Search

This letter presents a high-frequency boost converter using an accurate feedforward-path current sensor for the fast-load transient response. To operate with the switching frequency of up to 25 MHz, the proposed current sensor senses the inductor current with a fast-sensing response time of about 4.5 ns. It also provides more accurate sensing gain than previous current sensors. In addition, the adaptive on-time control method is used for the proposed converter to further enhance the transient responses. The converter has been fabricated using a 0.18-μm CMOS process with a total chip area of 1.3 × 1.12 mm. It achieves a fast-load transient of only 1 μs at a 400-mA load step, and peak efficiency of 91.5 and 88.2% at switching frequencies of 15 and 25 MHz, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017–18, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) changed its domestic security strategy in Xinjiang, escalating the use of mass detention, ideological re-education, and pressure on Uyghur diaspora networks. Commonly proposed explanations for this shift focus on domestic factors: ethnic unrest, minority policy, and regional leadership. The CCP's strategy changes in Xinjiang, however, were also likely catalyzed by changing perceptions of the threat posed by Uyghur contact with transnational Islamic militant groups in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and a corresponding increase in perceived domestic vulnerability. This threat shifted from theoretical risk to operational reality in 2014–16, and occurred alongside a revised assessment that China's Muslim population was more vulnerable to infiltration by jihadist networks than previously believed. Belief in the need to preventively inoculate an entire population from "infection" by these networks explains the timing of the change in repressive strategy, shift toward collective detention, heavy use of re-education, and attention paid to the Uyghur diaspora. It therefore helps explain specific aspects of the timing and nature of the CCP's strategy changes in Xinjiang. These findings have implications for the study of the connections between counterterrorism and domestic repression, as well as for authoritarian preventive repression and Chinese security policy at home and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controller area network with flexible data rate (CAN-FD) has been introduced to support higher data rates for intelligent automotive systems. To achieve a robustness in the electronic functions of electronic systems, CAN-FD transmitters should provide a good symmetry between the differential signaling on the CAN bus radiating a low electromagnetic emission (EME). This paper proposes a new CAN-FD transmitter which achieves good symmetry on the CAN-FD signals. Also, a so-called ``Ping-Pong” driving scheme is introduced. Without using complex circuits and after-calibration process, this method can match accurate turn-on/off timing of the transmitter signals. The proposed CAN-FD transmitter was fabricated using a $0.18\,\mu {\text{m}}$ automotive Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS process. The measurement results show that the proposed CAN-FD transmitter improves the voltage symmetry of the CAN bus at 5 Mbps, achieving a low EME. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To identify the impact of reconstruction algorithms on CT radiomic features of pulmonary tumors and to reveal and compare the intra- and inter-reader and inter-reconstruction algorithm variability of each feature. Methods: Forty-two patients (M:F = 19:23; mean age, 60.43±10.56 years) with 42 pulmonary tumors (22.56±8.51mm) underwent contrast-enhanced CT scans, which were reconstructed with filtered back projection and commercial iterative reconstruction algorithm (level 3 and 5). Two readers independently segmented the whole tumor volume. Fifteen radiomic features were extracted and compared among reconstruction algorithms. Intra- and inter-reader variability and inter-reconstruction algorithm variability were calculated using coefficients of variation (CVs) and then compared. Results: Among the 15 features, 5 first-order tumor intensity features and 4 gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)-based features showed significant differences (p<0.05) among reconstruction algorithms. As for the variability, effective diameter, sphericity, entropy, and GLCM entropy were the most robust features (CV≤5%). Inter-reader variability was larger than intra-reader or inter-reconstruction algorithm variability in 9 features. However, for entropy, homogeneity, and 4 GLCM-based features, inter-reconstruction algorithm variability was significantly greater than inter-reader variability (p<0.013). Conclusions: Most of the radiomic features were significantly affected by the reconstruction algorithms. Inter-reconstruction algorithm variability was greater than inter-reader variability for entropy, homogeneity, and GLCM-based features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a split power-driving scheme for electromagnetic interference robust design and its automatic stepwise digital slope control for suppression of spectral emission. This analog–digital hybrid method gives power saving effect up to 24.4%, and also production reliability can be improved by utilizing a failure detection and recovery scheme. For feasibility of the proposed electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) scheme, a Local Interconnect Network transceiver prototype is fabricated in a 0.18-μm BCD process, and experimentally verified to provide EMC-enhanced operation with low-cost and low-power overheads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a transparent fingerprint sensing system using a thin film transistor (TFT) sensor panel, based on a self-capacitive sensing scheme. An armorphousindium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) TFT sensor array and associated custom Read-Out IC (ROIC) are implemented for the system. The sensor panel has a 200 × 200 pixel array and each pixel size is as small as 50 μm × 50 μm. The ROIC uses only eight analog front-end (AFE) amplifier stages along with a successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC). To get the fingerprint image data from the sensor array, the ROIC senses a capacitance, which is formed by a cover glass material between a human finger and an electrode of each pixel of the sensor array. Three methods are reviewed for estimating the self-capacitance. The measurement result demonstrates that the transparent fingerprint sensor system has an ability to differentiate a human finger's ridges and valleys through the fingerprint sensor array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]