In this theses techniques for high-speed digital delta-sigma modulator(DDSM) structures are considered. Four techniques are applied andevaluated: unfolding, increasing the number of delay elements in theinner loop, pipelining/retiming, and optimizations provided by thesynthesis tool. Of interest is to see the speed-area-power trade-offs.For implementation, three different modulators meeting the samerequirements are implemented. Each modulator has a 16-bit input andresults in a 3-bit output. The baseline case is a second-ordermodulator, which has one delay element in its inner loop. Throughoptimization, two new structures are found: to provide two delayelements in the inner loop, a fourth-order modulator is required,while to provide three delay elements, a thirteenth-order modulator isobtained.The results show that in general it is better to unfold the modulatorthan to obtain the speed-up through optimizing the arithmeticoperators with the synthesis tool. Using correct pipelining/retimingis also crucial. Finally, for very high-speed implementation, usingthe structures with more delay elements is required. Also, in manycases these are more area and power efficient compared to usingoptimized arithmetic operators, despite their higher computationalcomplexity.

Using an analysis of the creation of the character Dan Kelly in my play, risk, I argue that fairytale characters work as more than personage representations. They function on a big canvas for the audience; they carry large chains of association. Given this, I then propose that the human response is to infer additional meaning, meaning beyond the scope of plot and immediate character interaction - the audience infers symbolic meaning, ‘amplifying’ what is there into more. They enter a ‘generative empty space’ within the play where they infer or ‘unfold’ more meaning. In creating this ‘greater tale’, they are engaged beyond their personal ‘horizon of understanding’, and so, ‘take in’ the work through a heightened perceptual acuity. Therefore, I pursued the idea of making space for the operation of this process, of leveraging the creation of meaning around a character. My inquiry led me to believe that a powerful way to do this was through absence rather than presence and silence rather than sound; and this had a profound impact on my choice of form for Dan Kelly: he progressed, through a number of stages, from reportage to a digital representation.