• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

The technology and market size of image sensors continue to develop thanks to the release of image sensors that exceed 100 million pixels in 2019 and expansion of black box camera markets for vehicles in addition to existing mobile applications. We review the technology flow of image sensors that have been constantly evolving for 40 years since Hitachi launched a 200,000-pixel image sensor in 1979. Although CCD has made inroads into image sensor market for a while based on good picture quality, CMOS image sensor (CIS) with active pixels has made inroads into the market as semiconductor technology continues to develop, since the electrons generated by the incident light are converted to the electric signals in the pixel, and the power consumption is low. CIS image sensors with superior characteristics such as high resolution, high sensitivity, low power consumption, low noise and vivid color continue to be released as the new technologies are incorporated. At present, new types of structures such as Backside Illumination and Isolation Cell have been adopted, with better sensitivity and high S/N ratio. In the future, new photoconductive materials are expected to be adopted as a light absorption part in place of the pn junction.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.76-80
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• 2018

In recent years, with the development of automobile technology, smart system technology that assists safe driving has been developed. A camera is installed on the front and rear of the vehicle as well as on the left and right sides to detect and warn of collision risks and hazards. Beyond the technology of simple black-box recording via cameras, we are developing intelligent systems that combine various computer vision technologies. However, most related studies have been developed to optimize performance in laboratory-like environments that do not take environmental factors such as weather into account. In this paper, we propose a method to detect object by restoring visibility in image with degraded image due to weather factors such as fog. First, the image quality degradation such as fog is detected in a single image, and the image quality is improved by restoring using an intermediate value filter. Then, we used an adaptive feature extraction method that removes unnecessary elements such as noise from the improved image and uses it to recognize objects with only the necessary features. In the proposed method, it is shown that more feature points are extracted than the feature points of the region of interest in the improved image.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.35-44
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• 2012

Most recent infrared (IR) sensors have a focal-plane array (FPA) structure. Spatial non-uniformity of a FPA structure, however, introduces unwanted fixed pattern noise (FPN) to images. This non-uniformity correction (NUC) of a FPA can be categorized into target-based and scene-based approaches. In a target-based approach, FPN can be separated by using a uniform target such as a black body. Since the detector response randomly drifts along the time axis, however, several scene-based algorithms on the basis of a video sequence have been proposed. Among those algorithms, the state-of-the-art one based on Kalman filter uses one-directional warping for motion compensation and only compensates for offset non-uniformity of IR camera detectors. The system model using one-directional warping cannot correct the boundary region where a new scene is being introduced in the next video frame. Furthermore, offset-only correction approaches may not completely remove the FPN in images if it is considerably affected by gain non-uniformity. Therefore, for FPN reduction in IR videos, we propose a joint correction algorithm of gain and offset based on bi-directional warping. Experiment results using simulated and real IR videos show that the proposed scheme can provide better performance compared with the state-of-the art in FPN reduction.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2009

This paper describes an implementation of the analog front end (AFE) incorporated with the image signal processing (ISP) unit in the SoC, dominating the performance of the CCD image sensor system. New schemes are exploited in the high-frequency sampling to reduce the sampling uncertainty apparently as the frequency increases, in the structure for the wide-range variable gain amplifier (VGA) capable of $0{\sim}36\;dB$ exponential gain control to meet the needed bandwidth and accuracy by adopting a new parasitic insensitive capacitor array. Moreover, the double cancellation of the black-level noise was efficiently achieved both in the analog and the digital domain. The proposed topology fabricated in a $0.35-{\mu}m$ CMOS process was proved in a full CCD camera system of 10-bit accuracy, dissipating 80 mA at 15 MHz with a 3.3 V supply voltage.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.553-562
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• 2010

This survey investigates the conditions of summer working uniforms for contracted foodservice workers. The data were obtained from 67 workers through in-depth interviews (July 2005~October 2005). The results of study are as follows: The working environment changed to menu and cooking method (air temperature $28\sim37^{\circ}C$, humidity 72~86 %RH, radiant temperature $27\sim37^{\circ}C$, air velocity 0.14~0.37m/sec). They answered that the working environment has high temperatures, humidity, excessive noise, and liability to slide. The typical accidents were burns, cuts, slide, and ligament injuries in the workplace. Work duties consisted of cooking, serving food, washing, and cleaning up leftover food. All the employees carried out multi tasks. The primary working postures and motions were standing, crouching, and lifting. The female workers usually wore underwear (panty and brassiere), upper and lower work wear, aprons, waterproof-aprons, cotton-gloves, rubber-gloves, socks, and rubber-boots. The satisfaction of the uniform was relatively low for trousers and waterproof-aprons. The answer about the fit was generally "comfortable." They answered "back," "chest," and "head" were wet with perspiration during work. The uncomfortable parts were the crotch and neck. Questions concerning their satisfaction with the material of uniforms indicated a high rate of dissatisfaction, particularly for ventilation and absorbency. In case of the colors of the working uniform, workers preferred white color for the upper part, and black color for the lower part.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2016

Particle-phase concentrations were measured at 10, 80, and 200 m from the roadside of a national highway near Seoul in January and May 2008. The highway has two lanes each way, with an average hourly traffic volume of 1,070 vehicles. In January 2008, $PM_{10}$ concentrations decreased from 10 to 80 m but increased at 200 m. Black carbon (BC) decreased only slightly with distance due to the influence of biomass burning and open burning from the surrounding areas. In May 2008, the effect of secondary formation on both $PM_{10}$ and $PM_{2.5}$ was significant due to high temperatures compared with January. Because on-road emissions had little effect on secondary formation for a short time, variations in $PM_{10}$ concentrations became smaller, and $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations increased with distance. The effects of fugitive dust on PM concentrations were greater in May than in January when the mean temperature was below freezing. In the composition variations, the amounts of primary ions, organic carbon (OC), and BC were larger in January, while those of secondary ions and others were larger in $PM_{10}$, as well as $PM_{2.5}$ in May.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1-13
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• 2020

There are many factors that influence the image quality of CMOS camera images, among which the image exposure time is an important factor. If the image exposure time is long, the entire image on the screen becomes brighter. If the exposure time is shorter, the entire image becomes darker. When photographing a still image, real time is not required because the automatic exposure system is given sufficient time to obtain an appropriate exposure time. However, if the surroundings and environment change rapidly like the black box of a driving car, the exposure time should be applied in response to real time. To this end, a robust automatic exposure system for real-time performance and ambient light environment is required. An automatic exposure system that has real-time capability and is robust against the ambient light environment is required. we designed a real-time control sysem capable of parallel operation processing through the design of an embedded system using zynq's logic and ARM core, and developed a real-time CMOS automatic exposure system that is robust to noise and converges to a desired target value within 66 ms through PID control.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2003

In this paper, we realized a system that converts the character images of the printed Korean alphabet (Hangul) to the editable text documents by using the black and white CCD camera, We were able to abstract the contours information of the character which is based on the structural character by using the boundary tracing technique that is strong to the noise on the character recognition. By using the contours information, we recognized the horizontal vowels and vertical vowels of the character image and classify the character into the six patterns. After that, the character is divided to the unit of the consonant and vowel. The vowels are recognized by using the maximum length projection. The separated consonants are recognized by comparing the inputted pattern with the standard pattern that has the phase information of the boundary line change. We realized a system that the recognized characters are inputted to the word editor with the editable KS Hangul completion type code.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.483-488
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• 2016

Plug-In Digital Framework is a system response analysis tool that is employed when system components are composed of black-box modules. Generally, the dynamic characteristics of joints between the system components significantly affect system responses, and they lead to displacement- and frequency-dependent stiffness and loss factor. Thus, the sensitivity of each joint parameters should be estimated from a global perspective. In this study, we introduce a global sensitivity analysis procedure under the Plug-In Digital Framework. To efficiently calculate the system responses, we introduce the frequency response function (FRF)-based substructuring method. Using the random balance designs (RBD), we generate the system responses and estimate the global first-order sensitivities for each joint stiffness. We apply the proposed global sensitivity analysis method to an interior noise problem of a passenger car, and we evaluate the efficiency of the global sensitivity analysis method.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.417-425
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• 2003

H.264, which is the latest video coding standard of both ITU-T(International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication standardization sector) and MPEG(Moving Picture Experts Group), adopts new video coding tools such as variable block size motion estimation, multiple reference frames, quarter-pel motion estimation/compensation(ME/MC), 4${\times}$4 Integer DCT(Discrete Cosine Transform), and Rate-Distortion Optimization, etc. These new video coding tools provide good coding of efficiency compared with existing video coding standards as H.263, MPEG-4, etc. However, these new coding tools require the increase of encoder complexity. Therefore, in order to apply H.264 to many real applications, fast algorithms are required for H.264 coding tools. In this paper, when encoder MacroBlock(MB) mode is decided by rate-distortion optimization tool, fast mode decision algorithm by skipping variable block size ME/MC and spatial-predictive coding, which occupies most encoder complexity, is proposed. In terms of computational complexity, the proposed method runs about 4 times as far as JM(Joint Model) 42 encoder of H.264, while the PSNR(peak signal-to-noise ratio)s of the decoded images are maintained.