Implementation of a third-generation 1.1-GHz 64-bit microprocessor

This third-generation 1.1-GHz 64-bit UltraSPARC microprocessor provides 1-MB on-chip level-2 cache, 4-Gb/s off chip memory bandwidth, and a new 200 MHz JBus interface that supports one to four processors. The 87.5-million transistor chip is implemented in a seven-layer-metal copper 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS process and dissipates 53 W at 1.3 V and 1.1 GHz.     

Switching rate and receiver performance of binary modulations with the selection‐and‐stay combining over independent and correlated Nakagami‐m fading channels

The dual‐branch selection‐and‐stay combining (SSTC) is analyzed for diversity reception on independent and correlated Nakagami‐m fading channels, where the conventional selection combining (SC) is employed only at the switching instance, and the receiver uses the selected branch till its signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) estimation is lower than a preset threshold. In this combining scheme, the receiver only needs to continuously estimate the SNR of the single selected branch. For the performance analysis of SSTC, the switching rate and the average bit error rates (BERs) of different binary coherent and non‐coherent modulations are evaluated. Numerical results based on the analysis and simulations are illustrated. According to the analysis and numerical results, the SSTC outperforms the existing switch‐and‐stay combining in the senses of the average BER and switching rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Switch‐and‐examine combining with different new switch statistics for diversity over Rayleigh fading channels

Three schemes of multibranch switch‐and‐examine combining (MSEC) with switch statistics different from the signal‐to‐noise ratio used in the traditional MSEC are analyzed. For each diversity branch, with its fading factor a and low‐passed received signal r, the switch statistics for the three MSEC schemes considered in the paper are | r | , | ar | , and a linear combination of a and | r | , respectively. To illustrate the performances of the MSEC schemes, the average BER of each MSEC scheme with BPSK signaling is evaluated for independent and identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels. For performance optimization, the optimal switch thresholds of the MSEC schemes are obtained. Numerical results based on the analysis and simulations are presented for performance illustrations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On line fatiguemeter: a large experiment in French nuclear plants

During operation of PWR plants, thermal transients occur and induce fatigue stresses at critical locations in the nuclear steam supply system. Assessment of cumulative usage factor at these locations is one the major concerns regarding plant life extension.A system based on real time fatigue monitoring his been developed by EDF. The principle of the system, that records plant operating parameters and calculate thermohydraulic conditions, local stresses and usage factor resulting from each individual transient, is firstly presented.Demonstration experiments, concerning two higly stressed locations of reactor coolant system (charging line nozzle and surge line), carried out in two 900 MW units are then described.Finally, analysis of these experiment results is commented. The system allows automatic transients book keeping and usage factor assessment. EDF intends to equip all its PWR units with such fatigue monitoring systems.     

Design for emergence: experiments with a mixed reality urban playground game

In this paper we present our work in the design of ubiquitous social experiences, aiming to foster group participation and spontaneous playful behaviours in a city environment. We outline our approach of design for emergence: to provide just enough of a game context and challenge for people to be creative, to extend and enrich the experience of play through their interaction in the real world. CitiTag is our mixed reality testbed, a wireless location-based multiplayer game based on the concept of playground ‘tag’. We describe the design and implementation of CitiTag and discuss results from two user studies.     

Depressive personality: Associations with DSM-III-R mood and personality disorders and negative and positive affectivity, 30-month stability, and prediction of course of Axis I depressive disorders.

The authors addressed 5 issues bearing on the validity of the construct of depressive personality disorder (DPD): its relationship with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association. 1987) mood and personality disorders and normal personality dimensions of negative and positive affectivity, its stability over 30-months, and its impact on the course of Axis I depressive disorders. Two samples were used: 156 outpatients with mood disorders, personality disorders, or both, and 267 of their 1st-degree relatives. The association between DPD and dysthymia was fairly modest, whereas the associations with major depression and the personality disorders were quite low. DPD was moderately correlated with both negative and positive affectivity; however it contributed unique information beyond that available from the 2 emotional superfactors. Finally, DPD was moderately stable over a 30-month period and was associated with a poorer course of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Novel permanent magnet motor drives for electric vehicles

Novel permanent magnet (PM) motor drives have been successfully developed to fulfil the special requirements for electric vehicles such as high power density, high efficiency, high starting torque, and high cruising speed. These PM motors are all brushless and consist of various types, namely rectangular-fed, sinusoidal-fed, surface-magnet, buried-magnet, and hybrid. The advent of novel motor configurations lies on the unique electromagnetic topology, including the concept of multipole magnetic circuit and full slot-pitch coil span arrangements, leading to a reduction in both magnetic yoke and copper, decoupling of each phase flux path, and hence an increase in both power density and efficiency. Moreover, with the use of fractional number of slots per pole per phase, the cogging torque can be eliminated. On the other hand, by employing the claw-type rotor structure and fixing an additional field winding as the inner stator, these PM hybrid motors can further provide excellent controllability and improve efficiency map. In the PM motors, by purposely making use of the transformer EMF to prevent the current regulator from saturation, a novel control approach is developed to allow for attaining high-speed constant-power operation which is particularly essential for electric vehicles during cruising. Their design philosophy, control strategy, theoretical analysis, computer simulation, experimental tests and application to electric vehicles are described     

A 90-nm logic technology featuring strained-silicon

A leading-edge 90-nm technology with 1.2-nm physical gate oxide, 45-nm gate length, strained silicon, NiSi, seven layers of Cu interconnects, and low-/spl kappa/ CDO for high-performance dense logic is presented. Strained silicon is used to increase saturated n-type and p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) drive currents by 10% and 25%, respectively. Using selective epitaxial Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ in the source and drain regions, longitudinal uniaxial compressive stress is introduced into the p-type MOSEFT to increase hole mobility by >50%. A tensile silicon nitride-capping layer is used to introduce tensile strain into the n-type MOSFET and enhance electron mobility by 20%. Unlike all past strained-Si work, the hole mobility enhancement in this paper is present at large vertical electric fields in nanoscale transistors making this strain technique useful for advanced logic technologies. Furthermore, using piezoresistance coefficients it is shown that significantly less strain (/spl sim/5 /spl times/) is needed for a given PMOS mobility enhancement when applied via longitudinal uniaxial compression versus in-plane biaxial tension using the conventional Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ substrate approach.