A hierarchical representation formed by an octree for a volume ray casting is a well-known data structure to skip over transparent regions requiring little preprocessing and storage. However, it accompanies unnecessary comparison and level shift between octants. We propose a new data structure named half-skewed octree, which is an auxiliary octree to support the conventional octree. In preprocessing step, a half-skewed octree selects eight different child octants in each generation step compared with the conventional octree. During rendering, after comparing an octant of the conventional octree with corresponding octant of the half-skewed octree simultaneously at the same level, a ray chooses one of two octants to jump over transparent regions farther away. By this method, we can reduce unnecessary comparison and level shift between octants. Another problem of a conventional octree structure is that it is difficult to determine a distance from the boundary of a transparent octant to opposite boundary. Although we exploit the previously proposed distance template, we cannot expect the acceleration when a ray direction is almost parallel to the octant's boundary. However, our method can solve it without additional operations because a ray selects one octant to leap farther away. As a result, our approach is much faster than the method using conventional octree while preserving image quality and requiring minimal storage.

Internet access traffic follows hourly patterns that depend on various factors, such as the periods users stay on-line at the access point (e.g. at home or in the office) or their preferences for applications. The clustering of Internet users may provide important information for traffic engineering and billing. For example, it can be used to set up service differentiation according to hourly behavior, resource optimization based on multi-hour routing and definition of tariffs that promote Internet access in low busy hours. In this work, we propose a methodology for clustering Internet users with similar patterns of Internet utilization, according to their hourly traffic utilization. The methodology resorts to three statistical multivariate analysis techniques: cluster analysis, principal component analysis and discriminant analysis. The methodology is illustrated through measured data from two distinct ISPs, one using a CATV access network and the other an ADSL one, offering distinct traffic contracts. Principal component analysis is used as an exploratory tool. Cluster analysis is used to identify the relevant Internet usage profiles, with the partitioning around medoids and Ward's method being the preferred clustering methods. For the two data sets, these methods lead to the choice of 3 clusters with different hourly traffic utilization profiles. The cluster structure is validated through discriminant analysis. It is also evaluated in terms of several characteristics of the user traffic not used in the cluster analysis, such as the type of applications, the amount of downloaded traffic, the activity duration and the transfer rate, resulting in coherent outcomes.

In this paper, we describe a two-phase method for biomedical named entity recognition consisting of term boundary detection and biomedical category labeling. The term boundary detection can be defined as a task to assign label sequences to a given sentence, and biomedical category labeling can be viewed as a local classification problem which does not need knowledge of the labels of other named entities in a sentence. The advantage of dividing the recognition process into two phases is that we can measure the effectiveness of models at each phase and select separately the appropriate model for each subtask. In order to obtain a better performance in biomedical named entity recognition, we conducted comparative experiments using several learning methods at each phase. Moreover, results by these machine learning based models are refined by rule-based postprocessing. We tested our methods on the JNLPBA 2004 shared task and the GENIA corpus.

To clarify the mechanism of the generation of electromagnetic (EM) noise, current and radiation noise up to the GHz band generated by slowly breaking silver-compound contacts were investigated experimentally. The current and radiation noise at the GHz band were observed. It was demonstrated that the frequency spectrums of the current and radiation noise correspond to the frequency responses of the circuit admittance and radiation efficiency of the experimental setup, respectively. It was revealed that even if current noise at the GHz band is very small, it can cause a large EM radiation noise because of the high radiation efficiency. From the time-frequency domain characteristics of current noise, it was clarified that the peaks of current noise at 10 MHz band arise immediately after the initiation of the arc discharge and the transition from metallic phase to gaseous phase. On the other hand, the peak current noise above 100 MHz arises immediately after the initiation of the arc discharge.

To evaluate heat and fire phenomena caused by accumulated microslide motion on an imperfectly connected electrical terminal, an acceleration test method using vibrator was developed. The process from the generation of CuO to that of Cu2O has been reproduced. The influence of current is investigated, and it is found that as current increases, CuO generation time T1 and Cu2O generation time T2 decrease for pure copper, however when current exceeds 3 A, we could not produce CuO or Cu2O. The contact resistances of a Cu terminal and wire, compared with the terminal material were investigated in terms of the effects of current and ambient temperature.

In recent years, there have been ever-increasing demands to miniaturize automotive connectors. However, because the contact force decreases as connectors are miniaturized further, fretting corrosion, which is a typical problem occurring with low-force electric contacts, is expected to become a more serious problem in future. This time we developed a new experimental device capable of controlling the contact load, fretting amplitude, fretting frequency, contact part temperature and humidity optionally. In this report, we used the design of experiments method, and quantitatively evaluated the extent of the influence of the expected factor (in terms of load, amplitude, and plating thickness, etc.) on the fretting phenomenon, which occurs in the tin plating of the connector terminal. Moreover, based on SEM examination, we analyzed the surface and cross section of the contact parts when degradation occurs, and considered the mechanism of the degradation.

An adaptive subcarrier allocation (SA) algorithm is proposed for both the enhancement of system capacity and the practical implementation in a clustered OFDM system. The proposed algorithm is based on the two dimensional comparison of the channel gain in both rows and columns of the channel matrix to achieve higher system capacity. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the SA algorithm based on only one dimensional comparison in terms of system capacity, and furthermore, it performs as well as the optimal SA algorithm at relatively low computational cost.

We developed a comprehensive simulation system for evaluating satellite-based navigation services in highly built-up areas; the system can accommodate Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath effects, as well as line-of-sight (LOS) and dilution of position (DOP) issues. For a more realistic simulation covering multipath and diffracted signal propagations, a 3D-ray tracing method was combined with a satellite orbit model and three-dimensional (3D) geographic information system (GIS) model. An accuracy estimation model based on a 3D position determination algorithm with a theoretical delay-locked loop (DLL) correlation computation could measure the extent to which multipath mitigation improved positioning accuracy in highly built-up areas. This system could even capture the multipath effect from an invisible satellite, one of the greatest factors in accuracy deterioration in highly built-up areas. Further, the simulation results of satellite visibility, DOP, and multipath occurrence were mapped to show the spatial distribution of GPS availability. By using object-oriented programming, our simulation system can be extended to other global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) simply by adding the orbital information of the corresponding GNSS satellites. We demonstrated the applicability of our simulation system in an experimental simulation for Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo filled with skyscrapers.

A movable electrode in conventional electromechanical contacts often shows a bounce against the opposite electrode during a make and break operation. Frequent bounces are troublesome. We studied this phenomenon with conventional reed switches using a slowly increasing and decreasing driving current. Judging from the measured data, Coulomb's electrostatic force cannot be neglected in efforts to suppress bounce.

NEXT (Near End Crosstalk loss) and FEXT (Far End Crosstalk loss) of a high speed LAN connector are analyzed using a simple coupled line model and examined experimentally. "Crosstalk Chart" is also proposed, by which, the NEXT and FEXT can be easily read off from the mutual inductance and unbalanced capacitance between pair of lines. This approach is effective for Cat.5e [1] connectors. However, for Cat.6 [2], of which transmission bandwidth is widen to 250 MHz, some additional adjustments of path pattern on the jack and terminals PCB are required. In order to assist such the adjustments, a new simple measurement technique to grasp the complex crosstalk characteristics is proposed. Two examples are introduced. One is a conventional telephone rosette, which is enhanced to be co-usable for a Cat.5e LAN connector, where only its original circuit board is reengineered. Another is a Cat.6 connector of which PCB is modified from a conventional Cat.5e connector.

The paper presents a method for testing transport of composite contacts materials under electrical arc conditions at high currents and for polarized electrodes. Tests and the discussion of results were carried out for silver-metal, silver-metal oxide and silver-tungsten carbide contact materials. Additionally, tungsten electrode was used as the second contact which was either cathode or anode. Spectrometric analysis of arc erosion components transported onto the second electrode and into the surroundings was carried out.

This paper describes two different types of GaAs-HBT compatible, base-collector diode 0/20-dB step attenuators--diode-linearizer type and harmonics-trap type--for 3.5-GHz-band wireless applications. The two attenuators use an AC-coupled, stacked type diode switch topology featuring high power handling capability with low bias current operation. Compared to a conventional diode switch topology, this topology can improve the capability of more than 6 dB with the same bias current. In addition, successful incorporation of a shunt diode linearizer and second- and third-harmonic traps into the attenuators gives the IM3 distortion improvement of more than 7 dB in the high power ranging from 16 dBm to 18 dBm even in the 20-dB attenuation mode when IM3 distortion levels are basically easy to degrade. Measurement results show that both the attenuators are capable of delivering power handling capability (P0.2 dB) of more than 18 dBm with IM3 levels of less than -35 dBc at an 18-dBm input power while drawing low bias currents of 3.8 mA and 6.8 mA in the thru and attenuation modes from 0/5-V complementary supplies. Measured insertion losses of the linearizer-type and harmonics-trap type attenuators in the thru mode are as low as 1.4 dB and 2.5 dB, respectively.

The transmit power of Ultra Wideband (UWB) is limited in short range communications to avoid the interference with existing narrow-band communication systems. Since this limits UWB communication range, this paper proposes a novel relay scheme that uses shared frequency repeaters for impulse UWB signal relay to improve system range. After considering possible problems with the repeater, in particular the coupling interference between the input and output and relay-delay, a switching control method is proposed that offers short relay-delay and suppresses the coupling interference at the repeaters. With respect to the proposed relay scheme, Pulse-Position-Modulation (PPM) UWB-based signal relay is evaluated by analyzing its BER performance using the point-to-point transmission link model.

A communication means is presented for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in totally locked-in state who are completely unable to move any part of the body and have no usual communication means. The method utilizes changes in cerebral blood volume accompanied with changes in brain activity. When a patient is asked a question and the answer to it is 'yes', the patient makes his or her brain active. The change in blood volume at the frontal lobe is detected with near-infrared light. The instantaneous amplitude and phase of the change are calculated, and the maximum amplitude and phase change are obtained. The answer 'yes' or 'no' of the patient is detected using a discriminant analysis with these two quantities as variables. The rate of correct detection is 80% on average.

In this paper, a non-data aided minimum mean square error (MMSE) receiver with enhanced multiple access interference (MAI) suppression is proposed for direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems over a multipath fading channel. The design of the proposed receiver is via the following procedure: First, an adaptive correlator is constructed based on the linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) criterion to collect each multipath signal and suppress MAI blindly. A maximum ratio combiner is then utilized to coherently combine the correlator outputs. With a set of judicious chosen weight vectors, effective diversity combining can successfully suppress MAI and the desired signals can be effectively retained. Finally, further performance improvement against the finite data sample effect is achieved using a decision-aided scheme in which the channel response is obtained by the decision data and incorporated with the MMSE method to compute the refined weight vector. Performance analysis based on the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is done to examine the efficacy of the proposed non-data aided MMSE receiver, which can offer the similar results as those of the MMSE receiver with the channel estimation correctly obtained beforehand. Computer simulation results then confirm correctness of the analysis results and demonstrate that the proposed blind receiver can successfully resist MAI as well as the finite data sample effect, and significantly outperform than the conventional blind receivers.

For the optimization design of air circuit breaker (ACB), it is important and necessary to calculate the electro-dynamic repulsion force acting on the movable contact. A method based on 3-D FEM with the equations that describe the relationships among current, magnetic field and repulsion force, which takes the ferromagnet into account, is adopted to calculate the electro-dynamic repulsion force. The method enables one to analyze the factors that affect the electro-dynamic repulsion force, including the number of the movable conductor parallel branches as well as the location of the axis and the shape of the flexible connection. The discussion of the calculation results is also presented in this paper.

As semiconductor processing technology advances, complex, high density circuits can be integrated in a chip. However, increasing energy consumption is becoming one of the most important limiting factors. Power estimation at the early stage of design is essential since design changes at later stages may significantly lengthen the design period and increase the costs. For efficient power estimation, we analyze the "key" control signals of a digital circuit and develop power models for several operational modes. The trade-off between accuracy and complexity can be made by choosing the number and the complexity of the power models. When compared with those of logic simulation based estimation, experimental results show that 13 to 15 times faster power estimation with an estimation error of about 5% is possible. We have also developed new logic-level power modeling techniques in which logic gates are levelized and several levels are selected to build power model tables. This table based method shows significant improvement in estimation accuracy and a slight improvement in efficiency when compared to a well-known previous method. The average estimation error has been reduced from 13.3% to 3.8%.

The traffic with asymmetry between uplink and downlink has recently been getting remarkable on mobile communication systems providing multimedia communication services. In the future mobile communications, the accommodation of asymmetric traffic is essential to realize efficient multimedia mobile communication systems. This paper discusses asymmetric traffic accommodation in CDMA/FDD cellular packet communication systems and proposes its efficient scheme using an adaptive cell sizing technique. In the proposed scheme, each base station autonomously controls its coverage area so that almost the same communication quality can be achieved across the service area under the asymmetric traffic conditions. We present some numerical examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme by using computer simulation. The simulation results show that, under asymmetric traffic conditions, the proposed scheme can provide fair communication quality across the service area in both links and can improve total transmission capacity in the uplink.

The purpose of our study is to develop an algorithm that would enable the automated detection of lacunar infarct on T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. Automated identification of the lacunar infarct regions is not only useful in assisting radiologists to detect lacunar infarcts as a computer-aided detection (CAD) system but is also beneficial in preventing the occurrence of cerebral apoplexy in high-risk patients. The lacunar infarct regions are classified into the following two types for detection: "isolated lacunar infarct regions" and "lacunar infarct regions adjacent to hyperintensive structures." The detection of isolated lacunar infarct regions was based on the multiple-phase binarization (MPB) method. Moreover, to detect lacunar infarct regions adjacent to hyperintensive structures, we used a morphological opening processing and a subtraction technique between images produced using two types of circular structuring elements. Thereafter, candidate regions were selected based on three features -- area, circularity, and gravity center. Two methods were applied to the detected candidates for eliminating false positives (FPs). The first method involved eliminating FPs that occurred along the periphery of the brain using the region-growing technique. The second method, the multi-circular regions difference method (MCRDM), was based on the comparison between the mean pixel values in a series of double circles on a T1-weighted image. A training dataset comprising 20 lacunar infarct cases was used to adjust the parameters. In addition, 673 MR images from 80 cases were used for testing the performance of our method; the sensitivity and specificity were 90.1% and 30.0% with 1.7 FPs per image, respectively. The results indicated that our CAD system for the automatic detection of lacunar infarct on MR images was effective.

The peak SAR values of two-element array antennas for mobile handsets in the vicinity of a spherical phantom of a human head are evaluated numerically as a function of the distance between the array antenna and the head phantom when the two elements of a two-element array antenna are either co-phase voltage-fed or reverse-phase voltage-fed. It is found that relation between the worst case of the SAR and the phase difference of array elements strongly depends on the distance. When part of the head phantom is located in the reactive near-field region of the array antenna, although the co-phase feed SAR value is slightly smaller than the reverse-phase feed SAR value, the SAR value is practically independent of the phase difference, but when the head is completely outside the reactive near-field region, the co-phase feed SAR value is larger than the reverse-phase feed SAR value.