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In 3-D integrated circuits (3-D ICs), through silicon via (TSV) is a critical technique to provide vertical connections. However, the yield and reliability challenge of TSV in industry is one of key obstacles to adopt the 3-D ICs technology. Various fault-tolerance structures by using additional spare TSVs (s-TSVs) to repair faulty functional TSVs (f-TSVs) have been proposed in literature for yield and reliability enhancement. However, these structures are formed in standard cell placement stage where all the f-TSVs are already placed. In reality, since the s-TSVs can be only inserted into the whitespace, the quality of the generated repair solution is strongly dependent on the whitespace distribution. In this paper, we propose an efficient TSV planning and repair framework in floorplanning stage, which takes nonuniform TSV distribution and clustered TSV defect-distribution into account. The proposed framework mainly consists of four stages: 1) a whitespace redistribution algorithm that uses a probability-based strategy to make the whitespace distribution more reasonable for the f-TSV planning. Subsequently, a convex-cost flow-based model for f-TSV allocation considering the fault clustering; 2) a top-down globally partitioning combined with a bottom-up locally merging to partition f-TSVs into groups with minimum hardware cost; 3) the min-cost max-flow algorithm for s-TSV allocation with minimum wirelength overhead; and 4) an integer linear programming-based model to form a fault-tolerance structure with minimum multiplexer delay overhead. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed repair framework can improve the yield with minimum hardware cost and multiplexer delay overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here for the first time on the diode-pumped continuous-wave laser operation of an a-cut Tm:CaYAlO4 (CYAO) crystal in a two-mirror laser configuration at about 1850 nm, which is the shortest laser wavelength ever achieved with this material, with a maximum output power of 0.88 W. Using a MoS2 saturable absorber deposited directly onto the surface of the output coupler, the Tm:CYAO laser is then operated in the Q-switched mode with a maximum output power of 0.49 W and the narrowest pulse width of 0.48~\mu \texts . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Device-to-device (D2D) communications have been proposed as a promising technology to improve network capacity and user experiences. In this letter, we make theoretical analyses on D2D mode selection with user mobility. Using the stochastic geometry, we deduced that the D2D communication range can be well represented by biased circles with varying radius. Besides, a tractable analytical framework considering both absolute movement and relative movement for mode selection in moving D2D scenarios is presented. Under the proposed model, the closed-form expressions of D2D mode transition rate and D2D mode residence time are derived, which are the key parameters for moving D2D mode selection performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This letter investigates the outage performance in a full-duplex relay (FDR) channel that adopts an amplify-and-forward (AF) protocol. We provide a new closed-form expression for the outage probability that captures the joint effect of residual self-interference (RSI) and a direct link. In addition, when the processing delay of the relay is larger than 1, which is often the case in practice, the proposed closed-form outage performance expression still applies. Finally, all the theoretical results are validated through numerical simulations. The results indicate that AF-FDR can outperform selective decode-and-forward FDR (SDF-FDR) in the low-to-intermediate-rate regions because of less processing delay. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

5G will greatly promote the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. AI technology will also empower and intelligentize 5G, build capabilities of intelligent networks, help 5G overcome various challenges in its development, and provide better services for vertical industries and mass market customers with different requirements. 5G intelligent networks are expected to have the new architectures and have the following characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]