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Applications in Electronics Pervading Industry, Environment and Society – Sensing Systems and Pervasive Intelligence

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2020) | Viewed by 50476

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Special Issue Editors

Department of Naval, Electrical and Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering (DITEN), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Interests: electronic systems and applications; serious games; Internet of Things
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and Naval Architecture Department, University of Genoa, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Interests: electric vehicles; intelligent transportation systems; edge computing; Internet of Things; cyber–physical systems; human–computer interaction; serious games; deep learning, machine learning; object detection; trajectory prediction; reinforcement learning; datasets
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The International Conference on Applications in Electronics Pervading Industry, Environment and Society (ApplePies 2019), https://applepies.eu, intends to provide an opportunity for reciprocal meeting and knowledge on industrial and research activities for academics, practitioners, and managers who operate in the field of electronic applications in various domains. The focus of this Special Issue will be on sensing systems and pervasive intelligence.

The conference offers a venue for presenting original research works, achievements, and panels on the latest trends in electronic applications pervading Industry 4.0, the environment, and society. The overall goal is to stimulate a collaboration between the academy and the industry in the world of the applications of electronic technologies.

Authors of papers accepted at the conference are invited to submit a version (extended by at least 50%) of their contributions relating to the following areas (please note that original contributions related to electronic systems and applications of the following topics will also be considered for publication):

Healthcare: biomedical imaging; biomedical instrumentation; health monitoring; energy harvesting for biomedical applications; brain–computer interface (BCI) or brain–machine interface (BMI); human–machine interface (HMI) and augmented reality; biomimetic and bio-inspired systems; crowd-sensing and human-centric sensing.

Space and avionics: sensors for remote monitoring; space and avionics sensors; redundant, secure, and rad-hard systems; navigation and localization technologies.

Autonomous and connected vehicles and smart mobility: intelligent electronics for road safety; autonomous driving electronics; autonomous driving functions; advanced driving assistance systems; driver information management; smart Li-ion batteries; intelligent transportation systems; smart transport/mobility infrastructure; infomobility.

Education, training, and entertainment: human–computer interaction; smart learning environments; technology-enhanced learning; serious games; digital learning and education; collaborative applications and systems; cultural heritage.

Sensing and environment perception: wireless sensors networks; energy harvesting for autonomous systems; environment monitoring and control; smart sensors for environmental applications, IoT, and sustainable development; smart agriculture and food systems.

Enabling technologies: Internet of Things; artificial intelligence; machine learning; deep learning; cryptography; cyber–physical systems; MEMS/MOEMS; embedded systems; high-performance computing; (open source) HW/SW platforms; sensors and actuators; silicon-photonics and optical communications; “makers” systems; system of systems; ubiquitous computing; edge computing; cloud computing; wireless communications; radio frequency identification (RFID); digital signal and image processing; ultra-low-energy and low-power computation and storage; wired and power-line communications; 5G; robotics; Industry 4.0; cyber-security and privacy.

System engineering: system modeling and simulation; requirement engineering; testing; verification; model checking; functional safety; life-cycle management; maintenance.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Saponara
Prof. Alessandro De Gloria
Prof. Francesco Bellotti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Electronic systems and applications 
  • Healthcare and biomedical electronics
  • Intelligent transportation systems 
  • Sensors and sensing systems 
  • Pervasive electronics 
  • Digital technologies and Internet of Things
  • Cyber physical systems 
  • Industry 4.0

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

5 pages, 160 KiB  
Editorial
Recent Trends on Applications of Electronics Pervading the Industry, Environment and Society
by Sergio Saponara, Alessandro De Gloria and Francesco Bellotti
Sensors 2020, 20(24), 7295; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247295 - 18 Dec 2020
Viewed by 1302
Abstract
This Editorial analyzes the manuscripts accepted, after a careful peer-reviewed process, for the Special Issue “Applications in Electronics Pervading Industry, Environment and Society—Sensing Systems and Pervasive Intelligence” of the Sensors MDPI journal [...] Full article

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 2471 KiB  
Article
Managing Big Data for Addressing Research Questions in a Collaborative Project on Automated Driving Impact Assessment
by Francesco Bellotti, Nisrine Osman, Eduardo H. Arnold, Sajjad Mozaffari, Satu Innamaa, Tyron Louw, Guilhermina Torrao, Hendrik Weber, Johannes Hiller, Alessandro De Gloria, Mehrdad Dianati and Riccardo Berta
Sensors 2020, 20(23), 6773; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20236773 - 27 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2472
Abstract
While extracting meaningful information from big data is getting relevance, literature lacks information on how to handle sensitive data by different project partners in order to collectively answer research questions (RQs), especially on impact assessment of new automated driving technologies. This paper presents [...] Read more.
While extracting meaningful information from big data is getting relevance, literature lacks information on how to handle sensitive data by different project partners in order to collectively answer research questions (RQs), especially on impact assessment of new automated driving technologies. This paper presents the application of an established reference piloting methodology and the consequent development of a coherent, robust workflow. Key challenges include ensuring methodological soundness and data validity while protecting partners’ intellectual property. The authors draw on their experiences in a 34-partner project aimed at assessing the impact of advanced automated driving functions, across 10 European countries. In the first step of the workflow, we captured the quantitative requirements of each RQ in terms of the relevant data needed from the tests. Most of the data come from vehicular sensors, but subjective data from questionnaires are processed as well. Next, we set up a data management process involving several partners (vehicle manufacturers, research institutions, suppliers and developers), with different perspectives and requirements. Finally, we deployed the system so that it is fully integrated within the project big data toolchain and usable by all the partners. Based on our experience, we highlight the importance of the reference methodology to theoretically inform and coherently manage all the steps of the project and the need for effective and efficient tools, in order to support the everyday work of all the involved research teams, from vehicle manufacturers to data analysts. Full article
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21 pages, 3987 KiB  
Article
A Portable Support Attitude Sensing System for Accurate Attitude Estimation of Hydraulic Support Based on Unscented Kalman Filter
by Xuliang Lu, Zhongbin Wang, Chao Tan, Haifeng Yan, Lei Si and Dong Wei
Sensors 2020, 20(19), 5459; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20195459 - 23 Sep 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2087
Abstract
To measure the support attitude of hydraulic support, a support attitude sensing system composed of an inertial measurement unit with microelectromechanical system (MEMS) was designed in this study. Yaw angle estimation with magnetometers is disturbed by the perturbed magnetic field generated by coal [...] Read more.
To measure the support attitude of hydraulic support, a support attitude sensing system composed of an inertial measurement unit with microelectromechanical system (MEMS) was designed in this study. Yaw angle estimation with magnetometers is disturbed by the perturbed magnetic field generated by coal rock structure and high-power equipment of shearer in automatic coal mining working face. Roll and pitch angles are estimated using the MEMS gyroscope and accelerometer, and the accuracy is not reliable with time. In order to eliminate the measurement error of the sensors and obtain the high-accuracy attitude estimation of the system, an unscented Kalman filter based on quaternion according to the characteristics of complementation of the magnetometer, accelerometer and gyroscope is applied to optimize the solution of sensor data. Then the gradient descent algorithm is used to optimize the key parameter of unscented Kalman filter, namely process noise covariance, to improve the accuracy of attitude calculation. Finally, an experiment and industrial application show that the average measurement error of yaw angle is less than 2° and that of pitch angle and roll angle is less than 1°, which proves the efficiency and feasibility of the proposed system and method. Full article
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15 pages, 6833 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Comparison of Rad-Hard Ring and LC-Tank Controlled Oscillators in 65 nm for SpaceFibre Applications
by Danilo Monda, Gabriele Ciarpi and Sergio Saponara
Sensors 2020, 20(16), 4612; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20164612 - 17 Aug 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2850
Abstract
This work presented a comparison between two Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) designed in 65 nm CMOS technology. The first architecture based on a Ring Oscillator (RO) was designed using three Current Mode Logic (CML) stages connected in a loop, while the second one [...] Read more.
This work presented a comparison between two Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) designed in 65 nm CMOS technology. The first architecture based on a Ring Oscillator (RO) was designed using three Current Mode Logic (CML) stages connected in a loop, while the second one was based on an LC-tank resonator. This analysis aimed to choose a VCO architecture able to be integrated into a rad-hard Phase Locked Loop. It had to meet the requirements of the SpaceFibre protocol, which supports frequencies up to 6.25 GHz, for space applications. The full custom schematic and layout designs are shown, and Single Event Effect simulations results, performed with a double exponential current pulses generator, are presented in detail for both VCOs. Although the RO-VCO performances in terms of technology scaling and high-integration density were attractive, the simulations on the process variations demonstrated its inability to generate the target frequency in harsh operating conditions. Instead, the LC-VCO highlighted a lower influence through Process-Voltage-Temperature simulations on the oscillation frequency. Both architectures were biased with a supply voltage of 1.2 V. The achieved results for the second architecture analyzed were attractive to address the requirements of the new SpaceFibre aerospace standard. Full article
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20 pages, 8948 KiB  
Article
Analysis and Design of Integrated Blocks for a 6.25 GHz Spacefibre PLL
by Marco Mestice, Bruno Neri, Gabriele Ciarpi and Sergio Saponara
Sensors 2020, 20(14), 4013; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20144013 - 19 Jul 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3196
Abstract
The design of a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) to generate the clock reference for the new Spacefibre standard is presented in this paper. Spacefibre has been recently released by the European Space Agency (ESA) and supports up to 6.25 Gbps for on-board satellite communications. [...] Read more.
The design of a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) to generate the clock reference for the new Spacefibre standard is presented in this paper. Spacefibre has been recently released by the European Space Agency (ESA) and supports up to 6.25 Gbps for on-board satellite communications. Taking as a starting point a rad-hard 6.25 GHz Voltage Controlled Oscillator in 65 nm technology, this work presents the design of the key blocks for an integrated PLL: a Triple Modular Redundancy Phase/Frequency Detector, a Charge Pump, and a passive Loop Filter. The modeling activities carried out in an Advanced Design System have proven that the proposed PLL can be completely integrated on-chip, with a Loop Filter area consumption of only 6000 µm2 (considering the 65 nm technology). The design of active circuits has been carried out at the transistor level in a Cadence Virtuoso environment, implementing both system and layout rad-hard techniques, and different solutions are discussed in this paper. As a result, a compact (0.09 mm2), low power (10.24 mW), dead zone free and rad-hard PLL is obtained with a Phase Noise below −80 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz. A preliminary block view and floor plan of the test chip is also proposed. Full article
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25 pages, 1481 KiB  
Article
Machine Learning on Mainstream Microcontrollers
by Fouad Sakr, Francesco Bellotti, Riccardo Berta and Alessandro De Gloria
Sensors 2020, 20(9), 2638; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20092638 - 05 May 2020
Cited by 57 | Viewed by 7604
Abstract
This paper presents the Edge Learning Machine (ELM), a machine learning framework for edge devices, which manages the training phase on a desktop computer and performs inferences on microcontrollers. The framework implements, in a platform-independent C language, three supervised machine learning algorithms (Support [...] Read more.
This paper presents the Edge Learning Machine (ELM), a machine learning framework for edge devices, which manages the training phase on a desktop computer and performs inferences on microcontrollers. The framework implements, in a platform-independent C language, three supervised machine learning algorithms (Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a linear kernel, k-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN), and Decision Tree (DT)), and exploits STM X-Cube-AI to implement Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) on STM32 Nucleo boards. We investigated the performance of these algorithms on six embedded boards and six datasets (four classifications and two regression). Our analysis—which aims to plug a gap in the literature—shows that the target platforms allow us to achieve the same performance score as a desktop machine, with a similar time latency. ANN performs better than the other algorithms in most cases, with no difference among the target devices. We observed that increasing the depth of an NN improves performance, up to a saturation level. k-NN performs similarly to ANN and, in one case, even better, but requires all the training sets to be kept in the inference phase, posing a significant memory demand, which can be afforded only by high-end edge devices. DT performance has a larger variance across datasets. In general, several factors impact performance in different ways across datasets. This highlights the importance of a framework like ELM, which is able to train and compare different algorithms. To support the developer community, ELM is released on an open-source basis. Full article
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13 pages, 710 KiB  
Article
Cryptographically Secure Pseudo-Random Number Generator IP-Core Based on SHA2 Algorithm
by Luca Baldanzi, Luca Crocetti, Francesco Falaschi , Matteo Bertolucci, Jacopo Belli, Luca Fanucci and Sergio Saponara
Sensors 2020, 20(7), 1869; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20071869 - 27 Mar 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5184
Abstract
In the context of growing the adoption of advanced sensors and systems for active vehicle safety and driver assistance, an increasingly important issue is the security of the information exchanged between the different sub-systems of the vehicle. Random number generation is crucial in [...] Read more.
In the context of growing the adoption of advanced sensors and systems for active vehicle safety and driver assistance, an increasingly important issue is the security of the information exchanged between the different sub-systems of the vehicle. Random number generation is crucial in modern encryption and security applications as it is a critical task from the point of view of the robustness of the security chain. Random numbers are in fact used to generate the encryption keys to be used for ciphers. Consequently, any weakness in the key generation process can potentially leak information that can be used to breach even the strongest cipher. This paper presents the architecture of a high performance Random Number Generator (RNG) IP-core, in particular a Cryptographically Secure Pseudo-Random Number Generator (CSPRNG) IP-core, a digital hardware accelerator for random numbers generation which can be employed for cryptographically secure applications. The specifications used to develop the proposed project were derived from dedicated literature and standards. Subsequently, specific architecture optimizations were studied to achieve better timing performance and very high throughput values. The IP-core has been validated thanks to the official NIST Statistical Test Suite, in order to evaluate the degree of randomness of the numbers generated in output. Finally the CSPRNG IP-core has been characterized on relevant Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and ASIC standard-cell technologies. Full article
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14 pages, 1337 KiB  
Article
Data Processing and Information Classification—An In-Memory Approach
by Milena Andrighetti, Giovanna Turvani, Giulia Santoro, Marco Vacca, Andrea Marchesin, Fabrizio Ottati, Massimo Ruo Roch, Mariagrazia Graziano and Maurizio Zamboni
Sensors 2020, 20(6), 1681; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20061681 - 18 Mar 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2481
Abstract
To live in the information society means to be surrounded by billions of electronic devices full of sensors that constantly acquire data. This enormous amount of data must be processed and classified. A solution commonly adopted is to send these data to server [...] Read more.
To live in the information society means to be surrounded by billions of electronic devices full of sensors that constantly acquire data. This enormous amount of data must be processed and classified. A solution commonly adopted is to send these data to server farms to be remotely elaborated. The drawback is a huge battery drain due to high amount of information that must be exchanged. To compensate this problem data must be processed locally, near the sensor itself. But this solution requires huge computational capabilities. While microprocessors, even mobile ones, nowadays have enough computational power, their performance are severely limited by the Memory Wall problem. Memories are too slow, so microprocessors cannot fetch enough data from them, greatly limiting their performance. A solution is the Processing-In-Memory (PIM) approach. New memories are designed that can elaborate data inside them eliminating the Memory Wall problem. In this work we present an example of such a system, using as a case of study the Bitmap Indexing algorithm. Such algorithm is used to classify data coming from many sources in parallel. We propose a hardware accelerator designed around the Processing-In-Memory approach, that is capable of implementing this algorithm and that can also be reconfigured to do other tasks or to work as standard memory. The architecture has been synthesized using CMOS technology. The results that we have obtained highlights that, not only it is possible to process and classify huge amount of data locally, but also that it is possible to obtain this result with a very low power consumption. Full article
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16 pages, 1397 KiB  
Article
Digital Circuit for Seamless Resampling ADC Output Streams
by Mauro D’Arco, Ettore Napoli and Efstratios Zacharelos
Sensors 2020, 20(6), 1619; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20061619 - 14 Mar 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3144
Abstract
Fine resolution selection of the sample rate is not available in digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs), so the user has to rely on offline processing to cope with such need. The paper first discusses digital signal processing based methods that allow changing the sampling [...] Read more.
Fine resolution selection of the sample rate is not available in digital storage oscilloscopes (DSOs), so the user has to rely on offline processing to cope with such need. The paper first discusses digital signal processing based methods that allow changing the sampling rate by means of digital resampling approaches. Then, it proposes a digital circuit that, if included in the acquisition channel of a digital storage oscilloscope, between the internal analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the acquisition memory, allows the user to select any sampling rate lower than the maximum one with fine resolution. The circuit relies both on the use of a short digital filter with dynamically generated coefficients and on a suitable memory management strategy. The output samples produced by the digital circuit are characterized by a sampling rate that can be incoherent with the clock frequency regulating the memory access. Both a field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design of the proposed circuit are evaluated. Full article
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22 pages, 61617 KiB  
Article
Embedded Bio-Mimetic System for Functional Electrical Stimulation Controlled by Event-Driven sEMG
by Fabio Rossi, Paolo Motto Ros, Ricardo Maximiliano Rosales and Danilo Demarchi
Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1535; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051535 - 10 Mar 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5298
Abstract
The analysis of the surface ElectroMyoGraphic (sEMG) signal for controlling the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) therapy is being widely accepted as an active rehabilitation technique for the restoration of neuro-muscular disorders. Portability and real-time functionalities are major concerns, and, among others, two correlated [...] Read more.
The analysis of the surface ElectroMyoGraphic (sEMG) signal for controlling the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) therapy is being widely accepted as an active rehabilitation technique for the restoration of neuro-muscular disorders. Portability and real-time functionalities are major concerns, and, among others, two correlated challenges are the development of an embedded system and the implementation of lightweight signal processing approaches. In this respect, the event-driven nature of the Average Threshold Crossing (ATC) technique, considering its high correlation with the muscle force and the sparsity of its representation, could be an optimal solution. In this paper we present an embedded ATC-FES control system equipped with a multi-platform software featuring an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI). The system has been first characterized and validated by analyzing CPU and memory usage in different operating conditions, as well as measuring the system latency (fulfilling the real-time requirements with a 140 ms FES definition process). We also confirmed system effectiveness, testing it on 11 healthy subjects: The similarity between the voluntary movement and the stimulate one has been evaluated, computing the cross-correlation coefficient between the angular signals acquired during the limbs motion. We obtained high correlation values of 0.87 ± 0.07 and 0.93 ± 0.02 for the elbow flexion and knee extension exercises, respectively, proving good stimulation application in real therapy-scenarios. Full article
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18 pages, 798 KiB  
Article
Fast Approximations of Activation Functions in Deep Neural Networks when using Posit Arithmetic
by Marco Cococcioni, Federico Rossi, Emanuele Ruffaldi and Sergio Saponara
Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1515; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051515 - 10 Mar 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3841
Abstract
With increasing real-time constraints being put on the use of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) by real-time scenarios, there is the need to review information representation. A very challenging path is to employ an encoding that allows a fast processing and hardware-friendly representation of [...] Read more.
With increasing real-time constraints being put on the use of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) by real-time scenarios, there is the need to review information representation. A very challenging path is to employ an encoding that allows a fast processing and hardware-friendly representation of information. Among the proposed alternatives to the IEEE 754 standard regarding floating point representation of real numbers, the recently introduced Posit format has been theoretically proven to be really promising in satisfying the mentioned requirements. However, with the absence of proper hardware support for this novel type, this evaluation can be conducted only through a software emulation. While waiting for the widespread availability of the Posit Processing Units (the equivalent of the Floating Point Unit (FPU)), we can already exploit the Posit representation and the currently available Arithmetic-Logic Unit (ALU) to speed up DNNs by manipulating the low-level bit string representations of Posits. As a first step, in this paper, we present new arithmetic properties of the Posit number system with a focus on the configuration with 0 exponent bits. In particular, we propose a new class of Posit operators called L1 operators, which consists of fast and approximated versions of existing arithmetic operations or functions (e.g., hyperbolic tangent (TANH) and extended linear unit (ELU)) only using integer arithmetic. These operators introduce very interesting properties and results: (i) faster evaluation than the exact counterpart with a negligible accuracy degradation; (ii) an efficient ALU emulation of a number of Posits operations; and (iii) the possibility to vectorize operations in Posits, using existing ALU vectorized operations (such as the scalable vector extension of ARM CPUs or advanced vector extensions on Intel CPUs). As a second step, we test the proposed activation function on Posit-based DNNs, showing how 16-bit down to 10-bit Posits represent an exact replacement for 32-bit floats while 8-bit Posits could be an interesting alternative to 32-bit floats since their performances are a bit lower but their high speed and low storage properties are very appealing (leading to a lower bandwidth demand and more cache-friendly code). Finally, we point out how small Posits (i.e., up to 14 bits long) are very interesting while PPUs become widespread, since Posit operations can be tabulated in a very efficient way (see details in the text). Full article
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12 pages, 726 KiB  
Article
Steerable-Discrete-Cosine-Transform (SDCT): Hardware Implementation and Performance Analysis
by Riccardo Peloso, Maurizio Capra, Luigi Sole, Massimo Ruo Roch, Guido Masera and Maurizio Martina
Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1405; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051405 - 04 Mar 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
In the last years, the need for new efficient video compression methods grown rapidly as frame resolution has increased dramatically. The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) effort produced in 2013 the H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, which represents the state [...] Read more.
In the last years, the need for new efficient video compression methods grown rapidly as frame resolution has increased dramatically. The Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) effort produced in 2013 the H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, which represents the state of the art in video coding standards. Nevertheless, in the last years, new algorithms and techniques to improve coding efficiency have been proposed. One promising approach relies on embedding direction capabilities into the transform stage. Recently, the Steerable Discrete Cosine Transform (SDCT) has been proposed to exploit directional DCT using a basis having different orientation angles. The SDCT leads to a sparser representation, which translates to improved coding efficiency. Preliminary results show that the SDCT can be embedded into the HEVC standard, providing better compression ratios. This paper presents a hardware architecture for the SDCT, which is able to work at a frequency of 188 M Hz , reaching a throughput of 3.00 GSample/s. In particular, this architecture supports 8k UltraHigh Definition (UHD) (7680 × 4320) with a frame rate of 60 Hz , which is one of the best resolutions supported by HEVC. Full article
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23 pages, 13795 KiB  
Article
Distillation of an End-to-End Oracle for Face Verification and Recognition Sensors
by Francesco Guzzi, Luca De Bortoli, Romina Soledad Molina, Stefano Marsi, Sergio Carrato and Giovanni Ramponi
Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1369; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051369 - 02 Mar 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2787
Abstract
Face recognition functions are today exploited through biometric sensors in many applications, from extended security systems to inclusion devices; deep neural network methods are reaching in this field stunning performances. The main limitation of the deep learning approach is an inconvenient relation between [...] Read more.
Face recognition functions are today exploited through biometric sensors in many applications, from extended security systems to inclusion devices; deep neural network methods are reaching in this field stunning performances. The main limitation of the deep learning approach is an inconvenient relation between the accuracy of the results and the needed computing power. When a personal device is employed, in particular, many algorithms require a cloud computing approach to achieve the expected performances; other algorithms adopt models that are simple by design. A third viable option consists of model (oracle) distillation. This is the most intriguing among the compression techniques since it permits to devise of the minimal structure that will enforce the same I/O relation as the original model. In this paper, a distillation technique is applied to a complex model, enabling the introduction of fast state-of-the-art recognition capabilities on a low-end hardware face recognition sensor module. Two distilled models are presented in this contribution: the former can be directly used in place of the original oracle, while the latter incarnates better the end-to-end approach, removing the need for a separate alignment procedure. The presented biometric systems are examined on the two problems of face verification and face recognition in an open set by using well-agreed training/testing methodologies and datasets. Full article
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18 pages, 2292 KiB  
Article
A Model-Based Design Floating-Point Accumulator. Case of Study: FPGA Implementation of a Support Vector Machine Kernel Function
by Marco Bassoli, Valentina Bianchi and Ilaria De Munari
Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1362; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051362 - 02 Mar 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3586
Abstract
Recent research in wearable sensors have led to the development of an advanced platform capable of embedding complex algorithms such as machine learning algorithms, which are known to usually be resource-demanding. To address the need for high computational power, one solution is to [...] Read more.
Recent research in wearable sensors have led to the development of an advanced platform capable of embedding complex algorithms such as machine learning algorithms, which are known to usually be resource-demanding. To address the need for high computational power, one solution is to design custom hardware platforms dedicated to the specific application by exploiting, for example, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Recently, model-based techniques and automatic code generation have been introduced in FPGA design. In this paper, a new model-based floating-point accumulation circuit is presented. The architecture is based on the state-of-the-art delayed buffering algorithm. This circuit was conceived to be exploited in order to compute the kernel function of a support vector machine. The implementation of the proposed model was carried out in Simulink, and simulation results showed that it had better performance in terms of speed and occupied area when compared to other solutions. To better evaluate its figure, a practical case of a polynomial kernel function was considered. Simulink and VHDL post-implementation timing simulations and measurements on FPGA confirmed the good results of the stand-alone accumulator. Full article
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