This paper presents a support method for specifying communication systems. Generally, a set of requirements for a target system is partial and ambiguous to construct the whole system, namely it lacks certain necessary descriptions for the target system. To attack this problem, our method enables a designer to obtain such necessary descriptions from specifications stored in a knowledge base, namely by reusing specifications, and helps the designer to specify the target system completely. In our support method, we adopt labelled transition systems (LTSs) which are state transition graphs and are shared as a common notion by most FDTs. Therefore, our method is the common approach to FDTs. We propose a new idea about similarity berween LTSs, and propose an algorithm to suggest similar LTSs to the designer.

The authors have studied mechanism of transition from metallic phase to gaseous phase in contact break arc. For further elucidation of the mechanism, we have carried out spectroscopic measurement. The spectrum measurement system which had high time resolution was composed using two monochromators and a bifurcated image fiber, which had one input port and two output ports. The input port received the arc light, and the two monochromators received the arc light from the two output ports, respectively. The spectral sensitivity of the two monochromators was corrected with a standard lamp. We have measured simultaneously two spectra of break arc for Ag in laboratory air, under the condition where source voltage E=48 V, load inductance L=2.3 mH, and closed contact current I0=6 A. As a result, the time-varying tendency of spectrum intensity is similar for the same element, even if the wavelength is different. And from the comparison of time average spectrum intensity, it is clarified that average intensity for gas spectrum does not attain to 10% of that for metallic atomic spectrum (Ag I, 520.91 nm). In addition, the decrease point of Ag II (ion) spectrum has been found to correspond with the peak of Ag I (atom) spectrum.

As a result of examination based on a newly available data set of millimeter-wave rain attenuation measured in the UK, it is found that the ITU-R specific rain attenuation model tends to appreciably underestimate millimeter-wave rain attenuation at frequencies above about 60GHz for the UK rain climate. This tendency is very similar to that previously reported for the Japanese experimental data at frequencies up to 245GHz. Furthermore, an alternative specific rain attenuation model based on the Japanese experimental data is found to be in fairly good agreement with the experimental data in the UK at frequencies up to 137GHz.

A new gradient type adaptive algorithm is proposed in this paper. It is formulated based on the least squares criteria while the conventional gradient algorithms are based on the least mean square criteria. The proposed algorithm has two variable parameters and by changing them we can adjust the characteristic of the algorithm from the RLS to the LMS depending on the environment. This capability of adjustment achieves the possibility of providing better solutions. However, not only it provides better solutions than the conventional algorithms under some conditions but also it provides a very interesting theoretical view point. It provides a unified view point of the adaptive algorithms including the conventional ones, i.e., the LMS or the RLS, as limited cases and it enables us to analyze the bounds for those algorithms.

Contextual classification of multispectral image data in remote sensing is discussed and concretely two improved contextual classifiers are proposed. The first is the extended adaptive classifier which partitions an image successively into homogeneously distributed square regions and applies a collective classification decision to each region. The second is the accelerated probabilistic relaxation which updates a classification result fast by adopting a pixelwise stopping rule. The evaluation experiment with a pseudo LANDSAT multispectral image shows that the proposed methods give higher classification accuracies than the compound decision method known as a standard contextual classifier.

In this paper, we analyze high-Tc superconducting (HTS) microstrip antenna (MSA) using modified spectral domain moment method. Although it is assumed that the patch and the ground plane of the MSA are perfect electric conductors (PECs) in the conventional spectral domain method, we modify this method to compute the conduction loss of the HTS-MSA. In our analysis, the effect of the HTS film is introduced by the surface impedance which we can estimate by using the three fluid model and experimental results. This paper presents numerical results about the HTS-MSA, for example, the relations between the thickness of the substrate and the radiation efficiency, the temperature and the resonant frequency, and so forth. And we discuss the effective power range where the performance of the HTS-MSA is superior to that of the Cu-MSA.

Multilevel RLL (Runlength Limited) sequences are analyzed. Their noiseless capacity and lower bounds on the channel capacity in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise are given. Moreover, the analytical power spectra formulae for those sequences which generalize the previously derived one for binary sequences are newly derived. We conclude from the analysis of the power spectra that multilevel RLL sequences are attractive from the point of view that they increase information rate while keeping low DC-content and self-clocking capability of binary RLL sequences.

We propose a method which can construct LOTOS specifications of communication systems from temporal properties described in Extended branching time temporal logic (EBTL) in this paper. Description of LOTOS, one of Formal Description Techniques, is based on behaviors of systems so that LOTOS permits strict expression. However, it is difficult to express temporal properties explicitly. On the other hand, Temporal logic is based on properties of systems. Thus temporal logic permits direct expression of temporal properties which can be understood intuitively. Accordingly, temporal logic is more useful than FDTs on the first step of systems specification. This method is effective in this point of view. Specifications obtained using this method can have a structured style. When temporal properties are regarded as constraints about temporal order among actions of systems, those specification can have a constraint oriented style. This method is based on sequential composition of Labelled Transition Systems (LTSs) which are semantics of LOTOS. EBTL is also defined on LTSs. In general, many LTSs satisfy the same temporal property. To obtain such the minimal LTS, the standard form of LTSs corresponding to EBTL operators are defined. Those standard LTSs are mainly tailored to the field of communication protocol. We also show conditions that original temporal properties are preserved in case of sequential composition of standard LTSs. In addition, applying this method to the Abracadabra Protocol, we show that this method can construct specifications of concrete protocols effectively.

We compare interfaces of Nb/AlOx-Al/Nb and Nb/ZrOx-Zr/Nb junctions using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. We have clarified that an interface of the Nb/AlOx-Al/Nb junction is drastically different from that of the Nb/ZrOxZr/Nb junction. An adsorbed water vapor layer plays an important role in suppressing grain boundary diffusion between Nb and Al at the interface of the Nb/AlOxAl/Nb junction. In depositing Nb and Al at low power and cooling the substrate, it is important to control the formation of the adsorbed water vapor layer for fabricating Nb/AlOx-Al/Nb junctions exhibiting excellent current-voltage characteristics.

An asynchronous spread spectrum (SS) modem for 2.4-GHz wireless LAN has been implemented using an efficient ZnO-SiO2-Si surface acoustic wave (SAW) convolver. The design of the highly efficient SAW convolver was developed at Tohoku University and commercially manufactured by Clarion Co., Japan. The modem can operate under full-duplex transmission in the same frequency range of the 2.4-GHz SS band. The SS modem is based on a direct-sequence/code-shift-keying (DS/CSK) method for the modulation. Pseudo-noise (PN) codes are chosen from a preferred pair of 127-chip m-sequences and the code rate is 14MHz. The asynchronous demodulation is simply realized utilizing the coherent correlation characteristics of the SAW convolver. Under full-duplex transmission, the self-jamming caused by a transmitted signal in the modem itself is effectively reduced by an RF isolator and the SS processing gain. The implemented modem has been tested using a coaxial cable with attenuator. A bit error rate of 10-6 under full-duplex transmission is observed at 78.3dB of a desired to undesired signal ratio. The effective range is estimated on the basis of two-path propagation model. From self-jamming rejection of 78.3dB, the effective range under real-time full-duplex is estimated to be about 200m.

In robot vision system, enormously large computation power is required to perform three-dimensional (3-D) instrumentation and object recognition. However, many kinds of complex and irregular operations are required to make accurate 3-D instrumentation and object recognition in the conventional method for software implementation. In this paper, a VLSI-oriented Model-Based Robot Vision (MBRV) processor is proposed for high-speed and accurate 3-D instrumentation and object recognition. An input image is compared with two-dimensional (2-D) silhouette images which are generated from the 3-D object models by means of perspective projection. Because the MBRV algorithm always gives the candidates for the accurate 3-D instrumentation and object recognition result with simple and regular procedures, it is suitable for the implementation of the VLSI processor. Highly parallel architecture is employed in the VLSI processor to reduce the latency between the image acquisition and the output generation of the 3-D instrumentation and object recognition results. As a result, 3-D instrumentation and object recognition can be performed 10000 times faster than a 28.5 MIPS workstation.

Real-time collision detection is one of the most important intelligent processings in robotics. In collision detection, a large storage capasity is usually required to store the 3-dimensional information on the obstacles located in a workspace. Moreover, high-computational power is essential in not only coordinate transformation but also matching operation. In the proposed collision detection VLSI processor, the matching operation is drastically accelerated by using a content-addressable memory (CAM). A new obstacle representation based on a union of rectangular solids is also used to reduce the obstacle memory capacity, so that the collision detection can be performed by only magnitude comparison in parallel. Parallel architecture using several identical processor elements (PEs) is employed to perform the coordinate transformation at high speed, and each PE performs coordinate transformation at high speed based on the COordinate Rotation DIgital Computation (CORDIC) algorithms. When the 16 PEs and 144-kb CAM are used, the performance is evaluated to be 90 ms.

This paper examines the retransmission probability and throughput characteristics of slow-frequency-hopping spread spectrum transmission in Rayleigh fading indoor channels of multi-cell environments. Because signal strength in a Rayleigh fading indoor channel changes slowly, retransmission probability is little influenced by the retransmission unit length and error correction capability when retransmission unit length is shorter than the fading period. With the 83.5MHz bandwidth of the 2.4GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band in the USA, quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK) is expected to provide a throughput of nearly 1Mbps in each cell when we assume a shadowing margin of 18.1dB and we use 4 cells, 100 hopping frequencies, a transmission power of 600mW, and a transmission distance of 20m. And also with the 26MHz bandwidth of the 2.4GHz ISM band in Japan, QPSK is expected to provide a throughput of nearly 1Mbps in each cell under similar conditions but with 26 hopping frequencies and a transmission power of 260mW.

The frequency characteristics of whole-body averaged specific absorption rates (SARs) in a human model exposed to a near field of an electric dipole or a magnetic dipole are calculated, using a finite-difference time-domain method. The dependences of the characteristics on the orientation of the dipole and on the distance from the source to the model are investigated. It is shown that the resonant peak of the SAR that appears in the E-polarized far-field exposure is observed only when the source is E-polarized and is located at 80cm, while the peak vanishes or is not noted when the source is located at 40cm and 20cm nor when it is H-polarized. The relationships between the whole-body averaged SARs and the incident electromagnetic field strengths are also investigated. It is suggested that the spatially-averaged value of the dominating component between the electric field and the magnetic field over the space where a human body would occupy provides a relevant measure to estimate the whole-body averaged SAR of a body in the vicinity of a small radiation source.

The performance of parallel combinatory spread spectrum (PC/SS) communication systems in the frequency-nonselective, slowly Rayleigh fading channel is studied. Performance is evaluated by symbol error rate using numerical computation. To overcome the performance degradation caused by fading, we also studied the effects of selection diversity and Reed-Solomon coding applied to the PC/SS system. As a result, a remarkable improvement in error rate performance is achieved with Reed-Solomon coding and diversity technique. The coding rate for the maximum coding gain is almost a half of that in the additive white gaussian noise channel.

In 1985, Kues et al. (Bioelectromagnetics, 6, pp.177-188, 1985) reported that corneal endothelial abnormalities were observed after a 4-hour exposure of anesthetized monkey eyes to 2.45GHz CW. We have traced their experimental study without anesthetization. Although we irradiated with power density exceeding the threshold of 30mW/cm2 obtained by them, we could not observe the same abnormalities as they did.

This paper describes the performance analysis of a distributed antenna system which includes space and path diversity with radio channel estimation. This system is used for CDMA personal communication systems. In this paper, the performance of a diversity system is analyzed precisely considering multipath and inter-antenna interference. In a diversity system, the adaptive RAKE receiver which estimates the characteristics of a radio channel adaptively has been used for diversity combining. In the adaptive RAKE, the time-variant characteristic has been approximated by a time function. In this paper, the estimation performance of the adaptive RAKE is analyzed in cases of time functions of 0-th, first and second degrees. The performances are evaluated and compared with the differential RAKE. The adaptive RAKE is found to improve the signal quality of more than 2dB in comparison with the differential RAKE. It is also found that the optimum parameter design can be achieved flexibly for radio channel estimation by using higher degree time functions.

To investigate the effect of alkyl chain length and adsorption time on the charge-transfer complex formation, ultraviolet-visible absorption and inelastic electron tunneling (IET) spectroscopy measurements were carried out for the tetramethylphenylenediamine (TMPD; donor molecule) adsorbed dodecyl-, pentadecyl- and octadecyl-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. In the optical absorption spectra, the main peak of LB films shows a red-shift depending on alkyl chain length and adsorption time. Furthermore, the dependence on alkyl chain length and adsorption time are also shown in the IET spectra. These results demonstrate that adsorption LB methods enable to control the adsorption ratio of functional molecules and the CT complex formation.

This paper proposes using an adaptive array in a base station for signal reception and transmission in order to increase the spectral efficiency without decreasing the cell radius. The adaptive array controls the directivity pattern of the base station to reduce co-channel interference during reception; the same array pattern is applied during transmission to prevent unnecessary illumination. Computer simulation results show that the cluster size can be reduced to one with time division duplexing (TDD), indicating that we can reuse the same frequency group at all cells. Thus, the improvement in spectral efficiency is as much as 16 fold that of an omni-antenna. Moreover, load sharing, which is expected to improve the channel utilization for unbalanced load situations, is available by cell overlapping. Frequency division duplexing (FDD) requires a weight adjust function to be applied for transmission since the difference in frequency between signal reception and transmission causes null positioning error. However, simple LMS-adjusting can provide a cluster size of one as well as cell overlapping when the frequency deference is 5%.

We discuss estimation error as a basic problem in formant estimation in the analysis of speech of very short-time duration in the glottal closure of the vowel. We also show in our simulation that good estimation of the first formant is almost impossible with the ordinary method using a waveform cutting. We propose a new method in which the cut waveform, as a discontinuous function of finite time, is mapped to a continuous function defined in the whole time domain; and we show that using this method, the estimation accuracy for low frequency formants can be greatly improved.