This book shows readers how to develop energy-efficient algorithms and hardware architectures to enable high-definition 3D video coding on resource-constrained embedded devices. Users of the Multiview Video Coding (MVC) standard face the challenge of exploiting its 3D video-specific coding tools for increasing compression efficiency at the cost of increasing computational complexity and, consequently, the energy consumption. This book enables readers to reduce the multiview video coding energy consumption through jointly considering the algorithmic and architectural levels. Coverage includes an introduction to 3D videos and an extensive discussion of the current state-of-the-art of 3D video coding, as well as energy-efficient algorithms for 3D video coding and energy-efficient hardware architecture for 3D video coding.

This book offers a brief review of and investigations into the power quality problem in the new technology of co-phase high-speed traction power supplies, which benefits for higher locomotive speed. In addition, it presents detailed design procedures and discusses the chief concerns in connection with a newly proposed solution: compensation in co-phase traction power using a co-phase railway hybrid power quality conditioner (Railway HPQC). Further, it provides essential information on the modeling of power quality in co-phase, high-speed traction power supplies, and on power quality compensation algorithm derivations. Lastly, it delineates the design of railway HPQC and analyzes the effect of different parameters on its performance to accommodate different priorities. All design is supported by simulations and the results of experimental verification.

This book contains a selection of papers presented at the First National Conference on Sensors held in Rome 15-17 February 2011. The conference highlighted state-of-the-art results from both theoretical and applied research in the field of sensors and related technologies. This book presents material in an interdisciplinary approach, covering many aspects of the disciplines related to sensors, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications. * Provides a selection of the best papers from the First Italian National Conference on Sensors; * Covers a broad range of topics relating to sensors and microsystems, including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology and applications; * Offers interdisciplinary coverage, aimed at defining a common ground for sensors beyond the specific differences among the different particular implementation of sensors.

This book presents exact, that is minimal, solutions to individual steps in the design process for Digital Microfluidic Biochips (DMFBs), as well as a one-pass approach that combines all these steps in a single process. All of the approaches discussed are based on a formal model that can easily be extended to cope with further design problems. In addition to the exact methods, heuristic approaches are provided and the complexity classes of various design problems are determined. Presents exact methods to tackle a variety of design problems for Digital Microfluidic Biochips (DMFBs); Describes an holistic, one-pass approach solving different design steps all at once; Based on a formal model of DMFBs that is easily adaptable to deal with further design tasks.

Progress in today's high-technology industries is strongly associated with the development of new mathematical tools. A typical illustration of this partnership is the mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of electric circuits and semiconductor devices. At the second Oberwolfach conference devoted to this important and timely field, scientists from around the world, mainly applied mathematicians and electrical engineers from industry and universities, presented their new results. Their contributions, forming the body of this work, cover electric circuit simulation, device simulation and process simulation. Discussions on experiences with standard software packages and improvements of such packages are included. In the semiconductor area special lectures were given on new modelling approaches, numerical techniques and existence and uniqueness results. In this connection, mention is made, for example, of mixed finite element methods, an extension of the Baliga-Patankar technique for a three dimensional simulation, and the connection between semiconductor equations and the Boltzmann equations.

This thesis describes an investigation into homogeneous KN crystalline films grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates, amorphous KN films grown on TiN/Si substrates using the RF-sputtering method, and the ferroelectic and piezoelectric properties of these KN films. KNbO3 (KN) thin films have been extensively investigated for applications in nonlinear optical, electro-optical and piezoelectric devices. However, the electrical properties of KN films have not yet been reported, because it is difficult to grow stoichiometric KN thin films due to K2O evaporation during growth. This thesis also reports on the ReRAM properties of a biocompatible KN ReRAM memristor powered by the KN nanogenerator, and finally shows the biological synaptic properties of the KN memristor for application to the artificial synapse of a neuromorphic computing system.

This book introduces a new cyberphysical system that combines clinical and basic neuroscience research with advanced data analysis and medical management tools for developing novel applications for the management of epilepsy. The authors describe the algorithms and architectures needed to provide ambulatory, diagnostic and long-term monitoring services, through multi parametric data collection. Readers will see how to achieve in-hospital quality standards, addressing conventional "routine" clinic-based service purposes, at reduced cost, enhanced capability and increased geographical availability. The cyberphysical system described in this book is flexible, can be optimized for each patient and is demonstrated in several case studies.

With the proliferation of VHDL, the reference material also grew in the same order. Today there is good amount of scholarly literature including many books describing various aspects of VHDL. However, an indepth review of these books reveals a different story. Many of them have emerged simply as an improved version of the manual. While some of them deal with the system design issues, they lack appropriate exemplifying to illustrate the concepts. Others give large number of examples, but lack the VLSI system design issues.

In nutshell, the fact which gone unnoticed by most of the books, is the growth of the VLSI is not merely due to the language itself, but more due to the development of large number of third party tools useful from the FPGA or semicustom ASIC realization point of view. In the proposed book, the authors have synergized the VHDL programming with appropriate EDA tools so as to present a full proof system design to the readers. In this book along with the VHDL coding issues, the simulation and synthesis with the various toolsets enables the potential reader to visualize the final design. The VHDL design codes have been synthesized using different third party tools such as Xilinx Web pack Ver.11, Modelsim PE, Leonrado Spectrum and Synplify Pro. Mixed flow illustrated by using the above mentioned tools presents an insight to optimize the design with reference to the spatial, temporal and power metrics.

This text addresses the design methodologies and CAD tools available for the systematic design and design automation of analogue integrated circuits. Two complementary approaches discussed increase analogue design productivity, demonstrated throughout using design times of the different design experiments undertaken.

Embedded systems have been almost invisibly pervading our daily lives for several decades. They facilitate smooth operations in avionics, automotive electronics, or telecommunication. New problems arise by the increasing employment, interconnection, and communication of embedded systems in heterogeneous environments: How secure are these embedded systems against attacks or breakdowns? Therefore, how can embedded systems be designed to be more secure? How can embedded systems autonomically react to threats? Facing these questions, Sorin A. Huss is significantly involved in the exploration of design methodologies for secure embedded systems. This Festschrift is dedicated to him and his research on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Analog Circuit Design contains the contribution of 18 experts from the 13th International Workshop on Advances in Analog Circuit Design. It is number 13 in the successful series of Analog Circuit Design.

It provides 18 excellent overviews of analog circuit design in: Sensor and Actuator Interfaces, Integrated High-Voltage Electronics and Power Management, and Low-Power and High-Resolution ADC s.

Analog Circuit Design is an essential reference source for analog circuits designers and researchers wishing to keep abreast with the latest developments in the field. The tutorial coverage also makes it suitable for use in an advanced design course.

Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) are commonly used to amplify signals that are too weak for direct processing for example in radio or cable receivers. Traditionally, low noise amplifiers are implemented via tuned amplifiers, exploiting inductors and capacitors in resonating LC-circuits. This can render very low noise but only in a relatively narrow frequency band close to resonance. There is a clear trend to use more bandwidth for communication, both via cables (e.g. cable TV, internet) and wireless links (e.g. satellite links and Ultra Wideband Band). Hence wideband low-noise amplifier techniques are very much needed.

Wideband Low Noise Amplifiers Exploiting Thermal Noise Cancellation explores techniques to realize wideband amplifiers, capable of impedance matching and still achieving a low noise figure well below 3dB. This can be achieved with a new noise cancelling technique as described in this book. By using this technique, the thermal noise of the input transistor of the LNA can be cancelled while the wanted signal is amplified The book gives a detailed analysis of this technique and presents several new amplifier circuits.

This book is directly relevant for IC designers and researchers working on integrated transceivers. Although the focus is on CMOS circuits, the techniques can just as well be applied to other IC technologies, e.g. bipolar and GaAs, and even in discrete component technologies.

The application of circuits and systems and engineering principles to problems in the medicine has led to the emergence of biomedical circuits and systems as an exciting and rapidly growing area of research. Nanotechnology provides new nano-structured materials with amazing properties. The properties offered by nanomaterials can be applied to develop advanced instrumentation for biomedical diagnostics and personalized therapy, as well as bio-sensing in the environment. Biotechnology provides new biochemical materials with novel properties to be applied to develop new performances in sensing techniques. These advancements in Nano- and Bio- technologies will lead to new concepts and applications for nano-bio-sensing systems. This book offers an invaluable reference to the state-of-the-art applications of nano-bio-sensing. It brings together expertise of researchers from the fields of nano-electronics and bio-technology, providing multidisciplinary content from nano-structures fabrication to bio-sensing applications.

Computerarchitecturepresentlyfacesanunprecedentedrevolution: Thestep from monolithic processors towards multi-core ICs, motivated by the ever - creasingneedforpowerandenergyef ciencyinnanoelectronics. Whetheryou prefer to call it MPSoC (multi-processor system-on-chip) or CMP (chip mul- processor), no doubt this revolution affects large domains of both computer science and electronics, and it poses many new interdisciplinary challenges. For instance, ef cient programming models and tools for MPSoC are largely an open issue: "Multi-core platforms are a reality - but where is the software support" (R. Lauwereins, IMEC). Solving it will require enormous research efforts as well as the education of a whole new breed of software engineers that bring the results from universities into industrial practice. Atthesametime, thedesignofcomplexMPSoCarchitecturesisanextremely time-consuming task, particularly in the wireless and multimedia application domains, where heterogeneous architectures are predominant. Due to the - ploding NRE and mask costs most companies are now following a platform approach: Invest a large (but one-time) design effort into a proper core - chitecture, and create easy-to-design derivatives for new standards or product features. Needless to say, only the most ef cient MPSoC platforms have a real chance to enjoy a multi-year lifetime on the highly competitive semiconductor market for embedded systems.

From the reviews: " ...] a welcome addition to the literature. ...] This book promises to make a valuable contribution to the education of graduate students in electrical and computer engineering, and a very useful addition to the library of the maturer investigator in SoC designs or related fields." Microelectronics Reliability

Simulation Methods for ESD Protection Development looks at the integration of new techniques into a comprehensive development flow, which is now available due advances made in the field during the recent years. These findings allow for an early, stable ESD concept at a very early stage of the technology development, which is essential now development cycles have been reduced. The book also offers ways of increasing the optimization and control of the technology concerning performance. Thus making the process more cost effective and increasingly efficient

This title provides a guide through the latest research and technology presenting the ESD protection development methodology. This is based on a combination of process, device and circuit stimulation, and addresses the optimization of the industry critical issue, reduced development cycles.Written to address the needs of the ESD engineer, this text is required reading by all industry practitioners and researchers and students within this field.
The FIRST Extensive overview on the subject of ESD simulation.
Addresses the industry critical issue of reduced development cycles, and provides solutions.
Presents the latest research in the field with high practical relevance and its results"

Analog design is one of the more difficult aspects of electrical engineering. The main reason is the apparently vague decisions an experienced designer makes in optimizing his circuit. To enable fresh designers, like students electrical engineering, to become acquainted with analog circuit design, structuring the analog design process is of utmost importance.
Structured Electronic Design: Negative-Feedback Amplifiers presents a design methodology for negative-feedback amplifiers. The design methodology enables to synthesize a topology and to, at the same time, optimize the performance of that topology.
Key issues in the design methodology are orthogonalization, hierarchy and simple models. Orthogonalization enables the separate optimization of the three fundamental quality aspects: noise, distortion and bandwidth. Hierarchy ensures that the right decisions are made at the correct level of abstraction. The use of simple models, results in simple calculations yielding maximum-performance indicators that can be used to reject wrong circuits relatively fast.
The presented design methodology divides the design of negative-feedback amplifiers in six independent steps. In the first two steps, the feedback network is designed. During those design steps, the active part is assumed to be a nullor, i.e. the performance with respect to noise, distortion and bandwidth is still ideal.
In the subsequent four steps, an implementation for the active part is synthesized. During those four steps the topology of the active part is synthesized such that optimum performance is obtained. Firstly, the input stage is designed with respect to noise performance. Secondly, the output stage isdesigned with respect to clipping distortion. Thirdly, the bandwidth performance is designed, which may require the addition of an additional amplifying stage. Finally, the biasing circuitry for biasing the amplifying stages is designed.
By dividing the design in independent design steps, the total global optimization is reduced to several local optimizations. By the specific sequence of the design steps, it is assured that the local optimizations yield a circuit that is close to the global optimum. On top of that, because of the separate dedicated optimizations, the resource use, like power, is tracked clearly.
Structured Electronic Design: Negative-Feedback Amplifiers presents in two chapters the background and an overview of the design methodology. Whereafter, in six chapters the separate design steps are treated with great detail. Each chapter comprises several exercises. An additional chapter is dedicated to how to design current sources and voltage source, which are required for the biasing. The final chapter in the book is dedicated to a thoroughly described design example, showing clearly the benefits of the design methodology.
In short, this book is valuable for M.Sc.-curriculum Electrical Engineering students, and of course, for researchers and designers who want to structure their knowledge about analog design further.

The work establishes the design flow for the optimization of linear CMOS power amplifiers from the first steps of the design to the final IC implementation and tests. The authors also focuses on design guidelines of the inductor's geometrical characteristics for power applications and covers their measurement and characterization. Additionally, a model is proposed which would facilitate designs in terms of transistor sizing, required inductor quality factors or minimum supply voltage. The model considers limitations that CMOS processes can impose on implementation. The book also provides different techniques and architectures that allow for optimization.

In the deep sub-micron regime, the power consumption has become one of the most important issues for competitive design of digital circuits. Due to dramatically increasing leakage currents, the power consumption does not take advantage of technology scaling as before. State-of-art power reduction techniques like the use of multiple supply and threshold voltages, transistor stack forcing and power gating are discussed with respect to implementation and power saving capability. Focus is given especially on technology dependencies, process variations and technology scaling. Design and implementation issues are discussed with respect to the trade-off between power reduction, performance degradation, and system level constraints. A complete top-down design flow is demonstrated for power gating techniques introducing new design methodologies for the switch sizing task and circuit blocks for data-retention and block activation.

This book presents the a scientific discussion of the state-of-the-art techniques and designs for modeling, testing and for the performance analysis of data converters. The focus is put on sustainable data conversion. Sustainability has become a public issue that industries and users can not ignore. Devising environmentally friendly solutions for data conversion designing, modeling and testing is nowadays a requirement that researchers and practitioners must consider in their activities. This book presents the outcome of the IWADC workshop 2011, held in Orvieto, Italy.

Organic and printed electronics can enable a revolution in the applications of electronics and this book offers readers an overview of the state-of-the-art in this rapidly evolving domain. The potentially low cost, compatibility with flexible substrates and the wealth of devices that characterize organic and printed electronics will make possible applications that go far beyond the well-known displays made with large-area silicon electronics. Since organic electronics are still in their early stage, undergoing transition from lab-scale and prototype activities to production, this book serves as a valuable snapshot of the current landscape of the different devices enabled by this technology, reviewing all applications that are developing and those can be foreseen. "

This book presents a state of the art review of integrated circuits, systems and transceivers for wireless and mobile communications. Contributions from world-class researchers focus upon the most recent developments in key RF, IF and baseband components and subsystems and transceiver architecture in CMOS technology. Adopting a top-down approach from wireless communications systems, mobile terminals and transceivers, to constituent components, this book covers the whole range of baseband, IF and RF issues in a systematic way. Circuit and system techniques for design and implementation of reconfigurable low voltage and low power single-chip CMOS transceivers for both mobile cellular and wireless LAN applications are included.

This book describes the current state of the art in big-data analytics, from a technology and hardware architecture perspective. The presentation is designed to be accessible to a broad audience, with general knowledge of hardware design and some interest in big-data analytics. Coverage includes emerging technology and devices for data-analytics, circuit design for data-analytics, and architecture and algorithms to support data-analytics. Readers will benefit from the realistic context used by the authors, which demonstrates what works, what doesn’t work, and what are the fundamental problems, solutions, upcoming challenges and opportunities. Provides a single-source reference to hardware architectures for big-data analytics; Covers various levels of big-data analytics hardware design abstraction and flow, from device, to circuits and systems; Demonstrates how non-volatile memory (NVM) based hardware platforms can be a viable solution to existing challenges in hardware architecture for big-data analytics.

This book presents an updated selection of the most representative contributions to the 2nd and 3rd IEEE Workshops on Signal Propagation on Interconnects (SPI) which were held in TravemA1/4nde (Baltic Sea), Germany, May 13-15, 1998, and in Titisee-Neustadt (Black Forest), Germany, May 19-21, 1999. Interconnects in VLSI Design addresses the need of developers and researchers in the field of VLSI chip and package design. It offers a survey of current problems regarding the influence of interconnect effects on the electrical performance of electronic circuits and suggests innovative solutions. In this sense Interconnects in VLSI Design represents a continuation and a supplement to the first book, Signal Propagation on Interconnects, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998. The papers in Interconnects in VLSI Design cover a wide area of research directions. Apart from describing general trends they deal with the solution of signal integrity problems, the modeling of interconnects, parameter extraction using calculations and measurements and last, but not least, actual problems in the field of optical interconnects.

Kinetic energy harvesting converts movement or vibrations into electrical energy, enables battery free operation of wireless sensors and autonomous devices and facilitates their placement in locations where replacing a battery is not feasible or attractive. This book provides an introduction to operating principles and design methods of modern kinetic energy harvesting systems and explains the implications of harvested power on autonomous electronic systems design. It describes power conditioning circuits that maximize available energy and electronic systems design strategies that minimize power consumption and enable operation. The principles discussed in the book will be supported by real case studies such as battery-less monitoring sensors at water waste processing plants, embedded battery-less sensors in automotive electronics and sensor-networks built with ultra-low power wireless nodes suitable for battery-less applications.