Performance Of Electronic Systems Research Articles

Low-cost drifting buoys for surface water observations in wetlands

Low-cost technologies are needed in developing and least-developed countries to improve monitoring capabilities to determine the dispersion characteristics of inland and coastal waters. Thus, the objective of the paper is to describe the design and construction of a low-cost saucer-shaped drifter, including its internal electronics, remote-control unit, and software. The system can operate over short timescales and distances and is thus suitable for estimating dispersion coefficients and differential kinematic properties of the fluid. The drifter was constructed primarily from readily available plastic products. The main electronic components were a global positioning receiver, microcontroller, lithium-polymer battery, wireless communication module, and activation and battery status indicators. The electronic design simplifies operation because the stored positions can be transferred to a computer via a mini-universal serial bus port without having to open the buoy. In addition, communication between the control unit and saucer-shaped drifter and its memory enhances its operational capability in the field. Water tightness tests were successful, and the operation of electronics was tested at a wetland known as Estero Topila, Mexico, to infer dispersion characteristics using a trio of drifters. Agreement with the Richardson’s 4/3 power law provides reliability of the electronics system performance and measured data.

Iron Oxidation State Analysis in ESR Slag

It is shown that the value of the equilibrium oxygen partial pressure,Po2as a value available for measurements is possible to be taken as a measure of slag redox potential of, taking into account its electronic system performance. Application of the electromotive force method (EMF) allowed establishing the character of a change in the average oxidation state of iron νFedepending onPo2, the temperature and slag composition. The study of Mössbauer absorption spectra of quenched slag samples confirmed the possibility of simultaneous presence of iron in the flux in oxidation states from 0 to +3.

Signal integrity

Welcome to the Signal Integrity Column! In this issue, we will publish a summary by Prof. Mihai Telescu on SPI 2019. Mihai was the Chair of the 23rd IEEE Workshop on Signal and Power Integrity (SPI 2019) held in Chambery, France, on June 18 to 21, 2019. We have published a similar report before on the previous SPI Workshops, a well-known event in the field of Signal and Power Integrity held every year in Europe. It is one of a series of small conferences, including the IEEE Conference on Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and Systems (EPEPS) in the US and the IEEE Electrical Design of Advanced Packaging and Systems (EDAPS) Symposium in Asia. Together these conferences facilitate the gathering of researchers and engineers around the world to exchange ideas related to Signal and Power Integrity. The IEEE EMC Society has technically co-sponsored these conferences the past several years.

Total ionizing dose effects on innovative silicon-on-insulator static random access memory cell

The static random access memory (SRAM), as a common and important high-speed storage module in modern digital circuit systems, plays an important role in improving the performances of electronic systems. The data about the total ionizing dose (TID) radiation effect of SRAM cell have not been rich in the literature so far. In this work, a novel 6-transistor SRAM cell (6T LB SRAM cell) based on L-type gate body-contact (LB) MOSFET device is designed and fabricated by 130nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. The LB MOSFET follows the center-symmetric layout design of the SRAM cell, reducing the area by approximately 22% compared with the SRAM cell using the T-type gate MOSFET contact device (6T TB SRAM cell) of the same device size. The electrical performance difference between LB MOSFET and other devices is compared. Besides this, the variations of the leakage current and the reading static noise margin (RSNM) of SRAM cells based on different MOSFETs under various total ionizing doses are also investigated. The test results indicate that the LB MOS successfully suppresses the floating body effect (FBE), and that the drain-induced barrier lowing (DIBL) and drain-to-source breakdown voltage (BVds) characteristics are improved. The performance of this device is similar to that of TB MOS device, but due to the special body contact design, the former has an advantage of smaller area. Due to the use of the body contact device, the leakage current of the 6T LB SRAM cell is significantly smaller than that of the conventional floating device SRAM cell (6T FB SRAM cell), which has lower static power consumption. After <sup>60</sup>Co-γ ray irradiation, the 700 krad(Si) radiation dose only increases the leakage current of 6T LB SRAM cell by 21.9%, which is better than 41.4% of 6T FB SRAM cell. In addition, the 6T LB SRAM cell has an RSNM value similar to that of the 6T TB SRAM cell, and this is 1.93 times higher than the that of 6T FB SRAM cell. The radiation experiment causes the butterfly curve of the 6T FB SRAM cell to be asymmetrically deformed, and the stability of the SRAM cell is deteriorated due to the TID effect. However, the test results show that when the radiation dose reaches 700 krad (Si), the RSNM value of the 6T LB SRAM cell is reduced only by 11.2%. Therefore, 6T LB SRAM cell has stable and reliable practical value.

Time factor in critical modes of radio electronic system functioning

Introduction. At the present stage of the development of technical systems, it is important to predict their development, quality, and process characteristics. This also applies to radio electronic systems. Sufficiently unfavorable situations for the functioning of radio electronic systems arise in the context of information conflicts, when it becomes necessary to predict the consequences of information loss or the effect of deliberate interference on the capabilities of radio electronic systems. In critical situations the time factor plays a significant role. On the one hand, information that comes with a delay and loses its relevance. From another point of view, it is necessary to carry out the assigned task within the prescribed time. Thus, the task of determining time indicators of the functioning of radio electronic systems in critical regimes remains urgent and requires further research. Problem statement. Take into account that the effectiveness of the radio electronic systems functioning can be estimated by the performing the task probability. In the process of information flow this probability increases and asymptotically come close to one. In critical modes of operation due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of emerging situations the processing time of information increases. Thus the available information which is perceived by the system is different from the information that is provided by the regular mode. It is necessary to find out the influence of time on processing information on the regularity of the change in the probability of accomplishing the task. It is necessary to estimate the radio electronic operation time, which is necessary to perform the task. It is necessary to set restrictions on the processing time of information and to clarify the requirements for the main parameters that characterize the operation of radio electronic systems in critical modes. From a practical point of view it is necessary to compare real and potential indicators of radio electronic systems and to provide for the possibility of predicting the consequences of their functioning critical modes. Results. On the basis of the informational approach to the analysis of processes in radio electronic systems, the main relations regarding the necessary time of their work and the restrictions on the information delay time are established. Typical situations of critical operating modes of radio electronic systems and the effect of false or lost information on their qualitative characteristics are analyzed. Indicators of a systems operation stable mode are defined. System information analysis of processes using typical forecasting models and the method of analogies is carried out. The effectiveness of the radio electronic systems depends on the amount and value of information that comes to them in the process of functioning. Taking into account the peculiarities of the work of the radio electronic systems In critical operating modes, we will consider useful information and misleading or lost information. Analysis of the work of systems with feedback in the conditions of information delay, allowed to set limits on the permissible delay time, determine the efficiency and the required operating time of the systems. For systems with information losses in the information conflict context in conditions of information capacities increasing and delaying the reaction of one of the parties to the conflict the following indicators are established: real and potential systems efficiency; limitations on the possible efficiency of systems; admissible delay time of reaction by one of the parties to the conflict; necessary time for the performance of the assigned functional task. Conclusions. The obtained results show that in critical modes of the functioning of radio electronic systems, the factor influences both the radio electronic systems performance indicators and their potential capabilities. For information systems that extract information, it became possible to take into account the time that is necessary for processing information, use a typical predictive model for the regularity of increasing the information amount and determine the efficiency and necessary time of the system operating. These results can be used in the process of the radio electronic systems modernization and at the initial stage of radio electronic systems designing.

Adaptive finite time servo control for automotive electronic throttle with experimental analysis

In order to meet the rigorous requirement for transient and static performance of automobile electronic throttle control systems, an adaptive finite time servo control (AFTSC) strategy is investigated by integrating adaptive backstepping recursive technique into the framework of finite-time stability theory. The required transient performance of the throttle opening trajectory tracking is guaranteed theoretically by the finite convergence time and the convergence rate related to the adjustable control parameters. The static performance is enhanced by introducing the tracking error integral into the system state variables. The robustness of the satisfactory transient and static performance is improved by the adaptive update law in the light of system parameter uncertainties due to production deviations, different working conditions and aging. Meanwhile, the advantage of the proposed AFTSC strategy is validated by demonstrating the comparison results with the existing strategies both in the critical operating cases under Matlab/Simulink simulation environment and in the actual operating cases on the dSPACE rapid-control-prototype (RCP) test platform for a real electronic throttle system.

Demonetisation and Performance of Electronic Financial Service System of Banks in India

Demonetisation and Performance of Electronic Financial Service System of Banks in India

An Innovative Fuzzy based Multicriteria Decision Making Method for Evaluating the Performance of Electronic Exam Systems

This paper presents an innovative fuzzy-based multicriteria decision making method for evaluating the performance of appropriate electronic exam systems in the higher education environment. Linguistic terms are used for representing the decision maker's subjective assessments. To ensure the efficiency of the computation process, fuzzy numbers are used to approximate the linguistic terms in evaluating the relative importance of the evaluation criteria and the performance of individual electronic exam systems. To greatly reduce the cognitive demand on the decision maker, the pairwise comparison technique is adopted for evaluating the performance of alternative electronic exam systems and the relative importance of the evaluation criteria. The concept of ideal solutions is introduced for calculating an overall performance index for every electronic exam system alternative across all criteria. An example is presented for demonstrating the applicability of the fuzzy-based multicriteria decision making method.

An innovative fuzzy-based multicriteria decision making method for evaluating the performance of electronic exam systems

An innovative fuzzy-based multicriteria decision making method for evaluating the performance of electronic exam systems

Aerospace electronics reliability prediction: application of two advanced probabilistic techniques

AbstractTwo advanced probabilistic design‐for‐reliability (PDfR) techniques are addressed in application to the prediction, quantification and assurance of the reliability of aerospace electronics: 1) Boltzmann‐Arrhenius‐Zhurkov's (BAZ) model, which enables to develop a simple, easy‐to‐use and physically meaningful methodology for the evaluation of the probability of failure (PoF) of an electronic device after the given time in operation at the given temperature and under the given (anticipated) stress (not necessarily mechanical), and 2) Extreme Value Distribution (EVD) technique, which can be used to account for the number of repetitive loadings that eventually lead to the material/device failure by closing, in a step‐wise fashion, the gap between its strength/capacity (characterized and quantified by its stress‐free activation energy) and the applied stress/demand. It is shown that the material degradation (aging, damage accumulation, flaw propagation) can be viewed, when BAZ model is considered, as a Markovian process, and that the BAZ model can be obtained as the steady‐state solution to the Fokker‐Planck equation in the theory of Markovian processes. It is shown also that the BAZ equation addresses the worst and reasonably conservative situation in the lifetime of an electronic system. It is suggested therefore that the transient period preceding the situation addressed by the steady‐state BAZ model need not be accounted for in engineering evaluations. As to the EVD technique, this concept attributes the degradation process to the accumulation of damages caused by a train of repetitive high‐level loadings, while low‐level loadings do not contribute appreciably to the finite lifetime of the material/device. When considering the EVD technique, the stress‐free activation energy is treated as a normally distributed random variable, and Rayleigh law is chosen, for the sake of simplicity, as the basic (generating) distribution underlying the EVD. The general concepts are illustrated by numerical examples. It is concluded that the addressed techniques should be considered as natural, physically meaningful, informative, comprehensive, and insightful approaches, especially in aerospace engineering, when electronic systems performance is critical and therefore ability to quantify this performance is imperative. Because of the very nature of such performance, the quantification of the device lifetime should be carried out on the probabilistic basis. This analysis is an extension and modification of a talk presented at the 2009 IEEE Aerospace Conference in Big Sky, Montana, USA.

Enhanced Optical Coated Witness Plates for the in Situ Monitoring of Spacecraft Health

In the field of aerospace, contamination control is an engineering field that develops a strategy to mitigate molecular and particulate contamination effects on spacecraft performance. Molecular contamination is known as the hidden risk that interferes with the performance of optical, thermal, electronic, and mechanical systems. Traditional methods for monitoring spacecraft health involves the use of rinsate from a witness surface to collect molecular films known as non-volatile residues (NVR). In order to identify a chemical fingerprint of potential harmful contaminants, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) are tools for characterizing the NVR. Unfortunately, these passive characterization tools limit the ability to find problematic NVR during the early phases of the assembly of space flight hardware. A common method is the optical witness plate program that uses FTIR to monitor the collection of NVR within a 28 day period. The witness plate program has a limit of detection within several microns of NVR. Often nanometer thick molecular films can interfere with sensitive surfaces. In this work, we evaluate the use of enhanced optical coatings deposited onto witness surfaces as a practical sensing application to monitor the health of spacecraft. This method has the potential to enable in situ monitoring of spacecraft by utilizing the enhanced optical coated surfaces coupled with a portable Raman Spectrometer during the assembly, integration, and test phases to qualitatively identify egregious contaminants that may adversely impact spacecraft system cost and schedule.

Interface modification by irradiation with alpha particles

The performance of electronic devices and systems get degraded when they are exposed to radiation above a certain limit or over longer duration and the process is called radiation damage. The performance degradation is due to the damage caused to the interface by the radiation. The damage takes place in the form of dangling or unsatisfied bonds and, trapped charges, formed at the interface. Interfaces and surfaces cannot be ignored and are indispensable in many problems like creation of numerous semiconductor junctions while forming devices, in chemical reactions, intricate biological reactions and processes, and corrosions of material surfaces etc. Substrate surfaces and interface of substrates and oxides play a key role in the performance of the metal oxide/insulator semiconductor field effect transistor and various other similar types of devices. Surfaces are abrupt termination of one material and formation of a second material so the surfaces may have unsaturated chemical bonds forming chemically active surfaces. Even after growing a thin layer of other required material over it, all the unsaturated chemical bonds are not satisfied. Later these surfaces with unsaturated bonds play an important role in the performance reliability of the semiconductor devices. Annealing is one of the processes that is used to modify these unsaturated dangling bonds. This investigation is to explore the possibility of interface modification by alpha particle irradiation, after the fabrication of the interfaces/devices. Here we present a method to improve the interface of silicon and hafnium dioxide, through alpha particle irradiation. This method can be used to improve the interface quality even after fabrication process is over.

Application of Machine Learning for Optimization of 3-D Integrated Circuits and Systems

The 3-D integration helps improve performance and density of electronic systems. However, since electrical and thermal performance for 3-D integration is related to each other, their codesign is required. Machine learning, a promising approach in artificial intelligence, has recently shown promise for addressing engineering optimization problems. In this paper, we apply machine learning for the optimization of 3-D integrated systems where the electrical performance and thermal performance need to be analyzed together for maximizing performance. In such systems, modeling can be challenging due to the multiscale geometries involved, which increases computation time per iteration. In this paper, we show that machine learning can be applied to such systems where multiple parameters can be optimized to achieve the desired performance using the minimum number of iterations. These results have been compared with other promising optimization methods in this paper. The results show that on an average, 4.4%, 31.1%, and 6.9% improvement in temperature gradient, CPU time, and skew are possible using machine learning, as compared with other methods.

Transient Radar Method: Novel Illumination and Blind Electromagnetic/Geometrical Parameter Extraction Technique for Multilayer Structures

A novel technique enabling ultrafast nondestructive characterization of multilayer dielectric structures is proposed. Actual estimations indicate that the data acquisition performance of electronic measurement systems of today allow deep submillimeter depth resolution, almost independently of the frequency. For a 10 GHz signal, e.g., this corresponds to significant subwavelength depth resolution. By means of a novel blind analysis method of the time-dependent reflected electromagnetic (EM) signal, detailed information on the geometrical and EM parameters such as the complex valued dielectric permittivity and magnetic susceptibility of each layer of the structure can be extracted. We validate the novel technique for different materials in the 10 GHz range and compare the results obtained with S-parameter measurements in the 9.5–10.5 GHz range using a vector network analyzer. We will discuss the impact of nonidealities on the accuracy of the retrieved parameters. The novel technique has the potential for deployment in a wide range of applications ranging from the piping industry, wind energy industry, automotive, biotechnology, food industry, pharmacy, and so on.

Discrete sliding mode variable structure control over the rotating speed of marine diesel engines

This article presents a discrete sliding mode variable structure control used for the speed governing system of marine diesel engines. It is widely accepted that the steady operation of marine diesel engines plays an important role in ensuring the power quality of marine electronic system and good engine performance. In other words, it means that a speed governor with excellent performance is crucial to ensuring the steady rotating speed of a diesel engine. However, due to the fact that diesel engine normally has a complex structure and is often influenced by multiple and nonlinear factors, a traditional proportional integral differential controller cannot optimize the sailing parameters of ships, making it difficult to satisfy the requirements of the speed control for diesel engines under various operation conditions. In view of this problem, this article developed a nonlinear mathematical model of the speed governing system for diesel engines based on experimental tests. Moreover, a discrete sliding mode controller was designed by applying the discrete sliding mode variable structure control, and a simulation model was then developed under the Simulink environment, illustrating that the performance of the designed sliding mode controller is much better than a traditional proportional integral differential controller. Finally, a bench test used for the nonlinear speed governing system based on the discrete sliding mode variable structure control approach was carried out using the bench of a diesel engine Model 2135. The experimental results further illustrated that the discrete sliding mode variable structure controller showed some super advantages, such as smaller overshoot and error, faster response and stronger anti-jamming capability, when comparing with the traditional proportional integral differential controller.

Study of ionospheric scintillation characteristics in Australia with GNSS during 2011–2015

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of ionospheric scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective method to study characteristics of scintillation. In this paper, spatial-temporal statistical features of ionospheric scintillation are intensively studied based on GNSS scintillation data provided by Space Weather Service (SWS) in Australia. Most scintillation data are measured by observation stations in Australia region during 2011–2015. A data processing and analyzing framework is proposed to investigate scintillation features in this paper. General pictures of amplitude scintillation activities observed at different stations are first explored. It is found that scintillation activity presents a manifest seasonal variation at most stations during the researched time spans. The probabilities of amplitude scintillation of different intensities are also evaluated. In the experiment to investigate signal amplitude distributions, Nakagami-m and α-μ distribution models are applied to describe the measured amplitude distribution curves. The result shows that the α-μ model provides a more approximate description for the measured distributions. Kurtosis and information entropy are also calculated to further verify this conclusion. The proposed study is of great significance for a better understanding of ionospheric scintillation in the region of Australia, and for discovering the effects of scintillation on GNSS signals.

National trends in safety performance of electronic health record systems in children's hospitals.

To evaluate the safety of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and associated clinical decision support (CDS) systems in electronic health record (EHR) systems at pediatric inpatient facilities in the US using the Leapfrog Group's pediatric CPOE evaluation tool. The Leapfrog pediatric CPOE evaluation tool, a previously validated tool to assess the ability of a CPOE system to identify orders that could potentially lead to patient harm, was used to evaluate 41 pediatric hospitals over a 2-year period. Evaluation of the last available test for each institution was performed, assessing performance overall as well as by decision support category (eg, drug-drug, dosing limits). Longitudinal analysis of test performance was also carried out to assess the impact of testing and the overall trend of CPOE performance in pediatric hospitals. Pediatric CPOE systems were able to identify 62% of potential medication errors in the test scenarios, but ranged widely from 23-91% in the institutions tested. The highest scoring categories included drug-allergy interactions, dosing limits (both daily and cumulative), and inappropriate routes of administration. We found that hospitals with longer periods since their CPOE implementation did not have better scores upon initial testing, but after initial testing there was a consistent improvement in testing scores of 4 percentage points per year. Pediatric computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems on average are able to intercept a majority of potential medication errors, but vary widely among implementations. Prospective and repeated testing using the Leapfrog Group's evaluation tool is associated with improved ability to intercept potential medication errors.

Analysis of Ionospheric Scintillation Characteristics in Sub-Antarctica Region with GNSS Data at Macquarie Island.

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective medium to study characteristics of scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation varies greatly in relation with temporal and spatial distribution. In this paper, both temporal and spatial characteristics of scintillation are investigated based on Macquarie Island’s GNSS scintillation data collected from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that occurrence rates of amplitude scintillation have a close relationship with solar activity, while phase scintillation is more likely to be generated by geomagnetic activity. In addition, scintillation distribution behaviors related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed for both amplitude and phase scintillation. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of ionospheric scintillation in this region, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions around sub-Antarctica.

A Study on the Control Performance of Electronic Differential System for Four-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicles

The electronic differential system (EDS) is an important issue for four-wheel drive electric vehicles. This paper delineates an advanced EDS steering strategy and carries out a careful study of its control performance by numerical simulations that comply with the requirements of ISO4238:2012. The results demonstrate that the EDS feedback gain plays an important role to its control performance, particularly to its steering characteristics. Moreover, the analysis and discussion disclose the mechanism of the relationship between the feedback gain and the steering characteristics, which will contribute to further research and EDS development.

Foreword: Special Section on 3-D Integration

This IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Special Section on 3-D Integration addresses some key topics in the area of advanced system-level interconnection technologies with a focus on 3-D IC stacking based on through-silicon vias, 2.5-D integration using the silicon interposer technology, and photonic interconnections. These emerging interconnection technologies are driven by the need for improved communication bandwidth density and energy efficiency. It is well known that today, interconnects, both ON-chip and OFF-chip, have a major impact on the performance and energy efficiency of electronic systems. This realization has led to significant research and development in advanced materials, designs, architectures, integration approaches, and exploration of nontraditional communication approaches. Given the breadth and depth of this area, this Special Issue in no way covers all important topics. Rather, our intention is to provide a concise summary of the state-of-the-art in a few important areas and leave other topics for future issues.