A complete VARMA modelling methodology based on scalar components

Abstract. This article proposes an extension to scalar component methodology for the identification and estimation of VARMA models. The complete methodology determines the exact positions of all free parameters in any VARMA model with a predetermined embedded scalar component structure. This leads to an exactly identified system of equations that is estimated using full information maximum likelihood.     

A UML-based quantitative framework for early prediction of resource usage and load in distributed real-time systems

This paper presents a quantitative framework for early prediction of resource usage and load in distributed real-time systems (DRTS). The prediction is based on an analysis of UML 2.0 sequence diagrams, augmented with timing information, to extract timed-control flow information. It is aimed at improving the early predictability of a DRTS by offering a systematic approach to predict, at the design phase, system behavior in each time instant during its execution. Since behavioral models such as sequence diagrams are available in early design phases of the software life cycle, the framework enables resource analysis at a stage when design decisions are still easy to change. Though we provide a general framework, we use network traffic as an example resource type to illustrate how the approach is applied. We also indicate how usage and load analysis of other types of resources (e.g., CPU and memory) can be performed in a similar fashion. A case study illustrates the feasibility of the approach.

Extending the Kernighan/Lin Heuristic for Hardware and Software Functional Partitioning

The Kernighan/Lin graph partitioning heuristic, also known as min-cut or group migration, has been extended over several decades very successfully for circuit partitioning. Those extensions customized the heuristic and its associated data structure to rapidly compute the minimum-cut metric central to circuit partitioning; as such, those extensions are not directly applicable to other problems. In this paper, we extend the heuristic for functional partitioning, which in turn can solve the much investigated codesign problem of partitioning a system's coarse-grained functions among hardware and software components. The key extension customizes the heuristic and data structure to rapidly compute execution-time and communication metrics, crucial to hardware and software partitioning, and leads to near-linear time-complexity and excellent resulting quality. Another extension uses a new criteria for terminating the heuristic, eliminating time-consuming and unnecessary fine-tuning of a partition. Our experiments demonstrate extremely fast execution times (just a few seconds) with results matched only by the slower simulated annealing heuristic, meaning that the extended Kernighan/Lin heuristic will likely prove hard to beat for hardware and software functional partitioning.     

Mlcrolasers based on silica microspheres

Light can be confined efficiently in the high-Q, small-volume whispering-gallery-modes observed in silica microspheres. By coupling these microspheres to eroded optical fibers and fiber tips, direct mapping of the whispering-gallery modes has been achieved and the mode numbers have been assessed. The properties of these modes have allowed us to obtain laser action with very low thresholds in Nd-doped silica microspheres. Further projects in the field of non-linear optics and cavity quantum electrodynamics are described.     

SpecSyn: an environment supporting the specify-explore-refineparadigm for hardware/software system design

System-level design issues are gaining increasing attention, as behavioral synthesis tools and methodologies mature. We present the SpecSyn system-level design environment, which supports the new specify-explore-refine (SER) design paradigm. This three-step approach to design includes precise specification of system functionality, rapid exploration of numerous system-level design options, and refinement of the specification into one reflecting the chosen option. A system-level design option consists of an allocation of system components, such as standard and custom processors, memories, and buses, and a partitioning of functionality among those components. After refinement, the functionality assigned to each component can then he synthesized to hardware or compiled to software. We describe the issues and approaches for each part of the SpecSyn environment. The new paradigm and environment are expected to lead to a more than ten times reduction in design time, and our experiments support this expectation     

Analytical EVM, BER, and TD performances of the OFDM systems in the presence of jointly nonlinear distortion and IQ imbalance

The orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems are highly sensitive to the nonlinear distortions introduced by the high-power amplifier at the transmitter and to the in-phase and quadrature (IQ) imbalance of the down converter at the receiver. In this paper, the joint effects of these impairments on the performance of the OFDM systems with M signal points quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) are investigated. Moreover, the analytical formulations for the error vector magnitude, the bit error rate, and the total degradation performances of the M-QAM-OFDM systems in additive white Gaussian noise channels as a function of the output back off and IQ imbalance parameters are derived. The computer simulation results confirm the accuracy and validity of our proposed analytical approach.     

Near Optimum Random Routing of Uniformly Load Balanced Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Connectivity Matrix

Wireless Personal Communications - Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are ad hoc networks usually made up of miniaturized autonomous units called sensor nodes that communicate in between by radio...     

Energy‐efficient void avoidance geographic routing protocol for underwater sensor networks

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) consist of a group of sensors that send the information to the sonobuoys at the surface level. Void area, however, is one of the challenges faced by UWSNs. When a sensor falls in a void area of communication, it causes problems such as high latency, power consumption, or packet loss. In this paper, an energy‐efficient void avoidance geographic routing protocol (EVAGR) has been proposed to handle the void area with low amount of energy consumption. In this protocol, a suitable set of forwarding nodes is selected using a weight function, and the data packets are forwarded to the nodes inside the set. The weight function includes the consumed energy and the depth of the candidate neighboring nodes, and candidate neighboring node selection is based on the packet advancement of the neighboring nodes toward the sonobuoys. Extensive simulation experiments were performed to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed protocol. Simulation results revealed that the proposed protocol can effectively achieve better performance in terms of energy consumption, packet drop, and routing overhead compared with the similar routing protocol.