Generic Process Flow Research Articles

Smart Water Management System Using IOT based Sensors

The advancement of technology in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) have grown rapidly over the past years in the field of water management in various context. The work aims to contribute to general process flow of a smart city management specifically in the field of the residential water management system. As well to design a smart water management system for the residential areas that can be implemented not only to a single residential area but to multiple residential areas. This is achieved through implementing sensor-based water flow meter to replace current mechanical water flow gauge. It is as well addressed the need of a common platform to store data that are currently proposed through an additional data acquisition application. Lastly, the work proposes an affordable prototype to measure water flow rate using IOT based sensors to be implemented at large scale and promising usability testing result.

Multi-platform Process Flow Models and Algorithms for Extraction and Documentation of Digital Forensic Evidence from Mobile Devices

The increasing need for the examination of evidence from mobile and portable gadgets increases the essential need to establish dependable measures for the investigation of these gadgets. Many differences exist while detailing the requirement for the examination of each gadget to help detectives and examiners in guaranteeing that any kind of evidence extracted/ collected from any mobile device is well documented and the outcomes can be repeatable, a reliable and well-documented investigation process must be implemented if the results of the examination are to be repeatable and defensible in courts of law. In this paper, we developed a generic process flow model for the extraction of digital evidence in mobile devices running on Android, Windows, iOS, and Blackberry operating systems. The research adopted a survey approach and extensive literature review as a means to collect data. The models developed were validated through expert opinion. Results of this work can guide solution developers in ensuring the standardization of evidence extraction tools for mobile devices.

Predicting Tunneling-Induced Ground Collapse Based on TBM Operational Data and Geological Data

Collapses are the most sensational types of events and frequently the ones that cause the most serious consequences in tunneling operations. It often occurs because of insufficient geological studies and the limitations of experience-based decision-making. To cope with those problems, we proposed a data-driven model based on the tunnel boring machine operational data and the in situ geological information to forecast tunneling-induced ground collapse. In the proposed model, we offered a general data process flow diagram to process engineering data. Three machine learning classifiers, k-nearest neighbors, support vector classifier, and random forests were adopted for collapse prediction. The performance of the three classifiers was verified based on the data from the Yinsong water conveyance tunnel. The results illustrated that the proposed data-driven model was sufficient for the studying task with 90% of the collapsed zones being identified on average. The contributions of this paper are to provide a reliable data process flow diagram to process engineering data and offer an accurate and robust model for identifying collapses.

Towards the Classification of Self-Sovereign Identity Properties

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is a novel and emerging, decentralized digital identity approach that enables entities to control and manage their digital identifiers and associated identity data fully while enhancing trust, privacy, security, and the many other properties identified and analyzed in this paper. The paper provides an overview and classification of the SSI properties, focusing on an in-depth analysis, furthermore, presenting a comprehensive collection of SSI properties that are important for the implementation of the SSI system. In addition, it explores the general SSI process flow, and highlights the steps in which individual properties are important. After the initial purification and classification phase, we then validated properties among experts in the field of Decentralized and Self-Sovereign Identity Management using an online questionnaire, which resulted in a final set of classified and verified SSI properties. The results can be used for further work on definition and standardization of the SSI field.

Miniaturization of InGaP/InGaAs/Ge solar cells for micro‐concentrator photovoltaics

AbstractMicro‐concentrator photovoltaic (CPV), incorporating micro‐scale solar cells within concentrator photovoltaic modules, promises an inexpensive and highly efficient technology that can mitigate the drawbacks that impede standard CPV, such as resistive power losses. In this paper, we fabricate micro‐scale multijunction solar cells designed for micro‐CPV applications. A generic process flow, including plasma etching steps, was developed for the fabrication of complete InGaP/InGaAs/Ge microcells with rectangular, circular, and hexagonal active areas down to 0.089 mm2 (0.068‐mm2 mesa). Large cells (>1 mm2) demonstrate good electrical performance under one sun AM1.5D illumination, but a degradation in the open‐circuit voltage (VOC) is observed on the smallest cells. This effect is attributed to perimeter recombination for which a passivation effect by the antireflective coating partially recovers the VOC. The VOC penalty for small cells is also reduced under high‐intensity illumination, from 3.8% under sun to 1.0% at 974 suns. High intensity illumination yields an efficiency of 33.8% under 584 suns for a 0.25‐mm2 and microcells are expected to show higher efficiency than standard cells under very high concentration.

(Invited) Micro-Transfer-Printing at X-FAB: Demonstration of a New Technology for Wafer-Level Packaging

Introduction Within this publication micro-transfer-printing (µTP) will be introduced as a promising new technology for 3D wafer-level packaging (WLP). The main advantage of µTP arises from the substantial parallel chip transfer from the source wafer to a target device by a visco-elastic stamp. To execute and develop this versatile technology a pilot line has been installed in the X-FAB MEMS Foundry GmbH clean room facilities within a funded EU project (MICROPRINCE). To demonstrate the general process capabilities recent results on the preparation and integration of silicon-based ICs, optical filters and III/V semiconductors shall be discussed. Contents The general principle of µTP is based on the utilization of an elastomer stamp to transfer devices or arrays of devices from their native substrate (source) to a non-native target material [1]. A mandatory requirement for this transfer is that the stamp, typically made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), provides tunable adhesion properties to the printable chiplet [2]. Thereby, high adhesion during the “pick-up” as well as low adhesion forces during the “placing” steps can be achieved.The general process flow for micro-transfer-printing is illustrated in Figure 1 .Therein, the main advantage of µTP, namely the extensive parallelization of the chip placement (schematics a.-e.), can be recognized. Such a parallelization offers the possibility of a major process time reduction.Prior to the transfer operation, the source wafer has to be prepared for the printing process. This involves the formation of reliable anchor and tether structures which carry the printable chiplets after the release etch. Another crucial requirement on these structures is that they provide a controlled micro-fracture and release the transfer chiplets to the stamp [3]. An example of a print-ready optical filter device is furthermore illustrated in Figure 1g.The target on the other hand has to be coated with an adhesion providing polymer (see red layer in Figure 1d.-f.) for which bisbenzocyclobutene (BCB) is applied at X-FAB.After the printing itself, a post-processing comprising the patterning of applied adhesion media, a wiring via a Cu redistribution layer (RDL) and a passivation is required to allow the functionality of active devices (see Figure 1f.). Figure 1h shows two 3D-integrated demonstrator devices which have been printed on a XL035 technology from X-FAB and which were afterwards connected via a Cu-RDL layer. Within the printing experiments of these chiplets a print yield of about 99.9% with a placement accuracy of down to 3σ ≤ 0.78µm has been achieved. Conclusions By this publication the Micro-transfer-printing (µTP) technology and its technical implementation will be introduced. To build up and develop µTP processes a pilot line has been installed in the X-FAB MEMS Foundry GmbH via a funded ECSEL project called “MICROPRINCE”. To execute the µTP technology for 3D integration several process steps have to be executed to prepare a source wafer for the printing operation, transfer the chiplets to a non-native target and connect them afterwards during the prost-processing. The process sequence itself will be explain in more detail within the presentation on examples of optical filters, silicon ASICs as well as III/V semiconductor chiplets. Acknowledgements This work is funded by ECSEL JU under grant agreement No 737465 and by the BMBF No ESECS16204. Further, the authors like to thank all X-FAB internal and external MICROPRINCE partners for their support.

Miniature Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robots by High‐Resolution Multimaterial 3D Printing

AbstractMiniature soft robots offer excellent safety and deformability, which are highly desirable in applications such as navigation in confined areas or the manipulation of microscale objects. However, it is difficult to manufacture such robots using traditional processes due to the complexity of their design. While rapidly advancing 3D printing technologies offer manufacturing flexibility, it is still challenging to fabricate soft pneumatic robots on millimeter scales due to the difficulty in making microscale voids and channels, which are essential for pneumatic actuation. A generic process flow for systematic and efficient tailoring of the material formulation and key processing parameters for digital light processing‐based 3D printing of miniature pneumatic actuators for soft robots is presented. The process flow includes selection of photoabsorber and material performance characterization to determine the appropriate material formulation and characterizations for curing depth and XY fidelity to identify the combination of exposure time and sliced layer thickness. By applying the tailored results to a self‐built multimaterial 3D printing system, an assortment of miniature soft pneumatic robots with various structures and morphing modes are printed. Furthermore, potential applications of printed miniature actuators are exemplified by a soft debris remover that navigates in a confined space and collects small objects in a hard‐to‐reach position.

NFV and SFC: A Case Study of Optimization for Virtual Mobility Management

To support the typical application scenarios defined in the fifth generation wireless network, such as the enhanced mobile broadband, massive machine type of communication, ultra-reliable and low-latency communication, virtual Mobility Management Entity (vMME) is a promising solution, which runs on universal servers and network functions virtualization instead of conventional hardware-dedicated mobility management entity. Among different vMME mapping solutions, the decomposing of MME into multiple components is a prospective approach to implementing distributed and virtualized mobility management. In this paper, the optimization of mobility management is addressed by using NFV and service function chain. A general signaling processing flow of vMME based on service function chain is analyzed. The performance of vMME is formulated considering the total signaling communication overhead cost, the total signaling communication overhead cost on backhauls as well as the migration overhead cost of state data under different function component placement of vMME. Since this optimization problem is NP-hard and the computation complexity is $O(n^{k})$ , a heuristic approach consisting of Min-TSCOC, Min-TSCOCB, and Min-MOCSD are presented, which aims to obtain the optimal solutions to the optimization problems by using genetic algorithm. The simulation results show that it is beneficial to decompose the function of mobility management, and the performance gains from vMME for different network function composition strictly depend on four mobility events.

Lean Internal Startups for Software Product Innovation in Large Companies: Enablers and Inhibitors

To compete in this age of disruption, large companies cannot rely on cost efficiency, lead time reduction and quality improvement. They are now looking for ways to innovate like startups. Meanwhile, the awareness and use of the Lean startup approach have grown rapidly amongst the software startup community in recent years. This study investigates how Lean internal startup facilitates software product innovation in large companies and identifies its enablers and inhibitors. A multiple case study approach is followed in the investigation. Two software product innovation projects from two large companies are examined, using a conceptual framework that is based on the method-in-action framework and extended with the previously developed Lean-Internal Corporate Venture model. Seven face-to-face in-depth interviews of the employees with different roles are conducted. Within-case analysis and cross-case comparison are applied to draw the findings from the cases. A generic process flow summarises the common key processes of Lean internal startups. The findings suggest that an internal startup that is initiated management or employees faces different challenges. A list of enablers of applying Lean startup in large companies are identified, including top management support and cross-functional team. Both cases face different inhibitors due to the different process of inception, objective of the team and type of the product. Our contributions are threefold. First, this study is one of the first attempt to investigate the use of Lean startup approach in large companies empirically. Second, the study shows the potential of the method-in-action framework to investigate the Lean startup approach in non-startup context. The third is a general process of Lean internal startup and the evidence of the enablers and inhibitors of implementing it, which are both theory-informed and empirically grounded.

Smart Development Process Enactment Based on Context Sensitive Sequence Prediction

Actual software development processes define the different steps developers have to perform during a development project. Usually these development steps are not described independently from each other—a more or less formal flow of development step is an essential part of the development process definition. In practice, we observe that often the process definitions are hardly used and very seldom “lived”. One reason is that the predefined general process flow does not reflect the specific constraints of the individual project. For that reasons we claim to get rid of the process flow definition as part of the development process. Instead we describe in this paper an approach to smartly assist developers in software process execution. The approach observes the developer’s actions and predicts his next development step based on the project process history. Therefore we apply machine learning resp. sequence learning approaches based on a general rule based process model and its semantics. Finally we show two evaluations of the presented approach: The data of the first is derived from a synthetic scenario. The second evaluation is based on real project data of an industrial enterprise.

Dealing with a Model Monster: How to Overcome Challenges to Modeling Complex Nutrient Removal Upgrades

Dealing with a Model Monster: How to Overcome Challenges to Modeling Complex Nutrient Removal UpgradesFaced with a 1 mg/L Total Phosphorus effluent permit limit and an unusually high influent phosphorus concentration due to industrial discharges, the City of Salem, Ohio was forced to consider various advanced nutrient removal upgrade options for their existing 4 mgd secondary biological treatment plant with the following general process flow schematic (Figure 1).Author(s)Kristin WallerMark GreeneBill MeinertRick ReedMatt HoopesSourceProceedings of the Water Environment FederationDocument typeConference PaperPublisherWater Environment FederationPrint publication date Oct, 2013ISSN1938-6478DOI10.2175/193864713813673785Volume / Issue2013 / 16Content sourceWEFTECCopyright2013Word count311

Membrane-less in-plane bulk-micromachined thermopiles for energy harvesting

This paper describes the process development for film-based thermopiles suited for energy harvesting on low-temperature heat sources. The patented design [1], which consists of a silicon frame with alternately doped poly-Si (or poly-SiGe) legs bridging the gap between the hot and cold sides of the frame, can be fabricated at low cost using contact lithography on standard Si wafers. A generic process flow was developed to fabricate thermopile structures on membranes of SiO 2/Si 3N 4, Si 3N 4 and low-stress Si x N y as well as self-supported thermopiles. The mechanical properties of poly-Si based structures with Al interconnects are compared for a variety of membrane supports. Fabricating the thermopile structure without silicon nitride membrane to eliminate parasitic heat flow through the membrane is also found to improve the mechanical stability considerably as it improves yield and shows minimum deformation.

Optimization of Test/Diagnosis/Rework Location(s) and Characteristics in Electronic System Assembly

In this paper, an optimization methodology is used to select the locations and characteristics of test, diagnosis and rework operations in electronic systems assembly processes. Real-coded genetic algorithms are used to perform a multi-variable optimization that minimizes the yielded cost of products resulting from an assembly process that includes test/diagnosis/rework operations characterized by costs, yields fault coverage, and rework attempts. A general complex process flow is analyzed using the algorithms proposed in this paper, and a multichip module assembly process flow is used to demonstrate that the methodology can identify optimum test and rework solutions that result in a reduction in yielded cost.

Design of separation schemes for fractional crystallization of metathetical salts

AbstractThe synthesis method of fractional crystallization processes for the separation of salts belonging to reciprocal salt pairs is presented based on a flow network model constructed between thermodynamic states. The state nodes represented in the model include feeds, products, intermediate products, and solid–liquid equilibrium states. Flows between the states are represented by arcs within the flow model. A systematic procedure is given for identification of the solid–liquid equilibrium states that could potentially serve as operating points. This identification is essential to the construction of the flow network and reduces the problem to a simple mathematical form. The advantages of the method lie in its capability to consider general process flow pattern, handle systems forming double salt, deal with several temperatures as potential operation conditions, and handle several feeds and products. Examples are given to illustrate the procedure.

Effective benchmarking: learning from the host’s viewpoint

Successful benchmarking exchanges require co‐operation from both the prospective benchmarker and the host benchmarkee. Adopting the viewpoint of a host company provides valuable insight into how to make benchmarking partnerships more effective, both for benchmarkers and benchmarkees. Provides specific ideas on how to structure benchmarking exchanges effectively based on in‐depth interviews with nine experienced host companies and survey data from 31 experienced host companies. Provides a generic process flow for handling benchmarking requests and discusses critical issues to be addressed in adding value towards a mutually productive benchmarking exchange.

Corrosion Resistant Equipment For the Corn Refining Industry

A general process flow sheet of the corn refining industry is shown to indicate the process steps for which corrosion data were determined. Corrosion data for starch, dextrose and by-product manufacture were taken from field and laboratory corrosion tests. Special techniques for determining the effect of pitting, intergranular corrosion of welds and applied stress were used for some materials tested. Determination of metallic contamination by a corrosion test is explained. The inclusion of economic factors in calculation of a corrosion cost index was employed in evaluating the corrosion data. Corrosion rates and corrosion cost index values are shown in tables for a number of process steps in the corn refining industry. The materials which indicated satisfactory values are separated from the materials which did not indicate satisfactory service in the environment. The corrosion data are confirmed in some tests by actual experiences with plant equipment. Limiting values for corrosion rates and corrosion cos...