sensors-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 24975

Special Issue Editors

Department of Electrical and Computer Enginneering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
Interests: model order reduction; thermal analysis; VLSI design; integrated circuits; electronic design automation; embedded systems; numerical analysis; circuit simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Thessaly, Greece
Interests: intelligent systems; distributed systems; distributed intelligence
Department of Electrical and Computer Enginneering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece
Interests: average and maximum power estimation and minimization; hardware security; low power design and architecture; reliability and verification of VLSI circuits; CAD system design; telecom and signal processing circuit optimization; wireless sensor networks and applications; sensor signal processing; safety and security; optimization theory and applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart sensing technologies and their inherent data processing techniques have drawn considerable research and industrial attention in recent years. More specifically, sensors are of utmost importance in our everyday life, since they are used to gather a diverse variety of information from a vast number of different sources. As a result, sensing technologies should offer a broad range of methods in order to gather data from various objects, obtaining precise information to monitor and control them.

Recent developments in nanometer CMOS technologies have shown great potential to deal with the increasing demand of processing power that arises in these sensing technologies, from IoT applications to complicated medical devices. Moreover, circuit implementation, which could be based on a full analog or digital approach or, in most cases, on a mixed signal approach, possesses a fundamental role in exploiting the full capabilities of sensing technologies. In addition, all circuit design methodologies include the optimization of several performance metrics, such as low power, low cost, small area, and high throughput, which impose critical challenges in the field of sensor design.

This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in the development, modeling, simulation, and implementations of integrated circuits for sensing technologies from the component level to complete sensing systems. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts for publication on (but not limited to) the following areas:

  • Low-power/low-cost circuit design for sensors;
  • Power management circuits for sensors;
  • Next-generation CMOS circuit design for sensor systems;
  • Intelligent front-end sensing circuits;
  • Circuit optimization methods for sensing technologies;
  • VLSI design of sensors for signal processing applications;
  • Interface circuits for data fusion from multiple sensors;
  • Sensor design for low-power edge computing and IoT applications;
  • Wearable sensor design;
  • Algorithms and signal processing methods to improve CMOS sensor design;
  • Sensor modeling and simulation.

Dr. George Floros
Dr. Kostas Kolomvatsos
Prof. Dr. George Stamoulis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • VLSI design
  • integrated circuits
  • sensing technologies
  • circuit optimization methods
  • modeling and simulation
  • signal processing

Published Papers (9 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 510 KiB  
Article
Design Space Exploration of a Sparse MobileNetV2 Using High-Level Synthesis and Sparse Matrix Techniques on FPGAs
by Antonios Tragoudaras, Pavlos Stoikos, Konstantinos Fanaras, Athanasios Tziouvaras, George Floros, Georgios Dimitriou, Kostas Kolomvatsos and Georgios Stamoulis
Sensors 2022, 22(12), 4318; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22124318 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2355
Abstract
Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) are gaining ground in deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains, and they can benefit from rapid prototyping in order to produce efficient and low-power hardware designs. The inference process of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is considered a [...] Read more.
Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) are gaining ground in deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) domains, and they can benefit from rapid prototyping in order to produce efficient and low-power hardware designs. The inference process of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) is considered a computationally intensive process that requires hardware accelerators to operate in real-world scenarios due to the low latency requirements of real-time applications. As a result, High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools are gaining popularity since they provide attractive ways to reduce design time complexity directly in register transfer level (RTL). In this paper, we implement a MobileNetV2 model using a state-of-the-art HLS tool in order to conduct a design space exploration and to provide insights on complex hardware designs which are tailored for DNN inference. Our goal is to combine design methodologies with sparsification techniques to produce hardware accelerators that achieve comparable error metrics within the same order of magnitude with the corresponding state-of-the-art systems while also significantly reducing the inference latency and resource utilization. Toward this end, we apply sparse matrix techniques on a MobileNetV2 model for efficient data representation, and we evaluate our designs in two different weight pruning approaches. Experimental results are evaluated with respect to the CIFAR-10 data set using several different design methodologies in order to fully explore their effects on the performance of the model under examination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 3959 KiB  
Article
A Procedure for Precise Determination and Compensation of Lead-Wire Resistance of a Two-Wire Resistance Temperature Detector
by Apinai Rerkratn, Supatsorn Prombut, Thawatchai Kamsri, Vanchai Riewruja and Wandee Petchmaneelumka
Sensors 2022, 22(11), 4176; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22114176 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1573
Abstract
A procedure for the precise determination and compensation of the lead-wire resistance of a resistance transducer is presented. The proposed technique is suitable for a two-wire resistance transducer, especially the resistance temperature detector (RTD). The proposed procedure provides a technique to compensate for [...] Read more.
A procedure for the precise determination and compensation of the lead-wire resistance of a resistance transducer is presented. The proposed technique is suitable for a two-wire resistance transducer, especially the resistance temperature detector (RTD). The proposed procedure provides a technique to compensate for the lead-wire resistance using a three-level pulse signal to excite the RTD via the long lead wire. In addition, the variation in the lead-wire resistance disturbed by the change in the ambient temperature can also be compensated by using the proposed technique. The determination of the lead-wire resistance from the proposed procedure requires a simple computation method performed by a digital signal processing unit. Therefore, the calculation of the RTD resistance and the lead-wire resistance can be achieved without the requirement of a high-speed digital signal processing unit. The proposed procedure is implemented on two platforms to confirm its effectiveness: the LabVIEW computer program and the microcontroller board. Experimental results show that the RTD resistance was accurately acquired, where the measured temperature varied from 0 °C to 300 °C and the lead-wire resistance varied from 0.2 Ω to 20 Ω, corresponding to the length of the 26 American wire gauge (AWG) lead wire from 1.5 m to 150 m. The average power dissipation to the RTD was very low and the self-heating of the RTD was minimized. The measurement error of the RTD resistance observed for pt100 was within ±0.98 Ω or ±0.27 °C when the lead wire of 30 m was placed in an environment with the ambient temperature varying from 30 °C to 70 °C. It is evident that the proposed procedure provided a performance that agreed with the theoretical expectation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2700 KiB  
Article
Linear-Range Extension for Linear Variable Differential Transformer Using Hyperbolic Sine Function
by Apinai Rerkratn, Jakkapun Tongcharoen, Wandee Petchmaneelumka and Vanchai Riewruja
Sensors 2022, 22(10), 3674; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22103674 - 12 May 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2200
Abstract
In this paper, a circuit technique to extend the measuring range of a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) is proposed. The transfer characteristic of the LVDT contains the odd function form of the cubic polynomial. Therefore, the measuring range of a commercial LVDT [...] Read more.
In this paper, a circuit technique to extend the measuring range of a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) is proposed. The transfer characteristic of the LVDT contains the odd function form of the cubic polynomial. Therefore, the measuring range of a commercial LVDT is linear in a narrow range compared to its physical dimensions. The wide measuring range of the LVDT requires a large structure of the LVDT, which increases the scale and the cost of the measurement system. The measuring range of the LVDT can be linearly extended to the maximum of the stroke range using the proposed technique. The realization of the proposed technique is based on the use of the hyperbolic sine (sinh) function of the electronic circuit building block, named the class AB bipolar amplifier. The class AB bipolar amplifier can be obtained by the current feedback operational amplifier (CFOA). The circuit of the proposed technique requires two CFOAs and an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) as the active devices and all devices used in the proposed technique to synthesize the sinh function are commercially available. The proposed technique exhibits an ability to compensate for the nonlinear characteristic of the LVDT without digital components. The proposed technique is attractive in terms of its simple circuit configuration, small size, and low cost. The linear range extension of the LVDT used in this paper is significantly increased with a maximum error of about 18.3 μm of 6.2 mm at the full stroke range or the full-scale percentage error of about 0.295%. The results indicate that the proposed technique provides excellent performance to extend the measuring range of the LVDT without modifying the LVDT structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

8 pages, 1676 KiB  
Communication
Biomimetic Chaotic Sensor for Moderate Static Magnetic Field
by Wojciech Korneta, Iacyel Gomes, Rodrigo Picos and Michal Zábovský
Sensors 2021, 21(21), 6964; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21216964 - 20 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1348
Abstract
The effects of a static magnetic field on systems with chaotic dynamical behavior have attracted little attention so far. Here, Chua’s electronic circuit with an inductor placed in a static uniform magnetic field operating in a chaotic double-scroll regime is studied experimentally. The [...] Read more.
The effects of a static magnetic field on systems with chaotic dynamical behavior have attracted little attention so far. Here, Chua’s electronic circuit with an inductor placed in a static uniform magnetic field operating in a chaotic double-scroll regime is studied experimentally. The effect of the magnetic field on the duty cycle factor and the spike count rate, with spikes defined by crossings between the scrolls of the double-scroll attractor, is described. A slow monotonic variation in the duty cycle factor and constant spike count rate is observed for magnetic field intensities up to the threshold, where both these metrics change severely; the dynamic trajectory remains on one scroll and spikes disappear. The dependence of the static magnetic field intensity on Chua’s circuit resistivity at the threshold is given. Two biomimetic magnetic chaotic sensors are proposed: one based on one Chua’s circuit and another that can have various transfer functions and is composed of several independent Chua’s circuits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 15963 KiB  
Article
The Assessment of the Condition of Knee Joint Surfaces with Acoustic Emission Analysis
by Bartłomiej Sawaryn, Natalia Piaseczna, Szymon Sieciński, Rafał Doniec, Konrad Duraj, Dariusz Komorowski and Ewaryst J. Tkacz
Sensors 2021, 21(19), 6495; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21196495 - 29 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2337
Abstract
The knee joint, being the largest joint in the human body, is responsible for a great percentage of leg movements. The diagnosis of the state of knee joints is usually based on X-ray scan, ultrasound imaging, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), [...] Read more.
The knee joint, being the largest joint in the human body, is responsible for a great percentage of leg movements. The diagnosis of the state of knee joints is usually based on X-ray scan, ultrasound imaging, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or arthroscopy. In this study, we aimed to create an inexpensive, portable device for recording the sound produced by the knee joint, and a dedicated application for its analysis. During the study, we examined fourteen volunteers of different ages, including those who had a knee injury. The device effectively enables the recording of the sounds produced by the knee joint, and the spectral analysis used in the application proved its reliability in evaluating the knee joint condition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 6696 KiB  
Article
Reconfigurable Wireless Sensor Node Remote Laboratory Platform with Cloud Connectivity
by Tinashe Chamunorwa, Horia Alexandru Modran, Doru Ursuțiu, Cornel Samoilă and Horia Hedeșiu
Sensors 2021, 21(19), 6405; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21196405 - 25 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3218
Abstract
Thanks to the recent rapid technological advancement in IoT usage, there is a need for students to learn IoT-based concepts using a dedicated experimental platform. Furthermore, being forced into remote learning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for [...] Read more.
Thanks to the recent rapid technological advancement in IoT usage, there is a need for students to learn IoT-based concepts using a dedicated experimental platform. Furthermore, being forced into remote learning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for innovative learning methods. From our perspective, a learning platform should be reconfigurable to accommodate multiple applications and remotely accessible at any time, from anywhere, and on any connected device. Considering that many of the university courses are now held online, the reliability and scalability of the system become critical. This paper presents the design and development of a wireless configurable myRIO-based sensor node that connects to SystemLink Cloud. The sensors that were used are for ambient light, temperature, and proximity. A graphical programming environment (G-LabVIEW) and related APIs were used for rapid concept-to-development process. Distinct applications have been developed for the instructor and students, respectively. The students can select which sensor and application to run on the system and observe the measurements on the local student’s application or the cloud platform at a specific moment. They can also read the data on the cloud platform and use them in their LabVIEW application. In the context of remote education, we strongly believe that this platform is and will be suitable for the COVID and Post-COVID eras as well because it creates a much better remote laboratory experience for students. In conclusion, the system that was developed is innovative because it is software reconfigurable from the device, from the instructor’s application and cloud via a web browser, it is intuitive, and it has a user-friendly interface. It meets most of the necessary requirements in the current era, being also highly available and scalable in the cloud. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 7208 KiB  
Article
An Adaptive Protection System for Sensor Networks Based on Analysis of Neighboring Nodes
by Ján Gamec, Elena Basan, Alexandr Basan, Alexey Nekrasov, Colin Fidge and Nikita Sushkin
Sensors 2021, 21(18), 6116; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21186116 - 12 Sep 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1862
Abstract
Creation and operation of sensor systems is a complex challenge not only for industrial and military purposes but also for consumer services (“smart city”, “smart home”) and other applications such as agriculture (“smart farm”, “smart greenhouse”). The use of such systems gives a [...] Read more.
Creation and operation of sensor systems is a complex challenge not only for industrial and military purposes but also for consumer services (“smart city”, “smart home”) and other applications such as agriculture (“smart farm”, “smart greenhouse”). The use of such systems gives a positive economic effect and provides additional benefits from various points of view. At the same time, due to a large number of threats and challenges to cyber security, it is necessary to detect attacks on sensor systems in a timely manner. Here we present an anomaly detection method in which sensor nodes observe their neighbors and detect obvious deviations in their behavior. In this way, the community of neighboring nodes works collectively to protect one another. The nodes record only those parameters and attributes that are inherent in any node. Regardless of the node’s functionality, such parameters include the amount of traffic passing through the node, its Central Processing Unit (CPU) load, as well as the presence and number of packets dropped by the node. Our method’s main goal is to implement protection against the active influence of an internal attacker on the whole sensor network. We present the anomaly detection method, a dataset collection strategy, and experimental results that show how different types of attacks can be distinguished in the data produced by the nodes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 3113 KiB  
Communication
New Calibration System for Low-Cost Suspended Particulate Matter Sensors with Controlled Air Speed, Temperature and Humidity
by Zenon Nieckarz and Jerzy A. Zoladz
Sensors 2021, 21(17), 5845; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21175845 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1733
Abstract
This paper presents a calibration system for low-cost suspended particulate matter (PM) sensors, consisting of reference instruments, enclosed space in a metal pipe (volume 0.145 m3), a duct fan, a controller and automated control software. The described system is capable of [...] Read more.
This paper presents a calibration system for low-cost suspended particulate matter (PM) sensors, consisting of reference instruments, enclosed space in a metal pipe (volume 0.145 m3), a duct fan, a controller and automated control software. The described system is capable of generating stable and repeatable concentrations of suspended PM in the air duct. In this paper, as the final result, we presented the process and effects of calibration of two low-cost air pollution stations—university measuring stations (UMS)—developed and used in the scientific project known as Storm&DustNet, implemented at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland), for the concentration range of PM from a few up to 240 µg·m–3. Finally, we postulate that a device of this type should be available for every system composed of a large number of low-cost PM sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 10688 KiB  
Article
Design of Smart Steering Wheel for Unobtrusive Health and Drowsiness Monitoring
by Branko Babusiak, Adrian Hajducik, Stefan Medvecky, Michal Lukac and Jaromir Klarak
Sensors 2021, 21(16), 5285; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s21165285 - 05 Aug 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6102
Abstract
This article describes the design of a smart steering wheel intended for use in unobtrusive health and drowsiness monitoring. The aging population, cardiovascular disease, personalized medicine, and driver fatigue were significant motivations for developing a monitoring platform in cars because people spent much [...] Read more.
This article describes the design of a smart steering wheel intended for use in unobtrusive health and drowsiness monitoring. The aging population, cardiovascular disease, personalized medicine, and driver fatigue were significant motivations for developing a monitoring platform in cars because people spent much time in cars. The purpose was to create a unique, comprehensive monitoring system for the driver. The crucial parameters in health or drowsiness monitoring, such as heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood oxygenation, are measured by an electrocardiograph and oximeter integrated into the steering wheel. In addition, an inertial unit was integrated into the steering wheel to record and analyze the movement patterns performed by the driver while driving. The developed steering wheel was tested under laboratory and real-life conditions. The measured signals were verified by commercial devices to confirm data correctness and accuracy. The resulting signals show the applicability of the developed platform in further detecting specific cardiovascular diseases (especially atrial fibrillation) and drowsiness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligent Circuits and Sensing Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop