This paper proposes a novel boundary scan test scheme for intellectual property (IP) core identification via watermarking. The core concept is embedding a watermark identification circuit (WIC) and a test circuit into the IP core at the behavior design level. The procedure depends on current IP-based design flow. This scheme can detect the identification of the IP provider without the need to examine the microphotograph after the chip has been manufactured and packaged. This scheme can successfully survive synthesis, placement, and routing and identify the IP core at various design levels. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed approach has the potential to solve the IP identification problem.

In this paper, the 1-D real-valued discrete Gabor transform (RDGT) proposed in our previous work and its relationship with the complex-valued discrete Gabor transform (CDGT) are briefly reviewed. Block time-recursive RDGT algorithms for the efficient and fast computation of the 1-D RDGT coefficients and for the fast reconstruction of the original signal from the coefficients are then developed in both the critical sampling case and the oversampling case. Unified parallel lattice structures for the implementation of the algorithms are studied. And the computational complexity analysis and comparison show that the proposed algorithms provide a more efficient and faster approach for the computation of the discrete Gabor transforms.

This paper describes two way satellite system environments on geostationary orbit (GEO) and performance enhancement mechanisms which reduces round trip time (RTT) and supports real-time services. We use performance enhancing proxy (PEP) for reducing round trip time and user-level real-time scheduler for reducing deadline violation tasks. The user-level real-time scheduling method classifies priority of user process into four types and those are reflected in kernel. With these dual performance enhancement mechanisms, we can improve quality of service (QoS) of end-user who connects to the DVB-RCS system.

The latest video coding standard, H.264/AVC, adopts 44 approximate transform instead of 88 discrete cosine transform (DCT) to avoid the inverse transform mismatch problem. However, that is only one of the factors that make it difficult to transcode pre-coded video contents with the previous standards to H.264/AVC in the common domain without causing cascaded pixel-domain transcoding. In this paper, to support the existent DCT-domain transcoding schemes and to reduce computational complexity, we propose an efficient algorithm that converts the quantized 88 DCT block into four newly quantized 44 transformed blocks. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme reduces computational complexity by 5-11% and improves video quality by 0.1-0.5 dB compared with the cascaded pixel-domain transcoding scheme that exploits inverse quantization (IQ), inverse DCT (IDCT), DCT, and re-quantization (re-Q).

Beam control using active antenna arrays with self-oscillating harmonic mixers has been investigated. The active antenna is composed of a patch antenna receiving RF signal and a parallel feedback type oscillator which operates as the self-oscillating harmonic mixer, and down-converts the received RF signal into IF signal. The mixer has two ports for local oscillating (LO) signal. One is an output port extracting the LO signal. The other is an input port for an injection signal to synchronize the local oscillation. The mixers can be coupled unilaterally without other nonreciprocal components by connecting the output port to the input port in the next mixer. In the unilaterally coupled array, the phase differences of the LO signals between the adjacent mixers can be varied without phase shifters in injection locking state by changing the local free-running frequencies of the self-oscillating mixers. The receiving pattern can be controlled by combining the IF signals from the individual active antennas, which have phases associated with the LO signals. The IF is difference between the RF and double of the LO frequency so that arbitrary phase differences from 0 to 2π radian can be provided to the output IF signals. The experiments using the two- and three-element arrays demonstrated beam control capability.

Recent microprocessors have included SIMD (single instruction multiple data) extensions into their instruction set architecture to improve the performance of multimedia applications. SIMD instructions speed up the execution of programs but pose lots of challenges to software developers. An efficient matrix-based splitter (or merger), which can split an N N 2-D DCT block into four N/2 N/2 or two N N/2 (or N/2 N) 2-D DCT blocks (or merger small size blocks into a large size one), specialized for SIMD architectures is presented in this paper. The programming-level complexity of the proposed methods is lower than that of the direct approach. Furthermore, even without using SIMD instructions, the algorithmic-level complexity of the proposed DCT splitter/merger is still lower than that of the direct one and is the same as that of the most efficient approach existed in the literature. When N = 8, our method can be applied to act as a transcoder between the latest video coding standards AVC/H.264 and the older ones, such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 part 2. We also provide the image quality tests to show the performance of the proposed 2-D DCT splitter and merger.

As a specific signature, the nominative proxy signature scheme is a method in which the designated proxy signer generates a nominative signature and transmits it to a verifier, instead of the original signer. Recently, Seo et al. proposed a nominative proxy signature scheme for mobile communication and claimed that the scheme hash non-repudiation. However, after analyzing the scheme, we show that the scheme is insecure and cannot provide non-repudiation, note that a malicious original signer can forge the proxy signer to sign on any message. Finally, we also present a modification version of the scheme to repair the security flaw.

In this study, we have proposed an efficient automatic multilevel thresholding method for image segmentation. An effective criterion for measuring the separability of the homogenous objects in the image, based on discriminant analysis, has been introduced to automatically determine the number of thresholding levels to be performed. Then, by applying this discriminant criterion, the object regions with homogeneous illuminations in the image can be recursively and automatically thresholded into separate segmented images. The proposed method is fast and effective in analyzing and thresholding the histogram of the image. In order to conduct an equitable comparative performance evaluation of the proposed method with other thresholding methods, a combinatorial scheme is also introduced to properly reduce the computational complexity of performing multilevel thresholding. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method is feasible and computationally efficient in automatic multilevel thresholding for image segmentation.

A novel millimeter wave quadruple-push oscillator is presented in this paper. The quadruple-push oscillator consists of four identical sub-circuits and a ring resonator that is used as a common resonator. It is well known that there are two orthogonal resonant modes on a one-wavelength ring resonator. According to this resonant characteristic, two orthogonal push-push oscillations can be set up in the quadruple-push oscillator, and there is a phase difference of 90among four sub-circuits due to nonlinear performance. Therefore, the four identical sub-circuits can oscillate at the same fundamental frequency f0, and the fundamental oscillating signal of one sub-circuit has phase differences of 90, 180and 270to that of the others, and the desired fourth harmonic signals can be combined due to their in phase relations, and the undesired fundamental signals, the second harmonic signals, the third harmonic signals and so on can be suppressed when the oscillating signals of the four sub-circuits are added in phase. The principle is firstly explained in this paper, and is proved in the experiment of a Ka-band quadruple-push oscillator. The measured output power of the desired fourth harmonic signal (4f0) was +1.67 dBm at the frequency of 35.8 GHz. The measured suppression of the undesired signals of the fundamental signal (f0), the second harmonic signal (2f0), the third harmonic signal (3f0) and the fifth harmonic signal (5f0) were -18.0 dBc, -17.9 dBc, -17.8 dBc and -35.5 dBc, respectively. The measured phase noise performances at 35.8 GHz were -104.0 dBc/Hz and -82.3 dBc/Hz at the offset frequency of 1 MHz and 100 kHz, respectively.

When video data are transmitted via the network, the quality of video data must be carefully chosen to be best under the condition that the transmission is not influenced by other internet services. They often use the simulcast type, which uses independent streams that are stored and transmitted for the quality, considering implementation, when they select the video quality. On the other hand, we had already proposed the scalable structure, which consists of base and enhancement data, but when they require the high quality video, these data are combined using the transcoding methods. In this paper, we propose the video contents delivery methods with scalable transcoding, in which users can update the quality of video data even after the transmission by base data and differential data. In order to reduce the total time of not only users' access time, but also watching time, we compare simulcast method with proposed methods in the total content utilization time using a video contents access model, and evaluate required transcoding time to reduce the waiting time of users.

An efficient algorithm to reduce the noise from the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Free Induction Decay (NMR FID) signals is presented, in this paper, via the oversampled real-valued discrete Gabor transform using the Gaussian synthesis window. An NMR FID signal in the Gabor transform domain (i.e., a joint time-frequency domain) is concentrated in a few number of Gabor transform coefficients while the noise is fairly distributed among all the coefficients. Therefore, the NMR FID signal can be significantly enhanced by performing a thresholding technique on the coefficients in the transform domain. Theoretical and simulation experimental analyses in this paper show that the oversampled Gabor transform using the Gaussian synthesis window is more suitable for the NMR FID signal enhancement than the critically-sampled one using the exponential synthesis window, because both the Gaussian synthesis window and its corresponding analysis window in the oversampling case can have better localization in the frequency domain than the exponential synthesis window and its corresponding analysis window in the critically-sampling case. Moreover, to speed up the transform, instead of the commonly-used complex-valued discrete Gabor transform, the real-valued discrete Gabor transform presented in our previous work is adopted in the proposed algorithm.

In this paper we report a 3rd-order Gm-C filter based on pseudo-differential continuous-time transconductors for applications in low-voltage systems over VHF range. By using a 0.18 µm pure digital CMOS process, a prototype low pass filter with -3 dB frequency programmable from 38 MHz to 213 MHz confirms the feasibility of the proposed filter in applications such as data storage systems.

In the adaptive modulation and coding (AMC)-based orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system for broadband wireless service, a large number of users with short packets cause a serious capacity mismatch problem, which incurs resource under-utilization when the data rate of subchannel increases with a better channel condition. To handle the capacity mismatch problem, we propose an AMC-based subchannel multiplexing (ASM) scheme, which allows for sharing the same subchannel among the different simultaneous flows of the same user. Along with the ASM scheme, we also consider multi-class scheduling scheme, which employs the different packet scheduling algorithm for the different service class, e.g., packet loss rate-based (PLR) scheduling algorithm for real-time (RT) service and modified minimum bit rate-based (MMBR) scheduling algorithm for non-real-time (NRT) service. In the typical integrated service scenario with voice, video, and data traffic, we have shown that the proposed schemes significantly improve the overall system capacity.

In region-of-interest (ROI) image coding based on wavelet transforms, the tap length of the wavelet filter as well as energy compaction characteristics affect the quality of the restored image. This paper presents a wavelet transform comprised of two wavelet filter sets with different tap lengths. The wavelet filter is switched to the shorter-length set to code a ROI of an image and to the longer-length one for the remaining region, the region of non-interest (RONI). ROI coding examples demonstrate that this switching wavelet transform provides better quality levels than fixed transforms under the same total bits; the quality of the recovered ROI is improved in the lossy coding of both regions while that of the full image is improved in the lossless coding of the ROI.

A scalable multicast session announcement system is a key component of a group communication framework over the Internet. It enables the announcement of session parameters (like the {source address; group address} pair) to a potentially large number of users, according to each site administrator's policy. This system should accommodate any flavor of group communication system, like the Any-Source Multicast (ASM) and Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) schemes. In this paper we first highlight the limitations of the current Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) and study several other information distribution protocols. This critical analysis leads us to formulate the requirements of an ideal multicast session announcement system. We then introduce a new session announcement system called "Channel Reflector". It appears as a hierarchical directory system and offers an effective policy and scope control technique. We finally mention some design aspects, like the protocol messages and configuration structures the Channel Reflector uses.

Radio packet schedulers are currently being implemented in cdma2000 1x and 1xEV. cdma2000 1x stems from TIA/EIA-95 that was optimised to support circuit-based voice communications and is now extended to support high speed data transmission up to 153.6 kbps. 1xEV is primarily for wireless Internet access and can support up to maximally 2.4 Mbps. Compared with other 3G mobile systems that focus on voice services and guaranteed quality of the services, 1xEV exploits the delay-tolerant transmission of the packet data services so as to achieve spectral efficiency and reduce the cost of providing such services. Supporting multimedia transfer including real-time as well as delay-tolerant data transmission, however, is a must in designing packet schedulers for future mobile systems. In this letter, we address design issues of a packet scheduler by comparing two existing different schedulers: WQDS (Weighted Queuing Rate Scheduler) for cdma2000 1x and PFRS (Proportional Fairness Rate Scheduler) for 1xEV. Comparisons are made on the structure of schedulers as well as by numerical evaluations of performance.

Screen pattern used in offset-printed documents has been one of great obstacles in developing document recognition systems that handle color documents. This paper proposes a selective smoothing method for filtering the screen patterns/noise in high-resolution color document images. Experimental results show that the method yields significant improvements in character pattern extraction.

In a direct conversion receiver for mobile communication, it is important to reduce power dissipation. Because a low pass filter in a direct conversion receiver must suppress adjacent channel signals, a high order and high power dissipation is often required in the low pass filter. We propose a new phase compensation technique suitable for a low power transconductor used in a GmC filter as a low pass filter. The new phase compensation technique reduces 10% of power dissipation.

This paper presents new encoding methods for the binary genetic algorithm (BGA) and new converting methods for the real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA). These methods are developed for the specific case in which some parameters have to be searched in wide ranges since their actual values are not known. The oversampling effect which occurs at large values in the wide range search are reduced by adjustment of resolutions in mantissa and exponent of real numbers mapped by BGA. Owing to an intrinsic similarity in chromosomal operations, the proposed encoding methods are also applied to RCGA with remapping (converting as named above) from real numbers generated in RCGA. A simple probabilistic analysis and benchmark with two ill-scaled test functions are carried out. System identification of a simple electrical circuit is also undertaken to testify effectiveness of the proposed methods to real world problems. All the optimization results show that the proposed encoding/converting methods are more suitable for problems with ill-scaled parameters or wide parameter ranges for searching.

A series-fed beam-scanning array employing a MUlti-Stage Configured microstrip Antenna with Tunable reactance devices (MUSCAT) is proposed. The proposed antenna significantly expands the beam scanning range and achieves high efficiency. This antenna comprises unit element groups, whose elements are placed close to each other and employ tunable reactance devices. Analyses and experiments on the unit element groups show that their multi-stage configuration extends the phase shift range and increases the radiation efficiency, e.g., a 120phase shift and the radiation efficiency of more than 50% are achieved, when three stages are employed. The radiation pattern of the fabricated MUSCAT array antenna comprising eight unit element groups is measured. A beam scanning range of 27, which is greater than twice the beam scanning range of a non-multi-stage configuration, is achieved.