In the future, more and more network providers will be established through the introduction of an open telecommunications market. At this time, it is necessary to guarantee the fair competition between these network providers. In this paper, a negotiation protocol for connection establishment is proposed. This negotiation protocol is based on the concept of open, competitive bidding and can guarantee fair competition between the network providers. In this negotiation protocol, each network providers objective is to maximize its profit. Conversely, each users objective is to select a network provider which will supply as much capacity as required. Employing this negotiation protocol, the users and the network providers can select each other based on their objectives. In this paper, adaptation strategies which network providers and users can adopt under the proposed negotiation protocol framework are also discussed. A network provider which adopts this strategy can obtain enough profit even when the number of connection requests is small relative to the idle bandwidth capacity. Moreover, a user who adopts this strategy can be sure to obtain bandwidth even when the idle bandwidth capacity is small relative to the number of connection requests.

This paper introduces an error controlled decision feedback (ECDF) multiuser receiver, which integrates a successive canceller with linear block channel coding to mitigate decision error propagation. In particular, it uses a switching successive cancellation feedback loop, which can be open if excessive bit errors occur to prevent decision error propagation. The results of computer simulation show that the ECDF receiver possesses advantages in terms of near-far resistance and BER over many reported schemes.

In this paper, Wavelength Division Multiple access (WDM) ring is proposed for interconnection in workstation clusters or parallel machines. This network consists of ring connected routers each of which selectively passes signals addressed in some particular wavelengths. Other wavelengths are once converted to electric signals, and re-transmitted being addressed in different wavelengths. Wavelengths are assigned to divisors of the number of nodes in the system. Using the regular WDM ring with imaginary nodes, the diameter and average distance are reduced even if the number of nodes has few divisors. It provides better diameter and average distance than that of the uni-directional torus. Although the diameter and average distance is worse than that of ShuffleNet, the physical structure of the WDM ring is simple and the available number of nodes is flexible.

Co-channel interference is a major deteriorating factor limiting the capacity of mobile communication systems. To mitigate the effect of the interference, a kind of nonlinear interference canceller named trellis-coded co-channel interference canceller (TCC) has been proposed. In TCC the trellis-coded modulation (TCM) is introduced to both the desired signal and the interference signal in order to enhance the cancelling performance. In this paper, the bit error rate (BER) performance of TCC in static channel is theoretically evaluated for the first time. An equivalent TCM (E-TCM) model is firstly established, and a BER asymptotic estimate (AE) and a BER upper bound (UB) of TCC are then evaluated respectively by analyzing E-TCM. In the evaluation of AE, the BER performance is calculated as a function of phase difference between the desired signal and the interference signal (φ), subsequently the average BER performance over φ can be evaluated. The UB of BER is calculated using a transfer function based on the matrix representation. This paper also demonstrates that AE gives higher accuracy and less calculation complexity than UB. Performance comparisons reveal the consistency of these theoretical results with that of computer simulations.

Despite the fact that the necessity of FDT (formal description techniques) had been emphasized, many approaches to verifying feature interactions were insufficient. This paper proposes formal definitions for feature interactions which can occur when telecommunication services specified independently are operated in parallel. Seven types of feature interactions are defined formally.

Handprinted Chinese character recognition (HCCR) can be classified into two major approaches: statistical and structural. While neither of these two approaches can lead to a total and practical solution for HCCR, integrating them to take advantages of both seems to be a promising and obviously feasible approach. But, how to integrate them would be a big issue. In this paper, we propose an integrated HCCR system. The system starts from a statistical phase. This phase uses line-density-distribution-based features extracted after nonlinear normalization to guarantee that different writing variations of the same character have similar feature vectors. It removes accurately and efficiently the impossible candidates and results in a final candidate set. Then follows the structural phase, which inherits the line segments used in the statistical phase and extracts a set of stroke substructures as features. These features are used to discriminate the similar characters in the final candidate set and hence improve the recognition rate. Tested by using a large set of characters in a handprinted Chinese character database, the proposed HCCR system is robust and can achieve 96 percent accuracy for characters in the first 100 variations of the database.

It is important to test the various kinds of interconnect faults between chips on a card/module. When boundary scan design techniques are adopted, the chip to chip interconnection test generation and application of test patterns is greatly simplified. Various test generation algorithms have been developed for interconnect faults. A new interconnect test generation algorithm is introduced. It reduces the number of test patterns by half over present techniques. It also guarantees the complete diagnosis of multiple interconnect faults.

Users of computer communication systems and their requirements are rapidly increasing and changing. In order to deal such a situation a rapid development method of communication systems is necessary. One of the such development methods is to change an existing specification of the system to obtain the desired specification of the system. However, a very little work has been done to support making changes in formal specifications. In this paper, we propose a mechanism for making changes in formal protocol specifications by adding protocol functions in an existing protocol specification.

The structure of bidirectional syndrome decoding for binary rate (n-1)/n convolutional codes is investigated. It is shown that for backward decoding based on the trellis of a syndrome former HT, the syndrome sequence must be generated in time-reversed order using an extra syndrome former H*T, where H* is a generator matrix of the reciprocal dual code of the original code. It is also shown that if the syndrome bits are generated once and only once using HT and H*T, then the corresponding two error sequences have the intersection of n error symbols, where is the memory length of HT.

In the floorplan design problem, soft blocks can take various rectilinear shapes. The conventional floorplanning methods, however, restrict their shapes only to rectangle. As a result, waste area often remains in the layout. Some floorplanning methods have been developed to handle rectilinear hard blocks, however, no floorplanning methods have been developed to optimize rectilinear soft blocks. In this paper, we propose a floorplanning method which places rectilinear soft blocks. The advantages of the method are reducing both waste area and wire length. We present Separate-Rejoin method which efficiently forms rectilinear shapes for soft blocks. The result is obtained quickly because the method is based on the slicing structure in spite of handling rectilinear block. Thus, our method is suitable for practical use in terms of layout area, wire length and processing time. We applied our method to a benchmark example and an industrial data. For the benchmark example, our method reduces waste area by 25% and wire length by 13% in comparison with the conventional rectangular soft block approach.

Repeaterless transmission system design employing remote pumping in a single fiber is clarified. The design is aimed to realize cost effective submarine transmission systems with easy maintenance. Remote pumping in a single fiber can extend repeaterless transmission distance without decreasing the system capacity per cable. It is applicable for high-count-fiber cable such as the 100-fiber submarine cable already developed. A simple but effective system configuration is presented that uses remote pumping from receiver end; both remote-pre erbium-doped fiber (EDF) amplification and backward pumping Raman amplification are employed. Stable transmission can be obtained without optical isolators, therefore the optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) method is supported by this system. Three fiber configurations, which consist of dispersion shifted fiber (DSF), pure silica core fiber (PSCF) and a combination of DSF and PSCF, are examined to compare system performance. Remote-pre EDF is optimized in terms of length and location from receiver end by optical SNR (OSNR) calculations. Maximum signal output power is also determined through a waveform simulation based on the split-step Fourier method, in order to avoid waveform distortion caused by the combined effect of self-phase modulation (SPM) and group velocity dispersion (GVD). Through these calculations and simulations, we confirm the proposed repeaterless transmission system performance of 600Mbit/s-451 km with PSCF, 2. 5 Gbit/s-407 km with DSF + PSCF, and 10 Gbit/s-376 km with DSF+PSCF, which include system margin.

A training data selection method is proposed for multilayer neural networks (MLNNs). This method selects a small number of the training data, which guarantee both generalization and fast training of the MLNNs applied to pattern classification. The generalization will be satisfied using the data locate close to the boundary of the pattern classes. However, if these data are only used in the training, convergence is slow. This phenomenon is analyzed in this paper. Therefore, in the proposed method, the MLNN is first trained using some number of the data, which are randomly selected (Step 1). The data, for which the output error is relatively large, are selected. Furthermore, they are paired with the nearest data belong to the different class. The newly selected data are further paired with the nearest data. Finally, pairs of the data, which locate close to the boundary, can be found. Using these pairs of the data, the MLNNs are further trained (Step 2). Since, there are some variations to combine Steps 1 and 2, the proposed method can be applied to both off-line and on-line training. The proposed method can reduce the number of the training data, at the same time, can hasten the training. Usefulness is confirmed through computer simulation.

Coulombs law of friction, in which the coefficient of friction is constant independently of apparent area of contact and applied load, is deduced from the modern adhesion theory. That is, the friction resistance is caused by shearing of solid/solid junctions which are formed through plastic deformation of surface asperities of mating solids. In so-called point contact, on the other hand, different experimental results from Coulombs law have been sometimes reported. In these cases, coefficient of friction is not constant, but reduces with increasing normal load. A weighty interpretation for these facts developed formerly is that Hertzian contact area acts as an effective zone to generate the friction resistance. This interpretation has, however, an important doubt, as the Hertzian contact area is not formed through plastic but through elastic deformation of solids. If the friction resistance is generated in an elastic contact area, the adhesion theory of friction would be shaken at its standing basis. To give an explanation of this inconsistency between the experimental facts reported previously and the adhesion theory of friction, the authors propose a new idea in this paper. The plastic deformation occurs at surface asperities even in Hertzian contact. If the rubbing condition is kept dry, the friction resistance would be generated only at those plastically deformed zone dotted in the elastic contact area, so that Coulombs law is realized. If the rubbing condition is kept wet, the clearance between mating surfaces in the elastic contact zone is filled with any lubricant or contaminant molecules, the friction resistance would be generated through shearing of them within the Hertzian area. In this case, the coefficient of friction would be proportional to(load)-1/3, which is close to observational facts reported previously. An experimental verification made in this study can describe the authors proposal.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of multiple diffraction rings of a cw Ar+ laser beam from a nitrobenzene solution of BDN (bis-(4-dimethylaminodithiobenzil)-nickel) caused by the spatial self-phase modulation. We examine in detail the effect of the intensity and phase shift profiles of the beam in the nonlinear medium by comparing the measured ring patterns with the theoretical results based on the Fraunhofer diffraction. Although the thickness of the sample is only 180 µm in our experiment, it is found that the intensity and phase shift profiles are broadened owing to the self-defocusing effect. It is also found that the phase shift profile is further broadened by the thermal diffusion. These two effects become remarkable when the focused beam is used.

A simulation model for natural convection was developed for determining the surface temperature distribution in base plates with rectangular vertical fins in communication equipment. An estimated velocity derived from the buoyancy and pressure drop equations in a duct was used for laminar forced convection cooling simulations in parallel plates. Temperature distributions in finned plates were calculated by numerical integration of the heat conduction equation. An experimental study was also performed, to check these simulation results, by changing the height of fins, the pitch of fins, and the heat generation conditions. Experimental results and analytical results were found to agree well. Also, this simulation method was extended to analyze natural convection cooling in vertical base plates with inclined parallel fins. We placed alternately on the plates the sections without fins and the sections with fins on the plates. Using the inclined fins, air flow rate between fins was large and fresh air flew into the fins from the side of the plates. The natural convective heat-transfer rate for inclined fins was found to be 14% higher than that for vertical fins.

A more judicious choice of trial functions to implement the Improved Circuit Theory (ICT) application to multi-element antennas is achieved. These new trial functions, based on Tai's modified variational implementation for single element antennas, leads to an ICT implementation applicable to much longer co-planar dipole arrays. The accuracy of the generalized impedance formulas is in good agreement with the method of moments. Moreover, all these generalized formulas including the radiation pattern expressions are all in closed-form. This leads to an ICT implementation which still requires much shorter CPU time and lesser computer storage compared to method of moments. Thus, for co-planar dipole arrays, the proposed implementation presents a relatively very efficient method and would therefore be found useful in applications such as CAD/CAE systems.

An adaptive array has been proposed as a canceller for both inter-symbol interference (ISI) and co-channel interference (CCI). However, it has no path-diversity gain since it selects just one signal correlated to the reference signal. In this paper, a novel interference canceller having sufficient path-diversity gain is proposed. The canceller is characterized by the combined configuration of an adaptive array and an equalizer. In the proposed system, a pre-selecting adaptive array is installed first. By employing a specific training sequence and sampling timing at the receiver during the training period, the perfect correlation between the "desired signal" and "short delayed" is achieved. Therefore, the pre-selecting adaptive array can extract the desired and ISI signals simultaneously, and the cascaded adaptive equalizer can provide the path-diversity gain without degradation by interference. The proposed system achieves a simple configuration and robustness against both ISI and CCI with a sufficient path diversity gain. In computer simulations, average BER characteristics of the proposed system were evaluated in a quasi-static Rayleigh fading channel. The simulation results showed that the system can reduce both long-delayed ISI and CCI efficiently, and that the expected path diversity gain is obtained even with strong CCI. They also showed that the degradation is not so serious when the number of antenna elements is less than that of incoming signals.

Time series prediction is very important technology in a wide variety of fields. The actual time series contains both linear and nonlinear properties. The amplitude of the time series to be predicted is usually continuous value. For these reasons, we combine nonlinear and linear predictors in a cascade form. The nonlinear prediction problem is reduced to a pattern classification. A set of the past samples x(n-1),. . . ,x(n-N) is transformed into the output, which is the prediction of the next coming sample x(n). So, we employ a multi-layer neural network with a sigmoidal hidden layer and a single linear output neuron for the nonlinear prediction. It is called a Nonlinear Sub-Predictor (NSP). The NSP is trained by the supervised learning algorithm using the sample x(n) as a target. However, it is rather difficult to generate the continuous amplitude and to predict linear property. So, we employ a linear predictor after the NSP. An FIR filter is used for this purpose, which is called a Linear Sub-Predictor (LSP). The LSP is trained by the supervised learning algorithm using also x(n) as a target. In order to estimate the minimum size of the proposed predictor, we analyze the nonlinearity of the time series of interest. The prediction is equal to mapping a set of past samples to the next coming sample. The multi-layer neural network is good for this kind of pattern mapping. Still, difficult mappings may exist when several sets of very similar patterns are mapped onto very different samples. The degree of difficulty of the mapping is closely related to the nonlinearity. The necessary number of the past samples used for prediction is determined by this nonlinearity. The difficult mapping requires a large number of the past samples. Computer simulations using the sunspot data and the artificially generated discrete amplitude data have demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed predictor and the nonlinearity analysis.

We discuss the uniqueness of 3-D shape reconstruction of a polyhedron from a single shading image. First, we analytically show that multiple convex (and concave) shape solutions usually exist for a simple polyhedron if interreflections are not considered. Then we propose a new approach to uniquely determine the concave shape solution using interreflections as a constraint. An example, in which two convex and two concave shapes were obtained from a single shaded image for a trihedral corner, has been given by Horn. However, how many solutions exist for a general polyhedron wasn't described. We analytically show that multiple convex (and concave) shape solutions usually exist for a pyramid using a reflectance map, if interreflection distribution is not considered. However, if interreflection distribution is used as a constraint that limits the shape solution for a concave polyhedron, the polyhedral shape can be uniquely determined. Interreflections, which were considered to be deleterious in conventional approaches, are used as a constraint to determine the shape solution in our approach.

We propose a robust detection scheme by employing an order statistic filter as a preprocessor of the input signal. For ease of design, the variance of the order statistic filtered output is modeled by proposing an approximate upper bound. The detector is analytically designed using a fixed sample size (FSS) test scheme. The performance of the proposed detector is compared to that of other robust detectors in terms of the sample size required for given false alarm and miss detection probabilities. Finally, analytical results are verified by computer simulation.