Modeling of peak-to-peak core switching noise, output impedance, and decoupling capacitance along a vertical chain of power distribution TSV pairs

In this article we propose an efficient and accurate model to estimate peak-to-peak core switching noise, caused by simultaneous switching of logic loads along a vertical chain of power distribution TSV pairs in a 3D stack of dies interconnected through TSVs. The proposed model is accurate with only a 2?C3% difference in peak-to-peak core switching noise as compared to the Ansoft Nexxim4.1 equivalent model. The proposed model is 3?C4 times faster than Ansoft Nexxim4.1 and uses two times less memory as compared to the Ansoft Nexxim4.1 equivalent model. In this article we also thoroughly establish design guidelines for almost flat output impedance magnitude at each stage of a vertical chain of power distribution TSV pairs to realize a resonance free scenario over a wide operating frequency range. We also establish decoupling capacitance design guidelines based on the optimum output impedance and critically damped supply voltage for the core logic for each stage of a vertical chain of power distribution TSV pairs.     

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity by RGO/MWCNTs/NiO Counter Electrode for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Nano-Micro Letters - We applied the reduced graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/nickel oxide (RGO/MWCNTs/NiO) nanocomposite as the counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells...     

Potential of geothermal energy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has rich geothermal energy resources. In Saudi Arabia, the studies on geothermal resources exploration were started in 1980. Saudi Arabia is among the most geothermally active countries in the Middle East. The geothermal power plants are not yet installed in Saudi Arabia. Some direct-use low-grade geothermal applications are already installed in the five last years. Some refreshment and swimming pools are already constructed in the Bani Malik-Jizan area. Geothermal energy can be utilized in various forms such as direct use, electricity generation, space heating, heat pumps, greenhouse heating, and industrial usage. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government has plans to become completely powered by difference forms of renewable energy such as solid waste, solar, geothermal, and wind.     

HARP2: An X-Scale Reconfigurable Accelerator-Rich Platform for Massively-Parallel Signal Processing Algorithms

This paper presents design, development and evaluation of an eXtra-large Scale, Homogeneous and a Heterogeneous Accelerator-Rich Platform (HARP²) for massively parallel signal processing algorithms. HARP is an integrated platform of multiple Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Arrays (CGRAs) over a Network-on-Chip (NoC) where each CGRA is scaled and tailored for a specific application. The architecture of the NoC consists of nine nodes in a topology of 3-rows × 3-columns and acts as backbone of communication between different CGRAs. In this experimental work, the HARP template is used to instantiate a homogeneous (HARP-hom) and a heterogeneous (HARP-het) platform. The HARP-het is generated for a proof-of-concept test to verify the design and functionality of HARP. It also provides insight to many features of the design and evaluation in terms of different performance metrics. The other version (HARP-hom) is instantiated for a relatively realistic design problem, i.e., satisfying the execution-time constraints imposed on Fast Fourier Transform processing in IEEE-802.11n demodulators. Both of the versions of HARP are treated for comparative analysis using different performance metrics against some of the existing state-of-the-art platforms. The HARP versions are designed to illustrate large-scale homogeneous/heterogeneous multicore architectures while presenting the advantages of maximizing the number of reconfigurable processing resources on a single chip.     

Low Resistance Polycrystalline Diamond Thin Films Deposited by Hot Filament Chemical Vapour Deposition

Polycrystalline diamond thin films with outgrowing diamond (OGD) grains were deposited onto silicon wafers using a hydrocarbon gas (CH4) highly diluted with H2 at low pressure in a hot filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) reactor with a range of gas flow rates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM showed polycrystalline diamond structure with a random orientation. Polycrystalline diamond films with various textures were grown and (111) facets were dominant with sharp grain boundaries. Outgrowth was observed in flowerish character at high gas flow rates. Isolated single crystals with little openings appeared at various stages at low gas flow rates. Thus, changing gas flow rates had a beneficial influence on the grain size, growth rate and electrical resistivity. CVD diamond films gave an excellent performance for medium film thickness with relatively low electrical resistivity and making them potentially useful in many industrial applications.     

Arbitrary‐order sliding mode‐based robust control algorithm for the developing artificial pancreas mechanism

In Diabetes Mellitus, the pancreas remains incapable of insulin administration that leads to hyperglycaemia, an escalated glycaemic concentration, which may stimulate many complications. To circumvent this situation, a closed‐loop control strategy is much needed for the exogenous insulin infusion in diabetic patients. This closed‐loop structure is often termed as an artificial pancreas that is generally established by the employment of different feedback control strategies. In this work, the authors have proposed an arbitrary‐order sliding mode control approach for development of the said mechanism. The term, arbitrary, is exercised in the sense of its applicability to any n ‐order controllable canonical system. The proposed control algorithm affirms the finite‐time effective stabilisation of the glucose–insulin regulatory system, at the desired level, with the alleviation of sharp fluctuations. The novelty of this work lies in the sliding manifold that incorporates indirect non‐linear terms. In addition, the necessary discontinuous terms are filtered‐out once before its employment to the plant, i.e. diabetic patient. The robustness, in the presence of external disturbances, i.e. meal intake is confirmed via rigorous mathematical stability analysis. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is ascertained by comparing the results with the standard literature.Inspec keywords: diseases, blood, control system synthesis, medical control systems, feedback, sugar, stability, closed loop systems, robust control, variable structure systemsOther keywords: finite‐time effective stabilisation, glucose–insulin regulatory system, sliding manifold, nonlinear terms, necessary discontinuous terms, employment, diabetic patient, arbitrary‐order sliding mode‐based robust control algorithm, developing artificial pancreas mechanism, Diabetes Mellitus, insulin administration, escalated glycaemic concentration, closed‐loop control strategy, exogenous insulin infusion, closed‐loop structure, different feedback control strategies, mode control approach, n‐order controllable canonical system, control algorithm affirms     

Thermoresponsive hyperbranched copolymer with multi acrylate functionality for in situ cross-linkable hyaluronic acid composite semi-IPN hydrogel

Thermoresponsive polymers have been widely used for in situ formed hydrogels in drug delivery and tissue engineering as they are easy to handle and their shape can easily conform to tissue defects. However, non-covalent bonding and mechanical weakness of these hydrogels limit their applications. In this study, a physically and chemically in situ cross-linkable hydrogel system was developed from a novel thermoresponsive hyperbranched PEG based copolymer with multi acrylate functionality, which was synthesized via an ‘one pot and one step’ in situ deactivation enhanced atom transfer radical co-polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA, M_n = 258 g mol⁻¹), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA, M_n = 475 g mol⁻¹) and (2-methoxyethoxy) ethyl methacrylate (MEO₂MA). This hyperbranched copolymer was tailored to have the lower critical solution temperature to form physical gelation around 37°C. Meanwhile, with high level of acrylate functionalities, a chemically cross-linked gel was formed from this copolymer using thiol functional cross-linker of pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-mercaptopropionate) (QT) via thiol-ene Michael addition reaction. Furthermore, a semi-interpenetrated polymer networks (semi-IPN) structure was developed by combining this polymer with hyaluronic acid (HA), leading to an in situ cross-linkable hydrogel with significantly increased porosity, enhanced swelling behavior and improved cell adhesion and viability both in 2D and 3D cell culture models.     

Transient heat transfer in a heat‐generating fin with radiation and convection with temperature‐dependent heat transfer coefficient

The transient heat transfer in a heat‐generating fin with simultaneous surface convection and radiation is studied numerically for a step change in base temperature. The convection heat transfer coefficient is assumed to be a power law function of the local temperature difference between the fin and its surrounding fluid. The values of the power exponent n are chosen to include simulation of natural convection (laminar and turbulent) and nucleate boiling among other convective heat transfer modes. The fin is assumed to have uniform internal heat generation. The transient response of the fin depends on the convection‐conduction parameter, radiation‐conduction parameter, heat generation parameter, power exponent, and the dimensionless sink temperature. The instantaneous heat transfer characteristics such as the base heat transfer, surface heat loss, and energy stored are reported for a range of values of these parameters. When the internal heat generation exceeds a threshold the fin acts as a heat sink instead of a heat source. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21012