Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli

Bio: Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli is an academic researcher from University of California, Berkeley. The author has contributed to research in topics: Logic synthesis & Finite-state machine. The author has an hindex of 99, co-authored 934 publications receiving 45201 citations. Previous affiliations of Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli include National University of Singapore & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Equivalence of robust delay-fault and single stuck-fault test generation

Abstract: A link between the problems of robust delay-fault and single stuck-fault test generation is established. In particular, it is proved that all the robust test vector pairs for any path delay-fault in a network are directly obtained by all the test vectors for a corresponding single stuck-fault in a modified network. Since single stuck-fault test generation is a well solved problem, this result yields an efficient algorithm for robust delay-fault test generation. Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed technique. >

A denotational framework for comparing models of computation

Abstract: A DENOTATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR COMPARING MODELS OF COMPUTATION Edward A. Lee and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli EECS, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA 94720. Abstract We give a denotational framework (a “meta model”) within which certain properties of models of computation can be understood and compared. It describes concurrent processes in general terms as sets of possible behaviors. A process is determinate if given the constraints imposed by the inputs there are exactly one or exactly zero behaviors. Compositions of processes are processes with behaviors in the intersection of the behaviors of the component processes. The interaction between processes is through signals, which are collections of events. Each event is a value-tag pair, where the tags can come from a partially ordered or totally ordered set. Timed models are where the set of tags is totally ordered. Synchronous events share the same tag, and synchronous signals contain events with the same set of tags. Synchronous processes have only synchronous signals as behaviors. Strict causality (in timed tag systems) and continuity (in untimed tag systems) ensure determinacy under certain technical conditions. The framework is used to compare certain essential features of various models of computation, including Kahn process networks, dataflow, sequential processes, concurrent sequential processes with rendezvous, Petri nets, and discrete-event systems.

Design management based on design traces

Abstract: VOV is an automatic manager for VLSI design. It is based on the idea that CAD tools can leave a trace of their execution. The trace is represented as a bipartite directed and acyclic graph, in which the nodes represent either design data or CAD transactions. By managing and analyzing the traces, VOV offers a wide variety of services related to design management, such as coordination of team design, automatic execution of CAD transactions, and capture of design history and data dependencies. All of these services are provided in a nonintrusive fashion. VOV has the notion of measurement on the design data, an ingredient which is necessary to provide even more services: tracking of design specifications, validation of design data, and design estimation. >

An improved synthesis algorithm for multiplexor-based PGA's

Abstract: The authors address the problem of synthesis for a popular class of programmable gate array architectures, the multiplexer-based architectures. They present improved techniques for minimizing the number of basic blocks used to implement a combinational circuit. One source of improvement is the use of if-then-else DAGs (directed acyclic graphs) as subject graphs along with BDDs (binary decision diagrams). An important contribution is a very fast algorithm which always gives a match for a function onto the basic block of the architecture, when one exists. Results obtained on a number of benchmark examples are given. >

Model Predictive Control of regulation services from commercial buildings to the smart grid

Abstract: We first demonstrate that the demand-side flexibility of the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system of a typical commercial building can be exploited for providing frequency regulation service to the power grid using at-scale experiments. We then show how this flexibility in power consumption of building HVAC system can be leveraged for providing regulation service. To this end, we consider a simplified model of the power grid with uncertain demand and generation. We present a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme to direct the ancillary service power flow from buildings to improve upon the classical Automatic Generation Control (AGC) practice. We show how constraints such as slow and fast ramping rates for various ancillary service providers, and short-term load forecast information can be integrated into the proposed MPC framework. Finally, we provide extensive simulation results to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for enhancing grid frequency regulation.

Gradient-based learning applied to document recognition

Abstract: Multilayer neural networks trained with the back-propagation algorithm constitute the best example of a successful gradient based learning technique. Given an appropriate network architecture, gradient-based learning algorithms can be used to synthesize a complex decision surface that can classify high-dimensional patterns, such as handwritten characters, with minimal preprocessing. This paper reviews various methods applied to handwritten character recognition and compares them on a standard handwritten digit recognition task. Convolutional neural networks, which are specifically designed to deal with the variability of 2D shapes, are shown to outperform all other techniques. Real-life document recognition systems are composed of multiple modules including field extraction, segmentation recognition, and language modeling. A new learning paradigm, called graph transformer networks (GTN), allows such multimodule systems to be trained globally using gradient-based methods so as to minimize an overall performance measure. Two systems for online handwriting recognition are described. Experiments demonstrate the advantage of global training, and the flexibility of graph transformer networks. A graph transformer network for reading a bank cheque is also described. It uses convolutional neural network character recognizers combined with global training techniques to provide record accuracy on business and personal cheques. It is deployed commercially and reads several million cheques per day.

Differential Evolution – A Simple and Efficient Heuristic for Global Optimization over Continuous Spaces

Abstract: A new heuristic approach for minimizing possibly nonlinear and non-differentiable continuous space functions is presented. By means of an extensive testbed it is demonstrated that the new method converges faster and with more certainty than many other acclaimed global optimization methods. The new method requires few control variables, is robust, easy to use, and lends itself very well to parallel computation.

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Graph-Based Algorithms for Boolean Function Manipulation

Abstract: In this paper we present a new data structure for representing Boolean functions and an associated set of manipulation algorithms. Functions are represented by directed, acyclic graphs in a manner similar to the representations introduced by Lee [1] and Akers [2], but with further restrictions on the ordering of decision variables in the graph. Although a function requires, in the worst case, a graph of size exponential in the number of arguments, many of the functions encountered in typical applications have a more reasonable representation. Our algorithms have time complexity proportional to the sizes of the graphs being operated on, and hence are quite efficient as long as the graphs do not grow too large. We present experimental results from applying these algorithms to problems in logic design verification that demonstrate the practicality of our approach.

Principles of Model Checking

Abstract: Our growing dependence on increasingly complex computer and software systems necessitates the development of formalisms, techniques, and tools for assessing functional properties of these systems. One such technique that has emerged in the last twenty years is model checking, which systematically (and automatically) checks whether a model of a given system satisfies a desired property such as deadlock freedom, invariants, and request-response properties. This automated technique for verification and debugging has developed into a mature and widely used approach with many applications. Principles of Model Checking offers a comprehensive introduction to model checking that is not only a text suitable for classroom use but also a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in the field. The book begins with the basic principles for modeling concurrent and communicating systems, introduces different classes of properties (including safety and liveness), presents the notion of fairness, and provides automata-based algorithms for these properties. It introduces the temporal logics LTL and CTL, compares them, and covers algorithms for verifying these logics, discussing real-time systems as well as systems subject to random phenomena. Separate chapters treat such efficiency-improving techniques as abstraction and symbolic manipulation. The book includes an extensive set of examples (most of which run through several chapters) and a complete set of basic results accompanied by detailed proofs. Each chapter concludes with a summary, bibliographic notes, and an extensive list of exercises of both practical and theoretical nature.