The $$\mathbb {}$$-curve Construction for Endomorphism-Accelerated Elliptic Curves

We give a detailed account of the use of \(\mathbb {Q}\)-curve reductions to construct elliptic curves over \(\mathbb {F}_{p^2}\) with efficiently computable endomorphisms, which can be used to accelerate elliptic curve-based cryptosystems in the same way as Gallant–Lambert–Vanstone (GLV) and Galbraith–Lin–Scott (GLS) endomorphisms. Like GLS (which is a degenerate case of our construction), we offer the advantage over GLV of selecting from a much wider range of curves and thus finding secure group orders when \(p\) is fixed for efficient implementation. Unlike GLS, we also offer the possibility of constructing twist-secure curves. We construct several one-parameter families of elliptic curves over \(\mathbb {F}_{p^2}\) equipped with efficient endomorphisms for every \(p > 3\), and exhibit examples of twist-secure curves over \(\mathbb {F}_{p^2}\) for the efficient Mersenne prime \(p = 2^{127}-1\).     

New Efficient Algorithms for Multiplication Over Fields of Characteristic Three

In this paper, we first present an enhancement of the well-known Karatsuba 2-way and 3-way algorithms for characteristic three fields, denoted by \(\mathbb {F}_{3^{n}}\) where n≥1. We then derive a 3-way polynomial multiplication algorithm with five 1/3 sized multiplications that use interpolation in \(\mathbb {F}_{9}\). Following the computation of the arithmetic and delay complexity of the proposed algorithm, we provide the results of our hardware implementation of polynomial multiplications over \(\mathbb {F}_{3}\) and \(\mathbb {F}_{9}\). The final proposal is a new 3-way polynomial multiplication algorithm over \(\mathbb {F}_{3}\) that uses three polynomial multiplications of 1/3 of the original size over \(\mathbb {F}_{3}\) and one polynomial multiplication of 1/3 of the original size over \(\mathbb {F}_{9}\). We show that this algorithm represents about 15% reduction of the complexity over previous algorithms for the polynomial multiplications whose sizes are of practical interest.     

Ultra-Fast Current Mode Sense Amplifier for Small $$I_{\mathrm{CELL}}$$ SRAM in FinFET with Improved Offset Tolerance

In this paper, a novel, high-performance and robust sense amplifier (SA) design is presented for small \(I_\mathrm{CELLl}\) SRAM, using fin-shaped field effect transistors (FinFET) in 22-nm technology. The technique offers data-line-isolated current sensing approach. Compared with the conventional CSA (CCSA) and hybrid SA (HSA), the proposed current feed-SA (CF-SA) demonstrates 2.15\(\times \) and 3.02\(\times \) higher differential current, respectively, for \({V}_{\mathrm{DD}}\) of 0.6 V. Our results indicate that even at the worst corner, CF-SA can provide 2.23\(\times \) and 1.7\(\times \) higher data-line differential voltage compared with CCSA and HSA, respectively. Further, 66.89 and 31.47 % reductions in the cell access time are achieved compared to the CCSA and HSA, respectively, under similar \(I_\mathrm{CELLl}\) and bit-line and data-line capacitance. Statistical simulations have proved that the CF-SA provides high read yield with 32.39 and 22.24 % less \(\upsigma _{\mathrm{Delay}}\). It also offers a much better read effectiveness and robustness against the data-line capacitance as well as \({V}_{\mathrm{DD}}\) variation. Furthermore, the CF-SA is able to tolerate a large offset of the input devices, up to 80 mV at \({V}_{\mathrm{DD}}=0.6\hbox {V}\).     

A 3.1–10.6 GHz UWB LNA Based on Self Cascode Technique for Improved Bandwidth and High Gain

In this work, we present a self cascode based ultra-wide band (UWB) low noise amplifier (LNA) with improved bandwidth and gain for 3.1–10.6 GHz wireless applications. The self cascode (SC) or split-length compensation technique is employed to improve the bandwidth and gain of the proposed LNA. The improvement in the bandwidth of SC based structure is around 1.22 GHz as compared to simple one. The significant enhancement in the characteristics of the introduced circuit is found without extra passive components. The SC based CS–CG structure in the proposed LNA uses the same DC current for operating first stage transistors. In the designed UWB LNA, a common source (CS) stage is used in the second stage to enhance the overall gain in the high frequency regime. With a standard 90 nm CMOS technology, the presented UWB LNA results in a gain \(\hbox {S}_{21}\) of \(20.10 \pm 1.65\,\hbox {dB}\) across the 3.1–10.6 GHz frequency range, and dissipating 11.52 mW power from a 1 V supply voltage. However, input reflection, \(\hbox {S}_{11}\), lies below \(-\,10\) dB from 4.9–9.1 GHz frequency. Moreover, the output reflection (\(\hbox {S}_{22}\)) and reverse isolation (\(\hbox {S}_{12}\)), is below \(-\,10\) and \(-\,48\) dB, respectively for the ultra-wide band region. Apart from this, the minimum noise figure (\(\hbox {NF}_{min}\)) value of the proposed UWB LNA exists in the range of 2.1–3 dB for 3.1–10.6 GHz frequency range with a a small variation of \(\pm \,0.45\,\hbox {dB}\) in its \(\hbox {NF}_{min}\) characteristics. Linearity of the designed LNA is analysed in terms of third order input intercept point (IIP3) whose value is \(-\,4.22\) dBm, when a two tone signal is applied at 6 GHz with a spacing of 10 MHz. The other important benefits of the proposed circuit are its group-delay variation and gain variation of \(\pm \,115\,\hbox {ps}\) and \(\pm \,1.65\,\hbox {dB}\), respectively.     

Effects of Multiple Stacking Faults on the Electronic and Optical Properties of Armchair MoS$$_{}$$ Nanoribbons: First-Principles Calculations

The electronic and optical properties of armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons with multiple stacking faults are investigated using first-principles calculations. It’s interesting that the band gaps approach zero for armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons with two and four stacking faults. The gaps of armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons with one stacking fault and three stacking faults are converged to 0.46 eV and 0.36 eV, respectively, which is smaller than perfect MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons. The partial charge density of armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons with two stacking faults shows that the defect levels are originated from stacking faults. The frequency-dependent optical response (dielectric function, absorption, reflectance and electron energy loss spectra) is also presented. The optical results of monolayer MoS\(_{2}\) are in agreement with previous study. The peaks in the imaginary part of perfect armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons are about 2.8 eV, 4.0 eV and 5.4 eV and the peaks of the imaginary part of armchair MoS\(_{2}\) nanoribbons with stacking faults are mainly 2.8 eV and 5.4 eV. They are independent of ribbon width. The peaks in electron energy loss spectra move toward larger wavelengths (redshift) due to the introduction of stacking faults.     

Two-channel perfect reconstruction (PR) quadrature mirror filter (QMF) bank design using logarithmic window function and spline function

In this work, two-channel perfect reconstruction quadrature mirror filter (QMF) bank has been proposed based on the prototype filter using windowing method. A novel window function based on logarithmic function along with the spline function is utilized for the design of prototype filter. The proposed window has a variable parameter ‘\(\alpha \)’, which varies the peak side lobe level and rate of fall-off side lobe level which in turn affects the peak reconstruction error (PRE) and amplitude distortion (\(e_{am}\)) of the QMF bank . The transition width of the prototype is controlled by the spline function using the parameter ‘\(\mu \)’. The perfect reconstruction condition is satisfied by setting the cutoff frequency (\(\omega _{c}\)) of the prototype low-pass filter at ‘\(\pi /2\)’. The performance of the proposed design method has been evaluated in terms of mean square error in the pass band, mean square error in the stop band, first side lobe attenuation (\(A_{1}\)), peak reconstruction error (PRE) and amplitude error (\(e_{am}\)) for different values of ‘\(\alpha \)’ and ‘\(\mu \)’. The results are provided and compared with the existing methods.     

Ab␣Initio Study of Aluminium Impurity and Interstitial-Substitutional Complexes in Ge Using a Hybrid Functional (HSE)

The results of an ab?initio modelling of aluminium substitutional impurity (\({\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\)), aluminium interstitial in Ge [\({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}\) for the tetrahedral (T) and hexagonal (H) configurations] and aluminium interstitial-substitutional pairs in Ge (\({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\)) are presented. For all calculations, the hybrid functional of Heyd, Scuseria, and Ernzerhof in the framework of density functional theory was used. Defects formation energies, charge state transition levels and minimum energy configurations of the \({\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\), \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}\) and \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) were obtained for ?2, ?1, 0, \(+\)1 and \(+\)2 charge states. The calculated formation energy shows that for the neutral charge state, the \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}\) is energetically more favourable in the T than the H configuration. The \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) forms with formation energies of ?2.37 eV and ?2.32 eV, when the interstitial atom is at the T and H sites, respectively. The \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) is energetically more favourable when the interstitial atom is at the T site with a binding energy of 0.8 eV. The \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}\) in the T configuration, induced a deep donor (\(+\)2/\(+1\)) level at \(E_{\mathrm {V}}+0.23\) eV and the \({\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) induced a single acceptor level (0/?1) at \(E_{\mathrm {V}}+0.14\) eV in the band gap of Ge. The \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) induced double-donor levels are at \(E_{\rm V}+0.06\) and \(E_{\rm V}+0.12\) eV, when the interstitial atom is at the T and H sites, respectively. The \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}\) and \({\hbox {I}}_{\rm Al}{\hbox {Al}}_{\rm Ge}\) exhibit properties of charge state-controlled metastability.     

From Private Simultaneous Messages to Zero-Information Arthur–Merlin Protocols and Back

Göös et al. (ITCS, 2015) have recently introduced the notion of Zero-Information Arthur–Merlin Protocols (\(\mathsf {ZAM}\)). In this model, which can be viewed as a private version of the standard Arthur–Merlin communication complexity game, Alice and Bob are holding a pair of inputs x and y, respectively, and Merlin, the prover, attempts to convince them that some public function f evaluates to 1 on (x, y). In addition to standard completeness and soundness, Göös et al., require a “zero-knowledge” property which asserts that on each yes-input, the distribution of Merlin’s proof leaks no information about the inputs (x, y) to an external observer. In this paper, we relate this new notion to the well-studied model of Private Simultaneous Messages (\(\mathsf {PSM}\)) that was originally suggested by Feige et al. (STOC, 1994). Roughly speaking, we show that the randomness complexity of \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) corresponds to the communication complexity of \(\mathsf {PSM}\) and that the communication complexity of \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) corresponds to the randomness complexity of \(\mathsf {PSM}\). This relation works in both directions where different variants of \(\mathsf {PSM}\) are being used. As a secondary contribution, we reveal new connections between different variants of \(\mathsf {PSM} \) protocols which we believe to be of independent interest. Our results give rise to better \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) protocols based on existing \(\mathsf {PSM}\) protocols, and to better protocols for conditional disclosure of secrets (a variant of \(\mathsf {PSM}\)) from existing \(\mathsf {ZAM} \)s.     

Stream Ciphers: A Practical Solution for Efficient Homomorphic-Ciphertext Compression

In typical applications of homomorphic encryption, the first step consists for Alice of encrypting some plaintext m under Bob’s public key \(\mathsf {pk}\) and of sending the ciphertext \(c = \mathsf {HE}_{\mathsf {pk}}(m)\) to some third-party evaluator Charlie. This paper specifically considers that first step, i.e., the problem of transmitting c as efficiently as possible from Alice to Charlie. As others suggested before, a form of compression is achieved using hybrid encryption. Given a symmetric encryption scheme \(\mathsf {E}\), Alice picks a random key k and sends a much smaller ciphertext \(c' = (\mathsf {HE}_{\mathsf {pk}}(k), \mathsf {E}_k(m))\) that Charlie decompresses homomorphically into the original c using a decryption circuit \(\mathcal {C}_{{\mathsf {E}^{-1}}}\). In this paper, we revisit that paradigm in light of its concrete implementation constraints, in particular \(\mathsf {E}\) is chosen to be an additive IV-based stream cipher. We investigate the performances offered in this context by Trivium, which belongs to the eSTREAM portfolio, and we also propose a variant with 128-bit security: Kreyvium. We show that Trivium, whose security has been firmly established for over a decade, and the new variant Kreyvium has excellent performance. We also describe a second construction, based on exponentiation in binary fields, which is impractical but sets the lowest depth record to \(8\) for \(128\)-bit security.     

Study on the Effect of Mn,Zn, and Sb on Undercooling Behavior of Sn-Ag-Cu Alloys Using Differential Thermal Analysis

Differential thermal analysis (DTA) has been conducted on directionally solidified near-eutectic Sn-3.0 wt.%Ag-0.5 wt.%Cu (SAC), SAC \(+\) 0.2 wt.%Sb, SAC \(+\) 0.2 wt.%Mn, and SAC \(+\) 0.2 wt.%Zn. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy was used to study element partitioning behavior and estimate DTA sample compositions. Mn and Zn additives reduced the undercooling of SAC from 20.4\(^\circ \hbox {C}\) to \(4.9^\circ \hbox {C}\) and \(2^\circ \hbox {C}\), respectively. Measurements were performed at cooling rate of \(10^\circ \hbox {C}\) per minute. After introducing 200 ppm \(\hbox {O}_2\) into the DTA, this undercooling reduction ceased for SAC \(+\) Mn but persisted for SAC \(+\) Zn.     

Performance Analysis of a Low Profile Hybrid Antenna for Broadband Applications

In this paper, a low profile dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is proposed and investigated. To achieve the broad impedance bandwidth the proposed antenna geometry combines the dielectric resonator antenna and an underlying microstrip-fed slot with a narrow rectangular notch, which effectively broadens the impedance bandwidth by merging the resonances of slot and DRA. The physical insight gained by the detailed parametric study has led to find out a set of guidelines for designing the antennas for any particular frequency band. The design guidelines have been verified by simulating a set of antennas designed for different frequency bands. For validation, a prototype antenna is fabricated and tested experimentally. The measured results show that the proposed DRA offers an impedance bandwidth of about \(125.34\%\) from 1.17 to 5.1 GHz with reasonable gain between 3.5 and 5.7 dBi. The volume of the proposed DRA is \(0.16\lambda _{dr}^{3}\), where \(\lambda _{dr}\) is the wavelength at center operating frequency of the DR. A comprehensive study on bandwidth shows that the proposed DRA provides maximum bandwidth in terms of the DR volume (\(\hbox {BW}/V_{dr}\)) and the DR height (\(\hbox {BW}/h_{dr}\)) than the other similar reported work on hybrid wideband DRA designs.     

Stabilization of Discrete-time Fuzzy Systems Via Delta Operators and its Application to Truck–Trailer Model

This paper addresses the problem of robust \(L_2{-}L_\infty \) control in delta domain for a class of Takagi–Sugeno (TS) fuzzy systems with interval time-varying delays and disturbance input. In particular, the system under study involves state time delay, uncertainties and fast sampling period \(\mathcal {T}\). The main aim of this work was to design a \(L_2{-}L_\infty \) controller such that the proposed TS fuzzy system is robustly asymptotically stable with a \(L_2{-}L_\infty \) prescribed performance level \(\gamma >0\). Based on the proper Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF) involving lower and upper bound of time delay and free-weighting technique, a new set of delay-dependent sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are established for obtaining the required result. The result reveals that the asymptotic stability is achieved quickly when the sampling frequency is high. Finally, a numerical example based on the truck–trailer model is given to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of the proposed design technique.     

$$L_{1}$$-norm constrained normalized subband adaptive filter algorithm with variable norm-bound parameter and improved version

The \(L_{1}\)-norm constrained normalized subband adaptive filter with variable norm-bound parameter \((L_{1}\hbox {NCNSAF-V})\) algorithm and its variable step size version VSS-\(L_{1}\)NCNSAF-V are proposed in this paper, which are more superior to some existing algorithms in the sparse system. The proposed \(L_{1}\)NCNSAF-V is derived by using the Lagrange multiplier method, and the VSS-\(L_{1}\)NCNSAF-V is obtained by minimizing the statistical square of the Euclidean norm of the noise-free subband a posterior error vector. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms achieve good performance.     

Intermittent Fault Diagnosability of Hyper Petersen Network

The problem of permanent fault diagnosis has been discussed widely, and the diagnosability of many well-known networks have been explored. Faults of a multiprocessor system generally include permanent and intermittent, with intermittent faults regarded as the most challenging to diagnose. In this paper, we investigate the intermittent fault diagnosability of hyper Petersen networks. First, we derive that an \(n\)-dimensional hyper Petersen network \(HP_{n}\) with fault-free edges is \((n - 1)_{i}\)-diagnosable under the PMC model. Then, we investigate the intermittent fault diagnosability of \(HP_{n}\) with faulty edges under the PMC model. Finally, we prove that an \(n\)-dimensional hyper Petersen network \(HP_{n}\) is \((n - 2)_{i}\)-diagnosable under the MM* model.     

Application of photonic crystal ring resonator nonlinear response for full-optical tunable add–drop filtering

In this paper, we investigate the application of Kerr-like nonlinear photonic crystal (PhC) ring resonator (PCRR) for realizing a tunable full-optical add–drop filter. We used silicon (Si) nano-crystal as the nonlinear material in pillar-based square lattice of a 2DPhC. The nonlinear section of PCRR is studied under three different scenarios: (1) first only the inner rods of PCRR are made of nonlinear materials, (2) only outer rods of PCRR have nonlinear response, and (3) both of inner and outer rods are made of nonlinear material. The simulation results indicate that optical power required to switch the state of PCRR from turn-on to turn-off, for the nonlinearity applied to inner PCRR, is at least \(2000\, \hbox {mW}{/}\upmu \hbox {m}^{2}\) and, for the nonlinearity applied to outer PCRR, is at least \(3000\, \hbox {mW}{/}\upmu \hbox {m}^{2}\) which corresponds to refractive index change of \(\Delta n_\mathrm{NL }= 0.085\) and \(\Delta n_\mathrm{NL }= 0.15\), respectively. For nonlinear tuning of add–drop filter, the minimum power required to 1 nm redshift the center operating wavelength \((\lambda _{0} = 1550\, \hbox {nm})\) for the inner PCRR scenario is \(125\, \hbox {mW}{/}\upmu \hbox {m}^{2}\) (refractive index change of \(\Delta n_\mathrm{NL}= 0.005)\). Maximum allowed refractive index change for inner and outer scenarios before switch goes to saturation is \(\Delta n_\mathrm{NL }= 0.04\) (maximum tune-ability 8 nm) and \(\Delta n_\mathrm{NL }= 0.012\) (maximum tune-ability of 24 nm), respectively. Performance of add–drop filter is replicated by means of finite-difference time-domain method, and simulations displayed an ultra-compact size device with ultra-fast tune-ability speed.     

A deterministic auto-regressive STAP approach for nonhomogenerous clutter suppression

Direct data domain (DDD) space-time adaptive processing methods avoid nonhomogenerous training samples and can effectively suppress the clutter within the test range cell. However, it suffers inevitable performance loss due to the spatial and temporal smoothing process. Furthermore, the clutter suppression ability of these methods sharply degrades when applied to non-uniform and non-linear array for airborne radar. In this paper, a novel clutter suppression approach in the direct data domain is proposed, which describes clutter characteristic of the test range cell with AR model. For convenience, the novel method is referred to as \(\hbox {D}^{3}\hbox {AR}\). It utilizes the most system DOF. Hence, it suffers less aperture loss, compared to conventional DDD methods, e.g., the direct data domain least squares (\(\hbox {D}^{3}\hbox {LS}\)). More importantly, \(\hbox {D}^{3}\hbox {AR}\) can achieve much better clutter suupression prformance than \(\hbox {D}^{3}\hbox {LS}\) when applied to conformal array airborne radar because it does not need the spatial smoothing. The effectiveness of the \(\hbox {D}^{3}\hbox {AR}\) is verified by numerical examples for the case of a circular array.     

Correction to: A subthreshold low-power CMOS LC-VCO with high immunity to PVT variations

This paper presents a capacitor-free low dropout (LDO) linear regulator based on a dual loop topology. The regulator utilizes two feedback loops to satisfy the challenges of hearing aid devices, which include fast transient performance and small voltage spikes under rapid load-current changes. The proposed design works without the need of a decoupling capacitor connected at the output and operates with a 0–100 pF capacitive load. The design has been taped out in a \(0.18\,\upmu \hbox {m}\) CMOS process. The proposed regulator has a low component count, area of \(0.012\, \hbox {mm}^2\) and is suitable for system-on-chip integration. It regulates the output voltage at 0.9 V from a 1.0–1.4 V supply. The measured results for a current step load from 250 to 500 \(\upmu \hbox {A}\) with a rise and fall time of \(1.5\,\upmu \hbox {s}\) are an overshoot of 26 mV and undershoot of 26 mV with a settling time of \(3.5\,\upmu \hbox {s}\) when \({C_L}\) between 0 and 100 pF. The proposed LDO regulator consumes a quiescent current of only \(10.5\,\upmu \hbox {A}\). The design is suitable for application with a current step edge time of 1 ns while maintaining \(\Delta V_{out}\) of 64 mV.     

Dependence of thermal sensitivity of LPFG on waveguide and material parameters

This article demonstrates the effect of waveguide and material parameters on thermal sensitivity trends adopted by different cladding modes based on long-period fiber grating. Three-layer fiber geometry-based mathematical model has been implemented to estimate cladding modes. It is observed that for a cladding mode, the sign and magnitude of thermal sensitivity slope depend upon the designed grating period closer to period at dispersion turn around point. The \(\hbox {LP}_{10}\) and \(\hbox {LP}_{11}\) cladding modes have shown blueshift and maximum thermal sensitivity above all other modes at designed grating periods of 225 and \(195\,\upmu \hbox {m}\), respectively. The material parameter of fiber (thermo-optic coefficient) has also resulted in increment in sensitivity with the increase in difference amid its values for core and cladding region.