A Three-Dimensional Stacked-Chip Star-Wiring Interconnection for a Digital Noise-Free and Low-Jitter I/O Clock Distribution Network

Cascaded repeaters are indispensable circuit elements in conventional on-chip clock distribution networks due to heavy loss characteristics of on-chip global interconnections. However, cascaded repeaters cause significant jitter and skew problems in clock distribution networks when they are affected by power supply switching noise generated by digital logic blocks located on the same die. In this letter, we present a new three-dimensional (3-D) stacked-chip star-wiring interconnection scheme to make a clock distribution network free from both on-chip and package-level power supply noise coupling. The proposed clock distribution scheme provides an extremely low-jitter and low-skew clock signal by replacing the cascaded repeaters with lossless star-wiring interconnections on a 3-D stacked-chip package. We have demonstrated a 500-MHz input/output (I/O) clock delivery with 34-ps peak-to-peak jitter and a skew of 11ps, while a conventional I/O clock scheme exhibited a 146-ps peak-to-peak jitter and a 177-ps skew in the same power supply noise environment     

Can Robots Manifest Personality?: An Empirical Test of Personality Recognition,Social Responses,and Social Presence in Human–Robot Interaction

Personality is an essential feature for creating socially interactive robots. Studies on this dimension will facilitate enhanced human–robot interaction (HRI). Using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, we examined the issue of personality in HRI. In this gender-balanced 2 (AIBO personality: introvert vs. extrovert) by 2 (participant personality: introvert vs. extrovert) between-subject experiment (N = 48), we found that participants could accurately recognize a robot's personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, various complementarity attraction effects were found in HRI. Participants enjoyed interacting with a robot more when the robot's personality was complementary to their own personalities than when the robot's personality was similar to their own personalities. The same complementarity attraction effect was found in participants' evaluation of the robot's intelligence and social attraction. Participants' feelings of social presence during the interaction were a significant mediator for the complementarity attraction effects observed. Practical and theoretical implications of the current study for the design of social robots and the study of HRI were discussed.     

A novel bidirectional CMOS transceiver for chip-to-chip optical interconnects

A novel bidirectional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transceiver for chip-to-chip optical interconnects operating at 2.5 Gb/s is proposed, which shares the common block of a receiver and a transmitter on a single chip. The share of the common block of two circuits makes it possible to save 55% or 20% of power dissipation, depending on the operating mode. The chip in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology occupies an area of 0.82/spl times/0.82 mm/sup 2/, 70% of the total area of a typical unshared transceiver chip. The transmitting and receiving modes of operation show -3-dB bandwidths of 2.2 and 2.4 GHz and electrical isolations of -28 and -40 dB, respectively.     

A better technique using multisegment modeling and analysis of high-density and high-speed connectors

A useful and rather new simulation technique for connectors up to 6.25 GHz is presented and discussed in this paper. The proposed model extracts electrical parameters of a connector using time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements. A new technique was developed to obtain accurate impedance profiles using TDR and a multisegment approach that is effectively a distributed coupled model. The parameter extraction and characterization of connectors are discussed. The performance of the proposed segmented transmission line model is verified by simulation of the model in SPICE and by experimental measurement. The results show that the proposed model can simulate the electrical characteristics, including crosstalk and impedance, of high-density and high-speed connectors with satisfactory accuracy. Based on the proposed modeling and CAD simulators, the design and analysis of complicated high-density and high-speed connectors can be executed accurately and effectively. Compared with other previous models, the proposed model can significantly improve the accuracy of simulation.     

Joint resource allocation and base-station assignment for the downlink in CDMA networks

In this paper, we jointly consider the resource allocation and base-station assignment problems for the downlink in CDMA networks that could carry heterogeneous data services. We first study a joint power and rate allocation problem that attempts to maximize the expected throughput of the system. This problem is inherently difficult because it is in fact a nonconvex optimization problem. To solve this problem, we develop a distributed algorithm based on dynamic pricing. This algorithm provides a power and rate allocation that is asymptotically optimal in the number of mobiles. We also study the effect of various factors on the development of efficient resource allocation strategies. Finally, using the outcome of the power and rate allocation algorithm, we develop a pricing-based base-station assignment algorithm that results in an overall joint resource allocation and base-station assignment. In this algorithm, a base-station is assigned to each mobile taking into account the congestion level of the base-station as well as the transmission environment of the mobile.     

Multistage access network for bidirectional DWDM transmission using ASE-injected FP-LD

We propose a novel optical distribution network for multistage optical access network with multiple remote nodes (RNs) using 4skip0 filters. The system can be implemented by use of 1/spl times/N arrayed waveguide grating in the central office, cascaded RNs, and a plurality of optical network units (ONUs). It also employs colorless ONUs based on incoherent light injected Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot laser diodes for low operation and maintenance cost. Experiment shows error-free transmission with simultaneous bidirectional 1.25 Gb/s per channel up to 20 km.     

Efficient evaluation of the [Z] matrix with method of moment in grounding analysis by using adaptive spatial sampling approach

The design of grounding system often relies on the performance simulations. The evaluation of the current distribution of grounding system for many frequencies by using the method of moments (MoM) may take a long time since the impedance matrix must be recomputed at each new frequency. A multiobject adaptive spatial sampling approach is presented to construct the fitted model of the electric field intensity generated by a horizontal electric dipole. The [Z] matrix spatial interpolation technology with MoM is described to reduce the computational time needed for the transient characteristics analysis of a horizontal grounding system. The accuracy and computational time of the [Z] matrix interpolation method are compared with those of the direct MoM. The numerical examples show that the [Z] matrix spatial interpolation method can reduce the computation requirement effectively.     

IC/microfluidic hybrid system for magnetic manipulation of biological cells

This paper introduces an integrated circuit (IC)/microfluidic hybrid system for magnetic manipulation of biological cells. The hybrid system consists of an IC and a microfluidic system fabricated on top. Biological cells attached to magnetic beads are suspended inside the microfluidic system that maintains biocompatibility. The IC contains a microcoil array circuit that produces spatially-patterned microscopic magnetic fields. Programmable, rapid reconfiguration of the field pattern made possible by the IC allows an efficient simultaneous manipulation of multiple individual bead-bound cells with precise position control. Two prototypes, SiGe/microfluidic and CMOS/microfluidic hybrid systems, validate the proposed approach.     

Dual Mechatronic MPPT Controllers With PN and OPSO Control Algorithms for the Rotatable Solar Panel in PHEV System

This paper aims at increasing the efficiency of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) by using rotatable solar panel. Conventionally, the PHEV with solar panel has a critical problem of putting on the roof of a PHEV. Since the limited space on the roof of the vehicle is not large enough, rotatable structure is considered to track the sunlight by mechanical petri-net (PN)-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control. A stepping motor is used to control the rotating angle of the rotating solar panel. In addition, the electric MPPT with orthogonal particle swarm optimization (OPSO) method is also included. With the dual mechatronic MPPT with PN $+$OPSO control algorithms, the maximum power in a limited roof space of the vehicle is possible. The solar panel has not to be very large. This will increase the efficiency of the PHEV. It is convinced that the proposed dual mechatronic PN$+$ OPSO MPPT controllers are helpful to the PHEV system.      

Feedback Reduction for Multiuser OFDM Systems

Feedback reduction in multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems has become an important issue due to the excessive amount of feedback required to use opportunistic scheduling, particularly when the number of users and carriers is large. In this paper, we propose a novel feedback-reduction scheme for efficient downlink scheduling. In the proposed scheme, each user determines the amount of feedback based on the so-called feedback efficiency in a distributed manner. The key idea is to give more of an opportunity for feedback to users who are more often scheduled. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can substantially decrease the feedback load while achieving almost the same scheduling performance as in the case of full feedback. In addition, the proposed scheme offers unique advantages over existing ones. First, it is not tailored to a specific scheduling policy; thus, it has adaptability to the change of the underlying scheduling policy. Second, the total feedback load can be maintained below a target level, regardless of the number of users in the system.