Preliminary study, analysis and design for a power switch for digital engine actuators

Innovative control configurations using high temperature switches to operate actuator driving solenoids were studied. The impact on engine control system life cycle costs and reliability of electronic control and (ECU) heat dissipation due to power conditioning and interface drivers were addressed. Various power supply and actuation schemes were investigated, including optical signal transmission and electronics on the actuator, engine driven alternator, and inside the ECU. The use of a switching shunt power conditioner results in the most significant decrease in heat dissipation within the ECU. No overall control system reliability improvement is projected by the use of remote high temperature switches for solenoid drivers

Secure Split Test for Preventing IC Piracy by Un-Trusted Foundry and Assembly

In the era of globalization, integrated circuit design and manufacturing is spread across different continents. This has posed several hardware intrinsic security issues. The issues are related to overproduction of chips without knowledge of designer or OEM, insertion of hardware Trojans at design and fabrication phase, faulty chips getting into markets from test centers, etc. In this thesis work, we have addressed the problem of counterfeit IC‟s getting into the market through test centers. The problem of counterfeit IC has different dimensions. Each problem related to counterfeiting has different solutions. Overbuilding of chips at overseas foundry can be addressed using passive or active metering. The solution to avoid faulty chips getting into open markets from overseas test centers is secure split test (SST). The further improvement to SST is also proposed by other researchers and is known as Connecticut Secure Split Test (CSST). In this work, we focus on improvements to CSST techniques in terms of security, test time and area. In this direction, we have designed all the required sub-blocks required for CSST architecture, namely, RSA, TRNG, Scrambler block, study of benchmark circuits like S38417, adding scan chains to benchmarks is done. Further, as a security measure, we add, XOR gate at the output of the scan chains to obfuscate the signal coming out of the scan chains. Further, we have improved the security of the design by using the PUF circuit instead of TRNG and avoid the use of the memory circuits. This use of PUF not only eliminates the use of memory circuits, but also it provides the way for functional testing also. We have carried out the hamming distance analysis for introduced security measure and results show that security design is reasonably good.Further, as a future work we can focus on: • Developing the circuit which is secuered for the whole semiconductor supply chain with reasonable hamming distance and less area overhead

UC Berkeley's Cory Hall: Evaluation of Challenges and Potential Applications of Building-to-Grid Implementation

From September 2009 through June 2010, a team of researchers developed, installed, and tested instrumentation on the energy flows in Cory Hall on the UC Berkeley campus to create a Building-to-Grid testbed. The UC Berkeley team was headed by Professor David Culler, and assisted by members from EnerNex, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, California State University Sacramento, and the California Institute for Energy & Environment. While the Berkeley team mapped the load tree of the building, EnerNex researched types of meters, submeters, monitors, and sensors to be used (Task 1). Next the UC Berkeley team analyzed building needs and designed the network of metering components and data storage/visualization software (Task 2). After meeting with vendors in January, the UCB team procured and installed the components starting in late March (Task 3). Next, the UCB team tested and demonstrated the system (Task 4). Meanwhile, the CSUS team documented the methodology and steps necessary to implement a testbed (Task 5) and Harold Galicer developed a roadmap for the CSUS Smart Grid Center with results from the testbed (Task 5a) and evaluated the Cory Hall implementation process (Task 5b). The CSUS team also worked with local utilities to develop an approach to the energy information communication link between buildings and the utility (Task 6). The UC Berkeley team then prepared a roadmap to outline necessary technology development for Building-to-Grid, and presented the results of the project in early July (Task 7). Finally, CIEE evaluated the implementation, noting challenges and potential applications of Building-to-Grid (Task 8). These deliverables are available at the i4Energy site: http://i4energy.org/

A survey on security analysis of machine learning-oriented hardware and software intellectual property

Intellectual Property (IP) includes ideas, innovations, methodologies, works of authorship (viz., literary and artistic works), emblems, brands, images, etc. This property is intangible since it is pertinent to the human intellect. Therefore, IP entities are indisputably vulnerable to infringements and modifications without the owner’s consent. IP protection regulations have been deployed and are still in practice, including patents, copyrights, contracts, trademarks, trade secrets, etc., to address these challenges. Unfortunately, these protections are insufficient to keep IP entities from being changed or stolen without permission. As for this, some IPs require hardware IP protection mechanisms, and others require software IP protection techniques. To secure these IPs, researchers have explored the domain of Intellectual Property Protection (IPP) using different approaches. In this paper, we discuss the existing IP rights and concurrent breakthroughs in the field of IPP research; provide discussions on hardware IP and software IP attacks and defense techniques; summarize different applications of IP protection; and lastly, identify the challenges and future research prospects in hardware and software IP security

A review of microgrid development in the United States – A decade of progress on policies, demonstrations, controls, and software tools

Microgrids have become increasingly popular in the United States. Supported by favorable federal and local policies, microgrid projects can provide greater energy stability and resilience within a project site or community. This paper reviews major federal, state, and utility-level policies driving microgrid development in the United States. Representative U.S. demonstration projects are selected and their technical characteristics and non-technical features are introduced. The paper discusses trends in the technology development of microgrid systems as well as microgrid control methods and interactions within the electricity market. Software tools for microgrid design, planning, and performance analysis are illustrated with each tool's core capability. Finally, the paper summarizes the successes and lessons learned during the recent expansion of the U.S. microgrid industry that may serve as a reference for other countries developing their own microgrid industries

Improving performance and financial viability of irrigation systems in India and China

Irrigation systems / Groundwater irrigation / Energy / Cost recovery / India / China

Smart Energy Management: Supporting a Step Change in Local Authorities

The concepts of Smart Cities in general and Smart Solutions in particular have emerged during the last decade. A review of the related literature to these concepts has come to the conclusion that ‘Smart’ is most of the time linked to technological solutions. This is why the Smart City focuses, in a first instance, on the use of technologies for facilitating the management of the different aspects of the city, one of which is energy. The latter is putting organisations under much pressure as on one hand prices are increasing, and on the other, these organisations are compelled to reduce their carbon emissions which can be achieved by decreasing their energy consumption. Hence, there is a great focus on energy management. This thesis focuses on one aspect of the Smart City which is energy management. It deals with the concept of Smart in a specific setting, Local Authorities (LAs), and for a specific aspect which is energy. It addresses the need to identify what Smart can mean in this setting, the change and associated transition it brings to these organisation and how it can improve energy management in order to identify what is meant by Smart Energy Management (SEM). The thesis adopts a mixed methods approach to address the research aim and objectives. The data has been collected in two main phases and using different tools. The first phase consists mainly of interviewing heads of energy management or their representatives from each type of LAs in the UK, and when possible from outside of the country, to explore how the energy management practice is applied in their respective authorities and what additions ‘Smart’ technologies (like smart meters) are bringing. These data are analysed depending on a set of themes identified in the literature review. The results of this analysis inform the second phase of data collection which consists of an in-depth case analysis of the process of incorporating energy management into a Local Authority and identifies how smart technologies are used for facilitating the application of this practice. Two main data collection instruments are used. The first one is a set of semi-structured interviews with key energy management stakeholders such as heads of energy management, energy managers, building clerks, budget holders and Councillors. The second is a content analysis of corporate documents including the energy management system (EnMS) of the case study Local Authority, energy and metering contracts and periodic energy related reports. The researcher has also sent a questionnaire to the participants in the 1st phase to report and validate the findings with them. The findings from this research support the development of a Smart Energy Management framework for Local Authorities and identify the different factors that can enable its embedding within these organisations. The first group of factors are at the macro level and include legislation & Central Government policy, Central Government financing opportunities, and how the public sector can lead by example. The second group is at the Meso level and includes the support and endorsement of top management of the organisation. The third one is at the Micro level and covers the availability of high-resolution energy data, highly qualified and motivated members of staff. The final group of factors is embedded in the organisation and includes cultural change.Northamptonshire County Counci