Abstract: A combined three-microphone voice activity detector (VAD) and noise-canceling system is studied to enhance speech recognition in an automobile environment. A previous experiment clearly shows the ability of the composite system to cancel a single noise source outside of a defined zone. This paper investigates the performance of the composite system when there are frequently moving noise sources (noise sources are coming from different locations but are not always presented at the same time) e.g. there is other passenger speech or speech from a radio when a desired speech is presented. To work in a frequently moving noise sources environment, whilst a three-microphone voice activity detector (VAD) detects voice from a “VAD valid zone", the 3-microphone noise canceller uses a “noise canceller valid zone" defined in freespace around the users head. Therefore, a desired voice should be in the intersection of the noise canceller valid zone and VAD valid zone. Thus all noise is suppressed outside this intersection of area. Experiments are shown for a real environment e.g. all results were recorded in a car by omni-directional electret condenser microphones.
Abstract: The menace of counterfeiting pharmaceuticals/drugs has become a major threat to consumers, healthcare providers, drug manufacturers and governments. It is a source of public health concern both in the developed and developing nations. Several solutions for detecting and authenticating counterfeit drugs have been adopted by different nations of the world. In this article, a dialogue system-based drug counterfeiting detection system was developed and the results of the user satisfaction and acceptability of the system are presented. The results show that the users were satisfied with the system and the system was widely accepted as a means of fighting counterfeited drugs.
Abstract: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a form of voice
communication that uses audio data to transmit voice signals to the
end user. VoIP is one of the most important technologies in the
World of communication. Around, 20 years of research on VoIP,
some problems of VoIP are still remaining. During the past decade
and with growing of wireless technologies, we have seen that many
papers turn their concentration from Wired-LAN to Wireless-LAN.
VoIP over Wireless LAN (WLAN) faces many challenges due to the
loose nature of wireless network. Issues like providing Quality of
Service (QoS) at a good level, dedicating capacity for calls and
having secure calls is more difficult rather than wired LAN.
Therefore VoIP over WLAN (VoWLAN) remains a challenging
research topic. In this paper we consolidate and address major
VoWLAN issues. This research is helpful for those researchers wants
to do research in Voice over IP technology over WLAN network.
Abstract: Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is widely used
in telecommunications systems to send data, video and voice at a
very high speed. In ATM network optimizing the bandwidth through
dynamic routing is an important consideration. Previous research
work shows that traditional optimization heuristics result in suboptimal
solution. In this paper we have explored non-traditional
optimization technique. We propose comparison of two such
algorithms - Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Tabu search (TS), based on
non-traditional Optimization approach, for solving the dynamic
routing problem in ATM networks which in return will optimize the
bandwidth. The optimized bandwidth could mean that some
attractive business applications would become feasible such as high
speed LAN interconnection, teleconferencing etc. We have also
performed a comparative study of the selection mechanisms in GA
and listed the best selection mechanism and a new initialization
technique which improves the efficiency of the GA.
Abstract: SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), using HTML based
call control messaging which is quite simple and efficient, is being
replaced for VoIP networks recently. As for authentication and
authorization purposes there are many approaches and considerations
for securing SIP to eliminate forgery on the integrity of SIP
messages. On the other hand Elliptic Curve Cryptography has
significant advantages like smaller key sizes, faster computations on
behalf of other Public Key Cryptography (PKC) systems that obtain
data transmission more secure and efficient. In this work a new
approach is proposed for secure SIP authentication by using a public
key exchange mechanism using ECC. Total execution times and
memory requirements of proposed scheme have been improved in
comparison with non-elliptic approaches by adopting elliptic-based
key exchange mechanism.
Abstract: Along with the increased morbidity of glaucoma or
diabetic retinitis pigmentosa, etc., number of people with vision loss is
also increasing in Japan. It is difficult for the visually impaired to learn
and acquire braille because most of them are middle-aged. In addition,
number of braille teachers are not sufficient and reducing in Japan, and
this situation makes more difficult for the visually impaired. Therefore,
we research and develop a Web-based e-learning program for tactile
braille, that cooperate with braille display and voice assistance.
Abstract: This essay endeavors to read Ama Ata Aidoo-s Our Sister Killjoy with a postocolonially-inflected consciousness. It aims at demonstrating how her work could be read as a sophisticated postcolonial revision of the colonial travel narrative whereby the protagonist-s black-eyed squint operates as 'the all-seeing-eye' to subvert the historically unbroken legacy of the Orientalist ideology. It tries to demonstrate how Sissie assumes authority and voice in an act that destabilizes the traditionally established modes of western representation. It is also an investigation into how Aidoo-s text adopts processes which disengage the Eurocentric view produced by the discursive itineraries of western institutions through diverse acts of resistance and 'various strategies of subversion and appropriation'. Her counter discursive strategies of resistance are shaped up in various ways by a feminist consciousness that attempts to articulate a distinct African version of identity and preserve cultural distinctiveness.
Abstract: Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)
is a promising technology which can offer high speed data,
voice and video service to the customer end, which is presently, dominated
by the cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies.
The performance assessment of Wimax systems is dealt with. The
biggest advantage of Broadband wireless application (BWA) over its
wired competitors is its increased capacity and ease of deployment.
The aims of this paper are to model and simulate the fixed OFDM
IEEE 802.16d physical layer under variant combinations of digital
modulation (BPSK, QPSK, and 16-QAM) over diverse combination
of fading channels (AWGN, SUIs). Stanford University Interim (SUI)
Channel serial was proposed to simulate the fixed broadband wireless
access channel environments where IEEE 802.16d is to be deployed.
It has six channel models that are grouped into three categories
according to three typical different outdoor Terrains, in order to give
a comprehensive effect of fading channels on the overall performance
of the system.
Abstract: Matching algorithms have significant importance in
speaker recognition. Feature vectors of the unknown utterance are
compared to feature vectors of the modeled speakers as a last step in
speaker recognition. A similarity score is found for every model in
the speaker database. Depending on the type of speaker recognition,
these scores are used to determine the author of unknown speech
samples. For speaker verification, similarity score is tested against a
predefined threshold and either acceptance or rejection result is
obtained. In the case of speaker identification, the result depends on
whether the identification is open set or closed set. In closed set
identification, the model that yields the best similarity score is
accepted. In open set identification, the best score is tested against a
threshold, so there is one more possible output satisfying the
condition that the speaker is not one of the registered speakers in
existing database. This paper focuses on closed set speaker
identification using a modified version of a well known matching
algorithm. The results of new matching algorithm indicated better
performance on YOHO international speaker recognition database.
Abstract: In this article, some methods are mentioned for developing the theatrical language by giving information of “theatrical language" since the arising of the language in obsolete terms, and today, and also by examining the problems. Being able to talk meaningfully in the theater stage is a skillful art. Maybe, to be able to convey the idea of the poet, his/her world outlook and his/her feelings from the bottom of the heart as such, also conveying the speech norms without breaking them to the ear of audience in a fascinating way in adverse of a repellent way is the most difficult one. Because of this, “the word is the mirror of the idea". The importance of the theatrical language should not be perceived as only a post, it is “as the yarn that the culture carpet is weaved from". Thereby, it is a tool which transposes our culture and our life style from generation to generation. At the time of creativeness, the “word" comes out from the poet, “the word and feeling" art comes out from the actor. If it was not so, the audience could read the texts of the work himself/herself instead of going to the theater in order to see the performance. The fundamental works by the Turkish, Kazakh and English scientists have been taken as a basis for the research done.
Abstract: The iris recognition technology is the most accurate,
fast and less invasive one compared to other biometric techniques
using for example fingerprints, face, retina, hand geometry, voice or
signature patterns. The system developed in this study has the
potential to play a key role in areas of high-risk security and can
enable organizations with means allowing only to the authorized
personnel a fast and secure way to gain access to such areas. The
paper aim is to perform the iris region detection and iris inner and
outer boundaries localization. The system was implemented on
windows platform using Visual C# programming language. It is easy
and efficient tool for image processing to get great performance
accuracy. In particular, the system includes two main parts. The first
is to preprocess the iris images by using Canny edge detection
methods, segments the iris region from the rest of the image and
determine the location of the iris boundaries by applying Hough
transform. The proposed system tested on 756 iris images from 60
eyes of CASIA iris database images.
Abstract: Not many studies have been undertaken on shareholder activism in emerging economies, including Malaysia. Shareholder activism in emerging economies is on the rise. This paper seeks to comprehend the elements of this activism that are unique to Malaysia, specifically with respect to how the agency problem is controlled through shareholder activism in improving corporate governance practices within target companies. Through shareholder activism, shareholders make contact with a target company to voice their dissatisfaction, suggestions, or recommendations. This paper utilises agency theory to explain institutional shareholder activism. This theory has been extensively used within literature on corporate governance with regards to shareholder activism. The effectiveness of shareholder activism in improving corporate governance will be examined as well. This research provides a further understanding of shareholder activism in emerging economies, such as Malaysia; this research also has the potential to enhance shareholder activism and corporate governance practices in general.
Abstract: Multiparty voice over IP (MVoIP) systems allows a group of people to freely communicate each other via the internet, which have many applications such as online gaming, teleconferencing, online stock trading etc. Peertalk is a peer to peer multiparty voice over IP system (MVoIP) which is more feasible than existing approaches such as p2p overlay multicast and coupled distributed processing. Since the stream mixing and distribution are done by the peers, it is vulnerable to major security threats like nodes misbehavior, eavesdropping, Sybil attacks, Denial of Service (DoS), call tampering, Man in the Middle attacks etc. To thwart the security threats, a security framework called PEERTS (PEEred Reputed Trustworthy System for peertalk) is implemented so that efficient and secure communication can be carried out between peers.
Abstract: In this paper we present a statistical analysis of Voice
over IP (VoIP) packet streams produced by the G.711 voice coder
with voice activity detection (VAD). During telephone conversation,
depending whether the interlocutor speaks (ON) or remains silent
(OFF), packets are produced or not by a voice coder. As index of
dispersion for both ON and OFF times distribution was greater than
one, we used hyperexponential distribution for approximation of
streams duration. For each stage of the hyperexponential distribution,
we tested goodness of our fits using graphical methods, we calculated
estimation errors, and performed Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.
Obtained results showed that the precise VoIP source model can be
based on the five-state Markov process.
Abstract: Biometric measures of one kind or another have been
used to identify people since ancient times, with handwritten
signatures, facial features, and fingerprints being the traditional
methods. Of late, Systems have been built that automate the task of
recognition, using these methods and newer ones, such as hand
geometry, voiceprints and iris patterns. These systems have different
strengths and weaknesses. This work is a two-section composition. In
the starting section, we present an analytical and comparative study
of common biometric techniques. The performance of each of them
has been viewed and then tabularized as a result. The latter section
involves the actual implementation of the techniques under
consideration that has been done using a state of the art tool called,
MATLAB. This tool aids to effectively portray the corresponding
results and effects.
Abstract: Despite the fact that Arabic language is currently one
of the most common languages worldwide, there has been only a
little research on Arabic speech recognition relative to other
languages such as English and Japanese. Generally, digital speech
processing and voice recognition algorithms are of special
importance for designing efficient, accurate, as well as fast automatic
speech recognition systems. However, the speech recognition process
carried out in this paper is divided into three stages as follows: firstly,
the signal is preprocessed to reduce noise effects. After that, the
signal is digitized and hearingized. Consequently, the voice activity
regions are segmented using voice activity detection (VAD)
algorithm. Secondly, features are extracted from the speech signal
using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) algorithm.
Moreover, delta and acceleration (delta-delta) coefficients have been
added for the reason of improving the recognition accuracy. Finally,
each test word-s features are compared to the training database using
dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. Utilizing the best set up
made for all affected parameters to the aforementioned techniques,
the proposed system achieved a recognition rate of about 98.5%
which outperformed other HMM and ANN-based approaches
available in the literature.
Abstract: This paper presents a new hardware interface using a
microcontroller which processes audio music signals to standard
MIDI data. A technique for processing music signals by extracting
note parameters from music signals is described. An algorithm to
convert the voice samples for real-time processing without complex
calculations is proposed. A high frequency microcontroller as the
main processor is deployed to execute the outlined algorithm. The
MIDI data generated is transmitted using the EIA-232 protocol. The
analyses of data generated show the feasibility of using
microcontrollers for real-time MIDI generation hardware interface.
Abstract: Hand gesture is one of the typical methods used in
sign language for non-verbal communication. It is most commonly
used by people who have hearing or speech problems to
communicate among themselves or with normal people. Various sign
language systems have been developed by manufacturers around the
globe but they are neither flexible nor cost-effective for the end
users. This paper presents a system prototype that is able to
automatically recognize sign language to help normal people to
communicate more effectively with the hearing or speech impaired
people. The Sign to Voice system prototype, S2V, was developed
using Feed Forward Neural Network for two-sequence signs
detection. Different sets of universal hand gestures were captured
from video camera and utilized to train the neural network for
classification purpose. The experimental results have shown that
neural network has achieved satisfactory result for sign-to-voice
translation.
Abstract: Automated operations based on voice commands will become more and more important in many applications, including robotics, maintenance operations, etc. However, voice command recognition rates drop quite a lot under non-stationary and chaotic noise environments. In this paper, we tried to significantly improve the speech recognition rates under non-stationary noise environments. First, 298 Navy acronyms have been selected for automatic speech recognition. Data sets were collected under 4 types of noisy environments: factory, buccaneer jet, babble noise in a canteen, and destroyer. Within each noisy environment, 4 levels (5 dB, 15 dB, 25 dB, and clean) of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) were introduced to corrupt the speech. Second, a new algorithm to estimate speech or no speech regions has been developed, implemented, and evaluated. Third, extensive simulations were carried out. It was found that the combination of the new algorithm, the proper selection of language model and a customized training of the speech recognizer based on clean speech yielded very high recognition rates, which are between 80% and 90% for the four different noisy conditions. Fourth, extensive comparative studies have also been carried out.
Abstract: Due to the fast development of technology, the
competition of technological products is turbulent; therefore, it is
important to understand the market trend, consumers- demand and
preferences. As the smartphones are prevalent, the main purpose of
this paper is to utilize Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to analyze
consumer-s purchase evaluation factors of smartphones. Through the
AHP expert questionnaire, the smartphones- main functions are
classified as “user interface", “mobile commerce functions",
“hardware and software specifications", “entertainment functions" and
“appearance and design", five aspects to analyze the weights. Then
four evaluation criteria are evaluated under each aspect to rank the
weights. Based on an analysis of data shows that consumers consider
when purchase factors are “hardware and software specifications",
“user interface", “appearance and design", “mobile commerce
functions" and “entertainment functions" in sequence. The “hardware
and software specifications" aspect obtains the weight of 33.18%; it is
the most important factor that consumers are taken into account. In
addition, the most important evaluation criteria are central processing
unit, operating system, touch screen, and battery function in sequence.
The results of the study can be adopted as reference data for mobile
phone manufacturers in the future on the design and marketing
strategy to satisfy the voice of customer.