Abstract: The purpose of this research is to increase our
knowledge as regards how Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SMEs) tackle ERP implementation projects to achieve successful
adoption and use of these systems within the organization. SMEs
have scare resources to handle these kinds of projects which have
proved to be risky and costly. There are several studies focusing on
ERP implementation in larger companies, however, few studies
report on challenges experienced by SMEs. Our research seeks to
bridge this gap. Through a multiple case study of four companies, we
identified challenges and critical elements within the different phases
(pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation) of
the ERP life cycle. To interpret our findings, we utilize a well-know
ERP life cycle model and critical success factors developed for larger
companies which are reported in former research literature. We
discuss if these models are relevant for SMEs and suggest additional
critical elements identified in this study to make a framework more
adapted to the SME context.
Abstract: The importance of our country-s communication
system is noticeable when a disaster occurs. The communication
system in our country includes wired and wireless telephone
networks, radio, satellite system and more increasingly internet. Even
though our communication system is most extensive and dependable,
extreme conditions can put a strain on them. Interoperability between
heterogeneous wireless networks can be used to provide efficient
communication for emergency first response. IEEE 802.21 specifies
Media Independent Handover (MIH) services to enhance the mobile
user experience by optimizing handovers between heterogeneous
access networks. This paper presents an algorithm to improve
congestion control in MIH framework. It is analytically shown that
by including time factor in network selection we can optimize
congestion in the network.
Abstract: This paper describes new computer vision algorithms
that have been developed to track moving objects as part of a
long-term study into the design of (semi-)autonomous vehicles. We
present the results of a study to exploit variable kernels for tracking in
video sequences. The basis of our work is the mean shift
object-tracking algorithm; for a moving target, it is usual to define a
rectangular target window in an initial frame, and then process the data
within that window to separate the tracked object from the background
by the mean shift segmentation algorithm. Rather than use the
standard, Epanechnikov kernel, we have used a kernel weighted by the
Chamfer distance transform to improve the accuracy of target
representation and localization, minimising the distance between the
two distributions in RGB color space using the Bhattacharyya
coefficient. Experimental results show the improved tracking
capability and versatility of the algorithm in comparison with results
using the standard kernel. These algorithms are incorporated as part of
a robot test-bed architecture which has been used to demonstrate their
effectiveness.
Abstract: Video Mosaicing is the stitching of selected frames of
a video by estimating the camera motion between the frames and
thereby registering successive frames of the video to arrive at the
mosaic. Different techniques have been proposed in the literature for
video mosaicing. Despite of the large number of papers dealing with
techniques to generate mosaic, only a few authors have investigated
conditions under which these techniques generate good estimate of
motion parameters. In this paper, these techniques are studied under
different videos, and the reasons for failures are found. We propose
algorithms with incorporation of outlier removal algorithms for better
estimation of motion parameters.
Abstract: Vision based tracking problem is solved through a
combination of optical flow, MACH filter and log r-θ mapping.
Optical flow is used for detecting regions of movement in video
frames acquired under variable lighting conditions. The region of
movement is segmented and then searched for the target. A template
is used for target recognition on the segmented regions for detecting
the region of interest. The template is trained offline on a sequence of
target images that are created using the MACH filter and log r-θ
mapping. The template is applied on areas of movement in
successive frames and strong correlation is seen for in-class targets.
Correlation peaks above a certain threshold indicate the presence of
target and the target is tracked over successive frames.
Abstract: Purpose of this work is to develop an automatic classification system that could be useful for radiologists in the breast cancer investigation. The software has been designed in the framework of the MAGIC-5 collaboration. In an automatic classification system the suspicious regions with high probability to include a lesion are extracted from the image as regions of interest (ROIs). Each ROI is characterized by some features based generally on morphological lesion differences. A study in the space features representation is made and some classifiers are tested to distinguish the pathological regions from the healthy ones. The results provided in terms of sensitivity and specificity will be presented through the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curves. In particular the best performances are obtained with the Neural Networks in comparison with the K-Nearest Neighbours and the Support Vector Machine: The Radial Basis Function supply the best results with 0.89 ± 0.01 of area under ROC curve but similar results are obtained with the Probabilistic Neural Network and a Multi Layer Perceptron.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel concept of relative
distance measurement using Stereo Vision Technology and discuss
its implementation on a FPGA based real-time image processor. We
capture two images using two CCD cameras and compare them.
Disparity is calculated for each pixel using a real time dense disparity
calculation algorithm. This algorithm is based on the concept of
indexed histogram for matching. Disparity being inversely
proportional to distance (Proved Later), we can thus get the relative
distances of objects in front of the camera. The output is displayed on
a TV screen in the form of a depth image (optionally using pseudo
colors). This system works in real time on a full PAL frame rate (720
x 576 active pixels @ 25 fps).
Abstract: One of object oriented software developing problem
is the difficulty of searching the appropriate and suitable objects for
starting the system. In this work, ontologies appear in the part of
supporting the object discovering in the initial of object oriented
software developing. There are many researches try to demonstrate
that there is a great potential between object model and ontologies.
Constructing ontology from object model is called ontology
engineering can be done; On the other hand, this research is aiming to
support the idea of building object model from ontology is also
promising and practical. Ontology classes are available online in any
specific areas, which can be searched by semantic search engine.
There are also many helping tools to do so; one of them which are
used in this research is Protégé ontology editor and Visual Paradigm.
To put them together give a great outcome. This research will be
shown how it works efficiently with the real case study by using
ontology classes in travel/tourism domain area. It needs to combine
classes, properties, and relationships from more than two ontologies
in order to generate the object model. In this paper presents a simple
methodology framework which explains the process of discovering
objects. The results show that this framework has great value while
there is possible for expansion. Reusing of existing ontologies offers
a much cheaper alternative than building new ones from scratch.
More ontologies are becoming available on the web, and online
ontologies libraries for storing and indexing ontologies are increasing
in number and demand. Semantic and Ontologies search engines have
also started to appear, to facilitate search and retrieval of online
ontologies.
Abstract: Nowadays, many manufacturing companies try to
reinforce their competitiveness or find a breakthrough by considering
collaboration. In Korea, more than 900 manufacturing companies are
using web-based collaboration systems developed by the
government-led project, referred to as i-Manufacturing. The system
supports some similar functions of Product Data Management (PDM)
as well as Project Management System (PMS). A web-based
collaboration system provides many useful functions for collaborative
works. This system, however, does not support new linking services
between buyers and suppliers. Therefore, in order to find new
collaborative partners, this paper proposes a framework which creates
new connections between buyers and suppliers facilitating their
collaboration, referred to as Excellent Manufacturer Scouting System
(EMSS). EMSS plays a role as a bridge between overseas buyers and
suppliers. As a part of study on EMSS, we also propose an evaluation
method of manufacturability of potential partners with six main factors.
Based on the results of evaluation, buyers may get a good guideline to
choose their new partners before getting into negotiation processes
with them.
Abstract: Firms have invested heavily in knowledge
management (KM) with the aim to build a knowledge capability and
use it to achieve a competitive advantage. Research has shown,
however, that not all knowledge management projects succeed. Some
studies report that about 84% of knowledge management projects
fail. This paper has integrated studies on the impediments to
knowledge management into a theoretical framework. Based on this
framework, five cases documenting failed KM initiatives were
analysed. The analysis gave us a clear picture about why certain KM
projects fail. The high failure rate of KM can be explained by the
gaps that exist between users and management in terms of KM
perceptions and objectives
Abstract: Meshless Finite Element Methods, namely element-free Galerkin and point-interpolation method were implemented and tested concerning their applicability to typical engineering problems like electrical fields and structural mechanics. A class-structure was developed which allows a consistent implementation of these methods together with classical FEM in a common framework. Strengths and weaknesses of the methods under investigation are discussed. As a result of this work joint usage of meshless methods together with classical Finite Elements are recommended.
Abstract: The paper deals with the comparison study of
harmonic detection methods for a shunt active power filter. The
%THD and the power factor value at the PCC point after
compensation are considered for the comparison. There are three
harmonic detection methods used in the paper that are synchronous
reference frame method, synchronous detection method, and DQ axis
with Fourier method. In addition, the ideal current source is used to
represent the active power filter by assuming an infinitely fast
controller action of the active power filter. The simulation results
show that the DQ axis with Fourier method provides the minimum
%THD after compensation compared with other methods. However,
the power factor value at the PCC point after compensation is slightly
lower than that of synchronous detection method.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel adaptive
spatiotemporal filter that utilizes image sequences in order to remove
noise. The consecutive frames include: current, previous and next
noisy frames. The filter proposed in this paper is based upon the
weighted averaging pixels intensity and noise variance in image
sequences. It utilizes the Appropriate Number of Consecutive Frames
(ANCF) based on the noisy pixels intensity among the frames. The
number of consecutive frames is adaptively calculated for each
region in image and its value may change from one region to another
region depending on the pixels intensity within the region. The
weights are determined by a well-defined mathematical criterion,
which is adaptive to the feature of spatiotemporal pixels of the
consecutive frames. It is experimentally shown that the proposed
filter can preserve image structures and edges under motion while
suppressing noise, and thus can be effectively used in image
sequences filtering. In addition, the AWA filter using ANCF is
particularly well suited for filtering sequences that contain segments
with abruptly changing scene content due to, for example, rapid
zooming and changes in the view of the camera.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a blind algorithm for peakto- average power ratio (PAPR) reduction in OFDM systems, based on selected mapping (SLM) algorithm as a distortionless method. The main drawback of the conventional SLM technique is the need for transmission of several side information bits, for each data block, which results in loss in data rate transmission. In the proposed method some special number of carriers in the OFDM frame is reserved to be rotated with one of the possible phases according to the number of phase sequence blocks in SLM algorithm. Reserving some limited number of carriers wont effect the reduction in PAPR of OFDM signal. Simulation results show using ML criteria at the receiver will lead to the same system-performance as the conventional SLM algorithm, while there is no need to send any side information to the receiver.
Abstract: The operational behavior of a six-phase squirrel cage
induction machine with faulted stator terminals is presented in this
paper. The study is carried out using the derived mathematical model
of the machine in the arbitrary reference frame. Tests are conducted
on a 1 kW experimental machine.
Steady-state and dynamic performance are analyzed for the
machine unloaded and loaded conditions. The results shows that with
one of the stator phases experiencing either an open- circuit or short
circuit fault the machine still produces starting torque, albeit the
running performance is significantly derated.
Abstract: Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) was designed to
support IP micro-mobility management in the Next Generation
Networks (NGN) framework. The main design behind this protocol is
the usage of Mobility Anchor Point (MAP) located at any level router
of network to support hierarchical mobility management. However,
the distance MAP selection in HMIPv6 causes MAP overloaded and
increase frequent binding update as the network grows. Therefore, to
address the issue in designing MAP selection scheme, we propose a
dynamic load control mechanism integrates with a speed detection
mechanism (DMS-DLC). From the experimental results we obtain
that the proposed scheme gives better distribution in MAP load and
increase handover speed.
Abstract: In the current age, retrieval of relevant information
from massive amount of data is a challenging job. Over the years,
precise and relevant retrieval of information has attained high
significance. There is a growing need in the market to build systems,
which can retrieve multimedia information that precisely meets the
user's current needs. In this paper, we have introduced a framework
for refining query results before showing it to the user, using ambient
intelligence, user profile, group profile, user location, time, day, user
device type and extracted features. A prototypic tool was also
developed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.
Abstract: Nanomaterials have attracted considerable attention
during the last two decades, due to their unusual electrical, mechanical
and other physical properties as compared with their bulky
counterparts. The mechanical properties of nanostructured materials
show strong size dependency, which has been explained within the
framework of continuum mechanics by including the effects of surface
stress. The size-dependent deformations of two-dimensional
nanosized structures with surface effects are investigated in the paper
by the finite element method. Truss element is used to evaluate the
contribution of surface stress to the total potential energy and the
Gurtin and Murdoch surface stress model is implemented with
ANSYS through its user programmable features. The proposed
approach is used to investigate size-dependent stress concentration
around a nanosized circular hole and the size-dependent effective
moduli of nanoporous materials. Numerical results are compared with
available analytical results to validate the proposed modeling
approach.
Abstract: The need of high frame-rate imaging has been triggered by the new applications of ultrasound imaging to transient elastography and real-time 3D ultrasound. Using plane wave excitation (PWE) is one of the methods to achieve very high frame-rate imaging since an image can be formed with a single insonification. However, due to the lack of transmit focusing, the image quality with PWE is lower compared with those using conventional focused transmission. To solve this problem, we propose a filter-retrieved transmit focusing (FRF) technique combined with cross-correlation weighting (FRF+CC weighting) for high frame-rate imaging with PWE. A restrospective focusing filter is designed to simultaneously minimize the predefined sidelobe energy associated with single PWE and the filter energy related to the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). This filter attempts to maintain the mainlobe signals and to reduce the sidelobe ones, which gives similar mainlobe signals and different sidelobes between the original PWE and the FRF baseband data. Normalized cross-correlation coefficient at zero lag is calculated to quantify the degree of similarity at each imaging point and used as a weighting matrix to the FRF baseband data to further suppress sidelobes, thus improving the filter-retrieved focusing quality.
Abstract: A new generation of manufacturing machines
so-called MIMCA (modular and integrated machine control
architecture) capable of handling much increased complexity in
manufacturing control-systems is presented. Requirement for more
flexible and effective control systems for manufacturing machine
systems is investigated and dimensioned-which highlights a need for
improved means of coordinating and monitoring production
machinery and equipment used to- transport material. The MIMCA
supports simulation based on machine modeling, was conceived by
the authors to address the issues. Essentially MIMCA comprises an
organized unification of selected architectural frameworks and
modeling methods, which include: NISTRCS, UMC and Colored
Timed Petri nets (CTPN). The unification has been achieved; to
support the design and construction of hierarchical and distributed
machine control which realized the concurrent operation of reusable
and distributed machine control components; ability to handle
growing complexity; and support requirements for real- time control
systems. Thus MIMCA enables mapping between 'what a machine
should do' and 'how the machine does it' in a well-defined but
flexible way designed to facilitate reconfiguration of machine
systems.