118 research outputs found
Front-end receiver for miniaturised ultrasound imaging
Point of care ultrasonography has been the focus of extensive research over the past few decades. Miniaturised, wireless systems have been envisaged for new application areas, such as capsule endoscopy, implantable ultrasound and wearable ultrasound. The hardware constraints of such small-scale systems are severe, and tradeoffs between power consumption, size, data bandwidth and cost must be carefully balanced. To address these challenges, two synthetic aperture receiver architectures are proposed and compared. The architectures target highly miniaturised, low cost, B-mode ultrasound imaging systems. The first architecture utilises quadrature (I/Q) sampling to minimise the signal bandwidth and computational load. Synthetic aperture beamforming is carried out using a single-channel, pipelined protocol in order to minimise system complexity and power consumption. A digital beamformer dynamically apodises and focuses the data by interpolating and applying complex phase rotations to the I/Q samples. The beamformer is implemented on a Spartan-6 FPGA and consumes 296mW for a frame rate of 7Hz. The second architecture employs compressive sensing within the finite rate of innovation (FRI) framework to further reduce the data bandwidth. Signals are sampled below the Nyquist frequency, and then transmitted to a digital back-end processor, which reconstructs I/Q components non-linearly, and then carries out synthetic aperture beamforming. Both architectures were tested in hardware using a single-channel analogue front-end (AFE) that was designed and fabricated in AMS 0.35Îźm CMOS. The AFE demodulates RF ultrasound signals sequentially into I/Q components, and comprises a low-noise preamplifier, mixer, programmable gain amplifier (PGA) and lowpass filter. A variable gain low noise preamplifier topology is used to enable quasi-exponential time-gain control (TGC). The PGA enables digital selection of three gain values (15dB, 22dB and 25.5dB). The bandwidth of the lowpass filter is also selectable between 1.85MHz, 510kHz and 195kHz to allow for testing of both architectural frameworks. The entire AFE consumes 7.8 mW and occupies an area of 1.5Ă1.5 mm. In addition to the AFE, this thesis also presents the design of a pseudodifferential, log-domain multiplier-filter or âmulterâ which demodulates low-RF signals in the current-domain. This circuit targets high impedance transducers such as capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUTs) and offers a 20dB improvement in dynamic range over the voltage-mode AFE. The bandwidth is also electronically tunable. The circuit was implemented in 0.35Îźm BiCMOS and was simulated in Cadence; however, no fabrication results were obtained for this circuit. B-mode images were obtained for both architectures. The quadrature SAB method yields a higher image SNR and 9% lower root mean squared error with respect to the RF-beamformed reference image than the compressive SAB method. Thus, while both architectures achieve a significant reduction in sampling rate, system complexity and area, the quadrature SAB method achieves better image quality. Future work may involve the addition of multiple receiver channels and the development of an integrated system-on-chip.Open Acces
Architectures for embedded multimodal sensor data fusion systems in the robotics : and airport traffic suveillance ; domain
Smaller autonomous robots and embedded sensor data fusion systems often suffer from limited
computational and hardware resources. Many âReal Timeâ algorithms for multi modal sensor data
fusion cannot be executed on such systems, at least not in real time and sometimes not at all, because
of the computational and energy resources needed, resulting from the architecture of the
computational hardware used in these systems. Alternative hardware architectures for generic
tracking algorithms could provide a solution to overcome some of these limitations. For tracking and
self localization sequential Bayesian filters, in particular particle filters, have been shown to be able to
handle a range of tracking problems that could not be solved with other algorithms. But particle filters
have some serious disadvantages when executed on serial computational architectures used in most
systems. The potential increase in performance for particle filters is huge as many of the computational
steps can be done concurrently. A generic hardware solution for particle filters can relieve the central
processing unit from the computational load associated with the tracking task.
The general topic of this research are hardware-software architectures for multi modal sensor data
fusion in embedded systems in particular tracking, with the goal to develop a high performance
computational architecture for embedded applications in robotics and airport traffic surveillance
domain. The primary concern of the research is therefore: The integration of domain specific concept
support into hardware architectures for low level multi modal sensor data fusion, in particular
embedded systems for tracking with Bayesian filters; and a distributed hardware-software tracking
systems for airport traffic surveillance and control systems.
Runway Incursions are occurrences at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft,
vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft.
The growing traffic volume kept runway incursions on the NTSBâs âMost Wantedâ list for safety
improvements for over a decade. Recent incidents show that problem is still existent. Technological
responses that have been deployed in significant numbers are ASDE-X and A-SMGCS. Although these
technical responses are a significant improvement and reduce the frequency of runway incursions,
some runway incursion scenarios are not optimally covered by these systems, detection of runway
incursion events is not as fast as desired, and they are too expensive for all but the biggest airports.
Local, short range sensors could be a solution to provide the necessary affordable surveillance accuracy
for runway incursion prevention. In this context the following objectives shall be reached. 1) Show the
feasibility of runway incursion prevention systems based on localized surveillance. 2) Develop a design
for a local runway incursion alerting system. 3) Realize a prototype of the system design using the
developed tracking hardware.Kleinere autonome Roboter und eingebettete Sensordatenfusionssysteme haben oft mit stark
begrenzter Rechenkapazität und eingeschränkten Hardwareressourcen zu kämpfen. Viele
Echtzeitalgorithmen fĂźr die Fusion von multimodalen Sensordaten kĂśnnen, bedingt durch den hohen
Bedarf an Rechenkapazität und Energie, auf solchen Systemen ßberhaupt nicht ausgefßhrt werden,
oder zu mindesten nicht in Echtzeit. Der hohe Bedarf an Energie und Rechenkapazität hat seine
Ursache darin, dass die Architektur der ausfĂźhrenden Hardware und der ausgefĂźhrte Algorithmus
nicht aufeinander abgestimmt sind. Dies betrifft auch Algorithmen zu Spurverfolgung. Mit Hilfe von
alternativen Hardwarearchitekturen fĂźr die generische AusfĂźhrung solcher Algorithmen kĂśnnten sich
einige der typischerweise vorliegenden Einschränkungen ßberwinden lassen. Eine Reihe von Aufgaben,
die sich mit anderen Spurverfolgungsalgorithmen nicht lĂśsen lassen, lassen sich mit dem Teilchenfilter,
einem Algorithmus aus der Familie der Bayesschen Filter lĂśsen. Bei der AusfĂźhrung auf traditionellen
Architekturen haben Teilchenfilter gegenĂźber anderen Algorithmen einen signifikanten Nachteil,
allerdings ist hier ein groĂer Leistungszuwachs durch die nebenläufige AusfĂźhrung vieler
Rechenschritte mĂśglich. Eine generische Hardwarearchitektur fĂźr Teilchenfilter kĂśnnte deshalb die
oben genannten Systeme stark entlasten.
Das allgemeine Thema dieses Forschungsvorhabens sind Hardware-Software-Architekturen fĂźr die
multimodale Sensordatenfusion auf eingebetteten Systemen - speziell fĂźr Aufgaben der
Spurverfolgung, mit dem Ziel eine leistungsfähige Architektur fßr die Berechnung entsprechender
Algorithmen auf eingebetteten Systemen zu entwickeln, die fĂźr Anwendungen in der Robotik und
Verkehrsßberwachung auf Flughäfen geeignet ist. Das Augenmerk des Forschungsvorhabens liegt
dabei auf der Integration von vom Einsatzgebiet abhängigen Konzepten in die Architektur von
Systemen zur Spurverfolgung mit Bayeschen Filtern, sowie auf verteilten Hardware-Software
Spurverfolgungssystemen zur Ăberwachung und FĂźhrung des Rollverkehrs auf Flughäfen.
Eine âRunway Incursionâ (RI) ist ein Vorfall auf einem Flugplatz, bei dem ein Fahrzeug oder eine Person
sich unerlaubt in einem Abschnitt der Start- bzw. Landebahn befindet, der einem Verkehrsteilnehmer
zur Benutzung zugewiesen wurde. Der wachsende Flugverkehr hat dafĂźr gesorgt, das RIs seit Ăźber
einem Jahrzehnt auf der âMost Wantedâ-Liste des NTSB fĂźr Verbesserungen der Sicherheit stehen.
JĂźngere Vorfälle zeigen, dass das Problem noch nicht behoben ist. Technologische MaĂnahmen die in
nennenswerter Zahl eingesetzt wurden sind das ASDE-X und das A-SMGCS. Obwohl diese MaĂnahmen
eine deutliche Verbesserung darstellen und die Zahl der RIs deutlich reduzieren, gibt es einige RISituationen
die von diesen Systemen nicht optimal abgedeckt werden. AuĂerdem detektieren sie RIs
ist nicht so schnell wie erwĂźnscht und sind - auĂer fĂźr die grĂśĂten Flughäfen - zu teuer. Lokale Sensoren
mit kurzer Reichweite kÜnnten eine LÜsung sein um die fßr die zuverlässige Erkennung von RIs
notwendige Präzision bei der Ăberwachung des Rollverkehrs zu erreichen. Vor diesem Hintergrund
sollen die folgenden Ziele erreicht werden. 1) Die Machbarkeit eines Runway Incursion
Vermeidungssystems, das auf lokalen Sensoren basiert, zeigen. 2) Einen umsetzbaren Entwurf fĂźr ein
solches System entwickeln. 3) Einen Prototypen des Systems realisieren, das die oben gennannte
Hardware zur Spurverfolgung einsetzt
A built-in self-test technique for high speed analog-to-digital converters
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PhD grant (SFRH/BD/62568/2009
Design of clock and data recovery circuits for energy-efficient short-reach optical transceivers
Nowadays, the increasing demand for cloud based computing and social media
services mandates higher throughput (at least 56 Gb/s per data lane with 400
Gb/s total capacity 1) for short reach optical links (with the reach typically less
than 2 km) inside data centres. The immediate consequences are the huge
and power hungry data centers. To address these issues the intra-data-center
connectivity by means of optical links needs continuous upgrading.
In recent years, the trend in the industry has shifted toward the use of more
complex modulation formats like PAM4 due to its spectral efficiency over the
traditional NRZ. Another advantage is the reduced number of channels count
which is more cost-effective considering the required area and the I/O density.
However employing PAM4 results in more complex transceivers circuitry due
to the presence of multilevel transitions and reduced noise budget. In addition,
providing higher speed while accommodating the stringent requirements
of higher density and energy efficiency (< 5 pJ/bit), makes the design of the
optical links more challenging and requires innovative design techniques both
at the system and circuit level.
This work presents the design of a Clock and Data Recovery Circuit (CDR) as
one of the key building blocks for the transceiver modules used in such fibreoptic
links. Capable of working with PAM4 signalling format, the new proposed
CDR architecture targets data rates of 50â56 Gb/s while achieving the required
energy efficiency (< 5 pJ/bit).
At the system level, the design proposes a new PAM4 PD which provides a better
trade-off in terms of bandwidth and systematic jitter generation in the CDR. By
using a digital loop controller (DLC), the CDR gains considerable area reduction
with flexibility to adjust the loop dynamics.
At the circuit level it focuses on applying different circuit techniques to mitigate
the circuit imperfections. It presents a wideband analog front end (AFE),
suitable for a 56 Gb/s, 28-Gbaud PAM-4 signal, by using an 8x interleaved, master/
slave based sample and hold circuit. In addition, the AFE is equipped with
a calibration scheme which corrects the errors associated with the sampling
channelsâ offset voltage and gain mismatches. The presented digital to phase
converter (DPC) features a modified phase interpolator (PI), a new quadrature
phase corrector (QPC) and multi-phase output with de-skewing capabilities.The DPC (as a standalone block) and the CDR (as the main focus of this work)
were fabricated in 65-nm CMOS technology. Based on the measurements, the
DPC achieves DNL/INL of 0.7/6 LSB respectively while consuming 40.5 mW
power from 1.05 V supply. Although the CDR was not fully operational with
the PAM4 input, the results from 25-Gbaud PAM2 (NRZ) test setup were used
to estimate the performance. Under this scenario, the 1-UI JTOL bandwidth
was measured to be 2 MHz with BER threshold of 10â4. The chip consumes 236
mW of power while operating on 1 â 1.2 V supply range achieving an energyefficiency
of 4.27 pJ/bit
Real-time Optimal Energy Management System for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Air pollution and rising fuel costs are becoming increasingly important concerns for the transportation industry. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are seen as a solution to these problems as they off er lower emissions and better fuel economy compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. A typical HEV powertrain consists of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor/generator, and a power storage device (usually a battery). Another type of HEV is the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which is conceptually similar to the fully electric vehicle. The battery in a PHEV is designed to be fully charged using a conventional home electric plug or a charging station. As such, the vehicle can travel further in full-electric mode, which greatly improves the fuel economy of PHEVs compared to HEVs.
In this study, an optimal energy management system (EMS) for a PHEV is designed to minimize fuel consumption by considering engine emissions reduction. This is achieved by using the model predictive control (MPC) approach. MPC is an optimal model-based approach that can accommodate the many constraints involved in the design of EMSs, and is suitable for real-time implementations. The design and real-time implementation of such a control approach involves control-oriented modeling, controller design (including high-level and low-level controllers), and control scheme performance evaluation. All of
these issues will be addressed in this thesis.
A control-relevant parameter estimation (CRPE) approach is used to make the control-oriented model more accurate. This improves the EMS performance, while maintaining its real-time implementation capability.
To reduce the computational complexity, the standard MPC controller is replaced by its explicit form. The explicit model predictive controller (eMPC) achieves the same performance as the implicit MPC, but requires less computational effort, which leads to a fast and reliable implementation. The performance of the control scheme is evaluated through different stages of model-in-the-loop (MIL) simulations with an equation-based and validated high-fidelity simulation model of a PHEV powertrain.
Finally, the CRPE-eMPC EMS is validated through a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test. HIL simulation shows that the proposed EMS can be implemented to a commercial control hardware in real time and results in promising fuel economy figures and emissions performance, while maintaining vehicle drivability
FPGA-based High Performance Diagnostics For Fusion
High performance diagnostics are an important aspect of fusion research. Increasing shot-lengths paired with the requirement for higher accuracy and speed make it mandatory to employ new technology to cope with the increasing demands on digitization and data handling. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are well known in high performance applications. Their ability to handle multiple fast data streams whilst remaining programmable make them an ideal tool for diagnostic development. Both the improvement of old and the design of new diagnostics can benefit from FPGA-technology and increase the amount of accessible physics significantly. In this work the developments on two FPGA-based diagnostics are presented.
In the first part a new open-hardware low-cost FPGA-based digitizer is presented for the MAST-Upgrade (MAST-U) integral electron density interferometer. The system is shown to have an optically limited phase accuracy and a detection bandwidth of over 3.5 MHz. Data is acquired continuously at 20 MS/s and streamed to an acquisition PC via optical fiber. By employing a dual-FPGA approach real-time processing of the density signal can be achieved despite severly limited resources, thus providing a control signal for the MAST-U plasma control system system with less than 8 Îźs latency. Due to MAST-U being still inoperable, in-situ testing has been conducted on the ASDEX Upgrade, where fast wave physics up to 3.5 MHz could first be observed.
The second part presents developments to the Synthetic Aperture Microwave Imaging (SAMI) diagnostic. In addition to improving the utilization of long shot-lengths and enabling dual-polarized acquisition the system has been enhanced to continuously acquire active probing profiles for 2D Doppler back-scattering (DBS), a technique recently developed using SAMI. The aim is to measure pitch angle profiles to derive the edge current density. SAMI has been transferred to the NSTX-Upgrade and integrated into the experimentâs infrastructure, where it has been acquiring data since May 2016. As part of this move an investigation into near-field effects on SAMIâs image reconstruction algorithms was conducted
Digital System Design - Use of Microcontroller
Embedded systems are today, widely deployed in just about every piece of machinery from toasters to spacecraft. Embedded system designers face many challenges. They are asked to produce increasingly complex systems using the latest technologies, but these technologies are changing faster than ever. They are asked to produce better quality designs with a shorter time-to-market. They are asked to implement increasingly complex functionality but more importantly to satisfy numerous other constraints. To achieve the current goals of design, the designer must be aware with such design constraints and more importantly, the factors that have a direct effect on them.One of the challenges facing embedded system designers is the selection of the optimum processor for the application in hand; single-purpose, general-purpose or application specific. Microcontrollers are one member of the family of the application specific processors.The book concentrates on the use of microcontroller as the embedded system?s processor, and how to use it in many embedded system applications. The book covers both the hardware and software aspects needed to design using microcontroller.The book is ideal for undergraduate students and also the engineers that are working in the field of digital system design.Contents⢠Preface;⢠Process design metrics;⢠A systems approach to digital system design;⢠Introduction to microcontrollers and microprocessors;⢠Instructions and Instruction sets;⢠Machine language and assembly language;⢠System memory; Timers, counters and watchdog timer;⢠Interfacing to local devices / peripherals;⢠Analogue data and the analogue I/O subsystem;⢠Multiprocessor communications;⢠Serial Communications and Network-based interfaces
Digital System Design - Use of Microcontroller
Embedded systems are today, widely deployed in just about every piece of machinery from toasters to spacecraft. Embedded system designers face many challenges. They are asked to produce increasingly complex systems using the latest technologies, but these technologies are changing faster than ever. They are asked to produce better quality designs with a shorter time-to-market. They are asked to implement increasingly complex functionality but more importantly to satisfy numerous other constraints. To achieve the current goals of design, the designer must be aware with such design constraints and more importantly, the factors that have a direct effect on them.One of the challenges facing embedded system designers is the selection of the optimum processor for the application in hand; single-purpose, general-purpose or application specific. Microcontrollers are one member of the family of the application specific processors.The book concentrates on the use of microcontroller as the embedded system?s processor, and how to use it in many embedded system applications. The book covers both the hardware and software aspects needed to design using microcontroller.The book is ideal for undergraduate students and also the engineers that are working in the field of digital system design.Contents⢠Preface;⢠Process design metrics;⢠A systems approach to digital system design;⢠Introduction to microcontrollers and microprocessors;⢠Instructions and Instruction sets;⢠Machine language and assembly language;⢠System memory; Timers, counters and watchdog timer;⢠Interfacing to local devices / peripherals;⢠Analogue data and the analogue I/O subsystem;⢠Multiprocessor communications;⢠Serial Communications and Network-based interfaces
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