ABSTRACT:
Animation of spatio-temporal generic models for 3-D shape and motion of objects and subjects, based on feature sets evaluated in parallel from several image streams, is considered to be the core of dynamic vision. Subjects are a special kind of objects capable of sensing environmental parameters and of initiating own actions in combination with stored knowledge. Object / subject recognition and scene understanding are achieved on different levels and scales. Multiple objects are tracked individually in the image streams for perceiving their actual state (‘here and now’). By analyzing motion of all relevant objects / subjects over a larger time scale on the level of state variables in the ‘scene tree representation’ known from computer graphics, the situation with respect to decision taking is assessed.

Behavioral capabilities of subjects are represented explicitly on an abstract level for characterizing their potential behaviors. These are generated by stereotypical feed-forward and feedback control applications on a separate systems dynamics level with corresponding methods close to the actuator hardware. This dual representation on an abstract level (for decision making) and on the implementation level allows for flexibility and easy adaptation or extension. Results are shown for road vehicle guidance based on three cameras on a gaze control platform.

ABSTRACT:
Real-Time services are traditionally supported on circuit switched network. However, there is a need to port these services on packet switched network. Architecture for audio conferencing application over the Internet in the light of ITU-T H.323 recommendations is considered. In a conference, considering packets only from a set of selected clients can reduce speech quality degradation because mixing packets from all clients can lead to lack of speech clarity. A distributed algorithm and architecture for selecting clients for mixing is suggested here based on a new quantifier of the voice activity called “Loudness Number” (LN). The proposed system distributes the computation load and reduces the load on client terminals. The highlights of this architecture are scalability, bandwidth saving and speech quality enhancement. Client selection for playing out tries to mimic a physical conference where the most vocal participants attract more attention. The contributions of the paper are expected to aid H.323 recommendations implementations for Multipoint Processors (MP). A working prototype based on the proposed architecture is already functional.

ABSTRACT:
In this paper a formal mapping between static information models and dynamic models is presented. The static information models are given according to an international standard for product, process and resource information exchange, (ISO 10303-214). The dynamic models are described as Discrete Event Systems. The product, process and resource information is automatically converted into product routes and used for simulation, controller synthesis and verification. A high level language, combining Petri nets and process algebra, is presented and used for speci- fication of desired routes. A main implication of the presented method is that it enables the reuse of process information when creating dynamic models for process control. This method also enables simulation and verification to be conducted early in the development chain.

ABSTRACT:
In Japan, most of children haven’t read the Fairy Tales or tales of old Japan because the high technology video games are more exciting than most of picture books. But they must be effective to bring up the children’s cultivation of aesthetic sensitivity. And we have heard from teachers of elementary schools that most of themes of computer education in school are the operation of Painting Tool or Game Software. To improve these problems and to aid the courses of computer-based education in elementary school, we developed new educational support tool named Cyber Theater. Cyber Theater provides the capability of easy making the 3D-CG animation of children’s story by using Script language named CTSL (Cyber Theater Scenario Language). We hope schoolteachers will be able to use Cyber Tales as teaching materials in elementary schools. We also hope that upper-aged students (including junior high school students) are able to make their original CG-animation stories as the Creative Lesson.

ABSTRACT:
We propose a novel feature extraction method for content-bases image retrieval using graphical rough sketches. The proposed method extracts features based on the shape and texture of objects. This edge-based feature extraction method functions by representing the relative positional relationship between edge pixels, and has the advantage of being shift-, scale-, and rotation-invariant. In order to verify its effectiveness, we applied the proposed method to 1,650 images obtained from the Hamamatsu-city Museum of Musical Instruments and 5,500 images obtained from Corel Photo Gallery. The results verified that the proposed method is an effective tool for achieving accurate retrieval.

ABSTRACT:
Video-centred communication (e.g., video conferencing, multimedia online learning, traffic monitoring, and surveillance) is becoming a customary activity in our lives. The management of interactions in such an environment is a complicated HCI issue. In this paper, we present our study on a collection of interaction control protocols for distributed multiuser multi-camera environments. These protocols facilitate different approaches to managing a user’s entitlement for controlling a particular camera. We describe a web-based system that allows multiple users to manipulate multiple cameras in varying remote locations. The system was developed using the Java framework, and all protocols discussed have been incorporated into the system. Experiments were designed and conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these protocols, and to enable the identification of various human factors in a distributed multi-user and multi-camera environment. This work provides an insight into the complexity associated with the interaction management in video-centred communication. It can also serve as a conceptual and experimental framework for further research in this area.

ABSTRACT:
A good knowledge of expected and actual traffic patterns is an essential tool for network planning, design and operation in deployed, mission-critical applications. This paper describes those needs, and explains the Traffic Monitoring and Analysis Platform (TMAP) concept, as developed in support of NATO deployed military headquarters Communications and Information Systems. It shows how a TMAP was deployed to a real NATO exercise, to prove the concept and baseline the traffic needs per application, per user community and per time of day. Then, it analyses the obtained results and derives conclusions on how to integrate traffic monitoring and analysis platforms in future deployments.

ABSTRACT:
An efficient multiresolution method to compute global conformal structures of nonzero genus triangle meshes is introduced. The homology, cohomology groups of meshes are computed explicitly, then a basis of harmonic one forms and a basis of holomorphic one forms are constructed. A progressive mesh is generated to represent the original surface at different resolutions. The conformal structure is computed for the coarse level first, then used as the estimation for that of the finer level, by using conjugate gradient method it can be refined to the conformal structure of the finer level.

ABSTRACT:
Neurotherapy is a complementary treatment used in various disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), such as epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity. The method is subsumed under the behavioral medicine, and is considered to be an operand conditioning in psychological terms. However, its mechanisms are not well understood yet. In this article, we discuss the drawbacks of a conventional control engineering approach to analyze such a complex process (i.e. EEGbiofeedback) which elicits alterations on a complex system (i.e. CNS). Based on the results and observations we gained on the course of our clinical studies with epilepsy patients, we discuss the plausibility of a general systems theoretical approach to the neurotherapy process. Using the concepts of complexity, open systems, selforganization, and self-regulation, we underline the necessity of a systems theoretical framework. We show the analogies of the EEG-biofeedback process to other operand conditioning experiments explained via the methods of the synergetics.

ABSTRACT:
The paper studies some connections between the main results of the well known Wiener-Kalman-Bucy stochastic approach to filtering problems based mainly on the linear stochastic estimation theory and emphasizing the optimality aspects of the achieved results and the classical deterministic frequency domain linear filters such as Chebyshev, Butterworth, Bessel, etc. A new non-stochastic but not necessarily deterministic (possibly non-linear) alternative approach called asymptotic filtering based mainly on the concepts of signal power, signal energy and a system equivalence relation plays an important role in the presentation. Filtering error invariance and convergence aspects are emphasized in the approach. It is shown that introducing the signal power as the quantitative measure of energy dissipation makes it possible to achieve reasonable results from the optimality point of view as well. The property of structural energy dissipativeness is one of the most important and fundamental features of resulting filters. Therefore, it is natural to call them asymptotic filters. The notion of the asymptotic filter is carried in the paper as a proper tool in order to unify stochastic and non-stochastic, linear and nonlinear approaches to signal filtering.

ABSTRACT:
Ontologies are continuously confronted to evolution problem. Due to the complexity of the changes to be made, a maintenance process, at least a semi-automatic one, is more and more necessary to facilitate this task and to ensure its reliability. In this paper, we propose a maintenance ontology model for a domain, whose originality is to be language independent and based on a sequence of text processing in order to extract highly related terms from corpus. Initially, we deploy the document classification technique using GRAMEXCO to generate classes of texts segments having a similar information type and identify their shared lexicon, agreed as highly related to a unique topic. This technique allows a first general and robust exploration of the corpus. Further, we apply the Latent Semantic Indexing method to extract from this shared lexicon, the most associated terms that has to be seriously considered by an expert to eventually confirm their relevance and thus updating the current ontology. Finally, we show how the complementarity between these two techniques, based on cognitive foundation, constitutes a powerful refinement process.

ABSTRACT:
Research and technology in wireless communication systems such as radar and cellular networks have successfully implemented alternative design approaches that utilize antenna array techniques such as optimum combining, to mitigate the degradation effects of multipath in rapid fading channels. In ad hoc networks, these methods have not yet been exploited primarily due to the complexity inherent in the network’s architecture. With the high demand for improved signal link quality, devices configured with omnidirectional antennas can no longer meet the growing need for link quality and spectrum efficiency. This study takes an empirical approach to determine an optimum combining antenna array based on 3 variants of interelement spacing. For rapid fading channels, the simulation results show that the performance in the network of devices retrofitted with our antenna arrays consistently exceeded those with an omnidirectional antenna. Further, with the optimum combiner, the performance increased by over 60% compared to that of an omnidirectional antenna in a rapid fading channel.

ABSTRACT:
An algorithm for generating equivalent Poisson packet traffic based on empirical traffic data is presented in this paper. Two steps are required in order to produce equivalent Poisson packet traffic. Real traffic trace is analyzed in the first step. In the second step, a new equivalent synthetic Poisson traffic is generated in such a way that the first order statistical parameters remain unchanged. New packet inter-arrival time series are produced in a random manner using negative exponential probability distribution with a known mean. New packet size series are also produced in a random manner. However, due to specified minimum and maximum packet sizes, a truncated exponential probability distribution is applied.

ABSTRACT:
Existing techniques in high-level synthesis mostly assume a simple controller architecture model in the form of a single FSM. However, in reality more complex controller architectures are often used. On the other hand, in the case of programmable processors, the controller architecture is largely defined by the available control-flow instructions in the instruction set.

With the wider acceptance of behavioral synthesis, the application of these methods for the design of programmable controllers is of fundamental importance in embedded system technology. This paper describes an important extension of an existing architectural synthesis system targeting the generation of ASIP reprogrammable architectures. The designer can then generate both style of architecture, hardwired and programmable, using the same synthesis system and can quickly evaluate the trade-offs of hardware decisions.

ABSTRACT:
Soft Computing Optimizer (SCO) as a new software tool for design of robust intelligent control systems is described. It is based on the hybrid methodology of soft computing and stochastic simulation. It uses as an input the measured or simulated data about the modeled system. SCO is used to design an optimal fuzzy inference system, which approximates a random behavior of control object with the certain accuracy. The task of the fuzzy inference system construction is reduced to the subtasks such as forming of the linguistic variables for each input and output variable, creation of rule data base, optimization of rule data base and refinement of the parameters of the membership functions. Each task by the corresponding genetic algorithm (with an appropriate fitness function) is solved. The result of SCO application is the design of Knowledge Base of a Fuzzy Controller, which contains the value information about developed fuzzy inference system. Such value information can be downloaded into the actual fuzzy controller to perform online fuzzy control. Simulations results of robust fuzzy control of nonlinear dynamic systems and experimental results of application on automotive semi-active suspension control are demonstrated.

ABSTRACT:
This paper describes basic components and functions of the software system for support of the normatively regulated organizational activities. These activities are characterized by precise objective or purpose, participation of actors as roleholders, and norms and rules that govern the performance of these activities. Also, particular aspect and modeling of the normatively regulated activities are presented. They are typically found in insurance companies, banks, courts and many public administrations.

ABSTRACT:
Articulated vehicles belong to the category of nonholonomous wheelers. Under the aspect of control theory they require a sophisticated handling. This corresponds to the experience of unexercised drivers, for instance maneuvering a car and its caravan into a parking box.

In this context some adequate advice for the right steering movements would give an appreciable assistance. Here a visual assistance is proposed and realized. The decisive advice for the driver is derived from kinematic modeling. The system is designed to be integrated into standard cars and trucks. For testing purposes the actual system has been incorporated into an existing backing up simulator.