant and variegated events that keptunfolding and thrilling us as the semester progressed. Right from theinitial hiccups to the craziest ideas at the Nth moment, wevewitnessed it all. I thank the members of the editorial team for standingby me through all this.

Should the magazine be a treasure trove of information, or should it

showcase some of our best talents, these questions have flashedthrough my mind often. Both of these seemed relevant and important.Hence youll find a confluence of these topics to cater to the vastspectrum of expectations from your side.

So here it is IMAGE 2k10. Id just like to add, Friends, BITSians,Instruites; I come here to praise the magazine, not to be modest!!And now I pass on the baton to the magazine, let the magazine speak

for itself. Happy Reading!!!

Yours truly,

Abhishek Anand .


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A Liberal Art for the 21 st CenturyNikhil RA young, smart looking Indian boy on a grand Wodeyar style stage, showing off what

appeared to be simply out of the world had swept the minds of an entire nation last

November. Who can forget the amazing antics displayed by Pranav Mistry during the

prestigious TED India 2010 conference where he displayed his new Sixth Sense

technology being developed at the Media Labs in MIT. The possibility of having a

super-intelligent device in the form of a simple pendant that is able to understand common gestures

like a stretched thumb and index finger to indicate a frame and automatically take a picture for you

certainly excites you, doesnt it? However, behind all the wow factors that had helped Pranav Mistry

to soar to glory and fame is a simple but powerful philosophy which earlier was nothing more than an

interdisciplinary idea. It has now slowly gathered recognition as a full-fledged discipline in itself.

Design Thinking is the latest buzzword used among circles of designers. It largely revolves around thesimple idea that any technology/ product/ service has to be designed keeping the user as the most

important subject than the technology or what it can accomplish. When the human race entered a

phase of rapid advancements in science & technology, the focus was predominantly on development

of technology that could improvise a process, quicken a task needed by a user or automate the work to

be done. The spectrum of technological possibilities was however not wide enough to accommodate

all interests of the user. Thus, adopting a new technology into the users life usually came with an

attached cost of adjusting or adapting in order to be able to use it effectively. Take for instance a

simple technology like the typewriter. The intention of the invention was to increase speed of writing

as well as maintaining uniformity in typeface.


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The invention did succeed to achieve the above two. However, the cost

the user had to bear was to undergo several weeks of rigorous training to

accustom him to use the instrument which was quite unlike writing by

hand that was way simpler and intuitive. At the

end of the day, the user, though had a better

output, might have failed to have a good

experience in using the technology.

In todays world of cutting edge technology and infinite possibilities, the

output of a technology ceases to be the sole deciding factor in the

acceptance of a technology/ product. This is especially relevant to the

electronics industry where we have increasingly seen rapid advancements

in capabilities and reduction in cost due to development of cost-effective

processes like VLSI. The cost rate of depreciation of technology has been one of the highest in this

field for the past decade or so. The result is a mushrooming of various industries and firms

competing to provide effective digital solutions to the common mans problems. The competition to

grab the market coupled with the easy availability of technology has now forced people to thinkbeyond just the capabilities of the technology. What differentiates a good product today from a poor

one is not just the technology, but also what is termed as User Experience (popularly called UX).The idea is simple and straightforward. Given two

products offering similar task outputs at comparable

costs, a user would certainly prefer the one that gives

him a more pleasurable experience of using the

product. A music player plays music; what

differentiates one model from the other are factors

like its appearance, aesthetics and most importantlythe interaction interface- the buttons, the menu

structure etc... Since technology fails to be a major

differentiating factor, the only way companies can

differentiate themselves at the moment is by the

quality of services offered.

The question that now arises is what defines user

experience? How do we know if a person would

enjoy interacting with a device? This is the heart of

Design Research- understanding what a user needsand delivering such that every instant of interaction

with the device is fun and addictive. The first thing

that would come to our mind to make an interaction enjoyable is to make it intuitive. This is

precisely the heart of the Sixth Sense Technology being developed by Pranav Mistry & his team.

The last thing one would want while accepting a new technology is submitting to interaction

methods that require additional training or acclimatization. This idea has more to it than just a

business perspective. Philosophically speaking too, technology is meant to make human life easier

and of better quality, so sacrifices being made to achieve certain goals are not acceptable. Technology

is for the users, the users need to be the centre of the design methodology and not just the task.


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The growing focus on user-centric design and its clear impact on business prospects are also very

evident. Take for instance the Apple iPhone. Feature-wise, the iPhone is deficient as compared to

products offered by several other competing smart phone makers like RIM and HTC. However, the

phone created strong seismic waves across the globe during its launch and its subsequent quest to grab

the market share simply because of the simple, effective,

intuitive and highly addictive interface. What would you

enjoy better, pressing the + button a hundred times to zoominto a picture or just pinching it with your fingers and

stretching it like you would a rubber band? Would you like

to press an out-of-place square box with word Next or

just flip it over with your finger to view subsequent photos?

Intuitive interaction with technology enables a better and a

more fun experience to the user which makes his time

worth the cost of the technology.

The current focus on Design Principles has led to the

development of an entire discipline in itself. Traditional design schools offering Product Designcourses have incorporated these besides introduction of dedicated courses on Interaction Design. Thediscipline at present is highly inter-disciplinary involving concepts from sociology, politics,

technology, ethics and of course the business stand point and is poised to become one of the main

liberal arts of the 21st Century. If things go as predicted, in the future we would be having engineers,

scientists, artists, psychologists and entrepreneurs all coming together to develop various products and

applications for the human race that not only serve the purpose but also ensure a great User

Experience.


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Da FPGA CodeKASHISH PAL

FPGAsarecompletelyreconfigurableandinstantlytakeonabrandnewpersonalitywhenyourecompilea

differentconfigurationofcircuitry.

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Theconceptrequired lotsoftransistorsand,atthattime,transistorswereconsideredextremely precious people thought that Ross's idea was pretty far out. But, Ross

freeman, cofounderofXilinxCorporation, showed that the conceptwaspractical, cheap

and highly effective.We havenamed this concept as FPGA or FieldProgrammableGate

Array.Xilinx,Inc.istheworld'slargestsupplierofFPGAstoday.

WehavetheseApplicationSpecificIntegrated

Circuitsaroundus inalmosteverydevicewe

use.ASICisjustacircuitbuiltonasiliconchip

for a particular purpose AND which works

only for that purpose and CANNOT be

changed.Soone finedaythegreat inventors

of ourworld thoughtwhy not have devices

which canbe reconfigured to suit theneeds

oftheuser.AndthencametheFPGA!!

Wellthe

story

was

not

as

boring

as

above.

Lets begin with a basic introduction. It so

happensthatintheworldofdigitalelectronic

systems there are three basic kinds of

devices:memory,microprocessors,and logic.

Its the logic that buildsmicroprocessors by

the way but there has been just so much

advancementinmicroprocessorresearchthattheyliketotalkofitasaseparatecategory.

Microprocessors execute software instructions to perform tasks like running a word

processingprogramorvideogameoranythingyouwantitto.Logicdevicesprovidespecific

functions

like

device

to

device

interfacing,

data

communication,

signal

processing,

data

display, timing and control operations, and almost every other function a systemmust

perform.

Nowthe logicdevicesareof twokinds: fixedandprogrammable.The fixedoneperforms

onefunctionorsetoffunctions oncemanufactured,cannotbechanged.Whiletheother

one,programmablelogicwhichinterestsusherearestandard,offtheshelfpartsthatoffer

customersawiderangeoflogiccapacity,features,speed,andvoltagecharacteristics and

thesedevicescanbechangedatanytimetoperformanynumberoffunctions.

With fixed logic devices, the time required to go from design, to prototypes, to a final

manufacturingrun

can

take

from

several

months

to

more

than

ayear.

And,

ifthe

device

doesntworkproperly,or if the requirements change,anewdesignmustbedeveloped.

With programmable logic devices, designers use inexpensive software tools to quickly

develop,simulate,andtesttheirdesigns.Then,adesigncanbequicklyprogrammedintoa

device,andimmediatelytestedinalivecircuit.Andthetwomajortypesofprogrammable

logicdevicesarefieldprogrammablegatearrays(FPGAs)andcomplexprogrammablelogic

devices (CPLDs).Of the two, FPGAs offer the highest amount of logic density, themost

features,andthehighestperformance.Thatsthereasonitinterestsussomuch;)

Theseadvanceddevicesalsoofferfeaturessuchasbuiltinhardwiredprocessors(suchas


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theIBMPowerPC),substantialamountsofmemory,clockmanagementsystems,andsupport

formanyofthe latest,very fastdevicetodevicesignallingtechnologies.FPGAsareused ina

wide variety of applications ranging from data processing and storage, to instrumentation,

telecommunications, anddigitalsignalprocessing.

At thehighest level,FPGAsare reprogrammablesiliconchips.Usingprebuilt logicblocksand

programmablerouting

resources,

you

can

configure

these

chips

to

implement

custom

hardware functionalitywithout ever having to pick up a breadboard or soldering iron. You

developdigitalcomputingtasks insoftwareandcompilethemdowntoaconfigurationfileor

bitstream that contains information on how the components should bewired together. In

addition,FPGAsarecompletelyreconfigurableandinstantlytakeonabrandnewpersonality

whenyourecompileadifferentconfigurationofcircuitry.FPGAsaretrulyparallelinnatureso

different processing operations do not have to compete for the same resources. Each

independentprocessing task isassigned toadedicatedsectionof thechip,andcan function

autonomouslywithoutany influence fromother logicblocks.Asaresult,theperformanceof

onepart

of

the

application

is

not

affected

when

additional

processing

is

added.

HardwareDescriptionLanguages,VerilogandVHDLareusedforsynthesisofhardwareblocks

ontotheFPGA.Synthesis is theprocessoftranslatinghighlevelprogramming languages into

truehardwareimplementations. Foranygivenpieceofsynthesizablecode,eithergraphicalor

textual, there isacorrespondingcircuit schematic thatdescribeshow logicblocks shouldbe

wired together. In recent years, the line between hardware and software has blurred.

HardwareengineersnowcreatethebulkoftheirnewdigitalcircuitryinVHDLandVerilogina

fashionsimilartohowprogrammesarewritteninCandJava.


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THE PENSIEVEShashank Kulkarni

I gaze into the pensieve,I wonder.

I see calm mist... until,I spot the thunder.

I look back at the time that passed,I wonder.

Will I get it back?

To correct my blunder.

I see the places I have been,I wonder.

Though morose, why am I smilingDeep down under?

I think about my meaningless words,I wonder and wonder.

I am too tired now

I need to surrender.

But hey wait, dont go.There is something I will say.

My pensieve holds thoughts I cherisheven though the same cause me dismay.

If I had the 'might',I 'might' have set things 'right'.

But 'right' then I 'wonder'.

The 'wonder' that is human.

I don't showand I won't show.

See, I am smiling again.Because I think its worth the pain!

THE PENSIEVEShashank Kulkarni

I gaze into the pensieve,I wonder.

I see calm mist... until,I spot the thunder.

I look back at the time that passed,I wonder.

Will I get it back?

To correct my blunder.

I see the places I have been,I wonder.

Though morose, why am I smilingDeep down under?

I think about my meaningless words,I wonder and wonder.

I am too tired now

I need to surrender.

But hey wait, dont go.There is something I will say.

My pensieve holds thoughts I cherisheven though the same cause me dismay.

If I had the 'might',I 'might' have set things 'right'.

But 'right' then I 'wonder'.

The 'wonder' that is human.

I don't showand I won't show.

See, I am smiling again.Because I think its worth the pain!

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All our lauded technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in

the hand of the pathological criminal said Albert Einstein and this is

becoming evident the way human race is exploiting nature. In the name of

industrialization, globalization, human kind has disturbed natures grace, rhythm and

has created disastrous conditions like depletion of ozone layer, melting of ice glaciers

and environmental degradation. Nature has reached to extremity of its tolerance and is

showing its disapproval and rebel in global warming, droughts, uncertain weather

conditions.

Concerns regarding population growth, global warming, resource scarcity,

globalization, and environmental degradation have led to an increasing awareness that

current engineering design and practices must be redefined to meet the goal of

sustainability and that the new design framework consciously incorporate

sustainability factors as performance criteria. After the much awaited United Nations

Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen there is renewed media, political and publicinterest in all things green. Concerns about global climate change, soaring energy

prices, and increased government legislation are driving the demand for all things

"green".

WHAT IS GREEN ENGINEERINGGreen engineering is the design, commercialization, and use of processes and products,

which are feasible and economical while minimizing generation of pollution at the

source and risk to human health and the environment. Green engineering creates

products that require less energy to operate, develop new technologies that generateclean power, reduce emissions of fossil fuel-based engines. Green engineering which is

basically using eco-efficient practices is the use of advanced measurement and control

techniques to design, develop, and improve products and technologies resulting in

environmental and economic benefits.

Green engineering is defined as the use of measurement and control techniques to

design, develop and improve products, technologies and processes, resulting in

environmental and economic benefits.

Instrumentation Technology EnablingGreen EngineeringProf. Surekha Bhanot (Professor & Chief, Instrumentation Unit)


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The twelve principles of Green Engineering whichshould be considered as fundamental factors at theearliest stage of designing a material, product, processare1.Inherent Rather Than Circumstantial: Designers need tostrive to ensure that all materials and energy inputs and

outputs are as inherently nonhazardous as possible2.Prevention Instead of Treatment: it is better to preventwaste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.

3.Design for Separation: Separation and purification operations should be designed tominimize energy consumption and materials use.

4.Maximize Efficiency: Products, processes, and systems should be designed tomaximize mass, energy, space, and time efficiency.

5.Output-Pulled Versus Input-Pushed: Products, processes, and systems should be"output pulled" rather than "input pushed" through the use of energy and materials.

6.Conserve Complexity: Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as aninvestment when making design choices on recycle, reuse, or beneficial disposition.

7.Durability Rather Than Immortality: Targeted durability, not immortality, should bea design goal.

8.Meet Need, Minimize Excess: Design for unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g."one size fits all") solutions should be considered a design flaw.

9.Minimize Material Diversity: Material diversity in multicomponent products shouldbe minimized to promote disassembly and value retention.

10.Integrate Material and Energy Flows: Design of products, processes, and systemsmust include integration and interconnectivity with available energy and materials

flows.

11.Design for Commercial "Afterlife": Products, processes, and systems should bedesigned for performance in a commercial "afterlife."

12.Renewable Rather Than Depleting: Material and energy inputs should berenewable rather than depleting.


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The deployment of new green engineering technologies is inevitable. Green

engineering is here to stay and many of the next generation will call themselves Green

Engineers The ex Saudi Arabian oil minister Sheik Yamani said "The Stone Age came to

an end not for a lack of stones and the oil age will end, but not for a lack of oil. Newer

and better technologies will eventually make deep cuts in our dependence on fossil

fuels.

CURRENT INSTRUMENTATION PRACTICES ENABLING GREEN ENGINEERINGMeasurement plays a significant role in achieving goals and objectives of engineering

systems because of the feedback information supplied by it. Measurement may be

defined as determination of the magnitude of a physical quantity by comparing it with

a predefined and predetermined standard and the unknown magnitude of the physical

quantity. An essential theme for green engineering is "MEASURE IT. FIX IT."Some core enabling technologiesthat are commonly used in green

engineering applications:-

High-Speed and High-ResolutionMeasurements: There is largevariety of different sensors

available to measure most real

world phenomena. Many of these

sensors are inexpensive enough sothat they can be widely distributed.

Most sensors have the ability to

transmit their signals and data

wirelessly. Their locations can be

precisely pinpointed using GPS

technology. Their data feeds can be gathered and analyzed remotely using low-cost

Internet connections. Todays sensors are indeed SMART enough to gather and to

report extremely detailed, high-resolution measurements and send those

measurements immediately.

Advanced Analysis and Signal Processing: The next step to perform on datareceived from sensors is perform signal processing to make it useful, there is need to

be able to make sense of it, to convert it to engineering measurements, to digitize it, toanalyze the data in near real time, and to visualize and understand the patterns that

emerge. Advances in hardware and software now make it straightforward to perform

very complex computations on these high-speed, high-resolution, multiple signal


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streams arising from sensors.

High-Speed and Advanced Control: Using a combination of open and closed loopcontrols and complex control schemes, its now possible to trigger appropriate actions

in near real time in order to control or to alter processes with great precision, and to

monitor the results of the actions taken. Embedded System Technology: Computers are now able to be embeddedeverywhere, making the devices portable, self-contained. We no longer have to rely on

general-purpose PCs .

Advanced software technologies such as advanced process control, model predictive

control and simulation can pay huge dividends if implemented and used correctly. A

well-instrumented plant using PLCs, DCS, SCADA coupled with up-to-date software can

provide a wealth of information and decision-making help for managers. Reducing

variability with advanced smart optimization allows manufacturers to increase outputwhile reducing energy and carbon emissions. Implementing advanced process models

and simulation helps find out

what works best and keeps

operators sharp and proactive.

Instrumentation technology is

helping in measuring and fixing

the challenge of improving the

environmental. The trend all

across the globe is to adopt eco

efficient ways which are a more

credible and promising vehicle

for proactively advancing

sustainable development.

Gore said in a news release,

The climate crisis is not a

political issue; it is a moral andspiritual challenge to all of

humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher

level.

It is hard to predict what the future will be for clean and efficient energy.

Yet, a certainty is that engineers and scientist will lead the way with new discoveries

and solutions that will address our energy and climate challenges.


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Peopleare

unreasonable,

illogical,

and

self

-centered.

Lovethemanyway!

Ifyoudogood,peoplewillaccuseyouofselfishulteriormotives.

Dogoodanyway!

Ifyouaresuccessful,youwillwinfalsefriendsandtrueenemies.

Succeedanyway!

Thegood

you

do

today,

will

be

forgotten

tomorrow.

Dogoodanyway!

Honestyandfranknessmakeyouvulnerable.

Behonestandfrankanyway!

Thebiggestpersonwiththebiggestideascanbeshotdownbythesmall-

estpeoplewiththesmallestminds;

Thinkbiganyway!

Peoplefavorunderdogs,butfollowonlytopdogs.Fightforunderdogsanyway!

Whatyouspendyearsbuildingupmaybedestroyedovernight.

Buildanyway!

Peoplereallyneedhelp,butwillattackyouifyouhelpthem.

Helpthemanyway!

Givethe

world

the

best

you

have

and

it

may

kick

you

in

the

teeth.

Givetheworldthebestyou'vegotanyway!

ContributedbyMr.RajeshPurohit

AnywayCourtesy:ChanakyaNeetiDarpan

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Enough of Fair PlayVineet Markan

Hugh Jackson is trying to get up from the couch smothered in documents

and crime papers in his guest room after the most unsatisfactory and

unfulfilling sleep of his life. He opened his eyelids just enough for the light

to enter and reboot his mind no sooner he realized he is back in his living

nightmare. Gosh he exclaimed getting up hastily, looked at his watch fumbled

through his table articles and caught his cell phone. He dialed a number staggering on

the number pad. A ring got through.

Pick it up, pick up the piece of crap he was shouting inside his mind.

Hello, a ladys voice came through from the other end.Caroline, God what took you so long for gods sake?? Did they call back in again?? he

yelled out loudly into his speaker phone.

NO!! NO!! , I think they will be calling soon, My God, Hugh. I will inform you when they

do. Now, will you stop calling here? I am already freaked out Caroline exclaimed in

panic.

OK OK, I am sorry. Just let me know when they do. You know I am his father.

Okay, Bye and Caroline hung up.

Hugh put down the phone. He hid his face in his hands resting his elbows on thighs.

Half an hour passed. Getting his own son kidnapped for ransom from his father-in-law

to fight for his sons custody against his divorced wife was one of the worst moves of

his life, as he admitted. A divorce, an incomplete case for custody of his son, a break ass

brother-in-law snooping on him 24x7, bankruptcy but what was bothering him above

all was Where the hell is Matt, my son?? . Only potassium cyanide could better his life

now, as he thought. Suddenly, his cell phone rang sending waves of shrill voice all over

room jotting Hugh back to reality. He picked it up quickly.

They sent his finger Caroline was crying like a child, heavily panting and gasping Oh

God, Oh God! They sent us his finger she broke out; her chest could be heard vibratingthrough the phone, her helplessness to breathe and agony which covered her from

inside to outside. Hugh hung his head, closed his eyes and dropped off his cell phone.

It was time for action. Not the slightest mercy and dignity a human deserves had been

pardoned to his 19-year old self-conspired abducted son. Matt was crippled now;

sitting idle, waiting to get a gift wrapped in a coffin, packed in a casket and sent to the

obscure depths of earth.

I am the reason for all my sons pain and agony. I crippled my son. I crippled my own

son.


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Hugh shouted inside his mind as two salty drops of absolute frustration and regret

trickled down his cheeks.

I shouldnt have done this to him. I forced him into this.

He finally opened his wet eyes. It was all collapsing right in front of him. He had no

clue where to go. No plans to execute. No way to save his son from the trap he had set

up for him. All his hopes were choking down to death. His last resort as he figured outwas to surrender and admit to the police everything they needed to know to carry on

investigation about the whereabouts of his son and find him, alive. He wiped his tears,

picked up his car keys and headed to exit his apartment. As he reached the door, door

bell rang. Damn it, who the heck is it now he uttered in shear dismal. He peeped

through the hole.

Son of a bitch he blurted and opened the door.

Not a good time, Jack he said in negligence to trip him away.

Jack, his brother in-law, was a young, tall, good looking, charming guy with a partially

self-imposed English accent, during daytime. Later in the day, he preferred to be a junkie. Hugh got an urge to hit him between his legs whenever he saw him. The one

time he did was when he interfered in a fight between him and Caroline. After that kick,

Jack looked like Kanye West with piles. He still used to crack jokes about it.

I thought I may interest you Jack said.

Look man, my son has been amputated callously. So if you are trying to get back at me

with some kind of retort, I warn you this can be the worst mistake of your life.Hugh

yelled to slip him away.

May I come in, please? Jack asked still calm and composed.

Hugh repressed his agitation and let him in.

Were you headed to somewhere? Jack asked.

Yes, I was headed to somewhere Hugh replied in an uninterested manner.

What place might that be?

Look Jack he said pacing towards him but he got interrupted by Jack.

Stay right where you are Jack said exposing his palm as a stop sign. Just keep on

answering, Hugh. Dont make me convince you. Its all your loss.

Hugh bit his lip. All my loss, huh. You have no idea what I have at stake here and if

you dont let me save my son, I promise I will be the last person on earth you will seeHugh shouted at the pitch of his voice.

Lets dont get emotional here. Lets make a deal. Jack said poised in his approach.

What deal, you dopehead Hugh demanded.

You dont go to the police station to admit your crime and you wont regret it.

Hugh got dazzled for a moment, rendered speechless, blank and motionless by Jacks

statement. The feeling that one gets when he realizes he is holding the cards the wrong

side at the table but its too late to hide them and too early to surrender. He realized he

was about to lose the bet.


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What crime? Hugh said in absolute delirium.

There is always a time in ones life when he wants to admit his crime yelling and

staring right in the eyes of all those who ever looked down upon him. But the very

same moment he realizes that the chains he is about to snap are actually holding him

over a thorny bed called humiliation. Humiliation of committing a felony, getting

caught and then paying for it. Hugh could merely feel any of his senses. His brain waswashed. All he could feel was fear, fear of getting convicted, losing his son and life.

Hugh, you there with me? Jack asked waving in front of his eyes.

What crime are you talking about? Hugh asked as his supposedly last defence

statement.

Ooh Tough fish. So you need me to remind that you hired a couple of adroit

kidnappers to...

Stop right there!! Hugh said absolutely furious.

OK. So I think you got it now.

How are you going to prove any of your theory anyway? This is all crap. I dont haveto listen to all this.

Really, you want proof?? You will get it in court then. But it wont save your son.

Hugh got fired up. He frowned, picked up the knife and pointed it at Jack.

You need to tell me whatever you know, now. I am going to be sentenced for a felony,

I dont mind another one to save my son.

I am sure you dont mind a sentence for your son.

What are you saying, Jack? Hugh demanded.

Let me tell you what I am saying. Four days ago I called in your attorney only to find

out that you are a broke. You were indebted and bankrupt. You were not making any

payments. I thought you had withdrawn the case then. The very next day Matt got

kidnapped. The very same day I came to know your attorney had set up a meeting for

you, with two kickass convicts whom he got out on bail. So I dialed some numbers and

got them under me. I suppose you know where it went from here. Jack said wearing a

smile.

Hugh was absolutely startled. He stood still for a few moments. Suddenly his cellphone

started vibrating in his pocket.

So you know where my son is?? he inquired.I do. Pretty much. Now listen closely. The plan is to take ransom from my father. Then

you go to the police to surrender and take responsibility of the crime and your son will

be safely delivered. How does it sound??

There was silence for a moment. Suddenly Hugh curled up his fist and threw it at Jacks

face with all the power he had. Jack ducked. Further he pushed Hugh and threw him

back on the ground. I have your son, Hugh. I have your teenage son. You dont want to

do all this, Hugh. Believe me, you dont. Jack said looking right in Hughs eyes with

absolute sense of domination and control.


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Hugh smiled.

I dont but she wants

to he pointed his finger

towards the door.

Caroline?? Jack said in

absolute shock anddismal situation seeing

her pale face, tears

trickling down from her

red eyes over her

cheeks. Now was the

time that Jack was feeling guilty ever since he planned the abduction of his nephew. He

was confronted with his worst nightmare to look at himself in his sisters perspective.

Hugh took the advantage of situation and gave a concrete blow to his face. Jack

staggered and fell back on the ground. He got over him, held him by his shirt, pulledhim closer and whispered in his ear. Take me down and threaten her. We need to get

out of here now.

Jack was baffled for a moment. Hugh gave another hard blow to his face. Where is my

son, you twisted fellow!! he yelled at the pitch of his voice, shaking him on the ground

hooking on his shirt. Jack got pissed and struck his forehead on Hughs face with a

brutal force. Hugh got dazzled for a moment. He touched his face and sensed a warm,

thick liquid. It was his blood. Before he could make out what was happening, Jack

threw him on the ground and reached for knife on the table. Caroline panicked.

You will have to pay for this, bastard she said pacing towards Jack and gave him a

blow right in his face. She took amini 9mm gun out from her purse and held it at Jacks

face. Hugh jerked her hand throwing the gun away.

Are you insane? Let the law handle this. Hugh said rhetorically.

She pulled out her cell, pressed some keys, called the emergency call center and

informed them about the location, details and other specifics of the situation. She hung

up the phone. She was still sobbing.

How could you do this Jack? How could you?? She said breaking out.

Jack moved forward to comfort her.Stay right there, Jack. Stay right where you are. She said defensively.

I am just trying to tell you something.

You are trying to tell me something. So better start with the whereabouts of my son.

Caroline, your husband is fooling you. He is the one who was planning to kidnap Matt

in the first place.

Stop blaming him. Better open your mouth now, Jack. Its going to be a lot more

painful with the cops sticking their cane up your mouth.

Cops must be on their way. Hugh said interrupting.


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A few moments passed. Jack was staring at

Hugh in utter disgust. They heard sirens

hooting from a distance and pulling up by

their building. Two men wearing uniforms

and badges on their chest rushed into their

apartment.Who is Caroline? an officer asked.

I guess that name fits only me in this

room. Caroline said looking at him and

continued This man, my brother, Jack,

abducted my son, assaulted my ex-husband

and tried to extort money out of our father.

My son is still with him.

We will handle it from here, Mama officer said and paced towards Jack. On your

knees, hands up where I can see them.Second officer went over and helped him. He started shouting into his phone about the

address and the kind of backup he needed. I guess they will take care of him. Hugh

said consoling Caroline.

I am worried.

Me too. But it will be all right. Your father must know about all this. Go on tell him.

But...

I will take care here. He said interrupting her.

She kissed him on cheek and exited the apartment.

We are taking this guy over to the headquarters. We need to interrogate him.

Right. Go ahead.

More officers will be coming in to examine the sight.

Thats OK he said.

Jack was handcuffed. He came closer to Hugh and said, Hey Hugh, guess what. I have

your son and these legal bitches are not going to get it out of me. You have seen the

separated finger of your son. Next parcel will be his head.

Hughs soul got eroded. His eyes were red with fury and his breath paced up.

You think you are a smart player. Dont you. Let me interpret this story of you fiasco.You abducted my son. But believe me that isnt your felony. Thats mine.

But Jackson, I have your son.

No, you dont. He is with me in this apartment.

Jacks eyes widened in shock. He was stumped, speechless and motionless for a

moment. Yes, the way you left him. Drugged, unconscious and crippled. Think it all

over, Jack Hugh said. My lawyer came to you to offer my details on my order.

Guess what Jack; I have been keeping track of your bank accounts too. Not only you

were bankrupt, you were in debt of thousands of dollars you lost at casinos.


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I knew you have to fall for this. So sent you the trail of this little plan I had in mind and

you followed. You thought you will buy my men, no you didnt. They were still working

for me. Only thing overlooked was to protect my son from his savage and unkind uncle.

I had never thought you will cripple your own nephew. You make me sick. Hugh said

spitting in his face.

Jack smirked in disgust. So wait a minute, if you knew where you son was, you orderedto cut down your own sons finger.

I consented not ordered my men to cut his finger. Order was yours. If I refused, whole

plan would have been trashed.

Whats the plan? What is your plan? What will you get out of it? You set me up. But

guess what, your plans are as much sabotaged as are mine. You are not going to get

any money because Caroline knows everything. Suck on it.

Hugh smiled in an ominous manner. Who said I needed money. You dont think your

confession and Carolines arrival at the same time was a co-incidence. Do you? It was a

perfectly designed trap. Every word you spoke in those twenty minutes was controlledby me. I texted her to come over when she told me about Matts finger. I got out of you

as soon as this cell phone in my pocket vibrated telling me she was at my doorstep.

Remember the awkward silence. You were so easy to control, just like a puppet.

God, you can plan Jack said shaking his head But I think you dont get it. You still

have nothing. All this is done for nothing. No money, still fighting a case for your sons

custody and bankrupt. I dont think your lifes going to get any better.

Hugh smirked Well, theres only one thing you need to know about me. I did all this to

get back my son, not for money. I

have got him because no court of

law will hand over custody of a boy

to her criminal mother, a mother

who murdered her own brother.

Thats all you need to know. One

last thing, police will be here soon.

So you havent got much time.

Jack frowned What the heck. Are

you out of your mind?He turned about to face the

policeman holding Carolines gun in

his hand.

My holy God. Now I understand. This is Carolines gun with her fingerprints on it and

these people are your men not the police. Jack gasped.

Jack couldnt utter much more. A couple of sparks coming out of a 9mm nozzle was the

last thing he saw.


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Of Decisions and DreamsNikhil

R

I remember myself walking down my familiar street to home, just having completed a

good day at school; I happened to chance upon my friendly neighborhood uncle ever

concerned about my future. So what are your plans, Engineering or Medical? Having

been brought up in family with no doctors among the near-and-dear and going by my

current status of poor grades in Biology, my answer was almost immediate and

impulsive. Now, having worked my way up to one of the best engineering colleges in

the country, I find myself at crossroads again, with the eternal question of What next?

being more pronounced than ever before. And my poor old uncle now has to reframe

his question: So what are your plans, MS or MBA?

This topic of discussion has become ubiquitous among visionaries and people worried

about the Indian education system. If you are from a middle-class Indian background

who attended a decent high school, you probably would have gone through similar

experiences as mine. Take your own schoolmates for instance; how many chose to do

engineering? How many chose to do medical? And certainly a dismally low proportionof you classmates might have opted for commerce or art or law even though they were

capable enough of getting great engineering/medical seats. The reasons are obvious

and well debated, but Id like to reiterate them in order to support my views. Having

chosen engineering as my stream, my focus shall lie predominantly on the perception

and misconceptions people have about engineering.

The decision to do engineering is hardly that of the person. No matter how much we

can claim to be ourselves and take our own paths, the society has immense influenceon what step we take. This is perfectly natural and fine, for after all, this is the same

society for which, or in which, we shall be spending the rest of your lives trying to

make a statement, or for the more the modest- a living. We better comply with its

norms than to stand out and be outcasts right? The general conception people have in

India is that engineering school is the safest starting point for a career, because a

degree in engineering will most likely get you a job. This is possibly true, if statistics

were to be believed. Most good engineering colleges (pre-recession) boasted of 100%


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placement; evidently most of these placements never involved what the students

specialized in.

Software jobs were, and still are, in vogue and the best jobs are taken by engineering

students, rather than say a BCA graduate, an arts or a law grad can never dream of

making one. MBA after engineering college is also a favorite path, and most schools doaccept engineering students with wide arms. And if you happen to be really intelligent

and hard-working, and you like the discipline you are doing- say electronics; youd

probably go ahead to do a masters and become a researcher somewhere, though the

number of such cases is comparatively abysmal.

The myriad forms of opportunities one gets after engineering in India is unmatched by

any other discipline, this simply explains its popularity. So in essence, engineering

school gives you four extra years in life to explore, get exposed to the world and findout you calling for life. Your degree is a like passport to possibly any field ahead. This

is sounds like a great situation, and people might come to conclude that the system is

best in its present form. Sure, four years of exposure oriented schooling to help decide

you future is certainly a novel system, but what vexes me at present is the cost we pay

for it. In projecting and promoting engineering as a great way to start, we have

probably ignored more than we should have, other disciplines that might have been

better options for students. Most of us conjure up dreams about our future, the kind of

work we want to do.

It so happens that we presume engineering to include a larger portion of this dream,


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without quite realizing what exactly is in it. In the process, we ignore several other

disciplines that might have been better. Take my case for instance; I was stubborn

about doing a course in electronics because I found the gadgets around me very cool.

In fact most people told me that its the best bet. However, on undergoing the rigors of

an electronics course that deals more with electrons and holes rather than iphones and

touch screens, Id now probably think an alternate path might have suited me better. Itshowever true and fortunate that the engineering background I have still gives me a

chance to drift to what I want.

The misconceptions about engineering in India are

probably the reasons we dont have too many

innovators and inventors from our country. We are

great managers, CEOs, possibly even great

scientists. But engineering? We are still waybehind when it comes to designing and developing

products for the society, how often to do you find

Indians making groundbreaking engineering

designs? I personally see two solutions for this.

One: restructure engineering courses so that focus

is more on designing and developing engineering products. This would most likely

remove the aspect of engineering schools being starting points for several careers.

Two: educate people about whats in store for them in engineering and what betteroptions they could have otherwise. The latter is certainly the more preferred and I

presume efforts are being made by several well-wishers of the Indian education system

in this front. The dream one has during his adolescence about his future needs to be

nourished. The mind is possibly at its creative best then. It is not fair for the society to

force kids to run the rat race in such narrow streams, just because its a safe option.

High school is when you dream the most, and high school should ideally be when you

learn the most about options available to you that can help you achieve your dreams.

For forcing one into a fixed system makes him lose focus on his dreams, makes him

comply with the mundane, and makes him just another normal man. We need to

consciously make consistent efforts to educate Indians about respecting and promoting

alternate, currently unconventional fields. There should be a time when taking up art

or design should be considered just as normal as taking up engineering or medical. A

time when every high-school kid is able to pick, with complete knowledge, his next step

from a large set of options based on where his dreams fit best. This is my dream; Im

now looking for opportunities to implement this.


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MicrocontrollerBased

MissileLauncherforAntiTerrorism

Operations

GauravPuri

Over the last quarter of a century increasing attention has been paid for the

development of advanced weapon based technology for counterterrorism. Fortunately

significant progress has been made in applicability of remote sensing in these fields and

but there is a strongly perceived need for improved data communication between two

stations, i.e. one which are in particular area, in which all the missile are connected and

2nd one , which control all the functioning of the circuit through locations by mobile. In

this project a call is made with a DTMF compatible phone to the mobile phone attached

to the circuitry. In the course of the call, if any button is pressed control corresponding to

the button pressed is heard at the other end of the call. This tone is called dual tone multi

frequency tone (DTMF). The tone is received with the help of phone stacked on the

circuitry. The received tone is processed by the 89C51 microcontroller with the help of

DTMF decoder MT8870, the decoder

decodes the DTMF tone in to its

equivalent binary digit and this binarynumber is send to the microcontroller,

the microcontroller is preprogrammed to

take a decision for any give input and

outputs its decision to relay circuitry in

order to launch the missile.

DTMF signaling is used for telephone

signaling over the line in the voice

frequency band to the call switching center. The version of DTMF used for telephone

dialing is known as touch tone. DTMF assigns a specific frequency (consisting of two

separate tones) to each key s that it can easily be identified by the electronic circuit. The

signal generated by the DTMF encoder is the direct algebraic submission, in real time of

the amplitudes of two sine (cosine) waves of different frequencies, i.e., pressing 5 will

send a tone made by adding 1336 Hz and 770 Hz to the other end of the mobile.


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Simulations on DTMF, Tone Results and Discus-

sion

Figure 4.DTMF Plot for Tone 1

LeCroy Oscilloscope

For example, in order to generate the

DTMF tone for "1", you mix a pure 697

Hz signal with a pure 1209 Hz signal

Figure 3. 697Hz + 1209 Hz = DTMF Tone

1

Use of a mobile phone for control provides the advantage of robust control, working range

as large as the coverage area of the service provider, no interference with other controllers

and up to twelve controls. Each DTMF tone having a unique frequency, so using 12 keys

with their proper permutation and combination, large number of missiles can be

controlled and simultaneously incorporating security features.

Table 1. Touch tone keypad corresponding

to DTMF tone frequencies.

Upper Band (> 1 kHz)

1209

Hz

1336

Hz

1477

Hz

1633

Hz

Lowe

rBand

( 1 kHz)

1209Hz

1336Hz

1477Hz

1633Hz

Lowe

rBand

(


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Circuit DescriptionFig 2 shows the circuit diagram with important components as DTMF decoder, 8051

microcontroller, ULN 2803 and relays.

When the input signal is given at pin1

(IN+) and pin2 (IN-) of MT8870 DTMF

decoder, the decoder decodes it into

its binary equivalent which is displayed

by LEDs. Table 1 shows the DTMF dataoutput table of MT8870. Q1 through

Q4 output s of the DTMF decoder are

connected to port1 of AT mega

microcontroller. Output from port2 of

microcontroller is fed to the array of

relays through ULN2803, which

magnetizes and activates the detonator to launch the missile. The activated relays are

indicated by corresponding LEDs.

We have described a novel GSM based Anti Missile Communication system that is able to

launch a missile from any location of the world using DTMF compatible handset. The main

focus of this article is on the development and convenient control of a teleported device.

The problem of incorporating security features can be handled by modifying the code.


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Rendezvous with Professor V. K. Madan

Q: Please tell us something about yourself.

Prof: I graduated with a B.Tech degree from IIT-Delhi, and followed it up with a PhD

from IIT-Bombay. Before that I had joined Department of Atomic Energy where I kept

working on projects and along side completed my PhD. Later I went to Canada where I

did my research and teaching. I have also worked as a professor at Homi Bhabha

Research Institute.

Q: Enlighten us about your work in the Atomic Energy Department.

Prof: Atomic energy has given me excellent opportunities to do research in many areas,

particularly in developing many state of the art instrumentation systems for variousapplications across the department. It also gave me the opportunity to do research in

the field of spectroscopy where I applied signal processing and contributed

significantly in the field of nuclear spectral analysis using signal processing.

I published the best paper till date, that was regarded better than the best paper

published since the last 40 years by the International Atomic Energy association. I also

applied Waltz deconvolution which is the toughest in this area.


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Q: Recently you helped in organizing a conference on Virtual Instrumentation. Please

enlighten us on that.

Prof: Yeah, I helped in organizing the National Conference for Virtual Intelligent

Instrumentation (NCVII) recently. I have also been organizing conferences earlier. I

helped in organizing an international workshop under IEEE where BITS established aconnection with a professor in Italy. A question-answer session followed which was

attended by Prof. L. K. Maheshwari and Prof. G. Raghurama.

Q: Since you have been involved with IEEE, please share some of your experiences with

us.

Prof: In IEEE we organized many industrial and academic courses where we, at times,

invited leaders from industry and academic fields across the country. I am presently

working to organize a Nuclear conference in BITS, because nuclear energy is thetechnology of tomorrow, and new laws are coming for its implementation. Even MIT is

undergoing a renaissance in this field.

Q: An off topic question, what are your hobbies and how do you pass your time here.

Prof: I have some hobbies. After coming back from Bombay its a changed atmosphere

here. I enjoy the trees and the lonely roads. I generally listen to Old Hindi film songs

and like to see places around, like I am still discovering Pilani. I have read quite a lot

and am also interested in Modern Art.

Q: Your message to BITSIANS.

Prof: My message is that you should work with ethics, honesty and passion, follow your

inner voice, do whatever you feel is right. You can work in any field, because all fields

offer challenges. You should work with creativity, innovation and most of all, enjoy

your work.

Q: Please comment on the present educational system followed at BITS.

Prof: BITS system is excellent educational system and it has got an excellent

educational input. As far as faculty and research is concerned, there is a good scope of

improvement in this area. Talking of syllabus, theres a lot of scope for improvement,

both in the syllabus as well as the spirit. If BITS has to maintain its rank among the bestacademic institutions of India, it has to find innovation and rope in dedicated people.


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TOP TECH PRODUCTS OF THE DECADE

As another decade goes by, lets look at some of the products which revolutionised the way we lookat technology.

1) GoogleWithout any doubts, Google is definitely the winner of this decade. They win everything.Google search was originally developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1997 but it gainedpopularity in the starting of this decade. The word Google became so famous that it wasaccepted as an official English word in Oxford dictionary. You want any information, dontworry, just Google it.

2) Apple iPodApples iPod first debuted on October 23, 2001, when the world barely knewwhat an MP3 player was - and heres Apple, already revolutionizing the

category. Apple is good at setting standards with their technology - the iPod seta standard for MP3 players and it still is. Over the past decade the iPodtransformed itself with colour, size, screens and capabilities, but moreimportantly it has transformed the way we listen to music.

3) Blu Ray DiskBlu-ray disk (also known as BD or blu-ray) is an optical disk storagemedium designed to supersede the standard DVD format. The format wasdeveloped to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definitionvideo (HD), as well as storing large amount of data. The format offers more

than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc. SurprisingIsnt it!!

4) Windows XPReleased in 2001, it continues to go strong to this day. XP, short for eXPerience,is the successor to Windows 2000 pro and windows Me. The most commonbeing XP Home edition has been released in many languages. You will ask, whynow Windows 7?? Well, Windows XP wins this Microsoft OS toss up because itis stillthe most preferred and used Windows operating system to-date.

Devesh Pandey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVDhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD


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5) USB flash DrivesA USB flash drive consists of flash memory data storage device integrated with

a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 1.1 or 2.0 interface. Flash memory combines a

number of older technologies, with lower cost, lower power consumption and

small size made possible by recent advances in microprocessor technology.

Today, storage capacities on a USB drive can be as large as 256 GB. No need

to carry floppy or CDs now.

8) Airbus A380

Talking about tech products and missing Airbus A380, not

possible. If we talk about the heavy industry, A380 is the winner for

sure. Presently, it is the largest commercial passenger plane in the

world with a capacity of maximum 853 passengers, almost as big

as an Indian train. It made it first flight on 27 April 2005.

6) Wi-FiWi-Fi, a marketing term for the IEEE 802.11 specification, has helped

make us the mobile society that we are today. Today many

personal computers, video game consoles, Smartphone, printers

and other peripherals, and virtually all laptop or palm-sized

computers uses Wi-Fi. Besides liberating us from cord, Wi-Fi enabled

a burgeoning ecosystem of devices to connect and communicate

on the home network.

7) Social networking sitesFacebook and Twitterlike Googleare now both verbs. There is a good variety of social

networking sites out there today, but we feel the two most influential (and fun) are Facebook

and Twitter. Orkut has rather been defeated by them. Facebook, which went live February 2004,

is now the second most-visited Web site in the worldjust after Google. There is plenty to do

when you get there. And Twitter took social networking (and stalking) to a whole new level.

Launched in 2006, Twitter has gained notability and popularity worldwide.

9)Gaming ConsolesTaking the gaming age to a whole new era, yes, we are talking

about Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo wii. The PS2

yanked gaming out of PC territory with its brilliant graphics and

great gaming library. Then came the Nintendo wii in 2006 which

bought simplicity, greater involvement and an absence of

conventional game pads. Xbox 360 joins this series.


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Silicon is the most prevalent material in electronics, whether for mobile phones, solar cells or

computers. Nanometer-sized wires made of silicon have a large potential for a completely new

chip design. A myriad of silicon transistors are responsible to pass on the information on a

microchip with today's technology. The transistors are arranged in a planar array, i.e. lying flat

next to each other, and have shrunk down already to a size of only about 50 nanometers (1

nanometer = 1 millionth part of 1 millimeter). Further miniaturization of transistors with a

planar structure will soon come to an end due to fundamental physical limits. Still, even smaller

transistors are desirable in order to continuously improve their functions while reducing the cost

of the electronics.

Currently, researchers are working hard to find new approaches to overcome the physical limits

on downscaling and integration of microchips. One such concept is to fabricate completely new

transistor architecture in three-dimensions. In this concept, instead of arranging them flat on the

substrate the silicon transistors are

turned by 90 degrees so that they

stick out of the chip substrate like

tiny columns. In this way,

numerous vertical transistors

could be built on the area normally

occupied by only one planar

transistor. This would finally be

the step from micro to

nanoelectronics.

The fabrication of vertical silicon

nanowire arrays has already been

reported. Yet there needs to be a

more thorough research into the electrical properties of silicon nanowires in order to be able to

build reliable transistors for a new generation of microchips. Unlike conventional transistors,

Nanowires for a New ChipArchitecture

Samyak Goel


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the current flow in these column-like transistors will be vertical, and they will be smaller and

more energy-saving than today. Last but not least, there are high hopes to fabricate extremely

efficient solar cells using silicon nanowires.

The Max Planck researchers in Halle produce monocrystalline silicon nanowires which are

particularly suitable as components for microchips. At the FZD's ion beam centre, foreign atoms

known as 'dopants' are implanted into the nanowires. The dopants occupy lattice sites of the

host semiconductor increasing the electrical

conductivity and the current flow through the

semiconductor. Selective implantation of different

dopants can change the polarity of the charge

carriers in a transistor leading to the switching of

the current flow. The planar silicon technology is

well developed; however, this is not true for siliconnanostructures. "First, we analyzed wires with a

diameter of 100 nanometers and 300 nanometers

in length. But what we aim at are wires with a

diameter of a few atoms only, as well as wires

where individual atoms are strung together. We

intend to closely characterize their behaviour in materials and want to find out how their

electrical properties can be tailored for application in nanoelectronics, e.g. for new field-effect

transistors," say FZD physicists Dr. Reinhard Koegler and Dr. Xin Ou.

The nanowires were investigated in Rossendorf using a technique (Scanning Spreading

Resistance Microscopy, SSRM) that usually measures the position- dependent electrical

resistivity in a specially-prepared two-dimensional cross-section of the nanowire. The resistivity

is related to the atomic concentration of the dopants. In the current work, the researchers have

found that the dopants in phosphorus, do not stay where they are expected but drift to the

surface of the nanowire where they become partially inactive and can no longer contribute to

the electrical conductivity. Up until now scientists were lacking an appropriate technique to

visualize and quantify the consequences of an unequal distribution of dopants at the nanoscale.

Chip designers have to pay attention to the newly found results if nanowires are to be applied

for vertical transistors in the future.

Scheme of a silicon wafer with novel vertical transistors made

out of silicon nanowires (without the upper p-contact).


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THE HISTORY OF ELECTRONICSDevesh Pandey

DIODES TRIODE

Electronics came into picture with the invention of three major componentsthetransistor, the vacuum tube and the integrated circuits. In 1883, Thomas Alva Edisonnoticed that electrons will flow from one metal conductor to another through a vacuumwhich came to be known as Edison effect. In 1904, John Fleming applied the Edisoneffect in inventing a two-element electron tube called a diode, and Lee De Forestfollowed in 1906 with the three-element tube, the triode. These vacuum tubes were thedevices that made manipulation of electrical energy possible so it could be amplifiedand transmitted.

The FIRST application:

Electron tubes were first used in radio communications. Earlyradio consisted of either radio telegraphy (the transmission ofMorse code signals) or radio telephony (voice messages).Both relied on the triode. Early radio transmitters,telephones, and telegraph used high-voltage sparks to makewaves and sound. Vacuum tubes strengthened weak audiosignals and allowed these signals to be superimposed onradio waves. In 1918, Edwin Armstrong invented the "super-heterodyne receiver" that could select among radio signalsor stations and could receive distant signals. Radiobroadcasting grew astronomically in the 1920s as a directresult. Armstrong also invented wide-band frequencymodulation (FM) in 1935; only AM or amplitude modulationhad been used from 1920to 1935.

VACUUM TUBE
http://science.jrank.org/pages/2374/Electron.htmlhttp://science.jrank.org/pages/2101/Diode.htmlhttp://science.jrank.org/pages/2491/Energy.htmlhttp://science.jrank.org/pages/2491/Energy.htmlhttp://science.jrank.org/pages/2101/Diode.htmlhttp://science.jrank.org/pages/2374/Electron.html


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THE INVENTION OF PICTURE TUBE ANDICONOSCOPE:Radio as the primary form of education and entertainment was soonchallenged by television, which was invented in the 1920s but didn'tbecome widely available until 1947. Bell Laboratories publicly unveiled

the television in 1927, and its first forms were electromechanical. Whenan electronic system was proved superior, Bell Labs engineersintroduced the cathode ray picture tube and colour television. ButVladimir Zworykin, an engineer with the Radio Corporation of America(RCA), is considered the "father of the television" because of hisinventions, the picture tube and the iconoscope camera tube.

VLADIMIR ZWORYKIN

RADAR:Development of the television as an electronic device benefittedfrom many improvements made to radar during World War II.

Radar was the product of studies by a number of scientists inBritain of the reflection of radio waves. An acronym for RadioDetection And Ranging, radar measures the distance anddirection to an object using echoes of radio microwaves. It is usedfor aircraft and ship detection, control of weapons firing,navigation, and other forms of surveillance. Circuitry, video, pulsetechnology, and microwave transmission improved in the wartimeeffort and were adopted immediately by the television industry. Bythe mid-1950s, television had surpassed radio for home useand entertainment.

INTEGRATED CIRCUITS:The concept of the integrated circuit was proposed in 1952 by Geoffrey W. A. Dummer, a Britishelectronics expert. Throughout the 1950s, transistors were mass produced on single wafers andcut apart. The total semiconductor circuit was a simple step away from this; it combinedtransistors and diodes (active devices) and capacitors and resistors (passive devices) on a

planar unit or chip. By 1961, integrated circuits were in full production at a number of firms, anddesigns of equipment changed rapidly and in several directions to adapt to the technology.Bipolar transistors and digital integrated circuits were made first, but analog ICs, large-scaleintegration (LSI), and very-large-scale integration (VLSI) followed by the mid-1970s. VLSIconsists of thousands of circuits with on-and-off switches or gates between them on a singlechip. Microcomputers, medical equipment, video cameras, and communication satellites areonly examples of devices made possible by integrated circuits.


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HUMAN BEINGS EVOLVE

VIDYAM

BITS Alumnus

(2004A8PS256)

Human beings evolve. Their natures evolve.

Things change. People learn ...............

34


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Hey, you look so different!

Its great to know you again! You are a very different person from what I thought you

were...

Guess, I was wrong about you all this time, you never gave us a chance to know you!!We hear people saying such things when they meet each other after a long time. The

reasons might be that they have really undergone some drastic changes or they actually

never got to know each other before or they simply love small talks.

When in high school, she was an introvert, diligent, hardworking student with nothing

but marks, ranks and future in her mind all the time. She was born and brought up in

places away from that of her own till then. Now her own place looked not-so-of-her-kind

to her. She was an outsider in her own land.

She interacted with very few, only those who understood her completely and never

made her realize that she was miserable at expressing herself in her own mother tongue.

Language barrier, cultural shock, necessity to adapt against her own wish, all made her

this unusually quiet person, completely unaware and least bothered of the kind of im-

pression she left on people. She was more of a self-obsessed, spoiled brat to many, a ri-

val to some when it came to studies and competitions, a good friend to a very few and amystery to the rest.

It was then when she happened to meet this person from her class after several years

that she realized what went by her, in her past, right under nose, whilst she was busy

filling pages of her mathematics notebook with solution of every numerical she came

across, many times just to keep her occupied. The revelations startled both of them.

They spent time revisiting their past, sometimes getting nostalgic, sometimes laughing at

them, sometimes wondering how paradoxically fascinating human nature can get with

time.

One evening, that friend sends her this beautiful poem, which she holds very close to her

heart. Every time she reads this poem, she feels- After all, its all worth it, I just love this

poem!


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People always make many many mistakesBecause life doesnt allow us to do retakesBut now and then, on our way, we will meetChances that could correct our path and feetOf all the stupid mistakes that I have madeThere is one that I hope, would soon fadeFor I met with a chance without knowing itWhich could be one of my lifes greatest hit.

Years back, I didnt recognize the gem in youA mistake, very bad, made by more than fewLucky me, for now I have the one good chanceTo correct my errors and to change my stance. So to you, I will say a million more thanksFor it is only of you, I am, without any pranksErasing from my little history, my one mistakeAnd am ready for a precise and a perfect retake.


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Agroup

of

techies,

full

of

enthusiasm,

willing

to

do

something

different

and

innovative,

apart

fromtheirregularacademiccurriculumthatshowIdefineInstrumentationForum.Aplatform

toletyourimaginationsrunwild,thinkcrazyandcomeupwithsomethingnew.Innovationatits

peakwithatechnicaltouchtoit!

AndthisjourneybeginsrightfromthestartofBitsianlife(1styear)whenyouseetheinvitation

forinformalinteractionswithForummembersonthemessnoticeboard.Overcomingallragging

fears,youdaretoreachsky lawnstoattendthemeet.WordslikeRoboticsbuzzinyourmind,

thevery thought thatyoucanmakeyourown robot lendsan inspirational touchandyou feel

motivated after hearing about the projects done by your seniors. You attend Poorvikaran

lectures,goforApogeemeets,thinkofideasforprojectsandafterrejections,modificationsfrom

seniorsand

hours

of

brainstorming

you

finally

decide

upon

aproject

with

very

little

or

no

clue

of

how to implement it!Thenbegins the funfilled ride toApogee,gruellinghoursofhardwork,

continuousnightoutsandmuchmore.Andjusta few secondsbeforeApogee,yourproject is

finished!!Phew!!ThenarrivesApogee andwithall thosecrazymachinesand fundooprojects

aroundyou,you feel inadifferentworldaltogetherand it inspiresandmotivatesyou todoa

muchbetterandimprovedprojectnextyear.

Withtheadventofsecondyear,comesthematurity,responsibilityandabitofinformalitywith

seniors.Competingtogetagoodlookinggirl inyourproject,tryingtomakeagood impression

on3rd

yearsthesearesomeofthefeaturesofa2nd

yeariteworkingfortheForum.Butyouare

overloadedwith

some

tedious

tasks.

You

have

improved

on

the

technical

front

and

are

able

to

contributemuchmore to theproject compared to last yearandareable togeta feelof the

organizationalaspectofthe forum.Andnotbeingtheseniormostandneitherthejuniormost

hasitsownadvantages.SecondyearisthetimewhenyouenjoyApogeethemost.OnceApogee

is over, the interview season begins and after submitting your nominations and coming out

victoriousthroughtheintimidatingroundofinterviews,youarehandedovertheresponsibilityto

run theForum.Then,you realize that its time to reactivate theexistingGooglegroup,which

was dead for months, and increase the interaction with your new team members. During

vacations,youarefullyenthused,comingupwithnew ideasandbusyframingtheplanforthe

nextyearwithasolemotiveWewillcrackApogeenextyear!

OnceyouarebackoncampusfortheinfamousCDCs,aseriesofmeetingsfollow,whereinyou

discuss the plan for thewhole year,what is to be done in the current semester andmost

importantlywhowilltakethosePoorvikaran lectures!Attheendoftheday,eitherwillinglyor

unwillinglyyouhavetogivealecture.So,justbeforethedayoflecture,youstartpreparingforit,

gototheVILab,trytoassemblepartsforthesetupyouaregoingtodemonstrate,searchhere

andthereonthenetandpreparelectureslides.Andonceyouhavedeliveredthefirstlectureof

your life(inmostcases),youarerelievedandhappythat itsoverwithoutevenbotheringhow

thelecturewent!AstheCDCspressuremountsup,theattendanceintheexcommeets,starts

slidingdownandyoustartreceivingmessagesinboldCOMPULSORYEXCOMMMEET!!Then

Life@InstrumentationForumKUSHAGRAGARG


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comesthefirstApogeemeet,butthistimeyoufindyourselfinadifferentscenario.Earlier,you

weretheonecomingupwith the ideasbutnowyouhave to listentothem.You findyourself

surroundedbyjuniorsbombardingyouwithmoreandmoreideas.Atthispoint,yourealizehow

itfeelstobeinthespotlightandhowmuchyoubuggedyourseniorsforprojectsduringyourfirst

andsecondyear!!

Thenbegins

the

second

semester,

and

the

countdown

for

Apogee

begins...mentoring

juniors'

projects,managingyourownprojects,preparationofevents,periodicexcommmeetsandyeah

CDCsrunning inparallel, itallgetsvery..uh...exciting...Iguess. Inretrospect,onecantbelieve

howmuchworkheorsheendsupmanaging inthosefewweeks.Thesocalled Apogeeenthu

drivesyouforward.Thoughtheprojectallotment isdonewaybefore,therealworkstartsonly

whentheApogeepressurestartsmounting.Thatswhenyouactuallykickstarttheprojectwork

andsay Weperformbestwhenweareputunderpressure!andyoustartexperiencing the

Apogeeworkculture.Youarestuckatsomeproblem for longhours,the frustrationbuildsup,

butsuddenlyamomentarysparkgivesyouanaltogethernewdirection,bringsyourenthuback

anddrivesyouforward.BrainstormingsessionsinFD2QTatmidnight,funfilledactivitiesand

pranksinthelabwhenyouaresickofcontinuousworking,laughingatyourselfafterrealizingthe

sillymistakes

you

were

conducting

in

your

project,

you

seem

to

enjoy

every

moment

of

pre

Apogeework.ContinuousnightoutsjustbeforeApogeeareakindofatraditionandamustto

completeyourproject!

So,aftermonthsofhardworkandsleeplessnights,thejudgementdayarrives.Apogeeseemsto

bedifferentthisyear,thepressureisonyoutodeliver,andyouaretheoneresponsibleforthe

thingsgoingaround.Presentationsinthemorning,eventstilleveningandsenselessmastiduring

nightthis isyournewschedule forthenext4days.Finally,comesthevaledictoryceremony,

thewholeassociationgathersintheauditorium,roaringandcheeringateverysingleprizewon

bytheForum.Theatmosphere isenergeticandyou lookatyourfriends,satisfiedwithanother

brilliantApogee

gone

by.

And

then

you

march

towards

Cnot

all

set

to

unleash

your

emotions,

frustrationandbehaveaswildlyasyoucan...Workhard,PartyHarder!

WhentheApogeehangovercomestoanend,yourealizethatthetimeofretirementisnearand

youneedtopassontheresponsibilitytothejuniorbatch.Thencomesthetimefor interviews

andtheflashesofhowyouweretorturedduringyourown interview,cometoyourmind.This

motivatesyoutoplanand implement,astohowyoullbedoingthesamewiththejuniors!So,

aftergivingagrandfarewelltoseniors,enjoyingandlaughingattheirwriteupsandannouncing

thenextbatchofexcomms,youareofficiallyretired.

Finally,comes thePsentisem,youare free fromall the responsibilitiesof theForum time to

enjoyandrelaxforallexceptoneunluckyfellow Prez.Thoughyouarenotmuchinvolvedinthe

forum,youstillhavethisvastexperiencewhichyoucansharewith thejuniors.Yourtask isto

guidethemwheneverrequiredandmakesurethattheydonotcommitthesamemistakesyou

did.Andthencomesthetimeforwriteups,timetogathersomeofthosebeautifulmemoriesof

yourfriendsandrevealtheirhiddensecrets!!Youaregivenagrandfarewell,alovelymemento

andmemoriesofa lifetime. I cannever forgetall thosegloriousyears@ the Instrumentation

Forum....ButIdontfeeltoofarawayeither...sinceLife@InstrumentationForumgoesonand

thejourneyofaBitsianInstruiteneveractuallyends.Proudtobeone...


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SymbioticRelationshipShardoolRastogi

Somerelationsinthisworldcanneverbebroken,

Theyneithertremblenorcantheybeshaken.

Relationsbetweenhumansaremanytobe

found.

Butonceexistedanassociation,whichwas

mostprofound.

Agentlemanof60livedalone

Surroundedbygardenswashishome.

Hegrewflowersbothtenderandwild;

Caringfor

them

as

amother

for

her

child.

Flowerstheywereofdifferentsmellandhue,

Hesatadoringtheminthemorningdew.

Neithersunnorraincouldshatterhispledge

Tocareforthetrees,shrubsandhedge.

Whenwateringhisplantshewashappyandgay,

Showingtheir

gratitude,

the

branch

use

to

sway.

Butlifeisalwaysnotsobright,

Thegardenerpassedawayonamoonlessnight.

Foronceandforever,thegardencamedown,

Theflowerslostcolourandleavesturnedbrown.

Thegardenwassweptinawindofsorrow

Thetrees

mourned

on,

till

they

became

hollow.

Itsfruitsnowturnedsourintaste

Thegardenwastransformedintoadeserted

waste.

Theflowersafterthatdayneverdidblossom.

Thoughoncethatplacewasbeautifuland

awesome.


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INSTRUMENTATIONEVOLVINGAyushi Kansal

Managing instrumentation is one key to unlockinggreater facility return on assets

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We are responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of instrumentsand entire instrumentation systems considered being the eyes and ears of any

industrial undertaking. Well by we I meant all Instrumentation engineers. Among the

oldest known instruments of measurement was the armillary sphere, an astronomical

instrument used in ancient China and Greece. The compass was a striking

advancement in navigational instrumentation made in about the 11th century.

Instruments have also evolved in terms of flexibility and the degree to which they

integrate in systems. The first generation of instruments were analog instruments,

manually controlled from their front panel. Measurements from this type of instrument

had to be recorded by hand. The user had no flexibility in user interface design or

measurement capabilities.

Theodolites made accurate determination of locations possible in the 18th century.

Instrumentation developed rapidly in the Industrial Revolution. It is important to note

that instruments have always leveraged off widely used technology. In the nineteenth

century the jewelled movement of the clock was first used to build analog meters. In

1930s the variable capacitor, variable resistor, and vacuum tube from radios were used

to build the first electronic instruments. Display technology for the television has

contributed to modern day oscilloscopes and analyzers. Today, modern personal

computers contribute to high-performance computation, display, capture, and storageof data.

With the invention of general purpose interface bus, systems cou

BITS Pilani Electronics & Instrumentation Magazine 'IMAGE 2010'

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