In this paper, in order to achieve the low power consumption of programmable divider in a PLL frequency synthesizer, we propose a new prescaler method for low power consumption. A fixed prescaler is inserted in front of the (N +1/2) programmable divider which is designed based on the new principle. The divider ratio in the loop does not vary at all even if such a prescaler is utilized. Then the permissible delay periods of a programmable divider can be extended to two times as long as the conventional method, and the low power consumption and low cost in a PLL frequency synthesizer have been achieved.

Processes in image recognition include target detection and shape extraction. Active Net has been proposed as one of the methods for such processing. It treats the target detection in an image as an energy optimization problem. In this paper, a problem of the conventional Active Net is presented and the new Active Net is proposed. The new net is improved the ability for detecting a target. Finally, the validity of the proposed net is confirmed by experimental results.

In the culture of marine chlorellas, it is necessary to count the number in order to understand the condition of increase. For that propose, counting by the naked eye using the microscope has been used. However, this method requires a lot of time and work. We have developed the automatic chlorella counter using image processing and neural network. Its effectiveness is confirmed through the experiment.

In a phase-locked-loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer with binary phase comparison, jitter is hard to suppress. In this paper, we propose a PLL frequency synthesizer with an improved binary phase comparison which can solve the above problem. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by PSpice simulation results.

In the phase locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer which is used in a higher frequency region, the prescaler method is employed in order to increase the operating frequency of the programmable divider. However, since the fixed divider whose division ratio is same as the prescaler is installed at the following stage of the reference divider, the reference frequency is decreased and the performance of the PLL frequency synthesizer is degraded. The prescaler PLL frequency synthesizer using multi-programmable divider is one of the counter measures answering the request. In this paper we propose the reduction of the number of programmable dividers by using the (N+1/2) programmable divider. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by experimental results.

Recently, in the modem, the spread spectrum communication system and the software radio, Digital Signal Processor type Squaring Loop (DSP-squaring-loop) is employed in the demodulation of Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) signal. The DSP-squaring-loop extracts the carrier signal that is used for the coherent detection. However, in case the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) is low, the DSP-Phase Locked Loop (DSP-PLL) can not pull in the frequency offset and the phase offset. In this paper, we propose a DSP-squaring-loop that is robust against noise and which uses the adaptive notch filter type frequency estimator and the adaptive Band Pass Filter (BPF). The proposed method can extract the carrier signal in the low SNR environment. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by the computer simulation results.

This paper introduces current-mode biquad using multiple current output operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) and grounded capacitors. The circuit configuration is obtained from a second-order integrator loop structure with loss-less and lossy integrators. The proposed circuit can realize low-pass, band-pass, high-pass, band-stop and all-pass transfer functions by suitably choosing the input and output terminals. And the circuit characteristics can be electronically tuned through adjusting the transconductance gains of OTAs. It is also made clear that the proposed circuit has very low sensitivities with respect to the circuit active and passive elements. An example is given together with simulated results by PSpice.

In this paper, we propose a speedup method of frequency switching time in the phase locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer using the target frequency detector (TFD). The TFD detects the time Ta for any channels where the output of the PLL frequency synthesizer reaches the target frequency for the first time. At Ta, the programmable divider, the reference divider and the phase comparator are reset, and the phase of the PLL frequency synthesizer is initialized and the phase synchronization is achieved. In the proposed method, since the ringing in the transient state does not occur, the output of the PLL frequency synthesizer converges to the target frequency at Ta and the frequency switching time is speeded up. The effectiveness of the proposed method will be confirmed by experimental results.

The lock-up time of a PLL frequency synthesizer mainly depends on the total loop gain. Since the gain of the conventional phase detector is constant, it is difficult to improve the lock-up time by the phase detector. In this paper, we reconsider the operation of the phase detector and propose the PLL frequency synthesizer with multi-phase detector in which the gain of phase detector is increased by using four stage phase detectors and charge pumps. Then, a higher speed lock-up time and good spurious characteristics can be achieved.

This paper introduces a way to realize high-pass, band-stop and all-pass transfer functions using two-integrator loop structure consisting of loss-less and lossy integrators. The basic circuit configuration is constructed with five Operational Transconductance Amplifiers (OTAs) and two grounded capacitors. It is shown that the circuit can realize their circuit transfer functions by choosing the input terminals, and that the circuit parameters can also be independently set by the transconductance gains with the proportional block. Although the basic circuit configuration has been known, it seems that the feature for realizing the high-pass, the band-stop and the all-pass transfer functions makes the structure more attractive and useful. An example is given together with simulated results by PSPICE.