VLSI and Circuits, Embedded and Hardware Systems Commons^™

Design Of A Bandgap Voltage Reference, Nicolaus Vail

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis details the design process of a bandgap voltage reference (BGR) integrated circuit in a 180 nm CMOS process. A BGR provides a constant DC voltage across a range of operating temperatures and supply voltages. By its nature, the circuit is intended as a reference, not to provide current, so the output would be connected to a very high impedance, such as the gate of a transistor. At 27°C, this design provides a 955 mV reference voltage given a nominal VDD of 3 V. From 20°C to 175°C, the output voltage has a variance of 7.2 mV (approximately 0.8%) …

Design & Analysis Of Mixed-Mode Integrated Circuit For Pulse-Shape Discrimination, Bryan Orabutt

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In nuclear science experiments it is usually necessary to determine the type of radiation, its energy and direction with considerable accuracy. The detection of neutrons and discriminating them from gamma rays is particularly difficult. A popular method of doing so is to measure characteristics intrinsic to the pulse shape of each radiation type in order to perform pulse-shape discrimination (PSD).

Historically, PSD capable systems have been designed with two approaches in mind: specialized analog circuitry, or digital signal processing (DSP). In this work we propose a PSD capable circuit topology using techniques from both the analog and DSP domains. We …

Incorporating In Situ Measurements Of Energy Into A Designed Method Of Detection Of Radiation Induced Degradation In Embedded Systems, Delwyn Sam

Honors Theses

An embedded system, or a system-on-chip (SOC), is a miniaturized computer that combines hardware and software to accomplish a certain purpose. Embedded systems are used in various applications from household appliances to the automobile industry. Additionally, SOCs are used in space environments where the surroundings consist of radiation and extreme temperatures. In these harsh conditions, embedded systems must operate properly through the effects of radiation such as total ionizing dose (TID). Because embedded systems are filled with various components and modules, and since the internal signals of the system are often inaccessible, methods to locate which specific parts of the …

Automatic Testing Of Organic Strain Gauge Tactile Sensors., Brian P. Goulet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human-Robot Interaction is a developing field of science, that is posed to augment everything we do in life. Skin sensors that can detect touch, temperature, distance, and other physical interaction parameters at the human-robot interface are very important to enhancing the collaboration between humans and machines. As such, these sensors must be efficiently tested and characterized to give accurate feedback from the sensor to the robot. The objective of this work is to create a diversified software testing suite that removes as much human intervention as possible. The tests and methodology discussed here provide multiple realistic scenarios that the sensors …

Junction Temperature Estimation Of Silicon Carbide Power Module Using Internal Gate Resistance As Temperature Sensitive Electrical Parameter, Michael Sykes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The junction temperature of a power module is measured non-intrusively and uninterrupted in its application by analyzing the dependency of gate resistance to temperature. The circuit configuration proposed consists of altering the gate loop path and adding a basic peak detection circuit with an added low-pass filter to accurately measure the small differences seen during a temperature change on the internal gate resistance. The testing on this Silicon Carbide power module shows that the internal gate resistance has a positive temperature coefficient. This causes the current and the voltage drop on the gate loop sensing resistance to reduce as the …

Photoassisted Nanoscale Memory Resistors, Amir Shariffar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Memristors or memory resistors are promising two-terminal devices, which have the potential to revolutionize current electronic memory technologies. Memristors have been extensively investigated and reported to be practical devices, although they still suffer from poor stability, low retention time, and laborious fabrication processes.

The primary aim of this project was to achieve a device structure of quantum dots or thin films to address a fundamental challenge of unstable resistive switching behavior in memristors. Moreover, we aimed to investigate the effects of light illumination in terms of intensity and wavelength on the performance of the fabricated memristor. The parameters such as …

Framework Of Hardware Trojan Detection Leveraging Structural Checking Tool, Rafael Dacanay Del Carmen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since there is a significant demand for obtaining third-party soft Intellectual Property (IP) by first-party integrated circuit (IC) vendors, it is becoming easier for adversaries to insert malicious logic known as hardware Trojans into designs. Due to this, vendors need to find ways to screen the third-party IPs for possible security threats and then mitigate them. The development of the Structural Checking (SC) tool provides a solution to this issue. This tool analyzes the structure of an unknown soft IP design and creates a network of all the signals within the design and how they are connected to each other. …

Combat Robot, Wayne Lambert, Elijah Harris, Brian Eiseman, Jordan Meyer

ONU Student Research Colloquium

The senior capstone project that was tasked to the team was the decision of choosing a challenge within a national robotics competition. The group decided to compete at the National Robotics Challenge in Marion, Ohio. The idea was to participate in the combat robot competition at this NRC event. Once this decision had been made the next steps were to get an idea of what the rules and requirements of the competition were and to try and to sketch a very rough drawing of what the ideal robot should look like. From there it was decided to start a timeline …

Single Event Transient Sensitivity Measurement And Worst-Case Test Vector Exploration For Asic Devices Exposed To Space Single Event Environment, Mohamed Wael

Theses and Dissertations

Space radiation and nuclear reactors produce single event effects (SEE) in electronic circuits and impact their performance. The SEE phenomena cause circuits and electronic devices to fail by producing faulty results. Therefore, today’s circuit’s reliability is a significant concern for all circuit designers.

This thesis suggests a new automated flow to measure the single-event-transient (SET) effects in combinational circuits in application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) while reaching full fault coverage. The developed flow characterizes the whole circuit nodes by identifying the most sensitive paths to the propagated SET pulses from the node under test to an observable primary output, causing single …

Modeling And Control Of Direct-Conversion Hybrid Switched-Capacitor Dc-Dc Converters, Ziyu Xia

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Efficient power delivery is increasingly important in modern computing, communications, consumer and other electronic systems, due to the high power demand and thermal concerns accompanied by performance advancements and tight packaging. In pursuit of high efficiency, small physical volume, and flexible regulation, hybrid switched-capacitor topologies have emerged as promising candidates for such applications. By incorporating both capacitors and inductors as energy storage elements, hybrid topologies achieve high power density while still maintaining soft charging and efficient regulation characteristics. However, challenges exist in the hybrid approach. In terms of reliability, each flying capacitor should be maintained at a nominal `balanced' voltage …

The Design Of Cmos Front-End Amplifiers For Electrical Impedance Applications, Yueh-Ching Teng

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a medical imaging methodology that does not need any kind of ionizing radiation. It is significantly cheaper and smaller than Computerized Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). These advantages make EIT particularly suitable for emerging applications like the continuous medical imaging and telemonitoring of organ function. Current bench-top EIT systems are bulky and require shielded cables to interface with measurement electrodes. The cable introduces parasitic capacitances which shunt the desired signals and degrade the accuracy of the measurements. A EIT system based on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) can reduce the parasitic and stray capacitance …

Autonomous Coffee Brewing System, Lillian Gonzalez, Landon Miller, Tyler Moff, Benjamin Vitu

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Coffee consumers want an affordable, high-quality cup of coffee that takes minimal time to brew and does not excessively contribute plastic to landfills. A fully autonomous system which utilizes whole coffee beans, water, and filters to brew coffee was designed to meet this need. This system accepts user requests which specify the brew’s portion size, water temperature, and brew strength, as well as the time which the system should begin the brewing process. Occasional maintenance to empty the system’s built-in waste receptacle or resupply the system with water, coffee beans, or filters is the only user intervention required. This report …

Smart Bike Aftermarket System (Sbams), Noah Lamadanie, Jack Bullock, Dawson Beachy, John Albrecht

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Smart Bike Aftermarket System will be a set of connected modules, which, when installed on a standard bicycle, will allow it to mimic some of the safety and quality-of-life functionalities of an E-bike. The most notable of these safety features is an ability to detect vehicles approaching from behind and alert the user of potential collisions. The system will also implement lighting (Headlights, taillights, and turn signals), and a coupled application so a user can view more advanced information about their cycling. The primary advantage of this system over a standard E-bike is that it will have a lower …

Energy-Efficient And Secure Hardware Using Adiabatic Logic And Non-Volatile Mtj Devices, Zachary Kahleifeh

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Internet of Things (IoT) is a collection of devices that exchange data through a network to implement complex applications. IoT devices increase the quality of life of their user base which has a wide variety such as the medical field, consumer electronics, and the manufacturing sector. However, IoT devices have several challenges that need to be overcome namely, security and energy consumption. The threat vector that IoT devices face is growing and includes the following threats, the leakage of information through a side-channel attack known as the Correlation Power Analysis (CPA), authentication, piracy, etc. A side-channel attack is an attack …

Machine Learning Approach To Stability Analysis Of Semiconductor Memory Element, Ravindra Thanniru, Gautam Kapila, Nibhrat Lohia

SMU Data Science Review

Memory stability analysis traditionally relied heavily on circuit simulation-based approaches that run Monte Carlo (MC) analysis over various manufacturing and use condition parameters. This paper researches application of Machine Learning approaches for memory element failure analysis which could mimic simulation-like accuracy and minimize the need for engineers to rely heavily on simulators for their validations. Both regressor and classifier algorithms are benchmarked for accuracy and recall scores. A high recall score implies fewer escapes of fails to field and is the metric of choice for comparing algorithm. The paper identifies that recall score in excess of 0.97 can be achieved …

Design, Extraction, And Optimization Tool Flows And Methodologies For Homogeneous And Heterogeneous Multi-Chip 2.5d Systems, Md Arafat Kabir

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chip and packaging industries are making significant progress in 2.5D design as a result of increasing popularity of their application. In advanced high-density 2.5D packages, package redistribution layers become similar to chip Back-End-of-Line routing layers, and the gap between them scales down with pin density improvement. Chiplet-package interactions become significant and severely affect system performance and reliability. Moreover, 2.5D integration offers opportunities to apply novel design techniques. The traditional die-by-die design approach neither carefully considers these interactions nor fully exploits the cross-boundary design opportunities.

This thesis presents chiplet-package cross-boundary design, extraction, analysis, and optimization tool flows and methodologies for high-density …

Indoor Positioning Using Synchronized Ultrasonic Ofdma Signals, Julian Bartolone

Master's Theses

This paper proposes a method of short-range indoor localization using differential phase measurements of synchronized two-tone ultrasonic signals in an Orthogonal Frequency Multiple Access (OFDMA) scheme. This indoor positioning system (IPS) operates at an ultrasonic frequency of approximately 40kHz and synchronizes using an infrared signal. The OFDMA scheme allows for a receiver to process the signals from multiple transmitters continuously without the signals interfering with each other. The phases of the signals are measured using Goertzel Filters, allowing for low-complexity frequency content analysis. A MATLAB simulation using the proposed localization method is performed using four transmitter nodes in the corners …

Creating Reel Designs: Reflecting On Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita In The Community, Iris Layadi

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Because of its extreme rarity, the genetic disease arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) and the needs of individuals with the diagnosis are often overlooked. AMC refers to the development of nonprogressive contractures in disparate areas of the body and is characterized by decreased flexibility in joints, muscle atrophy, and developmental delays. Colton Darst, a seven-year-old boy from Indianapolis, Indiana, was born with the disorder, and since then, he has undergone numerous surgical interventions and continues to receive orthopedic therapy to reduce his physical limitations. His parents, Michael and Amber Darst, have hopes for him to regain his limbic motion and are …

A 12-Bit 1gs/S Sar-Assisted Pipeline Adc With Harmonic Injecting Residue Amplifier, Liang Fang

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Advanced wireless applications require a medium resolution Radio Frequency (RF) sampling Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). By performing sampling of ADC at RF frequency, the mixer and Intermediate Frequency (IF) amplifier can be implemented in the digital domain, which helps the receiver eliminate troublesome mixing spurs and potentially improves the software-defined ratio of the entire system. By combing the merits of the energy-efficient Successive Approximation Register (SAR) ADC and the high-speed pipeline ADC, the SAR-assisted pipeline ADC achieves superior performance in high-speed medium-resolution ADC. However, with the advance of the process, due to the pure analog implementation, the residue amplifier …

Expanding Temperature Sensing For The Orion Bms 2, Samuel J. Parker

University Honors Theses

Formula SAE (FSAE) is an annual collegiate design competition that takes place across the globe. Portland State University’s team, Viking Motorsports, was committed to designing an Electric Vehicle (EV) for the 2021 FSAE competition. The team designed a completely custom lithium-ion cell battery that is managed by an Orion BMS 2 battery management system. The FSAE rulebook requires a robust temperature monitoring system for any EV power supply. The Orion BMS 2 can only directly collect data from eight temperature sensors, which is not enough to meet FSAE regulation. However, the BMS can be configured to monitor many more sensors …