Nanophotonic reservoir computing with photonic crystal cavities to generate periodic patterns

Reservoir computing (RC) is a technique in machine learning inspired by neural systems. RC has been used successfully to solve complex problems such as signal classification and signal generation. These systems are mainly implemented in software, and thereby they are limited in speed and power efficiency. Several optical and optoelectronic implementations have been demonstrated, in which the system has signals with an amplitude and phase. It is proven that these enrich the dynamics of the system, which is beneficial for the performance. In this paper, we introduce a novel optical architecture based on nanophotonic crystal cavities. This allows us to integrate many neurons on one chip, which, compared with other photonic solutions, closest resembles a classical neural network. Furthermore, the components are passive, which simplifies the design and reduces the power consumption. To assess the performance of this network, we train a photonic network to generate periodic patterns, using an alternative online learning rule called first-order reduced and corrected error. For this, we first train a classical hyperbolic tangent reservoir, but then we vary some of the properties to incorporate typical aspects of a photonics reservoir, such as the use of continuous-time versus discrete-time signals and the use of complex-valued versus real-valued signals. Then, the nanophotonic reservoir is simulated and we explore the role of relevant parameters such as the topology, the phases between the resonators, the number of nodes that are biased and the delay between the resonators. It is important that these parameters are chosen such that no strong self-oscillations occur. Finally, our results show that for a signal generation task a complex-valued, continuous-time nanophotonic reservoir outperforms a classical (i.e., discrete-time, real-valued) leaky hyperbolic tangent reservoir (normalized root-mean-square errors = 0.030 versus NRMSE = 0.127)

Dynamic Radio Cooperation for Downlink Cloud-RANs with Computing Resource Sharing

A novel dynamic radio-cooperation strategy is proposed for Cloud Radio Access Networks (C-RANs) consisting of multiple Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) connected to a central Virtual Base Station (VBS) pool. In particular, the key capabilities of C-RANs in computing-resource sharing and real-time communication among the VBSs are leveraged to design a joint dynamic radio clustering and cooperative beamforming scheme that maximizes the downlink weighted sum-rate system utility (WSRSU). Due to the combinatorial nature of the radio clustering process and the non-convexity of the cooperative beamforming design, the underlying optimization problem is NP-hard, and is extremely difficult to solve for a large network. Our approach aims for a suboptimal solution by transforming the original problem into a Mixed-Integer Second-Order Cone Program (MI-SOCP), which can be solved efficiently using a proposed iterative algorithm. Numerical simulation results show that our low-complexity algorithm provides close-to-optimal performance in terms of WSRSU while significantly outperforming conventional radio clustering and beamforming schemes. Additionally, the results also demonstrate the significant improvement in computing-resource utilization of C-RANs over traditional RANs with distributed computing resources.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted to IEEE MASS 201

Predicting student satisfaction with courses based on log data from a virtual learning environment – a neural network and classification tree model

Student satisfaction with courses in academic institutions is an important issue and is recognized as a form of support in ensuring effective and quality education, as well as enhancing student course experience. This paper investigates whether there is a connection between student satisfaction with courses and log data on student courses in a virtual learning environment. Furthermore, it explores whether a successful classification model for predicting student satisfaction with course can be developed based on course log data and compares the results obtained from implemented methods. The research was conducted at the Faculty of Education in Osijek and included analysis of log data and course satisfaction on a sample of third and fourth year students. Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) with different activation functions and Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural networks as well as classification tree models were developed, trained and tested in order to classify students into one of two categories of course satisfaction. Type I and type II errors, and input variable importance were used for model comparison and classification accuracy. The results indicate that a successful classification model using tested methods can be created. The MLP model provides the highest average classification accuracy and the lowest preference in misclassification of students with a low level of course satisfaction, although a t-test for the difference in proportions showed that the difference in performance between the compared models is not statistically significant. Student involvement in forum discussions is recognized as a valuable predictor of student satisfaction with courses in all observed models