This paper presents an image haze removal algorithm for a single image. The conventional Dark Channel Prior (DCP) algorithm estimates the transmission map using the dark information in an image. The haze regions are then detected using a matting algorithm. However, the resulting transmission map invariably includes some block artifacts as the DCP algorithm is based on block-based processing. Therefore, to solve this problem, an algorithm for a modified transmission map is proposed using a Hidden Markov Random Field (HMRF) algorithm. Experimental results confirm that the proposed algorithm is superior to conventional algorithms in image haze removal.

Recently, we proposed a weak-form discretization scheme to derive second-order difference equations from the governing equation of the scattering problem. In this paper, under the scope of the proposed scheme, numerical expressions for the waveguide boundary conditions are derived as perfectly absorbing conditions for input and output ports. The waveguide boundary conditions play an important role in extracting the quasi-localized wave as an eigenstate with a complex eigenvalue. The wave-number dependence of the resonance curve in Fano resonance is reproduced by using a semi-analytic model that is developed on the basis of the phase change relevant to the S-matrix. The reproduction confirms that the eigenstate with a complex eigenvalue does cause the observed Fano resonance.

Metaheuristic methods have been studied for combinational optimization problems for some time. Recently, a Consultant-Guided Search (CGS) has been proposed as a metaheuristic method for the Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP). This approach is an algorithm in which a virtual person called a client creates a solution based on consultation with a virtual person called a consultant. In this research, we propose a parallel algorithm which uses the Ant Colony System (ACS) to create a solution with a consultant in a Consultant-Guided Search, and calculate an approximation solution for the TSP. Finally, we execute a computer experiment using the benchmark problems (TSPLIB). Our algorithm provides a solution with less than 2% error rate for problem instances using less than 2000 cities.

In this study, we introduce a system for tracking multiple people using multiple active cameras. Our main objective is to surveille as many targets as possible, at any time, using a limited number of active cameras. In our context, an active camera is a statically located pan-tilt-zoom camera. In this research, we aim to optimize the camera configuration to achieve maximum coverage of the targets. We first devise a method for efficient tracking and estimation of target locations in the environment. Our tracking method is able to track an unknown number of targets and easily estimate multiple future time-steps, which is a requirement for active cameras. Next, we present an optimization of camera configuration with variable time-step that is optimal given the estimated object likelihoods for multiple future frames. We confirmed our results using simulation and real videos, and show that without introducing any significant computational complexities, it is possible to use active cameras to the point that we can track and observe multiple targets very effectively.

In our previous work, we proposed to combine ConceptNet and WordNet for Word Sense Disambiguation (WSD). The ConceptNet was automatically disambiguated through Normalized Google Distance (NGD) similarity. In this letter, we present several techniques to enhance the performance of the ConceptNet disambiguation and use this enriched semantic knowledge in WSD task. We propose to enrich both the WordNet semantic knowledge and NGD to disambiguate the concepts in ConceptNet. Furthermore, we apply the enriched semantic knowledge to improve the performance of WSD. From a number of experiments, the proposed method has been obtained enhanced results.

Smart city services are implemented using various data collected from houses and infrastructure within a city. As the volume and variety of the smart city data becomes huge, individual services have suffered from expensive computation effort and large processing time. In order to reduce the effort and time, this paper proposes a concept of Materialized View as a Service (MVaaS). Using the MVaaS, every application can easily and dynamically construct its own materialized view, in which the raw data is converted and stored in a convenient format with appropriate granularity. Thus, once the view is constructed, the application can quickly access necessary data. In this paper, we design a framework of MVaaS specifically for large-scale house log, managed in a smart-city data platform. In the framework, each application first specifies how the raw data should be filtered, grouped and aggregated. For a given data specification, MVaaS dynamically constructs a MapReduce batch program that converts the raw data into a desired view. The batch is then executed on Hadoop, and the resultant view is stored in HBase. We present case studies using house log in a real home network system. We also conduct an experimental evaluation to compare the response time between cases with and without MVaaS.

In this paper, the function expansion based topology optimization is employed to the automatic optimization of the waveguide dispersion property, and the optimum design of low-dispersion slow-light photonic crystal waveguides is demonstrated. In order to realize low-dispersion and large group index, an objective function to be optimized is expressed by the weighted sum of the objective functions for the desired group index and the low-dispersion property, and weighting coefficients are updated through the optimization process.

The main purpose of this paper is to apply the boundary integral equation (BIE) method to the analysis of spoof localized surface plasmons (spoof LSPs) excited in a perfectly conducting cylinder with longitudinal corrugations. Frequency domain BIE schemes based on electric field integral equation (EFIE), magnetic field integral equation (MFIE) and combined field integral equation (CFIE) formulations are used to solve two-dimensional electromagnetic (EM) problems of scattering from the cylinder illuminated by a transverse electric plane wave. In this approach effects of spoof LSPs are included in the secondary surface current and charge densities resulting from the interaction between the plane wave and the cylinder. Numerical results obtained with the BIE schemes are validated by comparison with that of a recently proposed modal solution based on the metamaterial approximation.

Location fingerprinting utilizes periodic beacons transmitted by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Points (APs) to provide localization in indoor environments. Currently no method is able to quantify the effectiveness of localization information provided by individual APs. Such a metric would enable the optimal placement of new APs as well as eliminating redundant APs so as to reduce the resources consumed by indoor localization software in client devices. This paper proposes LocationInfo, a metric that utilizes walk test data for quantifying the localization efficacy of APs. The performance of LocationInfo is evaluated using two experimental settings. First, it is used for identifying the optimal location for new APs. Second, it is used for filtering out excess APs in a crowded WLAN environment. In both experiments, LocationInfo outperforms existing metrics.

The body-of-revolution finite-difference time-domain method (BOR-FDTD) based on the locally one-dimensional (LOD) scheme is extended to a frequency-dependent version for the analysis of the Drude and Drude-Lorentz models. The formulation is simplified with a fundamental scheme, in which the number of arithmetic operations is reduced by 40% in the right-hand sides of the resultant equations. Efficiency improvement of the LOD-BOR-FDTD is discussed through the analysis of a plasmonic rod waveguide and a plasmonic grating.

Many fatal accidents involving safety-critical reactive systems have occurred in unexpected situations that were not considered during the design and test phases of development. To prevent such accidents, reactive systems should be designed to respond appropriately to any request from an environment at any time. Verifying this property during the specification phase reduces development reworking. This property of a specification is commonly known as realizability. Realizability checking for reactive system specifications involves complex and intricate analysis. The complexity of realizability problems is 2EXPTIME-complete. To detect typical simple deficiencies in specifications efficiently, we introduce the notion of bounded strong satisfiability (a necessary condition for realizability), and present a method for checking this property. Bounded strong satisfiability is the property that, for all input patterns represented by loop structures of a given size k, there is a response that satisfies a given specification. We report a checking method based on a satisfiability solver, and show that the complexity of the bounded strong satisfiability problem is co-NEXPTIME-complete. Moreover, we report experimental results showing that our method is more efficient than existing approaches.

In this paper, we study conjunctive decentralized diagnosis of discrete event systems (DESs). In most existing works on decentralized diagnosis of DESs, it is implicitly assumed that diagnosis decisions of all local diagnosers are available to detect a failure. However, it may be possible that some local diagnosis decisions are not available, due to some reasons. Letting n be the number of local diagnosers, the notion of (n,k)-conjunctive codiagnosability guarantees that the occurrence of any failure is detected in the conjunctive architecture as long as at least k of the n local diagnosis decisions are available. We propose an algorithm for verifying (n,k)-conjunctive codiagnosability. To construct a reliable conjunctive decentralized diagnoser, we need to compute the delay bound within which the occurrence of any failure can be detected as long as at least k of the n local diagnosis decisions are available. We show how to compute the delay bound.

An optical flip-flop circuit with a single semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) using two orthogonal polarization states is proposed. The optical set / reset input and output signals are at a single wavelength. The flip-flop circuit consists of an SOA, a polarization combiner, a polarization splitter, two directional couplers, and two phase shifters. No continuous light source is required to operate the circuit. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the operation performance. Polarization dependence in SOA is considered in the analysis at a single wavelength operation, and numerically simulated results are presented. We confirm that the flip-flop circuit with a feedback-loop length of 15~mm can be operated at switching time of around 3~ns by 1~ns set / reset pulses. The flip-flop performance is discussed from viewpoints of transient overshoot and contrast at the steady on-off states.

Integrated InP polarization converters based on half-ridge structure are studied numerically. We demonstrate that the fabrication tolerance of the half-ridge structure can be extended significantly by introducing a slope at the ridge side and optimizing the thickness of the residual InGaAsP layer. High polarization conversion over 90% is achieved with the broad range of the waveguide width from 705 to 915~nm, corresponding to a factor-of-two or larger improvement in the fabrication tolerance compared with that of the conventional polarization converters. Finally we present a simple fabrication procedure of this newly proposed structure, where the thickness of the residual InGaAsP layer is controlled precisely by using a thin etch-stop layer.

Recently, there are many Japanese citizens living abroad in Asia, including developing countries. However, not many studies have been conducted regarding their mental health. The purpose of this study was to see what kinds of stress people experience when living abroad. Japanese workers living abroad, including some who are married to foreign nationals, and their families were asked seven questions in a survey, and they provided answers to questions in agreement with the intent and purpose of this study. Morphological analysis of the results and category classification by word class was carried out. This category was arranged by word classes. Additionally, the tendencies of responses were categorized according to the KJ method. In response to the question, “Do you have any trouble because of cultural differences?” these responses were classified according to common features. A fuzzy cluster analysis was carried out based on this information. Meaningful clusters were obtained by fuzzy cluster analysis. Differences in the values of stress and family culture can best be described by fuzzy cluster analysis.

Graphene is attracting attention in electrical and optical research fields recently. We measured the optical absorption characteristics and polarization dependence of single-layer graphene (SLG) on sub-micrometer Si waveguide. The results for graphene lengths ranging from 2.5 to 200 $mu$ m reveal that the optical absorption by graphene is 0.09 dB/$mu$ m with the TE mode and 0.05 dB/$mu$ m with the TM mode. The absorption in the TE mode is 1.8 times higher than that in the TM mode. An optical spectrum, theoretical analysis and Raman spectrum indicate that surface-plasmon polaritons in graphene support TM mode light propagation.

Acoustic feedback is a major complaint of hearing aid users. Adaptive filters are a common method for suppressing acoustic feedback in digital hearing aids. In this letter, we propose a new variable step-size algorithm for normalized least mean square and an affine projection algorithm to combine with a variable step-size affine projection algorithm and global speech absence probability in an adaptive filter. The computer simulation used to test the proposed algorithm results in a lower misalignment error than the comparison algorithm at a similar convergence rate. Therefore, the proposed algorithm suggests an effective solution for the feedback suppression system of digital hearing aids.

Based on the non-standard generalized Boolean functions (GBFs) over Z4, we propose a new method to convert those functions into the 16-QAM Golay complementary sequences (CSs). The resultant 16-QAM Golay CSs have the upper bound of peak-to-mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) as low as 2. In addition, we obtain multiple 16-QAM Golay CSs for a given quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) Golay CS.

Shakashaka is a pencil-and-paper puzzle proposed by Guten and popularized by the Japanese publisher Nikoli (like Sudoku). We determine the computational complexity by proving that Shakashaka is NP-complete, and furthermore that counting the number of solutions is #P-complete. Next we formulate Shakashaka as an integer-programming (IP) problem, and show that an IP solver can solve every instance from Nikoli's website within a second.

This study analyzes the performance of a downlink beamformer with partitioned vector quantization under optimized feedback budget allocation. A multiuser multiple-input single-output downlink precoding system with perfect channel state information at mobile stations is considered. The number of feedback bits allocated to the channel quality indicator (CQI) and the channel direction indicator (CDI) corresponding to each partition are optimized by exploiting the quantization mean square error. In addition, the effects of equal and unequal partitioning on codebook memory and system capacity are studied and elucidated through simulations. The results show that with optimized CQI-CDI allocation, the feedback budget distributions of equal or unequal partitions are proportional to the size ratios of the partitioned subvectors. Furthermore, it is observed that for large-sized partitions, the ratio of optimal CDI to CQI is much higher than that for small-sized partitions.