The performance of conventional error concealment (EC) is significantly affected by the method of selecting candidate motion vectors (MVs). In order to obtain more robust EC results, this letter proposes a new and efficient way to choose candidate MVs. The proposed approach systematically utilizes available neighboring MVs by exploiting a well-known spatiotemporal correlation of block MVs. Through extensive simulations with H.263, this letter demonstrates that the proposed candidate MVs provide superior concealed video quality in comparison to the best results of other existing techniques.

As mobile communication systems have been widespread and the needs for new service grows, IMT-2000 systems have largely been researched and developed for standardization. Among them, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) solution is standardized in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project. In WCDMA system, voice and high data rate services are supported through dedicated traffic channels, however other packet based services with short duration are provided by using common channels. Data users are allowed to transmit a short message based on a contention manner via the reverse common channels. The basic Common Packet Channel (CPCH) mechanism has been proposed and adopted for accessing common channels. It consists of three phases: Random Access Phase, Collision Resolution Phase, and Data Transmission Phase. To enhance the resource usage efficiency, the CPCH mechanisms with channel assignment or status monitoring have been proposed. They can improve the performance, however increase the system complexity. Up to now, performances of the CPCH mechanisms have been discussed and studied based on computer simulations. Numerical results have been obtained by using S-G analysis, but they are different from simulation results. In this paper, we analyze the CPCH mechanisms by using the Equilibrium Point Analysis (EPA). And we compare computer simulation results with analytical results.

In a real-time vision system, parallel memory access is essential for highly parallel image processing. The use of multiple memory modules is one efficient technique for parallel access. In the technique, data stored in different memory modules can be accessed in parallel. This paper presents an optimal memory allocation methodology to map data to be read in parallel onto different memory modules. Based on the methodology, a high-performance VLSI processor for three-dimensional instrumentation is proposed.

This paper describes a method for classification of hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained breast tumor images into benign or malignant using the adaptive searching ability of artificial organisms. Each artificial organism has some attributes, such as, age, internal energy and coordinates. In addition, the artificial organism has a differentiation function for evaluating "malignant" or "benign" tumors and the adaptive behaviors of each artificial organism are evaluated using five kinds of texture features. The texture feature of nuclei regions in normal mammary glands and that of carcinoma regions in malignant tumors are treated as "self" and "non-self," respectively. This model consists of two stages of operations for detecting tumor regions, the learning and searching stages. At the learning stage, the nuclei regions are roughly detected and classified into benign or malignant tumors. At the searching stage, the similarity of each organism's environment is investigated before and after the movement for detecting breast tumor regions precisely. The method developed was applied to 21 cases of test images and the distinction between malignant and benign tumors by the artificial organisms was successful in all cases. The proposed method has the following advantages: the texture feature values for the evaluation of tumor regions at the searching stage are decided automatically during the learning stage in every input image. Evaluation of the environment, whether the target pixel is a malignant tumor or not, is performed based on the angular difference in each texture feature. Therefore, this model can successfully detect tumor regions and classify the type of tumors correctly without affecting a wide variety of breast tumor images, which depends on the tissue condition and the degree of malignancy in each breast tumor case.

In this letter, we present a method to generate sets of sequences suitable for multicode transmission in quasi-synchronous (QS) CDMA systems. We focus on Gold code but extension to orthogonal Gold code is straightforward. We show that by appropriate classification of sequences, it is possible to have sets whose cross correlation is small in QS situations.

Most scheduling applications have been classified into NP-complete problems. This fact implies that an optimal solution for a large scheduling problem is extremely time-consuming. A number of schemes are introduced to solve NP-complete scheduling applications, such as linear programming, neural network, and fuzzy logic. In this paper, we demonstrate a new approach, fuzzy Hopfield neural network, to solve the scheduling problems. This fuzzy Hopfield neural network approach integrates fuzzy c-means clustering strategies into a Hopfield neural network. In this investigation, we utilizes this new approach to demonstrate the feasibility of resolving a multiprocessor scheduling problem with no process migration, limited resources and constrained times (execution time and deadline). In the approach, the process and processor of the scheduling problem can be regarded as a data sample and a cluster, respectively. Then, an appropriate Lyapunov energy function is derived correspondingly. The scheduling results can be obtained using a fuzzy Hopfield neural network clustering technique by iteratively updating fuzzy state until the energy function gets minimized. To validate our approach, three scheduling cases for different initial neuron states as well as fuzzification parameters are taken as testbed. Simulation results reveal that imposing the fuzzy Hopfield neural network on the proposed energy function provides a sound approach in solving this class of scheduling problems.

We propose a low-cost, high-uniformity, and low excess loss star coupler. The proposed star coupler comprises a planar lightguide, a diffuser, and polymer optical fibers (POFs). High-uniformity of optical power distribution was enabled by utilizing the diffused light transmission. Input light is diffused by the diffuser that is attached between the input POFs and the planar lightguide and transmitted through the planar lightguide. The optimum width-to-length ratio of the lightguide is clarified through simulations and experiments. We fabricated the star couplers based on the optimum width-to-length ratio for evaluation. The fabricated 1616 star coupler showed the excellent uniformity at the distribution ratio of 0.8 dB and the excess loss of 3.3 dB. The fabricated star coupler also provides a wide tolerance for misalignment. The maximum number of nodes to assure high transmission quality and the bandwidth of the proposed star coupler are discussed. The proposed star coupler is remarkably cost effective since it can be produced by injection-molding technology. The proposed star coupler enables easy multi-channel interconnection.

RHiNET-2/SW is a network switch for the RHiNET-2 parallel computing system. RHiNET-2/SW enables high-speed and long-distance data transmission between PC nodes for parallel computing. In RHiNET-2/SW, a one-chip CMOS switch-LSI and eight pairs of 800-Mbit/s 12-channel parallel optical interconnection modules are mounted into a single compact board. This switch allows high-speed 8-Gbit/s/port parallel optical data transmission over a distance of up to 100 m, and the aggregate throughput is 64 Gbit/s/board. The CMOS-ASIC switching LSI enables high-throughput (64 Gbit/s) packet switching with a single chip. The parallel optical interconnection modules enable high-speed and low-latency data transmission over a long distance. The structure and layout of the printed circuit board is optimized for high-speed, high-density device implementation to overcome electrical problems such as signal propagation-loss and crosstalk. All of the electrical interfaces are composed of high-speed CMOS-LVDS logic (800 Mbit/s/pin). We evaluated the reliability of the optical I/O port through long-term data transmission. No errors were detected during 50 hours of continuous data transmission at a data rate of 800 Mbit/s 10 bits (BER: < 2.44 10-14). This test result shows that RHiNET-2/SW can provide high-throughput, long-transmission-length, and highly reliable data transmission in a practical parallel computing system.

By combining the technology of all-optical saturable absorbers and the diffractive optics, a scheme of all-optical time division demultiplexing module is investigated. Following authors' proposal, design, test fabrication of the optical platform in the previous paper, this paper focuses on the characterization of switching performance. Using a multiple quantum well saturable absorber of InGaAs/InAlAs composition, and gain switched semiconductor laser pulses of 25 ps pulse width, the switching function was demonstrated experimentally at wavelength of 1.55 µm. The switching on-off ratio was compared among 4 lens configuration, 2 lens configuration (2L) and free space, collinear geometry. No degradation was observed in the case of 2 lens configuration in comparison to collinear illumination. Thus the feasibility of all-optical switch module with power efficiency and high speed is predicted, under the assumption of the progress in sub-micron lithography.

A multimedia content is usually read-only and composed of multimedia objects with their spatial and temporal specifications. These specifications given by its author can enforce the display of objects to be well organized for its context. When multimedia contents are serviced in network environment by an on-demand basis, the temporal relationship among the objects can be used to improve the performance of the service. This paper models the temporal relationship as a scenario that represents the presentation order of the objects in a scenario and proposes several scheduling methods that make it possible to rearrange the transmission order of objects in a scenario. As a result, system resources such as computing power and network bandwidth can be highly utilized. Since the temporal relationship of a scenario is static, it is possible to reduce the scheduling overhead of a server by pre-scheduling currently servicing scenarios. In addition, several simulation results are presented in order to compare and analyze the characteristics of the proposed methods.

This paper proposes a media synchronization scheme with causality control for distributed multimedia applications in which the temporal and causal relationships exist among media streams such as computer data, voice, and video. In the scheme, the Δ-causality control is performed for causality, and the Virtual-Time Rendering (VTR) algorithm, which the authors previously proposed, is used for media synchronization. The paper deals with a networked shooting game as an example of such applications and demonstrates the effectiveness of the scheme by experiment.

Research on the propagation characteristics in the microwave band aiming at broadband mobile services is attracting much attention. Typical examples are the Unlicensed-NII (U-NII) band in the U.S. and HIPER-LAN band in Europe, i.e. 5.2 GHz. An efficient approach to revealing the propagation characteristics in the 5-GHz band is to utilize the existing propagation data accumulated by many researchers on the 2-GHz band. This paper presents the differences in path loss between the 5.2-GHz and 2.2-GHz bands in a residential area by using a 5.2-GHz/2.2-GHz dual band antenna. This antenna enables a direct comparison of 5.2 GHz and 2.2 GHz in terms of the propagation characteristics. We found that the difference in path loss between the 2.2-GHz and 5.2-GHz bands depends on only the base/mobile station antenna height. Based on this, we formulate the relationship between the heights of the base/mobile station antennas and the difference in path loss between the 2.2-GHz and 5.2-GHz bands.

This paper presents a new and robust technique for a coarse frequency offset estimation in OFDM system. As an evaluation of the proposed algorithm, we apply it to Eureka 147 DAB system. The proposed coarse frequency offset estimation algorithm is based on the differential detection technique between adjacent subcarriers to eliminate the phase shift effects of symbol timing offset and fractional frequency offset. Coarse frequency offset is determined from the correlation outputs between a received intercarrier differential phase reference symbol and several locally generated but frequency shifted intercarrier differential phase reference symbols. The performance of our estimation algorithm is evaluated by means of computer simulation and compared with that of previous proposed algorithms for DAB transmission modes I, II, III and IV. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm generates extremely accurate estimates with a low complexity irrespective of the symbol timing offset.

We propose a compact multi-channel 90 optical deflection device for short-distance optical interconnection. The device consists of stacked bent multimode optical waveguides having reflecting mirrors with bending angles of 90. The structure of the bent multimode optical waveguide with a bending angle of 90 was designed by ray-tracing simulations. The simulated insertion loss for each channel of the device was 0.5 dB. We also propose a simple fabrication process using a pair of multi-channel linear optical waveguides with symmetrical 45 mirrors. An 8-channel 90 optical deflection device was fabricated using polymer materials and basic operation was confirmed. Our device has good potential for use as a high-density optical interconnection device.

Recently optical-microwave interactions in the yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film have been extensively studied due to its importance in the new, high speed optical signal processing devices. In this work, we present the experimental results on the simultaneous operation of optical isolator and optical modulator in a microstrip line on YIG single crystal. Optical isolation of more than 20 dB has been observed experimentally together with optical modulation by magnetostatic backward volume wave (MSBVW) in the frequency range from 1.5 GHz to 4.5 GHz. Theoretical results on the combined isolator-modulator in magneto-optic media based on the tensor form of dielectric constant are also discussed.

An improved pulse shaper is proposed which is able to control both the spatial and temporal profile of femtosecond light pulses. Our pulse shaper exploits the spatio-temporal coupling effect seen in pulse shapers. Its properties are numerically analyzed by application of the Wigner distribution function. We confirm that the spatio-temporal output pulse track dictates the differentiation of the phase mask; that the degree of spatio-temporal coupling is determined by the focal length ratio of the lenses in the pulse shaper; and that space to spatial-frequency chirp results from misalignment of lenses.

12-channel DC to 622-Mbit/s/ch optical transmitter and receiver have been developed for high-capacity and rather long (about 100 m) bit-parallel raw data transmission in intra- and inter-cabinet interconnection of large-scale switching, routing and computing system. Bit-parallel raw data transmission is done by using a bit-by-bit operational automatic decision threshold control receiver circuit with a DC-coupled configuration, the pin-PDs with their anodes and cathodes separated in a channel-by-channel manner, and a receiver preamplifier with a low-pass filter. The transmitter consists of a 12-channel LD sub-assembly unit and a LD driver LSI. The LD sub-assembly unit consists of a 12-channel array of high temperature characteristic 1.3-µm planar buried hetero-structure (PBH) LDs and 62.5/125 graded-index multi-mode fibers (GI62.5 MMFs). The 1.3-µm PBH LDs and the GI62.5 MMFs are optically coupled by passively visual alignment technology on the Si V-groove. The receiver consists of a 12-channel pin-PD sub-assembly unit and a receiver LSI. The pin-PD sub-assembly unit consist of a 12-channel array of pin-PDs and GI62.5 MMFs. They are optically coupled by using a flip-chip bonding on the Si V-groove. The transmitter and receiver each have eleven data channels and one clock channel. The size is as small as 3.6 cc for each modules, and the power consumptions are 1.7 W (transmitter) and 1.35 W (receiver). They transmitted a bit-parallel raw data through a 100-meter ribbon of GI62.5 MMFs in an ambient temperature range of 0-70C. They provide a synchronous PECL interface parallel link for with a 3.3-V single power supply.

We have proposed parallel optical interconnection technology, or ParaBIT, for high-throughput, low-cost optical interconnections and already developed a prototype parallel optical interconnect module called "ParaBIT-0," which has a total throughput of 28 Gb/s (700 Mb/s 40 channels). We are now developing a compact, high-throughput module called "ParaBIT-1," which has a total throughput of 60 Gb/s (1.25 Gb/s 48 channels) and is designed to achieve the highest-ever throughput density of 3.3 Gb/s/cc. In this paper, we describe the packaging structure, optical coupling structure and transmission characteristics of ParaBIT-1. We also discuss the technical prospect of realizing a parallel optical interconnect module with the bit rate of 2.5 Gb/s/ch.

Error-free transmission of image fiber-optic two-dimensional (2-D) parallel interconnection using vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)/photodiode (PD) arrays is demonstrated. Simple constructions of transmitter/receiver modules are proposed. Optical alignment is achieved without power-monitoring. Crosstalk from an adjacent channel was -34 dB. Misalignment tolerance for a BER of less than 10-9 was 85 µm. The results clearly indicate that the interconnection system built around an image fiber and 2-D VCSEL/PD arrays has promise for use in the highly parallel high-density optical interconnects of the future.

In designing WLAN MAC protocols, several issues must be considered. Among them, the hidden-terminal and exposed-terminal problems are two of the most important issues. The hidden-terminal problem has been analyzed by many researchers and significant improvements have been made. The exposed-terminal problem, however, has not been fully considered in the design of WLAN MAC protocols. In this paper, we propose two protocols. In the first one, referred to as channel splitting protocol, the channel is split into two subchannels--the control channel and the data channel--to solve several problems inherent in existing protocols, including hidden terminal and exposed terminal problems. With channel splitting, a control frame is transmitted through the control channel alternatively of a data frame which is transmitted through the data channel. In the second protocol, referred to as RTR/ATR reservation protocol, hosts that want to transmit data reserve several slotted data channels in advance to increase performance, while the first protocol reserves only one transmission. In the second protocol, control frames are transmitted through the control channel independently of data frames. The performance of the proposed protocols is evaluated by simulation and compared with existing protocols.