17,766 research outputs found
Hybrid Radio-map for Noise Tolerant Wireless Indoor Localization
In wireless networks, radio-map based locating techniques are commonly used
to cope the complex fading feature of radio signal, in which a radio-map is
built by calibrating received signal strength (RSS) signatures at training
locations in the offline phase. However, in severe hostile environments, such
as in ship cabins where severe shadowing, blocking and multi-path fading
effects are posed by ubiquitous metallic architecture, even radio-map cannot
capture the dynamics of RSS. In this paper, we introduced multiple feature
radio-map location method for severely noisy environments. We proposed to add
low variance signature into radio map. Since the low variance signatures are
generally expensive to obtain, we focus on the scenario when the low variance
signatures are sparse. We studied efficient construction of multi-feature
radio-map in offline phase, and proposed feasible region narrowing down and
particle based algorithm for online tracking. Simulation results show the
remarkably performance improvement in terms of positioning accuracy and
robustness against RSS noises than the traditional radio-map method.Comment: 6 pages, 11th IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing
and Control, April 7-9, 2014, Miami, FL, US
North Korea: Fading Totalitarianism in the "Hermit Kingdom"
North Korea is perceived by many as one of the most totalitarian societies of modern time. But in the wake of the economic collapse of the 1990s, North Korean totalitarianism has grappled with new conditions. This paper examines how the country’s totalitarian character has been upheld through the institutional changes instigated by the economic collapse and subsequent famine in the country. It strives to answer whether today’s North Korea should still be characterized as a totalitarian society, and, if not, what system then governs the country.North Korea; Totalitarianism; Authoritarianism; Institutional Change; Planned Economy; Social Control
Communication Over a Wireless Network With Random Connections
A network of nodes in which pairs communicate over a shared wireless medium is analyzed. We consider the maximum total aggregate traffic flow possible as given by the number of users multiplied by their data rate. The model in this paper differs substantially from the many existing approaches in that the channel connections in this network are entirely random: rather than being governed by geometry and a decay-versus-distance law, the strengths of the connections between nodes are drawn independently from a common distribution. Such a model is appropriate for environments where the first-order effect that governs the signal strength at a receiving node is a random event (such as the existence of an obstacle), rather than the distance from the transmitter. It is shown that the aggregate traffic flow as a function of the number of nodes n is a strong function of the channel distribution. In particular, for certain distributions the aggregate traffic flow is at least n/(log n)^d for some d≫0, which is significantly larger than the O(sqrt n) results obtained for many geometric models. The results provide guidelines for the connectivity that is needed for large aggregate traffic. The relation between the proposed model and existing distance-based models is shown in some cases
Flow Allocation for Maximum Throughput and Bounded Delay on Multiple Disjoint Paths for Random Access Wireless Multihop Networks
In this paper, we consider random access, wireless, multi-hop networks, with
multi-packet reception capabilities, where multiple flows are forwarded to the
gateways through node disjoint paths. We explore the issue of allocating flow
on multiple paths, exhibiting both intra- and inter-path interference, in order
to maximize average aggregate flow throughput (AAT) and also provide bounded
packet delay. A distributed flow allocation scheme is proposed where allocation
of flow on paths is formulated as an optimization problem. Through an
illustrative topology it is shown that the corresponding problem is non-convex.
Furthermore, a simple, but accurate model is employed for the average aggregate
throughput achieved by all flows, that captures both intra- and inter-path
interference through the SINR model. The proposed scheme is evaluated through
Ns2 simulations of several random wireless scenarios. Simulation results reveal
that, the model employed, accurately captures the AAT observed in the simulated
scenarios, even when the assumption of saturated queues is removed. Simulation
results also show that the proposed scheme achieves significantly higher AAT,
for the vast majority of the wireless scenarios explored, than the following
flow allocation schemes: one that assigns flows on paths on a round-robin
fashion, one that optimally utilizes the best path only, and another one that
assigns the maximum possible flow on each path. Finally, a variant of the
proposed scheme is explored, where interference for each link is approximated
by considering its dominant interfering nodes only.Comment: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technolog
Memristor models for machine learning
In the quest for alternatives to traditional CMOS, it is being suggested that
digital computing efficiency and power can be improved by matching the
precision to the application. Many applications do not need the high precision
that is being used today. In particular, large gains in area- and power
efficiency could be achieved by dedicated analog realizations of approximate
computing engines. In this work, we explore the use of memristor networks for
analog approximate computation, based on a machine learning framework called
reservoir computing. Most experimental investigations on the dynamics of
memristors focus on their nonvolatile behavior. Hence, the volatility that is
present in the developed technologies is usually unwanted and it is not
included in simulation models. In contrast, in reservoir computing, volatility
is not only desirable but necessary. Therefore, in this work, we propose two
different ways to incorporate it into memristor simulation models. The first is
an extension of Strukov's model and the second is an equivalent Wiener model
approximation. We analyze and compare the dynamical properties of these models
and discuss their implications for the memory and the nonlinear processing
capacity of memristor networks. Our results indicate that device variability,
increasingly causing problems in traditional computer design, is an asset in
the context of reservoir computing. We conclude that, although both models
could lead to useful memristor based reservoir computing systems, their
computational performance will differ. Therefore, experimental modeling
research is required for the development of accurate volatile memristor models.Comment: 4 figures, no tables. Submitted to neural computatio
Digital Image Segmentation and On–line Print Quality Diagnostics
During the electrophotographic (EP) process for a modern laser printer, object-oriented halftoning is sometimes used which renders an input raster page with different halftone screen frequencies according to an object map; this approach can reduce the print artifacts for the smooth areas as well as preserve the fine details of a page. Object map can be directly extracted from the page description language (PDL), but most of the time, it is not correctly generated. For the first part of this thesis, we introduce a new object generation algorithm that generates an object map from scratch purely based on a raster image. The algorithm is intended for ASIC application. To achieve hardware friendliness and memory efficiency, the algorithm only buffers two strips of an image at a time for processing. A novel two-pass connected component algorithm is designed that runs through all the pixels in raster order, collect features and classify components on the fly, and recycle unused components to save memories for future strips. The algorithm is finally implemented as a C program. For 10 test pages, with the similar quality of object maps generated, the number of connected components used can be reduced by over 97% on average compared to the classic two-pass connected component which buffers a whole page of pixels. The novelty of the connected component algorithm used here for document segmentation can also be potentially used for wide variety of other applications. The second part of the thesis proposes a new way to diagnose print quality. Compared to the traditional diagnostics of print quality which prints a specially designed test page to be examined by an expert or against a user manual, our proposed system could automatically diagnose a customer’s printer without any human interference. The system relies on scanning printouts from user’s printer. Print defects such as banding, streaking, etc. will be reflected on its scanned page and can be captured by comparing to its master image; the master image is the digitally generated original from which the page is printed. Once the print quality drops below a specified acceptance criteria level, the system can notify a user of the presence of print quality issues. Among so many print defects, color fading – caused by the low toner in the cartridge – is the focus of this work. Our image processing pipeline first uses a feature based image registration algorithm to align the scanned page with the master page spatially and then calculates the color difference of different color clusters between the scanned page and the master page. At last, it will predict which cartridge is depleted
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