Architectural Holarchy of the Next Generation Manufacturing System

Nowadays, the global energy network can generate and transmit, between any two points belonging to it, high quantity of energy. During recent years, a global information network, able to process, store, and transmit huge amounts of information, has been developed as well. These networks entirely cover the industrial space, already giving the opportunity to make permanently available, in any of its points, at any time, as much as needed, both energy and information. On the other hand, the mass customization trend has led to the pronounced increase of “manufacturing to order” (MTO) production, taking place in a higher and higher number of small & medium enterprises. At this level, a given manufacturing system cannot be quickly and appropriately configured to a given product, due to production high variability in range. As consequence, the manufacturing system is, quite always, more or less unadjusted to the manufactured product, its performance being significantly affected. Starting from here, the challenge is to make a conceptual rebuilding of the manufacturing system, aiming to increase its degree of appropriateness to products, by taking advantage from the opportunities brought by the existence of global energy & information networks. This paper approach is to see the next generation manufacturing system as holonic modular cyber-physical system. System architecture permanently accords to the manufactured product requirements. The function, procedure, topology and holarchy model of the system are presented. The main features of the system are also revealed.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Optimisation Framework for Positive Energy Blocks for Cities

The Positive Energy Block (PEBlock) is a new paradigm towards low-carbon cities. However, there is a paucity of literature about methods and tools to develop PEBlocks in practice. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision making optimisation framework for PEBlocks for cities. It explores PEBlock scenarios based on adaptable criteria and actions applied to a block composed of three school buildings, where only one acts as a positive node of the future energy network. Findings point out the flexibility of PEBlock scenarios; firstly, selecting a list of 21 potential positive energy scenarios among 300 possible combinations concerning the block analysed, secondly, individuating the optimal solution and finally, comparing it with others based on the weight assigned to the criteria. This study contributes to understanding the emerging properties concerning PEBlocks, discussing their features and stressing main peculiarities compared to other models (e.g., positive energy districts). It also emphasises the PEBlock as a feasible and reliable energy infrastructure to support new urban organisations (e.g., self-organised energy communities), drawing future developments and implications. Limitations associated with this study are also stressed in the conclusion.

Bubble NoC – A Low Energy Network-on-Chip with Small Footprint and High Performance

<div>The Bubble NoC is based on simplicity and provides outstanding performance. Flow control is implemented by <i>bubbles</i>, which are inserted between the flits. The logic resembles a traffic situation where a vehicle only moves if the next position is empty. When a flit moves, a bubble is created behind it, and when there is a blocking the bubbles are collapsed as the flits behind are packed together. Even when the Bubble NoC is saturated, it degrades gracefully, and the execution continues.</div><div> Deterministic prerouting is used, with the address stored as markers in a 2 out of 32 code. The routing algorithm shifts the address one step at each hop and turns or finishes when a marker starts the address.</div><div> The physical implementation is a mesh of <i>streets</i> containing duplex links of 38 wires carrying 32-bit payload. Signaling is based on current injection that charges the wires. A switch is placed in a four-way crossing, with a fifth local connection into a street. The switch contains input registers for each approaching street. Straight through traffic is simply passed on, and a diagonal gate is used for turning traffic.</div><div> All switches are bidirectional transmission gates, and the control is distributed as a sidewalk in a few µm of the periphery surrounding the intersection. In a 14 nm technology, the streets are 8 μm wide, the crossing is 17 μm in square, the hop frequency 6.67 GHz and the energy for a datapath 4.1 fJ/bit/hop (150 µm).</div>

Bubble NoC – A Low Energy Network-on-Chip with Small Footprint and High Performance

<div>The Bubble NoC is based on simplicity and provides outstanding performance. Flow control is implemented by <i>bubbles</i>, which are inserted between the flits. The logic resembles a traffic situation where a vehicle only moves if the next position is empty. When a flit moves, a bubble is created behind it, and when there is a blocking the bubbles are collapsed as the flits behind are packed together. Even when the Bubble NoC is saturated, it degrades gracefully, and the execution continues.</div><div> Deterministic prerouting is used, with the address stored as markers in a 2 out of 32 code. The routing algorithm shifts the address one step at each hop and turns or finishes when a marker starts the address.</div><div> The physical implementation is a mesh of <i>streets</i> containing duplex links of 38 wires carrying 32-bit payload. Signaling is based on current injection that charges the wires. A switch is placed in a four-way crossing, with a fifth local connection into a street. The switch contains input registers for each approaching street. Straight through traffic is simply passed on, and a diagonal gate is used for turning traffic.</div><div> All switches are bidirectional transmission gates, and the control is distributed as a sidewalk in a few µm of the periphery surrounding the intersection. In a 14 nm technology, the streets are 8 μm wide, the crossing is 17 μm in square, the hop frequency 6.67 GHz and the energy for a datapath 4.1 fJ/bit/hop (150 µm).</div>

Optimized Regulation of Hybrid Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage System for Zero-Carbon-Emission Micro-Energy Network

Improving electricity and heat utilization can speed up China’s decarbonization process in the northwest villages on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In this paper, we proposed an architecture with zero-carbon-emission micro-energy network (ZCE-MEN) to increase the reliability and flexibility of heat and electricity. The advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage system (AA-CAES) hybrid with solar thermal collector (STC) is defined as hybrid adiabatic compressed air energy storage system (HA-CAES). The ZCE-MEN adopts HA-CAES as the energy hub, which is integrated with power distribution network (PDN) and district heating network (DHN). The STC can greatly improve the efficiency of HA-CAES. Furthermore, it can provide various grades of thermal energy for the residents. The design scheme of HA-CAES firstly considers the thermal dynamics and pressure behavior to assess its heating and power capacities. The optimal operating strategy of ZCE-MEN is modeled as mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) and converts this problem into a mixed-integer linear programming problem (MILP) that can be solved by CPLEX. The simulation results show that the energy hub based on HA-CAES proposed in this paper can significantly improve ZCE-MEN efficiency and reduce its operation costs. Compared with conventional AA-CAES, the electric to electric (E-E) energy conversion efficiency of the proposed system is increased to 65.61%, and the round trip efficiency of the system is increased to 70.18%. Besides, operating costs have been reduced by 4.78% in comparison with traditional micro-energy network (MEN).

Transformational Ability of Energy Network Companies: The Role of Institutional Logics and Boundary Spanners

Energy network companies play a vital role in energy transitions. The transformational ability of these companies influences the process of energy transitions and the effectiveness of policies in this domain. This study shows the need for managers of network companies as well as scholars and policy makers operating in the midst of energy transitions to acknowledge the importance and value of boundary spanners in improving the transformation ability of these companies to play their role in facilitating energy transitions. Evidence comes from an in-depth analysis of an energy network company in the Netherlands. Our findings show that the transformation ability of energy network companies depends on various instances of boundary spanning as these organizations address differing or conflicting intra- and inter-organizational institutional logics when contributing to an energy transition. In the context of energy transitions, inter-organizational boundary spanning generally demands more resources and attention than the spanning of intra-organizational boundaries. Additionally, intra-organizational boundaries affect inter-organizational relationships, particularly in the policy arena. Our findings indicate that to carry out the type of institutional change that an energy transition requires, more attention and resources should be dedicated to intra-organizational boundary spanning, even as the need to connect external stakeholders increases.