Simulation of a programmable signal processor

Although simulation, in general, is a very widely used technique, simulation of a complex processor as a tool for v microprogram development is only of recent origin. A signal processor has, quite often, special features like multiple storage and computational modules functioning in parallel, real-time devices, etc. The problems connected with simulating these features are discussed here in the context of a specific architecture. An interactive debugger, incorporated as a special feature of the simulator is also presented, which is an invaluable aid in microprogram debugging.     

A new metal-to-metal antifuse with amorphous carbon

We report the development of a new metal-to-metal antifuse with amorphous carbon as the dielectric. Amorphous carbon antifuses have several characteristics making them superior to amorphous silicon antifuses, including lower values of OFF-state leakage current, ON-state resistance, dielectric constant, and breakdown voltage. Most importantly, amorphous carbon antifuses do not show ON-OFF switching, which is observed in amorphous silicon antifuses. A new model is proposed to explain the breakdown mechanism and ON-state reliability of amorphous carbon antifuses     

Apparent Carbon Monoxide Insertion via Double Isocyanide Incorporation during Palladium‐Catalyzed Construction of Indoloquinoline Ring in a Single Pot: Synthesis of New Cytotoxic Agents

The formation of an amide bond via incorporation of two isocyanide units during a palladium‐catalyzed construction of the indoloquinoline ring afforded N‐substituted 6H‐indolo[2,3‐b]quinoline‐11‐carboxamides as new cytotoxic agents. The solvent and base play a key role in the selective and unprecedented synthesis of this class of amides.

     

A Probabilistic Approach to Diagnose SETs in Sequential Circuits

In recent work, the error latching probability due to an SET is calculated for a single observable point, and this help in hardening the design. This paper utilizes a recently proposed probabilistic framework for SET propagation in order to diagnose the location and time of strike based on errors observed at multiple points. The proposed diagnostic framework requires a new approach to calculate the probability for SET propagation to multiple non-independent variables. It is shown experimentally that error appearances at multiple observable points help in SET diagnosis. The time performance of the proposed diagnostic framework is compared against an alternative implementation. This is particularly important in on-line diagnosis.     

Adaptive algorithms for sensor activation in renewable energy based sensor systems

Upcoming sensor networks would be deployed with sensing devices with energy harvesting capabilities from renewable energy sources such as solar power. A key research question in such sensor systems is to maximize the asymptotic event detection probability achieved in the system, in the presence of energy constraints and uncertainties. This paper focuses on the design of adaptive algorithms for sensor activation in the presence of uncertainty in the event phenomena. Based upon the ideas from increase/decrease algorithms used in TCP congestion avoidance, we design an online and adaptive activation algorithm that varies the subsequent sleep interval according to additive increase and multiplicative decrease depending upon the sensor’s current energy level. In addition, the proposed algorithm does not depend on global system parameters, or on the degree of event correlations, and hence can easily be deployed in practical scenarios. We analyze the performance of proposed algorithm for a single sensor scenario using Markov chains, and show that the proposed algorithm achieves near-optimal performance. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed algorithm not only achieves near-optimal performance, but also exhibits more stability with respect to sensor’s energy level and sleep interval variations. We validate the applicability of our proposed algorithm in the presence of multiple sensors and multiple event processes through simulations.     

Deactivation and regeneration of Ni catalyst during steam reforming of model biogas: An experimental investigation

This paper presents detailed study of biogas reforming. Model biogas with different levels of H₂S is subjected to reforming reaction over supported Ni catalyst in a fixed bed reactor at 700 °C and 800 °C. In order to understand the poisoning effects of H₂S the reactions have been initially carried out without H₂S in the feed stream. Three different H₂S concentrations (20, 50 and 100 ppm) have been considered in the study. The H₂O to CH₄ ratio is maintained in such as way that CO₂ also participates in the reforming reaction. After performing the poisoning studies, regeneration of the catalyst has been studied using three different techniques i) removal of H₂S from the feed stream ii) temperature enhancement and iii) steam treatment. Poisoning at low temperature is not recoverable just by removal of H₂S from the feed stream. However, poisoning at high temperature is easily reversed just by removal of H₂S from the feed stream. Unlike some previous reports by Li et al. (2010) and Rostrup-nielsen (1971) [1,2], catalyst regeneration is achieved in shorter time frames for all the regeneration techniques attempted.     

Urgent bedside endoscopic nasobiliary drainage without fluoroscopic monitoring

Emergency endoscopic nasobiliary drainage was performed successfully in 2 patients with severe cholangitis and septic shock without the help of fluoroscopy because of technical problems in the fluoroscopy units. Definitive procedure was performed after the recovery. Nasobiliary drainage can be performed without fluoroscopic guidance, but should be attempted in exceptional situations.     

The dependence condition graph: Precise conditions for dependence between program points

The problem of identifying the conditions under which semantic or behavioural dependences arise between different program statements has interesting applications in various areas such as program understanding, software maintenance, software audits and software testing. We present an extension to the program dependence graph (PDG), called the dependence condition graph (DCG), that enables identifying the conditions for dependence between program points. We show that these conditions are not only correct with respect to the program's semantics, but also more precise than identified by other known techniques. We also present evidence that the DCG is a practical representation and can be built for large programs, and sketch many different applications of the DCG.     

Electrical and magnetic studies on promising Aurivillius intergrowth compound

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Aurivillius intergrowth multiferroic phases are inspiring to many researchers owing to their scientific and technological application point...     

An energy-mix model for round-the-clock power supply in a decarbonized electricity generation scenario: case study of South India

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - There is increasing urgency towards integration of renewable sources into electricity generation so as to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions....