We introduce the design of a leg-wheel hybrid platform Quattroped. Comparing to most hybrid platforms which have separate mechanisms of wheels and legs, this robot is implemented with a transformation mechanism which directly changes the morphology of wheels (i.e. a full circle) into 2 degree-of-freedom legs (i.e. combining two half-circles as a leg). The mechatronics, software infrastructure, and the initial experimental test of the robot are also reported.

We derive a novel space-time code (STC) design criterion for continuous-phase frequency-shift keying (CPFSK) over frequency-nonselective fading channels. Our derivation is based on a specific matrix that is related to the input symbols of the CPFSK modulators. With this code-design criterion, we propose a simple interleaved space-time encoding scheme for CPFSK modulation over frequency-nonselective correlated fading channels to exploit potential temporal and spatial diversity advantages. Such an encoding scheme consists of a ring convolutional encoder and a spatial encoder, between which a convolutional interleaver is placed. A decoding algorithm that generates symbol metrics for the Viterbi decoder of convolutional codes from the spatial modulation trellis is examined. Simulation results confirm that the advantages of the combination of the interleaved convolutional encoding (for temporal diversity) and the spatial encoding (for spatial diversity) are promising for various system parameters.

This paper presents the systolic array implementation of a real-time symbol-optimum multiuser detection (MUD) algorithm for a direct-sequence code-division multiple-access system by truncating the backward recursions in the generalized forward/backward schedule. Simulation results show that the real-time algorithm provides negligible performance loss compared to the original symbol-optimum detection algorithm. The systolic array implementation is derived in this paper through the factor graph language of the real-time algorithm in order to exploit the suitability of the algorithm for parallel signal processing.