scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question

Showing papers by "Mitsubishi Electric published in 2001"


Proceedings ArticleDOI
07 Jul 2001
TL;DR: A new image representation called the “Integral Image” is introduced which allows the features used by the detector to be computed very quickly and a method for combining classifiers in a “cascade” which allows background regions of the image to be quickly discarded while spending more computation on promising face-like regions.
Abstract: This paper describes a face detection framework that is capable of processing images extremely rapidly while achieving high detection rates. There are three key contributions. The first is the introduction of a new image representation called the "Integral Image" which allows the features used by our detector to be computed very quickly. The second is a simple and efficient classifier which is built using the AdaBoost learning algo- rithm (Freund and Schapire, 1995) to select a small number of critical visual features from a very large set of potential features. The third contribution is a method for combining classifiers in a "cascade" which allows back- ground regions of the image to be quickly discarded while spending more computation on promising face-like regions. A set of experiments in the domain of face detection is presented. The system yields face detection perfor- mance comparable to the best previous systems (Sung and Poggio, 1998; Rowley et al., 1998; Schneiderman and Kanade, 2000; Roth et al., 2000). Implemented on a conventional desktop, face detection proceeds at 15 frames per second.

10,592 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This two-step design approach includes using standard control methodologies and choosing the network protocol and bandwidth in order to ensure important closed-loop properties are preserved when a computer network is inserted into the feedback loop.
Abstract: The defining characteristic of a networked control system (NCS) is having a feedback loop that passes through a local area computer network. Our two-step design approach includes using standard control methodologies and choosing the network protocol and bandwidth in order to ensure important closed-loop properties are preserved when a computer network is inserted into the feedback loop. For sufficiently high data rates, global exponential stability is preserved. Simulations are included to demonstrate the theoretical result.

445 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: 'Independent component analysis' is a technique of data transformation that finds independent sources of activity in recorded mixtures of sources that can be used to recover fluctuations of membrane potential from individual neurons in multiple-detector optical recordings.

239 citations


Patent
09 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, a power transmission terminal transmits default power to an electrical appliance by diffractive electromagnetic waves and the power with the required intensity to the appliance by rectilinear electromagnetic waves.
Abstract: A cordless power transmission system can transmit and receive power stably without malfunctions. A power transmission terminal transmits default power to an electrical appliance by diffractive electromagnetic waves. The electrical appliance transmits its own unique data and required power intensity data to the power transmission terminal by diffractive electromagnetic waves. A network host assigns an ID to the electrical appliance. Under the control of the network host, the power transmission terminal transmits the assigned ID data and the power with the required intensity to the electrical appliance by rectilinear electromagnetic waves.

226 citations


Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: A real-time system for applying virtual paint and textures to real objects simply by direct physical manipulation of the object and a "paint brush" stylus to create the illusion of material properties.
Abstract: The authors present a Dynamic Spatially Augmented Reality system for augmenting movable 3D objects in an indoor environment using multiple projectors. We describe a real-time system for applying virtual paint and textures to real objects simply by direct physical manipulation of the object and a "paint brush" stylus. We track the objects and the "paint brush", and illuminate the objects with images that remain registered as they move, to create the illusion of material properties. The system is simple to use and we hope it may herald new applications in diverse fields such as visualization, tele-immersion, art and architecture. The system currently works with tracked objects whose geometry was pre-acquired and models created manually, but it is possible to extend it by adding cameras to the environment, to acquire object geometry automatically and use vision-based tracking for the object and paintbrush. Plus colour plates.

205 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a surface modification method by electrical discharge machining with a green compact electrode has been studied to make a thick TiC or WC layer, where the powder is suspended in working oil like kerosene and the use of a thin electrode and a rotating disk electrode are expected to keep powder concentration high in the gap between a workpiece and an electrode and to accrete powder material on the workpiece.
Abstract: A surface modification method by electrical discharge machining (EDM) with a green compact electrode has been studied to make thick TiC or WC layer. Titanium alloy powder or tungsten powder is supplied from the green compact electrode and adheres on a workpiece by the heat caused by discharge. To avoid the production process of the green compact electrode, a surface modification method by EDM with powder suspended in working fluid is proposed in this paper. After considering flow of working fluid in EDM process, the use of a thin electrode and a rotating disk electrode are expected to keep powder concentration high in the gap between a workpiece and an electrode and to accrete powder material on the workpiece. The accretion machining is tried under various electrical conditions. Titanium powder is suspended in working oil like kerosene. TiC layer grows a thickness of 150 μm with a hardness of 1600 Hv on carbon steel with an electrode of 1 mm in diameter. When a disk placed near a plate rotates in viscous fluid, the disk drags the fluid into the gap between the disk and the plate. Therefore, the powder concentration in the gap between a workpiece and a rotational disk electrode can be kept high. A wider area of the accretion can be obtained by using the rotational electrode with a gear shape.

201 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the design and experimental results of a 1.8-V single-chip CMOS MMIC front-end for 2.4 GHz short-range wireless communications such as Bluetooth and wireless LANs are presented.
Abstract: This paper describes the design and experimental results of a 1.8-V single-chip CMOS MMIC front-end for 2.4-GHz band short-range wireless communications, such as Bluetooth and wireless LANs. The IC consists of fundamental RF building circuits-a power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA), and a transmit/receive-antenna switch (SW), including almost all on-chip matching elements. The IC was fabricated using a 0.18-/spl mu/m standard bulk CMOS technology which has no extra processing steps to enhance the RF performances. Two new circuit-design techniques are introduced in the IC in order to minimize the insertion loss of the SW and realize a higher gain for the PA and LNA despite the utilization of the standard bulk CMOS technology. The first is the derivation of an optimum gate width of the SW to minimize the insertion loss based on small-signal equivalent circuit analysis. The other is the revelation of the advantages of interdigitated capacitors (IDCs) over conventional polysilicon to polysilicon capacitors and the successful use of the IDCs in the LNA and PA. The IC achieves the following sufficient characteristics for practical wireless terminals at 2.1 GHz and 1.8 V: a 5-dBm transmit power at a -1-dB gain compression, a 19-dB gain, an 18-mA current for the PA, a 1.5-dB insertion loss, more than 24-dB isolation, an 11-dBm power handling capability for the SW, a 7.5-dB gain, a 4.5-dB noise figure, and an 8-mA current for the LNA.

141 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the first demonstration of a sandwich-type ferromagnetic RF integrated spiral inductor for the 2 GHz range is reported, and the inductance L of 7.9 nH and the qualify factor Q of 12.7 were obtained for a 200 /spl mu/m/spl times/400 /splmu/m size four-turn rectangular spiral at f=2 GHz.
Abstract: The first demonstration of a sandwich-type ferromagnetic RF integrated spiral inductor for the 2-GHz range is reported. Two ferromagnetic CoNbZr films were set to sandwich the spiral in order to enhance the amount of magnetic flux linkage across the coil current. The stresses given from the insulator to the ferromagnetic film were studied. The inductance L of 7.9 nH and the qualify factor Q of 12.7 were obtained for a 200 /spl mu/m/spl times/400 /spl mu/m size four-turn rectangular spiral at f=2 GHz. The inductance was better than that of an air core of the same coil size by 19%, and the Q was better by 23%. Comparison with the on-top magnetic film type was also discussed.

127 citations


Patent
07 May 2001
TL;DR: In this article, a central processing unit is provided with a plurality of power saving modes so that an optimum power saving mode determined by an interval between requested time-out interruptions is selected.
Abstract: A central processing unit is provided with a plurality of power saving modes so that an optimum power saving mode determined by an interval between requested time-out interruptions is selected.

124 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a self-consistent numerical approach is demonstrated to analyze intensity and phase noise in semiconductor lasers, taking into account the intrinsic fluctuations of the photon number, carrier number, and phase.
Abstract: A self-consistent numerical approach is demonstrated to analyze intensity and phase noise in semiconductor lasers. The approach takes into account the intrinsic fluctuations of the photon number, carrier number, and phase. A new systematic technique is proposed to generate the Langevin noise sources that derive the laser rate equations keeping their cross-correlations satisfied. The simulation is applied to AlGaAs lasers operating in a single mode. The time-varying profiles of the fluctuating photon and carrier numbers and the instantaneous shift of the oscillating frequency are presented. Statistical analysis of the intensity and phase fluctuations is given. The frequency spectra of intensity and phase noise are calculated with help of the fast Fourier transform. The importance of taking into account the carrier number noise source and its cross-correlation with the noise source on the phase is examined by comparing our results with those by conventional methods.

123 citations


Patent
07 Sep 2001
TL;DR: In this article, a method for storing a plurality of sequentially ordered data samples in a plurality-of-sequential storage segments such that one of the sampled data samples is stored at a segment of the plurality of sequential storage segments which is not sequentially related to another segment in which an immediately preceding data sample is stored is presented.
Abstract: A method stores a plurality of sequentially ordered data samples in a plurality of sequential storage segments such that one of the plurality of sequentially ordered data samples is stored at one of the plurality of sequential storage segments which is non-sequential to another of the plurality of sequential storage segments in which an immediately preceding one of the plurality of sequentially ordered data samples is stored. Another one of the stored plurality of sequentially ordered data samples, other than a first ordered one of the plurality of sequentially ordered data samples, is overwritten with a further data sample, the further data sample being immediately sequential to a last ordered one of the plurality of sequentially ordered data samples.

Patent
21 Mar 2001
TL;DR: In this article, a computerized system enables multiple users of standard Internet web browsers to collaborate by having significant states of their browser, such as which web page is currently being viewed, scrollbar positions, and form values, to be remotely controlled by users of other Internet Web browsers.
Abstract: A computerized system enables multiple users of standard Internet web browsers to collaborate by having significant states of their browser, such as which web page is currently being viewed, scrollbar positions, and form values, to be remotely controlled by users of other Internet web browsers. The system uses a monitor to poll the static and dynamic state of the selected pages, and to communicate the state with a controller executing on a web server. The content of the collaboratively viewed pages is arbitrary because viewed pages remain unmodified. Therefore, pre-existing web pages can be collaboratively browsed. Each of the users is optionally a sender or a receiver of selected web pages, and therefore is allowed to control which web pages are collaboratively viewed.

Patent
30 Mar 2001
TL;DR: By using a metal thin film comprising a layer of metal and a layer obtained by adding nitrogen atoms to metal, there is prepared electro-optic elements free from display defects caused by high contact resistance at connected portion of the pixel electrode with the above electrodes even when a low resistance line material is used as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: By using a metal thin film comprising a layer of metal and a layer obtained by adding nitrogen atoms to metal for a metal thin film which becomes a gate electrode and the like, and for a metal thin film which becomes a source electrode and a drain electrode, there is prepared electro-optic elements free from display defects caused by high contact resistance at connected portion of the pixel electrode with the above electrodes even when a low resistance line material is used.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was concluded that multidimensional recordings of autonomic measures that can be obtained during work without extra load on the worker would be helpful to assess different types of phasic work stress.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an ultra-broadband reflection-type phase shifter is proposed, which is composed of a 3-dB hybrid coupler and a pair of novel reflective terminating circuits.
Abstract: An ultra-broad-band reflection-type phase shifter is proposed. Theoretically, the proposed phase shifter has frequency-independent characteristics in the case of 180/spl deg/ phase shift. The phase shifter is composed of a 3-dB hybrid coupler and a pair of novel reflective terminating circuits. The reflective terminating circuit switches two states of series and parallel LC circuits. Using an ideal circuit model without parasitic circuit elements, we have derived the determining condition of frequency independence of circuit elements. Extending the concept, we can also obtain a broad-band phase shifter for other phase difference as well. In this case, for a given phase difference and an operating frequency, we also derive a condition to obtain minimum variation of phase difference around the operating frequency. This enables the broad-band characteristics for arbitrary phase difference. The fabricated 180/spl deg/ reflective terminating circuit monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) has achieved a phase difference of 183/spl deg/ /spl plusmn/ 3 over 0.5-30 GHz. The 180/spl deg/ phase-shifter MMIC has demonstrated a phase shift of 187/spl deg/ /spl plusmn/ 7/spl deg/ over 0.5-20 GHz. The 90/spl deg/ reflective terminating circuit MMIC has performed a phase difference of 93/spl deg/ /spl plusmn/ 7/spl deg/ over 4-12 GHz.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A genetic algorithm (GA) by implementing it in a reconfigurable field programmable gate array (FPGA) is described, which achieves a net child chromosome generation rate of one per clock cycle by pipelining the parent selection, crossover, mutation, and fitness evaluation functions.
Abstract: Accelerating a genetic algorithm (GA) by implementing it in a reconfigurable field programmable gate array (FPGA) is described. The implemented GA features: random parent selection, which conserves selection circuitry; a steady-state memory model, which conserves chip area; survival of fitter child chromosomes over their less-fit parent chromosomes, which promotes evolution. A net child chromosome generation rate of one per clock cycle is obtained by pipelining the parent selection, crossover, mutation, and fitness evaluation functions. Complex fitness functions can be further pipelined to maintain a high-speed clock cycle. Fitness functions with a pipeline initiation interval of greater than one can be plurally implemented to maintain a net evaluated-chromosome throughput of one per clock cycle. Two prototypes are described: The first prototype (c. 1996 technology) is a multiple-FPGA chip implementation, running at a 1 MHz clock rate, that solves a 94-row × 520-column set covering problem 2,200× faster than a 100 MHz workstation running the same algorithm in C. The second prototype (Xilinx XVC300) is a single-FPGA chip implementation, running at a 66 MHZ clock rate, that solves a 36-residue protein folding problem in a 2-d lattice 320× faster than a 366 MHz Pentium II. The current largest FPGA (Xilinx XCV3200E) has circuitry available for the implementation of 30 fitness function units which would yield an acceleration of 9,600× for the 36-residue protein folding problem.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Oct 2001-Polymer
TL;DR: In this article, a thermoplastic polymer modification was tried for the purpose of simultaneously improving the heat resistance and toughness of a cured epoxy resin, which was formed during the cure process of the epoxy resins in order to avoid any increase in the viscosity of the resin at the time of mixing.

Patent
13 Dec 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, a direction regulator H of display, comprising a frame M mounting a member 7 capable of elevating/lowering in the height direction X 1, is provided.
Abstract: A direction regulator H of display, comprising a frame M mounting a member 7 capable of elevating/lowering in the height direction X1. A display fixing part 1 is provided to an upper part of the elevating/lowering member 7. The display fixing part 1 comprises a base member 2 having a spherical receiving face 27A. In front of the base member 2, a cap support 3 comprising a spherical cap body 31 having a curvature substantially identical to that of the receiving face 27A is provided to be urged by a spring 9 through the receiving face 27A of the base member 2. A flange 4 is clamped between the base member 2 and the cap support 3. The flange 4 is slidable along the spherical receiving face 27A of the base member 2. The flange 4 is fixed with a display D through an angle regulating member 5.

Patent
09 Oct 2001
TL;DR: The detector includes the plug for connecting the personal computer through a cable, battery power supply which provides a constant power supply, and the MCU which receives a specific potential from the Personal Computer when the later is connected as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The detector includes the plug for connecting the personal computer through a cable, battery power supply which provides a constant power supply, and the MCU which receives a specific potential from the personal computer when the later is connected.

Proceedings Article
29 Jan 2001
TL;DR: An integrated architecture for managing dependencies in distributed component-based systems in an effective and uniform way that supports automatic configuration and dynamic resource management in distributed heterogeneous environments is proposed.
Abstract: Component technology promotes code-reuse by enabling the construction of complex applications by assembling off-the-shelf components. However, components depend on certain characteristics of the environment in which they execute. They depend on other software components and on hardware resources. In existing component architectures, the application developer is left with the task of resolvig those dependencies, i.e., making sure that each component has asscess to all the resources it needs and that all the required components are loaded. Nevertheless, according to encapsulation principles, developers should not be aware of the component internals. Thus, it may be difficult to find out what a component really need. In complex systems, this manual approach to dependency management can lead to disastrous results. In this paper, we propose an integrated architecture for managing dependencies in distributed component-based systems in an effective and uniform way. The architecture supports automatic configuration and dynamic resource management in distributed heterogeneous environments. We describe a concrete implementation of this architecture and present experimental results.

Patent
29 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, a video collecting device generates a video recorded medium and a position/time recorded medium, and a video searching device creates a video database in which video data read from the recorded medium is correlated with position and time data read by a data reading section (21) by a correlating section (24) with respect to time.
Abstract: A video collecting device (10) generates a video recorded medium (101) and a position/time recorded medium (102). A video searching device (20) creates a video database in which video data read from the video recorded medium (101) is correlated with position/time data read by a data reading section (21) by a correlating section (24) with respect to time. A video shooting trace displaying section (32) searches video data including the shooting places on a map in a map display section (28) and displays the shooting places as traces. An on-map input section (29) designates a place on the map with reference to the traces, and then a video displaying section (33) reproduces the video data on the place and its neighborhood.

Patent
10 Oct 2001
TL;DR: In this article, a method of searching for an image or images corresponding to a query comprises comparing a colour descriptor of the query with stored colour descriptors of each of a collection of reference images, and deriving a matching value indicating the degree of matching between the query and a reference image using the query descriptor and reference descriptors, and classifying the reference images by matching value.
Abstract: A method of searching for an image or images corresponding to a query comprises comparing a colour descriptor of the query with stored colour descriptors of each of a collection of reference images, and deriving a matching value indicating the degree of matching between the query and a reference image using the query and reference descriptors, and classifying the reference images by said matching value, each colour descriptor including an indication of one or more dominant colours within the corresponding query or reference image, wherein at least one of the query descriptor and a reference descriptor indicates two or more dominant colours, so that the corresponding descriptor comprises a plurality of subdescriptors, each subdescriptor relating to at least one dominant colour in the corresponding query or reference image, the method comprising deriving the matching value by considering a subset of the dominant colours in either the query or reference descriptor or both using a subdescriptor of either the query descriptor or the reference descriptor or both.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2001
TL;DR: In this article, a method to calculate the high-frequency transients in the transformer winding is developed based on multiconductor transmission-line theory, which is applicable to transients of frequencies up to several megahertz.
Abstract: Very fast transient overvoltages generated in gas-insulated switchgear could cause a voltage oscillation inside the connected transformer. A practical method to calculate the high-frequency transients in the transformer winding is developed based on multiconductor transmission-line theory. Resonance characteristics of a transformer are assessed using the inductance matrix obtainable from its winding geometry. Applicability to transients of frequencies up to several megahertz is checked in a model transformer and an actual 500 kV transformer. The calculated interturn voltage waveforms are in particularly good agreement with experiment.

Patent
08 Nov 2001
TL;DR: In this article, an efficient mobile communication system of high quality is provided by classifying packets by heterogeneous error protection in encoding data by the AMR method and by transmitting through a transport channel of a required quality corresponding to the class of the packets.
Abstract: In a VoIP system adopting the AMR method, an efficient mobile communication system of high quality is provided by classifying packets by heterogeneous error protection in encoding data by the AMR method and by transmitting through a transport channel (26) of a required quality corresponding to the class of the packets.

Proceedings ArticleDOI
06 Aug 2001
TL;DR: It is shown that MIMO autopilot design problem can be decomposed into feedback and feedforward controller design problems and improved response and robustness against the reaction-jet force saturation of the designed control system is proven by the simulation.
Abstract: Advanced guidance missiles employ blended control of aero-fin and reaction-jet to improve the guidance performance against highly maneuverable targets. The blended control requires multiple inputs and multiple outputs (MIMO) control system design, the design process is much complex than that of conventional aero-fin autopilot. This paper describes a autopilot design for a missile with aero-fin and reaction-jet using the Coefficient Diagram Method (CDM). Performance and stability trade-off study using the CDM is summarized. It is shown that MIMO autopilot design problem can be decomposed into feedback and feedforward controller design problems. A reasonable form of the controller is suggested using the coefficient diagram. A feedback controller is designed using the algebraical approach. The form of the controller has the same form as the conventional design. A wash-out type feedforward controller achieving the minimum fuel consumption is designed using the same manner. It is shown that the feedforward controller can be designed independently of the feedback controller. Improved response and robustness against the reaction-jet force saturation of the designed control system is proven by the simulation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the Smith-Purcell (SP) radiation at wavelengths of 350-750nm was produced in a tabletop experiment using a field-emitter array (FEA) cathode.
Abstract: Smith–Purcell (SP) radiation at wavelengths of 350–750 nm was produced in a tabletop experiment using a field-emitter array (FEA) cathode. The electron gun was 5 cm long, and a 25 mm×25 mm holographic replica grating was placed behind the slit provided in the anode. A regulated DC power supply accelerated electron beams in excess of 10 μA up to 45 keV, while a small Van de Graaff generator accelerated smaller currents to higher energies. The grating had a 0.556 μm period, 30° blaze and a 0.2 μm thick aluminum coating. Spectral characteristics of the radiation were measured both manually and automatically; in the latter case, the spectrometer was driven by a stepping motor to scan the wavelength, and AD-converted signals from a photomultiplier tube were processed by a personal computer. The measurement, made at 80° relative to the electron beam, showed good agreement with theoretical wavelengths of the SP radiation. Diffraction orders were −2 and −3 for beam energies higher than 45 keV, −3 to −5 at 15–25 keV, and −2 to −4 in between. The experiment has thus provided evidence for the practical applicability of FEAs to compact radiation sources.

Patent
02 Mar 2001
TL;DR: In this article, an image-based method for generating novel visual appearance in a new image is presented. But the method does not require 3D information and does not work directly on pixel images.
Abstract: The invention provides an image-based method for generating novel visual appearance in a new image. Synthetic texture is stitching together from small patches in existing images. First, we use a least cost path determination to determine the local boundaries between the patches. Second, we perform texture transfer by rendering an arbitrary object with a synthetic texture taken from a different object. More generally, we provide methods for rendering entire images in styles of different images. The method works directly on pixel images, and does not require 3D information.

Book ChapterDOI
05 Sep 2001
TL;DR: The objective of this paper is to review and present some applications of the color descriptors by themselves and in combination with other visual descriptors.
Abstract: Color is one of the most important and easily identifiable features for describing visual content. The MPEG standardization group developed a number of descriptors that cover different aspects of this important visual feature. The objective of this paper is to review them and present some applications of the color descriptors by themselves and in combination with other visual descriptors.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a three-axis LTS SQUID magnetometer was fabricated as a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) onboard an aircraft, which is suitable for performing distant target detection in unshielded mobile operation.
Abstract: A three-axis LTS SQUID magnetometer was fabricated as a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) onboard an aircraft. A magnetometer measuring magnetic total field, which is rotational invariant, is suitable for performing distant target detection in unshielded mobile operation. To configure the magnetometer, several requirements for the SQUID magnetometer had to be considered such as ultra wide dynamic range above 150 dB, extremely accurate linearity and orthogonality of the three-axis. The magnetic vector component with the sufficient dynamic range was obtained by synthesizing the SQUID output voltage and the counts of SQUID's flux-voltage (/spl Phi/-v) periodicity. The magnetic total field was obtained from the three magnetic vector components using our scalar composition algorithm that corrects the non-orthogonality and so on. The compensation algorithm with quadratic form of permanent, inductive and eddy-current magnetism was used to suppress the magnetic noise caused by the platform manoeuver. Our SQUID MAD was designed to implement the procedures mentioned above in real-time. The SQUID MAD was equipped in the tail boom of the aircraft and its performance was evaluated in the flight tests. We confirmed that our SQUID MAD provided extremely high sensitivity in flight by suppressing the magnetic noise, and successfully detected a distant surface ship.

Patent
30 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, an enterprise integration system is coupled to a number of legacy data sources, each of which uses different data formats and different access methods, and the integration system includes a back-end interface configured to convert input data source information to input XML documents and to convert output XML document to output data sourceinformation.
Abstract: An enterprise integration system is coupled to a number of legacy data sources. The data sources each use different data formats and different access methods. The integration system includes a back-end interface configured to convert input data source information to input XML documents and to convert output XML document to output data source information. A front-end interface converts the output XML documents to output HTML forms and the input HTML forms to the XML documents. A middle tier includes a rules engine and a rules database. Design tools are used to define the conversion and the XML documents. A network couples the back-end interface, the front-end interface, the middle tier, the design tools, and the data sources. Mobile agents are configured to communicate the XML documents over the network and to process the XML documents according to the rules.