Vertex-based inter-frame boundary encoding scheme

The boundary is approximated by a polygon which can be encoded with the smallest number of bits for maximum distortion. The temporal redundancy between two successive frames is efficiently removed with the proposed scheme, resulting in a lower bit rate than the conventional algorithms     

Prioritizing telecommunications technologies for long-range R&D planning to the year 2006

This paper concerns telecommunications technologies prioritization for long-range R&D planning at the Korea Telecommunication Authority (KTA), which is the primary common carrier in Korea. Criteria weighting and technological importance ranking were determined by means of the Analytic Hierarchy Process as a decision aid, along with hierarchical representation and pairwise comparisons. The opinions derived from three divisions of KTA were analyzed and aggregated. Such aggregated prioritization weighting of technologies allows the corporation management to use it for funding decisions about technological aspects of its long-range planning for R&D projects during the period from 1992 to 2006; especially those concerning baseline budget level selection and the scope of research activities.<>     

Situational influences on gender differences in agency and communion.

Gender differences were examined in the context of situational effects. Participants monitored interpersonal behavior for 20 days, using an event-sampling strategy. The monitored behaviors reflected dominance and submissiveness (components of agency) and agreeableness and quarrelsomeness (components of communion). The situations reflected differences in the status of work roles: interactions with boss, co-worker, and supervisee. Status influenced agency. Individuals were most agentic when with a supervisee and least agentic when with a boss. Gender did not influence agency but did influence communal behaviors. Women were more communal regardless of social role status; women were especially communal with other women, compared with men with men. Findings about agency supported a social role theory interpretation of gender differences. Results for communion were consistent with accounts of the influence of sex segregation on interpersonal relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integration of mobile vehicles for automated material handlingusing Profibus and IEEE 802.11 networks

This paper focuses on a method to integrate mobile devices such as a mobile robot, automated guided vehicle, and unmanned container transporter to form an automated material handling system. In this paper, the stationary devices are connected via a Profibus network while the mobile devices are communicating via an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN. In order to integrate these two networks, a protocol converter is developed on a PC platform that runs two interacting processes with shared internal buffers. The protocol converter performs a role of translator between two different protocols by converting the format of a data frame. In addition to this basic conversion function, the protocol converter has a virtual polling algorithm to reduce the uncertainty involved in accessing the wireless network. Finally, the integrated network. of Profibus and IEEE 802.11 is experimentally evaluated for its data latency and throughput, which shows the feasibility of the Profibus-IEEE 802.11 network for industrial applications involving mobile devices     

An Analog Front‐End Circuit for ISO/IEC 14443‐Compatible RFID Interrogators

An analog front‐end circuit for ISO/IEC 14443‐compatible radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogators was designed and fabricated by using a 0.25 µm double‐poly CMOS process. The fabricated chip was operated using a 3.3 Volt single‐voltage supply. The results of this work could be provided as reusable IPs in the form of hard or firm IPs for designing single‐chip ISO/IEC 14443‐compatible RFID interrogators.     

Experimental and analytical study on the spray characteristics of dimethyl ether (DME) and diesel fuels within a common-rail injection system in a diesel engine

This paper investigates the effect of injection parameters on the characteristics of dimethyl ether (DME) as an alternative fuel in a diesel engine with experimental and analytical models based on empirical equations. In order to study macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of DME fuel, this work focuses on the atomization characteristics of DME and compares experimental and predicted results for spray development obtained by empirical models for diesel and DME fuel. Detailed comparisons of spray tip penetration from three different empirical correlations and from visualization experiments of diesel and DME fuels were conducted under various fuel injection conditions. In comparison with the results of different empirical equations for measured spray tip penetration, the experimental results of this study provide good agreement with the calculation results based on empirical equations, except during the earliest stage of the injected spray sequence. The results of atomization characteristics indicate that DME showed better spray characteristics than conventional diesel fuel. Also, the fuel injection delay and maximum injection rate of DME fuel are shorter and lower than those of diesel fuel at the same injection conditions, respectively.     

A positive‐working photosensitive polyimide based on thermal cross‐linking and acidolytic cleavage

A novel positive‐working photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) based on a poly(hydroxyimide) (PHI), a crosslinking agent having vinyl ether groups, and a photoacid generator (PAG) was prepared. The PHI as a base resin of the three‐component PSPI was synthesized from 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride and 2,2′‐bis(3‐amino‐4‐hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane through ring‐opening polymerization and subsequent thermal cyclization. 2,2′‐bis(4‐(2‐(vinyloxy)ethoxy)phenyl)propane (BPA‐DEVE) was used as a vinylether compound and diphenyliodonium 5‐hydroxynaphthalene‐1‐sulfonate was used as a PAG. The phenolic hydroxyl groups of the PHI and the vinyl ether groups of BPA‐DEVE are thermally crosslinked with acetal structures during prebake step, and the crosslinked PHI becomes completely insoluble in an aqueous basic solution. Upon exposure to UV light (365 nm) and subsequent postexposure bake (PEB), a strong acid generated from the PAG cleaves the crosslinked structures, and the exposed area is effectively solubilized in the alkaline developer. The dissolution behavior of the PSPI containing each 11.5 wt % of BPA‐DEVE and of the PAG was studied after UV exposure (365 nm) and PEB. It was found that the difference in dissolution rates between exposed and unexposed areas was enough to get high resolution. A fine positive pattern with a resolution of 5 μm in a 3.7‐μm‐thick film was obtained from the three‐component PSPI. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Structure and processability of iodinated poly(vinyl alcohol). IV. Drawability of the films iodinated at solution before casting

The drawability of iodinated at solution before casting (IBC) polyvinyl alcohol films prepared by casting aqueous solutions of 10 wt % PVA containing 15.2, 39.8, 83.2, 117.0, and 140.1% was examined with a tensile tester at 20–60°C. The tensile behavior of IBC films showed that the yield and breaking loads were much lower, and the breaking elongation was even higher than those of the unoriented iodinated after casting (IAC) films as well as the untreated PVA films. The maximum draw ratios of the films with the weight gain of 15.2, 39.8, 83.2, 117, and 140.1% were 4.5, 5.5, 8.5, 8.0, and 7.5, respectively, which were achieved at 20°C in all. The crystallinity of all films increased by the maximum draw, regardless of crystallinity before drawing. The crystalline structure was recovered to the original PVA crystalline lattice by deiodination. Amorphous orientation and initial moduli increased with the maximum draw ratio, while the orientation of crystals was constant. The orientation and moduli increased up to the weight gain of 83.2%, whose highest draw ratio and initial modulus were 8.5 and of 7.1 GPa, respectively, and then decreased. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008