NXP (Netherlands)

For heart diagnostics, ultrasound is generally the modality of choice due to its high temporal and spatial resolution, availability, and patient safety. Although 3D echocardiography captures the complex shape and motion of the heart with more precision than 2D, it suffers to a greater extent from poor resolution, noise, and limited field-of-view. Multi-perspective echocardiography has proven to significantly enhance both image quality and field-of-view. The greatest improvements occur when combining acquisitions from widely differing insonification angles, but this process is challenging because of substantial local structural and brightness variations and ultrasound's anisotropic nature. To handle these inconsistencies, a novel temporal and spatial registration algorithm designed is proposed. Temporal registration is achieved using low-frequency cardiac wall features and motion extracted via singular value decomposition of a spatio-temporal Casorati matrix, while spatial registration is performed using phase-only correlation of low-frequency data. The acquisitions are seamlessly fused using a 3D, oriented, wavelet transform including a near-field clutter algorithm. In vitro and in vivo testing highlights the benefits of this approach. Temporal alignment, validated against electrocardiograms, is precise, with an average error of just 2 ± 10 ms. Furthermore, our method outperforms a six-degree-of-freedom encoder-based probe tracker, reducing spatial registration error to 5 ± 3 mm from 19 ± 10 mm. The resulting longitudinal and radial strain measurements closely align with those obtained by tagged magnetic resonance imaging, demonstrating the accuracy and feasibility of this technique.

This paper presents a distributed radar system architecture designed for sensing applications above 100GHz. The proposed radar system leverages high-gain lens arrays to generate extremely narrow beams, enabling high angular resolution. A hybrid beamforming approach is proposed in both the transmitter and receiver arrays, allowing for continuous scanning across a moderate field of view. Additionally, an ideal estimation of radar range is conducted assuming a simplified radar equation for this architecture, showing its potential to detect targets at very long distances.

The effect of pulse duration in transient latchup events is investigated over the range from 1 ns to DC, using TLP and VF-TLP measurements. A consistent power law behavior is observed in the short pulse regime. The data can be described by a unified model, with the diffusion time as characteristic parameter. The model is evaluated to assess the transient latchup risk for various current stresses in the IC design practice.

The sound environment, or soundscape, of intensive care units (ICUs) can be stressful for patients. Soundscapes are defined as acoustic environments as perceived by people. Single-patient rooms mitigate noise, but may deprive patients of essential auditory cues. This might harm basic psychological needs, such as safety. Experiences, needs and emotions regarding soundscapes of single-patient ICU rooms remain unexplored. We aimed to understand how patients experienced these soundscapes. This mixed-methods, single-center study involved semi-structured interviews and questionnaires five days after ICU discharge. Patients experienced the soundscapes during their ICU stay, shared experiences in interviews, and selected one to rate on need fulfilment (with a researcher-developed questionnaire), and emotions (with a validated questionnaire). Using thematic analysis, we analyzed interview transcripts by labelling sound-related experiences, sounds, and emotions. We interviewed 26 patients. We labelled 259 sound-related experiences, 264 sounds, and 281 emotions, from which six themes emerged: Orientation through sound; Coping with disruptions; Human auditory presence; Monotony and variation; Associations and hallucinations; Communication behind closed doors. Eight patient-selected experiences involved positive emotions. Need fulfilment scores varied: scores were low for communication-related experiences, but relatively high for those involving human presence. Our findings demonstrated that experiences with single-patient ICU room soundscapes can be positive or negative. For future implementation of such rooms, three insights merit consideration: positive sounds originating from corridors may be unnecessarily removed; alarms in single-patient rooms serve key supportive functions for patients; there is a lack of accessible and appropriate auditory stimulation. We recommend that these insights are taken into consideration to ensure more positive and restorative ICU stays. In ICUs, balanced approaches that consider both positive and negative aspects of soundscapes may benefit patients in future interventions for noise mitigation. Diversifying the variety of sounds inside patient rooms could further support well-being.

Advanced chips, built on innovative process nodes, are more susceptible to defects during manufacturing, making early detection critical. This necessity has driven the demand for extensive structural scan testing to screen for defects in the digital logic of System-on-Chips. The widely adopted Stuck-At (SA) and Transition-Delay (TD) scan ATPG fault models are not sufficient for screening out the defective parts and achieving low DPPM automotive parts. Targeted pattern generation for the SA and TD fault models is done only using port-level faults. Hence, the cell internal defects are not always visible via SA and TD patterns. The more recently developed Cell-Aware (CA) fault model has been successfully proven to be able to screen out the cell-internal defects. However, this approach incurs significant overhead, including CA-UDFM (user-defined fault model) generation. In this work, we present CTFM (CMOS Transition Fault Model), which uses custom UDFM files that target cell internal faults at the transistor level with less overhead compared with CA patterns. This is crucial for legacy designs, where fewer resources are typically allocated, especially compared to New Product Introduction (NPI) designs. A custom in-house diagnosis flow using our UDFM to improve scan diagnosis quality is also presented in this work.

This work presents a single-die IEEE 802.15.4/4z compliant impulse-radio ultra-wideband SoC chip that supports single-sided & double-sided two-way ranging, time difference of arrival (TDoA) & phase difference of arrival (PDoA) ranging and IR-UWB radar. The transceiver includes two stand-alone receiver (Rx) chains and one combined transmit & receive (TRx) chain, which can interface with four antennas to improve diversity. The maximum transmit peak power is $\mathbf{1 5} \mathbf{~ d B m}$ or higher across the UWB bands from 6.5 to 9 GHz (Ch5 to Ch12). The Rx sensitivity is -96.6 to $-95.7 \mathrm{dBm}(6.81 \mathrm{Mb} / \mathrm{s}$ and $\lt1 \%$ PER) and -103 to -101 $\mathrm{dBm}(850 \mathrm{~kb} / \mathrm{s}$ and $\lt1 \%$ PER) across the UWB channels. Receivers show 3 dB de-sense for WiFi-5 blocker levels of -22 dBm or LTE blocker levels of $\mathbf{- 2 4}$ to $\mathbf{- 1 7 ~ d B m}$. The chip is fabricated in 28 nm CMOS technology with a radio size of 4.47 mm.

In this report the developed FOWLP passed all standard industrial/automotive grade 1 reliability qualification requirements. Development studies included DOE variables like; die/package ratio, package designs, dielectric materials, and solder alloys. To emulate product reliability in the field, application-level temperature cycling (AL-TC) was done where the test devices were mounted on a translation board (TLB). The TLB stack up and routing were like a typical customer board design. For AL-TC different performance was observed in the DOE legs. For some DOE leg's reliability was passed for automotive grade 1. For other DOE legs open and leakage fails were observed after AL-TC reliability. Modelling confirmed the failure location to be coincident with the highest die peel stress location in the package. The failure mode was BEOL delamination under the die bond pad which was related to high die peel stress. The failure root cause was attributed to stress induced by one of the package dielectric materials having a high CTE and high storage modulus at −40°C, which is the maximum stress point in the thermal shock cycle.

A package concept and technology is demonstrated that addresses next generation Edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet-Of-Things (IOT), Industrial and Automotive Networking microprocessor performance requirements with memory and passive device embedding, while realizing competitive overall system cost. The memory interface has been designed in such a way such that “near face-to-face” memory access to the processor core can be achieved, while still providing adequate power and ground routing to maintain power integrity. The same package structure that is used for memory access is also used to place decoupling capacitors directly below the processor cores to effectively reduce noise in the power supply while using a minimal capacitor quantity and value compared to solutions with the capacitors further away from the processor device. The memory and capacitor integration is achieved by using fan-out (FO) package technology with design rules and area only necessary to effectively incorporate these devices. Final connection to the PCB is accomplished through laminate substrate technology to realize competitive overall system cost while still addressing electrical and thermal performance requirements.

Well-defined Al-alkyl borate (AAB) salts {[iBu2(L)Al]2(μ-H)}+[B(C6F5)4]- (AlHAl_L) with L = N-donor ligands have been recently reported as promising "complete" cocatalysts for olefin polymerization. Herein, we explore structural variations of AlHAl_L going beyond the class of N-donors like the prototypical N,N-dimethyl aniline (DMA). Thirteen P-, O-, and C-donor ligands were screened, allowing isolation of AAB salts with mono- and bidentate phosphines, alkyl-, aryl-, and silyl-ethers, and a N-heterocyclic carbene. Except for the diphosphine with the longest spacer between the P atoms [bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane, DPPH], all donors gave well-defined tetracoordinate or tricoordinate molecular species, which were characterized in solution (NMR) and solid state (XRD), and tested as cocatalyst in ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization with an ansa-zirconocene catalyst [rac-Me2Si(2-Me-4-Ph-Ind)2ZrCl2]. The vast majority of novel AAB salts provided active catalytic systems, further demonstrating the broad tunability of these species. Consistent with previous studies, variability in productivity upon L variation is primarily related to the efficiency of precatalyst activation, determining the fraction of Zr active sites. Variations in polymer molecular weight and comonomer incorporation observed with some P-, O- and C-donor ligands indicate that also interactions between the L donors and the Zr active species might be relevant in determining catalytic performance in some cases.