Technology mapping for low power in logic synthesis

Traditionally, three metrics have been used to evaluate the quality of logic circuits - size, speed and testability. Consequently, synthesis techniques have strived to optimize for one or more of these metrics, resulting in a large body of research in optimal logic synthesis. As a consequence of this research, we have today very powerful techniques for synthesis targeting area and testability; and to a lesser extent, circuit speed. The last couple of years have seen the addition of another dimension in the evaluation of circuit quality - its power requirements. Low-power circuits are emerging as an important application domain, and synthesis for low power is demanding attention.

The research presented in this paper addresses one aspect of low-power synthesis. It focuses on the problem of mapping a technology-independent circuit to a technology-specific one, using gates from a given library, with power as the optimization metric. We believe that the difficulty in obtaining accurate models of power at the technology-independent level makes it difficult to optimize for power at this level, and thus feel that the technology mapping step offers the most direct way of power optimization during logic synthesis.

Several issues in modeling and measuring circuit power, as well as algorithms for technology mapping for low power are presented here. Empirically it is observed that a significant variation in the power consumption is possible just by varying the choice of gates selected. In fact, our experiments over a large set of benchmark circuits show that compared to mapping for power, mapping for area or delay can lead to circuits that have significantly higher power consumption: up to 32% higher in case of mapping for area, and up to 153% higher in case of mapping for delay.     

Influence of size parameter and refractive index of the scatterer on polarization-gated optical imaging through turbid media

The influence of incident polarized light, refractive index, and size parameter of the scatterer on achievable resolution and contrast (image quality) of polarization-gated transillumination imaging in turbid media is reported here. Differential polarization detection led to significant improvement of image quality of an object embedded in a medium of small-sized scatterers (diameter Dor=lambda,g>or=0.7), the improvement in image quality was less pronounced using either linear or circular polarization gating when the refractive index of the scatterer was high (ns=1.59), but for a lower value of refractive index (ns=1.37), image quality improved with the differential circular polarization gating. We offer a plausible explanation for these observations.     

Entropy generation and its relation to heating and cooling requirements of a metal hydride hydrogen storage reactor

In this paper a metal hydride hydrogen storage reactor is analyzed from heat and mass transfer and entropy generation points of view. A transient two dimensional energy equation along with suitable reaction kinetics and entropy balance equation is solved numerically. Results are obtained keeping hydrogen flow rates constant during absorption and desorption. For a fixed mass of metal hydride in the reactor the amount of hydrogen transferred and the time in which the transfer takes place are kept fixed. Using the mathematical model the entropy generated during the process and the external cooling and heating fluid requirements are obtained. Results show how improvement in the design and/or operating conditions leads to reduced cooling and heating requirements and lower entropy generation. For the system considered in the study the internal heat transfer characteristics of the hydride bed are seen to influence the reactor performance significantly. With improved bed heat transfer the required heat transfer fluid temperature during desorption can be reduced and that during absorption can be increased significantly. This automatically leads to lower entropy generation and a more economic system operation. It is expected that the methodology proposed and the results presented in this study will be useful in the optimal design of metal hydride reactors for a variety of practical applications, including hydrogen storage.     

Radiation and slip effects on MHD point flow of nanofluid towards a stretching sheet with melting heat transfer

In the present paper, the melting heat transfer of a nanofluid over a stretching sheet is investigated. Magnetohydrodynamic stagnation point flow with thermal radiation and slip effects is considered for this study. The governing model of the flow is solved by Runge–Kutta fourth-order method using appropriate similarity transformations. Temperature and velocity fields are presented for various flow pertinent parameters. Nondimensional physical parameters such as Prandtl number, radiation parameter, Brownian motion parameter, Lewis number, thermophoresis parameter, magnetic parameter, and melting parameter on fluid velocity, heat, concentration, skin friction, Sherwood number, and Nusselt number are presented graphically and discussed numerically. Heat transfer rate can be increased by increasing slip, melting, or radiation parameter. Mass transfer increases for greater values of melting parameter or slip parameter while radiation parameter shows the opposite impact on mass transfer.     

Sustainability of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Rural Catchment of Sub-Saharan Africa

Sustainability of rainwater harvesting in enhancing water productivity in various biophysical and socioeconomic conditions of SSA is a key in large scale livelihood improvement. A study was undertaken in Makanya catchment of rural Tanzania to assess sustainability of storage type of rainwater harvesting systems including microdam, dug out pond, sub-surface runoff harvesting tank and rooftop rainwater harvesting system. The increasing population in upstream areas of the catchment has forced use of RWH systems for streams and river water abstraction. The agricultural intensification in hillslopes has affected the water availability for downstream uses. Rainfall variability, runoff quality and quantity, local skills and investment capacity, labour availability and institutional support influence sustainability of rainwater harvesting systems.     

Constructing table-of-content for videos

A fundamental task in video analysis is to extract structures from the video to facilitate user's access (browsing and retrieval). Motivated by the important role that the table of content (ToC) plays in a book, in this paper, we introduce the concept of ToC in the video domain. Some existing approaches implicitly use the ToC, but are mainly limited to low-level entities (e.g., shots and key frames). The drawbacks are that low-level structures (1) contain too many entries to be efficiently presented to the user; and (2) do not capture the underlying semantic structure of the video based on which the user may wish to browse/retrieve. To address these limitations, in this paper, we present an effective semantic-level ToC construction technique based on intelligent unsupervised clustering. It has the characteristics of better modeling the time locality and scene structure. Experiments based on real-world movie videos validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Examples are given to demonstrate the usage of the scene-based ToC in facilitating user's access to the video.     

Paged Absolute Addressing Mode Optimizations for Embedded Digital Signal Processors Using Post-pass Data-flow Analysis

We address the problem of code generation for embedded DSP systems. In such systems, it is typical for one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), program memory, and custom circuitry to be integrated onto a single IC. Consequently, the amount of silicon area that is dedicated to program memory is limited, so the embedded software must be sufficiently dense. Additionally, this software must be written so as to meet various high-performance constraints, which may include hard real-time constraints. Unfortunately, existing compiler technology is unable to generate dense, high-performance code for DSPs since it does not provide adequate support for the specialized architectural features of DSPs. These specialized features not only allow for the fast execution of common DSP operations, but they also allow for the generation of dense assembly code that specifies these operations. Thus, system designers often hand-program the embedded software in assembly, which is a very time-consuming task. In this paper, we focus on providing compiler support for one particular specialized architectural feature, namely the paged absolute addressing mode – this feature is found in two commercial DSPs, the Texas Instruments' TMS320C25 and TMS320C50 fixed-point DSPs; however, it may also be featured in application-specific processors (ASIPs). We present some machine-dependent code optimizations that improve code density by exploiting this architectural feature. Experimental results demonstrate that for a set of typical DSP benchmarks, some of our optimizations reduce overall code size and data memory consumption by an average of 5.0% and 16.0%, respectively. Our experimental vehicle throughout this research is the TMS320C25.     

Blockage of KHSRP-NLRP3 by MCC950 Can Reverse the Effect of Manganese-Induced Neuroinflammation in N2a Cells and Rat Brain

Manganese neurotoxicity has been reported to cause a neurodegenerative disease known as parkinsonism. Previous reports have shown that the expression of the KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KHSRP), a nucleic acid-binding protein, and NLRP3 is increased upon Mn exposure. However, the relation between these two during Mn toxicity has not been fully deduced. The mouse neuroblastoma (N2a) and SD rats are treated with LPS and MnCl₂ to evaluate the expression of KHSRP and NLRP3. Further, the effect of the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 is checked on the expression of NLRP3, KHSRP and pro-inflammatory markers (TNFα, IL-18 and IL-1β) as well as the caspase-1 enzyme. Our results demonstrated an increment in NLRP3 and KHSRP expression post-MnCl₂ exposure in N2a cells and rat brain, while on the other hand with LPS exposure only NLRP3 expression levels were elevated and KHSRP was found to be unaffected. An increased expression of KHSRP, NLRP3, pro-inflammatory markers and the caspase-1 enzyme was observed to be inhibited with MCC950 treatment in MnCl₂-exposed cells and rats. Manganese exposure induces NLRP3 and KHSRP expression to induce neuroinflammation, suggesting a correlation between both which functions in toxicity-related pathways. Furthermore, MCC950 treatment reversed the role of KHSRP from anti-inflammatory to pro-inflammatory.     

An improved method using factor division algorithm for reducing the order of linear dynamical system

An improved method is proposed to determine the reduced order model of large scale linear time invariant system. The dominant poles of the low order system are calculated by clustering method. The selection of pole to the cluster point is based on the contributions of each pole in redefining time moment and redefining Markov parameters. The coefficients of the numerator polynomial for reduced model are obtained using a factor division algorithm. This method is computationally efficient and keeps up the stability and input output characteristic of the original arrangement.     

Modeling Fault Coverage of Random Test Patterns

We present a new probabilistic fault coverage model that is accurate, simple, predictive, and easily integrated with the normal design flow of built-in self-test circuits. The parameters of the model are determined by fitting the fault simulation data obtained on an initial segment of the random test. A cost-based analysis finds the point at which to stop fault simulation, determine the parameters, and estimate fault coverage for longer test lengths. Experimental results on benchmark circuits demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in making accurate predictions at a low computational cost. As compared to the cost of fault-simulating all the test vectors, the savings in computational time for larger circuits ranged from four to fourteen times. We also present an analysis of the mean and the variance of the fault coverage achieved by a random test of a given length. This analysis and simulation results demonstrate that while the mean coverage is determined by the distribution of the detectabilities of individual faults, the dual distribution of fault coverage of individual test vectors determines the variance.