A universal channel decoder for a given family of channels is a decoder that can be designed without prior knowledge of the characteristics of the channel. Nevertheless, it still attains the same random coding error exponent as the optimal decoder tuned to the channel. This paper investigates the duality between universal channel decoders and universal source encoders. First, for the family of finite-state channels, we consider a sufficient condition for constructing universal channel decoders from universal source encoders. Next, we show the existence of a universal channel code that does not depend on the choice of the universal decoder.

A periodic approach introduced previously is applied to the TM wave scattering from a finite periodic surface. A mathematical relation is proposed to estimate the scattering amplitude from the diffraction amplitude for the periodic surface, where the periodic surface is defined as a superposition of surface profiles generated by displacing the finite periodic surface by every integer multiple of the period . From numerical examples, it is concluded that the scattering cross section for the finite periodic surface can be well estimated from the diffraction amplitude for a sufficiently large .

The current-voltage characteristics of InP-based HBTs with InAlAs-InP composite emitters have been measured as a function of the thickness of the InP layer in the emitter. As the thickness varies, characteristics such as the gain and the ideality factor vary qualitatively as expected from the changes in position of the InAlAs barrier in the emitter. Quantitatively, however, the variations indicate that the interfaces vary systematically with InP thickness, becoming more abrupt for emitters with thicker InP layers.

RC6 is a common-key block cipher that was proposed as one of the AES candidates. Although any weakness of RC6 in the use of the confidentiality is not known, Saarinen pointed out the existence of almost equivalent keys in RC6 with 176-byte keys. This means that the Davies-Meyer hash function based on RC6 with 176-byte keys is not a good collision-resistance function. However, Saarinen could not find a precise collision of it. In this paper, we propose a practical method for obtaining a collision of the Davies-Meyer hash function based on RC6-32/20/176. In other words, there exist equivalent user supplied keys in RC6-32/20/176, and it is possible to obtain them practically. This means that the essential key space of RC6-32/20/176 is smaller than the space provided by 176-byte keys. Our computer simulation shows that a collision can be found in about 100 minutes. We should notice that the result of this paper does not affect the security of the AES version of RC6 because RC6-32/20/176 discussed in this paper is different from the parameter of the AES version.

We study the reliability functions or the minimum r-achievable rates of the lossless coding for the general sources in the sense of Han-Verdu, where r means the exponent of the error probability. Han has obtained formulas for the minimum r-achievable rates of the general sources. Our aim is to give alternative expressions for the minimum r-achievable rates. Our result seems to be a natural extension of the known results for the stationary memoryless sources and Markov sources.

In variable-length coding, the probability of codeword length per source letter being above (resp. below) a prescribed threshold is called the overflow (resp. the underflow) probability. In this paper, we show that the infimum achievable threshold given the overflow probability exponent r always coincides with the infimum achievable fixed-length coding rate given the error exponent r, without any assumptions on the source. In the case of underflow probability, we also show the similar results. From these results, we can utilize various theorems and results on the fixed-length coding established by Han for the analysis of overflow and underflow probabilities. Moreover, we generalize the above results to the case with overflow and underflow probabilities of codeword cost.

The reduction of the drain current for InGaAs/AlGaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (PHEMTs) has been observed due to the RIE-damage induced under the gate region. However, it has been found that the drain current can be recovered after the gate-drain reverse current stress even at room temperature. The recovery rate of the drain current strongly depends on the gate-drain reverse current density. The activation energy of the recovery rate has been confirmed to decrease from 0.531 eV to 0.119 eV under the gate-drain reverse current stress. This phenomenon can be understood as a recombination enhanced defect reaction of holes generated by the avalanche breakdown. The non-radiative recombination of holes at the defect level is believed to enhance the recovery of the RIE-damage.

A class E low dv/dt PWM synchronous rectifier regulating the output voltage at a fixed frequency is presented, analyzed and verified experimentally. This rectifier is derived from the class E low dv/dt rectifier by replacing the controlled switch (MOSFET with its anti-parallel diode) with the rectifier diode in class E low dv/dt rectifier, and by using the synchronized PWM signal to control the output voltage at desired value. The ZVS condition of the controlled switch can be maintained from full-loaded to open-loaded. The experimental results measured at switching frequency 1 MHz are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction.

The boundary integral equation (BIE) on interior walls with surface impedance conditions is implemented to the iterative physical optics method and how to treat the singularities involved in the BIE of an impedance cavity is described. Singular integrals over a rectangular region can be represented by simple elementary functions.

Today, people want highly-customized products to satisfy their individual requirements. However traditional manufacturing technology is not geared towards high-mix, low-volume manufacturing. Holonic Manufacturing Systems (HMS) is a new paradigm to bridge this divide. HMS offers enterprises a new breed of technology to continuously reconfigure themselves to manufacture a larger variety of products in smaller batch sizes, and do this profitably. A suitable metaphor for implementing the holonic manufacturing system is the emerging IEC function block architecture. The paper describes how function blocks can be used to build such holonic manufacturing systems. We also illustrate the merits of our approach through a real-world engine assembly line being developed by DaimlerChrysler.

Due to the advancements in Information Technology, such as the Internet and the presence of fierce competition in the market, the business environment is changing rapidly. To cope with these dynamic changes, heterogeneous systems are now required to integrate in order to form alliances with different business units or within individual business units. Since business operations can not be stopped to carry out these changes in the existing systems, the systems are required to integrate flexibly, preserving each constituent's individual characteristics. By implementing Atomic Action through a gateway and across constituent systems in a Heterogeneous Autonomous Decentralized System (HADS), higher degrees of assurance can be achieved through cooperation. However, if all the transactions are passed through a gateway, the response time worsens and the result cannot be obtained within an appropriate timeframe. Hence, a new technique of suppressing the flow passing through the gateway, while achieving a maximum number of successful transaction within the appropriate timeframe, is required.

We describe a new system for high-speed wireless access systems between base stations and mobile terminals. In the proposed system, the base station has an array antenna and tracks mobile terminals by using a new tracking algorithm. A radio-on-fiber technique is used to simplify and miniaturize the components of the base station. Estimating the direction-of-arrival of the signals from a mobile terminal is important in implementing the proposed system. We propose a new tracking algorithm that uses directions-of-arrival, angular velocities of mobile terminals, and scatter modeling in multipath communications channels to improve the tracking performance. We also developed experimental equipment to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed millimeter-wave broadband wireless access system and the efficiency of the tracking algorithm using an array antenna system. In this paper, we describe our system and present a new approach for tracking mobile terminals, which is the key feature of the system. We also discuss our simulation and experimental results.

A new algorithm for the maximum a posteriori (MAP) decoding of linear block codes is presented. The proposed algorithm can be regarded as a conventional BCJR algorithm for a section trellis diagram, where branch metrics of the trellis are computed by the recursive MAP algorithm proposed by the authors. The decoding complexity of the proposed algorithm depends on the sectionalization of the trellis. A systematic way to find the optimum sectionalization which minimizes the complexity is also presented. Since the algorithm can be regarded as a generalization of both of the BCJR and the recursive MAP algorithms, the complexity of the proposed algorithm cannot be larger than those algorithms, as far as the sectionalization is chosen appropriately.

This paper proposes a precise method of realizing simultaneous measurement of microscopic defects and the macroscopic three-dimensional shapes of planar objects having specular reflection surfaces. The direction vector field of surface tilt is evaluated directly by the introduction of a moving slit-light technique based on computer graphic animation. A reflected image created by the moving slit-light is captured by a video camera, and the image sequence of the slit-light deformation is analyzed. The obtained direction vector field of the surface tilt recovers the surface shape by means of integration. Two sample objects, a concave mirror and a plane plastic injection molding, are tested to measure the performance of the proposed method. Surface anomalies such as surface dent and warpage are detected quantitatively at a high resolution (about 0.2 [µm]) and a high accuracy (about 95%) in a wide area (about 15 [cm]) of the test object.

A new architecture and methods for an enhanced autonomous decentralized production system (EADPS) are described. This EADPS was developed to ensure high flexibility of production systems consisting of intelligent devices based on the autonomous decentralized system model and to guarantee the time used for communication to simultaneously maintain high productivity. The system architecture of the EADPS guarantees the time by managing groups of nodes and the priorities in these groups. A bit-arbitration method is used to prevent collision of messages. The nodes autonomously check the waveforms in the network and terminate transmission when the nodes with a higher priority are transmitting. A parallel-filtering method is used to speed up message acceptance. The nodes check the identifiers of the messages using parallel-filtering circuits and each node determines autonomously where a message should be accepted or not. Implementing the system architecture and these methods as circuits and integrating the circuits into a chip using system LSI technologies resulted in low-cost implementation of the system. Experimental evaluation demonstrated the effectiveness of this system.

Near-optimality of subcodes of the cyclic Hamming codes is demonstrated on the binary additive channel whose noise process is the two-state homogeneous Markov chain, which is a model of bursty communication channels.

We report the process flow and technological features of Infineons' 75 GHz bipolar technology, which is characterized by a double-poly self-aligned transistor structure and a SiGe base, grown by selective epitaxy. The dependence of the epitaxial deposition on growth conditions and the influence of layout on the growth process is discussed, especially for different kinds of reticles: bipolar-ICs, BICMOS-ICs and discrete semiconductors. Finally, our monitoring concept for the control of the selective SiGe epitaxy is presented and compared with alternative methods of process control.

Simulation based education and training, especially wargame simulations, are being used widely in the field of defense modeling and in simulation communities. In order to efficiently train students and trainees, the wargame simulations must have both high performance and high fidelity. In this paper, we discuss design and implementation issues for a prototype of a parallel and distributed wargame simulation system. This wargame simulation system is based on High Level Architecture (HLA) and employs some optimization to achieve both high performance and high fidelity in the simulation system. The results show that the proposed optimization method is effective when optimization is applied to 93.5% or less of the moving objects (PFs) within the range of detection (RofD) of both the red and blue teams. Specifically, when each team has 1000 PFs we found that if the percentage of PFs within RofD is less than 50% for both teams, our method is over two times better than for the situation where there is no optimization.

The present paper treats the analysis and design method of the (H)NRD guide and E-plane rectangular waveguide integrated structures on the basis of the transverse resonance technique. The analysis is made by assuming a resonant cavity short-circuited at appropriate reference planes and considering the cavity as a waveguide discontinuity problem in the transverse direction. The resonant lengths are determined from the transverse equivalent circuit, and the scattering parameters are calculated from the lengths. We analyze (H)NRD discontinuities and design two types of HNRD guide to E-plane waveguide transitions and a directional coupler composed of HNRD and E-plane waveguide. The theoretical results are in good agreement with results calculated by an EM-simulator.

Most of the image restoration filters proposed so far include parameters that control the restoration properties. For bringing out the optimal restoration performance, these parameters should be determined so as to minimize a certain error measure such as the mean squared error (MSE) between the restored image and original image. However, this is not generally possible since the unknown original image itself is required for evaluating MSE. In this paper, we derive an estimator of MSE called the subspace information criterion (SIC), and propose determining the parameter values so that SIC is minimized. For any linear filter, SIC gives an unbiased estimate of the expected MSE over the noise. Therefore, the proposed method is valid for any linear filter. Computer simulations with the moving-average filter demonstrate that SIC gives a very accurate estimate of MSE in various situations, and the proposed procedure actually gives the optimal parameter values that minimize MSE.