Design of low-density parity check codes for MIMO systems with doubly-iterative receivers

In this paper, the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) doubly-iterative receiver which consists of the Probabilistic Data Association detector (PDA) and Low-Density Parity-Check Code (LDPC) decoder is developed. The receiver performs two iterative decoding loops. In the outer loop, the soft information is exchanged between the PDA detector and the LDPC decoder. In the inner loop, it is exchanged between variable node and check node decoders inside the LDPC decoder. On the light of the Extrinsic Information Transfer (EXIT) chart technique, an LDPC code degree profile optimization algorithm is developed for the doubly-iterative receiver. Simulation results show the doubly-receiver with optimized irregular LDPC code can have a better performance than the one with the regular one.     

A novel cooperative spectrum sensing method based on cooperative game theory

A novel cooperative sensing method is proposed in this paper. The proposed scheme adopts sensing creditability degree to characterize the impact of the distance and the channel parameters on the sensing result, and considers that each user has different average SNR and different decision threshold, by using General Nash Bargaining Solution (GNBS) strategy in Cooperative Game Theory (CGT), the detec-tion performance for two-user case are derived. For multi-user case, the sensing performance is obtained with Hungarian method. Compared with the traditional schemes such as Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) and AND, the proposed scheme covers all the factors mentioned above, and enhances the sensing rationality and reliability. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can further improve the sensing performance and creditability.     

Distributed node selection for threshold key management with intrusion detection in mobile ad hoc networks

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), identity (ID)-based cryptography with threshold secret sharing is a popular approach for the security design. Most previous work for key management in this framework concentrates on the protocols and structures. Consequently, how to optimally conduct node selection in ID-based cryptography with threshold secret sharing is largely ignored. In this paper, we propose a distributed scheme to dynamically select nodes with master key shares to do the private key generation service. The proposed scheme can minimize the overall threat posed to the MANET while simultaneously taking into account of the cost (e.g., energy consumption) of using these nodes. Intrusion detection systems are modeled as noisy sensors to derive the system security situations. We use stochastic system to formulate the MANET to obtain the optimal policy. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

Detection Probability Estimation of Directional Antennas and Omni-Directional Antennas

This paper studies the problem of detection of directional antennas and omni-directional antennas by hostile detection systems. We present a model for calculating the probability of detecting a transmitter at arbitrary location around the transmitter. Our study shows that, if a directional antenna employs the same transmit power as an omni-directional antenna, the directional antenna can not decrease the probability of being detected. In some scenarios, a directional antenna is more likely to be detected than an omni-directional antenna. However, if a directional antenna provides the same Effective Isotropic Radiated Power in the direction of the receiver as an omni-directional antenna, the transmit power needed by a directional antenna to send data is much less than that of an omni-directional antenna. In this scenario, the probability of detecting a directional antenna is reduced by over 90%. This reveals that directional antennas can be used to build a secure path to send data at low probability of being detected by adversaries.     

Experience with Widening Based Equivalence Checking in Realistic Multimedia Systems

The application of loop and data transformations to array and loop intensive programs is crucial to obtain a good performance. Designers often apply these transformations manually or semi-automatically. For the class of static affine programs, automatic methods exist for proving the correctness of these transformations. Realistic multimedia systems, however, often contain constructs that fall outside of this class. We present an extension of a widening based approach to handle the most relevant of these constructs, viz. accesses to array slices, data dependent accesses and data dependent assignments, and report on some experiments with non-trivial applications.     

Secure service convergence based on scalable media coding

In multimedia services, security and privacy issues are urgent to be solved, such as the content security and service protection. To solve these issues, some means have been proposed, such as conditional access and digital rights management. However, for the latest application scenarios in convergent networks, there is still no solution. This paper focuses on the convergent multimedia broadcasting applications: the multimedia content, e.g., TV program, is encoded and packaged by the content provider, and is then transmitted to users through different communication networks, e.g., 3G network, DVB-H, ADSL, etc. Thus, the same multimedia content will be used for various services, i.e., mobile TV, Internet TV and home TV. Since different network channel support different bandwidths, the multimedia content should be transcoded before being transmitted through the networks. To protect the content and service in this application, we propose the content and service protection methods. In content protection, the content provider encrypts the scalable multimedia content with the manner denoted by Encryption Flag. The content distributor has no decryption keys, but can transcode the scalable content with the manner denoted by Layer Flag, and transmit the transcoded content to users. In service protection, the content provider combines the encryption key, Encryption Flag and the user right information, and transmits them, independent from the encrypted content, to certified users. At user side, the content is decrypted with the received key according to the Encryption Flag and Layer Flag. Thus, the content provider needs only to encrypt the content once, which can be transcoded by the content distributor in a secure manner and used for various networks. Additionally, the user rights need not to be changed when the service network is changed. Totally, the proposed scheme is secure and efficient for service convergence.     

Large-Scale Synthesis of Graphene Films by Joule-Heating-Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition

We report large-area synthesis of few-layer graphene films by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) in a cold-wall reactor. The key feature of this method is that the catalytic metal layers on the SiO₂/Si substrates are self-heated to high growth temperature (900°C to 1000°C) by high-current Joule heating. Synthesis of high-quality graphene films, whose structural and electrical characteristics are comparable to those grown by hot-wall CVD systems, was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy images, Raman spectra, and current–voltage analysis. Optical transmittance spectra of the graphene films allowed us to estimate the number of graphene layers, which revealed that high-temperature exposure of Ni thin layers to a carbon precursor (CH₄) was critical in determining the number of graphene layers. In particular, exposure to CH₄ for 20 s produces very thin graphene films with an optical transmittance of 93%, corresponding to an average layer number of three and a sheet resistance of ~600 Ω/square.     

Using Stochastic Differential Equation for Verification of Noise in Analog/RF Circuits

Today’s analog/RF design and verification face significant challenges due to circuit complexity, process variations and short market windows. In particular, the influence of technology parameters on circuits, and the issues related to noise modeling and verification still remain a priority for many applications. Noise could be due to unwanted interaction between the circuit elements or it could be inherited from the circuit elements. In addition, manufacturing disparity influence the characteristic behavior of the manufactured circuits. In this paper, we propose a methodology for modeling and verification of analog/RF designs in the presence of noise and process variations. Our approach is based on modeling the designs using stochastic differential equations (SDE) that will allow us to incorporate the statistical nature of noise. We also integrate the device variation due to 0.18μ m fabrication process in an SDE based simulation framework for monitoring properties of interest in order to quickly detect errors. Our approach is illustrated on nonlinear Tunnel-Diode and a Colpitts oscillator circuits.     

An Experimental Study of the Performance Impact of Path-Based DoS Attacks in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) are considered as cost effective, easily deployable and capable of extending Internet connectivity. However, one of the major challenges in deploying reliable WMNs is preventing their nodes from malicious attacks, which is of particular concern as attacks can severely degrade network performance. When a DoS attack is targeted over an entire communication path, it is called a path-based DoS attack. We study the performance impact of path-based DoS attacks by considering attack intensity, medium errors, physical diversity, collusion and hop count. We setup a wireless mesh testbed and configure a set of experiments to gather realistic measurements, and assess the effects of different factors. We find that medium errors have significant impact on the performance of WMNs when a path-based DoS attack is carried out, and the impact is exacerbated by the MAC layer retransmissions. We show that due to physical diversity, a far attacker can lead to an increased performance degradation than a close-by attacker. Additionally, we demonstrate that the joint impact of two colluding attackers is not as severe as the joint result of individual attacks. We also discuss a strategy to counter path-based DoS attacks which can potentially alleviate the impact of the attack significantly.