Applying SMT-based verification to hardware/software partitioning in embedded systems

When performing hardware/software co-design for embedded systems, the problem of which functions of the system should be implemented in hardware (HW) or in software (SW) emerges. This problem is known as HW/SW partitioning. Over the last 10 years, a significant research effort has been carried out in this area. In this paper, we present two new approaches to solve the HW/SW partitioning problem by using verification techniques based on satisfiability modulo theories (SMT). We compare the results using the traditional technique of integer linear programming, specifically binary integer programming and a modern method of optimization by genetic algorithm. The experimental results show that SMT-based verification techniques can be effective in particular cases to solve the HW/SW partition problem optimally using a state-of-the-art model checker based on SMT solvers, when compared against traditional techniques.     

Reduced Impact of Induced Gate Noise on Inductively Degenerated LNAs in Deep Submicron CMOS Technologies

Designers of radio-frequency inductively-degenerated CMOS low-noise-amplifiers have usually not followed the guidelines for achieving minimum noise figure. Nonetheless, state-of-the-art implementations display noise figure values very close to the theoretical minimum. In this paper, we point out that this is due to the effect of the parasitic overlap capacitances in the MOS device. In particular, we show that overlap capacitances lead to a significant induced-gate-noise reduction, especially when deep sub-micron CMOS processes are used.Paolo Rossi was born in Milan, Italy, in 1975. He received the Laurea degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 2000, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree. His research interests are in the field of analog integrated circuits for wireless transceivers in CMOS and BiCMOS technology, with particular focus on the analysis and design of LNA and mixer for multi-standard applications.Francesco Svelto received the Laurea and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 1991 and 1995, respectively. From 1996 to 1997, he held a grant from STMicroelectronics to design CMOS RF circuits. In 1997, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Bergamo, Italy, and in 2000, he joined the University of Pavia, where he is an Associate Professor. His current research interests are in the field of RF design and high-frequency integrated circuits for telecommunications. Dr. Svelto has been a member of the technical program committee of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference since 2000 and the Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM) since 2003, and the European Solid State Circuits Conference in 2002. He served as Guest Editor of the March 2003 special issue of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, of which he is currently an Associate Editor.Andrea Mazzanti was born in Modena (Italy) in 1976. He received the Laurea degree (summa cum Laude) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy in 2001. Since 2001 he is pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. His major research interest are modelling of microwave semiconductor devices and design of CMOS RF integrated circuits, with particular focus on low noise oscillators and analog frequency dividers. During the summer of 2003 he was with Agere Systems, Allentown, PA as an internship student, working on the design of an highly integrated CMOS FM transmitter.Pietro Andreani received the M.S.E.E. from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1988. He joined the Dept. of Applied Electronics, Lund University, Sweden, in 1990, where he contributed to the development of software tools for digital ASIC design. After working at the Dept. of Applied Electronics, University of Pisa, as a CMOS IC designer during 1994, he rejoined the Dept. of Applied Electronics in Lund as an Associate Professor, where he was responsible for the analog IC course package between 1995 and 2001, and where he received the Ph.D. degree in 1999. He is currently a Professor at the Center for Physical Electronics, ØrstedDTU, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, with analog/RF CMOS IC design as main research field.     

Exploiting capture and interference cancellation for uplink random multiple access in 5G millimeter-wave networks

The forthcoming 5G technology aims to provide massive device connectivity and ultra-high capacity with reduced latency and costs. These features will be enabled by increasing the density of the base stations, using millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands, massive multiple-input multiple-output systems, and non-orthogonal multiple access techniques. The ability to support a large number of terminals in a small area is in fact a great challenge to guarantee massive access. In this context, this paper proposes a new receiver model for the uplink of 5G mmWave cellular networks. The receiver, called Iterative Decoding and Interference Cancellation (IDIC), is based on the Slotted Aloha (SA) protocol and exploits the capture effect alongside the successive IC process to resolve packet collisions. A 5G propagation scenario, modeled according to recent mmWave channel measurements, is used to compare IDIC with the widely adopted Contention Resolution Diversity SA (CRDSA) scheme to show the performance gain of IDIC, when elements of practical relevance, like imperfect cancellation and receive power diversity, are considered. The impact of packet and power diversity is also investigated to derive the preferable uplink random access strategy that maximizes the system throughput according to the offered channel load.

     

A 5-GHz highly integrated receiver front-end

In this paper a radio front-end for a IEEE 802.11a and HIPERLAN2 sliding-IF receiver is presented. The circuit, implemented in a low-cost 46-GHz-f _T silicon bipolar process, includes a variable-gain low noise amplifier and a double-balanced mixer. Thanks to monolithic LC filters and on-chip single-ended-to-differential conversion of the RF signal, the proposed solution does not require the expensive image rejection filter and an external input balun. The receiver front-end exhibits a 4.3-dB noise figure and a power gain of 21 dB, providing an image rejection ratio higher than 50 dB. By using a 1-bit gain control, it achieves an input 1-dB compression point of −11 dBm, while drawing only 22 mA from a 3-V supply voltage.     

Role of PbSe Structural Stabilization in Photovoltaic Cells

Semiconductor nanocrystals are promising materials for printed optoelectronic devices, but their high surface areas are susceptible to forming defects that hinder charge carrier transport. Furthermore, correlation of chalcogenide nanocrystal (NC) material properties with solar cell operation is not straightforward due to the disorder often induced into NC films during processing. Here, an improvement in long‐range ordering of PbSe NCs symmetry that results from halide surface passivation is described, and the effects on chemical, optical, and photovoltaic device properties are investigated. Notably, this passivation method leads to a nanometer‐scale rearrangement of PbSe NCs during ligand exchange, improving the long‐range ordering of nanocrystal symmetry entirely with inorganic surface chemistry. Solar cells constructed with a variety of architectures show varying improvement and suggest that triplet formation and ionization, rather than carrier transport, is the limiting factor in singlet fission solar cells. Compared to existing protocols, our synthesis leads to PbSe nanocrystals with surface‐bound chloride ions, reduced sub‐bandgap absorption and robust materials and devices that retain performance characteristics many hours longer than their unpassivated counterparts.     

Two-Dimensional Silicene–Stanene Heterostructures by Epitaxy

The synthesis of new Xenes and their potential applications prototypes have achieved significant milestones so far. However, to date the realization of Xene heterostructures in analogy with the well known van der Waals heterostructures remains an unresolved issue. Here, a Xene heterostructure concept based on the epitaxial combination of silicene and stanene on Ag(111) is introduced, and how one Xene layer enables another Xene layer of a different nature to grow on top is demonstrated. Single-phase (4 × 4) silicene is synthesized using stanene as a template, and stanene is grown on top of silicene on the other way around. In both heterostructures, in situ and ex situ probes confirm layer-by-layer growth without intercalations and intermixing. Modeling via density functional theory shows that the atomic layers in the heterostructures are strongly interacting, and hexagonal symmetry conservation in each individual layer is sequence selective. The results provide a substantial step toward currently missing Xene heterostructures and may inspire new paths for atomic-scale materials engineering.     

Stimuli‐Responsive Nucleic Acid‐Based Polyacrylamide Hydrogel‐Coated Metal–Organic Framework Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Release

The synthesis of doxorubicin‐loaded metal–organic framework nanoparticles (NMOFs) coated with a stimuli‐responsive nucleic acid‐based polyacrylamide hydrogel is described. The formation of the hydrogel is stimulated by the crosslinking of two polyacrylamide chains, P_A and P_B, that are functionalized with two nucleic acid hairpins ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) using the strand‐induced hybridization chain reaction. The resulting duplex‐bridged polyacrylamide hydrogel includes the anti‐ATP (adenosine triphosphate) aptamer sequence in a caged configuration. The drug encapsulated in the NMOFs is locked by the hydrogel coating. In the presence of ATP that is overexpressed in cancer cells, the hydrogel coating is degraded via the formation of the ATP–aptamer complex, resulting in the release of doxorubicin drug. In addition to the introduction of a general means to synthesize drug‐loaded stimuli‐responsive nucleic acid‐based polyacrylamide hydrogel‐coated NMOFs hybrids, the functionalized NMOFs resolve significant limitations associated with the recently reported nucleic acid‐gated drug‐loaded NMOFs. The study reveals substantially higher loading of the drug in the hydrogel‐coated NMOFs as compared to the nucleic acid‐gated NMOFs and overcomes the nonspecific leakage of the drug observed with the nucleic‐acid‐protected NMOFs. The doxorubicin‐loaded, ATP‐responsive, hydrogel‐coated NMOFs reveal selective and effective cytotoxicity toward MDA‐MB‐231 breast cancer cells, as compared to normal MCF‐10A epithelial breast cells.     

Effect of lithium intercalation on the photovoltaic performances of photovoltachromic cells

In the last few years, a new class of smart multifunctional photoelectrochemical devices has been attracting the interest of several academic institutions and industrial companies: photovoltachromic cells, combining the features of photoelectrochromic cells with those of dye‐sensitized solar cells. Here, we report the results of a detailed electrochemical analysis aiming at investigating the electrochemical behavior of these complex photoelectrochemical devices. In particular, we have been focused on the effect of Li⁺ ions displacement during the coloration of the electrochromic tungsten oxide on the performances of the photovoltaic unit. As we had previously observed striking differences between the performances of the barely photovoltaic mode (with the tungsten oxide in the bleached state) and the photovoltachromic mode (with the tungsten oxide in the colored state), we thus attempted to provide a reasonable physical interpretation to the observed phenomena. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mobility analysis of the typical gait of a radial symmetrical six-legged robot

Radial symmetrical hexapod robots have attracted the attention of the research community because of their flexibility. There is nonetheless still much to study on their kinematics, dynamics and locomotion. In this paper, initially, full body kinematics of a radial symmetrical six-legged robot with statically stable movements are reviewed. The kinematics analysis is made on cooperated swing legs over supporting legs. Using the robot screw theory and exponential product equations, the velocities and accelerations referring to the object reference frame of each robot part are presented in a compact form. This makes it easy to calculate kinetic energy and so to build the dynamics model using the Lagrangian method. Many ways of walking of six-legged robots have been introduced in specialized literature. However, mobility comparison is still open to research. Two main aspects of mobility are analyzed in detail in this paper. The first one concerns the mobility of three statically stable ways of walking (the insect-wave gait, mammal-kick gait and mixed gait) with the same duty factor on the same radial symmetrical hexapod robot. The stability, energy efficiency, turning flexibility, and terrain or environment adaptability among those gaits have been compared. The mixed gait presents important advantages over the other two, while those two are useful for some special terrain conditions where the mixed gait is limited. The second aspect that has been analyzed focuses on the mobility of the body. The body height, measured from the body bottom to the supporting surface, and the stride optimization factors are proposed according to the obstacles’ configuration and the energy optimization. The results of our study can be used for the intelligent locomotion control of some articulated multi-legged robots for walking statically-stably on a complicated surface.Most of our analyses have been successfully verified on the prototype which has been designed by Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) and Beijing University of Astronautics and Aeronautics (BUAA) and developed by POLIMI in 2007.