We propose an iterative single-image haze-removal method that first divides images with haze into regions in which haze-removal processing is difficult and then estimates the ambient light. The existing method has a problem wherein it often overestimates the amount of haze in regions where there is a large distance between the location the photograph was taken and the subject of the photograph; this problem prevents the ambient light from being estimated accurately. In particular, it is often difficult to accurately estimate the ambient light of images containing white and sky regions. Processing those regions in the same way as other regions has detrimental results, such as darkness or unnecessary color change. The proposed method divides such regions in advance into multiple small regions, and then, the ambient light is estimated from the small regions in which haze removal is easy to process. We evaluated the proposed method through some simulations, and found that the method achieves better haze reduction accuracy even than the state-of-the art methods based on deep learning.

A differential on chip oscillator (OCO) is proposed in this paper for low supply voltage, high frequency accuracy and fast startup. The differential architecture helps the OCO achieve a good power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) without using a regulator so as to make the OCO suitable for a low power supply voltage of 1.38V. A reference voltage generator is also developed to generate two output voltages lower than Vbe for low supply voltage operation. The output frequency is locked to 48MHz by a frequency-locked loop (FLL) and a 3.3-ppm/°C temperature coefficient of frequency is realized by the differential voltage ratio adjusting (differential VRA) technique. The startup time is only 1.47μs because the differential OCO is not necessary to charge a big capacitor for ripple reduction.

This paper expands our previously proposed semi-blind uplink interference suppression scheme for multicell multiuser massive MIMO systems to support multi modulus signals. The original proposal applies the channel state information (CSI) aided blind adaptive array (BAA) interference suppression after the beamspace preprocessing and the decision feedback channel estimation (DFCE). BAA is based on the constant modulus algorithm (CMA) which can fully exploit the degree of freedom (DoF) of massive antenna arrays to suppress both inter-user interference (IUI) and inter-cell interference (ICI). Its effectiveness has been verified under the extensive pilot contamination constraint. Unfortunately, CMA basically works well only for constant envelope signals such as QPSK and thus the proposed scheme should be expanded to cover QAM signals for more general use. This paper proposes to apply the multi modulus algorithm (MMA) and the minimum mean square error weight derivation based on data-aided sample matrix inversion (MMSE-SMI). It can successfully realize interference suppression even with the use of multi-level envelope signals such as 16QAM with satisfactorily outage probability performance below the fifth percentile.

We consider the bisimilarity control problem for partially observed nondeterministic discrete event systems with deterministic specifications. This problem requires us to synthesize a supervisor that achieves bisimulation equivalence of the supervised system and the deterministic specification under partial observation. We present necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of such a deterministic supervisor and show that these conditions can be verified polynomially.

Utilizing the enormous potential of quantum computers requires new and practical quantum algorithms. Motivated by the success of machine learning, we investigate the fusion of neural and quantum computing, and propose a learning method for a quantum neural network inspired by the Hebb rule. Based on an analogy between neuron-neuron interactions and qubit-qubit interactions, the proposed quantum learning rule successfully changes the coupling strengths between qubits according to training data. To evaluate the effectiveness and practical use of the method, we apply it to the memorization process of a neuro-inspired quantum associative memory model. Our numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed quantum versions of the Hebb and anti-Hebb rules improve the learning performance. Furthermore, we confirm that the probability of retrieving a target pattern from multiple learned patterns is sufficiently high.

In this paper, we propose new generation methods of two-dimensional (2D) optical zero-correlation zone (ZCZ) sequences with the high peak autocorrelation amplitude. The 2D optical ZCZ sequence consists of a pair of a binary sequence which takes 1 or 0 and a bi-phase sequence which takes 1 or -1, and has a zero-correlation zone in the two-dimensional correlation function. Because of these properties, the 2D optical ZCZ sequence is suitable for optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA) system using an LED array having a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in a lattice pattern. The OCDMA system using the 2D optical ZCZ sequence can be increased the data rate and can be suppressed interference by the light of adjacent LEDs. By using the proposed generation methods, we can improve the peak autocorrelation amplitude of the sequence. This means that the BER performance of the OCDMA system using the sequence can be improved.

Two structural coverage criteria, toggle coverage and modified condition/decision coverage, for FBD (Function Block Diagram) simulation are proposed in the previous study. This paper empirically evaluates how effective the coverage criteria are to detect faults in an FBD program using the mutation analysis.

In this paper, we investigate the subcarriers combination selection and the subcarriers activation of OFDM-IM system. Firstly, we propose an algorithm to solve the problem of subcarriers combination selection based on the transmission rate and diversity gain. Secondly, we ropose a more concise algorithm to solve the problem of power allocation and carrier combination activation probability under this combination to improve system capacity. Finally, we verify the robustness of the algorithm and the superiority of the system scheme in the block error rate (BLER) and system capacity by numerical results.

In this paper, we propose a robust output feedback control method for nonlinear systems with uncertain time-varying parameters associated with diagonal terms and there are additional external disturbances. First, we provide a new practical guidance of obtaining a compact set which contains the allowed time-varying parameters by utilizing a Lyapunov equation and matrix inequalities. Then, we show that all system states and observer errors of the controlled system remain bounded by the proposed controller. Moreover, we show that the ultimate bounds of some system states and observer errors can be made (arbitrarily) small by adjusting a gain-scaling factor depending on the system nonlinearity. With an application example, we illustrate the effectiveness of our control scheme over the existing one.

In array signal processing, many methods of handling cases of impulsive noise with an alpha-stable distribution have been studied. By introducing correntropy with a robust statistical property, this paper proposes a novel fractional lower order correntropy (FLOCR) method. The FLOCR-based estimator for array outputs is defined and applied with multiple signal classification (MUSIC) to estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) in alpha-stable distributed noise environments. Comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation results demonstrate that FLOCR-MUSIC outperforms existing algorithms in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) and the probability of resolution, especially in the presence of highly impulsive noise.

With the spread of high-performance sensors and social network services (SNS) and the remarkable advances in machine learning technologies, fake media such as fake videos, spoofed voices, and fake reviews that are generated using high-quality learning data and are very close to the real thing are causing serious social problems. We launched a research project, the Media Clone (MC) project, to protect receivers of replicas of real media called media clones (MCs) skillfully fabricated by means of media processing technologies. Our aim is to achieve a communication system that can defend against MC attacks and help ensure safe and reliable communication. This paper describes the results of research in two of the five themes in the MC project: 1) verification of the capability of generating various types of media clones such as audio, visual, and text derived from fake information and 2) realization of a protection shield for media clones' attacks by recognizing them.

Locally repairable codes (LRCs) are implemented in distributed storage systems (DSSs) due to their low repair overhead. The locality of an LRC is the number of nodes in DSSs that participate in the repair of failed nodes, which characterizes the repair cost. An LRC is called optimal if its minimum distance attains the Singleton-type upper bound [1]. In this letter, optimal LRCs are considered. Using the concept of projective code in projective space PG(k, q) and shortening strategy, LRCs with d=3 are proposed. Meantime, derived from an ovoid [q2+1, 4, q2]q code (responding to a maximal (q2+1)-cap in PG(3, q)), optimal LRCs over Fq with d=4 are constructed.

Maximum inner product search (MIPS) problem has gained much attention in a wide range of applications. In order to overcome the curse of dimensionality in high-dimensional spaces, most of existing methods first transform the MIPS problem into another approximate nearest neighbor search (ANNS) problem and then solve it by Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH). However, due to the error incurred by the transmission and incomprehensive search strategies, these methods suffer from low precision and have loose probability guarantees. In this paper, we propose a novel search method named Adaptive-LSH (AdaLSH) to solve MIPS problem more efficiently and more precisely. AdaLSH examines objects in the descending order of both norms and (the probably correctly estimated) cosine angles with a query object in support of LSH with extendable windows. Such extendable windows bring not only efficiency in searching but also the probability guarantee of finding exact or approximate MIP objects. AdaLSH gives a better probability guarantee of success than those in conventional algorithms, bringing less running times on various datasets compared with them. In addition, AdaLSH can even support exact MIPS with probability guarantee.

In this short note, we formally show that Keyed-Homomorphic Public Key Encryption (KH-PKE) is secure against key recovery attacks and ciphertext validity attacks that have been introduced as chosen-ciphertext attacks for homomorphic encryption.

Recently, local features computed using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) show good performance to image retrieval. The local convolutional features obtained by the CNNs (LC features) are designed to be translation invariant, however, they are inherently sensitive to rotation perturbations. This leads to miss-judgements in retrieval tasks. In this work, our objective is to enhance the robustness of LC features against image rotation. To do this, we conduct a thorough experimental evaluation of three candidate anti-rotation strategies (in-model data augmentation, in-model feature augmentation, and post-model feature augmentation), over two kinds of rotation attack (dataset attack and query attack). In the training procedure, we implement a data augmentation protocol and network augmentation method. In the test procedure, we develop a local transformed convolutional (LTC) feature extraction method, and evaluate it over different network configurations. We end up a series of good practices with steady quantitative supports, which lead to the best strategy for computing LC features with high rotation invariance in image retrieval.

In this paper, a compact microwave push-push oscillator based on a resonant tunneling diode (RTD) has been fabricated and demonstrated. A symmetrical spiral inductor structure has been used in order to reduce a chip area. The designed symmetric inductor is integrated into the InP-based RTD monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. The circuit occupies a compact active area of 0.088 mm2 by employing symmetric inductor. The fabricated RTD oscillator shows an extremely low DC power consumption of 87 µW at an applied voltage of 0.47 V with good figure-of-merit (FOM) of -191 dBc/Hz at an oscillation frequency of 27 GHz. This is the first implementation as the RTD push-push oscillator with the symmetrical spiral inductor.

There are some technologies like QR codes to obtain digital information from printed matters. Digital watermarking is one of such techniques. Compared with other techniques, digital watermarking is suitable for adding information to images without spoiling their design. For such purposes, digital watermarking methods for printed matters using detection markers or image registration techniques for detecting watermarked areas are proposed. However, the detection markers themselves can damage the appearance such that the advantages of digital watermarking, which do not lose design, are not fully utilized. On the other hand, methods using image registration techniques are not able to work for non-registered images. In this paper, we propose a novel digital watermarking method using deep learning for the detection of watermarked areas instead of using detection markers or image registration. The proposed method introduces a semantic segmentation based on deep learning model for detecting watermarked areas from printed matters. We prepare two datasets for training the deep learning model. One is constituted of geometrically transformed non-watermarked and watermarked images. The number of images in this dataset is relatively large because the images can be generated based on image processing. This dataset is used for pre-training. The other is obtained from actually taken photographs including non-watermarked or watermarked printed matters. The number of this dataset is relatively small because taking the photographs requires a lot of effort and time. However, the existence of pre-training allows a fewer training images. This dataset is used for fine-tuning to improve robustness for print-cam attacks. In the experiments, we investigated the performance of our method by implementing it on smartphones. The experimental results show that our method can carry 96 bits of information with watermarked printed matters.

Collecting and analyzing personal data is important in modern information applications. Though the privacy of data providers should be protected, the need to track certain data providers often arises, such as tracing specific patients or adversarial users. Thus, tracking only specific persons without revealing normal users' identities is quite important for operating information systems using personal data. It is difficult to know in advance the rules for specifying the necessity of tracking since the rules are derived by the analysis of collected data. Thus, it would be useful to provide a general way that can employ any data analysis method regardless of the type of data and the nature of the rules. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving data analysis construction that allows an authority to detect specific users while other honest users are kept anonymous. By using the cryptographic techniques of group signatures with message-dependent opening (GS-MDO) and public key encryption with non-interactive opening (PKENO), we provide a correspondence table that links a user and data in a secure way, and we can employ any anonymization technique and data analysis method. It is particularly worth noting that no “big brother” exists, meaning that no single entity can identify users who do not provide anomaly data, while bad behaviors are always traceable. We show the result of implementing our construction. Briefly, the overhead of our construction is on the order of 10 ms for a single thread. We also confirm the efficiency of our construction by using a real-world dataset.

This paper proposes iterative carrier frequency offset (CFO) compensation for spatially multiplexed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals using independent component analysis (ICA). We apply spatial division multiple access (SDMA) to BLE system to deal with massive number of connection requests of BLE devices expected in the future. According to specifications, each BLE peripheral device is assumed to have CFO of up to 150 [kHz] due to hardware impairments. ICA can resolve spatially multiplexed signals even if they include independent CFO. After the ICA separation, the proposed scheme compensates for the CFO. However, the length of the BLE packet preamble is not long enough to obtain accurate CFO estimates. In order to accurately conduct the CFO compensation using the equivalent of a long pilot signal, preamble and a part of estimated data in the previous process are utilized. In addition, we reveal the fact that the independent CFO of each peripheral improves the capability of ICA blind separation. The results confirm that the proposed scheme can effectively compensate for CFO in the range of up to 150[kHz], which is defined as the acceptable value in the BLE specification.

Knowledge distillation approaches can transfer information from a large network (teacher network) to a small network (student network) to compress and accelerate deep neural networks. This paper proposes a novel knowledge distillation approach called multi-knowledge distillation (MKD). MKD consists of two stages. In the first stage, it employs autoencoders to learn compact and precise representations of the feature maps (FM) from the teacher network and the student network, these representations can be treated as the essential of the FM, i.e., EFM. In the second stage, MKD utilizes multiple kinds of knowledge, i.e., the magnitude of individual sample's EFM and the similarity relationships among several samples' EFM to enhance the generalization ability of the student network. Compared with previous approaches that employ FM or the handcrafted features from FM, the EFM learned from autoencoders can be transferred more efficiently and reliably. Furthermore, the rich information provided by the multiple kinds of knowledge guarantees the student network to mimic the teacher network as closely as possible. Experimental results also show that MKD is superior to the-state-of-arts.