In this paper, we propose demodulators for the Golden and Alamouti codes in amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative communication with one relay. The proposed demodulators output exact log likelihood ratios (LLRs) with recursion based on the Jacobian logarithm. The cooperative system with the proposed demodulator for the Golden code has the benefit of efficient data transmission, while the system for the Alamouti code has low demodulation complexity. Quantitative analyses of computational complexity of the proposed demodulators are conducted. The transmission performance for various relay location and power settings is evaluated on cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based wireless local area network (LAN) systems. In evaluations, the optimal relay location and power settings are found. The cooperative system with the proposed demodulators for the Golden and Alamouti codes offers 1.5 and 1.9 times larger areas where 10.8 and 5.4Mbit/s can be obtained than a non-cooperative (direct) system in a typical office environment, respectively.

The combined linear frequency modulation continuous wave (LFMCW) and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) can be used for imaging long-distance targets because of its long-distance and high resolution imaging abilities. In this paper, we find and study the dechirp distortion phenomenon (DDP) for imaging long-distance targets by a dechirp-on-receive LFMCW radar. If the targets are very far from the radar, the maximum delay-time is not much smaller than a single sweep duration, and the dechirp distortion is triggered since the distance of the target is unknown in a LFMCW-ISAR system. DDP cannot be ignored in long-distance imaging because double images of a target appear in the frequency domain, which reduces resolution and degrades image quality. A novel LFMCW-ISAR signal model is established to analyze DDP and its negative effects on long-distance target imaging. Using the proportionately distributed energy of double images, the authors propose a method to correct dechirp distortion. In addition, the applicable scope of the proposed method is also discussed. Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed method.

In this paper, we use neural networks (NNs) for cross-dialectal (Mandarin-Shanghainese) voice conversion using a bi-dialectal speakers' recordings. This system employs a nonlinear mapping function, which is trained by parallel mandarin features of source and target speakers, to convert source speaker's Shanghainese features to those of target speaker. This study investigates three training aspects: a) Frequency warping, which is supposed to be language independent; b) Pre-training, which drives weights to a better starting point than random initialization or be regarded as unsupervised feature learning; and c) Sequence training, which minimizes sequence-level errors and matches objectives used in training and converting. Experimental results show that the performance of cross-dialectal voice conversion is close to that of intra-dialectal. This benefit is likely from the strong learning capabilities of NNs, e.g., exploiting feature correlations between fundamental frequency (F0) and spectrum. The objective measures: log spectral distortion (LSD) and root mean squared error (RMSE) of F0, both show that pre-training and sequence training outperform the frame-level mean square error (MSE) training. The naturalness of the converted Shanghainese speech and the similarity between converted Shanghainese speech and target Mandarin speech are significantly improved.

In this paper, the H2/H∞ control problem for a class of stochastic discrete-time linear systems with state-, control-, and external-disturbance-dependent noise or (x, u, v)-dependent noise involving multiple decision makers is investigated. It is shown that the conditions for the existence of a strategy are given by the solvability of cross-coupled stochastic algebraic Riccati equations (CSAREs). Some algorithms for solving these equations are discussed. Moreover, weakly-coupled large-scale stochastic systems are considered as an important application, and some illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed decision strategies.

The amplitude damping (AD) quantum channel is one of the models describing evolution of quantum states. The construction of quantum error correcting codes for the AD channel based on classical codes has been presented, and Shor et al. proposed a class of classical codes over F3 which are efficiently applicable to this construction. In this study, we expand Shor's construction to that over F7, and succeeded to construct an AD code that has better parameters than AD codes constructed by Shor et al.

In this paper, we investigate the problems of the established congestion solution and then introduce a self-adjustable rate control that supports quality of service assurances over multi-hop wireless mesh networks. This scheme eliminates two phases of the established congestion solution and works on the MAC layer for congestion control. Each node performs rate control by itself so network congestion is eliminated after it independently collects its vector parameters and network status parameters for rate control. It decides its transmission rate based on a predication model which uses a rate function including a congestion risk level and a passing function. We prove that our scheme works efficiently without any negative effects between the network layer and the data link layer. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme is more effective and has better performance than the existing method.

In this paper, an adaptive expansion strategy (AES) is proposed for multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) detection in the presence of circular signals. By exploiting channel properties, the AES classifies MIMO channels into three types: excellent, average and deep fading. To avoid unnecessary branch-searching, the AES adopts single expansion (SE), partial expansion (PE) and full expansion (FE) for excellent channels, average channels and deep fading channels, respectively. In the PE, the non-circularity of signal is exploited, and the widely linear processing is extended from non-circular signals to circular signals by I (or Q) component cancellation. An analytical performance analysis is given to quantify the performance improvement. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve quasi-optimal performance with much less complexity (hundreds of flops/symbol are saved) compared with the fixed-complexity sphere decoder (FSD) and the sphere decoder (SD).

This paper analyzes the transmission performances of visible light communication (VLC) based on unipolar orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is compatible with intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD). Three existing unipolar OFDM schemes, namely DC biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM), asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM), and flip-OFDM are investigated and compared. While these three schemes have been analyzed for indoor optical wireless communication (OWC) subject to the limitation on the transmit optical power, they have not been carefully investigated and compared for VLC when a large transmit power is available due to the illumination requirement, and the signal dynamic range (DR) becomes the main limitation. For the analysis, DR expressions of DCO-OFDM, ACO-OFDM, and flip-OFDM signals are first derived. Then, the bit error rate (BER) expression of each unipolar OFDM scheme is derived in terms of the DR. For data rates in the range of 1-10Mbps, under the system parameters based on typical indoor environments, DCO-OFDM is observed to outperform the other two schemes. This superiority of DCO-OFDM is in contrast with previously reported results that indicate the attractiveness of ACO-OFDM and flip-OFDM over DCO-OFDM when the transmit optical power is the main limitation. Finally, light dimming is considered to identify the illumination level below which DCO-OFDM loses this superiority.

Sound source localization (SSL), with a binaural input in practical environments, is a challenging task due to the effects of noise and reverberation. In psychoacoustic research field, one of the theories to explain the mechanism of human perception in such environments is the well-known equalization-cancellation (EC) model. Motivated by the EC theory, this paper investigates a binaural SSL method by integrating EC procedures into a beamforming technique. The principle idea is that the EC procedures are first utilized to eliminate the sound signal component at each candidate direction respectively; direction of sound source is then determined as the direction at which the residual energy is minimal. The EC procedures applied in the proposed method differ from those in traditional EC models, in which the interference signals in rooms are accounted in E and C operations based on limited prior known information. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms the traditional SSL algorithms in the presence of noise and reverberation simultaneously.

We have proposed an intruder detection method by using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. Although the channel capacity for MIMO transmission is severely degraded in time-variant channels, we can take advantage of this feature in MIMO sensor applications. For MIMO sensors, the accurate estimation of channel state information (CSI) is essential. Moreover, the transceiver should be simplified from the viewpoint of saving power. Narrowband signals such as minimum shift keying (MSK) and offset quaternary phase shift keying signals are effective and are used in sensor network systems. However, because the timing and carrier offsets between the transmitter and receiver are relatively large compared to the symbol rate, accurate CSI estimation is impossible given the severe constraints imposed by the timing and carrier offsets. To solve this issue, a signal synchronization method for the CSI estimation using a narrowband MSK signal has been proposed. In this paper, we propose a new CSI estimation method for arbitrary amplitude and phase modulation schemes for the MIMO sensor. The key point of the proposed method is that control signals (unique words) are mapped so as not to pass through the origin of the complex I/Q plane. The estimation accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated via a computer simulation. Moreover, the basic performance by the proposed CSI estimation method is verified when considering intruder detection by MIMO sensor.

To lengthen the operational time of mobile devices, power must be managed effectively. To achieve this objective, a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism is proposed for use in the long-term evolution (LTE) network to enable user equipment (UE) to consume power efficiently. The DRX mechanism provides parameters related to base stations such as evolved Node B (eNB) to configure and manage the transition of UEs between idle (sleep) and active states. Although these parameters can be adjusted dynamically in cooperation with the traffic scheduler, a high signaling overhead and processing load might be introduced in practical deployment if the parameters are adjusted too frequently. In this study, to examine power-saving efficiency, distinct traffic types were scheduled that were constrained by various quality of service (QoS) factors without dynamically changing the DRX parameters. The concept of burst-based scheduling is proposed, based on considering the state transitions and channel conditions of each UE, to increase power-saving efficiency while concurrently satisfying the desired QoS. Both Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and video-stream traffic models were exhaustively simulated to examine the performance of the proposed scheme and numerous scheduling alternatives were tested to compare the proposed scheme with other schemes. The simulation results indicate that video-streaming traffic is more sensitive to the scheduling schemes than HTTP traffic. The simulation results were further analyzed in terms of traffic scheduling and parameter adjustment and the analysis results can help design future studies on power management in the LTE network.

We construct two types of reverberation chambers, one is 4(m) × 2(m) × 2(m)-sized and the other is 2(m) × 2(m) × 2(m)-sized for realizing a multipath-rich environment for MIMO-OTA measurements. In this paper, we measure fundamental propagation characteristics, including amplitude statistics, multipath-delay statistics, spatial correlation characteristics, and cross polarization characteristics over a frequency range of 800MHz to 5GHz in our reverberation chamber. Also, we confirm the existence of spatially uniform area of 1m2 area, which might be sufficiently large to set a device under test (DUT) in the chamber. Theoretical considerations about the characteristics are also given to support the design of reverberation chamber.

A novel method for calibrating the probes used in standard measurement systems to evaluate SAR (specific absorption rate) of the radio equipment operating at frequencies over 3GHz is proposed. As for the proposed method, the electric-field distribution produced by a waveguide aperture installed in a liquid container is used to calibrate the SAR probe. The field distribution is shown to be the same as that given by a conventional calibration method by analytically deriving a closed-form expression for the field produced by the waveguide aperture with the help of the paraxial approximation. Comparing the approximated and measured distributions reveals that the closed-form expression is valid for the electric-field distribution near the central axis of the aperture. The calibration factor for a commercial SAR probe is evaluated by the proposed method and agrees well with that provided by the manufacturer of the probe.

We proposed a through-hole based transformer between microstrip line and post-wall waveguide (PWW). The transformer is based on a through-hole which is electrically separated from top and bottom broad walls of a waveguide by ring-shaped spaces. The proposed transformer shows a considerable merit compared with a conventional one based on blind-via in terms of fabrication and cost because it can be realized by through-holes in general printed-circuit-board technology. We selected liquid crystal polymer (LCP) as the material of substrates because of its lower dielectric loss and easy fabrication. The transformer was fabricated and measured. The loss associated with the mode conversion is estimated to be around 0.32,dB, and the bandwidth for a reflection smaller than $-15$,dB is 8,GHz, i.e., from 59 to 67,GHz.

A coherent combining-based initial ranging scheme is proposed for multiple-input multiple-output and orthogonal frequency division multiple access systems. The proposed algorithm utilizes the correlation properties of the ranging codes to resolve the multipath components, coherently combines the initial ranging signal of resolved path on each receiving antenna to maximize the output signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio, and then collects the power of the multipath signals to detect the states of the ranging codes. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme has much better performance than the available noncoherent combining method, and can accommodate more active ranging users simultaneously in each cell.

In the theory of periodic gratings, there is no method to make up a numerical solution that satisfies the reciprocity so far. On the basis of the shadow theory, however, this paper proposes a new method to obtain a numerical solution that satisfies the reciprocity. The shadow thoery states that, by the reciprocity, the $m$th order scattering factor is an even function with respect to a symmetrical axis depending on the order $m$ of diffraction. However, a scattering factor obtained numerically becomes an even function only approximately, but not accurately. It can be decomposed to even and odd components, where an odd component represents an error with respect to the reciprocity and can be removed by the average filter. Using even components, a numerical solution that satisfies the reciprocity is obtained. Numerical examples are given for the diffraction of a transverse magnetic (TM) plane wave by a very rough periodic surface with perfect conductivity. It is then found that, by use of the average filter, the energy error is much reduced in some case.

Mobile social networks (MSN) provides diverse services to meet the needs of mobile users, i.e., discovering new friends, and sharing their pictures, videos and other information among their common interest friends. On the other hand, Quality-of-Experience (QoE) is a new concept related to but differs from Quality-of-Service (QoS) perception. QoE is a subjective measure of a customer's experiences with a service focuses on the entire service experience, and is a more holistic evaluation. So far, QoS issues have been focused and mainly addressed in the literature of MSNs. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first article to address QoE issues in emerging MSNs. In this paper, we first present a comprehensive investigation on recent advances in MSNs as well as QoE issues addressed in various types of applications and networks. From the lessons learned from the literature, then we propose a future research direction of QoE in MSNs.

The higher-order characteristic basis function method (HO-CBFM) is clearly formulated. HO-CBFM provides results accurately even if a block division is arbitrary. The HO-CBFM combined with a volume integral equation (VIE) is used in the analysis of various antennas in the vicinity of a dielectric object. The results of the numerical analysis show that the HO-CBFM can reduce the CPU time while still achieving the desired accuracy.

The goal of dimension reduction is to represent high-dimensional data in a lower-dimensional subspace, while intrinsic properties of the original data are kept as much as possible. An important challenge in unsupervised dimension reduction is the choice of tuning parameters, because no supervised information is available and thus parameter selection tends to be subjective and heuristic. In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic approach to unsupervised dimension reduction that allows objective tuning parameter selection. We employ quadratic mutual information (QMI) as our information measure, which is known to be less sensitive to outliers than ordinary mutual information, and QMI is estimated analytically by a least-squares method in a computationally efficient way. Then, we provide an eigenvector-based efficient implementation for performing unsupervised dimension reduction based on the QMI estimator. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated through experiments.

Visual quality evaluation is crucially important for various video and image processing systems. Traditionally, subjective image quality assessment (IQA) given by the judgments of people can be perfectly consistent with human visual system (HVS). However, subjective IQA metrics are cumbersome and easily affected by experimental environment. These problems further limits its applications of evaluating massive pictures. Therefore, objective IQA metrics are desired which can be incorporated into machines and automatically evaluate image quality. Effective objective IQA methods should predict accurate quality in accord with the subjective evaluation. Motivated by observations that HVS is highly adapted to extract irregularity information of textures in a scene, we introduce multifractal formalism into an image quality assessment scheme in this paper. Based on multifractal analysis, statistical complexity features of nature images are extracted robustly. Then a novel framework for image quality assessment is further proposed by quantifying the discrepancies between multifractal spectrums of images. A total of 982 images are used to validate the proposed algorithm, including five type of distortions: JPEG2000 compression, JPEG compression, white noise, Gaussian blur, and Fast Fading. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed metric is highly effective for evaluating perceived image quality and it outperforms many state-of-the-art methods.