It has been known that the cell loss ratio (CLR) characteristics of the multiplexed traffic depend on the arrangement of I-picture starting times of individual variable bit rate (VBR) MPEG video sources. In this paper, we propose a simple yet accurate traffic model for the multiplexed VBR MPEG video to calculate the CLR at an ATM multiplexer when the arrangement of the I-picture starting times of individual sources is given. In the proposed model, in order to represent the arrangement of the I-picture starting times, each picture type (I-, P-, or B-picture) of individual source is modeled by the arrival rate histogram, and the multiplexed video traffic is modeled by the convolution of the arrival rate histograms of the pictures that comprise the multiplexed traffic. Using the proposed traffic model, we propose an analytical method to calculate the CLR of the multiplexed VBR MPEG video at an ATM multiplexer. Simulation results show that the proposed method can calculate the CLR more precisely and efficiently than other existing methods.

This paper presents a formal verification method based on logic simulation. In our method, some restricted class of circuits which include data paths can be verified without abstraction of data paths by using symbolic values. Our verifier extracts a transition relation from the state graph (given as a specification) which is expressed using symbolic values, and verifies based on simulation using those symbolic values if the circuit behaves correctly with respect to each transition of the specification. If the verifier terminates with "correct," then it can be guaranteed that for any applicable input vector sequence, the circuit and the specification behaves identically. We have implemented the proposed method on a Unix workstation and verified some FIFO and LIFO circuits by using it.

This paper discusses a new type of semi-supervised document clustering that uses partial supervision to partition a large set of documents. Most clustering methods organizes documents into groups based only on similarity measures. In this paper, we attempt to isolate more semantically coherent clusters by employing the domain-specific knowledge provided by a document analyst. By using external human knowledge to guide the clustering mechanism with some flexibility when creating the clusters, clustering efficiency can be considerably enhanced. Experimental results show that the use of only a little external knowledge can considerably enhance the quality of clustering results that satisfy users' constraint.

The rapid growth of state space in a two-dimensional (2D) random walk model imposes heavy computational load on mobility analysis of personal communication services (PCS) networks. This letter presents a novel random walk model with a compact state space by exploiting the symmetry of cellular patterns in a K-layer cluster of cells. The size of the state space is reduced to (K+1)/2(K/2+1)+1, with an asymptotic compression ratio of 12.

Timed token protocols inadequately provide periodic communication service, although this is crucial for hard real time systems. We propose an algorithm to guaranteeing periodic communication service on a timed token protocol network. In this approach, we allocate bandwidth to each node so that the summation of bandwidth allocations is Target Token Rotation Time (TTRT). If a node cannot consume the allocated time, the residual time is made concession to other nodes for non-periodic service using a timer which contains the unused time value and is appended to the token. This algorithm can always guarantee transmission of real-time messages before their deadlines when the network utilization is less than 50%.

Organic nonlinear optical crystal 4-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-1-methylpridinium tosylate (DAST) has a larger electro-optic (EO) coefficient than that of LiNbO3 crystal. Thus, DAST is a promising material for EO switching device. To use its large EO coefficient effectively, a waveguide structure is desirable. We have successfully fabricated two types of DAST crystal optical channel waveguide. One is a serially grafted waveguide combining a DAST and a transparent polymer by using the combination of standard photo-process and reactive ion-etching (RIE). Because DAST has large optical loss, parts of the waveguide should be composed of transparent polymer with a serially grafted structure with DAST. This structure reduced not only a propagation loss but also input/output losses. This serially graft waveguide fabrication technique for active organic crystal is available to many types of crystals with device function. The other is a channel waveguide made by a photo-bleaching technique. The cladding part of DAST waveguide was photo-bleached by irradiation of UV light. Under and over cladding layer were composed with UV-cured resin that did not dissolve the DAST crystal. This technique is very convenient for making DAST waveguide because of its simple procedure to make core-cladding structure of DAST compared to standard photo-process and RIE.

We propose a new effective method of managing flash memory space for flash memory-specific file systems based on a log-structured file system. Flash memory has attractive features such as non-volatility and fast I/O speed, but it also suffers from inability to update in situ and from limited usage (erase) cycles. These drawbacks necessitate a number of changes to conventional storage (file) management techniques. Our focus is on lowering cleaning cost and evenly utilizing flash memory cells while maintaining a balance between these two often-conflicting goals. The proposed cleaning method performs well especially when storage utilization and the degree of locality are high. The cleaning efficiency is enhanced by dynamically separating cold data and non-cold data, which is called 'collection operation.' The second goal, that of cycle-leveling, is achieved to the degree that the maximum difference between erase cycles is below the error range of the hardware. Experimental results show that the proposed technique provides sufficient performance for reliable flash storage systems.

Metal nanostructure of organic/metal interface showing photocurrent multiplication phenomenon more than 105-fold was investigated. Au films deposited on organic films were revealed to be a gathering of nanoparticles and the multiplication rate can be tuned by the particle size. Spatial gaps formed between Au sphere and organic surface, which provide the hole accumulation sites (structural trap), was concluded to be indispensable for the photocurrent multiplication.

We have developed the new energy storage system utilizing a radical redox reaction of poly (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinoxy methacrylate), PTMA. The coin-type cell with PTMA cathode demonstrates the charge capacity of is 72 Ah/kg, which corresponds to 65% of the theoretical capacity, and the coulombic efficiency was 90% in first charge-discharge cycle. The results indicate that the stable polyradical cathodes are promising materials due to their high charge utilization and the possibilities for the wide diversity of molecular design.

The adsorption behavior of cytochrome c was investigated using slab optical waveguide (SOWG) absorption spectroscopy at the near ultraviolet region utilizing thin quartz plates as planar waveguides. SOWG absorption spectra of cytochrome c measured at constant time intervals showed significant influence of surface hydrophilicity and solution chemistry on the adsorption of this important heme protein in quartz surface. Being polar and typically amphoteric, the protein preferred adsorption on hydrophilic surface than on hydrophobic surface as implied by the lower absorbance data obtained in the latter than in the former. At lower ionic strength and in the absence of buffer, the protein molecules tend to adsorb on the quartz surface. Plots of near steady-state absorbance versus protein concentration follow hyperbolic pattern in the absence of buffer or at low ionic strength and become more linear as the buffer concentration is increased. The results presented here are explained in terms of the general qualitative understanding of protein adsorption at solid-aqueous interfaces and further aids in elucidating the properties of protein monolayers and films.

Wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) routed optical networks represent the direction towards future high-capacity wide-area network applications. A serious issue in WDM-routed networks, though, is light-path allocation which requires a combination of optical routing and wavelength assignment. While near-optimal-routing and wavelength-assignment algorithms aimed at minimizing network wavelength requirements have been reported, the practicability of wavelength-routed optical networks depends on the number of wavelengths required to satisfy a given traffic demand. In this paper, we proposed two symmetrical routing and wavelength-assignment methods for optical networks with a Grid or ShuffleNet physical topology. Here, we consider the case of non-adaptive wavelength routing systems, where the operations performed in nodes are independent of the network traffic load. In this case, the routing differs somewhat from that in adaptive routing networks where the routing function may produce different results at different times. The path followed by a wavelength never changes in non-adaptive wavelength-routing networks. When all N(N-1) node-pairs are to be connected, our methods lower the wavelength requirement to (or close to) its calculated minimum. Symmetry is a basic feature of both these regular topologies, but there are differences in the features within the topologies. Our goal has been to try to make use of the symmetry, and the differences in the native symmetry features, of these regular topologies to yield a lower wavelength requirement.

A visual secret sharing scheme (VSSS) is one of secret sharing schemes for images. Droste showed the method for constructing VSSS based on basis matrices whose contrast was high. Koga, Iwamoto, and Yamamoto also proposed the method for constructing a lattice-based VSSS and its polynomial representation. It is known that many good VSSSs are not in the class of lattice-based VSSSs. In this paper, we show the well-defined polynomial representation of a VSSS based on permuting different matrices for black-white images. The necessary and sufficient condition of the existence of a VSSS based on permuting different matrices can be obtained from the proposed polynomial representation. This condition is useful for constructing a good VSSS. We also point out that without additional data, it is possible to achieve member verification by using a VSSS. Using the proposed polynomial representation, the probability of detecting a cheater is analyzed.

A new algorithm is presented for recovering the blocks lost with the cell loss in the ATM transmission of the images coded by Jacquin's fractal coding. The key technique of the proposed BLRA (block loss recovery algorithm) is a fractal extrapolation that estimates the pixels in a lost block by using the contractive mapping parameters of a range block homogeneous to the lost block. The proposed BLRA is applied to the lost blocks in the iteration of decoding.

A new H.263+ rate control method that has very low encoder-decoder delay, small buffer and low computational complexity for hardware realization is proposed in this paper. This method focuses on producing low encoder-decoder delay in order to solve the lip synchronization problem. Low encoder-decoder delay is achieved by improving target bit rate achievement and reducing processing delay. The target bit rate achievement is improved by allocating an optimum frame encoding bits, and employing a new adaptive threshold of zero vector motion estimation. The processing delay is reduced by simplifying quantization parameter computation, applying a new non-zero coefficient distortion measure and utilizing previous frame information in current frame encoding. The simulation results indicate very large number skipped frames reduction in comparison with the test model TMN8. There were 80 skipped frames less than that of TMN8 within a 380 frame sequence during encoding of a very high movement video sequence. The 27 kbps target bit rate is achieved with insignificant difference for various types of video sequences. The simulation results also show that our method successfully allocates encoding bits, maintains small data at the encoder buffer and avoids buffer from overflow and underflow.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) containing nanostructured cathode buffer layers were fabricated, and their electrical and emitting properties were investigated. The OLEDs have an ITO anode/CuPc/TPD/Alq3/buffer layer/Al cathode structure with the buffer layers made from nanostructured alternating layers Alq3 and Al. The driving voltage and the efficiency of the devices were improved by insertion of the buffer layer. It was estimated that some modulations of the Schottky barrier at the Alq3 and the Al cathode interface were induced due to the insertion of the buffer layer and it caused an enhancement of electron injection from the Al cathode.

The threshold voltage of Coulomb staircase using organic molecules was analyzed by extending our previous model with only consideration of the metal/organic film interfacial space charge to the generalized one. The generalized model is helpful to examine coupling capacitance in organic double barrier tunneling junction (DBTJ). The current-voltage (I-V) characteristic of metal/polyimide (PI)/rhodamine-dendrimer (Rh-G2)/PI/metal junction was analyzed using this generalized model. The calculation results were in good agreement with our experimental data.

Compared with much research in the spatial-domain and transform-domain watermarking techniques, VQ-based watermarking technique has not been fully treated. A digital image watermarking scheme based on vector quantisation (VQ) is proposed to improve the degree of spreading watermark information. By partitioning the codebook into 3 groups, the scheme tries to embed one binary information for each block. The scheme spreads the watermark information almost evenly over the image with little extra distortion. The experimental results prove the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme.

We propose a new receiver structure to mitigate interpath interference (IPI) in W-CDMA systems. We model IPI in RAKE combining as intersymbol interference (ISI) and use a two-stage receiver structure. The first stage is a RAKE receiver and the second stage is an equalizer. In cases of multi-code transmission, interference among code channels causes extra impairments which can not be modelled as ISI. Under these circumstances, they are estimated by using decisions from the first stage and then subtracted from the input of the equalizer. The residual interference is equivalent to ISI and can be mitigated by the equalizer. Simulation results show that the proposed receiver provides very promising performance in low spreading factor W-CDMA.

This paper proposes a fast method for the calculation of exponential B-splines sampled at regular intervals. This algorithm is based on a combination of FIR and IIR filters which enables a fast decomposition and reconstruction of a signal. When complex values are selected for the parameters of the exponentials, complex trigonometric functions are obtained. Only the real part of these functions are used for the interpolation of real signals, leading less bandlimited signals when they are compared with the polynomial B-spline counterparts. These characteristics were verified with 1-D and 2-D examples. This paper also discusses the effectiveness of exponential B-splines, when they are applied to image processing.

The optical pulses of 50 MHz has been obtained from an organic light emitting diode (OLED) based on the Alq3 emissive layer with the active area of 0.01 mm2. We demonstrate that the OLEDs can be applied to fields of optical communication as the electro-optical conversion device for transmitting the signals of moving picture.