morgan & claypool engineering 2013

- 2013 - Engineering Catalog

Morgan & Claypool Publishers | www.morganclaypool.com | [email protected]

Table of Contents Algorithms and Software in Engineering ....................................................................................2

Antennas ...................................................................................................................................2

Biomedical Engineering .............................................................................................................3

Chemical Engineering and Biochemical Engineering ...................................................................5

Communications .......................................................................................................................5

Computational Electromagnetics ...............................................................................................6

Digital Circuits and Systems .......................................................................................................7

Engineering ...............................................................................................................................8

Engineers, Technology, and Society ............................................................................................9

Global Engineering ..................................................................................................................11

Image, Video, and Multimedia Processing ...............................................................................13

Mathematics and Statistics ......................................................................................................14

Power Electronics ....................................................................................................................14

Professionalism and Career Advancement for Scientists and Engineers ....................................15

Signal Processing .....................................................................................................................15

Speech & Audio Processing ......................................................................................................16

- 2013 - Engineering Catalog

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Control Grid Motion Estimation for Efficient Application of Optical FlowChristine M. Zwart and David H. Frakes, Arizona State UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Algorithms and Software in EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051293 / $35.00 / £22.50eBook ISBN: 9781627051309January 2013, 87 pages

Motion estimation is a long-standing cornerstone of image and video processing. Most notably, motion estimation serves as the foundation for many of today’s ubiquitous video coding standards including H.264. Motion estimators also play key roles in countless other applications that serve the consumer, industrial, biomedical, and military sectors. Of the many available motion estimation techniques, optical flow is widely regarded as most flexible. The flexibility offered by optical flow is particularly useful for complex registration and interpolation problems, but comes at a considerable computational expense. As the volume and dimensionality of data that motion estimators are applied to continue to grow, that expense becomes more and more costly. Control grid motion estimators based on optical flow can accomplish motion estimation with flexibility similar to pure optical flow, but at a fraction of the computational expense. Control grid methods also offer the added benefit of representing motion far more compactly than pure optical flow. This booklet explores control grid motion estimation and provides implementations of the approach that apply to data of multiple dimensionalities. Important current applications of control grid methods including registration and interpolation are also developed.

Designing Secure Computing Systems using VirtualizationMahadevan GomathisankaranSynthesis Lectures on Algorithms and Software in EngineeringPaperback: 9781627052276 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627052283October 2013, 120 pages

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Antenna Design Challenges for Cognitive RadioYoussef Tawk, University of New MexicoSynthesis Lectures on AntennasPaperback: 9781627050364 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627050371June 2013, 120 pages

This lecture introduces the topic of Cognitive Radio from an antenna design perspective. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently revealed that the current spectrum allocations are unbalanced and inefficient in some frequency bands. This fact has led to propose a new communication scheme called “Cognitive Radio” designed to benefit from these underutilized regions of the spectrum. The purpose of this new protocol built on Software Defined Radio (SDR), is to achieve a dynamic spectrum access, thus allowing a more balanced and efficient communication. The cognitive radio protocol is based on sharing the spectrum with primary users whether by monitoring the channel for an idle opportunity or by broadcasting throughout a wide bandwidth at a low power level. Therefore antenna researchers aim at designing intelligent antenna systems which are aware of their surroundings, are reconfigurable and able to react and adjust to sudden changes. The typical antenna system in a Cognitive Radio environment must observe, decide, act and learn from past experiences in a given communication platform. This lecture discusses the antenna design challenges of a Cognitive Radio system. The difference between cognitive radio and software defined radio is discussed and a distinction is made between the different schemes from a practical point of view. This lecture discusses the use of reconfigurable antennas, reconfigurable “Filtennas” and MIMO antennas for Cognitive Radio. The analysis and design of these different antenna systems are presented, compared and evaluated. Cognitive Radio systems whether in a terrestrial or spatial environment are expected to use “machine learning” techniques to software-control not only the antenna structure but the entire radio system to sense the channel activity over a wide range of frequencies, tune the radiation and communication characteristics accordingly. This lecture is written for individuals who wish to learn about cognitive radio. It is written as a tutorial that will not only introduce the new communication protocol but it will also propose methods and techniques to efficiently design a successful antenna system for such applications. This lecture will take the reader through an antenna design process that allows constant spectrum monitoring with dynamic access. It will emphasize the practical aspect and implementation while preserving a theoretical framework.


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Reconfigurable Antennas: Design, Optimization, and Analysis Using Graph ModelsJoseph Constantine, Arizona State UniversitySynthesis Lectures on AntennasPaperback: 9781627050241 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627050258June 2013, 120 pages

This lecture discusses the use of graph models to represent reconfigurable antennas. The rise of antennas that adapt to their environment and change their operation based on the user’s request hasn’t been met with clear design guidelines. There is a need to propose some rules for the optimization of any reconfigurable antenna design and performance. Since reconfigurable antennas are seen as a collection of self-organizing parts, graph models can be introduced to relate each possible topology to a corresponding electromagnetic performance in terms of achieving a characteristic frequency of operation, impedance, and polarization. These models help designers understand reconfigurable antenna structures and enhance their functionality since they transform antennas from bulky devices into mathematical and software accessible models. The use of graphs facilitates the software control and cognition ability of reconfigurable antennas, while optimizing their performance. This lecture also discusses the reduction of redundancy, complexity, and reliability of reconfigurable antennas and reconfigurable antenna arrays. The full analysis of these parameters allows a better reconfigurable antenna implementation in wireless and space communications platforms. The use of graph models to reduce the complexity while preserving the reliability of reconfigurable antennas allow a better incorporation in applications such as cognitive radio, MIMO, satellite communications, and personal communication systems. A swifter response time is achieved with less cost and losses. This lecture is written for individuals with little prior experience in this area, who wish to venture into the field of reconfigurable antennas and learn how graph rules and theory, mainly used in the field of computer science, networking, and control systems, can be applied to electromagnetic structures. This lecture will walk the reader through a design and analysis process of reconfigurable antennas using graph models with a practical and theoretical outlook.

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Chronobioengineering: Introduction to Biological Rhythms with Applications, Volume IIDonald McEachron, Drexel University Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050708 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627050715September 2013, 120 pages

Computer-aided Detection of Architectural Distortion in Prior Mammograms of Interval CancerShantanu Banik, Rangaraj M. Rangayyan, and J. E. Leo DesautelsUniversity of Calgary Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050821 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627050838January 2013, 193 pages

Architectural distortion is an important and early sign of breast cancer, but because of its subtlety, it is a common cause of false-negative findings on screening mammograms. Screening mammograms obtained prior to the detection of cancer could contain subtle signs of early stages of breast cancer, in particular, architectural distortion. This book presents image processing and pattern recognition techniques to detect architectural distortion in prior mammograms of interval-cancer cases. The methods are based upon Gabor filters, phase portrait analysis, procedures for the analysis of the angular spread of power, fractal analysis, Laws’ texture energy measures derived from geometrically transformed regions of interest (ROIs), and Haralick’s texture features. With Gabor filters and phase-portrait analysis, 4,224 ROIs were automatically obtained from 106 prior mammograms of 56 interval-cancer cases, including 301 true-positive ROIs related to architectural distortion, and from 52 mammograms of 13 normal cases. For each ROI, the fractal dimension, the entropy of the angular spread of power, 10 Laws’ texture energy measures, and Haralick’s 14 texture features were computed. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves obtained using the features selected by stepwise logistic regression and the leave-one-image-out method are 0.77 with the Bayesian classifier, 0.76 with Fisher linear discriminant analysis, and 0.79 with a neural network classifier. Free-response ROC analysis indicated sensitivities of 0.80 and 0.90 at 5.7 and 8.8 false positives (FPs) per image, respectively, with the Bayesian classifier and the leave-one-image-out method. The present study has demonstrated the ability to detect early signs of breast cancer 15 months ahead of the time of clinical diagnosis, on the average, for interval-cancer cases, with a sensitivity of 0.8 at 5.7 FP/image. The presented computer-aided detection techniques, dedicated to accurate detection and localization of architectural distortion, could lead to efficient detection of early and subtle signs of breast cancer at pre-mass-formation stages.

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Content-based Retrieval of Medical Images: Landmarking, Indexing, and Relevance FeedbackPaulo Mazzoncini de Azevedo-Marques, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, BrazilRangaraj Mandayam Rangayyan, University of Calgary Synthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051415 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627051422January 2013, 143 pages

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) is the process of retrieval of images from a database that are similar to a query image, using measures derived from the images themselves, rather than relying on accompanying text or annotation. To achieve CBIR, the contents of the images need to be characterized by quantitative features; the features of the query image are compared with the features of each image in the database and images having high similarity with respect to the query image are retrieved and displayed. CBIR of medical images is a useful tool and could provide radiologists with assistance in the form of a display of relevant past cases. One of the challenging aspects of CBIR is to extract features from the images to represent their visual, diagnostic, or application-specific information content.

In this book, methods are presented for preprocessing, segmentation, landmarking, feature extraction, and indexing of mammograms for CBIR. The preprocessing steps include anisotropic diffusion and the Wiener filter to remove noise and perform image enhancement. Techniques are described for segmentation of the breast and fibroglandular disk, including maximum entropy, a moment-preserving method, and Otsu’s method. Image processing techniques are described for automatic detection of the nipple and the edge of the pectoral muscle via analysis in the Radon domain. By using the nipple and the pectoral muscle as landmarks, mammograms are divided into their internal, external, upper, and lower parts for further analysis. Methods are presented for feature extraction using texture analysis, shape analysis, granulometric analysis, moments, and statistical measures.

The CBIR system presented provides options for retrieval using the Kohonen self-organizing map and the k-nearest-neighbor method. Methods are described for inclusion of expert knowledge to reduce the semantic gap in CBIR, including the query point movement method for relevance feedback (RFb). Analysis of performance is described in terms of precision, recall, and relevance-weighted precision of retrieval. Results of application to a clinical database of mammograms are presented, including the input of expert radiologists into the CBIR and RFb processes. Models are presented for integration of CBIR and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with a picture archival and communication system (PACS) for efficient workflow in a hospital.

Health Care Engineering, Part IMonique Frize, Carleton University and University of OttawaSynthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781608453665 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608453672June 2013, 120 pages

The introduction presents the evolution of clinical engineering in North America. The first chapter describes the health care delivery systems in Canada and in the US. This is followed by examples of various approaches used to measure physiological variables in humans, either for the purpose of diagnosis or monitoring potential disease conditions; a brief description of sensor technologies is included. The function and role of the clinical engineer in managing medical technologies in industrialized and in developing countries are presented, followed by a chapter on how to minimize liability and develop a quality assurance program for technology management. The next chapter covers technical, social, and ethical issues related to telemedicine. A chapter discusses the impact of technology on health care and the final chapter is on the technology assessment process.

Health Care Engineering, Part IIMonique Frize, Carleton University and University of OttawaSynthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050722 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050739October 2013, 120 pages

The introduction discusses adverse events and medical errors. The next chapter presents how information technologies can help to reduce their occurrence. Another topic is on medical databases, data collection, storage and retrieval. A chapter on electronic medical records follows. The safe and effective use of technologies is discussed. Medical applications of infrared imaging are included. Principles to consider when designing medical devices are discussed.


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Physiological ModelingJoseph Palladino, Trinity CollegeSynthesis Lectures on Biomedical EngineeringPaperback: 9781608456222 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781608456239 July 2013, 120 pages

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Informing Chemical Engineering Decisions with Data, Research, and Government ResourcesPatricia Elaine Kirkwood and Necia T. Parker-Gibson, University of Arkansas Synthesis Lectures on Chemical Engineering and Biochemical EngineeringPaperback: 9781608459209 / $30.00 / £19.99 eBook ISBN: 9781608459216February 2013, 81 pages

This book offers new engineers and engineering students appropriate and effective strategies to find data, statistics, and research to support decision making. The authors describe the utility of solid reputable sources and help readers go beyond reliance on the quick Internet search, a habit which is often both inadequate to complex tasks and a source of criticism from employers. Some sources are free; others are available through libraries, or by purchase or subscription. This title can be used as a guide in concert with the advice of professors and colleagues, and potentially as a textbook. The examples are primarily from chemical and agricultural engineering, but the strategies could be adapted to other disciplines. An array of sources are shown, ranging from scholarly or professional societies, data sources, and books, to handbooks and journal sources, and less commonly used credible government documents and Web resources, including information from the USDA, the EPA and the DOE. Two case studies show research processes and the application of the underlying strategies and some of the tools.

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Cognitive RadioCarl Dietrich, Virginia TechSynthesis Lectures on CommunicationsPaperback: 9781627052290 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627052306October 2013, 120 pages

Information Theory and Rate Distortion TheoryJerry D. Gibson, University of California, Santa BarbaraSynthesis Lectures on CommunicationsPaperback: 9781598298079 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781598298086September 2013, 120 pages

The disciplines of Information Theory and Rate Distortion Theory were introduced by Shannon more than 60 years ago, and among many, there is little argument about the impact of these ideas on digital communication systems and source compression. However, to a broad audience of practicing engineers and even many deeply involved in digital communications and multimedia compression, the details of the connections may be obscure. This book is very specifically targeted to problems in communications and compression, and to providing the fundamental principles and results in information theory and rate distortion theory for these applications. The book emphasizes and highlights key results often buried deeply in more advanced textbooks, but that are essential to using the information theoretic approach to solving problems in communications and compression. Among these highlighted results are the Markov chain condition and the Data Processing Inequality, relative entropy, parallel Gaussian channels and water filling, the Shannon lower bound and the Shannon backward channel condition, reverse water filling, and the critical roles of channel models for communication systems, source models for compression, and distortion measures for lossy source coding. After reading this compact book, the reader will have much greater insights into the impact of Shannon theory on communications and compression and will have the tools to develop new insights and approaches of their own. The book is intended for readers with an understanding of communications, probability, and applied mathematics at the equivalent of a senior or master’s level in most universities. Practitioners in communications and compression should find the book readily accessible, although the approach will be new to those not familiar with Shannon theory.

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Partial Update Least-Squares Adaptive FilteringBei Xie and Tamal Bose, Virginia Tech Synthesis Lectures on CommunicationsPaperback: 9781627052313 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627052320September 2013, 120 pages

Turbo codes: A Concise IntroductionMatthew Valenti, West Virginia UniversitySynthesis Lectures on CommunicationsPaperback: 9781598292664 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050531 September 2013, 120 pages

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Accurate Computation of Mathieu Functions Malcolm M. Bibby and Andrew F. Peterson, Georgia Institute of TechnologySynthesis Lectures on Computational ElectromagneticsPaperback: 9781627050852 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050869May 2013, 120 pages

This lecture presents a modern approach for the computation of Mathieu functions. These functions find application in boundary value analysis such as electromagnetic scattering from elliptic cylinders and flat strips, as well as the analogous acoustic and optical problems. The authors review the traditional approach used for these functions, show its limitations, and provide an alternative “tuned” approach enabling improved accuracy and convergence. The performance of the tuned approach is investigated using double and quadruple precision. An adaptive algorithm is proposed where the accuracy of a uniform plane wave is used to provide feedback on the convergence of the various series in investigations that employ Mathieu function computations. Examples from electromagnetic scattering are provided for illustration.

Double-Grid Finite-Difference Frequency-Domain (DG-FDFD) Method for Scattering from Chiral Objects Erdogan Alkan, Production Products Company (PPC) Inc.Veysel Demir, Northern Illinois UniversityAtef Elsherbeni, The University of MississippiErcument Arvas, Syracuse University Synthesis Lectures on Computational ElectromagneticsPaperback ISBN: 9781627051453 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627051460January 2013, 129 pages

This book presents the application of the overlapping grids approach to solve chiral material problems using the FDFD method. Due to the two grids being used in the technique, we will name this method as Double-Grid Finite Difference Frequency-Domain (DG-FDFD) method. As a result of this new approach the electric and magnetic field components are defined at every node in the computation space. Thus, there is no need to perform averaging during the calculations as in the aforementioned FDFD technique [16]. We formulate general 3D frequency-domain numerical methods based on double-grid (DG-FDFD) approach for general bianisotropic materials. The validity of the derived formulations for different scattering problems has been shown by comparing the obtained results to exact and other solutions obtained using different numerical methods.

Selected Asymptotic Methods with Applications to Electromagnetics and AntennasGeorge Fikioris, Ioannis Tastsoglou, and Odysseas Bakas, National Technical University of AthensSynthesis Lectures on Computational ElectromagneticsPaperback: 9781627050395 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050401May 2013, 120 pages

Ever since the publication, in 1973, of the now-classic “Radiation and scattering of waves” by L. B. Felsen and N. Marcuvitz, asymptotic methods related to saddle points—such as the methods of steepest descent and stationary phase—have been well-covered in the electromagnetics literature. The purpose of this book is to present a number of other methods that, over the years, have been shown to be very useful in the authors’ research in electromagnetics and antennas. Most of them are unrelated, or only marginally related, to saddle-point methods and their variants; some are much easier to understand.


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The motto of R. W. Hamming’s 1962 book on numerical methods was “The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.” Today, when it is much easier to obtain numbers using computer codes, we should view asymptotics in the way Hamming viewed computing. While their importance for producing precise numbers has lessened, asymptotics—when applicable—can greatly aid in providing insight to physical problems. As we illustrate throughout this book, this is especially true for certain fundamental problems of electromagnetics and antennas.

Selected Asymptotic Methods with Applications to Electromagnetics and Antennas will grow out of existing notes, including exercises, for a graduate course called “Methods of Applied Mathematics for Electromagnetic Fields” taught by the senior author for many years at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens.

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Bad to the Bone: Crafting Electronics Systems with BeagleBoneSteven Barrett and Jason Kridner, University of WyomingSynthesis Lectures on Digital Circuits and SystemsPaperback: 9781627051378 / $45.00 / £27.50eBook ISBN: 9781627051385April 2013, 430 pages

This comprehensive book provides detailed materials for both novice and experienced programmers using all BeagleBone variants which host a powerful 32-bit, super-scalar TI Sitara ARM Cortex A8 processor. Authored by Steven F. Barrett and Jason Kridner, a seasoned ECE educator along with the founder of Beagleboard.org, respectively, the work may be used in a wide variety of projects from science fair projects to university courses and senior design projects to first prototypes of very complex systems. Beginners may access the power of the “Bone” through the user-friendly Bonescript examples. Seasoned users may take full advantage of the Bone’s power using the underlying Linux-based operating system, a host of feature extension boards (Capes) and a wide variety of Linux community open source libraries. The book contains background theory on system operation coupled with many well-documented, illustrative examples. Examples for novice users are centered on motivational, fun robot projects while advanced projects follow the theme of assistive technology and image processing applications.

Introduction to Noise-Resilient ComputingS.N. Yanushkevich (University of Calgary), S. Kasai (Hokkaido University), and An Hong Tran, Ali Abbasinasab, Gol-am Tangim, and Vlad P. Shmerko (University of Calgary)Synthesis Lectures on Digital Circuits and SystemsPaperback: 9781627050227 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050234 January 2013, 80 pages

Noise abatement is the key problem of small-scaled circuit design. New computational paradigms are needed -- as these circuits shrink, they become very vulnerable to noise and soft errors. In this lecture, we present a probabilistic computation framework for improving the resiliency of logic gates and circuits under random conditions induced by voltage or current fluctuation. Among many probabilistic techniques for modeling such devices, only a few models satisfy the requirements of efficient hardware implementation -- specifically, Boltzman machines and Markov Random Field (MRF) models. These models have similar built-in noise-immunity characteristics based on feedback mechanisms. In probabilistic models, the values 0 and 1 of logic functions are replaced by degrees of beliefs that these values occur. An appropriate metric for degree of belief is probability. We discuss various approaches for noise-resilient logic gate design, and propose a novel design taxonomy based on implementation of the MRF model by a new type of binary decision diagram (BDD), called a cyclic BDD. In this approach, logic gates and circuits are designed using 2-to-1 bi-directional switches. Such circuits are often modeled using Shannon expansions with the corresponding graph-based implementation, BDDs. Simulation experiments are reported to show the noise immunity of the proposed structures. Audiences who may benefit from this lecture include graduate students taking classes on advanced computing device design, and academic and industrial researchers.

Software Development Techniques for Embedded SystemsRob Oshana, Director, Software Research and Development Networking and Multimedia, FreescaleSynthesis Lectures on Digital Circuits and SystemsPaperback: 9781627051743 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627051750July 2013, 120 pages

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The Engineering Design Challenge: A Unique OpportunityCharles Dolan, University of WyomingSynthesis Lectures on EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051767 / $30.00 / £19.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627051774March 2013, 151 pages

The Engineering Design Challenge addresses teaching engineering design and presents design projects for first-year students and interdisciplinary design ventures. A short philosophy and background of engineering design is discussed. The organization of the University of Wyoming first-year Introduction to Engineering program is presented with an emphasis on the first-year design challenges. These challenges are presented in a format readily incorporated in other first-year programs. The interdisciplinary design courses address the institutional constraints and present organizational approaches that resolve these issues. Student results are summarized and briefly assessed. A series of short intellectual problems are included to initiate discussion and understanding of design issues. Sample syllabi, research paper requirements, and oral presentation evaluation sheets are included.

Lying By Approximation: The Truth About Finite Element AnalysisVincent C. Prantil, Milwaukee School of Engineering Paul D. Gessler, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Christopher Papadopoulos, Marquette UniversitySynthesis Lectures on EngineeringPaperback: 9781627052351 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627052368June 2013, 120 pages

The Making of Green Engineers: Sustainable Development and the Hybrid ImaginationAndrew Jamison, Aalborg University, Denmark Synthesis Lectures on EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051590 / $20.00 / £14.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051606March 2013, 153 pages

This book discusses the ways in which engineering educators are responding to the challenges that confront their profession. On the one hand, there is an overarching sustainability challenge: the need for engineers to relate to the problems brought to light in the debates about environmental protection, resource depletion, and climate change. There are also a range of societal challenges that are due to the permeation of science and technology into ever more areas of our societies and everyday lives, and finally, there are the intrinsic scientific and technological challenges stemming from the emergence of new fields of “technosciences” that mix science and technology in new combinations.

In the book, the author discusses and exemplifies three contending response strategies on the part of engineers and engineering educators: a commercial strategy that links scientists and engineers into networks or systems of innovation; an academic strategy that reasserts the traditional values of science and engineering; and an integrative strategy that aims to combine scientific knowledge and engineering skills with cultural understanding and social responsibility by fostering what the author terms a “hybrid imagination.”

Professor Jamison combines scholarly analysis with personal reflections drawing on over forty years of experience as a humanist teaching science and engineering students about the broader social, political and cultural contexts of their fields. The book has been written as part of the Program of Research on Opportunities and Challenges in Engineering Education in Denmark (PROCEED), funded by the Danish Strategic Research Council, for which Professor Jamison has served as coordinator.

Oral Communication Excellence for Engineers and ScientistsJudith Shaul Norback, Georgia TechSynthesis Lectures on EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051279 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051286August 2013, 120 pages

Many of us have implemented oral communication instruction in our design courses, lab courses, and other courses where students give presentations. Others have students give presentations without instruction on how to become a better presenter. Many of us, then, could use a concise book that guides us on what instruction on oral communication should include, based on input from executives from different settings. This instruction will help our students get jobs and make them more likely to move up the career ladder, especially in this post-Great Recession time.


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Oral Communication Excellence for Engineers and Scientists is the tool we need. It is based on input from over 75 executives with engineering or science degrees. For the presentation chapter, the executives described what makes a “stellar presentation.” And for every other chapter, they gave input---on, for example, how to effectively communicate in meetings and in teams, how to excel at phone communication, how to meet the challenges of oral communication, tips on cross-cultural communication, listening, choosing the appropriate medium for a communication, elevator pitches, posters and more.

Simplified Models for Assessing Heat and Mass Transfer in Evaporative TowersOnorio Saro. Giulio Lorenzini, Alessandra De’Angelis, Stefano D’Elia, Marco MediciUniversity of ParmaSynthesis Lectures on EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051910 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051927June 2013, 120 pages

Evaporative cooling is the only transformation which is not directly implemented in conditioning systems. Its aim is to refrigerate a water flow through the partial evaporation of the same. Such process is increasingly employed each time a significant water flow at a temperature which does not greatly differ from ambient temperature is needed for removing a remarkable heat load. Industrial processes often require cooling machines or applications capable to remove the heat absorbed during working cycles. Thermal sources which, in nature, act as best receptors for such energy fluxes are atmospheric air as well as bore, river, lake and sea water. It is widely known that, given equivalent thermodynamic conditions, water-cooled exchangers prove more compact and less costly than air-cooled ones. However the necessary quantity of water may not be always available due to the enforcement of laws which safeguard the hydrologic environment. In such cases the solution is a system able to cool continuously re-circulated water by means of a particularly efficient type of exchanger named “evaporative tower.”

The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to supplying valid parameters for selecting the right model of industrial evaporative tower according to operating conditions which vary depending on the type of industry: power plants, chemical plants, food processing plants and other industrial facilities.

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Engineering and Indigenous PeoplesRita Armstrong et al., University of Western AustraliaSynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781608458745 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608458752August 2013, 120 pages

Engineering Education in the 21st Century: Moving towards a Learning Through Service ParadigmGeorge Catalano, Binghamton UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781627051781 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050753August 2013, 120 pages

Engineers Engaging Community: Water and EnergyCarolyn Oldham, The University of Western AustraliaGregory Crebbin, Murdoch University, AustraliaStephen Dobbs, The University of Western AustraliaAndrea Gaynor, The University of Western Australia Synthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781608459636 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608459643February 2013, 116 pages

Water and energy are fundamental elements of community well-being and economic development, and a key focus of engineering efforts the world over. As such, they offer outstanding opportunities for the development of socially just engineering practices. This work examines the engineering of water and energy systems with a focus on issues of social justice and sustainability. A key theme running through the work is engaging community on water and energy engineering projects: How is this achieved in diverse contexts? And, what can we learn from past failures and successes in water and energy engineering? The book includes a detailed case study of issues involved in the provision of water and energy, among other needs, in a developing and newly independent nation, East Timor.

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Engineering with Integrity: Grappling with Real-World ProblemsAnnette Berndt, Joanne Nakonechny, and Carla PatersonUniversity of British ColumbiaSynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781627050548 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050555February 2013, 120 pages

Engineering with Integrity: Grappling with Real-World Problems begins with a definition of integrity, linking it both to contextual “wholeness” suggested by the word “integer” and to recent discussions on engineering ethics that relate to authenticity, sustainability, and the problem-solving process.

This book is aimed at learners who are interested in global issues with an engineering component. Focusing on real problems in India, it offers a means of integrating globally situated concerns within a local educational context. By examining particular situations and strategies, it provides learners with a generalizable approach to problem-solving that can be used in a variety of contexts.

Engineering with Integrity presents strategies to address socio-technical problems identified by village artisans in India, in cooperation with Maiwa Handprints Ltd., a Vancouver-based social entrepreneur. These problems form the backbone of an Applied Science course at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). The authentic nature of the problems demonstrates the need to focus on process-oriented ways of “solving” the problems that cannot be derived from a textbook. The information learners work with is often ambiguous, incomplete and conflicting due to differential access to the artisans and knowledge of their situations.

Engineering and WarfareEthan Blue, Michael Levine, and Dean Nieusma, University of Western AustraliaSynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781608458769 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608458776September 2013, 120 pages

This volume presents undergraduate, engineering students and educators with an introductory text to interpret and ethically evaluate issues of engineering practice in relation to war and violence. Taking the United States as a case study, it examines the history of engineering and engineering education as related to changing ideas of national military interest and shifting forms of geopolitics. It provides a philosophical foundation for understanding engineers’ ethical responsibilities as influential actors and world citizens. Additional case studies examine how engineering students protested against what they saw as the over-militarization of their universities, and reveals models of how engineering students have actively sought to make their universities more just institutions. Engineering and Warfare provides the ethical and historical foundation for undergraduate engineers to proclaim their own places as engineers of the future.

The Garbage Crisis: A Global Challenge for EngineersRandika Jayasinghe, University of Western Australia Usman Mushtaq, Queen’s University, Canada Toni Smythe, Department of Water, Perth. Australia Caroline Bailliee, University of Western AustraliaSynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781608458721 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608458738January 2013, 155 pages

This book will focus on “Waste Management,” a serious global issue and engineers’ responsibility towards finding better solutions for its sustainable management. Solid waste management is one of the major environmental burdens in both developed and developing countries alike. An alarming rate of solid waste generation trends can be seen as a result of globalization, industrialization, and rapid economic development. However, low-income and marginalized sectors in society suffer most from the unfavorable conditions deriving from poor waste management. Solid waste management is not a mere technical challenge. The environmental impact, socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal, and political aspects are fundamental in planning, designing, and maintaining a sustainable waste management system in any country. Engineers have a major role to play in designing proper systems that integrate stakeholders, waste system elements, and sustainability aspects of waste management. This book is part of a focused collection from a project on Engineering and Education for Social and Environmental Justice. It takes an explicitly social and environmental justice stance on waste and attempts to assess the social impact of waste management on those who are also the most economically vulnerable and least powerful in the society. We hope that this book will assist our readers to think critically and understand the framework of socially and environmentally just waste management.


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Just Technology: The Quest for Cultural, Economic, Environmental, and Technical SustainabilityTom Siller and Gerry Johnson, Colorado State UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and SocietyPaperback: 9781627051620 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051637June 2013, 120 pages

We often talk about appropriate technology but rarely do we think of ‘just,’ meaning justified, technology. This book frames a new point of view about technology that is informed by the Roman Catholic concept of Just War. This concept was developed into a series of four questions that result in war being considered a last resort to preventing harm. Our goal is similar; we seek to view technology as a solution that should be considered after other solutions are explored, e.g. cultural, political, legal, ecological, etc. The result is not the elimination of technological solutions but instead technology that seeks to be ‘just’ by being used only when necessary and in conjunction with other nontechnical approaches.

First and foremost this book is intended for both current engineers and future engineers. Our goal is to create dialog and promote critical thinking about the present and future of engineering and its role in the development of technology. In this book we refocus the Just War questions to look at the decision of if, when, why, and how to employ technology to address problems causing real harm to society and to the planet. Readers will find these questions can stimulate new and broader points of view of the role of technology and how this broader view expands the many current engineering design methods often used and taught in engineering.

Mining and Its Social ImpactRita Armstrong, Caroline Baillie, Wendy Cumming Potvin, University of Western AustraliaSynthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology and SocietyPaperback: 9781608458783 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608458790 August 2013, 120 pages

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Designing Development: Case Study of an International Education and Outreach ProgramAditya Johri and Akshay Sharma, Virginia TechSynthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050036 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050043 January 2013, 113 pages

The creation of physical and material infrastructure is the cornerstone of human development; not surprisingly, engineers and designers are often motivated and inspired in their practice to improve the world around them, to make things better for others, and to apply their knowledge for the good of mankind. These aspirations often get translated into engineering and design curricula where students and faculty work on development related projects usually under the category of community or service learning. This book presents an overview of such an education and outreach program designed to empower stakeholders to improve their lives. The project described here was an international multi-institutional undertaking that included academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private firms. Within the academic setting, an interdisciplinary set of actors that included engineering and industrial design students and faculty worked on the project. We concretize our work by presenting a design case study that illustrates how different approaches can help guide the works of engineers and designers as they create global infrastructures and localized artifacts. We emphasize the importance of developing long term relationships with organizations on the ground in order to ensure appropriate design as well as successful transfer and long term use of designed artifacts. We discuss the life trajectories of the authors to provide a grounded perspective on what motivated us to undertake this work and shaped our approach with the intention to demonstrate that there are multiple paths toward this goal.

Engineering CulturesGary Downey, Virginia TechSynthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050746 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781608458752October 2013, 120 pages

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Engineering, the Nation, and Migration in Twenty-First Century IndiaVasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Aalok Khandekar Synthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050265 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050272January 2013, 120 pages

Engineers for CanadaBrandiff R. Caron, Virginia TechBrent Jesiek, Purdue University Synthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050418 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050425 September 2013, 120 pages

Engineers for IndiaRoli Varma, University of New MexicoSynthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627050647 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050654 September 2013, 120 pages

The proposed volume seeks to introduce readers to what it means to be an engineer in India. It accomplishes this by providing answers to five basic questions: (1) How did engineering education and engineering practices emerge in India?, (2) Who has counted as an engineer in India and who has not?, (3) How have engineers been trained/educated in India and where have they tended to work?, (4) What emerged as key issues for engineers and engineering during the early 21st century?, (5) How do engineers maintain their identities with the new trend to move to management after graduation and work?

The volume is designed especially for non-Indian engineering students, working engineers, and non-engineers who plan to study, research, or work with Indian engineers inside as well as outside India. It will help them understand dominant practices of engineering education and work in India. It will enable them to discern differences among Indian engineers and between engineers and other technical workers. It will help them develop more sophisticated expectations about Indian engineers and enable them to ask more informed questions. As a contributor to the subseries on “Engineering Countries,” it will help readers become better critical analysts of their own assumptions and predispositions, whether as engineers or non-engineers. The volume will also be of interest to Indian engineers and non-engineers, enabling them to better understand the emergence of engineers and engineering in India.

Engineers for KoreaKyonghee Han, Yonsei University Gary Downey, Virginia TechSynthesis Lectures on Global Engineering Paperback: 9781627050760 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627050777 September 2013, 120 pages

Merging Languages and Engineering: Partnering Across the Disciplines John M. Grandin, University of Rhode IslandSynthesis Lectures on Global EngineeringPaperback: 9781627051330 / $35.00 / £22.50eBook ISBN: 9781627051347January 2013, 88 pages

At the University of Rhode Island over 25% of engineering undergraduates simultaneously complete a second degree in German, French, Spanish, or Chinese. They furthermore spend an entire year abroad, one semester as exchange students at a partner university and six months as professional engineering interns at a cooperating company. With a close-to 100% placement rate, over 400 graduates, and numerous national awards, the URI International Engineering Program (IEP) is a proven path of preparation for young engineers in today’s global workplace.

The author of this volume, John Grandin, is an emeritus professor of German who developed and led the IEP for twenty-three years. In these pages, he provides a two-pronged approach to explain the origin and history of this program rooted in such an unusual merger of two traditionally distinct higher education disciplines. He looks first at himself to explain how and why he became an international educator and what led him to his lasting passion for the IEP. He then provides an historical overview of the program’s origin and growth, including looks at the bumps and bruises and ups and downs along the way. Grandin hopes that this story will be of use and value to other educators determined to reform higher education and align it with the needs of the 21st Century.


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Contextual Analysis of VideosMyo Thida, Institute for Infocomm Research SingaporeEng How-lung, i2R-A-Star (1&2)Dorothy Monekosso, Institute of Bio-Sensing Technology, Bristol Paolo Remagnino, Kingston UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Image, Video, and Multimedia ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051668 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051675September 2013, 120 pages

Video context analysis is an active and vibrant research area, which provides means for extracting, analyzing and understanding behavior of a single target and multiple targets. Over the last few decades, computer vision researchers have been working to improve the accuracy and robustness of algorithms to analyze the context of a video automatically. In general, the research work in this area can be categorized into three major topics: 1) counting number of people in the scene 2) tracking individuals in a crowd and 3) understanding behavior of a single target or multiple targets in the scene.

This book focuses on tracking individual targets and detecting abnormal behavior of a crowd in a complex scene. Firstly, this book surveys the state-of-the-art methods for tracking multiple targets in a complex scene and describes the authors’ approach for tracking multiple targets. The proposed approach is to formulate the problem of multi-target tracking as an optimization problem of finding dynamic optima (pedestrians) where these optima interact frequently. A novel particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm that uses a set of multiple swarms is presented. Through particles and swarms diversification, motion prediction is introduced into the standard PSO, constraining swarm members to the most likely region in the search space. The social interaction among swarm and the output from pedestrians-detector are also incorporated into the velocity-updating equation. This allows the proposed approach to track multiple targets in a crowded scene with severe occlusion and heavy interactions among targets.

The second part of this book discusses the problem of detecting and localizing abnormal activities in crowded scenes. We present a spatio-temporal Laplacian Eigenmap method for extracting different crowd activities from videos. This method learns the spatial and temporal variations of local motions in an embedded space and employs representatives of different activities to construct the model which characterizes the regular behavior of a crowd. This model of regular crowd behavior allows for the detection of abnormal crowd activities both in local and global context and the localization of regions which show abnormal behavior.

The last chapter suggests a number of research directions to be pursued for future work

Wavelet Image CompressionWilliam A. Pearlman, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteSynthesis Lectures on Image, Video, and Multimedia ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051316 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051323January 2013, 90 pages

This book explains the stages necessary to create a wavelet compression system for images and describes state-of-the-art systems used in image compression standards and current research. It starts with a high level discussion of the properties of the wavelet transform, especially the decomposition into multi-resolution subbands. It continues with an exposition of the null-zone, uniform quantization used in most subband coding systems and the optimal allocation of bitrate to the different subbands. Then the image compression systems of the FBI Fingerprint Compression Standard and the JPEG2000 Standard are described in detail. Following that, the set partitioning coders SPECK and SPIHT, and EZW are explained in detail and compared via a fictitious wavelet transform in actions and number of bits coded in a single pass in the top bit plane. The presentation teaches that, besides producing efficient compression, these coding systems, except for the FBI Standard, are capable of writing bit streams that have attributes of rate scalability, resolution scalability, and random access decoding. Many diagrams and tables accompany the text to aid understanding. The book is generous in pointing out references and resources to help the reader who wishes to expand his knowledge, know the origins of the methods, or find resources for running the various algorithms or building his own coding system.

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Applications of Affine and Weyl Geometry Peter Gilkey, University of OregonSynthesis Lectures on Mathematics and StatisticsPaperback: 9781608457595 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781608457601June 2013, 120 pages

Pseudo-Riemannian geometry is to a large extent the study of the Levi-Civita connection which is the unique torsion-free connection compatible with the metric structure. There are, however, other affine connections which arise in different contexts such as conformal geometry, contact structures, Weyl structures, and almost Hermitian geometry. In this book, we reverse this point of view and instead associate an auxiliary pseudo-Riemannian structure of neutral signature to certain affine connections and use this correspondence to study both geometries. We examine Walker structures, Riemannian extensions, and Kähler–Weyl geometry from this viewpoint. The book is intended to be accessible to mathematicians who are not expert in the subject and to students with a basic grounding in differential geometry. Consequently, the first chapter contains a comprehensive introduction to the basic results and definitions we shall need – proofs are included of many of these results to make it as self-contained as possible. Para-complex geometry plays an important role throughout the book and consequently is treated carefully in various chapters as is the representation theory underlying various results. It is a feature of this book that rather than as regarding para-complex geometry as an adjunct to complex geometry, instead we shall often introduce the para-complex concepts first and only later pass to the complex setting. The second and third chapters are devoted to the study of various kinds of Riemannian extensions that associate to an affine structure on a manifold a neutral signature metric on its cotangent bundle. These play a role in various questions involving the spectral geometry of the curvature operator and homogeneous connections on surfaces. The fourth chapter deals with Kähler–Weyl geometry which lies in a certain sense midway between affine geometry and Kähler geometry. Another feature of the book is that we have tried where ever possible to find the original references in the subject for possible historical interest. Thus we have cited the seminal papers of Levi-Civita, Ricci, Schouten, and Weyl to name but a few exemplars. We have also given different proofs of various results than those that are given in the literature to take advantage of the unified treatment of the area given herein.

A Simple Path to Convex Analysis and ApplicationsBoris Mordukhovich, Wayne State UniversityNguyen Mau Nam, Portland State UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Mathematics and StatisticsPaperback: 9781627052375 / $40.00 / £24.99 eBook ISBN: 9781627052382 December 2013, 120 pages

T-tests and Beyond: Learning to Apply Statistics and Interpret DataPatricia Shewokis, Drexel UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Mathematics and StatisticsPaperback: 9781598298819 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781598298826December 2012, 120 pages

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Modeling Bipolar Power Semiconductor DevicesTanya K. Gachovska, University of NebraskaJerry L. Hudgins, University of NebraskaEnrico Santi, University of South CarolinaAngus Bryant, University of Cambridge and University of Warwick, UKPatrick R. Palmer, University of Cambridge, UK Synthesis Lectures on Power ElectronicsPaperback: 9781627051217 / $35.00 / £22.50eBook ISBN: 9781627051224March 2013, 93 pages

This book presents physics-based models of bipolar power semiconductor devices and their implementation in MATLAB and Simulink. The devices are subdivided into different regions, and the operation in each region, along with the interactions at the interfaces which are analyzed using basic semiconductor physics equations that govern their behavior. The Fourier series solution is used to solve the ambipolar diffusion equation in the lightly doped drift region of the devices. In addition to the external electrical characteristics, internal physical and electrical information, such as the junction voltages and the carrier distribution in different regions of the device, can be obtained using the models.


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Transient Electro-Thermal Modeling on Power Semiconductor DevicesTanya Gachovska and Jerry L. Hudgins, University of NebraskaSynthesis Lectures on Power ElectronicsPaperback: 9781598292701 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051903 August 2013, 120 pages

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A Handbook for Analytical Writing: Keys to Strategic ThinkingWilliam E. Winner, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University Synthesis Lectures on Professionalism and Career Advancement for Scientists and EngineersPaperback: 9781627051828 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051835March 2013, 139 pages

This handbook accelerates the development of analytical writing skills for high school students, students in higher education, and working professionals in a broad range of careers. This handbook builds on the idea that writing clarifies thought, and that through analytical writing comes improved insight and understanding for making decisions about innovation necessary for socioeconomic development. This short handbook is a simple, comprehensive guide that shows differences between descriptive writing and analytical writing, and how students and teachers work together during the process of discovery-based learning. This handbook provides nuts and bolts ideas for team projects, organizing writing, the process of writing, constructing tables, presenting figures, documenting reference lists, avoiding the barriers to clear writing, and outlines the importance of ethical issues and bias for writers. Finally, there are ideas for evaluating writing, and examples of classroom exercises for students and teachers.

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An Introduction to Kalman Filtering with MATLAB ExamplesNarayan Kovvali, Mahesh Banavar, and Andreas Spanias Arizona State UniversitySynthesis Lectures on Signal ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051392 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051408June 2013, 120 pages

Sequential Monte Carlo Methods for Nonlinear Discrete-Time FilteringMarcelo G.S. Bruno, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), BrazilSynthesis Lectures on Signal ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051194 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051200January 2013, 99 pages

In these notes, we introduce particle filtering as a recursive importance sampling method that approximates the minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) estimate of a sequence of hidden state vectors in scenarios where the joint probability distribution of the states and the observations is non-Gaussian and, therefore, closed-form analytical expressions for the MMSE estimate are generally unavailable.

We begin the notes with a review of Bayesian approaches to static (i.e., time-invariant) parameter estimation. In the sequel, we describe the solution to the problem of sequential state estimation in linear, Gaussian dynamic models, which corresponds to the well-known Kalman (or Kalman-Bucy) filter. Finally, we move to the general nonlinear, non-Gaussian stochastic filtering problem and present particle filtering as a sequential Monte Carlo approach to solve that problem in a statistically optimal way.

We review several techniques to improve the performance of particle filters, including importance function optimization, particle resampling, Markov Chain Monte Carlo move steps, auxiliary particle filtering, and regularized particle filtering. We also discuss Rao-Blackwellized particle filtering as a technique that is particularly well-suited for many relevant applications such as fault detection and inertial navigation. Finally, we conclude the notes with a discussion on the emerging topic of distributed particle filtering using multiple processors located at remote nodes in a sensor network.

Throughout the notes, we often assume a more general framework than in most introductory textbooks by allowing either the observation model or the hidden state dynamic model to include unknown parameters. In a fully Bayesian fashion, we treat those unknown parameters also as random variables. Using suitable dynamic conjugate priors, that approach can be applied then to perform joint state and parameter estimation.

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Acoustical Impulse Response Functions of Music Performance HallsDouglas Frey, University of CalgaryVictor Coelho, Boston UniversityRangaraj M. Rangayyan, University of Calgary Synthesis Lectures on Speech & Audio ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051873 / $35.00 / £22.50eBook ISBN: 9781627051880 April 2013, 110 pages

Digital measurement of the analog acoustical parameters of a music performance hall is difficult. The aim of such work is to create a digital acoustical derivation that is an accurate numerical representation of the complex analog characteristics of the hall. The present study describes the exponential sine sweep (ESS) measurement process in the derivation of an acoustical impulse response function (AIRF) of three music performance halls in Canada. It examines specific difficulties of the process, such as preventing the external effects of the measurement transducers from corrupting the derivation, and provides solutions, such as the use of filtering techniques in order to remove such unwanted effects. In addition, the book presents a novel method of numerical verification through mean-squared error (MSE) analysis in order to determine how accurately the derived AIRF represents the acoustical behavior of the actual hall.

DFT-Domain Based Single-Microphone Noise Reduction for Speech Enhancement: A Survey of the State of the ArtRichard C. Hendriks, Delft University of Technology, The NetherlandsTimo Gerkmann, University of Oldenburg, GermanyJesper Jensen, Aalborg University and Oticon A/S, Denmark Synthesis Lectures on Speech & Audio ProcessingPaperback: 9781627051439 / $40.00 / £24.99eBook ISBN: 9781627051446 January 2013, 80 pages

As speech processing devices like mobile phones, voice controlled devices, and hearing aids have increased in popularity, people expect them to work anywhere and at any time without user intervention. However, the presence of acoustical disturbances limits the use of these applications, degrades their performance, or causes the user difficulties in understanding the conversation or appreciating the device. A common way to reduce the effects of such disturbances is through the use of single-microphone noise reduction algorithms for speech enhancement.

The field of single-microphone noise reduction for speech enhancement comprises a history of more than 30 years of research. In this survey, we wish to demonstrate the significant advances that have been made during the last decade in the field of discrete Fourier transform domain-based single-channel noise reduction for speech enhancement.Furthermore, our goal is to provide a concise description of a state-of-the-art speech enhancement system, and demonstrate the relative importance of the various building blocks of such a system. This allows the non-expert DSP practitioner to judge the relevance of each building block and to implement a close-to-optimal enhancement system for the particular application at hand.

Speech Recognition Algorithms based on Weighted Finite-State TransducersTakaaki Hori & Atsushi Nakamura, NTT Communication Science LaboratoriesSynthesis Lectures on Speech & Audio ProcessingPaperback: 9781608454730 / $45.00 / £27.50eBook ISBN: 9781608454747January 2013, 162 pages

This book introduces the theory, algorithms, and implementation techniques for efficient decoding in speech recognition mainly focusing on the Weighted Finite-State Transducer (WFST) approach. The decoding process for speech recognition is viewed as a search problem whose goal is to find a sequence of words that best matches an input speech signal. Since this process becomes computationally more expensive as the system vocabulary size increases, research has long been devoted to reducing the computational cost. Recently, the WFST approach has become an important state-of-the-art speech recognition technology, because it offers improved decoding speed with fewer recognition errors compared with conventional methods. However, it is not easy to understand all the algorithms used in this framework, and they are still in a black box for many people. In this book, we review the WFST approach and aim to provide comprehensive interpretations of WFST operations and decoding algorithms to help anyone who wants to understand, develop, and study WFST-based speech recognizers. We also mention recent advances in this framework and its applications to spoken language processing.

morgan & claypool engineering 2013

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