Symbiotic Dynamic Memory Balancing for Virtual Machines in Smart TV Systems

Smart TV is expected to bring cloud services based on virtualization technologies to the home environment with hardware and software support. Although most physical resources can be shared among virtual machines (VMs) using a time sharing approach, allocating the proper amount of memory to VMs is still challenging. In this paper, we propose a novel mechanism to dynamically balance the memory allocation among VMs in virtualized Smart TV systems. In contrast to previous studies, where a virtual machine monitor (VMM) is solely responsible for estimating the working set size, our mechanism is symbiotic. Each VM periodically reports its memory usage pattern to the VMM. The VMM then predicts the future memory demand of each VM and rebalances the memory allocation among the VMs when necessary. Experimental results show that our mechanism improves performance by up to 18.28 times and reduces expensive memory swapping by up to 99.73% with negligible overheads (0.05% on average).     

Characterization of Fluxing and Hybrid Underfills with Micro‐encapsulated Catalyst for Long Pot Life

For the fine‐pitch application of flip‐chip bonding with semiconductor packaging, fluxing and hybrid underfills were developed. A micro‐encapsulated catalyst was adopted to control the chemical reaction at room and processing temperatures. From the experiments with a differential scanning calorimetry and viscometer, the chemical reaction and viscosity changes were quantitatively characterized, and the optimum type and amount of micro‐encapsulated catalyst were determined to obtain the best pot life from a commercial viewpoint. It is expected that fluxing and hybrid underfills will be applied to fine‐pitch flip‐chip bonding processes and be highly reliable.     

Correction to: A note on the three methods of item analysis

Behaviormetrika - In the original publication of the article, Appendix A was published incorrectly.     

High-temperature corrosion characteristics of yttria-stabilized zirconia material in molten salts of LiCl-Li2O and LiCl-Li2O-Li

The isothermal and cyclic corrosion behavior of yttria (Y₂O₃)-stabilized zirconia (ZrO₂) in a LiCl-Li₂O molten salt were investigated at 650 °C in an argon atmosphere. During isothermal and cyclic corrosion tests in the molten salt of LiCl-Li₂O for 168 h and 7 thermal cycles, the corrosion rate was very low, whereas under the molten salt of LiCl-Li₂O-Li for 168 h, the corrosion rate was almost 10 times higher than that in the molten salt of LiCl-Li₂O. No corrosion product was detected until 168 h for the isothermal corrosion test, however, after 7 thermal cycles, a very-low-intensity Li₂ZrO₃ peak was detected at the beginning stage of the chemical reaction between ZrO₂ and Li₂O. Additionally, in the molten salt of LiCl-Li₂O-Li for 168 h, a large amount of Li₂ZrO₃ was formed, with evidence of marked cracks, pores, and spallations on the corroded surface. The introduction of Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ was beneficial in increasing the hot corrosion resistance of the structural materials used to handle molten salts containing Li₂O at elevated temperature without forming a lithium at the cathode during the electrolytic reduction process.     

Thick lead-free ferroelectric films with high Curie temperatures through nanocomposite-induced strain

Ferroelectric materials are used in applications ranging from energy harvesting to high-power electronic transducers. However, industry-standard ferroelectric materials contain lead, which is toxic and environmentally unfriendly. The preferred alternative, BaTiO(3), is non-toxic and has excellent ferroelectric properties, but its Curie temperature of ～130 °C is too low to be practical. Strain has been used to enhance the Curie temperature of BaTiO(3) (ref. 4) and SrTiO(3) (ref. 5) films, but only for thicknesses of tens of nanometres, which is not thick enough for many device applications. Here, we increase the Curie temperature of micrometre-thick films of BaTiO(3) to at least 330 °C, and the tetragonal-to-cubic structural transition temperature to beyond 800 °C, by interspersing stiff, self-assembled vertical columns of Sm(2)O(3) throughout the film thickness. The columns, which are 10 nm in diameter, strain the BaTiO(3) matrix by 2.35%, forcing it to maintain its tetragonal structure and resulting in the highest BaTiO(3) transition temperatures so far.     

Electromagnetic transmission through multiple circular apertures in a thick conducting plane

The boundary-value problem of electromagnetic wave scattering from multiple circular apertures in a thick conducting plane is rigorously solved. The eigenfunction expansion, integral transform, and superposition principle are utilized to represent the scattered field in the discrete and continuous modes. The boundary conditions are enforced to obtain a set of simultaneous equations for the discrete modal coefficients. The transmission coefficient is represented in a fast convergent series. Computation is performed to illustrate the behavior of transmission and coupling through multiple circular apertures in terms of the aperture geometry.     

V.92: the last dial-up modem?

Ever since the first dial-up modems appeared in the 1960s, their obsolescence has been repeatedly predicted. However, contrary to such predictions, dial-up modems thrived in the 1980s and 1990s as a result of the slow rollout of residential digital services and the unprecedented growth of internet and remote access. Since the first 300 b/s dial-up modem standard (V.21), modem speeds have increased steadily. Most recently, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Recommendation V.90 (1998) takes advantage of the direct digital-network connection of an internet service provider (ISP) remote-access server to achieve speeds of more than 50 kb/s downstream (from ISP to a user). However, for upstream transmission (from a user to ISP), V.90 employs the older V.34 modulation (1994), which typically delivers on the order of 30 kb/s. A new ITU modem standard called V.92 increases upstream rates to above 40 kb/s, again by taking advantage of pulse code modulation connections. In this paper, we present the transmission scheme that has been adopted for V.92. It involves a generalization of Tomlinson-Harashima precoding. We predict that V.92 will be the last dial-up modem standard. However, we have to wonder whether we might be falling into the same trap into which many others have fallen in the past. The future will be the judge!.     

Electrostatic potential due to a potential drop across a slit

The electrostatic potential and charge density due to a potential drop across a slit in a thick conducting plane are obtained in analytic closed form. The Fourier transform, mode matching, and superposition are used to represent the potential in the spectral domain. The residue calculus is applied to represent the potential distribution in converging series form. Numerical computations are performed to illustrate the charge-density distribution through a slit     

Microwave emission from an irregular snow layer

Emission from an irregular snow layer is modeled by a layer of Mie scatterers using the radiative transfer method. Comparisons are made with measurements showing snow wetness effects and rough air-snow boundary effects. For convenience of reference, theoretical model behavior is also illustrated.