An exchange of energy between nonrelativistic electrons and evanescent waves in an optical near-filed has been investigated in an infrared region. A metal microslit has been adopted as an optical near-field generator which produces a number of evanescent waves by illumination of a laser beam. The theory has predicted that electrons interact selectively with the evanescent wave whose phase velocity is equal to the velocity of the electrons. In order to verify the theory, two types of precise microslits with different shapes, a slot and a V-shaped groove, have been fabricated. Experiments performed using these slits at the wavelength of 10.6 µm have shown that the energy change of the electrons has varied from 2 eV to 13 eV with their initial energy between 25-95 keV for a 3.2 kW CO2 laser pulse. The measured results have given experimental verifications to the theory.

In this paper, we analyze the convergence and steady-state behavior of the least mean-square (LMS) adaptive filtering algorithm for a finite-length phase-splitting hybrid-type decision feedback equalizer (H-DFE). With some approximations, we derive an iterative expression for the excess mean-square error (MSE) of the H-DFE, which is composed of three statistically dependent excess MSEs; that is, the excess MSEs of the feedforward filter (FFF), intersymbol interference predictive feedback filter (ISI-FBF), and noise predictive feedback filter (NP-FBF) taps. Computer simulation and analytical results show that the average eigenvalue of the input signal for the NP-FBF taps of the H-DFE is time-varying, whereas those for the FFF and ISI-FBF taps are fixed. Nevertheless, the H-DFE can be implemented with fixed step sizes that ensure the convergence of the LMS algorithm without performance degradation from the standpoint of convergence speed, as well as steady-state performance for digital subscriber line (xDSL) applications.

The modern network service of finding the optimal path subject to multiple constraints on performance metrics such as delay, jitter, loss probability, etc. gives rise to the multi-constrained optimal-path (MCOP) QoS routing problem, which is NP-complete. In this paper, this problem is solved through both exact and heuristic algorithms. We propose an exact algorithm E_MCOP, which first constructs an aggregate weight and then uses a K-shortest-path algorithm to find the optimal solution. By means of E_MCOP, the performance of the heuristic algorithm H_MCOP proposed by Korkmaz et al. in a recent work is evaluated. H_MCOP only runs Dijkstra's algorithm (with slight modifications) twice, but it can find feasible paths with a success ratio very close to that of the exact algorithm. However, we notice that in certain cases its feasible solution has an unsatisfactorily high average cost deviation from the corresponding optimal solution. For this reason, we propose some modified algorithms based on H_MCOP that can significantly improve the performance by running Dijkstra's algorithm a few more times. The performance of the exact algorithm and heuristics is investigated through computer simulations on networks of various sizes.

Frequency modulation (FM) noise spectroscopy with diode laser is applied to high-resolution Doppler-free spectroscopy of Cs atomic vapor near a dielectric surface with evanescent-wave pump-probe configuration. Both high resolution and high sensitivity are realized by using an extremely simple experimental setup, in which no sweep or precise tuning of laser frequency are required. Several experimental configurations of optical near-field spectroscopy are demonstrated, which is useful for an extensive study of resonant interactions of atoms and microscopic electronic systems in optical near-fields.

A high efficiency feedforward power amplifier (FFPA) with a series diode linearizer for cellular base stations is presented. In order to achieve the highest overall efficiency of an FFPA, an improved pre-distortion diode linearizer has been used and the bias condition of the main amplifier has been optimized. The optimum bias condition has been derived from the overall efficiency analysis of the FFPA with a pre-distortion linearizer. From measured overall performances of the FFPA, efficiency enhancement of the series diode linearizer has been verified. The developed FFPA achieved the efficiency of 10% and output power of 45.6 dBm at 10 MHz offset Adjacent Channel leakage Power Ratio (ACPR) -50 dBc under Wide-band Code-Division Multiple-Access (W-CDMA) modulated 2 carriers signal. This design method can be also used to optimize the source and load impedances condition of the main amplifier FET.

An efficient method for calculating impedance matrix elements is proposed for analysis of microstrip structures with an arbitrary substrate thickness. Closed-form Green's functions are derived by applying the GPOF method to the remaining function after the extraction of the contributions of the surface wave pole, source dipole itself, and quasi-static (i.e.real images) from a spectral domain Green's function. When closed-form Green's functions are used in conjunction with rooftop-pulse subsectional basis functions and the razor testing function in an MoM with an MPIE formulation, the integrals appearing in the calculation procedure of the diagonal matrix elements are of two types. The first is x0n [e^(-jk0(x02 + y02 +a2)1/2)/(x02 + y02 +a2)1/2)]dx0dy0 (where n=0, 1) for the contribution of both the source dipole itself or real images where a=0 and complex images where a=complex constant, while the other is x0n H0(2)(kρp (x02 + y02)1/2)dx0dy0 for the contribution of the surface wave pole where kρp is a real pole due to the surface wave. Adopting a polar coordinate for the integral for both cases of n=0 and n=1 and performing analytical integrations for n=1 with respect to the variable x0 for both types not only removes the singularities but also drastically reduces the evaluation time for the numerical integration. In addition, the above numerical efficiency is also retained for the off-diagonal elements. To validate the proposed method, several numerical examples are presented.

Optical near-field distributions of planar dielectric and metallic objects placed on a large dielectric substrate plate have been calculated by the volume integral equation using an iterative method called generalized minimal residual method with the fast Fourier transform technique. The basic characteristics of the near-field have been investigated in detail for large and small objects, dielectric and metallic objects and incident p-polarized and s-polarized evanescent fields.

A circuit in which the clock is assumed to be distributed periodically to each individual register though not necessarily to all registers simultaneously, called a semi-synchronous circuit, is expected to achieve higher frequency or a smaller clock tree compared with an ordinary synchronous circuit, called a complete-synchronous circuit. In this paper, we propose a circuit design method that realizes a semi-synchronous circuit with higher frequency by modifying the clock tree of a complete-synchronous circuit. We confirm that the proposed method is easy to incorporate with current practical design environment by designing a four stage pipelined processor compatible with MIPS operation code. The obtained processor circuit is the first semi-synchronous circuit designed systematically with theoretical background.

In several researches in recent years, it is shown that the circuit of a higher clock frequency can be obtained by controlling the clock-input timing of each register. However, the power consumption of the clock-tree obtained by them tends to be larger since the locations of registers are not well taken into account in clock scheduling. In this paper, we propose a novel clock tree synthesis that attains both the higher clock frequency and the lower power consumption. Our proposed algorithm determines the clock-input timings of registers step by step in constructing a clock tree structure. First, the clock period of a circuit is improved by controlling the clock-input timing of each register, and second, the clock-input timings are modified to construct a low power clock tree without deteriorating the obtained clock period. According to our experiments using several benchmark circuits, the power consumption of our clock trees attain about 9.5% smaller than previous methods.

Finite-state vector quantization (FSVQ) is a well-known block encoding technique for digital image compression at low bit rate application. In this paper, an improved feature map finite-state vector quantization (IFMFSVQ) algorithm using three-sided side-match prediction is proposed for image coding. The new three-sided side-match improves the prediction quality of input blocks. Precoded blocks are used to alleviate the error propagation of side-match. An edge threshold is used to classify the blocks into nonedge or edge blocks to improve bit rate performance. Furthermore, an adaptive method is also obtained. Experimental results reveal that the new IFMFSVQ reduces bit rate significantly maintaining the same subjective quality, as compared to the basic FMFSVQ method.

Automatic traffic surveillance based on visual tracking techniques has been desired for many years. This paper proposes a basic highway surveillance system using an HMM-based segmentation method. The presented system meets the essential requirement of ITS: real-time running. Its another advantage is robustness to the shadows of moving objects, which have been recognized as one of main obstacles to robust car tracking. At present, using the system we can estimate velocity of vehicles with high accuracy. For acquiring metric information in the real world, the system does not require a precise calibration but only needs four point correspondences between the image plane and ground plane.

The development of efficient quality of service (QoS) routing algorithms in a high-speed network environment is a very important and at the same time very difficult task due to the need to provide divergent services with multiple QoS requirements. Recently heuristic algorithms based on Lagrange relaxation techniques have been proposed to resolve the contradiction between the time complexity and the quality of solution. In this paper, we investigate the performance of two heuristic algorithms, LR_DCLC and NR_DCLC, for the delay-constrained least-cost (DCLC) routing problem. Algorithm LR_DCLC is based on linear relaxation, while algorithm NR_DCLC, which is proposed in this paper, is based on nonlinear relaxation. A large number of simulations demonstrate that even though both algorithms have very good performance, NR_DCLC can obtain much better solutions than LR_DCLC by running Dijkstra's algorithm on average a few more times, especially in the case when the optimal solutions are hard to find.

Intelligent transport systems (ITS) are promising systems to give excellent solutions for many problems that we face in transport today. Not only road-to-vehicle communications but also inter-vehicle communications in ITS are expected to become popular in the future. On the other hand, an intra-vehicle communication network should be supported by multimedia information according to the explosive expansion of the Internet use and the like. An inexpensive transmission medium and transceiver becomes indispensable in such in-vehicle local area network (LAN) for multimedia information as these must handle full-motion video signals, without any electromagnetic interference. We have proposed on-board network architecture based on optical P1394b to realize effective inter-vehicle communications and enable all equipment which freely add and remove to the intra-vehicle network. And according to the proposed architecture, we have developed a 500-Mbit/s low-cost optical transceiver for the intra- and inter-vehicle communication network using a commercially available plastic clad fiber. An LD for the compact disk drive and a large area photodiode were adopted as low-cost and high-speed optical devices, and a logic direct driving type simple circuit having temperature compensation function was developed. Simple assembly technologies such as plastic molding and optical element press-fitting were also developed for mounting to reduce assembly cost. The total cost of the fabricated optical transceiver can be reduced less than 2/3, comparing with that of conventional one. We have performed transmission experiments and vibration tests using our optical transceivers that are mounted in on-board elements and connected to the on-board network, and have confirmed these stable operations. Experimental results show our proposed architecture and fabricated optical transceiver can play a key role in the intra- and inter-vehicle communication network.

We study the optimal transmission strategy of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system with covariance feedback. We assume that the receiver has perfect channel state information while the transmitter knows only the channel covariance matrix. We consider the common downlink transmission model where the base station is un-obstructed while the mobile station is surrounded by local scatterer. Therefore the channel matrix is modeled with Gaussian complex random entries with independent identically distributed rows and correlated columns. For this transmission scenario the capacity achieving eigenvectors of the transmit covariance matrix are known. The capacity achieving eigenvalues can not be computed easily. We analyze the optimal transmission strategy as a function of the transmit power. A MIMO system using only one eigenvalue performs beamforming. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for when beamforming achieves capacity. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical simulations.

The increase of test time of embedded DRAMs (e-DRAM) is one of the key issues of System-on-chip (SOC) device test. This paper proposes to put the repair analysis function on chip as Built In Self Repair (BISR). BISR is performed at 166 MHz as at-speed of e-DRAM with using low cost automatic test equipment (ATE). The area of the BISR is 1.7 mm2. Using error storage table form contributes to realize small area penalty of repair analysis function. e-DRAM function test time by BISR was about 20% less than the conventional method at wafer level testing. Moreover, representative samples are produced to confirm repair analysis ability. The results show that all of the samples are actually repaired by repair information generated by BISR.

When we want to know if it is a win or a loss at a given position of a game (e.g. chess endgame), the process to figure out this problem corresponds to searching an AND/OR tree. AND/OR-tree search is a method for getting a proof solution (win) or a disproof solution (loss) for such a problem. AO* is well-known as a representative algorithm for searching a proof solution in an AND/OR tree. AO* uses only the idea of proof number. Besides, Allis developed pn-search which uses the idea of proof number and disproof number. Both of them are best-first algorithms. There was no efficient depth-first algorithm using (dis)proof number, until Seo developed his originative algorithm which uses only proof number. Besides, Nagai recently developed PDS which is a depth-first algorithm using both proof number and disproof number. In this paper, we give a proof for the equivalence between AO* which is a best-first algorithm and Seo's depth-first algorithm in the meaning of expanding a certain kind of node. Furthermore, we give a proof for the equivalence between pn-search which is a best-first algorithm and df-pn which is a depth-first algorithm we propose in this paper.

This paper addresses the single channel speech enhancement method which utilizes the mean value and variance of the logarithmic noise power spectra. An important issue for single channel speech enhancement algorithm is to determine the trade-off point for the spectral distortion and residual noise. Thus the accurate discrimination between speech spectral and noise components is required. The conventional methods determine the trade-off point using parameters obtained experimentally. As a result spectral discrimination is not adequate. And the enhanced speech is deteriorated by spectral distortion or residual noise. Therefore, a criteria to determine the point is necessary. The proposed method determines the trade-off point of spectral distortion and residual noise level by discrimination between speech spectral and noise components based on statistical criteria. The spectral discrimination is performed using hypothesis testing that utilizes means and variances of the logarithmic power spectra. The discriminated spectral components are divided into speech-dominant spectral components and noise-dominant ones. For the speech-dominant ones, spectral subtraction is performed to minimize the spectral distortion. For the noise-dominant ones, attenuation is performed to reduce the noise level. The performance of the method is confirmed in terms of waveform, spectrogram, noise reduction level and speech recognition task. As a result, the noise reduction level and speech recognition rate are improved so that the method reduces the musical noise effectively and improves the enhanced speech quality.

In this paper, the analysis, design and experimental results of active array applicator are presented. The injection-locking technique is used to alter the magnitude of the microwave sources so that the steering of near fields can be achieved. This technique can be applied for microwave hyperthermia cancer treatment to provide the large uniform temperature distribution. The complexity of the system can be reduced by using this technique. The study shows that the temperature distribution can be controlled by varying the modulation index, modulating frequency and initial phase of modulating signal. The temperature distribution is also affected by applicator configuration, spacing between applicators, and heating time. The Spectral Domain approach is used to analyze the near field and then the near field data are used to find the temperature distribution by using the Finite Difference method. The study is carried out at frequency of 2,450 MHz. This design is useful for implementation of the low cost steerable applicator.

An n-detection testing for stuck-at faults can be used not only for delay fault testing but also for detection of unmodeled faults. We have developed a hybrid BIST circuit; that is, a method consisting of a shift register with partial rotation and a procedure that selects test vectors from ATPG ones. This testing method can perform at-speed testing with high stuck-at fault coverage. During the at-speed testing, a subset of the ATPG vectors is input by using a low-speed tester. Computer simulations on ISCAS'85, ISCAS'89, and ITC'99 circuits are conducted for n = 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 15. The simulation results show that the amount of test vectors can be reduced to ranging from 52.3% to 0.9% in comparison with that of the ATPG vectors. As a result, the proposed method can reduce the cost of at-speed testing.

When solving combinatorial optimization problems with a binary Hopfield-type neural network, the updating process in neural network is an important step in achieving a solution. In this letter, we propose a new updating procedure in binary Hopfield-type neural network for efficiently solving combinatorial optimization problems. In the new updating procedure, once the neuron is in excitatory state, then its input potential is in positive saturation where the input potential can only be reduced but cannot be increased, and once the neuron is in inhibitory state, then its input potential is in negative saturation where the input potential can only be increased but cannot be reduced. The new updating procedure is evaluated and compared with the original procedure and other improved methods through simulations based on N-Queens problem. The results show that the new updating procedure improves the searching capability of neural networks with shorter computation time. Particularly, the simulation results show that the performance of proposed method surpasses the exiting methods for N-queens problem in synchronous parallel computation model.