Multichannel MLSE equalizer with parametric FIR channelidentification

We propose a parametric finite impulse response (FIR) channel identification algorithm, apply the algorithm to a multichannel maximum likelihood sequential estimation (MLSE) equalizer using multiple antennas, and investigate the improvement in the overall bit error rate (BER) performance. By exploring the structure of the specular multipath channels, we are able to reduce the number of channel parameters to provide a better channel estimate for the MLSE equalizer. The analytic BER lower bounds of the proposed algorithm as well as those of several other conventional MLSE algorithms in the specular multipath Rayleigh-fading channels are derived. In the derivation, we consider the channel mismatch caused by the additive Gaussian noise and the finite-length channel approximation error. A handy-to-use simplified BER lower bound is also derived. Simulation results that illustrate the BER performance of the proposed algorithm in the global system for mobile communications (GSM) system are presented and compared to the analytic lower bounds     

Clock multiplier using digital CMOS standard cells for high-speeddigital communication systems

The authors propose and evaluate the performance of a 2^N times clock multiplier that controls memory components for high-speed data communications. To improve the reliability of the circuit, a symmetric circuit structure is used, while to verify circuit operation by means of a simple method, an MVU estimator is found from simulation data. The proposed circuit can provide clock rates, which are usually required in the multiple phase shift keying (MPSK) or multiple quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) modulation schemes, of 2 to 2^N times that of the input clock     

Logical and diversity combining in FH/SSMA packet radio networks

We propose the logical and diversity combining in slotted frequency-hopped spread spectrum multiple access (FH/SSMA) packet radio networks. The proposed diversity scheme employs the symbol-by-symbol logical AND operation between the currently received packet and the previously combined packet. Our results show that the proposed low-complexity diversity combining scheme provides a significant performance improvement over existing diversity combining schemes     

Microlens for efficient coupling between LED and optical fiber

A new fabrication method of a microlens is proposed that can be easily applied to optical devices and microlens systems. The proposed microlens is formed by self-surface tension and cohesion of UV curing material. Since the microlens is hardened by short time UV exposure, the fabrication process is very simple. Integration with surface emitting-light emitting diode (SE-LED) results in enhanced coupling to optical fiber with coupling efficiency larger than the conventional case by 1.5 times. We also made a hemispheric microlensed fiber using this method. Compared with a typical arc-lensed fiber and a flat-end fiber, the coupling efficiency is improved to 18% and 40%, respectively     

High Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells Exceeding 22% via a Photo-Assisted Two-Step Sequential Deposition

One of the most effective methods to achieve high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is to employ additives as crystallization agents or to passivate defects. Tri-iodide ion has been known as an efficient additive to improve the crystallinity, grain size, and morphology of perovskite films. However, the generation and control of this tri-iodide ion are challenging. Herein, an efficient method to produce tri-iodide ion in a precursor solution using a photoassisted process for application in PSCs is developed. Results suggest that the tri-iodide ion can be synthesized rapidly when formamidinium iodide (FAI) dissolved isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution is exposed to LED light. Specifically, the photoassisted FAI–IPA solution facilitates the formation of fine perovskite films with high crystallinity, large grain size, and low trap density, thereby improving the device performance up to 22%. This study demonstrates that the photoassisted process in FAI dissolved IPA solution can be an alternative strategy to fabricate highly efficient PSCs with significantly reduced processing times.     

Mechanoreceptor-Inspired Dynamic Mechanical Stimuli Perception based on Switchable Ionic Polarization

Diverse touch experiences offer a path toward greater human–machine interaction, which is essential for the development of haptic technology. Recent advances in triboelectricity-based touch sensors provide great advantages in terms of cost, simplicity of design, and use of a broader range of materials. Since performance solely relies on the level of contact electrification between materials, triboelectricity-based touch sensors cannot effectively be used to measure the extent of deformation of materials under a given mechanical force. Here, an ion-doped gelatin hydrogel (IGH)-based touch sensor is reported to identify not only contact with an object but also deformation under a certain level of force. Switchable ionic polarization of the gelatin hydrogel is found to be instrumental in allowing for different sensing mechanisms when it is contacted and deformed. The results show that ionic polarization relies on conductivity of the hydrogels. Quantitative studies using voltage sweeps demonstrate that higher ion mobility and shorter Debye length serve to improve the performance of the mechanical stimuli-perceptible sensor. It is successfully demonstrated that this sensor offers dynamic deformation-responsive signals that can be used to control the motion of a miniature car. This study broadens the potential applications for ionic hydrogel-based sensors in a human–machine communication system.     

An Compression Technology for Effective Data on Cloud Platform

There are more and more application systems running on the cloud platform, which will produce large amounts of effective data everyday. In order to preserve them and make fun use of the storage space, those effective data must be compressed and those compressed data, if necessary, should be recovered correctly. Meanwhile, there are a lot of equivalent data item values (or equivalent data item values within the system error) in the original data. So, it is not right to compress those effective data directly. In order to make fun use of the storage space and correctly recover the original data, a new method occurs. When compressed, those effective data must be processed firstly and then the handled data should be compressed with Huffman coding; when the compressed data need recover, the process is against with that of data compression.The experiment shows that this method has the advantages of fast compression speed, high compression ratio and lossless recovery .     

Pricing mechanism for interconnection between phone operators and virtual mobile VoIP operators

Lately software based virtual mobile voice over Internet Protocol (VMVoIP) services have become available to end-users which may endanger profit of regular telephone operators from phone calls. In this situation, telephone operators should decide on a proper mechanism for interconnection with such VMVoIP operators which secures mutual benefit of both operators. In this paper, we study both monopolistic and oligopolistic markets of VMVoIP in which a single VMVoIP and several VMVoIP operators available in the market respectively. We model the interaction among a phone operator, VMVoIP operators and end-users as a leader-follower dynamic game and find a sub-game perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE) for the game. The SPNE shows the phone operator’s best pricing strategy (i.e., wholesale price for VMVoIP operators and retail price for end-users) and its best decision on the interconnection with VMVoIP operators. We further study economic interpretation of the SPNE. We show that in specific end-users’ demands, the phone operator may increase its total profit by allowing the interconnection and taking right price discrimination strategy.     

Determining the number of true different permutation polynomials of degrees up to five by Weng and Dong algorithm

Permutation polynomials (PPs) are used for interleavers in turbo codes, cryptography or sequence generation. The paper presents an algorithm for determining the number of true different PPs of degrees up to five. It is based on the algorithm from Weng and Dong (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 54(9):4388–4390, 2008) and on the null polynomials modulo the interleaver length.     

Budget-constraint mechanism for incremental multi-labeling crowdsensing

Machine learning techniques require an enormous amount of high-quality data labeling for more naturally simulating human comprehension. Recently, mobile crowdsensing, as a new paradigm, makes it possible that a large number of instances can be often quickly labeled at low cost. Existing works only focus on the single labeling for supervised learning problems of traditional machine learning, where one instance associates with only label. However, in many real world applications, an instance may have more than one label. To the end, in this paper, we explore an incremental multi-labeling issue by incentivizing crowd users to label instances under the budget constraint, where each instance is composed of multiple labels. Considering both uncertainty and diversity of the number of each instance’s labels, this paper proposes two mechanisms for incremental multi-labeling crowdsensing by introducing both uncertainty and diversity. Through extensive simulations, we validate their theoretical properties and evaluate the performance.