Benchmarking semiconductor lithography equipment development & sourcing practices among leading-edge U.S. manufacturers

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 1995.Includes bibliographical references.by Charles N. Pieczulewski.M.S

Optimal digital system design in deep submicron technology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-174).The optimization of a digital system in deep submicron technology should be done with two basic principles: energy waste reduction and energy-delay tradeoff. Increased energy resources obtained through energy waste reduction are utilized through energy-delay tradeoffs. The previous practice of obliviously pursuing performance has led to the rapid increase in energy consumption. While energy waste due to unnecessary switching could be reduced with small increases in logic complexity, leakage energy waste still remains as a major design challenge. We find that fine-grain dynamic leakage reduction (FG-DLR), turning off small subblocks for short idle intervals, is the key for successful leakage energy saving. We introduce an FG-DLR circuit technique, Leakage Biasing, which uses leakage currents themselves to bias the circuit into the minimum leakage state, and apply it to primary SRAM arrays for bitline leakage reduction (Leakage-Biased Bitlines) and to domino logic (Leakage-Biased Domino). We also introduce another FG-DLR circuit technique, Dynamic Resizing, which dynamically downsizes transistors on idle paths while maintaining the performance along active critical paths, and apply it to static CMOS circuits.(cont.) We show that significant energy reduction can be achieved at the same computation throughput and communication bandwidth by pipelining logic gates and wires. We find that energy saved by pipelining datapaths is eventually limited by latch energy overhead, leading to a power-optimal pipelining. Structuring global wires into on-chip networks provides a better environment for pipelining and leakage energy saving. We show that the energy-efficiency increase through replacement with dynamically packet-routed networks is bounded by router energy overhead. Finally, we provide a way of relaxing the peak power constraint. We evaluate the use of Activity Migration (AM) for hot spot removal. AM spreads heat by transporting computation to a different location on the die. We show that AM can be used either to increase the power that can be dissipated by a given package, or to lower the operating temperature and hence the operating energy.by Seongmoo Heo.Ph.D

A FPGA/DSP based ultrasound system for tumor detection

This work presents a method of detection of size and location of tumor using ultrasound transmission. The system utilizes Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) which means sending an ultrasound signal from a transmitter and receiving it at multiple receivers. This received signal is analyzed for echogenic as well as echolucent tumors to differentiate between the two along with non-tumorous sample and also for delay, signal distortion to determine the size/location of the tumor. This analysis is further implemented using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) technologies. The proposed detection system utilizes Low Transient Pulse (LTP) technique. In this co-design architecture, the DSP carries out analysis of received demodulated signal at a lower speed while the FPGA runs at 62.5MHz for the generation of LTP signal and to demodulate bandpass ultrasonic signal sampled at 1MHz which interrupts DSP at every 1µS. This work elaborates the implementation of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) receiver on FPGA for received signal from ultrasound detector. LTP is applied to the tumor samples through the transmitter and the received signal at ultrasonic receiver is passed through QAM to get different maxima (peaks) which are then further used for calculation of the location and subsequently, the size of the tumor using DSP. This dual platform co-design demonstrates application of a FPGA/DSP platform for the generation of low transient pulse as well as processing of the received signal

NASA SERC 1990 Symposium on VLSI Design

This document contains papers presented at the first annual NASA Symposium on VLSI Design. NASA's involvement in this event demonstrates a need for research and development in high performance computing. High performance computing addresses problems faced by the scientific and industrial communities. High performance computing is needed in: (1) real-time manipulation of large data sets; (2) advanced systems control of spacecraft; (3) digital data transmission, error correction, and image compression; and (4) expert system control of spacecraft. Clearly, a valuable technology in meeting these needs is Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI). This conference addresses the following issues in VLSI design: (1) system architectures; (2) electronics; (3) algorithms; and (4) CAD tools

A survey of DA techniques for PLD and FPGA based systems

Programmable logic devices (PLDs) are gaining in acceptance, of late, for designing systems of all complexities ranging from glue logic to special purpose parallel machines. Higher densities and integration levels are made possible by the new breed of complex PLDs and FPGAs. The added complexities of these devices make automatic computer aided tools indispensable for achieving good performance and a high usable gate-count. In this article, we attempt to present in an unified manner, the different tools and their underlying algorithms using an example of a vending machine controller as an illustrative example. Topics covered include logic synthesis for PLDs and FPGAs along with an in-depth survey of important technology mapping, partitioning and place and route algorithms for different FPGA architectures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31206/1/0000108.pd

Development strategies for high technology industries in a world of fragmented production : Israel, Ireland, and Taiwan

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. [318]-331).One of the most unexpected changes of the 1990s is that firms in a number of emerging economies not previously known for their high-technology industries have leapfrogged to the forefront in new Information Technologies (IT). Surprisingly, from the perspective of comparative political economy theories, the IT industries of these countries use different business models and have carved out different positions in the global IT production networks. Of these emerging economies, the Taiwanese, Israeli, and Irish have successfully nurtured the growth of their IT industries. This dissertation sets out to establish that emerging economies have more than one option for developing their high technology industries. Moreover, it advances a theoretical framework for analyzing how different choices lead to long-term consequences and to the development of successful and radically different industrial systems. Hence, this dissertation strives to give politics - the art and profession of creating alternatives and the social struggles of choosing between, and acting on, them - the importance that it seems to have lost in the social sciences. The research focuses on the role of the state in shaping the structure of the IT industry in Israel, Ireland, and Taiwan.(cont.) It argues that the developmental path of the IT industry is influenced by four critical decisions by the state. First, decisions about how to acquire the necessary R&D skills influence which organizations - public or private - play a leading role in innovation. Second, state decisions about financing significantly affect both the R&D resources available to the industry and the scope of R&D activity. Third, state efforts to develop local leading companies have long-term consequences for the industry's opportunity structure. Fourth, state decisions regarding foreign firms and investors within and outside national borders affect the resources and the information that the industry receives from its customers, as well as the diffusion and development of specific innovative capabilities. Of particular importance are state decisions that develop specific links between local and foreign companies, investors, and financial markets. Overall, the dissertation utilizes this framework to explain the divergent development of the IT industry in Taiwan, Israel, and Ireland.by Dan Breznitz.Ph.D

Technology 2002: The Third National Technology Transfer Conference and Exposition, volume 2

Proceedings from symposia of the Technology 2002 Conference and Exposition, December 1-3, 1992, Baltimore, MD. Volume 2 features 60 papers presented during 30 concurrent sessions

NASA Tech Briefs, February 1993

Topics include: Communication Technology; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences

NASA Tech Briefs, October 1996

Topics covered include: Sensors; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Reports

NASA Tech Briefs, July 1996

Topics covered include: Mechanical Components; Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer Programs; Mechanics; Machinery/Automation; Manufacturing/Fabrication; Mathematics and Information Sciences; Life Sciences; Books and Report