Shared hardware,high throughput implementation of 2D 4 × 4 and 8 × 8 integer transform for H.264/AVC high-profile coders

Two-dimensional discrete cosine transforms are used in the core transformations in all profiles of the H.264/Advanced video coding (AVC) standard. In this paper, implementing the resource sharing of high throughput 4 × 4 and 8 × 8 forward and inverse integer transforms for high definition H.264 is presented. It is shown that the 4 × 4 forward/inverse transform can be obtained from 8 × 8 forward/inverse transform using selective data input and data arrangement at intermediate stages. Fast 8 × 8 forward and inverse transform is implemented using matrix decomposition and matrix operation such as Kronecker product and direct sum. The proposed implementation does not require any transpose memory and has a dual clocked pipeline structure. Compared with existing designs, the gate count is reduced by 27.7% in the proposed design. The maximum operating frequency of the proposed system is approx. 1.3 GHz, while the throughput is 7 G and 18.7 G pixels/s for 4 × 4 and 8 × 8 forward integer transforms, respectively. The proposed design can be used for real time H.264/AVC high definition processing owing to its high throughput and low hardware cost.     

The effect of random grain distributions on fatigue crack initiation in a notched coarse grained superalloy specimen

Coarse grained superalloys are of large interest in high temperature applications, and can be found in e.g. gas turbine components, where great care must be given with respect to high temperature fatigue. Due to the large grain size, the material behaviour at e.g. sharp notches cannot be considered homogeneous. As a consequence, the fatigue behaviour is likely to expose a large variation. In order to numerically investigate this variation, a Monte Carlo analysis has been carried out by 100 FE-simulations of notched specimens, where placements and orientations of the grains were randomised. Furthermore, each grain was modelled as a unique single-crystal, displaying both anisotropic elastic and plastic behaviour and tension/compression asymmetry. The effect of randomness was investigated by the obtained dispersion in fatigue crack initiation life. It was concluded that the fatigue life behaviour of coarse grained nickel-base superalloys may show a considerable variation, which cannot be captured by one single deterministic analysis based on data for a homogenised material. Furthermore, the dispersion is of such a magnitude that it needs to be taken into account in industrial applications where highly stressed coarse grained materials are used.     

Modified harmony search optimization for constrained design problems

Constrained optimization is a major real-world problem. Constrained optimization problems consist of an objective function subjected to both linear and nonlinear constraints. Here a constraint handling procedure based on the fitness priority-based ranking method (FPBRM) is proposed. It is embedded into a harmony search (HS) algorithm that allows it to satisfy constraints. The HS algorithm is conceptualized using the musical process of searching for a perfect state of harmony. Here, the original heuristic HS was improved by combining both improved and global-best methods along with the FPBRM. The resulting modified harmony search (MHS) was then compared with the original HS technique and other optimization methods for several test problems.     

Mixed control design: Numerical optimization approaches

This paper presents some new approaches to mixed performance control problems of linear systems. The design techniques proposed in this paper are based on numerical search of the norm bounded stable transfer matrix Q in the and suboptimal controller parameterizations so that the additional performance specifications are satisfied. The design problems are then converted to some finite dimensional non-linear unconstrained optimization problems by explicitly parameterizing the or norm bounded stable transfer matrix Q for any fixed order. Finally, some two-stage optimization algorithms are applied to find the optimal parameters. Numerical examples have shown significant performance improvements of the proposed algorithms over those in the existing literature.     

Robust manufacturing inspection and classification with machine vision

This paper presents and compares methods for inspecting products using machine vision systems. This research compares the Mahalanobis Taguchi System (MTS) with a method based on principal component transformation and multi-modal overlap methods, and which is called the Principal component Feature overlap Measure (PFM). In an example application, the PFM achieves significantly higher Signal/Noise-ratios (+80 dB) and equal or better classification performance than MTS with a lower number of classification features (-75%).     

Food for the Urban Poor: Safety Nets and Food-Based Social Protection in Manzini,Swaziland

This paper aims to contribute to the urban food security debate by exploring the role of informal safety nets and formal food-based social protection in addressing food insecurity challenges facing low-income urban households in Manzini. The empirical data used in this paper came from two surveys: the first involved 500 households and was undertaken in three low-income areas of Manzini. The second involved a series of in-depth interviews with senior staff at supermarkets and spaza shops. The results reveal that food security challenges are considerable in the low-income areas of Manzini and that, at the same time, various forms of community and intra-household food sharing are an important food source for a minority of poor households in the city. In this regard, the national government needs to consider strengthening food-based social safety net programmes that assist poor and vulnerable groups.     

Evaluation of in-air hand gestures interaction for older people

Universal Access in the Information Society - In-air gestural interfaces are gaining popularity due to the increasing availability and low cost of gesture recognition hardware. However, the current...     

The use of Neural Networks for the estimation of oceanic constituents based on the MERIS instrument

Artificial Neural Networks (NNs) are used in estimations of oceanic constituents from simulated data for the Mechron Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument system for Case II water applications. The simulation includes the effects of oceanic substances such as algal related chlorophyll, non-chlorophyllous suspended matter and DOM (dissolved organic matter). It is shown here that NNs can be used to estimate oceanic constituents based on simulated data which include the effects of realistic noise and variability models. The advantage of NNs is that they not only achieve higher retrieval accuracy than more traditional techniques such as band ratio algorithms, but they also allow the inclusion of usually superfluous or unused information, such as geometric parameters and atmospheric visibility.