16,280 research outputs found
Querying Probabilistic Neighborhoods in Spatial Data Sets Efficiently
In this paper we define the notion
of a probabilistic neighborhood in spatial data: Let a set of points in
, a query point , a distance metric \dist,
and a monotonically decreasing function be
given. Then a point belongs to the probabilistic neighborhood of with respect to with probability f(\dist(p,q)). We envision
applications in facility location, sensor networks, and other scenarios where a
connection between two entities becomes less likely with increasing distance. A
straightforward query algorithm would determine a probabilistic neighborhood in
time by probing each point in .
To answer the query in sublinear time for the planar case, we augment a
quadtree suitably and design a corresponding query algorithm. Our theoretical
analysis shows that -- for certain distributions of planar -- our algorithm
answers a query in time with high probability
(whp). This matches up to a logarithmic factor the cost induced by
quadtree-based algorithms for deterministic queries and is asymptotically
faster than the straightforward approach whenever .
As practical proofs of concept we use two applications, one in the Euclidean
and one in the hyperbolic plane. In particular, our results yield the first
generator for random hyperbolic graphs with arbitrary temperatures in
subquadratic time. Moreover, our experimental data show the usefulness of our
algorithm even if the point distribution is unknown or not uniform: The running
time savings over the pairwise probing approach constitute at least one order
of magnitude already for a modest number of points and queries.Comment: The final publication is available at Springer via
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44543-4_3
Cooperative Synchronization in Wireless Networks
Synchronization is a key functionality in wireless network, enabling a wide
variety of services. We consider a Bayesian inference framework whereby network
nodes can achieve phase and skew synchronization in a fully distributed way. In
particular, under the assumption of Gaussian measurement noise, we derive two
message passing methods (belief propagation and mean field), analyze their
convergence behavior, and perform a qualitative and quantitative comparison
with a number of competing algorithms. We also show that both methods can be
applied in networks with and without master nodes. Our performance results are
complemented by, and compared with, the relevant Bayesian Cram\'er-Rao bounds
More is less: Connectivity in fractal regions
Ad-hoc networks are often deployed in regions with complicated boundaries. We
show that if the boundary is modeled as a fractal, a network requiring line of
sight connections has the counterintuitive property that increasing the number
of nodes decreases the full connection probability. We characterise this decay
as a stretched exponential involving the fractal dimension of the boundary, and
discuss mitigation strategies. Applications of this study include the analysis
and design of sensor networks operating in rugged terrain (e.g. railway
cuttings), mm-wave networks in industrial settings and
vehicle-to-vehicle/vehicle-to-infrastructure networks in urban environments.Comment: 5 page
A Survey of Monte Carlo Tree Search Methods
Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) is a recently proposed search method that combines the precision of tree search with the generality of random sampling. It has received considerable interest due to its spectacular success in the difficult problem of computer Go, but has also proved beneficial in a range of other domains. This paper is a survey of the literature to date, intended to provide a snapshot of the state of the art after the first five years of MCTS research. We outline the core algorithm's derivation, impart some structure on the many variations and enhancements that have been proposed, and summarize the results from the key game and nongame domains to which MCTS methods have been applied. A number of open research questions indicate that the field is ripe for future work
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