Multiobjective Optimization — New Formulation and Application to Radar Signal Processing

The present thesis aims to make an in-depth study of Multiobjective optimization (MOO), Multiobjective algorithms and Radar Pulse Compression. Following the approach of bacteria foraging technique, a new MOO algorithm Multiobjective Bacteria Foraging Optimization (MOBFO) has been proposed in this thesis. We compared the performance of our proposed algorithm with existing algorithms Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) and Multiobjective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO) for different test functions. In radar signal processing Pulse Compression is used for high range resolution and long range detection. The classical methods for Pulse Compression of the received signal use matched filter and mismatched filter. For improving the performance of pulse compression, a new problem formulation has been constructed that uses constrained function optimization with the help of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is being used for Pulse Compression that achieves a significant supression of the sidelobes. Functional Link Artificial Neural Network (FLANN)has been proposed for better sidelobes reduction than Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP)network with both lower computational and lower structural complexity. MOO approach has been proposed to use with Radial Basis Function (RBF) for Pulse Compression that improves the accuracy and complexity of RBF network

Построение минимаксных ансамблей апериодических кодов Голда

Introduction. Signals constructed on the basis of ensembles of code sequences are widely used in digital communication systems. During development of such systems, the most attention is paid to analysis, synthesis and implementation of periodic signal ensembles. Theoretic methods for synthesis of periodic signal ensembles are developed and are in use. Considerably fewer results are received regarding construction of aperiodic signal ensembles with given properties. Theoretical methods for synthesis of such ensembles are practically nonexistent.Aim. To construct aperiodic Gold code ensembles with the best ratios of code length to ensemble volume among the most known binary codes.Materials and methods. Methods of directed search and discrete choice of the best ensemble based on unconditional preference criteria are used.Results. Full and truncated aperiodic Gold code ensembles with given length and ensemble volume were constructed. Parameters and shape of auto- and mutual correlation functions were shown for a number of constructed ensembles. Comparison of the paper results with known results for periodic Gold code ensembles has been conducted regarding growth of minimax correlation function values depending on code length and ensemble volume.Conclusion. The developed algorithms, unlike the known ones, make it possible to form both complete ensembles and ensembles taking into account the limitation of their volume. In addition, the algorithms can be extended to the tasks of forming ensembles from other families, for example, assembled from code sequences belonging to different families.Введение. В системах цифровой связи широко применяются сигналы, построенные на основе ансамблей кодовых последовательностей. При разработке этих систем наибольшее внимание уделяется анализу, синтезу и реализации ансамблей периодических сигналов. Разработаны и используются теоретические методики синтеза ансамблей периодических сигналов. Значительно меньше результатов получено в области построения ансамблей апериодических сигналов с заданными корреляционными свойствами. Теоретические методики синтеза таких ансамблей сигналов практически отсутствуют.Цель работы. Построение минимаксных ансамблей апериодических кодов Голда, которые обладают одним из лучших среди известных бинарных кодов соотношением длины кодов и объема ансамбля.Материалы и методы. Для построения минимаксного ансамбля используются направленный перебор и метод дискретного выбора лучшего ансамбля на основе безусловного критерия предпочтения.Результаты. В статье описан алгоритм формирования полных и неполных минимаксных ансамблей апериодических кодов Голда с заданными длиной и объемом ансамбля. Приведены параметры и вид авто- и взаимнокорреляционных функций для ряда полученных ансамблей. Выполнено сравнение результатов статьи с известными результатами для ансамблей периодических кодов Голда в части роста минимаксных значений корреляционных функций в зависимости от длины кодов и объема ансамблей.Заключение. Разработанные алгоритмы, в отличие от известных, позволяют конструировать как полные ансамбли, так и ансамбли, учитывающие ограничение их объема. Кроме того, данные алгоритмы могут быть распространены на задачи построения ансамблей из других семейств, например, собранных из кодовых последовательностей, принадлежащих различным семействам

Adaptive OFDM Radar for Target Detection and Tracking

We develop algorithms to detect and track targets by employing a wideband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing: OFDM) radar signal. The frequency diversity of the OFDM signal improves the sensing performance since the scattering centers of a target resonate variably at different frequencies. In addition, being a wideband signal, OFDM improves the range resolution and provides spectral efficiency. We first design the spectrum of the OFDM signal to improve the radar\u27s wideband ambiguity function. Our designed waveform enhances the range resolution and motivates us to use adaptive OFDM waveform in specific problems, such as the detection and tracking of targets. We develop methods for detecting a moving target in the presence of multipath, which exist, for example, in urban environments. We exploit the multipath reflections by utilizing different Doppler shifts. We analytically evaluate the asymptotic performance of the detector and adaptively design the OFDM waveform, by maximizing the noncentrality-parameter expression, to further improve the detection performance. Next, we transform the detection problem into the task of a sparse-signal estimation by making use of the sparsity of multiple paths. We propose an efficient sparse-recovery algorithm by employing a collection of multiple small Dantzig selectors, and analytically compute the reconstruction performance in terms of the $ell_1$-constrained minimal singular value. We solve a constrained multi-objective optimization algorithm to design the OFDM waveform and infer that the resultant signal-energy distribution is in proportion to the distribution of the target energy across different subcarriers. Then, we develop tracking methods for both a single and multiple targets. We propose an tracking method for a low-grazing angle target by realistically modeling different physical and statistical effects, such as the meteorological conditions in the troposphere, curved surface of the earth, and roughness of the sea-surface. To further enhance the tracking performance, we integrate a maximum mutual information based waveform design technique into the tracker. To track multiple targets, we exploit the inherent sparsity on the delay-Doppler plane to develop an computationally efficient procedure. For computational efficiency, we use more prior information to dynamically partition a small portion of the delay-Doppler plane. We utilize the block-sparsity property to propose a block version of the CoSaMP algorithm in the tracking filter

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2012

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics

Optimisation of racing car suspensions featuring inerters

Racing car suspensions are a critical system in the overall performance of the vehicle. They must be able to accurately control ride dynamics as well as influencing the handling characteristics of the vehicle and providing stability under the action of external forces. This work is a research study on the design and optimisation of high performance vehicle suspensions using inerters. The starting point is a theoretical investigation of the dynamics of a system fitted with an ideal inerter. This sets the foundation for developing a more complex and novel vehicle suspension model incorporating real inerters. The accuracy and predictability of this model has been assessed and validated against experimental data from 4- post rig testing. In order to maximise overall vehicle performance, a race car suspension must meet a large number of conflicting objectives. Hence, suspension design and optimisation is a complex task where a compromised solution among a set of objectives needs to be adopted. The first task in this process is to define a set of performance based objective functions. The approach taken was to relate the ride dynamic behaviour of the suspension to the overall performance of the race car. The second task of the optimisation process is to develop an efficient and robust optimisation methodology. To address this, a multi-stage optimisation algorithm has been developed. The algorithm is based on two stages, a hybrid surrogate model based multiobjective evolutionary algorithm to obtain a set of non-dominated optimal suspension solutions and a transient lap-time simulation tool to incorporate external factors to the decision process and provide a final optimal solution. A transient lap-time simulation tool has been developed. The minimum time manoeuvring problem has been defined as an Optimal Control problem. A novel solution method based on a multi-level algorithm and a closed-loop driver steering control has been proposed to find the optimal lap time. The results obtained suggest that performance gains can be obtained by incorporating inerters into the suspension system. The work suggests that the use of inerters provides the car with an optimised aerodynamic platform and the overall stability of the vehicle is improved

Understanding Optimisation Processes with Biologically-Inspired Visualisations

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) constitute a branch of artificial intelligence utilised to evolve solutions to solve optimisation problems abound in industry and research. EAs often generate many solutions and visualisation has been a primary strategy to display EA solutions, given that visualisation is a multi-domain well-evaluated medium to comprehend extensive data. The endeavour of visualising solutions is inherent with challenges resulting from high dimensional phenomenons and the large number of solutions to display. Recently, scholars have produced methods to mitigate some of these known issues when illustrating solutions. However, one key consideration is that displaying the final subset of solutions exclusively (rather than the whole population) discards most of the informativeness of the search, creating inadequate insight into the black-box EA. There is an unequivocal knowledge gap and requirement for methods which can visualise the whole population of solutions from an optimiser and subjugate the high-dimensional problems and scaling issues to create interpretability of the EA search process. Furthermore, a requirement for explainability in evolutionary computing has been demanded by the evolutionary computing community, which could take the form of visualisations, to support EA comprehension much like the support explainable artificial intelligence has brought to artificial intelligence. In this thesis, we report novel visualisation methods that can be used to visualise large and high-dimensional optimiser populations with the aim of creating greater interpretability during a search. We consider the nascent intersection of visualisation and explainability in evolutionary computing. The potential high informativeness of a visualisation method from an early chapter of this work forms an effective platform to develop an explainability visualisation method, namely the population dynamics plot, to attempt to inject explainability into the inner workings of the search process. We further support the visualisation of populations using machine learning to construct models which can capture the characteristics of an EA search and develop intelligent visualisations which use artificial intelligence to potentially enhance and support visualisation for a more informative search process. The methods developed in this thesis are evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. We use multi-feature benchmark problems to show the method’s ability to reveal specific problem characteristics such as disconnected fronts, local optima and bias, as well as potentially creating a better understanding of the problem landscape and optimiser search for evaluating and comparing algorithm performance (we show the visualisation method to be more insightful than conventional metrics like hypervolume alone). One of the most insightful methods developed in this thesis can produce a visualisation requiring less than 1% of the time and memory necessary to produce a visualisation of the same objective space solutions using existing methods. This allows for greater scalability and the use in short compile time applications such as online visualisations. Predicated by an existing visualisation method in this thesis, we then develop and apply an explainability method to a real-world problem and evaluate it to show the method to be highly effective at explaining the search via solutions in the objective spaces, solution lineage and solution variation operators to compactly comprehend, evaluate and communicate the search of an optimiser, although we note the explainability properties are only evaluated against the author’s ability and could be evaluated further in future work with a usability study. The work is then supported by the development of intelligent visualisation models that may allow one to predict solutions in optima (importantly local optima) in unseen problems by using a machine learning model. The results are effective, with some models able to predict and visualise solution optima with a balanced F1 accuracy metric of 96%. The results of this thesis provide a suite of visualisations which aims to provide greater informativeness of the search and scalability than previously existing literature. The work develops one of the first explainability methods aiming to create greater insight into the search space, solution lineage and reproductive operators. The work applies machine learning to potentially enhance EA understanding via visualisation. These models could also be used for a number of applications outside visualisation. Ultimately, the work provides novel methods for all EA stakeholders which aims to support understanding, evaluation and communication of EA processes with visualisation

Applied Metaheuristic Computing

For decades, Applied Metaheuristic Computing (AMC) has been a prevailing optimization technique for tackling perplexing engineering and business problems, such as scheduling, routing, ordering, bin packing, assignment, facility layout planning, among others. This is partly because the classic exact methods are constrained with prior assumptions, and partly due to the heuristics being problem-dependent and lacking generalization. AMC, on the contrary, guides the course of low-level heuristics to search beyond the local optimality, which impairs the capability of traditional computation methods. This topic series has collected quality papers proposing cutting-edge methodology and innovative applications which drive the advances of AMC

Proceedings of the XIII Global Optimization Workshop: GOW'16

[Excerpt] Preface: Past Global Optimization Workshop shave been held in Sopron (1985 and 1990), Szeged (WGO, 1995), Florence (GO’99, 1999), Hanmer Springs (Let’s GO, 2001), Santorini (Frontiers in GO, 2003), San José (Go’05, 2005), Mykonos (AGO’07, 2007), Skukuza (SAGO’08, 2008), Toulouse (TOGO’10, 2010), Natal (NAGO’12, 2012) and Málaga (MAGO’14, 2014) with the aim of stimulating discussion between senior and junior researchers on the topic of Global Optimization. In 2016, the XIII Global Optimization Workshop (GOW’16) takes place in Braga and is organized by three researchers from the University of Minho. Two of them belong to the Systems Engineering and Operational Research Group from the Algoritmi Research Centre and the other to the Statistics, Applied Probability and Operational Research Group from the Centre of Mathematics. The event received more than 50 submissions from 15 countries from Europe, South America and North America. We want to express our gratitude to the invited speaker Panos Pardalos for accepting the invitation and sharing his expertise, helping us to meet the workshop objectives. GOW’16 would not have been possible without the valuable contribution from the authors and the International Scientific Committee members. We thank you all. This proceedings book intends to present an overview of the topics that will be addressed in the workshop with the goal of contributing to interesting and fruitful discussions between the authors and participants. After the event, high quality papers can be submitted to a special issue of the Journal of Global Optimization dedicated to the workshop. [...