The optimal size of a large on-chip cache can be different for different programs: at some point, the reduction of cache misses achieved when increasing cache size hits diminishing returns, while the higher cache latency hurts performance. This paper presents the Amorphous Cache (AC), a reconfigurable L2 on-chip cache aimed at improving performance as well as reducing energy consumption. AC is composed of heterogeneous sub-caches as opposed to common caches using homogenous subcaches. The sub-caches are turned off depending on the application workload to conserve power and minimize latencies. A novel reconfiguration algorithm based on Basic Block Vectors is proposed to recognize program phases, and a learning mechanism is used to select the appropriate cache configuration for each program phase. We compare our reconfigurable cache with existing proposals of adaptive and non-adaptive caches. Our results show that the combination of AC and the novel reconfiguration algorithm provides the best power consumption and performance. For example, on average, it reduces the cache access latency by 55.8%, the cache dynamic energy by 46.5%, and the cache leakage power by 49.3% with respect to a non-adaptive cache.

Abstract.A new parallel algorithm for simultaneous untangling and smoothing of tetrahedral meshes is proposed in this paper. We provide a detailed analysis of its performance on shared-memory many-core computer architectures. This performance analysis includes the evaluation of execution time, parallel scalability, load balancing, and parallelism bottlenecks. Additionally, we compare the impact of three previously published graph coloring procedures on the performance of our parallel algorithm. We use six benchmark meshes with a wide range of sizes. Using these experimental data sets, we describe the behavior of the parallel algorithm for different data sizes. We demonstrate that this algorithm is highly scalable when it runs on two different high-performance many-core computers with up to 128 processors. However, some parallel deterioration is observed. Here, we analyze the main causes of this parallel deterioration.

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For the High-Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider an increased instantaneous luminosity of up to 7.5 ⋅ 1034 cm−2 s−1, leading to a total integrated luminosity of up to 3000 fb−1, is foreseen. The current silicon and transition radiation tracking detectors of the ATLAS experiment will be unable to cope with the increased track densities and radiation levels, and will need to be replaced. The new tracking detector will consist entirely of silicon pixel and strip detectors. In this paper, results on the development and tests of prototype components for the new silicon strip detector in the forward regions (end-caps) of the ATLAS detector are presented. Flex-printed readout boards with fast readout chips, referred to as hybrids, and silicon detector modules are investigated. The modules consist of a hybrid glued onto a silicon strip sensor. The channels on both are connected via wire-bonds for readout and powering. Measurements of important performance parameters and a comparison of two possible readout schemes are presented. In addition, the assembly procedure is described and recommendations for further prototyping are derived.

Evaluación preliminar de compuestos fenólicos, actividad antioxidante y compuestos bioactivos de algunas especies de hongos basidiomicetes de Paraguay. Se realizó la identificación cualitativa de metabolitos secundarios y se cuantificó el contenido de compuestos fenólicos y el potencial antioxidante de extractos etanólicos de ocho géneros de macrohongos Amylosporus, Gloeophyllum, Hydnopolyporus, Inonotus, Laccaria, Lentinus, Pisolithus y Trametes por primera vez para el Paraguay. Los análisis químicos cualitativos revelaron la presencia de varios metabolitos secundarios tales como compuestos fenólicos, esteroles y terpenos. La especie Inonotus splitgerberi presentó valores de 64,81 ± 2,70 mg GAE.g -1 de compuestos fenólicos totales comparables con la especie medicinal Inonotus obliquus. También se proporcionan datos noveles para la especie Amylosporus guaraniticus.

The Boeing Company Phantom Works has developed three different prototype photovoltaic concentrator arrays since March 2007. Identified as Prototype A, B and C, the experimentally proven technical characteristics of each design are presented.The concentrator designs utilize a 1 cm 2 multi-junction solar cell assembly in conjunction with SMS non-imaging optical designs [1, 2] manufactured with low-cost mass-producible technologies. Prototype A is an on-axis XR optical concentrator with a 733x geometrical concentration demonstrating a ± 1.73° acceptance angle and 23.7% conversion efficiency. Prototype B is an off-axis free-form XR optical concentrator with a 810x geometrical concentration demonstrating a ± 1.32° acceptance angle and 25.3% conversion efficiency. Prototype C is the most recent off-axis free-form XR optical concentrator with a 801x geometrical concentration and a theoretical ±1.80° acceptance angle demonstrating a conversion efficiency greater than 27.0%. Prototype C is also the basis for the Boeing Proof of Design (POD) module, demonstrating an acceptance angle of ±1.48° and a conversion efficiency of 29.4% (as of May 8, 2009). Manufacturability has been paramount during the design process, resulting in high performance concentrating photovoltaic modules using production quality components.

Evaluacion de la morfo-anatomia foliar de Passiflora alata Curtis y Passiflora edulis SimsEn el presente trabajo se estudió la morfo-anatomía foliar de P. alata Curtis y P. edulis Sims, con el objetivo de identificar características que permitan distinguir ambas especies, además de obtener valores cuali-cuantitativos que pueden ser utilizadas para el control de calidad de las muestras comerciales enteras o fragmentadas. Estas especies son empleadas en la medicina popular como relajante, sedante, hipotensor, ataques nerviosos y stress. Ambas especies se diferencian por los siguientes caracteres: presencia-ausencia de glándulas en el borde de la hoja y tricomas en la epidermis foliar, el tipo de estoma. Los valores del índice de empalizada y de estomas constituyen un factor que permite diferenciar cuantitativamente la estructura microscópica de ambas especies, además de ser un instrumento de apoyo al estudio de caracteres cualitativos. Palabras claves: morfo-Anatomía, Passiflora, Hoja Evaluation of foliar morpho-anatomy of Passiflora alata Curtis and Passiflora edulis SimsIn this paper we studied the leaf morphology and anatomy of P. alata Curtis and P. edulis Sims, with the aim of identifying characteristics that distinguish the two species in addition to obtaining qualitative quantitative values that can be used for quality control of whole or fragmented of commercial samples. These species are used in folk medicine as a relaxing, sedative, hypotensive, of nervous attacks and stress. Both species are differentiated by the following characters: presence or absence of glands at the edge of the blade and trichomes in the leaf epidermis, type of stoma. The index values of stomata and palisade is a factor that allows differentiating quantitatively the microscopic structure of both species, as well as being a support instrument for the qualitative study.

Many authors have proposed power management techniques for general-purpose processors at the cost of degraded performance such as lower IPC or longer delay. Some proposals have focused on cache memories because they consume a significant fraction of total microprocessor power. We propose a reconfigurable and adaptive cache microarchitecture based on field-programmable technology that is intended to deliver high performance at low energy consumption. In this paper, we evaluate the performance and energy consumption of a run-time algorithm when used to manage a field-programmable L1 data cache. The adaptation strategy is based on two techniques: a learning process provides the best cache configuration for each program phase, and a recognition process detects program phase changes by using data working-set signatures to activate a low-overhead reconfiguration mechanism. Our proposals achieve performance improvement and cache energy saving at the same time. Considering a design scenario driven by performance constraints, we show that processor execution time and cache energy consumption can be reduced on average by 15.2% and 9.9% compared to a non-adaptive high-performance microarchitecture. Alternatively, when energy saving is prioritized and considering a non-adaptive energy-efficient microarchitecture as baseline, cache energy and processor execution time are reduced on average by 46.7% and 9.4% respectively. In addition to comparing to conventional microarchitectures, we show that the proposed microarchitecture achieves better performance and more cache energy reduction than other configurable caches.