A Closed‐Form Solution of Linear Spectral Transformation for Robust Speech Recognition

The maximum likelihood linear spectral transformation (ML‐LST) using a numerical iteration method has been previously proposed for robust speech recognition. The numerical iteration method is not appropriate for real‐time applications due to its computational complexity. In order to reduce the computational cost, the objective function of the ML‐LST is approximated and a closed‐form solution is proposed in this paper. It is shown experimentally that the proposed closed‐form solution for the ML‐LST can provide rapid speaker and environment adaptation for robust speech recognition.     

Closed‐loop MIMO transceiver with space–time multilayer transmit selection

A closed‐loop multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) transceiver combining space–time multilayer precoding and transmit selection is proposed. The transmitter design consists in optimizing the number of space–time transmit layers as well as the partitioning of the transmit antennas into the selected number of space–time layers. We show that this problem can be translated into jointly selecting, from a finite alphabet, two transmit matrices that define, respectively, the multilayer space–time code and the antenna mapping to be used. The parametrization of the proposed design takes into account all possible space–time layering schemes in between spatial multiplexing and transmit diversity for a fixed number of transmit antennas and linear precoder structure. Sufficient conditions for solution existence using a linear space–time zero forcing receiver are discussed. Simulation results compare the proposed transceiver with some MIMO schemes and corroborate the benefits of closed‐loop multilayer selection in terms of capacity and bit error rates. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improved TOA‐Based Localization Method with BS Selection Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

The purpose of a localization system is to estimate the coordinates of the geographic location of a mobile device. The accuracy of wireless localization is influenced by non‐line‐of‐sight (NLOS) errors in wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we present an improved time of arrival (TOA)–based localization method for wireless sensor networks. TOA‐based localization estimates the geographic location of a mobile device using the distances between a mobile station (MS) and three or more base stations (BSs). However, each of the NLOS errors along a distance measured from an MS (device) to a BS (device) is different because of dissimilar obstacles in the direct signal path between the two devices. To accurately estimate the geographic location of a mobile device in TOA‐based localization, we propose an optimized localization method with a BS selection scheme that selects three measured distances that contain a relatively small number of NLOS errors, in this paper. Performance evaluations are presented, and the experimental results are validated through comparisons of various localization methods with the proposed method.     

无线传感器网络分布式迭代定位误差控制算法

针对无线传感器网络分布式迭代定位中误差的传播和累积问题,该文首先分析了锚节点几何形状对定位误差的影响,提出了基于几何精度因子的误差控制算法,巧妙设计了加权策略,将锚节点几何形状对定位精度的影响以权值的形式定量体现在迭代定位过程中,在每一轮迭代中有效控制了误差的传递,进而提高了整个网络的分布式定位精度。与传统的最小二乘定位算法和基于轮数的误差控制算法进行了仿真比较,结果表明,基于几何精度因子的误差控制算法定位性能最优,网络定位精度分别提高了25%和15%。     

A Hybrid Audio ΔΣ Modulator with dB‐Linear Gain Control Function

A hybrid ΔΣ modulator for audio applications is presented in this paper. The pulse generator for digital‐to‐analog converter alleviates the requirement of the external clock jitter and calibrates the coefficient variation due to a process shift and temperature changes. The input resistor network in the first integrator offers a gain control function in a dB‐linear fashion. Also, careful chopper stabilization implementation using return‐to‐zero scheme in the first continuous‐time integrator minimizes both the influence of flicker noise and inflow noise due to chopping. The chip is implemented in a 0.13 μm CMOS technology (I/O devices) and occupies an active area of 0.37 mm². The ΔΣ modulator achieves a dynamic range (A‐weighted) of 97.8 dB and a peak signal‐to‐noise‐plus‐distortion ratio of 90.0 dB over an audio bandwidth of 20 kHz with a 4.4 mW power consumption from 3.3 V. Also, the gain of the modulator is controlled from –9.5 dB to 8.5 dB, and the performance of the modulator is maintained up to 5 ns_RMS external clock jitter.     

Frame‐Size Adaptive MAC Protocol in High‐Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks

In this letter, we propose a frame‐size adaptive MAC protocol for high rate wireless personal area networks (WPANs). In the proposed scheme, during communication, frame error rate is periodically reported to a transmitting device and the frame size is changed according to the measured results. Thus, the channel can be more effectively utilized by adapting to variable radio conditions. Analytical results show that this scheme achieves a much higher throughput than a non‐frame‐size adaptive media access control protocol in high‐rate WPANs.     

Closed‐Form Expressions for Selection Combining System Statistics over Correlated Generalized‐K Fading Channels in the Presence of Interference

This paper considers the effects of simultaneous correlated multipath fading and shadowing on the performances of a signal‐to‐interference ratio (SIR)‐based dual‐branch selection combining (SC) diversity receiver. This analysis includes the presence of cochannel interference. A generalized fading/shadowing channel model in an interference‐limited correlated fading environment is modeled by generalized‐K distribution. Closed‐form expressions are obtained for probability density function and cumulative distribution function of the SC output SIR, as well as for the outage probability. Based on this, the influence of various fading and shadowing parameter values and the correlation level on the outage probability is examined.     

A Low‐Complexity Planar Antenna Array for Wireless Communication Applications: Robust Source Localization in Impulsive Noise

This paper proposes robust source localization methods for estimating the azimuth angle, elevation angle, velocity, and range using a low‐complexity planar antenna array in impulsive non‐Gaussian noise environments. The proposed robust source localization methods for wireless communication applications are based on nonlinear M‐estimation provided from Huber and Hampel. Simulation results show the robustness performance of the proposed robust methods in impulsive non‐Gaussian noise.     

A new range‐free PCA‐based localization algorithm in wireless sensor networks

Range‐free localization algorithms in wireless sensor networks have been an interesting field for researchers over the past few years. The combining of different requirements such as storage space, computational capacities, communication capabilities, and power efficiency is a challenging aspect of developing a localization algorithm. In this paper, a new range‐free localization algorithm, called PCAL, is proposed using soft computing techniques. The proposed method utilizes hop‐count distances as the data to train and build a neural network. Before feeding the data into the neural network for the purpose of training, the dimensionality of data is reduced by principal component analysis algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using simulation. The obtained results show that the proposed algorithm has a better performance in contrast to other algorithms based on storage space, communication overhead, and localization accuracy. Furthermore, the effect of various parameters on the PCAL algorithm is studied.     

Full‐Duplex Operations in Wireless Powered Communication Networks

In this paper, a wireless powered communication network (WPCN) consisting of a hybrid access point (H‐AP) and multiple user equipment (UE), all of which operate in full‐duplex (FD), is described. We first propose a transceiver structure that enables FD operation of each UE to simultaneously receive energy in the downlink (DL) and transmit information in the uplink (UL). We then provide an energy usage model in the proposed UE transceiver that accounts for the energy leakage from the transmit chain to the receive chain. It is shown that the throughput of an FD WPCN using the proposed FD UE (FD‐WPCN‐FD) can be maximized by optimal allocation of the UL transmission time to the UE by solving a convex optimization problem. Simulation results reveal that the use of the proposed FD UE efficiently improves the throughput of a WPCN with a practical self‐interference cancellation capability at the H‐AP. Compared to the WPCN with FD H‐AP and half‐duplex (HD) UE, FD‐WPCN‐FD achieved an 18% throughput gain. In addition, the throughput of FD‐WPCN‐FD was shown to be 25% greater than that of WPCN in which an H‐AP and UE operated in HD.     

Molecular‐Level Switching of Polymer/Nanocrystal Non‐Covalent Interactions and Application in Hybrid Solar Cells

Hybrid composites obtained upon blending conjugated polymers and colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals are regarded as attractive photo­active materials for optoelectronic applications. Here it is demonstrated that tailoring nanocrystal surface chemistry permits to control non‐covalent and electronic interactions between organic and inorganic components. The pending moieties of organic ligands at the nanocrystal surface are shown to not merely confer colloidal stability while hindering charge separation and transport, but drastically impact morphology of hybrid composites during formation from blend solutions. The relevance of this approach to photovoltaic applications is demonstrated for composites based on poly(3‐hexylthiophene) and lead sulfide nanocrystals, considered as inadequate until this report, which enable the fabrication of hybrid solar cells displaying a power conversion efficiency that reaches 3%. By investigating (quasi)steady‐state and time‐resolved photo‐induced processes in the nanocomposites and their constituents, it is ascertained that electron transfer occurs at the hybrid interface yielding long‐lived separated charge carriers, whereas interfacial hole transfer appears hindered. Here a reliable alternative aiming to gain control over macroscopic optoelectronic properties of polymer/nanocrystal composites by mediating their non‐covalent interactions via ligands' pending moieties is provided, thus opening new possibilities towards efficient solution‐processed hybrid solar cells.     

Localization in terrestrial and underwater sensor‐based m2m communication networks: architecture,classification and challenges

Localizing machine‐type communication (MTC) devices or sensors is becoming important because of the increasing popularity of machine‐to‐machine (M2M) communication networks for location‐based applications. These include such as health monitoring, rescue operations, vehicle tracking, and wildfire monitoring. Moreover, efficient localization approaches for sensor‐based MTC devices reduce the localization error and energy consumption of MTC devices. Because sensors are used as an integral part of M2M communication networks and have achieved popularity in underwater applications, research is being conducted on sensor localization in both underwater and terrestrial M2M networks. Major challenges in designing underwater localization techniques are the lack of good radio signal propagation in underwater, sensor mobility management, and ensuring network coverage in 3D underwater M2M networks. Similarly, predicting the mobility pattern of MTC devices, trading‐off energy consumption and location accuracy pose great design challenges for terrestrial localization techniques. This article presents a comprehensive survey on the current state‐of‐the‐art research on both terrestrial and underwater localization approaches for sensor‐based MTC devices. It also classifies localization approaches based on several factors, identifies their limitations with potential solutions, and compares them. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross‐Layer Resource Allocation in Multi‐interface Multi‐channel Wireless Multi‐hop Networks

In this paper, an analytical framework is proposed for the optimization of network performance through joint congestion control, channel allocation, rate allocation, power control, scheduling, and routing with the consideration of fairness in multi‐channel wireless multi‐hop networks. More specifically, the framework models the network by a generalized network utility maximization (NUM) problem under an elastic link data rate and power constraints. Using the dual decomposition technique, the NUM problem is decomposed into four subproblems — flow control; next‐hop routing; rate allocation and scheduling; power control; and channel allocation — and finally solved by a low‐complexity distributed method. Simulation results show that the proposed distributed algorithm significantly improves the network throughput and energy efficiency compared with previous algorithms.     

Synthesis of Semiconducting Functional Materials in Solution: From II‐VI Semiconductor to Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Semiconductor Nanomaterials

This Feature Article provides a brief overview of the latest development and emerging new synthesis solution strategies for II–VI semiconducting nanomaterials and inorganic‐organic semiconductor hybrid materials. Research on the synthesis of II–VI semiconductor nanomaterials and inorganic–organic hybrid semiconducting materials via solution strategies has made great progress in the past few years. A variety of II–VI semiconductor and a new family of [MQ(L)_0.5] (M = Mn, Zn, Cd; Q = S, Se, Te; L = diamine, deta) hybrid nanostructures can be generated using solution synthetic routes. Recent advances have demonstrated that the solution strategies in pure solvent and a mixed solvent can not only determine the crystal size, shape, composition, structure and assembly properties, but also the crystallization pathway, and act as a matrix for the formation of a variety of different II–VI semiconductor and hybrid nanocomposites with diverse morphologies. These II–VI semiconductor nanostructures and their hybrid nanocomposites display obvious quantum size effects, unique and tunable optical properties.     

Fully Solution‐Processed Photonic Structures from Inorganic/Organic Molecular Hybrid Materials and Commodity Polymers

Managing the interference effects from thin (multi‐)layers allows for the control of the optical transmittance/reflectance of widely used and technologically significant structures such as antireflection coatings (ARCs) and distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). These rely on the destructive/constructive interference between incident, reflected, and transmitted radiation. While known for over a century and having been extremely well investigated, the emergence of printable and large‐area electronics brings a new emphasis: the development of materials capable of transferring well‐established ideas to a solution‐based production. Here, demonstrated is the solution‐fabrication of ARCs and DBRs utilizing alternating layers of commodity plastics and recently developed organic/inorganic hybrid materials comprised of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAl), cross‐linked with titanium oxide hydrates. Dip‐coated ARCs exhibit an 88% reduction in reflectance across the visible compared to uncoated glass, and fully solution‐coated DBRs provide a reflection of >99% across a 100 nm spectral band in the visible region. Detailed comparisons with transfermatrix methods (TMM) highlight their excellent optical quality including extremely low optical losses. Beneficially, when exposed to elevated temperatures, the hybrid material can display a notable, reproducible, and irreversible change in refractive index and film thickness while maintaining excellent optical performance allowing postdeposition tuning, e.g., for thermo‐responsive applications, including security features and product‐storage environment monitoring.     

On cracking direct‐sequence spread‐spectrum systems

Secure transmission of information over hostile wireless environments is desired by both military and civilian parties. Direct‐sequence spread‐spectrum (DS‐SS) is such a covert technique resistant to interference, interception, and multipath fading. Identifying spread‐spectrum signals or cracking DS‐SS systems by an unintended receiver (or eavesdropper) without a priori knowledge is a challenging problem. To address this problem, we first search for the start position of data symbols in the spread signal (for symbol synchronization); our method is based on maximizing the spectral norm of a sample covariance matrix, which achieves smaller estimation error than the existing method of maximizing the Frobenius norm. After synchronization, we remove a spread sequence by a cross‐correlation based method, and identify the spread sequence by a matched filter. The proposed identification method is less expensive and more accurate than the existing methods. We also propose a zigzag searching method to identify a generator polynomial that reduces memory requirement and is capable of correcting polarity errors existing in the previous methods. In addition, we analyze the bit error performance of our proposed method. The simulation results agree well with our analytical results, indicating the accuracy of our analysis in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. By simulation, we also demonstrate the performance improvement of our proposed schemes over the existing methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a Seedless Floating Growth Process in Solution for Synthesis of Crystalline ZnO Micro/Nanowire Arrays on Graphene: Towards High‐Performance Nanohybrid Ultraviolet Photodetectors

A seedless solution process is developed for controllable growth of crystalline ZnO micro/nanowire arrays directly on single‐layer graphene sheets made in chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In particular, the alignment of the ZnO micro/nanowires correlates well with the density of the wires, which is determined by both the sample configuration in solution and the graphene surface cleaning. With increasing wire density, the ZnO micro/nanowire array alignment may be varied from horizontal to vertical by increasing the physical confinement. Ultraviolet photodetectors based on the vertically aligned ZnO micro/nanowires on graphene show high responsivity of 1.62 A W^?1 per volt, a 500% improvement over epitxial ZnO sensors, a 300% improvement over ZnO nanoparticle sensors, and a 40% improvement over the previous best results for nanowire/graphene hybrid sensors. This seedless, floating growth process could be scaled up for large scale growth of oriented ZnO micro/nanowires on graphene at low costs.     

Multiple Layer‐by‐Layer Lipid‐Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles for Improved FOLFIRINOX Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Tumor Models

The FOLFIRINOX regimen, a combination of three chemotherapy agents (5‐fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) and folinic acid (a vitamin B derivatives reducing the side effect of 5‐fluorouracil), has proved to be effective in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and is more efficacious than the long‐term reference standard, gemcitabine. However, the FOLFIRINOX is associated with high‐grade toxicity, which markedly limits its clinical application. Encapsulation of drugs in nanocarriers that selectively target cancer cells promises to be an effective method for co‐delivery of drug combinations and to mitigate the side effects of conventional chemotherapy. Here we reported the development of multiple layer‐by‐layer lipid‐polymer hybrid nanoparticles with targeting capability that show excellent biocompatibility and synergistically combine the favorable properties of liposomes and polymer nanoparticles. Relative to nanoparticles consisting of polymer alone, these novel nanocarriers have a long half‐life in vivo and a higher stability in serum. The nanocarriers were loaded with the three active antitumor constituents of FOLFIRINOX regimen. Little drugs were released from the nanoparticles in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution, but the cargoes were quickly released after the nanoparticles were taken up by tumor cells. These innovative drug‐loaded nanoparticles achieved higher antitumor efficacy and showed minimal side effects compared with the FOLFIRINOX regimen alone. Our study suggested that the multiple layer‐by‐layer hybrid nanoparticles have great potential for improving the chemotherapeutic efficacy for the patients with pancreatic cancer. This platform also provides new opportunities for tailored design of nanoparticles that may offer therapeutics benefits for a range of other tumors.     

Linear Prediction Approach for Accurate Dual‐Channel Sine‐Wave Parameter Estimation in White Gaussian Noise

The problem of sinusoidal parameter estimation at two channels with common frequency in white Gaussian noise is addressed. By making use of the linear prediction property, an iterative linear least squares (LLS) algorithm for accurate frequency estimation is devised. The remaining parameters are then determined according to the LLS fit with the use of the frequency estimate. It is proven that the variance of the frequency estimate achieves Cramér‐Rao lower bound at sufficiently small noise conditions.     

Broadband Omnidirectional Diversion of Light in Hybrid Plasmonic‐Photonic Heterocrystals

Broadband, omnidirectional, and polarization‐independent diversion has been achieved of more than 90% of the light flow intensity off its incidence direction using hybrid metal–dielectric plasmonic‐photonic heterocrystals. These architectures were prepared by depositing metal film on the interface between two photonic crystals of different parameters. The magnitude of light losses was extracted from angle‐resolved measurements of transmission and reflectance spectra. Comparing these data for different stages of constructing the complex architecture, the diffraction in colloidal crystals, the excitation and radiative decay of short‐living surface plasmon polaritons in a corrugated metal film and the eigenmode mismatch at the interface between two different photonic crystals were identified as corroborating physical mechanisms behind the light diversion.