In this paper, we present an automatic vision-based traffic sign recognition system, which can detect and classify traffic signs at long distance under different lighting conditions. To realize this purpose, the traffic sign recognition is developed in an originally proposed dual-focal active camera system. In this system, a telephoto camera is equipped as an assistant of a wide angle camera. The telephoto camera can capture a high accuracy image for an object of interest in the view field of the wide angle camera. The image from the telephoto camera provides enough information for recognition when the accuracy of traffic sign is low from the wide angle camera. In the proposed system, the traffic sign detection and classification are processed separately for different images from the wide angle camera and telephoto camera. Besides, in order to detect traffic sign from complex background in different lighting conditions, we propose a type of color transformation which is invariant to light changing. This color transformation is conducted to highlight the pattern of traffic signs by reducing the complexity of background. Based on the color transformation, a multi-resolution detector with cascade mode is trained and used to locate traffic signs at low resolution in the image from the wide angle camera. After detection, the system actively captures a high accuracy image of each detected traffic sign by controlling the direction and exposure time of the telephoto camera based on the information from the wide angle camera. Moreover, in classification, a hierarchical classifier is constructed and used to recognize the detected traffic signs in the high accuracy image from the telephoto camera. Finally, based on the proposed system, a set of experiments in the domain of traffic sign recognition is presented. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can effectively recognize traffic signs at low resolution in different lighting conditions.

This work presents a real-time human detection system for VGA (Video Graphics Array, 640480) video, which well suits visual surveillance applications. To achieve high running speed and accuracy, firstly we design multiple fast scalar feature types on the gradient channels, and experimentally identify that NOGCF (Normalized Oriented Gradient Channel Feature) has better performance with Gentle AdaBoost in cascaded classifiers. A confidence measure for cascaded classifiers is developed and utilized in the subsequent tracking stage. Secondly, we propose to use speedup techniques including a detector pyramid for multi-scale detection and channel compression for integral channel calculation respectively. Thirdly, by integrating the detector's discrete detected humans and continuous detection confidence map, we employ a two-layer tracking by detection algorithm for further speedup and accuracy improvement. Compared with other methods, experiments show the system is significantly faster with 20 fps running speed in VGA video and has better accuracy as well.

Image colorization is a semi-automatic process of adding colors to monochrome images and videos. Using existing methods, required human assistance can be limited to annotating the image with color scribbles or selecting a reference image, from which the colors are transferred to a source image or video sequence. In the work reported here we have explored how to exploit the textural information to improve this process. For every scribbled image we determine the discriminative textural feature domain. After that, the whole image is projected onto the feature space, which makes it possible to estimate textural similarity between any two pixels. For single image colorization based on a set of color scribbles, our contribution lies in using the proposed feature space domain rather than the luminance channel. In case of color transfer used for colorization of video sequences, the feature space is generated based on a reference image, and textural similarity is used to match the pixels between the reference and source images. We have conducted extensive experimental validation which confirmed the importance of using textural information and demonstrated that our method significantly improves colorization result.

It is known that the optimal sensor coverage of a mission space is performed by a Voronoi partition, which is called a Voronoi coverage problem. We consider the case that the mission space has several obstacles where mobile sensors cannot be deployed and search an optimal deployment to maximize the sensing performance. Inspired by the potential field method, we introduce a repulsive potential for obstacle avoidance and define the objective function by a combination of two functions: one for evaluation of the sensing performance and the other for obstacle avoidance. We introduce a space where a sensor can move, called its moving space. In general, a moving space may not coincide with the mission space. We assume that the respective moving spaces of each sensor may differ from each other. By introducing a barycentric coordinate over the moving space, we show that the Voronoi coverage problem to maximize the objective function is transformed into a potential game. In potential games, local maximizers of a potential function are stable equilibrium points of the corresponding replicator dynamics. We propose a distributed sensor coverage control method based on the replicator dynamics to search a local maximizer of the objective function and a path to it. Using simulations, we also compare the proposed method with the Lloyd and TangentBug algorithm proposed by Breitenmoser et al.

Ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) is becoming very popular for designing high-throughput forwarding engines on routers. However, TCAM has potential problems in terms of hardware and power costs, which limits its ability to deploy large amounts of capacity in IP routers. In this paper, we propose new hardware architecture for fast forwarding engines, called fast prefix search RAM-based hardware (FPS-RAM). We designed FPS-RAM hardware with the intent of maintaining the same search performance and physical user interface as TCAM because our objective is to replace the TCAM in the market. Our RAM-based hardware architecture is completely different from that of TCAM and has dramatically reduced the costs and power consumption to 62% and 52%, respectively. We implemented FPS-RAM on an FPGA to examine its lookup operation.

In this paper, we propose a novel gait recognition framework - Spherical Space Model with Human Point Clouds (SSM-HPC) to recognize front view of human gait. A new gait representation - Marching in Place (MIP) gait is also introduced which preserves the spatiotemporal characteristics of individual gait manner. In comparison with the previous studies on gait recognition which usually use human silhouette images from image sequences, this research applies three dimensional (3D) point clouds data of human body obtained from stereo camera. The proposed framework exhibits gait recognition rates superior to those of other gait recognition methods.

In disaster sites of 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, digital communication was virtually unavailable due to the serious damage to the existing Internet and ICT resources. Thus there were urgent demands for recovering the Internet connectivity and first aid communication tools. This paper describes the design and deployment of networking systems that provide Internet connectivity using 3G mobile links or VSAT satellite links. In this paper we examine two approaches for post-disaster networking: quickly deployable package and on-demand networking. Based on a comparison of their characteristics and deployment experiences, this paper tries to extract lessons that contribute to improving the preparedness to another disaster. This paper also shares our significant operational experience acquired through supporting a maximum of 54 sites in Tohoku area including evacuation shelters, temporary hospitals and local government offices.

This paper presents a novel algorithm to generate homogeneous superpixels from Markov random walks. We exploit Markov clustering (MCL) as the methodology, a generic graph clustering method based on stochastic flow circulation. In particular, we introduce a graph pruning strategy called compact pruning in order to capture intrinsic local image structure. The resulting superpixels are homogeneous, i.e. uniform in size and compact in shape. The original MCL algorithm does not scale well to a graph of an image due to the square computation of the Markov matrix which is necessary for circulating the flow. The proposed pruning scheme has the advantages of faster computation, smaller memory footprint, and straightforward parallel implementation. Through comparisons with other recent techniques, we show that the proposed algorithm achieves state-of-the-art performance.

The next generation video coding standard HEVC shows high coding performance compared with the H.264/AVC standard, but the computational complexity of the HEVC encoder (HM3.0) is significantly higher. In this letter, the early termination of the CU encoding algorithm is proposed to reduce the computational complexity in the HEVC encoder. The proposed method reduces the encoder complexity by 58.7%, while maintaining the same level of coding efficiency.

To improve TCP throughput even if the maximum receiving window size is small, a TCP performance enhancing proxy (PEP) using a UDP-like packet sending policy with error control has been proposed. The PEP operates on a router along a TCP connection. When the PEP receives a data packet from the source host, it transmits the packet to the destination host, copies the packet into the local buffer (PEP buffer) in case the packets need to be transmitted and sends a premature ACK acknowledging receipt of the packet to the source host. In the PEP, the number of prematurely acknowledged packets in the PEP buffer is limited to a fixed threshold (watermark) value to avoid network congestion. Although the watermark value should be adjusted to changes in the network conditions, watermark adjusting algorithms have not been investigated. In this paper, we propose a watermark adjusting algorithm the goal of which is to maximize the throughput of each connection as much as possible without excessively suppressing the throughputs of the other connections. In our proposed algorithm, a newly established connection uses the initial watermark value of zero to avoid drastic network congestion and increases the value as long as its throughput increases. In addition, when a new connection is established, every already-established connection halves its watermark value to allow the newly established connection to use some portion of the bandwidth and increases again as long as its throughput increases. We compare the proposed algorithm (CW method) with other methods: the FW method that uses a fixed large watermark value and the NP method that does not use the PEP. Numerical results with respect to throughput and fairness showed that the CW method is generally superior to the other two methods.

We consider secret key agreement for multiple terminals based on radio propagation characteristics in a wireless relaying system where more than two terminals communicate with each other via a relay. In this system, the multiple terminals share a common secret key generated from their radio propagation characteristics with the help of the relay in the presence of an eavesdropper. In this paper, we present three secret key agreement schemes: an amplify-and-forward (AF) scheme, a signal-combining amplify-and-forward (SC-AF) scheme, and a multiple-access amplify-and-forward (MA-AF) scheme. The key idea of these schemes is that each terminal shares the fading coefficients between all terminals and the relay, and use them as the source of a secret key. The AF scheme is based on a conventional amplify-and-forward two-way relaying method, whereas in the SC-AF scheme and the MA-AF scheme, we apply the idea of analog network coding to secret key agreement. We analyze eavesdropping strategies and show that the AF scheme is not secure if the eavesdropper is located near the relay and can receive signals from the relay without multipath fading and noise. Simulation results show that the SC-AF and MA-AF schemes are effective.

Cubic TCP, one of transport protocols designed for high bandwidth-delay product (BDP) networks, has successfully been deployed in the Internet. Multi-homed computers with multiple interfaces to access the Internet via high speed links will become more popular. In this work, we introduce an extended version of Cubic TCP for multiple paths, called MPCubic. The extension process is approached from an analysis model of Cubic by using coordinated congestion control between paths. MPCubic can spread its traffic across paths in load-balancing manner, while preserving fair sharing with regular TCP, Cubic, and MPTCP at common bottlenecks. Moreover, to improve resilience to link failure, we propose a multipath fast recovery algorithm. The algorithm can significantly reduce the recovery time of data rate after restoration of failed links. These techniques can be useful for resilient high-bandwidth applications (for example, tele-health conference) in disaster-affected areas. Our simulation results show that MPCubic can achieve stability, throughput improvement, fairness, load-balancing, and quick data rate recovery from link failure under a variety of network conditions.

The authors have proposed Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO)-Constant Envelope Modulation, (MIMO-CEM), as a power and complexity efficient alternative to MIMO-OFDM, suitable for wireless backhaul networks in which relay nodes are fixed in their positions. One of the major problems hindering the real application of MIMO-CEM is to estimate MIMO channel characteristics. MIMO-CEM is based upon two contrary schemes; one is nonlinear equalization such as maximum likelihood sequence estimator, which needs accurate channel information to replicate the received signal passing through it. The other is a low resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC), e.g., 1-bit in the default operation that removes the received signal amplitude fluctuation. In this paper, as a solution to the channel estimation problem in MIMO-CEM with low resolution ADC receiver, we propose an adaptive MIMO-CEM channel estimation scheme where iterative adaptive channel estimation is carried out to minimize the error between the received preamble signal and the replicated one. We also prove that Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) preamble transmission is effective in estimating MIMO channel parameters in the presence of large quantization noise. Computer simulation results show that MIMO-CEM with the proposed channel estimator using CDM preambles achieves identical BER performance to that with the ideal channel estimation even in presence of severe quantization noise caused by a low resolution ADC.

A time-reversal (TR) approach with multiple signal classification (MUSIC) provides super-resolution for detection and localization using multistatic data collected from an array antenna system. The theory of TR-MUSIC assumes that the number of antenna elements is greater than that of scatterers (targets). Furthermore, it requires many sets of frequency-domain data (snapshots) in seriously noisy environments. Unfortunately, these conditions are not practical for real environments due to the restriction of a reasonable antenna structure as well as limited measurement time. We propose an approach that treats both noise reduction and relaxation of the transceiver restriction by using a time-domain gating technique accompanied with the Fourier transform before applying the TR-MUSIC imaging algorithm. Instead of utilizing the conventional multistatic data matrix (MDM), we employ a modified MDM obtained from the gating technique. The resulting imaging functions yield more reliable images with only a few snapshots regardless of the limitation of the antenna arrays.

Several web sites providing disaster-related information failed repeatedly after the Great East Japan Earthquake, due to flash crowds caused by Twitter users. Twitter, which was intensively used for information sharing in the aftermath of the earthquake, relies on URL shorteners like bit.ly to offset its strict limit on message length. In order to mitigate the flash crowds, we examine the current Web usage and find that URL shorteners constitute a layer of indirection; a significant part of Web traffic is guided by them. This implies that flash crowds can be controlled by URL shorteners. We developed a new URL shortener, named rcdn.info, just after the earthquake; rcdn.info redirects users to a replica created on a CoralCDN, if the original site is likely to become overloaded. This surprisingly simple solution worked very well in the emergency. We also conduct a thorough analysis of the request log and present several views that capture user behavior in the emergency from various aspects. Interestingly, the traffic significantly grew up at previously unpopular (i.e., small) sites during the disaster; this traffic shift could lead to the failure of several sites. Finally, we show that rcdn.info has great potential in mitigating such failures. We believe that our experience will help the research community tackle future disasters.

In this letter, a novel steganographic method with four-pixel differencing and exploiting modification direction is proposed. Secret data are embedded into each four-pixel block by adaptively applying exploiting modification direction technique. The difference value of the four-pixel block is used to judge whether the pixels in edge areas can tolerate larger changes than those in smooth areas. The readjustment guarantees to extract the secret data exactly and to minimize the embedding distortion. Since the proposed method processes non-overlapping 22 pixels blocks instead of two consecutive pixels, the features of edge can be considered sufficiently. Compared with the previous method, experimental results show that the proposed method provides better performance, i.e., larger embedding capacity and better image quality.

In NGN standards, End Host, also referred to as Terminal Equipment (TE), holds an important place in end-to-end path performance. However, most researchers neglect TE performance when considering performance of end-to-end paths. As far as the authors' knowledge goes, no previous study has proposed a model for TE performance. This paper proposes a method for measuring performance of TE and model extraction based on measurement data. The measurement was made possible with the use of a special NPU (Network Processing Unit) implemented as a programmable NIC. Along with the probing itself, a framework for removing the skew between the NPU and OS is developed in this paper. The multidimensional analysis includes method of probing, packet size and background traffic volume, and studies their effect on TE performance. A method for extracting a generic TE model is proposed. The outcome of this research can be used for modelling TE in simulations and in modelling end-to-end performance when considering QoS in NGN.

The authors propose a new method of controlling the isolation of an RF splitter. In the proposed method, a bias current is superimposed on an RF signal to change the permeability of the ferrite core used in the splitter's transformer. By doing this, the splitter isolation can be controlled. Experimental results have shown that superimposing a bias current of 500 mA improves device isolation by about 5 dB without affecting the loss characteristics.

We propose and demonstrate a simple and novel technique to accelerate the carrier injection/depletion processes in an RSOA by applying instantaneous injection/depletion currents at the transition edges of the modulation signal to force the carrier density to respond at a high speed and, as a result, to increase its modulation speed. We theoretically and experimentally show that, by using the proposed technique, it is possible to obtain 5 Gbit/s optical BPSK signal from an RSOA having a modulation bandwidth of only 0.9 GHz.

In OFDMA-based digital duplexing (DD) systems, the effective channel impulse response (CIR) is lengthened due to time difference of arrivals (TDoAs) from adjacent subscriber stations (SSs). In this letter, a time-domain shortening filter (TSF) is proposed to shorten the effective CIR by maximizing signal-to-interference ratio for pulse shortening (SIRPS). A time-domain window (TW) is also proposed to reduce the effect of inter-carrier interference (ICI) due to CFO in OFDMA-based DD systems, by maximizing the signal-to-interference and noise ratio for window (SINRW).