Previous research has shown the benefit obtained by hard of hearing people when using inductive means (T-switch) to couple their hearing aids to telephone receivers. Benefit provided by receiver amplification in the telephone handset has also been shown. Informal surveys of hard of hearing people indicate that many of them use telephones having a dual capability: magnetic coupling and receiver amplification. The objective of this investigation was to study user performance with this dual capability. In particular, the effect of receiver amplification on the speech perception ability (as measured by R-SPIN test items) of 10 hard of hearing subjects using inductive means to couple their hearing aid to a telephone receiver was examined under both good and poor telephone line conditions. The influence of the predictability of the speech material presented was also investigated by noting any difference between the subjects' performance on high predictability items and performance on low predictability items (of the R-SPIN test). Results showed that the use of receiver amplification in conjunction with inductive coupling significantly improved the subjects' speech perception scores. Not surprisingly, good telephone line conditions also significantly improved the subjects' scores. Improvement due to receiver amplification was noted, irrespective of line conditions. Similarly, improvement due to good line conditions was observed, irrespective of whether amplification was used or not. Both receiver amplification and good line conditions had significant and positive effects on both low predictability and high predictability scores. We conclude that with speech either in or out of context, receiver amplification will be of benefit to those who use inductive coupling. Clinical implications and recommendations are discussed. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

Résumé / Abstract

Sense amplifiers are important circuit components of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which forms the main memory of digital computers. The ability of the sense amplifier to detect and amplify voltage signals to correctly interpret data in DRAM cells cannot be understated. The sense amplifier plays a significant role in the overall speed of the DRAM. Sense amplifiers require matched transistors for optimal performance. Hence, the effects of mismatch through process variations must be minimized. This thesis presents a research which leads to optimal nanoscale CMOS sense amplifiers by incorporating the effects of process variation early in the design process. The effects of process variation on the performance of a standard voltage sense amplifier, which is used in conventional DRAMs, is studied. Parametric analysis is performed through circuit simulations to investigate which parameters have the most impact on the performance of the sense amplifier. The figures-of-merit (FoMs) used to characterize the circuit are the precharge time, power dissipation, sense delay and sense margin. Statistical analysis is also performed to study the impact of process variations on each FoM. By analyzing the results from the statistical study, a method is presented to select parameter values that minimize the effects of process variation. A design flow algorithm incorporating dual oxide and dual threshold voltage based techniques is used to optimize the FoMs for the sense amplifier. Experimental results prove that the proposed approach improves precharge time by 83.9%, sense delay by 80.2% sense margin by 61.9%, and power dissipation by 13.1%.

Simulation and comparison of various types of differential amplifiers.

"Fluidics" is the title applied to a relatively new technology which is concerned with the control of fluid power and the processing of information through the use of the fluid mechanical properties of the fluid medium itself. The absence of moving parts and the relatively low sensitivity to enviromental conditions suggest the probability that fluidic systems will prove to be faster and more reliable than the mechanically controlled (valves, diaphragms, springs, etc.) fluid systems which they are designed to replace.

Low-noise operational amplifiers are an important tool in the life sciences. Biosensor measurements typically rely on low-noise transimpedance amplifiers to record biological signals. Two different techniques were used to leverage the advantages of low-noise circuitry for bioelectronics. A CMOS-integrated system for measuring redox-active substrates using electrochemical read-out at very low noise levels is presented. The system incorporates 112 amplifier channels capable of current sensing with noise levels below 1 fArms in a 3.5-Hz bandwidth. The amplifier is externally connected to a gold microelectrode with a radius of 15 µm. The amplifier enables measurement of redox-couples such as potassium ferrocyanide/ferricyanide with concentrations down to 10 nM at current levels of only 300 fA. The electrochemical noise that sets the limits of detection is also measured and analyzed based on redox mass transfer equation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Secondly, CMOS-integrated low noise junction field-effect transistors (JFETs) were developed in a standard 0.18-µm CMOS process. These JFETs reduce input referred flicker noise power by more than a factor of 10 when compared with equally sized n-channel MOS devices by eliminating oxide interfaces in contact with the channel. We show that this improvement in device performance translates into a factor-of-10 reduction in the input-referred noise of integrated CMOS operational amplifiers when JFET devices are used at the input.

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