In advanced ITS, on-board intelligent systems by the Inter-Vehicle Communications (IVC) is essential technology to achieve a safe automotive society. We aim to avoid the vehicular collisions under almost all situations such as intersections, highways, and blind corners by using IVC technology through wireless ad hoc networks. The objectives of this paper are to develop Vehicular Collision Avoidance Support System (VCASS), and to show its performance by various experiments with two real vehicles. We have installed personal computers, telecommunication equipments, and GPS in two vehicles. In this system, the vehicles exchange the location information and the velocity vectors by the UDP broadcast with each other, and calculate the relative position/speed. The vehicles make the warning for drivers with the possibility of the collision. We verify the validity and the effectiveness of VCASS by the experiments.

The basic carrier sense multi-access control scheme for multicast communications in wireless ad hoc networks suffers from the well know hidden terminal problem. The data packet collision probability is relatively high, and the packet delivery ratio is sensitive to the network topology, nodes distribution and traffic load. In this paper, we generalize the virtual carrier sense collision avoidance approach to reduce packet collisions in multicast communications. The sender and receivers exchange RTS and CTS packets to reserve the channel. When more than one receivers reply with CTS packets, the sender will detect an "expected" collision which may be interpreted as a valid "clear-to-send" signal provided the collision satisfies the given timing requirements. Together with a receiver-initiated local recovery mechanism, the reliability and packet delivery ratio can be improved to close to 100%.

We attempt to achieve corporative behavior of autonomous decentralized agents constructed via Q-Learning, which is a type of reinforcement learning. As such, in the present paper, we examine the piano mover's problem including a find-path problem. We propose a multi-agent architecture that has an external agent and internal agents. Internal agents are homogenous and can communicate with each other. The movement of the external agent depends on the composition of the actions of the internal agents. By learning how to move through the internal agents, avoidance of obstacles by the object is expected. We simulate the proposed method in a two-dimensional continuous world. Results obtained in the present investigation reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method.

We propose an optical packet switch (OPS) using a hybrid buffer structure for the contention resolution of asynchronous variable length packets. The hybrid buffer consists of a fiber delay line (FDL) buffer as the prime buffer and a shared electronic buffer as the supplementary buffer. For the performance evaluation, a modified void filling scheduling algorithm that can be applied to the OPS was proposed. Simulation results show that the use of the electronic buffer together with the FDL buffer significantly reduce the number of FDLs required for contention resolution and considerably lower packet loss.

We have devised and implemented a new low-loss microstrip transmission structure on LTCC substrate by including void cavities in the dielectric layer between conductor strip and ground plane. Measurements of λ/4 T-resonators with the novel microstrip structure reveal total loss of 0.0126dB/mm and Q-factor of 267 at 15.85GHz. The dielectric loss is analyzed as small as 0.0005dB/mm at the frequency, and that is equivalent to an improvement of a factor of 18 compared to the conventional LTCC microstrip structure. The proposed microstrip structure with the embedded void cavities is suited for low loss LTCC based RF-MCM applications.

For tracking electromigration induced evolution of voids a diffuse interface model is applied. We assume an interconnect as two-dimensional electrically conducting via which contains initially a circular void. The diffuse interface governing equation was solved applying a finite element scheme with a robust local grid adaptation algorithm. Simulations were carried out for voids exposed to high current. An influence of the void dynamics on the resistance of interconnect is investigated. In the case of the interconnect via it was shown that a migrating void exactly follows the current flow, retaining its stability, but due to change of shape and position causes significant fluctuations in interconnect resistance.

This paper proposes a stable rate allocation algorithm for ABR service in ATM networks. The main goals in designing this algorithm are to speed up the convergence according to the max-min fairness criterion and to maximize the network utilization while the switch queue length can be properly controlled. Importantly, the set goals should be achieved in a wide range of network conditions without the need for adjusting the algorithm parameters. The algorithm is targeted to work in various networking environments with additional criteria as extended from the work of E-FMMRA (Enhanced Fast Max-Min Rate Allocation) and ERICA+ (Explicit Rate Indication for Congestion Avoidance) . The additional design criteria include the ability to enhance a large number of ABR connections and staggered TCP connections as well as to perform an accurate traffic averaging. The algorithm is analytically proved to be convergent. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm achieves the goals in all evaluated configurations. However, it has some limitations when working in the large-scale network due to its per-connection accounting. It is not recommended to implement the algorithm with a switch that has a small buffer size due to its relatively long averaging interval.

Most conventional studies on self-stabilization have been indifferent to the vulnerability under convergence. This paper investigates how mutual exclusion property can be achieved in self-stabilizing rings even for illegitimate configurations. We present a new method which uses a state with a large state space to detect faults. If some faults are detected, every process is reset and not given a privilege. Even if the reset values are different between processes, our protocol mimics the behavior of Dijkstra's unidirectional K-state protocol. Then we have a fast and safe mutual exclusion protocol. Simulation study also examines its performance.

A great deal of effort has been concentrated on the longitudinal control for the collision avoidance of moving vehicles. In an emergency as well as in a normal situation, however, the steering control can be a very effective alternative as observed in the practice of manual evasive driving. In the reported methods of steering control, it is found that the dynamic motions of the neighboring vehicles are often ignored, which may result in some danger of 2nd collision. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the surrounding traffic situation to prevent 2nd collision that can occur just after escaping from the 1st collision situation. In this paper, we tackle the collision avoidance problem when steering actuation control is allowed in consideration of the dynamic motion of the neighboring vehicles. Specifically, a hierarchical control scheme is suggested as a feasible solution, and the proposed system is verified via simulation using a software simulator called DevACAS (DEVeolper of Active Collision Avoidance System), which we have developed.

There are the following three targets to be achieved in a software project from the three viewpoints of process management (or progress management), cost management, and quality management for software project to be successful: (a) drafting a software development plan based on accurate estimation, (b) early detection of risks that the project includes based on correct situation appraisal, (c) early avoidance of risks that the project includes. In this paper, the authors propose a method and facilities to project risks in a software project through Kepner-Tregoe program, and propose schedule re-planning by using genetic algorithm for avoiding the projected risks. Furthermore the authors show, from the results of execution of the system, that the system is effective in early avoidance of risks that the software project includes.

This paper proposes an algorithm for analyzing the reachability property of Petri nets by the use of unfoldings. It is known that analyzing the reachability by using unfoldings requires exponential time and space to the size of unfolding. The algorithm is based on the branch and bound technique, and experimental results show efficiency of the algorithm.

Signal Transition Graphs (STG'S) [1] are Petrinets [2], which were introduced to represent a behavior of asynchronous circuits. To derive logic functions from an STG, the reachability graph should be constructed. In the verification of STG's some method based on Occurrence nets (OCN) and its prefix, called unfollding, has been proposed [3], [4]. OCN's can represent both causality and concurrency between two nodes by net stryctyre. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm to derive a logic function by generating sub-state space of a given STG using the structural properties of OCN. The proposed algorithm can be seem as a parallel algorithm for deriving a logic function.

This paper shows that a network supplying variable bit rate services can be prevented from becoming congested if each terminal limits the capacity of its connection in terms of its rate of increase. Variable bit rate sources are adequately assessed with two new concepts: the bit rate increase per unit time (acceleration-rate=αbit/sec2) or the bit rate increase ratio (acceleration-ratio=exp (β) ). The dimension of the acceleration-ratio coefficient βis seconds-1. The upper limits α and β are regulated to guarantee the network's QoS. The proposed concepts allow the network state to be accurately estimated and avoid congestion. The proposed method can be applied to ATM networks, Frame Relay networks, Fast Reservation Protocol systems and so on.

In this study, we evaluate the electrical characteristics of the SOI layer made by the wafer bonding method using a laser/microwave method. We use a He-Ne laser pulse for the photoconductivity modulation method and a semiconductor laser diode for the photoconductivity decay method as the carrier injection light source. The detected signal intensity at the void area decreases as compared with that at the center area of the SOI layer where there are no voids. The positions of the voids revealed by the proposed method are in good agreement with those by X-ray topography. We also measure the lifetime by the photoconductivity decay method using a laser diode. The lifetime at the void area is much shorter than that at the center area. It is considered that the decrease in the detected signal intensity at the void area is due to reduction in the minority carrier lifetime.

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) films fabricated by the wafer bonding technique were studies with capacitance-voltage (C-V) and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. For our expereiments, two kinds of SOI wafers were prepared. Many voids were present in one sample (void sample), but few voids were in the other sample (no void sample). Before annealing, two DLTS peaks (Ec-0.48 eV and Ec-0.38 eV) were observed in the SOI layer of the void sample. For the no void sample, different two DLTS peaks (Ec-0.16 eV and Ec-0.12 eV) were observed. The trap with an activation energy of 0.48 eV was annealed out after 450 annealing for 24 h. On the other hand, other traps were annealed out after 450 annealing for several hours. During annealing at 450, thermal donors (TDs) were formed simultaneously. In usual CZ silicon, a DLTS peak of TD was observed around 60 K. In the no void sample, however, a TD peak was observed at a temperature lower than 30 K. This TD was annihilated by rapid thermal annealing. This suggests that the TD with a shallower level was formed in the no void sample after annealing at 450.

This paper presents a simple method for avoiding both numerical errors and degeneracy in an incremental-type algorithm for constructing the Voronoi diagram with respect to points on a plane. It is assumed that the coordinates of the given points are represented with a certain fixed number of bits. All the computations in the algorithm are carried out in four times higher precision, so that degeneracy can be discerned precisely. Every time degeneracy is found, the points are perturbed symbolically according to a very simple rule and thus are reduced to a nondegenerate case. The present technique makes a computer program simple in the sense that it avoids all numerical errors and requires no exceptional branches of processing for degenerate cases.