A novel low power hybrid cache using GC-EDRAM cells

In a typical embedded CPU, large on-chip storage is critical to meet high performance requirements. However, the fast increasing size of the on-chip storage based on traditional SRAM cells makes the area cost and energy consumption unsustainable for future embedded applications. Replacing SRAM with DRAM on the CPU’s chip is generally considered not worthwhile because DRAM is not compatible with the common CMOS logic and requires additional processing steps beyond what is required for CMOS. However a special DRAM technology, Gain-Cell embedded-DRAM (GC-eDRAM)  [1], [2], [3] is logic compatible and retains some of the good properties of DRAM (small and low power). In this paper we evaluate the performance of a novel hybrid cache memory where the data array, generally populated with SRAM cells, is replaced with GC-eDRAM cells while the tag array continues to use SRAM cells. Our evaluation of this cache demonstrates that, compared to the conventional SRAM-based designs, our novel architecture exhibits comparable performance with less energy consumption and smaller silicon area, enabling the sustainable on-chip storage scaling for future embedded CPUs.     

Co2FeO4@rGO composite: Towards trifunctional water splitting in alkaline media

Development of efficient, low cost and multifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting to harvest hydrogen fuels is a challenging task, but the combination of carbon materials with transition metal-based compounds is providing a unique and attractive strategy. Herein, composite systems based on cobalt ferrite oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Co₂FeO₄) @(rGO) using simultaneous hydrothermal and chemical reduction methods have been prepared. The proposed study eliminates one step associated with the conversion of GO into rGO as it uses direct GO during the synthesis of cobalt ferrite oxide, consequently rGO based hybrid system is achieved in-situ significantly, the optimized Co₂FeO₄@rGO composite has revealed an outstanding multifunctional applications related to both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen counterpart (HER). Various metal oxidation states and oxygen vacancies at the surface of Co₂FeO₄@rGO composites guided the multifunctional surface properties. The optimized Co₂FeO₄@rGO composite presents excellent multifunctional properties with onset potential of 0.60 V for ORR, an overpotential of 240 mV at a 20 mAcm^?2 for OER and 320 mV at a 10 mAcm^?2 for HER respectively. Results revealed that these multifunctional properties of the optimized Co₂FeO₄@ rGO composite are associated with high electrical conductivity, high density of active sites, crystal defects, oxygen vacancies, and favorable electronic structure arisinng from the substitution of Fe for Co atoms in binary spinel oxide phase. These surface features synergistically uplifted the electrocatalytic properties of Co₂FeO₄@rGO composites. The multifunctional properties of the Co₂FeO₄@ rGO composite could be of high interest for its use in a wide range of applications in sustainable and renewable energy fields.     

Finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of output constrained nonlinear systems with dead-zone

The article investigates the finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of nonlinear systems with output constraint and input dead-zone. First, by skillfully combining the barrier Lyapunov function, backstepping design method, and finite-time control theory, a novel adaptive state-feedback tracking controller is constructed, and the output constraint of the nonlinear system is not violated. Second, the fuzzy logic system is used to approximate unknown function in the nonlinear system. Third, the finite-time command filter is introduced to avoid the problem of “complexity explosion” caused by repeated differentiations of the virtual control signal in conventional backstepping control schemes. Meanwhile, a new saturation function is added in the compensating signal for filter error to improve control accuracy. Finally, based on Lyapunov stability analysis, all the signals of the closed-loop are proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood region of the origin in a finite time. A simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness for the proposed control scheme.     

Identification and U-control of a state-space system with time-delay

This article presents a state-space model with time-delay to map the relationship between known input-output data for discrete systems. For the given input-output data, a model identification algorithm combining parameter estimation and state estimation is proposed in line with the causality constraints. Consequently, this article proposes a least squares parameter estimation algorithm, and analyzes its convergence for the studied systems to prove that the parameter estimation errors converge to zero under the persistent excitation conditions. In control system design, the U-model based control is introduced to provide a unilateral platform to improve the design efficiency and generality. A simulation portfolio from modeling to control is provided with computational experiments to validate the derived results.     

PID Control of Planar Nonlinear Uncertain Systems in the Presence of Actuator Saturation

This paper investigates PID control design for a class of planar nonlinear uncertain systems in the presence of actuator saturation. Based on the bounds on the growth rates of the nonlinear uncertain function in the system model, the system is placed in a linear differential inclusion. Each vertex system of the linear differential inclusion is a linear system subject to actuator saturation. By placing the saturated PID control into a convex hull formed by the PID controller and an auxiliary linear feedback law, we establish conditions under which an ellipsoid is contractively invariant and hence is an estimate of the domain of attraction of the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system. The equilibrium point corresponds to the desired set point for the system output. Thus, the location of the equilibrium point and the size of the domain of attraction determine, respectively, the set point that the output can achieve and the range of initial conditions from which this set point can be reached. Based on these conditions, the feasible set points can be determined and the design of the PID control law that stabilizes the nonlinear uncertain system at a feasible set point with a large domain of attraction can then be formulated and solved as a constrained optimization problem with constraints in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Application of the proposed design to a magnetic suspension system illustrates the design process and the performance of the resulting PID control law.      

基于误差估值累加开环校正的诱导式欺骗检测方法

诱导式卫星欺骗干扰可诱导航空器逐渐偏离预定航迹，难以被发现，因此及时有效地检测干扰是飞行安全的保障。在现有紧组合导航体制基础上，设计了一种基于误差估值累加开环校正的紧组合导航结构，并证明了其性能与传统闭环校正紧组合导航性能等效。在此结构中，将紧组合导航系统与自适应序贯概率比检测方法结合，提出了一种基于误差估值累加开环校正的诱导式欺骗检测方法，融合紧组合导航信息与其他不受欺骗影响的导航信息，构建欺骗检测统计量进行诱导式欺骗检测。仿真结果表明，开环校正结构可避免随时间累加的惯性导航系统误差所导致的组合导航滤波器发散问题，同时欺骗检测方法可进一步提高算法对“最坏”情形下微小诱导式欺骗的检测效果。     

Use of a smartphone-based Student Response System in large active-learning Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics classrooms

Smartphones are a promising tool as student response systems (SRS) for interactive teaching due to their widespread diffusion. Here, the main purpose is to assess the efficacy of smartphone-based SRS in large classroom settings of undergraduate Thermodynamics, as representative of engineering courses requiring high-level cognitive skills for problem solving. Four sets of multiple-choice questions were presented during the course. Overall, the results refer to 1055 students between control and SRS classes, each corresponding to a3 years period.One of the main results of this work is the strong linear correlation between the average questionnaire score and the final exam grade (R² = 0.91). A similar correlation, although with a lower value of R², is already found in the first questionnaire, thus showing the SRS high predictive power of class performance. The results of this study provide guidance for a quantitative use of smartphone-based SRS in teaching basic disciplines. The SRS monitoring capability allows early detection of struggling students, thus paving the way to personalized tutoring and improved student engagement in active learning practices. This approach is especially important in emergency situations, such as the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, when distance learning is widely adopted, and remote interactive tools are highly needed.     

Integral barrier Lyapunov function-based adaptive fuzzy output feedback control for nonlinear delayed systems with time-varying full-state constraints

In this article, an adaptive fuzzy output feedback control method is presented for nonlinear time-delay systems with time-varying full state constraints and input saturation. To overcome the problem of time-varying constraints, the integral barrier Lyapunov functions (IBLFs) integrating with dynamic surface control (DSC) are applied for the first time to keep the state from violating constraints. The effects of unknown time delays can be removed by using designed Lyapunov-Krasovskii functions (LKFs). An auxiliary design system is introduced to solve the problem of input saturation. The unknown nonlinear functions are approximated by the fuzzy logic systems (FLS), and the unmeasured states are estimated by a designed fuzzy observer. The novel controller can guarantee that all signals remain semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded and satisfactory tracking performance is achieved. Finally, two simulation examples illustrate the effectiveness of the presented control methods.     

大规模多状态计算系统的容错性能分析

针对异构计算节点组成的大规模多状态计算系统的容错性能分析问题，提出了一种计算系统容错性能的评估方法。该方法采用自定义的两级容错性能形式化描述框架进行系统描述，通过构造多值决策图（Multi-value Decision Diagram，MDD）模型对系统进行容错性能建模，并基于构造的模型高效地计算出部件故障的条件下计算系统在特定性能水平上运行的概率，减少了计算的冗余性。实验结果表明，该方法在模型的大小和构建时间上均优于传统方法。该方法的提出将对系统操作员或程序设计者具有重要意义，使其确保系统适合预期应用。     

Output feedback controller for polytopic systems exploiting the direct searching of the design space

This paper deals with the problem of designing a robust static output feedback controller for polytopic systems. The current research that tackled this problem is mainly based on LMI method, which is conservative by nature. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed, which considers the design space of the controller parameters and iteratively partitions the space to small simplexes. Then, by assessing the stability in each simplex, the solution space for design parameters is directly determined. It has been theoretically proved that, if there exists a feasible solution in the design space, the algorithm can find it. To validate the result of the proposed approach, comparative simulation examples are given to illustrate the performance of the design methodology as compared to those of previous approaches.