RECENT RESEARCH IN VLSI, MEMS AND POWER DEVICES WITH PRACTICAL APPLICATION TO THE ITER AND DREAM PROJECTS

Several MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) devices have been analysed and simulated. The new proposed model of SiC MPS (Merged PIN-Schottky) diodes is in full agreement with the real MPS devices. The real size DLL (Dynamic Lattice Liquid) simulator as well as the research on modelling and simulation of modern VLSI devices with practical applications have been presented. In the basis of experience in the field of ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) based systems a proof-of-concept DAQ (data acquisition) system for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) have been proposed

Mapping Processing Elements of Custom Virtual CGRAs onto Reconfigurable Partitions

FPGAs can provide application-specific acceleration for computationally demanding tasks. However, they are rarely considered general-purpose platforms due to low productivity of software development and long reconfiguration time. These problems can be mitigated by implementing a coarser overlay atop the FPGA fabric. Combining this approach with partial reconfiguration allows for the modification of individual processing elements (PEs) of the virtual architecture without altering the rest of the system. Module relocation can be used to share implementation details between functionally equivalent PEs that use identical sets of resources, thus eliminating redundant placement and routing runs. Proper floorplanning is crucial for virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) with relocatable PEs considering their tendency to use nearest-neighbor connection patterns. It requires solving two problems—finding identical regions in the FPGA fabric and assigning individual partitions to certain locations. This article presents minor improvements of a state-of-the-art solution for the first and proposes a novel technique for solving the other. The proposed automated floorplanner uses modified breadth-first search with direction-based penalties to create initial floorplan consistent with geometry of logical array, then improves the result with 2-opt local optimization. Compared to simulated annealing solutions, the proposed approach allows for the reduction in the floorplanning time by two to three orders of magnitude without compromising the quality of the results

Mapping Processing Elements of Custom Virtual CGRAs onto Reconfigurable Partitions

FPGAs can provide application-specific acceleration for computationally demanding tasks. However, they are rarely considered general-purpose platforms due to low productivity of software development and long reconfiguration time. These problems can be mitigated by implementing a coarser overlay atop the FPGA fabric. Combining this approach with partial reconfiguration allows for the modification of individual processing elements (PEs) of the virtual architecture without altering the rest of the system. Module relocation can be used to share implementation details between functionally equivalent PEs that use identical sets of resources, thus eliminating redundant placement and routing runs. Proper floorplanning is crucial for virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) with relocatable PEs considering their tendency to use nearest-neighbor connection patterns. It requires solving two problems—finding identical regions in the FPGA fabric and assigning individual partitions to certain locations. This article presents minor improvements of a state-of-the-art solution for the first and proposes a novel technique for solving the other. The proposed automated floorplanner uses modified breadth-first search with direction-based penalties to create initial floorplan consistent with geometry of logical array, then improves the result with 2-opt local optimization. Compared to simulated annealing solutions, the proposed approach allows for the reduction in the floorplanning time by two to three orders of magnitude without compromising the quality of the results

FPGA-based Data Processing in the Neutron-Sensitive Beam Loss Monitoring System for the ESS Linac

International audienceThe European Spallation Source (ESS), which is currently under construction, will be a neutron source based on 5 MW, 2 GeV superconducting proton linac. Among other beam instrumentation systems, this high intensity linac requires a Beam Loss Monitoring (BLM) system. An important function of the BLM system is to protect the linac from beam-induced damage by detecting unacceptably high beam loss and promptly inhibiting beam production. In addition to protection functionality, the system is expected to provide the means to monitor the beam losses during all modes of operation with the aim to avoid excessive machine activation. This paper focuses on the FPGA implementation of the real-time data processing in the nBLM system and presents preliminary result of a prototype system installed at LINAC4 at CERN

Biodegradable Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Doped with Iron as Carriers of Exogenous Iron in the Living Organism

Iron plays an important role in various crucial processes in the body and its deficiency is considered currently as a serious health problem. Thus, iron supplementation strategies for both humans and animals need to be effective and safe. According to our previous studies, zinc-based nanoparticles provide safe, biodegradable, fast and efficient transport system of orally given substances to the tissues. In the current manuscript we present results of a study aimed at investigation of the ZnO nanoparticle-based Fe supplementation system (average size 100 × 250 nm). Nanostructures were orally (gavage) administered to adult mice. Animals were sacrificed at different time points with collection of blood and internal organs for analyses (tissue iron concentration, hepatic level of hepcidin, blood parameters, liver and spleen levels of ferritin, histopathology). Initial experiment was performed to compare the biological effect of doping type (Fe3+ doping vs. a mixture of Fe3+ and Fe2+). Then, the effect of acute/chronic exposure models was determined. The increase in ferritin, along with improved, crucial hematological parameters and lack of the influence on hepcidin expression indicated the chronic application of Fe3+,2+ doped ZnO nanostructures to be the most effective among tested