Applying CIM technology to image factories

Image processing allows the automation of the business transaction, turning “paper factories” into “image factories.” This burgeoning new area of computerization needs new paradigms, theories, and methods to maximize its effectiveness at cutting time and costs. This paper investigates what this new area of computerization can gain from CIM technology. It examines the similarities between the processing of computer images in a paperless business environment and the processing of materials into products in the manufacturing plant. These similarities will allow us to apply mature, well-tested CIM techniques to emerging image factories.     

A 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS quad-band GSM RF transceiver using an efficient LO frequency plan

This paper describes a single-chip CMOS quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) RF transceiver for GSM/GPRS applications. It is the most important design issue to maximize resource sharing and reuse in designing the multiband transceivers. In particular, reducing the number of voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) required for local oscillator (LO) frequency generation is very important because the VCO and phase-locked loop (PLL) circuits occupy a relatively large area. We propose a quad-band GSM transceiver architecture that employs a direct conversion receiver and an offset PLL transmitter, which requires only one VCO/PLL to generate LO signals by using an efficient LO frequency plan. In the receive path, four separate LNAs are used for each band, and two down-conversion mixers are used, one for the low bands (850/900 MHz) and the other for the high bands (1800/1900 MHz). A receiver baseband circuit is shared for all four bands because all of their channel spaces are the same. In the transmit path, most of the building blocks of the offset PLL, including a TX VCO and IF filters, are integrated. The quad-band GSM transceiver that was implemented in 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS technology has a size of 3.3/spl times/3.2 mm/sup 2/, including its pad area. From the experimental results, we found that the receiver provides a maximum noise figure of 2.9 dB and a minimum IIP3 of -13.2dBm for the EGSM 900 band. The transmitter shows an rms phase error of 1.4/spl deg/ and meets the GSM spectral mask specification. The prototype chip consumes 56 and 58 mA at 2.8 V in the RX and TX modes, respectively.     

Structuring communication software for quality-of-serviceguarantees

We propose architectural mechanisms for structuring host communication software to provide QoS guarantees. We present and evaluate a QoS sensitive communication subsystem architecture for end hosts that provides real time communication support for generic network hardware. This architecture provides services for managing communication resources for guaranteed QoS (real time) connections, such as admission control, traffic enforcement, buffer management, and CPU and link scheduling. The architecture design is based on three key goals: maintenance of QoS guarantees on a per connection basis, overload protection between established connections, and fairness in delivered performance to best effort traffic. Using this architecture we implement real time channels, a paradigm for real time communication services in packet switched networks. The proposed architecture features a process per channel model that associates a channel handler with each established channel. The model employed for handler execution is one of “cooperative” preemption, where an executing handler yields the CPU to a waiting higher priority handler at well defined preemption points. The architecture provides several configurable policies for protocol processing and overload protection. We present extensions to the admission control procedure for real time channels to account for cooperative preemption and overlap between protocol processing and link transmission at a sending host. We evaluate the implementation to demonstrate the efficacy with which the architecture maintains QoS guarantees on outgoing traffic while adhering to the stated design goals     

Fast DCT algorithm with fewer multiplication stages

A novel fast DCT scheme with reduced multiplication stages and fewer additions and multiplications is proposed. The proposed algorithm is structured so that most multiplications tend to be performed at the final stage, which reduces the propagation error that could occur in the fixed-point computation. Minimisation of the multiplication stages can further decrease the error     

Virtual circuit connection method for RSVP multicasting supportingheterogeneous receivers on the ATM network

The authors suggest a novel virtual circuit connection method based on the reverse traversing technique to minimise the waste of network bandwidth resources, when the Internet protocol multicast is interoperated using the resource reservation protocol over an asynchronous transfer mode network. Simulation results show that, as the number of receivers increases, the bandwidth requirements on all links of the network of the proposed scheme become more advantageous than those of other conventional methods     

An ARQ scheme using combined QPSK and BPSK transmissions

We propose a hybrid ARQ scheme which uses QPSK modulation for the first transmission and BPSK modulation for retransmissions. The throughput performance of the proposed ARQ scheme is better that those of ARQ schemes purely using QPSK modulation or purely using BPSK modulation for transmissions. Furthermore, the proposed scheme does not require any operation of error correction as usually required in hybrid ARQ schemes. Therefore, the ARQ scheme proposed in this paper can be easily implemented     

Directly Compressible Acetaminophen Compositions Prepared by Fluidized-Bed Granulation

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in aqueous solution was used as a binding agent in a fluidized-bed system to agglomerate acetaminophen powder into directly compressible granules. It was found that a minimal amount of 5% w/w PVP in a concentration of 7.5% w/v or less was needed to produce granules with an acceptable flow and the corresponding tablets having enough hardness without capping. There was a strong correlation between the time for 80% dissolved (T₈₀) and the logarithm of granule volume-surface mean diameter. A directly compressible acetaminophen composition to manufacture tablets having a T₈₀ value less than 30 min can be prepared simply by adding an appropriate amount of disintegrant (crospovidone, sodium starch glycolate, or pregelatinized starch) to the agglomerated granules.     

ERCP and CT findings of ectopic drainage of the common bile duct into the duodenal bulb

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate ERCP and CT findings of ectopic drainage of the common bile duct into the duodenal bulb. CONCLUSION: Although rare, the diagnosis of ectopic drainage of the common bile duct into the duodenal bulb is important to prevent inadvertent damage during biliary tract or gastric surgery and to clarify the cause of chronic peptic ulcers.