3,861 research outputs found
Quantum Dot Cellular Automata Check Node Implementation for LDPC Decoders
The quantum dot Cellular Automata (QCA) is an emerging nanotechnology that has gained significant research interest in recent years. Extremely small feature sizes, ultralow power consumption, and high clock frequency make QCA a potentially attractive solution for implementing computing architectures at the nanoscale. To be considered as a suitable CMOS substitute, the QCA technology must be able to implement complex real-time applications with affordable complexity. Low density parity check (LDPC) decoding is one of such applications. The core of LDPC decoding lies in the check node (CN) processing element which executes actual decoding algorithm and contributes toward overall performance and complexity of the LDPC decoder. This study presents a novel QCA architecture for partial parallel, layered LDPC check node. The CN executes Normalized Min Sum decoding algorithm and is flexible to support CN degree dc up to 20. The CN is constructed using a VHDL behavioral model of QCA elementary circuits which provides a hierarchical bottom up approach to evaluate the logical behavior, area, and power dissipation of the whole design. Performance evaluations are reported for the two main implementations of QCA i.e. molecular and magneti
Hand-arm vibration disorder among grass-cutter workers in Malaysia
Prolonged exposure to hand-transmitted vibration from grass-cutting machines has been associated with increasing occurrences of symptoms and signs of occupational diseases related to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out using an adopted HAVS questionnaire on hand-arm vibration exposure and symptoms distributed to 168 male workers from the grass and turf maintenance industry who use hand-held grass-cutting machines as part of their work. The prevalence ratio and symptom correlation to HAVS between high and lowâmoderate exposure risk groups were evaluated. Results. There were positive HAVS symptoms relationships between the lowâmoderate exposure group and the high exposure group among hand-held grass-cutting workers. The prevalence ratio was considered high because there were indicators that fingers turned white and felt numb, 3.63, 95% CI [1.41, 9.39] and 4.24, 95% CI [2.18, 8.27], respectively. Less than 14.3% of workers stated that they were aware of the occupational hand-arm vibration, and it seemed to be related to the finger blanching and numbness. Conclusion. The results suggest that HAVS is under-diagnosed in Malaysia, especially in the agricultural sectors. More information related to safety and health awareness programmes for HAVS exposure is required among hand-held grass-cutting workers
A Logic Simplification Approach for Very Large Scale Crosstalk Circuit Designs
Crosstalk computing, involving engineered interference between nanoscale
metal lines, offers a fresh perspective to scaling through co-existence with
CMOS. Through capacitive manipulations and innovative circuit style, not only
primitive gates can be implemented, but custom logic cells such as an Adder,
Subtractor can be implemented with huge gains. Our simulations show over 5x
density and 2x power benefits over CMOS custom designs at 16nm [1]. This paper
introduces the Crosstalk circuit style and a key method for large-scale circuit
synthesis utilizing existing EDA tool flow. We propose to manipulate the CMOS
synthesis flow by adding two extra steps: conversion of the gate-level netlist
to Crosstalk implementation friendly netlist through logic simplification and
Crosstalk gate mapping, and the inclusion of custom cell libraries for
automated placement and layout. Our logic simplification approach first
converts Cadence generated structured netlist to Boolean expressions and then
uses the majority synthesis tool to obtain majority functions, which is further
used to simplify functions for Crosstalk friendly implementations. We compare
our approach of logic simplification to that of CMOS and majority logic-based
approaches. Crosstalk circuits share some similarities to majority synthesis
that are typically applied to Quantum Cellular Automata technology. However,
our investigation shows that by closely following Crosstalk's core circuit
styles, most benefits can be achieved. In the best case, our approach shows 36%
density improvements over majority synthesis for MCNC benchmark
A Library-Based Synthesis Methodology for Reversible Logic
In this paper, a library-based synthesis methodology for reversible circuits
is proposed where a reversible specification is considered as a permutation
comprising a set of cycles. To this end, a pre-synthesis optimization step is
introduced to construct a reversible specification from an irreversible
function. In addition, a cycle-based representation model is presented to be
used as an intermediate format in the proposed synthesis methodology. The
selected intermediate format serves as a focal point for all potential
representation models. In order to synthesize a given function, a library
containing seven building blocks is used where each building block is a cycle
of length less than 6. To synthesize large cycles, we also propose a
decomposition algorithm which produces all possible minimal and inequivalent
factorizations for a given cycle of length greater than 5. All decompositions
contain the maximum number of disjoint cycles. The generated decompositions are
used in conjunction with a novel cycle assignment algorithm which is proposed
based on the graph matching problem to select the best possible cycle pairs.
Then, each pair is synthesized by using the available components of the
library. The decomposition algorithm together with the cycle assignment method
are considered as a binding method which selects a building block from the
library for each cycle. Finally, a post-synthesis optimization step is
introduced to optimize the synthesis results in terms of different costs.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, Microelectronics Journal, Elsevie
Yield improvement using configurable analogue transistors (CATs)
Continued process scaling has led to significant yield and reliability challenges for todayâs designers. Analogue circuits are particularly susceptible to poor variation, driving the need for new yield resilient techniques in this area. This paper describes a new configurable analogue transistor structure and supporting methodology that facilitates variation compensation at the post-manufacture stage. The approach has demonstrated significant yield improvements and can be applied to any analogue circui
Cycle time optimization by timing driven placement with simultaneous netlist transformations
We present new concepts to integrate logic synthesis and physical design. Our methodology uses general Boolean transformations as known from technology-independent synthesis, and a recursive bi-partitioning placement algorithm. In each partitioning step, the precision of the layout data increases. This allows effective guidance of the logic synthesis operations for cycle time optimization. An additional advantage of our approach is that no complicated layout corrections are needed when the netlist is changed
A Fully Differential Digital CMOS Pulse UWB Generator
A new fully-digital CMOS pulse generator for impulse-radio Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) systems is presented. First, the shape of the pulse which best fits the FCC regulation in the 3.1-5 GHz sub-band of the entire 3.1-10.6 GHz UWB bandwidth is derived and approximated using rectangular digital pulses. In particular, the number and width of pulses that approximate an ideal template is found through an ad-hoc optimization methodology. Then a fully differential digital CMOS circuit that synthesizes the pulse sequence is conceived and its functionality demonstrated through post-layout simulations. The results show a very good agreement with the FCC requirements and a low power consumptio
- âŠ