A hybrid overlay/underlay spectrum sharing method for cognitive radio networks based on user classification and convex optimization is proposed. Interference radii are configured for the primary receiver and each cognitive receiver. Cognitive users are divided into four groups and allocated different spectrum sharing patterns according to their distance from the primary transmitter and receiver. An optimal power allocation scheme that achieves the maximum sum rate of cognitive radio system on the premise of satisfying the interference constraint of primary receiver is acquired through the convex optimization method. Performance analysis and simulation results show that, compared with existing methods, our method leads to improved performance of achievable sum rate of cognitive users while guarantees the transmission of primary users.

Proving the security of cancelable biometrics and other template protection techniques is a key prerequisite for the widespread deployment of biometric technologies. BioEncoding is a cancelable biometrics scheme that has been proposed recently to protect biometric templates represented as binary strings like iris codes. Unlike other template protection schemes, BioEncoding does not require user-specific keys or tokens. Moreover, it satisfies the requirements of untraceable biometrics without sacrificing the matching accuracy. However, the security of BioEncoding against smart attacks, such as correlation and optimization-based attacks, has to be proved before recommending it for practical deployment. In this paper, the security of BioEncopding, in terms of both non-invertibility and privacy protection, is analyzed. First, resistance of protected templates generated using BioEncoding against brute-force search attacks is revisited rigorously. Then, vulnerabilities of BioEncoding with respect to correlation attacks and optimization based attacks are identified and explained. Furthermore, an important modification to the BioEncoding algorithm is proposed to enhance its security against correlation attacks. The effect of integrating this modification into BioEncoding is validated and its impact on the matching accuracy is investigated empirically using CASIA-IrisV3-Interval dataset. Experimental results confirm the efficacy of the proposed modification and show that it has no negative impact on the matching accuracy.

Location of a source is of considerable interest in wireless sensor networks, and it can be estimated from passive measurements of the arrival times. A novel algorithm for source location by utilizing the time of arrival (TOA) measurements of a signal received at spatially separated sensors is proposed. The algorithm is based on total least-squares (TLS) method, which is a generalized least-squares method to solve an overdetermined set of equations whose coefficients are noisy, and gives an explicit solution. Comparisons of performance with standard least-squares method are made, and Monte Carlo simulations are performed. Simulation results indicate that the proposed TLS algorithm gives better results than LS algorithm.

This paper addresses the problem of ordering the color SIFT descriptors in the independent component analysis for image classification. Component ordering is of great importance for image classification, since it is the foundation of feature selection. To select distinctive and compact independent components (IC) of the color SIFT descriptors, we propose two ordering approaches based on local variation, named as the localization-based IC ordering and the sparseness-based IC ordering. We evaluate the performance of proposed methods, the conventional IC selection method (global variation based components selection) and original color SIFT descriptors on object and scene databases, and obtain the following two main results. First, the proposed methods are able to obtain acceptable classification results in comparison with original color SIFT descriptors. Second, the highest classification rate can be obtained by using the global selection method in the scene database, while the local ordering methods give the best performance for the object database.

We present an 88 wavelength-routing switch (WRS) that monolithically integrates tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) and an 88 arrayed-waveguide grating. The TWC consists of a double-ring-resonator tunable laser (DRR TL) allowing rapid and stable switching and a semiconductor-optical-amplifier-based optical gate. Two different types of dry-etched mirrors form the laser cavity of the DRR TL, which enable integration of the optical components of the WRS on a single chip. The monolithic WRS performed 18 high-speed wavelength routing of a non-return-to-zero signal at 10 Gbit/s. The switching operation was demonstrated by simultaneously using two adjacent TWCs.

In this paper, we propose a simple, yet effective, multiuser detection scheme for a two-hop cooperative CDMAs. In phase 1, the minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector at the destination is used to identify reliable decisions of direct transmissions from the sources and return them to the relays. Then, in phase 2, based on the reliable decisions, the relays and the destination successively utilize the maximum likelihood (ML) detectors to estimate the residual symbols. Due to the destination estimating the symbols separately from direct transmissions and the relaying signals, as a result the destination does not need the information about the relays' decision performance for the construction of the ML detector. Hence, the proposed scheme is more feasible than existing approaches for practical implementation. In addition, due to the ML detectors in phase 2 only estimating the residual symbols, the number of computations performed by the ML detectors can be reduced significantly. The results of simulations and complexity analysis demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

In this study, we propose a multi-layer perceptron with a glial network which is inspired from the features of glias in the brain. All glias in the proposed network generate independent oscillations, and the oscillations propagate through the glial network with attenuation. We apply the proposed network to the two-spiral problem. Computer simulations show that the proposed network gains a better performance than the conventional multi-layer perceptron.

In this paper, we performed six human movement simulation by a commercial software (Poser7). We performed FDTD simulations for body area network propagation with one transmitter and six receivers. Received amplitudes were calculated for every time frame of 1/30 s interval. We also demonstrated a polarization diversity effectiveness for dynamic wearable body area network propagation.

In this paper, the joint optimization issue of the cooperative precoder design is investigated for the transmission from the cooperative multi-point system to one mobile terminal. Based on the mean squared error minimization criterion, the problem is established for the cooperative precoder design. Unfortunately, this problem cannot be solved due to the block diagonal structure of the whole precoding matrix resulting from the fact that there is no data exchange among multiple base stations. In order to tackle this difficulty, the original problem is converted into an equivalent problem by stacking all of the nonzero entries in the block diagonal matrix into a long column vector. With the equivalent problem, the optimum solution is obtained in a closed-form expression by using the Lagrangian multiplier method. Numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in terms of bit error rate and spectral efficiency.

We propose FuzzyCoop, a cooperative MAC layer protocol employing a fuzzy logic partner selection algorithm. The protocol is based on the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) protocol used in the IEEE 802.11 standard. There are three inputs to the fuzzy system: the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), the error ratio between two neighbors and the time the most recent packet was received from a neighbor. The fuzzy output is the partnership probability of a neighboring terminal. Besides, we introduce a cooperation incentive to the stations by providing them with the right to transmit their own data without contention after a successful cooperation. The protocol is evaluated through extensive simulations in different scenarios and is compared to the DCF protocol and a previously proposed cooperative protocol. Simulation results show that FuzzyCoop improves the performances of a wireless network and provides a more robust partner selection scheme.

To clarify how the occurrence of contact welding is related to the series of arc duration characteristics in consecutive make and break operations, electrical endurance tests were conducted on commercially available automotive relays, and the voltage waveforms of make and break arcs between the electrodes were recorded with LabVIEW. Experimental results indicate that welding may occur suddenly or randomly with increasing number of operations. A single arc or a group of make or break arcs with a long arc duration does not necessarily result in contact welding, but a group of longer make or break arcs within a narrow range of operation numbers can cause imminent contact welding (such an effect can be called the “group of longer arcing duration effect”). It is confirmed that contact welding may occur in both make and break operations, but the welding probability during make operations is much higher than that during break operations.

Since the Content Distribution Network (CDN) and IP multicast have heavy infrastructure requirements, their deployment is quite restricted. In contrast, peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming applications are independent on infrastructures and thus have been widely deployed. Emerging wireless ad-hoc networks are poised to enable a variety of streaming applications. However, many potential problems, that are trivial in wired networks, will emerge when deploying existing P2P streaming applications directly into wireless ad-hoc networks. In this paper, we propose a goodput optimization framework for P2P streaming over wireless ad-hoc networks. A two-level buffer architecture is proposed to reassign the naive streaming systems' data requests. The framework adopts a chunk size-varying transmission algorithm to obtain smooth playback experience and acceptable overhead and utilize limited bandwidth resources efficiently. The distinguishing features of our implementation are as follows: first, the framework works as a middleware and is independent on the streaming service properties; existing P2P streaming application can be deployed in wireless ad-hoc networks with minimum modifications and development cost; second, the proposed algorithm can reduce unnecessary communication overheads compared with traditional algorithms which gain high playback continuity with small chunk size; finally, our scheme can utilize low bandwidth transmission paths rather than discarding them, and thus improve overall performance of the wireless network. We also present a set of experiments to show the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.

This paper presents a user-calibration-free method for estimating the point of gaze (POG). This method provides a fast and stable solution for realizing user-calibration-free gaze estimation more accurately than the conventional method that uses the optical axis of the eye as an approximation of the visual axis of the eye. The optical axis of the eye can be estimated by using two cameras and two light sources. This estimation is carried out by using a spherical model of the cornea. The point of intersection of the optical axis of the eye with the object that the user gazes at is termed POA. On the basis of an assumption that the visual axes of both eyes intersect on the object, the POG is approximately estimated using the binocular 3D eye model as the midpoint of the line joining the POAs of both eyes. Based on this method, we have developed a prototype system that comprises a 19″ display with two pairs of stereo cameras. We evaluated the system experimentally with 20 subjects who were at a distance of 600 mm from the display. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) of measurement of POG in the display screen coordinate system is 1.58.

The induced voltage at the terminals of an implantable cardiac pacemaker of unipolar type was investigated by numerical calculations. Operating frequency was assumed 5 MHz according to a recent product. The dependencies of the induced voltage on various conditions were investigated including those on the locations of the transmitter and the pacemaker, and on the electric properties and the size of the phantom. The results showed that they were reasonably explained by considerations of quasi-static coupling of the electric field between the device and the pacemaker. Regarding the effect of electrical properties of the phantom a conservative result was obtained by using a phantom of homogeneous material with electric constants of fat. With regard to the phantom size the phantom used in previous studies provided more conservative results than that of larger size. The results suggested that the electric near-field intra-body communication devices are not likely to interfere with implantable cardiac pacemakers as far as the situation assumed in this study.

As a global feature of fingerprint patterns, the Orientation Field (OF) plays an important role in fingerprint recognition systems. This paper proposes a fast binary pattern based orientation estimation with nearest-neighbor search, which can reduce the computational complexity greatly. We also propose a classified post processing with adaptive averaging strategy to increase the accuracy of the estimated OF. Experimental results confirm that the proposed method can satisfy the strict requirements of the embedded applications over the conventional approaches.

Scene-context plays an important role in scene analysis and object recognition. Among various sources of scene-context, we focus on scene-context scale, which means the effective scale of local context to classify an image pixel in a scene. This paper presents random forests based image categorization using the scene-context scale. The proposed method uses random forests, which are ensembles of randomized decision trees. Since the random forests are extremely fast in both training and testing, it is possible to perform classification, clustering and regression in real time. We train multi-scale texton forests which efficiently provide both a hierarchical clustering into semantic textons and local classification in various scale levels. The scene-context scale can be estimated by the entropy of the leaf node in the multi-scale texton forests. For image categorization, we combine the classified category distributions in each scale and the estimated scene-context scale. We evaluate on the MSRC21 segmentation dataset and find that the use of the scene-context scale improves image categorization performance. Our results have outperformed the state-of-the-art in image categorization accuracy.

Recently, photovoltaic power systems and electric vehicles have been commonly used. Therefore, the importance of DC (direct current) switching is expected to increase in the near future. The authors have been examining a method of evaluating the electrode loss of AgNi contacts for an electromagnetic contactor with a medium DC load current at a resistive circuit. In this study, the arc energy and electrode mass changes were investigated in more detail. We carried out experiments of 100,000 operations for an electromagnetic contactor at a load current of 5 A constant with a source voltage change from 100 to 160 V. The arc duration, contact resistance, arc energy, and electrode mass changes were measured. As a result, the arc duration was found out increase with the source voltage. In addition, the stationary cathode mass change (loss) increased proportion only to the total arc energy. However, the stationary cathode loss per unit arc energy decreased at the highest source voltage.

Cognitive radio is a wireless technology aimed at improving the efficient use of the radio-electric spectrum, thus facilitating a reduction in the load on the free frequency bands. Cognitive radio networks can scan the spectrum and adapt their parameters to operate in the unoccupied bands. To avoid interfering with licensed users operating on a given channel, the networks need to be highly sensitive, which is achieved by using cooperative sensing methods. Current cooperative sensing methods are not robust enough against occasional or continuous attacks. This article outlines a Group Fusion method that takes into account the behaviour of users over the short and long term. On fusing the data, the method is based on giving more weight to user groups that are more unanimous in their decisions. Simulations of a dynamic environment with interference are performed. Results prove that when attackers are present (both reiterative or sporadic), the proposed Group Fusion method has superior sensing capability than other methods.

We review recently obtained results for CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) imaging devices used in biomedical applications. The topics include dish type image sensors, deep-brain implantation devices for small animals, and retinal prosthesis devices. Fundamental device structures and their characteristics are described, and the results of in vivo experiments are presented.

In this letter, coordinated power allocation (PA) is investigated for the downlink of a generalized multi-cluster distributed antenna system (DAS). Motivated by practical applications, we assume only the global large-scale channel state information is known at the transmitter. First, an upper bound (UB) for the ergodic sum capacity of the system is derived and used as a simplified optimization target. Then, a coordinated PA scheme is proposed based on Geometric Programming (GP), which is demonstrated to be nearly optimal by Monte Carlo simulations.