An analysis method based on the FD-TD and radiation mode expansion methods and its simulation tool are developed for calculating circuit characteristics and parameter values of passive MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits) elements having multilayer structure. For straight multilayer microstrip lines and coplanar waveguides, it is possible to calculate characteristic impedance, effective permittivity, transverse field distribution of guided modes, etc. For various multilayer microstrip and coplanar waveguide elements, it is possible to calculate scattering parameters, radiated power, radiation patterns, etc. As an example of application of the present technique, effects of inclusion of lower permittivity layer in the substrate on transmission and radiation characteristics are investigated for right-angled microstrip bends.

Progress in WDM transmission technology and the development of optical cross-connect systems has made optical backbone networks a reality. The conventional planning methodologies for such optical backbone networks calculate optimum light-path arrangements to minimize the network cost under the condition that the number of demanded light-paths is given in advance. However, the light-path demand varies according to the light-path prices. Thus, a new planning methodology for the optical backbone networks is necessary to optimize the light-path prices and to maximize the profit obtained from the network. This paper proposes a new planning methodology for the survivable optical networks. This methodology is based on economic theory for competitive markets involving plural kinds of commodities. Using this methodology, the optimum light-path prices can be decided to maximize the obtained profit. A numerical example is presented to show that the obtained profit can be improved by preparing various light-path classes with different recovery modes and introducing an appropriate light-path pricing according to the reliability of each light-path class.

Speech quality of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) may potentially be degraded by transmission errors such as packet loss and delay that are basically inevitable in best-effort communications. This study newly proposes an error concealment technique for such degradation by taking account of both sender-based and receiver-based techniques. In the proposed technique, sender-based side information, which is required by the receiver-based technique, is transmitted by using steganography, so that its datagram is completely compatible with the conventional format of VoIP. From experimental results of objective evaluation, it is indicated that the proposed technique may potentially be useful for improvement of speech quality, compared with the conventional technique.

This paper describes a new training method of average voice model for speech synthesis in which arbitrary speaker's voice is generated based on speaker adaptation. When the amount of training data is limited, the distributions of average voice model often have bias depending on speaker and/or gender and this will degrade the quality of synthetic speech. In the proposed method, to reduce the influence of speaker dependence, we incorporate a context clustering technique called shared decision tree context clustering and speaker adaptive training into the training procedure of average voice model. From the results of subjective tests, we show that the average voice model trained using the proposed method generates more natural sounding speech than the conventional average voice model. Moreover, it is shown that voice characteristics and prosodic features of synthetic speech generated from the adapted model using the proposed method are closer to the target speaker than the conventional method.

Mobile location can be achieved by using the time-of-arrival (TOA) and angle-of-arrival (AOA) measurements. In this Letter, we analyze the location accuracy of an TOA-AOA hybrid algorithm with a single base station in the line-of-sight scenario. The performance of the algorithm is contrasted with the Cramer-Rao lower bound and Federal Communications Commission Emergency 911 requirements.

A new formula on the Hermite expansion is presented in an explicit form. An application of the formula is given to a random boundary value problem: a plane wave reflection from a flat plane, of which position is randomly distributed in the normal direction, is presented. Several numerical results are given for a verification of the formula and for a discussion of the exact behavior of the fluctuation part of the reflection power.

This paper proposes a method to integrate computer specifications retrieved from multiple Web sites, to extract characteristic-data of each computer based on integrated information, and to present products suitable for a user's request. The specifications written in HTML are converted into normal forms called table structure. The quantitative attributes such as speed, capacity and dimensions are extracted by comparing them with the mean or mode of all sample data, and the qualitative ones such as kind of processor and graphics chip are extracted using knowledge provided manually. The recommended products are dynamically determined from the extracted data by a user's request and relevance feedback. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our method.

In this paper, we propose a pipelined architecture for an equalizer based on the Multilevel Modified Constant Modulus Algorithm (MMCMA). We also provide the correction factor that mathematically converts the proposed pipelined adaptive equalizer into an equivalent non-pipelined conventional MMCMA based equalizer. The proposed method of pipelining uses modules with 6 filter coefficients, resulting in an overall latency of a single sampling period, along the main transmission line. The basic concept of the proposed architecture is to implement the Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter and the algorithm portion of the adaptive equalizer, such that the critical path of the whole circuit has a maximum of three complex multipliers and three adders.

This paper studies the local Poisson property of aggregated IP traffic. First, it describes the scenario where IP traffic presents a Poisson-like characteristic within some limited range of time scales when packets from independent traffic streams are aggregated. Each of the independent traffic streams corresponds to a series of correlated IP packets such as those of a transport connection. Since the Poisson-like characteristic is observed only within some limited range of time scales, we call this characteristic the local Poisson property. The limited range of time scales of the local Poisson property can be estimated from a network configuration and characteristics of transport connections. Second, based on these observations, we seek the possibility to apply an ordinary Poisson process to evaluation of the packet loss probability in IP networks. The analytical investigation, where IP traffic is modeled by a superposition of independent branching Poisson processes that presents the local Poisson property, suggests that the packet loss probability can be estimated by a finite-buffer queue with a Poisson process when the buffer size is within a certain range. The investigation is verified by simulations. These findings expand the applicability of conventional Poisson-based approaches to IP network design issues.

This paper addresses the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem in a wavelength routed all optical network. One of the main issues is the assignment of the limited number of wavelengths over each physical fiber connection so that high aggregate capacity can be achieved. In a typical mesh topology, this problem has been shown to be NP-hard. In this paper, we propose a new heuristic based algorithm building upon one of the best known wavelength assignment algorithms proposed by Zhang and Acampora. The salient feature of the proposed algorithm is to consider the inherent multihop nature of the underlying mesh topology. We demonstrate that the proposed algorithm reduces the complexity by an order of magnitude, while at the same time achieving significantly lower blocking probability.

A constant voltage/constant current (CV/CC) parallel operation heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) power amplifier (PA) configuration is presented, and its design method is described. A resistor base feed (CC mode) HBT is connected to an inductor base feed (CV mode) HBT in parallel, and compensates the gain expansion of the CV mode HBT due to near class-B operation. By adding CC mode HBT, the total quiescent current can be decreased from 32 mA to 23 mA with adjacent channel leakage power ratio (ACPR) < -40.0 dBc. At the maximum output power region, the fabricated PA achieves output power (Pout) of 26.8 dBm and power added efficiency (PAE) of 42.0% with ACPR of -40.0 dBc, and shows the comparable performances with a conventional PA using CV mode HBT.

This paper presents a high-accuracy image registration technique using a Phase-Only Correlation (POC) function. Conventional techniques of phase-based image registration employ heuristic methods in estimating the location of the correlation peak, which corresponds to image displacement. This paper proposes a technique to improve registration performance by fitting the closed-form analytical model of the correlation peak to actual two-dimensional numerical data. This method can also be extended to a spectrum weighting POC technique, where we modify cross-phase spectrum with some weighting functions to enhance registration accuracy. The proposed method makes possible to estimate image displacements with 1/100-pixel accuracy.

Recently, diverse multimedia applications with stringent multiple Quality of Service (QoS) requirements have been increasing. In particular, multicast communication has become more popular because of its availability and for efficient use of network resources. Most multicasts are point-to-multipoint, in which a source delivers data to multiple designated recipients, such as for video or audio distribution. In the near future, multipoint-to-multipoint communication services, including multimedia collaborations such as video conferencing and distant-learning, will be developed. However, when a conventional multicast routing algorithm is applied to a multipoint-to-multipoint communication service, it might result in excessive traffic concentration on some links. Therefore, we propose a new multipoint-to-multipoint routing method. It utilizes the Fallback+ algorithm to perform multicast routing for the purpose of satisfying multiple QoS requirements and alleviating traffic concentrations. Simulation experiments show that our method improves traffic load balance and achieves efficient use of network resources.

This paper defines a new kind of a mixture density model for modeling a quasi-stationary Gaussian process based on mel-cepstral representation. The conventional AR mixture density model can be applied to modeling a quasi-stationary Gaussian AR process. However, it cannot model spectral zeros. In contrast, the proposed model is based on a frequency-warped exponential (EX) model. Accordingly, it can represent spectral poles and zeros with equal weights, and, furthermore, the model spectrum has a high resolution at low frequencies. The parameter estimation algorithm for the proposed model was also derived based on an EM algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed model has better performance than the AR mixture density model for modeling a frequency-warped EX process.

Integration of the IP/MPLS network and the WDM optical mesh network is a promising approach to realizing an efficient backbone network. Because of the great volumes of traffic carried, the social cost incurred by a failure will be extremely high, so survivability is very important in the backbone network. In survivable IP/MPLS over WDM backbone networks, cooperation of the optical level fault recovery and the IP/MPLS level fault recovery is essential. This paper analyzes cost characteristics of the optical level fault recovery and the IP/MPLS level fault recovery. A mathematical programming method is proposed to minimize the initial network cost when the IP/MPLS level fault recovery is utilized in the survivable IP/MPLS over WDM networks. Using this method, the initial network cost needed for the IP/MPLS level fault recovery is compared with that for the optical level fault recovery. The initial network cost for the LSP (Label Switched Path) protection scheme is smaller than that for the shared light-path protection scheme and larger than that for the pre-plan type light-path restoration scheme. The LSP protection scheme is suitable for the best-effort type traffic while the shared light-path protection scheme may be suitable for the bandwidth guaranteed type traffic.

We propose an auto-mesh generation algorithm for 3-Dimensional elliptic model on acoustic analysis of the vocal tract. We mesh the vocal tract and compute the vocal tract transfer function (VTTF) using Finite Element Method (FEM). We show there is little difference between the VTTF using our algorithm and that of the manual mesh, especially for vowel /a/. We show that the number of nodes is depended on the shape of the cross section of the vocal tract. Furthermore we compute the VTTF of the vocal tract with variable shape continuously.

In this paper, we propose a scalable Extended Differentiated-Services (EDS) architecture to guarantee edge-to-edge explicit rate allocation. In presence of flows with explicit rate allocation, to share bandwidth fairly, a new fairness definition is proposed. Based on EDS and the proposed fairness definition, a scalable fair Edge-to-Edge Congestion Control Algorithm with Explicit Rate Allocation (ECC-ERA) is presented to solve the bandwidth assurance problem facing Differentiated Service architecture, where EDS uses congestion control packets to carry the flow-related states and congestion control information. By designing efficiency control and fairness control separately, the ECC-ERA can achieve good scalability to link capacity, round-trip time and number of flows. It will be shown that EDS plus ECC-ERA outperforms the general Diff-Serv bandwidth guarantee approaches. The main advantages of EDS+ECC-ERA are as follows: (1) it not only can guarantee explicit rate allocation, but also can guarantee near-zero packet loss in core routers, high utilization, lower and smoother queueing delay, better fairness and better protection from unresponsive traffic. (2) Neither resource pre-reservation nor sophisticated scheduling mechanisms are required. The simple FIFO at core routers is enough. (3) EDS plus EC-ERA is very efficient and can be used as end-to-end QoS building block.

We report the investigation of major dispersion mechanisms such as self-heating, trapping, current collapse, and floating-body effects present in AlGaN/GaN HFETs. These effects are analyzed using DC/Pulsed IV, load-pull, low-frequency noise systems, and a cryogenic probe station. This study leads to a better understanding of the device physics, which is critical for accurate large-signal modeling and device optimization.

We present a method for recognition of two-hand gestures. Two-hand gestures include fine-grain descriptions of hands under a complicated background, and have complex dynamic behaviors. Hence, assuming that two-hand gestures are an interacting process of two hands whose shapes and motions are described by switching linear dynamics, we propose a coupled switching linear dynamic model to capture interactions between both hands. The parameters of the model are learned via EM algorithm using approximate computations. Recognition is performed by selection of the model with maximum likelihood out of a few learned models during tracking. We confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed model in tracking and recognition of two-hand gestures through some experiments.

This paper proposes a novel extraction method of line parameters for multi-coupled lines on high-speed and high-density PCBs, where it uses TDR measurement in time domain and S-parameter measurement in frequency domain. The accuracy of the proposed method have been verified experimentally by comparing the crosstalk noise in the time domain, where (1) the proposed method extracts RLGC matrices by measuring the test pattern, (2) the crosstalk noise is obtained through SPICE simulation using the extracted RLGC matrices, and (3) the SPICE-simulated crosstalk noise is compared with the measured crosstalk noise. From the crosstalk noise comparison, the proposed method is proven to be very accurate. For N-coupled lines, the proposed method doesn't require expensive 2N-port probe for N-coupled lines but only two-port probe, which provides a simple, accurate, and economic extraction method of line parameters for multi-coupled line on the PCB. In the early stage of PCB design, the proposed method is very useful, because it extracts accurate interconnection parameters of each test board and enables to compensate various side effects due to the variation of PCB fabrication process. Also, the proposed method is necessary to analyze the signal integrity of future high-density and high-speed digital system on PCBs.