This paper proposes low complexity resource allocation in frequency domain non-orthogonal multiple access where many devices access with a base station. The number of the devices is assumed to be more than that of the resource for network capacity enhancement, which is demanded in massive machine type communications (mMTC). This paper proposes two types of resource allocation techniques, all of which are based on the MIN-MAX approach. One of them seeks for nicer resource allocation with only channel gains. The other technique applies the message passing algorithm (MPA) for better resource allocation. The proposed resource allocation techniques are evaluated by computer simulation in frequency domain non-orthogonal multiple access. The proposed technique with the MPA achieves the best bit error rate (BER) performance in the proposed techniques. However, the computational complexity of the proposed techniques with channel gains is much smaller than that of the proposed technique with the MPA, whereas the BER performance of the proposed techniques with channel gains is only about 0.1dB inferior to that with the MPA in the multiple access with the overloading ratio of 1.5 at the BER of 10-4. They attain the gain of about 10dB at the BER of 10-4 in the multiple access with the overloading ration of 2.0. Their complexity is 10-16 as small as the conventional technique.

Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is an essential technology that efficiently reduces the transmission error rate. However, for ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) in the 5th generation mobile communication systems and beyond, the increase in latency due to retransmission must be minimized in HARQ. In this paper, we propose a highly-efficient low-latency HARQ method built on non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) for URLLC while minimizing the performance loss for coexisting services (use cases) such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). The proposed method can be seen as an extension of the conventional link-level non-orthogonal HARQ to the system-level protocol. This mitigates the problems of the conventional link-level non-orthogonal HARQ, which are decoding error under poor channel conditions and an increase in transmission delay due to restrictions in retransmission timing. In the proposed method, delay-sensitive URLLC packets are preferentially multiplexed with best-effort eMBB packets in the same channel using superposition coding to reduce the transmission latency of the URLLC packet while alleviating the throughput loss in eMBB. This is achieved using a weighted channel-aware resource allocator (scheduler). The inter-packet interference multiplexed in the same channel is removed using a successive interference canceller (SIC) at the receiver. Furthermore, the transmission rates for the initial transmission and retransmission are controlled in an appropriate manner for each service in order to deal with decoding errors caused by error in transmission rate control originating from a time varying channel. We show that the proposed method significantly improves the overall performance of a system that simultaneously provides eMBB and URLLC services.

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), which combines multiple user signals and transmits the combined signal over one channel, can achieve high spectral efficiency for mobile communications. However, combining the multiple signals can lead to degradation of bit error rates (BERs) of NOMA under severe channel conditions. In order to improve the BER performance of NOMA, this paper proposes a new NOMA scheme based on orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBCs). The proposed scheme transmits several multiplexed signals over their respective orthogonal time-frequency channels, and can gain diversity effects due to the orthogonality of OSTBC. Furthermore, the new scheme can detect the user signals using low-complexity linear detection in contrast with the conventional NOMA. The paper focuses on the Alamouti code, which can be considered the simplest OSTBC, and theoretically analyzes the performance of the linear detection. Computer simulations under the condition of the same bit rate per channel show that the Alamouti code based scheme using two channels is superior to the conventional NOMA using one channel in terms of BER performance. As shown by both the theoretical and simulation analyses, the linear detection for the proposed scheme can maintain the same BER performance as that of the maximum likelihood detection, when the two channels have the same frequency response and do not bring about any diversity effects, which can be regarded as the worst case.

This paper reviews and discusses a brief history of Nyquist ADCs. Bipolar flash ADCs for early development stage of HDTV and digital oscilloscopes, a Bi-CMOS two-step flash ADC using resistive interpolation for home HDTV receivers, a CMOS two-step flash ADC using capacitive interpolation for handy camcorders, pipelined ADCs using CMOS operational amplifiers, CMOS flash ADCs using dynamic comparator and digital offset compensation, SAR ADCs using low noise dynamic comparators and MOM capacitors, and hybrid ADCs are reviewed.

Electrophysiology, which is the study of the electrical properties of biological tissues and cells, has become indispensable in modern clinical research, diagnostics, disease monitoring and therapeutics. In this paper we present a brief history of this discipline and how integrated circuit design shaped electrophysiology in the last few decades. We will discuss how biopotential amplifier design has evolved from the classical three-opamp architecture to more advanced high-performance circuits enabling long-term wearable monitoring of the autonomous and central nervous system. We will also discuss how these integrated circuits evolved to measure in-vivo neural circuits. This paper targets readers who are new to the domain of biopotential recording and want to get a brief historical overview and get up to speed on the main circuit design concepts for both wearable and in-vivo biopotential recording.

Recent years have seen a decline in the art of analog IC design even though analog interface and analog signal processing remain just as essential as ever. While there are many contributing factors, four specific pressures which contribute the most to the loss of creativity and innovation within analog practice are examined: process evolution, risk aversion, digitally assisted analog, and corporate culture. Despite the potency of these forces, none are found to be insurmountable obstacles to reinvigorating the industry. A more creative future is within our reach.

This paper presents a divide-by-9 injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD). It can lock onto about 6-GHz input with a locking range of 3.23GHz (58%). The basic concept of the ILFD is based on employing self-gated multiple inputs into the multiple-stage ring oscillator. A wide lock range is also realized by adapting harmonic-control circuits, which can boost specific harmonics generated by mixing. The ILFD was fabricated using a 55-nm deeply depleted channel (DDC) CMOS process. It occupies an area of 0.0210mm2, and consumes a power of 14.4mW.

A power-scalable sub-sampling phase-locked loop (SSPLL) is proposed for realizing dual-mode operation; high-performance mode with good phase noise and power-saving mode with moderate phase noise. It is the most efficient way to reduce power consumption by lowering the supply voltage. However, there are several issues with the low-supply millimeter-wave (mmW) SSPLL. This work discusses some techniques, such as a back-gate forward body bias (FBB) technique, in addition to employing a CMOS deeply depleted channel process (DDC).

This paper presents a high-NIR sensitivity SOI-gate lock-in pixel with improved modulation contrast. The proposed pixel has a shallow buried channel and intermediate gates to create both a high lateral electric field and a potential barrier to parasitic light sensitivity. Device simulation results showed that parasitic light sensitivity reduced from 13.7% to 0.13% compared to the previous structure.

Energy harvesting has been widely investigated as a potential solution to supply power for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Computing devices must operate intermittently rather than continuously, because harvested energy is unstable and some of IoT applications can be periodic. Therefore, processors for IoT devices with intermittent operation must feature a hibernation mode with zero-standby-power in addition to energy-efficient normal mode. In this paper, we describe the layout design and measurement results of a nonvolatile standard cell memory (NV-SCM) and nonvolatile flip-flops (NV-FF) with a nonvolatile memory using Fishbone-in-Cage Capacitor (FiCC) suitable for IoT processors with intermittent operations. They can be fabricated in any conventional CMOS process without any additional mask. NV-SCM and NV-FF are fabricated in a 180nm CMOS process technology. The area overhead by nonvolatility of a bit cell are 74% in NV-SCM and 29% in NV-FF, respectively. We confirmed full functionality of the NV-SCM and NV-FF. The nonvolatile system using proposed NV-SCM and NV-FF can reduce the energy consumption by 24.3% compared to the volatile system when hibernation/normal operation time ratio is 500 as shown in the simulation.

This paper presents on-chip characterization of electrostatic discharge (ESD) impacts applied on the Si-substrate backside of a flip-chip mounted integrated circuit (FC-IC) chip. An FC-IC chip has an open backside and there is a threat of reliability problems and malfunctions caused by the backside ESD. We prepared a test FC-IC chip and measured Si-substrate voltage fluctuations on its frontside by an on-chip monitor (OCM) circuit. The voltage surges as large as 200mV were observed on the frontside when a 200-V ESD gun was irradiated through a 5kΩ contact resistor on the backside of a 350μm thick Si substrate. The distribution of voltage heights was experimentally measured at 20 on-chip locations among thinned Si substrates up to 40μm, and also explained in full-system level simulation of backside ESD impacts with the equivalent models of ESD-gun operation and FC-IC chip assembly.

The complexity and scale of Networks-on-Chip (NoCs) are growing as more processing elements and memory devices are implemented on chips. However, under strict power budgets, it is also critical to lower the power consumption of NoCs for the sake of energy efficiency. In this paper, we therefore present three novel input unit designs for on-chip routers attempting to shrink their power consumption while still conserving the network performance. The key idea behind our designs is to organize buffers in the input units with characteristics of the network traffic in mind; as in our observations, only a small portion of the network traffic are long packets (composed of multiple flits), which means, it is fair to implement hybrid, asymmetric and reconfigurable buffers so that they are mainly targeting at short packets (only having a single flit), hence the smaller power consumption and area overhead. Evaluations show that our hybrid, asymmetric and reconfigurable input unit designs can achieve an average reduction of energy consumption per flit by 45%, 52.3% and 56.2% under 93.6% (for hybrid designs) and 66.3% (for asymmetric and reconfigurable designs) of the original router area, respectively. Meanwhile, we only observe minor degradation in network latency (ranging from 18.4% to 1.5%, on average) with our proposals.

In this research, we investigated the threshold voltage (VTH) control by partial polarization of metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MFSFETs) with 5 nm-thick nondoped HfO2 gate insulator utilizing Kr-plasma sputtering for Pt gate electrode deposition. The remnant polarization (2Pr) of 7.2 μC/cm2 was realized by Kr-plasma sputtering for Pt gate electrode deposition. The memory window (MW) of 0.58 V was realized by the pulse amplitude and width of -5/5 V, 100 ms. Furthermore, the VTH of MFSFET was controllable by program/erase (P/E) input pulse even with the pulse width below 100 ns which may be caused by the reduction of leakage current with decreasing plasma damage.

We have proposed and demonstrated a device fabrication process of physically defined quantum dots utilizing electron beam lithography employing a negative-tone resist toward high-density integration of silicon quantum bits (qubits). The electrical characterization at 3.8K exhibited so-called Coulomb diamonds, which indicates successful device operation as single-electron transistors. The proposed device fabrication process will be useful due to its high compatibility with the large-scale integration process.

A high-efficiency uniform/selective heating microwave oven was developed. Because the power amplifier requires high-efficiency characteristics to function as a microwave source, a free-standing Gallium Nitride (GaN) substrate was applied in this study. By applying a harmonic tuning circuit, an output power of 71 W and PAE of 73% were achieved in pulsed operation, and an output power of 63 W and PAE of 69% were achieved in CW operation. Moreover, we fabricated a prototype PA module that consists of an oscillator, a driver amplifier, PA, and other RF circuits. The output power was controlled by pulse width modulation to maintain high efficiency regardless of output power. We evaluated the arrangement of antenna polarizations to isolate each antenna. By suppressing the interference of output from adjacent antennas, it is possible to irradiate the object on the top surface of the antenna, thereby demonstrating heating characteristics with small temperature unevenness. The prototype microwave oven successfully demonstrated uniform/selective heating.

This paper provides a new method to implement substrate integrated defected ground structure (SIDGS)-based bandpass filter (BPF) with adjustable frequency and controllable bandwidth. Compared with previous literature, this method implements a new SIDGS-like resonator capable of tunable frequency in the same plane as the slotted line using a varactor diode, increasing the design flexibility. In addition, the method solves the problem that the tunable BPF constituted by the SIDGS resonator cannot control the bandwidth by introducing a T-shaped non-resonant unit. The theoretical design method and the structural design are shown. Moreover, the configured structure is fabricated and measured to show the validity of the design method in this paper.

Due to the global outbreak of coronaviruses, people are increasingly wearing masks even when photographed. As a result, photos uploaded to web pages and social networking services with the lower half of the face hidden are less likely to convey the attractiveness of the photographed persons. In this study, we propose a method to complete facial mask regions using StyleGAN2, a type of Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). In the proposed method, a reference image of the same person without a mask is prepared separately from a target image of the person wearing a mask. After the mask region in the target image is temporarily inpainted, the face orientation and contour of the person in the reference image are changed to match those of the target image using StyleGAN2. The changed image is then composited into the mask region while correcting the color tone to produce a mask-free image while preserving the person's features.

Social relationships (e.g., couples, opponents) are the foundational part of society. Social relation atmosphere describes the overall interaction environment between social relationships. Discovering social relation atmosphere can help machines better comprehend human behaviors and improve the performance of social intelligent applications. Most existing research mainly focuses on investigating social relationships, while ignoring the social relation atmosphere. Due to the complexity of the expressions in video data and the uncertainty of the social relation atmosphere, it is even difficult to define and evaluate. In this paper, we innovatively analyze the social relation atmosphere in video data. We introduce a Relevant Visual Concept (RVC) from the social relationship recognition task to facilitate social relation atmosphere recognition, because social relationships contain useful information about human interactions and surrounding environments, which are crucial clues for social relation atmosphere recognition. Our approach consists of two main steps: (1) we first generate a group of visual concepts that preserve the inherent social relationship information by utilizing a 3D explanation module; (2) the extracted relevant visual concepts are used to supplement the social relation atmosphere recognition. In addition, we present a new dataset based on the existing Video Social Relation Dataset. Each video is annotated with four kinds of social relation atmosphere attributes and one social relationship. We evaluate the proposed method on our dataset. Experiments with various 3D ConvNets and fusion methods demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively improve recognition accuracy compared to end-to-end ConvNets. The visualization results also indicate that essential information in social relationships can be discovered and used to enhance social relation atmosphere recognition.

Various haze removal methods based on the atmospheric scattering model have been presented in recent years. Most methods have targeted strong haze images where light is scattered equally in all color channels. This paper presents a haze removal method using near-infrared (NIR) images for relatively weak haze images. In order to recover the lost edges, the presented method first extracts edges from an appropriately weighted NIR image and fuses it with the color image. By introducing a wavelength-dependent scattering model, our method then estimates the transmission map for each color channel and recovers the color more naturally from the edge-recovered image. Finally, the edge-recovered and the color-recovered images are blended. In this blending process, the regions with high lightness, such as sky and clouds, where unnatural color shifts are likely to occur, are effectively estimated, and the optimal weighting map is obtained. Our qualitative and quantitative evaluations using 59 pairs of color and NIR images demonstrated that our method can recover edges and colors more naturally in weak haze images than conventional methods.

Video-based point cloud compression (V-PCC) utilizes video compression technology to efficiently encode dense point clouds providing state-of-the-art compression performance with a relatively small computation burden. V-PCC converts 3-dimensional point cloud data into three types of 2-dimensional frames, i.e., occupancy, geometry, and attribute frames, and encodes them via video compression. On the other hand, the quality of these frames may be degraded due to video compression. This paper proposes an adaptive neural network-based post-processing filter on attribute frames to alleviate the degradation problem. Furthermore, a novel training method using occupancy frames is studied. The experimental results show average BD-rate gains of 3.0%, 29.3% and 22.2% for Y, U and V respectively.