2,265 research outputs found
A Tutorial on Bayesian Optimization of Expensive Cost Functions, with Application to Active User Modeling and Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning
We present a tutorial on Bayesian optimization, a method of finding the
maximum of expensive cost functions. Bayesian optimization employs the Bayesian
technique of setting a prior over the objective function and combining it with
evidence to get a posterior function. This permits a utility-based selection of
the next observation to make on the objective function, which must take into
account both exploration (sampling from areas of high uncertainty) and
exploitation (sampling areas likely to offer improvement over the current best
observation). We also present two detailed extensions of Bayesian optimization,
with experiments---active user modelling with preferences, and hierarchical
reinforcement learning---and a discussion of the pros and cons of Bayesian
optimization based on our experiences
Evolvability signatures of generative encodings: beyond standard performance benchmarks
Evolutionary robotics is a promising approach to autonomously synthesize
machines with abilities that resemble those of animals, but the field suffers
from a lack of strong foundations. In particular, evolutionary systems are
currently assessed solely by the fitness score their evolved artifacts can
achieve for a specific task, whereas such fitness-based comparisons provide
limited insights about how the same system would evaluate on different tasks,
and its adaptive capabilities to respond to changes in fitness (e.g., from
damages to the machine, or in new situations). To counter these limitations, we
introduce the concept of "evolvability signatures", which picture the
post-mutation statistical distribution of both behavior diversity (how
different are the robot behaviors after a mutation?) and fitness values (how
different is the fitness after a mutation?). We tested the relevance of this
concept by evolving controllers for hexapod robot locomotion using five
different genotype-to-phenotype mappings (direct encoding, generative encoding
of open-loop and closed-loop central pattern generators, generative encoding of
neural networks, and single-unit pattern generators (SUPG)). We observed a
predictive relationship between the evolvability signature of each encoding and
the number of generations required by hexapods to adapt from incurred damages.
Our study also reveals that, across the five investigated encodings, the SUPG
scheme achieved the best evolvability signature, and was always foremost in
recovering an effective gait following robot damages. Overall, our evolvability
signatures neatly complement existing task-performance benchmarks, and pave the
way for stronger foundations for research in evolutionary robotics.Comment: 24 pages with 12 figures in the main text, and 4 supplementary
figures. Accepted at Information Sciences journal (in press). Supplemental
videos are available online at, see http://goo.gl/uyY1R
Resource-efficient strategies for mobile ad-hoc networking
The ubiquity and widespread availability of wireless mobile devices with ever increasing
inter-connectivity (e. g. by means of Bluetooth, WiFi or UWB) have led to new and emerging
next generation mobile communication paradigms, such as the Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks
(MANETs). MANETs are differentiated from traditional mobile systems by their unique properties,
e. g. unpredictable nodal location, unstable topology and multi-hop packet relay. The
success of on-going research in communications involving MANETs has encouraged their applications
in areas with stringent performance requirements such as the e-healthcare, e. g. to
connect them with existing systems to deliver e-healthcare services anytime anywhere. However,
given that the capacity of mobile devices is restricted by their resource constraints (e. g.
computing power, energy supply and bandwidth), a fundamental challenge in MANETs is how
to realize the crucial performance/Quality of Service (QoS) expectations of communications in
a network of high dynamism without overusing the limited resources.
A variety of networking technologies (e. g. routing, mobility estimation and connectivity
prediction) have been developed to overcome the topological instability and unpredictability
and to enable communications in MANETs with satisfactory performance or QoS. However,
these technologies often feature a high consumption of power and/or bandwidth, which makes
them unsuitable for resource constrained handheld or embedded mobile devices. In particular,
existing strategies of routing and mobility characterization are shown to achieve fairly
good performance but at the expense of excessive traffic overhead or energy consumption. For
instance, existing hybrid routing protocols in dense MANETs are based in two-dimensional organizations
that produce heavy proactive traffic. In sparse MANETs, existing packet delivery
strategy often replicates too many copies of a packet for a QoS target. In addition, existing
tools for measuring nodal mobility are based on either the GPS or GPS-free positioning systems,
which incur intensive communications/computations that are costly for battery-powered
terminals. There is a need to develop economical networking strategies (in terms of resource
utilization) in delivering the desired performance/soft QoS targets.
The main goal of this project is to develop new networking strategies (in particular, for
routing and mobility characterization) that are efficient in terms of resource consumptions while
being effective in realizing performance expectations for communication services (e. g. in the
scenario of e-healthcare emergency) with critical QoS requirements in resource-constrained
MANETs.
The main contributions of the thesis are threefold:
(1) In order to tackle the inefficient bandwidth utilization of hybrid service/routing discovery
in dense MANETs, a novel "track-based" scheme is developed. The scheme deploys
a one-dimensional track-like structure for hybrid routing and service discovery. In comparison
with existing hybrid routing/service discovery protocols that are based on two-dimensional
structures, the track-based scheme is more efficient in terms of traffic overhead (e. g. about 60%
less in low mobility scenarios as shown in Fig. 3.4). Due to the way "provocative tracks" are
established, the scheme has also the capability to adapt to the network traffic and mobility for
a better performance.
(2) To minimize the resource utilization of packet delivery in sparse MANETs where wireless
links are intermittently connected, a store-and-forward based scheme, "adaptive multicopy
routing", was developed for packet delivery in sparse mobile ad-hoc networks. Instead
of relying on the source to control the delivery overhead as in the conventional multi-copy
protocols, the scheme allows each intermediate node to independently decide whether to forward
a packet according to the soft QoS target and local network conditions. Therefore, the
scheme can adapt to varying networking situations that cannot be anticipated in conventional
source-defined strategies and deliver packets for a specific QoS targets using minimum traffic
overhead.
ii
(3) The important issue of mobility measurement that imposes heavy communication/computation
burdens on a mobile is addressed with a set of resource-efficient "GPS-free" soluti ons,
which provide mobility characterization with minimal resource utilization for ranging and signalling
by making use of the information of the time-varying ranges between neighbouring
mobile nodes (or groups of mobile nodes). The range-based solutions for mobility characterization
consist of a new mobility metric for network-wide performance measurement, two
velocity estimators for approximating the inter-node relative speeds, and a new scheme for
characterizing the nodal mobility. The new metric and its variants are capable of capturing the
mobility of a network as well as predicting the performance. The velocity estimators are used to
measure the speed and orientation of a mobile relative to its neighbours, given the presence of a
departing node. Based on the velocity estimators, the new scheme for mobility characterization
is capable of characterizing the mobility of a node that are associated with topological stability,
i. e. the node's speeds, orientations relative to its neighbouring nodes and its past epoch time.
iiiBIOPATTERN EU Network of Excellence (EU Contract 508803
Dynamic Rate and Channel Selection in Cognitive Radio Systems
In this paper, we investigate dynamic channel and rate selection in cognitive
radio systems which exploit a large number of channels free from primary users.
In such systems, transmitters may rapidly change the selected (channel, rate)
pair to opportunistically learn and track the pair offering the highest
throughput. We formulate the problem of sequential channel and rate selection
as an online optimization problem, and show its equivalence to a {\it
structured} Multi-Armed Bandit problem. The structure stems from inherent
properties of the achieved throughput as a function of the selected channel and
rate. We derive fundamental performance limits satisfied by {\it any} channel
and rate adaptation algorithm, and propose algorithms that achieve (or
approach) these limits. In turn, the proposed algorithms optimally exploit the
inherent structure of the throughput. We illustrate the efficiency of our
algorithms using both test-bed and simulation experiments, in both stationary
and non-stationary radio environments. In stationary environments, the packet
successful transmission probabilities at the various channel and rate pairs do
not evolve over time, whereas in non-stationary environments, they may evolve.
In practical scenarios, the proposed algorithms are able to track the best
channel and rate quite accurately without the need of any explicit measurement
and feedback of the quality of the various channels.Comment: 19 page
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