• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.31 no.12C
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• pp.1173-1183
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• 2006

In this paper, we propose an efficient method for improving visual quality of AR-FGS (Adaptive Reference FGS) which is adopted as a key scheme for SVC (Scalable Video Coding) or H.264 scalable extension. The standard FGS (Fine Granularity Scalability) adopts AR-FGS that introduces temporal prediction into FGS layer by using a high quality reference signal which is constructed by the weighted average between the base layer reconstructed imageand enhancement reference to improve the coding efficiency in the FGS layer. However, when the enhancement stream is truncated at certain bitstream position in transmission, the rest of the data of the FGS layer will not be available at the FGS decoder. Thus the most noticeable problem of using the enhancement layer in prediction is the degraded visual quality caused by drifting because of the mismatch between the reference frame used by the FGS encoder and that by the decoder. To solve this problem, we exploit the principle of cyclical block coding that is used to encode quantized transform coefficients in a cyclical manner in the FGS layer. Encoding block coefficients in a cyclical manner places 'higher-value' bits earlier in the bitstream. The quantized transform coefficients included in the ealry coding cycle of cyclical block coding have higher probability to be correctly received and decoded than the others included in the later cycle of the cyclical block coding. Therefore, we can minimize visual quality degradation caused by bitstream truncation by adjusting weighting factor to control the contribution of the bitstream produced in each coding cycle of cyclical block coding when constructing the enhancement layer reference frame. It is shown by simulations that the improved AR-FGS scheme outperforms the standard AR-FGS by about 1 dB in maximum in the reconstructed visual quality.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2020

The rapid on-site measurement of hydroponic nutrients allows for the more efficient use of crop fertilizers. This paper reports on the development of an embedded on-site system consisting of multiple ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for the real-time measurement of the concentrations of macronutrients in hydroponic solutions. The system included a combination of PVC ISEs for the detection of NO₃, K, and Ca ions, a cobalt-electrode for the detection of H₂PO₄, a double-junction reference electrode, a solution container, and a sampling system consisting of pumps and valves. An Arduino Due board was used to collect data and to control the volume of the sample. Prior to the measurement of each sample, a two-point normalization method was employed to adjust the sensitivity followed by an offset to minimize potential drift that might occur during continuous measurement. The predictive capabilities of the NO₃ and K ISEs based on PVC membranes were satisfactory, producing results that were in close agreement with the results of standard analyzers (R² = 0.99). Though the Ca ISE fabricated with Ca ionophore II underestimated the Ca concentration by an average of 55%, the strong linear relationship (R² > 0.84) makes it possible for the embedded system to be used in hydroponic NO₃, K, and Ca sensing. The cobalt-rod-based phosphate electrodes exhibited a relatively high error of 24.7±9.26% in the phosphate concentration range of 45 to 155 mg/L compared to standard methods due to inconsistent signal readings between replicates, illustrating the need for further research on the signal conditioning of cobalt electrodes to improve their predictive ability in hydroponic P sensing.