Design and realization of 1.3?Gb/s off-chip transmission circuitry using 0.35?μm CMOS technology

Low-voltage-differential-signaling (LVDS) is one of the very popular technologies which simultaneously addresses low dynamic power consumption and high data rate transmission in modern high speed circuit applications. In this paper, system level integration design approach is applied to design LVDS transmitter featuring high off-chip data rate. Full wave electromagnetic simulation technique was adopted to accurately characterize possible couplings and parasitic effects induced from the off-chip components which then acted as the termination of the output circuitry. Common mode feedback was included to perform fine tuning on the offset leading to much higher overall precision. Meanwhile, generation of the controlled current and voltage across termination was guaranteed through the introduction of a constant transconductance bias network. The design was implemented using TSMC 3.3?V 0.35???m CMOS technology with overall chip size of 0.923?mm². At a DC power consumption level of 29.4?mW, the LVDS transmitter exhibited an off-chip data rate of 1.3?Gb/s validated through measurements.     

What factors contribute to the acceptance of artificial intelligence? A systematic review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents are predicted to infiltrate most industries within the next decade, creating a personal, industrial, and social shift towards the new technology. As a result, there has been a surge of interest and research towards user acceptance of AI technology in recent years. However, the existing research appears dispersed and lacks systematic synthesis, limiting our understanding of user acceptance of AI technologies. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and meta-Analysis guidelines using five databases: EBSCO host, Embase, Inspec (Engineering Village host), Scopus, and Web of Science. Papers were required to focus on both user acceptance and AI technology. Acceptance was defined as the behavioural intention or willingness to use, buy, or try a good or service. A total of 7912 articles were identified in the database search. Sixty articles were included in the review. Most studies (n = 31) did not define AI in their papers, and 38 studies did not define AI for their participants. The extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was the most frequently used theory to assess user acceptance of AI technologies. Perceived usefulness, performance expectancy, attitudes, trust, and effort expectancy significantly and positively predicted behavioural intention, willingness, and use behaviour of AI across multiple industries. However, in some cultural scenarios, it appears that the need for human contact cannot be replicated or replaced by AI, no matter the perceived usefulness or perceived ease of use. Given that most of the methodological approaches present in the literature have relied on self-reported data, further research using naturalistic methods is needed to validate the theoretical model/s that best predict the adoption of AI technologies.     

Is civic data governance the key to democratic smart cities? The role of the urban data trust in Sidewalk Toronto

Over the two and a half years of its existence, Alphabet/Sidewalk Labs’ smart city project in Toronto, Canada has been at the center of successive controversies relating to its proprietary approach to personal data. To address these concerns, Sidewalk Labs suggested putting the data collected in the smart city in a trust. As a “steward of urban data and the public interest,” the Urban Data Trust was expected to protect residents’ privacy, establish responsible data sharing standards, and provide individuals with a share in the profits derived from the data gathered about them. This article proposes technoscientific/platform capitalism theories as a theoretical framework in the research on data governance. I situate the Urban Data Trust within a series of policy responses to the problem of extractive data practices. I posit that the company’s data governance approach appeals to and sustains a political-economic regime governed by the logic of rent seeking, which aims to entrench the economic dominance of technological monopolies.     

Does information and communication technology and financial development lead to environmental sustainability in India? An empirical insight

This paper examines the relationship between CO₂ emissions, electricity consumption, financial development, Economic growth, Informational Communication Technology (ICT) from 1990 to 2018 in India. We have applied the structural break co-integration approach like Gregory Hansen approach to check long-term relations between the variables. ARDL bounds testing approach is used to know the long run and short-run elasticity. We find that electricity consumption is positively contributing CO₂ emissions or reducing environmental sustainability in India. However, ICT has negative and significantly improving environmental sustainability or reducing emissions when measured in both ICT internet connection (ICT_INT) and ICT mobile Phones (ICT_MOB). Similarly, financial development and CO₂ emissions are negatively related. The result indicates the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve in India's case. Overall, environmental sustainability achieved in ICT and financial development sectors. Therefore govt. needs to focus more on the stringent policy in electricity production by investing more in the renewable energy sector to curb environmental degradation.     

Is it feasible to reconstruct body segment 3-D position and orientation using accelerometric data?

The analysis of the mechanics of the musculo-skeletal system during the execution of a motor task requires the determination of the instantaneous position and orientation of the body segments involved in relation to an inertial system of reference. By using adequately assembled uniaxial accelerometric sensors, an easy-to-manage measurement system can be obtained that estimates the three-dimensional position and orientation (P&O) of a body segment through an appropriate analytical model. However, the extent to which experimental errors, in particular accelerometers (ACs) assembly inaccuracies, affect such estimation has never been systematically investigated. This paper systematically analyzes the sensitivity of analytical models of body segment P&O reconstruction through a six-AC system and a nine-AC system to different sources of experimental error. We simulated and statistically assessed the performance of these models in the case of body segment motions typical of movements under muscular control. The results obtained indicated that the inaccuracy in the orientation of the individual AC's active axes and the offset error in the AC responses were the major sources of P&O estimation errors. In particular, no accurate estimation of position was possible with the analytical models analyzed. Under the motion conditions simulated in this study, no substantial advantages were found in using a nine-AC system rather than a six-AC system. Considering that the magnitudes of the simulated experimental errors were quite low (< or = 0.1 deg: AC's orientation; < or = 10(-4) m: uncertainty of the distance between two ACs; < or = 10(-2) ms(-2): random error; 0.5 x 10(-2) ms(-2): offset error), the results indicate that none of the two ACs systems analyzed is suitable for body segment P&O estimation in routine biomechanical applications.     

Cognitive age in technology acceptance: At what age are people ready to adopt and continuously use fashionable products?

Most modern people inevitably use smart phones for their daily activities. These devices are more than just telephones and a means to connect with others for many people. They are also fashionable products. This study utilizes two models—the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)—to explore whether cognitive age is an important factor influencing technology acceptance behavior. We conduct a comparative analysis using the two models in the context of smartphones. Our results using model 1 show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, fashion involvement, and flow are all significant factors in technology acceptance and use by digital natives (i.e. those under 34 years old). The results of model 2, which divides digital immigrants into two groups, reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and flow are significant for digital immigrants who perceive themselves to be younger than their chronological age. For digital immigrants who perceive themselves to be as old as or order than their chronological age (cognitive age> = 34 years old), only perceived usefulness is significant. Finally, we discuss these results and make suggestions relevant to technology acceptance and use in different cognitive age groups.     

Should I scan my face? The influence of perceived value and trust on Chinese users’ intention to use facial recognition payment

While China has seen the widespread adoption of facial recognition payment, concerns over the potential risks impede the further growth of user acceptance. Drawing on the perspectives of perceived value and trust, we developed a research model to explore how the Chinese users’ trade-off between perceived benefits (perceived convenience and perceived novelty) and perceived risks (perceived privacy risk and perceived financial risk) influences their usage intention. Based on survey data from 1,200 Chinese mobile payment users, this study uses structural equation modeling to examine the hypotheses. Our results show that perceived convenience positively influences perceived value, while privacy risk and financial risk negatively influence perceived value and trust. Although perceived novelty has no significant effect on perceived value and trust, perceived value positively influences trust, and both of them have a positive effect on the intention to use. Furthermore, our moderation analysis indicates that the influence of perceived value on the intention to use is stronger among users who consider facial information to be more sensitive. The theoretical implications for research as well as the practical implications for practitioners are also discussed.     

Digital technology and innovation trajectories in the Mediterranean region: A casualty of or an antidote to the economic crisis?

Weak macroeconomic conditions mean admittedly that government spending on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is reduced and consequently that ICT-related policies are scrutinized for their necessity, efficiency and impact on growth. At the same time, such conditions bring into the spotlight and set priority to measures targeting the ICT sector and promoting ICT-based innovation as a means of pursuing economic recovery. The 2008 financial crisis affected severely several parts of the world and particularly the Mediterranean region, where, even today, several years after the start of this economic turmoil in Europe, finding an effective response to mitigating the consequences of recession is still pertinent. Building on previous literature that recognizes ICT-based innovation as a crisis mitigation enabler, this paper propels discussion on the association among ICT- and innovation-oriented indicators and the economic crisis context in four Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, Greece, Italy and Cyprus. In this respect, it leverages a set of open and credible indicators of both technological and economic character and attempts to reflect on the effects of the crisis on ICT or conversely seen the potential of the latter to enable the affected countries to come out of the crisis.