We propose a method for adaptively selecting merge candidates for the geometric partitioning mode (GPM) in versatile video coding (VVC). The conventional GPM contributes to improved coding efficiency and subjective quality by partitioning the block into two nonrectangular partitions with motion vectors. The motion vector of the GPM is encoded as an index of the merge candidate list, but it does not consider that the GPM partitions are nonrectangular. In this paper, the distribution of merge candidates was evaluated for each GPM mode and partition, and a characteristic bias was revealed. To improve the coding efficiency of VVC, the proposed method allows GPM to select merge candidates that are specific to the partition. This method also introduces adaptive reference frame selection using template matching of adjacent samples. Following common test conditions in the Joint Video Experts Team (JVET), the experimental results showed an improvement in coding efficiency, with a bitrate savings of 0.16%, compared to the reference software for exploration experiments on enhanced compression beyond VVC capability in the JVET.

Holography is a three-dimensional (3D) technology that enables natural stereoscopic viewing with deep depth and expected for practical use in the future. Based on the recording process of holography, the electronic data generated through numerical simulation in a computer are called computer-generated holograms (CGHs). Displaying the generated CGH on a spatial light modulator and reconstructing a 3D object by illuminating it with light is called electro-holography. One of the issues in the development of 3DTV using electro-holography is the compression and transmission of a CGH. Because of the data loss caused by compression in a CGH, the quality of the reconstructed image may be affected, unlike normal 2D images. In wireless transmission of a CGH, not only data loss due to compression but also retransmissions and drops of data due to unstable network environments occur. These may degrade the quality of the reconstructed image, cause frame drops, and decrease the frame rate. In this paper, we developed a system for streaming CGH videos for reconstructing 3D objects using electro-holography. CGH videos were generated by merging multiple CGHs into a timeline, and the uncompressed or lossless compressed CGH videos were streamed via a network such as wired and wireless local area networks, a local 5G network, and mobile network. The performance of the network and quality of the CGH videos and reconstructed images were evaluated. Optically reconstructed images were obtained from the uncompressed CGH videos streamed via the networks. It was also confirmed that the required bit rate could be reduced without degrading the quality of the reconstructed image by using lossless compression. In some cases of wireless transmission, even when packet loss or retransmission occurs, there was no degradation in the reconstructed image quality.

Future network infrastructures will become more complex, which will require fast and secure service delivery in unpredictable scenarios, including diverse devices and multiple 5G/6G access lines supported by different carriers. In addition, future carrier networks are expected to adopt network disaggregation technologies that integrate superior technologies from different vendors, which are often “black-boxed”, to meet specific service requirements. We define a “black-boxed” node as a network node where the internal implementation of packet processing mechanisms is not disclosed, although hardware specifications are known, as seen in vendor products. This poses a challenge in the performance verification of network nodes and components for black-boxed network nodes. Consequently, a research issue emerges: the need to highly accurately estimate the performance of black-boxed network nodes in advance, where it is difficult to estimate the per-packet cost of how much bandwidth and computation time for a single packet consumes in the face of unexperienced scenarios. Therefore, the objective of this research is to explore the potential for digitally verifying the performance of black-boxed network nodes, focusing on refining the accuracy of extrapolation for their metrics. This extrapolation utilizes available external factors, including measured target metrics, node settings, and traffic conditions. In response, we propose a node modeling method that is a combination of neural processes, a type of meta-learner. The novelty of the proposed algorithm lies in its approach to iteratively append inferred router metrics to the training datasets based on feature importance. Experimental results demonstrate that by including router settings and inferred other router metrics in the training dataset based on software routers, the coefficient of determination for inferred router metrics; packet loss rates, throughput, and packet delays in the extrapolation domain surpasses the results obtained from the original training dataset alone.

The learning with errors (LWE) problem is one of the fundamental problems in cryptography and it has many applications in post-quantum cryptography. There are two variants of the problem, the decisional-LWE problem, and the search-LWE problem. LWE search-to-decision reduction shows that the hardness of the search-LWE problem can be reduced to the hardness of the decisional-LWE problem. The efficiency of the reduction can be regarded as the gap in difficulty between the problems. We initiate a study of quantum search-to-decision reduction for the LWE problem and propose a reduction that satisfies sample-preserving. In sample-preserving reduction, it preserves all parameters even the number of instances. Especially, our quantum reduction invokes the distinguisher only 2 times to solve the search-LWE problem, while classical reductions require a polynomial number of invocations. Furthermore, we give a way to amplify the success probability of the reduction algorithm. Our amplified reduction is incomparable to the classical reduction in terms of sample complexity and query complexity. Our reduction algorithm supports a wide class of error distributions and also provides a search-to-decision reduction for the learning parity with noise problem. In the process of constructing the search-to-decision reduction, we give a quantum Goldreich-Levin theorem over ℤq where q is a prime. In short, this theorem states that, if a hardcore predicate a・s (mod q) can be predicted with probability distinctly greater than (1/q) with respect to a uniformly random a ∈ ℤqn, then it is possible to determine s ∈ ℤqn.

The phenomena of iced line galloping in overhead transmission lines, caused by wind or asymmetric icing, can directly result in structural damage, windage yaw discharge of conductor, and metal damage, posing significant risks to the operation of power systems. However, the existing prediction methods for iced line galloping are difficult to achieve accurate predictions due to the lack of a large amount of iced line galloping data that matches real-world conditions. To address these issues, this paper studies the overhead iced transmission line galloping response prediction. First, the models of finite element, aerodynamic coefficient, and aerodynamic excitation for the iced conductor are constructed. The dynamic response of the conductor is simulated using finite element software to obtain a dataset of conductor galloping under different parameters. Secondly, a particle swarm optimization-conditional generative adversarial network (PSO-CGAN) based iced transmission line galloping prediction model is proposed, where the weight parameters of loss function in CGAN are optimized by PSO. The model takes initial wind attack angle, wind speed, and span as inputs to output prediction results of iced transmission line galloping. Then, based on the dynamics and galloping features of the conductor, the effects of different initial wind attack angles, wind speeds, and icing thickness on galloping are analyzed. Finally, the superior performance of the proposed model is verified through simulations.

The combination of peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction and predistortion (PD) techniques effectively reduces the nonlinear distortion of a transmission signal caused by power amplification and improves power efficiency. In this paper, assuming downlink amplify-and-forward (AF)-type relaying of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals, we propose a joint method that combines a PD technique with our previously reported PAPR reduction method utilizing the null space of a MIMO channel. In the proposed method, the reported PAPR reduction method reduces the PAPR at a relay station (RS) as well as that at a base station (BS) by using only signal processing at the BS. The PD process at the BS and RS further reduces the nonlinear distortion caused by nonlinear power amplification. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method enhances the effectiveness of PD at the BS and RS and achieves further coverage enhancement compared to conventional methods.

Drug discovery, characterized by its time-consuming and costly nature, demands approximately 9 to 17 years and around two billion dollars for development. Despite the extensive investment, about 90% of drugs entering clinical trials face withdrawal, with compound toxicity accounting for 30% of these instances. Ethical concerns and the discrepancy in mechanisms between humans and animals have prompted regulatory restrictions on traditional animal-based toxicity prediction methods. In response, human pluripotent stem cell-based approaches have emerged as an alternative. This paper investigates the scalability challenges inherent in utilizing pluripotent stem cells due to the costly nature of RNAseq and the lack of standardized protocols. To address these challenges, we propose applying Mixup data augmentation, a successful technique in deep learning, to kernel SVM, facilitated by Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent (SDCA). Our novel approach, Exact SDCA, leverages intermediate class labels generated through Mixup, offering advancements in both efficiency and effectiveness over conventional methods. Numerical experiments reveal that Exact SDCA outperforms Approximate SDCA and SGD in attaining optimal solutions with significantly fewer epochs. Real data experiments further demonstrate the efficacy of multiplexing gene networks and applying Mixup in toxicity prediction using pluripotent stem cells.

Accurate water level prediction systems improve safety and quality of life. This study introduces a method that uses clustering and deep learning of multisite data to enhance the water level prediction of the Three Gorges Dam. The results show that Cluster-GRU-based can provide accurate forecasts for up to seven days.

Remote video monitoring over networks inevitably introduces a certain degree of communication latency. Although numerous studies have been conducted to reduce latency in network systems, achieving “zero-latency” is fundamentally impossible for video monitoring. To address this issue, we investigate a practical method to compensate for latency in video monitoring using video prediction techniques. We apply the lightweight PredNet to predict future frames, and their image qualities are evaluated through quantitative image quality metrics and subjective assessment. The evaluation results suggest that for simple movements of the robot arm, the prediction time to generate future frames can tolerate up to 333 ms. The video prediction method is integrated into a remote monitoring system, and its processing time is also evaluated. We define the object-to-display latency for video monitoring and explore the potential for realizing a zero-latency remote video monitoring system. The evaluation, involving simultaneous capture of the robot arm’s movement and the display of the remote monitoring system, confirms the feasibility of compensating for the object-to-display latency of several hundred milliseconds by using video prediction. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can function as a new compensation method for communication latency.

In this paper, we propose the transient analysis technique to analyze the multilayered dispersive media by using a combination of fast inversion Laplace transform (FILT) and the continued fraction expanded methods. Numerical results are given by the reflection response, inside-time response waveforms, and electric field distributions of the reflection component. Further, we verify the calculation accuracy of FILT method for the two types using a convergence test.

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is an effective technology to improve the energy and spectral efficiency of wireless powered communication network (WPCN). Under user cooperation, we propose an IRS-assisted WPCN system where the wireless devices (WDs) collect wireless energy in the downlink (DL) and then share data. The adjacent single-antenna WDs cooperate to form a virtual antenna array so that their information can be simultaneously transmitted to the multi-antenna common hybrid access point (HAP) through the uplink (UL) using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. By jointly optimizing the passive beamforming at the IRS, the active beamforming in the DL and the UL, the energy consumed by data sharing, and the time allocation of each phase, we formulate an UL throughput maximization problem. However, this optimization problem is non-convex since the optimization variables are highly coupled. In this study, we apply the alternating optimization (AO) technology to decouple the optimization variables and propose an efficient algorithm to avoid the difficulty of directly solving the problem. Numerical results indicate that the joint optimization method significantly improves the UL throughput performance in multi-user WPCN compared with various baseline methods.

We propose a novel peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction method based on a peak cancellation (PC) signal vector that considers the variance in the average signal power among transmitter antennas for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals using the null space in a MIMO channel. First, we discuss the conditions under which the PC signal vector achieves a sufficient PAPR reduction effect after its projection onto the null space of the MIMO channel. The discussion reveals that the magnitude of the correlation between the PC signal vector before projection and the transmission signal vector should be as low as possible. Based on this observation and the fact that to reduce the PAPR it is helpful to suppress the variation in the transmission signal power among antennas, which may be enhanced by beamforming (BF), we propose a novel method for generating a PC signal vector. The proposed PC signal vector is designed so that the signal power levels of all the transmitter antennas are limited to be between the maximum and minimum power threshold levels at the target timing. The newly introduced feature in the proposed method, i.e., increasing the signal power to be above the minimum power threshold, contributes to suppressing the transmission signal power variance among antennas and to improving the PAPR reduction capability after projecting the PC signal onto the null space in the MIMO channel. This is because the proposed method decreases the magnitude of the correlation between the PC signal vectors before its projection and the transmission signal vectors. Based on computer simulation results, we show that the PAPR reduction performance of the proposed method is improved compared to that for the conventional method and the proposed method reduces the computational complexity compared to that for the conventional method for achieving the same target PAPR.

Recent years have seen a general resurgence of interest in analog signal processing and computing architectures. In addition, extensive theoretical and experimental literature on chaos and analog chaotic oscillators exists. One peculiarity of these circuits is the ability to generate, despite their structural simplicity, complex spatiotemporal patterns when several of them are brought towards synchronization via coupling mechanisms. While by no means a systematic survey, this paper provides a personal perspective on this area. After briefly covering design aspects and the synchronization phenomena that can arise, a selection of results exemplifying potential applications is presented, including in robot control, distributed sensing, reservoir computing, and data augmentation. Despite their interesting properties, the industrial applications of these circuits remain largely to be realized, seemingly due to a variety of technical and organizational factors including a paucity of design and optimization techniques. Some reflections are given regarding this situation, the potential relevance to discontinuous innovation in analog circuit design of chaotic oscillators taken both individually and as synchronized networks, and the factors holding back the transition to higher levels of technology readiness.

Images with rich color information are an important source of information that people obtain from the objective world. Occasionally, it is difficult for people with red-green color vision deficiencies to obtain color information from color images. We propose a method of color correction for dichromats based on the physiological characteristics of dichromats, considering hue information. First, the hue loss of color pairs under normal color vision was defined, an objective function was constructed on its basis, and the resultant image was obtained by minimizing it. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through comparison tests. Red-green color vision deficient people fail to distinguish between partial red and green colors. When the red and green connecting lines are parallel to the a* axis of CIE L*a*b*, red and green perception defectives cannot distinguish the color pair, but can distinguish the color pair parallel to the b* axis. Therefore, when two colors are parallel to the a* axis, their color correction yields good results. When color correction is performed on a color, the hue loss between the two colors under normal color vision is supplemented with b* so that red-green color vision-deficient individuals can distinguish the color difference between the color pairs. The magnitude of the correction is greatest when the connecting lines of the color pairs are parallel to the a* axis, and no color correction is applied when the connecting lines are parallel to the b* axis. The objective evaluation results show that the method achieves a higher score, indicating that the proposed method can maintain the naturalness of the image while reducing confusing colors.

We propose a pre-T event-triggered controller (ETC) for the stabilization of a chain of integrators. Our per-T event-triggered controller is a modified event-triggered controller by adding a pre-defined positive constant T to the event-triggering condition. With this pre-T, the immediate advantages are (i) the often complicated additional analysis regarding the Zeno behavior is no longer needed, (ii) the positive lower bound of interexecution times can be specified, (iii) the number of control input updates can be further reduced. We carry out the rigorous system analysis and simulations to illustrate the advantages of our proposed method over the traditional event-triggered control method.

A novel temporal convolution network-gated recurrent unit (NTCN-GRU) algorithm is proposed for the greatest of constant false alarm rate (GO-CFAR) frequency hopping (FH) prediction, integrating GRU and Bayesian optimization (BO). GRU efficiently captures the semantic associations among long FH sequences, and mitigates the phenomenon of gradient vanishing or explosion. BO improves extracting data features by optimizing hyperparameters besides. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed algorithm effectively reduces the loss in the training process, greatly improves the FH prediction effect, and outperforms the existing FH sequence prediction model. The model runtime is also reduced by three-quarters compared with others FH sequence prediction models.

Using a limited number of probes has always been a focus in interface-level network topology probing to discover complete network topologies. Stop-set-based network topology probing methods significantly reduce the number of probes sent but suffer from the side effect of incomplete topology information discovery. This study proposes an optimized probing method based on stop probabilities (SPs) that builds on existing stop-set-based network topology discovery methods to address the issue of incomplete topology information owing to multipath routing. The statistics of repeat nodes (RNs) and multipath routing on the Internet are analyzed and combined with the principles of stop-set-based probing methods, highlighting that stopping probing at the first RN compromises the completeness of topology discovery. To address this issue, SPs are introduced to adjust the stopping strategy upon encountering RNs during probing. A method is designed for generating SPs that achieves high completeness and low cost based on the distribution of the number of RNs. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed stop-probability-based probing method almost completely discovers network nodes and links across different regions and times over a two-year period, while significantly reducing probing redundancy. In addition, the proposed approach balances and optimizes the trade-off between complete topology discovery and reduced probing costs compared with existing topology probing methods. Building on this, the factors influencing the probing cost of the proposed method and methods to further reduce the number of probes while ensuring completeness are analyzed. The proposed method yields universally applicable SPs in the current Internet environment.

A reduced dark leakage current, without degrading the near-infrared responsivity, is reported for a vertical pin structure of Ge photodiodes (PDs) on n+-Si substrate, which usually shows a leakage current higher than PDs on p+-Si. The peripheral/surface leakage, the dominant leakage in PDs on n+-Si, is significantly suppressed by globally implanting P+ in the i-Si cap layer protecting the fragile surface of i-Ge epitaxial layer before locally implanting B+/BF2+ for the top p+ region of the pin junction. The P+ implantation compensates free holes unintentionally induced due to the Fermi level pinning at the surface/interface of Ge. By preventing the hole conduction from the periphery to the top p+ region under a negative/reverse bias, a reduction in the leakage current of PDs on n+-Si is realized.

This paper introduces a computer-aided low-power design method for tapered buffers that address given load capacitances, output transition times, and source impedances. Cross-voltage-domain tapered buffers involving a low-voltage domain in the frontier stages and a high-voltage domain in the posterior stages are further discussed which breaks the trade-off between the energy dissipation and the driving capability in conventional designs. As an essential circuit block, a dedicated analytical model for the level-shifter is proposed. The energy-optimized tapered buffer design is verified for different source and load conditions in a 180-nm CMOS process. The single-VDD buffer model achieves an average inaccuracy of 8.65% on the transition loss compared with Spice simulation results. Cross-voltage tapered buffers can be optimized to further remarkably reduce the energy consumption. The study finds wide applications in energy-efficient switching-mode analog applications.

To improve the direction-of-arrival estimation performance of the small-aperture array, we propose a source localization method inspired by the Ormia fly’s coupled ears and MUSIC-like algorithm. The Ormia can local its host cricket’s sound precisely despite the tremendous incompatibility between the spacing of its ear and the sound wavelength. In this paper, we first implement a biologically inspired coupled system based on the coupled model of the Ormia’s ears and solve its responses by the modal decomposition method. Then, we analyze the effect of the system on the received signals of the array. Research shows that the system amplifies the amplitude ratio and phase difference between the signals, equivalent to creating a virtual array with a larger aperture. Finally, we apply the MUSIC-like algorithm for DOA estimation to suppress the colored noise caused by the system. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method can improve the localization precision and resolution of the array.