[in Japanese]

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This article is an introductory explanation for synchronization phenomena with author's memoirs of the NLP report, published on 16, Dec., 1961.

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The emergence of high-resolution video formats such as 4K/8K and sophisticated mobile devices has caused a large increase in video traffic. For the efficient transmission and storage of large amounts of video data, a highly efficient video coding algorithm is desired. However, current video coding algorithms, as typified by H.264/AVC, are now mature, making it difficult to expect large future improvements. In response to the increased need for such an algorithm or please specify raised expectahons of what? ISO/IEC and ITU-T have developed a novel video coding standard called High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). In this paper, we overview the process of standardization, the technological features of HEVC, and the improvement of coding performance. In our overview of the technological features, which is the main part of this paper, we describe the problems of the conventional method (H.264/AVC), the algorithm adopted in HEVC to solve each problem, and the mechanism that solves each problem.

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In the recent drastic evolution of high-density and high-frequency electronic circuit technologies, various noise problems have become critical. With the rapid technological improvements in IC packaging and printed circuit board manufacturing as well as in LSI chip design, the design methodologies have become complex and require efficient three-dimensional (3D) modeling. Furthermore, a paradigm shift in semiconductor design from two demensions to three dimensions is occurring in an attempt to break through the Moore’s law. In 3D designs, one of the most critical issues is how to meet the requirements for the signal and power integrity and the EMI effects, and, as a result, simulation technology has become increasingly important. In this report, the current status and future trend of 3D electromagnetic/ circuit simulation technology are described. After the introduction, a historical overview and the current status of 3D electrical simulation techniques are described. Next, a variety of advanced simulation algorithms are introduced for efficient time-domain analysis. Furthermore, several types of hardware-oriented acceleration techniques based on PC clusters and GPGPU are discussed.

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The 21st century is considered to be an age of contents. It is thus important to produce a wide range of contents that will contribute to the sound development of humankind. In this paper, we first discuss two important keywords of the paper: technology and ethics. We then introduce the activities related to information ethics developed by the IEICE and the IEEE SIT Society, Japan Chapter. We finally discuss the harmful effect of certain modern media such as high-vision TV, handyphones, smartphones, tablet-type terminals, and Internet games on infants and children.

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In 1973, D. Slepian and J. K. Wolf proved a theorem on the coding problem of correlated sources. The history of this theorem is reviewed from the viewpoint of achievability proofs (code constructions).

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The future broadcast will provide larger screens and higher resolutions. We focus on the large screen in this paper because there are already many literatures on the high resolution. Psychophysical factors used to assess picture quality on displays are also described. Three studies related on large screens, which focus on the relationship between field of view and brightness, image distortion when a screen is watched obliquely, and the necessary dynamic range of a display, are introduced. Regarding the psychophysical factors, two studies are introduced: possible metrics to assess the dynamic range and an explanation of the total gamma of a video system using the CIECAM02 model.

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Ultrasonic actuators, their working principles, basic structures, and typical characteristics are described in this article, in which we focus on ultrasonic motors based on friction driving and piezoelectric transducers. Methods of generating unidirectional rotation/motion from ultrasonic vibrations are categorized into two groups: hybrid-vibration-type and traveling-wave-type methods. The expected performance of each hybrid-vibration type method is discussed using an electrical equivalent circuit model. This article also illustrates several practical configurations for both rotary and linear motions as well as a recent attempt to improve the efficiency and lifetime.

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In general, the hashing method is utilized to search data having the same key as the query. This technique increases the search speed so that it practically works in O(1) time Recently, the hashing method has been extended to a similarity search whose purpose is not to retrieve exactly the same data but to search similar data. This method has achieved great success in content-based multimedia pattern recognition. This article reviews such hash-based similar search methods and introduces two examples of their application: (1) fast approximated hierarchical clustering and (2) object discovery from an image database.

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