An energy-efficient network-on-chip (NoC) is presented for possible application to high-performance system-on-chip (SoC) design. It incorporates heterogeneous intellectual properties (IPs) such as multiple RISCs and SRAMs, a reconfigurable logic array, an off-chip gateway, and a 1.6-GHz phase-locked loop (PLL). Its hierarchically-star-connected on-chip network provides the integrated IPs, which operate at different clock frequencies, with packet-switched serial-communication infrastructure. Various low-power techniques such as low-swing signaling, partially activated crossbar, serial link coding, and clock frequency scaling are devised, and applied to achieve the power-efficient on-chip communications. The 5 /spl times/5 mm/sup 2/ chip containing all the above features is fabricated by 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process and successfully measured and demonstrated on a system evaluation board where multimedia applications run. The fabricated chip can deliver 11.2-GB/s aggregated bandwidth at 1.6-GHz signaling frequency. The chip consumes 160 mW and the on-chip network dissipates less than 51 mW.

The construction sector has long been known for its complicated safety requirements, which are critical to ensure the well-being of workers on site. However, interpreting these requirements and maintaining compliance can be difficult due to the amount and complexity of the paperwork involved. This leads to difficulty extracting safety information from requirement documents. Besides, information that is presented in a manner similar to human-like responses can improve employee understanding. This study proposed a Construction Safety Query Assistant (CSQA) approach to enhance the extraction and knowledge of construction safety regulations using Large Language Models (LLMs). CSQA comprises of three primary components: (1) the Construction Safety Investigation Module (CSI), which gathers and processes safety regulation documents through text extraction and preprocessing to build a searchable database; (2) the Safety Condition Identification Module (SCI), which utilizes LLMs to interpret user queries and extract relevant information from the CSI database, capitalizing on the models' ability to understand context and subtle textual nuances; and (3) the Safety Information Delivery Module (SID), which presents the retrieved information to users and integrates a feedback loop to refine the accuracy and relevance of responses based on user interaction. The CSQA approach was validated with 2 case studies that offered more contextually relevant, possibly lowering non-compliance risks, improving worker safety, and simplifying the consultation process in the construction sector. This study emphasizes its potential to transform access to crucial safety information in the construction industry.

Recent increases in the number of irregularly shaped tall buildings have created a need for more applicable formwork methods and automated support for formwork layout planning, which has mainly depended on heuristic approaches based on the intuitive judgment of experienced engineers. This study proposes a new table formwork method integrated with a systematic layout planning approach for tall building construction. Adjustable subunits of the formwork cope with diverse building shapes and the software-based mathematical model helps practitioners make useful layouts for the method with minimal time and effort. In a case study, the proposed layout planning model offered lower costs and improved work efficiency in less time than the heuristic approach. Supported by the planning model, our advanced formwork method showed a 15.5% increase in covered area of irregularly shaped building floors and a 23.9% decrease in material costs compared with existing table formwork methods.