11,179 research outputs found
Decentralized Constraint Satisfaction
We show that several important resource allocation problems in wireless
networks fit within the common framework of Constraint Satisfaction Problems
(CSPs). Inspired by the requirements of these applications, where variables are
located at distinct network devices that may not be able to communicate but may
interfere, we define natural criteria that a CSP solver must possess in order
to be practical. We term these algorithms decentralized CSP solvers. The best
known CSP solvers were designed for centralized problems and do not meet these
criteria. We introduce a stochastic decentralized CSP solver and prove that it
will find a solution in almost surely finite time, should one exist, also
showing it has many practically desirable properties. We benchmark the
algorithm's performance on a well-studied class of CSPs, random k-SAT,
illustrating that the time the algorithm takes to find a satisfying assignment
is competitive with stochastic centralized solvers on problems with order a
thousand variables despite its decentralized nature. We demonstrate the
solver's practical utility for the problems that motivated its introduction by
using it to find a non-interfering channel allocation for a network formed from
data from downtown Manhattan
Decentralization of Multiagent Policies by Learning What to Communicate
Effective communication is required for teams of robots to solve
sophisticated collaborative tasks. In practice it is typical for both the
encoding and semantics of communication to be manually defined by an expert;
this is true regardless of whether the behaviors themselves are bespoke,
optimization based, or learned. We present an agent architecture and training
methodology using neural networks to learn task-oriented communication
semantics based on the example of a communication-unaware expert policy. A
perimeter defense game illustrates the system's ability to handle dynamically
changing numbers of agents and its graceful degradation in performance as
communication constraints are tightened or the expert's observability
assumptions are broken.Comment: 7 page
Smart Contracts for Multiagent Plan Execution in Untrusted Cyber-physical Systems
Intelligent Cyber-physical systems can be modelled as multi-agent systems
with planning capability to impart adaptivity for changing contexts. In such
multi-agent systems, the protocol for plan execution must result in the proper
completion and ordering of actions in spite of their distributed execution.
However, in untrusted scenarios, there is a possibility of agents not
respecting the protocol either due to faults or due to malicious reasons
thereby resulting in plan failure. In order to prevent such situations, we
propose to implement the execution of agents through smart contracts. This
points to a generic architecture seamlessly integrating intelligent
planning-based CPS and smart-contracts.Comment: Planning, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Smart Contrac
Iroko: A Framework to Prototype Reinforcement Learning for Data Center Traffic Control
Recent networking research has identified that data-driven congestion control
(CC) can be more efficient than traditional CC in TCP. Deep reinforcement
learning (RL), in particular, has the potential to learn optimal network
policies. However, RL suffers from instability and over-fitting, deficiencies
which so far render it unacceptable for use in datacenter networks. In this
paper, we analyze the requirements for RL to succeed in the datacenter context.
We present a new emulator, Iroko, which we developed to support different
network topologies, congestion control algorithms, and deployment scenarios.
Iroko interfaces with the OpenAI gym toolkit, which allows for fast and fair
evaluation of different RL and traditional CC algorithms under the same
conditions. We present initial benchmarks on three deep RL algorithms compared
to TCP New Vegas and DCTCP. Our results show that these algorithms are able to
learn a CC policy which exceeds the performance of TCP New Vegas on a dumbbell
and fat-tree topology. We make our emulator open-source and publicly available:
https://github.com/dcgym/irokoComment: 5 figures, 1 Table, 11 pages, Accepted to
http://mlforsystems.org/accepted_papers.html (ML for Systems) worksho
A Survey and Critique of Multiagent Deep Reinforcement Learning
Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has achieved outstanding results in recent
years. This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of applications and
methods. Recent works have explored learning beyond single-agent scenarios and
have considered multiagent learning (MAL) scenarios. Initial results report
successes in complex multiagent domains, although there are several challenges
to be addressed. The primary goal of this article is to provide a clear
overview of current multiagent deep reinforcement learning (MDRL) literature.
Additionally, we complement the overview with a broader analysis: (i) we
revisit previous key components, originally presented in MAL and RL, and
highlight how they have been adapted to multiagent deep reinforcement learning
settings. (ii) We provide general guidelines to new practitioners in the area:
describing lessons learned from MDRL works, pointing to recent benchmarks, and
outlining open avenues of research. (iii) We take a more critical tone raising
practical challenges of MDRL (e.g., implementation and computational demands).
We expect this article will help unify and motivate future research to take
advantage of the abundant literature that exists (e.g., RL and MAL) in a joint
effort to promote fruitful research in the multiagent community.Comment: Under review since Oct 2018. Earlier versions of this work had the
title: "Is multiagent deep reinforcement learning the answer or the question?
A brief survey
A System Complexity Approach to Swarm Electrification
The study investigates a bottom-up concept for microgrids. Financial analysis is performed through a business
model approach to test for viability when replacing a researched energy expenditure baseline in Bangladesh. A
literature review compares the approach to current trends in microgrids. A case study of Bangladesh illustrates the
potential for building on the existing infrastructure base of solar home systems. Opportunities are identified to improve
access to reliable energy through a microgrid approach that aims at community-driven economic and infrastructure
development by building on network effects generated through the inclusion of localized economies with strong
producer-consumer linkages embedded within larger systems of trade and exchange. The analysed approach
involves the linking together of individual stand-alone energy systems to form a microgrid that can eventually
interconnect with present legacy infrastructure consisting of national or regional grids. The approach is likened to
the concept of swarm intelligence, where each individual node brings independent input to create a conglomerate of
value greater than the sum of its parts
Blockchain And The Future of the Internet: A Comprehensive Review
Blockchain is challenging the status quo of the central trust infrastructure
currently prevalent in the Internet towards a design principle that is
underscored by decentralization, transparency, and trusted auditability. In
ideal terms, blockchain advocates a decentralized, transparent, and more
democratic version of the Internet. Essentially being a trusted and
decentralized database, blockchain finds its applications in fields as varied
as the energy sector, forestry, fisheries, mining, material recycling, air
pollution monitoring, supply chain management, and their associated operations.
In this paper, we present a survey of blockchain-based network applications.
Our goal is to cover the evolution of blockchain-based systems that are trying
to bring in a renaissance in the existing, mostly centralized, space of network
applications. While re-imagining the space with blockchain, we highlight
various common challenges, pitfalls, and shortcomings that can occur. Our aim
is to make this work as a guiding reference manual for someone interested in
shifting towards a blockchain-based solution for one's existing use case or
automating one from the ground up.Comment: Under Review in IEEE COMS
The Price of Governance: A Middle Ground Solution to Coordination in Organizational Control
Achieving coordination is crucial in organizational control. This paper
investigates a middle ground solution between decentralized interactions and
centralized administrations for coordinating agents beyond inefficient
behavior. We first propose the price of governance (PoG) to evaluate how such a
middle ground solution performs in terms of effectiveness and cost. We then
propose a hierarchical supervision framework to explicitly model the PoG, and
define step by step how to realize the core principle of the framework and
compute the optimal PoG for a control problem. Two illustrative case studies
are carried out to exemplify the applications of the proposed framework and its
methodology. Results show that by properly formulating and implementing each
step, the hierarchical supervision framework is capable of promoting
coordination among agents while bounding administrative cost to a minimum in
different kinds of organizational control problems
Asynchronous Decentralized 20 Questions for Adaptive Search
This paper considers the problem of adaptively searching for an unknown
target using multiple agents connected through a time-varying network topology.
Agents are equipped with sensors capable of fast information processing, and we
propose a decentralized collaborative algorithm for controlling their search
given noisy observations. Specifically, we propose decentralized extensions of
the adaptive query-based search strategy that combines elements from the 20
questions approach and social learning. Under standard assumptions on the
time-varying network dynamics, we prove convergence to correct consensus on the
value of the parameter as the number of iterations go to infinity. The
convergence analysis takes a novel approach using martingale-based techniques
combined with spectral graph theory. Our results establish that stability and
consistency can be maintained even with one-way updating and randomized
pairwise averaging, thus providing a scalable low complexity method with
performance guarantees. We illustrate the effectiveness of our algorithm for
random network topologies.Comment: 19 pages, Submitted. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1312.784
The Role of Cloud-MANET Framework in the Internet of Things (IoT)
In the next generation of computing, Mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) will play
a very important role in the Internet of Things (IoT). The MANET is a kind of
wireless networks that are self-organizing and auto connected in a
decentralized system. Every device in MANET can be moved freely from one
location to another in any direction. They can create a network with their
neighbors smart devices and forward data to another device. The IoT-Cloud-MANET
framework of smart devices is composed of IoT, cloud computing, and MANET. This
framework can access and deliver cloud services to the MANET users through
their smart devices in the IoT framework where all computations, data handling,
and resource management are performed. The smart devices can move from one
location to another within the range of the MANET network. Various MANETs can
connect to the same cloud, they can use cloud service in a real time. For
connecting the smart device of MANET to cloud needs integration with mobile
apps. My main contribution in this research links a new methodology for
providing secure communication on the internet of smart devices using MANET
Concept in 5G. The research methodology uses the correct and efficient
simulation of the desired study and can be implemented in a framework of the
Internet of Things in 5G.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1902.0974
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