We study a reconfiguration problem for Steiner trees in an unweighted graph, which determines whether there exists a sequence of Steiner trees that transforms a given Steiner tree into another one by exchanging a single edge at a time. In this paper, we show that the problem is PSPACE-complete even for split graphs, while solvable in linear time for interval graphs and for cographs.

Streak cameras are now widely used for measurements of ultra short phenomena, such as those in semi conductor luminescence and plasma gaseous discharge. To further improve the temporal resolution and carry out higher-dimensional measurements, it is necessary to understand the electron beam behavior in detail. Thus, numerical simulations play an important role in the analysis of the streak camera. The authors have been working on the development of a numerical simulation code that uses the finite difference method (FDM) for electric field analysis, the Runge-Kutta (R-K) method for charged particle motion determination, and the particle-in-cell (PIC) method for charge density calculation. However, the use of the PIC method leads to inaccuracy in the charge density calculation in cases of high-density electron beams. To improve the accuracy of the conventional analysis of the streak camera, we perform the boundary element (BE) analysis of the streak camera.

We introduce the notion of 'Composition', 'Union' and 'Division' of cellular automata on groups. A kind of notions of compositions was investigated by Sato [10] and Manzini [6] for linear cellular automata, we extend the notion to general cellular automata on groups and investigated their properties. We observe the all unions and compositions generated by one-dimensional 2-neighborhood cellular automata over Z2 including non-linear cellular automata. Next we prove that the composition is right-distributive over union, but is not left-distributive. Finally, we conclude by showing reformulation of our definition of cellular automata on group which admit more than three states. We also show our formulation contains the representation using formal power series for linear cellular automata in Manzini [6].

We study the problem of transforming one list (vertex) coloring of a graph into another list coloring by changing only one vertex color assignment at a time, while at all times maintaining a list coloring, given a list of allowed colors for each vertex. This problem is known to be PSPACE-complete for bipartite planar graphs. In this paper, we first show that the problem remains PSPACE-complete even for bipartite series-parallel graphs, which form a proper subclass of bipartite planar graphs. We note that our reduction indeed shows the PSPACE-completeness for graphs with pathwidth two, and it can be extended for threshold graphs. In contrast, we give a polynomial-time algorithm to solve the problem for graphs with pathwidth one. Thus, this paper gives sharp analyses of the problem with respect to pathwidth.

We study the problem of reconfiguring one list edge-coloring of a graph into another list edge-coloring by changing only one edge color assignment at a time, while at all times maintaining a list edge-coloring, given a list of allowed colors for each edge. Ito, Kamiski and Demaine gave a sufficient condition so that any list edge-coloring of a tree can be transformed into any other. In this paper, we give a new sufficient condition which improves the known one. Our sufficient condition is best possible in some sense. The proof is constructive, and yields a polynomial-time algorithm that finds a transformation between two given list edge-colorings of a tree with n vertices via O(n2) recoloring steps. We remark that the upper bound O(n2) on the number of recoloring steps is tight, because there is an infinite family of instances on paths that satisfy our sufficient condition and whose reconfiguration requires Ω(n2) recoloring steps.

Distributed array radars consist of multiple sub-arrays separated by tens to hundreds of wavelengths and can match narrow beamwidths with large-aperture, high-gain antennas. The physical independence of the sub-arrays contributes to significant structure flexibility and is one of the advantages of such radars. However, a typical problem is the grating lobes in the digital beam forming (DBF) beam pattern. Unfortunately, the need to suppress the generation of grating lobes makes the design of acceptable sub-array arrangements very difficult. A sigma-delta beam former direction of arrival (DOA) estimation method is proposed in this study to solve this problem. The proposed method performs DOA estimation by acquiring the difference signals in addition to the sum signals of all sub-arrays. The difference signal is typically used for monopulse DOA estimation in the phased array radar. The sigma-delta beamformer simultaneously has both advantages of DOA estimations using a distributed array with a large aperture length and using a sub-array that is not affected by the grating lobe. The proposed method can improve the DOA estimation accuracy over the conventional method under grating lobe situations and help the distributed array radar achieve flexibility in the sub-array arrangement. Numerical simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed DOA estimation method.

The (InAs)1(GaAs)n short period superlattice (SPS) channel 2DEGFET's with 0.2 µm T-Shaped gates have been successfully fabricated on a GaAs substrate for the first time, and DC and RF performances of the superlattice channel devices have been investigated. Compared to conventional InGaAs alloy channel devices, excellent results in both DC and RF characteristics have been obtained for the SPS channel devices. The dependence of the layer index n for (InAs)1(GaAs)n on device performances has been also investigated. The (InAs)1(GaAs)4 channel samples have shown higher cut-off frequencies as well as superior noise performances compared to those for the (InAs)1(GaAs)5 channel samples. The best noise figure of 0.55 dB with an associated gain of 11.26 dB has been obtained at 12 GHz. The superior performances obtained are due to the improved electron transport properties of (InAs)1(GaAs)n SPS compared to those of InGaAs alloy. These results indicate a great potential of SPS channel structures for high frequency low noise device applications.

In STS-based mapping, it is necessary to obtain the correct order of probes in a DNA sequence from a given set of fragments or an equivalently a hybridization matrix A. It is well-known that the problem is formulated as the combinatorial problem of obtaining a permutation of A's columns so that the resulting matrix has a consecutive-one property. If the data (the hybridization matrix) is error free and includes enough information, then the above column order uniquely determines the correct order of the probes. Unfortunately this does not hold if the data include errors, and this has been a popular research target in computational biology. Even if there is no error, ambiguities in the probe order may still remain. This in fact happens because of the lack of some information regarding the data, but almost no further investigation has previously been made. In this paper, we define a measure of such imperfectness of the data as the minimum amount of the additional fragments that are needed to uniquely fix the probe order. Polynomial-time algorithms to compute such additional fragments of the minimum cost are presented. A computer simulation using genes of human chromosome 20 is also noted.

Let G be a graph such that each edge has its list of available colors, and assume that each list is a subset of the common set consisting of k colors. Suppose that we are given two list edge-colorings f0 and fr of G, and asked whether there exists a sequence of list edge-colorings of G between f0 and fr such that each list edge-coloring can be obtained from the previous one by changing a color assignment of exactly one edge. This problem is known to be PSPACE-complete for every integer k ≥ 6 and planar graphs of maximum degree three, but any computational hardness was unknown for the non-list variant in which every edge has the same list of k colors. In this paper, we first improve the known result by proving that, for every integer k ≥ 4, the problem remains PSPACE-complete even for planar graphs of bounded bandwidth and maximum degree three. Since the problem is known to be solvable in polynomial time if k ≤ 3, our result gives a sharp analysis of the complexity status with respect to the number k of colors. We then give the first computational hardness result for the non-list variant: for every integer k ≥ 5, the non-list variant is PSPACE-complete even for planar graphs of bandwidth quadratic in k and maximum degree k.

Interactive audio-video applications over IP networks have subjective tradeoffs between fidelity and latency owing to packet buffering at the receiver. Increasing the buffering time improves the fidelity, whereas it degrades the latency. This paper makes the subjective tradeoff between fidelity and latency clear in a quantitative way. In addition, we examine the effect of tasks on the subjective tradeoff. In evaluating the effect of tasks, we use two tasks according to ITU-T Recommendation P.920. An experiment was conducted to measure user-level QoS of an interactive application with the psychometric methods. We then investigate the subjective tradeoff quantitatively by QoS mapping. The experimental results confirm that there exists the buffering time which makes user-level QoS the highest. The results also show that the optimum buffering time depends on the kind of task.

A feedback vertex set F of an undirected graph G is a vertex subset of G whose removal results in a forest. Such a set F is said to be independent if F forms an independent set of G. In this paper, we study the problem of finding an independent feedback vertex set of a given graph with the minimum number of vertices, from the viewpoint of graph classes. This problem is NP-hard even for planar bipartite graphs of maximum degree four. However, we show that the problem is solvable in linear time for graphs having tree-like structures, more specifically, for bounded treewidth graphs, chordal graphs and cographs. We then give a fixed-parameter algorithm for planar graphs when parameterized by the solution size. Such a fixed-parameter algorithm is already known for general graphs, but our algorithm is exponentially faster than the known one.

This paper describes an adaptively weighted code division multiplexing (AW-CDM) system, in other words, power controlled spread-spectrum multiplexing system and describes its application to hierarchical digital broadcasting of television signals. The AW-CDM, being combined with multi-resolutional video encoder, can provide such a hierarchical transmission that allows both high quality services for fixed receivers and reduced quality services for mobile/portable receivers. The carrier and the clock are robustly regenerated by using a spread-spectrum multiplexed pseudorandom noise (PN) sounder as a reference in the receiver. The PN reference is also used for Rake combining with signals via different paths, and for adaptive equalization (EQ). In a prototype AW-CDM modem, three layers of hierarchical video signals (highs: 5.91Mbps, middles: 1.50Mbps, and lows: 0.46 Mbps) are divided into a pair of 64 orthogonal spread-spectrum subchannels, each of which can be given a different priority and therefore a different threshold. In this case, three different thresholds are given. The modem's transmission rate is 9.7Mbps in the 6MHz band. Indoor transmission tests confirm that lows (weighted power layer I), middles (averaged power layer II), and highs (lightened power layer III) are retrievable under conditions in which the desired to undesired signal ratios (DURs) are respectively 0dB, 8.5dB, and 13.5dB. If the undesired signals are multipaths, these performances are dramatically improved by Rake combining and EQ. The AW-CDM system can be used for 20-30 Mbps advanced television (ATV) transmission in the 6-MHz bandwidth simply by changing the binary inputs into quaternary or octonary inputs.

In this paper, a puzzle called Cell-Maze is analyzed. In this puzzle, cells are arranged in checker board squares. Each cell is rotated when a player arrives at the cell. Cell-Maze asks whether or not a player started from a start cell can reach a goal cell. The reachability problem for ordinary graphs can be easily solved in linear time, however a reachability problem for the network such as Cell-Maze may be extremely difficult. In this paper, NP-hardness of this puzzle is proved. It is proved by reducing Hamiltonian Circuit Problem of directed planar graph G such that each vertex involved in just three arcs. Furthermore, we consider subproblems, which can be solved in polynomial time.

This paper develops a prediction model for evaluating the influence of propagation attenuation due to aircraft's flying across the earth-satellite link. This prediction model is based on the Aperture-field method of Huygens-Fresnel wave theory. Considering arriving and taking off course around airport, attenuation impairment is calculated for different types of aircrafts and flight directions. In order to verify this model's accuracy, numerical results are compared with measurement values. The calculations agree well with the measurements. Ground antenna directivity and anticipated impairment to digital broadcasting system such as Perfect TV are also discussed.

A detabase system that provides step-by-step guidance for LSI failure analysts has been developed. This system has three main functions: database, navigator, and chip tracking. The datebase stores failure analysis information such as analysis method and failure mechanisms including image data. It also stores conditions and results of each analysis step and decisions to proceeds to the next analysis step. With 2000 failure analysis cases, data retrieval takes 6.6 seconds, a table containing 20 photos is presented in 6.5 seconds, and a different set of data can be displayed in 0.6 seconds. The navigator displays a standard analysis procedure illustrated in flow charts.The chip tracking shows where the particular chip is and what analysis it is undergoing, which is useful for the situation where many chips are simultaneously analyzed. Thus, this system has good enough functions of analysis procedure management and performance of quick data access to make failure analysis easier and more successful.

Layer-by-layer sequential adsorption process of polyelectrolytes had conventionally been used for the fabrication of the ultra-thin organic film formed by various polymers with different polarity of charge. In this study, hydrophobic Ruthenium complex monomer (tris (bilyridyl) ruthenium (II) hexafluorophosphate) was micelle-wrapped with an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, and was assembled with PAH (poly (allylamine hydrochloride)) which has the opposite charge on ITO substrates. With this method, we succeed in fabricating ultra-thin organic films even when the adsorption material is not polymer but monomer. Moreover it was found that the bilayer thickness of the self-assembled (Ru micelle/PAH) was systematically changed by adjusting the solution pH of each bath. By using this process, EL device was fabricated by depositing the thin film of micelle-wrapping ruthenium complex monomer on ITO and formed Bi electrode on top of the film. Light emission was observed by applying voltage to this device.

When using a wireless capsule endoscope (WCE), it is important to know WCE location. In this paper, we focus on a time of arrival (TOA)-based localization technique, as it has better location estimation performance than other radio frequency-based techniques. However, the propagation speed of signals transmitted from inside of a human body varies depending on which biological tissues they pass through. For this reason, almost all of conventional TOA-based methods have to obtain the relative permittivity of the passed biological tissues or the propagation speed beforehand through another measurement system, i.e., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computational tomography (CT). To avoid such troublesome pre-measurement, we propose a hybrid TOA/received signal strength indicator (RSSI)-based method, which can simultaneously estimate the WCE location and the averaged relative permittivity of the human body. First, we derive the principle of RSSI-based relative permittivity estimation from an finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation. Second, we combine the TOA-based localization and the proposed RSSI-based relative permittivity estimation, and add them to the particle filter tracking technique. Finally, we perform computer simulations to evaluate the estimation accuracy of the proposed method. The simulation results show that the proposed method can accomplish good localization performance, 1.3mm, without pre-measurement of the human body structure information.

Suppose that we are given two vertex covers C0 and Ct of a graph G, together with an integer threshold k ≥ max{|C0|, |Ct|}. Then, the vertex cover reconfiguration problem is to determine whether there exists a sequence of vertex covers of G which transforms C0 into Ct such that each vertex cover in the sequence is of cardinality at most k and is obtained from the previous one by either adding or deleting exactly one vertex. This problem is PSPACE-complete even for planar graphs. In this paper, we first give a linear-time algorithm to solve the problem for even-hole-free graphs, which include several well-known graphs, such as trees, interval graphs and chordal graphs. We then give an upper bound on k for which any pair of vertex covers in a graph G has a desired sequence. Our upper bound is best possible in some sense.

For a given graph G=(V, E), edge capacities c(e) for edges e E, and flow-demands d(v) for nodes v V, a problem of finding the minimum size source-set S V such that the maximum flow-amount between S and v is greater than or equal to d(v) for every v V is called generalized plural cover problem (GPC). For this problem, O(np s(n,m)) time algorithm is presented, where n, m, and p is the number of nodes, edges, and different values of d(v), respectively, and s(n,m) is the time required to solve the maximum flow problem of a graph with n nodes and m edges. This algorithm also constructs a set of optimal solutions in the same time. This property is convenient for applying it to real problems, because other constraints can also be taken into account.

This paper describes the structure and properties of superconductive small antennas with thin-film matching circuits. These circuits make it possible to realize small antennas, 38 mm20 mm16 mm in size. This is one quarter the length of our previously reported ceramic antennas. The actual gain of this antennas was -4.5 dBi at 470 MHz. This value is 5.5 dB higher than that of Cu antennas with exactly the same structure.