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This paper presents an efficient deep neural network (DNN) accelerator designed for radio frequency (RF) signal modulation recognition. A novel DNN design optimized for mobile applications is demonstrated by combining MobileNetV3-based DNN with a ternary weight quantization. We also propose a new training method called decaying weight training to overcome the performance degradation due to quantization. The effect of the ternary weight quantization is demonstrated with a co-analysis of the classification accuracy and the physical design. The physical design analysis is based on the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and the results show that the ternary weight quantization with the proposed training method minimizes the impact of the quantization while increasing the allowable clock frequency and reducing hardware cost significantly. We also implement the hardware design dedicated to the ternary weight networks to reduce the required number of the multiply and accumulate (MAC) engines. The hardware design is verified on FPGA and the ternary weight-based DNN shows the feasibility of reducing the hardware cost significantly.

Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) is a technique used in wireless communication systems to identify the modulation type of received signals at the receiver. Improving spectrum utilization efficiency is essential for AMC and is carried out by fundamental signal processing methods within the physical layer. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) based deep-learning models have recently been employed in AMC systems, demonstrating superior performance. However, the large size of CNN models, floating-point weights, and activations make deploying such systems with limited hardware resources quite complex. In this paper, we propose a hybrid Radio Frequency-based Machine Learning (RFML) model that combines Short-time Fourier Transform and Convolutional Neural Network (STFT-CNN) for AMC. Simulations on RadioML2016.10a demonstrate an average recognition accuracy of 79% for a Signal-to-Noise Ratio of 0dB or higher when using 16-bit fixed-point operations. An on-chip accelerator for the STFT-CNN, designed and synthesized in 28nm CMOS, offers 19 times lower power consumption, 34 times smaller area, 1.3 times higher bandwidth, and 50 times less memory than a time-domain CNN accelerator utilizing 32-bit floating-point operations.

This article explores the political dynamics and power structures in North Korea under the Kim family rule. It emphasizes the unique success of three-generation hereditary successions without political turmoil and the crucial role played by the Korean People's Army (KPA) in maintaining the regime's resilience. The article discusses the evolution of the KPA's mission and its unwavering loyalty to the Kim family, as well as the characteristics and vulnerabilities of personalist dictatorships. It also examines the sources of power for Kim Il-sung and the political transformations in North Korea from its state-building to the 1970s. The article concludes by challenging the misconception that the military dominates North Korea's political system and suggests that as long as the military's role remains intact, the regime is likely to maintain relative stability. [Extracted from the article]

Whether Confucianism is compatible with liberal democracy has been a topic of heated debate among scholars and politicians alike, but with little meticulous empirical analysis. The incompatibility thesis, represented by the Asian value argument, suggests that as a political culture Confucianism hinders the deepening of democracy in Confucian Asian countries. The compatibility or convergence thesis, in contrast, argues that Confucianism is compatible with, and even compensates for the shortcomings of liberal democracy. This article investigates the relationship between South Koreans' attachment to Confucian values and their attitudes towards a (non)democratic form of government. Unlike previous studies that treat Confucianism as a unitary value system, this article argues that Confucianism is multifaceted - its teachings on social hierarchy, morality, primacy of community, and social harmony - have different relationships with democratic and authoritarian values. This empirical analysis demonstrates that, at least in South Korea, certain Confucian values are compatible with democratic values of political participation and individual rights and liberty. In contrast to previous literature that focuses on institutional and performance variables as key variables that explain individual attachment to (non)democratic forms of government, this study illustrates that culture has consistent and long-lasting impacts on individual political orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Military-first politics has been at the heart of the unexpected regime stability in North Korea under Kim Jong-il and his son Jong-un. This article analyzes Kim Jong-il's military-first politics as a strategic choice for regime survival, in which the locus of political power switched from the party to the military. At the same time, Kim Jong-il formulated a complex system of circumventing the possibility of the armed forces' political domination, including personalistic control using sticks and carrots, fortifying security and surveillance institutions, and compartmentalizing the security institutions for intra- and inter-organizational checks and balances to prevent the emergence of organized opposition to the regime. Although an effective short-term solution, military-first politics could never be a long-term strategy for building gangseongdaeguk (a powerful and prosperous nation). The current Kim Jong-un regime needs to conduct sweeping reforms to address dire economic difficulties, which might result in a departure from his father's legacy and downgrade the military's power. In this process, the current regime's (in)stability will depend on how it maintains a balance between revoking military-first politics and preserving the armed forces' allegiance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]