The progress made in large-scale integration of the baseband circuits of digital cellular phones now makes it possible to implement a voice CODEC and its related functions in the baseband LSI rather than through a general-purpose digital signal processor. This paper describes an improved hardware solution that enables efficient application of the PSI-CELP CODEC-- the most complex CODEC for mobile systems--to the PDC half-rate system through its implementation as a DSP macro in a low-voltage, large-scale LSI. Specific circuit blocks are added as hardware engines to a general-purpose DSP-oriented core. These specific engines were implemented as peripheral circuits for a DSP macro that can be used as a single DSP with an added I/O circuit and is suitable for use in future highly integrated mobile baseband chips. With the assistance of these hardware engines and some additional ALU instructions to achieve efficient programming, the machine speed required for the CODEC can be relatively slow, thus allowing the same architecture to be repeatedly used without needing to set the transistor threshold voltage too low even when the use of deeper sub-micron technologies require a chip to run at a lower supply voltage. We evaluated this DSP-macro architecture using a 0.35 µm CMOS technology test chip. Then we developed a commercial base version using 0.25 µm technology and verified that it can operate at 1.2 V and that the PSI-CELP CODEC can be done at 40 MIPS with power consumption of 11 mW. We also verified that the circuit design can be applied up to 0.18 µm technology with a single threshold voltage of 0.3 V. Thus, the design of the DSP macro incorporating the hardware engines provides a great deal of flexibility that should allow its use in chips based on future technologies and the voice CODEC firmware can be effectively re-used. Although the DSP macro architecture was designed mainly through PSI-CELP application analysis, it can process other voice CODECs such as the AMR CODEC for third-generation mobile applications as well as some other mobile baseband functions such as channel CODECs. This approach can also be refined to permit its application to, for example, high-quality audio CODECs.

A method to characterise the wall voltage distribution in a three-electrode AC PDP cell is discussed. The method makes use of a firing voltage loop in a two-dimensional voltage plane. From this "fingerprint," data on the relative wall voltages as well as on the non-uniformity of the wall voltages can be inferred. The properties of the loop are explained using a simple numerical model based on field line tracing. The fingerprint method is applied to analyse ramp waveforms on the scan and data electrode of a surface discharge PDP. Many features of the measurements can be understood in terms of uniform wall voltage distributions on the dielectrics covering the electrodes. A more detailed analysis, however, shows that considerable wall voltage non-uniformities can exist, which play an important role in the firing behaviour of the cell.

We developed a new method to improve the efficiency of the PDP (plasma display panel) by the use of a novel protecting film or Gd doped MgO film. In the cells of the PDP, the VUV (vacuum ultraviolet ray) is generated by Xe discharge. The VUV is simply absorbed by the protecting film or MgO film. Therefore, normally the absorbed VUV doesn't contribute to the light conversion efficiency. However, the novel protecting film or MgO:Gd film radiates the ultraviolet ray of which 317 nm wavelength, by the irradiation of the shorter wavelength VUV, and it excites the blue phosphor. Consequently the efficiency of blue emission is improved.

A blue-light-emitting Eu2+ doped CaMgSi2O6 phosphor with a long lifetime for a plasma display panel (PDP) was developed. The CaMgSi2O6:Eu2+(CMS:Eu2+) phosphors synthesized using SiO2-rich source materials show no luminance degradation during the baking process for binder burn-off, and the photoluminescence peak intensity of the Eu2+ emission band is higher than that of conventional blue phosphor BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ (BAM) after the baking process. The test PDP using synthesized CMS:Eu2+ phosphor shows a comparable emission peak intensity to that of BAM, while the luminance of the CMS:Eu2+ panel is approximately 55% that of the BAM panel due to the narrower spectral bandwidth and shorter peak wavelength. The CMS:Eu2+ panel shows less luminance degradation than BAM under the aging test, and the CMS:Eu2+ panel retains 85% of its luminance after 300 hours driving. It is found that CMS:Eu2+ appears to be a promising blue phosphor material for PDP.

We propose a location management, 'Mobility/Traffic Adaptive Location Management,' that dynamically changes the Location Area (LA) in response to the terminal's mobility and traffic characteristics to reduce the location management traffic in the air. In this paper, we investigate the following subjects for realizing the proposed location management. First, we present a method of calculating the optimum LA size. Second, we present methods for dynamic LA set up. Third, we present the architecture of the proposed location management. Finally, we evaluate its performance.

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.

It is very important to accurately and effectively track the movement of each mobile terminal in the personal communications networks. Accordingly, various dynamic location update schemes reflecting the mobile terminal's moving pattern are proposed in the literature. Important schemes include time-based, movement-based, distance-based, and direction-based location update schemes. In this paper, we intend to improve the performance of the movement-based location update scheme which is simple to implement and shows good performance. The proposed location update scheme reflects each mobile terminal's movement characteristics and reduces the number of unnecessary location updates. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated and compared with the previously proposed movement-based location update scheme through simulation. The proposed location update scheme requires three memory elements to maintain the movement history in the mobile terminal. The simulation results show that the location management cost is significantly reduced especially for the case with small call-to-mobility ratio by minimizing the unnecessary location updates intrinsic in the movement-based location update scheme.

The effect of NiP as a seed layer for the [Co/Pd]n multilayer perpendicular recording media was studied. It was found that a thin layer of 2 nm NiP inserted between the FeCoC soft magnetic underlayer and the [Co/Pd]n recording layer improved the magnetic properties such as coercivity, squareness and nucleation field. These improvements may be due to the enhanced grain isolation promoted by the NiP seed layer, as well as the lower surface roughness of the NiP seed layer. Read/write test using Guzik spin stand with a ring-type head showed a D50 value 220 kFCI in the roll-off curve. The magnetic transitions recorded up to 390 kFCI for [Co/Pd]n media with the NiP seed layer can be observed clearly with MFM.

We obtained a relation between the characteristics of optical life and panel structural factors which is one of the important factors for panel design of Plasma Display Panel (PDP). We introduced the equation under the consideration that dominant factor determining the characteristics of optical life is luminance degradation of phosphors and that ion bombardment causes luminance degradation of phosphors. This equation contains the following four panel structural factors such as gap between electrodes, gas pressure, gas kinds, and voltage. Furthermore, we compared the equation with experimental values as a verification.

We have recently developed a programmable composite noise generator (P-CNG) which can easily control noise parameters such as average power, time-based amplitude probability distribution (APD), crossing rate distribution, occurrence frequency distribution and burst duration. Two applications of the P-CNG are demonstrated to show its usefulness. For the first application, Middleton's Class A noise is simulated. A method of setting parameters for Class A noise is demonstrated. The APD of P-CNG output is in good agreement with that of true Class A noise. In the second application, the P-CNG is used for subjective evaluation test (opinion test) of TV picture degradation. Five simple composite noise models with two kinds of APD are used. Other parameters such as average power are kept constant. Experimental results show that the envelope and APD of composite noises do not greatly influence the subjective evaluation. Finally the capabilities of the P-CNG are shown.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) containing nanostructured cathode buffer layers were fabricated, and their electrical and emitting properties were investigated. The OLEDs have an ITO anode/CuPc/TPD/Alq3/buffer layer/Al cathode structure with the buffer layers made from nanostructured alternating layers Alq3 and Al. The driving voltage and the efficiency of the devices were improved by insertion of the buffer layer. It was estimated that some modulations of the Schottky barrier at the Alq3 and the Al cathode interface were induced due to the insertion of the buffer layer and it caused an enhancement of electron injection from the Al cathode.

We investigated the electrical properties of hole transport materials such as TPD, α-NPD and m-MTDATA using in-situ field effect measurement. TPD, α-NPD and m-MTDATA films showed p-type semiconducting properties, and their electrical parameters such as conductivity, carrier mobility and carrier concentration were obtained. We also examined the effect of the substrate temperature during vacuum deposition and the thermal treatment after deposition, on the electrical parameters of the films. Experimental results showed that conductivity and carrier mobility decreased as the substrate temperature increased over the glass transition temperature. These decreases in conductivity and carrier mobility as a result of thermal treatment appear to be strongly related to the degradation mechanism of organic electroluminescent devices.

Tracking mobile users in cellular wireless networks involves two basic functions: location update and paging. Location update refers to the process of tracking the location of mobile users that are not in conversation. Three basic algorithms have been proposed in the literature, namely the distance-based, time-based, and movement-based algorithms. The problem of minimizing the location update and paging costs has been solved in the literature by considering exponentially distributed Cell Residence Times (CRT) and Inter-Call Time (ICT), which is the time interval between two consecutive phone calls. In this paper we select the movement-based scheme since it is effective and easy to implement. Applying the theory of the delayed renewal process, we find the distribution of the number of cell crossings when the ICT is a mixture of exponentially distributed random variables and the CRT comes from any distribution with Laplace transform. In particular, we consider the case in which the first CRT may have a different distribution from the remaining CRT's, which includes the case of circular cells. We aim at the total cost minimization in this case.

A uni-traveling-carrier refracting-facet photodiode, a short-stab bias circuit, and a patch antenna are monolithically integrated to make a compact and low-cost photonic millimeter-wave emitter for fiber-radio applications. The device emits the maximum effective radiation power of 173 dBm at 60 GHz including a directive gain of the patch antenna.

We investigate a method to suppress the polarization-dependent loss (PDL) of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs). We study the origins of the PDL and propose an azimuthally isotropic UV exposure to suppress the UV-induced birefringence and to realize low-PDL LPFGs. By using this technique and a low birefringent fiber together, the PDL of LPFGs can be reduced to a sufficiently low level required in high performance communication systems. Moreover, the validity of our theoretical modeling is confirmed by the experimental results.

The first results of a field trial held in November 2000, of 1 Tbit/s (25 43 Gbit/s) unidirectional Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) transmission, are presented. The field trial used a 43 Gbit/s/channel Optical Transport Network (OTN) interface prototype and standard Single Mode Fibers (SMFs) installed in the Nara area network of NTT West Corporation. The features of this field trial include the accommodation of multiple services such as GbE, STM-16 and OC-48. Error free operation of 25 channels with 100 GHz spacing over a 91 km standard SMF with Forward Error Correction (FEC) is verified for STM-16. A DV stream over IP over Ethernet as a tributary channel was also successfully transmitted.

Low-crosstalk 1.3-µm Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) and photodiode (PD) arrays are developed. The arrays are fabricated on semi-insulating substrates and their anodes and cathodes are separated channel by channel to suppress inter-channel electrical crosstalk at high frequency. Crosstalk of less than -30 dB is achieved between neighboring LDs at 3.125 GHz. This is low enough for BER characteristics observed under asynchronous operation of a 4-channel LD array to be no worse than those under single-channel operation. Excellent uniformity of both LD and PD characteristics, high-temperature operation of the LD array, and low-voltage operation of the PD array are also attained. These arrays are suitable for low-cost high-bit-rate parallel optical communications.

In this paper we discuss the estimation of effort needed to update program codes according to given design specification changes. In the Object-Oriented incremental development (OOID), the requirement changes occur frequently and regularly. When a requirement change occurs, a design specification is changed accordingly. Then a program code is updated for given design specification change. In order to construct the development plan dynamically, a simple and fast estimation method of efforts for code updating is strongly required by both developers and managers. However, existing estimation methods cannot be applied to the OOID. We therefore try to propose a straightforward approach to estimate effort for code updating, which reflects the specific properties of the OOID. We list up following factors of the effort estimation for OOID: (1) updating activities consist of creation, deletion, and modification, (2) the target to be updated has four kinds of types (void type, basic type, library type, and custom type), (3) the degree of information hiding is classified into private, protected and public, and (4) the degree of inheritance affects updating efforts. We then propose a new formula E(P,σ) to calculate the efforts needed to update a program P according to a set of design specification changes σ. The formula E(P,σ) includes weighting parameters: Wupd, Wtype, Winf-h and Winht according to the characteristics (1), (2), (3) and (4), respectively. Finally, we conduct experimental evaluations by applying the formula E(P,σ) to actual project data in a certain company. The evaluation results statistically showed the validity of the proposed approach to some extent.

Internet access via mobile communications networks is growing rapidly; NTT DoCoMo's Internet access service using cellular phones, known as i-mode and started in February 1999, is no exception. The i-mode service enables the user to send e-mail and access Web sites for a variety of information through simple operation of a mobile terminal equipped with a browser. As a result, the traffic to be carried by the PDC (Personal Digital Cellular)-- Packet mobile communication network, which is used to provide the i-mode service, is also increasing rapidly. To meet this growing demand, the switching systems in place are being either increased in capacity or replaced by more powerful ones. To plan this effectively, it is necessary to make an accurate evaluation of the i-mode processing capacity. We have developed a new method of evaluating processing capacity, which is based on the conventional method but takes account of the characteristics specific to the PDC-Packet network. This paper discusses the method of evaluating the processing capacity of switching systems used in the PDC-Packet mobile network.

A new ramped-square sustain waveform is proposed to improve both the luminance and the luminous efficiency of an alternate current plasma display panel (ac PDP). The luminous characteristics such as the luminance and luminous efficiency have been measured with a square-voltage and a ramp-voltage (or voltage slope) of the proposed sustain pulse. With an increase in the square-voltage of a ramped-square sustain waveform, the luminance increases but the luminous efficiency decreases. On the other hand, with an increase in the ramp-voltage of a ramped-square sustain waveform, both the luminance and the luminous efficiency increase. When compared with the conventional square sustain waveform, an improved luminance of 22% and luminous efficiency of 36% are simultaneously obtained based on the proper adjustment of the square-voltage and ramp-voltage of the ramped-square sustain waveform in a 4-inch ac PDP test panel at a frequency of 62 kHz.