Design methodologies for high-performance noise-tolerant XOR-XNOR circuits

Scaling down to deep submicrometer (DSM) technology has made noise a metric of equal importance as compared to power, speed, and area. Smaller feature size, lower supply voltage, and higher frequency are some of the characteristics for DSM circuits that make them more vulnerable to noise. New designs and circuit techniques are required in order to achieve robustness in presence of noise. Novel methodologies for designing energy-efficient noise-tolerant exclusive-OR-exclusive- NOR circuits that can operate at low-supply voltages with good signal integrity and driving capability are proposed. The circuits designed, after applying the proposed methodologies, are characterized and compared with previously published circuits for reliability, speed and energy efficiency. To test the driving capability of the proposed circuits, they are embedded in an existing 5-2 compressor design. The average noise threshold energy (ANTE) is used for quantifying the noise immunity of the proposed circuits. Simulation results show that, compared with the best available circuit in literature, the proposed circuits exhibit better noise-immunity, lower power-delay product (PDP) and good driving capability. All of the proposed circuits prove to be faster and successfully work at all ranges of supply voltage starting from 3.3 V down to 0.6 V. The savings in the PDP range from 94% to 21% for the given supply voltage range respectively and the average improvement in the ANTE is 2.67X.     

Discrete Wavelet Transform: Architectures, Design and Performance Issues

Due to the demand for real time wavelet processors in applications such as video compression [1], Internet communications compression [2], object recognition [3], and numerical analysis, many architectures for the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) systems have been proposed. This paper surveys the different approaches to designing DWT architectures. The types of architectures depend on whether the application is 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D, as well as the style of architecture: systolic, semi-systolic, folded, digit-serial, etc. This paper presents an overview and evaluation of the architectures based on the criteria of latency, control, area, memory, and number of multipliers and adders. This paper will give the reader an indication of the advantages and disadvantages of each design.     

Molecular characterization of erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Al-Ain District, United Arab Emirates

Operational skills involved in controlling a motor vehicle were measured in two groups of very healthy elderly drivers and a young control group to test the hypothesis that there are age-related declines in operational performance that may influence driver safety. An actual behind-the-wheel, standardized road test was employed using a motor vehicle equipped with sensors to record speed, braking activity, and lane position, as well as direction and magnitude of front-wheel and eye-movement excursions. The data from these sensors were used as dependent measures of operational performance. Older drivers made fewer steering and eye-movement excursions and drifted across the center line more frequently than the young control group. Younger drivers drove significantly faster and executed more braking applications than did their older counterparts. The motor-vehicle operational performance of older healthy drivers was related to visual-spatial attentional declines and the useful field of vision associated with the normal aging process.     

A study on shear banding in chip formation of orthogonal machining

A simplified theory of instability of plastic flow is applied in this paper to analyze the formation of shear localized chips in orthogonal machining. A flow localization parameter is expressed in terms of associated cutting conditions and properties of the workpiece material. The analysis is used to investigate the effect of cutting conditions on the onset of shear localization and the formation of adiabatic shear banding in metal cutting. Comparisons are made between the analysis and experiments in which the flow localization parameter is obtained for several workpiece materials. The results of this investigation are thought to lend a strong justification for the analysis and its potential benefits in analyzing and/or remedying problems associated with chip formation and temperature generated in metal cutting.     

Analytical and experimental study of shear localization in chip formation in orthogonal machining

A simplified theory of instability of plastic flow is applied to analyze the formation of shear localized chips in orthogonal machining. A flow localization parameter is expressed in terms of associated cutting conditions and properties of the workpiece material. The analysis, which indicates the important parameters in the cutting process, is used to investigate the effect of cutting conditions on the onset of shear localization and the formation of adiabatic shear banding in metal cutting. Comparisons are made between the analysis and experiments in which the flow localization parameter is obtained for several workpiece materials. The results of this investigation seem to support the analysis and its potential benefits in analyzing and/or remedying problems associated with chip formation and temperature generated in metal cutting. Presently at Advanced Technology Center, Valenite, Inc., Madison Heights,MI 48071, USA     

On tool wear and its effect on machined surface integrity

This paper presents the results of an investigation of induced residual stress, induced strain, and induced subsurface energy in machined surfaces due to the machining process. The influence of tool wear on residual stress, strain, and energy is also reported. The exact elasticity solution for a split ring was extended and used to calculate the residual stress in the machined surface by using ring dimension changes caused by the electrochemical removal of a thin layer of residually stressed surface. The strain distribution beneath the machined surface was determined by using the grid technique. The subsurface energy stored in the machined surface was then obtained from the data of residual stress and strain. For the materials studied, this investigation showed that such energy could not be neglected when establishing the total energy needed for machining a unit volume of material. Tool coatings having different surface roughness and tools having various magnitudes of flank wear were investigated. The experimental results show that tool wear is a dominant factor affecting the values of induced residual stress, strain, subsurface energy, and the quality of the machined surface. The increase of tool wear caused an increase of residual stress and strain beneath the machined surface. It was also found that the overall energy stored in the machined subsurface increases as the tool wear increases and as the tool surface gets rougher. When the cutting tool is severely worn, the machined surface not only becomes very rough, but also contains many partially fractured laps or cracks. This makes tool wear a key factor in controlling the quality of the machined surface.     

Optimal Control for Partially Observed Nonlinear Deterministic Systems with Fuzzy Parameters

In this paper we consider the control problem for a class of partially observed deterministic systems governed by nonlinear differential equations with fuzzy parameters. Using Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy model, we propose a linear (fuzzy) controller, driven by the output process, for controlling the system. Further, using calculus of variations, we have developed a set of necessary conditions on the basis of which optimal control can be determined. Based on these necessary conditions we have proposed a numerical algorithm for computing optimal control along with some numerical simulations to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed (fuzzy) control scheme.     

Efficient mapping algorithm of multilayer neural network on torus architecture

This paper presents a new efficient parallel implementation of neural networks on mesh-connected SIMD machines. A new algorithm to implement the recall and training phases of the multilayer perceptron network with back-error propagation is devised. The developed algorithm is much faster than other known algorithms of its class and comparable in speed to more complex architecture such as hypercube, without the added cost; it requires O(1) multiplications and O(log N) additions, whereas most others require O(N) multiplications and O(N) additions. The proposed algorithm maximizes parallelism by unfolding the ANN computation to its smallest computational primitives and processes these primitives in parallel.     

Comparison of the wear resistance of various grades of cemented carbides that may find application in wood machining

A laboratory test is described in which specimens of rectangular cemented carbide tool inserts of a standard size are allowed to slide against a rapidly rotating fiberboard disc in either the presence or the absence of a mist spray of a dilute organic acid (tannic acid or acetic acid) to simulate the cutting of green wood and cured wood respectively. It is shown that the worn surfaces of cemented carbide tools used in (field) service are remarkably similar to the worn surfaces of specimens used in the laboratory (simulation) tests.Extensive results are presented that show quantitatively the progressive wear of a wide range of cemented carbides as a function of time for sliding under wet and dry conditions. It is shown that wear depends on the type and amount of binder present in the cemented carbide and on the nature of the environment. Materials with Co-Cr and Ni-Cr binders containing significant amounts of chromium showed the greatest resistance to wear.     

The role of tool composition and tool geometry in controlling the surface finish in machining wood

An examination of several brazed cemented carbide tool inserts that were used in service for cutting cured (dry) pine is described. A laboratory test is also described where the relative resistance to chipping of the brazed tool inserts was measured.It is shown that tool wear occurs through a continuous increase in the tool cutting edge radius that produces a deterioration in the appearance of the machined surface. It is also shown that an increase in either the binder volume fraction or the tool wedge angle produces an increase in the energy absorbed on impact. It is suggested that if progressive wear determines the useful life of a cemented carbide cutting tool then a low volume fraction of binder is required whereas if tool edge chipping determines the useful life of a cutting tool then a large volume fraction of binder and a large tool wedge angle are required.