New Study Finds IEEE Journals Rank High in Quality Content
IEEE has once again earned high scores from the ISI Journal Citation Reports (JCR), a study that looks at the influence academic journals have on research within their disciplines. Published by Thomson ISI, the report ranks journals by their impact factor – which is the average number of times articles published over the last two years were cited in the most recent year. The 2006 report, released in June of 2007, shows IEEE continuing to lead the field with the high quality and relevant content published in IEEE journals.
According to the JCR, IEEE publishes:
- 17 of the top 20 journals in the field of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
- 10 of the top 10 journals in Telecommunications
- 7 of top 10 journals in Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
- 7 of top 20 journals in Computer Science, Information Systems
- 9 of top 20 journals in Computer Science, Software Engineering
IEEE also has high-ranking journals in several additional fields of technology including the # 1 journal in Imaging Science & Photographic Technology, the # 1 journal in Automation Control, as well as journals ranked among the top 3 for Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science - Interdisciplinary Applications, Computer Science - Theory & Methods, Manufacturing Engineering, Nuclear Science & Technology, Ocean Engineering, Remote Sensing and Robotics. Read more
French Team Boosts Speed of Nanotube Transistors
Carbon nanotube transistors that can reach cutoff frequencies of 30 gigahertz have been manufactured on a silicon substrate, according to French researchers, who say the high-frequency transistors improve on previous attempts by a factor of four. The transistors were made using the dielectrophoresis technique to obtain a uniform deposition of a large number of aligned nanotubes. According to the research team, this process can be carried out at room temperature, making it compatible with other inexpensive substrates such as glass and plastic. Read more
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Micro-Generator Powered by Vibration
An electric generator the size of a sugar-cube and powered by environmental vibrations has been developed by engineers at University of Southampton in the United Kingdom who say the device could power hordes of wireless sensors or medical implants. The micro-generator harvests power by exploiting the wobbling of several neodymium iron boron magnets attached to a millimeter-sized cantilever, converting 30 percent of environmental kinetic energy into electrical power. The researchers say their generator, which produces up to 46 microwatts of electrical power, could run all sorts of low-power devices without batteries, particularly when alternatives like solar power are not an option. Additionally, since the device lacks wires and batteries, it can be used to embed sensors in previously inaccessible locations. Read more
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New Titles Available from Wiley-IEEE Press Series
Advanced FPGA Design: Architecture, Implementation, and Optimization, a new title from Wiley-IEEE Press, outlines advanced issues of FPGA design that normally takes years of mentoring to understand. IEEE members receive 15% off all titles. Buy now
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Squeezing More Functions into Power Management Circuits
Consumer electronics manufacturers, driven by ever-increasing demand for smaller and lighter portable devices with greater functions, are squeezing power systems into tinier packages, introducing a growing array of power management integrated circuits (PMICs) which collapse the primary power functions of portable consumer electronics systems into a single chip. The chips typically integrate a battery charger, one or more step-down converters and multiple low-dropout regulators (LDOs). According to experts, because power from a USB port fluctuates with device demand, requiring extra mechanisms to protect the port and still deliver a rapid enough charge to lithium ion batteries, many of the challenges in power chip design rise from the need to support charging from both USB and AC adapter sources. Read more
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IEEE UCE/SPAM Filtering Service to Change from “OPT-IN” to “OPT-OUT”
To help reduce the increasingly large volume of unsolicited commercial email messages – commonly known as spam – being sent to ieee.org email addresses from outside sources, the IEEE UCE/spam filtering service will be changing from the current “opt-in” policy to an “op-out” policy.”
On 20 August 2007, a default spam filtering level, expected to reduce the volume of email sent to ieee.org addresses by 30 percent, will be applied to all IEEE email aliases. It is designed to filter out email that is extremely likely to be UCE/spam. In the past, this filtering service had to be individually activated by each user.
Those who do not wish to have the default spam filtering level applied to their IEEE email alias can select to “opt-out” at https://uce.ieee.org and choose the “No UCE/Spam filtering” option, or select a more aggressive filter level. After choosing this option, click on “Set UCE/Spam Filtering Level” button to save the changes. If no action is taken by 20 August, the default spam filtering level will be activated. Subscribers can opt-out of the filtering service at any time.
For more details on why the new policy was implemented, how the policy will improve email delivery through internet service providers and the aggressiveness of the service, visit https://uce.ieee.org/opt-out-info.html. Questions can be directed to member-services@ieee.org.
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Nanoscale Webinar Avaiable on Demand
The “Optimizing Nanoscale CMOS RFICs” webinar, sponsored by Ansoft, discusses the latest challenges and rewards of migrating to the nanometer regime including new solutions for nanoscale design and is still available for on-demand viewing. To watch the webinar, which also looks at new risks impacting RF, analog, and high-speed circuit design, click here.
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IEEE SiPS Workshop 2007
The IEEE 2007 Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SiPS2007) is a major international forum for the discussion of new technology progress and innovations in the design and implementation of multimedia and telecom-oriented digital signal processing systems. Now in its 25th year, the annual workshop will be held in Shanghai, China on 17-19 October 2007. Featuring keynote speeches on wireless sensor networks by Magdy Bayoumi from the University of Lafayette, 3-D video challenges by Liang Gee Chen from the National Taiwan University, and wireless multimedia communications by Lajod Hanzo from the University of Southhampton, the conference brings together the best and brightest minds in the Signal Processing field. Early registration is highly recommended. Learn more
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Next-Generation Games Anticipated
Gamers are using a range of new graphics chips to beef up their PCs in anticipation of the next generation of computer games, which are expected to be released with more realistic visuals than their predecessors. According to experts, the advances are driven by competition between Nvidia, the last remaining independent graphics chip company, and ATI Technologies, which was folded into PC processor maker Advanced Micro Devices last year. The new chips have more than half a billion transistors, hundreds of processing engines and over half a gigabyte of memory. This allows them to run games using DirectX 10, the latest version of the software from Microsoft that lets games run on its Windows operating system. Though only a handful of games currently take advantage of DirectX 10, some highly anticipated 2007 game releases, like the online role-playing game, Age of Conan, and the jungle shooting game, Crysis, will use the Microsoft software. Read more
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Technology to Monitor Elderly Enlisted
Baby boomers are using sensors, webcams, GPS devices, and wearable emergency buttons to monitor their elderly parents, allowing seniors to have a sense of independence while reassuring caregivers of their charges’ safety. A number of companies are bringing various monitoring technologies together, according to experts, including a detector that uses floor sensors, rather than a device strapped to the body, to detect when someone falls. The sensors feed information into a PC, which transmits it to a monitoring service or caregiver. Also in the works are a mobile heart rate monitor and wireless sensors that can monitor falls, weight and blood pressure in real time, using a smart phone to transmit the information via text messages to a health care service, a patient's doctor, and other caregivers. Read more
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