A Clock Synchronization Algorithm for Multihop Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In multihop wireless ad hoc networks, it is important that all mobile hosts are synchronized. Synchronization is necessary for power management and for frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) operations. IEEE 802.11 standards specify a clock synchronization protocol but this protocol suffers from the scalability problem due to its inefficiency contention mechanism. In this paper, we propose an automatic self-time-correcting procedure (ASP) to achieve clock synchronization in a multihop environment. Our ASP has two features. First, a faster host has higher priority to send its timing information out than a slower one. Second, after collecting enough timing information, a slower host can synchronize to the faster one by self-correcting its timer periodically (which makes it becoming a faster host). Simulation results show that our ASP decreases 60% the average maximum clock drift as compared to the IEEE 802.11 and reduces 99% the number of asynchronism in a large-scale multihop wireless ad hoc networks.     

A Vlsi Neural Network Processor Based on Hippocampal Model

The hippocampal region of the brain system can be analyzed with the nonlinear system modeling approach. The input-output relationship of the neural units is best represented by the kernel functions of different complexities. The modeling expression of the first and second order kernels are computed in analog current-mode instead of digital data processing in order to fully explore massively parallel processing capability of the neural networks. Two distinct methods are utilized: the table-look-up approach and the model-based approach. The former can achieve high accuracy but consumes large silicon area while the latter saves silicon area and maintains moderately high accuracy. Circuit-level simulation results and experimental data from two test structures are presented.     

A Distributed Query Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks, query execution over a specific geographical region is an essential function for collecting sensed data. However, sensor nodes deployed in sensor networks have limited battery power. Hence, the minimum number of connected sensor nodes that covers the queried region in a sensor network must be determined. This paper proposes an efficient distributed protocol to find a subset of connected sensor nodes to cover the queried region. Each node determines whether to be a sensing node to sense the queried region according to its priority. The proposed protocol can efficiently construct a subset of connected sensing nodes and respond the query request to the sink node. In addition, the proposed protocol is extended to solve the k-coverage request. Simulation results show that our protocol is more efficient and has a lower communication overhead than the existing protocol.     

Periodic replacement with minimal repair at failure and general random repair cost for a multi-unit system

A policy of periodic replacement with minimal repair at failure is considered for the multi-unit system which have the specific multivariate distribution. Under such a policy an operating system is completely replaced whenever it reaches age T (T > 0) at a cost c₀ while minimal repair is performed at any intervening component failures. The cost of the j-th minimal repair to the component which fails at age y is g(C(y),c_j(y)), where C(y) is the age-dependent random part, c_j(y) is the deterministic part which depends on the age and the number of the minimal repair to the component, and g is an positive nondecreasing continuous function. A simple expression is derived for the expected minimal repair cost in an interval in terms of the cost function and the failure rate of the component. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an optimal replacement interval are exhibited.     

Low-operation voltage of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes by using aMg-doped Al0.15Ga0.85N/GaN superlattice

Low-resistivity Mg-doped Al_0.15Ga_0.85N/GaN strained-layer superlattices were grown. In these superlattices, the maximum hole concentration is 3×10¹⁸/cm³ at room temperature. Hall-effect measurements indicate high conductivity of this structure in which the high activation efficiency is attributed to the strain-induced piezoelectric fields. This work also fabricated InGaN/GaN blue LEDs that consist of a Mg-doped Al_0.15Ga_0.85N/GaN SLs. Experimental results indicate that the LEDs can achieve a lower operation voltage of around 3 V, i.e., smaller than conventional devices which have an operation voltage of about 3.8 V     

A general replacement of a system subject to shocks

A system is subject to shocks that arrive according to a nonhomogeneous Poisson process. The system is replaced at age T at a fixed cost c₀. If the k-th shock arrives at time S_k<T, it is either a fatal shock with probability p(S_k) or a nonfatal shock with probability 1−p(S_k). The fatal shock causes the system total breakdown, and the system is replacd at a cost c_∞. The nonfatal shock weakens the system and makes it more expensive to run. The aim of the paper is to find the optimal T which minimizes the long run expected cost per unit time of the policy. Various special cases are considered.     

The associate impact of individual internal experiences and reference groups on buying behavior: A case study of animations,comics, and games consumers

Among the entertainment and media market, it can be observed that animations, comics, and video games (hereinafter abbreviated as ACG) have the highest output value and most market influence. Moreover, ACG also incorporates various industries and creates many derivative products. As the ACG industry emphasizes acousto-optics, imagery, and storylines, personal impressions derived from consumer experiences will influence consumer decisions. In addition, the ACG industry is mainly marketed towards younger age groups, with younger people being the main consumers; as such, these consumers’ decisions are more easily affected by peer behavior.This study aims to analyze the effects of internal cognitions and external influences on buying behavior of ACG consumers by applying the uncomplicated decision tree data mining algorithm. We analyze and develop the target attributes on measures of customer loyalty for ACG industry to set up the decision trees from the collected questionnaire data. The decision tree data mining method is applied to analyze the hidden association rules between the target attributes (i.e., consumer loyalty) and the critical influencing factors of consumer’s internal impressions and external influences for ACG consumers. The results and suggestions of this paper can be used as a reference for enterprises in the ACG industry to help with business policies concerning products’ extensional design, marketing, and CRM, and to further strengthen customer satisfaction and loyalty, thus increasing company profits.     

Mining association rules between positive word-of-mouth on social network sites and consumer acceptance: A study for derivative product of animations,comics, and games

In recent years, we can easily observe that animations, comics, and games (ACG) have great output value and market influence on the entertainment and digit media market. The ACG industry is not an industry of a single country or region but a global industry. In addition to its own revenue, the derivative products (or licensed merchandise) of ACG can extend the ACG industry to win more business opportunities. The ACG industry is mainly marketed towards younger people, who are the major users of social network sites. Hence, the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on social network sites often becomes a reference basis of the young people’s attitudinal acceptance and purchase intention in purchasing ACG-related derivative product.In this paper, we analyze the influential factors of positive eWOM’s communication motivations that affect consumer acceptance on social network sites, and apply the uncomplicated decision tree data mining algorithm to compute the association rules between these influential factors and consumer acceptance, expecting to understand the relationship between eWOM on social network sites and consumer acceptance. The results of this study can help the business decision-making in CRM and marketing of the industry of ACG-related derivative product. This study found that the degree of perception of ACG product and the degree of taking pleasure in sharing ACG-related information with others have a significant correlation with consumer acceptance.     

Colossal Barocaloric Effect by Large Latent Heat Produced by First-Order Intersite-Charge-Transfer Transition

Materials which show novel thermal properties can be used to make highly efficient and environmentally friendly energy systems for thermal energy storage and refrigeration through caloric effects. An A-site-ordered quadruple perovskite-structure oxide, NdCu₃Fe₄O₁₂, is found to release significant latent heat, 25.5 kJ kg⁻¹ (157 J cc⁻¹), at the intersite-charge-transfer transition temperature near room temperature. The transition is first-order and accompanied by an unusual magnetic ordering and a large negative-thermal-expansion-like volume change, and thus, it causes a large entropy change (84.2 J K⁻¹ kg⁻¹). The observed entropy change is comparable to the largest changes reported in inorganic solid materials, and more importantly, it is utilized through a colossal barocaloric effect. The adiabatic temperature change by applying 5.1 kbar pressure is estimated to reach 13.7 K, which means efficient refrigeration can be realized through this effect.     

Learning Association Rules and Tracking the Changing Concepts on Webpages: An Effective Pornographic Websites Filtering Approach

We applied the decision tree algorithm to learn association rules between webpage’s category (pornographic or normal) and the critical features. Based on these rules, we proposed an efficient method of filtering pornographic webpages with the following major advantages: 1) a weighted window-based technique was proposed to estimate for the condition of concept drift for the keywords found recently in pornographic webpages; 2) checking only contexts of webpages without scanning pictures; 3) an incremental learning mechanism was designed to incrementally update the pornographic keyword database.