On Convergence Rate of Scalar Hegselmann-Krause Dynamics

In this work, we derive a new upper bound on the termination time of the Hegselmann-Krause model for opinion dynamics. Using a novel method, we show that the termination rate of this dynamics happens no longer than $O(n^3)$ which improves the best known upper bound of $O(n^4)$ by a factor of $n$ .Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to The American Control Conference, Sep. 201

Smart Meter Privacy: A Utility-Privacy Framework

End-user privacy in smart meter measurements is a well-known challenge in the smart grid. The solutions offered thus far have been tied to specific technologies such as batteries or assumptions on data usage. Existing solutions have also not quantified the loss of benefit (utility) that results from any such privacy-preserving approach. Using tools from information theory, a new framework is presented that abstracts both the privacy and the utility requirements of smart meter data. This leads to a novel privacy-utility tradeoff problem with minimal assumptions that is tractable. Specifically for a stationary Gaussian Markov model of the electricity load, it is shown that the optimal utility-and-privacy preserving solution requires filtering out frequency components that are low in power, and this approach appears to encompass most of the proposed privacy approaches.Comment: Accepted for publication and presentation at the IEEE SmartGridComm. 201

On X-Channels with Feedback and Delayed CSI

The sum degrees of freedom (DoF) of the two-user MIMO X-channel is characterized in the presence of output feedback and delayed channel state information (CSI). The number of antennas at each transmitters is assumed to be M and the number of antennas at each of the receivers is assumed to be N. It is shown that the sum DoF of the two-user MIMO X-channel is the same as the sum DoF of a two-user MIMO broadcast channel with 2M transmit antennas, and N antennas at each receiver. Hence, for this symmetric antenna configuration, there is no performance loss in the sum degrees of freedom due to the distributed nature of the transmitters. This result highlights the usefulness of feedback and delayed CSI for the MIMO X-channel. The K-user X-channel with single antenna at each transmitter and each receiver is also studied. In this network, each transmitter has a message intended for each receiver. For this network, it is shown that the sum DoF with partial output feedback alone is at least 2K/(K+1). This lower bound is strictly better than the best lower bound known for the case of delayed CSI assumption for all values of K.Comment: Submitted to IEEE ISIT 2012 on Jan 22, 201