Quality of service in telecommunications .II. Translation of QoSparameters into ATM performance parameters in B-ISDN

The main goal of this article is to present the translation of quality of service (QoS) parameters between layers. The QoS parameters in the ATM layer and AAL are defined. This translation concept came from the QoS framework in which the influence of the protocol stack on the QoS should be considered. As an example, we concentrate on the translation from the AAL to the ATM layer, as the AAL must be designed to be service-dependent and specific. Translation, both taking the transport protocol into account as well as between application and transport QoS, needs further study. However, our study shows that the QoS translation is a possible and good approach in end-to-end QoS guarantees in the broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN). As far as the end-to-end QoS guarantee issue is concerned, the transport QoS requirements are specified in terms of bounds on transport QoS parameters. The bounds on transport QoS parameters will be translated into the bounds on ATM layer QoS parameters. The ATM-layer QoS parameters resulting from the translation will be the performance requirements on a connection basis for the ATM network, but are basically the end-to-end parameters, including the network and the end systems. Therefore, the QoS translation finally results in the network performance parameters in the ATM network. We define QoS parameters in the AAL and ATM layer. Case studies in which the translation method is applied to a constant bit rate (CBR) video service and data service, respectively, are also presented     

Thermosonic bonding of lead-free solder with metal bump for flip-chip bonding

While extensive research on the lead-free solder has been conducted, the high melting temperature of the lead-free solder has detrimental effects on the packages. Thermosonic bonding between metal bumps and lead-free solder using the longitudinal ultrasonic is investigated through numerical analysis and experiments for low-temperature soldering. The results of numerical calculation and measured viscoelastic properties show that a substantial amount of heat is generated in the solder bump due to viscoelastic heating. When the Au bump is thermosonically bonded to the lead-free solder bump (Sn-3%Ag-0.5%Cu), the entire Au bump is dissolved rapidly into the solder within 1 sec, which is caused by the scrubbing action of the ultrasonic. More reliable solder joints are obtained using the Cu/Ni/Au bump, which can be applied to flip-chip bonding.     

Board-level reliability of Pb-free solder joints of TSOP and various CSPs

To evaluate various Pb-free solder systems for leaded package, thin small outline packages (TSOPs) and chip scale packages (CSPs) including leadframe CSP (LFCSP), fine pitch BGA (FBGA), and wafer level CSP (WLCSP) were characterized in terms of board level and mechanical solder joint reliability. For board level solder joint reliability test of TSOPs, daisy chain samples having pure-Sn were prepared and placed on daisy chain printed circuit board (PCB) with Pb-free solder pastes. For CSPs, the same composition of Pb-free solder balls and solder pastes were used for assembly of daisy chain PCB. The samples were subjected to temperature cycle (T/C) tests (-65/spl deg/C/spl sim/150/spl deg/C, -55/spl deg/C/spl sim/125/spl deg/C, 2 cycles/h). Solder joint lifetime was electrically monitored by resistance measurement and the metallurgical characteristics of solder joint were analyzed by microstructural observation on a cross-section sample. In addition, mechanical tests including shock test, variable frequency vibration test, and four point twisting test were carried out with daisy chain packages too. In order to compare the effect of Pb-free solders with those of Sn-Pb solder, Sn-Pb solder balls and solder paste were included. According to this paper, most Pb-free solder systems were compatible with the conventional Sn-Pb solder with respect to board level and mechanical solder joint reliability. For application of Pb-free solder to WLCSP, Cu diffusion barrier layer is required to block the excessive Cu diffusion, which induced Cu trace failure.     

Visual Cryptography Based on an Interferometric Encryption Technique

This paper presents a new method for a visual cryptography scheme that uses phase masks and an interferometer. To encrypt a binary image, we divided it into an arbitrary number of slides and encrypted them using an XOR process with a random key or keys. The phase mask for each encrypted image was fabricated under the proposed phase‐assignment rule. For decryption, phase masks were placed on any path of the Mach‐Zehnder interferometer. Through optical experiments, we confirmed that a secret binary image that was sliced could be recovered by the proposed method.     

Resistive switching characteristics of ultra-thin TiOx

We investigated the resistive switching characteristics of Ir/TiO_x/TiN structure with 50 nm active area. We successfully formed ultra-thin (4 nm) TiO_x active layer using oxidation process of TiN BE, which was confirmed by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling. Compared to large area device (50 μm), which shows only ohmic behavior, 250 and 50 nm devices show very stable resistive switching characteristics. Due to the formation and rupture of oxygen vacancies induced conductive filament at Ir and TiO_x interface, bipolar resistive switching was occurred. We obtained excellent switching endurance up to 10⁶ times with 100 ns pulse and negligible degradation of each resistance state at 85 °C up to 10⁴ s.     

Luminescence,charge mobility,and optical waveguiding of two-dimensional organic rubrene nanosheets: Comparison with one-dimensional nanorods

Intrinsic characteristics of organic and inorganic nanostructures depend on their physical dimensions (i.e., size and shape) and crystallinity. Here, we compared the nanoscale optical and electrical properties of organic rubrene one-dimensional (1-D) nanorods (NRs) and two-dimensional (2-D) nanosheets (NSs). From high-resolution laser confocal microscope photoluminescence (PL) measurements, the light-emission characteristics of 2-D rubrene NSs varied with the crystalline domain direction, indicating intrinsic PL anisotropy, which was distinguishable from 1-D rubrene single NRs, because of anisotropy π–π stacking molecular arrangements. We also observed the variation of charge carrier mobility depending on the measured directions (i.e., anisotropy of charge transport) in rubrene NS-based field-effect transistors. The optical waveguiding properties of rubrene nanostructures were strongly correlated to the dimensionality of materials and PL anisotropy.     

Bendable and Splitter-Integrated Optical Subassembly Based on a Flexible Optical Board

A bendable and splitter-integrated optical subassembly (OSA) is suggested as a short-distance board-to-board optical interconnection. This OSA was fabricated by simply packaging a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser on a flexible optical board having an embedded 1 $times$ 8 optical splitter waveguide. Finally, we measured various optical characteristics of the OSA, including insertion, twist, and bending losses.      

Scheduling algorithm for real-time imprecise computations tominimise maximum weighted errors using the linear programmingmethod

An optimal scheduling algorithm for imprecise systems is presented. The proposed algorithm aims at minimising the maximum weighted errors. A novel property of the algorithm is that the errors are evenly distributed among scheduled tasks. The complexity of the proposed algorithm is O(N³) in the worst case, where N is the number of tasks