Dolphin Design (France)

We evaluated soft-error tolerance by heavy-ion irradiation test on three-types of flip-flops (FFs) named the standard FF (STDFF), the dual feedback recovery FF (DFRFF), and the DFRFF with long delay (DFRFFLD) in 22 and 65 nm fully-depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) technologies. The guard-gate (GG) structure in DFRFF mitigates soft errors. A single event transient (SET) pulse is removed by the C-element with the signal delayed by the GG structure. DFRFFLD increases the GG delay by adding two more inverters as delay elements. We investigated the effectiveness of the GG structure in 22 and 65 nm. In 22 nm, Kr (40.3 MeV-cm2/mg) and Xe (67.2 MeV-cm2/mg) irradiation tests revealed that DFRFFLD has sufficient soft-error tolerance in outer space. In 65 nm, the relationship between GG delay and CS reveals the GG delay time which no error was observed under Kr irradiation.

In the era of AI at the edge, running on-device inference poses unique challenges for both the Audio/Speech and Computer Vision market segments. In this presentation, we will delve into these challenges and explore the solutions offered by Dolphin Design IP platforms. We will introduce the IP value proposal, highlighting the implementation details and performance benchmarks. Additionally, we will touch upon the emerging trend of on-device Large Language Models (LLMs), opening up new possibilities for edge computing. Join us as we embrace the new era of AI at the edge and discover the transformative potential of on-device intelligence.

In 22 nm FDSOI, the flip-well structure is used instead of the standard-well structure. We evaluated soft-error tolerance by heavy-ion irradiation tests on standard and stacked flip-flops (STDFF and STACKEDFF) in the flip-well structure. The error probability of STACKEDFF was significantly smaller than STDFF. Therefore, the stacked structure is also effective against soft error in the flip-well structure. However, as the supply voltage is lowered, even STACKEDFF becomes vulnerable to soft errors under certain conditions. The origin of these errors was pMOSFETs. Therefore, soft error countermeasures are needed to account for errors from pMOSFETs.

In this paper, we propose hybrid GaN-FDSOI Front-End-Modules (FEMs) combined with lens-based mmWave antenna modules for energy-efficient multi-beamforming systems. X-topology Lattice-based balanced (LB) and unbalanced (LU) differential switches are designed and fabricated using FDSOI platforms for building scalable multi-beamforming FEMs. Unified mmWave and Baseband correlation technologies based on energy density and EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) metrics are introduced for low complexity (leveraging sparsity of MIMO channels) cost-effective multi-beamforming systems. Combination of convolutional accelerators with analog signal processing for linking beam-selection algorithms to stochastic-wave-shaping (SWS) will create new paradigms for eliminating the concept of “elements” in arrays and replacing it by the vision of “radiating current flows” over a textured surface (metasurface or metavolume). The radiating metasurfaces or metavolumes which can be conformal to the patterned optical lenses are fed by a limited number of emitting/receiving points. The use of time-modulated correlation functions will foster new system architectures with critical functionalities including direction of arrival (DOA) estimation and secure communications.

In this paper, we introduce correlation technologies both at RF/mmWave and Base-Band frequencies. At RF and mmWave frequencies power-spectra and energy-spectra metrics are introduced for measuring the power-density of mobile devices and systems. The use of unified power-spectra and energy-spectra metrics leads to innovative Electromagnetic-Thermal sensing solutions for OTA-Testing. At Base-Band frequencies, DSP-based Convolutional-Accelerators are proposed for fast and accurate measurement of EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) using correlation technologies. New ASIC-embedded Smart-Connectors are developed for bringing correlation-based signal processing close to antenna-in-package (AiP) modules. Porting of the DSP-based Convolutional-Accelerators into advanced FD-SOI-ASIC platforms for co-integration with adaptive RF/mmWave FrontEnd-Modules will enable real-time extraction of auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions of stochastic signals for mobile devices and systems. Perspectives toward optically synchronized interferometric-correlation technologies are drawn for accurate measurements of stochastic EM fields in noisy environments.

This article presents an instruction-set extension to the open-source RISC-V ISA (RV32IM) dedicated to ultra-low power (ULP) software-defined wireless IoT transceivers. The custom instructions are tailored to the needs of 8/16/32-bit integer complex arithmetic typically required by quadrature modulations. The proposed extension occupies only two major opcodes and most instructions are designed to come at a near-zero energy cost. Both an instruction accurate (IA) and a cycle accurate (CA) model of the new architecture are used to evaluate six IoT baseband processing test benches including FSK demodulation and LoRa preamble detection. Simulation results show cycle count improvements from 19 to 68 percent. Post synthesis simulations for a target 22nm FD-SOI technology show less than 1 percent power and 28 percent area overheads, respectively, relative to a baseline RV32IM design. Power simulations show a peak power consumption of 380 µW for Bluetooth LE demodulation and 225 µW for LoRa preamble detection (BW = 500 kHz, SF = 11).

<p>The Laacher See caldera lake, formed by a series of phreatomagmatic and Plinian eruptions around 12,900 years BP, has been receiving increased attention lately with several studies investigating the present-day volcanic and geodynamic activity in the eastern Eifel, a densely populated area in western Germany. Volcanic activity beneath Laacher See is most notably evidenced by several gas seeps in the lake and its surrounding shore, emitting CO<sub>2</sub> of magmatic origin. During a 2019 survey, several geophysical techniques were used to investigate the CO<sub>2</sub> seeps at the lake floor. Here, we present results from multibeam echosounder and sub-bottom profiler data showing the presence of gas in both the water column (i.e. gas flares) and the lake sedimentary infill. Enhanced seismic reflections and acoustic blanking illustrate different levels at which free gas is accumulated in the lake sediments. Additionally, several stratigraphic horizons containing mass-transport deposits (MTDs) are observed in the laminated lake infill. The origin of these MTDs remains unclear, yet possible causes of slope failure in Laacher See might include seismic shaking, anthropogenic lake level fluctuation, and an increased fluid/pore pressure in the sediment due to free gas. Our results give a first indication of free gas in the lake infill, with further research needed to investigate the possible link between gas presence and mass movement in the lake. The monitoring of gas seeps at Laacher See and a further understanding of its gas-laden sedimentary infill can ultimately contribute to a better volcanic hazard assessment in the area.</p>

This paper presents RFIC MIMO modules integrating beamformer chips (including PAs, LNAs, T/R switches, power combiners/dividers and digital controls) and smart-antenna arrays including down-converters for 5G. Several solutions: 2×2 (16 antennas) and 4×4 (64 antennas) arrays of RFIC beamformer chips are designed, fabricated and experimentally characterized. Wireless 5G links with real-time high data rate video-streaming capabilities are demonstrated using integrated cameras. Field-Field correlation-based over-the-air near-field and far-field test solutions with and without down-conversion are proposed for MIMO/Massive-MIMO phased-array systems both in frequency and time domains. Cognitive BIST solutions are combined with co-array signal-processing. Perspectives for holistic RFSOI technology solutions, including RF-analog-to-digital converters (RF-ADCs) and adaptive body-biasing systems, are drawn in comparison with BiCMOS, GaAs and GaN based technologies.