The firing squad synchronization problem is considered for defective cellular automata. A lower bound of time tf for the problem is derived. The state complexity to solve the problem is investigated and it is shown that the state set has to be arbitrary large to obtain solutions of time complexity (n). For memory-augmented defective cellular automata a tf-time solution is given.

Conformance testing techniques are required for the efficient production of reliable communication protocols. A lot of conformance testing techniques have been developed. However, most of them can only decide whether an implemented protocol conforms to its specification. That is, the exact locations of faults are not determined by them. This paper presents some conditions that enable to find locations of multiple faults, and then proposes a test sequence generation technique under such conditions. The correctness proof and complexity analysis of the proposed technique are also given. The characteristics of this technique are to generate test sequences based on protocol specifications and interim test results, and to find locations of multiple faults in protocol implementations. Although the length of the test sequence generated by the proposed technique is a little longer than the one generated by the previous one, the class to which the proposed technique can be applied is larger than that to which the previous one can be applied.

In the final stages of VLSI testing, improved quality VLSI testing is an important subject for ensuring reliability in the forwarded VLSI market. On the other hand, developments in high integration technology have resulted in an increased number of functional blocks in VLSI devices and an increased number of gates for each terminal. Consequently, it has become more difficult to improve the quality of VLSI tests. We have developed a new test method in addition to conventional testing methods intended for improving the test coverage in VLSI tests. This new test method analyzes the relationship between IDDq (Quiescent Power Supply Current) of DUT and DUT failure by applying the concept of the toggle rate. Accordingly, in this paper we report that the results of IDDq testing confirm a correlation with defect level.

Some undetectable stuck-at faults called the redundant faults are included in practical combinational circuits. The redundant fault does not affect the functional behavior of the circuit even if it exists. The redundant fault, however, causes undesirable effects to the circuit such as increase of delay time and decrease of testability of the circuit. It is considered that some redundant faults may cause the logical defects in the future. In this paper, firstly, we study the testability of the redundant fault in the combinational circuit by using delay effects. Secondly, we propose a method for generating a test-pair of a redundant fault by using an extended seven-valued calculus, called TGRF (Test-pair Generation for Redundant Fault). TGRF generates a dynamically sensitizable path for the target line which propagates the change in the value on the target line to a primary output. Finally, we show experimental results on the benchmark circuits under the assumptions of the unit delay and the fanout weighted delay models. It shows that test-pairs for some redundant faults are generated theoretically.

This paper presents techniques used in combinational test generation for multiple stuck-at faults using the parallel vector pair analysis. The techniques accelerate a test generation procedure previously proposed and reduce the number of test vectors generated, while higher fault coverage is derived. The first technique proposed in this paper, which is applied at the first phase of test generation, is rules of ordering vector pairs to be analyzed, to derive high fault coverage without repeating the analysis for the same vector pairs. The second one is to generate new vector pairs for undetected faults, instead of random vector pairs. Both techniques are based on the idea that faults close to primary inputs should be detected earlier than close to primary outputs. The third technique proposed here is how to construct vector pairs from one input vector in order to accelerate test generation especially for circuits with many primary inputs and scan flip-flops. Experimental results for bench-mark circuits show the effectiveness of the techniques.

This paper describes a multimodal dialogue system employing speech input. This system uses three input methods (through a speech recognizer, a mouse, and a keyboard) and two output methods (through a display and using sound). For the speech recognizer, an algorithm is employed for large-vocabulary speaker-independent continuous speech recognition based on the HMM-LR technique. This system is implemented for telephone directory assistance to evaluate the speech recognition algorithm and to investigate the variations in speech structure that users utter to computers. Speech input is used in a multimodal environment. The collecting of dialogue data between computers and users is also carried out. Twenty telephone-number retrieval tasks are used to evaluate this system. In the experiments, all the users are equally trained in using the dialogue system with an interactive guidance system implemented on a workstation. Simplified city maps that indicate subscriber names and addresses are used to reduce the implicit restrictions imposed by written sentences, thus allowing each user to develop his own forms of expression. The task completion rate is 99.0% and approximately 75% of the users say that they prefer this system to using a telephone book. Moreover, there is a significant decrease in nonkeyword usage, i.e., the usage of words other than names and addresses, for users who receive more utterance practice.

Many methods have been proposed for constructing context-dependent phoneme models using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to improve performance. These conventional methods require previously defined contextual factors. If these factors are deficient, the method exhibit poor recognition performance. In this paper, we propose a new construction algorithm for HMnet which does not require pre-defined contextual factors. Experiments demonstrated that the new algorithm could construct the HMnet even for the case that the Successive State Splitting (SSS) algorithm could not. The new algorithm produced better phoneme recognition characteristics than the SSS algorithm.

This paper presents a new Adaptive Convergence Factor (ACF) algorithm without the damping parameter adjustment acoording to the input signal and/or the composition of the filter system. The damping parameter in the ACF algorithms has great influence on the convergence characteristics. In order to examine the relation between the damping parameter and the convergence characteristics, the normalization which is realized by the related signal terms divided by each maximum value is introduced into the ACF algorithm. The normalized algorithm is applied to the modeling of unknown time-variable systems which makes it possible to examine the relation between the parameters and the misadjustment in the adaptive algorithms. Considering the experimental and theoretical results, the optimum value of the damping parameter can be defined as the minimum value where the total misadjustment becomes minimum. To keep the damping parameter optimum in any conditions, the new ACF algorithm is proposed by improving the invariability of the damping parameter in the normalized algorithm. The algorithm is investigated by the computer simulations in the modeling of unknown time-variable systems and the system indentification. The results of simulations show that the proposed algorithm needs no adjustment of the optimum damping parameter and brings the stable convergence characteristics even if the filter system is changed.

We are developing multimodal man-machine interfaces through which users can communicate by integrating speech, gaze, facial expressions, and gestures such as nodding and finger pointing. Such multimodal interfaces are expected to provide more flexible, natural and productive communications between humans and computers. To achieve this goal, we have taken the approach of modeling human behavior in the context of ordinary face-to-face conversations. As the first step, we have implemented a system which utilizes video and audio recording equipment to capture verbal and nonverbal information in interpersonal communications. Using this system, we have collected data from a task-oriented conversation between a guest (subject) and a receptionist at company reception desk, and quantitatively analyzed this data with respect to multi-modalities which would be functional in fluid interactions. This paper presents detailed analyses of the data collected: (1) head nodding and eye-contact are related to the beginning and end of speaking turns, acting to supplement speech information; (2) listener responses occur after an average of 0.35 sec. from the receptionist's utterance of a keyword, and turn-taking for tag-questions occurs after an average of 0.44 sec.; and (3) there is a rhythmical coordination between speakers and listeners.

This paper discusses an all-optical tank circuit that uses the comb-shaped gain spectrum generated by a Brillouin amplifier. The theory of timing clock extraction is shown for two cases: with two gains and with three gains. In both cases, the waveform of the extracted timing clock is simulated. According to the simulation, unlike an ordinary tank circuit, the amplitude of the extracted clock is not constant even though the quality factor (Q) is infinite. The extracted clock is clearly influenced by the pattern of the original data stream if the Brillouin gain is finite. The ratio of the maximum extracted clock amplitude to the minimum extracted amplitude is calculated as a function of Brillouin gain. The detuning of the pump light frequency is also discussed. It induces not only changes in the Brillouin gain, but also phase shift in the amplified light. The relation between the frequency drift of the pump lights and the jitter of the extracted timing clock is shown, in both cases: two pump lights are used and three pump lights are used. It is numerically shown that when the all pump lights have the same frequency drift, i.e., their frequency separation is constant, the phase of the extracted clock is not influenced by the frequency drift of the pump lights. The operation principle is demonstrated at 5Gbit/s, 2.5Gbit/s, and 2Gbit/s using two pumping techniques. The parameters of quality factor and the suppression ratio in the baseband domain are measured. Q and the suppression ratio are found to be 160 and 28dB, respectively.

Password checking schemes are human identification methods commonly adopted in many information systems. One of their disadvantages is that an attacker who correctly observed an input password can impersonate the corresponding user freely. To overcome it there have been proposed interactive human identification schemes. Namely, a human prover who has a secret key is asked a question by a machine verifier, who then checks if an answer from the prover matches the question with respect to the key. This letter examines such a scheme that requires relatively less efforts to human provers. By computer experiments this letter evaluates its resistance against a type of attack; after observing several pairs of questions and correct answers how successfully can an attacker answer the next question?

A calculation method by the improved three-fluid model is shown to describe phenomenologically temperature and frequency dependence of surface resistance Rs for high-Tc superconductors. It is verified that this model is useful to describe temperature dependence of Rs for such high-Tc superconducting films as Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO), Eu-Ba-Cu-O, and Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O films. For the frequency dependence of Rs of a YBCO bulk, furthermore, the measured results which have not depended on f2 in the frequency range 10-25 GHz, can be described successfully by this model. Finally, a figure of merit is proposed to evaluate material quality for high-Tc superconductors from the values of electron densities and momentum relaxation time determined by the present model.

We report here a pulsed lightwave frequency synthesizer system that is composed of a pulsed lightwave sweep frequency generator and a tracking generator. The key advance in the sweep generator is the use of a dynamically gain controlled EDFA. The combination of feedback and feed forward dynamic gain control effectively compensates EDFA gain fluctuation and equalizes fiber loop loss so that the initial pulse wave form and amplitude is retained in the loop at large circuit numbers. Over 1000 pulsed lightwave frequencies are synthesized in 250MHz steps by the sweep generator. Almost flat response (0.55dB variation) is realized up to 240GHz. The power spectrum decreases by 67% (1.7dB down) at 250GHz. The peak level of the pulses output from the loop is about -4dBm. Tracking generator and total synthesizer system performance are evaluated by (a) beat frequency between the tracking generator and the master lightwave source, (b) beat frequency between two tracking generators, and (c) a frequency chain between the master lightwave source and another HCN stabilized lightwave source via the synthesizer system. A continuous lightwave frequency locked to a frequency selected from the pulsed sweep frequency signal is demonstrated at over 200GHz to have an instability of 5MHz. Absolute accuracy of the lightwave frequency emitted from the synthesizer system is about 10MHz. Therefore, the relative accuracy of the lightwave frequency is as high as 510-8.

This paper discusses two approaches to statistical multiplexing: rate envelope multiplexing, allowing resource sharing with small delays for low peak rate connections, and rate sharing, based on the use of large multiplexer buffers to ensure high link utilization for high speed data traffic. We argue that the weighted fair queueing scheduling algorithm provides an efficient means for combining both kinds of multiplexing in the B-ISDN. A feasible implementation known as Virtual Spacing is outlined. We illustrate the flexibility of the proposed scheme by showing how different service categories could be provided.

This paper presents an experimental result of polarimetric detection of objects buried in a sandy ground by a synthetic aperture FM-CW radar. Emphasis is placed on the reduction of surface clutter by the polarimetric radar, which takes account of full polarimetric scattering characteristics. First, the principle of full polarimetric imaging methodology is outlined based on the characteristic polarization states for a specific target together with a polarimetric enhancement factor which discriminates desired and undesired target echo. Then, the polarimetric filtering technique which minimizes a surface reflection is applied to detect a thin metallic plate embedded in a sandy ground, demonstrating the potential capability of reducing surface clutter which leads to an improvement of underground radar performance, and validating the usefulness of FM-CW radar polarimetry.

In this paper, we present a method for extracting the Japanese printed characters from unformatted document images. This research takes into account the multiple general features specific to the Japanese printed characters. In our method, these features are thought of as the constraints for the regions to be extracted within the constraint satisfaction approach. This is achieved by minimizing a constraint function estimating quantitative satisfaction of the features. Our method is applicable to all kinds of the Japanese documents because it is no need of a priori knowledge about the document layout. We have favorable experimental results for the effectiveness of this method.

A flexible and low-cost menagement technology is desired for fabrication line of both ASICs and cutting edge LSIs. To meet such desire, a management technology named "super operator shifts" has been proposed. After taking operator's skill level into consideration, an ASIC line manager can stretch line working time by use of the super operator shifts. It results that he can successfully get 3-shifts turn around time for severe-delivery-date lots with a payment equal to about 2-shifts line-cost.

A scalable and flexible ASIC CIM system distributed on UNIX workstations, ORCHARD , has been developed. It is designed from three viewpoints: (1) cost and TAT reduction in system construction, (2) flexibility in data management for quality control, and (3) precise and quick scheduling and effective lot tracking to control TAT for each lot. The concept of a "virtual machine" is introduced to connect equipment having various protocols to a host system. The virtual machine is automatically generated at an average automatic generation ratio of as high as 89%, which leads to a reduction in cost and TAT in system construction. Data for quality control is managed by changing flexibly the "data processing recipe." This recipe defines screen format, data collected from equipment, and data transfered from various databases. Precise scheduling of lots with various levels of priority is achieved by introducing a priority evaluation function, thereby reducing scheduling time to 1/20 that for manual scheduling.

We propose a method for configuring LSI manufacturing lines so that they can not only be used to manufacture low-cost LSIs in bulk quantities but also can be used to manufacture small lots with ultra-short TAT. This is achieved by adding a relatively small amount of single-wafer processing equipment to a existing conventional processing line, and therefore involves minimum investment.

Surface-channel PMOSFETs are suitable for use in the quarter micron CMOS devices. For surface-channel PMOSFETs with p+ poly-Si gates, boron penetration and hot-carrier effects were investigated. When the annealing temperature is higher and the gate oxide is thinner, a larger threshold voltage shift was observed for p+ poly-Si PMOSFETs, because of boron penetration. Furthermore, PMOSFETs with BF2-implanted gates cause larger boron penetration than those with Boron-implanted gates. Howerer, the PMOSFET lifetime, determined by hot-carrier reliability, does not depend on the degree of boron penetration. Instead, it depends on doping species, that is, BF2 and Boron. PMOSFETs with BF2-implanted gates have about 100 times longer lifetime than those with Boron-implanted gates. The main reason for the longer lifetime of BF2-doped PMOSFETs is the incorporation of fluorine in the gate oxide of the PMOSFET with the BF2-implanted gate, resulting in the smaller electron trapping in the gate oxide. The maximun allowed supply voltage,based on the hot-carrier reliability, is higher than4V for sub-half micron PMOSFETs with BF2- or Boron-implanted poly Si gates.