The AMR wideband speech codec was recently developed for high-quality wideband speech communications. Although it has an excellent performance due to expanded bandwidth of speech signal, it requires a huge amount of computation especially in codebook search. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an efficient codebook search method for AMR wideband codec. Starting from a poorly performing initial codevector, the proposed method enhances the performance of the codevector iteratively by exchanging the worst pulse in the codevector with a better one after evaluating the role of each pulse. Simulations show that the AMR wideband codec adopting the proposed codebook search method provides better performance with much less computational load than that using the standard method.

The DAPDNA®-2 is the world's first general purpose dynamically reconfigurable processor for commercial usage. It is a dual-core processor consisting of a custom RISC core called the Digital Application Processor (DAP), and a two dimensional array of dynamically reconfigurable processing elements referred to as the Distributed Network Architecture (DNA). The DAP has a 32 bit instruction set architecture with an 8 KB instruction cache and 8 KB data cache that can be accessed in one clock cycle. It has an interrupt control function to detect data processing completion in the DNA-Matrix. The DNA-Matrix has different types of data processing elements such as ALU, delay, and memory elements to process fully parallel computations. The DNA-Matrix includes 32 independent 16 KB high speed SRAM elements (in total 512 KB). The DNA-Matrix, even with its parallel computational capability, can be synchronized and co-work at the same clock frequency as the DAP. The processor operates at a 166 MHz working frequency and fabricated with a 0.11 µm CMOS process. The DAPDNA-2 device can be connected directly with up to 16 units with linear scalability in processing performance, provided the bandwidth requirement is within the maximum communication speed between DNAs, which is 32 Gbps. The DAPDNA-2 performs at a level that is two orders of magnitude higher than conventional high performance processors.

The conventional algorithms in the echo canceling system have drawback when they are faced with double-talk condition in noisy environment. Since the double-talk and noise signal are exist, then the error signal is contaminated to estimate the gradient correctly. In this paper, we define a new class of adaptive algorithm for tap adaptations, based on the correlation function processing. The computer simulation results show that the Correlation LMS (CLMS) and the Extended CLMS (ECLMS) algorithms have better performance than conventional LMS algorithm. In order to implement the ECLMS algorithm, the Frequency domain Extended CLMS (FECLMS) algorithm is proposed to reduce the computational complexity. However the convergence speed is not sufficient. In order to improve the convergence speed, the Wavelet domain Extended CLMS (WECLMS) algorithm is proposed. The computer simulation results support the theoretical findings and verify the robustness of the proposed WECLMS algorithm in the double-talk situation.

In this paper, we propose a resolution enhancement method for estimating direction-of-arrival (DOA) of narrowband incoherent signals incident on a general array. The resolution of DOA algorithm is dependent on the aperture size of antenna array. But it is very impractical to increase the physical size of antenna array in real environment. We propose the method that improves resolution performance by virtually expanding the sensor spacing of original antenna array and then averaging the spatial spectrum of each virtual array which has a different aperture size. Superior resolution capabilities achieved with this method are shown by simulation results in comparison with the standard MUSIC for incoherent signals incident on a uniform circular array.

The proposed DOA (Direction Of Arrival) estimation method by integrating the frequency array data generated from microphone pairs in an equilateral-triangular microphone array is extended here. The method uses four microphones located at the apices of regular tetrahedron to enable to estimate the elevation angle from the array plane as well. Furthermore, we introduce an idea for separate estimation of azimuth and elevation to reduce the computational loads.

This letter describes the design and performance of a new ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL-UDP) for time-critical traffic over wireless ATM networks. The key ideas in the design consist of no discard at the AAL level and header protection with sequence number mechanism. The UDP/IP header is repeated for reliability, because it contains the most important information such as address and port number. The simulation results show that the AAL-UDP provides significant improvement in throughput as well as in application-level performance compared to the conventional AAL 5 case.

An analog neurochip for independent component analysis (ICA) is designed with on-line learning capability. Due to the limited dynamic range of analog device, the nonholonomic ICA algorithm is adopted. In order to accommodate the offsets due to device mismatches, a modified algorithm is developed with 2-quadrant multipliers and self-adjusting biases. Performance of the developed system was demonstrated by Monte-Carlo simulation.

In a high-rate indoor wireless personal communication system, the delay spread due to multi-path propagation results in intersymbol interference which can significantly increase the transmission bit error rate (BER). The technique most commonly used for combating the intersymbol interference and frequency-selective fading found in communications channels is the adaptive equalization. In this paper, we propose a novel neural detector based on self-organizing map (SOM) to improve the system performance of the receiver. In the proposed scheme, the SOM is used as an adaptive detector of equalizer, which updates the decision levels to follow the received faded signal. To adapt the proposed scheme to the time-varying channel, we use the Euclidean distance, which will be updated automatically according to the received faded signal, as an adaptive radius to define the neighborhood of the winning neuron of the SOM algorithm. Simulations on a 16 QAM system show that the receiver using the proposed neural detector has a significantly better BER performance than the traditional receiver.

In order to produce precise enclosures from a multi-dimensional interval vector, we introduce a sharp interval sub-dividing condition for optimization algorithms. By utilizing interval inclusion properties, we also enhance the sampling of an upper bound for effective use in the interval quadratic method. This has resulted in an improvement in the algorithm for the unconstrained optimization problem by Hansen in 1992.

This paper addresses the issue of reconfiguring multi-layer neural networks implemented in single or multiple VLSI chips. The ability to adaptively reconfigure network configuration for a given application, considering the presence of faulty neurons, is a very valuable feature in a large scale neural network. In addition, it has become necessary to achieve systems that can automatically reconfigure a network and acquire optimal weights without any help from host computers. However, self-reconfigurable architectures for neural networks have not been studied sufficiently. In this paper, we propose an architecture for a self-reconfigurable multi-layer neural network employing both reconfiguration with spare neurons and weight training by GAs. This proposal offers the combined advantages of low hardware overhead for adding spare neurons and fast weight training time. To show the possibility of self-reconfigurable neural networks, the prototype system has been implemented on a field programmable gate array.

In 2003, Wu proposed a threshold access control scheme based on smart cards. In this letter, we show that the scheme is vulnerable to various attacks.

Plastic ferrules for single-mode (SM) MU-type simplified receptacles are fabricated with a precise injection-molding technique using a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP). The fabricated plastic ferrules exhibit an eccentricity of < 0.6 µm and outer diameter variation of 1 µm. MU-type simplified plugs incorporating the plastic ferrules have an average insertion loss of 0.13 dB and a return loss of > 46 dB. The plastic ferrules exhibit good resistance in 500-cycle mating tests, and in vibration and impact tests as well. The initial optical characteristics are maintained during a temperature and humidity cycling test and a heat-cycling test.

We propose a new dynamic routing algorithm that uses traffic and network state information to minimize the blocking rate and link congestion level. Our scheme uses the currently available link capacity in calculating the link weight by modifying Wang's approach, and computes the shortest path when a new call comes into the network. We consider the blocking count based update mechanism and the timer based mechanism, and conclude that the former is better than the latter in terms of efficiency and complexity.

The three major failures of electrical contacts for automotive relay applications are: contact welding (or contact sticking), high contact resistance and severe contact erosion due to switching arcing. With the demand of high power and multiple functions of automotive vehicles, the switching current has be dramatically increased, it results in higher failing rate, in particular for contact welding. On the other hand, the miniaturization of electromechanical relays has lead to the reduction of mechanical spring force. This not only results in the earlier contact welding but also makes the relay more susceptible to the contact resistance and arc erosion failures. This paper is a review of most recent studies on these three failure aspects. It describes the progress in the understanding of contact welding caused by short arcing and high contact resistance due to contamination of particles and films in relay manufacturing process and also it review the material transfer due to switching arcing. At the end, the brief considerations of electromechanical relays used in 42 volts have also been given.

Arrival of the packet data is acknowledged by detecting the preambles of the received bursty packets. To increase system throughput and reduce transmission latency, a simple and robust signal detection algorithm is required. Furthermore, the threshold for signal detection must be set adaptively for different channel conditions. In this paper, we design and compare three signal detection algorithms for bursty packet systems.

Various effective and draft legislations and rules in Europe (WEEE--Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ROHS--Restrictions on the use of certain substances and ELV--End of life of vehicles) and Japan (Recycling Law for Home Electric Appliances) have either targeted restrictions or fully banned on the use of lead, to be enforced from 2001, 2003 and 2006 onwards. Up to now, mainly tin-lead alloys have been used in electronics. The process temperatures usually applied have been in the range of 230. All currently discussed lead-free alternatives for professional electronics need process temperatures which are at least 20 higher. In addition, the process duration is significantly longer. The combination of higher process temperatures and longer duration results in significant thermal stress on electromechanical devices. In particular the precision mechanics of electromechanical relays must withstand the solder process with maximum process temperatures of 255 without dimensional changes. During the transition from tin-lead to lead-free solder processes all combinations of component surfaces and solder must be possible. The selection of pure Sn100 or SnCu0.7 as terminal surface allows mixed assemblies with tin-lead as well as lead-free solders. All tested combinations of terminal surface, PCB surface and solder showed good results. From these results it can be concluded that mixed assemblies are possible during the transition time without any negative impact on the reliability of the electronic devices.

A new scheme for evaluation of shapes of pips and craters formed by arc discharges on electrical contact surfaces is proposed. Measuring a height of a pip or a depth of a crater as well as an average diameter thereof with a scanning laser microscope and then putting a plot having the measured values as its vertical and horizontal coordinates enable us to numerically and briefly evaluate shapes of those pips and craters on arc-damaged contact surfaces. Some exemplary results obtained by this evaluation scheme are presented here.

In this letter, some more concrete trellis relations between a lattice and its dual lattice are firstly given. Based on these relations, we generalize the main results of [1].

Fading in mobile satellite communications severely degrades the performance of data transmission. It is commonly modeled with non-frequency selective Rayleigh fading. For this type of channel, a new structure for a bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) scheme is presented and evaluated to determine its effectiveness compared to previously proposed schemes. This scheme is referred to as rate-compatible punctured BICM (RCP-BICM), in that its BICM encoder is able to yield a wide range of data rates by using a punctured convolutional code obtained by periodically perforating parity bits from the output of a low-rate-1/2 systematic convolutional code. A trellis-coded modulation (TCM) scheme and a turbo TCM (TTCM) scheme are discussed and evaluated for comparison with the RCP-BICM scheme. Simulation results demonstrate that the RCP-BICM scheme with hard-decision iterative decoding is superior to the TCM scheme by 3 dB at a bit error rate (BER) of 10-5 over an Rayleigh fading channel, and comes at a BER of 10-5 within 1 dB of the TCM scheme over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel.

A round-ended wide straight slot cut in the broad wall of a rectangular waveguide is analyzed by the Method of Moments (MoM) using numerical eigenmode basis functions derived by the edge-based finite element method (FEM), referred to as MoM/FEM. The frequency characteristics of the calculated transmission coefficients are compared with the measured ones, and good agreement is observed for a wide variety of antenna parameters. For simpler analysis that does not use MoM/FEM, an equivalent rectangular slot approximation for a round-ended slot is discussed. The resonant frequencies of empirically introduced "equal-area" and "equal-perimeter" slots are compared with those of round-ended slots for a wide variety of parameters such as slot width, wall thickness and dielectric constant inside the waveguide. Based upon MoM/FEM, which can be a reliable reference, it is found that the equal-area slot always gives a better approximation of the order of 1% over that of the equal-perimeter one which is of the order of 5%. For higher accuracy, a new rectangular slot approximation of a round-ended slot is proposed to be a linear combination of equal-area and equal perimeter approximation. The error is around 0.25% for a wide variety of parameters such as slot width-to-length ratio, wall thickness and dielectric constant of the filling material inside the waveguide.