Comments on enhanced yoking proof protocols for radio frequency identification tags and tag groups

A radio frequency identification (RFID) yoking proof scheme can generate proofs of simultaneous presence of two tags in the range of a specified reader so that an off-line verifier can verify the proofs later. This proof has found several interesting applications. However, many existing RFID yoking schemes are vulnerable to replay attacks. To overcome the weaknesses, Cho et al. proposed a new RFID yoking proof protocol and a new grouping protocol. Unfortunately, Cho et al.’s schemes are still vulnerable to replay attacks. In this paper, in addition to demonstrating weaknesses, we further discuss the rationale behind these weaknesses to provide a guide line for designing secure RFID yoking schemes. Based on the guide line, we propose a new RFID yoking scheme and a new RFID grouping scheme. Performance evaluation shows that our scheme outperforms its counterparts.     

Fully secure revocable attribute-based encryption

Distributed information systems require complex access control which depends upon attributes of protected data and access policies. Traditionally, to enforce the access control, a file server is used to store all data and act as a reference to check the user. Apparently, the drawback of this system is that the security is based on the file server and the data are stored in plaintext. Attribute-based encryption (ABE) is introduced first by Sahai and Waters and can enable an access control mechanism over encrypted data by specifying the users’ attributes. According to this mechanism, even though the file server is compromised, we can still keep the security of the data. Besides the access control, user may be deprived of the ability in some situation, for example paying TV. More previous ABE constructions are proven secure in the selective model of security that attacker must announce the target he intends to attack before seeing the public parameters. And few of previous ABE constructions realize revocation of the users’ key. This paper presents an ABE scheme that supports revocation and has full security in adaptive model. We adapt the dual system encryption technique recently introduced by Waters to ABE to realize full security.     

Investigation on transient dynamic behaviors of low-tension undersea cables

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the dynamic transient behaviors of undersea cables. In this numerical study, the governing equations based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory are adopted, and they can satisfy many applications no matter what the magnitude of the cable tension is. The nonlinear coupled equations are solved by a popular central finite difference method, and the numerical results of transient behaviors are presented when several kinds of surrounding conditions, such as different towing speeds of surface vessel, different currents and waves with various frequencies and amplitudes, are exerted. Then a detailed comparison of the results, including the upper end tension and cable shape in time-domain, is made under the above external excitations, and finally the possible reasons for these are further explained.     

Industry foundation classes based integration of architectural design and structural analysis

The numerous construction projects in China provide the best environment for the development of information technology applied in building design. Various commercial CAD/CAE software applications are purchased by design firms for multi-disciplinary design tasks. However, researches on integration and interoperability are seldom considered. This study pursues a breakthrough point of integration in the architectural and structural domains and expects further development in other aspects. A central building information modeling (BIM) framework based on the industry foundation classes (IFC) is proposed to handle the data exchange between IFC-compatible architectural models and structural models. A central XML(extensible markup language)-based unified finite element model (FEM) is proposed for model conversion among various commercial structural CAE software applications. In addition to bidirectional data interfaces among IFC-based BIM, XML-based FEM and various commercial FEMs, some other components such as visualization, calculation and model editing/check are also equipped into the prototype system.     

Numerical simulation of macrosegregation during steel ingot solidification using continuum model

A continuum model is adopted to study the macrosegregation phenomena during solidification of large steel ingots. Evolution of temperature, melt velocity, and compositional concentration field during a 22 t steel ingot solidification are illustrated by using the finite volume method. Numerical results of temperature distribution are validated by experiments. The influence of local permeability relates to the friction that the melt experienced in mushy region is investigated. It is shown that the continuum model is able to predict the temperature field, and the variation of permeability obviously affects the melt flowing behavior and the final compositional distribution.     

Certificateless message recovery signatures providing girault’s level-3 security

A digital signature with message recovery is a signature that the message itself (or partial of the message) is not required to be transmitted together with the signature. It has the advantage of small data size of communication comparing with the traditional digital signatures. In this paper, combining both advantages of the message recovery signatures and the certificateless cryptography, we propose the first certificatelss signature scheme with message recovery. The remarkable feature of our scheme is that it can achieve Girault’s Level-3 security while the conventional certificateless signature scheme only achieves Level-2 security. The security of the scheme is rigorously proved in the random oracle model based on the hardness of the k bilinear Diffie-Hellman inverse (k-BDHI) problem.     

Brittleness analysis and important nodes discovery in large time-evolving complex networks

The brittleness analysis and important nodes detection have been a hot spot in the complex networks. How to get the overall feature of the whole network and how to find out some important nodes are requisites to solve these problems. In this paper, we adopt the trace of the adjacency matrix and the centrality of the complex networks to give a quantitative and qualitative analysis of networks being studied. Results show that the k-shell plays a more important role than the degree centrality and the betweenness in finding important nodes, and it can also be used to give direction on the immunization and maintenance of complex networks.     

Geometric calibration algorithm of polarization camera using planar patterns

Polarization pattern provides additional information besides spectral signatures. It can be used in many applications, such as navigation, defect detection and object identification. A novel polarization camera composed of four synchronized cameras is proposed, and it can realize real-time polarization measurement. This study particularly concentrates on the geometric calibration of the system. The projection model is analyzed and the multi-camera calibration algorithm is proposed. Firstly, each camera is calibrated separately using planar patterns, and then the geometric calibration algorithms are performed. Due to the geometrical constraint, a global optimization method results in smaller estimation uncertainties. A mean rotation error of 0.025° and a mean translation error of 0.26mm are achieved after geometric calibration. The images are rectified to establish a correspondence among cameras and are combined to acquire the polarization measurement. The polarization pattern of the skylight is measured by the system and the results are consistent with the previous studies.     

Magnetic field tuning characteristics of bimodal ultrasonic motor stator

The magnetic field tuning characteristics of an ultrasonic motor (USM) stator are discussed. The stator consists of two piezoelectric ceramic transducer (PZT) plates and one sandwiched-in Terfenol-D plate. The dimensions of the stator are carefully adjusted to specifically discuss the influence of the magnetic field on the frequency difference between the longitudinal and bending modes of the stator. The frequency difference discussed in this paper is usually small and mainly caused by uneven materials, machining errors and changes in external conditions (temperature, pre-stress or load). The longitudinal and bending modes of the stator are simultaneously excited by an external electric field to generate the elliptic motion trajectories of the driving points. A direct current (DC) magnetic field is applied to decrease the difference between the two mode frequencies of the fabricated stator. In experiments, the dependences of the two mode frequencies and their difference on DC magnetic fields are all investigated. The experimental results indicate that the difference between the longitudinal and bending mode frequencies of the PZT/Terfenol-D/PZT composite stator can be tuned by changing the intensity of the external DC magnetic field.     

Sensorimotor self-learning model based on operant conditioning for two-wheeled robot

Traditional control methods of two-wheeled robot are usually model-based and require the robot’s precise mathematic model which is hard to get. A sensorimotor self-learning model named SMM TWR is presented in this paper to handle these problems. The model consists of seven elements: the discrete learning time set, the sensory state set, the motion set, the sensorimotor mapping, the state orientation unit, the learning mechanism and the model’s entropy. The learning mechanism for SMM TWR is designed based on the theory of operant conditioning (OC), and it adjusts the sensorimotor mapping at every learning step. This helps the robot to choose motions. The leaning direction of the mechanism is decided by the state orientation unit. Simulation results show that with the sensorimotor model designed, the robot is endowed the abilities of self-learning and self-organizing, and it can learn the skills to keep itself balance through interacting with the environment.