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In service-transaction scenarios, blockchain technology is widely used as an effective tool for establishing trust between service providers and consumers. The consensus algorithm is the core technology of blockchain. However, existing consensus algorithms, such as the practical Byzantine fault tolerance (PBFT) algorithm, still suffer from high resource consumption and latency. To solve this problem, in this study, we propose an improved PBFT blockchain consensus algorithm based on quality of service (QoS)-aware trust service evaluation for secure and efficient service transactions. The proposed algorithm, called the QoS-aware trust practical Byzantine fault tolerance (QTPBFT) algorithm, efficiently achieves consensus, significantly reduces resource consumption, and enhances consensus efficiency. QTPBFT incorporates a QoS-aware trust service global evaluation mechanism that implements service reliability ranking by conducting a dynamic evaluation according to the real-time performance of the services. To reduce the traffic of the blockchain, it uses a mechanism that selects nodes with higher values to form a consensus group that votes for consensus according to the global evaluation result of the trust service. A practical protocol is also constructed for the proposed algorithm. The results of extensive simulations and comparison with other schemes verify the efficacy and efficiency of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a fast sparse convex optimization algorithm based on a neural network is proposed to improve the direction of arrival estimation. First, a fast L 1 -sparse representation of the array covariance vector model based on the Hermitian Toeplitz structure of array covariance is established to reduce computational complexity in data dimension and variable number. Then, the estimation error upper bound problem is investigated, and a neural network-aided coefficient selection method is developed. The direction of arrival estimation problem is solved through spectral peak search. Finally, the algorithm is extended to the case of off-grid error. The algorithm's advantages in accuracy, calculation speed and robustness is verified by the simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swarm intelligence algorithm is an important evolutionary computation method that optimizes the objective function by imitating the behaviors of various organisms in nature. A two-stage swarm intelligence algorithm named spider pheromone coordination algorithm (SPC) is proposed in this paper. SPC tries to explore as many feasible solutions as possible on the cobweb at the positioning stage. It simulates the release and reception of different pheromones between spiders at the hunting stage, and then spiders move towards prey under the co-action of winds and pheromones. Different from the existing algorithms, SPC simulates the process that spiders accomplish intra-species communications through different pheromones and considers the impact on spider wind movement. A large number of typical benchmark functions are used in comparative numerical experiments to verify the performances of SPC. Experiments are made to compare SPC with a series of swarm intelligence algorithms, showing that SPC has higher convergence accuracy and stronger global searchability, effectively keeping the diversity of feasible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the technology of the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile edge computing (MEC) develops, more and more tasks are offloaded to the edge servers to be computed. The offloading strategy performs an essential role in the progress of computation offloading. In a general scenario, the offloading strategy should consider enough factors, and the strategy should be made as quickly as possible. While most of the existing model only considers one or two factors, we investigated a model considering three targets and improved it by normalizing each target in the model to eliminate the influence of dimensions. Then, grey wolf optimizer (GWO) is introduced to solve the improved model. To obtain better performance, we proposed an algorithm hybrid whale optimization algorithm (WOA) with GWO named GWO-WOA. And the improved algorithm is tested on our model. Finally, the results obtained by GWO-WOA, GWO, WOA, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and genetic algorithm (GA) are discussed. The results have shown the advantages of GWO-WOA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of PBFT algorithm of consortium blockchain, such as high communication overhead, low consensus efficiency, and random selection of leader nodes, an optimized algorithm of PBFT is proposed. Firstly, the algorithm improves C4.5 and introduces weighted average information gain to overcome the mutual influence between conditional attributes and improve the classification accuracy. Then classify the nodes with improved C4.5, and select the ones with a high trust level to form the main consensus group. Finally, the integral voting mechanism is introduced to determine the leader node. Experimental results show that compared with traditional PBFT algorithm, the communication times of the improved PBFT algorithm are reduced greatly, which effectively alleviates the problem that the number of nodes in traditional PBFT algorithm increases and the traffic volume is too large, and significantly reduces the probability of the leader node doing evil and improves the consensus efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an opened three-hole suspended core fiber surface plasmon resonance sensor structure based on the combination of photonic crystal fiber and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) mechanism was proposed and analyzed. One hole in the clad layer was exposed to the outside, and a lay of gold cylinders with the same size and gap was placed along the inside of the opened hole. The existence of the gold cylinders could stimulate the SPR effect and selecting the suitable gaps between the cylinders could enhance the SPR effect and increase its sensitivity. Then COMSOL software was used to simulate how the cylinder diameter, the gaps between the cylinders, and the fluid refractive index variation affect the sensor’s transmission loss spectrum, field enhancement effect, and the sensitivity. The optimized results show that the sensitivity of this proposed SPR sensor could be high, up to 1 × 10−5 RIU/nm, and it was much higher than the sensitivity of the existing photonic crystal fiber SPR sensor (1 × 10−4 RIU/nm), which was an order of magnitude improvement. This study could provide a reliable theoretical basis for future research and design of real-time and high-sensitivity opened fiber SPR sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computation offloading is one of the most important problems in edge computing. Devices can transmit computation tasks to servers to be executed through computation offloading. However, not all the computation tasks can be offloaded to servers with the limitation of network conditions. Therefore, it is very important to decide quickly how many tasks should be executed on servers and how many should be executed locally. Only computation tasks that are properly offloaded can improve the Quality of Service (QoS). Some existing methods only focus on a single objection, and of the others some have high computational complexity. There still have no method that could balance the targets and complexity for universal application. In this study, a Multi-Objective Whale Optimization Algorithm (MOWOA) based on time and energy consumption is proposed to solve the optimal offloading mechanism of computation offloading in mobile edge computing. It is the first time that MOWOA has been applied in this area. For improving the quality of the solution set, crowding degrees are introduced and all solutions are sorted by crowding degrees. Additionally, an improved MOWOA (MOWOA2) by using the gravity reference point method is proposed to obtain better diversity of the solution set. Compared with some typical approaches, such as the Grid-Based Evolutionary Algorithm (GrEA), Cluster-Gradient-based Artificial Immune System Algorithm (CGbAIS), Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm III (NSGA-III), etc., the MOWOA2 performs better in terms of the quality of the final solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of investment, how to construct a suitable portfolio based on historical data is still an important issue. The second-order stochastic dominant constraint is a branch of the stochastic dominant constraint theory. However, only considering the second-order stochastic dominant constraints does not conform to the investment environment under realistic conditions. Therefore, we added a series of constraints into basic portfolio optimization model, which reflect the realistic investment environment, such as skewness and kurtosis. In addition, we consider two kinds of risk measures: conditional value at risk and value at risk. Most important of all, in this paper, we introduce Gray Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm into portfolio optimization model, which simulates the gray wolf’s social hierarchy and predatory behavior. In the numerical experiments, we compare the GWO algorithm with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The experimental results show that GWO algorithm not only shows better optimization ability and optimization efficiency, but also the portfolio optimized by GWO algorithm has a better performance than FTSE100 index, which prove that GWO algorithm has a great potential in portfolio optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]