Embedded Systems

Cache-tuning-aware scratchpad allocation from binaries

by Daniel Pereira Volpato

The literature on scratchpad memories (SPMs) seems to indicate that the use of dynamic overlaying supersedes static,... more The literature on scratchpad memories (SPMs) seems to indicate that the use of dynamic overlaying supersedes static, non-overlay-based (NOB) allocation. Although overlay-based (OVB) techniques operating at source-level code might benefit from multiple hot spots for higher energy savings, they cannot exploit libraries. When operating on binaries, OVB approaches lead to smaller savings, often require dedicated hardware, and sometimes prevent data allocation. Besides, all saving reports published so far ignore that, in cache-based systems, caches are likely to be optimized prior to SPM allocation. We show experimental evidence that, when handling binaries, NOB memory savings (15% to 33% on average) are as good as or better than OVB's. Since our savings (as opposed to related work) were measured after cache tuning -- when there is less room for optimization, our results encourage the use of simpler NOB methods to build library aware allocators that cannot depend on dedicated hardware. We also show that, given the capacity Ct of the equivalent pretuned cache, the optimal SPM size lies in [Ct/2, Ct] for 85% of the evaluated programs. Finally, we show counter-intuitive evidence that, even for cache-based architectures containing small SPMs, procedures should be preferred for allocation instead of basic blocks.

Mapping Data and Code into Scratchpads from Relocatable Binaries

by Daniel Pereira Volpato

A Post-compiling Approach that Exploits Code Granularity in Scratchpads to Improve Energy Efficiency

by Daniel Pereira Volpato

A methodology to identify variables and scenarios that impact on embedded software for digital television receivers

by Ivan Ricarte

Co-authored with Nilsa T Azana, Daniel M Pataca. Published in Cadernos CPqD Tecnologia, 2007. In Portuguese.

One of the major challenges in the transition from analogue to digital television is the adoption of new technology.... more One of the major challenges in the transition from analogue to digital television is the adoption of new technology. This article shows, through the application of prospective scenarios methodology, the identification of 22 potential scenarios to introduce interactive digital television. These scenarios were identified considering the importance of the interactive applications and the user's influence in the adoption of digital television by the Brazilian society.

Methodology to identify the requirements of embedded software for digital television receivers

by Ivan Ricarte

Co-authored with Nilsa T Azana, Daniel M Pataca. Published in Cadernos CPqD Tecnologia, 2007

One of the biggest challenge of the transition process from analogue to digital television is the adoption of the new... more One of the biggest challenge of the transition process from analogue to digital television is the adoption of the new technology. This article shows, through the application of prospective scenarios methodology, the importance of the interactive applications and the users influence in the adoption of digital television by Brazilian society.

A new class of filter banks for seismic data compression

by Laurent Duval

Coauthored with Jacques Oksman and Truong Q. Nguyen, SEG Annual meeting, 1999

Abstract: Reducing the volume of seismic data would substantially
improve the system management for both... more Abstract: Reducing the volume of seismic data would substantially
improve the system management for both transmission
and storage purposes.
We propose in this paper a new class of filter banks (Gen-
LOTs) for seismic data compression. GenLOT is a gen-
eralization of local transforms with overlapping windows.
The transforms are used in an embedded coding scheme,
incorporating control quality features and allowing exact
bit rate compression.
Comparing GenLOTs with wavelet in seismic compres-
sion, the simulation verifies that GenLOTs offer better
performance than wavelets at a constant distorsion rate,
achieving much higher compression ratios. Furthermore,
coherent noise is reduced significantly in GenLOTs-based
coder, and allowed compression of stack sections by com-
pression ratio of 150 : 1 without visible loss.

Single Board Computer Based Building Security Management System: Contactless Smart Card for Automatic Door Access Control System

by Udayanto Dwi Atmojo

Presented in IEEE International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Technology (MIMT) 2011 in Singapore, 26-28 February 2011

A building security management system based on
single board computer is currently under development. In this more A building security management system based on
single board computer is currently under development. In this
paper, a part of the system which is an automatic door access
system using contactless smart card for identification is
discussed. Running test shows that the system is working as
expected. The system can identify multiple users each with
different card. More specific access such as access by day,
hour, even minute can be implemented. Alarm is used as
indicator if the door is unlocked or any forced intrusion is
happening. The corresponding system is going to be integrated
in a building security management system to provide safer
work environment

Single Board Computer Based Building Security Management System: Contactless Smart Card for Automatic Door Access Control System

by Udayanto Dwi Atmojo

Published in journal of Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 110-116 (2012) pp 4816-4822
© (2012) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.110-116.4816

A building security management system based on single board computer is currently
under development. In this... more A building security management system based on single board computer is currently
under development. In this paper, a part of the system which is an automatic door access system
using contactless smart card for identification is discussed. Running test shows that the system is
working as expected. The system can identify multiple users each with different card. More specific
access such as access by day, hour, even minute can be implemented. Alarm is used as indicator if
the door is unlocked or any forced intrusion is happening. The corresponding system is going to be
integrated in a building security management system to provide safer work environment.

Using RFID technology to develop an attendance system and avoid traffic congestion around kindergartens

by harshitha sri

Quest for the ultimate Network-on-Chip: the NaNoC project

by Lorenzo Di Gregorio

A. Strano, D. Bertozzi, F. Angiolini, L. Di Gregorio, F. O. Sem-Jacobsen, V. Todorov, J. Flich, F. Silla, T. Bjerregaard, "Quest for the ultimate Network-on-Chip: the NaNoC project", Interconnection Network Architecture: On-Chip, Multi-Chip (INA-OCMC), 2012

The NaNoC project is progressing toward an innovative design platform for multicore systems based on future... more The NaNoC project is progressing toward an innovative design platform for multicore systems based on future networks-on-chip. This platform enables the design, manufacturing and management of networks-on-chip by tackling new requirements of future systems like virtualization, power, thermal and application management, as well as new challenges in technology scaling like reliability and variability. The introduction of networks-on-chip into the platform enables a component-oriented architectural design which is out of reach of current design methods. This paper presents an overview of the achievements at the end of the second out of three years of planned activities.

Music and the Extended Self

by Teed Rockwell

My Chapter from the Book Situated Aesthetics:Art beyond the Skin. Edited by Riccardo Manzotti. available at imprint-academic.com

Leonard Bernstein argues that our musical experience must be constructed out of individual notes, the way Chomsky sees... more Leonard Bernstein argues that our musical experience must be constructed out of individual notes, the way Chomsky sees sentences constructed out of individual words. I argue that our experience of music, and experience in general is equally well accounted for by seeing it as starting with an experience of an undifferentiated whole, without even awareness of a distinction between self and environment. New experiences are not acquired by stuffing sense data into the brain, but rather by dividing a primordially unified experience into smaller interacting parts. This view dissolves many traditional problems in philosophy of mind, and also more accurately reflects what we have learned about connectionist neuroscience.

Designing an IP-Core for Edge Detection in Monochrome Image Using the Sobel Operator

by Jody Maick Matos

Co-authored with Fladmy Alvez and Anfranserai Dias. Published in 11th Microelectronics Students Forum (SFotum 2011).

The integrated circuit designs are reaching high levels of complexity. Due to the great importance of these devices... more The integrated circuit designs are reaching high levels of complexity. Due to the great importance of these devices nowadays they are performing increasingly complex functions. In this case the use of methodologies and tools in development process such devices are essential, as well as projecting Systems-on-Chip (SoC) with reusable IP-Cores. This paper describes the designing of a Soft IP-Core for edge detection in monochrome images using the Sobel Operator, applying the ipPROCESS methodology, a Brazilian initiative in order to create a standard and enhance the development of integrated circuit design in the country.

Digital video stabilisation in modern and next generation imaging systems

by Sebastiano Battiato

A temporal noise reduction filter based on image sensor full-frame data

by Sebastiano Battiato

A light viewfinder pipeline for consumer devices application

by Sebastiano Battiato

Attractor Spaces as Modules: a Semi-Eliminative Reduction of Symbolic AI to Dynamic Systems Theory

by Teed Rockwell

published January 2005 in Minds and Machines

I propose a semi-eliminative reduction of Fodor’s concept of module to the concept of Attractor Basin which is used in... more I propose a semi-eliminative reduction of Fodor’s concept of module to the concept of Attractor Basin which is used in Cognitive Dynamic Systems Theory (DST). I show how Attractor basins perform the same explanatory function as module in several DST based research program. Attractor basins in some organic dynamic systems have even been able to perform cognitive functions which are equivalent to the If/Then/Else loop in the computer language LISP. I suggest directions for future research programs which could find similar equivalencies between organic dynamic systems and other cognitive functions. Research that went in these directions could help us discover how (and/or if) it is possible to use Dynamic Systems Theory to more accurately model the cognitive functions that are now being modeled by subroutines in Symbolic AI computer models. If such a reduction of subroutines to basins of attraction is possible, it could free AI from the limitations that prompted Fodor to say that it was impossible to model certain higher level cognitive functions.

Dynamic empathy: A new formulation for the simulation theory of mind reading

by Teed Rockwell

Cognitive Systems Research 9 (2008) 52–63

The controversy between the theory-theory (TT) and simulation-theory (ST) has evolved so that it is often hard to tell... more The controversy between the theory-theory (TT) and simulation-theory (ST) has evolved so that it is often hard to tell exactly what the difference is between a simulation and a theory. I believe that this distinction was originally inspired, and can be freshly reconceived, as the distinction between verbal abstractions and concrete pictures. I argue that the multi-dimensional spaces described by connectionist neuroscience are best understood as pictures of a special sort. These multi-dimensional pictures do not have the limitations of ordinary three-dimensional pictures, and are capable of performing many of the cognitive functions that were traditionally thought to be the exclusive domain of abstract linguistic concepts. Consequently, there is a real possibility that a pure simulation theory could actually explain some sophisticated kinds of social cognition, without having to rely on a hybrid that combines simulations and theories. Paradoxically, such a pure simulation theory would not actually use simulations in the strictest sense of that word, because something can be a simulation only if it is verbally labeled as a copy of something else. Rather this kind of social cognition would establish vector transformations between perception and behavior without requiring any verbal labels at all. This would mean that the emotions caused by perceptions of other people would not be simulations of other people’s emotions, but rather the same emotion transferred by a kind of emotional contagion.

Extended cognition and intrinsic properties

by Teed Rockwell

Published in Philosophical Psychology, 23: 6, 741
— 757

The Hypothesis of Extended Cognition (HEC) have been criticized as committing what is called the coupling/constitution... more The Hypothesis of Extended Cognition (HEC) have been criticized as committing what is called the coupling/constitution fallacy, but it is the critic’s use of this concept which is fallacious. It is true that there is no reason to deny that the line between the self and the world should be drawn at the skull and/or the skin. But the data used to support HEC reveal that there was never a good enough reason to draw the line there in the first place. The burden of proof has fallen on the Mind/Brain identity theory, now that our intuitions/prejudices no longer support it. One of those “intuitions” is the Aristotelian assumption that the world can be neatly divided into objects that possess intrinsic causal powers, and the causal relations that connect those objects. In modern science, however, the concept of intrinsic causal powers is only a temporary stopgap that makes it possible to begin research in a particular area. It therefore seems best to assume that the line between mind and world is both pragmatic and dynamic. Consequently, the mind might best described as a fluctuating field, rather than an object or structur

MPLABX SDCC toolchain guide

by Rodrigo Almeida

Guideline to install and use SDCC compiler with MPLABX IDE Guideline to install and use SDCC compiler with MPLABX IDE

Optimizing the Value of Preemption in Embedded Sensor Nodes

by Mohamed Moubarak

The emergence of the technology of Wireless Sensor Networks has lead to many changes in current and traditional... more The emergence of the technology of Wireless Sensor Networks has lead to many changes in current and traditional computational techniques. Traditional operating systems do not take into consideration the limitations in space and energy of wireless sensor networks. New system architectures have emerged to overcome these limitations. Each follows one of two design concepts, event driven or thread-driven. Experiments have shown that event-driven systems tend to save more energy and space, while thread-driven systems provide more concurrency and predictability, hence creating a tradeoff. This paper studies the differences between the aforementioned system designs, pointing out the causes of the tradeoff. The paper then introduces a thread-driven scheduling algorithm focusing on the value of preemption to overcome the energy tradeoff brought by event-driven systems. Our proposed algorithm reduces the average amount of energy spent under high system load which was a significant scenario where event driven systems showed better energy savings.