Yield Model Characterization For Analog Integrated Circuit Using Pareto-Optimal Surface

A novel technique is proposed in this paper that achieves a yield optimized design from a set of optimal performance points on the Pareto front. Trade-offs among performance functions are explored through multi-objective optimization and Monte Carlo simulation is used to find the design point producing the best overall yield. One advantage of the approach presented is a reduction in the computational cost normally associated with Monte Carlo simulation. The technique offers a yield optimized robust circuit design solution with transistor level accuracy. An example using an OTA is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the work

Methods for Estimating the Critical Shear Stress of Individual of Individual Fractions in Mixed-Size Sediment

Two methods are commonly used to estimate the critical shear stress of individual fractions in mixed-size sediment, one using the largest grain displaced, the other using the shear stress that produces a small value of transport rate for each fraction. The initial-motion results produced by the two methods are typically different: largest-grain critical shear stresses vary with roughly the square root of grain size, and reference transport critical shear stresses show little variation with grain size. Comparison of the two methods is seldom possible because both methods can rarely be applied to the same data. The one case known for which both methods can be used suggests that the typical differences in initial-motion results reflect more methodological influence than real differences in the initial motion of different sediments. Although the two classes of methods may not be directly compared, a general definition of initial-motion in mixed-size sediment is presented that allows the characteristic differences between the results to be explained in terms of sampling and scaling considerations inherent in the mixed-size initial-motion problem. The initial-motion criterion defined also provides a rational basis for collecting comparable and reproducible data using the two classes of method

Innovative teaching of IC design and manufacture using the Superchip platform

In this paper we describe how an intelligent chip architecture has allowed a large cohort of undergraduate students to be given effective practical insight into IC design by designing and manufacturing their own ICs. To achieve this, an efficient chip architecture, the “Superchip”, has been developed, which allows multiple student designs to be fabricated on a single IC, and encapsulated in a standard package without excessive cost in terms of time or resources. We demonstrate how the practical process has been tightly coupled with theoretical aspects of the degree course and how transferable skills are incorporated into the design exercise. Furthermore, the students are introduced at an early stage to the key concepts of team working, exposure to real deadlines and collaborative report writing. This paper provides details of the teaching rationale, design exercise overview, design process, chip architecture and test regime

Bed-load Transport of Mixed-size Sediment: Fractional Transport Rates, Bed Forms, and the Development of a Coarse Bed-surface Layer

Fractional transport rates, bed surface texture, and bed configuration were measured after a mixed size sediment had reached an equilibrium transport state for seven different flow strengths in a recirculating laboratory flume. Fractional transport rates were also measured at the beginning of each run when the bed was well mixed and planar. The start-up observations allow us to describe the variation of fractional transport rates with bed shear stress for a constant bed surface texture and bed configuration. The start-up and equilibrium observations together allow, for the first time, an unambiguous description of the mutual adjustment among the transport, the bed configuration, and the bed surface, as the transport system moves toward equilibrium. We find that a substantial interaction exists among the transport, bed surface, and bed configuration. Bed forms and a coarse surface layer coexist over a range of bed shear stress. Under some flow conditions the size and shape of the bed forms are controlled by the presence of the coarse surface layer. At higher flows the coarse surface layer is eliminated by scour in the lee of the bed forms. If the bed surface is defined as that over which the bed forms move, a coherent relation between the bed surface texture and the transport grain size distribution may be defined. At equilibrium the transport rates of all fractions were not equally mobile, defined as identical transport and bed grain size distributions, although equal mobility was approached for runs in which the bed shear stress was more than twice that for initial motion of the mixture. Under some flow conditions the transport was observed to adjust away from equal mobility as the bed adjusted from a well-mixed start-up condition to an equilibrium state. Development of a partial static armor, wherein some individual grains become essentially immobile even though other grains in the same fraction remain in transport, is suggested to explain these adjustments between the transport and bed surface grain size distributions. Constraints on equilibrium mixed size sediment transport are defined. The special conditions for which equal mobility must hold and the relevance to natural conditions of flume results and the equal mobility concept are discussed

Monte Carlo Simulation of Hard Radiation in Decays in Beyond the Standard Model Physics in Herwig++

We use the POWHEG formalism in the Herwig++ event generator to match QCD real-emission matrix elements with the parton shower for a range of decays relevant to Beyond the Standard Model physics searches. Applying this correction affects the shapes of experimental observables and so changes the number of events passing selection criteria. To validate this approach, we study the impact of the correction on Standard Model top quark decays. We then illustrate the effect of the correction on Beyond the Standard Model scenarios by considering the invariant-mass distribution of dijets produced in the decay of the lightest Randall–Sundrum graviton and transverse momentum distributions for decays in Supersymmetry. We consider only the effect of the POWHEG correction on the simulation of the hardest emission in the shower and ignore the normalisation factor required to correct the total widths and branching ratios to next-to-leading order accuracy

Persistence of Armor Layers in Gravel-Bed Streams

Streambed surfaces are typically coarsened, or armored, at low flows, but there is little evidence of their condition during floods, when significant hydraulic and ecologic disturbance occurs. Some flume experiments have been used to conclude that armor layers wash out during floods, although other experiments have produced a persistent armor layer. In the absence of clear field or flume evidence, we use a surface-based transport model in an inverse prediction of surface grain size as a function of transport rates observed in the field. The predicted surface grain size matches that observed at low flow and indicates that low-flow armor layers persist at large flows. In the field, transport grain size increases with transport rate, reducing or eliminating adjustments in bed surface grain size as flow and transport increase. A persistent armor layer considerably simplifies the prediction of sediment transport, hydraulic roughness, and habitat disturbance during floods

Effects of Land Use Change on Channel Morphology in Northeastern Puerto Rico

Between 1830 and 1950 much of northeastern Puerto Rico was cleared for agriculture. Runoff increased by 50% and sediment supply to the river channels increased by more than an order of magnitude. Much of the land clearance extended to steep valley slopes, resulting in widespread gullying and landslides and a large load of coarse sediments delivered to the stream channels. A shift from agriculture to industrial and residential land uses over the past 50 yr has maintained the elevated runoff while sediment supply has decreased, allowing the rivers to begin removing coarse sediment stored within their channels. The size, abundance, and stratigraphic elevation of in-channel gravel bar deposits increases, channel depth decreases, and the frequency of overbank flooding increases downstream along these channels. This is presumed to be a transient state and continued transport will lead to degradation of the bed in downstream sections as the channel adjusts to the modern supply of water and sediment. A downstream decrease in channel size is contrary to the expected geometry of self-adjusted channels, but is consistent with the presence of partially evacuated sediment remaining from the earlier agricultural period. Reverse (downstream decreasing) channel morphology is not often cited in the literature, although consistent observations are available from areas with similar land-use history. Identification of reverse channel morphology along individual watercourses may be obscured in multiwatershed compilations in which other factors produce a consistent, but scattered downstream trend. Identification of reverse channel morphology along individual streams in areas with similar land-use history would be useful for identifying channel disequilibrium and anticipating future channel adjustments