Integrated parallelization of computations and visualization for large-scale applications

Critical applications like cyclone tracking and earthquake modeling require simultaneous high-performance simulations and online visualization for timely analysis. Faster simulations and simultaneous visualization enable scientists provide real-time guidance to decision makers. In this work, we have developed an integrated user-driven and automated steering framework that simultaneously performs numerical simulations and efficient online remote visualization of critical weather applications in resource-constrained environments. It considers application dynamics like the criticality of the application and resource dynamics like the storage space, network bandwidth and available number of processors to adapt various application and resource parameters like simulation resolution, simulation rate and the frequency of visualization. We formulate the problem of finding an optimal set of simulation parameters as a linear programming problem. This leads to 30% higher simulation rate and 25-50% lesser storage consumption than a naive greedy approach. The framework also provides the user control over various application parameters like region of interest and simulation resolution. We have also devised an adaptive algorithm to reduce the lag between the simulation and visualization times. Using experiments with different network bandwidths, we find that our adaptive algorithm is able to reduce lag as well as visualize the most representative frames.

Integrated magnetics based multi-port bidirectional DC-DC converter topology for discontinuous-mode operation

A new type of multi-port isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter is proposed in this study. In the proposed converter, transfer of power takes place through addition of magnetomotive forces generated by multiple windings on a common transformer core. This eliminates the need for a centralised storage capacitor to interface all the ports. Hence, the requirement of an additional power transfer stage from the centralised capacitor can also be eliminated. The converter can be used for a multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) system. A pulse width modulation (PWM) strategy for controlling simultaneous power flow in the MIMO converter is also proposed. The proposed PWM scheme works in the discontinuous conduction mode. The leakage inductance can be chosen to aid power transfer. By using the proposed converter topology and PWM scheme, the need to compute power flow equations to determine the magnitude and direction of power flow between ports is alleviated. Instead, a simple controller structure based on average current control can be used to control the power flow. This study discusses the operating phases of the proposed multi-port converter along with its PWM scheme, the design process for each of the ports and finally experimental waveforms that validate the multi-port scheme.

A 12 V Substrate-Integrated PbO2-Activated Carbon Asymmetric Hybrid Ultracapacitor with Silica-Gel-Based Inorganic-Polymer Electrolyte

A 12 V Substrate-Integrated PbO2-Activated Carbon hybrid ultracapacitor (SI-PbO2-AC HUCs) with silica-gel sulfuric acid electrolyte is developed and performance tested. The performance of the silica-gel based hybrid ultracapacitor is compared with flooded and AGM-based HUCs. These HUCs comprise substrate-integrated PbO2 (SI-PbO2) as positive electrodes and high surface-area activated carbon with dense graphite-sheet substrate as negative electrodes. 12 V SI-PbO2-AC HUCs with flooded, AGM and gel electrolytes are found to have capacitance values of 308 F, 184 F, and 269 F at C-rate and can be pulse charged and discharged for 100,000 cycles with only a nominal decrease in their capacitance values. The best performance is exhibited by gel-electrolyte HUCs.

InSt: an integrated steering framework for critical weather applications

Online remote visualization and steering of critical weather applications like cyclone tracking are essential for effective and timely analysis by geographically distributed climate science community. A steering framework for controlling the high-performance simulations of critical weather events needs to take into account both the steering inputs of the scientists and the criticality needs of the application including minimum progress rate of simulations and continuous visualization of significant events. In this work, we have developed an integrated user-driven and automated steering framework InSt for simulations, online remote visualization, and analysis for critical weather applications. InSt provides the user control over various application parameters including region of interest, resolution of simulation, and frequency of data for visualization. Unlike existing efforts, our framework considers both the steering inputs and the criticality of the application, namely, the minimum progress rate needed for the application, and various resource constraints including storage space and network bandwidth to decide the best possible parameter values for simulations and visualization.

Design and analysis of integrated optic waveguide delay line for beamforming applications

This paper presents a new approach for Optical Beam steering using 1-D linear arrays of curved wave guides as delay line. The basic structure for generating delay is the curved/bent waveguide and hence its Analytical modelling involves evaluation of mode profiles, propagation constants and losses become important. This was done by solving the dispersion equation of a bent waveguide with specific refractive index profiles. The phase shifts due to S-bends are obtained and results are compared with theoretical values. Simulations in 2-D are done using BPM and Matlab.

Design of S bend waveguides for delay line applications in integrated optics

A novel scheme for generation of phase using optical delay lines is proposed. The design of the optical components in the circuit which includes the S bend waveguides and straight waveguide couplers are very important for integrated optics. Beam propagation Method and MatLab is employed for the design.

AFM cantilever with integrated piezoelectric thin film for micro-actuation

This work presents micro-actuation of atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers using piezoelectric Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin film. In tapping mode AFM, the cantilever is driven near its resonant frequency by an external oscillator such as piezotube or stack of piezoelectric material. Use of integrated piezoelectric thin film for AFM cantilever eliminates the problems like inaccurate tuning and unwanted vibration modes. In this work, silicon AFM cantilevers were sputter deposited with ZnO piezoelectric film along with top and bottom metallic electrodes. The self-excitation of the ZnO coated AFM cantilever was studied using Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). At its resonant frequency (227.11 kHz), the cantilever displacement varies linearly with applied excitation voltage. We observed an increase in the actuation response (131nm/V) due to improved quality of ZnO films deposited at 200 degrees C.

Flexible Phynox Alloy with Integrated Piezoelectric Thin Film for Micro Actuation Application

In this paper, we report on the application aspect of piezoelectric ZnO thin film deposited on flexible phynox alloy substrate. Highly crystalline piezoelectric ZnO thin films were deposited by RF reactive magnetron sputtering and were characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM analysis. Also, the effective d(33) coefficient value measurement was performed. The actuator element is a circular diaphragm of phynox alloy on to which piezoelectric ZnO thin film was deposited. ZnO film deposited actuator element was firmly fixed inside a suitable concave perspex mounting designed specifically for micro actuation purpose. The actuator element was excited at different frequencies for the supply voltages of 2V, 5V and 8V. Maximum deflection of the ZnO film deposited diaphragm was measured to be 1.25 mu m at 100 Hz for the supply voltage of 8V. The developed micro actuator has the potential to be used as a micro pump for pumping nano liters to micro liters of fluids per minute for numerous biomedical and aerospace applications.

Analysis of integrated optofluidic lab-on-a-chip sensor based on refractive index and absorbance sensing

The analysis of a fully integrated optofluidic lab-on-a-chip sensor is presented in this paper. This device is comprised of collinear input and output waveguides that are separated by a microfluidic channel. When light is passed through the analyte contained in the fluidic gap, optical power loss occurs owing to absorption of light. Apart from absorption, a mode-mismatch between the input and output waveguides occurs when the light propagates through the fluidic gap. The degree of mode-mismatch and quantum of optical power loss due to absorption of light by the fluid form the basis of our analysis. This sensor can detect changes in refractive index and changes in concentration of species contained in the analyte. The sensitivity to detect minute changes depends on many parameters. The parameters that influence the sensitivity of the sensor are mode spot size, refractive index of the fluid, molar concentration of the species contained in the analyte, width of the fluidic gap, and waveguide geometry. By correlating various parameters, an optimal fluidic gap distance corresponding to a particular mode spot size that achieves the best sensitivity is determined both for refractive index and absorbance-based sensing.

Integrated higher-order pulse-width modulation filter-transformer structure for single-phase static compensator

A power filter is necessary to connect the output of a power converter to the grid so as to reduce the harmonic distortion introduced in the line current and voltage by the power converter. Many a times, a transformer is also present before the point of common coupling. Magnetic components often constitute a significant part of the overall weight, size and cost of the grid interface scheme. So, a compact inexpensive design is desirable. A higher-order LCL-filter and a transformer are increasingly being considered for grid interconnection of the power converter. This study proposes a design method based on a three-winding transformer, that generates an integrated structure that behaves as an LCL-filter, with both the filter inductances and the transformer that are merged into a single electromagnetic component. The parameters of the transformer are derived analytically. It is shown that along with a filter capacitor, the transformer parameters provide the filtering action of an LCL-filter. A single-phase full-bridge power converter is operated as a static compensator for performance evaluation of the integrated filter transformer. A resonant integrator-based single-phase phase locked loop and stationary frame AC current controller are employed for grid frequency synchronisation and line current control, respectively.

Cantilever resonator with integrated actuation and sensing fabricated using a single step lithography

Micro- and nano-mechanical resonators have been proposed for a variety of applications ranging from mass sensing to signal processing. Often their actuation and/or detection involve external subsystems that are much larger than the resonator itself. We have designed a simple microcantilever resonator with integrated sensor and actuator, facilitating the integration of large arrays of resonators. This unique design can be manufactured with a low-cost fabrication process, involving just a single step of lithography. The bilayer cantilever of gold and silicon dioxide is used as piezoresistive sensor as well as thermal bimorph actuator. The ac current used for actuation and the dc current used for piezoresistive detection are separated in the frequency-domain using a bias-tee circuit configuration. The resonant response is measured by detecting the second harmonic of the actuation current using a lock-in amplifier.

CMOS-Compatible and Scalable Deposition of Nanocrystalline Zinc Ferrite Thin Film to Improve Inductance Density of Integrated RF Inductor

Development towards the combination of miniaturization and improved functionality of RFIC has been stalled due to the lack of high-performance integrated inductors. To meet this challenge, integration of magnetic material with high permeability as well as low conductivity is a must. Ferrite films are excellent candidates for RF devices due to their low cost, high resistivity, and low eddy current losses. Unlike its bulk counterpart, nanocrystalline zinc ferrite, because of partial inversion in the spinel structure, exhibits novel magnetic properties suitable for RF applications. However, most scalable ferrite film deposition processes require either high temperature or expensive equipment or both. We report a novel low temperature (< 200 degrees C) solution-based deposition process for obtaining high quality, polycrystalline zinc ferrite thin films (ZFTF) on Si (100) and on CMOS-foundry-fabricated spiral inductor structures, rapidly, using safe solvents and precursors. An enhancement of up to 20% at 5 GHz in the inductance of a fabricated device was achieved due to the deposited ZFTF. Substantial inductance enhancement requires sufficiently thick films and our reported process is capable of depositing smooth, uniform films as thick as similar to 20 mu m just by altering the solution composition. The method is capable of depositing film conformally on a surface with complex geometry. As it requires neither a vacuum system nor any post-deposition processing, the method reported here has a low thermal budget, making it compatible with modern CMOS process flow.

An integrated model for optimal reservoir operation for irrigation of multiple crops

An integratedm odel is developed,b asedo n seasonailn puts of reservoiri nflow and rainfall in the irrigated area, to determine the optimal reservoir release policies and irrigation allocationst o multiple crops.T he model is conceptuallym ade up of two modules. Module 1 is an intraseasonal allocation model to maximize the sum of relative yieldso f all crops,f or a givens tateo f the systemu, singl inear programming(L P). The module takes into account reservoir storage continuity, soil moisture balance, and crop root growthw ith time. Module 2 is a seasonaal llocationm odel to derive the steadys tate reservoiro peratingp olicyu sings tochastidc ynamicp rogramming(S DP). Reservoir storage, seasonal inflow, and seasonal rainfall are the state variables in the SDP. The objective in SDP is to maximize the expected sum of relative yields of all crops in a year.The resultso f module 1 and the transitionp robabilitieso f seasonailn flow and rainfall form the input for module 2. The use of seasonailn puts coupledw ith the LP-SDP solution strategy in the present formulation facilitates in relaxing the limitations of an earlier study,w hile affectinga dditionali mprovementsT. he model is applied to an existing reservoir in Karnataka State, India.

Integrated sustainable irrigation planning with multiobjective Fuzzy optimization approach

Multiobjective fuzzy methodology is applied to a case study of Khadakwasla complex irrigation project located near Pune city of Maharashtra State, India. Three objectives, namely, maximization of net benefits, crop production and labour employment are considered. Effect of reuse of wastewater on the planning scenario is also studied. Three membership functions, namely, nonlinear, hyperbolic and exponential are analyzed for multiobjective fuzzy optimization. In the present study, objective functions are considered as fuzzy in nature whereas inflows are considered as dependable. It is concluded that exponential and hyperbolic membership functions provided similar cropping pattern for most of the situations whereas nonlinear membership functions provided different cropping pattern. However, in all the three cases, irrigation intensities are more than the existing irrigation intensity.