IDEAS

A technique for reducing power dissipation in pipeline analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is presented. The technique stems from the observation that the amplifier of the first stage is used to charge the input capacitors of the subsequent stage. At the end of the amplification phase, the feedback capacitor of the first stage holds the residue voltage across it and can be

A monotonic DAC using switched capacitor integrator is presented. For an N-bit digital input sequence, the proposed DAC starts conversion with the MSB and takes N cycles to finish conversion. The DAC samples the reference voltage only once and transfers appropriate charge to an output capacitor. Some issues relevant to the design and their possible solutions are presented.

In contrast to the widespread myth that positive feedback or even unstable, open-loop amplifiers will produce unstable feedback amplifiers, it is shown that positive feedback amplifiers, can be used for realizing stable and useful feedback amplifiers. The benefits of using positive feedback for DC gain enhancement without compromising the settling time or the frequency response of feedback amplifiers are discussed

This article describes a decentralized secure migration process of mobile agents between Mobile-C agencies. Mobile-C is an IEEE Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) standard compliant multi-agent platform for supporting C/C++ mobile and stationary agents. Mobile-C is specially designed for mechatronic and factory automation systems where malicious agents may cause physical damage to machinery and personnel. As a mobile agent migrates from one agency to another in an open network, the security concern of mobile agent systems should not be neglected. Security breaches can be minimized considerably if an agency only accepts mobile agents from agencies known and trusted by the system administrator. In Mobile-C, a strong authentication process is used by sender and receiver agencies to authenticate each other before agent migration. The security framework also aims to guarantee the integrity and confidentiality of the mobile agent while it is in transit. This assures that all agents within an agency framework were introduced to that framework under the supervision and permission of a trusted administrator. The Mobile-C Security protocol is inspired from the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which avoids a single point of failure since it does not rely on a singular remote third party for the security process. In this protocol, both agencies must authenticate each other using public key authentication, before a secure migration process. After successful authentication, an encrypted mobile agent is transferred and its integrity is verified by the receiver agency. This article describes the Mobile-C secure migration process and presents a comparison study with the SSH protocol. The performance analysis of the secure migration process is performed by comparing the turnaround time of mobile agent with and without security options in a homogeneous environment. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

International statebuilding in Afghanistan must be considered in terms of identity politics as they have emerged since the Bonn Agreement of 2001. In light of this, Afghanistan's 2009 presidential election serves as a window on the broader post-Bonn statebuilding process in which factionalized elite networks have constituted an internationally supported regime that masquerades as a state. Comparing political cultural and political economic explanations for the factionalism that was widespread during the elections, the paper demonstrates that the ...

This paper examines the power dynamics and outcomes of the 2014 Afghanistan presidential elections through a focus on political networks. It foregrounds the power dynamics and practices of political-economic and identity networks that has come to underpin and constitute the state in post-2001 international statebuilding. First it seeks to understand how complex interdependent relations between the two leading presidential candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, and local powerbrokers were negotiated and arranged and subsequently influenced electoral outcomes. Second, focusing on negotiations over the appointment of the Cabinet ministers, advisers and staff, and governors, the study provides an analysis of the restructuring of political networks within the state, illuminating the impact of elections on the distribution of power and political order and state stability in post-election period. The study is based on in-depth primary research in Afghanistan during and after elect...

... factional elites: Mohaqeq and Khalili for Hazara vote, Dostum and Sayyed Nurullah for Uzbek vote, Fahim and Ismail Khan for Tajik vote and Akhundzada and Gul Aga Shirzai for Pashtun vote in the South. Individuals such as Rasul Sayyaf, one of the most important Jihadi ...