CMOS-3D smart imager architectures for feature detection

This paper reports a multi-layered smart image sensor architecture for feature extraction based on detection of interest points. The architecture is conceived for 3-D integrated circuit technologies consisting of two layers (tiers) plus memory. The top tier includes sensing and processing circuitry aimed to perform Gaussian filtering and generate Gaussian pyramids in fully concurrent way. The circuitry in this tier operates in mixed-signal domain. It embeds in-pixel correlated double sampling, a switched-capacitor network for Gaussian pyramid generation, analog memories and a comparator for in-pixel analog-to-digital conversion. This tier can be further split into two for improved resolution; one containing the sensors and another containing a capacitor per sensor plus the mixed-signal processing circuitry. Regarding the bottom tier, it embeds digital circuitry entitled for the calculation of Harris, Hessian, and difference-of-Gaussian detectors. The overall system can hence be configured by the user to detect interest points by using the algorithm out of these three better suited to practical applications. The paper describes the different kind of algorithms featured and the circuitry employed at top and bottom tiers. The Gaussian pyramid is implemented with a switched-capacitor network in less than 50 μs, outperforming more conventional solutions.Xunta de Galicia 10PXIB206037PRMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-12686, IPT-2011-1625-430000Office of Naval Research N00014111031

Radiation safety based on the sky shine effect in reactor

In the reactor operation, neutrons and gamma rays are the most dominant radiation. As protection, lead and concrete shields are built around the reactor. However, the radiation can penetrate the water shielding inside the reactor pool. This incident leads to the occurrence of sky shine where a physical phenomenon of nuclear radiation sources was transmitted panoramic that extends to the environment. The effect of this phenomenon is caused by the fallout radiation into the surrounding area which causes the radiation dose to increase. High doses of exposure cause a person to have stochastic effects or deterministic effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to measure the radiation dose from sky shine effect that scattered around the reactor at different distances and different height above the reactor platform. In this paper, the analysis of the radiation dose of sky shine effect was measured using the experimental metho

Next Generation Cloud Computing: New Trends and Research Directions

The landscape of cloud computing has significantly changed over the last decade. Not only have more providers and service offerings crowded the space, but also cloud infrastructure that was traditionally limited to single provider data centers is now evolving. In this paper, we firstly discuss the changing cloud infrastructure and consider the use of infrastructure from multiple providers and the benefit of decentralising computing away from data centers. These trends have resulted in the need for a variety of new computing architectures that will be offered by future cloud infrastructure. These architectures are anticipated to impact areas, such as connecting people and devices, data-intensive computing, the service space and self-learning systems. Finally, we lay out a roadmap of challenges that will need to be addressed for realising the potential of next generation cloud systems.Comment: Accepted to Future Generation Computer Systems, 07 September 201

Architecture for Mobile Heterogeneous Multi Domain Networks

Multi domain networks can be used in several scenarios including military, enterprize networks, emergency networks and many other cases. In such networks, each domain might be under its own administration. Therefore, the cooperation among domains is conditioned by individual domain policies regarding sharing information, such as network topology, connectivity, mobility, security, various service availability and so on. We propose a new architecture for Heterogeneous Multi Domain (HMD) networks, in which one the operations are subject to specific domain policies. We propose a hierarchical architecture, with an infrastructure of gateways at highest-control level that enables policy based interconnection, mobility and other services among domains. Gateways are responsible for translation among different communication protocols, including routing, signalling, and security. Besides the architecture, we discuss in more details the mobility and adaptive capacity of services in HMD. We discuss the HMD scalability and other advantages compared to existing architectural and mobility solutions. Furthermore, we analyze the dynamic availability at the control level of the hierarchy