Technical readers and their rhetorical roles

Starting with the premise that there are two different ways of viewing readers, as empirical subjects and as rhetorical participants, the author presents a taxonomy of roles that readers play within technical documents. Even though these roles are shaped by distinct, often contradictory, theoretical traditions, they take on an independent existence during the reading process. Actual readers can assume a variety of roles, depending on the nature of the document and the willingness of each particular reader. Further, the author argues that this taxonomy is not complete, but subject to changes and additions as new technologies are developed requiring new roles to be played. It is concluded that researchers and teachers should encourage this more fluid view of audience in usability testing labs and classroom settings     

Some effects of system information in instructions for use

An experiment was carried out to investigate whether it is useful to add system information to procedural information in instructional text. It was assumed that readers of instructions construct both a procedural and a system mental model, and that the latter enables the readers to infer possible missing information in procedural instructions. Moreover, it was assumed that system information would increase the cognitive load during reading and practicing, and that it would affect the appreciation of the instructions as well as the self-efficacy of the reader. The participants in the experiment read instructions and practiced with a fictitious machine before performing a number of tasks and answering a questionnaire. The results indicate that system information increased the cognitive load during reading and decreased self-efficacy, while the instructional text with system information was judged as more difficult. The effect on performance is limited: system information leads to faster performance for correctly completed tasks.     

Integrating RFID and WLAN for indoor positioning and IP movement detection

Location awareness in an indoor environment and wireless access to Internet applications are major research areas towards the overwhelming success of wireless and mobile communications. However, the unpredictable indoor radio propagation and handover latency due to node mobility are the main challenging issues that need to be addressed. For tackling efficiently both problems of indoor localization and handover management, we propose combining key benefits of two outstanding wireless technologies, i.e. radio frequency identification (RFID) and a wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure. WLANs, such as IEEE 802.11 (WiFi), are now very common in many indoor environments for providing wireless communication among WiFi-enabled devices by accessing an Access Point (infrastructure mode) or through peer to peer connections (ad hoc mode). However, the small cell size of the Access Points (APs) in a WiFi-based network drives the need for frequent handovers leading to increased latency. RFID is an emerging technology consisting of two basic components, a tag and a reader, and its main purpose is the automatic identification of tagged objects by a reader. However, in the presence of multiple readers, RFID suffers from the so-called reader collision problem, mainly due to the inability for direct communication among them. In this paper, we propose a hybrid RFID and WLAN system; the RFID technology is employed for collecting information that is used for both localization and handover management within the WLAN, whereas the WLAN itself is utilized for controlling and coordinating the RFID reading process. In our system architecture, tag IDs of a RFID tag deployment are correlated with both location and topology information in order to determine the position and predict the next subnetwork of a Mobile Node (MN) with a reader attached to its mobile device. The role of the WLAN is to coordinate the readers when accessing the RFID channel for retrieving tags?? IDs, hence compensating the persisting RFID collision problem among multiple readers. Numerical results based on extensive simulations validate the efficiency of the proposed hybrid system in providing accurate and time efficient localization and reducing the IP handover latency.     

Tracking via Square Grid of RFID Reader Positioning and Diffusion Algorithm

The study and analysis of RFID (radio frequency identification) reader positioning is important for RFID large-scale deployment. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the art of RFID reader positioning in order to develop a highly accurate positioning and tracking system for usage inside a building and also to optimize the tracking performance that can be applied to different active and passive RFID standards. This study involves design of square grid RFID reader network and position calculation using diffusion algorithm. Square grid network presents the solution of placement pattern of RFID readers, hence optimal number of required readers and guaranteed coverage can be achieved. The proposed diffusion algorithm makes use of distance information between the reader and the tag to estimate the RFID tag position. This study has also introduced a probabilistic mathematical model to maintain coverage of the unit square region and to ensure connectivity of the proposed square grid network. The effectiveness of the diffusion algorithm is evaluated in this study and the obtained results show satisfactory performance. The obtained results show that the proposed positioning system can achieve average positioning error below 1 m with different RFID reading ranges and in some cases accuracy improvement of about 65% can be reached than the results obtained by known positioning system. It is also found that the proposed diffusion algorithm together with square grid can bring approximately 50–85% improvement on raw accuracy provided by only square grid method.     

An Efficient Reader Anticollision Algorithm in Dense RFID Networks With Mobile RFID Readers

In parallel with the proliferation of radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems, many RFID readers have been increasingly employed. In such an environment, collision among readers becomes a serious problem. Existing anticollision algorithms, depending on the information of neighboring readers, may require constant effort in order to grasp such information. Although it may be given by a server or a coordinator, they may not be suitable in dense and dynamic RFID networks with mobile readers. In this paper, we propose an efficient reader anticollision algorithm using a polling server in dense and dynamic RFID networks with mobile readers. Owing to the assistance of the server, the readers can rapidly decide whether they can work or not without interfering neighbors and can be easily synchronized. Our proposed algorithm is simple and makes readers aware of neighbors to minimize reader collisions. Performance evaluation shows how many readers can operate in a network and indicates that our proposed algorithm is more efficient than distributed color selection, colorwave, and hierarchical Q-learning algorithm, particularly in dense and mobile environments.      

The Viterbi algorithm as an aid in text recognition (Corresp.)

The results of an experiment are described in which contextual information is used to improve the performance of an optical character reader when reading English text. Specifically, English is modeled as a Markov source and the Viterbi algorithm is used to do maximuma posteriorisequence estimation on the output of an optical character reader (OCR).     

The evaluation of text quality: expert-focused and reader-focusedmethods compared

The authors compare a reader-focused text evaluation with an expert-focused evaluation by technical writers and subject/audience experts. The experts were asked to predict the problems readers had signaled in a government brochure about alcohol. On average, they predicted less than 15% of the reader problems and produced a lot of new problem detections. In addition, the experts showed little mutual agreement in their problem detections. Their results suggest that a reader-focused evaluation should not be substituted for an expert-focused evaluation. The paper ends with a discussion of methodological issues for this type of research     

Network Information Security Data Protection Based on Data Encryption Technology

Today Radio Frequency Identification systems (RFID) are one of the most usable automated wireless identification technologies in the internet of things. Identification systems can exchange data remotely by communicating between a tag and a reader with sending radio waves. The main challenge of identification systems with radiofrequency in a dense RFID network is the collision, which occurs when readers are located in each other's interference range and start reading tags simultaneously. With these collisions happening, readers cannot read all the tags around them in the efficient time durations. In this research, using a distributed method and the channel listening technique, readers select a time interval to take the control channel by the Geometric Probability Distribution Function. Also, by measuring the signal strength from neighboring readers and sharing tag information, there will be an increase in the throughput of identification systems through radio waves while avoiding all kinds of collisions in the control channel. Extensive results show that the proposed method has better throughput and has less average waiting time.

     

Effects of Reader-to-Reader Interference on the UHF RFID Interrogation Range

In this paper, the effects of ultrahigh-frequency band passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader-to-reader interference are investigated in terms of the interrogation range. A reader-to-reader interference model based on interference statistics is proposed, and the nominal interrogation range of a desired reader is derived by this model. In order to evaluate the RFID reader-to-reader interference quantitatively, the interrogation-range-reduction ratio (IRRR) is also defined. For a simple case with only one interfering reader, the analytic and experimental results are in good agreement. Reader–reader distance achieving 0% IRRR, indicating no interference between the readers, is 1200 m for the multiple-reader environment. Additionally, IRRR values are calculated in various environments according to the North American and Korean regulations. The maximum number of allowable interfering readers is then calculated by the proposed interference model and a target IRRR.      

The Effects of a Serious Game on Role‐Taking and Willingness to Help

Serious games are emerging as a new medium for social change. This study investigated the influence of presentation mode afforded by different media on willingness to help in the context of humanitarian aid. Two online experiments were conducted. The first experiment demonstrated that playing the Darfur is Dying game elicited greater role‐taking and resulted in greater willingness to help the Darfurian people than reading a text conveying the same information. The second experiment deconstructed the variable presentation mode in more detail by adding a game watching condition. Similar results were found such that game playing resulted in greater role‐taking and willingness to help than game watching and text reading. Implications for researchers and game developers are also discussed.     

Enhancement of Redundant Reader Elimination by Using Hybrid Algorithm in RFID Systems

In this paper, we propose a hybrid algorithm, the LE algorithm, which combines Layered Optimization Approach Algorithm (LEO) and an efficient algorithm (termed “Efficient” in this paper) to achieve an optimum number of readers, based on tag ID, and a weight associated with the reader’s neighbor and coverage. In the LE algorithm, the number of readers and number of tags are distributed randomly among different working areas while retaining the same environment as in both LEO and Efficient algorithms. LE performance was evaluated in two setups and by applying statistical analysis also. The first setup ensured that LE operated in an environment similar to that of LEO and Efficient, whereas the second setup evaluated the performance of the LE algorithm in terms of different coverage areas, variant number of readers, and tags. This paper also considers the hybrid Efficient–LEO (EL) algorithm to study the suitability of hybridism. Experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the hybrid LEO–Efficient algorithm, as well as the statistical analysis indicated a strong and significant difference in the direction of LE algorithm.     

Visual discriminability of headings in text

It is pointed out that writers and editors have powerful formatting and typographical tools available in word processing and desktop publishing software that can be applied to headings to visually reveal or signal the structure of text, and thus the author's perspective. Results of studies are presented which suggest that (1) visual discriminations among headings are easier for a reader to make when headings vary on fewer rather than more formatting and typographical dimensions, (2) size is the most powerful visual cue to a heading's hierarchical position, (3) relative size differences among different levels of headings of about 20% are more discriminable than are absolute size differences, and (4) formatting cues are perceived by readers consistently but not necessarily conventionally     

Performance of Efficient Signal Detection for LED-ID Systems

In this paper, effects of reader-to-reader interference are investigated for LED identification (LED-ID) system in a multi-reader environment. The LED-ID readers typically use different channels to avoid collision between readers. However, in-channel collision usually happens in terms of interrogation range. A reader-to-reader interference scenario is proposed, and nominal interrogation range of a desired reader is derived from this model. In order to evaluate the LED-ID reader-to-reader interference quantitatively, an efficient detection scheme is proposed and simulated by employing spreading sequence. The spreading sequence is inserted between each user’s frame formats. In the receiver, the desired signal is detected by using correlation among inserted spreading sequences. From simulation results, it is confirmed that the proposed scheme is very effective to enhance reliability of LED-ID communication systems.     

Japanese readers' comprehension of and preferences for inductivelyversus deductively organized text

When document designers in English-speaking countries localize documents for readers in other cultures, they should consider what text organization will best suit those readers. This study examines the effect of inductive versus deductive organizational patterns on Japanese readers so as to identify what pattern may best suit them. The study assessed Japanese readers' comprehension of and preference for expository text that contains a thesis and is organized either inductively or deductively. The results reveal that readers recall more information from inductively organized text. Preference results were less clear. The implications for native English speaking document designers are discussed at length     

远距离RFID读写天线的研究

自动识别技术是将信息数据自动识读、自动输入计算机的一种重要方法。接触式识别易受恶劣环境影响且易受机械磨损,而射频识别（RFID）技术以非接触性解决卡中无源和免接触等难题。通过研究射频天线各种性能参数,提出一种远距离RFID读写天线的设计优化方法,使频率为13．56MHz,遵循ISO15693协议的RFID读写器有效读写距离拓展到30cm左右．实现RFID读写器的远距离读写功能。     

基于15693协议的射频识别读卡器的设计

设计了基于15693协议的射频识别读卡器系统。该系统以RC-632芯片为主控芯片。标签天线将磁场能量转换成电流,激活射频芯片并维持工作,然后接收读写器发出的命令,射频天线芯片作出应答。标签天线通过其本身负载的变化将标签信息反向调制在读卡器的天线上,经读写器天线传送到读写器,读写器对接收的信号进行解调和解码,最终将解码后的信息送到上位机系统。上位机处理器根据逻辑运算判断该卡的合法性,针对不同的设定作出相应的处理和控制,发出指令信号控制执行机关动作,从而实现读卡的功能。     

RFID reader collision problem: performance analysis and medium access

The RFID reader collision problem, in which an RFID reader's interrogation is interfered by other concurrent readers' transmission, is considered an important issue to reliable operation and thus to the wide‐spread deployment of RFID networks. In this paper, we present modeling and analysis of the RFID reader collision problem. We observe asymmetry between an RFID reader's and a tag's communication capabilities and develop an RFID radio model based on the asymmetry. By the model, we characterize the spatial reuse of RFID reader networks, and derive concurrent interrogation distance beyond which readers can transmit simultaneously without causing collision and the carrier sense threshold corresponding to the distance. We also examine the dual‐channel mode where available bandwidth is divided into two channels by which reader‐to‐tag communication and tag‐to‐reader communication are separated. We analyze and evaluate the performance of the dual‐channel mode in terms of spatial reuse and interrogation completion time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast servo signal acquisition in tape drives using servo and data channels

In a tape drive, the head assembly hosting servo readers and data writers/readers must initially be moved to a target position, so that information can be written to or read from the desired tracks. In tape systems with flangeless rollers, as recently introduced in IBM’s tape drives for improved performance and extended drive and tape lifetime, the initial positioning of the servo readers over the servo bands, from which the position-error signal for steady-state track-following operation is obtained, has to be fast. This requirement is dictated by the nonnegligible lateral tape motion experienced in tape paths with flangeless rollers. In this paper, a method is proposed to utilize both the servo readers and the data readers in a drive to detect the presence of a valid servo signal. If the servo readers are not positioned over a servo band, the distance between servo readers and servo band can thereby be continuously estimated by identifying the data reader detecting the presence of a servo signal. This information is then provided to a control element that controls the joint operation of a coarse stepper motor and a voice-coil motor based fine actuator with large stroke in a feedback or feed-forward configuration to achieve fast servo reader positioning. In the feedback-based approach, all data channels are continuously monitored to detect the presence of a valid servo signal and a pseudo position-error signal is generated and fed back to the control unit to drive the actuator towards the target position. In the feed-forward approach, a trajectory for the actuator is determined as soon as the servo band is in the capture range of the fine actuator and a control signal is generated so that the servo reader rapidly lands over the servo band with optimum control effort.