bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High‐speed transformation of drawing images based on structure description
Authors: Ariki Yasuo , Wakimoto Kouji , Shieh Hui , Sakai Tosiyuki
Published: July 2007

This paper assumes the situation where the existing drawing is to be re‐utilized after a partial modification, and discusses a system, which can easily improve or modify with a high speed the characters and figures at the image level. First, the input drawing is segmented automatically and described in terms of the composing elements of the drawing, such as the character, the segment, the connecting point and the frame surrounding characters. Since the description is the structure description of the drawing, and no particular drawing is assumed, the method can be applied to various kinds of drawings. Then based on the description, the desired transformation is planned. Finally, based on the transformed description, the image is transformed. The proposed system features the following: (1) A versatile structure description is available; (2) two‐stage transformation, i.e., the transformation at the description level and the transformation at the image level, is employed. This two‐stage transformation makes possible the global transformation of the drawings, such that the frame surrounding the characters can be transformed according to the change of the character string length; and (3) the real‐time image processing, such as extraction of the composing elements and image generation is realized by the data‐flow processor.
Relation of binary image complexity to gray‐scaled image thresholding
Authors: Taniguchi Rin‐Ichiro , Kawaguchi Eiji
Published: July 2007

Conventional gray‐scaled image thresholding consists in finding the threshold according to the bimodality of a gray‐level histogram of an input image. However, few discussions have been made on the thresholding problem from the viewpoint of the optimality of the results. As far as image perception (human perception) is concerned, we naturally see the image as simply as possible. Taking such situation into account, the threshold for image thresholding operation should be determined on the same basis. This paper presents a principle in which the optimality of the thresholding process is evaluated according to the complexity change of the binarized picture against the change of the threshold value. Specifically, we show that the complexity curves are categorized into either unimodal or multimodal. For the multimodal case, we show that a good thresholding can be obtained by choosing a minimal point on the curve as the threshold. For a unimodal case we introduce another strategy which depends on the local multimodality of the complexity curve.
High‐accuracy distance and inclination measurement using slit‐ray projection method
Authors: Naruse Hiroshi , Nomura Yoshihiko , Yamamoto Toshio
Published: July 2007

The slit‐ray projection has been used widely as a method of meauring the distance and the inclination of the TV camera in regard to the object. In this method, the image is sampled and quantized into several hundreds pixels square, and the center position of the slit‐ray projection is determined by the data processing to determine the distance and the inclination. In earlier methods, however, the unit in the measurement of the center position has been one pixel, and the measurement accuracy is restricted to the same order as the range of measurement divided by the number of pixels. Consequently, the method has been difficult to apply to the case where a higher accuracy is required. This paper presents a slit‐ray projection method where the center position can be determined with accuracy of less than one pixel, leading to the highly accurate measurement of the distance and the inclination. In the proposed method, the positions of more than three pixels in the slit‐ray projection as well as the gray level of the pixels are analyzed by the regression to the normal distribution using the least‐square method. It is shown that the center position can be determined with a high accuracy of 0.05 pixel. A correction method is also presented, where the slit‐ray is shifted vertically by a specified distance, and the center position is determined accurately. By this scheme, the image plane length and the image distortion can be determined. By combining those ideas, it is shown by an experiment that the proposed measurement for the distance and the inclination can realize approximately 10 times higher accuracy, compared with the traditional methods.
An object‐oriented approach for interactive microprogram simulator
Authors: Sugimoto Akira , Abe Shigeru , Kuroda Masahiro , Katou Sachio
Published: July 2007

Efficiency and reliability are essential to microprograms, and it is important to perform debugging and evaluation through interaction with the simulator. The simulator is also indispensable in the development of the microprogram in parallel to the hardware. However, if a dedicated simulator is to be developed for each target computer, constraints are imposed on time and cost, making it difficult to realize a high‐level interactive interface. On the other hand, if a general‐purpose simulator is to be employed, it is difficult to provide an interface suited to the target computer, such as visual simulation. This paper proposes an object‐oriented system aiming at the realization of both the detailed function of the dedicated simulator and the versatility of the software. Although the object‐oriented language has a high modularity, adequate modeling must be provided for the whole system including the interfaces, to ensure the machine‐independence of the microprogram simulator, where the object of the description itself depends on the target computer. In this paper, an interactive interface is proposed, which is suited to the debugging of the microprogram. Then a realization by the object‐oriented scheme is described which has a high flexibility against the modification of hardware specification and permits an easy reuse of the software for other computers. As a practical example, the development of μP simulator by the authors is outlined, together with the description of the user interface.
A new speckle pattern measurement method for in‐plane displacement analysis
Authors: Kawakami Takashi , Takagi Mikio
Published: July 2007

Laser speckle photography is employed as a noncontact technique for measurement of minute in‐plane displacement of objects. With this technique, the direction and magnitude of displacement in a tiny portion of an object are expressed as the angle and spacing of Young's fringes. There has been a need for an image data processing procedure which can quantify and calculate displacement values. This paper describes a new algorithm, developed for this purpose, which employs projected profiles of the original image density and also the maximum entropy method (MEM). Specifically, the fringe angle is found by comparing projected density profiles obtained from various angles. MEM is used to calculate fringe spacing. Results of an experiment carried out to verify the accuracy of this algorithm confirm that it is relatively unaffected by optical noise and provides sufficient measurement accuracy for practical application even when there are few fringes. Accuracy to within ±2% is achieved for a displacement magnitude of 150 μm and to within ±1% for the displacement direction.
Fractal—based analysis of 3D natural shapes and its application to terrain modeling
Authors: Yokoya Naokazu , Yamamoto Kazuhiko , Funakubo Noboru
Published: July 2007

This paper describes the fractal analysis and interpolation of 3D natural surface shapes and their application to terrain modeling in a sensor simulation for an earth resource satellite. After reviewing the concept of fractals, especially the fractional Brownian function and its fundamental characteristics, we present fractal‐based techniques for analyzing and interpolating 3D surface shapes. These techniques are based essentially on the approximation of the surface by the fractional Brownian function. Finally, the application of these techniques to terrain modeling is described. The analysis‐followed‐by‐interpolation method is applied successfully for generating the digital terrain map of high spatial resolution from the existing coarse terrain data.
Program verification system with synthesizer of invariant assertions
Authors: Dan Seiichiro , Yamaguchi Takahira , Kakusho Osamu , Tezuka Yoshikazu
Published: July 2007

Automatic verification system of programs is considered to be an important constituent in software development of the supporting environment. Detailed specifications including the invariant assertion of loops, are necessary for the program verification. Thus since it is very burdensome for humans to prepare them completely, the supporting environment is desired. Thus, we have been working on a theoretical investigation regarding the generation of invariant assertions, and furthermore, the construction of a program verification system with a synthesizer of invariant assertions. The theoretical investigation has already been reported, and this paper describes the implementation of our system and presents the results. Our system is a comprehensive program verification system which includes program input, obtaining specifications (invariant assertion generation), generating verification conditions, and proving the verification conditions. As synthesizers of invariant assertions, execution of difference equation method, tracing of program variables and path conditions by symbolic execution, and proposing invariant assertions by induction from trace information are realized. These functions are explained through executive examples and using computers, it is shown that the generation of invariant assertions and its support are possible. Also, since our system, including the proof system, is realized, it is more realistic and promising than existing program verification systems.
Construction and application of multivalued multithreshold circuit based on threshold control
Authors: Wakui Fumio , Tanaka Masaichi , Sakamoto Hiroyuki
Published: July 2007

The research and development of a 4‐valued integrated circuit, which is compatible to a binary circuit, is now being conducted intensively, aiming at the transfer of the merits of a multivalued system to a digital system. Another merit of the multivalued circuit is that the number of wirings and the wiring length can be reduced, which is useful in reducing the delay of driving due to the interwiring capacitance. On the other hand, the noise margin is a problem in the use of the multivalued circuit. From such a viewpoint, the authors are trying to improve the noise margin, and reported on the threshold control for the multivalued multithreshold circuit. In this circuit, however, the voltage step is reduced in correspondence to the control of the noise margin. This necessitates an increase of the supply voltage. As a result, when the binary ECL device is used as the circuit element, the number of levels that can be discriminated in the integrated circuit is restricted to 3 (two thresholds). This paper aims at the realization of up to a 5‐valued 12‐threshold control circuit by the binary device. For this purpose, a new threshold detector, the fundamental circuit which is obtained as an extension of that circuit, and the complementary circuit, are employed. In the threshold‐setting circuit in the threshold detector, the control value and the voltage step can be set independently, which leads to the low‐voltage supply. By introducing the signal distributor into the threshold detector, the maximum fan‐in and fan‐out, as well as the maximum number of thresholds are improved drastically. As an application, the threshold control 4‐valued decoder was constructed experimentally, and it is shown that the noise margin is improved by 1.95 times or more.
Representation of teaching‐world knowledge and the method of the inference for intelligent cai
Authors: Okamoto Toshio
Published: July 2007

This paper considers the learning world of differential calculus for composite functions, including trigonometric functions, and describes the mechanism of an intelligent CAI system NEUTON. In the design of the system, the teaching world is divided into the meta‐knowledge‐base for dialog management, the text knowledge‐base, the problem‐solving expert knowledge, the rule‐base for tutoring strategy, and the bug knowledge. The modular structure is thus considered for the knowledge‐base. The representation of knowledge and the method of inference are considered, utilizing the characteristics of such knowledge as follows.

The text knowledge is based on the semantic network representation, where the procedural knowledge is supplemented. Other knowledge bases are described by the production rules. The knowledge structure is simplified so that the interpretation and the execution are made by a single meta‐inference engine. The response of the student as well as his level of understanding are recognized and diagnosed utilizing those knowledges, and the individual guidance process is developed. In the intelligent CAI, important mechanisms are those for identifying the cause of the error, and the determination of the micro‐ and macroscopic means of remedy from the knowledge‐base. In this paper, a schema is described where the bug generation, diagnosis mechanism, problem‐solving expert mechanism and the student model called MOD are closely interrelated.
MR image reconstruction from half the data using a phase map
Authors: Sano Koichi , Suzuki Kazuo , Yokoyama Tetsuo , Koizumi Hideaki
Published: July 2007

This paper describes a method of image reconstruction from approximately half the data in the measurement space, as a means to reduce the measurement time in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the conventional method, the property of the data where the image is of a real value, is utilized. Consequently, it is not applicable to the case where the image contains a large phase distortion. This paper derives first the theoretical relation among the measured data for the image with arbitrary phase. The condition is shown for the image to be reconstructed using the phase information from the partially measured data. Then a recurrence formula is derived by which the remaining unknown data can be determined by fast‐Fourier transform. By the proposed method, the image can be reconstructed from approximately half the data, including the data needed to estimate the phase. As a result of the simulation and volunteer experiments, it was verified that a satisfactory image can be reconstructed from approximately 53 percent of the data.
Quantification of the heartbeat rhythm using characteristic equation of autoregressive model of R–R intervals in ECG
Authors: Takata Kazuyuki , Watanabe Yosaku , Yokoyama Kiyoko
Published: July 2007

The heartbeat rhythm is affected by various factors such as respiration, blood pressure, body temperature regulation, and arrhythmia. Other external factors also affect the variation of the heart‐rate with various frequency components. The heart‐rate variability (HRV) has been used as an index for the heartbeat variation, but it represents the variation caused by a large number of factors through a single measure, since it is determined from the overall time‐series of heartbeats. Consequently, it does not have a clear interpretation and can represent only macroscopic information. If an arbitrary frequency component can be extracted from the heartbeat rhythm and HRV derived based on that component, a detailed and clear information will be obtained.

This paper proposes a method to extract a fluctuation component for an arbitrary frequency. The autoregressive (AR) model is applied to the time‐series of heartbeats, and the power spectrum density function is decomposed based on the characteristic equation of the AR model. HRV for arbitrary frequency component is examined. The time‐series of heartbeat is decomposed into frequency components. A time‐series is generated by simulation with the same statistical property as the decomposed component, and is analyzed to verify the effectiveness. The method is applied to the exercise ECG for analysis. As a result, the usefulness of the method was demonstrated by indicating that the information which cannot be obtained from the overall time‐series can be obtained from the generated series having only a decomposed component.
Paragram: A high‐level programming language for parallel processors
Authors: Yamamoto Fujio , Umetani Yukio , Demoto Manabu
Published: July 2007

This paper presents the design principle of PARAGRAM, which is being developed for the parallel processing description for numerical simulation. The specification for the language is outlined, and the result of applying the language to the description of the actual problem is presented. The proposed language aims primarily at the following. The programmer is asked to indicate the parallelism inherent to the problems in the lumped system such as structural analysis and network analysis, and the particle problems such as neutron transport. This facilitates the mapping to the parallel computer architecture to be employed. The productivity and the maintainability of the program are improved by the simplicity of the description. Usually, different types of parallel processings are required for the lumped system and the particle system. In the former, the array‐oriented parallelism often is observed, for example, the calculation of elements in the sparse matrix and the linear calculation using the sparse matrix. In the latter, the procedure‐oriented parallelism often is observed based on the processing for each particle. The declaration function for the structure of various sparse matrices as well as the operation description based on the logical structure are employed for the former. The definition function for the particle density and probability distribution for the Monte Carlo particle system, as well as the parallel execution control block function for the simulation, are provided for the latter. As a result of applying the proposed language to the parallel processing description of the actual problem, it was verified that the description lines can be reduced by 23 to 62 percent from the traditional serial processing FORTRAN, indicating that the language is useful in the clear description, thereby improving the descriptive power.
Spatial feature detection using a pulse‐type hardware neuron model
Authors: Sekine Yoshifumi , Suyama Masatoshi , Muramatsu Atsushi
Published: July 2007

The feature‐detecting circuits based on the pulse‐type hardware neuron model using a ∧‐shaped transistor to apply neuron information processing in a living body to engineering applications is studied. Previously, the properties of the pulse‐type hardware neuron model were shown using a ∧‐shaped transistor and a temporal feature‐detecting circuit designed with the ON‐response pulse‐type hardware neuron model was presented.

This paper discusses spatial feature‐detecting circuits based on the pulse‐type hardware neuron model using a ∧‐shaped transistor. First, the properties of the Neural AND Gate based on the pulse‐type neuron model are shown and the design requirements and the output regions are clarified by operation analysis for local peak, local valley, and slope‐detecting circuits. These circuits are applications for spatial feature detection. Second, the experimental results on the three detecting circuits designed with the pulse‐type hardware neuron model using a ∧‐shaped transistor are shown. Finally, it is concluded that the pulse‐type hardware neuron model using a ∧‐shaped transistor is useful for both spatial feature‐detecting circuits and temporal feature‐detecting circuits.
Extraction and computational estimation of malignant microcalcification on mammography
Authors: Yabashi Seiji , Hata Masayasu , Kubo Kanji , Ishikawa Taro
Published: July 2007

Mammography is one of the tools in the diagnosis of breast cancer. By a new method of mammography based on the soft X‐ray and the ultrafine X‐ray film, the X‐ray exposure is reduced and the fine internal structure of the breast can be observed. With the increase of the subjects for breast cancer, it is required to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the diagnosis. A diagnosis‐supporting equipment is required which provides an image display to assist in recognition of pathological changes, and provides an objective feature evaluation. This paper considers the microcalcification which is important in the diagnosis of the early breast cancer. The microcalcification appears as opaque points on the mammograph, and when the points are concentrated locally, it is diagnosed as malignant.

After the emphasis by Laplacian processing, cell division was applied. The cell with aggregated microcalcification was extracted, and the image display was made so that the feature difference between cancerous and noncancerous lesions can be recognized. To arrive at a numerical representation of the feature difference, the following parameters were considered: (1) effective distance between cells; and (2) rate of change of the number of cells with regard to the change of the threshold.

As the result of processing 37 cases, including 14 benign cases and three normal cases, up to 14 of 15 malignant cases were able to be separated from other benign and normal cases, using those two parameters.
Segmentation of continuous speech by HMM and bayesian probability
Authors: Seiichi  , Yasuhide Hashimoto,
Published: July 2007

This paper describes a new statistical method of segmentation using a hidden Markov model (HMM) and a Bayes' classifier. The main characteristics of this method are the use of feature parameters which are independent of each category in vowels or consonants, and the use of only one HMM which represents all syllable patterns in common. The segmentation strategy is to find the optimal HMM sequence. The optimal/best sequence is found by using the O(n) DP matching based on the Viterbi algorithm. The concatenated number and boundaries of the best HMM sequence are regarded as the segmentation result.
A software reliability evaluation tool: Sret
Authors: Shigeru  , Shunji Osaki  , Ryushi Isozaki
Published: July 2007

The evaluation of reliability is very important in developing software efficiently. This paper describes the construction of a software development‐assist tool, which executes the reliability evaluation of the software quantitatively in the testing phase. In this tool, the following models are employed for the analysis of the software error data. The stochastic models based on nonhomogeneous Poisson processes are exponential, delayed S‐shaped and inflection S‐shaped software reliability growth types. The deterministic regression models are logistic and Gomperz curve models. The procedure for evaluating the software reliability is as follows: The data observed in the testing phase are read in. The unknown parameters in each model are estimated, and the goodness‐of‐fit test of the estimated result is examined. The results of the estimation for the reliability evaluation measures as well as the observed data are displayed in the form of curves. The forementioned procedures are implemented in a program package, using BASIC language operating on MS‐DOS. Using the software reliability evaluation tool developed in this study, an executing example is presented based on the actually observed software error data.
Monochromatic X‐Ray CT Using Synchrotron Radiation
Authors: Kohno Hideki , Shiono Hidemi , Nonmember Katsuhisa Usami, , Nonmember Yoshio Suzuki,
Published: July 2007

This paper describes a prototype monochromatic X‐ray CT using synchrotron radiation and evaluates its spatial resolutions, noise in reconstructed images, and quantitatively. A monochromatized X‐ray using a crystal spectrometer is passed through a slit (width 25 mm, variable height 25 μm to 2.5 mm), and then irradiated on a rotating sample. The X‐ray passed through the sample is converted into an electrical signal by using an X‐ray detector with 1024 channels, and then fed into a computer input. This monochromatic X‐ray CT has a view field 25 mm in diameter. The CT has an X‐ray spectroscopy function and a direct magnifying function of projection using an asymmetrical Bragg reflection, as well as a function for conventional cross‐sectional images. This paper describes theoretical analyses of the spatial resolution and noise in reconstructed images which determine the capability of an X‐ray CT, and the experimental evaluation of the prototype CT. Theoretically, the spatial resolution is expected to be greater than 25 μm at a magnification of 5, and this agreed with experimental results, as well as the theoretically determined noise in reconstructed images. The prototype apparatus has an energy resolution of 0.1 percent (full width of half maximum) in an energy range of 7 to 40 keV. This makes an absolute‐value measurement of the X‐ray absorption coefficient possible, and this has been confirmed experimentally. By using this apparatus, it is possible to produce an image quantitatively indicating the distribution of a particular chemical element.
A method for designing neural networks using nonlinear multivariate analysis—application to speaker‐independent vowel recognition
Authors: Irino Toshio , Kawahara Hideki
Published: July 2007

This paper proposes a method of constructing a multilayered neural network, using the multiple logistic model (MLM). The model is a nonlinear multivariate analysis considering the output logistic function of each unit, which is used in the back‐propagation method (BP). The idea can be applied directly to the determination of the multilayered neural network structure. The model can also be utilized as a systematic method to introduce such information as pattern distribution into the neural network structure. Considering the speaker‐independent vowel recognition as the problem, this paper compares the results by the proposed method (MLM), the construction by the linear multiple regression analysis (MRA), the learning by BP with the weight being defined at random as the initial value, and the learning by BP with the initial weight determined by MLM or MRA. It is seen as a result that the recognition rate is the best when BP is applied after introducing the speaker distribution information by the proposed method. It is seen also that the computation time is reduced compared with the BP, with the initial weight being defined at random.
A Speech Modification Method by Signal Reconstruction Using Short‐Term Fourier Transform
Authors: Abe Masanobu , Tamura Shin‐Ichi , Kuwabara Hisao
Published: July 2007

The short‐term Fourier transform analysis‐synthesis technique is promising as a means to obtain high‐quality synthetic speech, since the original speech can be reconstructed from the parameters of analysis. This paper proposes a speech modification method using this synthesis system, especially the pitch frequency modification. Among various methods of the short‐term Fourier spectrum synthesis, the proposed method employs the minimization of squared error between the spectrum of the reconstructed speech and that of the target speech. The proposed method features the following two points: [1] In the pitch frequency modification, only the parameters exclusively related to the pitch frequency are modified; [2] the phase spectrum is not manipulated directly but is estimated by the speech reconstruction algorithm. As a result of evaluation of the proposed method by a hearing test, it was verified that a high‐quality modified speech is obtained for both the uniform pitch modification over the whole word and the nonuniform pitch modification to change the accent position of the word.
Variable bit rate modulo‐pcm using adaptive predictor
Authors: Nonmember Kiyoshi Mizui, , Hagiwara Masafumi , Nakagawa Masao
Published: July 2007

Recently, Modulo‐PCM (MPCM) was proposed as one of the waveform speech coding schemes. The MPCM is considered to be a possible alternative to the DPCM. This is because the MPCM has only granular noise without overload although it has the “anomaly errors” instead of the overload noise. The variable bit rate modulo‐PCM (VBR‐MPCM) has been proposed which applies the variable rate coding method to the Modulo‐PCM. This paper proposes the improved variable bit rate modulo‐PCM (improved VBR‐MPCM) whose performance is the same and whose complexity is about half compared with that of the conventional VBR‐MPCM. Moreover, the variable bit rate modulo‐PCM using adaptive predictor (VBR‐MPCM‐AP) also is proposed which uses second‐order pole and sixth‐order zero adaptive predictors instead of the fixed ones used in the improved VBR‐MPCM. From the computer simulation results, it is confirmed that the VBR‐MPCM‐AP is about 0 to 8 dB in segmental SQNR (SQNRseg), which is better than the conventional VBR‐MPCM, MPCM‐AQF and ADPCMs. From the listening test results, it is also confirmed that the proposed VBR‐MPCM‐AP is able to obtain good reconstructed speech.
Algorithm for extracting ellipses using weighted center points map
Authors: Yamato Junji , Ishii Ikuo , Makino Hideo , Irisawa Kazuyoshi
Published: July 2007

When a group of parallel lines pass through an ellipse, the center point between two intersecting points of each straight line is on another straight line passing through the center of the ellipse. Furthermore, a graphical plot of the distance between the two intersecting points vs. a coordinate value (either x or y) of the center point will form an elliptical shape. These two characteristics of the ellipse are exploited by an algorithm for ellipse extraction. Given an input image of ellipses, a center point map is constructed. Then a Hough transform is used to detect the center line that represents the ellipse. Next, the center line so detected is used to estimate the parameters and to obtain sample pixels of the ellipse. This is followed by a least‐square fitting and high precision parameter value computation. Numerous experiments were conducted which demonstrated the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Speaker Adaptation Algorithms Based on Piecewise‐Moving Adaptive Segment Quantization Method
Authors: Shiraki Yoshinao , Honda Masaaki
Published: July 2007

This paper aims at the speaker‐independent very‐low bit rate speed coding and proposes the speaker adaptation algorithm based on the piecewise movement in the speech spectrum space. In the proposed method, the universal codebook, which is constructed beforehand based on the features of the spectral distribution of an unknown speaker, is adapted to the speaker. The adaptation is based on the process which moves the center of gravity of the universal codebook for several clusters. Two algorithms are proposed for the adaptation. One is a simplified method and the other is a minimum distortion method. The minimum distortion method ensures theoretically that the quantization distortion does not increase for the speech data for adaptive training. A coding experiment was made for the spectral segments of the actual speech. It was shown that the proposed adaptation method has a higher adaptation speed compared with the traditional LBG method. It was shown also that the minimum distortion method converges to the same distortion as the LBG method.
Effectiveness of Metaphor in Mailing Procedure on Electronic Mail System
Authors: Matsuo Naoki , Matsui Hiroyuki , Tokunaga Yukio
Published: July 2007

One of the goals of studies on human interface is to make operating procedures of various systems easier to acquire. From past studies it is known that construction of appropriate mental models in the user's mind is effective in acquiring operating procedures. Furthermore, as a technique to construct easily and quickly appropriate mental models, metaphor and direct manipulation are being studied. However, it has not been clarified how effective these techniques are in acquiring operating procedures. For electronic mailing systems that enable key operations and drawing figures by touching the screen by a magnetic pen, experiments were conducted to clarify the effect on acquiring the operating procedures, regarding the procedure for sending electronic mails as “the one for sending letters by mail.” Subjects are grouped into threes and are taught the procedures for sending mails in different ways for the groups. They operate experimental systems on the first day, the third day, and three months later. Then the time required for each operation is measured and the percentage of those who performed misoperations is calculated. As the result, it is found that if users are taught that the procedure for sending mails is regarded as the one for sending letters, they acquire it easily and remember it well. Thus, it is shown that utilization of metaphor is effective. Also, from the results of the operating time, it is found that the percentage of acquisition of operating procedures can be estimated roughly.
Automated visual inspection for lsi water multilayer patterns by cascade pattern matching algorithm
Authors: Maeda Shunji , Kubota Hitoshi , Makihira Hiroshi , Ninomiya Takanori , Nonmember Yasuo Nakagawa, , Nonmember Yuzo Taniguchi,
Published: July 2007

This paper reports on the defect detection algorithm for the LSI wafer multilayer patterns, together with the result of evaluation. The multilayer patterns are constructed by the exposure after alignment between the wafer pattern and the reticle pattern for each chip. Consequently, the position relation between layers is different even for adjacent chips (interlayer registration error). The developed algorithm compares the gray‐level images of adjacent chips on the wafer and extracts the defect without being affected by the inter‐layer registration error. First, the pattern edge is extracted from the gray‐level image, and the position alignment is executed using the edges. Then, by eliminating the region where gray levels are equal, the regions are extracted for which the position alignment is unsatisfactory. The position alignment is attempted again for that region. This procedure is iterated. When the unmatched region of the pattern edge is sufficiently small, it is decided that the interlayer registration error is absorbed, and the unmatched region is extracted as the defect. An automatic visual inspection system was constructed and evaluated experimentally. As a result, it was verified that the whole chip area can be inspected, and the defect of 0.5 μm or more can be detected in a stable way.
Theories and error analysis of pencil tracing
Authors: Shinya Mikio , Takahashi Tokiichiro
Published: July 2007

To efficiently produce a more realistic image, the paraxial theory is introduced into computer graphics. The paraxial theory is a linear approximation theory established in other fields such as lens designing. The paraxial theory is formulated by a 4 × 4 matrix called “system matrix,” and this provides theoretical bases for various rendering methods such as pencil tracing, beam tracing, and cone tracing.

This paper outlines the paraxial theory, analyzes errors from the viewpoint of its application to an image generation, and proposes a compact error‐estimation function. The efficiency of the function is demonstrated experimentally. Basic data to develop an image‐generation technology based on the paraxial theory are presented.
Tomographic image reconstruction from incomplete projection data by the method of convex projections
Authors: Kudo Hiroyuki , Saito Tsuneo
Published: July 2007

This paper proposes a method based on estimation principles for reconstructing images from their incomplete projection data. The problem of estimating missing line integrals is formulated. This method can treat general problems of reconstruction of images from incomplete projection data. It is possible to take into account a priori knowledge of an object which is represented by a nonlinear constraint. This method has lesser possibility of being affected by errors due to the digital processing and requires a lesser amount of computation since the calculation is simpler than conventional methods.

This paper also proposed the use of a priori knowledge of the external shape and internal structure of an object so that the performance of the method is improved. Simulation experiments were carried out taking some cases where the projection angle is limited and an object contains an opaque part within it. The results show that the proposed method is superior to conventional methods in the quality of reconstructed images and the amount of computation required.
Effects of main magnetic field time‐variation upon mr images in permanent magnet mri system
Authors: Nozokido Tatsuo , Onodera Takashi , Yamamoto Etsuji
Published: July 2007

The effect of the time‐variation of the static magnetic field in the permanent magnet MRI system on the image quality is studied, together with the method to eliminate the effect. The permanent magnet MRI system has a larger‐time‐variation of the static magnetic field than the superconducting magnet MRI system due to the temperature variation of the permanent magnet used to produce the static field. Thus, one of the important problems inherent to the permanent magnet MRI system is to examine the time‐variation of the static magnetic field intensity within the imaging time on the image quality. However, no detailed report has been made on this effect.

This paper shows that the effect of such variation on the image can be represented by the point‐spread function. Through the analysis of this point‐spread function, it is shown that the effect of the time‐variation of the static magnetic field is negligible in the ordinary imaging condition. Furthermore, a method is presented to cope with a time‐variation of the static magnetic field, which is produced by a sudden change of the hardware environment and is much larger than the variation in the usual imaging condition.

The variation of the static magnetic field in this method is measured during the imaging, and the effect of the variation is eliminated. The effectiveness of the method is verified based on the signal data obtained from the actual system.
An approach to the generalization problem in the backpropagation method
Authors: Matsuoka Kiyotoshi
Published: July 2007

Backpropagation is one of the most widely used methods in artificial neural networks. The method determines the weights of connections between units in a layered network by an iterative computation so that the network produces desired outputs for given inputs. However, the resultant network does not necessarily provide reasonable outputs for patterns not given.

This paper proposes a modified back‐propagation learning that produces a reasonable input‐output relation for every possible input in which not only the error function between the actual output and the desired output but also the sensitivity of the output to the input variation are evaluated. It is shown also, using simple examples, that the method gives smooth mappings in the whole input space.
A method to detect distinctive features from boundary data
Authors: Yamagishi Kentarou
Published: July 2007

Recently, attempts have been made regarding automatic learning of models of objects with two‐dimensional shapes from their multiple number of images and recognizing objects using pregiven models by partial features of shapes. Both are based on a principle of extracting the local features of a figure and using them as distinctive features for both learning and recognition.

This paper proposes a method of feature extraction from a boundary pattern intended to be applied for such purpose. A hinge articulation is considered as a basic component of two‐dimensionally shaped objects, and for each one of the hinge representative shapes—a circle, linked bars and crossed bars—a simple but robust detection method is presented. Since extraction of line segments is necessary as a preprocess for detecting linked and crossed bars, a line‐segment detection method applying Hough transformation is developed for boundary patterns.
A model‐based approach to localizing stable polyhedra using geometric constraints
Authors: Yamamoto Hiroyuki , Tamura Hideyuki
Published: July 2007

This paper presents a method for localizing polyhedra using CAD data of object and range images. It is assumed that the type of object is known and that it lies in a stable position on a stand without any overlap. Before image processing geometric/local constraints and stable attitude/global constraints of objects are extracted from CAD data. From the input image a shape map and jump and roof‐edge maps based on curvature are extracted. These maps are used for object decomposition under the assumption of: (1) edges partition faces, and (2) shape boundaries partition faces.

From partitioned faces a description of an object based on its attributes and connectivity relations with other faces is given. Matching is performed between this description and a set of models. Constraints obtained from CAD data limit considerably candidates for correspondence thus making efficient matching possible.

Finally, we verify the realizability of obtained matching results and determine the attitude. To determine the attitude of an object, it suffices to determine three degrees of freedom. This paper describes not only the construction and methodology of the system but also shows experimental results based on real data.
Speaker‐independent vowel recognition combining voice features and mouth shape image with neural network
Authors: Wu Jian‐Tong , Tamura Shinichi , Mitsumoto Hiroshi , Kawai Hideo , Kurosu Kenji , Okazaki Kozo
Published: July 2007

This paper describes a neural approach intended to improve the performance of a voice recognition system for unrestricted speakers using not only voice sound features but also image features of the mouth shape. The FFT power spectrum of acoustic speech was used as the voice feature. In addition, the gray‐level image, binary image, and geometrical shape features of the mouth were used as the compensatory information and a comparison made of which kinds of image features are effective for voice recognition by a neural network.

For unrestricted speakers, a vowel recognition rate of about 80 percent was obtained using only voice features. However, this increased to some 92 percent when voice features plus binary images were used. This method can be applied not only to the improvement of voice recognition, but also to aid the communication of hearing‐impaired people.
Performance evaluation of a multivalued rsa encryption vlsi
Authors: Wei Shugang , Kameyama Michitaka , Members Tatsuo Higuchi,
Published: July 2007

This paper discusses performance evaluation of a multiple‐valued RSA encryption VLSI based on radix‐4 signed‐digit (SD) number arithmetic that is very useful for long word length arithmetic. In the arithmetic unit of the encryption VLSI, a signed‐digit adder (SD adder) is used, which is constructed with bidirectional current‐mode circuits. Also, the input/output interface circuit of the radix‐4 adder is considered for construction of a high‐speed SD full adder. A layout of the encryption VLSI including this multiple‐valued SD full adder is designed by the 2‐m̈m CMOS rule and the chip size is 9.1 7.4 mm2 for 512‐bit word length encryption. By performance evaluation with extracting SPICE parameters from the layout, an encryption rate of 85 bit/s can be obtained which is a factor of eight times faster than that of the corresponding binary one.
Access methods of a two‐dimensional access memory by two‐dimensional inverse omega network
Authors: Kumagai Takeshi , Sugai Naoto , Takakuwa Masayuki
Published: July 2007

This paper discusses an organization of a parallel memory, in which any local area of a two‐dimensional (2‐D) array can be accessed. The proposed memory system is composed of a memory array, which is a 2‐D array composed of memory modules and a 2‐D interconnection network with a 2‐D array of input/output terminals. It is used with a 2‐D processor array for local parallel processing, realizing a parallel access to sub‐arrays of the 2‐D array stored in the memory array.

This paper describes a method to store the 2‐D array in the memory system, a method of address generation for the memory array to perform parallel access, and a control method for the interconnection network. It is shown that those ideas can be realized by a simple hardware, and the proposed memory system is useful in the computer executing the local parallel processing of 2‐D arrays.
Fault detection of ttl combinational circuits based on supply current
Authors: Hashizume Masaki , Tamesada Takeorai
Published: July 2007

This paper considers a method of detecting a fault in the TTL combinational circuit based on the supply current flowing into the circuit. The authors have proposed a fault detection method for the combinational circuit based on the supply current and indicated the feasibility of fault detection. However, the method proposed in the past is based only on the supply current waveform, and it is required to determine the feature vectors for all the measured supply currents. Consequently, to apply the method to the practical fault detection of logic circuits, the computational complexity as well as the computation time in determining the feature vector should be reduced.

From such a viewpoint, this paper proposes the following method of fault detection. Whether or not a fault exists is determined first by the average, the maximum and the minimum of the supply current. Only for the supply current waveform, which cannot be decided as the nonfaulty circuit, is the feature vector employed to make a further decision using the pattern recognition technique. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated experimentally for the TTL logic circuit. Also, an algorithm is presented which can determine, from the set of faults, the fault for the reference pattern of the supply current.
Obstacle detection by disparity prediction stereopsis method
Authors: Watanabe Mutsumi , Onoguchi Kazunori , Kuno Yoshinori , Asada Haruo
Published: July 2007

The authors devised a method (disparity prediction Stereopsis method) which calculates the range of the disparity which corresponds to the space where a robot is due to move and predicts the existence or non‐existence of the object by matching the edge segment extracted from the stereo images with the range of the disparity. The method is applied to the obstacle detection in the navigation of the mobile robot. The object to be detected is a still object standing on a floor.

First, the existence of the object is predicted by the stereo matching of vertical edges. The remaining edges are examined only if the matched vertical edge exists. As a result, the efficiency is improved. In this method, the range of search is restricted and local matching is tried. Consequently, an incorrect match (false match) is produced easily in the background, in the environment with low contrast.

To remedy this adverse effect, the floor region extraction process is executed by assuming the spatial continuity and the similarity of the gray‐level distribution in the near region. If the lower end of the matched edge is contained in the floor region, the object is decided as a candidate for the obstacle. By this decision scheme, the probability of misdetection of the object which does not interfere with the space where the robot is due to move such as the object far and high above the viewpoint and the object hanging on the front wall can be reduced. This improves the reliability. By the indoor evaluation experiment, such as the scene of laboratory, the usefulness of the method is verified. The motion control of the robot is attempted in an environment simulating a nuclear power plant.