Search

To satisfy the requirement of quality control in printing and packaging industry, a sheet counting apparatus is developed, which adopts a line-scan camera to image the fringes of sheet stack and is able to provide a real-time and noncontact measurement of their quantity. With a brief introduction of the system architecture, our main work focuses on the sheet counting algorithms. The basic principle is to identify each sheet profile from the 1-D image with a robust ridge strength measurement. First, a multiscale bi-Gaussian ridge likelihood measurement and a ridge-valley descriptor are utilized to improve adjacent objects detection by increasing local contrast around sheet fringes. Then, a sheet recognition scheme, which integrates a peak detection algorithm and the ridge region criteria for verification, is proposed to discriminate true sheets from the obtained ridgeness measure. According to experiments and tests in real production lines, our apparatus can reach a very high measuring accuracy for printing papers or cards with a thickness not <0.2 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with online coverage of unknown planar environments by a mobile robot of size D operating with a limited energy capacity battery. The battery capacity is represented by the path length L that the robot can travel under a full battery charge. Starting at S, the robot has to cover a planar environment containing unknown obstacles, and return to S upon task completion. During task execution, the robot may return to S at any time to recharge its battery. This paper first describes a battery powered offline coverage methodology, then introduces the battery powered coverage (BPC) algorithm that performs online battery powered coverage using position and local obstacle detection sensors. The performance of the BPC algorithm is measured by its competitiveness, determined by measuring the mobile robot’s total online path length, l, relative to the optimal offline solution lopt. This paper establishes that the BPC algorithm has a competitive performance of l \leq ( L/ D) lopt. This paper additionally establishes a universal lower bound of l \geq \log ( L/ 4 D) lopt over all online battery powered coverage algorithms. Execution example illustrates the usefulness of the BPC algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the problem of learning undirected graphical models from data generated according to the Glauber dynamics (also known as the Gibbs sampler). The Glauber dynamics is a Markov chain that sequentially updates individual nodes (variables) in a graphical model and it is frequently used to sample from the stationary distribution (to which it converges given sufficient time). Additionally, the Glauber dynamics is a natural dynamical model in a variety of settings. This paper deviates from the standard formulation of graphical model learning in the literature, where one assumes access to independent identically distributed samples from the distribution. Much of the research on graphical model learning has been directed toward finding algorithms with low computational cost. As the main result of this paper, we establish that the problem of reconstructing binary pairwise graphical models is computationally tractable when we observe the Glauber dynamics. Specifically, we show that a binary pairwise graphical model on p nodes with maximum degree d can be learned in time f(d)p^2\log p , for a function f(d) defined explicitly in this paper, using nearly the information-theoretic minimum number of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing levels of system integration pose difficulties in meeting design specifications for high-performance systems. Oftentimes increased complexity, nonlinearity, and multiple tradeoffs need to be handled simultaneously during the design cycle. Since components in such systems are highly correlated with each other, codesign and co-optimization of the complete system are required. Machine learning (ML) provides opportunities for analyzing such systems with multiple control parameters, where techniques based on Bayesian optimization (BO) can be used to meet or exceed design specifications. In this paper, we propose a new BO-based global optimization algorithm titled Two-Stage BO (TSBO). TSBO can be applied to black box optimization problems where the computational time can be reduced through a reduction in the number of simulations required. Empirical analysis on a set of popular challenge functions with several local extrema and dimensions shows TSBO to have a faster convergence rate as compared with other optimization methods. In this paper, TSBO has been applied for clock skew minimization in 3-D integrated circuits and multiobjective co-optimization for maximizing efficiency in integrated voltage regulators. The results show that TSBO is between $2\times $ - $4\times $ faster as compared with previously published BO algorithms and other non-ML-based techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rate control typically involves two steps: bit allocation and bitrate control. The bit allocation step can be implemented in various fashions depending on how many levels of allocation are desired and whether or not an optimal rate–distortion (R-D) performance is pursued. The bitrate control step has a simple aim in achieving the target bitrate as precisely as possible. In our recent research, we have developed a \lambda -domain rate control algorithm that is capable of controlling the bitrate precisely for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The initial research showed that the bitrate control in the \lambda -domain can be more precise than the conventional schemes. However, the simple bit allocation scheme adopted in this initial research is unable to achieve an optimal R-D performance reflecting the inherent R-D characteristics governed by the video content. In order to achieve an optimal R-D performance, the bit allocation algorithms need to be developed taking into account the video content of a given sequence. The key issue in deriving the video-content-guided optimal bit allocation algorithm is to build a suitable R-D model to characterize the R-D behavior of the video content. In this paper, to complement the R- \lambda model developed in our initial work, a D- \lambda model is properly constructed to complete a comprehensive framework of \lambda -domain R-D analysis. Based on this comprehensive \lambda -domain R-D analysis framework, a suite of optimal bit allocation algorithms are developed. In particular, we design both picture-level and basic-unit-level bit allocation algorithms based on the fundamental R-D optimization theory to take full advantage of the content-guided principles. The proposed algorithms are implemented in HEVC reference software, and the experimental results demonstrate that they can achieve an obvious R-D performance improvement with a smaller bitrate control error. The proposed bit allocation algorithms have already been adopted by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding and integrated into the HEVC reference software. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A schedule-based system is a system that operates on or contains within a schedule of events and breaks at particular time intervals. Entities within the system show presence or absence in these events by entering or exiting the locations of the events. Given radio frequency identification (RFID) data from a schedule-based system, what can we learn about the system (the events and entities) through data mining? Which data mining methods can be applied so that one can obtain rich actionable insights regarding the system and the domain? The research goal of this paper is to answer these posed research questions, through the development of a framework that systematically produces actionable insights for a given schedule-based system. We show that through integrating appropriate data mining methodologies as a unified framework, one can obtain many insights from even a very simple RFID dataset, which contains only very few fields. The developed framework is general, and is applicable to any schedule-based system, as long as it operates under certain basic assumptions. The types of insights are also general, and are formulated in this paper in the most abstract way. The applicability of the developed framework is illustrated through a case study, where real world data from a schedule-based system is analyzed using the introduced framework. Insights obtained include the profiling of entities and events, the interactions between entity and events, and the relations between events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new framework for the design of transmit and receive beamformers for interference alignment (IA) without symbol extensions in multi-antenna cellular networks. We consider IA in a G cell network with K users/cell, N antennas at each base station (BS) and M antennas at each user. The proposed framework is developed by recasting the conditions for IA as two sets of rank constraints, one on the rank of interference matrices, and the other on the transmit beamformers in the uplink. The interference matrix consists of all the interfering vectors received at a BS from the out-of-cell users in the uplink. Using these conditions and the crucial observation that the rank of interference matrices under alignment can be determined beforehand, this paper develops two sets of algorithms for IA. The first part of this paper develops rank minimization algorithms for IA by iteratively minimizing a weighted matrix norm of the interference matrix. Different choices of matrix norms lead to reweighted nuclear norm minimization (RNNM) or reweighted Frobenius norm minimization (RFNM) algorithms with significantly different per-iteration complexities. Alternately, the second part of this paper devises an alternating minimization (AM) algorithm where the rank-deficient interference matrices are expressed as a product of two lower-dimensional matrices that are then alternately optimized. Simulation results indicate that RNNM, which has a per-iteration complexity of a semidefinite program, is effective in designing aligned beamformers for proper-feasible systems with or without redundant antennas, while RFNM and AM, which have a per-iteration complexity of a quadratic program, are better suited for systems with redundant antennas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we propose a novel rigid-body motion segmentation algorithm that uses randomized voting to assign high scores to correctly estimated models and low scores to wrongly estimated models. This algorithm is based on an epipolar geometrical representation of the camera motion, and computes scores using the distance between the feature point and the corresponding epipolar line. These scores are accumulated and utilized for motion segmentation. To evaluate the efficacy of our algorithm, we conduct a series of experiments using the Hopkins 155 data set and the UdG data set, which are representative test sets for rigid motion segmentation. Among several state-of-the-art data sets, our algorithm achieves the most accurate motion segmentation results and, in the presence of measurement noise, achieves comparable results to the other algorithms. Finally, we analyze why our motion segmentation algorithm works using probabilistic and theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent paper titled “On the Problem of the Automated Design of Large-Scaled Robot Skin” (Anghinolfi et al., 2013) published in the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering addressed the problem of covering the surface of a humanoid robot with the largest number of nonoverlapping equilateral triangular sensor modules. The problem is eventually approximated by a simpler one: how to find the placement of a given polygon P on an equilateral triangular grid G that contains the largest number of the grid triangles. In this paper, we show how to improve the efficiency of the algorithm presented in that paper. Further, we show that the general problem of filling P with the largest number of disjoint equilateral triangles (all entirely contained in P and all of the same size) is not equivalent to that of finding an optimal placement of P on G. Using this result, we propose an improved heuristic for the original problem of covering the skin of a robot with the largest number of triangular sensor modules. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lift-off variation causes errors in the eddy current thickness measurements of metallic plates. In this paper, we have developed an algorithm that can compensate for this variation and produce an index that is linked to the thickness, but is virtually independent of lift-off. This index, termed as the compensated peak frequency, can be obtained from the measured multifrequency inductance spectral data using the algorithm we developed in this paper. This method has been derived through mathematical manipulation and verified by both the simulation and experimental data. Accuracy in the thickness measurements at different lift-offs proved to be within 2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a microwave imaging technique that involves an adaptive back-projection (BP) algorithm based on a climb method. In general, the range migration algorithm (RMA) provides high computational efficiency and high accuracy for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging. However, RMA involves wavenumber domain interpolation, which may adversely affect the accuracy of the target imaging. The BP algorithm, which has its origins in medical imaging techniques, has been studied to overcome this problem in SAR imaging, because it avoids interpolation associated with domain conversion, but it also has a huge computational cost. Therefore, this paper proposes adaptive processing based on a climb method to find the target indicator as real target responses. The real target responses are predetermined and the raw data are reproduced to reduce the computational cost and to improve the image quality. Finally, the superiority of proposed algorithm is demonstrated using both the simulated and experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batch measurement of sheet-like product quantity is very common in manufacturing and commercial areas. Particularly, to satisfy the growing requirement of automatic and nondestructive detection, a machine vision system for stacked substrates counting is proposed in this paper. With a brief description of the system architecture and imaging module, the challenges for real data analysis are investigated. Our main contribution is to develop a robust stripe detection algorithm by combining the merits of local template matching and global frequency domain filtering. Besides the peak-valley feature across the stack profile, the collinear prior shape along the substrates is also utilized in a morphological scheme to purify the obtained ridge-line or stripe images, which, finally, benefits the statistical counting output. It is verified in experiments using a diversity of substrate media that our developed system can achieve a high counting accuracy with the detection error not more than 0.01% as the sample thickness varies between 0.05 mm and 0.5 mm. Moreover, the proposed algorithm performs much robustly with various kinds of abnormalities and interferences like irregular piling, media distortion, and foreign contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visually analyzing citation networks poses challenges to many fields of the data mining research. How can we summarize a large citation graph according to the user’s interest? In particular, how can we illustrate the impact of a highly influential paper through the summarization? Can we maintain the sensory node-link graph structure while revealing the flow-based influence patterns and preserving a fine readability? The state-of-the-art influence maximization algorithms can detect the most influential node in a citation network, but fail to summarize a graph structure to account for its influence. On the other hand, existing graph summarization methods fold large graphs into clustered views, but can not reveal the hidden influence patterns underneath the citation network. In this paper, we first formally define the Influence Graph Summarization problem on citation networks. Second, we propose a matrix decomposition based algorithm pipeline to solve the IGS problem. Our method can not only highlight the flow-based influence patterns, but also easily extend to support the rich attribute information. A prototype system called VEGAS implementing this pipeline is also developed. Third, we present a theoretical analysis on our main algorithm, which is equivalent to the kernel k-mean clustering. It can be proved that the matrix decomposition based algorithm can approximate the objective of the proposed IGS problem. Last, we conduct comprehensive experiments with real-world citation networks to compare the proposed algorithm with classical graph summarization methods. Evaluation results demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms the previous ones in optimizing both the quantitative IGS objective and the quality of the visual summarizations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Filtered orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (F-OFDM) system is a promising waveform for 5G and beyond to enable the multi-service system and spectrum efficient network slicing. However, the performance for F-OFDM systems has not been systematically analyzed in the literature. In this paper, we first establish a mathematical model for an F-OFDM system and derive the conditions to achieve the interference-free one-tap channel equalization. In the practical cases (e.g., insufficient guard interval, asynchronous transmission, and so on), the analytical expressions for inter-symbol interference, inter-carrier interference, and adjacent-carrier interference are derived, where the last term is considered as one of the key factors for asynchronous transmissions. Based on the framework, an optimal power compensation matrix is derived to make all of the subcarriers having the same ergodic performance. Another key contribution of this paper is that we propose a multi-rate F-OFDM system to enable low-complexity low-cost communication scenarios, such as narrow-band Internet of Things, at the cost of generating inter-subband interference (ISubBI). Low computational complexity algorithms are proposed to cancel the ISubBI. The result shows that the derived analytical expressions match the simulation results, and the proposed ISubBI cancelation algorithms can significantly save the original F-OFDM complexity (up to 100 times) without significant performance loss. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A low-cost very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation of real-time correction of barrel distortion for video-endoscopic images is presented in this paper. The correcting mathematical model is based on least-squares estimation. To decrease the computing complexity, we use an odd-order polynomial to approximate the back-mapping expansion polynomial. By algebraic transformation, the approximated polynomial becomes a monomial form which can be solved by Hornor's algorithm. With the iterative characteristic of Hornor's algorithm, the hardware cost and memory requirement can be conserved by time multiplexed design. In addition, a simplified architecture of the linear interpolation is used to reduce more computing resource and silicon area. The VLSI architecture of this paper contains 13.9-K gates by using a 0.18 \mum CMOS process. Compared with some existing distortion correction techniques, this paper reduces at least 69% hardware cost and 75% memory requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a low complexity n-dimensional (nD) FastICA algorithm and architecture by introducing the concept of coordinate rotation where n\geq 2. The proposed algorithm can merge the two key steps of conventional FastICA—preprocessing and update and is therefore capable of reducing the hardware complexity of the conventional FastICA significantly as demonstrated in this paper. Hardware implementation can further be simplified due to the recursive nature of the proposed algorithm where the same 2D hardware module can be used as the fundamental core to implement nD architecture. Together with the algorithm formulation, its functionality is also validated and hardware complexity is analyzed and compared with the conventional nD FastICA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The feeder reconfiguration problem chooses the on/off status of the switches in a distribution network in order to minimize a certain cost such as power loss. It is a mixed-integer nonlinear program and, hence, hard to solve. In this paper, we propose a heuristic algorithm that is based on the recently developed convex relaxation of the ac optimal power flow problem. The algorithm is computationally efficient and scales linearly with the number of redundant lines. It requires neither parameter tuning nor initialization for different networks. It successfully computes an optimal configuration on all four networks we have tested. Moreover, we have proved that the algorithm solves the feeder reconfiguration problem optimally under certain conditions for the case where only a single redundant line needs to be opened. We also propose a more computationally efficient algorithm and show that it incurs a loss in optimality of less than 3% on the four test networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The history of infections and epidemics holds famous examples where understanding, containing, and ultimately treating an outbreak began with understanding its mode of spread. Influenza, HIV, and most computer viruses spread person to person, device to device, and through contact networks; Cholera, Cancer, and seasonal allergies, on the other hand, do not. In this paper, we study two fundamental questions of detection. First, given a snapshot view of a (perhaps vanishingly small) fraction of those infected, under what conditions is an epidemic spreading via contact (e.g., Influenza), distinguishable from a random illness operating independently of any contact network (e.g., seasonal allergies)? Second, if we do have an epidemic, under what conditions is it possible to determine which network of interactions is the main cause of the spread—the causative network—without any knowledge of the epidemic, other than the identity of a minuscule subsample of infected nodes? The core, therefore, of this paper, is to obtain an understanding of the diagnostic power of network information. We derive sufficient conditions that networks must satisfy for these problems to be identifiable, and produce efficient, highly scalable algorithms that solve these problems. We show that the identifiability condition we give is fairly mild, and in particular, is satisfied by two common graph topologies: the $d$ -dimensional grid, and the Erdös-Renyi graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the challenge of learning to play many different video games with little domain-specific knowledge. Specifically, it introduces a neuroevolution approach to general Atari 2600 game playing. Four neuroevolution algorithms were paired with three different state representations and evaluated on a set of 61 Atari games. The neuroevolution agents represent different points along the spectrum of algorithmic sophistication—including weight evolution on topologically fixed neural networks (conventional neuroevolution), covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA–ES), neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT), and indirect network encoding (HyperNEAT). State representations include an object representation of the game screen, the raw pixels of the game screen, and seeded noise (a comparative baseline). Results indicate that direct-encoding methods work best on compact state representations while indirect-encoding methods (i.e., HyperNEAT) allow scaling to higher dimensional representations (i.e., the raw game screen). Previous approaches based on temporal-difference (TD) learning had trouble dealing with the large state spaces and sparse reward gradients often found in Atari games. Neuroevolution ameliorates these problems and evolved policies achieve state-of-the-art results, even surpassing human high scores on three games. These results suggest that neuroevolution is a promising approach to general video game playing (GVGP). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about several papers discussed at 30th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE) which held in Chicago, Illinois in the U.S. from March 31, 2014 to April 4, 2014 is presented. Topics discussed include method to deploy hardware transactional memory (HTM) for concurrency control on database transactions, issues faced during exploratory search of large databases, and pattern containment and algorithms to answer graph pattern queries.

In this paper, we investigate neutron-induced errors in three implementations of sort algorithms (QuickSort, MergeSort, and RadixSort) executed on modern graphics processing units designed for high-performance computing and large server applications. We measure the radiation-induced error rate of sort algorithms taking advantage of the neutron beam available at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center facility. We also analyze output error criticality by identifying specific output error patterns. We found that radiation can cause wrong elements to appear in the sorted array, misalign values as well as application crashes or system hangs. This paper presents results showing that the criticality of the radiation-induced output error pattern depends on the application. Additionally, an extensive fault-injection campaign has been performed. This campaign allows for better understanding of the observed phenomena. We take advantage of SASS-assembly Intrumentator Fault Injector developed by NVIDIA, which can inject faults into all the user-accessible architectural state. Comparing fault-injection results with radiation experiments data provides an understanding that not all the output errors observed under radiation can be replicated in fault injection. However, fault injection is useful in identifying possible root causes of the output errors observed in radiation testing. Finally, we take advantage of our experimental and analytical study to design efficient experimentally tuned hardening strategies. We detect the error patterns that are critical to the final application and find the more efficient way to detect them. With an overhead as low as 16% of the execution time, we are able to reduce the output error rate of sort of about one order of magnitude. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Matrix factorization is a popular approach for large-scale matrix completion. The optimization formulation based on matrix factorization, even with huge size, can be solved very efficiently through the standard optimization algorithms in practice. However, due to the non-convexity caused by the factorization model, there is a limited theoretical understanding of whether these algorithms will generate a good solution. In this paper, we establish a theoretical guarantee for the factorization-based formulation to correctly recover the underlying low-rank matrix. In particular, we show that under similar conditions to those in previous works, many standard optimization algorithms converge to the global optima of a factorization-based formulation and recover the true low-rank matrix. We study the local geometry of a properly regularized objective and prove that any stationary point in a certain local region is globally optimal. A major difference of this paper from the existing results is that we do not need resampling (i.e., using independent samples at each iteration) in either the algorithm or its analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a new method of power-grid signal variation measurement, consisting of a demodulation algorithm and a set of measures (indices). The measures that will be presented are the abstract functionals, operating on the complex envelope of a signal. This paper presents a demodulation algorithm, definitions of proposed functionals, results of simulations, as well as laboratory experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a modified empirical-mode decomposition (EMD) filtering-based adaptive dynamic phasor estimation algorithm for the removal of exponentially decaying dc offset. Discrete Fourier transform does not have the ability to attain the accurate phasor of the fundamental frequency component in digital protective relays under dynamic system fault conditions because the characteristic of exponentially decaying dc offset is not consistent. EMD is a fully data-driven, not model-based, adaptive filtering procedure for extracting signal components. But the original EMD technique has high computational complexity and requires a large data series. In this paper, a short data series-based EMD filtering procedure is proposed and an optimum hermite polynomial fitting (OHPF) method is used in this modified procedure. The proposed filtering technique has high accuracy and convergent speed, and is greatly appropriate for relay applications. This paper illustrates the characteristics of the proposed technique and evaluates its performance by computer-simulated signals, PSCAD/EMTDC-generated signals, and real power system fault signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new ramped convergence particle swarm optimization (RCPSO) algorithm to design radio frequency identification (RFID) reader antenna for gain optimization is presented in this paper. The algorithm breaks down the optimization problem by considering only a subset of dimensions at a time, hence overcoming curse of dimensionality. It uses a multi-start approach that alleviates premature convergence. It applies heterogeneous boundary conditions to errant particles. In this paper, the effectiveness of using RCPSO for RFID reader antenna design will be investigated by a number of iterations required to achieve optimum solution along with the quality of solution. RCPSO is built specifically for antenna design. For the microstrip antenna, a significant bandwidth improvement is achieved and the overall antenna dimensions are kept practically the same. The circular gain improves by a significant 2 dBiC over super high frequency (SHF). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares the application of two deterministic and three nondeterministic optimization algorithms to global transformer design optimization (TDO). Two deterministic optimization algorithms (mixed-integer nonlinear programming and heuristic algorithm) are compared to three nondeterministic approaches (harmony search, differential evolution, and genetic algorithm). All these algorithms are integrated in design optimization software applied and verified in the manufacturing industry. The comparison yields significant conclusions on the efficiency of the algorithms and the selection of the most suitable one for the TDO problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We comment on a paper describing an algorithm for image set classification. Following the general practice in computer vision research, the performance of the algorithm was evaluated on benchmarks in order to support the claim of its advantage over other algorithms in the literature. We have examined the reported data of experiences on two datasets, and found that many numbers are not a possible answer regardless how the random partitions were selected and regardless how the algorithms performed in each partition. Our finding suggests that the experimental results in the paper (“Deep Reconstruction Models for Image Set Classification”, IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 713–727, April 2015) has serious flaws to the extent that all the experimental results should be re-examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology of through-silicon vias (TSVs) enables fine-grained integration of multiple dies into a single 3-D stack. TSVs occupy significant silicon area due to their sheer size, which has a great effect on the quality of 3-D integrated chips (ICs). Whereas well-managed TSVs alleviate routing congestion and reduce wirelength, excessive or ill-managed TSVs increase the die area and wirelength. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the TSV on the quality of 3-D IC layouts. Two design schemes, namely TSV co-placement (irregular TSV placement) and TSV site (regular TSV placement), and accompanying algorithms to find and optimize locations of gates and TSVs are proposed for the design of 3-D ICs. Two TSV assignment algorithms are also proposed to enable the regular TSV placement. Simulation results show that the wirelength of 3-D ICs is shorter than that of 2-D ICs by up to 25%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with a specific explicit design of Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) for speed and position of three-phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSM). Predictive algorithms are designed with single and double integrations with respect to step and ramp reference signals. Needful field weakening and current limitation are solved by specific procedures based on a local indirect tuning/amplification of the relevant GPC parameters. The proposed solution due to low computational demands is suitable for real applications. Designed algorithms and procedures are demonstrated by figures and oscillogram screenshots of representative variables measured on the 10.7 kW PMSM drive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a controller integrity monitoring method for a class of second-order nonlinear uncertain systems incorporating neural network-based adaptive control algorithms. The adaptive neural network model is employed to ensure robust tracking performance in the presence of certain modeling uncertainty under consideration during the offline controller design process. Based on Lyapunov stability analysis, an online controller integrity monitoring scheme is developed to detect the occurrence of controller software/algorithm faults and unanticipated physical component faults, which may lead to unstable learning behaviors and malfunctions of the adaptive controller. Adaptive thresholds for detecting controller malfunctions are derived, ensuring the robustness with respect to modeling uncertainty and neural network approximation error. Additionally, the detectability conditions are investigated, characterizing the class of detectable software faults and unanticipated physical faults. An upper bound on the fault detection time is also established. Simulation results are shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generating units, participating in the secondary frequency control of a control area, are usually spinning units already connected to the network and operating outside their range of optimal performance. This paper deals with an alternative method of providing secondary frequency control called Rapid-Start (RS). It consists in assigning a regulation band to several off-line units (RS units) which are capable of being started and connected rapidly, therefore allowing the online units to operate closer to their nominal power. As RS operation may have economic benefits, an appropriate algorithm to start up an RS unit needs to be developed. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate, compare, and choose the most appropriate RS algorithm among the ones developed for a certain AGC control area. An optimization model provides a reference by determining the hypothetically ideal start-ups and shut-downs of RS units. In addition, the definition of performance indexes to evaluate, compare, and choose the different RS algorithms is proposed. The proposed methodology is illustrated for a secondary frequency control zone within the Spanish power system by using real data signals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents algorithms for the digital restoration of films damaged by tear. As well as causing local image data loss, a tear results in a noticeable relative shift in the frame between the regions at either side of the tear boundary. This paper describes a method for delineating the tear boundary and for correcting the displacement. This is achieved using a graph-cut segmentation framework that can be either automatic or interactive when automatic segmentation is not possible. Using temporal intensity differences to form the boundary conditions for the segmentation facilitates the robust division of the frame. The resulting segmentation map is used to calculate and correct the relative displacement using a global-motion estimation approach based on motion histograms. A high-quality restoration is obtained when a suitable missing-data treatment algorithm is used to recover any missing pixel intensities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airbag systems have become an essential safety device for guaranteeing the physical well-being of drivers and their passengers. Unlike other safety devices, airbags are used as the last resort in a collision, and because they are directly linked to the life of the driver and passengers, the proper functioning of the system is an issue of paramount importance. Hence, to ensure the precision and reliability of airbag operation, it is necessary to design a robust crash algorithm. Currently, several companies are working to achieve an optimal deployment time for airbags in collisions by diversifying the type and location of crash-related sensors. Nevertheless, several problems must still be confronted. For instance, when a vehicle operates off road or when the sensor inside the airbag control unit (ACU) receives a powerful shock, the vehicle's airbags may inadvertently deploy, although no collision has occurred, because a crashlike signal is delivered to the ACU. Alternately, in a collision situation that requires airbag deployment, the crash algorithm may make an erroneous judgment with regard to the collision configuration and miss the time frame for airbag deployment or fail to deploy the airbags altogether. Such problems can be attributed to the following two major causes: 1) Only signals produced through crash tests are used in the design of crash algorithms, and 2) the algorithms themselves only utilize postcrash input from the relevant sensors. To resolve these issues, this paper proposes a precrash algorithm that generates information about the crash scenarios before a collision has occurred. The purpose of the precrash algorithm is to make judgments about the impending collision configuration prior to impact by estimating the behavior of frontal objects and to communicate this information to the crash algorithm to enable correct recognition of the crash scenarios. This paper also proposes a crash algorithm based on crash-related sensors for the verification of and interfacing with the proposed precrash algorithm. The limitations of existing crash algorithms, which deploy airbags using only postcrash signals, were resolved through the development of an integrative crash algorithm that combines the precrash and crash algorithms to reflect precrash information. The developed algorithm was verified by running a wide range of simulations using CarSim, based on data from real crash tests. The results showed that, compared with independently using the crash algorithm, adding precrash information estimation significantly improved the reliability of airbag deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we devise a fast encoding algorithm for triply extended Reed–Solomon codes. The proposed approach requires approximately two XORs per bit, which improves the prior result of three XORs per bit established by certain maximum distance separable (MDS) array codes. We also prove that, for MDS codes with two and three parities, the scheduling algorithms require at least two XORs per bit. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first provable scheduling algorithm for the triple-parity MDS codes to approach the theoretical lower bounds. The implementation with SIMD instructions is provided. The simulations show that the proposed approach is competitive, as compared with other cutting edge implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we design a robust resource allocation algorithm for a wireless-powered communication network (WPCN) taking into account residual hardware impairments (HWIs) at the transceivers, the imperfectness of the channel state information, and the non-linearity of practical radio frequency energy harvesting circuits. In order to ensure power-efficient secure communication, physical layer security techniques are exploited to deliberately degrade the channel quality of a multiple-antenna eavesdropper. The resource allocation algorithm design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem for minimization of the total power consumption in the network, while guaranteeing the quality of service of the information receivers in terms of secrecy rate. The globally optimal solution of the optimization problem is obtained via a 2-D search and semidefinite programming relaxation. To strike a balance between computational complexity and system performance, a low-complexity iterative suboptimal resource allocation algorithm is also proposed. Numerical results demonstrate that both the proposed optimal and suboptimal schemes can significantly reduce the total system power consumption required for guaranteeing secure communication, and unveil the impact of HWIs on the system performance: 1) residual HWIs create a system performance bottleneck in WPCN in the high transmit/receive power regimes; 2) increasing the number of transmit antennas can effectively reduce the power consumption of wireless power transfer and alleviate the performance degradation due to residual HWIs; and 3) imperfect CSI exacerbates the impact of residual HWIs, which increases the power consumption of both wireless power and wireless information transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object recognition is widely used in vision computing for various applications. Traditional CPU and application specific integrated circuit for vision computing cannot provide high performance and enough flexibility, which limit the use of vision systems. In this paper, a hierarchical and parallel pipelined heterogeneous chip for object recognition is proposed to achieve high flexibility, high performance, and area efficiency. In addition, a reformulation of 3D position estimation is proposed. The method uses single precision to achieve the short computing time and accuracy requirement. The hardware resource is small. Application-specific components, such as connected component information extractor and information extraction accelerator, are designed for high performance. Reconfiguration processors and application-specific instruction set processor are introduced to improve flexibility. These components are connected to hierarchical parallel buses. The chip is fabricated in 180-nm CMOS technology and occupies 72.25 mm2 with 1.09M bits on-chip memory. It delivers 204 GOPS + 665M FLOPS operations. The results show that this hierarchical and parallel pipelined heterogeneous chip is suitable for embedded vision systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow-based microfluidic biochips are attracting increasing attention with successful applications in biochemical experiments, point-of-care diagnosis, etc. Existing works in design automation consider the flow-layer design and control-layer design separately, lacking a global optimization and hence resulting in degraded routability and reliability. This paper presents a novel integrated physical co-design methodology, which seamlessly integrates the flow-layer and control-layer design stages. In the flow-layer design stage, a sequence-pair-based placement method is presented, which allows for an iterative placement refinement based on routing feedbacks. In the control-layer design stage, the minimum cost flow formulation is adopted to further improve the routability. Besides that, effective placement adjustment strategies are proposed to iteratively enhance the solution quality of the overall control-layer design. Experimental results show that compared with the existing work, the proposed design flow obtains an average reduction of 40.44% in flow-channel crossings, 31.95% in total chip area, and 22.02% in total flow-channel length. Moreover, all the valves are successfully routed in the control-layer design stage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) images are often highly degraded by amplified mottle noise and streak artifacts. Maintaining image quality under low-dose scan protocols is a well-known challenge. Recently, sparse representation-based techniques have been shown to be efficient in improving such CT images. In this paper, we propose a 3D feature constrained reconstruction (3D-FCR) algorithm for LDCT image reconstruction. The feature information used in the 3D-FCR algorithm relies on a 3D feature dictionary constructed from available high quality standard-dose CT sample. The CT voxels and the sparse coefficients are sequentially updated using an alternating minimization scheme. The performance of the 3D-FCR algorithm was assessed through experiments conducted on phantom simulation data and clinical data. A comparison with previously reported solutions was also performed. Qualitative and quantitative results show that the proposed method can lead to a promising improvement of LDCT image quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Algebraic-geometric (AG) codes have good error-correction capability due to their generally large code word length. However, their decoding remains complex, preventing practical applications. Addressing the challenge, this paper proposes two interpolation-based low-complexity Chase (LCC) decoding algorithms for one of the most popular AG codes-Hermitian codes. By choosing $\eta $ unreliable symbols and realizing them with the two most likely decisions, $2^\eta $ decoding test-vectors can be formulated. The first LCC algorithm performs interpolation for the common elements of the test-vectors, producing an intermediate outcome that will be shared by the uncommon element interpolation. It eliminates the redundant computation for decoding each test-vector, resulting in a low-complexity. With an interpolation multiplicity of one, the decoding is further facilitated by removing the requirement of pre-calculating the Hermitian curve’s corresponding coefficients. The second LCC algorithm is an adaptive variant of the first algorithm, where the number of test-vectors is determined by the reliability of received information. When the channel condition improves, it can reduce the complexity without compromising the decoding performance. Simulation results show that the both LCC algorithms outperform a number of existing algebraic decoding algorithms for Hermitian codes. Finally, our complexity analysis will reveal the proposals’ low-complexity feature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a novel augmented complex-valued least-mean kurtosis (ACLMK) algorithm is proposed for processing complex-valued signals. The negated kurtosis of the complex-valued error signal is defined as a cost function by using augmented statistics. As a result of the minimization of this cost function, the ACLMK algorithm containing all second-order statistical properties is obtained for processing noncircular complex-valued signals. Moreover, in this paper, convergence and misadjustment conditions of the proposed ACLMK algorithm are derived from the steady-state analysis. The simulation results on complex-valued system identification, prediction, and adaptive noise cancelling problems show that the use of the cost function defined by the negated kurtosis of the complex-valued error signal based on augmented statistics enables the processing of the noncircular complex-valued signals, and significantly improves the performance of the proposed ACLMK algorithm in terms of the mean square deviation, the mean square error, the prediction gain and the convergence rate when compared to other algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Location-aware wireless networks can provide precise location information in harsh environments, however, which is only possible when all nodes are well-functioning. In this paper, we propose algorithms and analyze the performance limits for both non-cooperative and cooperative localization networks in the presence of ranging outliers. Especially, we show that the localization performance can be boosted by using the cooperative outlier detection scheme. An algorithm based on expectation-maximization is proposed for non-cooperative localization networks, while a variational message passing-based algorithm is proposed for the cooperative counterparts. Performance limits are investigated using Cramér–Rao lower bound. Further inspection on the performance limits confirms the performance gain from the cooperative detection scheme. Stochastic geometric analysis is also carried out to account for the stochastic nature of wireless networks, as well as to provide simpler expressions and additional insights. Simulation results corroborate the analytical results, and show that both of the proposed algorithms are capable of attaining the corresponding performance limits at a significantly reduced computational cost compared with existing algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we study the user pairing in a downlink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) network, where the base station allocates the power to the pairwise users within the cluster. In the considered NOMA network, a user with poor channel condition is paired with a user with good channel condition, when both their rate requirements are satisfied. Specifically, the quality of service for weak users can be guaranteed, since the transmit power allocated to strong users is constrained following the concept of cognitive radio. A distributed matching algorithm is proposed in the downlink NOMA network, aiming to optimize the user pairing and power allocation between weak users and strong users, subject to the users’ targeted rate requirements. Our results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the conventional orthogonal multiple access scheme and approaches the performance of the centralized algorithm, despite its low complexity. In order to improve the system’s throughput, we design a practical adaptive turbo trellis coded modulation scheme for the considered network, which adaptively adjusts the code rate and the modulation mode based on the instantaneous channel conditions. The joint design work leads to significant mutual benefits for all the users as well as the improved system throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To save energy and alleviate interference, connected dominating set (CDS) was proposed to serve as a virtual backbone of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Because sensor nodes may fail due to accidental damages or energy depletion, it is desirable to construct a fault tolerant virtual backbone with high redundancy in both coverage and connectivity. This can be modeled as a $k$ -connected $m$ -fold dominating set (abbreviated as $(k,m)$ -CDS) problem. A node set $C\subseteq V(G)$ is a $(k,m)$ -CDS of graph $G$ if every node in $V(G)\backslash C$ is adjacent with at least $m$ nodes in $C$ and the subgraph of $G$ induced by $C$ is $k$ -connected. Constant approximation algorithm is known for $(3,m)$ -CDS in unit disk graph, which models homogeneous WSNs. In this paper, we present the first performance guaranteed approximation algorithm for $(3,m)$ -CDS in a heterogeneous WSN. In fact, our performance ratio is valid for any topology. The performance ratio is at most $\gamma $ , where $\gamma =\alpha +8+2\ln (2\alpha -6)$ for $\alpha \geq 4$ and $\gamma =3\alpha +2\ln 2$ for $\alpha <4$ , and $\alpha $ is the performance ratio for the minimum $(2,m)$ -CDS problem. Using currently best known value of $\alpha $ , the performance ratio is $\ln \delta +o(\ln \delta )$ , where $\delta $ is the maximum degree of the graph, which is asymptotically best possible in view of the non-approximability of the problem. Applying our algorithm on a unit disk graph, the performance ratio is less than 27, improving previous ratio 62.3 by a large amount for the $(3,m)$ -CDS problem on a unit disk graph. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Analog CMOS integrated circuits (ICs) designs depend typically on designer knowledge and experience, as such problems are multivariate and multiobjective, presenting many combinations of input variables to be investigated in order to meet the required specifications. Nowadays, the a posteriori approach is widely used to perform the optimization processes of analog CMOS ICs using evolutionary algorithms. However, these techniques are not totally able to explore potential solutions in specific regions of the Pareto front. Designers then have difficulty in choosing the best solution capable of achieving all desired specifications simultaneously among all the ones found. In this context, the a priori approach using fitness functions has become an important alternative method to overcome these issues of the a posteriori methodology. This paper aims to compare different fitness function profiles used in the a priori optimization processes to boost the effectiveness of the search processes in relation to robustness, accuracy, and yield in analog CMOS ICs designs. We show that the Gaussian profile, proposed here, applied to the lower limit, center value, and upper limit fitness functions is able to improve all the a priori optimization evolutionary techniques investigated, including the genetic, imperialist competitive, and shuffled frog leaping algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The backpressure routing policy is known to be a throughput optimal policy that supports any feasible traffic demand, but may have poor delay performance when packets traverse loops in the network. In this paper, we study loop-free backpressure routing policies that forward packets along directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to avoid the looping problem. These policies use link reversal algorithms to improve the DAGs in order to support any achievable traffic demand. For a network with a single commodity, we show that a DAG that supports a given traffic demand can be found after a finite number of iterations of the link-reversal process. We use this to develop a joint link-reversal and backpressure routing policy, called the loop free backpressure (LFBP) algorithm. This algorithm forwards packets on the DAG, while the DAG is dynamically updated based on the growth of the queue backlogs. We show by simulations that such a DAG-based policy improves the delay over the classical backpressure routing policy. We also propose a multicommodity version of the LFBP algorithm and via simulation show that its delay performance is better than that of backpressure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In spectral analysis, achieving coherent sampling, especially when signals have large distortion, has been a challenge for many years. This paper introduces three algorithms to resolve this issue. In comparison to previous algorithms, and two widely used methods in industry: windowing and four-parameter sine wave fit, these new algorithms are capable of obtaining accurate spectral results of the signal, while achieving high accuracy as well as computational efficiency. The novel contribution of this paper is that not only does it propose two new algorithms, but also it analyzes their advantages and limitations in detail, providing their trade-offs and different fields of applications. Extensive simulations and measurements are performed to validate these algorithms. Combined with their high accuracy, computational efficiency, and robustness against signal purity, these algorithms are readily available to be implemented for bench or on-chip testing. In addition, it is suitable for data converter spectral testing when noncoherent sampling is present, and spectrally pure test signal source is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Algorithmic multiported memory supports concurrent accesses by cooperating block RAMs (BRAMs) with algorithmic operations, and demonstrates the better performance per resource usage on FPGA when compared with register-based designs. However, the current approaches still use significant amount of FPGA resources and pose great design challenges when increasing the access ports. This paper proposes HB-NTX with a resource efficient hierarchical banking structure for nontable-based multi-ported memory design on FPGA. The regular design style enables a systematic flow to scale both read and write ports. When compared with the previous approaches, HB-NTX can reduce 62.03% BRAMs when composing a 2R4W memory with 32K depth. This paper further extends the HB-NTX to alleviate the complexity of the table-based memory designs. When compared with the previous table-based TBLVT approach, the proposed design for a 2R4W memory with 8K depth attains the cost reduction of 39.9%, 14.3%, and 15.6%, for registers, lookup tables, and BRAMs, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the optimal control problem for large-scale systems with unknown parameters and dynamics. By using robust adaptive dynamic programming (RADP) method, a decentralized optimal control design is given for large-scale systems with unmatched uncertainties. The convergence of the proposed RADP algorithm and the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop large-scale system are studied rigorously. Finally, a numerical example of a large-scale power system is adopted to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we investigate the problem of distributed channel selection for interference mitigation in a canonical communication network. The channel is assumed time-varying, and the active user set is considered dynamically variable due to the specific service requirement. This problem is formulated as an exact potential game, and the optimality property of the solution to this problem is first analyzed. Then, we design a low-complexity fully distributed no-regret learning algorithm for channel adaptation in a dynamic environment, where each active player can independently and automatically update its action with no information exchange. The proposed algorithm is proven to converge to a set of correlated equilibria with a probability of 1. Finally, we conduct simulations to demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves near-optimal performance for interference mitigation in dynamic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we design novel distributed scheduling algorithms for multiuser multiple-input multiple-output systems and evaluate the resulting system capacity analytically. In particular, we consider algorithms which do not require sending channel state information to a central processing unit, nor do they require communication between the users themselves, yet, the resulting capacity closely approximates that of a centrally controlled system, which is able to schedule the strongest user in each time-slot. In other words, multiuser diversity is achieved in a distributed fashion. Our analysis is based on a novel application of the point-process approximation. This technique, besides tackling previously suggested models successfully, allows an analytical examination of new models, such as nonhomogeneous cases (nonidentically distributed users) or various quality of service considerations. This results in asymptotically exact expressions for the capacity of the system under these schemes, solving analytically problems which to date had been open. Possible applications include, but are not limited to, modern 4G networks, such as 3GPP LTE, or random access protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]