Abstract

Abstract
Newman’s theorem states that we can take any public-coin communication protocol and convert it into one that uses only private randomness with but a little increase in communication complexity. We consider a reversed scenario in the context of information complexity: can we take a protocol that uses private randomness and convert it into one that only uses public randomness while preserving the information revealed to each player? We prove that the answer is yes, at least for protocols that use a bounded number of rounds. As an application, we prove new direct-sum theorems through the compression of interactive communication in the bounded-round setting. To obtain this application, we prove a new one-shot variant of the Slepian–Wolf coding theorem, interesting in its own right. Furthermore, we show that if a Reverse Newman’s Theorem can be proven in full generality, then full compression of interactive communication and fully-general direct-sum theorems will result. © 2016, The Author(s).

Abstract
This paper presents an innovative evaluation and comparison of several methods and techniques necessary to implement an indoor localization system based on audible sound. Experiments were conducted in a room with conditions very close to possible practical application demonstrating that time delay estimation using generalized cross-correlation phase transform provides the best estimate to the distance to fixed anchors, and highlight the benefits of a new localization method entitled circle shrinking based on an optimization methodology. Of the three optimization methods tested, Gauss-Newton proves to be the most adequate, and among the three medium access methods evaluated, code division multiple access acoustic transmission provided the best results. A localization system combining these components and using only off-the-shelf hardware reached an average accuracy of 1.3 cm in the central area of the test room with an excitation signal-to-noise ratio as low as 7.2 dB, an almost unperceivable noise like audio signal. These results represent an advance of the state-of-the-art in indoor localization systems, pointing towards the possibility of widespread practical implementation with everyday use components.

Abstract

Abstract
In this paper, we describe a new corpus-named DIRHA-L2F RealCorpus-composed of typical home automation speech interactions in European Portuguese that has been recorded by the INESC-ID's Spoken Language Systems Laboratory (L2F) to support the activities of the Distant-speech Interaction for Robust Home Applications (DIRHA) EU-funded project. The corpus is a multi-microphone and multi-room database of real continuous audio sequences containing read phonetically rich sentences, read and spontaneous keyword activation sentences, and read and spontaneous home automation commands. The background noise conditions are controlled and randomly recreated with noises typically found in home environments. Experimental validation on this corpus is reported in comparison with the results obtained on a simulated corpus using a fully automated speech processing pipeline for two fundamental automatic speech recognition tasks of typical "always-listening" home-automation scenarios: system activation and voice command recognition. Attending to results on both corpora, the presence of overlapping voice-like noise is shown as the main problem: simulated sequences contain concurrent speakers that result in general in a more challenging corpus, while real sequences performance drops drastically when TV or radio is on.

Abstract
Within the supply chain, the customer does not simply buy parts or services from suppliers, but also buys supplier capabilities, which results in quality products and services. Having a tool that handles the Inspection as well as the Nonconformance, Complaint, Corrective Action and Concession processes is key to successfully track the supplier performance. Taking as a case study a Supplier Quality Management (SQM) currently in operation in an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for automotive industry, this paper presents a platform to support a Supplier Quality Management System (SQMS), that fits the technical specification ISO/TS 16949 requirements. This prototype is composed by a web platform and a mobile App, having flexibility and mobility as key main characteristics. Copyright © 2016 International Business Information Management Association