Information Systems Laboratory

/ Hidesada Kanda / Professor
/ Qun Jin / Associate Professor
/ Kazuyoshi Mori / Assistant Professor

We conduct research works extensively related to the fundamental theories and advanced applications of information systems. We seek to exploit the rich interdependence between theory and practice in our works.

Prof. Kanda's reserach interests are majorly in Numerical Analysis of Partical Differential Equations and Grid Generation. In the fiscal year of 2000, he has energetically concentrated on the research project: Numerical Grid Generation for Simulation of Reynolds' Color-Dye Experiments.

In 2000, Prof. Jin has been engaged in (1) Development of Learning Communities Using Virtual Environment Media (Ministry of Education Grant-in-Aid); (2) Collaborative Virtual Environments; (3) Modeling of Virtual Environment Media (Grant Donation); (4) Collaborative Virtual University (University Grant: Gigabit Advanced Application); (5) Every-Citizen User Interface for Community-Based Collaborative Universities (University Grant: Competitive Research); (6) Utilizing High Quality Digital Media Contents (JGN Joint Research).

Prof. Mori is interested in the theoretical information system that includes communication system, control system and image processing. In 2000, he studied the coordinate-free approach and gave the relationship between the stabilizability and the projectivity of transfer matrices. His research interests are now including the parameterization of controllers of the multidimensional systems.

Refereed Journal Papers

1. Jin Q., A Multilingual Virtual Environment for Every-Citizen Learning Communities. International Journal of Computer Processing of Oriental Languages, vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 223-234, 2000.

   Every-citizen learning communities have been intended to provide a virtual environment widely open to large and diverse groups of people who have the will to learn and to share their knowledge with others across the networks. However, the diversity of community members causes language problem in communication and knowledge representation. In this paper, we discuss design issues of the backbone system that enables learning communities really available to every-citizen around the world, by applying software agent technology. We further propose and develop a multilingual virtual environment as the backbone for every-citizen learning communities.

2. Jin Q., A Social Virtual Environment for Collaborative Distance Learning. Computer Journal, 2001, accepted.

   The Internet might provide new opportunities and great potentials for education. In this study, we intend to investigate how well a network accessible, text-based and virtually simulated environment known as MUD helps students to learn and to preserve their interests in the learning process. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a text-based social virtual environment based on MUD for flexibly supporting collaborative distance learning, and a graphical user interface with enhanced functions to access distributed databases and web pages for learners to easily use the virtually simulated learning environment. We further discuss collaborative distance learning in virtually simulated environments, and virtual lecturing by experimental use of the constructed environment. Finally, we provide some evaluation results. Our study has shown the text-based social virtual environment could be satisfactory and effective in the context of computer supported collaborative learning.

3. Jin Q., Design of a Virtual Community Based Interactive Learning Environment. Information Science: an International Journal, 2001, accepted.

   In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for every-citizen learning communities based on a recently widespread Internet tool known as MOO (Multi user dimension Object-Oriented). We discuss the design and development of a prototype system of the virtual community based interactive learning environment, which supports human-human communication in addition to human-computer communication, with emphasis on social interaction.

4. Kazuyoshi MORI, New Algorithm to Construct a Stabilizing Controller for Linear Systems over Integral Domains. IMA Journal of Mathematical Control and Information, Oxford University Press, 2000, accepted.

   We are concerned with the coordinate-free approach to control systems, which is a factorization approach but does not require the coprime factorizations of plants, provided only that the set of stable causal transfer functions forms an integral domain. We first present a new criterion of the feedback stabilizability. This is a generalization of the criteria in terms of reduced minors given by Sule in 1994 and in terms of quotient ideals given by Shankar and Sule in 1992. We then present an algorithm to construct a stabilizing controller, which is derived from the result given by Lin in 1998. Sule's algorithm and its derivations need to convert some matrices over some ring of fractions to ones over the set of stable causal transfer functions, which may raise the unnecessarily complicated calculations. On the other hand, the algorithm of this paper does not require such a conversion. An illustrative example to construct a stabilizing controller is also presented.

5. Kazuyoshi MORI and Kenichi ABE., Feedback Stabilization over Commutative Rings: Further Study of Coordinate-Free Approach. SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, 2000, accepted.

   This paper is concerned with the coordinate-free approach to control systems. The coordinate-free approach is a factorization approach but does not require the coprime factorizations of the plant. We present two criteria for feedback stabilizability for MIMO systems in which transfer functions belong to the total rings of fractions of commutative rings. Both of them are generalizations of Sule's results. The first criterion is expressed in terms of modules generated from a causal plant and does not require the plant to be strictly causal. It shows that if the plant is stabilizable, the modules are projective. The other criterion is expressed in terms of ideals called generalized elementary factors. This gives the stabilizability of a causal plant in terms of the coprimeness of the generalized elementary factors. As an example, a discrete finite-time delay system is considered.

1. Jin Q., Making MOO Multilingual as a Backbone for Every-Citizen Learning Communities. Proc. ICCLC/VUME, pp. 108-113, July 2000.

2. Jin Q., E-Communication Support for E-Activities, Proc. ICCLC, pp. 171-173, July 2000.

3. Jin Q., Putting Distributed Community-Based Collaborative Virtual Universities to Work. Proc. Fukushima-Shanghai International Symposium on Computer and Information Technology, pp. 50-53, November 2000.

4. Jin Q., Social and Technical Issues for Communication in Networked Virtual Environments. Proc. 2000 International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century, pp. 217-219, November 2000.

5. Jin Q., Cheng J., Ogata H. and Yano Y., A Distributed Backbone System for Community-Based Collaborative Virtual Universities. Proc. ICCE/ICCAI, pp. 275-278, November 2000.

6. Ma J., Huang R. and Jin Q., Implementation of a Shared Web Brower Using Java Technology. Proc. ICCPOL, pp. 347-352, May 2001.

7. Jin Q., Ma J., Huang R. and Shih T., Design Principles of an Open Agent Architecture for a Web-based Learning Community. Proc. ED-MEDIA, pp. 829-834, June 2001.

8. Kazuyoshi MORI, Hermite Ring and Doubly Coprime Factorization in the Factorization Approach. Proceedings of the Twentieth IASTED International Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control (MIC2001), Innsbruck, Austria, pp. 466--471, 2001.

9. Kazuyoshi MORI, A New Criterion of the Feedback Stabilizability for Linear Systems over Commutative Rings. Proceedings of the 3rd Asian Control Conference (ASCC 2000), Shanghai, P.R. China. pp. 234--239, 2000.

10. Kazuyoshi MORI, Elementary Factors and Reduced Minors for Linear Systems over Commutative Rings. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS 2000), Perpignan, France, pp. CS02B-2, 2000.

1. Jin Q., Li J., Zhang N., Cheng J., Yu C. and Noguchi S. (Eds.), Emerging Technologies and New Challenges in Information Society. University of Aizu, IPSJ, IEICE, IEEE Japan Council and IEEE Education Society Japan Chapter, 2000.

1. Qun Jin, Development of Learning Communities Using Virtual Environment Media. Developmental Research (B), Ministry of Education Grant-in-Aid: Scientific Research, 2000-2002, Contract No.12558012.

2. Kazuyoshi Mori, Algebraic Approach to Doubly Coprime Factorization. Item (A) for Young Researchers, Scientific Research Grant supported by the Ministry of Education of Japan, 2000-2001, Contract No.12780301.

1. Qun Jin, Served as an external reviewer for the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), 2000.

2. Qun Jin, Served as a Panelist, "E-Learning, E-Commerce and E-Entertainmnet", ICCLC2000 (International Conference on Chinese Language Computing), July 8-9, 2000, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

3. Qun Jin, Served as an OC Co-Chair/PC Member, IS2000 (International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century: Emerging Technologies and New Challenges), Nov. 5-8, 2000, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Japan.

4. Qun Jin, Served as a Special Session Co-Organizor, "Virtual Universities and Distance Education", IS2000, Nov. 5-8, 2000, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Japan.

5. Qun Jin, Served as a PC Member, CIT2000 (Fukushima-Shanghai International Symposium on Computer and Information Technology), Nov. 6-7, 2000, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Japan.

6. Qun Jin, Served as an Organizing Chair/PC Member, DNIS2000 (International Workshop on Databases in Networked Information Systems), Dec. 4-6, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Japan.

7. Kazuyoshi Mori, Chair Person of a session Algebraic Systems Theory (1) in Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems, MTNS 2000, Perpignan, France, June 2000.

8. Kazuyoshi Mori, Chair Person of a session Stability Analysis in Asian Control Conference, ASCC July 2000, Shanghai, P.R. China.

9. Kazuyoshi Mori, Chair Person of a session Control of Systems, Robust Control, and Stabilization in the Twentieth IASTED International Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control, MIC2001, Innsbruck, Austria, Feb. 2001.

10. Kazuyoshi Mori, Reviewer of CDC2000, Annual Meeting of the IEEE Control Society Sydney, Australia, 2000.

11. Kazuyoshi Mori, Reviewer of ISCAS2001, Annual Meeting of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society Sydney, Australia, 2000.

12. Kazuyoshi Mori, Reviewer of Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

13. Kazuyoshi Mori, Reviewer of Journal of The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), 2000.

14. Kazuyoshi Mori, A member of Steering Committee of 2000 Tohoku-Section Joint Convention of Institutes of Electrical and Information Engineers, Japan, 2000.