Fast adders using enhanced multiple-output domino logic

Using an enhanced multiple output domino logic (EMODL) implementation of a carry lookahead adder (CLA), sums of several consecutive bits can be built in one nFET tree with a single carry-in. Based on this result, a new sparse carry chain architecture is proposed for the CLA adder. We demonstrate the design approach using a 32-b adder, and show that only four carries are sufficient for generating all sums, with a consequent reduction in the number of stage delays. Using a 1.2-μm CMOS technology, we verify our simulation procedures by fabrication and measurement of a 2.7 ns critical path     

Bufferless broadcasting: a low power distributed circuit techniquefor broadcasting 10-Gb/s chip input signals

Bufferless distributed circuit (BDC) broadcasting is proposed as a technique for broadcasting high-speed chip input signals to a series of on-chip destination cells as needed in crosspoint switch, parallel multiplier, distributed amplifier, etc., chip designs. In contrast with conventional techniques that use an on-chip buffer to assist broadcasting, BDC broadcasting offers the advantage of lower signal delay and power dissipation. In an experimental GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) 8×4 crosspoint switch assembly, BDC broadcasting was found to achieve a 40% power savings with little or no penalty in jitter or bit error rate performance at a 10-Gb/s data rate     

Evolution of grain structure in thin film reactions

In this paper, we examine, both experimentally and theoretically, the kinetics of formation and microstructure of product phases in thin film reactions, using the Nb/Al and Ti/Al systems as our prototypes. The results of calorimetry and microscopy studies are interpreted using simple kinetic and morphology models. In particular, the kinetic models employed here focus on the nucleation and growth components of the phase formation process and the morphology models provide a starting point for the classification of product grain structures. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Improved modulation techniques for PWM-VSI drives

PWM-VSI based AC motor drives have two main problems. The inverter is nonlinear which causes instability problems in some specific working points of the AC machine and it emits acoustic noise due to the switching frequency. Nonlinearities like dead-time in the inverter, load dependent DC-link voltage ripple and the voltage drop across the switches are modeled and compensated by improved modulation techniques in order to obtain an almost ideal inverter. Different feedback and feedforward techniques are proposed. The acoustic noise is reduced by using a random modulation strategy. Measurements show a significant improvement by using feedforward and feedback techniques for linearizing the inverter. An improvement in reduction of the acoustic noise emission is also achieved by using random modulation. It is concluded that a combination of a random modulation strategy and feedforward/feedback techniques gives an almost ideal AC motor drive system     

Optical imaging of anatomical maps derived from magnetic resonanceimages using time-independent optical sources

Presents a model suitable for computing images of absorption cross sections of thick tissue structures illuminated at near infrared (NIR) wavelengths from tomographic projection data. Image reconstruction is accomplished by solving a system of linear equations derived from transport theory. Reconstruction results using different algebraic solvers are shown for anatomical maps of the breast, derived from magnetic resonance imaging data, containing two simulated pathologies, in which case qualitatively good reconstructions were obtained. Evaluation of magnetic resonance (MR) data to optimize NIR optical tomographic imaging methods and to assess the feasibility of a combined MR-optical measurement scheme is discussed     

Microbiological safety of kinema, a fermented soya bean food

Kinema is a fermented soya bean food of Nepal and the hilly regions of North-eastern States of India. Generally, the fermentation is dominated by Bacillus spp. that often cause alkalinity and desirable stickiness in the product. The present study was undertaken in a limited number of commercial (market) kinema samples to test for the presence of foodborne pathogens and their properties. Bacillus cereus was present in numbers exceeding 10⁴ cfu/g product in five of the tested 15 market samples. Enterobacteriaceae and coliform bacteria exceeded 10⁵ cfu/g in 10 of the 15 samples. Escherichia coli exceeding 10⁵ cfu/g was found in two samples. Staphylococcus aureus was not detected in any of the tested samples. Of 31 isolated typical and atypical strains of B. cereus, 18 representative strains were tested qualitatively for the ability to produce diarrhoeal type enterotoxin (BCET) using an Oxoid BCET-RPLA test kit. Overall, BCET was formed by 12 strains in BHIG (brain heart infusion broth +1% glucose), by seven strains on sterilized cooked rice, and by five strains on sterilized cooked soya beans. Semi-quantitative tests on BCET revealed that levels exceeding 256 ng/g soya beans, produced by single pure culture inoculation with the isolated B. cereus strains, were reduced to ≤ 8 ng/g by frying kinema in oil, a common procedure when making kinema curry. It was also shown in a mixed pure culture experiment that a kinema strain B. Subtilis DK-W1, is able to suppress growth and BCET formation by a selected toxin producing strain (BC7-5) of B. cereus. It is concluded that the traditional way of making kinema and its culinary use in curries is safe. However, for novel applications of kinema, safety precautions are advisable.     

Reuse efficiency for non-uniform traffic distributions in CDMAsystems

An exact and simple method to evaluate the frequency reuse efficiency for the reverse link of cellular CDMA systems over a non-uniform traffic distribution is presented. This method is based on a traffic redistribution and decomposition process and on standard curves with which partial reuse efficiencies are obtained and conveniently added to give the final parameter     

Measurement of PLL phase error caused by power supply noise

The measurement of the accumulated phase error of phase-locked loops (PLLs) in microprocessor systems is discussed. A system which creates controlled power supply noise and measures the PLL response is described. Examples of the use of this technique are shown for a PLL used in a 400 MHz microprocessor     

Insertion/deletion polymorphism in the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene associated with macroangiopathy and blood pressure in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

In the search for new risk factors for diabetic macroangiopathy the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene was studied in 237 consecutive patients (125 men and 112 women) with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The female population showed an excess of ischemic electrocardiographic changes or definite myocardial infarctions in the patients homozygous for the deletion [D/D; odds ratio (OR) 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-5.3] and in the insertion/deletion heterozygotes (I/D; OR 1.8; CI 1.1-3.1) compared with the patients homozygous for the insertion (I/I). In the total series coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and claudication were more often observed in the patients with I/D (OR 1.5; CI 1.0-2.2) or the D/D genotype patients (OR 1.7; CI 1.1-2.6) than in those with the genotype I/I. The systolic blood pressure was lower in patients with genotype I/I (138 +/- 19 mmHg) than in those with the genotype I/D (149 +/- 22 mmHg) or D/D (150 +/- 21 mmHg; P < 0.02). The prevalence of hypertension and the median urinary albumin excretion rate also tended to be lowest in the I/I genotype patients. Multiple logistic analysis revealed that in women the angiotensin-converting enzyme D/D genotype is independently associated with coronary heart disease. Our findings suggest that variation at the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene locus is one of the factors involved in the predisposition of diabetic patients to the development of arterial disease and hypertension.