Offline GA-Based optimization for heterogeneous modular multi-configurable chained microrobots

This paper presents a GA-based optimization procedure for bioinspired heterogeneous modular multiconfigurable chained microrobots. When constructing heterogeneous chained modular robots that are composed of several different drive modules, one must select the type and position of the modules that form the chain. One must also develop new locomotion gaits that combine the different drive modules. These are two new features of heterogeneous modular robots that they do not share with homogeneous modular robots. This paper presents an offline control system that allows the development of new configuration schemes and locomotion gaits for these heterogeneous modular multiconfigurable chained microrobots. The offline control system is based on a simulator that is specifically designed for chained modular robots and allows them to develop and learn new locomotion patterns.

Design and fabrication of fibre Bragg gratings with V-shaped dispersion profile for multi-channel signal processing

We propose a new type of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with a V-shaped dispersion profile. We demonstrate that such V-shaped FBGs bring advantages in manipulation of optical signals compared to conventional FBGs with a constant dispersion, e.g., they can produce larger chirp for the same input pulsewidth and/or can be used as pulse shapers. Application of the proposed V-shaped FBGs for signal prechirping in fiber transmission is examined. The proposed design of the V-shaped FBG can be easily extended to embrace multichannel devices.

Evaluating the SEE sensitivity of a 45nm SOI Multi-core Processor due to 14 MeV Neutrons

The aim of this work is to evaluate the SEE sensitivity of a multi-core processor having implemented ECC and parity in their cache memories. Two different application scenarios are studied. The first one configures the multi-core in Asymmetric Multi-Processing mode running a memory-bound application, whereas the second one uses the Symmetric Multi-Processsing mode running a CPU-bound application. The experiments were validated through radiation ground testing performed with 14 MeV neutrons on the Freescale P2041 multi-core manufactured in 45nm SOI technology. A deep analysis of the observed errors in cache memories was carried-out in order to reveal vulnerabilities in the cache protection mechanisms. Critical zones like tag addresses were affected during the experiments. In addition, the results show that the sensitivity strongly depends on the application and the multi-processsing mode used.

Experiences with an Object-Oriented, Multi-Stage Language

Metaphor is a multi-stage programming language extension to an imperative, object-oriented language in the style of C# or Java. This paper discusses some issues we faced when applying multi-stage language design concepts to an imperative base language and run-time environment. The issues range from dealing with pervasive references and open code to garbage collection and implementing cross-stage persistence.