Implementação e avaliação de máquinas de comitê em um ambiente com múltiplos processadores embarcados em um único chip

The number of applications based on embedded systems grows significantly every year, even with the fact that embedded systems have restrictions, and simple processing units, the performance of these has improved every day. However the complexity of applications also increase, a better performance will always be necessary. So even such advances, there are cases, which an embedded system with a single unit of processing is not sufficient to achieve the information processing in real time. To improve the performance of these systems, an implementation with parallel processing can be used in more complex applications that require high performance. The idea is to move beyond applications that already use embedded systems, exploring the use of a set of units processing working together to implement an intelligent algorithm. The number of existing works in the areas of parallel processing, systems intelligent and embedded systems is wide. However works that link these three areas to solve any problem are reduced. In this context, this work aimed to use tools available for FPGA architectures, to develop a platform with multiple processors to use in pattern classification with artificial neural networks

Micro-Raman spectroscopy and SEM/EDX applied to improve the zircon fission track method used for dating geological formations

The zircon mineral is widely studied in geochronology. In the case of the fission track method (FTM), the age is determined by the density of fission tracks at the zircon surface, which can be observed with an optical microscope after an appropriate chemical treatment (etching). The etching must be isotropic at the zircon grain surface to be used in the FTM, which leads those zircon grains whose etching is anisotropic to be discarded. The only reason for this discarding is the nonuniform morphology of the surface grain seen by optical microscopy, that is, no further physicochemical analysis is performed. In this work, combining micro-Raman and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the etching anisotropy, it was shown that zircon grains that present at least one area at the surface where the density of fission track is uniform can be used in the FTM. The micro-Raman showed characteristic spectra of the standard zircon sample either from the areas where there are tracks or from where there are not. The only difference found was in the Raman bandwidths, which were broader for the areas with higher density of fission tracks. This suggests simply a decrease in the relative percentage of the crystalline/amorphous phases at these areas. The SEM/energy dispersive spectrometry (EDX) showed that there were no significant differences in the principal chemical composition at the areas with and without fission tracks. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nested liana-tree network in three distinct neotropical vegetation formations

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Projeto de Sistemas Integrados de Propósito Geral Baseados em Redes em Chip Expandindo as Funcionalidades dos Roteadores para Execução de Operações: A plataforma IPNoSys

It bet on the next generation of computers as architecture with multiple processors and/or multicore processors. In this sense there are challenges related to features interconnection, operating frequency, the area on chip, power dissipation, performance and programmability. The mechanism of interconnection and communication it was considered ideal for this type of architecture are the networks-on-chip, due its scalability, reusability and intrinsic parallelism. The networks-on-chip communication is accomplished by transmitting packets that carry data and instructions that represent requests and responses between the processing elements interconnected by the network. The transmission of packets is accomplished as in a pipeline between the routers in the network, from source to destination of the communication, even allowing simultaneous communications between pairs of different sources and destinations. From this fact, it is proposed to transform the entire infrastructure communication of network-on-chip, using the routing mechanisms, arbitration and storage, in a parallel processing system for high performance. In this proposal, the packages are formed by instructions and data that represent the applications, which are executed on routers as well as they are transmitted, using the pipeline and parallel communication transmissions. In contrast, traditional processors are not used, but only single cores that control the access to memory. An implementation of this idea is called IPNoSys (Integrated Processing NoC System), which has an own programming model and a routing algorithm that guarantees the execution of all instructions in the packets, preventing situations of deadlock, livelock and starvation. This architecture provides mechanisms for input and output, interruption and operating system support. As proof of concept was developed a programming environment and a simulator for this architecture in SystemC, which allows configuration of various parameters and to obtain several results to evaluate it

Estudo da viabilidade do desenvolvimento de sistemas integrados baseados em redes em chip sem processadores: sistema IPNoSys

The increase of capacity to integrate transistors permitted to develop completed systems, with several components, in single chip, they are called SoC (System-on-Chip). However, the interconnection subsystem cans influence the scalability of SoCs, like buses, or can be an ad hoc solution, like bus hierarchy. Thus, the ideal interconnection subsystem to SoCs is the Network-on-Chip (NoC). The NoCs permit to use simultaneous point-to-point channels between components and they can be reused in other projects. However, the NoCs can raise the complexity of project, the area in chip and the dissipated power. Thus, it is necessary or to modify the way how to use them or to change the development paradigm. Thus, a system based on NoC is proposed, where the applications are described through packages and performed in each router between source and destination, without traditional processors. To perform applications, independent of number of instructions and of the NoC dimensions, it was developed the spiral complement algorithm, which finds other destination until all instructions has been performed. Therefore, the objective is to study the viability of development that system, denominated IPNoSys system. In this study, it was developed a tool in SystemC, using accurate cycle, to simulate the system that performs applications, which was implemented in a package description language, also developed to this study. Through the simulation tool, several result were obtained that could be used to evaluate the system performance. The methodology used to describe the application corresponds to transform the high level application in data-flow graph that become one or more packages. This methodology was used in three applications: a counter, DCT-2D and float add. The counter was used to evaluate a deadlock solution and to perform parallel application. The DCT was used to compare to STORM platform. Finally, the float add aimed to evaluate the efficiency of the software routine to perform a unimplemented hardware instruction. The results from simulation confirm the viability of development of IPNoSys system. They showed that is possible to perform application described in packages, sequentially or parallelly, without interruptions caused by deadlock, and also showed that the execution time of IPNoSys is more efficient than the STORM platform

Avaliação da execução de aplicações orientadas à dados na arquitetura de redes em chip IPNoSys

The increasing complexity of integrated circuits has boosted the development of communications architectures like Networks-on-Chip (NoCs), as an architecture; alternative for interconnection of Systems-on-Chip (SoC). Networks-on-Chip complain for component reuse, parallelism and scalability, enhancing reusability in projects of dedicated applications. In the literature, lots of proposals have been made, suggesting different configurations for networks-on-chip architectures. Among all networks-on-chip considered, the architecture of IPNoSys is a non conventional one, since it allows the execution of operations, while the communication process is performed. This study aims to evaluate the execution of data-flow based applications on IPNoSys, focusing on their adaptation against the design constraints. Data-flow based applications are characterized by the flowing of continuous stream of data, on which operations are executed. We expect that these type of applications can be improved when running on IPNoSys, because they have a programming model similar to the execution model of this network. By observing the behavior of these applications when running on IPNoSys, were performed changes in the execution model of the network IPNoSys, allowing the implementation of an instruction level parallelism. For these purposes, analysis of the implementations of dataflow applications were performed and compared

Implementação da técnica de software pipelining na rede em chip IPNoSyS

Alongside the advances of technologies, embedded systems are increasingly present in our everyday. Due to increasing demand for functionalities, many tasks are split among processors, requiring more efficient communication architectures, such as networks on chip (NoC). The NoCs are structures that have routers with channel point-to-point interconnect the cores of system on chip (SoC), providing communication. There are several networks on chip in the literature, each with its specific characteristics. Among these, for this work was chosen the Integrated Processing System NoC (IPNoSyS) as a network on chip with different characteristics compared to general NoCs, because their routing components also accumulate processing function, ie, units have functional able to execute instructions. With this new model, packets are processed and routed by the router architecture. This work aims at improving the performance of applications that have repetition, since these applications spend more time in their execution, which occurs through repeated execution of his instructions. Thus, this work proposes to optimize the runtime of these structures by employing a technique of instruction-level parallelism, in order to optimize the resources offered by the architecture. The applications are tested on a dedicated simulator and the results compared with the original version of the architecture, which in turn, implements only packet level parallelism

Radioactivity distribution in some Permian sediments from the Irati and Corumbatal formations of the Parana basin, southeastern Brazil

in the city of Limeira, southeastern Brazil, an important exposure of Permian sediments of the Parana basin was revealed by an open pit mine that exploits limestone for production of soil correction compounds and raw materials for the ceramic industry. The radioactivity of these sediments was investigated in some detail and the results provided a general view of the vertical distributions of uranium, thorium and potassium concentrations and of the element ratios U/K, U/Th and Th/K. In general, the concentrations of the main natural radioactive elements are low, with uranium being enriched in some limestone and shale levels. In addition the results showed that the U-238 series is in radioactive disequilibrium in many of the analyzed samples. Although the origin of the observed disequilibrium has not been investigated, the results suggest that it is due to weathering processes and water interaction with the rock matrix. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A label-free immunosensor based on recordable compact disk chip for early diagnostic of the dengue virus infection

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

In situ UV-vis and EXAFS studies of ZnO quantum-sized nanocrystals and Zn-HDS formations from sol-gel route

We have pointed Out that. zinc-based particles obtained from zinc acetate sol-gel route is a mixture of quantum-sized ZnO nanoparticles, zinc acetate, and zinc hydroxide double salt (Zn-HDS). Aiming the knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the formation of ZnO and Zn-HDS phases, the thermohydrolysis of ethanolic zinc acetate solutions induced by lithium hydroxide ([LiOH]/[Zn2+] = 0.1) or water ([H2O]/[Zn2+] = 0.05) addition was investigated at different isothermal temperatures (40, 50, 60 and 70 degrees C) by in situ measurements of turbidity, UV-vis absorption spectra and extended X-ray absorption fine structures (EXAFS). Only the growth of ZnO nanoparticles was observed in sol prepared with LiOH, while a two-step process was observed in that prepared with water addition, leading the fast growth of Zn-HDS and the formation of ZnO nanoparticles at advanced stage. A mechanism of dissolution/reprecipitation governed by the water/ethanol proportion is proposed to account for relative amount of ZnO. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In situ and simultaneous nanostructural and spectroscopic studies of ZnO nanoparticle and Zn-HDS formations from hydrolysis of ethanolic zinc acetate solutions induced by water

The simultaneous formation of nanometer sized zinc oxide (ZnO), and acetate zinc hydroxide double salt (Zn-HDS) is described. These phases, obtained using the sol-gel synthesis route based on zinc acetate salt in alcoholic media, were identified by direct characterization of the reaction products in solution using complementary techniques: nephelometry, in situ Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), UV-Vis spectroscopy and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structures (EXAFS). In particular, the hydrolytic pathway of ethanolic zinc acetate precursor solutions promoted by addition of water with the molar ratio N = [H2O]/[Zn2+] = 0.05 was investigated in this paper. The aim was to understand the formation mechanism of ZnO colloidal suspension and to reveal the factors responsible for the formation of Zn-HDS in the final precipitates. The growth mechanism of ZnO nanoparticles is based on primary particle (radius approximate to 1.5 nm) rotation inside the primary aggregate (radius < 3.5 nm) giving rise to an epitaxial attachment of particles and then subsequent coalescence. The growth of second ZnO aggregates is not associated with the Otswald ripening, and could be associated with changes in equilibrium between solute species induced by the superficial etching of Zn-HDS particles at the advanced stage of kinetic.

Research on staphylococcus spp in biofilm formations in water pipes and sinsibility to antibiotics

Water from dental equipment presents risks for surgeon-dentists as well as for patients because it might work as a means of dissemination/ transmission of microoganisms. The objective of this study was to verify the quality of the water used in dental equipment by means of microbiological analysis, accomplishing the count of Staphylococcus spp.There have been collected, 160 samples of water from reserviors, taps used for hand washing, air-water syringes, and high-speed handpieces, in 40 dental offices in the city of Barretos, São Paulo. The rules concerning bacteriotogicaI analysis in cfu/mL from Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater have been followed. The analysis of the results has made it possible to verify that out of the total of samples, 28% did not meet the standards of potability established by the American Dental Association: Regarding the origin of analyzed S. aureus., the most contaminated sites were high-speed handpicces in private offices (761%) and in, ental care plan offices (71%), followed by air-water syringe in dental care plan offices (64%). For S. epidermitis samples, the most contaminated sites were high-speed handpieces in SUS (Brazilian Government Health System) dental offices (22%) and in dental care plan offices (14%) The most contaminated sites were dental offices that saw Patients under dental care plans, Concerning tested antibiotics, the ones that presented better results as to sensibility to strain S. epidermidis were vancomycin and ciprofloxacin (100%) and, as to sensibility to strain S. aureus, it was ciprofloxacin (97%).

Fabricação de microcanais para integração de uma língua eletrônica em um sistema lab-on-a-chip

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Entrepreneurial formations in Latin American agriculture starting from rural property structures of production

Includes bibliography