Variation Resilient Adaptive Controller for Subthreshold Circuits

Subthreshold logic is showing good promise as a viable ultra-low-power circuit design technique for power-limited applications. For this design technique to gain widespread adoption, one of the most pressing concerns is how to improve the robustness of subthreshold logic to process and temperature variations. We propose a variation resilient adaptive controller for subthreshold circuits with the following novel features: new sensor based on time-to-digital converter for capturing the variations accurately as digital signatures, and an all-digital DC-DC converter incorporating the sensor capable of generating an operating operating Vdd from 0V to 1.2V with a resolution of 18.75mV, suitable for subthreshold circuit operation. The benefits of the proposed controller is reflected with energy improvement of up to 55% compared to when no controller is employed. The detailed implementation and validation of the proposed controller is discussed

Ring opening polymerization of lactides and lactones by multimetallic alkyl zinc complexes derived from the acids Ph₂C(X)CO₂2H (X = OH, NH₂ )

The reaction of the dialkylzinc reagents R₂Zn with the acids 2,2-Ph₂C(X)(CO₂H), where X = NH₂, OH, i.e. 2,2′-diphenylglycine (dpgH) or benzilic acid (benzH2), in toluene at reflux temperature afforded the tetra-nuclear ring complexes [RZn(dpg)]₄, where R = Me (1), Et (2), 2-CF₃C₆H₄ (3), and 2,4,6-F₃C₆H₂ (4); complex 2 has been previously reported. The crystal structures of 1·(2MeCN), 3 and 4·(4(C₇H₈)·1.59(H₂O)) are reported, along with that of the intermediate compound (2-CF₃C₆H₄)3B·MeCN and the known compound [ZnCl₂(NCMe)₂]. Complexes 1–4, together with the known complex [(ZnEt)₃(ZnL)₃(benz)₃] (5; L = MeCN), have been screened, in the absence of benzyl alcohol, for their potential to act as catalysts for the ring opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL), δ-valerolactone (δ-VL) and rac-lactide (rac-LA); the co-polymerization of ε-CL with rac-LA was also studied. Complexes 3 and 4 bearing fluorinated aryls at zinc were found to afford the highest activities

Conceptual Modelling and The Quality of Ontologies: Endurantism Vs. Perdurantism

Ontologies are key enablers for sharing precise and machine-understandable semantics among different applications and parties. Yet, for ontologies to meet these expectations, their quality must be of a good standard. The quality of an ontology is strongly based on the design method employed. This paper addresses the design problems related to the modelling of ontologies, with specific concentration on the issues related to the quality of the conceptualisations produced. The paper aims to demonstrate the impact of the modelling paradigm adopted on the quality of ontological models and, consequently, the potential impact that such a decision can have in relation to the development of software applications. To this aim, an ontology that is conceptualised based on the Object-Role Modelling (ORM) approach (a representative of endurantism) is re-engineered into a one modelled on the basis of the Object Paradigm (OP) (a representative of perdurantism). Next, the two ontologies are analytically compared using the specified criteria. The conducted comparison highlights that using the OP for ontology conceptualisation can provide more expressive, reusable, objective and temporal ontologies than those conceptualised on the basis of the ORM approach

Molybdenum (VI) imido complexes derived from chelating phenols : Synthesis, characterization and ɛ-Caprolactone ROP capability

Reaction of the bulky bi-phenols 2,2′-RCH[4,6-(t-Bu)₂C₆H₂OH]₂ (R = Me L¹ᵐᵉH₂, Ph L¹ᵖʰH₂) with the bis(imido) molybdenum(VI) tert-butoxides [Mo(NR¹)(NR²)(Ot-Bu)₂] (R¹ = R² = 2,6-C₆H₃-i-Pr₂; R¹ = t-Bu, R² = C₆F₅) afforded, following the successive removal of tert-butanol, the complexes [Mo(NC₆H₃ᵢ-Pr₂-2,6)₂L¹ᵐᵉ] (1), [Mo(NC₆H₃i-Pr₂-2,6)₂L¹ᵖʰ] (2) and [Mo(Nt-Bu)(μ-NC₆F₅)(L¹ᵐᵉ)]₂ (3). Similar use of the tri-phenol 2,6-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzyl)-4-methylphenol (L²H₃) with [Mo(NC₆H₃ᵢ-Pr₂-2,6)₂(Ot-Bu)₂] afforded the oxo-bridged product [Mo(NC₆H₃i-Pr₂-2,6)(NCMe)(μ-O)L2H]₂ (4), whilst use of the tetra-phenols α,α,α′,α′-tetrakis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)-p- or -m-xylene L³ᵖH₄/L³ᵐH₄ led to {[Mo(NC₆H₃ᵢ-Pr₂-2,6)₂]₂(μ-L³ᵖ)} (5) or {[Mo(NC₆H₃ᵢ-Pr₂-2,6)₂]₂(μ-L³ᵐ)} (6), respectively. Similar use of [Mo(NC₆F₅)₂(Ot-Bu)₂] with L³ᵖH₄ afforded, after work-up, the complex {[Mo(NC₆F₅)(Ot-Bu)₂]₂(μ-L³ᵖ)}·6MeCN (7·6MeCN). Molecular structures of 1, 2·CH₂Cl₂, 3, 4·6MeCN, 6·2C₆H₁₄, and 7·6MeCN are reported and these complexes have been screened for their ability to ring open polymerize (ROP) ε-caprolactone; for comparative studies the precursor complex [Mo(NC₆H₃ᵢ-Pr₂-2,6)₂Cl₂(DME)] (DME = 1,2-dimethoxyethane) has also been screened. Results revealed that good activity is only achievable at temperatures of ≥100 °C over periods of 1 h or more. Polymer polydispersities were narrow, but observed molecular weights (Mn) were much lower than calculated values

Testing of Level Shifters in Multiple Voltage Designs

The use of multiple voltages for different cores is becoming a widely accepted technique for efficient power management. Level shifters are used as interfaces between voltage domains. Through extensive transistor level simulations of resistive open, bridging and resistive short faults, we have classified the testing of level shifters into PASSIVE and ACTIVE modes. We examine if high test coverage can be achieved in the PASSIVE mode. We consider resistive opens and shorts and show that, for testing purposes, consideration of purely digital fault effects is sufficient. Thus conventional digital DfT can be employed to test level shifters. In all cases, we conclude that using sets of single supply voltages for testing is sufficient

Numerical Modeling of Anti-icing Systems and Comparison to Test Results on a NACA 0012 Airfoil

A series of experimental tests were conducted in the NASA Lewis IRT on an electro-thermally heated NACA 0012 airfoil. Quantitative comparisons between the experimental results and those predicted by a computer simulation code were made to assess the validity of a recently developed anti-icing model. An infrared camera was utilized to scan the instantaneous temperature contours of the skin surface. Despite some experimental difficulties, good agreement between the numerical predictions and the experiment results were generally obtained for the surface temperature and the possibility for each runback to freeze. Some recommendations were given for an efficient operation of a thermal anti-icing system