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In this paper, a coupled interaction matrix is proposed to describe the interactions between line outages and the load shed at buses. The coupled interaction matrix is effectively estimated by the Expectation Maximization algorithm. A highly probabilistic coupled interaction model is further proposed to efficiently generate cascades with both line outages and the load shed based on the coupled interaction matrix and the distribution of initial outages. To mitigate cascading failures, critical links are identified based on the coupled interaction matrix by calculating a comprehensive severity index that considers the consequences of both line outages and the load shed. Simulation results on the IEEE 300-bus system verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The cascades generated from the coupled interaction model match the statistics of the original cascades very well. The identified critical links based on the comprehensive severity index enable a proper tradeoff between reducing line outages and reducing the load shed, leading to a better mitigation effect than only considering either line outages or the load shed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the problem of maximizing the minimum power gain in a wide main lobe for an array antenna. To obtain the desired power gain pattern, current literatures solve the problem known as shaped beam pattern synthesis (SBPS) by setting the beam pattern expression as the cost function. The power gain in a certain direction of the array antenna is comprehensively decided by the array radiated power density and the total radiated power. Both these two parameters are affected by the selection of array elements’ weights. However, the SBPS-based methods do not take the total radiated power into account. Therefore, the SBPS-based methods cannot obtain the power gain pattern directly, and the optimal power gain pattern, consequently, cannot be guaranteed. To overcome this deficiency, this paper maximizes the minimum power gain in the desired wide main lobe by directly setting the power gain expression as the cost function. Aiming at optimizing the cost function, this paper first sets up a power gain optimization problem which has concave form. Termed this optimization problem as the power gain pattern synthesis (PGPS) problem. The concave PGPS problem is then converted to a series of convex subproblems and an iterative algorithm is proposed to solve it efficiently. Solution to the PGPS problem is proven to be able to achieve higher minimum power gain in a desired wide main lobe than the results from the SBPS-based algorithms. Simulations are carried out with both linear array antenna and planar array antenna. Comparisons with the existed SBPS-based algorithms validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed PGPS-based algorithm. In addition, further improvement on suppressing the sidelobe level for the PGPS problem is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of selecting a Pareto set from among finite alternatives, where each alternative has multiple performance measures evaluated by stochastic simulations. Under limited simulation resources, we propose an efficient algorithm for solving this problem based on a statistical hypothesis test. Using the test, the proposed algorithm evaluates the uncertainty of each design based on the observed simulation results to identify whether the selected Pareto set is accurate. Based on the evaluated uncertainty, the algorithm assigns additional resources to the designs to maximize the accuracy of the selected Pareto set. Applying the sequential procedure, the algorithm increases the precision of the observed information selectively and gradually. Several experiments, including a practical case study, demonstrated its improved efficiency compared to the existing algorithms in the literature. This improved efficiency, along with low complexity and high robustness to noise, allows the proposed algorithm to be effectively applied to practical system designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 establish a framework for enabling ultra-reliable and low-latency communications in the control and non-payload communications (CNPC) links of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication systems. We first derive the available range of the CNPC links between UAVs and a ground control station. The available range is defined as the maximal horizontal communication distance within which the round-trip delay and the overall packet loss probability can be ensured with a required probability. To exploit the macro-diversity gain of the distributed multi-antenna systems (DAS) and the array gain of the centralized multi-antenna systems (CAS), we consider a modified DAS (M-DAS), where the ground control station is equipped with the distributed access points (APs), and each AP can have multiple antennas. We then show that the available range can be maximized by judiciously optimizing the altitude of UAVs, the duration of the uplink and downlink phases, and the antenna configuration. To solve the non-convex problem, we propose an algorithm that can converge to the optimal solution in DAS and CAS, and then extend it into more general M-DAS. The simulation and numerical results validate our analysis and show that the available range of M-DAS can be significantly larger than those of the DAS and CAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despeckling is a fundamental preprocessing step for applications using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data in most cases. In this paper, a guided filter with nonlinear weight kernels and adaptive filtering windows is presented for PolSAR image despeckling, in which the guidance image is constructed by a weighted average using the statistical traits of the speckled image. The output result is then estimated by another weighted average, with the aid of the fully polarimetric information from both the guidance image and the speckled image. In the experimental part, the filtering results obtained with both simulated and real PolSAR images reveal the positive performance of the proposed method in both reducing speckle and retaining details, when compared with some of the state-of-the-art algorithms. Furthermore, the relatively low computational complexity is another strength of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multimode power-split architecture for hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrains is generally known for the complexity of its operation. This paper first addresses the challenge of developing an automated on-line near-optimal control strategy for these systems. Particularly, a machine learning logic based on supervised learning is developed for on-line selection of the HEV operating mode, thus the particular set of clutches to be engaged. An efficiency-based approach is then adopted to determine the optimal power-split between powertrain components. Later, the developed strategy finds integration in an optimal design methodology for multimode power-split HEVs considering the effectiveness and ease of on-line controllability. The obtained results are compared with the ones by the traditional HEV design methodology that only considers off-line energy management. The illustrated design methodology with on-line control reveals efficient at identifying the multimode HEV design that demonstrates optimal predicted fuel economy values and ease of on-line controllability simultaneously. Results suggest that the HEV design optimization procedure may produce different outcomes and demonstrate more effective when the evaluation of the on-line controlled operation is integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of large-scale UAV clusters for cluster advantages will lead to high competition and excessive congestion of spectrum resources, which results in mutual interference. This paper investigates the interference-aware online spectrum access problem for multicluster Flying Ad-Hoc Network (FANET) under different network topologies, i.e., the locations of UAV clusters are varying. First, the problem is formulated as a data-assisted multistage channel access game with the goal of mitigating interference of all UAV clusters and decreasing channel switching cost during each slot. As we prove that the game is an exact potential game that guarantees at least one pure-strategy Nash equilibrium and interference-aware online channel preserving based concurrent best response (IOCPCBR) algorithm, an online distributed algorithm is proposed to achieve the desirable solution. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the multistage channel access game as well as IOCPCBR algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an information-theoretic lens to view the error bound of wireless local area network (WLAN) localization, which is recognized as one of the superior candidate localization techniques in the GPS-denied environment. Interestingly, we analogize the process of WLAN localization into one of information propagation in a parallel Gaussian noisy channel, and then derive the corresponding localization error bound from the channel capacity of the analogical information propagation system. Experimental results show that compared with the widely-known Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB), the proposed approach performs better in localization error bound estimation under most of the cases of different access point deployment and reference point calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast inspection of a defect is a challenging task in mass production of curved surfaces, and photometric stereo (PS) utilizing multiple images from a single camera under a number of different illumination directions is a promising technique for this task due to its high sensitivity to surface normal perturbations. This paper adapts conventional PS and extends the technique to the inspection of non-Lambertian surfaces with high accuracy and efficiency. A data-driven PS is presented by establishing the Gaussian process (GP) model to represent the nonlinear reflectance behavior of various materials based on measured reflectance data sets. With the trained GP model, the surface normal can be estimated in two steps: prediction of bidirectional reflectance distribution function values under different light directions and the subsequent least-squares estimation of a surface normal. Comparison tests with other algorithms on the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories data set and real workpieces with non-Lambertian materials show the superior accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method in surface normal estimation. After the surface normal of the workpiece is recovered, the defects can be detected by filtering out the perturbation of the surface normal. Experiments on steel and glossy polyester workpieces validate the efficacy of the proposed approach in detecting defects on curved non-Lambertian surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of an oscillator-based read-out circuit for the linear variable differential transformer used as a displacement sensor is studied and various aspects of improving it are presented in this paper. The proposed read-out electronics treats the sensor’s secondary inductance as an unknown reactance, thereby incorporating an active oscillator circuit as a resonator to derive the position information. This method avoids the excitation of the primary coil using low-distortion sine-wave oscillators and the associated phase compensation circuitry as used in traditional signal conditioning circuits. The tradeoffs involved in choosing the frequency counter master clock frequency, the measurement update rate, and the achievable resolution are presented. Various factors that contribute to the nonlinearity have been studied from the standpoint of direct difference versus ratiometric formulas for deriving position information. It is shown that for the oscillator-based read-out procedure, resolutions in the range of 8–16 bits with update rates per channel ranging from 10 Hz to 7.86 kHz, and depending on the procedure used, a worst case full-scale nonlinearity error of ±0.14% are feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing causal relations between random variables from observational data is perhaps the most important challenge in today’s science. In remote sensing and geosciences, this is of special relevance to better understand the earth’s system and the complex interactions between the governing processes. In this paper, we focus on an observational causal inference, and thus, we try to estimate the correct direction of causation using a finite set of empirical data. In addition, we focus on the more complex bivariate scenario that requires strong assumptions and no conditional independence tests can be used. In particular, we explore the framework of (nondeterministic) additive noise models, which relies on the principle of independence between the cause and the generating mechanism. A practical algorithmic instantiation of such principle only requires: 1) two regression models in the forward and backward directions and 2) the estimation of statistical independence between the obtained residuals and the observations. The direction leading to more independent residuals is decided to be the cause. We instead propose a criterion that uses the sensitivity (derivative) of the dependence estimator, the sensitivity criterion allows to identify samples most affecting the dependence measure, and hence, the criterion is robust to spurious detections. We illustrate the performance in a collection of 28 geoscience causal inference problems, a database of radiative transfer models simulations and machine learning emulators in vegetation parameter modeling involving 182 problems, and assessing the impact of different regression models in a carbon cycle problem. The criterion achieves the state-of-the-art detection rates in all cases, and it is generally robust to noise sources and distortions. The presented approach confirms the validity in observational bivariate problems in the earth sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) features random topology and accommodates freely connected nodes, it is important that the cooperation among the nodes exists. This paper proposes a trust model called Implicit Web of Trust in VANET (IWOT-V) to reason out the trustworthiness of vehicles. Such that untrusted nodes can be identified and avoided when we make a decision regarding whom to follow or cooperate with. Furthermore, the performance of Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) applications improves. The idea of IWOT-V is mainly inspired by web page ranking algorithms such as PageRank. Although there does not exist explicit link structure in VANET because of random topology and dynamic connections, social trust relationship among vehicles exists and an implicit web of trust can be derived. To accomplish the derivation, two algorithms are presented, i.e., BayesTrust and VehicleRank. They are responsible for deriving the local and global trust relationships, respectively. The simulation results show that IWOT-V can accurately identify trusted and untrusted nodes if enough local trust information is collected. The performance of IWOT-V affected by five threat models is demonstrated, and the related discussions are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of cloud and edge computing forms a three-tier mobile computing network, where each task can be processed locally, by the edge nodes, or by the remote cloud server. In this paper, we consider a cooperative three-tier computing network by leveraging the vertical cooperation among devices, edge nodes and cloud servers, as well as the horizontal cooperation between edge nodes. In this network, we jointly optimize the offloading decision and the computation resource allocation to minimize the average task duration subject to the limited battery capacity of devices. However, the formulated problem is a large-scale mixed integer non-linear optimization problem with the growing number of base stations and devices, which is NP-hard in general. To develop an efficient offloading scheme with low complexity, we conduct a series of reformulation based on reformulation linearization technology and further propose a parallel optimization framework by utilizing alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) method and difference of convex functions (D.C.) programming. The proposed scheme decomposes the large-scale problem into some smaller subproblems, which are done across the multiple computation units in a parallel fashion to speed up the computation process. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can obtain a near-optimal performance with low complexity, and can reduce up to 24% of the task duration compared with other schemes. Simulation also shows how much the vertical and horizontal computation cooperations affect the system performance under different network parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based method that allows unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to execute navigation tasks in large-scale complex environments. This technique is important for many applications such as goods delivery and remote surveillance. The problem is formulated as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) and solved by a novel online DRL algorithm designed based on two strictly proved policy gradient theorems within the actor-critic framework. In contrast to conventional simultaneous localization and mapping-based or sensing and avoidance-based approaches, our method directly maps UAVs’ raw sensory measurements into control signals for navigation. Experiment results demonstrate that our method can enable UAVs to autonomously perform navigation in a virtual large-scale complex environment and can be generalized to more complex, larger-scale, and three-dimensional environments. Besides, the proposed online DRL algorithm addressing POMDPs outperforms the state-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an adaptive synthesis using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) for implementations of resonator-coupled filters is proposed. The coupling matrix of in-band filtering response is achieved and optimized by the PSO-based synthesis. Meanwhile, the stopband coupling matrix of the filter is predicted based on the combination of extra resonant nodes representing stopband spurious and parasitic effect of input/output ports. In addition, an enhanced accurate prediction of filter performance is calculated by the proposed approach, considering the practical fabrication tolerance on filter design. To verify principles mentioned earlier, various resonator-coupled filters are implemented. The calculation, EM-simulation, and measurement of filters show good agreements in both passband and stopband. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of quaternions or quaternion error attitude control strategies for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is commonplace. Quaternion tracking error control is usually presented in rather theoretical works, where the control algorithm is almost exclusively chosen to be a suboptimal one. However, the application of optimal control techniques is usually associated to simplified attitude models frequently aimed at solving real-life problems. The work presented in this paper aims to formally merge the development of a complete theoretical quaternion error model with an optimal control strategy. Moreover, the application of optimal control algorithms to a fully defined quaternion error state-space model and the validation of the same in a real-time experimental setup is the focus of this research. The result is a novel controller named Optimal Quaternion Tracking of Attitude Error Linearization (OQTAL). The paper provides a comprehensive proof of stability, full simulation validation for a planetary landing gravity turn trajectory, and evidence of repeatable experimental work for a real-time quadrotor UAV on a motion capture testbed. OQTAL is compared with proven optimal forms of (PID) proportional-integral-derivative control and linear quadratic regulator control and is shown to have a 10%–20% reduction in error for the experimental setup trajectory tracking trials and an even larger tracking error reduction in the gravity turn simulation trials. Furthermore, for close tracking conditions, OQTAL behaves almost like a linear and time-invariant system, therefore requiring limited computation time for performing the trajectory tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we propose model predictive control methods to reduce the common-mode voltage of three-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs). In the reduced common-mode voltage-model predictive control (RCMV-MPC) methods proposed in this paper, only nonzero voltage vectors are utilized to reduce the common-mode voltage as well as to control the load currents. In addition, two nonzero voltage vectors are selected from the cost function at every sampling period, instead of using only one optimal vector during one sampling period. The two selected nonzero vectors are distributed in one sampling period in such a way as to minimize the error between the measured load current and the reference. Without utilizing the zero vectors, the common-mode voltage controlled by the proposed RCMV-MPC algorithms can be restricted within ±Vdc/6. Furthermore, application of the two nonzero vectors with optimal time sharing between them can yield satisfactory load current ripple performance without using the zero vectors. Thus, the proposed RCMV-MPC methods can reduce the common-mode voltage as well as control the load currents with fast transient response and satisfactory load current ripple performance compared with the conventional model predictive control method. Simulation and experimental results are included to verify the effectiveness of the proposed RCMV-MPC methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the work of Dahrouj and Yu in applying the Han-Kobayashi transmission strategy for mitigating the intercell interference in a multi-cell multi-user multiple-input single-output interference network (MISO IN), this paper considers splitting messages into private and common parts in a multi-cell multi-user MIMO IN. Specifically, the covariances of the private messages and common messages are designed to optimize either the sum rate or the minimal rate. The common messages and private messages are decoded in sequence using successive decoding. This paper shows how these difficult optimization problems can be adequately solved by means of d.c. (difference of concave functions) optimization over a simple convex set. Numerical and simulation results also reveal the great advantage of our proposed solutions for various types of INs. In particular, the proposed solutions are shown to outperform the algorithm developed by Dahrouj and Yu for the simpler case of the MISO IN. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with a modified technique for the recognition of single stage and multiple power quality (PQ) disturbances. An algorithm based on Stockwell's transform and artificial neural network-based classifier and a rule-based decision tree is proposed in this paper. The analysis and classification of single stage PQ disturbances consisting of both events and variations such as sag, swell, interruption, harmonics, transients, notch, spike, and flicker are presented. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is also applied on multiple PQ disturbances such as harmonics with sag, swell, flicker, and interruption. A database of these PQ disturbances based on IEEE-1159 standard is generated in MATLAB for simulation studies. The proposed algorithm extracts significant features of various PQ disturbances using S-transform, which are used as input to this hybrid classifier for the classification of PQ disturbances. Satisfactory results of effective recognition and classification of PQ disturbances are obtained with the proposed algorithm. Finally, the proposed method is also implemented on real-time PQ events acquired in a laboratory to confirm the validity of this algorithm in practical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we discuss the structure and performance of the maximum entropy temperature-emissivity separation (MaxEnTES) algorithm for assessing land temperature and emissivity from thermal infrared hyperspectral images. This procedure derives the emissivity spectrum and the temperature of the target adopting the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) estimation approach. The main advantage of the MaxEnt statistical inference is the absence of any external hypothesis, which is, instead, the main critical point characterizing any other temperature-emissivity separation (TES) algorithm. The MaxEnTES algorithm carries out the TES task adopting a modified version of the subgradient Shor's r-algorithm adopted for numerical optimization of a MaxEnt objective function. For this purpose, we have utilized the C/C++ Solvopt code from the University of Gratz to develop a practical data processing implementation. In this paper, we discuss the mathematical structure of the MaxEnTES algorithm and analyze its performance in depth using numerical simulations and remote sensing Multispectral Infrared/Visible Imaging Spectrometer images. We show that the MaxEnTES algorithm provides improved accuracy for temperature and emissivity estimation, lowering the standard estimation error to a fraction of degree Kelvin. In agreement with previous investigations, we find that the estimation accuracy grows when increasing the number of available spectral channels. The systematic errors affecting the temperature estimates (e.g., bias) are thoroughly evaluated. We prove that the MaxEnTES algorithm retrieves the correct shape of the target emissivity spectrum even in presence of a significant temperature estimation error. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the endmember extraction (EE) technique for analyzing hyperspectral images. We first prove that the reconstruction errors (REs) and abundance anomalies (AAs) (abundances that fail to satisfy the abundance constraints) are effective in extracting undetected endmembers. Then, according to the spatial continuity of the endmember objects and differing from noise or outliers with a sparse distribution, the endmembers are assumed to be located at some salient areas in the RE and AA maps. A novel EE algorithm termed saliency-based endmember detection (SED) is proposed, where the visual saliency model is introduced to explore and analyze the spatial information that is contained in the AA and RE maps. Specifically, the AA and RE maps are regarded as the visual inputs, whereas the endmembers are treated as the visual stimuli. In SED, we assume that the pure pixel assumption holds. Based on the characteristics of the human visual system, the proposed method can not only extract endmembers in homogenous areas, but it can also highlight the small targets whose abundances may be spatially varied. In addition, since the spatial information is exploited in the reconstruction, the capability of the endmembers to represent the hyperspectral scene is automatically considered in the process of EE, and the detected endmembers are both accurate and reliable. The experimental results obtained on both simulated and real hyperspectral data confirm the merits and viability of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial modulation coincidence imaging (SMCI), as a novel kind of microwave coincidence imaging method, is proposed in this paper. The SMCI system provides a new way to produce the time-space independent signal instead of multitransmitter architecture with wideband randomly modulated signal in radar coincidence imaging. Due to some special features, metamaterial plate is utilized as the reflective surface to modulate the incident signal to construct random radiation field. The resolution of SMCI system is analyzed under large viewing angle with two different transmitting signals. Reflective surface is nonuniformly divided to derive the expression of resolution. The analysis results show that the resolution of SMCI system is mainly determined by the size of reflective surface and center frequency, which is similar to the traditional aperture. The SMCI system is low cost and flexible in design. Simultaneously, it can avoid the synchronization problem between subsources. Moreover, the SMCI system can achieve the resolution of space target through single transmitter–single receiver radar system. High-resolution image can be reconstructed since the tests are nonlinear. Finally, a series of simulation experiments is presented based on the nondirect-viewing scene we proposed. Using the algorithm based on a compressed sensing theory, we reconstructed the target image with high resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchronization of bio-inspired pulse-coupled oscillators is receiving increased attention due to its wide applications in sensor networks and wireless communications. However, most existing results are obtained in the absence of malicious attacks. Given the distributed and unattended nature of wireless sensor networks, it is imperative to enhance the resilience of pulse based synchronization against malicious attacks. To achieve this goal, we propose a new pulse based interaction mechanism to improve the resilience of pulse based synchronization. We rigorously characterize the condition for mounting stealthy attacks under the proposed pulse based interaction mechanism and prove analytically that synchronization of legitimate oscillators can be achieved in the presence of multiple stealthy attackers even when the initial phases are unrestricted, i.e., randomly distributed in the entire oscillation period. This is in distinct difference from most existing attack-resilient synchronization algorithms (including the seminal paper from L. Lamport and P. M. Melliar-Smith, “Synchronizing Clocks in the Presence of Faults,” J. ACM, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 52–78, 1985), which require a priori (almost) synchronization among legitimate nodes. Numerical simulations are given to confirm the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the energy efficiency (EE) optimization for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer in multiple-input-multiple-output two-way amplify-and-forward relay networks, where the energy-constrained relay harvests energy from two sources’ signals by power splitting (PS) scheme to forward the information of two sources. Our objective is to jointly design the sources and relay precoding matrices and the PS ratio to maximize the EE of the network, under the transmit power constraints at sources and relay and the minimum spectral efficiency requirement. We transform the nonconvex precoding and PS design problem into a difference of convex programming and propose an efficient iterative algorithm based on the constrained concave convex procedure to obtain a local optimum. To reduce computational complexity, we propose a generalized singular value decomposition based channel diagonalization scheme to simplify the optimization into a joint source and relay power allocation problem. The alternating optimization method is employed to solve this problem and a suboptimal solution to the EE maximization problem is obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this correspondence paper, an underlay cognitive radio multicast network, consisting of a cognitive base station (CBS) and multiple multicast groups of secondary users (SUs), is considered. All SUs, belonging to a particular multicast group, are served by the CBS using a common primary user (PU) channel. The goal is to maximize the energy efficiency (EE) of the system, through dynamic adaptation of target rate and transmit power for each multicast group, under the PUs’ individual interference constraint. The optimization problem formulated for this is proved to be nonquasi-concave with respect to the joint variation of the CBS's transmit power and target rate. An efficient iterative algorithm for EE maximization is proposed along with its complexity analysis. Simulation results illustrate the performance gain of our proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a response to the challenge of data traffic explosion in wireless networks, content caching in device-to-device (D2D) communication networks has emerged as a promising solution. However, in practical deployment, D2D content caching has its own problems. In particular, not all of the user devices are willing to share the content with others due to numerous concerns, such as security, battery life, and social relationship. In this paper, we consider the factor of social relationship in the deployment of D2D content caching. First, we apply stochastic geometry theory to derive an analytical expression of downloading performance for the D2D caching network. Specifically, a social relationship model with respect to the physical distance is adopted in our analysis to obtain the average download delay performance using random and deterministic caching strategies. Second, to achieve a better performance in more practical and specific scenarios, we develop a socially aware distributed caching strategy based on a decentralized learning automaton, to optimize the cache placement operation in D2D networks. Different from the existing caching schemes, the proposed algorithm not only considers the file request probability and the closeness of devices as measured by their physical distance but also takes into account the social relationship between D2D users. Our simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can converge quickly and outperforms the random and deterministic caching strategies. With these results, our work sheds insights on the design of D2D caching in the practical deployment of 5G networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we seek to improve deep neural networks by generalizing the pooling operations that play a central role in the current architectures. We pursue a careful exploration of approaches to allow pooling to learn and to adapt to complex and variable patterns. The two primary directions lie in: (1) learning a pooling function via (two strategies of) combining of max and average pooling, and (2) learning a pooling function in the form of a tree-structured fusion of pooling filters that are themselves learned. In our experiments every generalized pooling operation we explore improves performance when used in place of average or max pooling. We experimentally demonstrate that the proposed pooling operations provide a boost in invariance properties relative to conventional pooling and set the state of the art on several widely adopted benchmark datasets. These benefits come with only a light increase in computational overhead during training (ranging from additional 5 to 15 percent in time complexity) and a very modest increase in the number of model parameters (e.g., additional 1, 9, and 27 parameters for mixed, gated, and 2-level tree pooling operators, respectively). To gain more insights about our proposed pooling methods, we also visualize the learned pooling masks and the embeddings of the internal feature responses for different pooling operations. Our proposed pooling operations are easy to implement and can be applied within various deep neural network architectures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Time-domain synchronous orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (TDS-OFDM) has been widely recognized as a fundamental OFDM block transmission scheme because of its advantages in spectral efficiency. However, it suffers from severe performance loss under strong frequency selective channels and thus has difficulty supporting high-order modulations such as 256QAM. In this paper, we proposed a compressive sensing (CS)-based channel estimation (CE) algorithm for layer modulated TDS-OFDM (LM-TDS-OFDM). In the proposed CE algorithm, the low-order modulated symbols will be recovered and then sent to a feedback loop for precise CE. The priori-information hold subspace pursuit algorithm is investigated to achieve accurate estimation of channel. Analyses and simulations show that the proposed algorithm can successfully obtain high-accuracy CE and significantly reduce the computational complexity. Based on the proposed CE scheme, LM-TDS-OFDM can well support 256QAM transmission under severe channel conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction of OFDM signals by executing partial transmit sequence (PTS) in minimal trellis of block codes. The proposed method uses a linear code with good minimal trellis to select the transmitted OFDM signal with minimum PAPR and to transmit side information with error correction. The goals of combining strategy of trellis and PTS are twofold: to provide a low complexity PTS for weighting vector search and to highlight error protection capability for side information. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves good PAPR reduction with lower complexity, compared to other PTS approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent work has demonstrated the gain of full-duplex (FD) network over half-duplex (HD) network in bidirectional sum throughput under the assumption of symmetric uplink-downlink traffic demands and perfect self-interference suppression (SIS). In this paper, we study the performance gain of FD network over HD network under asymmetric bidirectional traffic demands and non-ideal SIS. To this end, we investigate the traditional static time division duplex (TDD) transmission mode and the advanced dynamic TDD transmission mode to obtain the performance of HD network, and investigate the pure FD transmission mode and a flexible HD-FD hybrid transmission mode, namely, XD mode, to obtain the performance of FD network. We use the number of users supported by a network as performance metric, which is defined as the minimum of the weighted numbers of users supported in uplink and downlink given random traffic demands of users. To maximize the number of users, we optimize the bidirectional transmit power for pure FD mode, bidirectional time slot configuration for dynamic TDD mode, and both for XD mode. Numerical results show an evident gain of pure FD mode and XD mode over static TDD mode for different levels of traffic asymmetry, but the gain over dynamic TDD mode is marginal, which cannot justify the application of FD technology in cellular systems without advanced interference control mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Telecommunication networks make extensive use of power amplifiers (PAs) to broaden the coverage from transmitter to receiver. Achieving high power efficiency is challenging and comes at a price: the wanted linear performance is degraded due to nonlinear effects. To compensate for these nonlinear disturbances, existing techniques compute the preinverse of the PA by the estimation of a nonlinear model. However, the extraction of this nonlinear model is involved and requires advanced system identification techniques. The plant inversion iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm is used here in combination with the best linear approximation to investigate whether the nonlinear modeling step can be simplified. This paper introduces the ILC framework for the preinverse estimation and predistortion of PAs. The ILC algorithm is used to obtain a high quality predistorted input for the PA under study without requiring a nonlinear model of the PA. In a second step, a nonlinear preinverse model of the amplifier is obtained. Both the nonlinear and memory effects of a PA can be compensated by this approach. The convergence of the iterative approach and the predistortion results are illustrated on a simulation of a Motorola LDMOS transistor-based PA and a measurement example using the Chalmers RF WebLab measurement setup. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a novel technique based on magnetic field sensing is proposed for underground power cable detection and inspection. In this technique, the current sources of the underground power cables are reconstructed based on a set of measured magnetic field values at the ground surface level emanated by the electric currents carried by the underground power cables. The stochastic optimization technique developed with an artificial immune system algorithm is applied to realize the reconstruction. The principle of this method was proved and verified experimentally by our laboratory setup. Application of this method was demonstrated on the simulation models of 11- and 132-kV underground power cables. The reconstruction results of the electrical and spatial parameters of the cables match accurately with the actual source parameters of the cables in the models. This paper shows that the proposed method is able to remotely detect the horizontal locations and vertical depths of underground power cables with high accuracy at the ground surface level requiring no prior knowledge about the exact locations of the cables. Thus, it can be potentially used to develop a portable locator for providing a map of the underground electrical cables by simultaneous detection of multiple power lines. This method can also enable engineers to correctly inspect the operation states of the target cables during onsite maintenance. This technique is applicable to various laying conditions and cable configurations (three core or single core) of the underground power cables. In addition, this is an entirely passive method and does not need any signal injection into the cables. [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]

For different applications with different requirements, many synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes have been developed in the literature, such as, Terrain Observation by Progressive Scans (TOPS) SAR and sliding spotlight SAR. In this paper, we call TOPS SAR, sliding spotlight SAR, and spotlight SAR as beam steering SAR (BS-SAR for short). Comparing with stripmap SAR, BS-SAR can obtain a wide diversity of resolutions by increasing or reducing the azimuth synthetic time. Traditional polar formation algorithm (PFA) is an efficient algorithm which is mainly developed for spotlight SAR. The PFA has been validated to obtain well-focused results of raw data. In this paper, we extend the traditional PFA to process sliding spotlight SAR and TOPS SAR data, and we call it generalized PFA (GPFA). Comparing with the traditional PFA, GPFA contains a different azimuth deramping function and an additional azimuth scaling operation. The simulated and real data are used to validate the effectiveness of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model checking is a formal method for verifying whether the system satisfies a user-defined specification. Compared to simulation, model checking is restricted in capacity. On the other hand, simulation is weak in detecting bugs that require long and complex sequences of events to be exposed. This paper combines model checking and simulation in an abstraction-refinement scheme to mitigate the problems of both methods. Abstraction refinement iteratively constructs a simplified model to verify the original model. While a simplified model mitigates the weakness of model checking, the set of simplified error traces model helps guide simulation toward deep bugs. In abstraction refinement, concretization—a process of deriving an error trace in the original model from the abstract ones—is used to invalidate spurious abstract error traces or to refute a property. In this paper, we describe a novel concretization algorithm that combines simulation with satisfiability to efficiently refute properties with very long error traces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different from other electronics measurement, the bandwidth of the instrument can affect the test results more seriously in jitter and bit-error rate (BER) test. This paper analyzes the effect on the jitter and BER test results caused by instrument bandwidth in high-speed serial interconnection. An algorithm is presented to measure and estimate the equivalent frequency response of instruments. Computed data-dependent jitter (DDJ) results are produced based on the S-parameter of the serial interconnected channels and the equivalent frequency response of instruments, which are perfectly consistent with actual DDJ measure results. These methods can be used to measure and calibrate the instrument bandwidth effect precisely in jitter and BER test. At last, the paper gives the results of the instrument bandwidth effect for three channels and a set of instruments according to simulation, and presents a new concept “equivalent bandwidth” to roughly estimate the test error of DDJ caused by instrument bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggregate thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) are good candidates for providing load following services in power systems. This paper is concerned with the modeling, evaluation, and control problems of a population of heterogeneous TCLs. Specifically, the heterogeneous population is divided into multiple homogeneous clusters and each cluster, i.e., TCL aggregator, is modeled by an approximated three-input single-output state space model. Here, the aggregators serve as a bridge connecting the load utility and the terminal TCLs, which have their own decision makers and are responsible for aggregate estimation and command issuing. And aggregate evaluation is carried out for the aggregator so as to provide the aggregate regulation capacities and ramping rates, which is useful for setting of the reference power trajectory. Based on the established control model, we furthermore propose a hierarchical centralized control algorithm for a bus load utility to regulate all TCLs inside it so as to provide load following service, while not affecting the customers’ comfort levels. Finally, simulation results with respect to a common bus load are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed aggregate modeling and the centralized load following strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a traveling-wave-based fault-location algorithm for hybrid multiterminal transmission systems that consist of one onshore overhead lines and multiple offshore submarine cables. Such hybrid transmission systems are common for interconnection of offshore wind farms to the main grid. The input to the algorithm is synchronized transient voltage measurements from all of the receiving ends. These measurements are obtained by optical voltage transducers equipped with global positioning system receivers for time synchronization. The discrete wavelet transformation is utilized to decompose the mode-1 voltages at the receiving ends. The first wave arrival times are then obtained by observing the squares of the wavelet transformation coefficient (WTC $^2$s). The transient simulations and the postfault analysis are carried out using EMTP-RV and MATLAB Wavelet Toolbox, respectively. The accuracy, limitations, and capabilities of the proposed algorithm are presented and discussed for different fault conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a transient-based algorithm for high-impedance fault identification on distribution networks. It uses the discrete wavelet transform to monitor high- and low-frequency voltage components at several points of the power system, being able to indicate the most likely area within which the disturbance has occurred, without requiring data synchronization nor the knowledge of feeder or load parameters. The proposed algorithm is evaluated through electromagnetic transients program simulations of high-impedance faults in a 13.8 kV system modeled from actual Brazilian distribution grid data. Solid faults, capacitor bank switching, and feeder energization are also simulated, considering the system with and without distributed generation. Obtained results show that the algorithm significantly reduces the search field of the high-impedance fault, reliably distinguishing it from other disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) broadcast relay channel (BRC), in which a multiple-antenna base station (BS) communicates with multiple-antenna users through an infrastructure-based multiple-antenna relay station (RS). Applying dirty paper coding (DPC) at the BS and linear processing at the RS, our aim is to find the input covariance matrices and the RS beamforming matrix that maximize the system sum-rate. To solve this non-convex problem, a more tractable dual multiple access relay channel (MARC) is investigated and an alternating-minimization algorithm is proposed. Furthermore, the mapping from the resulting covariance matrices for the MARC to the covariance matrices for the BRC is derived. Unlike other existing single-antenna-user schemes, our solution is applicable to a more general network with any number of antennas at the users. Compared with two such single-antenna-user schemes, simulations show that the proposed scheme outperforms the all-pass relay design and performs similarly to the SVD-relay design. Moreover, the proposed design performs close to the sum-rate upper bound with the performance gap decreasing with increasing number of antennas per user. It is also observed that having more antennas at the RS than at the BS is desirable for better system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CAB-AC) is a method of entropy coding first introduced in H.264/AVC and now used in the newest standard High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). While it provides high coding efficiency, the data dependencies in H.264/AVC CABAC make it challenging to parallelize and thus, limit its throughput. Accordingly, during the standardization of entropy coding for HEVC, both coding efficiency and throughput were considered. This paper highlights the key techniques that were used to enable HEVC to potentially achieve higher throughput while delivering coding gains relative to H.264/AVC. These techniques include reducing context coded bins, grouping bypass bins, grouping bins with the same context, reducing context selection dependencies, reducing total bins, and reducing parsing dependencies. It also describes reductions to memory requirements that benefit both throughput and implementation costs. Proposed and adopted techniques up to draft international standard (test model HM-8.0) are discussed. In addition, analysis and simulation results are provided to quantify the throughput improvements and memory reduction compared with H.264/AVC. In HEVC, the maximum number of context-coded bins is reduced by 8\times, and the context memory and line buffer are reduced by 3\times and 20\times, respectively. This paper illustrates that accounting for implementation cost when designing video coding algorithms can result in a design that enables higher processing speed and lowers hardware costs, while still delivering high coding efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The quality of an ultrasonic array image depends on accurate information about its acoustic properties. Inaccurate acoustic properties can cause image degradation such as blurring, mislocation of reflectors, and the introduction of artifacts. In this paper, for the specific case of an inhomogeneous and anisotropic austenitic steel weld, Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) inversion is used to estimate unknown acoustic properties from array data. The approach uses active beacons that transmit ultrasound through the anisotropic weld; the ultrasound is then captured by a receiving array. A forward model of the ultrasonic array data is then optimized with respect to the experimental data using an MCMC inversion. The result of this process is the extraction of a material property map that describes the anisotropy distribution within the weld region. These extracted material properties are then used within an imaging algorithm?the total focusing method in this paper?to produce autofocused images. This MCMC inversion approach is first applied to simulated data to test the convergence, robustness, and accuracy of the method and its implementation. The extracted weld map is used to show improved imaging of defects within the weld, relative to an image formed assuming a constant velocity. Finally, the MCMC inversion approach is used on experimental data from a 110-mm-thick steel plate containing an austenitic weld. Here the extracted weld map is used to show that defect location errors of greater than 5 mm are reduced to around 2 mm when the extracted weld map is used [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the protection of a high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, utilizing the modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology in addition to incorporating a hybrid transmission corridor (transmission line including overhead line and cable sections). A solution is proposed for identifying the section within which a dc fault is located for the purpose of maintaining power delivery. A detailed model of the MMC-HVDC system is simulated using PSCAD and an in depth fault analysis is performed. A characteristic signal is discovered and then implemented into a novel solution. The end result is a fault section identification protection algorithm, implementing protective relay coordination to protect the system from false circuit breaker reclose as well as enabling fast system restart for nonpermanent faults. This restart protection algorithm is implemented without the use of a communications channel between converter stations, introducing novelty and quick restart response. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system over a doubly selective channel, a large number of pilot subcarriers are needed to estimate the numerous channel parameters, resulting in low-spectral efficiency. In this paper, by exploiting temporal correlation of practical wireless channels, we propose a highly efficient structured distributed compressive sensing-based joint multisymbol channel estimation scheme. Specifically, by using the complex exponential basis expansion model (CE-BEM) and exploiting the sparsity in the delay domain within multiple OFDM symbols, we turn to estimate jointly sparse CE-BEM coefficient vectors rather than numerous channel taps. Then a sparse pilot pattern within multiple OFDM symbols is designed to obtain an ICI-free structure and transform the channel estimation problem into a joint-block-sparse model. Next, a novel block-based simultaneous orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm is proposed to jointly recover coefficient vectors accurately. Finally, to reduce the CE-BEM modeling error, we carry out smoothing treatments of already estimated channel taps via piecewise linear approximation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed channel estimation scheme can achieve higher estimation accuracy than conventional schemes, although with a smaller number of pilot subcarriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shamir's secret sharing scheme is an effective way to distribute secret to a group of shareholders. The security of the unprotected sharing scheme, however, can be easily broken by cheaters or attackers who maliciously feed incorrect shares during the secret recovery stage or inject faults into hardware computing the secret. In this paper, we propose cheater detection and identification schemes based on robust and algebraic manipulation detection (AMD) codes and m-disjunct matrices (superimposed codes). We present the constructions of codes for cheater detection and identification and describe how the cheater identification problem can be related to the classic group testing algorithms based on m-disjunct matrices. Simulation and synthesis results show that the proposed architecture can improve the security level significantly even under strong cheating attack models with reasonable area and timing overheads. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A main problem in autonomous vehicles in general, and in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in particular, is the determination of the attitude angles. A novel method to estimate these angles using off-the-shelf components is presented. This paper introduces an attitude heading reference system (AHRS) based on the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) using the three-axis attitude determination (TRIAD) algorithm as the observation model. The performance of the method is assessed through simulations and compared to an AHRS based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The paper presents field experiment results using a real fixed-wing UAV. The results show good real-time performance with low computational cost in a microcontroller. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In substations with an inner bridge connection, the two main transformers are generally connected in parallel. The differential protection of the transformer, under normal operating conditions, may maloperate when the other transformer is switching on through the bridge breaker after scheduled maintenance. This paper analyzes the factors that may lead to the maloperation of transformer differential protection and concludes that local transient saturation of the current transformer (CT) caused by the decaying dc component in the magnetizing inrush is the main cause of the maloperation of the transformer differential protection. By detecting the time difference between the instant of sudden changes occurring in the transformer wye-side current and the instant of the differential current increasing, a new algorithm based on the time differential method is proposed in this paper, which can prevent the maloperation of transformer differential protection in substations with an inner bridge connection. On the basis of detailed analysis and simulation work, the new algorithm is verified to be applicable under the conditions of sympathetic inrush and CT saturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the noise reduction property of type-2 fuzzy logic (FL) systems (FLSs) (T2FLSs) that use a novel type-2 fuzzy membership function is studied. The proposed type-2 membership function has certain values on both ends of the support and the kernel and some uncertain values for the other values of the support. The parameter tuning rules of a T2FLS that uses such a membership function are derived using the gradient descend learning algorithm. There exist a number of papers in the literature that claim that the performance of T2FLSs is better than type-1 FLSs under noisy conditions, and the claim is tried to be justified by simulation studies only for some specific systems. In this paper, a simpler T2FLS is considered with the novel membership function proposed in which the effect of input noise in the rule base is shown numerically in a general way. The proposed type-2 fuzzy neuro structure is tested on different input–output data sets, and it is shown that the T2FLS with the proposed novel membership function has better noise reduction property when compared to the type-1 counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new noniterative fault-location algorithm for long transmission lines compensated by a series flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS) device. In the proposed algorithm, synchronous voltage and current samples from both ends of the transmission line are used and the distributed parameter line model in the time domain is applied. Due to the difficulties in the modeling of the series FACTS devices during a fault, the presented method does not use the model of the series devices. In this paper, the fault-location problem is converted to an optimization one in which the location and resistance of the fault are the decision variables. The proposed method includes three stages. Two fault locations are obtained, corresponding to the first two stages. In stage three, the obtained results from stages 1 and 2 are compared, and the correct fault location is selected. The proposed algorithm is a noniterative one and it is suitable for transmission lines compensated by any series FACTS device which could have the overvoltage protection and can be in any operating mode. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated under different structural and fault conditions. The simulation results confirm the accuracy of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]