9442528
Fast and accurate timing simulation with regionwise quadratic models of MOS I-V characteristics
This paper presents a technique called regionwise quadratic (RWQ) modeling that allows highly accurate MOS models, as well as measured I-V data, to be used in fast timing simulation. This technique significantly increases the accuracy of fast timing simulation while maintaining efficiency by permitting analytical solutions of node equations. A fast timing simulator using these RWQ models has been implemented. Several examples of RWQ modeling are provided, and comparisons of simulation results with SPICE3 are shown to demonstrate accuracy and efficiency. Speedups of two to three orders of magnitude for circuits containing up to 2000 transistors are observed.
13489029
An integrated approach to realistic worst-case design optimization of MOS analog circuits
The authors present a new integrated approach for the optimization of MOS analog circuit performance by using realistic worst-case device parameter files, each corresponding to a performance measure. Nonlinear response surfaces are constructed for the performance measures of interest, and the worst-case device parameter files are identified by solving a set of suitably cast nonlinear programming problems. The worst-case files are shown to depend on the values of the designable parameters. An efficient method of incorporating this dependence during worst-case design optimization has been developed. This method enables the design of circuits with optimal performance and high parametric yields. Some illustrative analog circuit examples are given to demonstrate the application of the worst-case design optimization procedure.<<ETX>>
13548202
Noise constrained power optimization for dual V/sub T/ domino logic
In dual threshold voltage techniques, significant subthreshold leakage current is one of the most important design problems. When dual threshold voltage is applied to the domino logic, noise immunity has to be carefully considered because the significant subthreshold current makes dynamic nodes much more susceptible to noise. In this paper, an analytical model for proper keeper transistor sizing to meet noise constraint is presented. Based on the same noise constraint, we propose dual threshold voltage domino logic technique to save power consumption.
44275614
Cell-level placement for improving substrate thermal distribution
The dramatic increase of power consumption in very large scale integration circuits has led to high operating temperature and large thermal gradient, thereby resulting in serious timing and reliability concerns. Temperature-tracking is thus becoming of paramount importance in modern electronic design automation (EDA) tools. In this paper we present two thermal placement tools for standard cell and macro cell design styles respectively. They are aimed at reducing hot spots in a design without compromising traditional design metrics such as area and wire length. We developed a compact substrate thermal model that can be used by the placer to calculate the temperature profile of a placement efficiently, or to convert the user-specified temperature constraint into the corresponding power distribution constraint as an alternative placement objective. As a result, our method is much more efficient than directly employing temperature profile simulation during the placement process. The simulation results show noticeable improvement of thermal distribution over the traditional placement algorithm, with little impact on area and wire length of the final layout.
40491047
Domino logic synthesis based on implication graph
In this paper, we present a new approach to the problem of inverter elimination in domino logic synthesis. A small piece of static CMOS logic is introduced to the circuit to avoid significant area penalty resulting from duplication. To maximize the domino logic part and to minimize the static CMOS logic part, a generalized automatic test pattern generation (ATPG)-based logic transformation is proposed to eliminate or relocate a target inverter. Based on the new concept of dominating set of mandatory assignment (DSMA) and the corresponding implication graph, we propose algorithms to identify a minimum candidate set for a target inverter. Experimental results show that logic transformation based on the implication graph can reduce transistor counts by 25% on average, while the delay increases less than 3%.
14376041
Feasible region approximation using convex polytopes
A new technique for polytope approximation of the feasible region for a design is presented. This method is computationally less expensive than the simplicial approximation method. Results on several circuits are presented. It is shown that the quality of the polytope approximation is substantially better than an ellipsoidal approximation.<<ETX>>
353647
On Estimating Tight-Link Bandwidth Characteristics over Multi-Hop Paths
In this paper, we explore multi-hop bandwidth estimation assuming arbitrary cross-traffic at each node and develop a new probing method called Envelope that can asymptotically estimate not only the available bandwidth but also the raw capacity of the tight link. Envelope is based on a multi-link recursive extension of unbiased single-hop estimators proposed in the past (e.g., [14]) and a variation of the packet-cartouche technique [6]. Through extensive simulations, we evaluate Envelope in various network settings and cross-traffic conditions and find that it can measure tight-link bandwidth characteristics with accuracy that significantly surpasses that of the existing methods. We also find that Envelope can measure non-tight links in certain path and cross-traffic configurations.
8347342
Keyword-based document clustering
Document clustering is an aggregation of related documents to a cluster based on the similarity evaluation task between documents and the representatives of clusters. Terms and their discriminating features of terms are the clue to the clustering and the discriminating features are based on the term and document frequencies. Feature selection method on the basis of frequency statistics has a limitation to the enhancement of the clustering algorithm because it does not consider the contents of the cluster objects. In this paper, we adopt a content-based analytic approach to refine the similarity computation and propose a keyword-based clustering algorithm. Experimental results show that content-based keyword weighting outperforms frequency-based weighting method.
40534720
A robot system that observes and replicates grasping tasks
To alleviate the problem of overwhelming complexity in grasp synthesis and path planning associated with robot task planning, we adopt the approach of teaching the robot by demonstrating in front of it. The system has four components: the observation system, the grasping task recognition module, the task translator and the robot system. The observation system comprises an active multibaseline stereo system and a dataglove. The data stream recorded is then used to track object motion; this paper illustrates how complimentary sensory data can be used for this purpose. The data stream is also interpreted by the grasping task recognition module, which produces higher levels of abstraction to describe both the motion and actions taken in the task. The resulting information are provided to the task translator which creates commands for the robot system to replicate the observed task. In this paper we describe how these components work with special emphasis on the observation system. The robot system that we use to perform the grasping tasks comprises the PUMA 560 arm and the Utah/MIT hand.<<ETX>>
589178
Multi-Layered Image-Based Rendering
In this article, we describe a multi-layered image-based rendering system that can use different types of input to produce and render new environments. Each separate input that can be manipulated independently is called a layer. In our implementation, the types of layers that can be manipulated are the image-based and 3-D-based layers. The computation required for rendering the newlycrafted environment is reduced by using cached composite snapshots of that environment at reference poses. These cached snapshots are used to directly generate novel views, and the original layers are used only when necessary. Another key concept is the identification of types of holes generated as a result of pixel transfer from the composite snapshots to the generated view. For optimal rendering quality, the algorithm used in filling these holes is specific to the hole type (either intralayer or interlayer). The ideas embodied in our multi-layered IBR system are useful in augmenting the capabilities of applications that require fast and geometrically consistent rendering of 3-D scenes such as video editing.
122813254
Shape Ambiguities in Structure From Motion
This paper examines the fundamental ambiguities and uncertainties inherent in recovering structure from motion. By examining the eigenvectors associated with null or small eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix, we can quantify the exact nature of these ambiguities and predict how they affect the accuracy of the reconstructed shape. Our results for orthographic cameras show that the bas-relief ambiguity is significant even with many images, unless a large amount of rotation is present. Similar results for perspective cameras suggest that three or more frames and a large amount of rotation are required for metrically accurate reconstruction.