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ADVANCES
IN CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS 4, May 2005 A
quarterly news service of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Editor:
Martin Hasler VP Technical Activities 1. Towards Direct Biochemical Analysis with Weak Inversion ISFETs 2. Noise
Suppression in 3-D Image Sets by State Space Realization 3. Nanoelectronics-based Nanostructures 4. Fountain Codes:
Rateless Codes for Erasure Channels 5. Robust image watermarking
based on multiple description vector quantisation 6. New communication
systems (H.264 and AVS) trial run on mobile 3G network in Hong Kong 8. 3D Video-Based
Rendering (VBR) Technology in MPEG and European Consortium 1. Towards
Direct Biochemical Analysis with Weak Inversion ISFETs Description by Leila Shepherd, Chris
Toumazou: Ion-sensitive field-effect transistors
(ISFETs) biased in the weak inversion region
are presented for the development of ultra
low power pH and biochemical sensor Systems on Chip. Based on an understanding
of ISFETs as CMOS-compatible transistors rather
than merely electrodes, one can exploit the characteristics of silicon
as circuit designers have been doing for years in the design of low
power integrated systems. Reference: Leila Shepherd, Chris Toumazou, Proceedings of the IEEE BioCAS Workshop in Communicated by the Technical Committee on Biomedical Circuits
and Systems 2. Noise Suppression in 3-D Image
Sets by State Space Realization Description by Zhiping Lin: A state space realization method is developed for a three-dimensional (3D) image set by interpreting the image set as the impulse response of a 3D separable system. This method, combined with approximation steps, including balanced model reduction, suppresses noise in a 3D image set as well as in the point spread function (PSF). The approach has been successfully applied to noise reduction and to improvemed performance of deconvolution algorithms for analysis and restoration of three-dimensional fluorescent microscopy image data of fluorescently labeled cells. References: Communicated
by the Technical Committee on
Digital Signal Processing 3. Nanoelectronics-based Nanostructures Descriptions
by Chin-Teng
(CT) Lin Paper 1: A cellular neural/nonlinear network based on a semiconductor nanostructure is proposed. An elementary logic cell of the network consists of two resonant tunneling diodes connected in series through a quantum dot. The cell may be realized with multiple layers of two semiconductor materials with an embedded quantum dot layer in between. The local interconnections are achieved via tunneling between the neighboring quantum dots. Paper 2: The design of defect-tolerant demultiplexers using resistor or diode crossbars is discussed.
They have better electrical characteristics and defect tolerance for
a given area of nano-substrate. Demultiplexers are expected to be key components in interfacing
submicrometer-scale and nano-scale circuits. Designing them is challenging because
most nano-architectures are limited to simple
regular structures and they are plagued with relatively high hard-defect
and soft-error rates. Communicated
by the Technical Committee on
Nanoelectronics and Giga-scale Systems 4.
Fountain Codes: Rateless Codes for Erasure Channels Description by Enrico Magli: Digital fountain codes are sparse-graph
codes for erasure channels. The encoder generates a potentially endless
sequence of encoded packets; the receiver can reconstruct the information
from any subset of packets no smaller than the original string (plus
a small overhead). The code is generated on-the-fly in a random fashion,
and is amenable to iterative belief propagation decoding. Tornado and
raptor codes are variants. Reference: Various references on the Web page http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/mackay/DFountain.html Communicated by the Technical Committee on Multimedia Systems
and Applications 5. Robust image watermarking based
on multiple description vector quantisation Description by Hsiang-Cheh Huang: An innovative scheme for watermarking
based on vector quantisation for transmitting
over noisy channels is proposed. By modifying multiple description vector
quantisation for watermark embedding
and extraction, simulation results not only demonstrate effective transmission
of the watermarked image, but reveal the robustness of the extracted
watermark. Communicated by the Technical Committee on Multimedia Systems
and Applications 6. New communication systems (H.264
and AVS) trial run on mobile 3G network in Description by Oscar C. Au: H.264
and AVS are the latest and most advanced international coding standard
from ISO/IEC, ITU-T and from Reference: Paper 781 Overview of AVS-Video: Tools, Performances and Complexity”, Lu Yu, Feng Yi, Jie Dong, Cixun Zhang, Proceedings of SPIE VCIP 2005, Beijing, China. Sorry, no link available. Communicated by the Technical Committee on Multimedia Systems
and Applications Description by Ralph-Etienne Cummings: “Compact, efficient electronics based on the brain's neural system could yield implantable silicon retinas to restore vision, as well as robotics eyes and other smart sensors,” says Prof. Kwabena Boahen. This article summarizes his work on silicon retinas and cortex's layers. The article also makes some predictions on where these systems might be useful as neural prosthetic devices and robot vision systems. Reference: Kwabena Boahen "Neuromorphic Microchips," Scientific American, Vol. 292, No.
5, pp. 57 - 63, May 2005. Communicated by the Technical Committee on Neural Systems and
Applications 8. 3D Video-Based Rendering (VBR)
Technology in MPEG and European Consortium Description by C.-N. Wang and T. Chiang: Multi-view 3D display technology drives new applications. On April 11-15 2005, the MPEG committee initiated new standards for video-based rendering (VBR) technology to generate dynamic interactive photorealistic environments [1]. This activity is closely coupled with the European consortium funded by EC [2]. References: 2. L. Onural, T. Sikora and A. Smolic, “An Overview of A New European
Consortium: Integrated Three-Dimensional Television – Capture, Transmission
And Display (3DTV), “, European Workshop On The Integration Of Knowledge,
Semantics And Digital Media Technology (EWIMT) Proceedings, November
2004. Sorry, no link available. Communicated
by the Technical Committee on
Visual Signal Processing and Communications |
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