Pre-annealing effect of electroless Ni−B deposit as a diffusion barrier for electroplated Cu electrodes

Ni−B film of 1 μm thickness was electrolessly deposited on an electroplated Cu bus electrode. The film, which encapsulates the Cu bus electrodes, prevents Cu oxidation and serves as a diffusion barrier against Cu contamination of the transparent dielectric layer in a plasma display during the firing process at 580 °C. The microstructure of theas-deposited barrier film was amorphous phase and crystallized to Ni and Ni₃B after annealing at 300 °C. The good barrier properties observed here can be explained by Ni₃B precipitates at the grain boundaries acting as a fast diffusion path via pre-annealing at 300 °C before the firing process at 580 °C.     

3D resistive RAM cell design for high-density storage class memory—a review

In this article, we comprehensively review recent progress in the ReRAM cell technology for 3D integration focusing on a material/device level. First we briefly mention pioneering work on high-density crossbar ReRAM arrays which paved the way to 3D integration. We discuss the two main proposed 3D integration schemes—3D horizontally stacked ReRAM vs 3D Vertical ReRAM and their respective advantages and disadvantages. We follow with the detailed memory cell design on important work in both areas, utilizing either filamentary or interface-limited switching mechanisms. We also discuss our own contributions on HfO₂-based filamentary 3D Vertical ReRAM as well as TaO_x/TiO₂ bilayer-based self-rectifying 3D Vertical ReRAM. Finally, we summarize the present status and provide an outlook for the nearterm future.     

An online fault tolerant actor-critic neuro-control for a class of nonlinear systems using neural network HJB approach

In this paper, we propose an actor-critic neuro-control for a class of continuous-time nonlinear systems under nonlinear abrupt faults, which is combined with an adaptive fault diagnosis observer (AFDO). Together with its estimation laws, an AFDO scheme, which estimates the faults in real time, is designed based on Lyapunov analysis. Then, based on the designed AFDO, a fault tolerant actor- critic control scheme is proposed where the critic neural network (NN) is used to approximate the value function and the actor NN updates the fault tolerant policy based on the approximated value function in the critic NN. The weight update laws for critic NN and actor NN are designed using the gradient descent method. By Lyapunov analysis, we prove the uniform ultimately boundedness (UUB) of all the states, their estimation errors, and NN weights of the fault tolerant system under the unpredictable faults. Finally, we verify the effectiveness of the proposed method through numerical simulations.     

An adaptive discrete-time ILC strategy using fuzzy systems for iteration-varying reference trajectory tracking

In this article, a novel fuzzy systems based on adaptive Iterative Learning Control (ILC) strategy is presented to deal with a class of non-parametric nonlinear discrete-time systems which perform iteration-varying reference trajectory tracking. Using the technique of fuzzy systems to compensate for the non-parametric uncertainty of the discrete-time system dynamics, the proposed adaptive ILC scheme can well track the iteration-varying reference trajectory beyond the initial time points. The convergence of the fuzzy systems based adaptive ILC algorithm is guaranteed by theoretical analysis, and a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the adaptive ILC scheme.

     

Measurement feedback control for a class of feedforward nonlinear systems

We propose a measurement feedback controller for a class of feedforward nonlinear systems under sensor noise. The sensor noise has unknown magnitude, frequency, and phase. Our proposed controller is coupled with a low‐pass filter in such a way that the sensor noise is attenuated. We show that the controlled system results in bounded states whose ultimate bounds are inversely proportional to the minimum frequency of the sensor noise. Our result is further generalized to work in a case where the sensor noise is only required to have a Fourier transform with finite energy. Moreover, if the sensor noise enters only at partial states, depending on the location of the sensor noise, the ultimate bounds of the particular states can be made arbitrarily small via the gain factor of the controller. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Window annealing for pixel-labeling problems

The pixel labeling problems in computer vision are often formulated as energy minimization tasks. Algorithms such as graph cuts and belief propagation are prominent; however, they are only applicable for specific energy forms. For general optimization, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based simulated annealing can estimate the minima states very slowly.This paper presents a sampling paradigm for faster optimization. First, in contrast to previous MCMCs, the role of detailed balance constraint is eliminated. The reversible Markov chain jumps are essential for sampling an arbitrary posterior distribution, but they are not essential for optimization tasks. This allows a computationally simple window cluster sample. Second, the proposal states are generated from combined sets of local minima which achieve a substantial increase in speed compared to uniformly labeled cluster proposals. Third, under the coarse-to-fine strategy, the maximum window size variable is incorporated along with the temperature variable during simulated annealing. The proposed window annealing is experimentally shown to be many times faster and capable of finding lower energy compared to the previous Gibbs and Swendsen-Wang cut (SW-cut) sampler. In addition, the proposed method is compared with other deterministic algorithms like graph cut, belief propagation, and spectral method in their own specific energy forms. Window annealing displays competitive performance in all domains.     

Diameter variability of cycles and tori

The diameter of a graph is an important factor for communication as it determines the maximum communication delay between any pair of processors in a network. Graham and Harary [N. Graham, F. Harary, Changing and unchanging the diameter of a hypercube, Discrete Applied Mathematics 37/38 (1992) 265-274] studied how the diameter of hypercubes can be affected by increasing and decreasing edges. They concerned whether the diameter is changed or remains unchanged when the edges are increased or decreased. In this paper, we modify three measures proposed in Graham and Harary (1992) to include the extent of the change of the diameter. Let D^-k(G) is the least number of edges whose addition to G decreases the diameter by (at least) k, D⁺⁰(G) is the maximum number of edges whose deletion from G does not change the diameter, and D^+k(G) is the least number of edges whose deletion from G increases the diameter by (at least) k. In this paper, we find the values of D^-k(C_m), D^-1(T_m,n), D^-2(T_m,n), D⁺¹(T_m,n), and a lower bound for D⁺⁰(T_m,n) where C_m be a cycle with m vertices, T_m,n be a torus of size m by n.     

Development and pilot testing of the Neuromuscular Blockade Advisory System

The neuromuscular blocker advisory system (NMBAS) is a computer program developed to provide advisory guidance to anesthesiologists on the timing and dose of rocuronium to paralyze patients during surgery. It is believed that the use of such a system will administer the minimally effective amount of drug, maintaining the patient in a state of paralysis that is useful for surgery yet easily reversible. This will improve patient safety and result in more efficient care. In this paper we present the NMBAS, its basic methodology, and its development though a pilot study. Novel methods of handling neuromuscular response data are presented, including relaxation measurement and the enhanced-train-of-four sensing modality. New methods of handling nonlinearities at the neuromuscular junction to allow application of adaptive control techniques are presented. A novel form of modelling combining model swapping and RLSE adaptation to accommodate the patient variation seen with NMB drugs is introduced. A pilot study testing the NMBAS was undergone to prepare the NMBAS for application in a full clinical trial, in which patients undergoing prostate brachytherapy surgeries using rocuronium for intubation were admitted.