The generalized theory of thermoelasticity was employed to characterize the coupled thermal and mechanical wave propagation in high performance microelectronic packages. Application of a Gaussian heat source of spectral profile similar to high performance devices was shown to induce rapid thermal and mechanical transient phenomena. The stresses and temporal gradient of stresses (power density) induced by the thermal and mechanical disturbances were analyzed using the Gabor Wavelet Transform (GWT). The arrival time of frequency components and their magnitude was studied at various locations in the package. Comparison of the results from the classical thermoelasticity theory and generalized theory was also conducted. It was found that the two theories predict vastly different results in the vicinity of the heat source but that the differences diminish within a larger time window. Results from both theories indicate that the rapid thermal-mechanical waves cause high frequency, broadband stress waves to propagate through the package for a very short period of time. The power density associated with these stress waves was found to be of significant magnitude indicating that even though the effect, titled short time scale effect, is short lived, it could have significant impact on package reliability. The high frequency and high power density associated with the stress waves indicate that the probability of sub-micron cracking and/or delamination due to short time scale effect is high. The findings demonstrate that in processes involving rapid thermal transients, there is a non-negligible transient phenomenon worthy of further investigation.

Flip-chip underfilling is a technology by which silica-filled epoxy resin is used to fill the micro-cavity between a silicon chip and a substrate, by dispensing the liquid encapsulant at elevated temperatures along the periphery of one or two sides of the chip and then allowing capillary action to draw the material into the gap. Since the chip, underfill material, and substrate solidify together as one unit, thermal stresses on solder joints during the temperature cycling (which are caused by a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the silicon chip and the organic substrate) can be redistributed and transferred away from the fragile bump zone to a more strain-tolerant region. Modeling of the flow behaviour of a fluid in the underfill process is the key to this technology. One of the most important drawbacks in the existing models is inadequate treatment of non-Newtonian fluids in the underfill process in the development of both analytical models and numerical models. Another important drawback is the neglect of the presence of solder bumps in the existing analytical models. This thesis describes a study in which a proper viscosity constitutive equation, power-law model, is employed for describing the non-Newtonian fluid behaviour in flip-chip package. Based on this constitutive equation, two analytical models with closed-form solutions for predicting the fluid filling time and fluid flow front position with respect to time were derived. One model is for a setting with two parallel plates as an approximate to flip-chip package, while the other model is for a setting with two parallel plates within which an array of solder bumps are present. Furthermore, a numerical model using a general-purpose finite element package ANSYS was developed to predict the fluid flow map in two dimensions. The superiority of these models to the existing models (primarily those developed at Cornell University in 1997) is confirmed based on the results of the experiments conducted in this study. This thesis also presents a finding of the notion of critical clearance in the design of a flip-chip package through a careful simulation study using the models developed. The flip-chip package design should make the clearance between solder bumps larger than the critical clearance.

El present treball es basa en l'estudi del efecte de dues proteïnes identificades com antagonistes de la mort induïda pel receptor Fas, FAIM i FLIP, en el sistema nerviós. Malgrat que totes dues molècules promouen el creixement neurític, existeixen diferències mecanístiques que es detallaran de forma separada. Inicialment, hem procedit a la caracterització de la proteïna FAIM (Fas Apoptosis Inhibitory Molecule), de la qual n'existeixen dues úniques referències, en la bibliografia. Hem demostrat que l'expressió forçada de FAIM no protegeix les neurones de la retirada de factors tròfics, però exerceix una clara acció promotora del creixement neurític en els diversos sistemes neuronals estudiats. D'una banda, l'expressió forçada de FAIM incrementa la longitud i el grau d'arborització de les neurites induïts pel factor de creixement nerviós (NGF), tant en la línia cel·lular PC12 com en cultius primaris de neurones del gangli cervical superior (SCG). Per altra banda, si es redueixen els nivells endògens de FAIM mitjançant la tècnica del ARN d'interferència, el creixement neurític induït pel NGF es veu dràsticament afectat de forma negativa en els dos models cel·lulars utilitzats. L'expressió exògena de FAIM promou l'activació de la via NF-κB, mentre que el bloqueig d'aquesta via, mitjançant la transfecció d'una forma mutada d'IκBα no degradable o bé usant neurones corticals de ratolins nuls que manquen de la subunitat p65 de NF-κB, evita el creixement neurític promogut per NGF. L'efecte estimulador del creixement neurític també pot ser bloquejat per la inhibició de la via de Ras/ERK. Finalment, hem demostrat que FAIM interacciona amb els dos receptors de la neurotrofina NGF, p75NTR i TrkA, d'una forma depenent de lligand. Aquests resultats revelen una nova funció de FAIM com promotor de creixement neurític mitjançant un mecanisme depenent de NF-κB. En el cas de FLIP, s'ha descrit la seva funció com inhibidor endogen de la apoptosi induïda per Fas, però, també s'ha vist implicat en promoció de proliferació. El treball descriu per primera vegada una funció, fins ara desconeguda, de FLIP en el sistema nerviós. FLIP s'expressa en motoneurones, en neurones SCGs i cèl·lules PC12. Malgrat això, la seva expressió forçada, només pot protegir el cultiu de motoneurones de ratolí de la mort cel·lular induïda per la retirada de factors tròfics. De totes maneres, aquesta expressió augmenta de forma considerable el creixement neurític en els tres models després de l'estímul neurotròfic apropiat per a cadascun d'ells. De forma interessant, i sense excepció, la reducció dels nivells endògens de FLIP inhibeix la neuritogènesis en aquests models. Les vies intracel·lulars regulades per FLIP impliquen tant ERK com NF-κB. L'expressió forçada de FLIP promou un increment en la seva activitat, mentre que la reducció de la seva expressió provoca una disminució d'aquesta, després de l'estímul de NGF en cèl·lules PC12. Finalment, es demostra que FLIP interacciona amb el receptor del NGF, TrkA d'una manera depenent d'estímul. Aquests resultats revelen una nova funció neuritogènica de FLIP a través d'un mecanisme que implica l'activació de les vies MAPK/ERK i NF-κB, i que no està relacionada amb la seva clàssica funció antiapoptòtica. / El presente trabajo se basa en el estudio del efecto de dos proteínas identificadas como antagonistas de la muerte inducida por el receptor de muerte Fas, FAIM y FLIP, en el sistema nervioso. Para ello, y pese a que comparten el fenotipo de promoción del crecimiento neurítico, existen diferencias mecanísticas que detallaremos de forma separada. Inicialmente, caracterizamos la proteína FAIM (Fas Apoptosis Inhibitory Molecule), de la cual existen dos únicas referencias en la bibliografía. Hemos demostrado que la expresión forzada de FAIM no protege las neuronas de la retirada de suporte trófico, pero ejerce una clara acción promotora del crecimiento neurítico en los diversos sistemas neuronales estudiados. Por una parte, la expresión forzada de FAIM incrementa la longitud y el grado de arborización de las neuritas inducidos por el factor de crecimiento nervioso (NGF), tanto en línea celular PC12 como en cultivos primarios de neuronas del ganglio cervical superior (SCG). Por otra parte, si se reducen los niveles endógenos de FAIM mediante la técnica del ARN de interferencia, se disminuye el crecimiento neurítico en dichas células. La expresión forzada de FAIM promueve la activación de la vía NF-κB, mientras que el bloqueo de esta vía, mediante la transfección de una forma mutada de IκBα no degradable o bien usando neuronas corticales de ratones nulos que carecen de la subunidad p65 de NF-κB, previene el crecimiento neurítico promovido por NGF. El efecto estimulador del crecimiento neurítico también puede ser bloqueado por la inhibición de la vía de Ras/ERK. Finalmente, demostramos que FAIM interacciona con los dos receptores de la neurotrofina NGF, p75NTR y TrkA, de una forma dependiente de ligando. Estos resultados revelan una nueva función de FAIM como promotor de crecimiento neurítico mediante un mecanismo dependiente de NF-κB. En el caso de FLIP, se ha descrito su función como inhibidor endógeno de la apoptosis mediada por Fas, pero, también se ha visto implicado en promoción de proliferación. El trabajo describe por primera vez una función, hasta ahora desconocida, de FLIP en el sistema nervioso. FLIP se expresa en motoneuronas, en neuronas SCGs y células PC12, aunque su expresión forzada, únicamente protege de la muerte celular inducida por la retirada de factores tróficos en motoneuronas. De todos modos, dicha expresión aumenta de forma considerable el crecimiento neurítico en los tres modelos, después del estímulo neurotrófico apropiado. De forma interesante, y sin excepción, la reducción de los niveles endógenos de FLIP inhibe la neuritogénesis en estos modelos. Las vías intracelulares reguladas por FLIP implican tanto ERK como NF-κB. La expresión forzada de FLIP promueve un incremento en su actividad, mientras que la reducción de su expresión provoca una disminución de ésta, después de un estímulo de NGF en células PC12. Finalmente, demostramos que FLIP interacciona con el receptor del NGF, TrkA de una manera dependiente de estímulo. Estos resultados revelan una nueva función para FLIP, la neuritogénesis, a través de un mecanismo que implica la activación de las vías Ras/ERK y NF-κB, y que no está relacionada con su clásica función antiapoptótica. / The present work studies the effect of two proteins identified as Fas-induced cell death antagonists, FAIM and FLIP, in the nervous system. Although they share the neuritogenesis promoting effect, there are mechanistical differences that will be detailed separately. Fas apoptosis inhibitory molecule (FAIM) is a protein identified as an antagonist of Fas-induced cell death. We show here that FAIM over expression fails to rescue neurons from trophic factor deprivation, but exerts a marked neurite growth -promoting action in different neuronal systems. Whereas FAIM over expression greatly enhanced neurite outgrowth from PC12 cells and sympathetic neurons grown with nerve growth factor (NGF), reduction of endogenous FAIM levels by RNAi decreased neurite outgrowth in these cells. FAIM over expression promoted NF-κB activation, and blocking this activation by using a super repressor IκBα or by carrying out experiments using cortical neurons from mice that lack the p65 NF-κB subunit prevented FAIM-induced neurite outgrowth. The effect of FAIM on neurite outgrowth was also blocked by inhibition of the Ras-ERK pathway. Finally, we show that FAIM interacts with both TrkA and p75NTR NGF receptors in a ligand-dependent manner. These results reveal a new function of FAIM in promoting neurite outgrowth by a mechanism involving activation of the Ras-ERK pathway and NF-κB. Cellular FLIP (c-FLIP) is an endogenous inhibitor of the signaling pathway triggered by Fas activation implicated in apoptosis as well as in proliferation processes. Here, we demonstrate for the first time an unexpected role of FLIP in the nervous system. FLIP is expressed in motoneurons, SCGs and PC12 cells. However, its over expression is only able to protect mouse isolated motoneurons from growth factor deprivation-induced cell death. Whereas FLIP over expression greatly enhanced neurite outgrowth in the three neuronal models after appropriate neurotrophin stimuli, reduction of endogenous FLIP levels by RNAi decreased neuritogenesis in these cells. The intracellular signals regulated by FLIP implicate both ERK and NF-κB pathways. Over expression of FLIP promotes an increased activity, whereas its downregulation provokes a reduction after NGF stimulus in PC12 cells. Finally, we demonstrate that FLIP interacts with TrkA receptor in a NGF dependent manner. These results reveal a new function of FLIP in neuritogenesis by a mechanism involving activation of Ras/ERK pathway and NF-κB that can be separated from its classical antiapoptotic function.

This thesis work will examin and present how to implement a Particle-In-Cell and a Fluid-Implicit-Particle (PIC / FLIP) fluid solver that takes advantage of the inherent parallelism of Digital Domain's sparse block optimized data structure, DB-Grid. The methods offer a hybrid approach between particle and grid based simulation. This thesis will also discuss and go through different approaches for storing and accessing the data associated with each particle. For dynamically create and remove attributes from the particles, Disney's open source API, Partio is used. Which is also used for saving the particles to disk. Finally how to expose C++ classes into Python by wrapping everything into a Python module using the Boost.Python API and discuss the benets of having a script language.

This thesis explores the energy-delay space of eight widely referred flip-flops in a 0.13µm CMOS technology. The main goal has been to find the smallest set of flip-flop topologies to be included in a “high performance” flip-flop cell library covering a wide range of power-performance targets. Based on the comparison results, transmission gate-based flip-flops show the best powerperformance trade-offs with a total delay (clock-to-output + setup time) down to 105ps. For higher performance, the pulse-triggered flip-flops are the fastest (80ps) alternatives suitable to be included in a flip-flop cell library. However, pulse-triggered flip-flops consume significantly larger power (about 2.5x) compared to other fast but fully dynamic flip-flops such as TSPC and dynamic TG-based flip-flops.

This thesis investigates four D flip-flops with data transmission look-ahead circuits. Based on logical effort and power-delay products to resize all the transistor widths along the critical path in µm CMOS technology. The main goal is to verify and proof this kind of circuits can be used when the input data have low switching probabilities. From comparing the average energy consumption between the normal D flip-flops and D flip-flops with look-ahead circuits, D flip-flops with look-ahead circuits consume less power when the data switching activities are low.

With rapid technology scaling, flip-flops are becoming more susceptible to metastability due to tighter timing budgets and the more prominent effects of process, temperature, and voltage variation that can result in frequent setup and hold time violations. This thesis presents a detailed methodology and analysis on the design of metastable-hardened, high-performance, and low-power flip-flops. The design of metastable-hardened flip-flops is focused on optimizing the value of τ mainly due to its exponential relationship with the metastability window δ and the mean-time-between-failure (MTBF). Through small-signal modeling, τ is determined to be a function of the load capacitance and the transconductance in the cross-coupled inverter pair for a given flip-flop architecture. In most cases, the reduction of τ comes at the expense of increased delay and power. Hence, two new design metrics, the metastability-delay-product (MDP) and the metastability-power-delay-product (MPDP), are proposed to analyze the tradeoffs between delay, power and τ. Post-layout simulation results have shown that the proposed optimum MPDP design can reduce the metastability window δ by at least an order of magnitude depending on the value of the settling time and the flip-flop architecture. In this work, we have proposed two new flip-flop designs: the pre-discharge flip-flop (PDFF) and the sense-amplifier-transmission-gate (SATG) based flip-flop. Both flip-flop architectures facilitate the usage in both single and dual-supply systems as reduced clock-swing flip-flop and level-converting flip-flop. With a cross-coupled inverter in the master-stage that increases the overall transconductance and a small load transistor associated with the critical node, the architecture of both the PDFF and the SATG is very attractive for the design of metastable-hardened, high-performance, and low-power flip-flops. The amount of overhead in delay, power, and area is all less than 10% under the optimum MPDP design scheme when compared to the traditional optimum PDP design. In designing for metastable-hardened and soft-error tolerant flip-flops, the main methodology is to improve the metastability performance in the master-stage while applying the soft-error tolerant cell in the slave-stage for protection against soft-error. The proposed flip-flops, PDFF-SE and SATG-SE, both utilize a cross-coupled inverter on the critical path in the master-stage and generate the required differential signals to facilitate the usage of the Quatro soft-error tolerant cell in the slave-stage.

Flip-chip underfilling is a technology by which silica-filled epoxy resin is used to fill the micro-cavity between a silicon chip and a substrate, by dispensing the liquid encapsulant at elevated temperatures along the periphery of one or two sides of the chip and then allowing capillary action to draw the material into the gap. Since the chip, underfill material, and substrate solidify together as one unit, thermal stresses on solder joints during the temperature cycling (which are caused by a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the silicon chip and the organic substrate) can be redistributed and transferred away from the fragile bump zone to a more strain-tolerant region. Modeling of the flow behaviour of a fluid in the underfill process is the key to this technology. One of the most important drawbacks in the existing models is inadequate treatment of non-Newtonian fluids in the underfill process in the development of both analytical models and numerical models. Another important drawback is the neglect of the presence of solder bumps in the existing analytical models. This thesis describes a study in which a proper viscosity constitutive equation, power-law model, is employed for describing the non-Newtonian fluid behaviour in flip-chip package. Based on this constitutive equation, two analytical models with closed-form solutions for predicting the fluid filling time and fluid flow front position with respect to time were derived. One model is for a setting with two parallel plates as an approximate to flip-chip package, while the other model is for a setting with two parallel plates within which an array of solder bumps are present. Furthermore, a numerical model using a general-purpose finite element package ANSYS was developed to predict the fluid flow map in two dimensions. The superiority of these models to the existing models (primarily those developed at Cornell University in 1997) is confirmed based on the results of the experiments conducted in this study. This thesis also presents a finding of the notion of critical clearance in the design of a flip-chip package through a careful simulation study using the models developed. The flip-chip package design should make the clearance between solder bumps larger than the critical clearance.

MRI as a non-invasive method for studying the internal structure and function of the human body was developed over the past three decades. In MRI, radiofrequency (RF) field inhomogeneity is an unavoidable problem in practice and becomes severe at high magnetic fields due to the dependence of B1 on the sample. It leads to nonuniformities in image intensity and contrast, causing difficulties in quantitative interpretation and image segmentation. In this thesis, we report an interesting observation that the fast low-angle shot (FLASH) sequence, which is often used for anatomic imaging and morphometric studies, can be insensitive to RF inhomogeneity when the same coil is used for both transmission and reception and a proper nominal flip angle is employed. Recommendations also are given for optimum processing procedures for FLASH imaging. This observation can be useful in understanding the signal behavior of FLASH in the presence of RF inhomogeneity and provides a guide for selecting parameters in FLASH imaging.

This thesis includes two topics. The first one is a low-power double-edge triggered flip-flop.The other is a orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) demodulator compliant with the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H). Low-power double-edge triggered flip-flop (DETFF) is based on multi-Vth transistors technique. Since low threshold voltage transistors are able to generate large leakage current, they are suitable to drive big loads. By contrast, high threshold voltage transistors are more appropriate to latch data due to their low leakage. Therefore, a single latch double-edge triggered flip-flop utilizing multi-Vth transistors can be a low power and high speed design without paying the price of large area. The proposed OFDM demodulator is compliant with the DVB-H standard. The received DVB-H signal is processed by an RF front-end and the following analog-to-digital converter. Then, the digital signal is fed into the demodulator to adjust and calibrate the frequency, timing offset and channel estimation. The proposed DVB-H demodulator is mainly composed of five blocks : symbol timing synchronization block, carrier frequency offset compensation block, fast Fourier transform block, scatter pilot detection block and channel compensation block.