Minimal Hardware Requirements Research Articles

Investigating Human-System Interaction With an Integrated Hydropower and Market System Simulator

We present the design process of a highly portable integrated power system simulator developed to support investigation into human interface design for a complex hydro power system. The most important development phases of the simulator are described followed by insights that guided developers to the final version. The architecture of the simulator is explained in detail. The most important submodels are described to clarify the concepts and architecture used as well as minimal hardware requirements needed to run the simulator. Finally we present some of the results captured during experimental sessions performed with experienced controller-coordinator pairs

Effective management of multiple configurable units using dynamic optimization

As one of the promising efforts to minimize the surging microprocessor power consumption, adaptive computing environments (ACEs), where microarchitectural resources can be dynamically tuned to match a program's run-time requirement and characteristics, are becoming increasingly common. In an ACE, efficient management of the configurable units (CUs) is vital for maximizing the benefit of resource adaptation. ACEs usually have multiple configurable hardware units, necessitating exploration of a large number of combinatorial configurations in order to identify the most energy-efficient configuration. In this paper, we propose an ACE management framework for efficient management of multiple CUs, utilizing dynamic optimization systems' inherent capabilities of detecting and optimizing program hotspots, i.e., dominate code regions. We develop a scheme where hotpot boundaries are used for phase detection and adaptation. The framework achieves good energy reduction on managing multiple CUs with minimal hardware requirements and low implement cost by leveraging the existing infrastructure of a dynamic optimization system. The proposed framework is evaluated by dynamically adapting five CUs with distinct reconfiguration latencies and overheads. Those CUs are issue queue, reorder buffer, level-one data and instruction caches, and level-two cache. Previous research indicates that those five components dominate the energy consumption of a microprocessor. Despite the growing complexity and overhead of adapting five CUs, our technique reduces the energy consumption of those CUs by as much as 45%, while one of the best techniques provided by prior literature achieves less than 15% energy reduction for all CUs.

A Dynamic Thermal Management Circuit for System-On-Chip Designs

A novel fully integrated dynamic thermal management circuit for system-on-chip design is proposed. Instead of worst-case thermal management used in conventional systems, this design yields continual monitoring of thermal activity and reacts to specified conditions. With the above system, we are able to incorporate on-chip power/speed modulation and integrated multi-stage fan controllers, which allows us to achieve nominal power dissipation and ensure operation within specification. Both architecture and circuitry are optimized for modern system-on-chip designs. This design yields intricate control and optimal mangement with little system overhead and minimum hardware requirements, as well as provides the flexibility to support different thermal mangement algorithms.

A programmable thermal management interface circuit for PowerPC systems

A programmable thermal management interface circuit for PowerPC systems has been designed, implemented, and tested for the Integrated Thermal Management (ITEM) System [1]. Instead of worst-case design, the ITEM system approach is to target nominal power dissipation and have the system actively monitor its thermal activity and control cooling mechanisms to ensure operation within specification. Using a suitable combination of hardware and software, the interface design yields intricate control and optimal management with little system overhead and minimum hardware requirements, as well as provides the flexibility to support different management algorithms. This interface circuit was fabricated in the HP 0.5μm single-poly 3-metal process through MOSIS.

Study and status consistency duplicate-read protection in a distributed architecture

This presentation will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of implementing a study status and duplicate-read protection mechanism within a distributed picture archiving and communication system (PACS) architecture. There are many advantages to a distributed PACS network in which image studies are proactively pushed to reading stations before they are required by a radiologist. The absence of a central server, which serves on demand, makes managing study status and protecting against duplicate reads challenging. The system to manage study status and read access must be efficient, robust, and easy to administer. A system is presented that accomplishes these goals while maintaining the advantages of a distributed architecture. The basic workflow of the system is that image studies acquired at a modality device are automatically sent to an archive server. Using a set of advanced routing rules, the archive automatically routes studies to diagnostic workstations where studies are candidates for diagnostic read. The workstations display a list of all local studies available for reading. A monitor application running on the workstations coordinates access to studies for diagnostic read. Once the status of a study has been changed, the workstations on the networks and the archive are notified, which causes the study to be automatically removed from any list on a workstation where it might be a read candidate. Implementation of this system provides a balanced workflow throughout the system while minimizing the need for costly high-speed network hardware. Additionally studies are read as soon as they are available by the next available radiologist. This workflow is enabled without the need for specific interaction by any of the radiologists on the network. By having the images available at the workstation in an organized worklist, this methodology increases the efficiency of the radiologist. The implementation of this system enables a radiology department, or even a specialty group within a department, to gain the benefit of a distributed system as well as the benefits provided by a central-server architecture. This can be done very cost effectively with minimal configuration overhead and hardware requirements.

A revised program for microprobe-derived amphibole analyses using the IMA rules

A Microsoft QUICKBASIC program with the code name NEWAMPHCAL has been written to calculate the structural formulae of amphibole analyses taken from electron-microprobe, and to determine the classification parameters with the prefixes and modifiers according to the procedures proposed by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) 1997 amphibole nomenclature scheme. The program, which came up with four Al-in hornblende geobarometers, is applicable to plutonic and its associated volcanic rocks including amphibole–biotite–quartz–plagioclase–ortochlase–sphene–FeTi oxides. An amphibole–plagioclase geothermometer for particular calcic amphiboles also is incorporated into the program structure. NEWAMPHCAL has been tested for determination and classification of numerous amphibole analyses compiled from literature. Depending on the evaluations of selected amphibole analyses by using NEWAMPHCAL program, it was determined that approximately 15% amphibole names were changed compared to the author’s IMA 1978 findings. The most important variation in amphibole names has been observed in the calcic amphibole group. This program permits the user data entry, their storage, and calculation and plotting of microprobe amphibole analyses. NEWAMPHCAL plots the calculated chemical parameters on one ternary and seventeen different binary diagrams for amphibole classification. This software, with well-designed screen forms, stores all the calculated results in comma delimited ASCII file format and thus permits the user to process the program outputs for further spreadsheet applications. A menu-driven and easy to use program runs on IBM-compatible microcomputers under DOS and Windows systems with the minimum hardware requirements. The compiled form of NEWAMPHCAL takes approximately 398 kilobytes together with the test data.

First international intercomparison of image analysers

Image analyser systems used for evaluating solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) were compared in order to establish minimum hardware and software requirements and methodology necessary in different fields of radiation dosimetry. For the purpose, CR-39 detectors (TASL, Bristol, U.K.) were irradiated with different (n, α) and (n,p) converters in a reference Pu-Be neutron field, in an underground laboratory with high radon concentration and by different α sources at the Atomic Energy Research Institute (AERI) in Budapest, Hungary. 6 sets of etched and pre-evaluated detectors and the 7th one without etching were distributed among the 14 laboratories from 11 countries. The participants measured the different track parameters and statistically evaluated the results, to determine the performance of their system. The statistical analysis of results showed high deviations from the mean values in many cases. As the conclusion of the intercomparison recommendations were given to fulfill those requirements necessary to construct an appropriate image analyser system for evaluating SSNTDs.

Highly sensitive motion detection with a combined microwave-ultrasonic sensor

High sensitivity to motion along with maximum robustness against false alarms are necessary requirements for a motion detector in an intruder-alarm sensor system. To achieve this goal, a combination of a microwave and an ultrasonic motion detector is considered. This solution is based on the fact that microwave and ultrasonic signals reflected from moving targets are modulated with coherent Doppler frequencies, whilst distortions affect both waves in a random way. Two alternative algorithms for the evaluation of the Doppler frequency coincidence are presented, based on the evaluation of the Doppler phase shift and the cross-correlation between the microwave and ultrasonic Doppler signals. Necessary conditions for an optimum motion detection and processing algorithms to minimize the false-alarm probability are developed. Results from measurements with a combined alarm sensor using 24 GHz c.w. radar and 40 kHz c.w. ultrasound are given and a cost-effective processing scheme with minimum hardware requirements, implemented on a low-power digital signal processor, is described.

Calibration-free augmented reality

Camera calibration and the acquisition of Euclidean 3D measurements have so far been considered necessary requirements for overlaying three-dimensional graphical objects with live video. We describe a new approach to video-based augmented reality that avoids both requirements: it does not use any metric information about the calibration parameters of the camera or the 3D locations and dimensions of the environment's objects. The only requirement is the ability to track across frames at least four fiducial points that are specified by the user during system initialization and whose world coordinates are unknown. Our approach is based on the following observation: given a set of four or more noncoplanar 3D points, the projection of all points in the set can be computed as a linear combination of the projections of just four of the points. We exploit this observation by: tracking regions and color fiducial points at frame rate; and representing virtual objects in a non-Euclidean, affine frame of reference that allows their projection to be computed as a linear combination of the projection of the fiducial points. Experimental results on two augmented reality systems, one monitor-based and one head-mounted, demonstrate that the approach is readily implementable, imposes minimal computational and hardware requirements, and generates real-time and accurate video overlays even when the camera parameters vary dynamically.

Quantum Mechanics Simulations

From the Publisher: Other CUPS Projects Astrophysics Simulations Classical Mechanics Simulations Electricity and Magnetism Simulations Modern Physics Simulations Nuclear and Particle Physics Simulations Solid State Physics Simulations Thermal and Statistical Physics Simulations Waves and Optics Simulations Quantum Mechanics Simulations is one volume in a series of nine book/software packages developed by the Consortium for Upper-Level Physics Software. CUPS is an international group of 27 physicists, all with extensive backgrounds in the research, teaching, and development of instructional software. The simulations included in this volume cover: Bound State Wave Function’s in One and Three Dimensions, Stationary Scattering States in One and Three Dimensions, Electron States in a Lattice, Time Development, Identical Particles, and Bound States in Cylindrically Symmetric Potentials. These simulations include complex, often realistic, calculations of models of various physical systems. If desired, the user may also vary many parameters of the system, and interact with it in other ways, so as to study its behavior in real time. Source code has been provided for users who wish to modify programs. All of the programs are written in Borland/Turbo Pascal for MS-DOS. Minimum hardware requirement is an IBM-compatible 386-level machine with mouse and VGA color monitor. The disk(s) included in this package are 3.5???.

PTMAFIC: Software package for thermometry, barometry, and activity calculations in mafic rocks using an IBM-compatible computer

PTMAFIC (v. 2.0) is a program for IBM-compatible personal computers with minimum hardware requirements, that can be used in thermometric and barometric calculations by petrologists concerned with the determination of P-T paths in mafic and ultramafic rocks. The program creates ASCII files of normalized chemical analyses of amphiboles, garnet, epidote, ilmenite, muscovite, pyroxenes (ortho- and clinopyroxene), olivine, plagioclase, and spinel. The program carries out a wide range of stoichiometric and thermodynamic calculations on these minerals, such as cation site-allocations at the different structural positions, the molar fractions and mole percent of the end-member terms, and the application of different thermodynamic models for calculation of activity coefficients and activities. The program contains calibrations published for 13 geothermometers and 12 geobarometers applicable to mafic and ultramafic rocks that cover metamorphic conditions, ranging from granulite and eclogite facies to green-schist facies.

1052-1 Multimedia Instructional System for Fetal Echo

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital malformation with an incidence rate of 0.7%. Many pregnant woman (in some countries all) are offered an ultrasound scan at around 18 weeks of pregnancy. The scan incorporates a detailed anatomical survey of the fetus and if includes at least a four chamber view, it is an excellent opportunity to detect congenital heart defects. Therefore a Windows based multimedia computer program for the instruction of Fetal Echo for ultrasound technologists, students. residents, fellows and primary care physicians has been developed. The application includes a step by step tutorial to instruct the user in reading Fetal Echo data, a browsing library of definitions of CHD's, graphics images and digitized echocardiograms, and the Expert System for automatic diagnosis. The pictures, images and descriptions are linked to a database and can be viewed by searching for the defect name or symptoms. This provides a powerful instructional tool in this very difficult area of medical education. The minimum hardware requirements to run this program are: IBM/PC or compatible computer running MS Windows version 3.1 with 80386SX processor, 4 MB RAM, 30 MB free disk space, multimedia with dual speed CD ROM, and a VGA card capable to display at least 256 colors.

Performance of low-energy gamma-ray HgI2 microdetectors

The use of digital techniques is becoming increasingly popular in a wide variety of situations. These methods allow one to implement sophisticated measurements in an easy and flexible way, with minimum hardware requirements. Here, a digital approach to low-energy spectroscopy with HgI2 microdetectors is discussed. Its results are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation adapted to the geometry of these crystals and the electronics used with them.

Rapid method for automated on-line extraction and fractionation of plasma leukotrienes and 12-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A method is described for automated on-line extraction and fractionation of plasma leukotrienes (LTs) and (5 Z,8 Z,10 E,14 Z)-(12 S)-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid [12( S)-HETE] by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). This method was utilized to assess the accuracy of leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4) and leukotriene C 4 (LTC 4) determinations obtained by direct immunoassay of guinea pig plasma. Plasma LTB 4 levels were significantly higher ( p < 0.01) and plasma LTC 4 levels were unchanged when immunoassays were performed post versus pre RP-HPLC fractionation. Rapid separation, high recovery and baseline separation of LTB 4, LTC 4 and 12( S)-HETE, and minimal hardware requirements clearly demonstrate the general utility of this method.

SPANS—A quadtree-based GIS

Abstract SPANS (SPatial ANalysis System) is a quadtree/raster GIS developed by Tydac Technologies Inc. of Canada. Two versions of SPANS are available at present (February 1991). Version 4 runs under MS-DOS and has as a minimum hardware requirement a 286 AT compatible with dual mono and color (EGA) graphics cards and monitors. However, to realize fully the potential of SPANS 4 a 386 machine is desirable, together with an extended memory manager. SPANS version 5 (which has additional functionality) runs under OS/2 on a 386 machine with a minimum of 8 Mbyte of memory. SPANS is a menu-driven system. In version 4 menus and help are displayed on the mono screen, with graphical output appearing on the color screen. In version 5 a hierarchy of menus is provided by windows, so that only a single (color) graphics card and monitor are needed. An interesting feature of SPANS, possibly unique amongst commercial GIS at the time SPANS was introduced, is that it uses quadtrees as the medium for storing all map data. The aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which the use of a quadtree data structure influences the functionality of the system; it should not be taken to be a complete account. SPANS terminology is indicated in bold type, and explained where necessary.

Speaker-independent word recognizer

Speaker-independent word recognition is performed, based on a small acoustically distinct vocabulary, with minimal hardware requirements. After a simple preconditioning filter, the zero crossing intervals of the input speech are measured and sorted by duration, to provide a rough measure of the frequency distribution within each input frame. The distribution of zero crossing intervals is transformed into a binary feature vector, which is compared with each reference template using a modified Hamming distance measure. A dynamic time warping algorithm is used to permit recognition of various speaker rates, and to economize on the reference template storage requirements. A mask vector with each reference vector on a template is used to ignore insignificant (or speaker-dependent) features of the words detected.

Ge0-calc: Software package for calculation and display of pressure-temperature-composition phase diagrams using an IBM or compatible personal computer

Ge0-Calc is an interactive IBM PC and compatible software package for computing and plotting complete stable phase diagrams for any number of phases in systems of any number of components. The general program flow consists of calculation of reaction coefficients among phases in the selected chemical systems, computation of the equilibrium position for each reaction curve whereas each point on the curve is tested for metastability against all other phases, elimination of metastable extensions and of reactions that involve metastable assemblages, and plotting of all resulting curves with labels identifying the stable assemblages. Other programs in the Ge0-Calc package display the phase diagram on the screen (CGA, EGA, or HERCULES graphics adapters), print it on an Epson or compatible dot-matrix printer at the resolution of the printer and improve diagram legibility by moving the labels or replacing them automatically with numbers so reaction identifiers do not overlap. Ge0-Calc is distributed with a recommended thermodynamic database, but a variety of equations of state are provided so that the programs can be used with different data sets. Run time options include selecting the type of diagram P- T, T- X H 2 O CO 2 , P- X H 2 O CO 2 ), selecting the chemical system, setting the P- T- X limits of the diagram, selecting ideal or nonideal H 2OCO 2 mixing and specifying whether phases are to be projected from, included in all reactions, or have a fixed activity other than unity. The minimum hardware requirements for running the Ge0-Calc system are an IBM or compatible personal computer with 512 K memory, math coprocessor, graphics adapter (CGA, EGA, or HERCULES), single floppy disk drive and an Epson or compatible dot-matrix printer.

Interactive graphics in GPSS/PC™

GPSS/PC is a recent implementation of the discrete event simula tion language GPSS, the General Purpose Simulation System. With the introduction of Version 2, GPSS/PC has added interac tive graphics and animation to its simulation environment. Its graphics windows are truly interactive, allowing manipulation via an optional pointing device, and assertion of all simulation primitives. All windows are online, providing for a visualization of model dynamics, and one of the windows allows animations of the simulation to be played out in an essentially unbounded virtual screen. In addition, a CAD-based animation postprocessor is scheduled for release in late 1987. It can lend considerable realism to pre viously recorded animations. In accordance with the design goals of the interactive graphics of GPSS/PC, the animation postpro cessor is designed to run with minimal hardware requirements, if necessary. This paper discusses the design alternatives leading to the im plementation of the interactive graphics in GPSS/PC, and the use and limitations of animated simulations.

DIGICALC: a restriction fragment analysis program.

DIGICALC is a program designed to aid in the acquisition, storage, and analysis of nucleic acid restriction fragment data. The chief considerations during program design were (i) ease of use for people with varying degrees of computer experience, (ii) minimal hardware requirements (e.g. an IBM PC), (iii) portability and ease of modification, and (iv) improved functionality in sizing and comparing restriction fragments over manual methods. The program accepts manual or digitizer input of nucleic acid fragment mobility, calculates the fragments' sizes, and provides the means to search the fragment database and to produce charts of fragment sizes.

Design and implementation of low-cost emulators for microprocessors

Most emulators currently available require a fairly complex host for their operation. The paper considers a low-cost software-intensive approach to emulator design for a variety of microprocessors. The (minimal) hardware requirements are described; then the software and operation of the emulator are discussed in detail. The execution of various types of command is analysed. Finally, the implementation of the emulator design is summarized.