A (2, 2) Visual Cryptography Technique with Improved Contrast

ABSTRACT

Visual cryptography is a technique used to share a secret among many participants. The problem with visual cryptography technique is that the secret is not perfectly recovered, i.e. a black secret pixel is perfectly recovered but a white secret pixel is recovered with less contrast. Because of this, the overall quality of recovered secret is poor. So to improve the quality of recovered secret image, we need to improve the contrast. In this paper, we have proposed a (2, 2) visual cryptography technique with improved contrast as compared to the traditional (2, 2) visual cryptography scheme (VCS). In the proposed technique, we have used additional basis matrices for encrypting the secret pixels. The quality of the recovered secret image is compared with traditional (2, 2) VCS using various image quality metrics.     

Blind Multiuser Detection in Multirate CDMA Based on Cyclic LMS Adaptation

The problem of blind adaptive multiuser detection in multirateCDMA systems is considered. Indeed, since symboldetection in multirate CDMA systems requires periodicallytime-varying processing of the observables, classical LMS and RLSadaptive algorithms, which assume that the solution to be trackedis time-invariant or slowly time-varying, are not suited for blindadaptive multiuser detection in a multirate system. While a cyclicRLS algorithm has recently appeared in the literature, thispaper focuses on the development of LMS-based cyclic filteringalgorithms. In particular, cyclic versions of the standard LMSalgorithm, of the LMS algorithm with iterate averaging and of theLMS algorithm with adaptive step-size are derived. Interestingly,the last two algorithms are shown to exhibit a convergence speed close to thatof the cyclicRLS procedure, but with an order of magnitude lower computationalcomplexity.An adaptive procedure for the automatic selection ofthe algorithm periodicity is also presented, which is based on aminimum mean-output-energy criterion, and that obviates theneed for knowledge of the transmitted data-rates from theinterfering signals.Moreover, the case of known multipathfading channels is also examined. In particular, it is shown that theproposed cyclic LMS algorithms can be used to achieve RLS-likeperformance also in the presence of multipath distortion.Extensive computer simulation results, along with some analyticalconvergence results, confirmthat the proposed algorithms are effective and achieve very satisfactoryperformance.     

Adaptive estimation of hidden nearly completely decomposable Markov chains with applications in blind equalization

This paper proposes maximum likelihood (ML) estimation schemes for nearly completely decomposable Markov chains (NCDMCs) in white Gaussian Noise. Aggregation techniques based on stochastic complementation are applied to significantly reduce the dimension of the resulting hidden Markov model (HMM) and hence substantially reduce the computational requirements of the estimation algorithms. Stochastic complementation results in exact aggregation in that no approximations are involved in the steady state probability distribution of the Markov chain. We then present an off-line estimation algorithm for the parameters and states of the HMM based on the estimation of the aggregated HMM. This off-line algorithm is an ML estimation scheme and is based on the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. It has a significantly reduced computational complexity compared with the standard (full-order) EM-based HMM estimation scheme. Finally we present an application of our techniques. We show that hidden NCDMCs can be used to formulate the blind equalization problem for noisy FIR channels with Markov inputs, e.g. phase-shiftkeyed (PSK) signals. We then propose recursive EM and gradient estimation techniques for the aggregated HMM resulting in on-line estimates of the channel coefficients and signal estimate. For an N_a-state Markov chain our aggregate-based estimation scheme has a computational complexity O(N^?2_a), whereas standard algorithms have a complexity O(N_a^{?L + 1}) at each time instant, where L is the length of the FIR channel.     

Functionalized Cellulose for Water Purification,Antimicrobial Applications,and Sensors

As the most abundant natural polymer, cellulose presents a unique advantage for large‐scale applications. To fully unlock its potential, the introduction of desired functional groups onto the cellulose backbone is required, which can be realized by either chemical bonding or physical surface interactions. This review gives an overview of the chemistry behind the state‐of‐the‐art functionalization methods (e.g., oxidation, esterification, grafting) for cellulose in its various forms, from nanocrystals to bacterial cellulose. The existing and foreseeable applications of the obtained products are presented in detail, spanning from water purification and antibacterial action, to sensing, energy harvesting, and catalysis. A special emphasis is put on the interactions of functionalized cellulose with heavy metals, focusing on copper as a prime example. For the latter, its toxicity can either have a harmful influence on aquatic life, or it can be conveniently employed for microbial disinfection. The reader is further introduced to recent sensing technologies based on functionalized cellulose, which are becoming crucial for the near future especially with the emergence of the internet of things. By revealing the potential of water filters and conductive clothing for mass implementation, the near future of cellulose‐based technologies is also discussed.     

Functional modelling,validation and testing of analog to digital converters (ADC) from system design perspective

In this paper a methodology to develop PSpice (SPICE) model for flash type analog to digital converters and its validation is presented. With the onset of the Internet of Things and ongoing digitization of electronic devices around us, almost every device needs an interface or controlling unit as a digital computing device. As more and more products perform calculations in the digital or discrete time domain, more sophisticated data converters must translate the digital data to and from our inherent analog world. This varied nature of interfaces necessitates simulation of ADC along with a functional simulation of the system to optimize the performance of design and improve reliability. The paper focuses on the development of a functional model for ADC which can expedite system development. The design philosophy was at the block level and the development was conducted for commercially available ADC, AD7828. The complete model has been simulated using PSpice and results were compared with laboratory test measurements using AD7828.     

Image formation in detuned interference-filter-aided in-line Fraunhofer holography

Detuned interference filters as Fourier processors can be used to enhance the poor fringe contrast often encountered with in-line Fraunhofer holography of small or many far-fields-away micro-objects. The subsequent effect on the reconstructed-image irradiance distribution is described. The modified aperture-limited image shape and size, and the possible consequences on the quantitative analysis are discussed.     

Joint Estimation of Human Pose and Conversational Groups from Social Scenes

Despite many attempts in the last few years, automatic analysis of social scenes captured by wide-angle camera networks remains a very challenging task due to the low resolution of targets, background clutter and frequent and persistent occlusions. In this paper, we present a novel framework for jointly estimating (i) head, body orientations of targets and (ii) conversational groups called F-formations from social scenes. In contrast to prior works that have (a) exploited the limited range of head and body orientations to jointly learn both, or (b) employed the mutual head (but not body) pose of interactors for deducing F-formations, we propose a weakly-supervised learning algorithm for joint inference. Our algorithm employs body pose as the primary cue for F-formation estimation, and an alternating optimization strategy is proposed to iteratively refine F-formation and pose estimates. We demonstrate the increased efficacy of joint inference over the state-of-the-art via extensive experiments on three social datasets.     

Emerging Solutions in Big Data and Cloud Technologies for Mobile Networks

Mobile Networks and Applications -     

Performance Enhancement of 5G OFDM Systems Using Modified Raised Cosine Power Pulse

Wireless Personal Communications - OFDM is a key modulation technology of current wireless communication systems such as 4G LTE/LTE-A. The fifth generation (5G) of wireless cellular networks is...     

Teleportation of a qubit using entangled non-orthogonal states: a comparative study

The effect of non-orthogonality of an entangled non-orthogonal state-based quantum channel is investigated in detail in the context of the teleportation of a qubit. Specifically, average fidelity, minimum fidelity and minimum assured fidelity (MASFI) are obtained for teleportation of a single-qubit state using all the Bell-type entangled non-orthogonal states known as quasi-Bell states. Using Horodecki criterion, it is shown that the teleportation scheme obtained by replacing the quantum channel (Bell state) of the usual teleportation scheme by a quasi-Bell state is optimal. Further, the performance of various quasi-Bell states as teleportation channel is compared in an ideal situation (i.e., in the absence of noise) and under different noise models (e.g., amplitude and phase damping channels). It is observed that the best choice of the quasi-Bell state depends on the amount non-orthogonality, both in noisy and noiseless case. A specific quasi-Bell state, which was found to be maximally entangled in the ideal conditions, is shown to be less efficient as a teleportation channel compared to other quasi-Bell states in particular cases when subjected to noisy channels. It has also been observed that usually the value of average fidelity falls with an increase in the number of qubits exposed to noisy channels (viz., Alice’s, Bob’s and to be teleported qubits), but the converse may be observed in some particular cases.