A banked-promotion translation lookaside buffer system

We present a simple but high performance translation lookaside buffer (TLB) system with low power consumption for use in embedded systems. Our TLB structure supports two page sizes dynamically and selectively to achieve high performance with low hardware cost. To minimize power consumption, a banked-TLB is constructed by dividing one fully associative (FA) TLB space into two separate FA TLBs. These two structures are integrated to form a banked-promotion (BP) TLB. Promotion overcomes the unbalanced utilization of a banked-TLB by moving adjacent entries out of the primary banks into a separate super-page TLB. Simulation results show that the Energy*Delay product can be reduced by about 99.8%, 19.2%, 24.2%, and 24.4% compared with a FA TLB, a micro-TLB, a banked-TLB, and a victim-TLB respectively. Therefore, the BP TLB offers high performance with low power consumption and low hardware cost.     

Numerical modeling and experimental validation of pouch-type lithium-ion battery

The thermal behavior of pouch-type lithium-ion batteries during discharge and charge cycles is investigated by numerical simulation. A transient thermal model using finite element method software is developed through the modification of an electrochemical-thermal model. The developed model is validated with experimental data. For the experiment, a 304252 pouch cell is fabricated and tested in the laboratory. This model captures the dynamic responses of temperature, and distributions of current density and temperature, during discharge and charge cycles. Our results indicate that the discharge temperature is higher than the charge temperature at cut-off voltage. The temperature distribution upon discharge is similar to that of charge. On the other hand, different temperature distributions are observed at various C rates. The temperature profiles obtained from modeling and experiment are in good agreement.     

Spray deposition of a Sn-40 Wt Pct Pb alloy with uniform droplets

An apparatus capable of producing and depositing uniform droplets (100 to 200 μm in diameter) was developed and used to study the relationship between spray deposition parameters and the microstructures of Sn-40 wt pct Pb alloy spray deposits. The sprays used in the study consisted of uniform droplets, either 103 or 178 μm in diameter, that were in identical thermal and solidification states as they impacted the substrate. The thermal and solidification states of the uniform droplets were determined as a function of the flight distance (the distance from the metal pouring orifice) by model calculations and calorimetric measurements assuming equilibrium solidification. Although a fair agreement was noted between the model and the calorimetric measurements at small flight distances, corresponding to large liquid fractions, the calorimetric measurements indicated 10 to 20 pct higher liquid fractions at larger flight distances. The resultant microstructures comprised either a mixture of the Pb-rich and Sn-rich phases, both in an equiaxed morphology, or a lamellar eutectic structure with a small amount of the Pb-rich primary phase in a coarse spherical morphology. The mostly lamellar eutectic structure resulted from an excessive enthalpy flux and/or slow heat extraction from the deposit. Fine, equiaxed, two-phase microstructures and high deposit density resulted from optimal combinations of droplet enthalpy, deposition rate, droplet size, and deposit cooling rate which gave short local solidification times.     

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of polyvinyl alcohol from aqueous solution on powdered activated carbon

In this study, powdered activated carbon (PAC) was used to remove polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) from the aqueous PVA solution. The adsorption kinetics has been studied pertaining to various initial PVA concentration and PAC dosage. The rates of adsorption were found to conform to the second-order kinetics with good correlation. Boyd plot confirmed that external mass transfer was the rate-limiting step in the sorption process. The adsorption isotherm obtained resembled with H-type of isotherm, which indicated a high affinity of the solute for the sorption sites. The Freundlich model appeared to fit the isotherm data better than the Langmuir model. The thermodynamic parameters such as Delta H degrees , Delta S degrees and Delta G degrees were evaluated from the slope and intercept of linear plot of log Kc against (1/T) x 1000. The change in entropy (DeltaS degrees ) and heat of adsorption (Delta H degrees ) of PAC was estimated as 1.45 kJ mol(-1)K(-1) and 365 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The free energy of the adsorption at all temperatures was negative indicating a spontaneous process. The maximum PVA removal of 92% was obtained at a pH of 6.3 and contact time of 30 min for an adsorbent dose of 5 g/L.     

Generating characteristics of a cross-shaped piezoelectric generator depending on elastic body material and leg length

The dependence of the generation characteristics of a cross-shaped piezoelectric generator on the material and leg length of the elastic body was studied. The generator consisted of a centrosymmetric thin cross-shaped elastic body and four rectangular piezoelectric ceramics that were attached to the upper surfaces of the four legs of the elastic body. Vibrations from a vibrating source were applied to the center of the elastic body. The centrosymmetric structure of the cross-shaped generator guarantees more stable and multiplied generation than a cantilever-type generator since the four legs of the generator resonate at the same frequency. The resonance and output characteristics of the generator were analyzed by using a finite element method (FEM) program. Generators were fabricated on the basis of analysis results and attached to a frequency controllable vibrator for determining their output characteristics. Further, experimental results were compared with simulated results. The speed of sound in the materials depends on the Young’s modulus and density of the materials. Accordingly, the resonance frequency of the generator decreased with a decrease in the velocity of sound in the material. The resonance frequency of the generator also decreased with an increase in the leg length. By changing the generator parameters, the resonance frequency of the generator can be controlled.     

Growth and optical properties of ZnO nanorods prepared through hydrothermal growth followed by chemical vapor deposition

We report on the synthesis of high-quality ZnO nanorods by combining hydrothermal growth (HG) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes. Vertically aligned and closely packed ZnO nanorods were grown by HG on a sputtered ZnO seed layer on a SiO₂/Si (0 0 1) substrate. The top surface of the HG-prepared ZnO nanorods showed very flat surfaces compared with that of the sputtered ZnO seed layer. Therefore, the HG-prepared ZnO nanorods were used as a new alternative seed material for the CVD growth of the ZnO nanorods. Vertical ZnO nanorods were grown by CVD on both the new HG-prepared nanorod seed material and the sputtered ZnO seed layer. The CVD-prepared ZnO nanorods on new HG-prepared nanorod seed material showed better crystalline quality and superior optical properties than the CVD-prepared ZnO nanorods on sputtered seed layer. The former showed negligible deep-level emissions at room temperature photoluminescence measurements. The intensity ratio of near-band-edge emissions to deep-level emissions from the former was about 910, but that from the latter was about 151. This implies that the HG-prepared ZnO nanorods can be used as a promising new seed material for nanostructure synthesis.     

Improving the flexibility of large-area transparent conductive oxide electrodes on polymer substrates for flexible organic light emitting diodes by introducing surface roughness

In this study, transparent conductive oxide (TCO) electrodes with highly enhanced flexibility were developed on polymer substrates for application in flexible organic emitting diodes (OLEDs). TCOs, particularly indium tin oxide (ITO), have superior functional properties as electrodes compared to other materials but are inherently brittle, which significantly limits the bendability of the flexible devices. To improve the fracture strength of ITO on a polymer substrate under bending, we investigated the effect of expanding the film surface areas on the reduction of the stresses induced by an external bending force. Regularly spaced channels were imprinted at an elevated temperature onto polymer substrate surfaces using Teflon^®. Then, both amorphous (a-ITO) and crystalline ITOs (c-ITO) were dc magnetron sputter deposited. As the channel patterns on the substrate surfaces were reflected into the growing film surfaces, the ITO surfaces became unidirectionally wavy, which increased the surface area by approximately 500%. The electrical and optical properties of the wavy ITOs were measured using a four-point probe and a UV–visible spectrophotometer, respectively, and the flexibility was evaluated with cyclic bending tests. For comparison, flexible OLEDs were also fabricated on both wavy ITO and conventional ITO. Our results revealed that the functional properties of ITOs with expanded surfaces are equivalent to those of conventional ITOs on the polymer substrates. However, their cyclic bending stability was significantly improved. After 10,000 cycles at a bending radius of 10 mm, the electrical resistivity change was less than half of the conventional ITO. The current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics of the flexible OLEDs on the wavy ITOs were also nearly equal to those on conventional ITOs.     

Adhesive Antimicrobial Peptides Containing 3,4-Dihydroxy-L-Phenylalanine Residues for Direct One-Step Surface Coating

Bacterial colonization and transmission via surfaces increase the risk of infection. In this study, we design and employ novel adhesive antimicrobial peptides to prevent bacterial contamination of surfaces. Repeats of 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (DOPA) were added to the C-terminus of NKC, a potent synthetic antimicrobial peptide, and the adhesiveness and antibacterial properties of the resulting peptides are evaluated. The peptide is successfully immobilized on polystyrene, titanium, and polydimethylsiloxane surfaces within 10 min in a one-step coating process with no prior surface functionalization. The antibacterial effectiveness of the NKC-DOPA₅-coated polystyrene, titanium, and polydimethylsiloxane surfaces is confirmed by complete inhibition of the growth of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus within 2 h. The stability of the peptide coated on the substrate surface is maintained for 84 days, as confirmed by its bactericidal activity. Additionally, the NKC-DOPA₅-coated polystyrene, titanium, and polydimethylsiloxane surfaces show no cytotoxicity toward the human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. The antimicrobial properties of the peptide-coated surfaces are confirmed in a subcutaneous implantation animal model. The adhesive antimicrobial peptide developed in this study exhibits potential as an antimicrobial surface-coating agent for efficiently killing a broad spectrum of bacteria on contact.     

A 117-mm2 3.3-V only 128-Mb multilevel NAND flash memoryfor mass storage applications

For a quantum step in further cost reduction, the multilevel cell concept has been combined with the NAND flash memory. Key requirements of mass storage, low cost, and high serial access throughput have been achieved by sacrificing fast random access performance. This paper describes a 128-Mb multilevel NAND flash memory storing 2 b per cell. Multilevel storage is achieved through tight cell threshold voltage distribution of 0.4 V and is made practical by significantly reducing program disturbance by using a local self-boosting scheme. An intelligent page buffer enables cell-by-cell and state-by-state program and inhibit operations. A read throughput of 14.0 MB/s and a program throughput of 0.5 MB/s are achieved. The device has been fabricated with 0.4-μm CMOS technology, resulting in a 117 mm² die size and a 1.1 μm² effective cell size     

Adjustment of Home Posture of Biped Humanoid Robot Using Sensory Feedback Control

Humanoid robot dynamic walking is seriously affected by the initial home posture (walking ready posture). If the initial home posture is not accurate, the robot may fall down during walking despite using robust walking control algorithm. Moreover, the initial home posture of a real physical robot is slightly different at every setting because the zero position of the joint is not exactly the same. Therefore, an accurate and consistent initial home posture is essential when we compare and analyze walking control algorithms. In order to find a zero position, an incremental encoder with a limit switch or an absolute encoder such as a potentiometer can generally be used. However, the initial calibration of this method for a multi-axis humanoid robot that enables the desired initial sensor signal is difficult and time-consuming. Furthermore, it has the disadvantage that additional limit switches or absolute encoders can interfere with the design objective of compactness. Therefore, this paper describes a novel adjustment method of the home posture for a biped humanoid robot utilizing incremental encoders, an inertial sensor and force torque sensors. Four kinds of controllers are proposed for the adjustment of the home posture and adjusted offsets are measured when the outputs of the controllers have converged. Experimental results from KHR-2 show the effectiveness of the proposed adjustment algorithm.