In this letter, we propose a limited feedback precoding scheme based upon grassmannian beamforming and user selection for downlink multiuser MIMO systems. Conventional random beamforming scheme only enjoys significant performance gains with a large number of users, which limits its practical application. With proper codebook size the proposed scheme outperforms conventional random beamforming scheme when the number of users is small or moderate.

Digital watermarking is a technique that aims at hiding a message signal in a multimedia signal for copyright claim, authentication, device control, or broadcast monitoring, etc. In this paper, we focus on embedding watermarks into still images, where the watermarks themselves can be binary sequences or grayscale images. We propose to scramble the watermark bits with pseudo-noise (PN) or orthogonal codes before they are embedded into an image. We also try to incorporate error correction coding (ECC) into the watermarking scheme, anticipating reduction of the watermark bit error rate (WBER). Due to the similarity between the PN/orthogonal-coded watermarking and the spread spectrum communication, it is natural that, following similar derivations regarding data BER in digital communications, we derive certain explicit quantitative relationships regarding the tradeoff between the WBER, the watermark capacity (i.e. the number of watermark bits) and the distortion suffered by the original image, which is measured in terms of the embedded image's signal-to-noise ratio (abbreviated as ISNR). These quantitative relationships are compactly summarized into a so-called tradeoff triangle, which constitutes the major contribution of this paper. For the embedding of grayscale watermarks, an unequal error protection (UEP) scheme is proposed to provide different degrees of robustness for watermark bits of different degrees of significance. In this UEP scheme, optimal strength factors for embedding different watermark bits are sought so that the mean squared error suffered by the extracted watermark, which is by itself a grayscale image, is minimized while a specified ISNR is maintained.

In this paper we focus on the numerical simulation of the mixing behaviors of distributed superconducting junction arrays at 1.2 THz. A novel type of superconducting tunnel junctions, i.e., NbN/AlN/Nb, which have a relatively high gap voltage (4.3 mV) and can reach a critical current density as high as several tens of kA/cm2, are proposed for this characterization along with conventional Nb/AlOx/Nb junctions. The former is incorporated with a NbN/SiO2/Al tuning circuit, and the latter with a Nb/SiO2/Al and a NbTiN/SiO2/Al tuning circuits. The noise performance, local-oscillator power requirement, IF bandwidth, and optimum embedding impedance are thoroughly characterized for the two types of distributed superconducting junction arrays.

We propose a gradient-limited affine projection algorithm (GL-APA), which can achieve fast and double-talk-robust convergence in acoustic echo cancellation. GL-APA is derived from the M-estimation-based nonlinear cost function extended for evaluating multiple error signals dealt with in the affine projection algorithm (APA). By considering the nonlinearity of the gradient, we carefully formulate an update equation consistent with multiple input-output relationships, which the conventional APA inherently satisfies to achieve fast convergence. We also newly introduce a scaling rule for the nonlinearity, so we can easily implement GL-APA by using a predetermined primary function as a basis of scaling with any projection order. This guarantees a linkage between GL-APA and the gradient-limited normalized least-mean-squares algorithm (GL-NLMS), which is a conventional algorithm that corresponds to the GL-APA of the first order. The performance of GL-APA is demonstrated with simulation results.

Recently, we proposed space-time block coded-joint transmit/receive antenna diversity (STBC-JTRD) for narrow band transmission in a frequency-nonselective fading channel; it allows an arbitrary number of transmit antennas while limiting the number of receive antennas to 4. In this paper, we extend STBC-JTRD to the case of frequency-selective fading channels and propose frequency-domain STBC-JTRD for broadband direct sequence-spread spectrum (DSSS) signal transmission. A conditional bit error rate (BER) analysis is presented. The average BER performance in a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading is evaluated by Monte-Carlo numerical computation method using the derived conditional BER and is confirmed by computer simulation of the signal transmission. Performance comparison between frequency-domain STBC-JTRD transmission and joint space-time transmit diversity (STTD) and frequency-domain equalization (FDE) reception is also presented.

This paper presents a simple but high resolution DOA estimation method using second-order differential of MUSIC spectrum. MUSIC method is paid attention as one of "Superresolution" DOA estimation methods because of their brilliant characteristics, however MUSIC also has the problem of estimation accuracy in severe environments like low SNR, small number of snapshots, or incident waves from closely-spaced angles. Especially the case of two or more incident waves from closely-spaced angles, MUSIC often fails in making spectrum peaks that leads inaccurate DOA estimation. We pay attention to the fact that the second-order differential of MUSIC spectrum makes negative peaks around the original DOAs even when MUSIC spectrum does not make peaks there. We try to estimate DOAs not by MUSIC spectrum but by the second-order differential of the MUSIC spectrum, and to find its peaks for being estimated DOAs. The performance of the present method is evaluated in compared with MUSIC and Root-MUSIC methods through computer simulations and experiments.

High power consumption and slow access of enlarged and multiported register files make it difficult to design high performance superscalar processors. The clustered architecture, where the conventional monolithic register file is partitioned into several smaller register files, is expect to overcome the register file issues. In the clustered architecture, the more a monolithic register file is partitioned, the lower power and faster access register files can be realized. However, the partitioning causes losses of IPC (instructions per clock cycle) due to communication among register files. Therefore, degree of partitioning has a strong impact on the trade-off between power consumption and performance. In addition, the organization of partitioned register files also affects the trade-off. In this paper, we attempt to investigate appropriate degrees of partitioning and organizations of partitioned register files in a clustered architecture to assess the trade-off. From the results of execute-driven simulation, we find that the organization of register files and the degree of partitioning have a strong impact on the IPC, and the configuration with non-consistent register files can make use of the partitioned resources more effectively. From the results of register file access time and energy modeling, we find that the configurations with the highly partitioned non-consistent register file organization can receive benefit of the partitioning in terms of operating frequency and access energy of register files. Further, we examine relationship between IPS (instructions per second) and the product of IPC and operating frequency of register files. The results suggest that highly partitioned non-consistent configurations tends to gain more advantage in performance and power.

During these years, we have been focusing on developing ultra high-data-rate wireless access systems for future wireless multimedia communications. One of such kind of systems is called DPC-OF/TDMA (dynamic parameter controlled orthogonal frequency and time division multiple access) which targets at beyond 100 Mbps data rate. In order to support higher data rates, e.g., several hundreds of Mbps or even Gbps for future wireless multimedia applications (e.g., streaming video and file transfer), it is necessary to enhance DPC-OF/TDMA system based on MIMO-OFDM (multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) platform. In this paper, we propose an enhanced DPC-OF/TDMA system based on Multi-Layer MIMO-OFDM scheme which combines both diversity and multiplexing in order to exploit potentials of both techniques. The performance investigation shows the proposed scheme has better performance than its counterpart based on full-multiplexing MIMO-OFDM scheme. In addition to the Exhaustive Detection (EXD) scheme which applies the same detection algorithm on each subcarrier independently, we propose the Reduced-Complexity Detection (RCD) scheme. The complexity reduction is achieved by exploiting the suboptimal Layer Detection Order and subcarrier correlation. The simulation results show that huge complexity can be reduced with very small performance loss, by using the proposed detection scheme. For example, 60.7% complexity can be cut off with only 1.1 dB performance loss for the 88 enhanced DPC-OF/TDMA system.

A normal-distribution-function-shaped superconducting tunnel junction (NDF-STJ) which consists of Nb/Al-AlOx/Al/Nb has been fabricated as an X-ray detector. Current - voltage characteristics were measured at 0.4 K using three kinds of STJs, which have the dispersion parameters σ of 0.25, 0.45 and 0.75. These STJs showed very low subgap leakage current of about 5 nA. By irradiating with 5.9 keV X-rays, we obtained the spectrum of these NDF-STJs. They showed good energy resolution with small magnetic fields of below 3 mT, which is about one-tenth of those for conventional-shaped STJs.

In the case of miniaturized telemetry capsules, such as a capsule endoscope that can acquire and transmit images from the intestines, the size and the power consumption of the module are restricted. In the capsule endoscopes, it is desirable that the control function can capacitate the sampling of digestive fluid and tissue, drug delivery, and locomotion. In this paper, the control function was embodied by bi-directional communication. A CPLD (complex programmable logic device) controller was designed and implemented for the bi-directional communication in capsule endoscope. The diameter of capsule was 12 mm and the length was 30 mm. The performance of implemented capsule was verified by in-vivo animal experiments.

This paper proposes low-complexity blind detection for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems with the differential space-time block code (DSTBC) under time-varying frequency-selective Rayleigh fading. The detector employs the maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) in cooperation with the blind linear prediction (BLP), of which prediction coefficients are determined by the method of Lagrange multipliers. Interpolation of channel frequency responses is also applied to the detector in order to reduce the complexity. A complexity analysis and computer simulations demonstrate that the proposed detector can reduce the complexity to about a half, and that the complexity reduction causes only a loss of 1 dB in average Eb/N0 at BER of 10-3 when the prediction order and the degree of polynomial approximation are 2 and 1, respectively.

An interference prediction scheme is proposed for power control in packet-switched TDMA wireless networks. The prediction scheme is based on the interacting multiple model (IMM) estimator, and it is effective to a wide range of nonstationary dynamic characteristics of the interference power. Numerical experiments show that, compared with a scheme based on a Kalman filter, the IMM estimator-based scheme predicts the interference power more accurately and allows us to adjust the transmit power more efficiently in achieving a desired level of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR).

In recent years, digital watermarking has become a popular technique for hiding information in digital images to help protect against copyright infringement. In this paper we develop a high quality and robust watermarking algorithm that combines the advantages of block-based permutation with that of neighboring coefficient embedding. The proposed approach uses the relationship between the coefficients of neighboring blocks to hide more information into high frequency blocks without causing serious distortion to the watermarked image. In addition, an extraction method for improving robustness to mid-frequency filter attacks is proposed. Our experimental results show that the proposed approach is very effective in achieving perceptual imperceptibility. Moreover, the proposed approach is robust to a variety of signal processing operations, such as compression (JPEG), image cropping, sharpening, blurring, and brightness adjustments. The robustness is especially evident under blurring attack.

This paper proposes a new blind adaptive MLSE equalizer for frequency selective mobile radio channels. The proposed equalizer performs channel estimation for each survivor path of the Viterbi algorithm (VA), and restricts the number of symbol candidates for the channel estimation in order to reduce prohibitive complexity. In such channel estimation, autocorrelation matrices of the symbol candidates are likely to become singular, which increases the estimation error. To cope with the singularity, the proposed equalizer employs a recursive channel estimation algorithm using the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse of the autocorrelation matrix. As another problem, the blind channel estimation can yield plural optimal estimates of a channel impulse response, and the ambiguity of the estimates degrades the BER performance. To avoid this ambiguity, the proposed equalizer is enhanced so that it can take advantage of the fractional sampling. The enhanced equalizer performs symbol-spaced channel estimation for each fractional sampling phase. This equalizer combines separate channel estimation errors, and provides the sum to the VA processor as the branch metric, which tremendously reduces the probability that a correct estimate turns into a false one. Computer simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed equalizers in the frequency selective fading channels.

3-D sound using head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) is applicable to embedded systems such as portable devices, since it can create spatial sound effect without multichannel transducers. Low-order modeling of HRTF with an IIR filter is effective for the reduction of the computational load required in embedded applications. Although modeling of HRTFs with IIR filters has been studied earnestly, little attention has been paid to sound movement with IIR filters, which is important for practical applications of 3-D sound. In this paper, a practical method for sound movement is proposed, which utilizes time-varying IIR filters and variable delay filters. The computational cost for sound movement is reduced by about 50% with the proposed method, compared to conventional low-order FIR implementation. In order to facilitate efficient implementation of 3-D sound movement, tradeoffs between the subjective quality of the output sound and implementation parameters such as the size of filter coefficient database and the update period of filter coefficients are also discussed.

The effects of wall reflection on indoor MIMO channel capacity are statistically investigated with consideration of the average received power, the effective degrees of freedom (EDOF) of multipaths and the eigenvalues of transfer channel covariance matrix. It is found that the stronger wall reflection can lead to higher MIMO channel capacity.

The utilization of a high-Tc superconductor for implementing a superconducting qubit is to be expected. Recent researches on the quantum property of Josephson junctions in high-Tc superconductors indicate that the low energy quasiparticle excitation is weak enough to observe the macroscopic quantum tunneling. Therefore, a detailed study on the quantum property of high-Tc Josephson junctions becomes more important for applications. We show our experimental results of the macroscopic tunneling of current biased intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi-2212 and its resonant activation in the presence of microwave radiation.

When a cylindrically curved concave conducting surface is terminated abruptly at the edge, the whispering gallery (WG) mode propagating toward the edge direction is radiated into the free space from the aperture plane at the edge. In this paper, by applying the new analysis method, we shall derive a uniform geometrical theory of diffraction solution (UTD) for the electric-type WG mode radiation field applicable in the transition region near the geometrical boundaries produced by the incident modal ray on the edge of the curved surface. The UTD is represented by the summation of the solution for the geometrical ray converted from the modal ray of the WG mode and the solution for the uniform edge diffracted ray scattered at the cylindrically curved edge. By comparing with the reference solution obtained numerically from the integral representation of the radiation field, we will confirm the validity and the utility of the UTD proposed in this paper.

This paper is intended to provide an alternative approach for the design of FIR filters by using a Hopfield Neural Network (HNN). The proposed approach establishes the error function between the amplitude response of the desired FIR filter and the designed one as a Lyapunov energy function to find the HNN parameters. Using the framework of HNN, the optimal filter coefficients can be obtained from the output state of the network. With the advantages of local connectivity, regularity and modularity, the architecture of the proposed approach can be applied to the design of differentiators and Hilbert transformer with significantly reduction of computational complexity and hardware cost. As the simulation results illustrate, the proposed neural-based method is capable of achieving an excellent performance for filter design.

Context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) is the major entropy-coding algorithm employed in H.264/AVC. Although the performance gain of H.264/AVC is mainly due to CABAC, it is difficult to achieve a fast decoder because the decoding algorithm is basically sequential and computationally intensive. In this letter, a prediction scheme is proposed that enhances overall decoding performance by decoding two binary symbols at a time. A CABAC decoder based on the proposed prediction scheme improves the decoding performance by 24% compared to conventional decoders.