In the scenario of finite sample size, the performance of the generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) is still affected by the desired signal even if all signal sources are independent with each other. Firstly, the novel expression of weight vector of the auxiliary array is derived under the circumstances of finite sample size. Utilizing this new weight vector and considering the correlative interferences, the general expression for the interference cancellation ratio (CR) is developed. Then, the impacts of the CR performance are further analyzed for the parameters including the input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the auxiliary array size, the correlation coefficient between the desired signal and interference as well as the snapshots of the sample data, respectively. Some guidelines can thus be given for the practical application. Numerical simulations demonstrate the agreement between the simulation results and the analytical results.

Mobility management is very important in mobile cellular networks, since to connect incoming calls, the network must maintain the locations of the mobiles. This study considers the zone-based registration methods that most mobile cellular networks have adopted. We focus on two special zone-based registration methods, called two-zone registration (2Z), and two-zone registration with implicit registration by outgoing calls (2Zi). Although some mathematical models for their performances have been presented, they still cannot accurately estimate 2Zi performance. We provide a new and simple mathematical model based on Markov chain theory that can accurately analyze the performances of 2Z and 2Zi. We also explain the propositions underlying the explicit expressions adopted by our model. We finally present various numerical results, to compare the performance of 2Zi with those of 2Z and one-zone registration (1Z), and show that in every case, 2Zi is superior to 2Z, and in most practical cases, to 1Z.

The IEEE 802.15.4 standard enables a short range, low data rate and low power communication between devices in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In IEEE 802.15.4, a slotted carrier sensing multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) algorithm is employed to coordinate a large number of sensor devices. Unlike IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN (WLAN), energy consumption requirements enable it to use fewer number of backoffs, which adversely increase collisions, resulting in degradation of energy consumption. In this letter, we devise an adaptive backoff scheme in WSN whose backoff range is adjusted depending on the contention level, and present its Markov model for mathematical analysis. The proposed scheme is analyzed and its efficiency is validated by ns-2 simulation in respect to network throughput and energy consumption. Its performance is also compared with the standard and previous works, showing that it outperforms them for a whole range of arrival rate.

This paper focuses on underwater wireless power transfer with electric coupling. First, the maximum available efficiency is derived by using the S-parameters of the parallel plate coupler. The frequency which represents the maximal value of the efficiency is revealed. Further, the elevation in the efficiency in association with a reduction of the electrode size is found. It is clarified that the elevation depends on the characteristic of the water dielectric loss. From these results, the optimal electrode size that obtains the maximal value of the efficiency is provided. Finally, we fabricate the couplers by utilizing the optimal frequency and the electrode size. The efficiency of 75.8% under water is achieved.

Improving energy efficiency is critical for embedded systems in our rapidly evolving information society. Near real-time data processing tasks, such as multimedia streaming applications, exhibit a common fact that their deadline periods are longer than their input intervals due to buffering. In general, executing tasks at lower performance is more energy efficient. On the other hand, higher performance is necessary for huge tasks to meet their deadlines. To minimize the energy consumption while meeting deadlines strictly, adaptive task scheduling including dynamic performance mode selection is very important. In this work, we propose an energy efficient slack-based task scheduling algorithm for such tasks by adapting to task size variations and applying DVFS with the help of statistical analysis. We confirmed that our proposal can further reduce the energy consumption when compared to oracle frame-based scheduling.

This study is aimed at clarifying the mechanism of wear process for Ag plating. The samples of different hardness Ag plating on copper alloys were prepared as coupon and embossment specimens, which simulated terminal contacts. During the sliding test, the contact resistance and the friction coefficient versus sliding distance are measured. The surface observation and surface roughness of the Ag films after wear tests were investigated. As results, the hard Ag plating film (120 Hv) exhibited higher contact resistance comparing to the soft Ag plating film (80 Hv). The soft Ag film delivered wider wear trace on coupon specimens compared to the hard one. Moreover, the observation of tribofilms formed on the Ag films after wear tests suggested that a mixed-type of adhesive and abrasive wears occurred for both of soft and hard Ag films. Furthermore, the fretting corrosion resistance of Ag plating samples with different hardness was also investigated. As results, the wear resistance of hard Ag film was stronger than that of soft Ag film.

This paper considers the recovery problem of distributed compressed sensing (DCS), where J (J≥2) signals all have sparse common component and sparse innovation components. The decoder attempts to jointly recover each component based on {Mj} random noisy measurements (j=1,…,J) with the prior information on the support probabilities, i.e., the probabilities that the entries in each component are nonzero. We give both the sufficient and necessary conditions on the total number of measurements $sum olimits_{j = 1}^J M_j$ that is needed to recover the support set of each component perfectly. The results show that when the number of signal J increases, the required average number of measurements $sum olimits_{j = 1}^J M_j/J$ decreases. Furthermore, we propose an extension of one existing algorithm for DCS to exploit the prior information, and simulations verify its improved performance.

In this letter, we integrate domain information into the original artificial bee colony algorithm to create a novel, neighbor-interactive bee colony algorithm. We use the Hamming distance measure to compute variable dependency between two binary variables and employ the Gini correlation coefficient to compute variable relation between integer variables. The proposed optimization method was evaluated by minimizing binary Ising models, integer Potts models, and trapped functions. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperformed the traditional artificial bee colony and other meta-heuristics in all the testing cases.

The cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is embracing unprecedented popularity in the evolution of current RAN towards 5G. One of the essential benefits of C-RAN is facilitating cooperative transmission to enhance capacity and energy performances. In this paper, we argue that the conventional symmetric coordination in which all antennas participate in transmission does not necessarily lead to an energy efficient C-RAN. Further, the current assessments of energy consumption should be modified to match this shifted paradigm in network architecture. Towards this end, this paper proposes an asymmetric coordination scheme to optimize the energy efficiency of C-RAN. Specifically, asymmetric coordination is approximated and formulated as a joint antenna selection and power allocation problem, which is then solved by a proposed sequential-iterative algorithm. A modular power consumption model is also developed to convert the computational complexity of coordination into baseband power consumption. Simulations verify the performance benefits of our proposed asymmetric coordination in effectively enhancing system energy efficiency.

Collaborative filtering with only implicit feedbacks has become a quite common scenario (e.g. purchase history, click-through log, and page visitation). This kind of feedback data only has a small portion of positive instances reflecting the user's interaction. Such characteristics pose great challenges to dealing with implicit recommendation problems. In this letter, we take full advantage of matrix factorization and relative preference to make the recommendation model more scalable and flexible. In addition, we propose to take into consideration the concept of covisitation which captures the underlying relationships between items or users. To this end, we propose the algorithm Integrated Collaborative Filtering for Implicit Feedback incorporating Covisitation (ICFIF-C) to integrate matrix factorization and collaborative ranking incorporating the covisitation of users and items simultaneously to model recommendation with implicit feedback. The experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms on three standard datasets.

Linked Open Data (LOD) at Schema-Level and knowledge described in Chinese is an important part of the LOD project. Previous work generally ignored the rules of word-order sensitivity and polysemy in Chinese or could not deal with the out-of-vocabulary (OOV) mapping task. There is still no efficient system for large-scale Chinese ontology mapping. In order to solve the problem, this study proposes a novel TongYiCiCiLin (TYCCL) and Sequence Alignment-based Chinese Ontology Mapping model, which is called TongSACOM, to evaluate Chinese concept similarity in LOD environment. Firstly, an improved TYCCL-based similarity algorithm is proposed to compute the similarity between atomic Chinese concepts that have been included in TYCCL. Secondly, a global sequence-alignment and improved TYCCL-based combined algorithm is proposed to evaluate the similarity between Chinese OOV. Finally, comparing the TongSACOM to other typical similarity computing algorithms, and the results prove that it has higher overall performance and usability. This study may have important practical significance for promoting Chinese knowledge sharing, reusing, interoperation and it can be widely applied in the related area of Chinese information processing.

In the newly finalized video coding standard, namely high efficiency video coding (HEVC), new notations like coding unit (CU), prediction unit (PU) and transformation unit (TU) are introduced to improve the coding performance. As a result, the reconstruction loop in intra encoding is heavily burdened to choose the best partitions or modes for them. In order to solve the bottleneck problems in cycle and hardware cost, this paper proposed a high-throughput and compact implementation for such a reconstruction loop. By “high-throughput”, it refers to that it has a fixed throughput of 32 pixel/cycle independent of the TU/PU size (except for 4×4 TUs). By “compact”, it refers to that it fully explores the reusability between discrete cosine transform (DCT) and inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) as well as that between quantization (Q) and de-quantization (IQ). Besides the contributions made in designing related hardware, this paper also provides a universal formula to analyze the cycle cost of the reconstruction loop and proposed a parallel-process scheme to further reduce the cycle cost. This design is verified on the Stratix IV FPGA. The basic structure achieved a maximum frequency of 150MHz and a hardware cost of 64K ALUTs, which could support the real time TU/PU partition decision for 4K×2K@20fps videos.

In heterogenous networks (HetNets), the deployment of small cells with the reuse of limited frequency resources to improve the spectral efficiency results in cross- and co-tier interference. In addition, the excessive power usage in such networks is also a critical problem. In this paper, we propose precoding and postcoding schemes to tackle interference and energy efficiency (EE) challenges in the two-tier downlink multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) HetNets. We propose transmission strategies based on hierarchical partial coordination (HPC) of the macro cell and small cells to reduce channel state information (CSI) exchange and guarantee the quality of service (QoS) in the upper tier with any change of network deployment in the lower tier. We employ the interference alignment (IA) scheme to cancel cross- and co-tier interference. Additionally, to maximize the EE, power allocation schemes in each tier are proposed based on a combination of Dinkelbach's method and the bisection searching approach. To investigate insights on the optimization problem, a theoretical analysis on the relationship between the maximum achievable EE and the transmit power is derived. Simulation results prove the superior EE performance of the proposed EE maximization scheme over the sum rate maximization approach and confirm the validity of our theoretical findings.

In this paper, we have investigated the characteristics of PdYb-silicide layer formed by the silicidation of Pd/Yb/n-Si(100) stacked structures for the first time. Pd (12-20 nm)/Yb (0-8 nm) stacked layers were deposited on n-Si(100) substrates by the RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Then, 10 nm-thick HfN encapsulating layer was deposited at room temperature. Next, silicidation was carried out by the RTA at 500°C/1 min in N2 followed by the selective etching. From the J-V characteristics of fabricated Schottky diode, Schottky barrier height (SBH) for electron was reduced from 0.73 eV of Pd2Si to 0.4 eV of PdYb-silicide in case the Pd/Yb thicknesses were 14/6 nm, respectively.

In this paper, the performance of orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBC) for distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems employing adaptive M-QAM transmission is investigated over independent but not necessarily identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) generalized-K fading channels with arbitrary positive integer-valued k(inversely reflects the shadowing severity) and m (inversely reflects the fading severity). Before this, i.n.i.d. generalized-K fading channel has never been considered for distributed OSTBC-MIMO systems. Especially, the effects of the shape parameter k on the distributed OSTBC-MIMO system performance are unknown. Thus, we investigate mainly the significance of the shape parameter k on the distributed OSTBC-MIMO system performance, in terms of the average symbol error probability (SEP), outage probability, and spectral efficiency (SE). By establishing the system model, the approximated probability density function (PDF) of the equivalent signal to noise ratio (SNR) is derived and thereafter the approximated closed-form expressions of the above performance metrics are obtained successively. Finally, the derived expressions are validated via a set of Monte-Carlo simulations and the implications of the shape parameter k on the overall performance are highlighted.

The Seebeck coefficient of Si wire co-doped with P and Ga atoms is investigated for applying thermoelectric devices. The observed Seebeck coefficient is closed to the theoretical values of electronic part of Seebeck coefficient due to the electronic transport. From the estimation of phonon scattering processes, it is found that the phonon-drag contribution to the Seebeck coefficient in co-doped Si wire is mainly governed by the phonon-boundary scattering.

LTE-Advanced heterogeneous networks (HetNets), consisting of conventional Macrocells overlaid by Picocells and forming a hierarchical cell structure, constitute an attractive way of improving the Macrocell capacity and coverage. However, the inter-tier interferences in such systems can significantly reduce the capacity and cause unacceptably high levels of control channel outage. Thus time domain Enhanced Inter-cell Interference Coordination (eICIC), such as almost blank subframe (ABS) and cell range expansion (CRE) techniques, has been proposed to mitigate the interference and improve the system capacity in HetNets. In order to acquire the benefit of eICIC technology efficiently, the three parameters, i.e. ABS ratio, ABS power and CRE bias, should be carefully configured jointly. Motivated by the above considerations, we first propose a single parameter optimization algorithm that fixes the other two parameters and then optimizes them separately. Then, a heuristic joint parameter optimization algorithm is proposed to maximize the system throughput. Extensive simulation results illustrate that the proposed algorithms clearly outperform the fixed parameter configuration, and is close to that of the traversal search algorithm even though they have lower computation complexity

The phonon-drag contribution to the Seebeck coefficient (Sph) for p-type Si, Ge and Si1-xGex is investigated for thermoelectric applications. The Sph in Si and Ge is found to mainly determined by the phonon velocity, phonon mean free path and carrier mobility associated with acoustic deformation potential scattering. Moreover, the Sph in Si1-xGex is predictable by the above-mentioned material parameters interpolated with those in Si and Ge.

In this paper, we proposed a method for radar modulation identification based on the measurement of inequality in the frequency domain. Gini's coefficient was used to exploit the inequality in the powers of spectral components. The maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify the detected radar signal into four types of modulations: unmodulated signal (UM), linear frequency modulation (LFM), non-linear frequency modulation (NLFM), and frequency shift keying (FSK). The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed method achieves an overall identification accuracy of 98.61% at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of -6dB without a priori information such as carrier frequency, pulse arrival times or pulse width.

A chirp spread spectrum (CSS) system uses a chirp signal which changes the instantaneous frequency according to time for spreading a transmission bandwidth. In the CSS system, the transmission performance can be simply improved by increasing the time-bandwidth product which is known as the processing gain. However, increasing the transmission bandwidth is limited because of the spectrum regulation. In this letter, we propose a correlation-based chirp rate allocation method to improve the transmission performance by analyzing the cross-correlation coefficient in the same time-bandwidth product. In order to analyze the transmission performance of the proposed method, we analytically derive the cross-correlation coefficient according to the time-bandwidth separation product and simulate the transmission performance. The simulation results show that the proposed method can analytically allocate the optimal chirp rate and improve the transmission performance.