165 research outputs found
Fast Desynchronization For Decentralized Multichannel Medium Access Control
Distributed desynchronization algorithms are key to wireless sensor networks
as they allow for medium access control in a decentralized manner. In this
paper, we view desynchronization primitives as iterative methods that solve
optimization problems. In particular, by formalizing a well established
desynchronization algorithm as a gradient descent method, we establish novel
upper bounds on the number of iterations required to reach convergence.
Moreover, by using Nesterov's accelerated gradient method, we propose a novel
desynchronization primitive that provides for faster convergence to the steady
state. Importantly, we propose a novel algorithm that leads to decentralized
time-synchronous multichannel TDMA coordination by formulating this task as an
optimization problem. Our simulations and experiments on a densely-connected
IEEE 802.15.4-based wireless sensor network demonstrate that our scheme
provides for faster convergence to the steady state, robustness to hidden
nodes, higher network throughput and comparable power dissipation with respect
to the recently standardized IEEE 802.15.4e-2012 time-synchronized channel
hopping (TSCH) scheme.Comment: to appear in IEEE Transactions on Communication
X-ray image separation via coupled dictionary learning
In support of art investigation, we propose a new source sepa- ration method
that unmixes a single X-ray scan acquired from double-sided paintings. Unlike
prior source separation meth- ods, which are based on statistical or structural
incoherence of the sources, we use visual images taken from the front- and
back-side of the panel to drive the separation process. The coupling of the two
imaging modalities is achieved via a new multi-scale dictionary learning
method. Experimental results demonstrate that our method succeeds in the
discrimination of the sources, while state-of-the-art methods fail to do so.Comment: To be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Image
Processing (ICIP), 201
Multi-modal dictionary learning for image separation with application in art investigation
In support of art investigation, we propose a new source separation method
that unmixes a single X-ray scan acquired from double-sided paintings. In this
problem, the X-ray signals to be separated have similar morphological
characteristics, which brings previous source separation methods to their
limits. Our solution is to use photographs taken from the front and back-side
of the panel to drive the separation process. The crux of our approach relies
on the coupling of the two imaging modalities (photographs and X-rays) using a
novel coupled dictionary learning framework able to capture both common and
disparate features across the modalities using parsimonious representations;
the common component models features shared by the multi-modal images, whereas
the innovation component captures modality-specific information. As such, our
model enables the formulation of appropriately regularized convex optimization
procedures that lead to the accurate separation of the X-rays. Our dictionary
learning framework can be tailored both to a single- and a multi-scale
framework, with the latter leading to a significant performance improvement.
Moreover, to improve further on the visual quality of the separated images, we
propose to train coupled dictionaries that ignore certain parts of the painting
corresponding to craquelure. Experimentation on synthetic and real data - taken
from digital acquisition of the Ghent Altarpiece (1432) - confirms the
superiority of our method against the state-of-the-art morphological component
analysis technique that uses either fixed or trained dictionaries to perform
image separation.Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Images Processin
Uncovering Bugs in Distributed Storage Systems during Testing (not in Production!)
Testing distributed systems is challenging due to multiple sources of nondeterminism. Conventional testing techniques, such as unit, integration and stress testing, are ineffective in preventing serious but subtle bugs from reaching production. Formal techniques, such as TLA+, can only verify high-level specifications of systems at the level of logic-based models, and fall short of checking the actual executable code. In this paper, we present a new methodology for testing distributed systems. Our approach applies advanced systematic testing techniques to thoroughly check that the executable code adheres to its high-level specifications, which significantly improves coverage of important system behaviors. Our methodology has been applied to three distributed storage systems in the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. In the process, numerous bugs were identified, reproduced, confirmed and fixed. These bugs required a subtle combination of concurrency and failures, making them extremely difficult to find with conventional testing techniques. An important advantage of our approach is that a bug is uncovered in a small setting and witnessed by a full system trace, which dramatically increases the productivity of debugging
Heterogeneous Networked Data Recovery from Compressive Measurements Using a Copula Prior
Large-scale data collection by means of wireless sensor network and
internet-of-things technology poses various challenges in view of the
limitations in transmission, computation, and energy resources of the
associated wireless devices. Compressive data gathering based on compressed
sensing has been proven a well-suited solution to the problem. Existing designs
exploit the spatiotemporal correlations among data collected by a specific
sensing modality. However, many applications, such as environmental monitoring,
involve collecting heterogeneous data that are intrinsically correlated. In
this study, we propose to leverage the correlation from multiple heterogeneous
signals when recovering the data from compressive measurements. To this end, we
propose a novel recovery algorithm---built upon belief-propagation
principles---that leverages correlated information from multiple heterogeneous
signals. To efficiently capture the statistical dependencies among diverse
sensor data, the proposed algorithm uses the statistical model of copula
functions. Experiments with heterogeneous air-pollution sensor measurements
show that the proposed design provides significant performance improvements
against state-of-the-art compressive data gathering and recovery schemes that
use classical compressed sensing, compressed sensing with side information, and
distributed compressed sensing.Comment: accepted to IEEE Transactions on Communication
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