Most conventional methods used in character recognition extract geometrical features, such as stroke direction and connectivity, and compare them with reference patterns in a stored dictionary. Unfortunately, geometrical features are easily degraded by blurs and stains, and by the graphical designs such as used in Japanese newspaper headlines. This noise must be removed before recognition commences, but no preprocessing method is perfectly accurate. This paper proposes a method for recognizing degraded characters as well as characters printed on graphical designs. This method extracts features from binary images, and a new similarity measure, the complementary similarity measure, is used as a discriminant function; it compares the similarity and dissimilarity of binary patterns with reference dictionary patterns. Experiments are conducted using the standard character database ETL-2, which consists of machine-printed Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, alphanumeric, and special characters. The results show that our method is much more robust against noise than the conventional geometrical-feature method. It also achieves high recognition rates of over 97% for characters with textured foregrounds, over 99% for characters with textured backgrounds, over 98% for outline fonts and over 99% for reverse contrast characters. The experiments for recognizing both the fontstyles and character category show that it also achieves high recognition rates against noise.

This paper describes advances in the study of handwritten Kanji character recognition mainly performed in Japan. The research focus has shifted from the investigation of the possibility of recognition by the stroke structure analysis method to the study of the feasibility of recognition by the feature matching methods. A great number of features and their extraction methods have been proposed according to this approach. On the other hand, studies on pattern matching methods of recognizing Kanji characters using the character pattern itself have been made. The research efforts based on these two approaches have led to the empirical fact that handwritten Kanji character recognition would become more effective by paying greater attention to the feature of directionality. Furthermore, in an effort to achieve recognition with higher precision, active research work has been carried out on pre-processing techniques, such as the forced reshaping of input pattern, the development of more effective features, and nonlinear flexible matching algorithms. In spite of these efforts, the current character recognition techniques represent only a skill of guessing characters" and are still on an insufficient technical level. Subsequent studies on character recognition must address the question of how to understand characters".

A refection type and loaded-line type phase shifter switching multi phase-states has been described. This novel phase shifter circuit is constructed by adding switching FETs to a conventional 2-phase-state phase shifter. A conventional 3 bit phase shifter can be replaced by this type of phase shifter. The total chip size is reduced to 2/3. This paper reports on the design, fabrication, and performance of the novel reflection-type and loaded-line-type phase shifter MMICs.

This paper compares some popular character recognition techniques which have been proposed until today. 17 feature extraction methods and 4 neural network based recognition processes were used in handwritten numerals (postal codes) recognition. It was found that Weighted Direction Index Histogram, Peripheral Direction Contributivity Function and Expansion Cell feature extractions gave good results. As for the neural network recognition process, CombNET- and multi layer neural network showed good performances.

This paper proposes a new approach for inputting handwritten Distribution Facility Drawings (DFD) and their maps into a computer automatically by using the Facility Management Database (FMD). Our recognition method makes use of external information for drawing/map recognition. It identifies each electric-pole symbol and support cable symbol on drawings simply by consulting the FMD. Other symbols such as transformers and electric wires can be placed on drawings automatically. In this positioning of graphic symbols, we present an automatic adjustment method of a symbol's position on the latest digital maps. When a contradiction is unsolved due to an inconsistency between the content of the DFD and the FMD, the system requests a manual feedback from the operator. Furthermore, it uses the distribution network of the DFD to recognize the street lines on the maps which aren't computerized. This can drastically reduce the cost for computerizing drawings and maps.

There are some results indicating that a quantum computer seems to be more powerful than ordinary computers. In fact, P.W. Shor showed that a quantum computer can find discrete logarithms and factor integers in polynomial time with bounded error probability. No polynomial time algorithms to find them using ordinary computers are known. In this paper, we show that the cycles in some kinds of periodic functions, e.g., functions proposed as pseudo-random generators, can be found in polynomial time with bounded error probability on a quantum Turing machine. In general, it is known that ordinary computers take exponential time to find the cycles in periodic functions.

In this paper, authors propose a linear array antenna using two bifilar helical antenna elements placed along the helix axis to reduce beam direction movement according to frequency change. The beam direction movement of this proposed array antenna is smaller than that of a conventional bifilar helical antenna. Also, the gain of this proposed array antenna is higher than that of the conventional helical antenna for a cross point angle of radiation patterns at the different transmit and receive(Tx and Rx) frequencies. The conventional helical antenna is suitable for vehicle antennas in mobile satellite communication systems such as the MSAT system because it owns circularly polarized omni-directional radiation pattern and its thin pole form. However, this antenna has a disadvantage that the beam direction in an elevation plane moves according to frequency change. In the proposed array antenna, the beam direction movement is about 9 smaller than that of the conventional bifilar helical antenna on condition that antenna total length is 4.83 λ0, antenna diameter is 0.12 λ0, and frequency change is from 0.957f0 to 1.043f0(f0 is center frequency and λ0 is free space wavelength at f0). Also, the Tx and Rx gains of this proposed array antenna at the cross point angle between Tx and Rx beams are about 2 dB higher than that of the conventional bifilar helical antenna on the same condition.

The E-polarized plane wave diffraction by a perfectly conducting strip located at the plane interface between two different media is analyzed by the Wiener-Hopf technique. Applying the boundary conditions to the integral representations for the unknown scattered field, the problem is formulated in terms of the modified Wiener-Hopf equation(MWHE), which is reduced to a pair of simultaneous integral equations via the factorization and decomposition procedure. The integral equations are solved asymptotically for large strip width via the method of successive approximations leading to the first, second and third order solutions, which are valid at high frequencies. The scattered far field expression is derived by taking the inverse Fourier transform and applying the saddle point method. It is shown that the high-frequency scattered far field comprises the geometrical optics field, the singly, doubly and triply diffracted fields and the lateral waves. Numerical examples of the radar cross section(RCS) and the lateral waves are presented, and the far field scattering characteristics discussed in detail.

This paper proposes a new digitized group modulator for radio base station transmitters of multi-carrier TDMA. This group modulator can flexibly set carrier spacing and features a simple construction as a result of employing the Simple Fractional Sampling technique. A group modulator LSI was designed and built using 0.5-µm BiCMOS technology, and a π/4-shifted QPSK group modulator was constructed using this LSI. Experiments confirm that the modulator simultaneously generates multiple carriers in a wide bandwidth without the need for precise adjustment and there is little difference between each of the carriers in terms of BER performance. Moreover, experiments confirm that the group modulator's burst-output (frequency hopping) performance is excellent.

A novel method of multichannel surface EMG processing has been developed to compensate for the distortion in bipolar surface EMG signals due to the movement of innervation zones. The distortion of bipolar surface EMG signals was mathematically described as a filtering function. A compensating technique for such distorted bipolar surface EMG signals was developed for the brachial biceps during dynamic contractions in which the muscle length and tension change. The technique is based on multichannel surface EMG measurement, a method for estimating the movement of an innervation zone, and the inverse filtering technique. As a result, the distorted EMG signals were compensated and transformed into nearly identical waveforms, independent of the movement of the innervation zone.

This paper discusses the design of a small sensing device for EMI measurement which has equivalent characteristics to the absorbing clamp method, and reports the results on evaluation of the device. The device can be applied to the inspection apparatus for products such as power tools to examine conformance to EMI regulations of electromagnetic radiation spectrum. For reducing the scale of the EMI inspection apparatus, new matching circuit being replaced with the absorbing clamp method is adopted in the sensing device. Length of the sensing device is smaller than one twelfth of a wavelength of the measuring frequency in order to regard the sensing device as a concentrated constant circuit. The matching circuit is a resonant circuit which consists of a coaxial coupled transformer and a variable capacitor, and the transformer is a spiral copper tube in which a pair of AC power line wires passes. Resonant frequency of the circuit is tuned to the measuring frequency by adjusting the variable capacitor so that the circuit would terminate the power line by impedance zero. Thus interference current propagating along the power line from a product is absorbed, and observed by means of a VHF current probe which is settled in the matching circuit. A simple circuit for measurement of noise amplitude distribution (NAD) of interference current was developed as well as an equation to estimate quasi-peak value from the NAD. Result of measurement by the sensing device and proposed procedure confirmed good correlation with the standard absorbing clamp method, and deviation was within 3dB. Measurement time was reduced to 25 s per product, and the in-line EMI checker with new sensing device can be employed in a mass production line.

This paper clarified fundamental aspects of both triboelectric processes and electrostatic discharge (ESD) phenomena to the electronic systems. A chance for ESD can occur if a charged metal object (steel piped chair, for example) contacts or collides with another metal objects at moderate speed. At metal-metal ESD event, the metal objects act as a radiation antenna in a very short time (some 100ps, for example) which emanates impulsive electromagnetic fields with unipolarity into the surrounding space. Because of ESD at low-voltage (3kV or less) conditions, the direction of electrons movement at the spark gap is always unidirectional and fixed. The spark gap works as a momentary switch and also as a "diode." The dominant fields radiated from the metal objects are impulsive electric fields or impulsive magnetic fields which depend on the metal object's electrical and geometric conditions. This impulsive electromagnetic fields penetrate electronic systems, causing electromagnetic interference (EMI) such as malfunctions or circuit upset. The difference between EMI actions in high-voltage ESD and low-voltage ESD is experimentally analyzed in terms of energy conversion/consumption. A series of experiments revealed that EMI actions due to the metal-metal ESD are not proportional to the charge voltage nor the discharge current. In order to capture single shot impulsive electromagnetic fields very close to the ESD point (wave source), a short monopole antenna as an ultra broad-band field sensor was devised. As for signal transmissions between the short monopole antenna and the instrument (receiver), micro/millimeter wave techniques were applied. The transmission line's minimum band width DC-18.5GHz is required for time domain measurements of low-voltage ESD.

Ultrashallow p-type layers have been formed using an one-wafer type reactor for rapid vapor-phase doping (RVD) with lamp annealing system. Bipolar and MOS transistors were fabricated using the system for the first time. The process includes the injection of the B2H6 diffusion source gas with hydrogen carrier gas at room temperature and rapid thermal annealing using lamps. Ultrashallow boron doping was achieved at 900 for 60 seconds; that is, the junction depths were less the 60 nm with a peak boron concentration of between 1019 and 1020 cm-3. The sheet boron concentrations is controlled by adjusting the flow rate of B2H6. To show the potential of the process, bipolar and MOS transistors were fabricated. The base regions of conventional bipolar transistors were formed by rapid vapor-phase doping. Transistors with 20-nm base and emitter were fabricated and they showed current gain of 150. Shallow source and drain of PMOS transistors were also formed. The threshold voltage roll-off was suppressed down to gate length of 0.22 µm, while devices with BF2-implanted source and drain showed the roll-off below 0.5 µm. Devices with RVD-source and drain thus have drain current 1.5 times higher than those with BF2 ion implantation. RVD provides both good short-channel characteristics and high current drivability.

Protective layers in AC plasma display panels (PDP) are usually formed by vacuum vapor deposition or sputtering. It is important to study the protective MgO layer by means of screen-printing for fabricating a large size PDP and reducing its cost. With the objectives of enlarging the panel size and reducing cost, we studied the fabrication of the protective MgO layer by means of screen-printing. In this study, we succeeded in lowering the drive voltage by using a MgO powder prepared by vapor phase oxidation instead of conventional decomposition of the magnesium salt. Further, by adding a MgO liquid binder, we attained a good luminous efficiency twice as high as that attained with a sputtered protective layer and lowered the drive voltage. When this protective layer was combined with He-Xe gas enclosure, the half-life of luminance was 5,000 hours. With Ne-Xe gas, the luminance deteriorated no more than 40% after 5,000 hours. A screen-printed protective MgO layer containing no MgO liquid binder showed a short half-life of 800 hours even with the use of Ne-Xe gas. In this case, the discharge voltage changed greatly and some cells did not discharge. It is concluded that the combination of an ultrafine MgO powder prepared by vapor phase oxidation and a MgO liquid binder can clear the way for making AC PDPs with a long lifetime, high efficiency, and low voltage a practical reality.

An ordered binary decision diagram (OBDD) is a directed acyclic graph for representing a Boolean function. OBDDs are widely used in various areas which require Boolean function manipulation, since they can represent efficiently many practical Boolean functions and have other desirable properties. However, there is very little theoretical research on the complexity of constructing an OBDD. In this paper, we prove that the optimal variable ordering problem of a shared BDD is NP-complete, and briefly discuss the approximation hardness of this problem and related OBDD problems.

For the purpose of automatic speech recognition, language models (LMs) are used to predict possible succeeding words for a given partial word sequence and thereby to reduce the search space. In this paper several kinds of stochastic language models (SLMs) are evaluated-bigram, trigram, hidden Markov model (HMM), bigram-HMM, stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG) and hand-written Bunsetsu Grammar. To compare the predictive power of these SLMs, the evaluation was conducted from two points of views: (1) relationship between the number of model parameters and entropy, (2) predictive rate of succeeding part of speech (POS) and succeeding word. We propose a new type of bigram-HMM and compare it with the other models. Two kinds of approximations are tried and examined through experiments. Results based on both of English Brown-Corpus and Japanese ATR dialog database showed that the extended bigram-HMM had better performance than the others and was more suitable to be a language model.

We propose a new algorithm for minimizing the number of vertices of an approximate curve by keeping the error within a given bound (min-# problem) with the parallel-strip error criterion. The best existing algorithm which solves this problem has O (n2 log n) time complexity. Our algorithm which uses the Cone Intersection Method does not have an improved time complexity, but does have a high efficiency. In particular, for practical data such as those which represent the boundaries or the skeletons of an object, the new algorithm can solve the min-# problem in nearly O(n2) time.

PID-type controllers have been well-known and widely used in many industries. Their regulation property of those was more improved through the addition of Bang-Bang-action. In spite of the potentials of these PID-plus Bang-Bang controllers, their regulation property is still limited by the fixed window limit value that determines the control action, i. e., PID or Bang-Bang. Thus, this paper presents an approach for improving the regulation property by dynamically changing the window limit value according to the plant dynamics with Neural Network predictive model. The improved regulation property is illustrated through simulation studies for position control of DC servo-motor system in the sense of classical figures of merit such as overshoot and rise time.

In this paper, we give an algorithm which, given a set F of at most (n - 1) - k faulty nodes, and two sets S = {s1,..., sk} and T = {t1,..., tk}, 1 k n - 1, of nonfaulty nodes in n-dimensional star graphs Gn, finds k fault-free node disjoint paths si tji, where (j1,..., jk) is a permutation of (1,..., k), of length at most d(Gn) + 5 in O(kn) optimal time, where d(Gn) = 3(n-1)/2 is the diameter of Gn.

This paper describes a new active pull-up (APU) interface for high-speed point-to-point transmission. The APU circuit is used to speed up a low-power-consumption open-drain-type interface. It pulls up the output at a fixed duration and this limiting of the pull-up duration prevents the pull-up operation from going into a counter phase at over 1-Gbps operation. Measurements of test chips fabricated with 0.25-µm bulk CMOS show. 1.7-Gbps error-free operation for the APU interface and 1.2-Gbps operation for the open-drain-type interface: The APU interface is 1.4 faster than the open-drain type. The application of a 0.25-µm SIMOX-CMOS device to the APU interface increases the bit rate 1.5 times compared with 0.25-µm bulk CMOS. Altogether the interface covers the bit rate of 2.4 Gbps, which is a layer of the communication hierarchy. The APU interface circuit can be applied to large-pin-count LSIs because of its full-CMOS single-rail structure.