Luca Sterpone

Bio: Luca Sterpone is an academic researcher from Polytechnic University of Turin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Fault injection & Field-programmable gate array. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 222 publications receiving 3125 citations. Previous affiliations of Luca Sterpone include Instituto Politécnico Nacional.

Fault-Tolerance Techniques for Soft-Core Processors Using the Trace Interface

Abstract: As microprocessors are increasingly used in safety-critical applications, there is a growing demand for effective fault-tolerance techniques that can mitigate the effects of soft errors while reducing intrusiveness and minimizing the impact on performance and power consumption To this purpose, approaches that are based on monitoring the microprocessor operation through an external interface in a non-intrusive manner have recently been proposed In this paper we focus on the use of the trace interface for on-line monitoring This interface provides detailed information about the instructions executed by the processor and can be reused to support error detection and correction in several ways, including multi-processors in hardware redundancy, time redundancy and control-flow checking

Analysis of radiation-induced SEUs on dynamic reconfigurable systems

Abstract: SRAM-Based FPGAs are widely employed in space and avionics computing. The unfriendly environment and FPGA radiation sensibility can have dramatic drawbacks on the application reliability. The partial self-reconfiguration ability gives an excellent aid to counteract single event upsets (SEUs) caused by excessive silicon ionization, and the consequent system misbehavior. Related to this feature, fault injection and fault emulation and configuration scrubbing, has been carried out over three versions of a reconfigurable Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) system: a single FFT, a single larger FFT and a FFT with TMR architecture. The analysis has been focused on multiple injected SEUs scenario, considering the availability problem in a real-time application and highlighting the circuit tolerance at the upset presence. This operation has the goal to emulate as much as possible a real radiation test avoiding all the handicaps that this procedure involves. The obtained results have shown the advantages of the configuration scrubbing performed with the aim to fix multiple upsets, achieving up to 13.6% of circuit hardening. The achieved conclusions are an interesting starting point for the study of fault mitigation techniques through the use of reconfiguration. The projects have been tested on a Z-7010 AP SoC.

Layout and Radiation Tolerance Issues in High-Speed Links

Abstract: High-speed optical links are often used in trigger and data acquisition systems of High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments for data transfer, trigger and fast control distribution. Many experiments prefer the use of commercial off-the-shelf components (COTS) if possible, in order to avoid the non-recurrent engineering (NRE) costs and risks associated with the design of application specific integrated circuits. For the mentioned reason, static random access memory-based field programmable gate arrays (SRAM-based FPGAs) are usually deployed. However they are mostly used off-detector, where little or no radiation is present, since single event upsets in the configuration memory may alter the design functionality. In order to benefit from SRAM-based FPGAs also in radiation environments expected on-detector, suitable soft-error mitigation strategies must be adopted. In this work we evaluate the design trade-offs between performance and radiation-tolerance in a high-speed fixed-latency link based on a Virtex-5 SRAM-based FPGA. We evaluate different radiation mitigation strategies. Moreover, we experimentally verify some custom-developed placement and routing rules aimed at improving the FPGA firmware robustness against configuration upsets.

Biological properties of extracellular vesicles and their physiological functions

Abstract: In the past decade, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as potent vehicles of intercellular communication, both in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This is due to their capacity to transfer proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, thereby influencing various physiological and pathological functions of both recipient and parent cells. While intensive investigation has targeted the role of EVs in different pathological processes, for example, in cancer and autoimmune diseases, the EV-mediated maintenance of homeostasis and the regulation of physiological functions have remained less explored. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the physiological roles of EVs, which has been written by crowd-sourcing, drawing on the unique EV expertise of academia-based scientists, clinicians and industry based in 27 European countries, the United States and Australia. This review is intended to be of relevance to both researchers already working on EV biology and to newcomers who will encounter this universal cell biological system. Therefore, here we address the molecular contents and functions of EVs in various tissues and body fluids from cell systems to organs. We also review the physiological mechanisms of EVs in bacteria, lower eukaryotes and plants to highlight the functional uniformity of this emerging communication system.

Extracellular vesicles: biology and emerging therapeutic opportunities

Abstract: Within the past decade, extracellular vesicles have emerged as important mediators of intercellular communication, being involved in the transmission of biological signals between cells in both prokaryotes and higher eukaryotes to regulate a diverse range of biological processes. In addition, pathophysiological roles for extracellular vesicles are beginning to be recognized in diseases including cancer, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative disorders, highlighting potential novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Moreover, both unmodified and engineered extracellular vesicles are likely to have applications in macromolecular drug delivery. Here, we review recent progress in understanding extracellular vesicle biology and the role of extracellular vesicles in disease, discuss emerging therapeutic opportunities and consider the associated challenges.

Atheroprotective communication between endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells through miRNAs.

Abstract: The shear-responsive transcription factor Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) is a critical regulator of endothelial gene expression patterns induced by atheroprotective flow. As microRNAs (miRNAs) post-transcriptionally control gene expression in many pathogenic and physiological processes, we investigated the regulation of miRNAs by KLF2 in endothelial cells. KLF2 binds to the promoter and induces a significant upregulation of the miR-143/145 cluster. Interestingly, miR-143/145 has been shown to control smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotypes; therefore, we investigated the possibility of transport of these miRNAs between endothelial cells and SMCs. Indeed, extracellular vesicles secreted by KLF2-transduced or shear-stress-stimulated HUVECs are enriched in miR-143/145 and control target gene expression in co-cultured SMCs. Extracellular vesicles derived from KLF2-expressing endothelial cells also reduced atherosclerotic lesion formation in the aorta of ApoE(-/-) mice. Combined, our results show that atheroprotective stimuli induce communication between endothelial cells and SMCs through an miRNA- and extracellular-vesicle-mediated mechanism and that this may comprise a promising strategy to combat atherosclerosis.