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In intelligent transportation systems (ITSs), the communication between the base station (BS) and the vehicles can form a virtual multiple-input multiple-out put (VMIMO) vehicle communication system. This paper addresses the issue of channel estimation in a virtual MIMO system that simultaneously adopt a smart antenna (SA). First, based on quaternion theory, a novel algorithm named quaternion noncircular MUSIC (QNC-MUSIC) is proposed, and direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is achieved for circular and noncircular signals. Then, a dimension reduction procedure is performed for the parameter search by employing the partial derivative of the spectrum function with respect to the noncircular phase; thus, a novel dimensional reduction noncircular MUSIC (DRNC-MUSIC) algorithm with a low computational complexity is proposed for DOA and polarization estimation of circular signals and noncircular signals. Finally, numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the parameter estimation performance of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small cells are introduced to cellular systems to enhance coverage and improve capacity. Densely deploying small cells can not only offload the traffic of macrocells but also provide an energy- and cost-efficient way to meet the sharp increase in traffic demands in mobile networks. However, such a cell deployment paradigm also leads to heterogeneous network (HetNet) infrastructure and raises new challenges for cell planning. In this paper, we study the cell planning issue in the HetNet. Our optimization task is to select a subset of candidate sites to deploy macro or small cells to minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) or the energy consumption of the cellular system while satisfying practical constraints. We introduce approximation algorithms to cope with two different cell-planning cases, which are both NP-hard. First, we discuss the macrocell-only case. Our proposed algorithm achieves an approximation ratio of O(\log R) in this scenario, where R is the maximum achievable capacity of macrocells. Then, we introduce an O(\log \widetildeR)-approximation algorithm to the small-cell scenario, where \widetildeR is the maximum achievable capacity of a macrocell with small cells overlaid on it. Numerical results indicate that the HetNet can significantly reduce the TCO and the energy consumption of the cellular system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a novel scheme is proposed to optimize the effectiveness of the device-to-device (D2D) enabled vehicular communications (D2D-V), which are underlaid in cellular networks, where the uplink channel allocated to one cellular user (CU) is reused by the multiple D2D-V links. To develop a well-functioning D2D-V system, the sum rate of all D2D-V links is necessary to be maximized, and also the reliability of the co-channel CU to infrastructure has to be guaranteed with the CU interference constraint. Unlike the traditional statical D2D systems, the D2D-V system suffers with high mobility and channel uncertainty. Therefore, the CU interference constraint is formulated as a probabilistic function by the Bernstein approximation, the constraint attempts to address the mobile channel fluctuations. Besides, the tractable approximate constraint is reformulated as two separable structure, this reformulated constraint attempts to determine the near-optimal solutions more efficiently. Since the objective function with a logarithmic form is nonconvex, successive convex approximation is applied to transform the nonconvex problem into the convex problem. The dual decomposition is used to determine the near-optimal solutions. After the problem is reformulated, a distributed robust power control algorithm is proposed to perform the chance-constrained optimization. Numerical simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. The simulation results show the impacts of system performance when applying the proposed scheme in vehicular environments with high mobility. The proposed optimization schemes are further verified by comparing with the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to stimulate the devices to participate is a key problem in the device-to-device (D2D) communications, especially when there are multiple base stations in practice. On one hand, the base station needs to lower the price to compete with other base stations for attracting more devices. On the other hand, the base station needs to increase the price to obtain more benefit. In this paper, we propose an optimal multiprincipal multiagent contract design to tackle such a challenge. Specifically, we formulate the multiprincipal contract design problem as a game theoretic optimization problem, where the objective of each principle (base station) through contract design is to maximize its overall utility obtaining from the trade with agents (devices) subject to the individual rationality and incentive compatibility constraints. By solving the game theoretic optimization problems, we can obtain the equilibrium contract where the contracts of different principals reach an equilibrium and any deviation from a single principal will lead to the degradation of its own utility. Moreover, under the equilibrium, both the individual rationality and incentive compatibility constraints are satisfied, i.e., all agents will choose the corresponding contract according to their types to reach the optimal nonnegative utilities. Simulation results show that compared with the monoprincipal contract design, both the utilities of devices and the social welfare can be improved with the multiprincipal contract design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising scheme for the fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication systems. In this scheme, transmission to multiple users is performed on the same subchannel using superposition coding and successive interference cancellation. In this paper, we focus on a multi-cell network with two users’ data traffic models, namely elastic and streaming. We exploit the NOMA scheme in order to maximize the download elastic traffic rate at cells, without degrading the download streaming traffic rates. Since elastic traffic rates at different cells are interactive, we maximize the total elastic traffic rates assuming either perfect or partial channel state information available at each base station subject to a target rate for streaming users. Because of the interference due to NOMA as well as the interference among different cells, subchannel assignment and power allocation affect the system performance significantly. For this reason, we propose an iterative algorithm to jointly solve the subchannel assignment and the power allocation problem via the Hungarian algorithm and successive convex approximation, respectively. Finally, our simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In opportunistic mobile networks (OppNets), a large amount of energy is consumed by idle listening, instead of infrequent data exchange. This makes energy saving a challenging and fundamental problem in OppNets since nodes are typically battery powered. Asynchronous duty-cycle operation is a promising approach for energy saving in OppNets; however, if its working schedule is not effectively designed, it may also cause significant network performance degradation. Therefore, it is pressing to design an energy-efficient working schedule for duty-cycle OppNets. In this paper, we first analyze the contact process in duty-cycle OppNets and then propose an adaptive working schedule for duty-cycle OppNets. The proposed adaptive working schedule uses the past recorded contact histories to predict future contact information to adaptively configure the working schedule of each node in the network. Finally, extensive real trace-driven simulations are conducted to evaluate the performance of our proposed adaptive working schedule. Extensive real trace-driven simulation results demonstrate that our proposed adaptive working schedule is superior to the random working schedule and the periodical working schedule algorithms in terms of the number of effect contacts, delivery ratio, and delivery delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deploying femtocells underlaying macrocells is a promising way to improve the capacity and enhance the coverage of cellular systems. However, such a two-tier network also gives rise to a cross-tier and intratier interference issue that should be properly addressed to acquire the potential performance gain. In this paper, we study the resource-allocation (RA) problem in a two-tier orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) access-based heterogeneous cellular network, where the femtocells that employ a closed access strategy are equipped with a cognitive radio (CR) function to identify radio environment so that they can share subchannels with the macrocells without generating excessive interference to the macrocell users (MUs), which fall into the coverage of the femtocells. We formulate an optimization task to maximize the sum throughput of the femtocell users (FUs) under the consideration of imperfect spectrum sensing and channel uncertainty while controlling the interference to the MUs below their bearable thresholds in the sense of probability. We introduce a conservative convex approximation to the formulated problem and develop a fast algorithm to solve it by exploiting its structure. Simulation results show that our proposal can improve the throughput of the FUs with almost no changes in the infrastructure of the cellular network. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The introduction of fourth-generation wireless technologies has fueled the rapid development of cellular networks, significantly increasing the energy consumption and the expenditures of mobile network operators (MNOs). In addition, network underutilization during low-traffic periods (e.g., night zone) has motivated a new business model, namely, infrastructure sharing, which allows the MNOs to have their traffic served by other MNOs in the same geographic area, thus enabling them to switch off part of their network. In this paper, we propose a novel infrastructure-sharing algorithm for multioperator environments, which enables the deactivation of underutilized base stations during low-traffic periods. Motivated by the conflicting interests of the MNOs and the necessity for effective solutions, we introduce a game-theoretic framework that enables the MNOs to individually estimate the switching-off probabilities that reduce their expected financial cost. Our approach reaches dominant strategy equilibrium, which is the strategy that minimizes the cost of each player. Finally, we provide extensive analytical and experimental results to estimate the potential energy and cost savings that can be achieved in multioperator environments, incentivizing the MNOs to apply the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection plays an important role in intelligent transportation systems and intelligent vehicles. Although the topic of object detection has been studied for decades, it is still challenging to accurately detect objects under complex scenarios. The contributing factors for challenges include diversified object and background appearance, motion blur, adverse weather conditions, and complex interactions among objects. In this paper, we propose a new convolutional neural network (CNN) model for traffic object detection, by using multi-scale local and global feature representation (MFR). The proposed model consists of two components: a region proposal network that generates candidate object regions and an object detection network that incorporates multi-scale features and global information, namely MFR-CNN. These two components are jointly optimized. Once the system is trained, it can detect real-world traffic objects accurately, especially small objects and heavily occluded objects. We evaluate the proposed method on four benchmark datasets, achieving consistent improvements over the state of the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising user expectations are changing the way mobile operators manage their networks. In this paper, a self-tuning algorithm for adjusting parameters in a multiservice packet scheduler of a Long-Term Evolution base station is proposed to optimize the overall system Quality of Experience (QoE) based on network performance statistics. For this purpose, the algorithm iteratively changes service priority parameters to reprioritize services so as to make the most of available resources. The proposed algorithm ensures that the best overall system QoE is always reached by analyzing optimality conditions, unlike previous works, which only guarantee a minimum user satisfaction level or aim to balance QoE among services. Method assessment is carried out with a dynamic system-level simulator in a realistic service scenario. Simulation results show that the overall network QoE can be improved up to $35\%$ by tuning service priority parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Automated and coordinated vehicles' driving (platooning) is very challenging due to the multibody control complexity and the presence of unreliable time-varying wireless intervehicular communication (IVC). We propose a novel controller for vehicle platooning based on consensus and analytically demonstrate its stability and dynamic properties. Traditional approaches assume the logical control topology as a constraint fixed a priori, and the control law is designed consequently; our approach makes the control topology a design parameter that can be exploited to reconfigure the controller, depending on the needs and characteristics of the scenario. Furthermore, the controller automatically compensates outdated information caused by network losses and delays. The controller is implemented in Plexe, which is a state-of-the-art IVC and mobility simulator that includes basic building blocks for platooning. Analysis and simulations show the controller robustness and performance in several scenarios, including realistic propagation conditions with interference caused by other vehicles. We compare our approach against a controller taken from the literature, which is generally considered among the most performing ones. Finally, we test the proposed controller by implementing the real dynamics (engine, transmission, braking systems, etc.) of heterogeneous vehicles in Plexe and verifying that platoons remain stable and safe, regardless of real-life impairments that cannot be modeled in the analytic solution. The results show the ability of the proposed approach to maintain a stable string of realistic vehicles with different control-communication topologies, even in the presence of strong interference, delays, and fading conditions, providing higher comfort and safety for platoon drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Crowdsensing offers an efficient way to meet the demand in large-scale sensing applications. In crowdsensing, optimal task allocation is challenging since sensing tasks with different requirements of quality of sensing are typically associated with specific locations, and mobile users have time constraints. We show that the allocation problem is NP-hard. We then focus on approximation algorithms and devise an efficient local-ratio-based algorithm (LRBA). Our analysis shows that the approximation ratio of the aggregate rewards obtained by optimal allocation to those by LRBA is 5. This reveals that LRBA is efficient, since a lower (but not tight) bound on the approximation ratio is 4. We extend the results to the general scenario where mobile users are heterogeneous. A distributed version of LRBA, namely DLRBA, is designed, which can be iteratively executed at each mobile user without the need for the platform to collect all the information of mobile users. We prove that both centralized and distributed versions can output the same solution. Extensive simulation results are provided to demonstrate the advantages of our proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mobile crowdsensing has shown elegant capacity in data collection and has given rise to numerous applications. In the sense of coverage quality, marginal works have considered the efficient (less cost) and effective (considerable coverage) design for mobile crowdsensing networks. We investigate the optimal quality-aware coverage in mobile crowdsensing networks. The difference between ours and the conventional coverage problem is that we only select a subset of mobile users so that the coverage quality is maximized with constrained budget. To address this new problem, which is proved to be NP-hard, we first prove that the set function of coverage quality is nondecreasing submodular. By leveraging the favorable property in submodular optimization, we then propose an (\text1-(\text1/e)) approximation algorithm with O(n^k+2) time complexity, where $k$ is an integer that is greater than or equal to 3. Finally, we conduct extensive simulations for the proposed scheme, and the results demonstrate that ours outperforms the random selection scheme and one of the state of the art in terms of total coverage quality by, at most, 2.4× and 1.5× and by, on average, 1.4× and 1.3×, respectively. Additionally, ours achieves a near-optimal solution, compared with the brute-force search results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To enhance the backscatter-links with double fading effect in non-orthogonal multiple access assisted backscatter communication (NOMABC), a new reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) enhanced NOMABC (RIS-NOMABC) system is proposed. A joint optimization problem over power reflection coefficients at the backscatter devices (BDs) and phase shifts at the RIS is formulated. To solve this non-convex problem, a low complexity algorithm is proposed by invoking the alternative optimization, successive convex approximation and manifold optimization algorithms. Numerical results corroborate that the proposed RIS-NOMABC system outperforms the conventional NOMABC system without RIS, and demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive estimation algorithm based on the Lorentzian norm is proposed for echo cancellation in vehicle hands-free communication systems and video teleconferencing systems, namely the affine-projection Lorentzian (APL) algorithm. By minimizing the Lorentzian norm of the a posteriori error vector with a suitable constraint on the weight vector and providing a dynamic Lorentzian-norm-controlling parameter, the proposed APL algorithm achieves robustness against impulsive disturbances and speeds up convergence for colored input signals. The computational complexity of the APL algorithm is analyzed and a fast recursive filtering method is employed to reduce its complexity. The stability analysis, based on energy-conservation arguments, shows that the APL algorithm converges. Furthermore, its tracking behavior is also investigated and a step size optimizing the tracking performance is derived. Simulation results agree well with the theoretical analysis. Simulation results for channel estimation and in-car echo cancellation scenarios demonstrate that the APL algorithm achieves better performance compared to the maximum-correntropy-criterion, affine-projection-generalized-maximum-correntropy, affine-projection-sign, affine-projection-like M-estimate, and Lorentzian adaptive filtering algorithms in various impulsive interference environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that traffic safety and efficiency can be substantially improved by vehicle platooning, in which vehicles periodically broadcast their kinetic status to neighbors, known as beacon message dissemination. As a networked control system, vehicle platoon has attracted significant attention from both the control and networking areas. However, few studies consider the practical traffic scenario with both platoons and individual vehicles, and the proposed beaconing schemes lack the deep understanding of relationship between the beaconing performance and the requirements of the control mechanism. To address these challenging issues, we propose a joint control–communication design to achieve reliable vehicle platooning in a more realistic traffic scenario, wherein the traffic consists of both platoons and individual vehicles, and both periodic beacon messages and event-based safety messages shall be delivered together. Specifically, we first develop a comprehensive control-theoretical analysis to understand how the vehicular communication can affect features of platoon driving; based on the understanding, we then propose and analyze an adaptive platoon-based message dissemination scheme; finally, we conduct extensive numerical experiments to validate the effectiveness of the protocol and to confirm the accuracy of the our theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]