Substrate noise coupling has been seriously concerned in the design of advanced analog and radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs). This paper reviews recent advancements in the modeling, analysis, and evaluation of substrate noise coupling at IC chip level. Noise generation from digital circuits and propagation to the area of analog circuits are clearly visualized both by full-chip simulation as well as by on-chip measurements, for silicon test vehicles. The impacts of substrate noise coupling are also in-depth discussed at device, circuit, as well as system levels. Overall understanding of substrate noise coupling will then provide the basics for highly reliable design of analog and RF ICs.

The Kobayashi potential in electromagnetic theory is reviewed. As an illustration we consider two problems, diffraction of plane wave by disk and rectangular plate of perfect conductor. Some numerical results are compared with approximated and experimental results when they are available to verify the validity of the present method. We think the present method can be used as reference solutions of the related problems.

The color appearance model gives us the proper brightness information and optimized display conditions for various viewing surroundings. However on conditions of low-level illumination or low background reflectivity, the performance of brightness estimation is relatively poor. Therefore, through our psychophysical experiments, we investigated the state of visual luminance adaptation for comparing single adaptations and mixed adaptations under a complex viewing field, and we also investigated background adaptation degrees and exponential nonlinearity factors for mixed adaptation models. It provides more accurate brightness predictions according to different adapting luminance, which is decided from object and background luminance.

This paper presents a low-power FPGA based on mixed synchronous/asynchronous design. The proposed FPGA consists of several sections which consist of logic blocks, and each section can be used as either a synchronous circuit or an asynchronous circuit according to its workload. An asynchronous circuit is power-efficient for a low-workload section since it does not require the clock tree which always consumes the power. On the other hand, a synchronous circuit is power-efficient for a high-workload section because of its simple hardware. The major consideration is designing an area-efficient synchronous/asynchronous hybrid logic block. This is because the hardware amount of the asynchronous circuit is about double that of the synchronous circuit, and the typical implementation wastes half of the hardware in synchronous mode. To solve this problem, we propose a hybrid logic block that can be used as either a single asynchronous logic block or two synchronous logic blocks. The proposed FPGA is fabricated using a 65-nm CMOS process. When the workload of a section is below 22%, asynchronous mode is more power-efficient than synchronous mode. Otherwise synchronous mode is more power-efficient.

This paper presents a well-structured modified Booth encoding (MBE) multiplier which is applied in the design of a reconfigurable multiply-accumulator (MAC) core. The multiplier adopts an improved Booth encoder and selector to achieve an extra-row-removal and uses a hybrid approach in the two's complementation circuit to reduce the area and improve the speed. The multiplier is used to form a 32-bit reconfigurable MAC core which can be flexibly configured to execute one 3232, two 1616 or four 88 signed multiply-accumulation. Experimentally, when implemented with a 130 nm CMOS single-Vt standard cell library, the multiplier achieved a 15.8% area saving and 11.7% power saving over the classical design, and the reconfigurable MAC achieved a 4.2% area and a 7.4% power saving over the MAC design published so far if implemented with a mixed-Vt standard cell library.

In this paper, we have derived a novel integral representation for the ground wave propagation over land-to-sea mixed-paths by applying the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff integral theorem. By using the method of stationary phase applicable uniformly as the stationary phase point approaches the endpoint of the integral, we have derived the asymptotic solution for the scattered fields consisting of the first-order and the second-order diffraction terms. We show that the asymptotic solution thus derived agrees with the asymptotic solution derived by applying the aperture field method (AFM) and the method of stationary phase. We have confirmed the validity and the utility of the novel integral representation and its asymptotic solution by comparing with the widely used mixed-path theorem and the experimental measurement performed in Kanto area and Tokyo bay.

We propose, in this letter, a new type of image denoising filter using a data analysis technique. We deal with pixels as data and extract the most dominant cluster from pixels in the filtering window. We output the centroid of the extracted cluster. We demonstrate that this graph-spectral filter can effectively reduce a mixture of Gaussian and random impulsive noise.

We propose a new parameter-extraction approach based on a mixed-mode genetic algorithm (GA), including the efficient search-space separation and local-minima-convergence prevention process. The technique, substantially extended from our previous work, allows the designed figures-of-merit, such as internal quantum efficiency (ηi) as well as transparency current density (Jtr) of lasers and minimum noise figure (NFmin) as well as associated available gain (GA,assoc) of low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), extracted by an analytical equation-based methodology combined with an evolutionary numerical tool. Extraction results, which agree well with actually measured data, for both state-of-the-art InGaAs quantum-well lasers and advanced SiGe LNAs are presented for the first time to demonstrate this multi-parameter analysis and high-accuracy optimization.

We have developed a one-to-many eigenvoice conversion (EVC) system that allows us to convert a single source speaker's voice into an arbitrary target speaker's voice using an eigenvoice Gaussian mixture model (EV-GMM). This system is capable of effectively building a conversion model for an arbitrary target speaker by adapting the EV-GMM using only a small amount of speech data uttered by the target speaker in a text-independent manner. However, the conversion performance is still insufficient for the following reasons: 1) the excitation signal is not precisely modeled; 2) the oversmoothing of the converted spectrum causes muffled sounds in converted speech; and 3) the conversion model is affected by redundant acoustic variations among a lot of pre-stored target speakers used for building the EV-GMM. In order to address these problems, we apply the following promising techniques to one-to-many EVC: 1) mixed excitation; 2) a conversion algorithm considering global variance; and 3) adaptive training of the EV-GMM. The experimental results demonstrate that the conversion performance of one-to-many EVC is significantly improved by integrating all of these techniques into the one-to-many EVC system.

Chip-to-chip serial data communication is superposed on power supply over common Vdd/Vss connections through chip, package, and board traces. A power line transceiver demonstrates half duplex spiking communication at more than 100 Mbps. A pair of transceivers consumes 1.35 mA from 3.3 V, at 130 Mbps. On-chip power line LC low pass filter attenuates pseudo-differential communication spikes by 30 dB, purifying power supply current for internal circuits. Bi-directional spiking communication was successfully examined in a 90-nm CMOS prototype setup of on-chip waveform capturing. A micro controller forwards clock pulses to and receives data streams from a comparator based waveform capturer formed on a different chip, through a single pair of power and ground traces. The bit error rate is small enough not to degrade waveform acquisition capability, maintaining the spurious free dynamic range of higher than 50 dB.

A new mixed-voltage I/O buffer for low-voltage low-latency operation is proposed in this paper. The proposed buffer adopts a novel delay-based timing-control scheme to efficiently avoid problems like gate-oxide stress and hot-carrier degradation. The proposed timing-control scheme also allows the buffer to have a lower latency for transmitting data by avoiding the use of timing-critical circuits like series-connected transmission gates (TGs) and triple-stacked transistors. The latency for receiving data at low supply voltage is also reduced by employing a variable stacked transistor gate-biasing scheme. Comparison results in an 80-nm CMOS process indicated that the proposed mixed-voltage I/O buffer improved up to 79.3% for receiving the external data and up to 23.8% for transmitting the internal data at a supply voltage of 1.2 V.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have generated great interest within the many areas of nanotechnology due to their superior and outstanding physical properties. However effective dispersion in many solvents has imposed limitations upon the use of CNTs in a number of novel applications. Functionalization presents a solution for CNTs to be more soluble which make them integrate well into any organic, inorganic or biological systems. CNTs can be easily functionalized using cyclodextrin (CD) treatment. The CD modification of carbon nanotubes is both simple and effective. It requires no prolonged heating, filtration and washing which can severely damage the small diameter nanotubes. The formation of surface functional groups and changes of nanotubes structures of functionalized carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) were monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. From the TGA results, the amount of weight loss of the f-CNTs in varying ratios indicated the amount of CD that was functionalized. It was also noted that the FTIR spectra showed the presence of functional groups associated with CD in the f-CNTs. As a result, the cyclodextrin groups were found to be possibly adsorbed at the surface of the nanotubes walls. The f-CNTs showed substantial solubility in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) which helps in a better distribution of the CNTs in the mixed matrix membrane (MMM) prepared. Hence, the influence of the f-CNTs in the polymer matrix will give rise to enhanced physical properties of the MMM suitable for applications in gas separations.

This paper presents the mixed time-frequency steady-state analysis method for efficient simulation of circuits whose excitation frequencies are widely separated. These circuits can be written by multitime partial differential equations. In this paper, an axis of the slow time-scale is formulated in the time domain and another axis of the fast time-scale is formulated in the frequency domain. We show that computational cost, however, is not dependent on the interval of frequencies, whereas for the harmonic balance or transient analysis, it increases as the interval of frequencies increases.

In this paper, the new residue number system (RNS) moduli sets {22n, 2n -1, 2n+1 -1} and {22n, 2n -1, 2n-1 -1} are introduced. These moduli sets have 4n-bit dynamic range and well-formed moduli which can result in high-performance residue to binary converters as well as efficient RNS arithmetic unit. Next, efficient residue to binary converters for the proposed moduli sets based on mixed-radix conversion (MRC) algorithm are presented. The converters are ROM-free and they are realized using carry-save adders and modulo adders. Comparison with the other residue to binary converters for 4n-bit dynamic range moduli sets shown that the presented designs based on new moduli sets {22n, 2n -1, 2n+1 -1} and {22n, 2n -1, 2n-1 -1} are improved the conversion delay and result in hardware savings. Also, the proposed moduli sets can lead to efficient binary to residue converters, and they can speed-up internal RNS arithmetic processing, compared with the other 4n-bit dynamic range moduli sets.

An integral equation approach with a new solution procedure using moment method (MoM) is applied for the computation of coupled currents on the surface of a printed dipole antenna and inside its high-permittivity three-dimensional dielectric substrate. The main purpose of this study is to validate the accuracy and reliability of the previously proposed MoM procedure by authors for the solution of a coupled volume-surface integral equations system. In continuation of the recent works of authors, a mixed-domain MoM expansion using Legendre polynomial basis function and cubic geometric modeling are adopted to solve the tensor-volume integral equation. In mixed-domain MoM, a combination of entire-domain and sub-domain basis functions, including three-dimensional Legnedre polynomial basis functions with different degrees is utilized for field expansion inside dielectric substrate. In addition, the conventional Rao-Wilton-Glisson (RWG) basis function is employed for electric current expansion over the printed structure. The accuracy of the proposed approach is verified through a comparison with the MoM solutions based on the spectral domain Green's function for infinitely large substrate and the results of FDTD method.

This paper presents a system architecture for sensor signal digitization utilizing a band-pass sigma-delta modulator (BP ΣΔM). The first version of the proposed system architecture was implemented in 5 V 0.7 µm CMOS technology. The proposed system architecture is useful for our capacitive pressure sensor measurement. The paper describes the possibilities of using the proposed enhanced system architecture in impedance spectroscopy and in capacitive pressure sensor measurement. The BP ΣΔM is well suited for wireless applications. This paper shows another way how to use its advantages.

An integral multi-disciplinary chain optimization based on a high-level cascaded Shannon-based channel modeling is proposed. It is argued that the analog part of the front-end (FE) will become a bottleneck in the overall chain. This requires a FE-centric design approach, aiming for maximizing the effective data capacity, and for an optimal exploitation of this capacity for given power dissipation. At high level, this asks for a new view on the so-called client-server relations in the chain. To substantiate this vision, some examples of research projects in our group are addressed. These include FE-driven transmission schemes, duty-cycled operation with wake-up radio, programmable FEs, smart antenna-FE combinations, smart and flexible converters, and smart pre and post correction.

The end-to-end round trip time (RTT) is one of the most important communication characteristics for Internet applications. From the viewpoint of network operators, RTT may also become one of the important metrics to understand the network conditions. Given this background, we should know how a factor such as a network incident influences RTTs. It is obvious that two or more factors may interfere in the observed delay characteristics, because packet transmission delays in the Internet are strongly dependent on the time-variant condition of the network. In this paper, we propose a modeling method by using mixed distribution which enables us to express delay characteristic more accurately where two or more factors exist together. And, we also propose an inferring method of network behavior by decomposition of the mixed distribution based on modeling results. Furthermore, in experiments we investigate the influence caused by each network impact factor independently. Our proposed method can presume the events that occur in a network from the measurements of RTTs by using the decomposition of the mixed distribution.

When we watch television or computer monitor under a certain viewing condition, we partially adapt to the display and partially to the ambient light. As an illumination level and chromaticity change, the eye's subjective white point changes between the display's white point and the ambient light's white point. In this paper, we propose a model that could predict the white point under a mixed adaptation condition including display and illuminant. Finally we verify this model by experimental results.

In this paper, we have obtained the integral representation for the ground wave propagation over land-to-sea mixed-paths which uses the equivalent current source on an aperture plane. By extending the integral to the complex plane and deforming the integration path into the steepest descent path, we have derived a simple integral representation for the mixed-path ground wave propagation. We have also derived the hybrid numerical and asymptotic representation for an efficient calculation of the ground wave and for easy understanding of the diffraction phenomena. By using the method of the stationary phase applicable uniformly as the stationary phase point approaches the endpoint, we have derived the high-frequency asymptotic solution for the ground wave propagation over the mixed-path. We have confirmed the validity of the various representations by comparing both with the conventional mixed-path theory and with the experimental results performed in Kanto areas including the sea near Tokyo bay. By examining the asymptotic solution in detail, we have found out the cause or the mechanism of the recovery effect occurring on the portion of the sea over the land-to-sea mixed-path.