Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER-1
1.1 INTRODUCTION:
For the past quarter century, wireless communication has been hailed as
the superior method for transmitting video, audio, data and various analog
signals. Laser offers many well-known advantages over twisted pair and coaxial
cable, including immunity to electrical interference and superior bandwidth. For
these and many other reasons, wireless transmission systems have been
increasingly integrated into a wide range of applications across many industries.
Now, a new generation of products that employs pure digital signaling to
transmit analog information offers the opportunity to raise the standard once
again, bringing wireless transmission to a whole new level.
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Education Guide examines how digital signaling over laser is accomplished and
the resulting benefits, both from a performance and economic perspective.
• Power Consumption :
RF network needs to constantly listen, depending on the duty cycle. This
takes power. A laser node however does not need to listen, and can sleep while
waiting for a laser pulse.
• Range:
A RF enabled node has a limited range. A laser has a range in the kilometers.
This means a node can be far away from the central network nodes.
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CHAPTER -2
and demonstrate that such a system can indeed work. In this paper, we will
explain the motivation for such a system, where a laser based network has
advantages over traditional RF ones, and how we implemented our prototype
network.
Segment usually utilizes large antennas and powerful transmitters such that an
ample radio energy density (W/m-2) arrives at the spacecraft receiver antenna.
Conversely, the spacecraft are bound to use low power transmitters, partly
because electrical power is a scarce resource in space, partly because high
power transmitters are heavy, large, and have a short life. Deep space probes,
that are spacecrafts that are bound for the Moon and beyond, are forced to use
highly directional antennas both for up- and downlink because of the large
distance between the spacecraft and the ground station. E.g. spacecrafts bound
for Mars will have 2- 4m diameter dish antennas on the spacecraft, and the
ground segment uses 70m antennas! The size of the antenna determines,
together with the frequency of the radio waves, the
Directionality (i.e. gain) of the antenna (3dB beam width = 708/antenna
diameter degrees).
The larger the antenna, and the higher the frequency, the higher gain.
Therefore, there has been a constant drive for use of higher frequencies to
enable smaller antenna systems onboard the spacecraft. At present, 20-30 GHz
is practical. Finally, the required data rate that the communication link has to
support depends on the total attenuation of the link because certain energy must
be received per bit. Hence, if the powers received are low, it will take longer
time to achieve the necessary energy, and vise
2.3.1 Overview
• Background
• Project goals
• Motivation and Challenges
• Project implementation
• Data flow
• Encoding scheme
• Framing scheme
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2.3.2 Background
1. Long range
2. Low-powered, low interference
3. Narrow beam very hard to detect & intercept
4. High speed
1. Non-mobile
2. Line of sight issue
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3. Challenges
4. Design a reliable coding scheme
5. Optimize for bandwidth and latency
.
2.3.5 Project Implementation
1. Framed bytes
2. Encoded bits
3. Framed bytes
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CHAPTER-3
COMPONENTS
• PCB
• STEP DOWN TRANSFORMER 5V/500mA
• VOLTAGE REGULATOR LM7805
• RECTIFIER DIODES 1N4001
• ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
• LED DISPLAY
• LEDs
• IC 7447, 8870, 91214.
• Tr. BC-548
• Laser diode
• OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
• PVC WIRES
• RESSISTANCE 10K
• CAPACITOR 104PF
• DPDT S/W
• IC 7805
• MICRO SWITCH
• CRYSTAL 12 MHZ
• RESET 100K
• MIKE
• SPEAKER 5 OHM
3.2.1 PCB:
PCBs are boards whereupon electronic circuits have been etched. PCBs are
rugged, inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require much more layout
effort and higher initial cost than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point
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constructed circuits, but are much cheaper and faster for high-volume
production. Much of the electronics industry's PCB design, assembly, and
quality control needs are set by standards that are published by the IPC
organization.
After the printed circuit board (PCB) is completed, electronic components must
be attached to form a functional printed circuit assembly, or PCA (sometimes
called a "printed circuit board assembly" PCBA). In through-hole construction,
component leads are inserted in holes. In surface-mount construction, the
components are placed on pads or lands on the outer surfaces of the PCB. In
both kinds of construction, component leads are electrically and mechanically
fixed to the board with a molten metal solder.
After the board has been populated it may be tested in a variety of ways:
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To facilitate these tests, PCBs may be designed with extra pads to make
temporary connections. Sometimes these pads must be isolated with resistors.
The in-circuit test may also exercise boundary scan test features of some
components. In-circuit test systems may also be used to program nonvolatile
memory components on the board.
In boundary scan testing, test circuits integrated into various ICs on the board
form temporary connections between the PCB traces to test that the ICs are
mounted correctly. Boundary scan testing requires that all the ICs to be tested
use a standard test configuration procedure, the most common one being the
Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) standard. When boards fail the test,
technicians may disorder and replace failed components, a task known as
"rework".
Manufacturing
a) Materials: Conducting layers are typically made of thin copper foil.
Insulating layers dielectric are typically laminated together with epoxy
resin prepare. The board is typically coated with a solder mask that is
green in color. Other colors that are normally available are blue, and red.
There are quite a few different dielectrics that can be chosen to provide
different insulating values depending on the requirements of the circuit.
Some of these dielectrics are polytetrafluoroethylene, FR-4, FR-1, CEM-
1 or CEM-3. Well known prepreg materials used in the PCB industry are
FR-2 (Phenolic cotton paper), FR-3 (Cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4
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(Woven glass and epoxy), FR-5 (Woven glass and epoxy), FR-6 (Matte
glass and polyester), G-10 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-1 (Cotton
paper and epoxy), CEM-2
(Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-3 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-4
(Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (Woven glass and polyester).
Typical density of a raw PCB (an average amount of traces, holes, and via's,
with no components) is 2.15g / cm3
Patterning (etching) : The vast majority of printed circuit boards are made by
bonding a layer of copper over the entire substrate, sometimes on both sides,
(creating a "blank PCB") then removing unwanted copper after applying a
temporary mask (eg. by etching), leaving only the desired copper traces. A few
PCBs are made by adding traces to the bare substrate (or a substrate with a very
thin layer of copper) usually by a complex process of multiple electroplating
steps.
There are three common "subtractive" methods (methods that remove copper)
used for the production of printed circuit boards:
1. Silk screen printing uses etch-resistant inks to protect the copper foil.
Subsequent etching removes the unwanted copper. Alternatively, the ink
may be conductive, printed on a blank (non-conductive) board. The latter
technique is also used in the manufacture of hybrid circuits.
Lamination
Some PCBs have trace layers inside the PCB and are called multi-layer PCBs.
These are formed by bonding together separately etched thin boards.
Drilling
Holes through a PCB are typically drilled with tiny drill bits made of solid
tungsten carbide. The drilling is performed by automated drilling machines with
placement controlled by a drill tape or drill file. These computer-generated files
are also called numerically controlled drill (NCD) files or "Excellon files". The
drill file describes the location and size of each drilled hole. These holes are
often filled with annular rings to create vias. Vias allow the electrical and
thermal connection of conductors on opposite sides of the PCB.
When very small vias are required, drilling with mechanical bits is costly
because of high rates of wear and breakage. In this case, the vias may be
evaporated by lasers. Laser-drilled vias typically have an inferior surface finish
inside the hole. These holes are called micro vias.
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The walls of the holes, for boards with 2 or more layers, are plated with copper
to form plated-through holes that electrically connect the conducting layers of
the PCB. For multilayer boards, those with 4 layers or more, drilling typically
produces a smear comprised of the bonding agent in the laminate system.
Before the holes can be plated through, this smear must be removed by a
chemical de-smear process, or by plasma-etch.
Test
Unpopulated boards may be subjected to a bare-board test where each circuit
connection (as defined in a netlist) is verified as correct on the finished board.
For high-volume production, a Bed of nails tester, a fixture or a Rigid needle
adapter is used to make contact with copper lands or holes on one or both sides
of the board to facilitate testing. A computer will instruct the electrical test unit
to apply a small voltage to each contact point on the bed-of-nails as required,
and verify that such voltage appears at other appropriate contact points. A
"short" on a board would be a connection where there should not be one; an
"open" is between two points that should be connected but are not. For small- or
medium-volume boards, flying-probe and flying-grid testers use moving test
heads to make contact with the copper/silver/gold/solder lands or holes to verify
the electrical connectivity of the board under test.
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the magnitude of the applied magnetic field. The changing magnetic flux
extends to the secondary coil where a voltage is induced across its ends.
INDUCTION LAW --The voltage induced across the secondary coil may be
calculated from Faraday's law of induction, which states that:
eqn (3.2)
eqn (3.2.a)
Taking the ratio of the two equations for VS and VP gives the basic equation for
stepping up or stepping down the voltage
eqn (3.2.b)
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Overview
The transistor (or other device) is used as one half of a potential divider to
control the output voltage, and a feedback circuit compares the output voltage
to a reference voltage in order to adjust the input to the transistor, thus keeping
the output voltage reasonably constant. This is inefficient: since the transistor is
acting like a resistor, it will waste electrical energy by converting it to heat. In
fact, the power loss due to heating in the transistor is the current times the
voltage dropped across the transistor. The same function can be performed more
efficiently by a switched-mode power supply (SMPS), but it is more complex
and the switching currents in it tend to produce electromagnetic interference. A
SMPS can easily provide more than 30A of current at voltages as low as 3V,
while for the same voltage and current, a linear regulator would be very bulky
and heavy.
Linear regulators exist in two basic forms: series regulators and shunt
regulators.
• Series regulators are the more common form. The series regulator works
by providing a path from the supply voltage to the load through a variable
resistance (the main transistor is in the "top half" of the voltage divider).
The power dissipated by the regulating device is equal to the power
supply output current times the voltage drop in the regulating device.
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• The shunt regulator works by providing a path from the supply voltage to
ground through a variable resistance (the main transistor is in the "bottom
half" of the voltage divider). The current through the shunt regulator is
diverted away from the load and flows uselessly to ground, making this
form even less efficient than the series regulator. It is, however, simpler,
sometimes consisting of just a voltage-reference diode, and is used in
very low-powered circuits where the wasted current is too small to be of
concern. This form is very common for voltage reference circuits.
All linear regulators require an input voltage at least some minimum amount
higher than the desired output voltage. That minimum amount is called the
drop-out voltage. For example, a common regulator such as the 7805 has an
output voltage of 5V, but can only maintain this if the input voltage remains
above about 7V. Its drop-out voltage is therefore 7V - 5V = 2V. When the
supply voltage is less than about 2V above the desired output voltage, as is the
case in low-voltage microprocessor power supplies, so-called low dropout
regulators (LDOs) must be used.
Common solid-state series voltage regulators are the LM78xx (for positive
voltages) and LM79xx (for negative voltages), and common fixed voltages are
5 V (for transistor-transistor logic circuits) and 12 V (for communications
circuits and peripheral devices such as disk drives). In fixed voltage regulators
the reference pin is tied to ground, whereas in variable regulators the reference
pin is connected to the centre point of a fixed or variable voltage divider fed by
the regulator's output. A variable voltage divider (such as a potentiometer)
allows the user to adjust the regulated voltage.
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The image shows a simple zener voltage regulator. It is a shunt regulator and
operates by way of the zener diode's action of maintaining a constant voltage
across itself when the current through it is sufficient to take it into the zener
breakdown region. The resistor R1 supplies the zener current IZ as well as the
load current IR2 (R2 is the load). R1 can be calculated as -
eqn (3.3)
where, VZ is the zener voltage, and IR2 is the required load current.
This regulator is used for very simple low power applications where the
currents involved are very small and the load is permanently connected across
the zener diode (such as voltage reference or voltage source circuits). Once R1
has been calculated, removing R2 will cause the full load current (plus the zener
current) to flow through the diode and may exceed the diode's maximum
current rating thereby damaging it. The regulation of this circuit is also not very
good because the zener current (and hence the zener voltage) will vary
depending on VS and inversely depending on the load current.
connected to the zener diode. Thus the transistor's base current (IB) forms the
load current for the zener diode and is much smaller than the current through
R2. This regulator is classified as "series" because the regulating element, viz.,
the transistor, appears in series with the load. R1 sets the zener current (IZ) and
is determined as –
eqn (3.4)
where, VZ is the zener voltage, IB is the transistor's base current and K = 1.2 to 2
(to ensure that R1 is low enough for adequate IB).
eqn (3.5)
where, IR2 is the required load current and is also the transistor's emitter current
(assumed to be equal to the collector current) and hFE(min) is the minimum
acceptable DC current gain for the transistor.
3.2.4 RECTIFIER
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Rectifiers may be made of solid state diodes, vacuum tube diodes, mercury arc
valves, and other components.
Early radio receivers, called crystal radios, used a "cat's whisker" of fine wire
pressing on a crystal of galena (lead sulfide) to serve as a point-contact rectifier
or "crystal detector". In gas heating systems flame rectification can be used to
detect a flame. Two metal electrodes in the outer layer of the flame provide a
current path and rectification of an applied alternating voltage, but only while
the flame is present.
In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of the AC wave is
passed, while the other half is blocked. Because only one half of the input
waveform reaches the output, it is very inefficient if used for power transfer.
Half-wave rectification can be achieved with a single diode in a one-phase
supply, or with three diodes in a three-phase supply.
FIG; 3.2.5
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FIG; 3.2.6
FIG;3.2.7
eqn (3.6)
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And a round pad for the negative. Modern capacitors have a safety valve,
typically either a scored section of the can, or a specially designed end seal to
vent the hot gas/liquid, but ruptures can still be dramatic. An electrolytic can
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withstand a reverse bias for a short period of time, but will conduct significant
current and not act as a very good capacitor. Most will survive with no reverse
DC bias or with only AC voltage, but circuits should be designed so that there
is not a constant reverse bias for any significant amount of time. A constant
forward bias is preferable, and will increase the life of the capacitor.
A light-emitting diode (LED) , is an electronic light source. The LED was first
invented in Russia in the 1920s, and introduced in America as a practical
electronic component in 1962. Oleg Vladimirovich Losev was a radio
technician who noticed that diodes used in radio receivers emitted light when
current was passed through them. In 1927, he published details in a Russian
journal of the first ever LED. All early devices emitted low-intensity red light,
but modern LEDs are available across the visible, ultraviolet and infra red
wavelengths, with very high brightness.
LEDs are based on the semiconductor diode. When the diode is forward biased
(switched on), electrons are able to recombine with holes and energy is released
in the form of light. This effect is called electroluminescence and the color of
the light is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor. The LED is
usually small in area (less than 1 mm2) with integrated optical components to
shape its radiation pattern and assist in reflection.
LEDs present many advantages over traditional light sources including lower
energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size and
faster switching. However, they are relatively expensive and require more
precise current and heat management than traditional light sources.
Applications of LEDs are diverse. They are used as low-energy and also for
replacements for traditional light sources in well-established applications such
as indicators and automotive lighting. The compact size of LEDs has allowed
new text and video displays and sensors to be developed, while their high
switching rates are useful in communications technology.
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FIG;3.2.8(LED)
LED SYMBOL
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FIG;3.2.9(INTEGRATED CIRCUIT)
There are two main advantages of ICs over discrete circuits: cost and
performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are
printed as a unit by photolithography and not constructed one transistor at a
time. Furthermore, much less material is used to construct a circuit as a
packaged IC die than as a discrete circuit. Performance is high since the
components switch quickly and consume little power (compared to their
discrete counterparts), because the components are small and close together. As
of 2006, chip areas range from a few square mm to around 350 mm², with up to
1 million transistors per mm².
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FIG;3.2.8 (IC)
Invention
The integrated circuit was conceived by a radar scientist, Geoffrey W.A.
Dummer (1909-2002), working for the Royal Radar Establishment of the
British Ministry of Defence, and published at the Symposium on Progress in
Quality Electronic Components in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 1952.He gave
many symposia publicly to propagate his ideas. The integrated circuit can be
credited as being invented by both Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert
Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor working independently of each other. Kilby
recorded his initial ideas concerning the integrated circuit in July 1958 and
successfully demonstrated the first working integrated circuit on September 12,
1958. Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part of the invention of
the integrated circuit. Robert Noyce also came up with his own idea of
integrated circuit, half a year later than Kilby. Noyce's chip had solved many
practical problems that the microchip developed by Kilby had not. Noyce's
chip, made at Fairchild, was made of silicon, whereas Kilby's chip was made of
germanium.
Early developments of the integrated circuit go back to 1949, when the German
engineer Werner Jacobi (Siemens AG) filed a patent for an integrated-circuit-
like semiconductor amplifying device showing five transistors on a common
substrate arranged in a 2-stage amplifier arrangement. Jacobi discloses small
and cheap hearing aids as typical industrial applications of his patent. A
commercial use of his patent has not been reported.
A precursor idea to the IC was to create small ceramic squares (wafers), each
one containing a single miniaturized component. Components could then be
integrated and wired into a bidimensional or tridimensional compact grid. This
idea, which looked very promising in 1957, was proposed to the US Army by
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Jack Kilby, and led to the short-lived Micromodule Program (similar to 1951's
Project Tinkertoy). However, as the project was gaining momentum, Kilby
came up with a new, revolutionary design: the IC.
Generations
SSI circuits were crucial to early aerospace projects, and vice-versa. Both the
Minuteman missile and Apollo program needed lightweight digital computers
for their inertial guidance systems; the Apollo guidance computer led and
motivated the integrated-circuit technology, while the Minuteman missile
forced it into mass-production.
These programs purchased almost all of the available integrated circuits from
1960 through 1963, and almost alone provided the demand that funded the
production improvements to get the production costs from $1000/circuit (in
1960 dollars) to merely $25/circuit (in 1963 dollars). They began to appear in
consumer products at the turn of the decade, a typical application being FM
inter-carrier sound processing in television receivers.
The next step in the development of integrated circuits, taken in the late 1960s,
introduced devices which contained hundreds of transistors on each chip, called
"Medium-Scale Integration" (MSI).
They were attractive economically because while they cost little more to
produce than SSI devices, they allowed more complex systems to be produced
using smaller circuit boards, less assembly work (because of fewer separate
components), and a number of other advantages.
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Integrated circuits such as 1K-bit RAMs, calculator chips, and the first
microprocessors, that began to be manufactured in moderate quantities in the
early 1970s, had under 4000 transistors. True LSI circuits, approaching 10000
transistors, began to be produced around 1974, for computer main memories
and second-generation microprocessors.
VLSI
The final step in the development process, starting in the 1980s and continuing
through the present, was "Very Large-Scale Integration" (VLSI). This could be
said to start with hundreds of thousands of transistors in the early 1980s, and
continues beyond several billion transistors as of 2007.
In 1986 the first one megabit RAM chips were introduced, which contained
more than one million transistors. Microprocessor chips passed the million
transistor mark in 1989 and the billion transistor mark in 2005. The trend
continues largely unabated, with chips introduced in 2007 containing tens of
billions of memory transistors .
To reflect further growth of the complexity, the term ULSI that stands for
"Ultra-Large Scale Integration" was proposed for chips of complexity of
more than 1 million transistors. To reflect further growth of the complexity, the
term ULSI that stands for "Ultra-Large Scale Integration" was proposed for
chips of complexity of more than 1 million transistors.
Three Dimensional Integrated Circuit (3D-IC) has two or more layers of active
electronic components that are integrated both vertically and horizontally into a
single circuit. Communication between layers uses on-die signaling, so power
consumption is much lower than in equivalent separate circuits. Judicious use of
short vertical wires can substantially reduce overall wire length for faster
operation.
ICs have consistently migrated to smaller feature sizes over the years, allowing
more circuitry to be packed on each chip. This increased capacity per unit area
can be used to decrease cost and/or increase functionality—see Moore's law
which, in its modern interpretation, states that the number of transistors in an
integrated circuit doubles every two years. In general, as the feature size
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shrinks, almost everything improves—the cost per unit and the switching power
consumption go down, and the speed goes up. However, ICs with nanometer-
scale devices are not without their problems, principal among which is leakage
current (see subthreshold leakage for a discussion of this), although these
problems are not insurmountable and will likely be solved or at least
ameliorated by the introduction of high-k dielectrics. Since these speed and
power consumption gains are apparent to the end user, there is fierce
competition among the manufacturers to use finer geometries. This process, and
the expected progress over the next few years, is well described by the
International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).
Manufacture
Fabrication
The semiconductors of the periodic table of the chemical elements were
identified as the most likely materials for a solid state vacuum tube by
researchers like William Shockley at Bell Laboratories starting in the 1930s.
Starting with copper oxide, proceeding to germanium, then silicon, the
materials were systematically studied in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, silicon
monocrystals are the main substrate used for integrated circuits (ICs) although
some III-V compounds of the periodic table such as gallium arsenide are used
for specialized applications like LEDs, lasers, solar cells and the highest-speed
integrated circuits. It took decades to perfect methods of creating crystals
without defects in the crystalline structure of the semiconducting material.
Semiconductor ICs are fabricated in a layer process which includes these key
process steps:
a) Imaging
b) Deposition
c) Etching
The main process steps are supplemented by doping and cleaning. Mono-crystal
silicon wafers (or for special applications, silicon on sapphire or gallium
arsenide wafers) are used as the substrate. Photolithography is used to mark
different areas of the substrate to be doped or to have polysilicon, insulators or
metal (typically aluminum) tracks deposited on them.
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A random access memory is the most regular type of integrated circuit; the
highest density devices are thus memories; but even a microprocessor will have
memory on the chip. (See the regular array structure at the bottom of the first
image.) Although the structures are intricate – with widths which have been
shrinking for decades – the layers remain much thinner than the device widths.
The layers of material are fabricated much like a photographic process,
although light waves in the visible spectrum cannot be used to "expose" a layer
of material, as they would be too large for the features. Thus photons of higher
frequencies (typically ultraviolet) are used to create the patterns for each layer.
Because each feature is so small, electron microscopes are essential tools for a
process engineer who might be debugging a fabrication process.
Each device is tested before packaging using automated test equipment (ATE),
in a process known as wafer testing, or wafer probing. The wafer is then cut
into rectangular blocks, each of which is called a die. Each good die (plural
dice, dies, or die) is then connected into a package using aluminum (or gold)
bond wires which are welded to pads, usually found around the edge of the die.
After packaging, the devices go through final testing on the same or similar
ATE used during wafer probing. Test cost can account for over 25% of the cost
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The many types of diode lasers known today collectively form a subset of the
larger classification of semiconductor p-n junction diodes. Just as in any
semiconductor p-n junction diode, forward electrical bias causes the two species
of charge carrier - holes and electrons - to be "injected" from opposite sides of
the p-n junction into the depletion region, situated at its heart. Holes are injected
from the p-doped, and electrons from the n-doped, semiconductor. (A depletion
region, devoid of any charge carriers, forms automatically and unavoidably as a
result of the difference in chemical potential between n- and p-type
semiconductors wherever they are in physical contact.)
energy released from the recombination of electrons and holes is carried away
as phonons, i.e., lattice vibrations, rather than as photons.) Spontaneous
emission gives the laser diode below lasing threshold similar properties to an
LED. Spontaneous emission is necessary to initiate laser oscillation, but it is
one among several sources of inefficiency once the laser is oscillating. The
difference between the photon-emitting semiconductor laser (or LED) and
conventional phonon-emitting (non-light-emitting) semiconductor junction
diodes lies in the use of a different type of semiconductor, one whose physical
and atomic structure confers the possibility for photon emission. These photon-
emitting semiconductors are the so-called "direct bandgap" semiconductors.
The properties of silicon and germanium, which are single-element
semiconductors, have bandgaps that do not align in the way needed to allow
photon emission and are not considered "direct." Other materials, the so-called
compound semiconductors, have virtually identical crystaline structures as
silicon or germanium but use alternating arrangements of two different atomic
species in a checkerboard-like pattern to break the symmetry. The transition
between the materials in the alternating pattern creates the critical "direct
bandgap" property. Gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium antimonide,
and gallium nitride are all examples of compound semiconductor materials that
can be used to create junction diodes that emit light.
Having analyzed the circuit in the section: "Laser diode power supply 4", I then
proceeded to try out a variety of typical visible laser diodes. For all the
undamaged laser diodes that I tested, leaving SBT open resulted in safe
feedback regulated operation at Vcc1 = Vcc2 = 7 V. But, depending on the
particular sample's photodiode sensitivity, optical output power varied widely.
While testing, I used a regulated power supply with adjustable current limit.
The voltage was set at 7 V and the current limit knob was used to ramp up the
input to the driver while monitoring laser diode current and/or feedback voltage
from the photodiode. This approach may have prevented damage to a laser
diode on more than one occasion.
Laser diodes find wide use in telecommunication as easily modulated and easily
coupled light sources for fiber optics communication. They are used in various
measuring instruments, eg. rangefinders. Another common use is in barcode
readers. Visible lasers, typically red but later also green, are common as laser
pointers. Both low and high-power diodes are used extensively in the printing
industry both as light sources for scanning (input) of images and for very high-
speed and high-resolution printing plate (output) manufacturing. Infrared and
red laser diodes are common in CD players, CD-ROMs and DVD technology.
Violet lasers are used in HD DVD and Blu-ray technology. Diode lasers have
also found many applications in laser absorption spectrometry (LAS) for high-
speed, low-cost assessment or monitoring of the concentration of various
species in gas phase. High-power laser diodes are used in industrial applications
such as heat treating, cladding, seam welding and for pumping other lasers,
such as diode pumped solid state lasers.
Medicine and especially Dentistry have found many new applications for diode
lasers . The shrinking size of the units and their increasing user friendliness
makes them very attractive to clinicians for minor soft tissue procedures. The
800nm - 980nm units have a high absorption rate for hemoglobin and thus make
them ideal for soft tissue applications, where good hemostasis is necessary.
Applications which may today or in the future make use of the coherence of
diode-laser-generated light include interferometric distance measurement,
holography, coherent communications, and coherent control of chemical
reactions.
Applications where the desired quality of laser diodes is their ability to generate
ultra-short pulses of light by the technique known as "mode-locking" include
clock distribution for high-performance integrated circuits, high-peak-power
sources for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensing, arbitrary waveform
generation for radio-frequency waves, photonic sampling for analog-to-digital
conversion, and optical code-division-multiple-access systems for secure
communication.
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Op-amps are among the most widely used electronic devices today, being used
in a vast array of consumer, industrial, and scientific devices. Many standard IC
op-amps cost only a few cents in moderate production volume; however some
integrated or hybrid operational amplifiers with special performance
specifications may cost over $100 US in small quantities.
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FIG;3.2.9 (IC’S)
Supply voltages Vcc + and Vcc − are used internally to implement the dependent
voltage sources. The positive source Vs + acts as an upper bound on the output,
and the negative source Vs − acts as a lower bound on the output. The internal Vs
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40
+ and Vs − connections are not shown here and will vary by implementation of
the operational amplifier.
Method of application
The amplifier's differential inputs consist of V + input and a V − input, and
generally the op-amp amplifies only the difference in voltage between the two.
This is called the differential input voltage. Operational amplifiers are usually
used with feedback loops where the output of the amplifier would influence one
of its inputs. The output voltage and the input voltage it influences settles down
to a stable voltage after being connected for some time, when they satisfy the
internal circuit of the op amp.
In its most common use, the op-amp's output voltage is controlled by feeding a
fraction of the output signal back to the inverting input. This is known as
negative feedback. If that fraction is zero (i.e., there is no negative feedback)
the amplifier is said to be running open loop and its output is the differential
input voltage multiplied by the total gain of the amplifier, as shown by the
following equation:
Since the magnitude of the open-loop gain is typically very large, open-loop
operation results in op-amp saturation (see below in Nonlinear imperfections)
unless the differential input voltage is extremely small. Finley's law states that
"When the inverting and non-inverting inputs of an op-amp are not equal, its
output is in saturation." Additionally, the precise magnitude of this gain is not
well controlled by the manufacturing process, and so it is impractical to use an
operational amplifier as a stand-alone differential amplifier. Instead, op-amps
are usually used in negative-feedback configurations.
Most single, dual and quad op-amps available have a standardized pin-out
which permits one type to be substituted for another without wiring changes. A
specific op-amp may be chosen for its open loop gain, bandwidth, noise
performance, input impedance, power consumption, or a compromise between
any of these factors.
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Structure
Finally, surrounding this thin, clear PVC sleeve is a colored translucent PVC
sleeve. An electric potential of approximately 90 - 120 volts at about 1000 Hz is
applied between the copper core wire and the fine wire that surrounds the
phosphor coated copper core. The wire can be modelled as a coaxial capacitor
with about 1 nF of capacitance per foot, and the rapid charging and discharging
of this capacitor excites the phosphor to emit light.
A resonant oscillator is typically used to generate the high voltage drive signal.
Because of the capacitance load of the EL wire, using an inductive (coiled)
transformer makes the driver a tuned LC oscillator, and therefore very efficient.
The efficiency of EL wire is very high, and thus a few hundred feet of EL wire
can be driven by AA batteries for several hours.
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When voltage exists one end of the capacitor is getting drained and the other
end is getting filled with charge.This is known as charging. Charging creates a
charge imbalance between the two plates and creates a reverse voltage that
stops the capacitor from charging. As a result, when capacitors are first
connected to voltage, charge flows only to stop as the capacitor becomes
charged. When a capacitor is charged, current stops flowing and it becomes an
open circuit. It is as if the capacitor gained infinite resistance.
You can also think of a capacitor as a fictional battery in series with a fictional
resistance. Starting the charging procedure with the capacitor completely
discharged, the applied voltage is not counteracted by the fictional battery,
because the fictional battery still has zero voltage, and therefore the charging
current is at its maximum. As the charging continues, the voltage of the
fictional battery increases, and counteracts the applied voltage, so that the
charging current decreases as the fictional battery's voltage increases. Finally
the fictional battery's voltage equals the applied voltage, so that no current can
flow into, nor out of, the capacitor. Just as the capacitor charges it can be
discharged. Think of the capacitor being a fictional battery that supplies at first
a maximum current to the "load", but as the discharging continues the voltage
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43
of the fictional battery keeps decreasing, and therefore the discharge current
also decreases. Finally the voltage of the fictional battery is zero, and therefore
the discharge current also is then zero.
Capacitance
Just as the capacitor charges it can be discharged. Think of the capacitor being a
fictional battery that supplies at first a maximum current to the "load", but as
the discharging continues the voltage of the fictional battery keeps decreasing,
and therefore the discharge current also decreases. Finally the voltage of the
fictional battery is zero, and therefore the discharge current also is then zero.
eqn (3.9)
The charge in the capacitor at any given time is the accumulation of all of the
current which has flowed through the capacitor. Therefore, the potential as a
function of time can be written as:
eqn(3.10)
Where i(t) is the current flowing through the capacitor as a function of time.
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eqn(3.11)
Capacitor Labeling
Capacitors are labelled in several different ways.
Ceramic Disc
Sometimes labeled implicitly, usually labeled with number scheme (223 = 22
000 pF, where 3 represents the number of "0" for instance) The letters "mfd" are
often used in place of "µF".
Ceramic Dipped
These usually use the number code. In the above example, the smallest one says
"104". This means 10 0000 pF = 100,000 pF. M is a tolerance. The middle one
is labeled 393. This means 39 000 pF. The last is 223, meaning 22 000 pF. K is
the tolerance. It also has a 100 V working voltage labeled.
Resin-potted mylar/polyester
These are usually labeled explicitly, as there is lots of surface area to write on.
This one is 4700 pF, 250 V, 5 kV test. The frequency f0 = 21 MHz is the
frequency at which it stops behaving like a capacitor, and more like an inductor.
Electrolytic
Usually electrolytic caps are labeled explicitly, making identification
easy.Electrolytics are available in axial and radial-leaded packages. In axial-
leaded parts, the negative terminal is indicated by a minus sign printed on the
package, or by a shorter lead.
Radial-lead parts often uses color code like resistors. The polarity is usually
indicated by arrows on a stripe pointing to the negative terminal.
Tantalum
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Tantalum capacitors have high capacitance and low ESR, but low operating
voltages. When tantalum capacitors fail, it tends to be "spectacular," they
essentially blow up.
Construction
The capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor constructed of two identical plane
electrodes of area A at constant spacing D is approximately equal to the
following:
eqn(3.12)
A dielectric is the material between the two charged objects. Dielectrics are
insulators. They impede the flow of charge in normal operation. Sometimes,
when a too large voltage has been reached, charge starts flowing. This is called
dielectric breakdown and destroys the capacitor. Beginners sometimes
misunderstand this. Timing circuits do measure the rate at which a capacitor
charges, but they measure a threshold voltage instead of allowing the voltage to
build up until dielectric breakdown. (A device which does function this way is a
spark gap.)
No charge should ever flow from one plate to the other. Although a current does
flow through the capacitor, charges are not actually moving from one plate to
the other. As charges are added to one plate, their electric field displaces like
charges off of the other plate. This is called a displacement current.
3.2.11 SWITCH
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Since the advent of digital logic in the 1950s, the term has spread to a variety of
digital active devices such as transistors and logic gates whose function is to
change their output state between two logic levels or connect different signal
lines, and even computers, network switches, whose function is to provide
connections between different ports in a computer network.[3] The term
'switched' is also applied to telecommunications networks, and signifies a
network that is circuit switched, providing dedicated circuits for communication
between end nodes, such as the public switched telephone network. The
common feature of all these usages is they refer to devices that control a binary
state: they are either on or off, closed or open, connected or not connected.
A biased switch is one containing a spring that returns the actuator to a certain
position. The "on-off" notation can be modified by placing parentheses around
all positions other than the resting position. For example, an (on)-off-(on)
switch can be switched on by moving the actuator in either direction away from
the centre, but returns to the central off position when the actuator is released.
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switch), the turning of a key (key switch), linear or rotary movement (the limit
switch or microswitch), or presence of a magnetic field (the reed switch).
The mercury switch consists of a drop of mercury inside a glass bulb with 2
contacts. The two contacts pass through the glass, and are connected by the
mercury when the bulb is tilted to make the mercury roll on to them.
This type of switch performs much better than the ball tilt switch, as the liquid
metal connection is unaffected by dirt, debris and oxidation, it wets the contacts
ensuring a very low resistance bounce free connection, and movement and
vibration do not produce a poor contact.These types can be used for precision
works
1. Knife switch
2. Intermediate switch
OFF
ON
FIG ;3.2.12
3. Power switching
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Power switches usually come in two types. A momentary on-off switch (such as
on a laser pointer) usually takes the form of a button and only closes the circuit
when the button is depressed. A regular on-off switch (such as on a flashlight)
has a constant on-off feature. Dual-action switches incorporate both of these
features.
3.2.12 THERMISTOR
Basic operation
Assuming, as a first-order approximation, that the relationship between
resistance and temperature is linear, then:
ΔR = Kδt eqn(3.13)
ΔR = change in resistance
ΔT = change in temperature
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3.2.13 IC 7805
78xx ICs have three terminals and are most commonly found in the TO220
form factor, although smaller surface-mount and larger TO3 packages are also
available from some manufacturers. These devices typically support an input
voltage which can be anywhere from a couple of volts over the intended output
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FIG;3.15(IC 7805)
Advantages
The 78xx series has several key advantages over many other voltage regulator
circuits which have resulted in its popularity:
• 78xx series ICs have built-in protection against a circuit drawing too
much power. They also have protection against overheating and short-
circuits, rendering them "essentially indestructible" under most
circumstances. In some cases, the current-limiting features of the 78xx
devices can provide protection not only for the 78xx itself, but also for
other parts of the circuit it is used in, preventing other components from
being damaged as well.
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Disadvantages
The 78xx devices have a few drawbacks which can make them unsuitable or
less desirable for some applications:
• The input voltage must always be higher than the output voltage by some
minimum amount (typically 2 volts). This can make these devices
unsuitable for powering some devices from certain types of power
sources (for example, powering a circuit which requires 5 volts using 6-
volt batteries will not work using a 7805).
• As they are based on a linear regulator design, the input current required
is always the same as the output current. As the input voltage must always
be higher than the output voltage, this means that the total power (voltage
multiplied by current) going into the 78xx will be more than the output
power provided. The extra input power is dissipated as heat. This means
both that for some applications an adequate heatsink must be provided,
and also that a (often substantial) portion of the input power is wasted
during the process, rendering them less efficient than some other types of
power supplies. When the input voltage is significantly higher than the
regulated output voltage (for example, powering a 7805 using a 24 volt
power source), this inefficiency can be a significant issue.
Some manufacturers also produce less common variations on the 78xx design,
including lower-power versions such as the LM78Mxx series (500mA) and
LM78Lxx series (100mA) from National Semiconductor. Some devices also
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52
provide slightly different voltages than usual, such as the LM78L62 (6.2 volts)
and LM78L82 (8.2 volts).
Unrelated Devices
Despite similar names, it should be noted that the LM78S40 device from
National Semiconductor is not part of the usual 78xx family, and does not use
the same design. It is intended to be used as a component in switching regulator
designs, and is not a linear regulator like other 78xx devices. Likewise, the
7803SR from Datel is actually a full switching power supply module (designed
as a drop-in replacement for 78xx chips), and not actually a linear regulator like
the 78xx ICs.
MICRO SWITCH
A micro switch is a generic term used to refer to an electric switch that is able
to be actuated by very little physical force. They are very common due to their
low cost and extreme durability, typically greater than 1 million cycles and up
to 10 million cycles for heavy duty models. This durability is a natural
consequence of the design. Internally a stiff metal strip must be bent to activate
the switch. This produces a very distinctive clicking sound and a very crisp feel.
When pressure is removed the metal strip springs back to its original state.
Common applications of micro switches include computer mouse buttons and
arcade game joysticks and buttons. Micro switches are commonly used in
tamper switches on gate valves on fire sprinkler systems and other water pipe
systems, where it is necessary to know if a valve has been opened or shut. They
have also been used as anti-handling devices in boobytrapped improvised
explosive devices manufactured by paramilitary groups e.g. the Provisional IRA
during The Troubles.
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The first micro switch was invented by Peter McGall in 1932 in Freeport,
Illinois. McGall was an employee of the Burgess Battery Company at the time.
In 1937 he started the company MICRO SWITCH, which still exists as of 2009.
It is now owned by Honeywell Sensing and Control.
FIG;3.16 (SWITCH)
3.2.15 MICROPHONE
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The most common design today uses a thin membrane which vibrates in
response to sound pressure. This movement is subsequently translated into an
electrical signal. Most microphones in use today for audio use electromagnetic
induction (dynamic microphone), capacitance change (condenser microphone,
pictured right), piezoelectric generation, or light modulation to produce the
signal from mechanical vibration.
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Unlike other microphone types, the carbon microphone can also be used as a
type of amplifier, using a small amount of sound energy to produce a larger
amount of electrical energy. Carbon microphones found use as early telephone
repeaters, making long distance phone calls possible in the era before vacuum
tubes. These repeaters worked by mechanically coupling a magnetic telephone
receiver to a carbon microphone: the faint signal from the receiver was
transferred to the microphone, with a resulting stronger electrical signal to send
down the line. (One illustration of this amplifier effect was the oscillation
caused by feedback, resulting in an audible squeal from the old "candlestick"
telephone if its earphone was placed near the carbon microphone.
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FIG3.2.18( LOUDSPEAKER)
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The terms for different speaker drivers differ depending on the application. In
2-way loudspeakers, there is no "mid-range" driver, so the task of reproducing
the midrange sounds falls upon the woofer and tweeter. Home stereos use the
designation "tweeter" for high frequencies whereas professional audio systems
for concerts may designate high frequency drivers as "HF" or "highs" or
"horns".
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CHAPTER-4
4.1 HARDWARE
The first step in transmitting sound is to digitize soundwaves. For this we used
an electret microphone purchased from Radtronics. Frequent shoppers at Tito's
place downtown know that finding spec sheets for products there is impossible.
The microphone he sold us had three leads, which after considerable angst we
decided were for power, ground, and signal. The signal coming off the mic was
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59
far too low to be read (with any degree of precision) by the analog to digital
converter. So of course, an amplifier is needed. Before the signal is put through
the amplifier however it is first put through a capicitor to remove DC, and then
through a voltage divider to appropriately bias the signal. A LF353 op-amp is
used to boost the signal, the gain is adjusted by the resistors and for the mystery
microphone the gain is around 50-100 (depending on how much popping and
how much quality you want).
After the A/D converter translates the mic signal into 8 bits, the MCU generates
the appropriate bits to send (including start and stop bits) and applies them to
the laser driver circuit a 5V and 0V signals. The BJT in this circuit turns on at
5V and provides the proper current according to the diode and resitor values.
A photo diode detects the laser pulses in a different (distant) location. This
signal is put through a comparator in order to generate solid 5V and 0V values
which are applied to the receive pin on the microcontroller.
Once the signal is put through the DAC (not shown, it's a simple ladder), it is
boosted and low pass filtered (to improve sound quality).
(1) Power Supply: - We will need a +5V/500mA power supply for our
project. For this purpose we will use a step down transformer to
convert 220VAC/50Hz into 12VAC. The out of transformer is rectified
through bridge rectifier using diode 1N4001. Linear voltage regulator
IC LM7805 is used to provide a stable regulated +5V supply for
microcontroller and other parts in the project.
(2) LED: - In our project we will be using a LED for displaying the
LASER COMMUNICATION.
(3) LASER DIODE : - In our project we will use LASER DIODE for
sensing effect of LASER communication . These LASER DIODE
basically used for LASER LIGHT which is required for LASER
COMMUNICATION.
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(5) Transmitter
laser diode. The audio signal is coupled to the laser diode via R10,
which limits the maximum possible variation in the laser diode current
to a few milliamps.
The cascaded voltage doubler of C9, D8, D9 and C8 rectifies the audio
signal at the emitter of Ql, and the resulting negative DC voltage is fed
to the gate of Q3. An increase in the audio signal will increase the
negative bias to Q3, increasing its drain-source resistance. Because the
gain of 1C2a is determined by R7 and the series resistance of R5 and
Q3, increasing the effective resistance of Q3 will lower the gain.
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(6) Transmitter
The cascaded voltage doubler of C9, D8, D9 and C8 rectifies the audio
signal at the emitter of Ql, and the resulting negative DC voltage is fed
to the gate of Q3. An increase in the audio signal will increase the
negative bias to Q3, increasing its drain-source resistance. Because the
gain of 1C2a is determined by R7 and the series resistance of R5 and
Q3, increasing the effective resistance of Q3 will lower thegain.
Receiver
This IC can drive a speaker with a resistance as low as four ohms, and
35OmW when the circuit is powered from a 9V supply. Increasing the
sup- ply voltage will increase the output power marginally.
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4.2 CONSTRUCTION
As the photos show, both the transmitter and the receiver are built on silk-
screened PCBS. As usual fit the resistors, pots and capacitors first, taking care
with the polarity of the electrolytics. IC sockets are not essential, although
servicing is obviously made easier if they are used. In which case, fit these next,
followed by the transistors, diodes and the LED.
Take care to use the right diodes for D8 and D9. These are larger than the
1N4148 types, and have two black bands (the cathode end) around a glass
package. Note that the regulator IC has the tab facing outwards.
The photodiode is mounted directly on the receiver PCB. When first mounted,
the active side of the diode (black square inside the package) will face towards
the centre of the board. You then bend the diode over by almost 180' so the
active surface now faces outwards.
The polarised microphone element solders directly to the transmitter PCB. The
negative lead is marked with a minus sign and is the lead that connects to the
metal case.
The laser diode is also polarised, and has three leads. Of these, only two are
used, shown on the circuit as pins 2 (cathode) and 3 (anode). Take care when
soldering the laser in place, as too much heat can destroy it. The diode can be
mounted on the board, or connected with leads to it.
Finally, connect the speaker and 9V battery clips, then check over the boards
for any soldering errors or incorrectly installed components.
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TESTING
First of all, it's most important that you don't look directly into the laser
beam. If you do, it could cause perma- nent eye damage. Also, you are
respon- sible for the safety of others near the laser, which means you must
stop others from also looking into the beam, and take all necessary safety
steps. This is covered by legislation.
Then apply power to the board. If the laser doesn't produce light, slowly
adjust VRI clockwise. The laser diode should emit a beam with an intensity
adjustable with VRI. At this stage, keep the beam intensity low, but high
enough to clearly see. If you are not getting an output, check the circuit
around IC2b.
You should also find that LED 1 flickers if you run your finger over the
microphone. If so, it indicates that the amplifier section is working and that
there's a modulation voltage to the laser diode. You won't see the laser beam
intensity change with the modu- lating signal.
To check that the system is working, place the two PCBs on the workbench,
spaced a metre or go apart. You might need to put a sheet of paper about
2Omm in front of the photodiode to reduce the intensity of light from the
laser beam. Set the volume control of the speaker to about halfway. If the
volume control setting is too high you'll get acoustic feedback.
Move the laser diode assembly so the beam points at the receiver's photodi-
ode. It's useful to adjust the beam so it's out of focus at the photodiode, to
make alignment even easier. You should now be able to hear the speaker
reproducing any audio signal picked up by the microphone. When the
receiver and transmitter are in close range, the strength of the beam can
cause the receiver to respond even if the laser beam is not falling on the
photodiode.
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4.3.1SETTINGUPLINK
Once you've tested the link, you'll probably be keen to put it to use. For a
short link of say 100 metres, all you need do is position the receiver so the
laser beam falls on the photodiode. Once the link is established, adjust VRI
higher the laser current, the shorter will be its life.
If you have an ammeter, connect it to measure the current taken by the trans-
mitter board. Most of the current is taken by the laser, so adjust VRI to give
a total current consumption of no more than 45mA.
Also, focus the laser so all of the beam is striking the photodiode. At close
range, there's probably no need to focus the beam. In fact, because of the
high output power (5mW) of the laser diode, excellent results will be
obtained over reasonably short distances (20 metres or so) with rough
focusing and quiescent current adjust- ments. But the longer the dis- tance
between the transmitter and the receiver, the more critical the adjustments.
For example, for distances over 20 metres, you might have to put a piece of
tube over the front of the photodi- ode to limit the ambient light falling on it.
This diode is responsive to visible light, so a high ambient light could cause
it to saturate. For very long distances, say a kilome- tre, you'll probably need
a parabolic reflector for the laser beam, to focus it direct- ly onto the
photodiode.
For short ranges (a metre or so), or for educational or testing purposes, you
can use a conventional red LED. Adjust the quiescent current with VR1. The
light output of a LED is not focused, and simply spreads everywhere, so a
reflector might help the sensitivity. Warnings The laser diode in this project
is a class 3B laser and you should attach a warning label to the trans- mitter.
Labels will be sup- plied by Oatley Electronics. Remember that, as for any
hazardous device, the owner of a laser is responsible for its proper use.
Receiver
This IC can drive a speaker with a resistance as low as four ohms, and
35OmW when the circuit is powered from a 9V supply. Increasing the
sup- ply voltage will increase the output power marginally.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
• PCB
• STEP DOWN TRANSFORMER 5V/500mA
• VOLTAGE REGULATOR LM7805
• RECTIFIER DIODES 1N4001
• ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITORS
• LED DISPLAY
• LEDs
• IC 7447, 8870, 91214.
• Tr. BC-548
• Laser diode
• OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
• PVC WIRES
• RESSISTANCE 10K
• CAPACITOR 104PF
• DPDT S/W
• IC 7805
• MICRO SWITCH
• CRYSTAL 12 MHZ
• RESET 100K
• MIKE
• SPEAKER 5 OHM
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CHAPTER-5
5.1 SAFTEY
Laser safety is the avoidance of laser accidents, especially those involving eye
injuries. Since even relatively small amounts of laser light can lead to
permanent eye injuries, the sale and usage of lasers is typically subject to
government regulations.
Moderate and high-power lasers are potentially hazardous because they can
burn the retina of the eye, or even the skin. To control the risk of injury, various
specifications, for example ANSI Z136 in the US and IEC 60825
internationally, define "classes" of laser depending on their power and
wavelength. These regulations also prescribe required safety measures, such as
labeling lasers with specific warnings, and wearing laser safety goggles when
operating lasers.
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72
The coherence, the low divergence angle of laser light and the focusing
mechanism of the eye means that laser light can be concentrated into an
extremely small spot on the retina. A transient increase of only 10 °C can
destroy retinal photoreceptors. If the laser is sufficiently powerful, permanent
damage can occur within a fraction of a second, faster than the blink of an eye.
Sufficiently powerful visible to near infrared laser radiation (400-1400 nm) will
penetrate the eyeball and may cause heating of the retina, whereas exposure to
laser radiation with wavelengths less than 400 nm and greater than 1400 nm are
largely absorbed by the cornea and lens, leading to the development of cataracts
or burn injuries
Infrared lasers are particularly hazardous, since the body's protective "blink
reflex" response is triggered only by visible light. For example, some people
exposed to high power Nd:YAG laser emitting invisible 1064 nm radiation,
may not feel pain or notice immediate damage to their eyesight. A pop or click
noise emanating from the eyeball may be the only indication that retinal damage
has occurred i.e. the retina was heated to over 100 °C resulting in localized
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DAMAGE MECHANISM
Lasers can cause damage in biological tissues, both to the eye and to the skin,
due to several mechanism. Thermal damage, or burn, occurs when tissues are
heated to the point where denaturation of proteins occurs. Another mechanism
is photochemical damage, where light triggers chemical reactions in tissue.
Photochemical damage occurs mostly with short-wavelength (blue) and ultra-
violet light and can be accumulated over the course of hours. Laser pulses
shorter than about 1 μs can cause a rapid raise in temperature, resulting in
explosive boiling of water. The shock wave from the explosion can
subsequently cause damage relatively far away from the point of impact.
Ultrashort pulses can also exhibit self-focusing in the transparent parts of the
eye, leading to an increase of the damage potential compared to longer pulses
with the same energy.
The eye focuses visible and near-infrared light onto the retina. A laser beam can
be focused to an intensity on the retina which may be up to 2×105 times higher
than at the point where the laser beam enters the eye. Most of the light is
absorbed by melamine pigments in the pigment epithelium just behind the
photoreceptor and causes burns in the retina. Ultraviolet light with wavelengths
shorter than 400 nm tends to be absorbed in the cornea and lens, where it can
produce injuries at relatively low powers due to photochemical damage.
Infrared light mainly causes thermal damage to the retina at near-infrared
wavelengths and to more frontal parts of the eye at longer wavelengths. The
table below summarizes the various medical conditions caused by lasers at
different wavelengths, not including injuries due to pulsed lasers.
A calculation of the MPE for occular exposure takes into account the various
ways light can act upon the eye. For example, deep-ultraviolet light causes
accumulating damage, even at very low powers. Infrared light with a
wavelength longer than about 1400 nm is absorbed by the transparent parts of
the eye before it reaches the retina, which means that the MPE for these
wavelengths is higher than for visible light. In addition to the wavelength and
exposure time, the MPE takes into account the spatial distribution of the light
(from a laser or otherwise). Collimated laser beams of visible and near-infrared
light are especially dangerous at relatively low powers because the lens focuses
the light onto a tiny spot on the retina. Light sources with a smaller degree of
spatial coherence than a well-collimated laser beam lead to a distribution of the
light over a larger area on the retina. For such sources, the MPE is higher than
for collimated laser beams. In the MPE calculation, the worst-case scenario is
assumed, in which the eye lens focuses the light into the smallest possible spot
size on the retina for the particular wavelength and the pupil is fully open.
Although the MPE is specified as power or energy per unit surface, it is based
on the power or energy that can pass through a fully open pupil (0.39 cm 2) for
visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
This is relevant for laser beams that have a cross-section smaller than 0.39 cm2.
The IEC-60825-1 and ANSI Z136.1 standards include methods of calculating
MPEs.
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75
certain procedures, or even to avoid wearing it altogether. Some find the use of
safety glasses over a long time to be uncomfortable, and in many types of
optical experiments it is also inconvenient. For example in spectroscopy, the
experimental arrangement is constantly being modified and fine-tuned. This
requires knowledge of beam location, which is often most simply achieved with
the naked eye, although other, often less accurate, detection methods are
available. In this situation, many scientists assign a higher priority to
convenience and comfort than to safety and regulatory compliance, and
routinely breach the laser safety regulations. Sometimes it is perceived as
unavoidable when working with, for example, an RGB laser, which would
require very careful selection of the Optical Density of protective eyewear or
the use of completely black goggles.
Experimentalists often feel that safety eyewear is not necessary when dealing
with an experiment carried out within the horizontal plane. However, in a non-
trivial optical setup, it is very hard to ensure that all mirrors, filters, and lenses
are strictly kept in a vertical position at all times, particularly when the setup is
constantly modified, and that metallic tools such as screwdrivers also can
redirect a beam. Stray reflections are usually unnoticed until an accident occurs.
Since nobody can guarantee that all these hazards can be safely avoided without
wearing safety eyewear, when infrared laser beams with non-negligible powers
are used, working without safety eyewear is not permitted by any official safety
regulations.
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CONCLUSION
Our project has demonstrated a basic system that utilizes a laser beam as the
method of communication. As a proof of concept, we have accomplished what
we set out to do. The laser communication system can pass data via laser pulses
over air, and transmit that data as a byte up to the receiver. The receiver
platform then can utilize the data and reconstruct the data sequence that was
sent from the transmitter.Because of the versatility in this setup, we could
possibly send over a wide range of data, supporting a wide range of networks.
Currently, we support data communication and data commands, but this could
easily be expanded upon, once a more precise interface is developed. We have
also shown that the power consumption of such a network is minimal compared
to an RF network. For certain types of wireless networks, a laser based
communication structure could possibly make sense.
Much future work still needs to be done however. One optimization would be to
improve both the speed and bandwidth of the transmissions. Currently, the
speed of transmissionis not fast enough for any industrial application. Possible
solutions would be to rework the pulse patterns so that data can be transmitted
in fewer pulses.
The laser based system is an easy to use display or grade control system for
rough and fine grade work on construction sites, enabling machine operators to
get to grade quicker than before. The versatile PA System allows for the system
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The system increases job site profitability by getting to grade in fewer passes.
This reduces on the job time, and allows for labor and equipment to be used
more efficiently. And with improved accuracy, material costs are reduced. All
this adds up to improved profitability on each job.
APPENDIX 1 –ACRONYMS
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MF medium frequency
IC integrated circuit
TX transmitter
Rx receiver
APPENDIX -2 GLOSSARY
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Linear re gulator
In electronics, a linear regulator is a voltage regulator based on an active
device (such as a bipolar junction transistor, field effect transistor or
vacuum tube) operating in its "linear region" (in contrast, a switching
regulator is based on a transistor forced to act as an on/off switch) or
passive devices like zener diodes operated in their breakdown region.
ZENER REGULATOR
RECTIFIER
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ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR
An electrolytic capacitor is a type of capacitor that uses an ionic
conducting liquid as one of its plates with a larger capacitance per unit
volume than other types
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
In electronics, an integrated circuit (also known as IC,
microcircuit, microchip, silicon chip, or chip) is a miniaturized
electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices
LASER DIODE
A laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a
semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode
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OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
An operational amplifier, which is often called an op-amp, is a DC-
coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with differential
inputs and, usually, a single output.
ELECTRONICS\ CAPACITORS
A capacitor (historically known as a "condenser") is a device that stores
energy in an electric field, by accumulating an internal imbalance of
electric charge
C=Q/V
SWITCH
a switch is an electrical component which can break an electrical circuit,
interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another
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THERMISTOR
A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance varies with
temperature
MICRO SWITCH
A micro switch is a generic term used to refer to an electric
switch that is able to be actuated by very little physical force
MICROPHONE
LOUD SPEAKER
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustical transducer that converts an electrical
signal to sound
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