This letter proposes a simple combined coding and modulation based on super-orthogonal convolutional codes (SOCs) in order to support both coherent and non-coherent ultra-wideband (UWB) receivers. In the proposed scheme, the coherent receivers obtain a coding gain as large as the SOC while simultaneously supporting non-coherent receivers. In addition, their performance can be freely adapted by changing the encoder constraint length and the number of PPM slots according to its application. Thus, the proposal enables a more flexible system design for low data-rate UWB systems.

We address the problem of routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) considering differentiated reliability (DiR) in WDM mesh networks. The backup resource can be shared by the primary lightpaths. However, both the primary-backup sharing and the different levels of fault tolerance requirement have never been considered together in the literature. In the paper, we consider the dynamic character of the link availability, which is caused by primary-backup sharing. Moreover, the priority of traffic is considered in the paper. The paper focuses on routing under dynamic availability of wavelength resource while the requested reliability of traffic has to be met, using the modified shortest path algorithm. A layered availability model is established based on wavelength layered graph model. Using this model, we propose a new algorithm called dynamic layered availability (DLA) algorithm. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm on the NSFNET.

To improve the channel estimation accuracy of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) multiplexing, we previously proposed iterative QR-decomposition with M-algorithm (QRD-M) with decision directed channel estimation. In this paper, to keep the computational complexity low while further improving the transmission performance, we will modify previously proposed iterative QRD-M by incorporating cyclic redundancy check (CRC) coding. In the proposed method, transmitted signals are ranked according to their results of CRC decoding and the received signal-to-interference plus noise power ratio (SINR). In the modified M-algorithm, since the results of Turbo decoding and CRC decoding are used to generate the surviving symbol replica, the accuracy of signal detection in the following steps can be improved. Furthermore, based on the results of CRC decoding, iterative process can be terminated before reaching the maximum allowable number of iterations. Computer simulation results show that the loss in the required average received signal energy per bit-to-noise power spectrum density ratio Eb/N0 for average packet error rate (PER) = 10-2 is only about 0.4 dB from maximum likelihood detection (Full MLD) with ideal channel estimation.

Convolutional spreading CDMA with cyclic prefix (CS-CDMA/CP) is a multiuser interference-free (MUI-free) CDMA scheme proposed for multipath channels based on the convolution between user data and zero correlation zone (ZCZ) code, and its characteristics depend on the employed ZCZ codes. Although ternary ZCZ codes have more sequences than binary ZCZ codes in general, transmitted signal with ternary ZCZ codes give a slightly higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). In this paper we propose the use of periodic ZCZ codes generated from an M-sequence which not only provides the same user capacity as ternary ZCZ codes but allows more design flexibility. Simulation results show that the new ZCZ code shows stronger robustness against an imperfect transmitter with clipping and enjoys better BER performances when used in CS-CDMA/CP compared to the conventional DS-CDMA with MRC-RAKE.

This paper presents a method for blind identification of a system whose transfer matrix is non-invertible at infinity, based on independent component analysis. In the proposed scheme, the transfer matrix to be identified is pre-multiplied by an appropriate polynomial matrix, named interactor, in order to compensate the row relative degrees and obtain a biproper system. It is then pre-multiplied by a demixing matrix via an existing approximate method. Both of these matrices are estimated blindly, i.e. with the input signals being unknown. The identified system is thus obtained as the inverse of the multiplication of these matrices.

Over the past ten years, the demand for low-cost, low-power, and small form-factor portable wireless devices has led to the integration of RF transceivers on the same silicon as digital processors to form wireless systems-on-a-chip. This paper describes the challenges in designing CMOS systems-on-a-chip for wireless communications. RF transceiver building blocks for signal amplification, frequency translation, and frequency selectivity are examined with special emphasis on low noise amplifiers, power amplifiers, mixers, and frequency synthesizers. System-on-a-chip integration issues such as leakage currents of digital logic, calibration techniques, and noise coupling are also discussed.

A fast fc automatic tuning circuit suitable for WCDMA systems is proposed. The circuit employs master-slave architecture using digitally controlled Gm-C filter for avoiding long transient response. The tuning feedback loop contains a 2-bit up-down counter ADC for fast tuning operation. Furthermore, to avoid degradation of fc tuning accuracy due to reference feedthrough, an analog loop filter with notch located near reference frequency is used. The fast fc automatic tuning circuit is fabricated in a SiGe BiCMOS process. The tuning time within 200 µs is achieved for 35 chips from 2 lots and the standard deviation of 25.5 kHz is obtained for the average fc of 2.12 MHz.

This paper proposes a Mel-Wiener filter to enhance Mel-LPC spectra in the presence of additive noise. The transfer function of the proposed filter is defined by using a first-order all-pass filter instead of unit delay. The filter coefficients are estimated based on minimization of the sum of the square error on the linear frequency scale without applying the bilinear transformation and efficiently implemented in the autocorrelation domain. The proposed filter does not require any time-frequency conversion, which saves a large amount of computational load. The performance of the proposed system is comparable to that of ETSI AFE. The optimum filter order is found to be 3, and thus filtering is computationally inexpensive. The computational cost of the proposed system except VAD is 53% of ETSI AFE.

The design of the finite impulse response (FIR) notch filter with controlled null width is expressed as a derivatively contrained quadratic optimization problem. The problem is transformed into an unconstrained one by choosing a null matrix orthogonal to the derivative constraint matrix. In this paper, subband decomposition using wavelet filters is employed to construct the null matrix. Taking advantage of the vanishing moment property of the wavelet filters, the proposed method can adjust the null width of the notch filter for eliminating the intractable iterference by controlling the regularity of the wavelet filters. Simulation results show that the new method can offer comparable performance as those of the existing full-rank-based ones and thus provides a promising alternative to the existing works.

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) must be maintained periodically. Their maintenance efficiency must be improved and human error must be reduced simultaneously to improve NPPs' competitive capability in electricity markets. Although Augmented Reality (AR) offers great possibilities to support NPP maintenance work, some difficulties exist for application of AR to actual work support because current AR systems cannot be implemented in NPP environments without technical improvement. There are several kinds of problems such as recognition distance, tracking accuracy, and a complex working environment when applying AR to NPP field work support. Considerable extension of tracking distance and improvement of accuracy are particularly desired because NPPs are large-scale indoor environments. This study designed a linecode marker, a new type of paper-based marker, along with recognition and tracking algorithms for it to resolve these problems. In contrast to conventional paper-based markers, such as square markers and circle markers, the linecode marker is not merely easier to set up in complex industrial environments: it also enables the use of AR in industrial plants because of its considerable tracking-performance improvement. To evaluate tracking accuracy, the trackable distance, and the tracking speed of the proposed tracking method, an evaluation experiment was conducted in a large room. The experiment results show that the tracking distance is extended extremely over that of the traditional marker-based tracking method: tracking accuracy improved to 20 cm over a 10 m distance. The running speed of the tracking can be as fast as 15 frames per second using a laptop PC.

Conventional clock and data recovery (CDR) using a phase locked loop (PLL) suffers from problems such as long lock time, low frequency acquisition and harmonic locking. Consequently, a CDR system using a time to digital converter (TDC) is proposed. The CDR consists of simple arithmetic calculation and a TDC, allowing a fully digital realization. In addition, utilizing a TDC also allows the CDR to have a very wide frequency acquisition range. However, deterministic jitter is caused with each sample, because the system's sampling time period is changing slightly at each data edge. The proposed system does not minimize jitter, but it tolerates small jitter. Therefore, the system offers a faster lock time and a smaller sampling error. This proposed system has been verified on system level in a Verilog-A environment. The proposed method achieves faster locking within just a few data bits. The peak to peak jitter of the recovered clock is 60 ps and the RMS jitter of the recovered clock is 30 ps, assuming that the TDC resolution is 10 ps. In applications where a small jitter error can be tolerated, the proposed CDR offers the advantage of fast locking time and a small sampling error.

In order to improve the antenna gain, a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) leaky-wave (LW) antenna composed of symmetrical unit cells with short stubs terminated by vertical vias is designed. The use of symmetrical unit cells suppresses the cross-polarization of radiation to less than 23 dB. By comparing the measured radiation characteristics to that of a conventional CRLH LW antenna without short stub in the X-band, it is shown that the presented CRLH LW antenna with 51 unit cells offers a narrower beam and the antenna gain improves 4.1, 2.2 and 3.1 dB in the backward, broadside and forward directions of radiation, respectively.

An integrated multi-level simulation environment is developed for a highly collision-resistant RFID system. An analog/mixed-signal (AMS) simulator for a circuit-level description of analog front-end power/signal transmission through electro-magnetic coupling is concurrently connected to a tailored software simulator for system-level description of digital back-end processing of TH-CDMA based anti-collision communication. The feasibility of the RFID system in which more than 1,000 transponders can be identified by a single reader in 400 msec is successfuly explored, under a practical presence of field disturbances such as background noises in communication channels as well as variations of electro-magnetic coupling strengths for power transmission.

In this letter, we propose a enhanced framework for a Personalized User Interface (PUI). This framework allows users to access and customize virtual objects in virtual environments in the sense of sharing user centric context with virtual objects. The proposed framework is enhanced by integrating a unified context-aware application for virtual environments (vr-UCAM 1.5) into virtual objects in the PUI framework. It allows a virtual object to receive context from both real and virtual environments, to decide responses based on context and if-then rules, and to communicate with other objects individually. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, we applied it to a virtual heritage system. Experimental results show that we enhance the accessibility and the customizability of virtual objects through the PUI. The proposed framework is expected to play an important role in VR applications such as education, entertainment, and storytelling.

The purpose of our study is to develop an algorithm that would enable the automated detection of lacunar infarct on T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images. Automated identification of the lacunar infarct regions is not only useful in assisting radiologists to detect lacunar infarcts as a computer-aided detection (CAD) system but is also beneficial in preventing the occurrence of cerebral apoplexy in high-risk patients. The lacunar infarct regions are classified into the following two types for detection: "isolated lacunar infarct regions" and "lacunar infarct regions adjacent to hyperintensive structures." The detection of isolated lacunar infarct regions was based on the multiple-phase binarization (MPB) method. Moreover, to detect lacunar infarct regions adjacent to hyperintensive structures, we used a morphological opening processing and a subtraction technique between images produced using two types of circular structuring elements. Thereafter, candidate regions were selected based on three features -- area, circularity, and gravity center. Two methods were applied to the detected candidates for eliminating false positives (FPs). The first method involved eliminating FPs that occurred along the periphery of the brain using the region-growing technique. The second method, the multi-circular regions difference method (MCRDM), was based on the comparison between the mean pixel values in a series of double circles on a T1-weighted image. A training dataset comprising 20 lacunar infarct cases was used to adjust the parameters. In addition, 673 MR images from 80 cases were used for testing the performance of our method; the sensitivity and specificity were 90.1% and 30.0% with 1.7 FPs per image, respectively. The results indicated that our CAD system for the automatic detection of lacunar infarct on MR images was effective.

We present a computationally efficient sequential detection scheme using a modified Fano algorithm (MFA) for V-BLAST systems. The proposed algorithm consists of the following three steps: initialization, tree searching, and optimal selection. In the first step, the proposed detection scheme chooses several candidate symbols at the tree level of one. Based on these symbols, the MFA then finds the remaining transmitted symbols from the second tree level in the original tree structure. Finally, an optimal symbol sequence is decided among the most likely candidate sequences searched in the previous step. Computer simulation shows that the proposed scheme yields significant saving in complexity with very small performance degradation compared with that of sphere detection (SD).

A new quadruple watermarking scheme of digital images against geometrical attacks is proposed in this letter. We treat the center and the four vertexes of the original image as the reference points and embed the same quadruple watermarks by means of polar coordinates, which is geometrically invariant. The center of an image is assumed to not to be removed after rotating, scaling and local distortions according to the general practical image processing. In the watermark extraction process, the vertexes of the image are found by a searching method. Thus watermark synchronization is obtained. Experimental results show that the scheme is robust to the geometrical distortions including rotation, scaling, cropping and local distortions.

In this paper, we report on the transmission characteristics of transformers of a RF splitter widely used in CATV systems. From the point of view of broadening the splitter's operating frequency, the relationship between the RF transformer's transmission characteristics and design parameters has been investigated using computer-aided engineering. Based on the calculations, a sample device has been fabricated to confirm the theoretical results. It has been found that the configulation of the transformer winding is the most important factor affecting device performance. By selecting the appropriate winding, excessive loss can be suppressed to less than 1.6 dB and 3 dB in a frequency range of 20 MHz to 2,600 MHz for the cases of 2-way and 4-way splitters, respectively.

A simple, yet effective geometric method is presented to construct the signature sequences for multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) systems. By minimizing the correlation of the effective signature vectors, the signature sequences are recursively determined via projection onto a properly constructed subspace. Conducted simulations verify the effectiveness of the method.

In this paper, we use a modified Gaussian filter to improve enlargement accuracy of the arbitrary scale LP enlargement method, which is based on the Laplacian pyramid representation (so called "LP method"). The parameters of the proposed algorithm are extracted through a theoretical analysis and an experimental estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed modified Gaussian filter is effective for the arbitrary scale LP enlargement method.