Autonomic Multimedia Communications: Where Are We Now?

Internet protocol-based multimedia applications are gaining momentum thanks to the great proliferation of the Internet and mass deployment of broadband. The abundance of rich content, heterogeneity of networks, user terminals, and services, along with the surges of multimedia traffic, have convoluted ever-increasing complexity and costs in the operation and management of multimedia systems. Autonomic communications (AutoComm) promotes the autonomy of communication networks with minimum human administration. In a multimedia system that features AutoComm, the networks and their elements strive to realize efficiency, immunity, resilience, and evolvability through intrinsic self-governance. By encapsulating complexity within the networks, exploiting their intelligence, and using technology to manage technology, human administrative efforts can be greatly reduced while management efficiency can be maximized. In this paper, we want to illustrate how traditional way of management and control of multimedia networks can be gradually replaced by network autonomy and self-management. Related work is extensively reviewed and compared to our approach. Initial experiment results are presented as proof of concept.     

Scaling the MOSFET gate dielectric: From high-k to higher-k? (Invited Paper)

We discuss options for metal–oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) gate stack scaling with thin titanium nitride metal gate electrodes and high-permittivity (‘high-k’) gate dielectrics, aimed at gate-first integration schemes. Both options are based on further increasing permittivity of the dielectric stack. First, we show that hafnium-based stacks such as TiN/HfO₂ can be scaled to capacitance equivalent thickness in inversion (T_inv) of 10 Å and equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 6 Å by using silicon nitride instead of silicon oxide as a high-k/channel interfacial layer. This is based on the higher dielectric constant of Si₃N₄ and on its resistance to oxidation. Although the nitrogen introduces positive fixed charges, carrier mobility is not degraded. Secondly, we investigate whether Ti-based ‘higher-k’ dielectrics have the potential to ultimately replace Hf. We discuss oxygen loss from TiO₂ as a main challenge, and identify two migration pathways for such oxygen atoms: In addition to well-known down-diffusion and channel Si oxidation, we have newly observed oxygen up-diffusion through the TiN metal gate, forming SiO₂ at the poly-Si contact. We further address the performance of Si₃N₄ and HfO₂ as oxygen barrier layers.     

From enfant terrible to problem-solver? Tracing the competing discourse to explain blockchain-related technological diffusion

Since the inception of blockchain-related technologies over a decade ago, investors’ uptake of the technologies has grown rapidly. But even with the advancement in standing from conceptual beginnings to real-world experimentation, mainstream adoption of the technologies in either organizational or individual contexts has yet to eventuate. To resolve this paradox, we examine progression of the technologies’ diffusion instead, and in the process, seek to uncover the underlying dynamics of sentiments at play. Diffusion involves multiple actions by different parties, with social discourses via diverse media playing an essential role. In demonstrating the interplay of support to resistance via media framing and the diffusion of innovation theory, findings from our paper contribute to the technology adoption literature. Understanding resistant behavior toward a new technology area could help resolve potential issues that may arise. This would hopefully lead to better technological implementation outcomes in future.     

Wearable Sensors-Enabled Human–Machine Interaction Systems: From Design to Application

In comparison to traditional bulky and rigid electronic devices, the human–machine interaction (HMI) system with flexible and wearable components is an inevitable future trend. To achieve effective, intuitive, and seamless manipulation of high-performance wearable HMI systems, it is important to develop effective strategies for designing material microstructures on flexible sensors and electric devices with excellent mechanical flexibility and stretchability. The real-time acquisition of human physiology and surrounding signals through accurate and flexible sensors is the basis of wearable HMIs. Herein, the construction of a wearable HMI system that utilizes sensors, communication modes, and actuators is reviewed. The mechanisms and strategies for designing various flexible sensors based on different mechanisms are analyzed and discussed. The functional mechanism, material selection, and novel design strategies of each part are summarized in detail. The different communication modes in interactive systems and the manufacturing technology of soft machines are also introduced. Additionally, the most advanced applications of wearable HMI systems in intelligent identification and security, interactive controls for robots, augmented reality, and virtual reality have been highlighted. The review concludes with an overview of the remaining key challenges and several ideas regarding the further improvement of wearable HMI systems.     

Preclinical Cancer Theranostics—From Nanomaterials to Clinic: The Missing Link

Nanomaterials with cancer-imaging and therapeutic properties have emerged as the principal focus of nanotheranostics. The past decade has experienced a significant increase in research in the design, formulation, and preclinical and clinical trials of theranostic nanosystems. However, current theranostic nanoformulations have yet to be approved by the FDA for clinical use. Consequently, the present review focuses on the importance of the careful examination of the in vivo preclinical status of specific nanotheranostic materials as a prerequisite for their clinical translation. The scope of coverage is structured according to all of the major organic, inorganic, 2D, and hybrid nanotheranostic materials and their in vivo preclinical status. The therapeutic advantages and limitations of these materials in animal models are considered and the various strategies to enhance the biocompatibility of theranostic nanoparticles are summarized.     

Compressed Digital Video:Accelerating the Video Communications Revolution

ＣｏｍｐｒｅｓｓｅｄＤｉｇｉｔａｌＶｉｄｅｏ：ＡｃｃｅｌｅｒａｔｉｎｇｔｈｅＶｉｄｅｏＣｏｍｍｕｎｉｃａｔｉｏｎｓＲｅｖｏｌｕｔｉｏｎＷｅｎＨ．Ｃｈｅｎ（ＣｏｍｐｒｅｓｓｉｏｎＬａｂｓ，Ｉｎｃ．２８６０ＪｕｎｃｔｉｏｎＡｖｅＳａｎＪｏｓｅ，ＣＡ９５１...     

From the Far Side of the Moon： Delay/Disruption- Tolerant Networking Communications via Lunar Satellites

Delay/Disruption-Tolerant Network- ing （DTN） originated from research on Interplanetary Internet and still today space appli- cations are the most important application field and research stimulus. This paper investigates DTN communications between the Earth and the far side of the Moon, by means of a lunar orbiter acting as relay. After an introductory part, the paper presents a comprehensive ana- lysis of the DTN performance that can be ac- hieved on the identified communication scen- ario. The focus is on the evaluation of the state- of-the-art ability of Interplanetary Overlay Network （ION）, the NASA DTN implementation of Bundle Protocol （BP） and Contact Graph Routing （CGR）, to meet the many challenges of the space communication scenario investigated （and more generally of a future interplay- netary Internet）： intermittent links, network partitioning, scarce bandwidth, long delays, dyn- amic routing, handling of high priority and emergency traffic, interoperability issues. A study of security threats and Bundle Security Protocol （BSP） countermeasures complete the work. The many results provided, confirm the essential role of DTN in future space communications.     

From w to p Palm Treo 700p 智能手机

胖友们大多都对Palm推出Treo 700w耿耿于怀，总想明白为何Plam会推出采用自己最大竞争对手操作系统的产品，姑且不论Treo 700w在市场上的表现如何，但Treo的经典造型＋微软（Microsoft）Windows Mobile的操作系统，总让忠实的胖友感觉别扭，值得庆幸的是，随着Treo 700p的出现，Treo终于回归Palm OS操作系统，w到p到底有些什么变化呢？[编者按]     

Application of Recurrent Wavelet Neural Networks to the Digital Communications Channel Blind Equalization

ＡｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆＲｅｃｕｒｒｅｎｔＷａｖｅｌｅｔＮｅｕｒａｌＮｅｔｗｏｒｋｓｔｏｔｈｅＤｉｇｉｔａｌＣｏｍｍｕｎｉｃａｔｉｏｎｓＣｈａｎｎｅｌＢｌｉｎｄＥｑｕａｌｉｚａｔｉｏｎ＊＊ＴｈｉｓｗｏｒｋｗａｓｓｕｐｐｏｒｔｅｄｂｙｔｈｅＣｌｉｍｂ...     

Tomlinson-Harashima Precoded MIMO in wireless networks: to THP or not to THP?

We investigate a wireless network architecture that utilizes Tomlinson Harashima Precoded Multiple Input Multiple Output (THP MIMO) technique for improved system capacity. We consider THP MIMO in a multi user scenario, together with a proposed smart scheduling technique and we explore the capacity performance through extensive capacity analysis considering varying SNR levels, varying number of users and number of transmit/receive antennas, under fading and shadowing, also considering errors in channel state information (CSI). We also evaluate the complexity of THP MIMO and present a low-complexity scheduling algorithm that employs Gram-Schmidt algorithm for incremental implementation of THP’s QR factorization. In the end, we identify the network and channel conditions under which THP MIMO can be preferred over classical conventional MIMO, and we conclude that for practical transceivers with up to four antennas, THP MIMO can provide significant capacity enhancement over conventional MIMO at lower complexity, performing slightly below the sum rate capacity bound. Another important advantage that is observed in this study is better immunity of THP MIMO to CSI errors, as compared to conventional MIMO.     

Innovator: what does it take to be one?

Innovation continues to be an ever-more-critical issue as the global economy expands: it determines organizational sustainability. This paper addresses the issues of whether you want to become an innovator and how to become an innovator, from the innovator's perspective. Research on innovation has not provided a theory of innovation. The process of innovation continues to depend on the individual and the environment in which the innovator functions. This paper characterizes the scope and complexity of being the innovator, presents a set of concepts that can be applied in formulating, evaluating, and implementing innovation, considers the skills for dealing with technological uncertainty, and defines the issues that determine success or failure. There are no recipes for becoming the innovator, but there are basics that must be followed. This paper presents an overview of innovation, discusses types of innovation, provides insight to the innovation process, describes what it takes to be an innovator, considers the issues in overcoming resistance to innovation, and explains why innovators fail     

Factors influencing intention to donate via social network site (SNS): From Asian’s perspective

This study examined whether external factors, which are charity project, charity organization, Internet technology features and social network site (SNS) features influence people’s general attitude towards online donation and their intention to donate via SNS. An online survey was conducted based on the framework of factors influencing the intention to donate via SNS that was adapted from the literature review. Data from 258 respondents were used for analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research model and hypotheses. The results indicated that the Internet technology features factor significantly contributes in influencing people’s general attitude towards online donation, and general attitude positively influences people’s intention to donate via SNSs. The full mediation effect of the general attitude towards online donation on the relationship between Internet technology features and intention to donate via SNS was found. However, charity project, charity organization, and SNS features were not significant factors in influencing people’s intention to donate via SNSs. The sample was limited to some Asian countries (preliminary Malaysia and South Korea). Thus, the results cannot be generalized to other countries. The findings suggest that non-profit organizations should focus on how to deal with the Internet issues, especially pertaining to security and privacy. Therefore, a mechanism for gaining donors’ trust to use the Internet, particularly in doing online transaction must be considered.     

From Private Simultaneous Messages to Zero-Information Arthur–Merlin Protocols and Back

Göös et al. (ITCS, 2015) have recently introduced the notion of Zero-Information Arthur–Merlin Protocols (\(\mathsf {ZAM}\)). In this model, which can be viewed as a private version of the standard Arthur–Merlin communication complexity game, Alice and Bob are holding a pair of inputs x and y, respectively, and Merlin, the prover, attempts to convince them that some public function f evaluates to 1 on (x, y). In addition to standard completeness and soundness, Göös et al., require a “zero-knowledge” property which asserts that on each yes-input, the distribution of Merlin’s proof leaks no information about the inputs (x, y) to an external observer. In this paper, we relate this new notion to the well-studied model of Private Simultaneous Messages (\(\mathsf {PSM}\)) that was originally suggested by Feige et al. (STOC, 1994). Roughly speaking, we show that the randomness complexity of \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) corresponds to the communication complexity of \(\mathsf {PSM}\) and that the communication complexity of \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) corresponds to the randomness complexity of \(\mathsf {PSM}\). This relation works in both directions where different variants of \(\mathsf {PSM}\) are being used. As a secondary contribution, we reveal new connections between different variants of \(\mathsf {PSM} \) protocols which we believe to be of independent interest. Our results give rise to better \(\mathsf {ZAM}\) protocols based on existing \(\mathsf {PSM}\) protocols, and to better protocols for conditional disclosure of secrets (a variant of \(\mathsf {PSM}\)) from existing \(\mathsf {ZAM} \)s.     

Chaos－Shift－Keying Secure Digital Communications Using Feedback to Synchronize Chua＇s Circuit

Ｃｈａｏｓ－Ｓｈｉｆｔ－ＫｅｙｉｎｇＳｅｃｕｒｅＤｉｇｉｔａｌＣｏｍｍｕｎｉｃａｔｉｏｎｓＵｓｉｎｇＦｅｅｄｂａｃｋｔｏＳｙｎｃｈｒｏｎｉｚｅＣｈｕａ＇ｓＣｉｒｃｕｉｔ￥ＬｉｕＪｉｅ；ＣａｉＴａｏ；ＸｉａｏＪｉｎｇｈｕａ；ＺｈａｎｇＹｉｎｇｈａｉａｎ...     

100G and Beyond:Trends in Ultrahigh-Speed Communications (Part Ⅱ)

This is the second part of a special issue on 100G and Beyond: Trends in Ultrahigh-speed Communications. The first part of this special issue contained nine papers written by service providers, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, and top universities and research institutes. This special issue includes comprehensive reviews as well as original technical contributions covering the rapid advances and broad scope of ultrahigh-speed technologies in optical fiber communications. All papers in this issue have been invited. After peer review, five papers were selected to be