We report recent achievements in interfacing Josephson junction circuits with superconductor MicroStrip Lines (MSLs). We studied basic techniques that allow satisfactory operation of different devices with MSLs. Successful operation of the interfaces with very low error rate has been demonstrated even at the MSL resonant frequency.

This letter presents a novel application of the Verilog-A, which is a hardware description language for analog circuits, to the modeling and simulation of high-speed interconnects in time/frequency transform-domain for signal integrity problems. This modeling method with the Verilog-A language would handle the transfer function approximation and admittance matrices, which are expressed by the dominant poles and residues as used in AWE technique. Finally, it is shown that modeling and simulation of the high-speed interconnects with nonlinear terminations can be done easily.

With increased size and issue-width, instruction issue queue becomes one of the most energy consuming units in today's superscalar microprocessors. This paper presents a novel architectural technique to reduce energy dissipation of adaptive issue queue, whose functionality is dynamically adjusted at runtime to match the changing computational demands of instruction stream. In contrast to existing schemes, the technique exploits a new freedom in queue design, namely the voltage per access. Since loading capacitance operated in the adaptive queue varies in time, the clock cycle budget becomes inefficiently exploited. We propose to trade-off the unused cycle time with supply voltage, lowering the voltage level when the queue functionality is reduced and increasing it with the activation of resources in the queue. Experiments show that the approach can save up to 39% of the issue queue energy without large performance and area overhead.

This paper proposes list Viterbi equalizers (LVEs) that use two kinds of metric criteria for wide-spread time-dispersive channels to achieve a good trade-off between complexity and bit error rate (BER) performance. For Viterbi equalization employing a state-reduction algorithm, the modified metric criterion proposed by Ungerboeck is not always equivalent to the squared Euclidean distance metric criterion. This paper proposes the following two schemes for the LVE: (1) to combine two kinds of metric criteria like combining diversity; (2) to select the metric criterion like selection diversity according to the channel impulse response. Finally, computer simulation shows that the proposed schemes improve BER performance on wide-spread frequency selective fading channels, even if the proposed schemes have smaller complexity than the conventional one.

Quantization is an essential step which leads to compression in discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain. In this paper, we show how a statistically non-optimal uniform quantizer can be improved by employing an efficient reconstruction method. For this purpose, we estimate the probability distribution function (PDF) of original DCT coefficients in a decoder. By applying the estimated PDF into the reconstruction process, the dequantization distortion can be reduced. The proposed method can be used practically in any applications where uniform quantizers are used. In particular, it can be used for the quantization scheme of the JPEG and MPEG coding standards.

The class NQP was proposed as the class of problems that are solvable by non-deterministic quantum Turing machines in polynomial time. In this paper, we introduce non-deterministic quantum finite automata in which the same non-determinism as in non-deterministic quantum Turing machines is applied. We compare non-deterministic quantum finite automata with the classical counterparts, and show that (unlike the case of classical finite automata) the class of languages recognizable by non-deterministic quantum finite automata properly contains the class of all regular languages.

It has been shown that virtual output queuing (VOQ) and a sophisticated scheduling algorithm enable an input-queued switch to achieve 100% throughput for independent arrival process. Several of the scheduling algorithms that have been proposed can be classified as either iterative scheduling algorithms or symmetric crossbar arbitration algorithms. i-OCF (oldest-cell-first) and TSA (two step arbiter) are well-known examples of iterative scheduling algorithms and symmetric crossbar arbitration algorithms, respectively. However, there are drawbacks in using these algorithms. i-OCF takes long time to find completely a conflict-free match between input ports and output ports because it requires multiple iterations. If i-OCF cannot find a conflict-free match completely, the switch throughput falls. TSA has the possibility that it finds a conflict-free match faster than i-OCF because it does not need any iterations. However, TSA suffers from the starvation problem. In this paper, we propose a new scheduling algorithm. It uses two schedulers, which we call scheduler 1 and scheduler 2, in parallel. After cells were transmitted, the information that input port i granted the offer from output port j in scheduler 2 is mapped to scheduler 1 if and only if input port i has at least one cell destined for output port j. If the information is moved, input port i and output port j are matched in scheduler 1 at the beginning of the next time slot. Our proposed algorithm uses one scheduler based on TSA and the other scheduler based on i-OCF. Numerical results show that the proposed scheduling algorithm does not require multiple iterations to find a conflict-free match completely and suffer from the starvation problem for both uniform and bursty traffic.

In this paper, we propose a method of unicast and broadcast packet sharing for the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) multi-base station (BS) indoor wireless communication system using an adaptive array antenna on mobile terminals. The adaptive array antenna placed on the mobile terminal allows quality improvement due to the diversity effect when the data transmitted from all BSs are the same, and provides capacity improvement by channel sharing when the data from each BS are different. In the proposed sharing method, unicast packets are transmitted independently from multiple BSs in order to increase the communication capacity, and broadcast packets are transmitted simultaneously with other BSs in order to enhance the communication quality without retransmission. Furthermore, by modifying the packet assignment procedure, we confirm that quality can be improved for unicast packets in a low traffic environment.

In this study, a hybrid genetic algorithm/neural network with fuzzy logic controller (NN-flcGA) is proposed to find the global optimum of reliability assignment/redundant allocation problems which should be simultaneously determined two different types of decision variables. Several researchers have obtained acceptable and satisfactory results using genetic algorithms for optimal reliability assignment/redundant allocation problems during the past decade. For large-size problems, however, genetic algorithms have to enumerate numerous feasible solutions due to the broad continuous search space. Recently, a hybridized GA combined with a neural network technique (NN-hGA) has been proposed to overcome this kind of difficulty. Unfortunately, it requires a high computational cost though NN-hGA leads to a robuster and steadier global optimum irrespective of the various initial conditions of the problems. The efficacy and efficiency of the NN-flcGA is demonstrated by comparing its results with those of other traditional methods in numerical experiments. The essential features of NN-flcGA namely, 1) its combination with a neural network (NN) technique to devise initial values for the GA, 2) its application of the concept of a fuzzy logic controller when tuning strategy GA parameters dynamically, and 3) its incorporation of the revised simplex search method, make it possible not only to improve the quality of solutions but also to reduce computational cost.

In this letter, sampling and quantizer design for the Gaussian detection problem are considered. A constraint on the transmission rate from the remote sensor to the optimal discrete detector is assumed. The trade-off between sampling rate and the number of quantization levels is studied and illustrated by means of an example.

A cascode crystal oscillator is widely used for the stable frequency source of mobile communication equipments. Recently, IC production of the cascode crystal oscillator has become necessary. The cascode crystal oscillator is composed of a colpitts crystal oscillator and a cascode connected base-common buffer amplifier. The base bypass condenser prevents the area size reduction. In this paper, we have proposed the new structures of the cascode crystal oscillator suitable for integrated circuits. The proposed circuits have the advantages on reduction of the area size and start-up time without deteriorating the frequency stability against the load impedance variation and other performances. The simulation and experiment have shown the effectiveness of the proposed circuits.

A highly stable oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) with low phase-noise characteristics has been developed using a dual-mode SC-cut quartz crystal oscillator. The OCXO uses a conventional oven-control system for coarse compensation and a digital-correction system, which uses B-mode signal in an SC-cut resonator as a temperature sensor, for fine compensation. Combining these two forms of compensation greatly improves the stability of the C-mode frequency without requiring a double-oven system. The experimental results indicated that the frequency stability of the proposed OCXO, including the frequency-temperature hysteresis, is ten times better than that of a conventional, free-running OCXO. The results also indicated that the proposed OCXO has good frequency retraceability and low phase-noise characteristics.

A building block for widening an input range under low power-supply voltages is proposed and the block is used in a popular linearization technique for voltage-to-current converters. The block employs two MOSFETs each of which actively works when and only when the other is in cutoff region. Accurate level shift circuits for the control of the MOSFETs enable such exclusive operation. Simulation results show that the complementary MOSFETs perform as an equivalent MOSFET without any cutoff region. It is also confirmed that the novel linear voltage-to-current converter is effective for not only a wide input range but also low-power consumption.

This paper presents an explicit analysis of the output error power in wideband sampling systems with finite aperture time in the presence of sampling jitter. Sampling jitter and finite aperture time affect the ability of wideband sampling systems to capture high-frequency signals with high precision. Sampling jitter skews data acquisition timing points, which causes large errors in high-frequency (large slew rate) signal acquisition. Finite sampling-window aperture works as a low pass filter, and hence it degrades the high-frequency performance of sampling systems. In this paper, we discuss these effects explicitly not only in the case that either sampling jitter or finite aperture time exists but also the case that they exist together, for any aperture window function (whose Fourier transform exists) and sampling jitter of Gaussian distribution. These would be useful for the designer of wideband sampling data acquisition systems to know how much sampling jitter and aperture time are tolerable for a specified SNR. Some experimental measurement results as well as simulation results are provided as validation of the analytical results.

We present a state-space approach to the problem of designing a parallel feedforward compensator (PFC), which has the same dimension of the input i.e. input-dimensional, for a class of non-square linear systems such that the closed-loop system is strictly passive. For a non-minimum phase system or a system with high relative degree, passification of the system cannot be achieved by any other methodologies except by using a PFC. In our scheme, we first determine a squaring gain matrix and an additional dynamics that is connected to the system in a feedforward way, then a static passifying control law is designed. Consequently, the actual feedback controller will be the static control law combined with the feedforward dynamics. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the PFC are given by the static output feedback formulation, which enables to utilize linear matrix inequality (LMI). Since the proposed PFC is input-dimensional, our design procedure can be viewed as a solution to the low-order dynamic output feedback control problem in the literature. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by some numerical examples.

Recently, as multimedia and high-speed traffic become more popular on the Internet, the various traffic requiring different qualities of service (QoS) will co-exist. In addition, classified service based on Diff-Serv (Differentiated Service), MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching),etc., have come into wide use. Today's Internet environment requires routers to perform control mechanisms in order to guarantee various QoSs. In this paper, we propose a buffer management scheme for the Internet router that uses class-based priority control. This paper focuses on per-flow queueing, and evaluates the performance of the proposed buffer management scheme. Realization of differentiated services and dissolution of buffer occupation by specific flow is expected by the proposed control.

The provisioning of QoS in the Internet is gaining an increasing attention, thus the importance of methods capable of estimating the bandwidth requirement of traffic flows is constantly growing. This information can be used for a wide range of purposes. Admission control, QoS routing and load sharing all need the same basic information in order to be able to make decisions. This paper describes a number of methods that can be used to arrive at precise estimates of the bandwidth requirement focusing on those that are based on the theory of large deviations. A methodology is presented that allows the reformulation of earlier solutions based on the estimation of some form of an overflow probability so that their output becomes a bandwidth-type quantity, the format preferred by Internet control applications. The methodology provides two tracks for the conversion: an indirect method that encapsulates the overflow probability-type approach as an embedded calculation and a direct method that immediately results in the estimate of the bandwidth requirement. The paper introduces a novel method for the direct computation of the bandwidth requirement of Internet traffic flows using the many sources asymptotic regime of the large deviation theory. The direct bandwidth estimator method reduces the computational complexity of the calculations, since it results directly in the bandwidth requirement, allowing the omission of the frequent and costly computation of the buffer overflow probability. The savings arising from the reduction in computational complexity are demonstrated in a numerical example.

The explosive growth of World Wide Web usage is causing a number of performance problems, including slow response times, network congestion, and denial of service. Web site that has a huge number of accesses and requires high quality of services, such as a site offering hosting services, or content delivery services, usually uses a cache server to reduce the load on the original server offering the original content. To increase the throughput of the caching process and to improve service availability, multiple cache servers are often positioned in front of the original server. This requires a switch to direct incoming requests to one of the multiple cache servers. In this paper, we propose a routing algorithm for such a switch in front of clustered multiple cache servers and evaluate its performance by simulation. The results show that our routing algorithm is effective when content has request locality and a short period of validity, for example, news, map data, road traffic data, or weather information. We also identify points to consider when the proposed algorithm is applied to a real system.

In recent years, several inverse solutions of magnetoencephalography (MEG) have been proposed. Among them, the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) method utilizes spatio-temporal information obtained from magnetic fields. The conventional MUSIC method is, however, sensitive to Gaussian noise and a sufficiently large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is required to estimate the number of sources and to specify the precise locations of electrical neural activities. In this paper, a new algorithm for solving the inverse problem using the fourth order MUSIC (FO-MUSIC) method is proposed. We apply it to the MEG source estimation problem. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed FO-MUSIC algorithm is more robust against Gaussian noise than the conventional MUSIC algorithm.

OFDM modulation has attracted attention for fourth-generation mobile communication systems and high-speed wireless LANs. However, it has a very serious problem of large peak power. PTS (partial transmit sequences) has been proposed as one solution to this problem. In PTS, the OFDM subcarriers are divided into several clusters, and the phase of each cluster is rotated by a complex weight to minimize the PAPR (peak-to-average power ratio). However, the weight of the phase rotation must be sent to the mobile terminal by using a side information channel. In this paper, we propose two weight estimation methods at the receiver to avoid weight transmission in side information channels. The first method uses pilot signals, while the second is a blind estimation method that changes the weight pattern. We evaluate the performance of these methods by computer simulation.