11,083 research outputs found
Decentralized Estimation over Orthogonal Multiple-access Fading Channels in Wireless Sensor Networks - Optimal and Suboptimal Estimators
Optimal and suboptimal decentralized estimators in wireless sensor networks
(WSNs) over orthogonal multiple-access fading channels are studied in this
paper. Considering multiple-bit quantization before digital transmission, we
develop maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) with both known and unknown
channel state information (CSI). When training symbols are available, we derive
a MLE that is a special case of the MLE with unknown CSI. It implicitly uses
the training symbols to estimate the channel coefficients and exploits the
estimated CSI in an optimal way. To reduce the computational complexity, we
propose suboptimal estimators. These estimators exploit both signal and data
level redundant information to improve the estimation performance. The proposed
MLEs reduce to traditional fusion based or diversity based estimators when
communications or observations are perfect. By introducing a general message
function, the proposed estimators can be applied when various analog or digital
transmission schemes are used. The simulations show that the estimators using
digital communications with multiple-bit quantization outperform the estimator
using analog-and-forwarding transmission in fading channels. When considering
the total bandwidth and energy constraints, the MLE using multiple-bit
quantization is superior to that using binary quantization at medium and high
observation signal-to-noise ratio levels
Optimal Clustering under Uncertainty
Classical clustering algorithms typically either lack an underlying
probability framework to make them predictive or focus on parameter estimation
rather than defining and minimizing a notion of error. Recent work addresses
these issues by developing a probabilistic framework based on the theory of
random labeled point processes and characterizing a Bayes clusterer that
minimizes the number of misclustered points. The Bayes clusterer is analogous
to the Bayes classifier. Whereas determining a Bayes classifier requires full
knowledge of the feature-label distribution, deriving a Bayes clusterer
requires full knowledge of the point process. When uncertain of the point
process, one would like to find a robust clusterer that is optimal over the
uncertainty, just as one may find optimal robust classifiers with uncertain
feature-label distributions. Herein, we derive an optimal robust clusterer by
first finding an effective random point process that incorporates all
randomness within its own probabilistic structure and from which a Bayes
clusterer can be derived that provides an optimal robust clusterer relative to
the uncertainty. This is analogous to the use of effective class-conditional
distributions in robust classification. After evaluating the performance of
robust clusterers in synthetic mixtures of Gaussians models, we apply the
framework to granular imaging, where we make use of the asymptotic
granulometric moment theory for granular images to relate robust clustering
theory to the application.Comment: 19 pages, 5 eps figures, 1 tabl
Estimation and tracking of rapidly time-varying broadband acoustic communication channels
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution February 2006This thesis develops methods for estimating wideband shallow-water acoustic communication
channels. The very shallow water wideband channel has three distinct features: large dimension caused by extensive delay spread; limited number of degrees of freedom (DOF) due to resolvable paths and inter-path correlations; and rapid fluctuations induced by scattering from the moving sea surface. Traditional LS estimation techniques often fail to reconcile the rapid fluctuations with the large
dimensionality. Subspace based approaches with DOF reduction are confronted with unstable subspace structure subject to significant changes over a short period of time. Based on state-space channel modeling, the first part of this thesis develops algorithms that jointly estimate the channel as well as its dynamics. Algorithms based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the Expectation Maximization (EM) approach respectively are developed. Analysis shows conceptual parallels, including
an identical second-order innovation form shared by the EKF modification and the suboptimal EM, and the shared issue of parameter identifiability due to channel structure, reflected as parameter unobservability in EKF and insufficient excitation in EM. Modifications of both algorithms, including a two-model based EKF and a subspace EM algorithm which selectively track dominant taps and reduce prediction error, are proposed to overcome the identifiability issue. The second part of the thesis
develops algorithms that explicitly find the sparse estimate of the delay-Doppler spread function.
The study contributes to a better understanding of the channel physical constraints on algorithm design and potential performance improvement. It may also be generalized to other applications where dimensionality and variability collide.Financial support for this thesis research was provided by the Office of Naval
Research and the WHOI Academic Program Office
Distributed Representation of Geometrically Correlated Images with Compressed Linear Measurements
This paper addresses the problem of distributed coding of images whose
correlation is driven by the motion of objects or positioning of the vision
sensors. It concentrates on the problem where images are encoded with
compressed linear measurements. We propose a geometry-based correlation model
in order to describe the common information in pairs of images. We assume that
the constitutive components of natural images can be captured by visual
features that undergo local transformations (e.g., translation) in different
images. We first identify prominent visual features by computing a sparse
approximation of a reference image with a dictionary of geometric basis
functions. We then pose a regularized optimization problem to estimate the
corresponding features in correlated images given by quantized linear
measurements. The estimated features have to comply with the compressed
information and to represent consistent transformation between images. The
correlation model is given by the relative geometric transformations between
corresponding features. We then propose an efficient joint decoding algorithm
that estimates the compressed images such that they stay consistent with both
the quantized measurements and the correlation model. Experimental results show
that the proposed algorithm effectively estimates the correlation between
images in multi-view datasets. In addition, the proposed algorithm provides
effective decoding performance that compares advantageously to independent
coding solutions as well as state-of-the-art distributed coding schemes based
on disparity learning
Accuracy of MAP segmentation with hidden Potts and Markov mesh prior models via Path Constrained Viterbi Training, Iterated Conditional Modes and Graph Cut based algorithms
In this paper, we study statistical classification accuracy of two different
Markov field environments for pixelwise image segmentation, considering the
labels of the image as hidden states and solving the estimation of such labels
as a solution of the MAP equation. The emission distribution is assumed the
same in all models, and the difference lays in the Markovian prior hypothesis
made over the labeling random field. The a priori labeling knowledge will be
modeled with a) a second order anisotropic Markov Mesh and b) a classical
isotropic Potts model. Under such models, we will consider three different
segmentation procedures, 2D Path Constrained Viterbi training for the Hidden
Markov Mesh, a Graph Cut based segmentation for the first order isotropic Potts
model, and ICM (Iterated Conditional Modes) for the second order isotropic
Potts model.
We provide a unified view of all three methods, and investigate goodness of
fit for classification, studying the influence of parameter estimation,
computational gain, and extent of automation in the statistical measures
Overall Accuracy, Relative Improvement and Kappa coefficient, allowing robust
and accurate statistical analysis on synthetic and real-life experimental data
coming from the field of Dental Diagnostic Radiography. All algorithms, using
the learned parameters, generate good segmentations with little interaction
when the images have a clear multimodal histogram. Suboptimal learning proves
to be frail in the case of non-distinctive modes, which limits the complexity
of usable models, and hence the achievable error rate as well.
All Matlab code written is provided in a toolbox available for download from
our website, following the Reproducible Research Paradigm
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