Ratatoskr: An Open-Source Framework for In-Depth Power, Performance, and Area Analysis and Optimization in 3D NoCs

We introduce Ratatoskr , an open-source framework for in-depth power, performance, and area (PPA) analysis in Networks-on-Chips (NoCs) for 3D-integrated and heterogeneous System-on-Chips (SoCs). It covers all layers of abstraction by providing an NoC hardware implementation on Register Transfer Level (RTL), an NoC simulator on cycle-accurate level and an application model on transaction level. By this comprehensive approach, Ratatoskr can provide the following specific PPA analyses: Dynamic power of links can be measured within 2.4% accuracy of bit-level simulations while maintaining cycle-accurate simulation speed. Router power is determined from RTL-to-gate-level synthesis combined with cycle-accurate simulations. The performance of the whole NoC can be measured both via cycle-accurate and RTL simulations. The performance (i.e., timing) of individual routers and the NoC area are obtained from RTL synthesis results. Despite these manifold features, Ratatoskr offers easy two-step user interaction: (1) A single point-of-entry allows setting design parameters. (2) PPA reports are generated automatically. For both the input and the output, different levels of abstraction can be chosen for high-level rapid network analysis or low-level improvement of architectural details. The synthesizable NoC-RTL model shows improved total router power and area in comparison to a conventional standard router. As a forward-thinking and unique feature not found in other NoC PPA-measurement tools, Ratatoskr supports heterogeneous 3D integration that is one of the most promising integration paradigms for upcoming SoCs. Thereby, Ratatoskr lays the groundwork to design their communication architectures. The framework is publicly available at https://github.com/ratatoskr-project .

Neonicotinoid’s resistance monitoring, diagnostic mechanisms and cytochrome P450 expression in green peach aphid [Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)]

Green peach aphid [Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)] is a significant pest with a known history of insecticide resistance. Neonicotinoids could manage this pest; however, their frequent use led to the evolution of resistance in field populations of M. persicae. Toxicity data for neonicotinoid insecticides synergized with pipernyl butoxide (PBO) in a field population (FP) were collected and compared to a laboratory susceptible clone (SC) of aphids. The enhanced expression of metabolic resistance-related cytochrome P450 gene CYP6CY3 and an arginine-threonine substitution were detected in FP, causing a single point mutation (R81T) at β1 subunit of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) within D loop. High level of resistance to imidacloprid was developed in FP with 101-fold resistance ratio and moderate resistance level (10.9-fold) to acetamiprid. The results of PBO synergized bioassay suggested that cytochrome P450 enzymes were involved in the resistance to neonicotinoids. The mRNA transcriptional level of CYP6CY3 gene was significantly higher (3.74 fold) in FP compared to SC. The R81T mutation associated with neonicotinoid resistance had 26% resistant allele frequency in FP. Both P450 enzymes and R81T mutation of nAChR were found in field-evolved neonicotinoid resistance. It is concluded that field-evolved resistance in green peach aphid could be managed by using appropriate synergists such as PBO.

Electromagnetic Multi–Gaussian Speckle

Generalizing our prior work on scalar multi-Gaussian (MG) distributed optical fields, we introduce the two-dimensional instantaneous electric-field vector whose components are jointly MG distributed. We then derive the single-point Stokes parameter probability density functions (PDFs) of MG-distributed light having an arbitrary degree and state of polarization. We show, in particular, that the intensity contrast of such a field can be tuned to values smaller or larger than unity. We validate our analysis by generating an example partially polarized MG field with a specified single-point polarization matrix using two different Monte Carlo simulation methods. We then compute the joint PDFs of the instantaneous field components and the Stokes parameter PDFs from the simulated MG fields, while comparing the results of both Monte Carlo methods to the corresponding theory. Lastly, we discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and applicability of both simulation methods in generating MG fields.

A Novel Tool to Enhance The Lubricant Efficiency On Induction Heat-Assisted Incremental Sheet Forming of Ti-6Al-4V Sheets

For heat-assisted single point incremental sheet forming (SPIF) works of Ti-6Al-4V sheets, the use of lubricant has shown significant effects on surface quality and geometric accuracy at higher temperatures. Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) is a common lubricant widely used in SPIF works, however, it usually indicates ineffective performance at high temperatures. This article has studied different lubricants of MoS2 lubricants and proposed a novel mixture of MoS2 to provide better surface quality and improve geometric accuracy. A forming tool with a ball-roller and water channel was designed to enable the MoS2 mixture to pass through the tool tip, allowing easy application of the lubricant on the localised area and reduce the thermal expansion on the ball-roller. Surface roughness analysis has revealed that the water-cooling MoS2 mixture performed well in reducing friction effects and achieved better geometric accuracy. Forming forces measurements, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDX) and micro-hardness tests also indicated that a higher strain hardening behaviour was detected for the water-cooling MoS2 mixture.

Navigation in GEO, HEO, and Lunar Trajectory Using Multi-GNSS Sidelobe Signals

Positioning of spacecraft (e.g., geostationary orbit (GEO), high elliptical orbit (HEO), and lunar trajectory) is crucial for mission completion. Instead of using ground control systems, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can be an effective approach to provide positioning, navigation and timing service for spacecraft. In 2020, China finished the construction of the third generation of BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS-3); this global coverage system will contribute better sidelobe signal visibility for spacecraft. Meanwhile, with more than 100 GNSS satellites, multi-GNSS navigation performance on the spacecraft is worth studying. In this paper, instead of using signal-in-space ranging errors, we simulate pseudorange observations with measurement noises varying with received signal powers. Navigation performances of BDS-3 and its combinations with other systems were conducted. Results showed that, owing to GEO and inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellites, all three types (GEO, HEO, and lunar trajectory) of spacecraft received more signals from BDS-3 than from other navigation systems. Single point positioning (SPP) accuracy of the GEO and HEO spacecraft was 17.7 and 23.1 m, respectively, with BDS-3 data alone. Including the other three systems, i.e., GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS, improved the SPP accuracy by 36.2% and 19.9% for GEO and HEO, respectively. Navigation performance of the lunar probe was significantly improved when receiver sensitivity increased from 20 dB-Hz to 15 dB-Hz. Only dual- (BDS-3/GPS) or multi-GNSS (BDS-3, GPS, Galileo, GLONASS) could provide continuous navigation solutions with a receiver threshold of 15 dB-Hz.

A Robust GNSS/PDR Integration Scheme with GRU-Based Zero-Velocity Detection for Mass-Pedestrians

Aiming at the problem of high-precision positioning of mass-pedestrians with low-cost sensors, a robust single-antenna Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)/Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) integration scheme is proposed with Gate Recurrent Unit (GRU)-based zero-velocity detector. Based on the foot-mounted pedestrian navigation system, the error state extended Kalman filter (EKF) framework is used to fuse GNSS position, zero-velocity state, barometer elevation, and other information. The main algorithms include improved carrier phase smoothing pseudo-range GNSS single-point positioning, GRU-based zero-velocity detection, and adaptive fusion algorithm of GNSS and PDR. Finally, the scheme was tested. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the horizontal error in the open and complex environments is lower than 1 m and 1.5 m respectively. In the indoor elevation experiment where the elevation difference of upstairs and downstairs exceeds 25 m, the elevation error is lower than 1 m. This result can provide technical reference for the accurate and continuous acquisition of public pedestrian location information.

Riemann Zeta Based Surge Modelling of Continuous Real Functions in Electrical Circuits

Riemann zeta is defined as a function of a complex variable that analytically continues the sum of the Dirichlet series, when the real part is greater than unity. In this paper, the Riemann zeta associated with the finite energy possessed by a 2mm radius, free falling water droplet, crashing into a plane is considered. A modified zeta function is proposed which is incorporated to the spherical coordinates and real analysis has been performed. Through real analytic continuation, the single point of contact of the drop at the instant of touching the plane is analyzed. The zeta function is extracted at the point of destruction of the drop, where it defines a unique real function. A special property is assumed for some continuous functions, where the function’s first derivative and first integral combine together to a nullity at all points. Approximate reverse synthesis of such a function resulted in a special waveform named the dying-surge. Extending the proposed concept to general continuous real functions resulted in the synthesis of the corresponding function’s Dying-surge model. The Riemann zeta function associated with the water droplet can also be modeled as a dying–surge. The Dying- surge model corresponds to an electrical squeezing or compression of a waveform, which was originally defined over infinite arguments, squeezed to a finite number of values for arguments placed very close together with defined final and penultimate values. Synthesized results using simulation software are also presented, along with the analysis. The presence of surges in electrical circuits will correspond to electrical compression of some unknown continuous, real current or voltage function and the method can be used to estimate the original unknown function.

Decentralized Inner-Product Encryption with Constant-Size Ciphertext

With the rise of technology in recent years, more people are studying distributed system architecture, such as the e-government system. The advantage of this architecture is that when a single point of failure occurs, it does not cause the system to be invaded by other attackers, making the entire system more secure. On the other hand, inner product encryption (IPE) provides fine-grained access control, and can be used as a fundamental tool to construct other cryptographic primitives. Lots of studies for IPE have been proposed recently. The first and only existing decentralized IPE was proposed by Michalevsky and Joye in 2018. However, some restrictions in their scheme may make it impractical. First, the ciphertext size is linear to the length of the corresponding attribute vector; second, the number of authorities should be the same as the length of predicate vector. To cope with the aforementioned issues, we design the first decentralized IPE with constant-size ciphertext. The security of our scheme is proven under the ℓ-DBDHE assumption in the random oracle model. Compared with Michalevsky and Joye’s work, ours achieves better efficiency in ciphertext length and encryption/decryption cost.

Simultaneous Descriptors of Research Design

Many students are not aware that research design can be simultaneously described in many different ways; for example, a drug trial may be described as being prospective, longitudinal, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled, all at the same time. This article provides examples to explain how studies can be simultaneously prospective and cross-sectional, prospective and longitudinal, retrospective and cross-sectional, and retrospective and longitudinal. The term prospective indicates that the study data are newly collected, whereas the term retrospective indicates that the study data already exist in records and merely need to be extracted for study. The term cross-sectional indicates that the study subjects are studied on a single occasion; that is, at a single point in time. The term longitudinal indicates that the study subjects are followed up and that there is almost always more than one time point at which the subjects are assessed. This article also describes unusual designs, such as cross-sectional randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies with prospective data ascertainment.

Multielement Imaging Reveals the Diagenetic Features and Varied Water Redox Conditions of a Lacustrine Dolomite Nodule

The genesis of dolostone has long been puzzling for more than two centuries. Although much work has been done on investigating the process of dolomitization, little emphasis has been put on examining the diagenetic water redox condition with the wealthy geochemical information preserved in primary dolomite, which is believed to archive the aqueous environment as well as biotic and/or abiotic effects during formation. In situ interpretation with high resolution is a prerequisite in refined research of dolomite. Here, we reported the multielement imaging results of a lacustrine dolomite nodule with the host black shale from the Songliao Basin, northeast of China. Micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) with a spatial resolution down to 10 μm was used for in situ scanning. Two key parameter settings of the μ-XRF, including single-point exposure time and spatial resolution, were optimized to achieve a better result in a reasonable scanning time scale. The final imaging data graphically revealed dynamic variation of elemental distributions, including elements enriched in dolomite (e.g., Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn), clastic quartz (Si), and clay minerals (e.g., Al and K) and redox-sensitive trace elements (e.g., Cr, Mo, V, and U). The well-preserved laminated structures inside the nodule and the features with a magnesium-rich core wrapped with an iron-concentric outer layer and a manganese-concentric shell together indicated its primary form as dolomite and a gradual transformation into ankerite as well as manganese-ankerite. The elemental variation indicates a varied bottom water redox condition, which involved from sulfidic to ferruginous and manganous zones. Here, we propose that the intermittent supplies of sulfate and Fe-/Mn-oxidized minerals interrupting the black shale deposition while favoring dolomitization might be brought by the oxidized and salted seawater. And this lacustrine dolomite is expected to be a potential fingerprint mineral in tracking the seawater intrusions to the Songliao Basin which happened 91 million years ago.