This paper examines a coded Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) system which uses Reed-Solomon (RS) codes both in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channels and Rayleigh fading channels. The performance of GMSK and RS code combinations is compared with the constraint that the transmitted signal bandwidth is constant. The coding gains were obtained using simulations and the best combination of GMSK and RS codes was found. The optimal code rates over AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels were also compared.

In this letter, we present a space division multiple access (SDMA) approach for IEEE802.11a-based system employing pre-fast Fourier transform (FFT) adaptive array antenna (AAA) at base station (BS). As the core idea, we propose a preamble subcarrier assignment method to generate different preambles for different users using the same signal burst structure defined by IEEE802.11a, by which BS can effectively distinguish each user from other users and accurately estimate the channel impulse response (CIR) for each user. In this way, SDMA can be easily realized with no significant change in IEEE802.11a-based system. The performance of the proposed SDMA system is evaluated by computer simulation using a realistic spatio-temporal indoor wireless channel model.

In this paper we are concerned with designing an extremum seeking control law for nonlinear systems. This is a modification of a standard extremum seeking controller. It is equipped with an accelerator to the original one aimed at achieving the maximum operating point more rapidly. This accelerator is designed by making use of a polynomial identification of an uncertain output map, the Butterworth filter to smoothen the control, and analog-digital converters. Numerical experiments show how this modified approach can be well in control of the Monod model of bioreactors.

Wireless networks have been rapidly integrated with the wired Internet and considered as the most popular MAC technology for Ad Hoc mobile communications. In WLAN technologies, IEEE 802.11b WLAN is the most widespread wireless network today. The IEEE 802.11b WLAN supports multiple transmission rates and the rate is chosen in an adaptive manner by an auto rate control algorithm. This auto rate control algorithm deeply affects the total system performance of the IEEE 802.11b WLAN. In this paper, we examine the WLAN performance with regard to the auto rate control algorithm, especially the ARF scheme, which is the most popular auto rate control algorithm in 802.11b based WLAN products. The experimental results indicate that the ARF scheme works well in the face of signal noise due to node location. However, the ARF scheme severely degrades system performance when multiple nodes contend to obtain the wireless channel and the packet is lost due to signal collision.

Howling is very annoying problem to the hearing-aid users and it limits the maximum usable gain of hearing aids. We propose a new feedback cancellation system by inserting a time-varying decorrelation filter in the forward path. We use a second-order all-pass filter with control parameters whose time variation is implemented using a low-frequency modulator. A noticeable reduction of weight-vector misalignment is achievable using our proposed method.

The encoding process of vector quantization (VQ) is a time bottleneck preventing its practical applications. In order to speed up VQ encoding, it is very effective to use lower dimensional features of a vector to estimate how large the Euclidean distance between the input vector and a candidate codeword could be so as to reject most unlikely codewords. The three popular statistical features of the average or the mean, the variance, and L2 norm of a vector have already been adopted in the previous works individually. Recently, these three statistical features were combined together to derive a sequential EEENNS search method in [6], which is very efficient but still has obvious computational redundancy. This Letter aims at giving a mathematical analysis on the results of EEENNS method further and pointing out that it is actually unnecessary to use L2 norm feature anymore in fast VQ encoding if the mean and the variance are used simultaneously as proposed in IEENNS method. In other words, L2 norm feature is redundant for a rejection test in fast VQ encoding. Experimental results demonstrated an approximate 10-20% reduction of the total computational cost for various detailed images in the case of not using L2 norm feature so that it confirmed the correctness of the mathematical analysis.

This paper present three characteristic functions which can express the luminance distribute characteristic much better. Based on these functions a region classification algorithm is presented. The algorithm can offer more information on regions' similarity and greatly improve the efficiency and performance of match seeking in fractal coding. It can be widely applied to many kinds of fractal coding algorithms. Analysis and experimental results proved that it can offer more information on luminance distribute characteristics among regions and greatly improve the decoding quality and compression ratio with holding the running speed.

In this paper, a refined analytic model is presented for the IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) in a time-varying channel environment. In the proposed model, the channel is modelled using a finite-state Markov (FSM) chain. The saturation throughput and average packet delay are analyzed from the proposed model. It is shown using OPNETTM and UltraSANTM simulations that the proposed model accurately predicts the performance of the IEEE 802.11 DCF.

The use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks such as Gnutella is proliferating on the Internet, but due to the broadcast nature of the protocols, the use of such applications are bandwidth consuming. This characteristic makes P2P file sharing unsuitable for mobile devices because they have severe bandwidth and power constraints. This paper proposes the MAP2P architecture that uses mobile agents to participate in the Gnutella network on behalf of mobile devices. The aim is to reduce the amount of traffic, and hence the power consumption, for the mobile devices. Moreover, our architecture provides support for device mobility at the application layer. The viability of our architecture is illustrated through our traffic and energy analyses with experiments using our demonstration implementation.

This paper proposes the application of tree-structured clustering to the processing of noisy speech collected under various SNR conditions in the framework of piecewise-linear transformation (PLT)-based HMM adaptation for noisy speech. Three kinds of clustering methods are described: a one-step clustering method that integrates noise and SNR conditions and two two-step clustering methods that construct trees for each SNR condition. According to the clustering results, a noisy speech HMM is made for each node of the tree structure. Based on the likelihood maximization criterion, the HMM that best matches the input speech is selected by tracing the tree from top to bottom, and the selected HMM is further adapted by linear transformation. The proposed methods are evaluated by applying them to a Japanese dialogue recognition system. The results confirm that the proposed methods are effective in recognizing digitally noise-added speech and actual noisy speech issued by a wide range of speakers under various noise conditions. The results also indicate that the one-step clustering method gives better performance than the two-step clustering methods.

This paper proposes the design to reduce the number of fed elements by replacing with parasitic elements in an array antenna. The study depends on the analysis of electromagnetic wave fields in consideration of the coupling between the half-wavelength dipoles. The case of 2 fed elements and 2 parasitic elements is considered as a unit cell to form the total array. After optimizing the element arrangement, the antenna gain can match that of the equivalent 4-fed element case. Feeding networks in a high power radiating system are analyzed in terms of the length and matching of feed lines, and the arrangement of amplifiers.

This investigation proposed two array beamformers SPFDBB (Soft Penalty Frequency Domain Block Beamformer) and FDABB (Frequency Domain Adjustable Block Beamformer). Compared with the conventional beamformers, these frequency-domain methods can significantly reduce the computation power requirement in ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) based applications. Like other reference signal based techniques, SPFDBB and FDABB minimize microphone's mismatch, desired signal cancellation caused by reflection effects and resolution due to the array's position. Additionally, these proposed methods are suitable for both near-field and far-field environments. Generally, the convolution relation between channel and speech source in time domain cannot be modeled accurately as a multiplication in the frequency domain with a finite window size, especially in ASR applications. SPFDBB and FDABB can approximate this multiplication by treating several frames as a block to achieve a better beamforming result. Moreover, FDABB adjusts the number of frames on-line to cope with the variation of characteristics in both speech and interference signals. A better performance was found to be achievable by combining these methods with an ASR mechanism.

Diagonally weighted space-time trellis codes using one-bit feedback of channel information are considered. We derive performance criteria for designing STTC and weighting matrix in perfect feedback channel. A simple modification of conventional STTC using unitary rotation is proposed and some modified STTCs are found through computer search. Simulation results show that the modified STTCs achieve the improved performance over a wide range of feedback channel condition.

This paper presents a low-complexity equalization for M-ary biorthogonal keying based direct sequence ultra wideband (MBOK DS-UWB) systems. We focus on a Viterbi equalizer, which is based on maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE). To reduce the computational complexity of MLSE-based equalizer, we use two strategies. One is the use of delayed-decision feedback sequence estimation (DDFSE), which is a hybrid estimation between MLSE and decision feedback estimation (DFE). And the other is the truncation of state transition in MLSE by considering MBOK pulse mapping. The reduced complexity sequence estimation is named as reduced state (RS)-DDFSE. By the use of RS-DDFSE, the complexity of Viterbi equalizer for MBOK DS-UWB is significantly reduced, by comparison with that of MLSE. The performance of RS-DDFSE based equalizer is evaluated on multipath fading channel models provided by IEEE802.15.3a. An analysis on trellis diagram of RS-DDFSE and simulation results show that the impact on error rate performance generated by the complexity lower is slight.

A fast encoding technique is described for vector quantization (VQ) of line spectral frequency parameters. A reduction in VQ encoding complexity is achieved by using a preliminary test that reduces the necessary codebook search range. The test is performed based on two criteria. One criterion uses the distance between a specific single element of the input vector and the corresponding element of the codevectors in the codebook. The other criterion makes use of the ordering property of LSF parameters. The fast encoding technique is implemented in the enhanced variable rate codec (EVRC) encoding algorithm. Simulation results show that the average searching range of the codebook can be reduced by 44.50% for the EVRC without degradation of spectral distortion (SD).

Carbon brushes for starters are used under severe conditions of high electric current density, high contact pressure and high sliding velocity. Lead has traditionally been added to carbon brushes to improve their performance and durability. Because lead is an environmentally hazardous substance, after January 2005 the EU will prohibit adding lead to carbon brushes for electric motors installed in vehicles. The purpose of our current study is to develop materials of lead-free carbon brushes for starters. Analyzing the effects of adding lead has shown that lead inhibits the brush resistance from increasing under high temperatures, or a combination of both high temperature and high humidity. This is because corrosion of lead precedes that of copper, which is one of the materials comprising the brush, and this prevents the copper from corroding. Moreover, lead functions as a solid lubricant and reduces brush wear. We developed the lead-free brush material, by adding soft metallic substances that corrode prior to copper and are also oxidation-resistant, as well as possessing low hardness and solid lubricant properties. The developed lead-free brush surpasses the conventional lead-added brush in durability and permanence.

This paper deals with minimum spanning tree problems where each edge weight is a fuzzy random variable. In order to consider the imprecise nature of the decision maker's judgment, a fuzzy goal for the objective function is introduced. A novel decision making model is constructed based on possibility theory and on a stochastic programming model. It is shown that the problem including both randomness and fuzziness is reduced to a deterministic equivalent problem. Finally, a polynomial-time algorithm is provided to solve the problem.

Using the Vibration signatures obtained during the operations as the original data, a mechanical condition monitoring method for vacuum circuit breaker is developed in this paper. The method combined the time-frequency analysis and the condition recognition based on artificial neural network. During preprocessing, the vibration signature was decomposed into individual frequency bands using the arithmetic of wavelet packets. The signal energy in the main frequency bands was used to form the condition feature vector, which was input to the artificial neural network for condition recognition. By introducing the parameter of approximation degree, a new recognition arithmetic based on Radial Basis Function was constructed. This approach could not only distinguish these conditions that belong to different known condition modes but also distinguish new condition modes.

TCP performance in the IEEE 802.11-based multihop ad hoc networks is extremely poor, because the congestion control mechanism of TCP cannot effectively deal with the problem of packet drops caused by mobility and shared channel contention among wireless nodes. In this paper, we present a cross-layer method, which adaptively adjusts the TCP maximum window size according to the number of RTS (Request To Send) retry counts of the MAC layer at the TCP sender, to control the number of TCP packets in the network and thus decrease the channel contention. Our simulation results show that this method can remarkably improve TCP throughput and its stability.

Electromagnetic (EM) radiation from a feed cable attached to a printed circuit board (PCB), which is commonly encountered electromagnetic interference (EMI) problem at high-speed electronic PCB designs, is investigated by experimental and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a guard-band structure as a method for suppressing the EM radiation from a PCB with a feed cable. A signal trace is located between two ground traces (guard-band: GB). Four different cross-sectional PCB structures, which are commonly used in microwave integrated circuits as typical structures, are used to compare the guard-band structure. Frequency response of common-mode (CM) current, electric field near a PCB, and far electric field (radiated emission) are investigated as characteristics of the EMI. Results show that the shield structure is effective in suppressing the CM current at lower frequency. However, structures in which a conductive plate exists near the signal trace yield resonances with high level peak on CM current, near and far-field. On the other hand, the guard-band structure is more effective than other structures in suppressing the EM radiation in the considered frequency range. Therefore the guard-band will be effective for high-density PCB packaging with high-speed traces.