This paper describes an ultra low power, motion estimation (ME) processor for MPEG2 HDTV resolution video. It adopts a Gradient Descent Search (GDS) algorithm that drastically reduces required computational power to 6 GOPS. A SIMD datapath architecture optimized for the GDS algorithm decreases the clock frequency and operating voltage. A low power 3-port SRAM with a write-disturb-free cell array arrangement is newly designed for image data caches of the processor. The proposed ME processor contains 7-M transistors, integrated in 4.50 mm 3.35 mm area using 0.13 µm CMOS technology. Estimated power consumption is less than 100 mW at 81 MHz@1.0 V. The processor is applicable to a portable HDTV system.

When decision-directed channel estimation is used for QAM-OFDM systems, the optimal filter shape depends on the amplitudes of the modulated symbols as well as the channel characteristics. In this letter we propose a simple channel estimation method for multi-level-amplitude-modulated systems, which can effectively suppress the estimation variances with a small filter. Using the proposed method the implementation cost can be reduced and possibly better results might be obtained by avoiding the estimation bias due to large-sized filtering.

A reconfigurable coprocessor for ETSI-GSM voice coding application domain is presented, synthesized and tested. An average overall reduction of more than 55% cycles with respect to standard RISC processors with DSP features is obtained. Such improvement together with locality and temporal correlation allows a reduction of power consumption, while standard interfacing technique ensures maximum flexibility.

Ordered attribute grammars (OAGs for short) are a useful class of attribute grammars (AGs). For some attribute grammars, even though they are not circular, OAG circularity test reports that they are not ordered and fails to generate attribute evaluators because some approximation introduces circularities (called type 3 circularities in this paper). First we discuss that it is sometimes difficult for programmers to eliminate type 3 circularities by hand. Second, to reduce this difficulty, we propose a new AG class called OAG* that produces less type 3 circularities than OAG while preserving the positive characteristic of OAG. OAG* uses a global dependency graph GDS that provides a new approximation algorithm. We obtained good results with our experimental implementation of OAG*. It is shown that OAG* is different from the existing GAG and Eli/Liga systems. Finally, two combinations of Eli/Liga and OAG* are provided.

A parity check matrix for a binary linear code defines a bipartite graph (Tanner graph) which is isomorphic to a subgraph of a factor graph which explains a mechanism of the iterative decoding based on the sum-product algorithm. It is known that this decoding algorithm well approximates MAP decoding, but degradation of the approximation becomes serious when there exist cycles of short length, especially length 4, in Tanner graph. In this paper, based on the generating idempotents, we propose some methods to design parity check matrices for cyclic codes which define Tanner graphs with no cycles of length 4. We also show numerically error performance of cyclic codes by the iterative decoding implemented on factor graphs derived from the proposed parity check matrices.

The OFDM technique has recently received considerable attention in the fields of wireless LAN communication systems. It is accompanied with many practical issues and one major issue is synchronization. In this letter, we propose a frequency offset estimation technique for OFDM system. The proposed frequency offset estimator employing interpolation technique in the frequency domain has a simple structure and good performance.

In recent computer systems, a large portion of energy is consumed by on-chip cache accesses and data movement between cache and off-chip main memory. Reducing these memory system energy is indispensable for future microprocessors because power and thermal issues certainly become a key factor of limiting processor performance. In this paper, we discuss and evaluate how our architecture called SCIMA contributes to energy saving. SCIMA integrates software-controllable memory (SCM) into processor chip. SCIMA can save total memory system energy by using SCM under the support of compiler. The evaluation results reveal that SCIMA can reduce 5-50% of memory system energy and still faster than conventional cache based architecture.

Existing routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks assume that all nodes have the same transmission range. In other words, the mobile ad hoc network has symmetric links, which means that two neighboring nodes A and B are within the transmission range of one another. However, since nodes consume battery power independently according to their computing and communication load, there exist asymmetric links, which means that node A is within node B's transmission range, but not vice versa. In this paper, two approaches are presented to support routing in the existence of asymmetric links: GAHA (GPS-based Hop-by-hop Acknowledgment) and GAPA (GPS-based Passive Acknowledgment) schemes. Both GAHA and GAPA can be applied to any routing protocols by utilizing GPS (Global Positioning System) location information. Simulation results reveal that both GAHA and GAPA protocols cope well in the presence of asymmetric wireless links and nodes' mobility.

In this letter, we propose a new technique that reduces the computation time to derive the MEI coefficients in solving scattering problems by the Measured Equation of Invariance (MEI) methods. Methods that use the MEI technique spend most of the computation time in the integration process to derive the MEI coefficients. Moreover, in the conventional solution process, some repeated computation of metron fields to derive the MEI coefficients is included. To avoid the repeated operations and thus save computation time, we propose a matrix localization technique in computing the MEI coefficients. The time comparison for the computation of MEI coefficients of a cylinder and a sphere is given to verify the CPU time reduction of our new technique.

Mirroring of network servers has been considered to be effective for load balancing. However, the cost of setting up new mirror servers is enormously high. In this paper, we propose a dynamic file allocation model with a simple mirroring function for handling significant changes of network traffic in the Internet. According to the load fluctuation, we can dynamically reallocate files using this model. We show that our model accomplishes satisfactory performance and reduces cost by adding a simple mirroring function to all existent servers instead of setting up mirror servers afresh.

Time variations of the wireless channel cause Inter-Carrier Interference (ICI) between different subcarriers in an OFDM system. In a highly mobile environment this interference may become so high that it degrades up to unacceptable levels the communication channel. In this paper, firstly we obtain a simplified expression for the total ICI experienced by every subcarrier in an OFDMA system. Unlike other previous works, the result establishes an explicit and useful relation between the ICI on each subcarrier and the speed of the rest of the terminals in the system. Then, by means of a mathematical analysis we extend the scope of that expression to a hybrid system in which OFDMA and CDMA are combined. Using the good autocorrelation and cross-correlation properties provided by Gold-sequences we propose a Gold-Code-based CDMA-OFDMA transmission technique for the asynchronous uplink channel. We show that the proposed method can reduce the total ICI and potentially increase the capacity of the system in comparison to a conventional OFDMA system.

In Ad Hoc networks, communication between a pair of hosts uses channel resources, such that the channel cannot be used by the neighboring hosts. A channel used by one pair of hosts can be reused by another pair of hosts only if their communication ranges do not overlap. Channels are limited resources, accounting for why exploiting channel reuse opportunities and enhancing the channel utilization is essential to increasing system capacity. However, exploiting channel reuse opportunities may cause a co-channel interference problem. Two pairs of communicating hosts that use the same channel may gradually move toward to each other. A channel reassignment operation must be applied to these hosts to maintain their communication. This investigation presents a channel assignment protocol that enables the channel resources to be highly utilized. Following this protocol, a channel reassignment protocol is also proposed to protect the communicating hosts from co-channel interference caused by mobility. The proposed reassignment protocol efficiently reassigns a new available channel to a pair of hosts that suffers from co-channel interference. The performance of the proposed protocols is also examined. Experimental results reveal that the proposed protocols enable more hosts to communicate simultaneously and prevent their communication from failing.

In this paper, we propose two channel allocation schemes for supporting voice and multimedia traffic in hierarchical cellular systems. They are guaranteed to satisfy the required quality of service for multimedia traffic in accordance with their characteristics such as a mobile velocity for voice calls and a delay tolerance for multimedia calls. In the first, only slow-speed voice calls are allowed to overflow from macrocell to microcell and only adaptive multimedia calls can overflow from microcell to macrocell after reducing their bandwidth to the minimum channel bandwidth. In the second, in addition to the first scheme, non-adaptive multimedia calls can occupy the required channel bandwidth through reducing the channel bandwidth of adaptive multimedia calls. The proposed schemes are analyzed using the 2-dimensional Markov model. Through computer simulations, it is shown that the proposed schemes yield a significant improvement in terms of the forced termination probability of handoff calls. In particular, the second decreases the blocking probability of new calls as well as the forced termination probability of handoff calls.

In this letter, we propose a new method to detect faces in color images based on the characterized convex regional relationship. We detect skin and hair likeness regions using the derived skin and hair color models and the convex skin likeness and hair likeness regions are adopted as the characteristic convex regions. Finally, human faces can be detected via their intersection relationship. The proposed algorithm can accomplish face detection in an image including not only single face but also multi-faces and also detect deformed faces efficiently. To validity the effectiveness of the proposed method, we make experiments with various cases.

The 2-vertex-connectivity augmentation problem for specified vertices (2VCA-SV) is defined as follows: Given an undirected graph G=(V,E), a subgraph G0=(V,E') of G, a specified set of vertices S V and a weight function w:E R^+ (nonnegative real numbers), find a set E" E-E' with the minimum total weight, such that G0+E"=(V,E' E") has at least two internally disjoint paths between any pair of vertices in S. In this paper, we propose an O(|V||E|+ |V|2 log |V|) time algorithm 2-ABIS, whose performance ratio is 2 (3, respectively), for 2VCA-SV if G0 has a connected component containing S (otherwise).

An automatic LSI package lead inspection system for backside lead specification is proposed. The proposed system inspects not only lead backside contamination but also the mechanical lead specification such as lead pitch, lead offset and lead overhangs (variations in lead lengths). The total inspection time of a UQFP package with a lead count of 256 is less than the required time of 1 second. Our proposed method is superior to the threshold method used usually, especially for the defect between leads.

In this letter, we investigate a diversity scheme which employs a simple transform, symbol interleaving and decision-feedback differential detection (DF-DD) for differential phase-shift-keying signal transmission over correlated Rayleigh fading. The proposed scheme merits instinct time diversity within each transmitted block and thus presents patent resistance to fading. It is shown that the considered technique provides significant diversity gains in a correlated Rayleigh fading channel.

In recent years, information devices with network communication ability have become very popular, and many people actually own such kind of devices. Those information devices, however, do not share users' data in spite of their communication ability. This paper proposes "OCEAN: Object Communication Environment for Arbitrary Network" architecture, which provides liaison of objects stored in each device according to their profiles and situations. It eliminates redundant user operation on information devices, and enables novel communication scheme among users by sharing common objects in those devices. Furthermore, it maximizes the effective use of each device's limitation according to each environment. Finally, in this paper, we discuss our prototype of OCEAN.

The label placement problem is one of the most important problems in geographic information systems, cartography, graph drawing and graphical interface design. In this paper, we consider the problem of labeling points and curves in maps drawn from digital data. In digital maps, a curve is represented as a set of points and consists of many small segments. The label for each curve must be placed alongside the corresponding curve. We define a continuous labeling space for points and curves, and present an algorithm using this space for positioning labels. Computational results for subway and JR train maps in Tokyo are presented.

In this letter, we propose a frequency domain active noise control system using the time difference simultaneous perturbation method. This method is an algorithm based on the simultaneous perturbation method which updates the coefficients of the noise control filter only by use of the error signal. The time difference simultaneous perturbation method updates the filter coefficients by using one kind of error signal, while the simultaneous perturbation method updates the filter coefficients by using two kinds of error signal. In the ANC systems, the time difference simultaneous perturbation method is superior because ANC systems cannot obtain two error signals at the same time. When this method is applied to ANC systems, the convergence speed can be increased to a maximum of twice that of the conventional method.