Under the assumption that clock can be inputted to each register at an arbitrary timing, the minimum feasible clock period can be determined if delays between registers are given. This minimum feasible clock period might be reduced if delays between some registers are increased by delay insertion. In this paper, we propose a delay insertion algorithm to reduce the minimum clock period. First, the proposed algorithm determines a clock schedule ignoring some constraints. Second, the algorithm inserts delays to recover ignored constraints according to the delay-slack and delay-demand of the obtained clock schedule. We show that the proposed algorithm achieves the minimum clock period by delay insertion if the delay of each element in the circuit is unique. Experiments show that the amount of inserting delay and computational time are smaller than the conventional algorithm.

Multiprocessor architecture becomes common on real-time systems as the workload of real-time systems increases. Recently new deadline-based (EDF-based) multiprocessor scheduling algorithms are devised, and comparative studies on the performance of these algorithms are necessary. In this paper, we compare EDZL, a hybrid of EDF and LLF, with other deadline-based scheduling algorithms such as EDF, EDF-US[m/(2m-1)], and fpEDF. We show EDZL schedules all task sets schedulable by EDF. The experimental results show that the number of preemptions of EDZL is comparable to that of EDF and the schedulable utilization bound of EDZL is higher than those of other algorithms we consider.

New diode structures without the field-oxide boundary across the p/n junction for ESD protection are proposed. A NMOS (PMOS) is especially inserted into the diode structure to form the NMOS-bounded (PMOS-bounded) diode, which is used to block the field oxide isolation across the p/n junction in the diode structure. The proposed N(P)MOS-bounded diodes can provide more efficient ESD protection to the internal circuits, as compared to the other diode structures. The N(P)MOS-bounded diodes can be used in the I/O ESD protection circuits, power-rail ESD clamp circuits, and the ESD conduction cells between the separated power lines. From the experimental results, the human-body-model ESD level of ESD protection circuit with the proposed N(P)MOS-bounded diodes is greater than 8 kV in a 0.35-µm CMOS process.

In this paper, we describe an accelerative current-programming method for active matrix OLED (AM-OLED) display. This new method uses common source configuration, "Acceleration Control" line and some mechanisms to prevent the programming current from flowing through OLED device. It would solve the basic problem of the current-programming pixel circuit: a long programming period, especially at the dark gray-level. The proposed method accelerates the current programming process at any gray levels, and it would be the solution for the problem.

Power distribution in multilayered periodic waveguides is first analyzed by longitudinal modal transmission-line theory (L-MTLT). Novel effective characteristic impedances of the equivalent network for TE and TM modes are then derived, and a symmetrical grating guide with three layers is rigorously evaluated to clarify the validity of our approach. Excellent agreement between our results and the results due to other methods indicates that our approach is able to not only reveal all the physical meaning embedded in the multilayered and multi-sectional periodic waveguides, but also predict various possible Bragg regimes rigorously and simply.

We discuss a typical profile of the k-error linear complexity for balanced binary exponent periodic sequences and the number of periodic distinct sequences by their profiles. A numerical example with period 16 is also shown.

In this Letter, a dumbbell-shaped patch loaded slotline(PLS) is proposed. Like the conventional defected ground structure(DGS) for a microstrip line, we show that the proposed PLS can provide a wide bandstop characteristic in some frequency bands with only one or small number of unit cells. Also, the equivalent circuit model for a unit section is derived from the analysis of the field distributions in the structure and its circuit parameters are determined by means of full wave numerical simulations. This equivalent circuit is shown to be dual to that of the typical DGS in a microstrip line. A broadband microstrip to slotline transition is incorporated in the PLS in order to measure the characteristics of the structure. The experimental results agree well with the simulations and show the validity of the modeling for the proposed PLS.

In this paper, a novel type of the step-up high frequency transformer linked full-bridge soft-switching phase-shift PWM DC-DC power converter with ZVS and ZCS bridge legs is proposed for small scale fuel cell power generation systems, automotive AC power supplies. A tapped inductor filter with a freewheeling diode is implemented in the proposed soft-switching DC-DC power converter to minimize the circulating current in the high-frequency step-up transformer primary side and high-frequency inverter stage. Using a tapped inductor filter with a freewheeling diode makes possible to reduce the circulating current without any active switches and theirs gate-drive circuits. The operating principle of the proposed DC-DC power converter with each operation mode during a half cycle of the steady state operation is explained. The optimum design of the tapped inductor turns ratio is described on the basis of the circuit simulation results. Developing 1 kW 100 kHz prototype with power MOSFETs and 36 V DC source verifies the practical effectiveness of the proposed soft-switching DC-DC power converter. The actual efficiency of the proposed DC-DC power converter is obtained 94% for the wide load and output voltage variation ranges.

Theoretical calculation has been done on the decay time of photoluminescence of Ir(ppy)3 dissolved in tetrahydrofuran and its temperature dependence at 1.2-300 K. Taking into account that the emitting triplet state consists of three zero-field splitting substates and taking into account one-phonon non-radiative transitions among these substates, the rate equations for the populations of these substates have been obtained. Three decay components are derived by solving not only the secular equation but also the rate equations, where the slow decay time shows decrease from 145 to 2 µs with increasing temperature from 1.2 to 300 K. A good agreement has been obtained for the temperature dependence between the calculated slow decay time and the observed one.

In this paper, we have proposed to apply a combinatorial approach to investigate the Schottky diode based on electrochemically polymerized conjugated polymer. The concept of combinatorial approach was emerged in the biochemical field and lately used in the materials science to screen a number of experimental conditions efficiently. Some tips for designing the polymerization bath suitable for our purpose, such as the way to suppress the interference of polymerization currents, have been described. In the case of Schottky diodes based on poly (3-methylthiophene), the system chosen to test our idea, the effects of polymer thickness and the supporting salt on the device characteristics have been surveyed clearly and rapidly. The map or library of the relationship between the polymerization condition and device characteristic may be useful to tune the device characteristics as desired. Our preliminary result has shown that the combinatorial approach proposed here can be a powerful tool to investigate the conjugated polymer devices by electrochemical polymerization such as electrochromic devices.

A simple, novel and low cost optical device with the possibility of being integrated into a network of wireless sensors has been developed for the colorimetric detection of iron (II). The proposed device used is based on two light emitting diodes (LEDs) configured so that one acts as an emitter and the other as a light detector, and a simple threshold detection/timer circuit to measure the photocurrent at the detector LED. The colorimetric reaction is based on the chelating reaction of divalent iron with the ligand 1,10-phenanthroline. The calibration graph shows that the detection limit (DL) of iron (II) using this approach is 5 ppb with a RSD of 0.08%. All experiments were carried out in triplicate (N = 3). The effect of some cations on the determination of Fe (II) using the proposed method was also studied. Results found showed that the system is relatively free from interferences.

We have determined the thickness and optical constants (refractive index and extinction coefficient) of each layer in the multi-layer organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices based on phosphorescent platinum octaethyl porphine (PtOEP) using a phase modulated spectroscopic ellipsometer. The thickness of each layer estimated from the ellipsometric measurement is different from the thickness measured with quartz oscillator during the evaporation of organic materials. The deviation of total multi-layer thickness is about 5%, while the deviation in each of N, N'-bis(1-naphtyl)-N, N'-diphenyl-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (α-NPD) and aluminum tris 8-hydroxyquinoline (Alq3) layers is about 20-25%. Additionally the spectra of refractive index and extinction coefficient of Alq3 and α-NPD layers are different from those that are measured using the single layer films. These results are understood by penetration of organic material from the neighboring layers in the multi-layer structure devices.

FEC (Forward Error Correction) is widely used to recover packet loss over the Internet since it does not involve additional network delay. However, FEC still needs much additional network bandwidth for redundancy, and does not consider the priority or the importance of video frames to generate redundant data. In this paper, we present Periodic FEC (PFEC) to make up for the shortcomings of FEC. PFEC divides frames into high-priority frames and low-priority frames, and gives redundancy only to high-priority frames. As specific examples, we describe two types of PFEC: Media-Independent PFEC and Media-Dependant PFEC. Moreover, based on the two-state continuous time Markov chain, we propose redundancy control algorithms of the PFEC schemes that can adjust the amount of redundancy to optimal levels depending on network loss conditions. For better performance, we also consider UEP (Unequal Error Protection) based on PFEC that gives redundancy to low-priority frames as well as high-priority frames. Experimental results show that compared with FEC, PFEC reduces the amount of redundancy considerably but degrades PSNR slightly, and UEP based on PFEC economizes redundancy without the degradation of the PSNR.

We have demonstrated improvement in the efficiency of TDAPB-based OLEDs. The external quantum efficiency of 8.2% and a power efficiency of 17.3 lm/W were achieved. The results suggest that using the starburst small-molecule TDAPB allows for easy fabrication and is effective for achieving high efficiencies in simple device structures.

Ultrahigh-speed compact flash analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) using resonant-tunneling diodes (RTDs) have been designed to demonstrate a high potential of RTD circuits. Novel multi-input subtraction gates are introduced to the encoder to obtain a compact circuit configuration. By assuming 0.1-µm InP-based RTD/HEMT technology, circuit simulations of 4-bit 10-GHz flash ADCs are carried out. It is found that the device counts of the ADC with an 8-input gate are one third that of the ADC with 4-input gates. This leads to a reduction in the power dissipation by 50%. In addition, bandwidths of more than 20 GHz have been obtained for 4-bit and 5-bit ADCs at a sampling frequency of 10 GHz.

In this letter, we enhance Complementary Code Keying (CCK) modulation with Pseudo-Periodic Sequence. It has been proved that the new Pseudo-Periodic CCK modulation is more efficient and robust fighting against multi-path interference. In order to support our new scheme, we design and implement the corresponding simulation. The in-depth analysis of the reason why Pseudo-Periodic Sequence can do a favor to CCK is also presented and emphasized.

We describe elements of a fast integral equation solver for large periodic and partly periodic finite array systems. A key element of the algorithm is utilization (in a rigorous way) of a block-Toeplitz structure of the impedance matrix in conjunction with either conventional Method of Moments (MoM), Fast Multipole Method (FMM), or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)-based Adaptive Integral Method (AIM) compression techniques. We refer to the resulting algorithms as the (block-)Toeplitz-MoM, (block-)Toeplitz-AIM, or (block-)Toeplitz-FMM algorithms. While the computational complexity of the Toeplitz-AIM and Toeplitz-FMM algorithms is comparable to that of their non-Toeplitz counterparts, they offer a very significant (about two orders of magnitude for problems of the order of five million unknowns) storage reduction. In particular, our comparisons demonstrate, that the Toeplitz-AIM algorithm offers significant advantages in problems of practical interest involving arrays with complex antenna elements. This result follows from the more favorable scaling of the Toeplitz-AIM algorithm for arrays characterized by large number of unknowns in a single array element and applicability of the AIM algorithm to problems requiring strongly sub-wavelength resolution.

Timing noise of 160 GHz optical pulses has been evaluated over nine decades of Fourier frequency using the optoelectronic harmonic mixing technique. For down-converting the 160 GHz pulse intensity into a low-frequency IF signal, the fourth order modulation sidebands produced by a Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator have been employed. Phase noise power spectral density and timing jitter for 155.552-GHz optical time-division multiplexed pulses and 160.640-GHz passively mode-locked pulses are measured using the time domain demodulation and time interval analysis techniques, respectively.

This paper deals with the method for generation of maximal-period sequences which are designed by properly quantizing the variable state of a class of one-dimensional piecewise-linear onto maps. We confirmed that the proposed method enables us to generate many maximal-period sequences from such maps including De-Bruijn cases.

We propose a novel mobility reduction cancellation technique for an OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier). The proposed technique can be easily realized by using conventional OTAs. The proposed OTAs have good linearity. The simulation results show that the THD is less than 1% for 1.8 Vp-p at 3 V supply voltage.