Performance evaluation of path optimization schemes for inter‐switch handoff in wireless ATM networks

One of the major design issues in wireless ATM is the support of inter‐switch handoff. An inter‐switch handoff occurs when a mobile terminal moves to a new base station connecting to a different switch. Recently, a two‐phase handoff protocol has been proposed to support inter‐switch handoff in wireless ATM networks. With the aim of shortening handoff delay while using the network resources efficiently, the two‐phase handoff protocol employs path extension for each inter‐switch handoff, followed by path optimization if necessary. To implement the two‐phase handoff protocol efficiently, we need to determine when to trigger path optimization. In this paper, we propose and analyze three path optimization schemes, namely: periodic, exponential, and Bernoulli, for the two‐phase handoff protocol. The design objective is to determine the time to invoke path optimization such that the average cost per connection is minimized. We develop a discrete time analytical model and a discrete‐event simulation model for comparing the performance of the three path optimization schemes. Results indicate that the Bernoulli path optimization scheme outperforms the other two schemes by providing a lower average cost per connection. The proposed models can also be adapted to analyze other path optimization schemes in general. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

用低温金属电镀技术制造与封装的惯性微型电学开关

运用光刻胶为注模的多次互不干扰金属电镀技术实现了惯性微型电学开关的低温制造与封装.电镀技术的低温过程可使微型开关直接成形于预先制作好的含有电子信号处理电路的基底上,加上同样借助于低温金属电镀技术的基于整个硅晶片的倒装封装,直接形成环绕各个器件的密封腔体.这一技术最终将使得模块化生产成为现实.微型开关的高度和它的密封腔的高度可以分别控制.电子信号可以通过金属互连线进入密封腔体.为了便于设计,建立了一个既简单又相对准确的"弹簧-质量块"模型.以此设计的惯性开关,即使在未封装的常温、常压条件下,均可工作109次以上.本文对密封腔体的强度和密封性,以及金属互连线的可靠性,都作了详细的检测,各项指标均达到其各自的标准.     

Highly ordered C60 films on epitaxial Fe/MgO(0 0 1) surfaces for organic spintronics

Hybrid interfaces between ferromagnetic surfaces and carbon-based molecules play an important role in organic spintronics. The fabrication of devices with well defined interfaces remains challenging, however, hampering microscopic understanding of their operation mechanisms. We have studied the crystallinity and molecular ordering of C₆₀ films on epitaxial Fe/MgO(0 0 1) surfaces, using X-ray diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Both techniques confirm that fcc molecular C₆₀ films with a (1 1 1)-texture can be fabricated on epitaxial bcc-Fe(0 0 1) surfaces at elevated growth temperatures (100–130 °C). STM measurements show that C₆₀ monolayers deposited at 130 °C are highly ordered, exhibiting quasi-hexagonal arrangements on the Fe(0 0 1) surface oriented along the [1 0 0] and [0 1 0] directions. The mismatch between the surface lattice of the monolayer and the bulk fcc C₆₀ lattice prevents epitaxial overgrowth of multilayers.     

Statistical study of the influence of building architectural properties on scattered fields in urban environment

Statistical studies on the reflection coefficient of concrete–glass building facades are conducted using a fast and an accurate method based on the Green’s functions. The variation of different architectural parameters, such as concrete permitting and distribution, size and type of windows, are studied. The influence of selected parameters on the total reflection coefficient of the building is quantified for different incidence and observation angles as well as in different diffraction zones.     

β-Carotene and Ascorbic Acid Retention in Fresh and Processed Vegetables

Broccoli, carrots, and green beans (grown in 2 consecutive years) were randomly divided into 3 treatments: fresh-refrigerated (F-R), frozen (FZ) or canned (C) (carrots only). FZ or C vegetables were processed within 24 h and stored for up to 1 yr. F-R vegetables were held at 4 °C for 3 wk (broccoli and green beans) or 6 mo (carrots). Trans b-carotene (Tb-C) and total ascorbic acid (AA) were determined at specified times, before and after microwave cooking. Vitamin content differed between years due to environmental conditions. Blanching resulted in AA loss, but retention remained stable after freezing broccoli and green beans. F-R green beans lost >90% AA after 16 d storage. Linear decreases in AAwere found in most F-R or FZ vegetables. Tb-C decreased slightly during freezer storage. Reductions in Tb-C occurred in canned carrots. Microwave cooking had minimal effects on AA or Tb-C.     

eFeed-Hungers.com: Mitigating global hunger crisis using next generation technologies

Hunger is a global crisis and impacting the world for a very long time. Significant efforts have been made in the past by various organizations employing various means to address this persisting problem. Despite this, it still remains far from being resolved. Recently, the United Nations has published a report on global hunger, which claims that the global food production is fairly enough to feed the entire world with a population of about 7.3 billion. However, a major quantity of the food grown is not channeled appropriately and effectively to reach the needy and thus gets wasted unfortunately. Using the advanced computer technologies, we devise and develop a web-based computational framework (eFeed-Hungers.com) that serves as a bridge between the food waste and the hunger to mitigate the hunger issue; the food waste is the excess, unused, edible food, which otherwise is destined to the dumpster unfortunately. The eFeed-Hungers.com encourages and assists the food waste donation announcements with the least minimal efforts with the best possible outreach. Through the eFeed-Hungers.com, the food donations are globally searchable by the needy, with enough additional information imparted for quick decisions making to fetch the appropriate donated food. The eFeed-Hungers.com is envisioned to be a fully functional organization eventually with global outreach.     

Encrypted image classification based on multilayer extreme learning machine

Nowadays, numerous corporations (such as Google, Baidu, etc.) require an efficient and effective search algorithm to crawl out the images with queried objects from databases. Moreover, privacy protection is a significant issue such that confidential images must be encrypted in corporations. Nevertheless, decrypting and then classifying millions of encrypted images becomes a heavy burden to computation. In this paper, we proposed an encrypted image classification framework based on multi-layer extreme learning machine that is able to directly classify encrypted images without decryption. Experiments were conducted on popular handwritten digits and letters databases. Results demonstrate that the proposed framework is secure, efficient and accurate for classifying encrypted images.     

Monte Carlo cluster refinement for noise robust image segmentation

This paper explores a stochastic approach to refining clustering results for data with spatial-feature context such as images under the presence of noise. We formulate the clustering problem as a maximum a posteriori (MAP) problem, and refine clustering results using importance-weighted Monte Carlo posterior estimates based on between-neighborhood error statistics to account for local spatial-feature context within a global framework. This cluster refinement approach is non-iterative and can be integrated with existing clustering methods to achieve improved clustering performance for image segmentation under high noise scenarios. Experiments on synthetic gray-level images, real-world natural images, and real-world satellite synthetic aperture radar imagery illustrate the proposed method’s potential for improving clustering performance of existing clustering algorithms for image segmentation under high noise situations.     

An effective bilayer cathode buffer for highly efficient small molecule organic solar cells

Novel organic/ultrathin low work function metal bilayer cathode buffers for small molecule organic solar cells are proposed. Ultrathin low work function metal layers possess a high built-in electric field for effective carrier extraction and a high cathode reflectivity for maximum absorption in the photoactive layers. This leads to a significant increase of short circuit current density and fill factor of cells. By integrating this bilayer cathode buffer with DTDCTB:C₆₀ small molecular heterojunction, the device exhibits a high power conversion efficiency of up to 5.28%, which is an improvement of 22% compared to a device with a traditional single organic layer buffer.