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Feasibility Study of Isodose Structure Based Field-in-Field Technique for Total Body Irradiation (전신조사방사선치료 시 Isodose Structure를 이용한 Field-in-Field Technique의 유용성 평가)

  • Lee, Yoon Hee;Ban, Tae Joon;Lee, Woo Seok;Kang, Tae Young;Back, Geum Mun
    • The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.15-24
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    • 2013
  • Purpose: In Asan Medical Center, Two parallel opposite beams are employed for total body irradiation. Patients are required to be in supine position where two arms are attached to mid axillary line. Normally, physical compensators are required to compensate the large dose difference for different parts of body due to the different thicknesses compared to the umbilicus separation. There was the maximum dose difference up to 30% in lung and chest wall compared to the prescription dose. In order to resolve the dose discrepancy occurring on different body regions, the feasibility of using Fieid-in-Field Technique is investigated in this study. Materials and Methods: CT scan was performed to The RANDO Phantom with fabricated two arms and sent to Eclipse treatment planning system (version 10.0, Varian, USA). Conventional plan with physical lead compensator and new plan using Field-in-Field Technique were established on TPS. AAA (Anisotropic Analytical Algorithm) dose calculation algorithm was employed for two parallel opposite beams attenuation. Results: The dose difference between two methods was compared with the prescription dose. The dose distribution of chest and anterior chest wall uncovered by patient arms was 114~124% for physical lead compensator while Field-in-Field Technique gave 106~107% of the dose distribution. In-vivo dosimetry result using TLD showed that the dose distribution to the same region was 110~117% for conventional physical compensator and 104~107% for Field-in-Field Technique. Conclusion: In this study, the feasibility of using FIF technique has been investigated with fabricated arms attached Rando phantom. The dose difference was up to 17% due to the attached arms. It is shown that the dose homogeneity is within ${\pm}10%$ with the CT based 3-dimensional 4 step FIF technique. The in-vivo dosimetry result using TLD was showed that 95~107% dose distribution compared to prescription dose. It is considered that CT based 3-dimensional Field-in-Field Technique for the total body irradiation gives much homogeneous dose distribution for different body parts than the conventional physical compensator method and might be useful to evaluate the dose on each part of patient body.

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Extraction & Purification of ${\beta}$-carotene from Recombinant Escherichia coli (재조합 대장균으로부터 고순도 베타-카로틴의 추출 및 정제)

  • Jo, Ji-Song;Nguyen, Do Quynh Anh;Yun, Jun-Ki;Kim, Yu-Na;Kim, You-Geun;Kim, Sung-Bae;Seo, Yang-Gon;Lee, Byung-Hak;Kang, Moon-Kook;Kim, Chang-Joon
    • Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.231-237
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    • 2009
  • This paper aimed to develop a solvent extraction and purification process to recover high-purified ${\beta}$-carotene from recombinant Escherichia coli. Cells harvested from the culture broth were treated through numerous steps: dehydration, solvent extraction, crystal formation and separation. To optimize the extracting condition, experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of cell disruption, temperature, organic solvents, solvent-biomass ratio on the yield of ${\beta}$-carotene extracted from cells. The result indicated that no significant differences of extraction yield were observed from cells with or without step of cell disruption. Among different extracting solvents, the highest extraction yield of ${\beta}$-carotene, 30.3 mg-${\beta}$-carotene/g-dry cells, was obtained with isobutyl acetate at solvent-biomass ratio 25 mL/g-dry cells at $50^{\circ}C$. Notably, in case of acetone, the extraction yield was quite low when using acetone itself, but increased almost up to the highest value when combining this solvent and olive oil. The purity of ${\beta}$-carotene crystals obtained from crystallization and separation was 89%. The purity degree was further improved up to 98.5% by treating crude crystals with additional ethanol washing.

Habitat Characteristics of Benthic Macroinvertebrates at a Headwater Stream in the Yeonyeopsan (Mt.) (연엽산 산지계류에 있어서 저서성 대형무척추동물의 서식특성)

  • Jang, Su-Jin;Nam, Sooyoun;Kim, Suk-Woo;Koo, Hyo-Bin;Kim, Ji-Hyeon;Lee, Youn-Tae;Chun, Kun-Woo
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.334-344
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    • 2020
  • A total of 24 families, 44 species, and 658 benthic macroinvertebrates were identified, and Ecdyonurus dracon Kluge (13%) was the dominant species in forested streams within the Yeonyeopsan (Mt.). A total of four habit categories (i.e., clingers (56%), burrowers (19%), swimmers (14%), and sprawlers (56%)) were identified, and clingers were the dominant habit at all survey points except point one (UP1). Habitat characteristics were depended on the hydraulic factors (e.g., flow velocity, depth, and substrates), water quality (e.g., DO and water temperature), and the habitat characteristics were differed in the riffle, which has a faster the flow velocity, compared by in the stagnant pool. In other words, in riffles, the clingers dominated in high flow velocity with the large maximum and median grain size for substrates in the habitats regardless of depth, but the burrowers and sprawlers were dominant in low flow velocity with the small maximum and median grain size for substrates in the habitats. Moreover, DO and flow velocity were in positive correlation (y = 0.6666x - 0.659, R2 = 0.0851), and the habitat for burrowers was wider than that for sprawlers or clingers. The water depth was negatively correlated with water temperature (y = -26.397x + 283.87, R2 = 0.1802) since the water temperature is more sensitive to insolation in shallow depth. pH was positively correlated with water temperature. The investigation of the habitat characteristics by separating the relations between pH and DO in upstream and downstream showed the low pH and high DO in the upstream with a high crown density of 68%, regardless of community composition. On the other hand, high pH and low DO in the downstream with a relatively low crown density of 51%. It was considered that the riparian forest played a role in suppressing the growth of attached algae and the controlling water temperature in headwater streams. Our findings identified the habitat characteristics of benthic macroinvertebrates in a headwater stream. We expected that the finding can provide reference data for suggesting conservation and management plans in a headwater stream and increasing academic value.

The Preventive Measures On Terrorism Against Overseas Korean Businessmen(A view of recent ethnic minority separation movement) (해외근무(海外覲務) 기업체(企業體)에 대(對)한 테러 방지책(防止策) - 최근(最近) 소수민족분리주의운동지역(小數民族分離主義運動地域)을 중심(中心)으로 -)

  • Choi, Yoon-Soo
    • Korean Security Journal
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    • no.1
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    • pp.351-370
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    • 1997
  • This study concerns possible measures to prevent separatists' terrorist acts against overseas Korean businessmen. Of late, many Korean enterprises are helping a number of foreign countries develop their economy, by building factories and manning regional offices in those countries. But recent development of terrorism especially against Korean businessmen is alarming. This report discusses the need for Korean enterprises heading overseas to prepare themselves with awareness of terrorism and possible protective measures against it, besides their routine pursuance of profits; and for the government and prospective enterprises to refrain from investing in those countries having active separatist movements. If an investment has become inevitable, a careful survey of the region in conflict should be conducted and self-protective measures should be put in place through security information exchange, emergency coordination and training of personnel, etc. This study will first review the past terrorist incidents involving employees of overseas Korean enterprises, and then will focuss on seeking effective measures on the basis of the reported incidents. In carrying out the study, related literature from both home and abroad have been used along with the preliminary materials reported and known on the Internet from recent incidents. 1. The separatist movements of minority groups Lately, minority separatist groups are increasingly resorting to terrorism to draw international attention with the political aim of gaining extended self rule or independence. 2. The state of terrorism against overseas Korean enterprises and Koreans Korean enterprises are now operating businesses, and having their own personnel stationed, in 85 countries including those in South East Asia and Middle East regions. In Sri Lanka, where a Korean enterprise recently became a target of terrorist bombing, there are 75 business firms from Korea and some 700 Korean employees are stationed as of August 1996. A total of 19 different terrorist incidents have taken place against Koreans abroad since 1990. 3. Terrorism preventive measures Terrorism preventive measures are discussed in two ways: measures by the government and by the enterprises. ${\blacktriangleleft}$ Measures by the government - Possible measures at governmental level can include collection and dissemination of terrorist activity information. Emphasis should be given to the information on North Korean activities in particular. ${\blacktriangleleft}$ Measures by individual enterprises - Organizational security plan must be established by individual enterprises and there should also be an increase of security budget. A reason for reluctant effort toward positive security plan is the perception that the security budget is not immediately linked to an increment of profit gain. Ensuring safety for overseas personnel is a fundamental obligation of an enterprise. Consultation and information exchange on security plan, and an emergency support system at a threat to security must be sought after and implemented. 4. Conclusion Today's terrorism varies widely depending on reasons and causes, and its means has become increasingly informationalized and scientific as well while its method is becoming more clandestine and violent. Terrorist organizations are increasingly aiming at enterprises for acquisition of budgets needed for their activities. Korean enterprises have extended their business realm to foreign countries since 1970, exposing themselves to terrorism. Enterprises and their employees, therefore, should establish their own security measures on the one hand while the government must provide general measures, on the other, for the protection of the life and property of Korean residents abroad from terrorist attacks. In this regard, set-up of a counter terrorist organization that coordinates the efforts of government authorities in various levels in planning and executing counter terrorist measures is desired. Since 1965, when the hostile North Korea began to step up its terrorist activities against South Koreans, there have been 7 different occasions of assassination attempt on South Korean presidents and some 500 cases of various kidnappings and attempted kidnappings. North Korea, nervous over the continued economic growth and social stabilization of South Korea, is now concentrating its efforts in the destruction and deterioration of the national power of South Korea for its earlier realization of reunification by force. The possibility of North Korean terrorism can be divided into external terrorist acts and internal terrorist acts depending on the nationality of the terrorists it uses. The external terrorist acts include those committed directly by North Korean agents in South Korea and abroad and those committed by dissident Koreans, hired Korean residents, or international professionals or independent international terrorists bought or instigated by North Korea. To protect the life and property of Korean enterprises and their employees abroad from the threat of terrorism, the government's administrative support and the organizational efforts of enterprises should necessarily be directed toward the planning of proper security measures and training of employees. Also, proper actions should be taken against possible terrorist acts toward Korean business employees abroad as long as there are ongoing hostilities from minority groups against their governments.

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Analysis of Research Trends in the Successful Establishment of Venture Companies: with Priority Given to Domestic Articles Between 1998 and 2014 (국내 벤처기업의 창업 성공에 관한 연구동향 분석: 메타분석을 활용하여)

  • Lee, Yong-hee;Hong, Kwang-pyo;Park, Su-hong
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.10 no.6
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    • pp.15-26
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    • 2015
  • The purpose of this study was to examine the area, theme and method of domestic articles on the successful establishment of venture companies, which were presented between 1998 and 2014, according to related basic classification criteria in an effort to shed light on the characteristics of these studies. It's basically meant to make a contribution to the development of research on the success of venture business and to be of practical use for the success of venture companies in our country. After related earlier studies were analyzed, 164 articles were collected, and 64 articles were selected from among them. The articles that were overlapped, not presented or not registered were excluded. The related studies had been conducted by different learned societies that were interested in the same research themes, and the studies were primarily led by the Korean Society of Business Venturing as of 2014, especially by Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship that was a journal published by this society. This society seemed to have taken the initiative in this field. There was a tendency that the related studies increased in number due to the shifts of modern industrial society and the changing policies of the government, as the number of the studies has been on the steady rise since 2012. In terms of method, quantitative research methods, especially descriptive studies, were prevailing. To step up the development of research into this field, a wide variety of research methods should be utilized in the future. As for the sphere of research, the characteristics of founders, strategic characteristics and environmental characteristics were mainly covered as the success factors of venture business. More diverse variables should be explored as well to make more advanced, extended research in the years to come. The findings of the study are expected to provide both theoretical and practical information on the establishment and success of venture business to make a contribution to the development of research.

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Characterization of Bacteriocin Produced from Isolated Strain of Bacillus sp. (Bacillus 속 분리주가 생산하는 박테리오신의 특성 조사)

  • Ham, Seung-Hee;Choi, Nack-Shick;Moon, Ja-Young;Baek, Sun-Hwa;Lee, Song-Min;Kang, Dae-Ook
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.202-210
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    • 2017
  • As an effort to find a potential biopreservative, we isolated bacterial strains producing bacteriocin from fermented foods. A strain was finally selected and characteristics of the bacteriocin were investigated. The selected strain was identified as Bacillus subtilis E9-1 based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis. The culture supernatant of B. subtilis E9-1 showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Subtilisin A, ${\alpha}$-chymotrypsin, trypsin and proteinase K inactivated the antimicrobial activity, which means its proteinaceous nature, a bacteriocin. The bacteriocin activity was fully retained at the pH range from 2.0 to 8.0 and stable at up to $100^{\circ}C$ for 60 min. Solvents such as ethanol, isopropanol and methanol had no effect on the antimicrobial activity at the concentration of 100% but acetone and acetonitrile reduced the activity at up to 100% concentration. Cell growth of four indicator strains was dramatically decreased in dose-dependent manner. Listeria monocytogenes was the most sensitive, but Enterococcus faecium was the most resistant. Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus showed the medium sensitivity. The bacteriocin showed its antimicrobial activity against B. cereus and L. monocytogenes via bactericidal action. The number of viable cells of L. monocytogenes started to reduce after addition of bacteriocin to the minced beef. The bacteriocin was purified through acetone concentration, gel filtration chromatography and RP-HPLC. The whole purification step led to a 6.82 fold increase in the specific activity and 6% yield of bacteriocin activity. The molecular weight of the purified bacteriocin was determined to be 3.3 kDa by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry.

Development of Elementary School Science Instructional Program for Nurturing Creativity - 2. Development and Implementation - (창의력 계발을 위한 자연과 교수 학습 자료 개발 - 2. 개발과 적용 -)

  • Kang, Ho-Kam;Noh, Suk-Goo;Lee, Heui-Soon;Hong, Seok-In;Choi, Sun-Young;Won, Yong-Joon;Ha, Jung-Won;Kim, Ji-Sun
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.89-101
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    • 2001
  • The purpose of this study was to develop the elementary school science instructional material for nurturing students' creativity and to analyze the effects of this material on the changes of students' creativity. This material was composed of student's worksheet and a teacher's guidebook, in which are relevant to the elements of creativity and creative activities that can be applied to elementary science curriculum of 5th and 6th grades. Student's worksheets include various creative activities: imagination, guided imagery, experimental activity, mind mapping as wrap-up, and 'let's think' as an extended activity, game, puzzle, making a cartoon, to be, role playing, and so on. These materials were applied to 5th grade science class, 156 students. They were divided into two groups: the treatment group to which developed material was applied and the control group which was a traditional lecture-centered class. After this material had been applied for 3 months, students of both groups took a test of creativity. Interviews and observation were also carried out with three level groups (higher, medium and lower level) which were divided within the treatment group based on their creativity score. The results of this study were as follows: The treatment group showed higher score on creativity than that of control group(p<0.01). In the result of interviews and observation, the students of the higher and the medium level accomplished their tasks by themselves better than those on lower level.All of them took an interest in visual activity. In a wrapping-up step, the higher level students made mind map more systematically and the medium students improved as time goes on, but low level students feel constrained. In totally, they used various expression methods and were interested in making drawings and cartoons creatively.

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Suggestions for Settlement Stable Employment Culture of Dental Hygienist (치과위생사의 안정적인 고용문화 정착을 위한 제언)

  • Yoon, Mi-Sook
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
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    • v.17 no.6
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    • pp.463-471
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    • 2017
  • The purpose of this study was to examine the causes of career interruptions among dental hygienists, institutional measures required for their long service and ways of creating a stable employment culture for them in determine how to resolve labor shortage, create stable jobs, and step up the reemployment of idle manpower. In addition, the following suggestions are made for the establishment of a stable employment culture for dental hygienists by analyzing related literature, research materials, and information such as forums for establishing appropriate jobs for female dental workers. First, a system should be set up to prevent career interruption among dental hygienists. The work environment should be improved to prevent career breaks, and the wages, working hours, and working style should be efficiently structured to maintain the tenure of employees. Second, a plan should be devised to make use of idle manpower, and a variety of necessary programs should be developed. With respect to regular working hours, the time conversion system should be used, which reduces the amount of time one would want to work while receiving a national subsidy. Third, dental hygienists working in different occupations for marriage, childbirth, childcare, school and personal hygiene should make a way to return to the dental system immediately when they want. Fourth, the government should take institutional measures and offer down-to-earth support and benefits for women consideration their social characteristics to guarantee a balance between work and childcare.

A bilayer diffusion barrier of atomic layer deposited (ALD)-Ru/ALD-TaCN for direct plating of Cu

  • Kim, Soo-Hyun;Yim, Sung-Soo;Lee, Do-Joong;Kim, Ki-Su;Kim, Hyun-Mi;Kim, Ki-Bum;Sohn, Hyun-Chul
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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    • 2008.06a
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    • pp.239-240
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    • 2008
  • As semiconductor devices are scaled down for better performance and more functionality, the Cu-based interconnects suffer from the increase of the resistivity of the Cu wires. The resistivity increase, which is attributed to the electron scattering from grain boundaries and interfaces, needs to be addressed in order to further scale down semiconductor devices [1]. The increase in the resistivity of the interconnect can be alleviated by increasing the grain size of electroplating (EP)-Cu or by modifying the Cu surface [1]. Another possible solution is to maximize the portion of the EP-Cu volume in the vias or damascene structures with the conformal diffusion barrier and seed layer by optimizing their deposition processes during Cu interconnect fabrication, which are currently ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD)-based Ta/TaN bilayer and IPVD-Cu, respectively. The use of in-situ etching, during IPVD of the barrier or the seed layer, has been effective in enlarging the trench volume where the Cu is filled, resulting in improved reliability and performance of the Cu-based interconnect. However, the application of IPVD technology is expected to be limited eventually because of poor sidewall step coverage and the narrow top part of the damascene structures. Recently, Ru has been suggested as a diffusion barrier that is compatible with the direct plating of Cu [2-3]. A single-layer diffusion barrier for the direct plating of Cu is desirable to optimize the resistance of the Cu interconnects because it eliminates the Cu-seed layer. However, previous studies have shown that the Ru by itself is not a suitable diffusion barrier for Cu metallization [4-6]. Thus, the diffusion barrier performance of the Ru film should be improved in order for it to be successfully incorporated as a seed layer/barrier layer for the direct plating of Cu. The improvement of its barrier performance, by modifying the Ru microstructure from columnar to amorphous (by incorporating the N into Ru during PVD), has been previously reported [7]. Another approach for improving the barrier performance of the Ru film is to use Ru as a just seed layer and combine it with superior materials to function as a diffusion barrier against the Cu. A RulTaN bilayer prepared by PVD has recently been suggested as a seed layer/diffusion barrier for Cu. This bilayer was stable between the Cu and Si after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for I min [8]. Although these reports dealt with the possible applications of Ru for Cu metallization, cases where the Ru film was prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) have not been identified. These are important because of ALD's excellent conformality. In this study, a bilayer diffusion barrier of Ru/TaCN prepared by ALD was investigated. As the addition of the third element into the transition metal nitride disrupts the crystal lattice and leads to the formation of a stable ternary amorphous material, as indicated by Nicolet [9], ALD-TaCN is expected to improve the diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-Ru against Cu. Ru was deposited by a sequential supply of bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)ruthenium [Ru$(EtCp)_2$] and $NH_3$plasma and TaCN by a sequential supply of $(NEt_2)_3Ta=Nbu^t$ (tert-butylimido-trisdiethylamido-tantalum, TBTDET) and $H_2$ plasma. Sheet resistance measurements, X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) analysis showed that the bilayer diffusion barriers of ALD-Ru (12 nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) and ALD-Ru (4nm)/ALD-TaCN (2 nm) prevented the Cu diffusion up to annealing temperatures of 600 and $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, respectively. This is found to be due to the excellent diffusion barrier performance of the ALD-TaCN film against the Cu, due to it having an amorphous structure. A 5-nm-thick ALD-TaCN film was even stable up to annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ between Cu and Si. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis revealed that the ALD-Ru/ALD-TaCN diffusion barrier failed by the Cu diffusion through the bilayer into the Si substrate. This is due to the ALD-TaCN interlayer preventing the interfacial reaction between the Ru and Si.

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Hardware Approach to Fuzzy Inference―ASIC and RISC―

  • Watanabe, Hiroyuki
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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    • 1993.06a
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    • pp.975-976
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    • 1993
  • This talk presents the overview of the author's research and development activities on fuzzy inference hardware. We involved it with two distinct approaches. The first approach is to use application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) technology. The fuzzy inference method is directly implemented in silicon. The second approach, which is in its preliminary stage, is to use more conventional microprocessor architecture. Here, we use a quantitative technique used by designer of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) to modify an architecture of a microprocessor. In the ASIC approach, we implemented the most widely used fuzzy inference mechanism directly on silicon. The mechanism is beaded on a max-min compositional rule of inference, and Mandami's method of fuzzy implication. The two VLSI fuzzy inference chips are designed, fabricated, and fully tested. Both used a full-custom CMOS technology. The second and more claborate chip was designed at the University of North Carolina(U C) in cooperation with MCNC. Both VLSI chips had muliple datapaths for rule digital fuzzy inference chips had multiple datapaths for rule evaluation, and they executed multiple fuzzy if-then rules in parallel. The AT & T chip is the first digital fuzzy inference chip in the world. It ran with a 20 MHz clock cycle and achieved an approximately 80.000 Fuzzy Logical inferences Per Second (FLIPS). It stored and executed 16 fuzzy if-then rules. Since it was designed as a proof of concept prototype chip, it had minimal amount of peripheral logic for system integration. UNC/MCNC chip consists of 688,131 transistors of which 476,160 are used for RAM memory. It ran with a 10 MHz clock cycle. The chip has a 3-staged pipeline and initiates a computation of new inference every 64 cycle. This chip achieved an approximately 160,000 FLIPS. The new architecture have the following important improvements from the AT & T chip: Programmable rule set memory (RAM). On-chip fuzzification operation by a table lookup method. On-chip defuzzification operation by a centroid method. Reconfigurable architecture for processing two rule formats. RAM/datapath redundancy for higher yield It can store and execute 51 if-then rule of the following format: IF A and B and C and D Then Do E, and Then Do F. With this format, the chip takes four inputs and produces two outputs. By software reconfiguration, it can store and execute 102 if-then rules of the following simpler format using the same datapath: IF A and B Then Do E. With this format the chip takes two inputs and produces one outputs. We have built two VME-bus board systems based on this chip for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The board is now installed in a robot at ORNL. Researchers uses this board for experiment in autonomous robot navigation. The Fuzzy Logic system board places the Fuzzy chip into a VMEbus environment. High level C language functions hide the operational details of the board from the applications programme . The programmer treats rule memories and fuzzification function memories as local structures passed as parameters to the C functions. ASIC fuzzy inference hardware is extremely fast, but they are limited in generality. Many aspects of the design are limited or fixed. We have proposed to designing a are limited or fixed. We have proposed to designing a fuzzy information processor as an application specific processor using a quantitative approach. The quantitative approach was developed by RISC designers. In effect, we are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of a specialized RISC processor for fuzzy information processing. As the first step, we measured the possible speed-up of a fuzzy inference program based on if-then rules by an introduction of specialized instructions, i.e., min and max instructions. The minimum and maximum operations are heavily used in fuzzy logic applications as fuzzy intersection and union. We performed measurements using a MIPS R3000 as a base micropro essor. The initial result is encouraging. We can achieve as high as a 2.5 increase in inference speed if the R3000 had min and max instructions. Also, they are useful for speeding up other fuzzy operations such as bounded product and bounded sum. The embedded processor's main task is to control some device or process. It usually runs a single or a embedded processer to create an embedded processor for fuzzy control is very effective. Table I shows the measured speed of the inference by a MIPS R3000 microprocessor, a fictitious MIPS R3000 microprocessor with min and max instructions, and a UNC/MCNC ASIC fuzzy inference chip. The software that used on microprocessors is a simulator of the ASIC chip. The first row is the computation time in seconds of 6000 inferences using 51 rules where each fuzzy set is represented by an array of 64 elements. The second row is the time required to perform a single inference. The last row is the fuzzy logical inferences per second (FLIPS) measured for ach device. There is a large gap in run time between the ASIC and software approaches even if we resort to a specialized fuzzy microprocessor. As for design time and cost, these two approaches represent two extremes. An ASIC approach is extremely expensive. It is, therefore, an important research topic to design a specialized computing architecture for fuzzy applications that falls between these two extremes both in run time and design time/cost. TABLEI INFERENCE TIME BY 51 RULES {{{{Time }}{{MIPS R3000 }}{{ASIC }}{{Regular }}{{With min/mix }}{{6000 inference 1 inference FLIPS }}{{125s 20.8ms 48 }}{{49s 8.2ms 122 }}{{0.0038s 6.4㎲ 156,250 }} }}

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