A Reliability-Aware Methodology to Isolate Timing-Critical Paths under Aging

Temporal unreliability due to aging, such as Negative-Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) and Hot Carrier Injection (HCI) effects etc., in the CMOS circuits may not appear just after the chip production, instead it becomes apparent when it is used under certain workload and environmental conditions over time. Identifying aged paths that may become critical to circuit performance, is a real challenge for many researchers and reliability engineers. In this work, firstly we identify a set of parameters that impact the circuit performance under aging and use them in the proposed algorithm which is substantially faster than commercially available SPICE simulator with an approx 94% accuracy in estimating path delays. Secondly, we explore the possibility of using the proposed methodology, instead of using time expensive SPICE and pessimistic static timing analysis (STA), to identify a set of speed-limiting paths under aging. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and the associated methodology in comparison to SPICE simulated results.     

Cost efficiency benchmarking of urban water supply utilities: The case of an Indian state

In most developing countries like India, benchmarking of water supply utilities is rarely carried out as these services are not run on professional lines to ensure profitability, even as social goals of making provision for all, including the poor, take priority over profitability. When performances of these services are not measured, efforts to improve these services remain directionless and arbitrary. Urban water supplies in India, therefore, suffer a self‐inflicted fate, wherein city municipalities remain mired in mundane issues, leading to large dissatisfaction and inefficiencies. This paper attempts to evolve a framework for evaluating cost efficiencies of water supply services and applies stochastic frontier analysis to 18 urban centres in India through six models. The results indicate large relative inefficiencies and a scope of savings of 24.5% of average current operating and maintenance costs even with existing levels of resource inputs. The results are discussed from a regulatory and policy‐making perspective.     

Robust PCA-based solution to image composition using augmented Lagrange multiplier (ALM)

Computational photography relies on specialized image-processing techniques to combine multiple images captured by a camera to generate a desired image of the scene. We first consider the high dynamic range (HDR) imaging problem. We can change either the exposure time or the aperture while capturing multiple images of the scene to generate an HDR image. This paper addresses the HDR imaging problem for static and dynamic scenes captured using a stationary camera under various aperture and exposure settings, when we do not have any knowledge of the camera settings. We have proposed a novel framework based on sparse representation which enables us to process images while getting rid of artifacts due to moving objects and defocus blur. We show that the proposed approach is able to produce significantly good results through dynamic object rejection and deblurring capabilities. We compare the results with other competitive approaches and discuss the relative advantages of the proposed approach.     

Estimating Operational Age of an Integrated Circuit

Journal of Electronic Testing - Recycling of used ICs as new replacement parts in maintaining older electronic systems is a serious reliability concern. This paper presents a novel approach to...     

Wafer bonding with nano-imprint resists as sacrificial adhesive for fabrication of silicon-on-integrated-circuit (SOIC) wafers in 3D integration of MEMS and ICs

In this paper, we present the use of thermosetting nano-imprint resists in adhesive wafer bonding. The presented wafer bonding process is suitable for heterogeneous three-dimensional (3D) integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and integrated circuits (ICs). Detailed adhesive bonding process parameters are presented to achieve void-free, well-defined and uniform wafer bonding interfaces. Experiments have been performed to optimize the thickness control and uniformity of the nano-imprint resist layer in between the bonded wafers. In contrast to established polymer adhesives such as, e.g., BCB, nano-imprint resists as adhesives for wafer-to-wafer bonding are specifically suitable if the adhesive is intended as sacrificial material. This is often the case, e.g., in fabrication of silicon-on-integrated-circuit (SOIC) wafers for 3D integration of MEMS membrane structures on top of IC wafers. Such IC integrated MEMS includes, e.g., micro-mirror arrays, infrared bolometer arrays, resonators, capacitive inertial sensors, pressure sensors and microphones.     

Interaction of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium and mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) plants

The effect of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium, a zoonotic serovar, on mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) cultivar Pant Mung-3 plants was studied. Inoculation of mung bean seeds with Salmonella Typhimurium (7.2 x 10(5) CFU/ml) reduced sprouting rate (P < 0.07). This effect was more pronounced at higher levels of contamination. In the soil inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium (7.2 x 10(6) CFU/g), germination was retarded and the number of defective sprouts was also significantly higher (P < 0.002). Salmonella Typhimurium grew inside germinating seeds and plant tissues and persisted in seedlings, adult plants, and harvested seedlings dried and stored at room temperature (30 degrees C) up to 45 days. Phaseolus aureus plants grown in sterile soil was resistant to Salmonella Typhimurium infection at 15 days of age and cleared Salmonella from all the aerial parts within 3 h of infection. However, Salmonella Typhimurium could be reisolated from the basal area of the stem and from soil even after 45 days of exposure to the pathogen.     

THERMAL TRANSITIONS AND MORPHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYETHER ETHER KETONE AND LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMER BLENDS

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) based on hydroxy benzoic acid and hydroxy naphthoic acid (HBA/HNA) were prepared on a single-screw extruder with rotor speed 45 rpm at 350°C. Thermal analysis data, especially the glass transition temperature (T_g), indicated that the blends were incompatible in the entire range of concentration. Melting temperature (T_m) of the blends was found to be close to melting temperature of pure PEEK. Thermogravimetric analysis data show the poor thermal stability of the blends compared to the parent material. The percent weight loss increased with increasing LCP concentration. Analysis with a scanning electron microscope clearly indicated that a distinctive fibrous morphology was developed in the extruded samples at the low concentration of LCP, but the adhesion of the fiber to the PEEK matrix was poor, with circular voids around the LCP phase at higher concentration.     

Self-supervised role learning for graph neural networks

Knowledge and Information Systems - We present InfoMotif, a new semi-supervised, motif-regularized, learning framework over graphs. We overcome two key limitations of message passing in popular...     

Lithium storage in amorphous TiNi hydride: Electrode for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

In this study, amorphous TiNi phase was successfully prepared using mechanically milling for a very short time of 8 h. HRTEM confirms the formation of amorphous phase with the presence of nanocrystalline Fe particles. After hydrogenation (30 bars of H₂ for a duration of 2 h), the electrochemical reaction shows that TiNi hydride/Li cell discharges at a current of one Li for 10 h between 3 V and 0.005 V. The discharge of TiNiH electrode around x = 1 Li corresponds to a capacity of 251 mAh g⁻¹ and a hydride composition of TiNiH_1.0 at an average voltage of 0.4 V. Ex-situ X-ray diffraction pattern collected at the end of the discharge shows a mixture of amorphous TiNi compound and LiH. A general mechanism for the electrochemical reaction is then proposed: α-TiNiH + Li⁺ + e⁻ → α-TiNi + LiH. The results from DFT calculations yield an average cell voltage of 0.396 V, which is in good agreement with the experimental pseudo-plateau occurring at 0.4 V.