Mixed-Signal Layout Generation Concepts covers important physical-design issues that exist in contemporary analog and mixed-signal design flows. Due to the increasing pressure on time-to-market, the steep increase in chip fabrication costs, and the increasing design complexity, it becomes even more challenging to produce a first-time right IC layout. The fundamental issues in creating a layout are placement and routing. Although these coupled problems have been investigated for many decades, no satisfactory automated solution has emerged yet. Fortunately, supported by modern computing power and results of new research that further improve computation efficiency, significant steps forward have been taken.
Mixed-Signal Layout Generation Concepts brings together many principles and techniques required to successfully develop and implement layout generation tools to accommodate many mixed-signal layout generation needs. Not only does it provide a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art concepts, it also illustrates many concepts with intuitive examples and pseudo code. Altogether, it facilitates creation of insight in a vast and complex area.
For those who are new to the area of mixed-signal layout generation, this book provides an excellent introduction to advanced topics in this area. A practicing EDA researcher or tool developer might find this book a useful reference that combines classical and new principles. In addition, this book relates theories to each other and to pragmatic implementations. Finally, the designer, or layout artist, interested to have a thorough understanding of fundamental concepts in mixed-signal layout generation, can take advantage of theself-contained chapters in this book.

"Beginning AutoCAD 2005" is a course based on learning and practising the essentials of 2D drawing using AutoCAD. Bob McFarlane's hands-on approach is uniquely suited to independent learning and use on courses. The focus on 2D drawing in one book, ensures the reader gets a thorough grounding in the subject, with a greater depth of coverage than tends to be available from general introductions to AutoCAD. As a result, this book provides a true, step-by-step, detailed exploration of the AutoCAD functions required at each stage of producing a 2D drawing - an approach often not found in the many software reference guides available.
The emphasis on learning through doing makes this book ideal for anyone involved in engineering, construction or architecture - where the focus is on productivity and practical skills. The author has also matched the coverage to the requirements of City and Guilds, Edexcel (BTEC) and SQA syllabuses.
New features in AutoCAD 2005 are covered in this book including: Drafting Tools; Drawing Management; Drawing Output; Plot and Publish Tools; Productivity Tools; Sheet Set Manager, and Tool Palette Enhancements. The result is a useful refresher course for anyone using AutoCAD at this level, and those upgrading to the new software release. The course is also designed to be fully relevant to anyone using other recent releases, including AutoCAD 2004.
Bob McFarlane is Curriculum Manager for CAD and New Media at Motherwell College, Scotland, and an Autodesk Educational Developer.
* A complete course on 2D design with AutoCAD in one book - ideal for independent learning
* Exercises included throughout to aid student learning and self assessment
* Focusexclusively on 2D material provides a thorough introduction to the basics of CAD drawing and design

This book presents a computer-aided approach to the design of mechatronic systems. Its subject is an integrated modeling and simulation in a visual computer environment. Since the first edition, the simulation software changed enormously, became more user-friendly and easier to use. Therefore, a second edition became necessary taking these improvements into account. The modeling is based on system top-down and bottom-up approach. The mathematical models are generated in a form of differential-algebraic equations and solved using numerical and symbolic algebra methods. The integrated approach developed is applied to mechanical, electrical and control systems, multibody dynamics, and continuous systems.

Use design to transform your ideas into powerful visuals that connect with the right audience, define your brand, or take your project to the next level. Students, entrepreneurs, community groups, social media influencers, bloggers or campaigners: this practical guide is for you, and everyone else who wants to learn how to communicate visually, combining the building blocks of type, photography, illustration, and colour to create designs that inform, influence, and enthral. All the key principles of graphic design are explained via a series of specially created, beautifully streamlined graphics that show, rather than tell, you what you need to know. In addition, detailed how-to demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and inspirational galleries of the best design will help you to achieve your aims, from creating a brand identity or setting the right mood by choosing the best typeface, to organizing the elements of a layout to boost your message and meaning. Ten step-by-step projects help you create your own bespoke designs - for websites, digital newsletters, e-commerce, invitations, posters, sales materials, and more. There's also plenty of practical advice, including tips on publishing online, dealing with printers, commissioning professionals, and finding free design tools. If you're ready to use the power of design to take your personal project or burgeoning business to the next level, Graphic Design for Everyone is a one-stop resource to becoming an effective, inspirational visual communicator.

This self-paced learning experience introducing AutoCAD from square one provides a thorough grounding in 2D drafting skills. McFarlane's hands-on approach is uniquely suited to independent learning. This book is a true step-by-step course that focuses on the AutoCAD functions needed for each stage of producing a 2D drawing.

This textbook offers theoretical and practical knowledge of the finite element method. The book equips readers with the skills required to analyze engineering problems using ANSYS (R), a commercially available FEA program. Revised and updated, this new edition presents the most current ANSYS (R) commands and ANSYS (R) screen shots, as well as modeling steps for each example problem. This self-contained, introductory text minimizes the need for additional reference material by covering both the fundamental topics in finite element methods and advanced topics concerning modeling and analysis. It focuses on the use of ANSYS (R) through both the Graphics User Interface (GUI) and the ANSYS (R) Parametric Design Language (APDL). Extensive examples from a range of engineering disciplines are presented in a straightforward, step-by-step fashion. Key topics include: * An introduction to FEM * Fundamentals and analysis capabilities of ANSYS (R) * Fundamentals of discretization and approximation functions * Modeling techniques and mesh generation in ANSYS (R) * Weighted residuals and minimum potential energy * Development of macro files * Linear structural analysis * Heat transfer and moisture diffusion * Nonlinear structural problems * Advanced subjects such as submodeling, substructuring, interaction with external files, and modification of ANSYS (R)-GUI Electronic supplementary material for using ANSYS (R) can be found at http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4899-7550-8. This convenient online feature, which includes color figures, screen shots and input files for sample problems, allows for regeneration on the reader's own computer. Students, researchers, and practitioners alike will find this an essential guide to predicting and simulating the physical behavior of complex engineering systems."

This tutorial offers a full complement of AutoLISP programming skills. Beginning with an introduction to the language, the programming environment, and the Visual LISP editor, succeeding chapters address data manipulation, user input and output options, programming dialog boxes, modifying AutoCAD drawing database objects, and using advanced features of the Visual LISP programming tool kit. Demonstration projects can also serve as core applications for reader's own use.

IDT (Intelligent Decision Technologies) seeks an interchange of research on intelligent systems and intelligent technologies which enhance or improve decision making in industry, government and academia. The focus is interdisciplinary in nature, and includes research on all aspects of intelligent decision technologies, from fundamental development to the applied system.

It constitutes a great honor and pleasure for us to publish the works and new research results of scholars from the First KES International Symposium on Intelligent Decision Technologies (KES IDT'09), hosted and organized by University of Hyogo in conjunction with KES International (Himeji, Japan, April, 2009). The symposium was concerned with theory, design, development, implementation, testing and evaluation of intelligent decision systems. Its topics included intelligent agents, fuzzy logic, multi-agent systems, artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, expert systems, intelligent decision making support systems, information retrieval systems, geographic information systems, and knowledge management systems. These technologies have the potential to support decision making in many areas of management, international business, finance, accounting, marketing, healthcare, military applications, production, networks, traffic management, crisis response, and human interfaces.

Design is believed to be one of the most interesting and challenging problem-solving activities ever facing artificial intelligence (AI) researchers. Knowledge-based systems using rule-based and model-based reasoning techniques have been applied to build design automation and/or design decision support systems. Although such systems have met with some success, difficulties have been encountered in terms of formalizing such generalized design experiences as rules, logic, and domain models. Recently, researchers have been exploring the idea of using case-based reasoning (CBR) techniques to complement or replace other approaches to design support.
CBR can be considered as an alternative to paradigms such as rule-based and model-based reasoning. Rule-based expert systems capture knowledge in the form of if-then rules which are usually identified by a domain expert. Model-based reasoning aims at formulating knowledge in the form of principles to cover the various aspects of a problem domain. These principles, which are more general than if-then rules, comprise a model which an expert system may use to solve problems. Model-based reasoning (MBR) is sometimes called reasoning from first principles. Instead of generalizing knowledge into rules or models, CBR is an experience-based method. Thus, specific cases, corresponding to prior problem-solving experiences, comprise the main knowledge sources in a CBR system.
This volume includes a collection of chapters that describe specific projects in which case-based reasoning is the focus for the representation and reasoning in a particular design domain. The chapters provide a broad spectrum of applications and issues in applying and extending the concept of CBR to design. Each chapter provides its own introduction to CBR concepts and principles.

This text provides a basis for a standardized approach to structural masonry, using an integration of experimental and computational techniques. Accurate displacement-controlled materials experiments have produced an extensive database of strength, stiffness and softening properties for tension, compression and shear, and this data has been transferred into numerical models for simulating the deformational behaviour of masonry structures. The models have been implemented into finite and distinct element codes and have subsequently been verified against shear wall experiments and analytical solutions for masonry parts.

Multi-objective optimization deals with the simultaneous optimization of two or more objectives which are normally in con?ict with each other. Since mul- objective optimization problems are relatively common in real-world appli- tions, this area has become a very popular research topic since the 1970s. However, the use of bio-inspired metaheuristics for solving multi-objective op- mization problems started in the mid-1980s and became popular until the mid- 1990s. Nevertheless, the e?ectiveness of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms has made them very popular in a variety of domains. Swarm intelligence refers to certain population-based metaheuristics that are inspired on the behavior of groups of entities (i.e., living beings) interacting locallywitheachotherandwiththeirenvironment.Suchinteractionsproducean emergentbehaviorthatismodelledinacomputerinordertosolveproblems.The two most popular metaheuristics within swarm intelligence are particle swarm optimization (which simulates a ?ock of birds seeking food) and ant colony optimization (which simulates the behavior of colonies of real ants that leave their nest looking for food). These two metaheuristics havebecome verypopular inthelastfewyears, andhavebeenwidelyusedinavarietyofoptimizationtasks, including some related to data mining and knowledge discovery in databases. However, such work has been mainly focused on single-objective optimization models. The use of multi-objective extensions of swarm intelligence techniques in data mining has been relatively scarce, in spite of their great potential, which constituted the main motivation to produce this book

Take the next step in Integrated Product and Process Development
This pioneering book is the first to apply state-of-the-art computational intelligence techniques to all phases of manufacturing system design and operations. It equips engineers with a superior array of new tools for optimizing their work in Integrated Product and Process Development.
Drawing on his extensive experience in the field of advanced manufacturing, Andrew Kusiak has masterfully embedded coverage of data mining, expert systems, neural networks, autonomous reasoning techniques, and other computational methods in chapters that cover all key facets of integrated manufacturing system design and operations, including:
* Process planning
* Setup reduction
* Production planning and scheduling
* Kanban systems
* Manufacturing equipment selection
* Group technology
* Facilities and manufacturing cell layout
* Warehouse layout
* Manufacturing system product and component design
* Supplier evaluation
Each chapter includes questions and problems that address key issues on model integration and the use of computational intelligence approaches to solve difficulties across many areas of an enterprise. Examples and case studies from real-world industrial projects illustrate the powerfulapplication potential of the computational techniques.
Comprehensive in scope and flexible in approach, Computational Intelligence in Design and Manufacturing is right in step with the enterprise of the future: extended, virtual, model-driven, knowledge-based, and integrated in time and space. It is essential reading for forward-thinking students and professional engineers and managersworking in design systems, manufacturing, and related areas.

The complete shop floor automation - a "lights out factory," where workers initially set up all machines, turn off the lights, lock the door and the machine churns up the parts - remains an unfulfilled dream. Yet when we look at the enormity of the process of automation and integration even for the most simply conceived part factory, we can recognize that automation has been applied and is being applied, more so when it made sense from a cost/benefit standpoint. It is our nature to be dissatisfied with near term progress, but when we realize how short a time the tools to do that automation have been available, the progress is clearly noteworthy - considering the multitudes of factors and the environment we have to deal with. Most of the automa tion problems we confront in today's environment are multidisciplinary in nature. They require not just the knowledge and experience in various distinct fields but good cooperation from different disci plined organizations to adequately comprehend and solve such problems. In Volume III we have many examples that reflect the current state of the art techniques of robotics and plant automation. The papers for Volume III have been arranged in a logical order of automation planning, automated assembly, robot programming and simula tion, control, motion coordination, communication and networking to factories of the future."

The Background to the Institute The NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) 'People and Computers - Applying an Anthropocentric Approach to Integrated Production Systems and Organisations' came about after the distribution of a NATO fact sheet to BruneI University, which described the funding of ASls. The 'embryonic' director of the ASI brought this opportunity to the attention of the group of people, (some at BruneI and some from outside), who were together responsible for the teaching and management of the course in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in BruneI's Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Systems. This course had been conceived in 1986 and was envisaged as a vehicle for teaching manufacturing engineering students the technology of information integration through project work. While the original idea of the course had also included the organisational aspects of CIM, the human factors questions were not considered. This shortcoming was recognised and the trial run of the course in 1988 contained some lectures on 'people' issues. The course team were therefore well prepared and keen to explore the People, Organisation and Technology (POT) aspects of computer integration, as applied to industrial production. A context was proposed which would allow the inclusion of people from many different backgrounds and which would open up time and space for reflection. The proposal to organise a NATO ASI was therefore welcomed by all concerned.

Software components and component-based software development (CBSD) are acknowledged as the best approach for constructing quality software at reasonable cost. Composing Software Components: A Software-testing Perspective describes a 10-year investigation into the underlying principles of CBSD. By restricting attention to the simplest cases, startling results are obtained:

Components are tested using only executable code. Their behavior is recorded and presented graphically.

Functional and non-functional behavior of systems synthesized from components are calculated from component tests alone. No access to components themselves is required.

Fast, accurate tools support every aspect of CBSD from design through debugging.

Case studies of CBSD also illuminate software testing in general, particularly an expanded role for unit testing and the treatment of non-functional software properties.

This unique book:

Contains more than a dozen case studies of fully worked-out component synthesis, with revealing insights into fundamental testing issues.

Presents an original, fundamental theory of component composition that includes persistent state and concurrency, based on functional software testing rather than proof-of-programs.

Comes with free supporting software with tutorial examples and data for replication of examples. The Perl software has been tested on Linux, Macintosh, and Windows platforms. Full documentation is provided.

Includes anecdotes and insights from the author's 50-year career in computing as systems programmer, manager, researcher, and teacher.

Composing Software Components: A Software-testing Perspective will help software researchers and practitioners to understand the underlying principles of component testing. Advanced students in computer science, engineering, and mathematics can also benefit from the book as a supplemental text and reference."

Geometric constraint programming increases flexibility in CAD design specifications and leads to new conceptual design paradigms.
This volume features a collection of work by leading researchers developing the various aspects of constraint-based product modeling.
In an introductory chapter the role of constraints in CAD systems of the future and their implications for the STEP data exchange format are discussed. The main part of the book deals with the application of constraints to conceptual and collaborative design, as well as state-of-the-art mathematical and algorithmic methods for constraint solving.

Design is a fundamental creative human activity. This certainly applies to the design of artefacts, the realisation of which has to meet many constraints and ever raising criteria. The world in which we live today, is enormously influenced by the human race. Over the last century, these artefacts have dramatically changed the living conditions of humans. The present wealth in very large parts of the world, depends on it. All the ideas for better and new artefacts brought forward by humans have gone through the minds of designers, who have turned them into feasible concepts and subsequently transformed them into realistic product models. The designers have been, still are, and will remain the leading 'change agents' in the physical world. Manufacturability of artefacts has always played a significant role in design. In pre industrial manufacturing, the blacksmith held the many design and realisation aspects of a product in one hand. The synthesis of the design and manufacturing aspects took, almost implicitly, place in the head of the man. All the knowledge and the skills were stored in one person. Education and training took place along the line of many years of apprenticeship. When the production volumes increased, -'assembling to measure' was no longer tolerated and production efficiency became essential - design, process planning, production planning and fabrication became separated concerns. The designers created their own world, separated from the production world. They argued that restrictions in the freedom of designing would badly influence their creativity in design."

The chapters of this book summarize the lectures delivered du ring the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Computational Methods in Mechanisms, that took place in the Sts. Constantin and Elena Resort, near Varna, on the Bulgarian Coast of the Black Sea, June 16-28, 1997. The purpose of the ASI was to bring together leading researchers in the area of mechanical systems at large, with special emphasis in the computational issues around their analysis, synthesis, and optimization, during two weeks of lectures and discussion. A total of 89 participants from 23 count ries played an active role during the lectures and sessions of contributed papers. Many of the latter are being currently reviewed for publication in specialized journals. The subject of the book is mechanical systems, Le., systems composed of rigid and flexible bodies, coupled by mechanical means so as to constrain their various bodies in a goal-oriented manner, usually driven under computer con trol. Applications of the discipline are thus of the most varied nature, ranging from transportation systems to biomedical devices. U nder normal operation conditions, the constitutive bodies of a mechanical system can be consid ered to be rigid, the rigidity property then easing dramatically the analysis of the kinematics and dynamics of the system at hand. Examples of these systems are the suspension of a terrestrial vehicle negotiating a curve at speeds within the allowed or recommended limits and the links of multiaxis industrial robots performing conventional pick-and-place operations."

This book reports on the latest advances in using BIM modelling to achieve the semantic enrichment of objects, allowing them to be used both as multidimensional databases - as comprehensive sources of information for finalizing various types of documentation in the building industry - and as modelling tools for the construction of virtual environments. Having advanced to a new stage of development, BIM modelling is now being applied in a range of increasingly complex contexts, and for various new purposes. This book examines the role that virtual reality and related technologies such as AI and IoT can play in preserving and disseminating our cultural heritage and built environment.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Automated Technology for Verification and Analysis, ATVA 2007, held in Tokyo, Japan, October 22-25, 2007.

The 29 revised full papers presented together with 7 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 88 submissions. The papers address theoretical methods to achieve correct software or hardware systems, including both functional and non functional aspects; as well as applications of theory in engineering methods and particular domains and handling of practical problems occurring in tools.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is being debated, tested and implemented wherever you look across the built environment sector. This book is about Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM), which necessarily differs from the commonplace applications of BIM to new construction. Where BIM is being used, the focus is still very much on design and construction. However, its use as an operational and management tool for existing buildings, particularly heritage buildings, is lagging behind. The first of its kind, this book aims to clearly define the scope for HBIM and present cutting-edge research findings alongside international case studies, before outlining challenges for the future of HBIM research and practice. After an extensive introduction to HBIM, the core themes of the book are arranged into four parts: Restoration philosophies in practice Data capture and visualisation for maintenance and repair Building performance Stakeholder engagement This book will be a key reference for built environment practitioners, researchers, academics and students engaged in BIM, HBIM, building energy modelling, building surveying, facilities management and heritage conservation more widely.