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0804.3120
The Capacity Of Two Way Relay Channel
cs.IT math.IT
This paper investigates the capacity of a wireless two way relay channel in which two end nodes exchange information via a relay node. The capacity is defined in the information-theoretic sense as the maximum information exchange rate between the two end nodes. We give an upper bound of the capacity by applying the cut-set theorem. We prove that this upper bound can be approached in low SNR region using "separated" multiple access for uplinks from the end nodes to the relay in which the data from the end nodes are individually decoded at the relay; and network-coding broadcast for downlinks from the relay to the end nodes in which the relay mixes the information from end nodes before forwarding. We further prove that the capacity is approachable in high SNR region using physical-layer network coding (PNC) multiple access for uplinks, and network-coding broadcast for downlinks. From our proof and observations, we conjecture that the upper bound may be achieved with PNC in all SNR regions.
0804.3155
Leveraging Coherent Distributed Space-Time Codes for Noncoherent Communication in Relay Networks via Training
cs.IT math.IT
For point to point multiple input multiple output systems, Dayal-Brehler-Varanasi have proved that training codes achieve the same diversity order as that of the underlying coherent space time block code (STBC) if a simple minimum mean squared error estimate of the channel formed using the training part is employed for coherent detection of the underlying STBC. In this letter, a similar strategy involving a combination of training, channel estimation and detection in conjunction with existing coherent distributed STBCs is proposed for noncoherent communication in AF relay networks. Simulation results show that the proposed simple strategy outperforms distributed differential space-time coding for AF relay networks. Finally, the proposed strategy is extended to asynchronous relay networks using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.
0804.3160
On the performance of approximate equilibria in congestion games
cs.GT cs.AI cs.NI
We study the performance of approximate Nash equilibria for linear congestion games. We consider how much the price of anarchy worsens and how much the price of stability improves as a function of the approximation factor $\epsilon$. We give (almost) tight upper and lower bounds for both the price of anarchy and the price of stability for atomic and non-atomic congestion games. Our results not only encompass and generalize the existing results of exact equilibria to $\epsilon$-Nash equilibria, but they also provide a unified approach which reveals the common threads of the atomic and non-atomic price of anarchy results. By expanding the spectrum, we also cast the existing results in a new light. For example, the Pigou network, which gives tight results for exact Nash equilibria of selfish routing, remains tight for the price of stability of $\epsilon$-Nash equilibria but not for the price of anarchy.
0804.3171
Optimization Approach for Detecting the Critical Data on a Database
cs.DB
Through purposeful introduction of malicious transactions (tracking transactions) into randomly select nodes of a (database) graph, soiled and clean segments are identified. Soiled and clean measures corresponding those segments are then computed. These measures are used to repose the problem of critical database elements detection as an optimization problem over the graph. This method is universally applicable over a large class of graphs (including directed, weighted, disconnected, cyclic) that occur in several contexts of databases. A generalization argument is presented which extends the critical data problem to abstract settings.
0804.3215
Multicast Capacity of Optical WDM Packet Ring for Hotspot Traffic
cs.IT math.IT
Packet-switching WDM ring networks with a hotspot transporting unicast, multicast, and broadcast traffic are important components of high-speed metropolitan area networks. For an arbitrary multicast fanout traffic model with uniform, hotspot destination, and hotspot source packet traffic, we analyze the maximum achievable long-run average packet throughput, which we refer to as \textit{multicast capacity}, of bi-directional shortest-path routed WDM rings. We identify three segments that can experience the maximum utilization, and thus, limit the multicast capacity. We characterize the segment utilization probabilities through bounds and approximations, which we verify through simulations. We discover that shortest-path routing can lead to utilization probabilities above one half for moderate to large portions of hotspot source multi- and broadcast traffic, and consequently multicast capacities of less than two simultaneous packet transmissions. We outline a one-copy routing strategy that guarantees a multicast capacity of at least two simultaneous packet transmissions for arbitrary hotspot source traffic.
0804.3234
Technical Report - Automatic Contour Extraction from 2D Neuron Images
cs.CV q-bio.NC
This work describes a novel methodology for automatic contour extraction from 2D images of 3D neurons (e.g. camera lucida images and other types of 2D microscopy). Most contour-based shape analysis methods can not be used to characterize such cells because of overlaps between neuronal processes. The proposed framework is specifically aimed at the problem of contour following even in presence of multiple overlaps. First, the input image is preprocessed in order to obtain an 8-connected skeleton with one-pixel-wide branches, as well as a set of critical regions (i.e., bifurcations and crossings). Next, for each subtree, the tracking stage iteratively labels all valid pixel of branches, up to a critical region, where it determines the suitable direction to proceed. Finally, the labeled skeleton segments are followed in order to yield the parametric contour of the neuronal shape under analysis. The reported system was successfully tested with respect to several images and the results from a set of three neuron images are presented here, each pertaining to a different class, i.e. alpha, delta and epsilon ganglion cells, containing a total of 34 crossings. The algorithms successfully got across all these overlaps. The method has also been found to exhibit robustness even for images with close parallel segments. The proposed method is robust and may be implemented in an efficient manner. The introduction of this approach should pave the way for more systematic application of contour-based shape analysis methods in neuronal morphology.
0804.3255
Reconstruction of Multidimensional Signals from Irregular Noisy Samples
cs.IT math.IT
We focus on a multidimensional field with uncorrelated spectrum, and study the quality of the reconstructed signal when the field samples are irregularly spaced and affected by independent and identically distributed noise. More specifically, we apply linear reconstruction techniques and take the mean square error (MSE) of the field estimate as a metric to evaluate the signal reconstruction quality. We find that the MSE analysis could be carried out by using the closed-form expression of the eigenvalue distribution of the matrix representing the sampling system. Unfortunately, such distribution is still unknown. Thus, we first derive a closed-form expression of the distribution moments, and we find that the eigenvalue distribution tends to the Marcenko-Pastur distribution as the field dimension goes to infinity. Finally, by using our approach, we derive a tight approximation to the MSE of the reconstructed field.
0804.3259
On Multiuser Power Region of Fading Multiple-Access Channel with Multiple Antennas
cs.IT math.IT
This paper is concerned with the fading MIMO-MAC with multiple receive antennas at the base station (BS) and multiple transmit antennas at each mobile terminal (MT). Two multiple-access techniques are considered for scheduling transmissions from each MT to the BS at the same frequency, which are space-division multiple-access (SDMA) and time-division multiple-access (TDMA). For SDMA, all MTs transmit simultaneously to the BS and their individual signals are resolved at the BS via multiple receive antennas while for TDMA, each MT transmits independently to the BS during mutually orthogonal time slots. It is assumed that the channel-state information (CSI) of the fading channel from each MT to the BS is unknown at each MT transmitter, but is perfectly known at the BS receiver. Thereby, the BS can acquire the long-term channel-distribution information (CDI) for each MT. This paper extends the well-known transmit-covariance feedback scheme for the point-to-point fading MIMO channel to the fading MIMO-MAC, whereby the BS jointly optimizes the transmit signal covariance matrices for all MTs based on their CDI, and then sends each transmit covariance matrix back to the corresponding MT via a feedback channel. The main goal of this paper is to characterize the so-called multiuser power region under the multiuser transmit-covariance feedback scheme for both SDMA and TDMA. The power region is defined as the constitution of all user transmit power-tuples that can achieve reliable transmissions for a given set of user target rates. Simulation results show that SDMA can achieve substantial power savings over TDMA for the fading MIMO-MAC. Moreover, this paper demonstrates the usefulness of the multiuser power region for maintaining proportionally-fair power consumption among the MTs.
0804.3261
Optimal Dynamic Resource Allocation for Multi-Antenna Broadcasting with Heterogeneous Delay-Constrained Traffic
cs.IT math.IT
This paper is concerned with dynamic resource allocation in a cellular wireless network with slow fading for support of data traffic having heterogeneous transmission delay requirements. The multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading broadcast channel (BC) is of interest where the base station (BS) employs multiple transmit antennas to realize simultaneous downlink transmission at the same frequency to multiple mobile users each having a single receive antenna. An information-theoretic approach is taken for characterizing capacity limits of the fading MISO-BC under various transmission delay considerations. First, this paper studies transmit optimization at the BS when some users have delay-tolerant ``packet'' data and the others have delay-sensitive ``circuit'' data for transmission at the same time. Based on the convex optimization framework, an online resource allocation algorithm is derived that is amenable to efficient cross-layer implementation of both physical (PHY) -layer multi-antenna transmission and media-access-control (MAC) -layer multiuser rate scheduling. Secondly, this paper investigates the fundamental throughput-delay tradeoff for transmission over the fading MISO-BC. By comparing the network throughput under completely relaxed versus strictly zero transmission delay constraint, this paper characterizes the limiting loss in sum capacity due to the vanishing delay tolerance, termed the delay penalty, under some prescribed user fairness for transmit rate allocation.
0804.3269
Phoneme recognition in TIMIT with BLSTM-CTC
cs.CL cs.NE
We compare the performance of a recurrent neural network with the best results published so far on phoneme recognition in the TIMIT database. These published results have been obtained with a combination of classifiers. However, in this paper we apply a single recurrent neural network to the same task. Our recurrent neural network attains an error rate of 24.6%. This result is not significantly different from that obtained by the other best methods, but they rely on a combination of classifiers for achieving comparable performance.
0804.3271
Information Theoretic Operating Regimes of Large Wireless Networks
cs.IT math.IT
In analyzing the point-to-point wireless channel, insights about two qualitatively different operating regimes--bandwidth- and power-limited--have proven indispensable in the design of good communication schemes. In this paper, we propose a new scaling law formulation for wireless networks that allows us to develop a theory that is analogous to the point-to-point case. We identify fundamental operating regimes of wireless networks and derive architectural guidelines for the design of optimal schemes. Our analysis shows that in a given wireless network with arbitrary size, area, power, bandwidth, etc., there are three parameters of importance: the short-distance SNR, the long-distance SNR, and the power path loss exponent of the environment. Depending on these parameters we identify four qualitatively different regimes. One of these regimes is especially interesting since it is fundamentally a consequence of the heterogeneous nature of links in a network and does not occur in the point-to-point case; the network capacity is {\em both} power and bandwidth limited. This regime has thus far remained hidden due to the limitations of the existing formulation. Existing schemes, either multihop transmission or hierarchical cooperation, fail to achieve capacity in this regime; we propose a new hybrid scheme that achieves capacity.
0804.3361
A New Approach to Automated Epileptic Diagnosis Using EEG and Probabilistic Neural Network
cs.AI cs.CV
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders that greatly impair patient' daily lives. Traditional epileptic diagnosis relies on tedious visual screening by neurologists from lengthy EEG recording that requires the presence of seizure (ictal) activities. Nowadays, there are many systems helping the neurologists to quickly find interesting segments of the lengthy signal by automatic seizure detection. However, we notice that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain long-term EEG data with seizure activities for epilepsy patients in areas lack of medical resources and trained neurologists. Therefore, we propose to study automated epileptic diagnosis using interictal EEG data that is much easier to collect than ictal data. The authors are not aware of any report on automated EEG diagnostic system that can accurately distinguish patients' interictal EEG from the EEG of normal people. The research presented in this paper, therefore, aims to develop an automated diagnostic system that can use interictal EEG data to diagnose whether the person is epileptic. Such a system should also detect seizure activities for further investigation by doctors and potential patient monitoring. To develop such a system, we extract four classes of features from the EEG data and build a Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) fed with these features. Leave-one-out cross-validation (LOO-CV) on a widely used epileptic-normal data set reflects an impressive 99.5% accuracy of our system on distinguishing normal people's EEG from patient's interictal EEG. We also find our system can be used in patient monitoring (seizure detection) and seizure focus localization, with 96.7% and 77.5% accuracy respectively on the data set.
0804.3421
Coalitions in Cooperative Wireless Networks
cs.GT cs.IT math.IT
Cooperation between rational users in wireless networks is studied using coalitional game theory. Using the rate achieved by a user as its utility, it is shown that the stable coalition structure, i.e., set of coalitions from which users have no incentives to defect, depends on the manner in which the rate gains are apportioned among the cooperating users. Specifically, the stability of the grand coalition (GC), i.e., the coalition of all users, is studied. Transmitter and receiver cooperation in an interference channel (IC) are studied as illustrative cooperative models to determine the stable coalitions for both flexible (transferable) and fixed (non-transferable) apportioning schemes. It is shown that the stable sum-rate optimal coalition when only receivers cooperate by jointly decoding (transferable) is the GC. The stability of the GC depends on the detector when receivers cooperate using linear multiuser detectors (non-transferable). Transmitter cooperation is studied assuming that all receivers cooperate perfectly and that users outside a coalition act as jammers. The stability of the GC is studied for both the case of perfectly cooperating transmitters (transferrable) and under a partial decode-and-forward strategy (non-transferable). In both cases, the stability is shown to depend on the channel gains and the transmitter jamming strengths.
0804.3430
Combining Beamforming and Space-Time Coding Using Noisy Quantized Feedback
cs.IT math.IT
The goal of combining beamforming and space-time coding in this work is to obtain full-diversity order and to provide additional received power (array gain) compared to conventional space-time codes. In our system, we consider a quasi-static fading environment and we incorporate both high-rate and low-rate feedback channels with possible feedback errors. To utilize feedback information, a class of code constellations is proposed, inspired from orthogonal designs and precoded space-time block codes, which is called generalized partly orthogonal designs or generalized PODs. Furthermore, to model feedback errors, we assume that the feedback bits go through binary symmetric channels (BSCs). Two cases are studied: first, when the BSC bit error probability is known a priori to the transmission ends and second, when it is not known exactly. In the first case, we derive a minimum pairwise error probability (PEP) design criterion for generalized PODs. Then we design the quantizer for the erroneous feedback channel and the precoder codebook of PODs based on this criterion. The quantization scheme in our system is a channel optimized vector quantizer (COVQ). In the second case, the design of the quantizer and the precoder codebook is based on similar approaches, however with a worst-case design strategy. The attractive property of our combining scheme is that it converges to conventional space-time coding with low-rate and erroneous feedback and to directional beamforming with high-rate and error-free feedback. This scheme shows desirable robustness against feedback channel modeling mismatch.
0804.3439
Information theoretic bounds for Compressed Sensing
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper we derive information theoretic performance bounds to sensing and reconstruction of sparse phenomena from noisy projections. We consider two settings: output noise models where the noise enters after the projection and input noise models where the noise enters before the projection. We consider two types of distortion for reconstruction: support errors and mean-squared errors. Our goal is to relate the number of measurements, $m$, and $\snr$, to signal sparsity, $k$, distortion level, $d$, and signal dimension, $n$. We consider support errors in a worst-case setting. We employ different variations of Fano's inequality to derive necessary conditions on the number of measurements and $\snr$ required for exact reconstruction. To derive sufficient conditions we develop new insights on max-likelihood analysis based on a novel superposition property. In particular this property implies that small support errors are the dominant error events. Consequently, our ML analysis does not suffer the conservatism of the union bound and leads to a tighter analysis of max-likelihood. These results provide order-wise tight bounds. For output noise models we show that asymptotically an $\snr$ of $\Theta(\log(n))$ together with $\Theta(k \log(n/k))$ measurements is necessary and sufficient for exact support recovery. Furthermore, if a small fraction of support errors can be tolerated, a constant $\snr$ turns out to be sufficient in the linear sparsity regime. In contrast for input noise models we show that support recovery fails if the number of measurements scales as $o(n\log(n)/SNR)$ implying poor compression performance for such cases. We also consider Bayesian set-up and characterize tradeoffs between mean-squared distortion and the number of measurements using rate-distortion theory.
0804.3453
Weighted Sum Rate Optimization for Cognitive Radio MIMO Broadcast Channels
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we consider a cognitive radio (CR) network in which the unlicensed (secondary) users are allowed to concurrently access the spectrum allocated to the licensed (primary) users provided that their interference to the primary users (PUs) satisfies certain constraints. We study a weighted sum rate maximization problem for the secondary user (SU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) broadcast channel (BC), in which the SUs have not only the sum power constraint but also interference constraints. We first transform this multi-constraint maximization problem into its equivalent form, which involves a single constraint with multiple auxiliary variables. Fixing these multiple auxiliary variables, we propose a duality result for the equivalent problem. Our duality result can solve the optimization problem for MIMO-BC with multiple linear constraints, and thus can be viewed as an extension of the conventional results, which rely crucially on a single sum power constraint. Furthermore, we develop an efficient sub-gradient based iterative algorithm to solve the equivalent problem and show that the developed algorithm converges to a globally optimal solution. Simulation results are further provided to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
0804.3459
Towards a stable definition of Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity
cs.IT cs.CC math.IT
Although information content is invariant up to an additive constant, the range of possible additive constants applicable to programming languages is so large that in practice it plays a major role in the actual evaluation of K(s), the Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity of a string s. Some attempts have been made to arrive at a framework stable enough for a concrete definition of K, independent of any constant under a programming language, by appealing to the "naturalness" of the language in question. The aim of this paper is to present an approach to overcome the problem by looking at a set of models of computation converging in output probability distribution such that that "naturalness" can be inferred, thereby providing a framework for a stable definition of K under the set of convergent models of computation.
0804.3500
Natural pseudo-distance and optimal matching between reduced size functions
cs.CG cs.CV
This paper studies the properties of a new lower bound for the natural pseudo-distance. The natural pseudo-distance is a dissimilarity measure between shapes, where a shape is viewed as a topological space endowed with a real-valued continuous function. Measuring dissimilarity amounts to minimizing the change in the functions due to the application of homeomorphisms between topological spaces, with respect to the $L_\infty$-norm. In order to obtain the lower bound, a suitable metric between size functions, called matching distance, is introduced. It compares size functions by solving an optimal matching problem between countable point sets. The matching distance is shown to be resistant to perturbations, implying that it is always smaller than the natural pseudo-distance. We also prove that the lower bound so obtained is sharp and cannot be improved by any other distance between size functions.
0804.3507
Sixteen New Linear Codes With Plotkin Sum
cs.IT math.IT
Sixteen new linear codes are presented: three of them improve the lower bounds on the minimum distance for a linear code and the rest are an explicit construction of unknown codes attaining the lower bounds on the minimum distance. They are constructed using the Plotkin sum of two linear codes, also called $(u|u+v)$ construction. The computations have been achieved using an exhaustiv search.
0804.3575
Isotropic PCA and Affine-Invariant Clustering
cs.LG cs.CG
We present a new algorithm for clustering points in R^n. The key property of the algorithm is that it is affine-invariant, i.e., it produces the same partition for any affine transformation of the input. It has strong guarantees when the input is drawn from a mixture model. For a mixture of two arbitrary Gaussians, the algorithm correctly classifies the sample assuming only that the two components are separable by a hyperplane, i.e., there exists a halfspace that contains most of one Gaussian and almost none of the other in probability mass. This is nearly the best possible, improving known results substantially. For k > 2 components, the algorithm requires only that there be some (k-1)-dimensional subspace in which the emoverlap in every direction is small. Here we define overlap to be the ratio of the following two quantities: 1) the average squared distance between a point and the mean of its component, and 2) the average squared distance between a point and the mean of the mixture. The main result may also be stated in the language of linear discriminant analysis: if the standard Fisher discriminant is small enough, labels are not needed to estimate the optimal subspace for projection. Our main tools are isotropic transformation, spectral projection and a simple reweighting technique. We call this combination isotropic PCA.
0804.3599
Respect My Authority! HITS Without Hyperlinks, Utilizing Cluster-Based Language Models
cs.IR cs.CL
We present an approach to improving the precision of an initial document ranking wherein we utilize cluster information within a graph-based framework. The main idea is to perform re-ranking based on centrality within bipartite graphs of documents (on one side) and clusters (on the other side), on the premise that these are mutually reinforcing entities. Links between entities are created via consideration of language models induced from them. We find that our cluster-document graphs give rise to much better retrieval performance than previously proposed document-only graphs do. For example, authority-based re-ranking of documents via a HITS-style cluster-based approach outperforms a previously-proposed PageRank-inspired algorithm applied to solely-document graphs. Moreover, we also show that computing authority scores for clusters constitutes an effective method for identifying clusters containing a large percentage of relevant documents.
0804.3671
Constructions for Clumps Statistics
cs.DM cs.IR
We consider a component of the word statistics known as clump; starting from a finite set of words, clumps are maximal overlapping sets of these occurrences. This parameter has first been studied by Schbath with the aim of counting the number of occurrences of words in random texts. Later work with similar probabilistic approach used the Chen-Stein approximation for a compound Poisson distribution, where the number of clumps follows a law close to Poisson. Presently there is no combinatorial counterpart to this approach, and we fill the gap here. We emphasize the fact that, in contrast with the probabilistic approach which only provides asymptotic results, the combinatorial approach provides exact results that are useful when considering short sequences.
0804.3678
Causal inference using the algorithmic Markov condition
math.ST cs.IT math.IT stat.ML stat.TH
Inferring the causal structure that links n observables is usually based upon detecting statistical dependences and choosing simple graphs that make the joint measure Markovian. Here we argue why causal inference is also possible when only single observations are present. We develop a theory how to generate causal graphs explaining similarities between single objects. To this end, we replace the notion of conditional stochastic independence in the causal Markov condition with the vanishing of conditional algorithmic mutual information and describe the corresponding causal inference rules. We explain why a consistent reformulation of causal inference in terms of algorithmic complexity implies a new inference principle that takes into account also the complexity of conditional probability densities, making it possible to select among Markov equivalent causal graphs. This insight provides a theoretical foundation of a heuristic principle proposed in earlier work. We also discuss how to replace Kolmogorov complexity with decidable complexity criteria. This can be seen as an algorithmic analog of replacing the empirically undecidable question of statistical independence with practical independence tests that are based on implicit or explicit assumptions on the underlying distribution.
0804.3680
Word-Based Text Compression
cs.IT math.IT
Today there are many universal compression algorithms, but in most cases is for specific data better using specific algorithm - JPEG for images, MPEG for movies, etc. For textual documents there are special methods based on PPM algorithm or methods with non-character access, e.g. word-based compression. In the past, several papers describing variants of word-based compression using Huffman encoding or LZW method were published. The subject of this paper is the description of a word-based compression variant based on the LZ77 algorithm. The LZ77 algorithm and its modifications are described in this paper. Moreover, various ways of sliding window implementation and various possibilities of output encoding are described, as well. This paper also includes the implementation of an experimental application, testing of its efficiency and finding the best combination of all parts of the LZ77 coder. This is done to achieve the best compression ratio. In conclusion there is comparison of this implemented application with other word-based compression programs and with other commonly used compression programs.
0804.3817
Multiple Random Oracles Are Better Than One
cs.LG
We study the problem of learning k-juntas given access to examples drawn from a number of different product distributions. Thus we wish to learn a function f : {-1,1}^n -> {-1,1} that depends on k (unknown) coordinates. While the best known algorithms for the general problem of learning a k-junta require running time of n^k * poly(n,2^k), we show that given access to k different product distributions with biases separated by \gamma>0, the functions may be learned in time poly(n,2^k,\gamma^{-k}). More generally, given access to t <= k different product distributions, the functions may be learned in time n^{k/t} * poly(n,2^k,\gamma^{-k}). Our techniques involve novel results in Fourier analysis relating Fourier expansions with respect to different biases and a generalization of Russo's formula.
0804.3825
On the inner and outer bounds for 2-receiver discrete memoryless broadcast channels
cs.IT math.IT
We study the best known general inner bound[MAR '79] and outer bound[N-EG'07] for the capacity region of the two user discrete memory less channel. We prove that a seemingly stronger outer bound is identical to a weaker form of the outer bound that was also presented in [N-EG'07]. We are able to further express the best outer bound in a form that is computable, i.e. there are bounds on the cardinalities of the auxiliary random variables. The inner and outer bounds coincide for all channels for which the capacity region is known and it is not known whether the regions described by these bounds are same or different. We present a channel, where assuming a certain conjecture backed by simulations and partial theoretical results, one can show that the bounds are different.
0804.3862
Image Processing in Optical Guidance for Autonomous Landing of Lunar Probe
cs.RO
Because of the communication delay between earth and moon, the GNC technology of lunar probe is becoming more important than ever. Current navigation technology is not able to provide precise motion estimation for probe landing control system Computer vision offers a new approach to solve this problem. In this paper, author introduces an image process algorithm of computer vision navigation for autonomous landing of lunar probe. The purpose of the algorithm is to detect and track feature points which are factors of navigation. Firstly, fixation areas are detected as sub-images and matched. Secondly, feature points are extracted from sub-images and tracked. Computer simulation demonstrates the result of algorithm takes less computation and fulfils requests of navigation algorithm.
0804.3868
Comparison of Various Methods for the Calculation of the Distance Potential Field
physics.comp-ph cs.MA physics.soc-ph
The distance from a given position toward one or more destinations, exits, and way points is a more or less important input variable in most models of pedestrian dynamics. Except for the special case when there are no obstacles in a concave scenario -- i.e. each position is visible from any other -- the calculation of these distances is a non-trivial task. This isn't that big a problem, as long as the model only demands the distances to be stored in a Static Floor Field also called Potential Field, which never changes throughout the whole simulation. In this case a pre-calculation once before the simulation starts is sufficient. But if one wants to allow changes of the geometry during a simulation run -- imagine doors or the blocking of a corridor due to some hazard -- in the Distance Potential Field, calculation time matters strongly. This contribution gives an overview over existing and new exact and approximate methods to calculate a potential field, analytical investigations for their exactness, and tests of their computation speed. The advantages and drawbacks of the methods are discussed.
0804.3874
Hardware In The Loop Simulator in UAV Rapid Development Life Cycle
cs.RO
Field trial is very critical and high risk in autonomous UAV development life cycle. Hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation is a computer simulation that has the ability to simulate UAV flight characteristic, sensor modeling and actuator modeling while communicating in real time with the UAV autopilot hardware. HIL simulation can be used to test the UAV autopilot hardware reliability, test the closed loop performance of the overall system and tuning the control parameter. By rigorous testing in the HIL simulator, the risk in the field trial can be minimized.
0804.3879
Effects of Leaders Position and Shape on Aerodynamic Performances of V Flight Formation
cs.RO
The influences of the leader in a group of V flight formation are dealt with. The investigation is focused on the effect of its position and shape on aerodynamics performances of a given V flight formation. Vortices generated the wing tip of the leader moves downstream forming a pair of opposite rotating line vortices. These vortices are generally undesirable because they create a downwash that increases the induced drag on leaders wing. However, this downwash is also accompanied by an upwash that can beneficial to the followers wing flying behind the leaders one, namely a favorable lift for the followers wing. How much contributions of the leaders wing to the followers wing in the V formation flight is determined by the strength of tip vortices generated by the leaders wing which is influenced by its position and shape including incidence angle, dihedral angle, aspect ratio and taper ratio. The prediction of aerodynamic performances of the V flight formation including lift, drag and moment coefficients is numerically performed by solving Navier Stokes equations with k e turbulence model. The computational domain is defined with multiblock topology to capture the complex geometry arrangement of the V flight formation.
0804.3881
Automated Flight Test and System Identification for Rotary Wing Small Aerial Platform using Frequency Responses Analysis
cs.RO
This paper proposes an autopilot system that can be used to control the small scale rotorcraft during the flight test for linear-frequency-domain system identification. The input frequency swept is generated automatically as part of the autopilot control command. Therefore the bandwidth coverage and consistency of the frequency swept is guaranteed to produce high quality data for system identification. Beside that we can set the safety parameter during the flight test (maximum roll or pitch value, minimum altitude, etc) so the safety of the whole flight test is guaranteed. This autopilot for automated flight test will be tested using hardware in the loop simulator for hover flight condition.
0804.3882
Virtual Reality Simulation of Fire Fighting Robot Dynamic and Motion
cs.RO
This paper presents one approach in designing a Fire Fighting Robot which has been contested annually in a robotic student competition in many countries following the rules initiated at the Trinity College. The approach makes use of computer simulation and animation in a virtual reality environment. In the simulation, the amount of time, starting from home until the flame is destroyed, can be confirmed. The efficacy of algorithms and parameter values employed can be easily evaluated. Rather than spending time building the real robot in a trial and error fashion, now students can explore more variation of algorithm, parameter and sensor-actuator configuration in the early stage of design. Besides providing additional excitement during learning process and enhancing students understanding to the engineering aspects of the design, this approach could become a useful tool to increase the chance of winning the contest.
0804.3885
Heading Lock Maneuver Testing of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
cs.RO
In recent years, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (UAV) research and development at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia has achieved the testing stage in the field. This testing was still being classified as the early testing, since some of the preliminary tests were carried out in the scale of the laboratory. The paper would discuss the laboratory test and several tests that were done in the field. Discussions were stressed in the procedure and the aim that will be achieved, along with several early results. The testing was carried out in the lake with the area around 8300 Ha and the maximum depth of 50 meters. The location of the testing was chosen with consideration of minimizing the effect of the current and the wave, as well as the location that was not too far from the Laboratory. The type of testing that will be discussed in paper was Heading Lock Maneuver Testing. The vehicle was tested to move with a certain cruising speed, afterwards it was commanded by an arbitrarily selected heading direction. The response and the behavior of the vehicle were recorded as the data produced by the testing.
0804.3891
Development of Architectures for Internet Telerobotics Systems
cs.RO
This paper presents our experience in developing and implementing Internet telerobotics system. Internet telerobotics system refers to a robot system controlled and monitored remotely through the Internet. A robot manipulator with five degrees of freedom, called Mentor, is employed. Client-server architecture is chosen as a platform for our Internet telerobotics system. Three generations of telerobotics systems have evolved in this research. The first generation was based on CGI and two tiered architecture, where a client presents a Graphical User Interface to the user, and utilizes the user's data entry and actions to perform requests to robot server running on a different machine. The second generation was developed using Java. We also employ Java 3D for creating and manipulating 3D geometry of manipulator links and for constructing the structures used in rendering that geometry, resulting in 3D robot movement simulation presented to the users(clients) through their web browser. Recent development in our Internet telerobotics includes object recognition through image captured by a camera, which poses challenging problem, given the undeterministic latency of the Internet. The third generation is centered around the use of CORBA for development platform of distributed internet telerobotics system, aimed at distributing task of telerobotics system.
0804.3894
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Instrumentation for Rapid Aerial Photo System
cs.RO
This research will proposed a new kind of relatively low cost autonomous UAV that will enable farmers to make just in time mosaics of aerial photo of their crop. These mosaics of aerial photo should be able to be produced with relatively low cost and within the 24 hours of acquisition constraint. The autonomous UAV will be equipped with payload management system specifically developed for rapid aerial mapping. As mentioned before turn around time is the key factor, so accuracy is not the main focus (not orthorectified aerial mapping). This system will also be equipped with special software to post process the aerial photos to produce the mosaic aerial photo map
0804.3895
First Principle Approach to Modeling of Small Scale Helicopter
cs.RO
The establishment of global helicopter linear model is very precious and useful for the design of the linear control laws, since it is never afforded in the published literatures. In the first principle approach, the mathematical model was developed using basic helicopter theory accounting for particular characteristic of the miniature helicopter. No formal system identification procedures are required for the proposed model structure. The relevant published literatures however did not present the linear models required for the design of linear control laws. The paper presents a step by step development of linear model for small scale helicopter based on first-principle approach. Beyond the previous work in literatures, the calculation of the stability derivatives is presented in detail. A computer program is used to solve the equilibrium conditions and then calculate the change in aerodynamics forces and moments due to the change in each degree of freedom and control input. The detail derivation allows the comprehensive analysis of relative dominance of vehicle states and input variables to force and moment components. Hence it facilitates the development of minimum complexity small scale helicopter dynamics model.
0804.3897
Optimal Tracking Controller Design for a Small Scale Helicopter
cs.RO
A model helicopter is more difficult to control than its full scale counterparts. This is due to its greater sensitivity to control inputs and disturbances as well as higher bandwidth of dynamics. This works is focused on designing practical tracking controller for a small scale helicopter following predefined trajectories. A tracking controller based on optimal control theory is synthesized as part of the development of an autonomous helicopter. Some issues in regards to control constraints are addressed. The weighting between state tracking performance and control power expenditure is analyzed. Overall performance of the control design is evaluated based on its time domain histories of trajectories as well as control inputs.
0804.4042
Uncorrectable Errors of Weight Half the Minimum Distance for Binary Linear Codes
cs.IT math.IT
A lower bound on the number of uncorrectable errors of weight half the minimum distance is derived for binary linear codes satisfying some condition. The condition is satisfied by some primitive BCH codes, extended primitive BCH codes, Reed-Muller codes, and random linear codes. The bound asymptotically coincides with the corresponding upper bound for Reed-Muller codes and random linear codes. By generalizing the idea of the lower bound, a lower bound on the number of uncorrectable errors for weights larger than half the minimum distance is also obtained, but the generalized lower bound is weak for large weights. The monotone error structure and its related notion larger half and trial set, which are introduced by Helleseth, Kl{\o}ve, and Levenshtein, are mainly used to derive the bounds.
0804.4071
Logic Mining Using Neural Networks
cs.LO cs.NE
Knowledge could be gained from experts, specialists in the area of interest, or it can be gained by induction from sets of data. Automatic induction of knowledge from data sets, usually stored in large databases, is called data mining. Data mining methods are important in the management of complex systems. There are many technologies available to data mining practitioners, including Artificial Neural Networks, Regression, and Decision Trees. Neural networks have been successfully applied in wide range of supervised and unsupervised learning applications. Neural network methods are not commonly used for data mining tasks, because they often produce incomprehensible models, and require long training times. One way in which the collective properties of a neural network may be used to implement a computational task is by way of the concept of energy minimization. The Hopfield network is well-known example of such an approach. The Hopfield network is useful as content addressable memory or an analog computer for solving combinatorial-type optimization problems. Wan Abdullah [1] proposed a method of doing logic programming on a Hopfield neural network. Optimization of logical inconsistency is carried out by the network after the connection strengths are defined from the logic program; the network relaxes to neural states corresponding to a valid interpretation. In this article, we describe how Hopfield network is able to induce logical rules from large database by using reverse analysis method: given the values of the connections of a network, we can hope to know what logical rules are entrenched in the database.
0804.4073
Grainy Numbers
cs.LO cs.AI
Grainy numbers are defined as tuples of bits. They form a lattice where the meet and the join operations are an addition and a multiplication. They may be substituted for the real numbers in the definition of fuzzy sets. The aim is to propose an alternative negation for the complement that we'll call supplement.
0804.4075
Logic Learning in Hopfield Networks
cs.LO cs.NE
Synaptic weights for neurons in logic programming can be calculated either by using Hebbian learning or by Wan Abdullah's method. In other words, Hebbian learning for governing events corresponding to some respective program clauses is equivalent with learning using Wan Abdullah's method for the same respective program clauses. In this paper we will evaluate experimentally the equivalence between these two types of learning through computer simulations.
0804.4187
On the Asymptotic Behavior of Selfish Transmitters Sharing a Common Channel
cs.IT cs.GT math.IT
This paper analyzes the asymptotic behavior of a multiple-access network comprising a large number of selfish transmitters competing for access to a common wireless communication channel, and having different utility functions for determining their strategies. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for the total number of packet arrivals from selfish transmitters to converge in distribution. The asymptotic packet arrival distribution at Nash equilibrium is shown to be a mixture of a Poisson distribution and finitely many Bernoulli distributions.
0804.4194
Asymptotic Bound on Binary Self-Orthogonal Codes
cs.IT math.IT
We present two constructions for binary self-orthogonal codes. It turns out that our constructions yield a constructive bound on binary self-orthogonal codes. In particular, when the information rate R=1/2, by our constructive lower bound, the relative minimum distance \delta\approx 0.0595 (for GV bound, \delta\approx 0.110). Moreover, we have proved that the binary self-orthogonal codes asymptotically achieve the Gilbert-Varshamov bound.
0804.4195
Multi-Antenna Gaussian Broadcast Channels with Confidential Messages
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
In wireless data networks, communication is particularly susceptible to eavesdropping due to its broadcast nature. Security and privacy systems have become critical for wireless providers and enterprise networks. This paper considers the problem of secret communication over a Gaussian broadcast channel, where a multi-antenna transmitter sends independent confidential messages to two users with \emph{information-theoretic secrecy}. That is, each user would like to obtain its own confidential message in a reliable and safe manner. This communication model is referred to as the multi-antenna Gaussian broadcast channel with confidential messages (MGBC-CM). Under this communication scenario, a secret dirty-paper coding scheme and the corresponding achievable secrecy rate region are first developed based on Gaussian codebooks. Next, a computable Sato-type outer bound on the secrecy capacity region is provided for the MGBC-CM. Furthermore, the Sato-type outer bound proves to be consistent with the boundary of the secret dirty-paper coding achievable rate region, and hence, the secrecy capacity region of the MGBC-CM is established. Finally, a numerical example demonstrates that both users can achieve positive rates simultaneously under the information-theoretic secrecy requirement.
0804.4204
Distance Distributions in Finite Uniformly Random Networks: Theory and Applications
cs.IT math.IT
In wireless networks, the knowledge of nodal distances is essential for several areas such as system configuration, performance analysis and protocol design. In order to evaluate distance distributions in random networks, the underlying nodal arrangement is almost universally taken to be an infinite Poisson point process. While this assumption is valid in some cases, there are also certain impracticalities to this model. For example, practical networks are non-stationary, and the number of nodes in disjoint areas are not independent. This paper considers a more realistic network model where a finite number of nodes are uniformly randomly distributed in a general d-dimensional ball of radius R and characterizes the distribution of Euclidean distances in the system. The key result is that the probability density function of the distance from the center of the network to its nth nearest neighbor follows a generalized beta distribution. This finding is applied to study network characteristics such as energy consumption, interference, outage and connectivity.
0804.4237
Explaining the Logical Nature of Electrical Solitons in Neural Circuits
cs.NE q-bio.NC
Neurons are modeled electrically based on ferroelectric membranes thin enough to permit charge transfer, conjectured to be the tunneling result of thermally energetic ions and random electrons. These membranes can be triggered to produce electrical solitons, the main signals for brain associative memory and logical processing. Dendritic circuits are modeled, and electrical solitons are simulated to demonstrate the nature of soliton propagation, soliton reflection, the collision of solitons, as well as soliton OR gates, AND gates, XOR gates and NOT gates.
0804.4239
Capacity Definitions for General Channels with Receiver Side Information
cs.IT math.IT
We consider three capacity definitions for general channels with channel side information at the receiver, where the channel is modeled as a sequence of finite dimensional conditional distributions not necessarily stationary, ergodic, or information stable. The {\em Shannon capacity} is the highest rate asymptotically achievable with arbitrarily small error probability. The {\em capacity versus outage} is the highest rate asymptotically achievable with a given probability of decoder-recognized outage. The {\em expected capacity} is the highest average rate asymptotically achievable with a single encoder and multiple decoders, where the channel side information determines the decoder in use. As a special case of channel codes for expected rate, the code for capacity versus outage has two decoders: one operates in the non-outage states and decodes all transmitted information, and the other operates in the outage states and decodes nothing. Expected capacity equals Shannon capacity for channels governed by a stationary ergodic random process but is typically greater for general channels. These alternative capacity definitions essentially relax the constraint that all transmitted information must be decoded at the receiver. We derive capacity theorems for these capacity definitions through information density. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate their connections and differences. We also discuss the implication of these alternative capacity definitions for end-to-end distortion, source-channel coding and separation.
0804.4255
Expected Message Delivery Time for Small-world Networks in the Continuum Limit
cs.IT math.IT
Small-world networks are networks in which the graphical diameter of the network is as small as the diameter of random graphs but whose nodes are highly clustered when compared with the ones in a random graph. Examples of small-world networks abound in sociology, biology, neuroscience and physics as well as in human-made networks. This paper analyzes the average delivery time of messages in dense small-world networks constructed on a plane. Iterative equations for the average message delivery time in these networks are provided for the situation in which nodes employ a simple greedy geographic routing algorithm. It is shown that two network nodes communicate with each other only through their short-range contacts, and that the average message delivery time rises linearly if the separation between them is small. On the other hand, if their separation increases, the average message delivery time rapidly saturates to a constant value and stays almost the same for all large values of their separation.
0804.4284
Network Coding Capacity of Random Wireless Networks under a SINR Model
cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
Previous work on network coding capacity for random wired and wireless networks have focused on the case where the capacities of links in the network are independent. In this paper, we consider a more realistic model, where wireless networks are modelled by random geometric graphs with interference and noise. In this model, the capacities of links are not independent. By employing coupling and martingale methods, we show that, under mild conditions, the network coding capacity for random wireless networks still exhibits a concentration behavior around the mean value of the minimum cut.
0804.4298
Wireless Erasure Networks with Feedback
cs.IT math.IT
Consider a lossy packet network of queues, communicating over a wireless medium. This paper presents a throughput-optimal transmission strategy for a unicast network when feedback is available, which has the following advantages: It requires a very limited form of acknowledgment feedback. It is completely distributed, and independent of the network topology. Finally, communication at the information theoretic cut-set rate requires no network coding and no rateless coding on the packets. This simple strategy consists of each node randomly choosing a packet from its buffer to transmit at each opportunity. However, the packet is only deleted from a node's buffer once it has been successfully received by the final destination
0804.4305
An Algorigtm for Singular Value Decomposition of Matrices in Blocks
math.NA cs.IR math.AC
Two methods to decompose block matrices analogous to Singular Matrix Decomposition are proposed, one yielding the so called economy decomposition, and other yielding the full decomposition. This method is devised to avoid handling matrices bigger than the biggest blocks, so it is particularly appropriate when a limitation on the size of matrices exists. The method is tested on a document-term matrix (17780x3204) divided in 4 blocks, the upper-left corner being 215x215.
0804.4316
Asymmetric Quantum LDPC Codes
quant-ph cs.IT math.IT
Recently, quantum error-correcting codes were proposed that capitalize on the fact that many physical error models lead to a significant asymmetry between the probabilities for bit flip and phase flip errors. An example for a channel which exhibits such asymmetry is the combined amplitude damping and dephasing channel, where the probabilities of bit flips and phase flips can be related to relaxation and dephasing time, respectively. We give systematic constructions of asymmetric quantum stabilizer codes that exploit this asymmetry. Our approach is based on a CSS construction that combines BCH and finite geometry LDPC codes.
0804.4336
Counterflow Extension for the F.A.S.T.-Model
cs.MA physics.comp-ph
The F.A.S.T. (Floor field and Agent based Simulation Tool) model is a microscopic model of pedestrian dynamics, which is discrete in space and time. It was developed in a number of more or less consecutive steps from a simple CA model. This contribution is a summary of a study on an extension of the F.A.S.T-model for counterflow situations. The extensions will be explained and it will be shown that the extended F.A.S.T.-model is capable of handling various counterflow situations and to reproduce the well known lane formation effect.
0804.4384
Linear-Programming Decoding of Nonbinary Linear Codes
cs.IT math.IT
A framework for linear-programming (LP) decoding of nonbinary linear codes over rings is developed. This framework facilitates linear-programming based reception for coded modulation systems which use direct modulation mapping of coded symbols. It is proved that the resulting LP decoder has the 'maximum-likelihood certificate' property. It is also shown that the decoder output is the lowest cost pseudocodeword. Equivalence between pseudocodewords of the linear program and pseudocodewords of graph covers is proved. It is also proved that if the modulator-channel combination satisfies a particular symmetry condition, the codeword error rate performance is independent of the transmitted codeword. Two alternative polytopes for use with linear-programming decoding are studied, and it is shown that for many classes of codes these polytopes yield a complexity advantage for decoding. These polytope representations lead to polynomial-time decoders for a wide variety of classical nonbinary linear codes. LP decoding performance is illustrated for the [11,6] ternary Golay code with ternary PSK modulation over AWGN, and in this case it is shown that the performance of the LP decoder is comparable to codeword-error-rate-optimum hard-decision based decoding. LP decoding is also simulated for medium-length ternary and quaternary LDPC codes with corresponding PSK modulations over AWGN.
0804.4391
A Lower Bound on the Bayesian MSE Based on the Optimal Bias Function
cs.IT math.IT
A lower bound on the minimum mean-squared error (MSE) in a Bayesian estimation problem is proposed in this paper. This bound utilizes a well-known connection to the deterministic estimation setting. Using the prior distribution, the bias function which minimizes the Cramer-Rao bound can be determined, resulting in a lower bound on the Bayesian MSE. The bound is developed for the general case of a vector parameter with an arbitrary probability distribution, and is shown to be asymptotically tight in both the high and low signal-to-noise ratio regimes. A numerical study demonstrates several cases in which the proposed technique is both simpler to compute and tighter than alternative methods.
0804.4395
Development of a peristaltic micropump for bio-medical applications based on mini LIPCA
cs.RO
This paper presents the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a peristaltic micropump. The micropump is composed of two layers fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. The first layer has a rectangular channel and two valve seals. Three rectangular mini lightweight piezo-composite actuators are integrated in the second layer, and used as actuation parts. Two layers are bonded, and covered by two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plates, which help increase the stiffness of the micropump. A maximum flow rate of 900 mokroliter per min and a maximum backpressure of 1.8 kPa are recorded when water is used as pump liquid. We measured the power consumption of the micropump. The micropump is found to be a promising candidate for bio-medical application due to its bio-compatibility, portability, bidirectionality, and simple effective design.
0804.4451
Dependence Structure Estimation via Copula
cs.LG cs.IR stat.ME
Dependence strucuture estimation is one of the important problems in machine learning domain and has many applications in different scientific areas. In this paper, a theoretical framework for such estimation based on copula and copula entropy -- the probabilistic theory of representation and measurement of statistical dependence, is proposed. Graphical models are considered as a special case of the copula framework. A method of the framework for estimating maximum spanning copula is proposed. Due to copula, the method is irrelevant to the properties of individual variables, insensitive to outlier and able to deal with non-Gaussianity. Experiments on both simulated data and real dataset demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.
0804.4455
On the Capacity Bounds of Undirected Networks
cs.IT math.IT
In this work we improve on the bounds presented by Li&Li for network coding gain in the undirected case. A tightened bound for the undirected multicast problem with three terminals is derived. An interesting result shows that with fractional routing, routing throughput can achieve at least 75% of the coding throughput. A tighter bound for the general multicast problem with any number of terminals shows that coding gain is strictly less than 2. Our derived bound depends on the number of terminals in the multicast network and approaches 2 for arbitrarily large number of terminals.
0804.4466
Free Distance Bounds for Protograph-Based Regular LDPC Convolutional Codes
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper asymptotic methods are used to form lower bounds on the free distance to constraint length ratio of several ensembles of regular, asymptotically good, protograph-based LDPC convolutional codes. In particular, we show that the free distance to constraint length ratio of the regular LDPC convolutional codes exceeds that of the minimum distance to block length ratio of the corresponding LDPC block codes.
0804.4489
Generalized Degrees of Freedom of the Symmetric Gaussian $K$ User Interference Channel
cs.IT math.IT
We characterize the generalized degrees of freedom of the $K$ user symmetric Gaussian interference channel where all desired links have the same signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and all undesired links carrying interference have the same interference-to-noise ratio, ${INR}={SNR}^\alpha$. We find that the number of generalized degrees of freedom per user, $d(\alpha)$, does not depend on the number of users, so that the characterization is identical to the 2 user interference channel with the exception of a singularity at $\alpha=1$ where $d(1)=\frac{1}{K}$. The achievable schemes use multilevel coding with a nested lattice structure that opens the possibility that the sum of interfering signals can be decoded at a receiver even though the messages carried by the interfering signals are not decodable.
0804.4517
A multivariate generalization of Costa's entropy power inequality
cs.IT math.IT
A simple multivariate version of Costa's entropy power inequality is proved. In particular, it is shown that if independent white Gaussian noise is added to an arbitrary multivariate signal, the entropy power of the resulting random variable is a multidimensional concave function of the individual variances of the components of the signal. As a side result, we also give an expression for the Hessian matrix of the entropy and entropy power functions with respect to the variances of the signal components, which is an interesting result in its own right.
0804.4584
Feature Unification in TAG Derivation Trees
cs.CL
The derivation trees of a tree adjoining grammar provide a first insight into the sentence semantics, and are thus prime targets for generation systems. We define a formalism, feature-based regular tree grammars, and a translation from feature based tree adjoining grammars into this new formalism. The translation preserves the derivation structures of the original grammar, and accounts for feature unification.
0804.4622
Fast Density Codes for Image Data
cs.NE
Recently, a new method for encoding data sets in the form of "Density Codes" was proposed in the literature (Courrieu, 2006). This method allows to compare sets of points belonging to every multidimensional space, and to build shape spaces invariant to a wide variety of affine and non-affine transformations. However, this general method does not take advantage of the special properties of image data, resulting in a quite slow encoding process that makes this tool practically unusable for processing large image databases with conventional computers. This paper proposes a very simple variant of the density code method that directly works on the image function, which is thousands times faster than the original Parzen window based method, without loss of its useful properties.
0804.4662
Rateless Coding for MIMO Block Fading Channels
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper the performance limits and design principles of rateless codes over fading channels are studied. The diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) is used to analyze the system performance for all possible transmission rates. It is revealed from the analysis that the design of such rateless codes follows the design principle of approximately universal codes for parallel multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels, in which each sub-channel is a MIMO channel. More specifically, it is shown that for a single-input single-output (SISO) channel, the previously developed permutation codes of unit length for parallel channels having rate LR can be transformed directly into rateless codes of length L having multiple rate levels (R, 2R, . . ., LR), to achieve the DMT performance limit.
0804.4682
Introduction to Relational Networks for Classification
cs.LG
The use of computational intelligence techniques for classification has been used in numerous applications. This paper compares the use of a Multi Layer Perceptron Neural Network and a new Relational Network on classifying the HIV status of women at ante-natal clinics. The paper discusses the architecture of the relational network and its merits compared to a neural network and most other computational intelligence classifiers. Results gathered from the study indicate comparable classification accuracies as well as revealed relationships between data features in the classification data. Much higher classification accuracies are recommended for future research in the area of HIV classification as well as missing data estimation.
0804.4701
Superposition-Coded Concurrent Decode-and-Forward Relaying
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, a superposition-coded concurrent decode-and-forward (DF) relaying protocol is presented. A specific scenario, where the inter-relay channel is sufficiently strong, is considered. Assuming perfect source-relay transmissions, the proposed scheme further improves the diversity performance of previously proposed repetition-coded concurrent DF relaying, in which the advantage of the inter-relay interference is not fully extracted.
0804.4714
Network Structure and Dynamics, and Emergence of Robustness by Stabilizing Selection in an Artificial Genome
q-bio.MN cond-mat.dis-nn cs.NE q-bio.GN q-bio.PE
Genetic regulation is a key component in development, but a clear understanding of the structure and dynamics of genetic networks is not yet at hand. In this work we investigate these properties within an artificial genome model originally introduced by Reil. We analyze statistical properties of randomly generated genomes both on the sequence- and network level, and show that this model correctly predicts the frequency of genes in genomes as found in experimental data. Using an evolutionary algorithm based on stabilizing selection for a phenotype, we show that robustness against single base mutations, as well as against random changes in initial network states that mimic stochastic fluctuations in environmental conditions, can emerge in parallel. Evolved genomes exhibit characteristic patterns on both sequence and network level.
0804.4717
Intelligent Unmanned Explorer for Deep Space Exploration
cs.RO
asteroids or comets have received remarkable attention in the world. In small body explorations, especially, detailed in-situ surface exploration by tiny rover is one of effective and fruitful means and is expected to make strong contributions towards scientific studies. JAXA ISAS is promoting MUSES C mission, which is the worlds first sample and return attempt to or from the near earth asteroid. Hayabusa spacecraft in MUSES C mission took the tiny rover, which was expected to perform the in-situ surface exploration by hopping. This paper describes the system design, mobility and intelligence of the developed unmanned explorer. This paper also presents the ground experimental results and the flight results.
0804.4740
An Affine-invariant Time-dependent Triangulation of Spatio-temporal Data
cs.CG cs.DB
In the geometric data model for spatio-temporal data, introduced by Chomicki and Revesz, spatio-temporal data are modelled as a finite collection of triangles that are transformed by time-dependent affinities of the plane. To facilitate querying and animation of spatio-temporal data, we present a normal form for data in the geometric data model. We propose an algorithm for constructing this normal form via a spatio-temporal triangulation of geometric data objects. This triangulation algorithm generates new geometric data objects that partition the given objects both in space and in time. A particular property of the proposed partition is that it is invariant under time-dependent affine transformations, and hence independent of the particular choice of coordinate system used to describe he spatio-temporal data in. We can show that our algorithm works correctly and has a polynomial time complexity (of reasonably low degree in the number of input triangles and the maximal degree of the polynomial functions that describe the transformation functions). We also discuss several possible applications of this spatio-temporal triangulation.
0804.4741
The Effect of Structural Diversity of an Ensemble of Classifiers on Classification Accuracy
cs.LG
This paper aims to showcase the measure of structural diversity of an ensemble of 9 classifiers and then map a relationship between this structural diversity and accuracy. The structural diversity was induced by having different architectures or structures of the classifiers The Genetical Algorithms (GA) were used to derive the relationship between diversity and the classification accuracy by evolving the classifiers and then picking 9 classifiers out on an ensemble of 60 classifiers. It was found that as the ensemble became diverse the accuracy improved. However at a certain diversity measure the accuracy began to drop. The Kohavi-Wolpert variance method is used to measure the diversity of the ensemble. A method of voting is used to aggregate the results from each classifier. The lowest error was observed at a diversity measure of 0.16 with a mean square error of 0.274, when taking 0.2024 as maximum diversity measured. The parameters that were varied were: the number of hidden nodes, learning rate and the activation function.
0804.4749
Study of improving nano-contouring performance by employing cross-coupling controller
cs.RO
For the tracking stage path planning, we design a two-axis cross-coupling control system which uses the PI controller to compensate the contour error between axes. In this paper, the stage adoptive is designed by our laboratory (Precision Machine Center of National Formosa University). The cross-coupling controller calculates the actuating signal of each axis by combining multi-axes position error. Hence, the cross-coupling controller improves the stage tracking ability and decreases the contour error. The experiments show excellent stage motion. This finding confirms that the proposed method is a powerful and efficient tool for improving stage tracking ability. Also found were the stages tracking to minimize contour error of two types circular to approximately 25nm.
0804.4750
The Numerical Control Design for a Pair of Dubins Vehicles
cs.RO
In this paper, a model of a pair of Dubins vehicles is considered. The vehicles move from an initial position and orientation to final position and orientation. A long the motion, the two vehicles are not allowed to collide however the two vehicles cant to far each other. The optimal control of the vehicle is found using the Pontryagins Maximum Principle (PMP). This PMP leads to a Hamiltonian system consisting of a system of differential equation and its adjoint. The originally differential equation has initial and final condition but the adjoint system doesn't have one. The classical difficulty is solved numerically by the greatest gradient descent method. Some simulation results are presented in this paper.
0804.4752
Simulation of Dynamic Yaw Stability Derivatives of a Bird Using CFD
cs.RO
Simulation results on dynamic yaw stability derivatives of a gull bird by means of computational fluid dynamics are presented. Two different kinds of motions are used for determining the dynamic yaw stability derivatives CNr and CNbeta . Concerning the first one, simple lateral translation and yaw rotary motions in yaw are considered. The second one consists of combined motions. To determine dynamic yaw stability derivatives of the bird, the simulation of an unsteady flow with a bird model showing a harmonic motion is performed. The unsteady flow solution for each time step is obtained by solving unsteady Euler equations based on a finite volume approach for a smaller reduced frequency. Then, an evaluation of unsteady forces and moments for one cycle is conducted using harmonic Fourier analysis. The results on the dynamic yaw stability derivatives for both simulations of the model motion show a good agreement.
0804.4753
Wavelet Based Iterative Learning Control with Fuzzy PD Feedback for Position Tracking of A Pneumatic Servo System
cs.RO
In this paper, a wavelet-based iterative learning control (WILC) scheme with Fuzzy PD feedback is presented for a pneumatic control system with nonsmooth nonlinearities and uncertain parameters. The wavelet transform is employed to extract the learnable dynamics from measured output signal before it can be used to update the control profile. The wavelet transform is adopted to decompose the original signal into many low-resolution signals that contain the learnable and unlearnable parts. The desired control profile is then compared with the learnable part of the transformed signal. Thus, the effects from unlearnable dynamics on the controlled system can be attenuated by a Fuzzy PD feedback controller. As for the rules of Fuzzy PD controller in the feedback loop, a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to search for the inference rules of optimization. A proportional-valve controlled pneumatic cylinder actuator system is used as the control target for simulation. Simulation results have shown a much-improved positiontracking performance.
0804.4754
Positive Real Synthesis of Networked Control System An LMI Approach
cs.RO
This paper presents the positive real analysis and synthesis for Networked Control Systems (NCS) in discrete time. Based on the definition of passivity, the sufficient condition of NCS is given by stochastic Lyapunov functional. The controller via state feedback is designed to guarantee the stability of NCS and closed-loop positive realness. It is shown that a mode-dependent positive real controller exists if a set of coupled linear matrix inequalities has solutions. The controller can be then constructed in terms of the solutions.
0804.4757
Analysis of Stability, Response and LQR Controller Design of a Small Scale Helicopter Dynamics
cs.RO
This paper presents how to use feedback controller with helicopter dynamics state space model. A simplified analysis is presented for controller design using LQR of small scale helicopters for axial and forward flights. Our approach is simple and gives the basic understanding about how to develop controller for solving the stability of linear helicopter flight dynamics.
0804.4759
Design and control of dynamical quantum processes in ortho para H2 conversion on surfaces
cs.RO
We present here a novel, cost-effective method for increasing and controlling the ortho para H2 (o p H2) conversion yield. First, we invoke two processes derived from fundamental, surface science insights, based on the effect of molecular orientation on the hydrogen solid surface reaction, i.e., dynamical quantum filtering and steering, and apply them to enhance the o p H2 conversion yield. Second, we find an important factor that can significantly influence the yield i.e., inhomogeneity of spin density distribution. This factor gives us a promising possibility to increase the yield and to find the best catalyst e.g., design of materials that can function as catalysts for the o p H2 conversion.
0804.4774
A Projection Method for Derivation of Non-Shannon-Type Information Inequalities
cs.IT math.IT
In 1998, Zhang and Yeung found the first unconditional non-Shannon-type information inequality. Recently, Dougherty, Freiling and Zeger gave six new unconditional non-Shannon-type information inequalities. This work generalizes their work and provides a method to systematically derive non-Shannon-type information inequalities. An application of this method reveals new 4-variable non-Shannon-type information inequalities.
0804.4799
A Few More Quadratic APN Functions
cs.IT math.IT
We present two infinite families of APN functions where the degree of the field is divisible by 3 but not 9. Our families contain two already known families as special cases. We also discuss the inequivalence proof (by computation) which shows that these functions are new.
0804.4808
Solving Time of Least Square Systems in Sigma-Pi Unit Networks
cs.NE
The solving of least square systems is a useful operation in neurocomputational modeling of learning, pattern matching, and pattern recognition. In these last two cases, the solution must be obtained on-line, thus the time required to solve a system in a plausible neural architecture is critical. This paper presents a recurrent network of Sigma-Pi neurons, whose solving time increases at most like the logarithm of the system size, and of its condition number, which provides plausible computation times for biological systems.
0804.4809
Fast Computation of Moore-Penrose Inverse Matrices
cs.NE
Many neural learning algorithms require to solve large least square systems in order to obtain synaptic weights. Moore-Penrose inverse matrices allow for solving such systems, even with rank deficiency, and they provide minimum-norm vectors of synaptic weights, which contribute to the regularization of the input-output mapping. It is thus of interest to develop fast and accurate algorithms for computing Moore-Penrose inverse matrices. In this paper, an algorithm based on a full rank Cholesky factorization is proposed. The resulting pseudoinverse matrices are similar to those provided by other algorithms. However the computation time is substantially shorter, particularly for large systems.
0804.4866
Sum-Capacity of Ergodic Fading Interference and Compound Multiaccess Channels
cs.IT math.IT
The problem of resource allocation is studied for two-sender two-receiver fading Gaussian interference channels (IFCs) and compound multiaccess channels (C-MACs). The senders in an IFC communicate with their own receiver (unicast) while those in a C-MAC communicate with both receivers (multicast). The instantaneous fading state between every transmit-receive pair in this network is assumed to be known at all transmitters and receivers. Under an average power constraint at each source, the sum-capacity of the C-MAC and the power policy that achieves this capacity is developed. The conditions defining the classes of strong and very strong ergodic IFCs are presented and the multicast sum-capacity is shown to be tight for both classes.
0804.4885
SimDialog: A visual game dialog editor
cs.HC cs.AI
SimDialog is a visual editor for dialog in computer games. This paper presents the design of SimDialog, illustrating how script writers and non-programmers can easily create dialog for video games with complex branching structures and dynamic response characteristics. The system creates dialog as a directed graph. This allows for play using the dialog with a state-based cause and effect system that controls selection of non-player character responses and can provide a basic scoring mechanism for games.
0804.4898
A Quadratic Loss Multi-Class SVM
cs.LG
Using a support vector machine requires to set two types of hyperparameters: the soft margin parameter C and the parameters of the kernel. To perform this model selection task, the method of choice is cross-validation. Its leave-one-out variant is known to produce an estimator of the generalization error which is almost unbiased. Its major drawback rests in its time requirement. To overcome this difficulty, several upper bounds on the leave-one-out error of the pattern recognition SVM have been derived. Among those bounds, the most popular one is probably the radius-margin bound. It applies to the hard margin pattern recognition SVM, and by extension to the 2-norm SVM. In this report, we introduce a quadratic loss M-SVM, the M-SVM^2, as a direct extension of the 2-norm SVM to the multi-class case. For this machine, a generalized radius-margin bound is then established.
0805.0012
Joint Physical Layer Coding and Network Coding for Bi-Directional Relaying
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the problem of two transmitters wishing to exchange information through a relay in the middle. The channels between the transmitters and the relay are assumed to be synchronized, average power constrained additive white Gaussian noise channels with a real input with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of snr. An upper bound on the capacity is 1/2 log(1+ snr) bits per transmitter per use of the medium-access phase and broadcast phase of the bi-directional relay channel. We show that using lattice codes and lattice decoding, we can obtain a rate of 1/2 log(0.5 + snr) bits per transmitter, which is essentially optimal at high SNRs. The main idea is to decode the sum of the codewords modulo a lattice at the relay followed by a broadcast phase which performs Slepian-Wolf coding with structured codes. For asymptotically low SNR's, jointly decoding the two transmissions at the relay (MAC channel) is shown to be optimal. We also show that if the two transmitters use identical lattices with minimum angle decoding, we can achieve the same rate of 1/2 log(0.5 + snr). The proposed scheme can be thought of as a joint physical layer, network layer code which outperforms other recently proposed analog network coding schemes.
0805.0034
Diversity Order Gain with Noisy Feedback in Multiple Access Channels
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we study the effect of feedback channel noise on the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff in multiuser MIMO systems using quantized feedback, where each user has m transmit antennas and the base-station receiver has n antennas. We derive an achievable tradeoff and use it to show that in SNR-symmetric channels, a single bit of imperfect feedback is sufficient to double the maximum diversity order to 2mn compared to when there is no feedback (maximum is mn at multiplexing gain of zero). Further, additional feedback bits do not increase this maximum diversity order beyond 2mn. Finally, the above diversity order gain of mn over non-feedback systems can also be achieved for higher multiplexing gains, albeit requiring more than one bit of feedback.
0805.0050
On the k-pairs problem
cs.IT math.IT
We consider network coding rates for directed and undirected $k$-pairs networks. For directed networks, meagerness is known to be an upper bound on network coding rates. We show that network coding rate can be $\Theta(|V|)$ multiplicative factor smaller than meagerness. For the undirected case, we show some progress in the direction of the $k$-pairs conjecture.
0805.0051
Communicating the sum of sources over a network
cs.IT math.IT
We consider a network (that is capable of network coding) with a set of sources and terminals, where each terminal is interested in recovering the sum of the sources. Considering directed acyclic graphs with unit capacity edges and independent, unit-entropy sources, we show the rate region when (a) there are two sources and $n$ terminals, and (b) $n$ sources and two terminals. In these cases as long as there exists at least one path from each source to each terminal we demonstrate that there exists a valid assignment of coding vectors to the edges such that the terminals can recover the sum of the sources.
0805.0053
Particle Filtering for Large Dimensional State Spaces with Multimodal Observation Likelihoods
cs.IT math.IT math.ST stat.ME stat.TH
We study efficient importance sampling techniques for particle filtering (PF) when either (a) the observation likelihood (OL) is frequently multimodal or heavy-tailed, or (b) the state space dimension is large or both. When the OL is multimodal, but the state transition pdf (STP) is narrow enough, the optimal importance density is usually unimodal. Under this assumption, many techniques have been proposed. But when the STP is broad, this assumption does not hold. We study how existing techniques can be generalized to situations where the optimal importance density is multimodal, but is unimodal conditioned on a part of the state vector. Sufficient conditions to test for the unimodality of this conditional posterior are derived. The number of particles, N, to accurately track using a PF increases with state space dimension, thus making any regular PF impractical for large dimensional tracking problems. We propose a solution that partially addresses this problem. An important class of large dimensional problems with multimodal OL is tracking spatially varying physical quantities such as temperature or pressure in a large area using a network of sensors which may be nonlinear and/or may have non-negligible failure probabilities.
0805.0065
Communication Requirements for Generating Correlated Random Variables
cs.IT cs.GT math.IT math.PR
Two familiar notions of correlation are rediscovered as extreme operating points for simulating a discrete memoryless channel, in which a channel output is generated based only on a description of the channel input. Wyner's "common information" coincides with the minimum description rate needed. However, when common randomness independent of the input is available, the necessary description rate reduces to Shannon's mutual information. This work characterizes the optimal tradeoff between the amount of common randomness used and the required rate of description.
0805.0092
Cellular Systems with Full-Duplex Compress-and-Forward Relaying and Cooperative Base Stations
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper the advantages provided by multicell processing of signals transmitted by mobile terminals (MTs) which are received via dedicated relay terminals (RTs) are studied. It is assumed that each RT is capable of full-duplex operation and receives the transmission of adjacent relay terminals. Focusing on intra-cell TDMA and non-fading channels, a simplified relay-aided uplink cellular model based on a model introduced by Wyner is considered. Assuming a nomadic application in which the RTs are oblivious to the MTs' codebooks, a form of distributed compress-and-forward (CF) scheme with decoder side information is employed. The per-cell sum-rate of the CF scheme is derived and is given as a solution of a simple fixed point equation. This achievable rate reveals that the CF scheme is able to completely eliminate the inter-relay interference, and it approaches a ``cut-set-like'' upper bound for strong RTs transmission power. The CF rate is also shown to surpass the rate of an amplify-and-forward scheme via numerical calculations for a wide range of the system parameters.
0805.0108
The Gaussian Wiretap Channel with a Helping Interferer
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
Due to the broadcast nature of the wireless medium, wireless communication is susceptible to adversarial eavesdropping. This paper describes how eavesdropping can potentially be defeated by exploiting the superposition nature of the wireless medium. A Gaussian wire-tap channel with a helping interferer (WTC-HI) is considered in which a transmitter sends confidential messages to its intended receiver in the presence of a passive eavesdropper and with the help of an interferer. The interferer, which does not know the confidential message assists the confidential message transmission by sending a signal that is independent of the transmitted message. An achievable secrecy rate and a Sato-type upper bound on the secrecy capacity are given for the Gaussian WTC-HI. Through numerical analysis, it is found that the upper bound is close to the achievable secrecy rate when the interference is weak for symmetric interference channels, and under more general conditions for asymmetric Gaussian interference channels.
0805.0120
Nonnegative Matrix Factorization via Rank-One Downdate
cs.IR cs.NA
Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) was popularized as a tool for data mining by Lee and Seung in 1999. NMF attempts to approximate a matrix with nonnegative entries by a product of two low-rank matrices, also with nonnegative entries. We propose an algorithm called rank-one downdate (R1D) for computing a NMF that is partly motivated by singular value decomposition. This algorithm computes the dominant singular values and vectors of adaptively determined submatrices of a matrix. On each iteration, R1D extracts a rank-one submatrix from the dataset according to an objective function. We establish a theoretical result that maximizing this objective function corresponds to correctly classifying articles in a nearly separable corpus. We also provide computational experiments showing the success of this method in identifying features in realistic datasets.
0805.0129
On some entropy functionals derived from R\'enyi information divergence
cs.IT cond-mat.other math.IT
We consider the maximum entropy problems associated with R\'enyi $Q$-entropy, subject to two kinds of constraints on expected values. The constraints considered are a constraint on the standard expectation, and a constraint on the generalized expectation as encountered in nonextensive statistics. The optimum maximum entropy probability distributions, which can exhibit a power-law behaviour, are derived and characterized. The R\'enyi entropy of the optimum distributions can be viewed as a function of the constraint. This defines two families of entropy functionals in the space of possible expected values. General properties of these functionals, including nonnegativity, minimum, convexity, are documented. Their relationships as well as numerical aspects are also discussed. Finally, we work out some specific cases for the reference measure $Q(x)$ and recover in a limit case some well-known entropies.
0805.0131
Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff in Selective-Fading Multiple-Access MIMO Channels
cs.IT math.IT
We establish the optimal diversity-multiplexing (DM) tradeoff of coherent selective-fading multiple-access multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels and provide corresponding code design criteria. As a byproduct, on the conceptual level, we find an interesting relation between the DM tradeoff framework and the notion of dominant error event regions which was first introduced in the AWGN case by Gallager, IEEE Trans. IT, 1985. This relation allows to accurately characterize the error mechanisms in MIMO fading multiple-access channels. In particular, we find that, for a given rate tuple, the maximum achievable diversity order is determined by the error event that dominates the total error probability exponentially in SNR. Finally, we show that the distributed space-time code construction proposed recently by Badr and Belfiore, Int. Zurich Seminar on Commun., 2008, satisfies the code design criteria derived in this paper.
0805.0149
On Recovery of Sparse Signals via $\ell_1$ Minimization
cs.LG
This article considers constrained $\ell_1$ minimization methods for the recovery of high dimensional sparse signals in three settings: noiseless, bounded error and Gaussian noise. A unified and elementary treatment is given in these noise settings for two $\ell_1$ minimization methods: the Dantzig selector and $\ell_1$ minimization with an $\ell_2$ constraint. The results of this paper improve the existing results in the literature by weakening the conditions and tightening the error bounds. The improvement on the conditions shows that signals with larger support can be recovered accurately. This paper also establishes connections between restricted isometry property and the mutual incoherence property. Some results of Candes, Romberg and Tao (2006) and Donoho, Elad, and Temlyakov (2006) are extended.
0805.0154
The Tsallis entropy and the Shannon entropy of a universal probability
cs.IT cs.CC math.IT
We study the properties of Tsallis entropy and Shannon entropy from the point of view of algorithmic randomness. In algorithmic information theory, there are two equivalent ways to define the program-size complexity K(s) of a given finite binary string s. In the standard way, K(s) is defined as the length of the shortest input string for the universal self-delimiting Turing machine to output s. In the other way, the so-called universal probability m is introduced first, and then K(s) is defined as -log_2 m(s) without reference to the concept of program-size. In this paper, we investigate the properties of the Shannon entropy, the power sum, and the Tsallis entropy of a universal probability by means of the notion of program-size complexity. We determine the convergence or divergence of each of these three quantities, and evaluate its degree of randomness if it converges.
0805.0173
A Computer Search for N1L-Configurations
cs.IT math.IT
In an earlier paper the author defined N1L configurations, and stated a conjecture concerning them which would lead to an improvement by a constant factor to the sphere-packing bound for linear double error correcting codes. Here a computer search is presented, in an effort to gather evidence on the conjecture.
0805.0184
Information, Energy and Density for Ad Hoc Sensor Networks over Correlated Random Fields: Large Deviations Analysis
cs.IT math.IT
Using large deviations results that characterize the amount of information per node on a two-dimensional (2-D) lattice, asymptotic behavior of a sensor network deployed over a correlated random field for statistical inference is investigated. Under a 2-D hidden Gauss-Markov random field model with symmetric first order conditional autoregression, the behavior of the total information [nats] and energy efficiency [nats/J] defined as the ratio of total gathered information to the required energy is obtained as the coverage area, node density and energy vary.
0805.0192
Specification of an extensible and portable file format for electronic structure and crystallographic data
cs.DL cond-mat.mtrl-sci cs.DB
In order to allow different software applications, in constant evolution, to interact and exchange data, flexible file formats are needed. A file format specification for different types of content has been elaborated to allow communication of data for the software developed within the European Network of Excellence "NANOQUANTA", focusing on first-principles calculations of materials and nanosystems. It might be used by other software as well, and is described here in detail. The format relies on the NetCDF binary input/output library, already used in many different scientific communities, that provides flexibility as well as portability accross languages and platforms. Thanks to NetCDF, the content can be accessed by keywords, ensuring the file format is extensible and backward compatible.