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The error-correction code proof-of-work (ECCPoW) algorithm is based on a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code. ECCPoW can impede the advent of mining application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with its time-varying puzzle generation capability. Previous research studies on ECCPoW algorithm have presented its theory and implementation on Bitcoin. In this study, we have not only designed ECCPoW for Ethereum, called ETH-ECC, but have also implemented, simulated, and validated it. In the implementation, we have explained how ECCPoW algorithm has been integrated into Ethereum 1.0 as a new consensus algorithm. Furthermore, we have devised and implemented a new method for controlling the difficulty level in ETH-ECC. In the simulation, we have tested the performance of ETH-ECC using a large number of node tests and demonstrated that the ECCPoW Ethereum works well with automatic difficulty-level change capability in real-world experimental settings. In addition, we discuss how stable the block generation time (BGT) of ETH-ECC is. Specifically, one key issue we intend to investigate is the finiteness of the mean of ETH-ECC BGT. Owing to a time-varying cryptographic puzzle generation system in ECCPoW algorithm, BGT in the algorithm may lead to a long-tailed distribution. Thus, simulation tests have been performed to determine whether BGT distribution is not heavy-tailed and has a finite mean. If the distribution is heavy-tailed, stable transaction confirmation cannot be guaranteed. In the validation, we have presented statistical analysis results based on the two-sample Anderson–Darling test and discussed how the BGT distribution follows an exponential distribution which has a finite mean. Our implementation is available for download at https://github.com/cryptoecc/ETH-ECC .

In this letter, we jointly optimize transmitter source currents and receive coil selection in a magnetic multiple input multiple output wireless power transfer system to minimize the total transmit power, while satisfying a required level of the charged power and the limited total transmit power. The optimal transmitter source currents are derived for an arbitrary number of receive coils. Based on our analysis, we propose a method to find the optimal subset of the receive coils. Our simulation results show that the proposed scheme requires the lowest transmit power to meet the constraint on the charged power.

It has been recently shown that the $l_{0}$ -norm problem can be reformulated into a mixed integer quadratic programming (MIQP) problem. CPLEX, a commercial optimization software package that can solve integer programming problems, is used to find the global solution to this MIQP problem for sparse signal estimation. However, CPLEX uses an exhaustive approach to search a feasible space to this MIQP problem. Thus, its running time grows exponentially as the problem dimension grows. This means that CPLEX quickly becomes computationally intractable for higher dimension problems. In this paper, we aim to propose a fast first-order-type method for solving this MIQP problem based on the alternating direction method. We conduct extensive simulations to demonstrate that: 1) our method is used to estimate a sparse signal by solving this problem and 2) our method is computationally tractable for problem dimensions up to the order of 1 million.

In this paper, we study a support set reconstruction problem for multiple measurement vectors (MMV) with different sensing matrices, where the signals of interest are assumed to be jointly sparse and each signal is sampled by its own sensing matrix in the presence of noise. Using mathematical tools, we develop upper and lower bounds of the failure probability of the support set reconstruction in terms of the sparsity, the ambient dimension, the minimum signal-to-noise ratio, the number of measurement vectors, and the number of measurements. These bounds can be used to provide guidelines for determining the system parameters for various compressed sensing applications with noisy MMV with different sensing matrices. Based on the bounds, we develop necessary and sufficient conditions for reliable support set reconstruction. We interpret these conditions to provide theoretical explanations regarding the benefits of taking more measurement vectors. We then compare our sufficient condition with the existing results for noisy MMV with the same sensing matrix. As a result, we show that noisy MMV with different sensing matrices may require fewer measurements for reliable support set reconstruction, under a sublinear sparsity regime in a low noise-level scenario.

Channel sharing in TV whitespace (TVWS) is challenging because of signal propagation characteristics and diversity in network technologies employed by secondary networks coexisting in TVWS. In this paper, the TVWS sharing problem is modeled as a multiobjective optimization problem, where each objective function tackles an important coexisting requirement, such as interference and disparity in network technologies. We propose an evolutionary algorithm that shares the TVWS among coexisting networks taking care of their channel occupancy requirements. In this paper, the channel occupancy is defined as the time duration; a network desires to radiate on a channel to achieve its desired duty cycle. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing TVWS sharing algorithms regarding allocation fairness and a fraction of channel occupancy requirements of the coexisting networks.

In this paper, a novel noise reduction technique is proposed to improve the speech interface performance in car environments. The proposed noise reduction method with dual microphones is primarily based on the determinant analysis of the input correlation matrix. Through the analysis, a robust feature for speech activity detection and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation is derived. Using the feature, the SNR of each time-frequency component is estimated, and an enhanced speech signal is obtained through Wiener filtering. To evaluate the proposed noise reduction technique, we constructed a database in a real car environment and comparatively analyzed the performances of noise reduction methods. The results show that meaningful SNR and perceptual speech quality improvements with less signal distortion are achieved compared with the other competing methods.

A high-aspect ratio, single-crystal line silicon x-axis microgyroscope is fabricated using the extended sacrificial bulk micromachining (SBM) process. The x-axis microgyroscope in this paper uses vertically offset combs to resonate the proof mass in the vertical plane, and lateral combs to sense the Coriolis force in the horizontal plane. This requires fabricating vertically and horizontally moving structures for actuation and sensing, respectively, which is very difficult to achieve in single-crystalline silicon. However, single-crystalline silicon high-aspect ratio structures are preferred for high performance. The extended SRN/I process is a two-mask process, but all structural parts and combs are defined in one mask level. Thus, there is no misalignment in any structural parts or comb fingers. In this extended SBM process, all vertical dimensions of the structure, including the comb height, vertical comb offset and sacrificial gap, can be defined arbitrarily (up to a few tens of micrometers). For electrical isolation, silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers are used, but the inherent footing phenomenon in the SOI deep etching is eliminated and smooth structural shapes are obtained, because the SBM process is used. In the fabricated x-axis microgyroscope, the lower combs used to vibrate the proof mass are vertically offset 12 /spl mu/m from the upper combs. The fabricated x-axis microgyroscope can resolve 0.1 deg/s angular rate, and the measured bandwidth is 100 Hz. The reported work represents the first x-axis single-crystalline silicon microgyroscope fabricated using only one wafer without wafer bonding. We have previously reported several versions of z-axis microgyroscopes and x-, y-, and z-axis accelerometers, using the SBM process. The results or this paper allow integrating x-, y-, and z-axis microgyroscopes as well as x-, y-, and z-axis microaccelerometers in one wafer, using the same mask and the same process.

A single-crystalline-silicon micro-gyroscope is fabricated in a single wafer using the recently developed surface/bulk micromachining (SBM) process. The SBM technology combined with deep silicon reactive ion etching allows fabricating accurately defined single-crystalline-silicon high-aspect-ratio structures with large sacrificial gaps, in a single wafer. The structural thickness of the fabricated micro-gyroscope is 40 /spl mu/m, and the sacrificial gap is 50 /spl mu/m. For electrostatic actuation and capacitive sensing of the developed gyroscope, a new isolation method which uses sandwiched oxide, polysilicon, and metal films, is developed in this paper. This triple-layer isolation method utilizes the excellent step coverage of low-pressure chemical vapor deposition polysilicon films, and thus, this new isolation method is well suited for high-aspect-ratio structures. The thickness of the additional films allows controlling and fine tuning the stiffness properties of underetched beams, as well as the capacitance between electrodes. The noise-equivalent angular-rate resolution of the SBM-fabricated gyroscope is 0.01/spl deg//s, and the bandwidth is 16.2 Hz. The output is linear to within 8% for a /spl plusmn/20/spl deg//s range. Work is currently underway to improve these performance specifications.

This paper presents the surface/bulk micromachining (SBM) process to allow fabricating released microelectromechanical systems using bulk silicon. The process starts with a [111]-oriented silicon wafer. The structural patterns are defined using the reactive ion etching technique used in surface micromachining. Then the patterns, as well as sidewalls, are passivated with an oxide film, and bare silicon is exposed at desired areas. The exposed bare silicon is further reactive ion etched, which defines sacrificial gap dimensions. The final release is accomplished by undercutting the exposed bulk silicon sidewalls in aqueous alkaline etchants. Because {111} planes are used as etch stops, very clean structural surfaces can be obtained. Using the SBM process, 5-, 10-, and 100-/spl mu/m-thick arbitrarily-shaped single crystal silicon structures, including comb-drive resonators, at 5-, 30-, and 100-/spl mu/m sacrificial gaps, respectively, are fabricated. An electrostatic actuation method using p-n junction isolation is also developed in this paper, and it is applied to actuate comb-drive resonators. The leakage current and junction capacitance of the reversed-biased p-n junction diodes are also found to be sufficiently small for sensor applications. The developed SBM process is a plausible alternative to the existing micromachining methods in fabricating microsensors and microactuators, with the advantage of using single crystal silicon.