For k ≥ 3, a convex geometric graph is called k-locally outerplanar if no path of length k intersects itself. In [D. Boutin, Convex Geometric Graphs with No Short Self-intersecting Path, Congressus Numerantium 160 (2003) 205-214], Boutin stated the results of the degeneracy for 3-locally outerplanar graphs. Later, in [D. Boutin, Structure and Properties of Locally Outerplanar Graphs, Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing 60 (2007) 169-180], a structural property on k-locally outerplanar graphs was proposed. These results are based on the existence of “minimal corner pairs”. In this paper, we show that a “minimal corner pair” may not exist and give a counterexample to disprove the structural property. Furthermore, we generalize the result on the degeneracy with respect to k-locally outerplanar graphs.

To understand the behavior of a program, developers often need to read source code fragments in various modules. System-dependence-graph-based (SDG) program slicing is a good candidate for supporting the investigation of data-flow paths among modules, as SDG is capable of showing the data-dependence of focused program elements. However, this technique has two problems. First, constructing SDG requires heavyweight analysis, so SDG is not suitable for daily uses. Second, the results of SDG-based program slicing are difficult to visualize, as they contain many vertices. In this research, we proposed variable data-flow graphs (VDFG) for use in program slicing techniques. In contrast to SDG, VDFG is created by lightweight analysis because several approximations are used. Furthermore, we propose using the fractal value to visualize VDFG-based program slice in order to reduce the graph complexity for visualization purposes. We performed three experiments that demonstrate the accuracy of VDFG program slicing with fractal value, the size of a visualized program slice, and effectiveness of our tool for source code reading.

In recent years, hybrid typestate analysis has been proposed to eliminate unnecessary monitoring instrumentations for runtime monitors at compile-time. Nop-shadows Analysis (NSA) is one of these hybrid typestate analyses. Before generating residual monitors, NSA performs the data-flow analysis which is intra-procedural flow-sensitive and partially context-sensitive to improve runtime performance. Although NSA is precise, there are some cases on which it has little effects. In this paper, we propose three optimizations to further improve the precision of NSA. The first two optimizations try to filter interferential states of objects when determining whether a monitoring instrumentation is necessary. The third optimization refines the inter-procedural data-flow analysis induced by method invocations. We have integrated our optimizations into Clara and conducted extensive experiments on the DaCapo benchmark. The experimental results demonstrate that our first two optimizations can further remove unnecessary instrumentations after the original NSA in more than half of the cases, without a significant overhead. In addition, all the instrumentations can be removed for two cases, which implies the program satisfy the typestate property and is free of runtime monitoring. It comes as a surprise to us that the third optimization can only be effective on 8.7% cases. Finally, we analyze the experimental results and discuss the reasons why our optimizations fail to further eliminate unnecessary instrumentations in some special situations.

State-of-the-art background subtraction and foreground detection methods still face a variety of challenges, including illumination changes, camouflage, dynamic backgrounds, shadows, intermittent object motion. Detection of foreground elements via the robust principal component analysis (RPCA) method and its extensions based on low-rank and sparse structures have been conducted to achieve good performance in many scenes of the datasets, such as Changedetection.net (CDnet); however, the conventional RPCA method does not handle shadows well. To address this issue, we propose an approach that considers observed video data as the sum of three parts, namely a row-rank background, sparse moving objects and moving shadows. Next, we cast inequality constraints on the basic RPCA model and use an alternating direction method of multipliers framework combined with Rockafeller multipliers to derive a closed-form solution of the shadow matrix sub-problem. Our experiments have demonstrated that our method works effectively on challenging datasets that contain shadows.

We propose a novel bias-free adaptive beamformer employing an affine projection algorithm with the optimal regularization parameter. The generalized sidelobe canceller affine projection algorithm suffers from a bias of a weight vectors under the condition of no reference signals for output of an array in the beamforming application. First, we analyze the bias in the algorithm and prove that the bias can be eliminated through a large regularization parameter. However, this causes slow convergence at the initial state, so the regularization parameter should be controlled. Through the optimization of the regularization parameter, the proposed method achieves fast convergence without the bias at the steady-state. Experimental results show that the proposed beamformer not only removes the bias but also achieves both fast convergence and high steady-state output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio.

The linear complexity of binary sequences plays a fundamental part in cryptography. In the paper, we construct more general forms of generalized cyclotomic binary sequences with period 2pm+1qn+1. Furthermore, we establish the formula of the linear complexity of proposed sequences. The results reveal that such sequences with period 2pm+1qn+1 have a good balance property and high linear complexity.

In this paper, we propose an analysis of broadcasting in the IEEE 802.11p MAC protocol. We consider multi-channel operation which is specifically designed for VANET (Vehicular Ad hoc Networks) applications. This protocol supports channel switching; the device alternates between the CCH (Control Channel) and the SCH (Service Channel) during the fixed synchronization interval. It helps vehicles with a single transceiver to access the CCH periodically during which time they acquire or broadcast safety-related messages. Confining the broadcasting opportunity to the deterministic CCH interval entails a non-typical approach to the analysis. Our analysis is carried out considering 1) the time dependency of the system behavior caused by the channel switching, 2) the mutual influence among the vehicles using a multi-dimensional stochastic process, and 3) the generation of messages distributed over the CCH interval. The proposed analysis enables the prediction of the successful delivery ratio and the delay of the broadcast messages. Furthermore, we propose a refinement of the analysis to take account of the effects of hidden nodes on the system performance. The simulation results show that the proposed analysis is quite accurate in describing both the delivery ratio and delay, as well as in reflecting the hidden node effects. The benefits derived from the distributed generation of traffic are also evidenced by the results of experiments.

In this paper, we discuss the process, layout and device technologies of FinFET to obtain high RF and analog/mixed-signal performance circuits. The fin patterning due to Side-wall transfer (SWT) technique is useful to not only fabricate narrow fin line but also suppress the fin width variation comparing with ArF and EB lithography. The H$_{2}$ annealing after Si etching is useful for not only to improve the mobility of electron and hole but also to reduce flicker noise of FinFET. The noise decreases as the scaling of fin width and that of FinFET with below 50,nm fin width is satisfied with the requirement from 25,nm technology node in ITRS roadmap 2013. This lower noise is attributed to the decrease of electric field from the channel to the gate electrode. Additionally, the optimum layout of FinFET is discussed for RF performance. In order to obtain higher f$_{mathrm{T}}$ and f$_{mathrm{max}}$, it is necessary to have the optimized finger length and reduced capacitances between the gate and Si substrate and between gate and source, drain contact region. According to our estimation, the f$_{mathrm{T}}$ of FinFET with the optimized layout should be lower than that of planar MOSFET when the gate length is longer than 10,nm due to larger gate capacitance. In conclusion, FinFET is suitable for high performance digital and analog/mixed-signal circuits. On the other hand, planar MOSFET is better rather than FinFET for RF circuits.

A term tree pattern is a rooted ordered tree pattern which consists of ordered tree structures with edge labels and structured variables with labels. All variables with the same label in a term tree pattern can be simultaneously replaced with ordered trees isomorphic to the same rooted ordered tree. Then, a term tree pattern is suitable for representing structural features common to tree structured data such as XML documents on the web, the secondary structures of RNA in biology and parse trees describing grammatical structures of natural languages. Let $ott$ be the set of all term tree patterns which have one or more variables with the same label. Let $lott$ be the set of all term tree patterns t such that all variables in t have distinct labels. We remark that $lottsubsetneq ott$ holds. In this paper, we consider a problem, called Matching problem for term tree patterns, of deciding whether or not a given rooted ordered tree T is obtained from a given term tree pattern t by replacing variables in t with rooted ordered trees. We show that Matching problem for term tree patterns in $ott$ is NP-complete, by giving a reduction from the string pattern matching problem, which is NP-complete. Next, by giving operations on an interval, which is a set containing all integers between two given integers representing vertex identifiers, we propose an efficient algorithm for solving Matching problem for term tree patterns in $lottsubsetneq ott$. Then, we show that, when an ordered tree having N vertices and a term tree pattern $t in lott$ having n vertices are given, the proposed matching algorithm correctly solves this problem in O(nN) time.

In Xu, Chen, and Liu's letter, two constructions producing perfect 8-QAM+/8-QAM sequences were given. We show that their constructions are equivalent to Zeng, et al.'s constructions under unit constant transform. Since the autocorrelation of a perfect sequence under unit constant transform is invariable, Xu, et al.'s constructions are the special case of Zeng, et al.'s constructions.

Verification of a design with respect to its requirement specification is important to prevent errors before constructing an actual implementation. The existing works focus on verifications where the specifications are described using temporal logics or using the same languages as that used to describe the designs. Our work considers cases where the specifications and the designs are described using different languages. To verify such cases, we propose a framework to check if a design conforms to its specification based on their simulation relation. Specifically, we define the semantics of the specifications and the designs commonly as labelled transition systems (LTSs). We appreciate LTSs since they could interpret information about the system and actions that the system may perform as well as the effect of these actions. Then, we check whether a design conforms to its specification based on the simulation relation of their LTS. In this paper, we present our framework for the verification of reactive systems, and we present the case where the specifications and the designs are described in Event-B and Promela/Spin, respectively. We also present two case studies with the results of several experiments to illustrate the applicability of our framework on practical systems.

In this letter, we derive two lower bounds for the number of terms in a double-base number system (DBNS), when the digit set is {1}. For a positive integer n, we show that the number of terms obtained from the greedy algorithm proposed by Dimitrov, Imbert, and Mishra [1] is $Thetaleft(rac{log n}{log log n} ight)$. Also, we show that the number of terms in the shortest double-base chain is Θ(log n).

In recent years, researchers have tried to create unhindered human-computer interaction by giving virtual agents human-like conversational skills. Predicting backchannel feedback for agent listeners has become a novel research hot-spot. The main goal of this paper is to identify appropriate features and methods for backchannel prediction in Mandarin conversations. Firstly, multimodal Mandarin conversations are recorded for the analysis of backchannel behaviors. In order to eliminate individual difference in the original face-to-face conversations, more backchannels from different listeners are gathered together. These data confirm that backchannels occurring in the speakers' pauses form a vast majority in Mandarin conversations. Both prosodic and visual features are used in backchannel prediction. Four types of models based on the speakers' pauses are built by using support vector machine classifiers. An evaluation of the pause-based prediction model has shown relatively high accuracy in consideration of the optional nature of backchannel feedback. Finally, the results of the subjective evaluation validate that the conversations performed between humans and virtual listeners using backchannels predicted by the proposed models is more unhindered compared to other backchannel prediction methods.

In this paper, the importance and perspective for the digitally-assisted analog and RF circuits are discussed, especially related to wireless transceivers. Digital calibration techniques for compensating I/Q mismatch, IM2, and LO impairments in cellular, 2.4,GHz WiFi, and 60,GHz WiGig transceivers are introduced with detailed analysis and circuit implementations. Future technology directions such as the shift from digitally-assisted analog circuit to digitally-designed analog circuit will also be discussed.

The mappings from independent binary variables to quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) symbols are developed. Based the proposed mappings and the existing binary mutually uncorrelated complementary sequence sets (MUCSSs), a construction producing QAM periodic complementary sequence sets (PCSSs) is presented. The resultant QAM PCSSs have the same numbers and periods of sub-sequences as the binary MUCSSs employed, and the family size of new sequence sets is increased with exponent of periods of sub-sequences. The proposed QAM PCSSs can be applied to CDMA or OFDM communication systems so as to suppress multiple access interference (MAI) or to reduce peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR), respectively.

A practical model-checking (MC) approach for fault analysis, that is one of the most cost-effective tasks in software development, is proposed. The proposed approach is based on a technique, named “Program-oriented Modeling” (POM) for extracting a model from source code. The framework of model extraction by POM provides configurable abstraction based on user-defined transformation rules, and it supports trial-and-error model extraction. An environment for MC called POM/MC was also built. POM/MC analyzes C source code to extract Promela models used for the SPIN model checker. It was applied to an industrial software system to evaluate the efficiency of the configurable model extraction by POM for fault analysis. Moreover, it was shown that the proposed MC approach can reduce the effort involved in analyzing software faults by MC.

A forward/reverse body bias generator (BBG) which operates under wide supply-range is proposed. Fine-grained body biasing (FGBB) is effective to reduce variability and increase energy efficiency on digital LSIs. Since FGBB requires a number of BBGs to be implemented, simple design is preferred. We propose a BBG with charge pumps for reverse body bias and the BBG operates under wide supply-range from 0.5,V to 1.2,V. Layout of the BBG was designed in a cell-based flow with an AES core and fabricated in a 65~nm CMOS process. Area of the AES core is 0.22 mm$^2$ and area overhead of the BBG is 2.3%. Demonstration of the AES core shows a successful operation with the supply voltage from 0.5,V to 1.2,V which enables the reduction of power dissipation, for example, of 17% at 400,MHz operation.

Recently a compact code of mosaic floorplans with ƒ inner face was proposed by He. The length of the code is 3ƒ-3 bits and asymptotically optimal. In this paper, we propose a new code of mosaic floorplans with ƒ inner faces including k boundary faces. The length of our code is at most $3f - rac{k}{2} - 1$ bits. Hence our code is shorter than or equal to the code by He, except for few small floorplans with k=ƒ≤3. Coding and decoding can be done in O(ƒ) time.

In this paper, we improve a width-3 joint sparse form proposed by Okeya, Katoh, and Nogami. After the improvement, the representation can attain an asymtotically optimal complexity found in our previous work. Although claimed as optimal by the authors, the average computation time of multi-scalar multiplication obtained by the representation is 563/1574n+o(n)≈0.3577n+o(n). That number is larger than the optimal complexity 281/786n+o(n)≈0.3575n+o(n) found in our previous work. To optimize the width-3 joint sparse form, we add more cases to the representation. After the addition, we can show that the complexity is updated to 281/786n+o(n)≈0.3575n+o(n), which implies that the modified representation is asymptotically optimal. Compared to our optimal algorithm in the previous work, the modified width-3 joint sparse form uses less dynamic memory, but it consumes more static memory.

In this paper, we propose an efficient tracking method that is formulated as a multi-task reverse sparse representation problem. The proposed method learns the representation of all tasks jointly using a customized APG method within several iterations. In order to reduce the computational complexity, the proposed tracking algorithm starts from a feature selection scheme that chooses suitable number of features from the object and background in the dynamic environment. Based on the selected feature, multiple templates are constructed with a few candidates. The candidate that corresponds to the highest similarity to the object templates is considered as the final tracking result. In addition, we present a template update scheme to capture the appearance changes of the object. At the same time, we keep several earlier templates in the positive template set unchanged to alleviate the drifting problem. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods.