Complexity reduction of digital filters using shift inclusive differential coefficients

We present a graph theoretical methodology that reduces the implementation complexity of the multiplication of a constant vector and a scalar. The complexity of implementation is defined as the required amount of computations like additions. The proposed approach is called minimally redundant parallel (MRP) optimization and is mainly presented in a finite impulse response (FIR) filtering framework to obtain a low-complexity multiplierless implementation. The key idea is to expand the design space using shift inclusive differential coefficients (SIDCs) together with computation reordering using a graph theoretic approach to obtain maximal computation sharing. The problem is formulated using a graph in which vertices and edges represent coefficients and computational cost (number of resources). The multiplierless solution is obtained by solving a set cover problem on the vertices in the graph. A simple polynomial run time algorithm based on a greedy approach is presented. The proposed approach is compared with common-subexpression elimination to show slightly better results and is combined with it for further reduction of complexity. Simulation results show that 50-60% complexity reduction is achieved by only applying the MRP algorithm, and 70% complexity reduction is obtainable by combining it with common-subexpression elimination under a delay constraint of two or three.     

Affective Learning — A Manifesto

The use of the computer as a model, metaphor, and modelling tool has tended to privilege the 'cognitive' over the 'affective' by engendering theories in which thinking and learning are viewed as information processing and affect is ignored or marginalised. In the last decade there has been an accelerated flow of findings in multiple disciplines supporting a view of affect as complexly intertwined with cognition in guiding rational behaviour, memory retrieval, decision-making, creativity, and more. It is time to redress the imbalance by developing theories and technologies in which affect and cognition are appropriately integrated with one another. This paper describes work in that direction at the MIT Media Lab and projects a large perspective of new research in which computer technology is used to redress the imbalance that was caused (or, at least, accentuated) by the computer itself.     

Anticipation of nitrided oxides electrical thickness based on XPS measurement

Plasma nitridation of thermally grown oxide films has proven to be an excellent gate dielectric in meeting the electrical requirements of the 65 nm node. As the 65 nm device performance is very sensitive to both physical thickness and nitrogen dose of these dielectric films, it is highly desirable to predict the electrical properties of such films. We present a simple physical model to forecast the capacitance-equivalent thickness (CET) of nMOS devices for 65 nm technology. The model is based on the total nitrogen dose and the dielectric physical thickness, both given by in-line X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement of the plasma nitrided gate dielectric. This model uses an estimated gate oxide dielectric constant, the gate depletion capacitance and the inversion layer capacitance. A good correlation is obtained between calculated and measured CET for plasma nitrided oxides from 19 to 30 Å CET and for a large range of incorporated nitrogen doses.     

UAV-assisted multi-hop D2D relaying for communication in large disaster area

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted communication is a promising technique for enabling ground users in a non-functional area (NFA) or disaster area to communicate. All the base stations in the disaster area may be partially or fully damaged due to the natural calamity. Device-to-device (D2D) communication can be a viable solution for immediate connection between users in an NFA. We propose a UAV-assisted multi-hop D2D communication following a hybrid power-time switching (PTS) in this paper. Moreover, a D2D user of a cluster can communicate with another D2D user in a different cluster through UAVs. However, D2D users can harvest energy from their respective ad hoc energy stations and forward the information to the nearby D2D user following a hybrid PTS-based strategy. We propose a time frame for the same and show a node-based energy harvesting strategy. The expressions of outage probability, throughput, end-to-end energy consumption, and energy efficiency are developed for the Rician and Nakagami-m faded channel. The impact of several network parameters such as energy harvesting factor, energy harvesting efficiency, and fading parameter on the network performance is also indicated.     

EEG complexity as a measure of depth of anesthesia for patients

A new approach for quantifying the relationship between brain activity patterns and depth of anesthesia (DOA) is presented by analyzing the spatio-temporal patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG) using Lempel-Ziv complexity analysis. Twenty-seven patients undergoing vascular surgery were studied under general anesthesia with sevoflurane, isoflurane, propofol, or desflurane. The EEG was recorded continuously during the procedure and patients' anesthesia states were assessed according to the responsiveness component of the observer's assessment of alertness/sedation (OAA/S) score. An OAA/S score of zero or one was considered asleep and two or greater was considered awake. Complexity of the EEG was quantitatively estimated by the measure C(n), whose performance in discriminating awake and asleep states was analyzed by statistics for different anesthetic techniques and different patient populations. Compared with other measures, such as approximate entropy, spectral entropy, and median frequency, C(n) not only demonstrates better performance (93% accuracy) across all of the patients, but also is an easier algorithm to implement for real-time use. The study shows that C(n) is a very useful and promising EEG-derived parameter for characterizing the (DOA) under clinical situations.     

ISDN applications at Tenneco Gas

The evolution from analog to integrated services digital network (ISDN) telecommunication services at Tenneco Gas and the features of its telephone system are described. The results of implementing ISDN in data operations are examined. The benefits of ISDN for Tenneco are briefly summarized     

Computation sharing programmable FIR filter for low-power and high-performance applications

This paper presents a programmable digital finite-impulse response (FIR) filter for high-performance and low-power applications. The architecture is based on a computation sharing multiplier (CSHM) which specifically targets computation re-use in vector-scalar products and can be effectively used in the low-complexity programmable FIR filter design. Efficient circuit-level techniques, namely a new carry-select adder and conditional capture flip-flop (CCFF), are also used to further improve power and performance. A 10-tap programmable FIR filter was implemented and fabricated in CMOS 0.25-/spl mu/m technology based on the proposed architectural and circuit-level techniques. The chip's core contains approximately 130 K transistors and occupies 9.93 mm/sup 2/ area.     

Capacitances in double-barrier tunneling structures

Capacitances in a double-barrier tunneling structure are calculated for the specific sequential electron tunneling regime. Starting from Luryi's (1988) definition of quantum capacitance, the authors model the charge accumulation in the well during the tunneling process using the Fermi-Dirac distribution. Analytical formulas for the total capacitance and conductance are derived. A complete small-signal model is proposed that demonstrates the external capacitance and conductance of the structure and its frequency behavior. The authors show both theoretically and experimentally that the capacitance in a tunneling structure is both bias- and frequency-dependent     

RoBiN: Random Access using Border Routers in Cellular Networks

Introducing Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications over traditional 4G cellular networks make the cellular random access channel more congested and collision-prone. In order to resolve this random access congestion, we propose RoBiN - Random access using Border router in M2M cellular Networks. RoBiN proposes an architectural modification of introducing small cells, called Border Routers (BR), in cellular networks, with complete frequency reuse capability. We formulate the aforementioned challenge in terms of collision probability and system capacity. Subsequently, we propose an efficient solution for M2M communications in cellular networks. Exhaustive mathematical analysis shows that RoBiN significantly improves the random access success probability, by 50 % over existing 4G cellular systems. Simulation results on typical 4G networks corroborate our mathematical analysis and demonstrate almost 15 dB increase in Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) and 3 times throughput improvements over legacy 4G cellular systems. Furthermore, RoBiN also achieves 50 %?80 % improvement in collision probability over existing time alignment matching work.     

Designing a green optical network unit using ARMA-based traffic prediction for quality of service-aware traffic

The optical access networks (OANs) provide an attractive solution to the bandwidth bottleneck problem of the last mile. However, it has been proved (Baliga et al. in J Lightwave Technol 27(13):2391–2403, 2009; Baliga et al. in IEEE Commun Mag 49(6):70–77, 2011) that the OAN consumes a significant ratio of the total energy consumed in an optical networking scenario. This has provided incentive for inspection of energy-efficient schemes for OANs. It has been demonstrated in the literature that energy consumption figures of an OAN can be improved by either designing efficient hardware or employing better media access control (MAC) protocols. In this paper, we design a MAC protocol for OANs to ensure energy-efficiency in the presence of quality of service (QoS)-aware traffic. The proposed scheme incorporates traffic prediction-based selection of different sleep (energy-efficient) modes of operation, of the optical network units—ONUs (OAN end units). It also implements switching between different sleep modes to maintain high QoS with significant energy-efficiency figures. The discussed scheme requires processing at the ONU only and can work independent of the entire OAN (ONU assisted). Thus, our proposal is an attractive solution for the already deployed networks or even in green field deployment.