2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session T All Disciplines Ballroom
VoIP technology
Internet connection is so widespread that almost every corner of the globe is connected through wire or wireless. Voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) technology takes advantage of this widespread internet connectivity and nature of digital communications. VoIP offers
many advantages over traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) systems. However, VoIP has its disadvantages, as well. In
this presentation, overview of VoIP technology and comparison over PSTN system will be discussed.
Presentation Index: T39
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Liu, Yu
Zheng, Yi
Analyzing Signal Integrity in High Speed Print Circuit Boards
Signal integrity has become an important field of study for high speed computer network devices and radio frequency (RF) circuit design.
As communication data transmission approaches rates of Giga bits per second for advanced computer network devices, RF radiation,
cross talk, attenuation, reflection and inter-symbol interference become dominating factors limiting the performance of network devices.
Industry standards for signal integrity are always touting new methods to increase signal propagation speed. For example, improved signal
speed and integrity can be achieved by impedance matching at discontinuities and signal coding to reduce interference. These new
methods are obtained by substantial building, testing and re-building of print circuit boards with back drill, stub and padding improvements.
Satisfactory results are usually obtained after extensive experimentation, but at a very high cost. This project examines how extensive
testing can be done with the right 3D software governed by electromagnetic (EM) equations, with appropriate boundary conditions. The
software will be used to obtain simulation results from imported circuit designs. I hypothesize that these simulations will correspond to
actual measurements obtained from physical equipment. Thus, the performance of circuits can be improved upon by using analysis results
from these simulations. In addition, performing analysis on a physical circuit board with the use of a 3D EM solver minimizes cost of board
design and fabrication. The preliminary experimental results supported my first hypothesis and showed that 3D solvers provide in-depth
analysis of a circuit board when simulations are appropriately modeled. I intend to show, through experimentation, that extensive practical
testing can be replaced with 3D analysis. Thus, the need for test board fabrication will be greatly reduced, making funding available for
other research.
Presentation Index: T40
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Nwachukwu, Chudy
Zheng, Yi; Goergen, Joel; Tomaszewski, Pete
Should We Continue to Explore Space?
Ever since Alan Shepard Jr. was first sent up into space, and John F. Kennedy proposed sending a man to the moon, the space program
has been under direct scrutiny about whether or not its services are benefiting the public. My poster will present facts about the space
program and what has come out of this wonderful adventure. After finding the facts, I used a survey to ask SCSU students what they knew
about the space program. I asked the students what the space program has done for the US, why they think it is important and what they
would be willing to do to ensure the survival of the space program. From the results, I have complied graphs and conclusions about what
these students thought. Some of their responses really surprised me, while others were exactly where I thought they would be. For
example, there were many people who were willing to pay a surcharge for products developed by the space program, but even more were
not.
Presentation Index: T41
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Science
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Carlson, Jenna
Minger, Mark
Photon Production in High-Energy Heavy Ion Collisions
Rates of photon production from super-heated subatomic matter formed in high-energy heavy ion collisions are studied. Contributions
from boson and fermion particle decays are considered as well as contributions from previously ignored scattering processes. A formula
from the literature describing production rates via boson decays is generalized to include chemical potential effects, and a similar formula
for fermion decays is developed. In addition, a formula for estimating production rates from strange particle scattering is derived and
studied for several reaction channels. We find several important contributions to photon production which are not present in the literature
and should be included in future work.
Presentation Index: T42
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Physics
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Albright, Michael
Haglin, Kevin
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 62
April 22, 2008