Marco Winzker

VLSI chip set for 2D HDTV subband filtering with on-chip line memories

A chip set for 2D subband filtering of HDTV signals has been designed, fabricated and successfully tested. The two chips perform 10*14 quadrature mirror filtering for analysis filtering at the coder and synthesis filtering at the decoder. In order to achieve a very compact realization, the architectures utilize all a priori known properties of the filter algorithm. A 2D polyphase filter structure reduces the processing clock rate from the 72-MHz sampling rate to a moderate 18 MHz. The memory for vertical filtering is realized by on-chip parallel shift registers with multiphase clocking. A small silicon area for the filter arithmetic is achieved by application of carry save adder trees with fixed filter coefficients represented by canonical signed digits. A complete filterbank for luminance and chrominance signals consists of four identical chips, each with 450 000 transistors on 92 mm/sup 2/. >

Semester structure with time slots for self-learning and project-based learning

The engineering department of the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University, Germany, introduced a new semester structure, in which three weeks of the semester are reserved for self-learning exercises and project-based learning. They alternate with four weeks of regular lectures, classroom exercises, and hands-on laboratory exercises in a 4-1-4-1-4-1-structure. The structure is used for self-learning exercises in the first study year to overcome problems with academic performance and promote self-learning as a personal qualification. From the second year on, projects are carried out in the three reserved weeks. This allows time for working on challenging problems. This article describes the motivation for introducing the new semester structure, explains the structure itself and the teaching formats employed, and presents experiences with projects and evaluation results.

Low-power arithmetic for the processing of video signals

In this paper, it is shown that power reduction of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated circuits (CMOS ICs) is possible by exploiting statistical properties of the input signals. The statistical properties of video signals are analyzed, and it is shown that a new low-power signed-digit representation and an offset representation can reduce the number of signal changes for the input data compared to binary representation. The increased effort for data processing has been taken into account and it is shown for which types of video signals the alternative representations are advantageous. Circuit simulations have been performed to verify the theoretical results.

VLSI architectures of two-dimensional filters for HDTV coding

Key components for implementation of HDTV subband coding schemes are filter banks for band splitting at the transmitter side and for band synthesis at the receiver side. The authors deal with VLSI architectures and implementations of these filters. To reduce hardware cost and size, VLSI realizations of filter banks by dedicated circuits are considered. The impact of the filter algorithms, architectural structures and circuit technique on the implementation is explained. In particular, the advantages of quadrature mirror filters (QMFs) for the hardware implementation of two-dimensional HDTV filter banks are presented. The potential of dedicated circuit design with consideration of all a priori knowledge is illustrated for a 14*10 tap QMF filterbank with on-chip line memories.<<ETX>>

Addressing low-power electronics in a digital system and FPGA design course

Low power dissipation is a current topic in digital design, and therefore, it should be covered in a state-of-the-art electrical engineering curriculum. This paper describes how low-power design can be addressed within a digital design course. Doing so would be beneficial for both topics because low-power design is not detached from the systems perspective, and the digital design course would be enriched by references to current challenges and applications. Thus, the presented course should serve as an example of how a course can be developed to also teach students about sustainable engineering.

Teaching Embedded System Concepts for Technological Literacy

A basic understanding of technology is recognized as important knowledge even for students not connected with engineering and computer science. This paper shows that embedded system concepts can be taught in a technological literacy course. An embedded system teaching block that has been used in an electronics module for non-engineers is presented. It comprises 1 h of lecturing and 3 h of hands-on lab work. Feedback and evaluation show that students are able to gain a basic understanding of the topic even in such a limited time.

Teaching embedded system concepts for technological literacy

A basic understanding of technology is recognized as important knowledge for students outside engineering and computer science. This paper shows that also embedded system concepts can be taught in a technological literacy course. An embedded system teaching block is presented that has been used in an electronics module for non-engineers. It uses one hour of lecturing and three hours of hands-on lab work. Feedback during the lab and an evaluation show that students can gain basic understanding of the topic even in such a limited time.

P-20: Electronic Image Correction for Projection Displays

Optical distortions, resulting from lens characteristics, non-aligned projection and variations in the light source, decrease the quality of projection displays. Knowledge of the sources and characteristics of these distortions allows their electronic correction. The integration of electronic image correction in the display controller IC allows high quality projection without additional components.

Architecture and implementation of a development board for low-power education

Education in low-power digital design is a topic within the context of a state-of-the-art electrical engineering curriculum. In this contribution, a development board for use in hands-on lab experiments on power dissipation in digital circuits is described. This board can send a video signal to a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), which students can then program using various signal processing applications. Implementations with different complexity and circuit structures and their power dissipation can be comparatively observed by the students. A prototype of this development board is being manufactured and will be used in hands-on laboratory sessions and projects.

Elektronik für Entscheider

Dieses Buch gibt Nichtingenieuren, die sich beruflich mit Elektronik beschaftigen, die Moglichkeit, sich ein Stuck auf dieses Fachgebiet zu begeben, um Aufgaben, Sprache und Vorgehensweise von Ingenieuren zu verstehen. Ziel ist es dabei nicht, nach dem Lesen dieses Buches eine elektronische Schaltung entwickeln zu konnen. Im Vordergrund steht vielmehr ein generelles Verstandnis fur die Zusammenhange und Grundbegriffe der Elektronik.