UHF Propagation Parameters to Support Wireless Sensor Networks for Onboard Trains

This paper reports numerical results for the characterization of the propagation channel in a train. Since the availability of a train to carry out measurements is not always easy, particularly when many changes must be done, a simulation tool provides a useful and reliable mean for the evaluation of the propagation characteristics of this complex and highly fluctuating channel. In order to benefit from previous results, the various existing softwares for complex electromagnetic fields environments simulations were fully searched and one that seems best suited has been retained for these computations. The results presented here are original, preliminaries and our approach provides a basis for study the propagation of waves in a very complex environment consisting of different electromagnetic fields like a train.     

Resource allocation for MIMO-OFDMA downlink based cognitive radio systems with imperfect channel learning

This paper is concerned with the resource allocation for multiple input multiple output and orthogo- nal frequency division multiplexing access （MIMO-OFDMA） downlink cognitive radio systems where a cognitive radio MIMO-OFDMA system is under spectrum sharing with an existing primary radio （PR） network. We use the channel learning scheme to estimate the channel information from cognitive radio transmitter （CR-TX） to PR and then make beamforming to transmit signal. Considering the interference from CR-TX to PR caused by the imperfect channel learning, we intend to maximize CR throughput under the interference power constraint at PR and CR transmit power constraint. A nearly optimal subcarrier and power allocation algorithm with linear complexity is proposed. The proposed algorithm is global optimal when the maximum transmit power is beyond certain threshold. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has a good performance very close to the global optimal algorithm.     

Optimal pilots design for frequency offsets and channel estimation in OFDM modulated single frequency networks

Optimal pilot design and placement for both the frequency offsets and channel estimation in Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing modulated Single Frequency Network are treated.Unlike the conventional frequency-domain filter-based algorithms,the proposed pilot of each transmitter can always be demodulated at the receiver even if the received pilots of multiple transmitters are totally overlapped.Although the channel state information is needed in designing the proposed pilot for carrier frequency offset(CFO)estimation,the performance of the proposed CFO estimation is robust to the channel estimation error.The optimal pilot as well as the Least-Squares(LS)channel estimator is also proposed,and the pilot for channel estimation is always a constant-modulus.A joint frequency offset and channel estimation scheme is also proposed,and the transmitters can adaptively optimize their pilots in the successive transmissions using the estimation results feedback in the former transmission.Simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm in terms of frequency offset and channel estimation accuracies.Since multiple copies of the same information can be received at each receiver,some combining technologies such as equal gain combining(EGC)or maximal ratio combining(MRC)can be applied at the receiver to improve the receiving diversity gain.Numerical results show that in a scenario of two transmitters with a Signal-to-Noise Ratio of 20 dB,the Bit Error Rate(BER)of1.5×10-4(or 1×10-4)can be obtained at the receiver using EGC(or MRC),and this BER performance can be improved to be 4×10-6for EGC(or 2×10-6for MRC)by considering three co-receiver transmitters.     

A Novel Matlab-Based Underwater Acoustic Channel Simulator

An accurate modeling of the UAC （underwater acoustic channel） can facilitate the development of an efficient architecture for an UAM （underwater acoustic modem）. The performance comparison of different architectures can be performed rapidly and at a low cost in a simulation environment, compared to testing the modems in sea water. This article presents the development and utilization of an underwater acoustic channel simulator. The simulator can be used by a communications engineer in characterizing the time variability of the physical channel＇s parameters or by a hardware engineer in designing an underwater acoustic modem. This tool is programmed in Matlab and is based on the algorithms Bounce and Bellhop. The input parameters of these algorithms must be saved in text files after a specific template and are cumbersome to process manually. To streamline the modeling of an UAC and the simulation of various communication algorithms the simulator automatically creates the input files based on key parameters entered by the user, hiding the algorithmic dependent ones and allows a quick visualization of the simulation results with a few routines specially created. The use of this simulator is emphasized with results obtained from the design of a low-power UAM for long-term monitoring activities.     

Algorithms for checking channel passing in web service choreography

Web service choreography describes global mod- els of service interactions among a set of participants. For an interaction to be executed, the participants must know the required channel（s） used in the interaction, otherwise the ex- ecution will get stuck. Since channels are composed dynami- cally, the initial channel set of each participant is often insuf- ficient to meet the requirements. It is the responsibility of the participants to pass required channels owned （known） by one to others. Since service choreography may involve many par- ticipants and complex channel constraints, it is hard for de- signers to specify channel passing in a choreography exactly as required. We address the problem of checking whether a service choreography lacks channels or has redundant chan- nels, and how to automatically generate channel passing based on interaction flows of the service choreography in the case of channel absence. Concretely, we propose a sim- ple language Chorc, a channel interaction sub-language for modeling the channel passing aspect of service choreography. Based on the formal operational semantics of Chore, the algo- rithms for static checking of service choreography and gen- erating channel passing are also studied, and the complexity results of algorithms are discussed. Moreover, some illus- trated service choreography examples are presented to show how to formalize and analyze service choreography with channel passing in Chorc.     

Nanopillar-forest based surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates

In this work,nanopillar-forest based surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates were fabricated using a novel approach.The key technique of the approach is taking advantage of convexes on Poly-Si surfaces as support structures in sidewall technology.The tip-diameters of the fabricated nanopillars are from 5 to 10 nm,heights are of several microns,and density of the nanopillar-based forests is around 20/μm2.In these nanopillar forests,there are plenty of nanoscale gaps.When covered with a thin layer of noble metal,the nanopillar forests exhibit a high SERS-active capability.Primary measurement results demonstrate that the nanopillar-forest based SERS substrates have an enhancement factor of an order of 4.62×106.It is expected that such SERS substrates may have applications in biological monitoring and chemical detection.     

Interference cancellation aided channel estimation for OFDM/OQAM system

Abstract Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing offset-QAM （OFDM/OQAM） is a promising multi- carrier transmission technique for its merits such as operating without cyclic prefix （CP） and flexibility of introducing well time-frequency localized pulse shapes. However, under dispersive channel condition, the intrinsic inter-symbol and inter-carrier interference arises in OFDM/OQAM system. Especially, the surrounding data symbols will cause interferences to the pilot symbols, leading to channel estimation error and degradation of system performance. In this paper, an efficient pilot structure and a channel estimation method are proposed for OFDM/OQAM system. The basic principal is to rebuild the transmitted symbols around the considered pilot position through pre-decision, then calculate and cancel the interference from the received signal. Analysis and simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms conventional ones with respect to both channel estimation accuracy and bit error rate （BER） performance while with less pilot consumption.     

A Non-heuristic Approach to the General Two Water Jugs Problem

The two water jugs problem is a famous problem in recreational mathematics, problem-solving, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, computer programming and cognitive psychology. The methods of solutions are usually based on heuristics or search methods such as BFS （breadth first search） or DFS （depth first search）, which could be time and memory consuming. In this paper, we present a non-heuristic approach to solve this problem, which can be modeled by the Diophantine equation mx＋ ny - d, where m, n denote the capacities of the jugs and d denotes the amount of water to be determined, with 0 〈 m 〈 n and 0 〈 d 〈 n. By simple additions and subtractions only, the special solutions （x, y） can be found very easily by using the non-Heuristic approach, which correspond to the number of times of the water jugs being fully filled in the whole water pouring process. Also, a simple formula for determining an upper bound on the total number of pouring steps involved is derived, namely 2（m ＋ n - 2）, based on the method of linear congruence. Due to its simplicity and novelty, this approach is suitable for either hand calculation or computer programming. Some illustrative examples are provided.     

Performance Evaluation of Antenna Receive Diversity in SlMO-OFDM System over Rayleigh Fading Channel

This paper represents a comparative performance evaluation of different diversity combining techniques for a SIMO-OFDM （single-input-multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing） system over Rayleigh fading channel. OFDM is a key technique for achieving high data rates and spectral efficiency requirements for wireless communication systems. But in scattering environment, the system performances are severely degraded by the effects of multipath fading and inter-symbol interference. In wireless communication systems, antenna diversity is an important technique to combat multipath fading in order to improve the system performance and increase the channel capacity. In this paper, the performance of different diversity combining techniques-SC （selection combining）, EGC （equal gain combining） and MRC （maximal ratio combining） has been analyzed and compared in terms of SNR （signal to noise ratio） and BER （bit error rate） probability. The simulation results show that the maximal ratio combining technique provides maximum performance improvement relative to all other combining schemes by maximizing the SNR of SIMO-OFDM system at the combiner output. The analytic expressions of error probability and effective bit energy to noise ratio correlated with BPSK （binary phase shift keying） modulation have been derived and formulated for N-branch SC, EGC and MRC schemes. The BER characteristics for all three combining techniques are simulated in MATLAB （matrix laboratory） tool box for varying bit energy to noise ratio. Our results also derives that SNR can be improved if the number of receiving antenna is increased, which in turn reduces BER over a Rayleigh fading channel.     

Normalized Efficient Routing Protocol for WSN

WSNs （wireless sensor networks） consist of thousands of tiny nodes having the capability of sensing, computation, and wireless communications. Unfortunately these devices are limited energy devices, that is means we must save energy as much as possible, to increase network life time as long as possible. In this paper we introduce NEER--normalized energy efficient routing protocol that increases network life time through switching between AODV protocol that depends on request-reply routing, and MRPC that depends on residual battery in routing.     

From IP to Start-up： Building a Robust Life Science Incubator

An incubator is an organization that supports new ventures to grow and survive during the early stages. Mainly dedicated to information technology, life science may appear to be the next hot spot for incubators. Are there stabilized good practices？ Are the business models in information technology and in life science comparable when it goes to start-ups＇ incubation？ Leveraging our experience as practitioner in this field and using an inductive methodology, this paper tends to propose simple principles to help build robust incubators in life science, and to contribute to disseminate an entrepreneurial approach through an industry still dominated by blue chips.     

Real-time control of human actions using inertial sensors

Our study proposes a new local model to accurately control an avatar using six inertial sensors in real-time.Creating such a system to assist interactive control of a full-body avatar is challenging because control signals from our performance interfaces are usually inadequate to completely determine the whole body movement of human actors.We use a pre-captured motion database to construct a group of local regression models,which are used along with the control signals to synthesize whole body human movement.By synthesizing a variety of human movements based on actors’control in real-time,this study verifies the effectiveness of the proposed system.Compared with the previous models,our proposed model can synthesize more accurate results.Our system is suitable for common use because it is much cheaper than commercial motion capture systems.     

Towards estimating computer users＇ mood from interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse

The purpose of this exploratory research was to study the relationship between the mood of computer users and their use of keyboard and mouse to examine the possibility of creating a generic or individualized mood measure. To examine this, a field study （n = 26） and a controlled study （n = 16） were conducted. In the field study, interaction data and self-reported mood measurements were collected during normal PC use over several days. In the controlled study, participants worked on a programming task while listening to high or low arousing background music. Besides subjective mood measurement, galvanic skin response （GSR） data was also collected. Results found no generic relationship between the interaction data and the mood data. However, the re- suits of the studies found significant average correlations be- tween mood measurement and personalized regression models based on keyboard and mouse interaction data. Together the results suggest that individualized mood prediction is pos- sible from interaction behaviour with keyboard and mouse.     

Counterworking the Operation Disturbance of a Radiators Structure due to External Actions

The operation of a complicated radiators structure creating a required field in a given area is disturbed often due to different external actions. As an example, the impact of metallic objects approaching off to an antenna system with minimal irradiation on user＇s body is analyzed. In this case, the zone itself, where the area of a weak field （a dark spot） is created, is generally not approachable for sensors installation. In order to counteract the disturbance of the system operation due to presence of different metallic objects in close proximity to the radiators, two methods based on two information sources are studied. These information sources are antennas driving currents and fields at a predetermined point outside the given area. As an example, the antenna system used in the compensation method for reducing human＇s body irradiation, to which a metal object approaches, is analyzed. The conditions of severe external actions are considered： a great metal body and a small distance from this body to the dark spot. It is shown that under these conditions of severe external actions the second method based on the field values measuring demonstrates a higher efficiency. A block scheme for structure of an automatic adjustment is suggested. The considered problem is a common one, and developers of radio circuits are faced with them constantly.     

Remote-Controlled Ambidextrous Robot Hand Concept

In the development of robotic limbs, the side of members is of importance to define the shape of artificial limbs and the range of movements. It is mainly significant tbr biomedical applications concerning patients suffering arms or legs injuries, fn this paper, the concept of an ambidextrous design lbr robot hands is introduced. The fingers can curl in one xvay or another, to imitate either a right hand or a left hand. The advantages and inconveniences of different models have been investigated to optimise the range and the maximum force applied by fingers. Besides, a remote control interthce is integrated to the system, allowing both to send comrnands through internet and to display a video streaming of the ambidextrous hand as feedback. Therefore, a robotic prosthesis could be used for the first time in telerehabilitation. The main application areas targeted are physiotherapy alter strokes or management of phantom pains/br amputees by/earning to control the ambidextrous hand. A client application is also accessible on Facehook social network, making the robotic limb easily reachable for the patients. Additionally the ambidextrous hand can be used tbr robotics research as well as artistic performances.     

A 2.4 GHz low power CMOS transceiver for LR-WPAN applications

A 2.4 GHz low power transceiver for low-rate wireless personal area network(LR-WPAN)applications is presented.The optimized low-IF receiver consists of a novel current reuse RF front-end with an inductor-less-load balun LNA and quadrature mixer,and an adaptive analog baseband to reduce power and area.It achieves-94 dBm of sensitivity,-9 dBm of IIP3 and 28 dBc of image rejection.The phase-locked loop based direct phase modulated transmitter is proposed to reduce power and deliver a+3 dBm output power.The phase noise of the low power frequency synthesizer with current reuse stacked LC-VCO achieves-107.8 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset.An ultra-low power nonvolatile memory is used to store configuration data and save power.The chip is implemented in a 0.18μm CMOS process,and the area is less than 2.8 mm2.The transceiver consumes only 10.98 mW in the receiving mode and 13.32 mW in the transmitting mode.     

Wideband Rectangular and Circular Microstrip Antennas Loaded with U-Shaped Slot

In this paper, a dual frequency resonance antenna is analysed by introducing U-shaped slot in a rectangular and circular patch, the results in terms of return loss, input impedance and radiation pattern are given. It is observed that various antenna parameters are obtained as a function of frequency for different value of slot length and width; it is easy to adjust the upper and the lower band by varying these different antenna parameters. The coaxial feed is used to excite the patch antenna. All the theoretical results using Matlab are compared with the simulated results obtained from Ansoft HFSS which are in close agreement. Furthermore, comparative study between our results and those available in the literature is done and showed to be in good agreement.     

Optimal resource allocation for transmission diversity in multi-radio access networks： a coevolutionary genetic algorithm approach

The next generation wireless communication systems aim at supporting enhanced diversified network access and data transmission abilities via the cooperative integration and unified management of various radio access technologies(RATs).The resource allocation is the core component leading the network system and mobile terminals to the service robustness and performance maximization.In this paper,a numeric optimization model for optimizing terminals’transmission power and allocated RAT bandwidth for maximizing system capacity is proposed with the focal consideration of the multi-radio transmission diversity for parallel transmission through multiple links from diferent RATs,and diferent terminal characteristics on RAT supports.Also,we design a centralized and periodic scheduling algorithm including an improved coevolutionary genetic algorithm for efciently solving the optimization problem.Simulation results demonstrate that our propose algorithm can distinctly enhance the system performance and improve the computational efciency.     

Hybrid Bayesian estimation tree learning with discrete and fuzzy labels

Classical decision tree model is one of the classical machine learning models for its simplicity and effectiveness in applications. However, compared to the DT model, probability estimation trees （PETs） give a better estimation on class probability. In order to get a good probability estimation, we usually need large trees which are not desirable with respect to model transparency. Linguistic decision tree （LDT） is a PET model based on label semantics. Fuzzy labels are used for building the tree and each branch is associated with a probability distribution over classes. If there is no overlap between neighboring fuzzy labels, these fuzzy labels then become discrete labels and a LDT with discrete labels becomes a special case of the PET model. In this paper, two hybrid models by combining the naive Bayes classifier and PETs are proposed in order to build a model with good performance without losing too much transparency. The first model uses naive Bayes estimation given a PET, and the second model uses a set of small-sized PETs as estimators by assuming the independence between these trees. Empirical studies on discrete and fuzzy labels show that the first model outperforms the PET model at shallow depth, and the second model is equivalent to the naive Bayes and PET.     

Organization-based agent-oriented programming： model,mechanisms, and language

An increasing number of social computational systems consist of a great amount of autonomous entities and operate in highly dynamic and unpredictable environments. To construct such systems needs to seek high-level abstrac- tion to manage the complexity of the systems and novel mechanism to support their characteristics, i.e., dynamism and flexibility. Agent-oriented programming （AOP） is con- sidered as a potential paradigm for developing such systems by exhibiting a number of characteristics, such as autonomy, flexibility, social ability, etc. However, current researches on AOP mainly focus on the construction of multi-agent system （MAS） with theory and language facilities inspired from arti- ficial intelligence （AI） and distributed AI, seldom considering and integrating the proven principles and practices of pro- gramming and software engineering. Moreover, abstractions and mechanism based on AI are inadequate for developing dynamic and flexible MAS in open environment. This paper proposes a novel AOP approach, namely Oragent, for con- structing and implementing dynamic and flexible systems. From a software engineering perspective, Oragent integrates organizational concepts and mechanism into AOP language, and support the dynamism and flexibility with explicit prim- itives. The proposed approach consists of a programming model and a corresponding programming language. This paper presents the syntax and formal operational semanticsof Oragent language, and studies a case to demonstrate our approach.