An Integrated CAD Methodology for Yield Enhancement of VLSI CMOS Circuits Including Statistical Device Variations

In this paper a novel CAD methodology for yield enhancement of VLSI CMOS circuits including random device variations is presented. The methodology is based on a preliminary characterization of the technological process by means of specific test chips for accurate mismatch modeling. To this purpose, a very accurate position-dependent parameter mismatch model has been formulated and extracted. Finally a CAD tool implementing this model has been developed. The tool is fully integrated in an environment of existing commercial tools and it has been experimented in the STMicroelectronics Flash Memory CAD Group.As an example of application, a bandgap reference circuit has been considered and the results obtained from simulations have been compared with experimental data. Furthermore, the methodology has been applied to the read path of a complex Flash Memory produced by STMicroelectronics, consisting of about 16,000 MOSFETs. Measurements of electrical performances have confirmed the validity of the methodology, and the accuracy of both the mismatch model and the simulation flow.     

Advances in Lee–Schetzen Method for Volterra Filter Identification

This paper concerns the identification of nonlinear discrete causal systems that can be approximated with the Wiener–Volterra series. Some advances in the efficient use of Lee–Schetzen (L–S) method are presented, which make practical the estimate of long memory and high order models. Major problems in L–S method occur in the identification of diagonal kernel elements. Two approaches have been considered: approximation of gridded data, with interpolation or smoothing, and improved techniques for diagonal elements estimation. A comparison of diagonal elements estimated, with different methods has been shown with extended tests on fifth order Volterra systems.First Online Version Published in July, 2005     

Acceptability of robotic technology in neuro-rehabilitation: Preliminary results on chronic stroke patients

During the last decade, different robotic devices have been developed for motor rehabilitation of stroke survivors. These devices have been shown to improve motor impairment and contribute to the understanding of mechanisms underlying motor recovery after a stroke. The assessment of the robotic technology for rehabilitation assumes great importance. The aim of this study is to present preliminary results on the assessment of the acceptability of the robotic technology for rehabilitation on a group of thirty-four chronic stroke patients. The results from questionnaires on the patients’ acceptability of two different robot-assisted rehabilitation scenarios show that the robotic approach was well accepted and tolerated by the patients.     

VNF-Consensus: A virtual network function for maintaining a consistent distributed software-defined network control plane

Software-defined networks (SDN) usually rely on a centralized controller, which has limited availability and scalability by definition. Although a solution is to employ a distributed control plane, the main issue with this approach is how to maintain the consistency among multiple controllers. Consistency should be achieved with as low impact on network performance as possible and should be transparent for controllers, without requiring any change of the SDN protocols. In this work, we propose VNF-Consensus, a virtual network function that implements Paxos to ensure strong consistency among controllers of a distributed control plane. In our solution, controllers can perform their control plane activities without having to execute the expensive tasks required to keep consistency. Experimental results are presented showing the cost and benefits of the proposed solution, in particular in terms of low controller overhead.     

Is necessary the generation and implementation of an educational plan about the energetic issue?

The intention of the present Paper is to warn of a possible scenario, in reference to the knowledge the population has about the energetic matter, we designed different techniques to know their opinions, ideas and suggestions.     

Sword,Shield and Buoys: A History of the NATO Sub‐Committee on Oceanographic Research, 1959–19731

In the late 1950s the North‐Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made a major effort to fund collaborative research between its member states. One of the first initiatives following the establishment of the alliance's Science Committee was the creation of a sub‐group devoted to marine science: the Sub‐committee on Oceanographic Research.This paper explores the history of this organization, charts its trajectory over the 13 years of its existence, and considers its activities in light of NATO's naval defence strategies. In particular it shows how the alliance's naval commands played a key role in the sub‐committee's creation due to the importance of oceanographic research in the tracking of enemy submarines. The essay also scrutinizes the reasons behind the committee's dissolution, with a special focus on the changing landscape of scientific collaboration at NATO. The committee's fall maps onto a more profound shift in the alliance's research agenda, including the re‐organization of defence research and the rise of environmentalism.     

Nonlinear System Identification: An Effective Framework Based on the Karhunen–LoÈve Transform

This paper proposes, on the basis of a rigorous mathematical formulation, a general framework that is able to define a large class of nonlinear system identifiers. This framework exploits all those relationships that intrinsically characterize a limited set of realizations, obtained by an ensemble of output signals and their parameterized inputs, by means of the separation property of the Karhunen-Loeve transform. The generality and the flexibility of the approximating mappings (ranging from traditional approximation techniques to multiresolution decompositions and neural networks) allow the design of a large number of distinct identifiers each displaying a number of properties such as linearity with respect to the parameters, noise rejection, low computational complexity of the approximation procedure. Exhaustive experimentation on specific case studies reports high identification performance for four distinct identifiers based on polynomials, splines, wavelets and radial basis functions. Several comparisons show how these identifiers almost always have higher performance than that obtained by current best practices, as well as very good accuracy, optimal noise rejection, and fast algorithmic elaboration. As an example of a real application, the identification of a voice communication channel, comprising a digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) cordless phone for wireless communications and a telephone line, is reported and discussed.     

On the short-channel theory for MOS transistor

An attempt is made to derive rigorous analysis for the short-channel MOS transistor on the basis of the 2-D Poisson's equation. The analysis is able to predict a correct dependence of the threshold voltage on channel length and drain voltage, avoids the need for the definition of an average depletion charge density, and gives more physical insight into the short-channel effects     

Screening of new strains of Saccharomycodes ludwigii and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii to produce low‐alcohol beer

Low‐alcohol beer (0.5–1.2% v/v ethanol) is a less common brewing industry output than standard beer but there is an increasing interest in this product, as evidenced by increased attention to health and safety and government policies on alcohol and diet. The main challenge in the production of low‐alcohol beer is the achievement of a product as similar as possible to regular beer, particularly concerning the content of the volatile compounds. These compounds can be lost during the physical removal of alcohol by dialysis, reverse osmosis and vacuum rectification. Consequently, an alternative technique is the use of biological methods, which involve the employment of non‐conventional yeasts. In this paper, 11 non‐conventional yeast strains were tested for low‐alcohol beer production. The strains used belonged to two different species: Saccharomycodes ludwigii and Zygosaccharomyces rouxii. The beer samples produced by these strains were analysed for their ethanol content and main volatile compounds. The S. ludwigii strains were more suitable for brewing low‐alcohol beer, especially strain DBVPG 3010, which also showed a higher content of esters and a lower amount of diacetyl compared with previous reports. The Z. rouxii strains produced an ethanol and diacetyl content above the taste threshold. This screening project can be considered as a first step towards the production of low‐alcohol beer by means of new selected non‐conventional yeasts. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling