Spectrum sensing is one of the methods to identify available white spaces for secondary usage which was specified by the regulators. However, signal quality to be sensed can plunge to a very low signal-to-noise-ratio due to signal propagation and hence readings from individual sensors will be unreliable. Distributed sensing by the cooperation of multiple sensors is one way to cope with this problem because the diversity gain due to the combining effect of data captured at different position will assist in detecting signals that might otherwise not be detected by a single sensor. In effect, the probability of detection can be improved. We have implemented a distributed sensing system to evaluate the performance of different cooperative sensing algorithms. In this paper we describe our implementation and measurement experience which include the system design, specification of the system, measurement method, the issues and solutions. This paper also confirms the performance enhancement offered by distributed sensing algorithms, and describes several ideas for further enhancement of the sensing quality.

Television white spaces (TVWS) are locally and/or temporally unused portions of TV bands. After TVWS regulations were passed in the USA, more and more regulators have been considering efficient use of TVWS. Under the condition that the primary user, i.e., terrestrial TV broadcasting system, is not interfered, various secondary users (SUs) may be deployed in TVWS. In Japan, the TVWS regulations started with broadcast-type SUs and small-area broadcasting systems, followed by voice radio. This paper aims to provide useful insights for more efficient utilization of TVWS as one of the options to meet the continuously increasing demand for wireless bandwidth. TVWS availability in Japan is analyzed using graphs and maps. As per the regulations in Japan, for TV broadcasting service, a protection contour is defined to be 51dBµV/m, while the interference contour for SU is defined to be 12.3dBµV/m. We estimate TVWS availability using these two regulation parameters and the minimum separation distances calculated on the basis of the ITU-R P.1546 propagation models. Moreover, we investigate and explain the effect of two important factors on TVWS availability. One is the measures to avoid adjacent channel interference, while the other is whether the SU has client devices with interference ranges beyond the interference area of the master device. Furthermore, possible options to increase available TVWS channels are discussed.

Smart TVs are expected to play a leading role in the future networked intelligent screen market. Currently, many operators are planning to deploy it in large scale in a few years. Therefore, it is necessary for smart TVs to provide high quality services for users. Packet loss is one critical reason that decreases the QoS in smart TVs. Even a very small amount of packet loss (1-2%) can decrease the QoS and affect users' experience seriously. This paper applies stochastic differential equations to analyzing the queue in the buffer of access points in smart TV multicast systems, demonstrates the reason for packet loss, and then proposes an end-to-end error recovery scheme (short as OPRSFEC) whose core algorithm is based on Reed-Solomon theory, and optimizes four aspects in finite fields: 1) Using Cauchy matrix instead of Vandermonde matrix to code and decode; 2) generating inverse matrix by table look-up; 3) changing the matrix multiplication into the table look-up; 4) originally dividing the matrix multiplication. This paper implements the scheme on the application layer, which screens the heterogeneity of terminals and servers, corrects 100% packet loss (loss rate is 1%-2%) in multicast systems, and brings very little effect on real-time users experience. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme has good performances, successfully runs on Sigma and Mstar Moca TV terminals, and increases the QoS of smart TVs. Recently, OPRSFEC middleware has become a part of IPTV2.0 standard in Shanghai Telecom and has been running on the Mstar boards of Haier Moca TVs properly.

This paper describes a Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) feature extraction accelerator that features a VLSI-oriented HOG algorithm with early classification in Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification, dual core architecture for parallel feature extraction and multiple object detection, and detection-window-size scalable architecture with reconfigurable MAC array for processing objects of several shapes. To achieve low-power consumption for mobile applications, early classification reduces the amount of computations in SVM classification efficiently with no accuracy degradation. The dual core architecture enables parallel feature extraction in one frame for high-speed or low-power computing and detection of multiple objects simultaneously with low power consumption by HOG feature sharing. Objects of several shapes, a vertically long object, a horizontally long object, and a square object, can be detected because of cooperation between the two cores. The proposed methods provide processing capability for HDTV resolution video (19201080 pixels) at 30 frames per second (fps). The test chip, which has been fabricated using 65 nm CMOS technology, occupies 4.22.1 mm2 containing 502 Kgates and 1.22 Mbit on-chip SRAMs. The simulated data show 99.5 mW power consumption at 42.9 MHz and 1.1 V.

This letter proposes a new mechanism that supports adaptive sending control using Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for IPTV service over heterogeneous networks. The proposed mechanism is implemented on a mobile IPTV device and its performance is verified for providing seamless television watching in heterogeneous networks, even when in motion.

This paper proposes an enhanced feature detection method for the OFDM signals of digital TV (DTV) standards, namely Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T). The proposed method exploits property of time-domain sliding correlation results of DTV signals with the pilots that are inserted into OFDM symbols. Some correlation outputs are much larger than the remaining outputs and are called correlation peaks here, and, the distance between their positions in the correlation output sequence keep constant regardless of the received DTV timings. The proposed method then derives sensing test statistic with improved SNR by aggregating the correlation peaks based on their positions. Performance of the proposed method is evaluated by both computer simulation and hardware implementation. Simulation results for DVB-T detection verify that compared to the optimal conventional sensing method, the proposed method achieves superior sensing performance. It reduces sampling time by about 25% for the same sensing performance while increasing computational complexity by around 0.0001%. Hardware performance further verifies that the proposed method is able to accurately detect ISDB-T at the low SNR of -14.5 dB by employing 8 OFDM symbol durations of samples.

This paper presents a basic investigation of the power imbalance problem with regard to maximum ratio combining (MRC) array antennas for digital TV broadcast reception. First, the relationship between the decrease in the diversity gain and reduction in the received power was investigated using two-element and four-element dipole array antennas by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. The relationship between the decrease in the diversity gain and the number of branches imposed to reduce the received power was also investigated. Then, a simple method of predicting the reduction in the diversity gain under imbalanced power conditions is given using the simulation results. The objective is to determine a criterion associated with the gain reduction that allows us to achieve the required system performance. Finally, the proposed method is confirmed by analysis using a model representing a typical portable digital broadcasting TV set held with both hands that simulates the power imbalance condition.

This letter proposes a new mechanism for network configuration on a mobile device that provides Point of Attachment (PoA) specific information using IEEE 802.21 and DHCP before moving to a new PoA. This allows the mobile device to prepare for intelligent handover decision either stateless address configuration or stateful address configuration when entering an IPv6 network. It allows the mobile device to reduce time delay for IP address configuration in the new PoA. Implementation and evaluation results show that the proposed mechanism can be an acceptable network configuration mechanism for providing seamless television watching in IPv6 mobile networks, even when in motion.

In this letter, we propose an extension to the classical logarithmic total variation (LTV) model for face recognition under variant illumination conditions. LTV treats all facial areas with the same regularization parameters, which inevitably results in the loss of useful facial details and is harmful for recognition tasks. To address this problem, we propose to assign the regularization parameters which balance the large-scale (illumination) and small-scale (reflectance) components in a spatially adaptive scheme. Face recognition experiments on both Extended Yale B and the large-scale FERET databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

In this letter, the amount of interference and an analytic methodology from a combination of Korea's LTE system and Japan's digital terrestrial TV broadcasting system using the 700 MHz frequency band are established when considering a practical deployment of both systems. We performed Monte-Carlo simulations on the throughput loss to evaluate how much interference radiating from Japan's DTV is imposed on the Korean LTE system. The results of the established methodology can be used as a guideline for allowing the deployed LTE system to avoid an unacceptable amount of interference.

This paper presents the analysis on hidden node due to multiple transmission power level and its potential impact to system performance of White Space radio operating in the TV bands, a.k.a TV white space (TVWS). For this purpose, a generic interference model for determining the hidden node occurrence probability based on realistic physical (PHY) layer model is developed. Firstly, the generic hidden node interference model is constructed considering typical TVWS radio network deployment scenario. Emphasis is given on cases where the hidden node scenario involves multiple transmission power level. Secondly, the PHY layer design and channel propagation are modeled to analyze the realistic operating range of the TVWS radio. By combining the hidden node interference model and the PHY layer/propagation models, the realistic probability of hidden node occurrence is calculated. Finally, the performance degradation in the victim receiver due to interference generated by the potential hidden node is quantified. As a result, for urban environment, it is found that for networks consisting of devices with multiple transmit power level, the probability of hidden node occurrence is similar to that of networks consisting of devices with uni-transmit power level, provided that the interferer-victim separation distance in the former is 800 m farther apart. Furthermore, this number may increase to a maximum of 1.1 km in a suburban environment. Also, it is found that if the hidden node actually occurs, a co-channel interference (CCI) of -15 dB typically causes a degradation of 2 dB in the victim receiver.

This paper presents a method of measuring the traffic of IP multicast streaming, such as IPTV, by using IPFIX and PSAMP. The IP multicast streaming service has recently become one of the popular network services, but no IP multicast operation method has been established yet. In particular, traffic measurement of IP multicast streaming encounters two challenges: as monitoring a multicast path tree and QoS measurement. There is no method to monitor them continuously in large-scale networks. Hence, we explore measurement structure suitable for large-scale networks, and then using IPFIX and PSAMP, we propose an efficient a network-level quality measurement method for IPTV and a method to extract multicast path tree data. In addition, we demonstrate the feasibility of the measurement method by evaluating a prototype system.

An H.264/AVC encoder LSI (named “SARA”) that supports High422 profile, as well as 422 profile of MPEG-2, has been developed for HDTV broadcasting infrastructures. It contains three motion estimation and compensation (ME/MC) engines with wide search ranges of -217.75 to +199.75 horizontally, -109.75 to +145.75 vertically, which can utilize almost all H.264/AVC ME/MC coding tools, such as multiple reference frame, variable block size, quarter-pel prediction, macroblock adaptive field/frame prediction (MBAFF), spatial/temporal direct mode, and weighted prediction. Our evaluations show that it can encode fast moving scenes with 1.2 dB to 1.7 dB higher than the JM. It was successfully fabricated in a 90-nm technology, and integrates 140 million transistors.

In this paper, we present a coexistence protocol design for a coexistence information service to provide coexistence solutions among dissimilar or independently operated autonomous decision-making networks in a wireless communication environment over, specifically but not limited to, TV white space (TVWS) frequency bands. The designed coexistence protocol for the coexistence information service has three main functionalities: (1) To collect basic information of subscribed TVWS networks; (2) To support generating neighbor lists for the TVWS networks based on the geography information and/or propagation parameters; (3) To provide necessary information for TVWS networks to make coexistence decisions. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the designed coexistence information service ensures harmonious communications among dissimilar networks and is able to achieve coexistence over an area with the limited number of available channels in white space.

Service providers should monitor the quality of experience of a communication service in real time to confirm its status. To do this, we previously proposed a packet-layer model that can be used for monitoring the average video quality of typical Internet protocol television content using parameters derived from transmitted packet headers. However, it is difficult to monitor the video quality per user using the average video quality because video quality depends on the video content. To accurately monitor the video quality per user, a model that can be used for estimating the video quality per video content rather than the average video quality should be developed. Therefore, to take into account the impact of video content on video quality, we propose a model that calculates the difference in video quality between the video quality of the estimation-target video and the average video quality estimated using a packet-layer model. We first conducted extensive subjective quality assessments for different codecs and video sequences. We then model their characteristics based on parameters related to compression and packet loss. Finally, we verify the performance of the proposed model by applying it to unknown data sets different from the training data sets used for developing the model.

This letter proposes a new fast network configuration scheme that realizes an IP interface that allows users to view Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) in IPv6 networks more quickly than is possible with the current configuration procedure. The new scheme, a hybrid combination of IPv6, address information, and non-IP information, especially the Domain Name Service, is newly designed based on a technical analysis. The evaluation results show that the proposed scheme is acceptable for real-time television watching in IPv6 networks, even when in motion.

In this paper, a highly linear and low noise CMOS active RF tracking filter for a digital TV tuner is presented. The Gm cell of the Gm-C filter is based on a dynamic source degenerated differential pair with an optimized transistor size ratio, thereby providing good linearity and high-frequency operation. The proposed RF tracking filter architecture includes two complementary parallel paths, which provide harmonic rejection in the low band and unwanted signal rejection in the high band. The fabricated tracking filter based on a 0.13 µm CMOS process shows a 48860 MHz tracking range with 30–32 dB 3rd order harmonic rejection, a minimum input referred noise density of 2.4 nV/, and a maximum IIP3 of 0 dBm at 3 dB gain while drawing 39 mA from a 1.2-V supply. The total chip area is 1 mm0.9 mm.

In this letter, a novel adaptive total variation (ATV) model is proposed for image inpainting. The classical TV model is a partial differential equation (PDE)-based technique. While the TV model can preserve the image edges well, it has some drawbacks, such as staircase effect in the inpainted image and slow convergence rate. By analyzing the diffusion mechanism of TV model and introducing a new edge detection operator named difference curvature, we propose a novel ATV inpainting model. The proposed ATV model can diffuse the image information smoothly and quickly, namely, this model not only eliminates the staircase effect but also accelerates the convergence rate. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

We propose a scheduling method called SCQ (Smoothly Changing Queue) which can control service rate by bulk size of video streaming services such as IPTV and VoD. Since SCQ allows queue length to change smoothly, video streaming services can be stably provided with low jitter. Queueing analysis results show that SCQ can more stably deliver video streaming with low jitter and loss than existing AQMs or queue length-based rate control methods.

This paper presents a single-chip RF tuner/OFDM demodulator for a mobile digital TV application called “1-segment broadcasting.” To achieve required performances for the single-chip receiver, a tunable technique for a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and spurious suppression techniques are proposed in this paper. Firstly, to receive all channels from 470 MHz to 770 MHz and to relax distortion characteristics of following circuit blocks such as an RF variable-gain amplifier and a mixer, a tunable technique for the LNA is proposed. Then, to improve the sensitivity, spurious signal suppression techniques are also proposed. The single-chip receiver using the proposed techniques is fabricated in 90 nm CMOS technology and total die size is 3.26 mm 3.26 mm. Using the tunable LNA and suppressing undesired spurious signals, the sensitivities of less than -98.6 dBm are achieved for all the channels.