Based on a newly proposed notion of relational network, a novel learning mechanism for model acquisition is developed. This new mechanism explicitly deals with both qualitative and quantitative relations between parts of an object. Qualitative relations are mirrored in the topology of the network. Quantitative relations appear in the form of generalized predicates, that is, predicates that are graded in their validity over a certain range. Starting from a decomposition of binary objects into meaningful parts, first a description of the decomposition in terms of relational networks is obtained. Based on the description of two or more instances of the same concept, generalizations are obtained by first finding matchings between instances. Generalizing itself proceeds on two levels: the topological and the predicate level. Topological generalization is achieved by a simple rule-based graph generalizer. Generalization of the predicates uses some ideas from MYCIN. After successful generalization, the system attempts to derive a simple and coarse description of the achieved result in terms of near natural language. Several examples underline the validity of relational networks and illustrate the performance of the proposed system.

A method is presented for reconstructing the surface profile of a perfectly conducting rough surface boundary from the measurements of the scattered far-field. The proposed inversion algorithm is based on the use of the Kirchhoff approximation and in order to determine the surface profile, the Fletcher-Powell optimization procedure is applied. A number of numerical results illustrating the method are presented.

Introducing a general statistical model of image noise, we present an optimal algorithm for computing 3-D motion from two views without involving numerical search: () the essential matrix is computed by a scheme called renormalization; () the decomposability condition is optimally imposed on it so that it exactly decomposes into motion parameters; () image feature points are optimally corrected so that they define their 3-D depths. Our scheme not only produces a statistically optimal solution but also evaluates the reliability of the computed motion parameters and reconstructed points in quantitative terms.

This paper presents a modified disparity measurement to recover the depth and a robust method to estimate motion parameters. First, this paper considers phase correspondence for the computation of disparity. It has less computation for disparity than previous methods that use the disparity from correspondence and from correlation. This modified disparity measurement uses the Gabor filter to analyze the local phase property and the exponential filter to analyze the global phase property. These two phases are added to make quasi-linear phases of the stereo image channels which are used for the stereo disparity finding and the structure recovery of scene. Then, we use feature-based correspondence to find the corresponding feature points in temporal image pair. Finally, we combine the depth map and use disparity motion stereo to estimate 3-D motion parameters.

We have studied in detail the effect of gas flow rates on the film properties of low-temperature (300) polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films prepared by conventional plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (13.56 MHz) with SiF4/SiH4/H2 gases. The effect of SiH4 flow rate on crystallization is shown to be large. A small amount of SiH4 with high SiF4 and H2 flow rates (50[H2]/[SiH4]1200, 20[SiF4]/[SiH4]150, 1[H2]/[SiF4]16) is important to form poly-Si films. The poly-Si films deposited under such optimized conditions had shown preferential 〈110〉-orientation and the crystalline fraction is estimated to be more than 80%. The deposition rates are in the range of 5-30 nm/min. The conductivity is in the range of 10-8-10-6 S/cm. Further, the electrical conduction indicates an activation type, and the activation energy is in the range of 0.5-0.6 eV.

Electromechanical devices such as relays, switches, connectors and printed wiring boards have shown quick growth along with remarkable progress of electronic products in a recent few decades. For the present, outstanding tasks common to these devices are further downsizing, higher density and broading of bandwidth, on the assumption of keeping high performance and high reliability. These tasks are realized by part production improvement for higher precision and automatic assemblies, development of constituent materials and development of breakthrough structural technologies such as a surface mount technology and an active assembly ferrule technology in optical connectors and so on. In this paper, the technical trends as well as the motive technologies are overviewed for each device.

State space explosion is a serious problem in analyzing discrete event systems that allow concurrent occurring of events. A new method is proposed for generating reduced state spaces of systems. This method is an improvement of Valmari's stubborn set method. The generated state space preserves liveness, livelocks, and terminal states of the ordinary state space. Petri nets are used as a model of systems, and a method is shown for generating a reduced state space from a given Petri net.

In the design of 3-D filter detecting Linear Trajectory Signal (LTS), there may be paid little attention to the noise rejective characteristics. In this paper, we treat the noise rejection ability of the filter detecting LTS having margins both in its velocity and direction.

Lexical-functional grammars (lfg's) were introduced to define the syntax of natural languages. In lfg's, a finite set of attribute-value pairs called an f-structure is associated with each internal node in a derivation tree. For efficient parsing, some subclasses of lfg's were proposed. However, these subclasses have been shown to generate at least one -complete language. In this paper, we introduce a subclass of lfg's called pd-lfg's. In pd-lfg's, an f-structure forms a pushdown stack. For a node v in a derivation tree and at most one specified child vi of v, the f-structure of vi is obtained by performing a specified pushdown stack operation on the f-structure of v. We prove the equivalence of the generative capacity of modified head grammars (mhg's) and that of pd-lfg's. Since the languages generated by mhg's are known to be recognizable in O(n6) time, the languages generated by pd-lfg's can be recognized in O(n6) time.

This paper presents a novel and successful optimization algorithm for optimizing Multiple-valued Logic (MVL) functions based on Petri net theory. Mathematical properties and Petri net modeling tools to implement MVL systems are introduced. On the basis of these properties and modeling tools, the optimization algorithm can synthesize, analyze and minimize an arbitrary quaternary logic function of n-input variables. The analysis technique of optimization algorithm is a well-established concept from both theories of MVL and Petri nets, and this can be applied to specify and optimize any MVL Petri net system. In this paper, Petri nets of Galois field have been proposed in order to form a complete system, which can be used to realize and construct VLSI circuit of any MVL function. Based on the Petri nets of Galois field and the proposed algorithm, the quaternary minimum and maximum functions have been analyzed, minimized, and designed. These applications have demonstrated the usefulness of optimization algorithm. Based on Petri net theory, the analysis revealed important information about MVL Petri net modeled systems, where this information has been used to evaluate the modeled system and suggest improvements or changes. For evaluation, advantages of the proposed method over a conventional logic minimization method are presented. Also, we have observed that the MVL Petri nets have the following advantages: Designers can exhibit clearly, simply and systematically any complex MVL Petri net nodel, number of concurrent operations is increased, number of places and transitions that are needed to realize a MVL model is very small, and the interconnection problems can be greatly reduced.

Composite materials of solid lubricants, such as graphite, MoS2, WS2, etc., and metals are being used as the sliding electrical contacts. However, few reports have so far been presented on the detailed characteristics of such composite materials. It is shown in this report that contact resistance and coefficient of friction of the sliding contact of the composite material of Cu-Nb system against Cu were higher than those of the sliding contact of the composite material of Cu-Sn system against Cu. It was, further, found that composite materials of Cu-Sn system were superior to those of Cu-Nb system being both contact resistances and coefficients of friction lowered. At the same time, it was found that performances of composite materials of Cu-Sn alloy base containing exclusively WS2 were superior to those containing both WS2 and MoS2. It was, therefore, suggested that proper samples suitable for the service conditions should be selected from the composite materials of Cu-Sn system which contain exclusively WS2 for the practical applications.

The prediction of a relay contact's life is still very important for support and maintenance of the Crossbar Switching Systems. It was found through surveys and experiments that the protected shower arc is the main reason for switching-relay contact erosion at existing Crossbar Switching Systems, if the contacts were not heavily activated. If the contacts were heavily activated, a long sustained steady arc might occur and severely erode the contacts. This paper proposes an arch energy estimation method for the prediction of contact erosion using object-oriented simulation technology when a steady arc occurs at protected contacts. The arc energy is expressed in a simulation model through analysis, and the model was confirmed through experimentation. The simulation model was used for building block programs of an expert system to predict the life span of switching relays in the existing Crossbar Switching Systems.

In the conventional protocol synthesis, it is generally assumed that primitives in service specifications cannot be executed simultaneously at different Service Access Points (SAPs). Thus if some primitives are executed concurrently, then protocol errors of unspecified receptions occur. In this paper, we try to extend a class of service specifications from which protocol specifications are synthesized by the previous methods. We first introduce priorities into primitives in protocol specification so that it always selects exactly one primitive of the highest priority from a set of primitives that can be executed simultaneously, and executes it. Then, based on this execution ordering, we propose a new protocol synthesis method which can avoid protocol errors due to message collisions, communication competitions and so on. By applying the proposed synthesis method, we can automatically synthesize a protocol specifications from a given service specification which includes an arbitraty number of processes and allows parallel execution of primitives.

The new algorithm for VP bandwidth control described and analyzed in this paper is a revised version of the Successive Modification Method. Its operation is based only on call-level performance (call blocking probabilities) measured in real time, without explicitly taking the cell-level performance into account. This algorithm does not need to predict future traffic demand and to perform network-wide optimization according to the predicted traffic. These features are well suited for a B-ISDN environment, with the variety of ATM bearer services and the uncertainty of their traffic demand and other characteristics. This paper describes the relationship between the proposed control and other traffic controls in ATM networks, such as CAC and VP shaping/policing. It also offers a solution to the problem of the competition that arises when several VPs in the same transmission path need increased bandwidth. Evaluation of the transient behavior of the VP bandwidth occupied by VCs shows that there is a lower limit in the control cycle and that this limit can be estimated as the longest average holding time of VCs among all services. Numerical results obtained using a call-by-call simulator show that proposed control is effective in preventing the performance degradation caused by a large traffic imbalance in communications networks. Comparison of the proposed control with a dynamical alternate routing for VC reveals that the VP bandwidth control is effective in relieving only the areas showing serious performance degradation, but that it is not so effective in improving the overall network performance.

ISO and ITU-T have developed the standard concept of the Telecommunications Management Network (TMN). This standard does not, however, specify interface implementation. The user requires an Application Programming Interface (API) that bridges user application and the TMN concept to construct a TMN-based application. This paper proposes an object oriented API (OOAPI) that is suitable for TMN-based operations system implementation. OOAPI is one interface of the Common Management Information Service Element (CMISE), and uses the Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). OOAPI is composed of two C++ programming language constructs: Data Object and Interface object "M_User". The Data Object makes it easier for the user to access management information. The M_User provides a connection-less CMISE interface because the OOAPI handles CMIP association automatically. The M_User also provides MO location-transparency by using the OSI Directory Service. This paper compares the existing MO location-transparency schemes with the OOAPI method, and clarifies the advantages of OOAPI. This paper also indicates results from OOAPI trials, and confirms that OOAPI has sufficient performance to implement highly effective TMN operations system.

Parallel processing in speech recognition is described, which is carried out at each frame on time axis. We have already proposed a parallel processing algorithm for HMM (Hidden Markov Model)-based speech recognition using Markov Random Fields (MRF). The parallel processing is realized by modeling the hidden state sequence by an MRF and using the Iterated Conditional Modes (ICM) algorithm to estimate the optimal state sequence given an observation sequence and model parameters. However this parallel processing with the ICM algorithm is applicable only to the standard HMM but not to the improved HMM like the linear predictive HMM which takes into account the correlations between nearby observation vectors. In this paper we propose a parallel processing algorithm applicable to the correlation-considered HMM, where a new deterministic relaxation algorithm called the Generalized ICM (GICM) algorithm is used instead of the ICM algorithm for estimation of the optimal state sequence. Speaker independent isolated word recognition experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed parallel processing using the GICM algorithm.

Among the problems that face ITS designers, the problem of measuring the student knowledge state after concept learning in order to initially adapt a skill acquisition session according to a student's own necessities is a hard one. Typical approaches are the use of some sort of test to assess the student knowledge and choose an initial set of parameters for a session, or use, regardless the particular necessities of a student, a pre-defined set of initial parameters. We consider the fromer to be disrupting for learning and the latter too simple to deal with the broad possibilities that are faced. It is known that students show different behaviors during concept learning depending on the experience, background and actual understanding (the way a student is understanding a concept) during concept learning. Our approach here is to classify the different behaviors through fuzzy proposition and link them with a student model through fuzzy rules to use in an expert system, and with it, select the most suitable problem-solving strategy for each particular student in order to clear his misunderstandings and facilitate the learning of problem-solving skills. The use of probabilistic reasoning (i.e. Bayesian statistics) instead of fuzzy logic is not suitable for the present situation because of the rigidity and precision of the rules that do not allow a proper manipulation of the vagueness involved in the student behavior. We apply this idea to a circuit analysis ITS where the concept learning session is carried out on a Hypertext environment and the skill acquisition session on an interactive problem-solving environment. By tracing the student use of the Hypertext environment we can know the student behavior and use it as a premise in the fuzzy inference.

This paper presents a novel and successful logic synthesis method for optimizing ternary logic functions of any given number of input variables. A new optimization algorithm to synthesize and minimize an arbitrary ternary logic function of n-input variables can always lead this function to optimal or very close to optimal solution, where [n (n1)/2]1 searches are necessary to achieve the optimal solution. Therefore, the complexity number of this algorithm has been greatly reduced from O(3n) into O(n2). The advantages of this synthesis and optimization algorithm are: (1) Very easy logic synthesis method. (2) Algorithm complexity is O(n2). (3) Optimal solution can be obtained in very short time. (4) The method can solve the interconnection problems (interconnection delay) of VLSI and ULSI processors, where very fast and parallel operations can be achieved. A transformation method between operational and polynomial domains of ternary logic functions of n-input variables is also discussed. This transformation method is very effective and simple. Design of the circuits of GF(3) operators, addition and multiplication mod-3, have been proposed, where these circuits are composed of Josephson junction devices. The simulation results of these circuits and examples show the following advantages: very good performances, very low power consumption, and ultra high speed switching operation.

We modified the adaptive fuzzy classification algorithm (AFC), which allows fuzzy clusters to grow to meet the demands of a given task during training. Every fuzzy cluster is defined by a reference vector and a fuzzy cluster radius, and it is represented as a shape of hypersphere in pattern space. Any pattern class is identified by overlapping plural hyperspherical fuzzy clusters so that it is possible to approximate complex decision boundaries among pattern classes. The modified AFC was applied to recognize handwritten digits, and performances were shown compared with other neural networks.

On the surface of contacts which are exposed to the atmosphere, the reaction with gases in the atmosphere produces contaminant films including oxides. The contact reliability is degraded by the contaminant films. Humidity in the atmospheric environment also influences on the surface of contacts. However, influence of humidity on the surface has not been clarified. In the present paper, influence of humidity on the Cu surface and the oxides (CuO + Cu2O) on it were studied with respect to the thickness of the oxide film and contact resistance characteristics both for static and for sliding contacts. The thickness was measured by ellipsometric analysis. Topographic image affected by humidification was also observed by scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In the atmospheric environment, the clean surface of Cu was found to oxidize with fluctuations of the thickness for lapse of exposure time due to the fluctuations of the humidity. It was also found that the thickness of the oxide film decreases immediately after the humidification, and increases under dehumidification. Changes in contact resistance affected by humidity was corresponding to the change in the film thickness. Immediately after humidification contact resistance decreased, and increased with dehumidification both for static and for sliding contacts. For the mechanism of the influence of humidity on the oxide, chemical reduction of hydrogen generated by decomposition of the absorbed water molecule (H2O) was derived. The clean Cu surface was oxidized by oxygen due to absorbed water molecule and atmosphere.