Testing Result Statistics-Based Rapid Testing Method for Safety-Critical System

Safety-critical system （SCS） has highly demand for dependability, which requires plenty of resource to ensure that the system under test （SUT） satisfies the dependability requirement. In this paper, a new SCS rapid testing method is proposed to improve SCS adaptive dependability testing. The result of each test execution is saved in calculation memory unit and evaluated as an algorithm model. Then the least quantity of scenario test case for next test execution will be calculated according to the promised SUT＇s confidence level. The feedback data are generated to weight controller as the guideline for the further testing. Finally, a compre- hensive experiment study demonstrates that this adaptive testing method can really work in practice. This rapid testing method, testing result statistics-based adaptive control, makes the SCS dependability testing much more effective.

A High-Performance Operational Amplifier for High-Speed High-Accuracy Switch-Capacitor Cells

A high-speed high-accuracy fully differenttial operational amplifier （op-amp） is realized based on no-Miller-capacitor feedforward （NMCF） compensation scheme. In order to achieve a good phase margin, the NMCF compensation scheme uses the positive phase shift of left-half-plane （LHP） zero caused by the feedforvvard path to counteract the negative phase shift of the non-dominant pole. Compared to traditional Miller compensation method, the op-amp obtains high gain and wide band synchronously without the pole-splitting effect while saves significant chip area due to the absence of the Miller capacitor. Simulated by the 0.35 μm CMOS RF technology, the result shows that the open-loop gain of the op-amp is 118 dB with the unity gain-bandwidth （UGBW） of 1 GHz, and the phase margin is 61°while the settling time is 5.8 ns when achieving 0.01% accuracy. The op-amp is especially suitable for the front-end sample/hold （S/H） cell and the multiplying D/A converter （MDAC） module of the high-speed high-resolution pipelined A/D converters （AVCs）.

IC Surface Corrosion Inspection by C-Mode Scanning Acoustic Microscopy

C-mode scanning acoustical microscopy, C-SAM, is widely used in plastic package evaluations and for failure analysis. It permits to detect subsurface delaminations, cracks and pores （air bubbles） for different microelectronics packages. In this study, abnormality was observed in C-SAM daily test, the images showed no delaminations but inhomogeneities on the IC surface. Corrosion was found by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope after decapsulation. It can be revealed as the acoustic impedance is different between corrosion and normal area. The presence of inhomogeneities and discontinuities along ultrasonic waves＇ propagation paths inside the matter causes modifications in the amplitude and polarity of ultrasonic waves. However, C-SAM＇s capability in detecting IC surface corrosion has not been presented. The capability will be illustrated and the inspection mechanism will be discussed in this paper.

Endogenous Innovation,the Organization of Work and Institutional Context

Drawing on the results of the third Community Innovation Survey and the third European Working Conditions Survey, this paper develops aggregate indicators at the national level of innovation modes and forms of work organization for the 15 member nations of the European Union in 2000. The analysis based on these indicators demonstrates that there is a close connection between how people work and learn in a country and the way firms＇ innovate. Specifically, it shows that in nations where work is organized to support high levels of discretion in solving complex problems firms tend to be more active in terms of endogenous innovation, i.e. innovation developed, at least to some degree, in house. In countries where learning and problem-solving on the job are more constrained, and little discretion is left to the employee, firms tend to engage in a supplier-dominated innovation strategy. The technological renewal of these firms reflects, almost exclusively, absorption of innovations developed elsewhere.

Recent Advances in Long-distance FBG Sensor Systems at UESTC

Recent progress in long-distance in-Fiber Bragg Grating （FBG） sensor systems at University of Electronic Science ＆ Technology of China （UESTC） is reviewed in this paper. Two novel approaches with a 50km transmission distance are proposed and demonstrated. The first one is based on the combination of bidirectional Raman amplification and a dual Erbium-Doped Fiber （EDF） configuration. A good Signal-to-Noise Ratio （SNR） of ～16dB is achieved with only a pump power of ～280 mW, which is ～10 dB higher than that without amplification. The second is based on a novel tunable fiber ring laser configuration with hybrid Raman/EDFA configuration. Experimental results show that an excellent optical SNR of-～60 dB has been achieved for a 50 km transmission distance with a low Raman pump power of ～170 mW and a low EDFA pump power of～40 mW at wavelength of 980 nm. It is anticipated that these long-distance FBG sensing systems could find important applications in health monitoring of large infra-structures, such as oil or gas pipelines, ultra-long bridges and tunnels, river banks, and so on.

Face Recognition Combining Eigen Features with a Parzen Classifier

A face recognition scheme is proposed, wherein a face image is preprocessed by pixel averaging and energy normalizing to reduce data dimension and brightness variation effect, followed by the Fourier transform to estimate the spectrum of the preprocessed image. The principal component analysis is conducted on the spectra of a face image to obtain eigen features. Combining eigen features with a Parzen classifier, experiments are taken on the ORL face database.

Design of an EEG Preamplifier for Brain-Computer Interface

As a non-invasive neurophysiologieal index for brain-computer interface （BCI）, electroencephalogram （EEG） attracts much attention at present. In order to have a portable BCI, a simple and efficient pre-amplifier is crucial in practice. In this work, a preamplifier based on the characteristics of EEG signals is designed, which consists of a highly symmetrical input stage, low-pass filter, 50 Hz notch filter and a post amplifier. A prototype of this EEG module is fabricated and EEG data are obtained through an actual experiment. The results demonstrate that the EEG preamplifier will be a promising unit for BCI in the future.

A Class of Chaotic Sequences with Gauss Probability Distribution for Radar Mask Jamming

A simple generation approach for chaotic sequences with Gauss probability distribution is proposed. Theoretical analysis and simulation based on Logistic chaotic model show that the approach is feasible and effective. The distribution characteristics of the novel chaotic sequence are comparable to that of the standard normal distribution. Its mean and variance can be changed to the desired values. The novel sequences have also good randomness. The applications for radar mask jamming are analyzed.

A Preliminary Study of Automatic Delineation of Eyes on CT Images Using Ant Colony Optimization

Eyes are important organs-at-risk （OARs） that should be protected during the radiation treatment of those head tumors. Correct delineation of the eyes on CT images is one of important issues for treatment planning to protect the eyes as much as possible. In this paper, we propose a new method, named ant colony optimization （ACO）, to delineate the eyes automatically. In the proposed algorithm, each ant tries to find a closed path, and some pheromone is deposited on the visited path when the ant fmds a path. After all ants fmish a circle, the best ant will lay some pheromone to enforce the best path. The proposed algorithm is verified on several CT images, and the preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of ACO for the delineation problem.

Optimal Rules to Adopt High Technology under Uncertainty

In the research of choosing the optimal timing for the high technology products, especially IT products to the market, most studies prefer to provide the scope or infnnum of timing. In this paper, an optimal rule is adopted to guild the timing of high technology product to the market, this idea is illustrated through the theory of optimal stopping, and a high approach is developed to theoretical framework for timing decision. On this basis, a random programming model is established, in which the objective function is the expected profit to adopt high technology and the constraint condition is the successful probability over critical value a with all variables beyond the rule, and it is used to find the optimal timing of adopt high technology product.

Study of High-Temperature Superconductor Diplexers for Satellite Communications

The high-temperature superconductor （HTSC） resonator and diplexer are simulated by full-wave tools. A newly developed miniature HTSC diplexer is designed and fabricated on double sided YBa2Cu3O7 （YBCO） film （YBCO/LaAlO3/YBCO）, the thickness of which is 400 nm for YBCO and 0.5 mm for the LaAlO3. The measured results show a good agreement with the simulation. The volume and mass of the diplexers are greatly reduced by miniaturized configuration.

Temperature Intelligent Control System of Large-Scale Standing Quench Furnace

Considering some characteristics of large-scale standing quench furnace, such as great heat inertia, evident time lag, strong coupling influence, hard to establish exact mathematical models of plant and etc, an artificial intelligent fuzzy control algorithm is put forward in this paper. Through adjusting the on-off ratio of electric heating elements, the temperature in furnace is controlled accurately. This paper describes structure and qualities of the large-scale standing quench furnace briefly, introduces constitution of control system, and expounds principle and implementation of intelligent control algorithm. The applied results prove that the intelligent control system can completely satisfy the technological requirements. Namely, it can realize fast increasing temperature with a little overshoot, exact holding temperature, and well-distributed temperature in quench furnace. It has raised the output and quality of aluminum material, and brought the outstanding economic and social benefits.

New Model for Synthesis of Symmetrical Thinned Linear Arrays

In symmetrical thinned linear arrays design, the positions of thinned array elements are very important for optimal performance in terms of its minimum peak side lobe level （Msli）. For the synthesis of thinned arrays with a given thinning rate, it would have almost the same Msll solution between taking only segmental aperture nearby both ends of the aperture into account and taking all the aperture into account. In this paper, the element distribution characteristic over the aperture of many optimum thinned arrays is studied, then the aperture release model is founded by the least square method to synthesize the thinned arrays. This model is vital for the computing burden alleviation and the efficiency optimization, and would hardly bring any degradation of the obtained array performance.

Delay Optimized Architecture for On-Chip Communication

Networks-on-chip （NoC）, a new system on chip （SoC） paradigm, has become a great focus of research by many groups during the last few years. Among all the NoC architectures that have been proposed until now, 2D-Mesh has proved to be the best architecture for implementation due to its regular and simple interconnection structure. In this paper, we propose a new interconnect architecture called 2D-diagonal mesh （2DDgl-Mesh） for on-chip communication. The 2DDglMesh is almost similar to traditional 2D-Mesh in aspects of cost, area, and implementation, but it can outperform the later in delay. The both architectures are compared by using NS-2 （a network simulator） and CINS1M （a component based interconnection simulator） under the same traffic models and parametric conditions. The results of comparison show that under the proposed architecture, the packets can almost always be routed to their destinations in less time. In addition, our archi- tecture can sometimes perform better than 2D-Mesh in drop ratio for special fixed traffic models.

Increased Arousal Levels and Decreased Sleep by Brain Music in Rats

More and more studies have been reported on whether music and other types of auditory stimulation would improve the quality of sleep. Many of these studies have found significant results, but others argue that music is not significantly better than the tones or control conditions in improving sleep. For further understanding the relationship between music and sleep or music and arousal, the present study therefore examines the effects of brain music on sleep and arousal by means of biofeedback. The music is from the transformation of rapid eye movement （REM） sleep electroencephalogram （EEG） of rats using an algorithm in the Chengdu Brain Music （CBM） system. When the brain music was played back to rats, EEG data were recorded to assess the efficacy of music to induce or improve sleep, or increase arousal levels by sleep staging, etc. Our results demonstrate that exposure to the brain music increases arousal levels and decreases sleep in rats, and the underlying mechanism of decreased non-rapid eye movement （NREM） and REM sleep may be different.

Localization of Distributed Fiber Sensor Employing a Sub-Ring

A simple distributed optical fiber sensing system used to monitor vibration signal has an additional sub-loop eoupled with main ring by a 3 dB coupler. This paper compares three outputting interfered beams, each of them travels in the sub-ring 0, 1, 2 times, separately. Using the simultaneous equations produced by those three outputs, we find the relation between the interference lights and vibration signal＇s characteristics, such as frequency, amplitude and position. Through simplifying and calculating, the vibration position can be obtained finally.

Study on Optimizing of Ball Passing Strategy and Role Switching Mechanism for Robot Soccer

A new ball passing strategy for robot soccer is proposed in this paper. With introduce of a new algorithm on ball passing, the optimum strategy is confirmed to be more efficient and exact when passing a ball. Questions of role switching in multi-intelligent agent cooperation in robot soccer are described based on Generalized Stochastic Petri-Net （GSPN）. Results of computer simulation have confirmed the feasibility and efficiency of above Petri-net method.

RFID’s Impacts on Business Value:A Case Study of Supply Chain in the Discrete Manufacturing Industry

Radio frequency identification （RFID） shall be a revolutionary technological innovation in recent years. Various solutions employing RFID technology have proved their functionality already in such industries as pharmaceuticals, express parcel carrying, and automotive manufacturing, and the increased efficiency and effectiveness has provided a good payback for the investments. But, up to now, fewer researches concentrate on applying REID to heavy-machinery manufacturing enterprises, which are a typical kind of enterprises in discrete manufacturing industry. The main objective of this case study is to extend our understanding of the potential for RFID to delivery of the heavy-machinery manufacturing enterprise, which involves one specific supply chain. A trial to automate the verification activities of delivery is designed and performed. Results show that the stops currently designed into the processes can be eliminated by employing RFID technology and that RFID should be a revolutionary technology as it redesigns the existing processes, eliminate some current inefficiency, improve the accuracy of delivering the products, increases information sharing between supply chain members.

Development of Laser-Based Handheld Aerosol Particle Counter

The JC-CA300 handheld Aerosol particle counter is designed and developed based on light scattering principle. The JC-CA300 counter is composed of optical sensor, DSP component and microprocessor unit. The hardware architecture is designed in compact style by SMT IC chips. The whole counter weight is less than 2 pounds. With 32K RAM space, the JC-CA300 can store 500 sampling records and support standard printer and communicate with a computer through RS232 interface. Based on experimental results, the main performance of JC-CA300 is better than that of the ARTI＇S HHPC-6 instrument.