This paper extends previous analytical approaches for the study of CDMA systems to the relevant case of multipath environments where users can operate at different bit rates. This scenario is of interest for the Wideband CDMA strategy employed in UMTS, and the model permits the performance comparison of classic and more innovative spreading signals. The method is based on the characteristic function approach, that allows to model accurately the various kinds of interferences. Some numerical examples are given with reference to the ITU-R M.1225 Recommendations, but the analysis could be extended to different channel descriptions.

A high-speed triangular-modulated spread-spectrum clock generator using a fractional phase-locked loop is presented. The fractional division is implemented by a nested fractional topology, which is constructed from a dual-modulus divide-by-(N-1/16)/N divider to divide the VCO outputs as a first division period and a fractional control circuit to establish a second division period to cause the overall fractional division. The dual-modulus divider introduces a delay-locked-loop network to achieve phase compensation. Operating at the frequency of 3.2 GHz, the measured peak power reduction is around 16 dB for a deviation of 0.37% and a frequency modulation of 33 kHz. The circuit occupies 1.41.4 mm2 in a 0.18-µm CMOS process and consumes 52 mW.

We propose a novel asynchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) using feedback-controlled spreading sequences (FCSSs) (FCSS/DS-CDMA). At the receiver of FCSS/DS-CDMA, the code-orthogonalizing filter (COF) produces a spreading sequence, and the receiver returns the spreading sequence to the transmitter. Then the transmitter uses the spreading sequence as its updated version. The performance of FCSS/DS-CDMA is evaluated over time-dispersive channels. The results indicate that FCSS/DS-CDMA greatly suppresses both the intersymbol interference (ISI) and multiple access interference (MAI) over time-invariant channels. FCSS/DS-CDMA is applicable to the decentralized multiple access.

Cognitive Radios (CR) can recognize the communication environment and switch its communication scheme to more efficiently and flexibly utilize the radio spectrum. The performance of ultra wideband (UWB) degrades if interference is not suppressed properly. We propose here a series of adaptive chirp waveforms in UWB systems. By designing waveform shaping of both linear chirp and non-linear cases, we avoid the estimated spectrum of the on-going applications without the necessity of notch filters, and thus reduce the system complexity. We evaluate system performance of the proposed scheme by simulations and verify that the proposed scheme is a candidate for cognitive UWB systems.

In this paper, sampling rate selection diversity (SRSD) scheme for Direct-Sequence/Spread-Spectrum (DS/SS) is proposed. In DS/SS communication systems, oversampling may be employed to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, oversampling enlarges the power consumption because signal processing of the receiver has to be carried out at a higher clock rate. Higher sampling rate does not always maximize the SNR. In the proposed SRSD scheme, the power consumption can be reduced by selecting the optimum sampling rate depending on the characteristics of the channel. The proposed SRSD scheme can also reduce the BER more than the conventional oversampling scheme under certain channel conditions.

Doppler diversity has been proven effective to combat time variation caused by Doppler spread in single carrier systems. However, it is not efficient to directly apply Doppler diversity into Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) systems because Inter-Carrier-Interference (ICI) increases with the artificial frequency shifts in diversity branches. In this paper, a novel Doppler diversity scheme in MC-CDMA with Three Zero Correlation Zones (T-ZCZ) sequences is proposed to further improve the performance of Doppler diversity. Particularly, zero correlation zones are employed in frequency domain for ICI cancelation caused by Doppler spread, which confirms the validity of the contribution to the wideband wireless communications in high speed mobile environment.

In this paper, the performance of narrow band interference (NBI) rejection scheme for direct sequence spread spectrum (DS/SS) is analyzed. A 2-tapped complex FIR filter is used for filtering a chip code to suppress NBI. In this system, the spectrum of transmitted signal has a null at an arbitrary frequency. By choosing filter coefficients, the authors place this null at NBI center frequency to mitigate the effect of NBI. In this paper, an OFDM signal is considered as NBI. The performance of this scheme is theoretically analyzed by introducing Queueing model, and validated via simulation.

This letter deals with multiuser detection under imprecise knowledge of the received signature codes of all active users for multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) systems. The weight vector of the modified multiple constrained minimum variance (MMCMV) is found by projecting the multiple constrained minimum variance (MCMV) weight vector onto a vector subspace constructed from the eigenstructure of the correlation matrix. However, MMCMV still cannot handle the large code-mismatch. Shaping the noise subspace with all estimated active spreading codes, we present an effective approach to achieve more robust capabilities than the MMCMV. Computer simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed detector.

We design M(≥3)-phase spreading sequences of Markov chains optimal in terms of bit error probabilities in asynchronous SSMA (spread spectrum multiple access) communication systems. To this end, we obtain the distributions of the normalized MAI (multiple access interference) for such systems and find a necessary and sufficient condition that the distributions become independent of the phase shifts.

We introduce a novel configuration for a multi-user Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system in mobile communication over fast fading channels using space-time block coding (STBC) and adaptive array. The proposed scheme adopts the simultaneous transmission of data and pilot signals which reduces control errors caused by delay of obtaining channel state information (CSI). Data and pilot signals are then encoded using a space-time block code and are transmitted from two transmit antennas. In order to overcome the fast fading problem, implementation of adaptive array using recursive least squares (RLS) algorithms is considered at the base station. Through computer simulation, it is shown that the proposed scheme in this way can overcome Doppler spread in higher frequencies and suppress co-channel interference up to N-1 users for N receiving antennas.

We previously proposed a rotation-spreading neural network (R-SAN net). This neural net can recognize the orientation of an object irrespective of its shape, and its shape irrespective of its orientation. The R-SAN net is suitable for orientation recognition of a concentric circular pattern such as an iris image. Previously, variations of ambient lighting conditions affected iris detection. In this study, we introduce brightness normalization for accuracy improvement of iris detection in various lighting conditions. Brightness normalization provides high accuracy iris extraction in severe lighting conditions. A recognition experiment investigated the characteristics of rotation and shape recognition for both learned and un-learned iris images in various plane rotations. The R-SAN net recognized the rotation angle for the learned iris images in arbitrary orientation, but not for un-learned iris images. Thus, the variation of the rotation angle was corrected only for learned irises, but not un-learned irises. Although the R-SAN net rightly recognized the learned irises, it could not completely reject the un-learned irises as unregistered irises. Using the specific orientation recognition characteristics of the R-SAN net, a minimum distance was introduced as a new shape recognition criterion for the R-SAN net. In consequence, the R-SAN net combined with the minimum distance rightly recognized both learned (registered) and un-learned irises; the unregistered irises were correctly rejected.

This paper describes a capacitive voltage probe (CVP) that can measure a common-mode voltage on a cable without touching its conductor. This CVP has two coaxial electrodes: the inner electrode works as a voltage pickup and the outer one shields the inner electrode. These electrodes separate into two parts for clamping to the cable. Using a high input impedance circuit, this probe measures the common-mode voltage by detecting the voltage difference between the two electrodes. The probe characteristics are evaluated by measuring its linearity and frequency response. The results show that this probe has a dynamic range of 100 dB and flat frequency response from 10 kHz to 30 MHz. Deviations in sensitivity due to the position of the clamped cable in the inner electrode and to differences in the cable radius are evaluated theoretically and experimentally. The results indicate that the influence of the cable position can be calibrated. Finally, measured data obtained using both an impedance stabilizing network (ISN) and a CVP are compared to confirm the validity of the CVP. The results show that data measured by the CVP closely agreed with that obtained by the ISN. Therefore, the CVP is useful for EMC measurements to evaluate common-mode disturbances.

The present paper introduces the construction of a class of sequence sets with zero-correlation zones called zero-correlation zone sequence sets. The proposed zero-correlation zone sequence set can be generated from an arbitrary perfect sequence, the length of which is longer than 4. The proposed sets of ternary sequences, which can be constructed from an arbitrary perfect sequence, can successfully provide CDMA communication without co-channel interference. In an ultrasonic synthetic aperture imaging system, the proposed sequence set can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the acquired image.

We propose a dipole array antenna assisted Doppler spread compensator with maximum ratio combining (MRC) diversity for mobile reception by a digital television terrestrial broadcasting receiver. Although OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), used for the physical layer standard of digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB), is robust to multi-path delay spreading thanks to its long symbol interval, it is sensitive to Doppler spread. OFDM itself cannot mitigate the performance degradation due to fading unless error correction coding is also used. Furthermore, although a Doppler spread compensator based on a linear array antenna has already been proposed, it has problems concerning the mutual coupling effect and polarization mismatch between the transmitter and receiver antennas. The proposed dipole antenna array assisted Doppler spread compensator is not only capable of mitigating both Doppler and fading phenomena, but also of efficiently receiving horizontally polarized radio waves. Computer simulation results showed that the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional monopole array assisted Doppler spread compensator.

Digital watermarking is a technique that aims at hiding a message signal in a multimedia signal for copyright claim, authentication, device control, or broadcast monitoring, etc. In this paper, we focus on embedding watermarks into still images, where the watermarks themselves can be binary sequences or grayscale images. We propose to scramble the watermark bits with pseudo-noise (PN) or orthogonal codes before they are embedded into an image. We also try to incorporate error correction coding (ECC) into the watermarking scheme, anticipating reduction of the watermark bit error rate (WBER). Due to the similarity between the PN/orthogonal-coded watermarking and the spread spectrum communication, it is natural that, following similar derivations regarding data BER in digital communications, we derive certain explicit quantitative relationships regarding the tradeoff between the WBER, the watermark capacity (i.e. the number of watermark bits) and the distortion suffered by the original image, which is measured in terms of the embedded image's signal-to-noise ratio (abbreviated as ISNR). These quantitative relationships are compactly summarized into a so-called tradeoff triangle, which constitutes the major contribution of this paper. For the embedding of grayscale watermarks, an unequal error protection (UEP) scheme is proposed to provide different degrees of robustness for watermark bits of different degrees of significance. In this UEP scheme, optimal strength factors for embedding different watermark bits are sought so that the mean squared error suffered by the extracted watermark, which is by itself a grayscale image, is minimized while a specified ISNR is maintained.

The cooperative relaying technique enables a terminal to get space-diversity through the support of other terminals. However, existing cooperative relaying techniques for code division multiple access (CDMA) system decrease the total system transmission rate. In this letter, a new relaying technique is presented which supplies lossless transmission-rate using 2 spreading codes per terminal. We verify the performance of the proposed technique through a bit error rate (BER) simulation for a direct-sequence ultra wideband (DS-UWB) system. It is also shown that forward error correction (FEC) coding provides a better environment for the cooperative relaying.

Element value spread of an equal-ripple RC polyphase filter depends heavily on the order of zero assignment. To find the optimum design, we must conduct exhaustive design for all the possible zero assignments. This paper describes two circuit transformations on equal-ripple RC polyphase filters, which preserve their transfer functions, for reducing circuit design efforts. Proposed Method I exchanges (R,C) values to (1/C,1/R) for each stage. This gives a new circuit with different zero assignment for each stage of its original circuit. Method II flips over the original circuit and exchanges the resulting (Ri,Ci) values for (Cn-i+1,Rn-i+1) for each i-th stage. Those circuit transformations can reduce a number of circuit designs down to 1/4 of the straight-forward method. This considerably reduces a burden for exhaustive design for searching the minimum element value spread condition. Some design examples are given to illustrate the proposed methods.

Accurate thickness measurement of sheet-like structure such as articular cartilage in CT images is required in clinical diagnosis as well as in fundamental research. Using a conventional measurement method based on the zero-crossing edge detection (zero-crossings method), several studies have already analyzed the accuracy limitation on thickness measurement of the single sheet structure that is not influenced by peripheral structures. However, no studies, as of yet, have assessed measurement accuracy of two adjacent sheet structures such as femoral and acetabular cartilages in the hip joint. In this paper, we present a model of the CT scanning process of two parallel sheet structures separated by a small distance, and use the model to predict the shape of the gray-level profiles along the sheet normal orientation. The difference between the predicted and the actual gray-level profiles observed in the CT data is minimized by refining the model parameters. Both a one-by-one search (exhaustive combination search) technique and a nonlinear optimization technique based on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm are used to minimize the difference. Using CT images of phantoms, we present results showing that when applying the one-by-one search method to obtain the initial values of the model parameters, Levenberg-Marquardt method is more accurate than zero-crossings and one-by-one search methods for estimating the thickness of two adjacent sheet structures, as well as the thickness of a single sheet structure.

The estimation of the point-spread function (PSF) is one of very important and indispensable tasks for the practical image restoration. Especially, for the motion blur, various PSF estimation algorithms have been developed so far. However, a majority of them becomes useless in the low blurred signal-to-noise ratio (BSNR) environment. This paper describes a new robust PSF estimation algorithm based on Hough transform concerning gradient vectors, which can accurately and robustly estimate the motion blur PSF even in low BSNR case. The effectiveness and validity of the proposed algorithm are verified by applying it to the PSF estimation and the image restoration for noisy and motion blurred images.

A waveguide-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with an adsorbed layer is analyzed using the beam-propagation method. For two-dimensional (2-D) models, numerical results show that the change in thickness of the adsorbed layer placed on the metal leads to a significant shift of the maximum absorption wavelength. Through eigenmode analysis, the maximum absorption wavelength is found to be consistent with the cutoff wavelength of the second-order surface plasmon mode. The designed 2-D sensor shows an absorption wavelength shift from 0.595 to 0.603 µm, when the analyte refractive index is increased from 1.330 to 1.334. After a basic investigation using the 2-D models, we next study 3-D models. When the metal with the absorbed layer is wide enough to cover the core region, the 3-D results are similar to the 2-D results. However, as the metal width is reduced, the absorption wavelength shifts toward a shorter wavelength and the sensitivity to the refractive index change degrades gradually. The degradation of the sensitivity is considerable when the metal width is narrower than the core width. As a result, the metal width of the practical SPR sensor should be slightly wider than the core width so as to maintain the sensitivity corresponding to that obtained for the 2-D model.