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The parallelism of hardware and the dynamic reconfigurability of FPGAs enable multiple hardware tasks to run concurrently, and also time-share resources by being swapped in and out of the device during runtime. More than ever before, these capabilities are being employed in systems with high-reliability requirements. To improve reliability, a method often used is circuit relocation. However, the static...
The trend in computing is towards the use of FPGAs to improve performance at reduced costs. An indication of this is the adoption of FPGAs for data centre and server application acceleration by notable technological giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Baidu. The continued protection of Intellectual Properties (IPs) on the FPGA has thus become both more important and challenging. To facilitate IP security,...
Location-based services (LBS) have an increasing demand for high accuracy but accurate positioning is available only for outdoor areas. Multiple indoor positioning algorithms have been researched and improved to provide better accuracy. For the purpose of the internet of things Bluetooth 4 (BLE) was introduced. However, a Bluetooth 4 signal is highly affected by obstruction attenuation and multipath...
We present an automatic spatial-segmentation method for a novel magnetic-field hybrid indoor positioning system. Unlike conventional approaches that implement magnetic field alone for the whole experimental space, our approach employs an efficient automatic segmentation method to make up the constraints of magnetic-field indoor positioning after fully evaluating local magnetic-field characteristics...
The addition of hard blocks such as Block RAMs and Digital Signal Processors, have proven to be good means of improving various performance metrics in FPGAs. This however places stricter constraints on runtime relocation of hardware tasks and hence reduces their application in dealing with permanent faults. In this paper, we present a strategy that enhances the utilization of heterogeneous reconfigurable...
Dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR) allows runtime access to the configuration memory (CMEM) of FPGAs. A key function that relies on DPR is task reconfiguration, where circuits are multiplexed in time and space in order to reduce device count and cost. Moreover, in mission-critical applications, DPR is used for soft error mitigation (SEM). These two key functions require access to the same CMEM...
As it optimizes the resource utilization of FPGA over time and space, Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration is an important feature of FPGA. The Internal Configuration Access Port (ICAP) controller is an important part of reconfiguration system with which to access the configuration registers of FPGA. By reducing the resources consumed by ICAP controller, more resources will be available for the reconfigurable...
Dynamic Partial Reconfigurable Systems can significantly improve the utilization of hardware by performing multiple tasks on the reconfigurable resources in run-time, whereas the limited reconfigurable resources constraint the number of tasks. To achieve efficient operation of systems, it is crucial to increase the utilization of resources while allocating tasks. This paper proposes a novel MER-based...
Reconfigurable hardware such as FPGAs offer promising platform for the development of embedded autonomous systems. This is due to their unique combination of high performance and flexibility. However, state-of-the-art FPGAs have large reconfiguration time, which often leads to missed deadlines in real-time systems. They also suffer from considerable fragmentation during runtime placement, leading...
This paper presents a wideband distributed coplanar waveguide (CPW) phase shifter for S-band operation. A 3-bit distributed MEMS transmission line (DMTL) phase shifter is developed by periodically loading MEMS shunt switches on a CPW transmission line (TL). A total of 105 MEMS shunt switches are utilized in the design to provide phase shifts of 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270° and 315° at 2.45...
In this paper, a wearable antenna array for ultra-wideband (UWB) radar based microwave imaging and diagnosis application is proposed and investigated. This paper describes a wearable antenna array which is constructed by a number of thin-film flexible monopole antennas having 3.8GHz impendence bandwidth covering frequency ranges from 2.8GHz to 6.6GHz. The proposed antenna array is modelled and the...
The use of reconfigurable chips such as FPGAs in embedded systems for many runtime applications is limited by large reconfiguration time. Techniques to circumvent this limitation relies on hardware task reuse which preserve certain circuits on the chip. However, the frequent addition and removal of circuits while preserving others on the chip will inevitably lead to fragmentation of its area, in an...
The number of IPs running concurrently on an FPGA has increased in recent years. Communication among these IPs has necessitated the introduction of the network on chip (NoC) for low-power, high-performance, and scalable on-chip networking. While NoCs are superior to traditional shared buses, there is an attendant resource overhead incurred by the NoC links, routers and network adapters. We present...
The ability to relocate hardware tasks in FPGAs is an attractive task management technique, especially in reconfigurable operating systems. A method of relocation involves the modification of the location address of the task while it is being configured. However, the use of encryption to protect bitstreams requires that decryption is done on-chip before relocation. This usually results in a significant...
In this paper, a wideband distributed coplanar waveguide (CPW) phase shifter has been designed for S-band operation. The phase shifter is developed on a high impedance CPW transmission line periodically loaded with microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) shunt switches. To reduce the insertion loss due to the transmission line, a 525 µm high resistivity silicon substrate (ρ=10 kΩ·cm) and 2 µm thick...
This paper presents the design, simulation and analysis of a 5-bit RF MEMS digital variable capacitor using thick SU-8 polymer to achieve both high capacitance ratio ( $$\varvec{C}_{\varvec{r}}$$ C r ) and Q-factor. The proposed varactor design consists of five capacitive shunt switches loaded over a co-planar waveguide (CPW) line. This results 32 capacitance steps ranging from 102.23 fF...
In this paper, a flexible directional monopole antenna for wearable head imaging system for stroke detection is presented. To ensure better flexibility for wearable applications, a very thin flexible PET substrate, Melinex 339 with thickness of 75μm is utilized. The size of the antenna is 70mm × 30mm. An array of 8 antennae are arranged in elliptical configuration to follow a human head contour. The...
This paper introduces a thin film-based wearable ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna implemented over an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) in order to reduce the effect of human body and improve gain and bandwidth characteristics. The proposed AMC is implemented using a low-cost and easily-fabricated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a flexible substrate to enhance radiation properties of the wearable antenna...
In this paper, a compact and lightweight RF switching system for wearable microwave imaging device is proposed. The switching system provides wideband performance which covers frequency ranges from DC to 8GHz. A low power microcontroller is integrated with the switch to act as a control unit. By using Bluetooth connection, the switching system can be controlled using an Android mobile phone. An array...
The paper describes a method of inkjet-printing a Co-Planar Waveguide (CPW)-fed flexible antenna for the development of a wearable microwave imaging (MWI) device for cancer detection and monitoring. The single side of a monopole antenna is represented as a fractal pattern with customized slots. The antenna is inkjet-printed using a low-cost additive fabrication method on a flexible substrate such...
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