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0912.4289
Turbo Analog Error Correcting Codes Decodable By Linear Programming
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper we present a new Turbo analog error correcting coding scheme for real valued signals that are corrupted by impulsive noise. This Turbo code improves Donoho's deterministic construction by using a probabilistic approach. More specifically, our construction corrects more errors than the matrices of Donoho by allowing a vanishingly small probability of error (with the increase in block size). The problem of decoding the long block code is decoupled into two sets of parallel Linear Programming problems. This leads to a significant reduction in decoding complexity as compared to one-step Linear Programming decoding.
0912.4473
Learning to Predict Combinatorial Structures
cs.LG cs.AI
The major challenge in designing a discriminative learning algorithm for predicting structured data is to address the computational issues arising from the exponential size of the output space. Existing algorithms make different assumptions to ensure efficient, polynomial time estimation of model parameters. For several combinatorial structures, including cycles, partially ordered sets, permutations and other graph classes, these assumptions do not hold. In this thesis, we address the problem of designing learning algorithms for predicting combinatorial structures by introducing two new assumptions: (i) The first assumption is that a particular counting problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a generalisation of the classical ridge regression for structured prediction. (ii) The second assumption is that a particular sampling problem can be solved efficiently. The consequence is a new technique for designing and analysing probabilistic structured prediction models. These results can be applied to solve several complex learning problems including but not limited to multi-label classification, multi-category hierarchical classification, and label ranking.
0912.4546
Enhanced Feedback Iterative Decoding of Sparse Quantum Codes
quant-ph cs.IT math.IT
Decoding sparse quantum codes can be accomplished by syndrome-based decoding using a belief propagation (BP) algorithm.We significantly improve this decoding scheme by developing a new feedback adjustment strategy for the standard BP algorithm. In our feedback procedure, we exploit much of the information from stabilizers, not just the syndrome but also the values of the frustrated checks on individual qubits of the code and the channel model. Furthermore we show that our decoding algorithm is superior to belief propagation algorithms using only the syndrome in the feedback procedure for all cases of the depolarizing channel. Our algorithm does not increase the measurement overhead compared to the previous method, as the extra information comes for free from the requisite stabilizer measurements.
0912.4553
Consensus Dynamics in a non-deterministic Naming Game with Shared Memory
cs.MA cs.AI
In the naming game, individuals or agents exchange pairwise local information in order to communicate about objects in their common environment. The goal of the game is to reach a consensus about naming these objects. Originally used to investigate language formation and self-organizing vocabularies, we extend the classical naming game with a globally shared memory accessible by all agents. This shared memory can be interpreted as an external source of knowledge like a book or an Internet site. The extended naming game models an environment similar to one that can be found in the context of social bookmarking and collaborative tagging sites where users tag sites using appropriate labels, but also mimics an important aspect in the field of human-based image labeling. Although the extended naming game is non-deterministic in its word selection, we show that consensus towards a common vocabulary is reached. More importantly, we show the qualitative and quantitative influence of the external source of information, i.e. the shared memory, on the consensus dynamics between the agents.
0912.4556
On successive refinement of diversity for fading ISI channels
cs.IT math.IT
Rate and diversity impose a fundamental trade-off in communications. This trade-off was investigated for flat-fading channels in [15] as well as for Inter-symbol Interference (ISI) channels in [1]. A different point of view was explored in [12] where high-rate codes were designed so that they have a high-diversity code embedded within them. These diversity embedded codes were investigated for flat fading channels both from an information theoretic viewpoint [5] and from a coding theory viewpoint in [2]. In this paper we explore the use of diversity embedded codes for inter-symbol interference channels. In particular the main result of this paper is that the diversity multiplexing trade-off for fading MISO/SIMO/SISO ISI channels is indeed successively refinable. This implies that for fading ISI channels with a single degree of freedom one can embed a high diversity code within a high rate code without any performance loss (asymptotically). This is related to a deterministic structural observation about the asymptotic behavior of frequency response of channel with respect to fading strength of time domain taps as well as a coding scheme to take advantage of this observation.
0912.4571
Fast Alternating Linearization Methods for Minimizing the Sum of Two Convex Functions
math.OC cs.CV math.NA
We present in this paper first-order alternating linearization algorithms based on an alternating direction augmented Lagrangian approach for minimizing the sum of two convex functions. Our basic methods require at most $O(1/\epsilon)$ iterations to obtain an $\epsilon$-optimal solution, while our accelerated (i.e., fast) versions of them require at most $O(1/\sqrt{\epsilon})$ iterations, with little change in the computational effort required at each iteration. For both types of methods, we present one algorithm that requires both functions to be smooth with Lipschitz continuous gradients and one algorithm that needs only one of the functions to be so. Algorithms in this paper are Gauss-Seidel type methods, in contrast to the ones proposed by Goldfarb and Ma in [21] where the algorithms are Jacobi type methods. Numerical results are reported to support our theoretical conclusions and demonstrate the practical potential of our algorithms.
0912.4584
A Necessary and Sufficient Condition for Graph Matching Being Equivalent to the Maximum Weight Clique Problem
cs.AI
This paper formulates a necessary and sufficient condition for a generic graph matching problem to be equivalent to the maximum vertex and edge weight clique problem in a derived association graph. The consequences of this results are threefold: first, the condition is general enough to cover a broad range of practical graph matching problems; second, a proof to establish equivalence between graph matching and clique search reduces to showing that a given graph matching problem satisfies the proposed condition; and third, the result sets the scene for generic continuous solutions for a broad range of graph matching problems. To illustrate the mathematical framework, we apply it to a number of graph matching problems, including the problem of determining the graph edit distance.
0912.4595
On the Optimal Number of Cooperative Base Stations in Network MIMO
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the multi-cell uplink (network MIMO) where M base-stations (BSs) communicate simultaneously with M user terminals (UTs). Although the potential benefit of multi-cell cooperation increases with M, the overhead related to learning the uplink channels will rapidly dominate the uplink resource. In other words, there exists a non-trivial tradeoff between the performance gains of network MIMO and the related overhead in channel estimation for a finite coherence time. We use a close approximation of the ergodic capacity to study this tradeoff by taking some realistic aspects into account such as unreliable backhaul links and different path losses between the BSs and UTs. Our results provide some insight into practical limitations as well as realistic dimensions of network MIMO systems.
0912.4598
Elkan's k-Means for Graphs
cs.AI
This paper extends k-means algorithms from the Euclidean domain to the domain of graphs. To recompute the centroids, we apply subgradient methods for solving the optimization-based formulation of the sample mean of graphs. To accelerate the k-means algorithm for graphs without trading computational time against solution quality, we avoid unnecessary graph distance calculations by exploiting the triangle inequality of the underlying distance metric following Elkan's k-means algorithm proposed in \cite{Elkan03}. In experiments we show that the accelerated k-means algorithm are faster than the standard k-means algorithm for graphs provided there is a cluster structure in the data.
0912.4637
Local and Global Trust Based on the Concept of Promises
cs.MA
We use the notion of a promise to define local trust between agents possessing autonomous decision-making. An agent is trustworthy if it is expected that it will keep a promise. This definition satisfies most commonplace meanings of trust. Reputation is then an estimation of this expectation value that is passed on from agent to agent. Our definition distinguishes types of trust, for different behaviours, and decouples the concept of agent reliability from the behaviour on which the judgement is based. We show, however, that trust is fundamentally heuristic, as it provides insufficient information for agents to make a rational judgement. A global trustworthiness, or community trust can be defined by a proportional, self-consistent voting process, as a weighted eigenvector-centrality function of the promise theoretical graph.
0912.4649
The use of ideas of Information Theory for studying "language" and intelligence in ants
cs.IT cs.AI math.IT nlin.AO
In this review we integrate results of long term experimental study on ant "language" and intelligence which were fully based on fundamental ideas of Information Theory, such as the Shannon entropy, the Kolmogorov complexity, and the Shannon's equation connecting the length of a message ($l$) and its frequency $(p)$, i.e. $l = - \log p$ for rational communication systems. This approach, new for studying biological communication systems, enabled us to obtain the following important results on ants' communication and intelligence: i) to reveal "distant homing" in ants, that is, their ability to transfer information about remote events; ii) to estimate the rate of information transmission; iii) to reveal that ants are able to grasp regularities and to use them for "compression" of information; iv) to reveal that ants are able to transfer to each other the information about the number of objects; v) to discover that ants can add and subtract small numbers. The obtained results show that Information Theory is not only wonderful mathematical theory, but many its results may be considered as Nature laws.
0912.4660
Finding the Maximizers of the Information Divergence from an Exponential Family
cs.IT math.IT
This paper investigates maximizers of the information divergence from an exponential family $E$. It is shown that the $rI$-projection of a maximizer $P$ to $E$ is a convex combination of $P$ and a probability measure $P_-$ with disjoint support and the same value of the sufficient statistics $A$. This observation can be used to transform the original problem of maximizing $D(\cdot||E)$ over the set of all probability measures into the maximization of a function $\Dbar$ over a convex subset of $\ker A$. The global maximizers of both problems correspond to each other. Furthermore, finding all local maximizers of $\Dbar$ yields all local maximizers of $D(\cdot||E)$. This paper also proposes two algorithms to find the maximizers of $\Dbar$ and applies them to two examples, where the maximizers of $D(\cdot||E)$ were not known before.
0912.4742
Optimizing Histogram Queries under Differential Privacy
cs.DB cs.CR
Differential privacy is a robust privacy standard that has been successfully applied to a range of data analysis tasks. Despite much recent work, optimal strategies for answering a collection of correlated queries are not known. We study the problem of devising a set of strategy queries, to be submitted and answered privately, that will support the answers to a given workload of queries. We propose a general framework in which query strategies are formed from linear combinations of counting queries, and we describe an optimal method for deriving new query answers from the answers to the strategy queries. Using this framework we characterize the error of strategies geometrically, and we propose solutions to the problem of finding optimal strategies.
0912.4872
Interpretations of Directed Information in Portfolio Theory, Data Compression, and Hypothesis Testing
cs.IT math.IT
We investigate the role of Massey's directed information in portfolio theory, data compression, and statistics with causality constraints. In particular, we show that directed information is an upper bound on the increment in growth rates of optimal portfolios in a stock market due to {causal} side information. This upper bound is tight for gambling in a horse race, which is an extreme case of stock markets. Directed information also characterizes the value of {causal} side information in instantaneous compression and quantifies the benefit of {causal} inference in joint compression of two stochastic processes. In hypothesis testing, directed information evaluates the best error exponent for testing whether a random process $Y$ {causally} influences another process $X$ or not. These results give a natural interpretation of directed information $I(Y^n \to X^n)$ as the amount of information that a random sequence $Y^n = (Y_1,Y_2,..., Y_n)$ {causally} provides about another random sequence $X^n = (X_1,X_2,...,X_n)$. A new measure, {\em directed lautum information}, is also introduced and interpreted in portfolio theory, data compression, and hypothesis testing.
0912.4879
Similarit\'e en intension vs en extension : \`a la crois\'ee de l'informatique et du th\'e\^atre
cs.AI
Traditional staging is based on a formal approach of similarity leaning on dramaturgical ontologies and instanciation variations. Inspired by interactive data mining, that suggests different approaches, we give an overview of computer science and theater researches using computers as partners of the actor to escape the a priori specification of roles.
0912.4883
On Finding Predictors for Arbitrary Families of Processes
cs.LG cs.AI cs.IT math.IT math.ST stat.TH
The problem is sequence prediction in the following setting. A sequence $x_1,...,x_n,...$ of discrete-valued observations is generated according to some unknown probabilistic law (measure) $\mu$. After observing each outcome, it is required to give the conditional probabilities of the next observation. The measure $\mu$ belongs to an arbitrary but known class $C$ of stochastic process measures. We are interested in predictors $\rho$ whose conditional probabilities converge (in some sense) to the "true" $\mu$-conditional probabilities if any $\mu\in C$ is chosen to generate the sequence. The contribution of this work is in characterizing the families $C$ for which such predictors exist, and in providing a specific and simple form in which to look for a solution. We show that if any predictor works, then there exists a Bayesian predictor, whose prior is discrete, and which works too. We also find several sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of a predictor, in terms of topological characterizations of the family $C$, as well as in terms of local behaviour of the measures in $C$, which in some cases lead to procedures for constructing such predictors. It should be emphasized that the framework is completely general: the stochastic processes considered are not required to be i.i.d., stationary, or to belong to any parametric or countable family.
0912.4884
An Invariance Principle for Polytopes
cs.CC cs.CG cs.DM cs.LG math.PR
Let X be randomly chosen from {-1,1}^n, and let Y be randomly chosen from the standard spherical Gaussian on R^n. For any (possibly unbounded) polytope P formed by the intersection of k halfspaces, we prove that |Pr [X belongs to P] - Pr [Y belongs to P]| < log^{8/5}k * Delta, where Delta is a parameter that is small for polytopes formed by the intersection of "regular" halfspaces (i.e., halfspaces with low influence). The novelty of our invariance principle is the polylogarithmic dependence on k. Previously, only bounds that were at least linear in k were known. We give two important applications of our main result: (1) A polylogarithmic in k bound on the Boolean noise sensitivity of intersections of k "regular" halfspaces (previous work gave bounds linear in k). (2) A pseudorandom generator (PRG) with seed length O((log n)*poly(log k,1/delta)) that delta-fools all polytopes with k faces with respect to the Gaussian distribution. We also obtain PRGs with similar parameters that fool polytopes formed by intersection of regular halfspaces over the hypercube. Using our PRG constructions, we obtain the first deterministic quasi-polynomial time algorithms for approximately counting the number of solutions to a broad class of integer programs, including dense covering problems and contingency tables.
0912.4936
Genus Computing for 3D digital objects: algorithm and implementation
cs.CV cs.CG
This paper deals with computing topological invariants such as connected components, boundary surface genus, and homology groups. For each input data set, we have designed or implemented algorithms to calculate connected components, boundary surfaces and their genus, and homology groups. Due to the fact that genus calculation dominates the entire task for 3D object in 3D space, in this paper, we mainly discuss the calculation of the genus. The new algorithms designed in this paper will perform: (1) pathological cases detection and deletion, (2) raster space to point space (dual space) transformation, (3) the linear time algorithm for boundary point classification, and (4) genus calculation.
0912.4988
Sparse Recovery from Combined Fusion Frame Measurements
cs.IT math.IT
Sparse representations have emerged as a powerful tool in signal and information processing, culminated by the success of new acquisition and processing techniques such as Compressed Sensing (CS). Fusion frames are very rich new signal representation methods that use collections of subspaces instead of vectors to represent signals. This work combines these exciting fields to introduce a new sparsity model for fusion frames. Signals that are sparse under the new model can be compressively sampled and uniquely reconstructed in ways similar to sparse signals using standard CS. The combination provides a promising new set of mathematical tools and signal models useful in a variety of applications. With the new model, a sparse signal has energy in very few of the subspaces of the fusion frame, although it does not need to be sparse within each of the subspaces it occupies. This sparsity model is captured using a mixed l1/l2 norm for fusion frames. A signal sparse in a fusion frame can be sampled using very few random projections and exactly reconstructed using a convex optimization that minimizes this mixed l1/l2 norm. The provided sampling conditions generalize coherence and RIP conditions used in standard CS theory. It is demonstrated that they are sufficient to guarantee sparse recovery of any signal sparse in our model. Moreover, a probabilistic analysis is provided using a stochastic model on the sparse signal that shows that under very mild conditions the probability of recovery failure decays exponentially with increasing dimension of the subspaces.
0912.4991
Complexity Analysis of Unsaturated Flow in Heterogeneous Media Using a Complex Network Approach
cs.CE physics.geo-ph
In this study, we investigate the complexity of two-phase flow (air/water) in a heterogeneous soil sample by using complex network theory, where the supposed porous media is non-deformable media, under the time-dependent gas pressure. Based on the different similarity measurements (i.e., correlation, Euclidean metrics) over the emerged patterns from the evolution of saturation of non-wetting phase of a multi-heterogeneous soil sample, the emerged complex networks are recognized. Understanding of the properties of complex networks (such degree distribution, mean path length, clustering coefficient) can be supposed as a way to analysis of variation of saturation profiles structures (as the solution of finite element method on the coupled PDEs) where complexity is coming from the changeable connection and links between assumed nodes. Also, the path of evolution of the supposed system will be illustrated on the state space of networks either in correlation and Euclidean measurements. The results of analysis showed in a closed system the designed complex networks approach to small world network where the mean path length and clustering coefficient are low and high, respectively. As another result, the evolution of macro -states of system (such mean velocity of air or pressure) can be scaled with characteristics of structure complexity of saturation. In other part, we tried to find a phase transition criterion based on the variation of non-wetting phase velocity profiles over a network which had been constructed over correlation distance.
0912.4995
1-State Error-Trellis Decoding of LDPC Convolutional Codes Based on Circulant Matrices
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the decoding of convolutional codes using an error trellis constructed based on a submatrix of a given check matrix. In the proposed method, the syndrome-subsequence computed using the remaining submatrix is utilized as auxiliary information for decoding. Then the ML error path is correctly decoded using the degenerate error trellis. We also show that the decoding complexity of the proposed method is basically identical with that of the conventional one based on the original error trellis. Next, we apply the method to check matrices with monomial entries proposed by Tanner et al. By choosing any row of the check matrix as the submatrix for error-trellis construction, a 1-state error trellis is obtained. Noting the fact that a likelihood-concentration on the all-zero state and the states with many 0's occurs in the error trellis, we present a simplified decoding method based on a 1-state error trellis, from which decoding-complexity reduction is realized.
0912.5009
The MacWilliams Theorem for Four-Dimensional Modulo Metrics
cs.IT cs.DM math.IT
In this paper, the MacWilliams theorem is stated for codes over finite field with four-dimensional modulo metrics.
0912.5029
Complexity of stochastic branch and bound methods for belief tree search in Bayesian reinforcement learning
cs.LG cs.AI
There has been a lot of recent work on Bayesian methods for reinforcement learning exhibiting near-optimal online performance. The main obstacle facing such methods is that in most problems of interest, the optimal solution involves planning in an infinitely large tree. However, it is possible to obtain stochastic lower and upper bounds on the value of each tree node. This enables us to use stochastic branch and bound algorithms to search the tree efficiently. This paper proposes two such algorithms and examines their complexity in this setting.
0912.5043
Bit Error Rate is Convex at High SNR
cs.IT math.IT
Motivated by a wide-spread use of convex optimization techniques, convexity properties of bit error rate of the maximum likelihood detector operating in the AWGN channel are studied for arbitrary constellations and bit mappings, which may also include coding under maximum-likelihood decoding. Under this generic setting, the pairwise probability of error and bit error rate are shown to be convex functions of the SNR in the high SNR regime with explicitly-determined boundary. The bit error rate is also shown to be a convex function of the noise power in the low noise/high SNR regime.
0912.5055
Rateless Codes for Single-Server Streaming to Diverse Users
cs.IT math.IT
We investigate the performance of rateless codes for single-server streaming to diverse users, assuming that diversity in users is present not only because they have different channel conditions, but also because they demand different amounts of information and have different decoding capabilities. The LT encoding scheme is employed. While some users accept output symbols of all degrees and decode using belief propagation, others only collect degree- 1 output symbols and run no decoding algorithm. We propose several performance measures, and optimize the performance of the rateless code used at the server through the design of the code degree distribution. Optimization problems are formulated for the asymptotic regime and solved as linear programming problems. Optimized performance shows great improvement in total bandwidth consumption over using the conventional ideal soliton distribution, or simply sending separately encoded streams to different types of user nodes. Simulation experiments confirm the usability of the optimization results obtained for the asymptotic regime as a guideline for finite-length code design.
0912.5073
A Rational Decision Maker with Ordinal Utility under Uncertainty: Optimism and Pessimism
cs.AI cs.GT
In game theory and artificial intelligence, decision making models often involve maximizing expected utility, which does not respect ordinal invariance. In this paper, the author discusses the possibility of preserving ordinal invariance and still making a rational decision under uncertainty.
0912.5079
A Lower Bound on the Complexity of Approximating the Entropy of a Markov Source
cs.IT math.IT
Suppose that, for any (k \geq 1), (\epsilon > 0) and sufficiently large $\sigma$, we are given a black box that allows us to sample characters from a $k$th-order Markov source over the alphabet (\{0, ..., \sigma - 1\}). Even if we know the source has entropy either 0 or at least (\log (\sigma - k)), there is still no algorithm that, with probability bounded away from (1 / 2), guesses the entropy correctly after sampling at most ((\sigma - k)^{k / 2 - \epsilon}) characters.
0912.5176
On the deletion channel with small deletion probability
cs.IT math.IT
The deletion channel is the simplest point-to-point communication channel that models lack of synchronization. Despite significant effort, little is known about its capacity, and even less about optimal coding schemes. In this paper we intiate a new systematic approach to this problem, by demonstrating that capacity can be computed in a series expansion for small deletion probability. We compute two leading terms of this expansion, and show that capacity is achieved, up to this order, by i.i.d. uniform random distribution of the input. We think that this strategy can be useful in a number of capacity calculations.
0912.5187
Statistical Complexity in Traveling Densities
nlin.PS cs.IT math.IT quant-ph
In this work, we analyze the behavior of statistical complexity in several systems where two identical densities that travel in opposite direction cross each other. The crossing between two Gaussian, rectangular and triangular densities is studied in detail. For these three cases, the shape of the total density presenting an extreme value in complexity is found.
0912.5193
Ranking relations using analogies in biological and information networks
stat.ME cs.LG physics.soc-ph q-bio.QM stat.AP
Analogical reasoning depends fundamentally on the ability to learn and generalize about relations between objects. We develop an approach to relational learning which, given a set of pairs of objects $\mathbf{S}=\{A^{(1)}:B^{(1)},A^{(2)}:B^{(2)},\ldots,A^{(N)}:B ^{(N)}\}$, measures how well other pairs A:B fit in with the set $\mathbf{S}$. Our work addresses the following question: is the relation between objects A and B analogous to those relations found in $\mathbf{S}$? Such questions are particularly relevant in information retrieval, where an investigator might want to search for analogous pairs of objects that match the query set of interest. There are many ways in which objects can be related, making the task of measuring analogies very challenging. Our approach combines a similarity measure on function spaces with Bayesian analysis to produce a ranking. It requires data containing features of the objects of interest and a link matrix specifying which relationships exist; no further attributes of such relationships are necessary. We illustrate the potential of our method on text analysis and information networks. An application on discovering functional interactions between pairs of proteins is discussed in detail, where we show that our approach can work in practice even if a small set of protein pairs is provided.
0912.5235
Using Multipartite Graphs for Recommendation and Discovery
astro-ph.IM cs.DL cs.IR physics.soc-ph
The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System exists at the nexus of a dense system of interacting and interlinked information networks. The syntactic and the semantic content of this multipartite graph structure can be combined to provide very specific research recommendations to the scientist/user.
0912.5241
Believe It or Not: Adding Belief Annotations to Databases
cs.DB cs.AI
We propose a database model that allows users to annotate data with belief statements. Our motivation comes from scientific database applications where a community of users is working together to assemble, revise, and curate a shared data repository. As the community accumulates knowledge and the database content evolves over time, it may contain conflicting information and members can disagree on the information it should store. For example, Alice may believe that a tuple should be in the database, whereas Bob disagrees. He may also insert the reason why he thinks Alice believes the tuple should be in the database, and explain what he thinks the correct tuple should be instead. We propose a formal model for Belief Databases that interprets users' annotations as belief statements. These annotations can refer both to the base data and to other annotations. We give a formal semantics based on a fragment of multi-agent epistemic logic and define a query language over belief databases. We then prove a key technical result, stating that every belief database can be encoded as a canonical Kripke structure. We use this structure to describe a relational representation of belief databases, and give an algorithm for translating queries over the belief database into standard relational queries. Finally, we report early experimental results with our prototype implementation on synthetic data.
0912.5287
Uniqueness theorem for analytic functions and its application in denoising problem
cs.IT math.IT
In various applications the problem of separation of the original signal and the noise arises. For example, in the identification problem for discrete linear and causal systems, the original signal consists of the values of transfer function at some points in the unit disk. In this paper we discuss the problem of choosing the points in the unite disk, for which it is possible to remove the additive noise with probability one. Since the transfer function is analytic in the unite disk, so this problem is related to the uniqueness theorems for analytic functions. Here we give a new uniqueness result for bounded analytic functions and show its applications in the denoising problem.
0912.5340
Why so? or Why no? Functional Causality for Explaining Query Answers
cs.DB cs.AI
In this paper, we propose causality as a unified framework to explain query answers and non-answers, thus generalizing and extending several previously proposed approaches of provenance and missing query result explanations. We develop our framework starting from the well-studied definition of actual causes by Halpern and Pearl. After identifying some undesirable characteristics of the original definition, we propose functional causes as a refined definition of causality with several desirable properties. These properties allow us to apply our notion of causality in a database context and apply it uniformly to define the causes of query results and their individual contributions in several ways: (i) we can model both provenance as well as non-answers, (ii) we can define explanations as either data in the input relations or relational operations in a query plan, and (iii) we can give graded degrees of responsibility to individual causes, thus allowing us to rank causes. In particular, our approach allows us to explain contributions to relational aggregate functions and to rank causes according to their respective responsibilities. We give complexity results and describe polynomial algorithms for evaluating causality in tractable cases. Throughout the paper, we illustrate the applicability of our framework with several examples. Overall, we develop in this paper the theoretical foundations of causality theory in a database context.
0912.5353
Diversity-Multiplexing-Delay Tradeoffs in MIMO Multihop Networks with ARQ
cs.IT math.IT
Tradeoff in diversity, multiplexing, and delay in multihop MIMO relay networks with ARQ is studied, where the random delay is caused by queueing and ARQ retransmission. This leads to an optimal ARQ allocation problem with per-hop delay or end-to-end delay constraint. The optimal ARQ allocation has to trade off between the ARQ error that the receiver fails to decode in the allocated maximum ARQ rounds and the packet loss due to queueing delay. These two probability of errors are characterized using the diversity-multiplexing-delay tradeoff (DMDT) (without queueing) and the tail probability of random delay derived using large deviation techniques, respectively. Then the optimal ARQ allocation problem can be formulated as a convex optimization problem. We show that the optimal ARQ allocation should balance each link performance as well avoid significant queue delay, which is also demonstrated by numerical examples.
0912.5410
A survey of statistical network models
stat.ME cs.LG physics.soc-ph q-bio.MN stat.ML
Networks are ubiquitous in science and have become a focal point for discussion in everyday life. Formal statistical models for the analysis of network data have emerged as a major topic of interest in diverse areas of study, and most of these involve a form of graphical representation. Probability models on graphs date back to 1959. Along with empirical studies in social psychology and sociology from the 1960s, these early works generated an active network community and a substantial literature in the 1970s. This effort moved into the statistical literature in the late 1970s and 1980s, and the past decade has seen a burgeoning network literature in statistical physics and computer science. The growth of the World Wide Web and the emergence of online networking communities such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, and a host of more specialized professional network communities has intensified interest in the study of networks and network data. Our goal in this review is to provide the reader with an entry point to this burgeoning literature. We begin with an overview of the historical development of statistical network modeling and then we introduce a number of examples that have been studied in the network literature. Our subsequent discussion focuses on a number of prominent static and dynamic network models and their interconnections. We emphasize formal model descriptions, and pay special attention to the interpretation of parameters and their estimation. We end with a description of some open problems and challenges for machine learning and statistics.
0912.5426
The Hardness and Approximation Algorithms for L-Diversity
cs.DB
The existing solutions to privacy preserving publication can be classified into the theoretical and heuristic categories. The former guarantees provably low information loss, whereas the latter incurs gigantic loss in the worst case, but is shown empirically to perform well on many real inputs. While numerous heuristic algorithms have been developed to satisfy advanced privacy principles such as l-diversity, t-closeness, etc., the theoretical category is currently limited to k-anonymity which is the earliest principle known to have severe vulnerability to privacy attacks. Motivated by this, we present the first theoretical study on l-diversity, a popular principle that is widely adopted in the literature. First, we show that optimal l-diverse generalization is NP-hard even when there are only 3 distinct sensitive values in the microdata. Then, an (l*d)-approximation algorithm is developed, where d is the dimensionality of the underlying dataset. This is the first known algorithm with a non-trivial bound on information loss. Extensive experiments with real datasets validate the effectiveness and efficiency of proposed solution.
0912.5434
A Complete Theory of Everything (will be subjective)
cs.IT astro-ph.CO math.IT physics.pop-ph
Increasingly encompassing models have been suggested for our world. Theories range from generally accepted to increasingly speculative to apparently bogus. The progression of theories from ego- to geo- to helio-centric models to universe and multiverse theories and beyond was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the sizes of the postulated worlds, with humans being expelled from their center to ever more remote and random locations. Rather than leading to a true theory of everything, this trend faces a turning point after which the predictive power of such theories decreases (actually to zero). Incorporating the location and other capacities of the observer into such theories avoids this problem and allows to distinguish meaningful from predictively meaningless theories. This also leads to a truly complete theory of everything consisting of a (conventional objective) theory of everything plus a (novel subjective) observer process. The observer localization is neither based on the controversial anthropic principle, nor has it anything to do with the quantum-mechanical observation process. The suggested principle is extended to more practical (partial, approximate, probabilistic, parametric) world models (rather than theories of everything). Finally, I provide a justification of Ockham's razor, and criticize the anthropic principle, the doomsday argument, the no free lunch theorem, and the falsifiability dogma.
0912.5449
Time and Memory Efficient Lempel-Ziv Compression Using Suffix Arrays
cs.DS cs.IT math.IT
The well-known dictionary-based algorithms of the Lempel-Ziv (LZ) 77 family are the basis of several universal lossless compression techniques. These algorithms are asymmetric regarding encoding/decoding time and memory requirements, with the former being much more demanding. In the past years, considerable attention has been devoted to the problem of finding efficient data structures to support these searches, aiming at optimizing the encoders in terms of speed and memory. Hash tables, binary search trees and suffix trees have been widely used for this purpose, as they allow fast search at the expense of memory. Some recent research has focused on suffix arrays (SA), due to their low memory requirements and linear construction algorithms. Previous work has shown how the LZ77 decomposition can be computed using a single SA or an SA with an auxiliary array with the longest common prefix information. The SA-based algorithms use less memory than the tree-based encoders, allocating the strictly necessary amount of memory, regardless of the contents of the text to search/encode. In this paper, we improve on previous work by proposing faster SA-based algorithms for LZ77 encoding and sub-string search, keeping their low memory requirements. For some compression settings, on a large set of benchmark files, our low-memory SA-based encoders are also faster than tree-based encoders. This provides time and memory efficient LZ77 encoding, being a possible replacement for trees on well known encoders like LZMA. Our algorithm is also suited for text classification, because it provides a compact way to describe text in a bag-of-words representation, as well as a fast indexing mechanism that allows to quickly find all the sets of words that start with a given symbol, over a static dictionary.
0912.5456
From a Link Semantic to Semantic Links - Building Context in Educational Hypermedia
cs.IR cs.NI
Modularization and granulation are key concepts in educational content management, whereas teaching, learning and understanding require a discourse within thematic contexts. Even though hyperlinks and semantically typed references provide the context building blocks of hypermedia systems, elaborate concepts to derive, manage and propagate such relations between content objects are not around at present. Based on Semantic Web standards, this paper makes several contributions to content enrichment. Work starts from harvesting multimedia annotations in class-room recordings, and proceeds to deriving a dense educational semantic net between eLearning Objects decorated with extended LOM relations. Special focus is drawn on the processing of recorded speech and on an Ontological Evaluation Layer that autonomously derives meaningful inter-object relations. Further on, a semantic representation of hyperlinks is developed and elaborated to the concept of semantic link contexts, an approach to manage a coherent rhetoric of linking. These solutions have been implemented in the Hypermedia Learning Objects System (hylOs), our eLearning content management system. hylOs is built upon the more general Media Information Repository (MIR) and the MIR adaptive context linking environment (MIRaCLE), its linking extension. MIR is an open system supporting the standards XML and JNDI. hylOs benefits from configurable information structures, sophisticated access logic and high-level authoring tools like the WYSIWYG XML editor and its Instructional Designer.
0912.5502
Writer Identification Using Inexpensive Signal Processing Techniques
cs.CV
We propose to use novel and classical audio and text signal-processing and otherwise techniques for "inexpensive" fast writer identification tasks of scanned hand-written documents "visually". The "inexpensive" refers to the efficiency of the identification process in terms of CPU cycles while preserving decent accuracy for preliminary identification. This is a comparative study of multiple algorithm combinations in a pattern recognition pipeline implemented in Java around an open-source Modular Audio Recognition Framework (MARF) that can do a lot more beyond audio. We present our preliminary experimental findings in such an identification task. We simulate "visual" identification by "looking" at the hand-written document as a whole rather than trying to extract fine-grained features out of it prior classification.
0912.5511
A general approach to belief change in answer set programming
cs.AI
We address the problem of belief change in (nonmonotonic) logic programming under answer set semantics. Unlike previous approaches to belief change in logic programming, our formal techniques are analogous to those of distance-based belief revision in propositional logic. In developing our results, we build upon the model theory of logic programs furnished by SE models. Since SE models provide a formal, monotonic characterisation of logic programs, we can adapt techniques from the area of belief revision to belief change in logic programs. We introduce methods for revising and merging logic programs, respectively. For the former, we study both subset-based revision as well as cardinality-based revision, and we show that they satisfy the majority of the AGM postulates for revision. For merging, we consider operators following arbitration merging and IC merging, respectively. We also present encodings for computing the revision as well as the merging of logic programs within the same logic programming framework, giving rise to a direct implementation of our approach in terms of off-the-shelf answer set solvers. These encodings reflect in turn the fact that our change operators do not increase the complexity of the base formalism.
0912.5533
Oriented Straight Line Segment Algebra: Qualitative Spatial Reasoning about Oriented Objects
cs.AI
Nearly 15 years ago, a set of qualitative spatial relations between oriented straight line segments (dipoles) was suggested by Schlieder. This work received substantial interest amongst the qualitative spatial reasoning community. However, it turned out to be difficult to establish a sound constraint calculus based on these relations. In this paper, we present the results of a new investigation into dipole constraint calculi which uses algebraic methods to derive sound results on the composition of relations and other properties of dipole calculi. Our results are based on a condensed semantics of the dipole relations. In contrast to the points that are normally used, dipoles are extended and have an intrinsic direction. Both features are important properties of natural objects. This allows for a straightforward representation of prototypical reasoning tasks for spatial agents. As an example, we show how to generate survey knowledge from local observations in a street network. The example illustrates the fast constraint-based reasoning capabilities of the dipole calculus. We integrate our results into two reasoning tools which are publicly available.
0912.5537
Quantum Reverse Shannon Theorem
quant-ph cs.IT math.IT
Dual to the usual noisy channel coding problem, where a noisy (classical or quantum) channel is used to simulate a noiseless one, reverse Shannon theorems concern the use of noiseless channels to simulate noisy ones, and more generally the use of one noisy channel to simulate another. For channels of nonzero capacity, this simulation is always possible, but for it to be efficient, auxiliary resources of the proper kind and amount are generally required. In the classical case, shared randomness between sender and receiver is a sufficient auxiliary resource, regardless of the nature of the source, but in the quantum case the requisite auxiliary resources for efficient simulation depend on both the channel being simulated, and the source from which the channel inputs are coming. For tensor power sources (the quantum generalization of classical IID sources), entanglement in the form of standard ebits (maximally entangled pairs of qubits) is sufficient, but for general sources, which may be arbitrarily correlated or entangled across channel inputs, additional resources, such as entanglement-embezzling states or backward communication, are generally needed. Combining existing and new results, we establish the amounts of communication and auxiliary resources needed in both the classical and quantum cases, the tradeoffs among them, and the loss of simulation efficiency when auxiliary resources are absent or insufficient. In particular we find a new single-letter expression for the excess forward communication cost of coherent feedback simulations of quantum channels (i.e. simulations in which the sender retains what would escape into the environment in an ordinary simulation), on non-tensor-power sources in the presence of unlimited ebits but no other auxiliary resource. Our results on tensor power sources establish a strong converse to the entanglement-assisted capacity theorem.
1001.0001
On the structure of non-full-rank perfect codes
cs.IT math.IT
The Krotov combining construction of perfect 1-error-correcting binary codes from 2000 and a theorem of Heden saying that every non-full-rank perfect 1-error-correcting binary code can be constructed by this combining construction is generalized to the $q$-ary case. Simply, every non-full-rank perfect code $C$ is the union of a well-defined family of $\mu$-components $K_\mu$, where $\mu$ belongs to an "outer" perfect code $C^*$, and these components are at distance three from each other. Components from distinct codes can thus freely be combined to obtain new perfect codes. The Phelps general product construction of perfect binary code from 1984 is generalized to obtain $\mu$-components, and new lower bounds on the number of perfect 1-error-correcting $q$-ary codes are presented.
1001.0036
The Computational Structure of Spike Trains
q-bio.NC cs.IT math.IT nlin.AO physics.data-an stat.ML
Neurons perform computations, and convey the results of those computations through the statistical structure of their output spike trains. Here we present a practical method, grounded in the information-theoretic analysis of prediction, for inferring a minimal representation of that structure and for characterizing its complexity. Starting from spike trains, our approach finds their causal state models (CSMs), the minimal hidden Markov models or stochastic automata capable of generating statistically identical time series. We then use these CSMs to objectively quantify both the generalizable structure and the idiosyncratic randomness of the spike train. Specifically, we show that the expected algorithmic information content (the information needed to describe the spike train exactly) can be split into three parts describing (1) the time-invariant structure (complexity) of the minimal spike-generating process, which describes the spike train statistically; (2) the randomness (internal entropy rate) of the minimal spike-generating process; and (3) a residual pure noise term not described by the minimal spike-generating process. We use CSMs to approximate each of these quantities. The CSMs are inferred nonparametrically from the data, making only mild regularity assumptions, via the causal state splitting reconstruction algorithm. The methods presented here complement more traditional spike train analyses by describing not only spiking probability and spike train entropy, but also the complexity of a spike train's structure. We demonstrate our approach using both simulated spike trains and experimental data recorded in rat barrel cortex during vibrissa stimulation.
1001.0054
Cryptographic Implications for Artificially Mediated Games
cs.CR cs.AI cs.GT
There is currently an intersection in the research of game theory and cryptography. Generally speaking, there are two aspects to this partnership. First there is the application of game theory to cryptography. Yet, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the second aspect, the converse of the first, the application of cryptography to game theory. Chiefly, there exist a branch of non-cooperative games which have a correlated equilibrium as their solution. These equilibria tend to be superior to the conventional Nash equilibria. The primary condition for a correlated equilibrium is the presence of a mediator within the game. This is simply a neutral and mutually trusted entity. It is the role of the mediator to make recommendations in terms of strategy profiles to all players, who then act (supposedly) on this advice. Each party privately provides the mediator with the necessary information, and the referee responds privately with their optimized strategy set. However, there seem to be a multitude of situations in which no mediator could exist. Thus, games modeling these sorts of cases could not use these entities as tools for analysis. Yet, if these equilibria are in the best interest of players, it would be rational to construct a machine, or protocol, to calculate them. Of course, this machine would need to satisfy some standard for secure transmission between a player and itself. The requirement that no third party could detect either the input or strategy profile would need to be satisfied by this scheme. Here is the synthesis of cryptography into game theory; analyzing the ability of the players to construct a protocol which can be used successfully in the place of a mediator.
1001.0063
On a Model for Integrated Information
cs.AI
In this paper we give a thorough presentation of a model proposed by Tononi et al. for modeling \emph{integrated information}, i.e. how much information is generated in a system transitioning from one state to the next one by the causal interaction of its parts and \emph{above and beyond} the information given by the sum of its parts. We also provides a more general formulation of such a model, independent from the time chosen for the analysis and from the uniformity of the probability distribution at the initial time instant. Finally, we prove that integrated information is null for disconnected systems.
1001.0080
Non-line-of-sight Node Localization based on Semi-Definite Programming in Wireless Sensor Networks
cs.IT math.IT
An unknown-position sensor can be localized if there are three or more anchors making time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements of a signal from it. However, the location errors can be very large due to the fact that some of the measurements are from non-line-of-sight (NLOS) paths. In this paper, we propose a semi-definite programming (SDP) based node localization algorithm in NLOS environment for ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless sensor networks. The positions of sensors can be estimated using the distance estimates from location-aware anchors as well as other sensors. However, in the absence of LOS paths, e.g., in indoor networks, the NLOS range estimates can be significantly biased. As a result, the NLOS error can remarkably decrease the location accuracy. And it is not easy to efficiently distinguish LOS from NLOS measurements. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed that achieves high location accuracy without the need of identifying NLOS and LOS measurement.
1001.0107
Exact Regeneration Codes for Distributed Storage Repair Using Interference Alignment
cs.IT math.IT
The high repair cost of (n,k) Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) erasure codes has recently motivated a new class of codes, called Regenerating Codes, that optimally trade off storage cost for repair bandwidth. On one end of this spectrum of Regenerating Codes are Minimum Storage Regenerating (MSR) codes that can match the minimum storage cost of MDS codes while also significantly reducing repair bandwidth. In this paper, we describe Exact-MSR codes which allow for any failed nodes (whether they are systematic or parity nodes) to be regenerated exactly rather than only functionally or information-equivalently. We show that Exact-MSR codes come with no loss of optimality with respect to random-network-coding based MSR codes (matching the cutset-based lower bound on repair bandwidth) for the cases of: (a) k/n <= 1/2; and (b) k <= 3. Our constructive approach is based on interference alignment techniques, and, unlike the previous class of random-network-coding based approaches, we provide explicit and deterministic coding schemes that require a finite-field size of at most 2(n-k).
1001.0115
Developing Artificial Herders Using Jason
cs.MA
This paper gives an overview of a proposed strategy for the "Cows and Herders" scenario given in the Multi-Agent Programming Contest 2009. The strategy is to be implemented using the Jason platform, based on the agent-oriented programming language Agent-Speak. The paper describes the agents, their goals and the strategies they should follow. The basis for the paper and for participating in the contest is a new course given in spring 2009 and our main objective is to show that we are able to implement complex multi-agent systems with the knowledge gained in an introductory course on multi-agent systems.
1001.0167
Position Modulation Code for Rewriting Write-Once Memories
cs.IT math.IT
A write-once memory (wom) is a storage medium formed by a number of ``write-once'' bit positions (wits), where each wit initially is in a `0' state and can be changed to a `1' state irreversibly. Examples of write-once memories include SLC flash memories and optical disks. This paper presents a low complexity coding scheme for rewriting such write-once memories, which is applicable to general problem configurations. The proposed scheme is called the \emph{position modulation code}, as it uses the positions of the zero symbols to encode some information. The proposed technique can achieve code rates higher than state-of-the-art practical solutions for some configurations. For instance, there is a position modulation code that can write 56 bits 10 times on 278 wits, achieving rate 2.01. In addition, the position modulation code is shown to achieve a rate at least half of the optimal rate.
1001.0210
Achieving the Secrecy Capacity of Wiretap Channels Using Polar Codes
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
Suppose Alice wishes to send messages to Bob through a communication channel C_1, but her transmissions also reach an eavesdropper Eve through another channel C_2. The goal is to design a coding scheme that makes it possible for Alice to communicate both reliably and securely. Reliability is measured in terms of Bob's probability of error in recovering the message, while security is measured in terms of Eve's equivocation ratio. Wyner showed that the situation is characterized by a single constant C_s, called the secrecy capacity, which has the following meaning: for all $\epsilon > 0$, there exist coding schemes of rate $R \ge C_s - \epsilon$ that asymptotically achieve both the reliability and the security objectives. However, his proof of this result is based upon a nonconstructive random-coding argument. To date, despite a considerable research effort, the only case where we know how to construct coding schemes that achieve secrecy capacity is when Eve's channel C_2 is an erasure channel, or a combinatorial variation thereof. Polar codes were recently invented by Arikan; they approach the capacity of symmetric binary-input discrete memoryless channels with low encoding and decoding complexity. Herein, we use polar codes to construct a coding scheme that achieves the secrecy capacity for a wide range of wiretap channels. Our construction works for any instantiation of the wiretap channel model, as long as both C_1 and C_2 are symmetric and binary-input, and C_2 is degraded with respect to C_1. Moreover, we show how to modify our construction in order to provide strong security, in the sense defined by Maurer, while still operating at a rate that approaches the secrecy capacity. In this case, we cannot guarantee that the reliability condition will be satisfied unless the main channel C_1 is noiseless, although we believe it can be always satisfied in practice.
1001.0282
Robust Image Watermarking in the Wavelet Domain for Copyright Protection
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
In this paper a new approach to image watermarking in wavelet domain is presented. The idea is to hide the watermark data in blocks of the block segmented image. Two schemes are presented based on this idea by embedding the watermark data in the low pass wavelet coefficients of each block. Due to low computational complexity of the proposed approach, this algorithm can be implemented in real time. Experimental results demonstrate the impercepti-bility of the proposed method and its high robustness against various attacks such as filtering, JPEG compres-sion, cropping, noise addition and geometric distortions.
1001.0339
Tight oracle bounds for low-rank matrix recovery from a minimal number of random measurements
cs.IT math.IT
This paper presents several novel theoretical results regarding the recovery of a low-rank matrix from just a few measurements consisting of linear combinations of the matrix entries. We show that properly constrained nuclear-norm minimization stably recovers a low-rank matrix from a constant number of noisy measurements per degree of freedom; this seems to be the first result of this nature. Further, the recovery error from noisy data is within a constant of three targets: 1) the minimax risk, 2) an oracle error that would be available if the column space of the matrix were known, and 3) a more adaptive oracle error which would be available with the knowledge of the column space corresponding to the part of the matrix that stands above the noise. Lastly, the error bounds regarding low-rank matrices are extended to provide an error bound when the matrix has full rank with decaying singular values. The analysis in this paper is based on the restricted isometry property (RIP) introduced in [6] for vectors, and in [22] for matrices.
1001.0346
Protocol design and stability/delay analysis of half-duplex buffered cognitive relay systems
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we quantify the benefits of employing relay station in large-coverage cognitive radio systems which opportunistically access the licensed spectrum of some small-coverage primary systems scattered inside. Through analytical study, we show that even a simple decode-and-forward (SDF) relay, which can hold only one packet, offers significant path-loss gain in terms of the spatial transmission opportunities and link reliability. However, such scheme fails to capture the spatial-temporal burstiness of the primary activities, that is, when either the source-relay (SR) link or relay-destination (RD) link is blocked by the primary activities, the cognitive spectrum access has to stop. To overcome this obstacle, we further propose buffered decode-and-forward (BDF) protocol. By exploiting the infinitely long buffer at the relay, the blockage time on either SR or RD link is saved for cognitive spectrum access. The buffer gain is shown analytically to improve the stability region and average end-to-end delay performance of the cognitive relay system.
1001.0357
Orthogonal vs Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access with Finite Input Alphabet and Finite Bandwidth
cs.IT math.IT
For a two-user Gaussian multiple access channel (GMAC), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), a well known orthogonal-multiple-access (O-MA) scheme has been preferred to non-orthogonal-multiple-access (NO-MA) schemes since FDMA can achieve the sum-capacity of the channel with only single-user decoding complexity [\emph{Chapter 14, Elements of Information Theory by Cover and Thomas}]. However, with finite alphabets, in this paper, we show that NO-MA is better than O-MA for a two-user GMAC. We plot the constellation constrained (CC) capacity regions of a two-user GMAC with FDMA and time division multiple access (TDMA) and compare them with the CC capacity regions with trellis coded multiple access (TCMA), a recently introduced NO-MA scheme. Unlike the Gaussian alphabets case, it is shown that the CC capacity region with FDMA is strictly contained inside the CC capacity region with TCMA. In particular, for a given bandwidth, the gap between the CC capacity regions with TCMA and FDMA is shown to increase with the increase in the average power constraint. Also, for a given power constraint, the gap between the CC capacity regions with TCMA and FDMA is shown to decrease with the increase in the bandwidth. Hence, for finite alphabets, a NO-MA scheme such as TCMA is better than the well known O-MAC schemes, FDMA and TDMA which makes NO-MA schemes worth pursuing in practice for a two-user GMAC.
1001.0358
Finiteness of rank invariants of multidimensional persistent homology groups
math.AT cs.IT math.IT
Rank invariants are a parametrized version of Betti numbers of a space multi-filtered by a continuous vector-valued function. In this note we give a sufficient condition for their finiteness. This condition is sharp for spaces embeddable in R^n.
1001.0405
Optimal Query Complexity for Reconstructing Hypergraphs
cs.LG
In this paper we consider the problem of reconstructing a hidden weighted hypergraph of constant rank using additive queries. We prove the following: Let $G$ be a weighted hidden hypergraph of constant rank with n vertices and $m$ hyperedges. For any $m$ there exists a non-adaptive algorithm that finds the edges of the graph and their weights using $$ O(\frac{m\log n}{\log m}) $$ additive queries. This solves the open problem in [S. Choi, J. H. Kim. Optimal Query Complexity Bounds for Finding Graphs. {\em STOC}, 749--758,~2008]. When the weights of the hypergraph are integers that are less than $O(poly(n^d/m))$ where $d$ is the rank of the hypergraph (and therefore for unweighted hypergraphs) there exists a non-adaptive algorithm that finds the edges of the graph and their weights using $$ O(\frac{m\log \frac{n^d}{m}}{\log m}). $$ additive queries. Using the information theoretic bound the above query complexities are tight.
1001.0440
Tutoring System for Dance Learning
cs.IR cs.MM
Recent advances in hardware sophistication related to graphics display, audio and video devices made available a large number of multimedia and hypermedia applications. These multimedia applications need to store and retrieve the different forms of media like text, hypertext, graphics, still images, animations, audio and video. Dance is one of the important cultural forms of a nation and dance video is one such multimedia types. Archiving and retrieving the required semantics from these dance media collections is a crucial and demanding multimedia application. This paper summarizes the difference dance video archival techniques and systems. Keywords: Multimedia, Culture Media, Metadata archival and retrieval systems, MPEG-7, XML.
1001.0591
Comparing Distributions and Shapes using the Kernel Distance
cs.CG cs.CV cs.LG
Starting with a similarity function between objects, it is possible to define a distance metric on pairs of objects, and more generally on probability distributions over them. These distance metrics have a deep basis in functional analysis, measure theory and geometric measure theory, and have a rich structure that includes an isometric embedding into a (possibly infinite dimensional) Hilbert space. They have recently been applied to numerous problems in machine learning and shape analysis. In this paper, we provide the first algorithmic analysis of these distance metrics. Our main contributions are as follows: (i) We present fast approximation algorithms for computing the kernel distance between two point sets P and Q that runs in near-linear time in the size of (P cup Q) (note that an explicit calculation would take quadratic time). (ii) We present polynomial-time algorithms for approximately minimizing the kernel distance under rigid transformation; they run in time O(n + poly(1/epsilon, log n)). (iii) We provide several general techniques for reducing complex objects to convenient sparse representations (specifically to point sets or sets of points sets) which approximately preserve the kernel distance. In particular, this allows us to reduce problems of computing the kernel distance between various types of objects such as curves, surfaces, and distributions to computing the kernel distance between point sets. These take advantage of the reproducing kernel Hilbert space and a new relation linking binary range spaces to continuous range spaces with bounded fat-shattering dimension.
1001.0597
Inference of global clusters from locally distributed data
stat.ME cs.LG stat.ML
We consider the problem of analyzing the heterogeneity of clustering distributions for multiple groups of observed data, each of which is indexed by a covariate value, and inferring global clusters arising from observations aggregated over the covariate domain. We propose a novel Bayesian nonparametric method reposing on the formalism of spatial modeling and a nested hierarchy of Dirichlet processes. We provide an analysis of the model properties, relating and contrasting the notions of local and global clusters. We also provide an efficient inference algorithm, and demonstrate the utility of our method in several data examples, including the problem of object tracking and a global clustering analysis of functional data where the functional identity information is not available.
1001.0700
Vandalism Detection in Wikipedia: a Bag-of-Words Classifier Approach
cs.LG cs.CY cs.IR
A bag-of-words based probabilistic classifier is trained using regularized logistic regression to detect vandalism in the English Wikipedia. Isotonic regression is used to calibrate the class membership probabilities. Learning curve, reliability, ROC, and cost analysis are performed.
1001.0716
Totally Asynchronous Interference Channels
cs.IT math.IT
This paper addresses an interference channel consisting of $\mathbf{n}$ active users sharing $u$ frequency sub-bands. Users are asynchronous meaning there exists a mutual delay between their transmitted codes. A stationary model for interference is considered by assuming the starting point of an interferer's data is uniformly distributed along the codeword of any user. The spectrum is divided to private and common bands each containing $v_{\mathrm{p}}$ and $v_{\mathrm{c}}$ frequency sub-bands respectively. We consider a scenario where all transmitters are unaware of the number of active users and the channel gains. The optimum $v_{\mathrm{p}}$ and $v_{\mathrm{c}}$ are obtained such that the so-called outage capacity per user is maximized. If $\Pr\{\mathbf{n}\leq 2\}=1$, upper and lower bounds on the mutual information between the input and output of the channel for each user are derived using a genie-aided technique. The proposed bounds meet each other as the code length grows to infinity yielding a closed expression for the achievable rates. If $\Pr\{\mathbf{n}>2\}>0$, all users follow a locally Randomized On-Off signaling scheme on the common band where each transmitter quits transmitting its Gaussian signals independently from transmission to transmission. Using a conditional version of Entropy Power Inequality (EPI) and an upper bound on the differential entropy of a mixed Gaussian random variable, lower bounds on the achievable rates of users are developed. Thereafter, the activation probability on each transmission slot is designed resulting in the largest outage capacity.
1001.0723
MacWilliams Identities for Terminated Convolutional Codes
cs.IT math.IT
Shearer and McEliece [1977] showed that there is no MacWilliams identity for the free distance spectra of orthogonal linear convolutional codes. We show that on the other hand there does exist a MacWilliams identity between the generating functions of the weight distributions per unit time of a linear convolutional code C and its orthogonal code C^\perp, and that this distribution is as useful as the free distance spectrum for estimating code performance. These observations are similar to those made recently by Bocharova, Hug, Johannesson and Kudryashov; however, we focus on terminating by tail-biting rather than by truncation.
1001.0735
Named Models in Coalgebraic Hybrid Logic
cs.LO cs.AI
Hybrid logic extends modal logic with support for reasoning about individual states, designated by so-called nominals. We study hybrid logic in the broad context of coalgebraic semantics, where Kripke frames are replaced with coalgebras for a given functor, thus covering a wide range of reasoning principles including, e.g., probabilistic, graded, default, or coalitional operators. Specifically, we establish generic criteria for a given coalgebraic hybrid logic to admit named canonical models, with ensuing completeness proofs for pure extensions on the one hand, and for an extended hybrid language with local binding on the other. We instantiate our framework with a number of examples. Notably, we prove completeness of graded hybrid logic with local binding.
1001.0746
Alternation-Trading Proofs, Linear Programming, and Lower Bounds
cs.CC cs.AI
A fertile area of recent research has demonstrated concrete polynomial time lower bounds for solving natural hard problems on restricted computational models. Among these problems are Satisfiability, Vertex Cover, Hamilton Path, Mod6-SAT, Majority-of-Majority-SAT, and Tautologies, to name a few. The proofs of these lower bounds follow a certain proof-by-contradiction strategy that we call alternation-trading. An important open problem is to determine how powerful such proofs can possibly be. We propose a methodology for studying these proofs that makes them amenable to both formal analysis and automated theorem proving. We prove that the search for better lower bounds can often be turned into a problem of solving a large series of linear programming instances. Implementing a small-scale theorem prover based on this result, we extract new human-readable time lower bounds for several problems. This framework can also be used to prove concrete limitations on the current techniques.
1001.0793
On the Vacationing CEO Problem: Achievable Rates and Outer Bounds
cs.IT math.IT
This paper studies a class of source coding problems that combines elements of the CEO problem with the multiple description problem. In this setting, noisy versions of one remote source are observed by two nodes with encoders (which is similar to the CEO problem). However, it differs from the CEO problem in that each node must generate multiple descriptions of the source. This problem is of interest in multiple scenarios in efficient communication over networks. In this paper, an achievable region and an outer bound are presented for this problem, which is shown to be sum rate optimal for a class of distortion constraints.
1001.0820
Abstract Answer Set Solvers with Learning
cs.AI cs.LO
Nieuwenhuis, Oliveras, and Tinelli (2006) showed how to describe enhancements of the Davis-Putnam-Logemann-Loveland algorithm using transition systems, instead of pseudocode. We design a similar framework for several algorithms that generate answer sets for logic programs: Smodels, Smodels-cc, Asp-Sat with Learning (Cmodels), and a newly designed and implemented algorithm Sup. This approach to describing answer set solvers makes it easier to prove their correctness, to compare them, and to design new systems.
1001.0827
Document Clustering with K-tree
cs.IR cs.AI cs.DS
This paper describes the approach taken to the XML Mining track at INEX 2008 by a group at the Queensland University of Technology. We introduce the K-tree clustering algorithm in an Information Retrieval context by adapting it for document clustering. Many large scale problems exist in document clustering. K-tree scales well with large inputs due to its low complexity. It offers promising results both in terms of efficiency and quality. Document classification was completed using Support Vector Machines.
1001.0830
K-tree: Large Scale Document Clustering
cs.IR cs.AI cs.DS
We introduce K-tree in an information retrieval context. It is an efficient approximation of the k-means clustering algorithm. Unlike k-means it forms a hierarchy of clusters. It has been extended to address issues with sparse representations. We compare performance and quality to CLUTO using document collections. The K-tree has a low time complexity that is suitable for large document collections. This tree structure allows for efficient disk based implementations where space requirements exceed that of main memory.
1001.0833
Random Indexing K-tree
cs.IR cs.AI cs.DS
Random Indexing (RI) K-tree is the combination of two algorithms for clustering. Many large scale problems exist in document clustering. RI K-tree scales well with large inputs due to its low complexity. It also exhibits features that are useful for managing a changing collection. Furthermore, it solves previous issues with sparse document vectors when using K-tree. The algorithms and data structures are defined, explained and motivated. Specific modifications to K-tree are made for use with RI. Experiments have been executed to measure quality. The results indicate that RI K-tree improves document cluster quality over the original K-tree algorithm.
1001.0879
Linear Probability Forecasting
cs.LG
Multi-class classification is one of the most important tasks in machine learning. In this paper we consider two online multi-class classification problems: classification by a linear model and by a kernelized model. The quality of predictions is measured by the Brier loss function. We suggest two computationally efficient algorithms to work with these problems and prove theoretical guarantees on their losses. We kernelize one of the algorithms and prove theoretical guarantees on its loss. We perform experiments and compare our algorithms with logistic regression.
1001.0887
Stable Feature Selection for Biomarker Discovery
cs.CE q-bio.QM
Feature selection techniques have been used as the workhorse in biomarker discovery applications for a long time. Surprisingly, the stability of feature selection with respect to sampling variations has long been under-considered. It is only until recently that this issue has received more and more attention. In this article, we review existing stable feature selection methods for biomarker discovery using a generic hierarchal framework. We have two objectives: (1) providing an overview on this new yet fast growing topic for a convenient reference; (2) categorizing existing methods under an expandable framework for future research and development.
1001.0921
Graph Quantization
cs.AI
Vector quantization(VQ) is a lossy data compression technique from signal processing, which is restricted to feature vectors and therefore inapplicable for combinatorial structures. This contribution presents a theoretical foundation of graph quantization (GQ) that extends VQ to the domain of attributed graphs. We present the necessary Lloyd-Max conditions for optimality of a graph quantizer and consistency results for optimal GQ design based on empirical distortion measures and stochastic optimization. These results statistically justify existing clustering algorithms in the domain of graphs. The proposed approach provides a template of how to link structural pattern recognition methods other than GQ to statistical pattern recognition.
1001.0927
Accelerating Competitive Learning Graph Quantization
cs.CV
Vector quantization(VQ) is a lossy data compression technique from signal processing for which simple competitive learning is one standard method to quantize patterns from the input space. Extending competitive learning VQ to the domain of graphs results in competitive learning for quantizing input graphs. In this contribution, we propose an accelerated version of competitive learning graph quantization (GQ) without trading computational time against solution quality. For this, we lift graphs locally to vectors in order to avoid unnecessary calculations of intractable graph distances. In doing so, the accelerated version of competitive learning GQ gradually turns locally into a competitive learning VQ with increasing number of iterations. Empirical results show a significant speedup by maintaining a comparable solution quality.
1001.0958
Effectively integrating information content and structural relationship to improve the GO-based similarity measure between proteins
cs.CE q-bio.GN
The Gene Ontology (GO) provides a knowledge base to effectively describe proteins. However, measuring similarity between proteins based on GO remains a challenge. In this paper, we propose a new similarity measure, information coefficient similarity measure (SimIC), to effectively integrate both the information content (IC) of GO terms and the structural information of GO hierarchy to determine the similarity between proteins. Testing on yeast proteins, our results show that SimIC efficiently addresses the shallow annotation issue in GO, thus improves the correlations between GO similarities of yeast proteins and their expression similarities as well as between GO similarities of yeast proteins and their sequence similarities. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed SimIC is superior in predicting yeast protein interactions. We predict 20484 yeast protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between 2462 proteins based on the high SimIC values of biological process (BP) and cellular component (CC). Examining the 214 MIPS complexes in our predicted PPIs shows that all members of 159 MIPS complexes can be found in our PPI predictions, which is more than those (120/214) found in PPIs predicted by relative specificity similarity (RSS). Integrating IC and structural information of GO hierarchy can improve the effectiveness of the semantic similarity measure of GO terms. The new SimIC can effectively correct the effect of shallow annotation, and then provide an effective way to measure similarity between proteins based on Gene Ontology.
1001.1009
Multi-path Probabilistic Available Bandwidth Estimation through Bayesian Active Learning
cs.NI cs.LG
Knowing the largest rate at which data can be sent on an end-to-end path such that the egress rate is equal to the ingress rate with high probability can be very practical when choosing transmission rates in video streaming or selecting peers in peer-to-peer applications. We introduce probabilistic available bandwidth, which is defined in terms of ingress rates and egress rates of traffic on a path, rather than in terms of capacity and utilization of the constituent links of the path like the standard available bandwidth metric. In this paper, we describe a distributed algorithm, based on a probabilistic graphical model and Bayesian active learning, for simultaneously estimating the probabilistic available bandwidth of multiple paths through a network. Our procedure exploits the fact that each packet train provides information not only about the path it traverses, but also about any path that shares a link with the monitored path. Simulations and PlanetLab experiments indicate that this process can dramatically reduce the number of probes required to generate accurate estimates.
1001.1020
An Empirical Evaluation of Four Algorithms for Multi-Class Classification: Mart, ABC-Mart, Robust LogitBoost, and ABC-LogitBoost
cs.LG cs.AI cs.CV
This empirical study is mainly devoted to comparing four tree-based boosting algorithms: mart, abc-mart, robust logitboost, and abc-logitboost, for multi-class classification on a variety of publicly available datasets. Some of those datasets have been thoroughly tested in prior studies using a broad range of classification algorithms including SVM, neural nets, and deep learning. In terms of the empirical classification errors, our experiment results demonstrate: 1. Abc-mart considerably improves mart. 2. Abc-logitboost considerably improves (robust) logitboost. 3. Robust) logitboost} considerably improves mart on most datasets. 4. Abc-logitboost considerably improves abc-mart on most datasets. 5. These four boosting algorithms (especially abc-logitboost) outperform SVM on many datasets. 6. Compared to the best deep learning methods, these four boosting algorithms (especially abc-logitboost) are competitive.
1001.1021
The Capacity of Random Linear Coding Networks as Subspace Channels
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we consider noncoherent random linear coding networks (RLCNs) as a discrete memoryless channel (DMC) whose input and output alphabets consist of subspaces. This contrasts with previous channel models in the literature which assume matrices as the channel input and output. No particular assumptions are made on the network topology or the transfer matrix, except that the latter may be rank-deficient according to some rank deficiency probability distribution. We introduce a random vector basis selection procedure which renders the DMC symmetric. The capacity we derive can be seen as a lower bound on the capacity of noncoherent RLCNs, where subspace coding suffices to achieve this bound.
1001.1026
On Network-Error Correcting Convolutional Codes under the BSC Edge Error Model
cs.IT math.IT
Convolutional network-error correcting codes (CNECCs) are known to provide error correcting capability in acyclic instantaneous networks within the network coding paradigm under small field size conditions. In this work, we investigate the performance of CNECCs under the error model of the network where the edges are assumed to be statistically independent binary symmetric channels, each with the same probability of error $p_e$($0\leq p_e<0.5$). We obtain bounds on the performance of such CNECCs based on a modified generating function (the transfer function) of the CNECCs. For a given network, we derive a mathematical condition on how small $p_e$ should be so that only single edge network-errors need to be accounted for, thus reducing the complexity of evaluating the probability of error of any CNECC. Simulations indicate that convolutional codes are required to possess different properties to achieve good performance in low $p_e$ and high $p_e$ regimes. For the low $p_e$ regime, convolutional codes with good distance properties show good performance. For the high $p_e$ regime, convolutional codes that have a good \textit{slope} (the minimum normalized cycle weight) are seen to be good. We derive a lower bound on the slope of any rate $b/c$ convolutional code with a certain degree.
1001.1027
An Unsupervised Algorithm For Learning Lie Group Transformations
cs.CV cs.LG
We present several theoretical contributions which allow Lie groups to be fit to high dimensional datasets. Transformation operators are represented in their eigen-basis, reducing the computational complexity of parameter estimation to that of training a linear transformation model. A transformation specific "blurring" operator is introduced that allows inference to escape local minima via a smoothing of the transformation space. A penalty on traversed manifold distance is added which encourages the discovery of sparse, minimal distance, transformations between states. Both learning and inference are demonstrated using these methods for the full set of affine transformations on natural image patches. Transformation operators are then trained on natural video sequences. It is shown that the learned video transformations provide a better description of inter-frame differences than the standard motion model based on rigid translation.
1001.1078
Stability of multidimensional persistent homology with respect to domain perturbations
math.AT cs.CG cs.IT math.IT
Motivated by the problem of dealing with incomplete or imprecise acquisition of data in computer vision and computer graphics, we extend results concerning the stability of persistent homology with respect to function perturbations to results concerning the stability with respect to domain perturbations. Domain perturbations can be measured in a number of different ways. An important method to compare domains is the Hausdorff distance. We show that by encoding sets using the distance function, the multidimensional matching distance between rank invariants of persistent homology groups is always upperly bounded by the Hausdorff distance between sets. Moreover we prove that our construction maintains information about the original set. Other well known methods to compare sets are considered, such as the symmetric difference distance between classical sets and the sup-distance between fuzzy sets. Also in these cases we present results stating that the multidimensional matching distance between rank invariants of persistent homology groups is upperly bounded by these distances. An experiment showing the potential of our approach concludes the paper.
1001.1079
Measuring Latent Causal Structure
cs.LG
Discovering latent representations of the observed world has become increasingly more relevant in data analysis. Much of the effort concentrates on building latent variables which can be used in prediction problems, such as classification and regression. A related goal of learning latent structure from data is that of identifying which hidden common causes generate the observations, such as in applications that require predicting the effect of policies. This will be the main problem tackled in our contribution: given a dataset of indicators assumed to be generated by unknown and unmeasured common causes, we wish to discover which hidden common causes are those, and how they generate our data. This is possible under the assumption that observed variables are linear functions of the latent causes with additive noise. Previous results in the literature present solutions for the case where each observed variable is a noisy function of a single latent variable. We show how to extend the existing results for some cases where observed variables measure more than one latent variable.
1001.1106
Optimal Thresholds for GMD Decoding with (L+1)/L-extended Bounded Distance Decoders
cs.IT math.IT
We investigate threshold-based multi-trial decoding of concatenated codes with an inner Maximum-Likelihood decoder and an outer error/erasure (L+1)/L-extended Bounded Distance decoder, i.e. a decoder which corrects e errors and t erasures if e(L+1)/L + t <= d - 1, where d is the minimum distance of the outer code and L is a positive integer. This is a generalization of Forney's GMD decoding, which was considered only for L = 1, i.e. outer Bounded Minimum Distance decoding. One important example for (L+1)/L-extended Bounded Distance decoders is decoding of L-Interleaved Reed-Solomon codes. Our main contribution is a threshold location formula, which allows to optimally erase unreliable inner decoding results, for a given number of decoding trials and parameter L. Thereby, the term optimal means that the residual codeword error probability of the concatenated code is minimized. We give an estimation of this probability for any number of decoding trials.
1001.1117
Matrix Extension with Symmetry and Its Application to Filter Banks
cs.IT cs.NA math.IT math.NA math.RA
In this paper, we completely solve the matrix extension problem with symmetry and provide a step-by-step algorithm to construct such a desired matrix $\mathsf{P}_e$ from a given matrix $\mathsf{P}$. Furthermore, using a cascade structure, we obtain a complete representation of any $r\times s$ paraunitary matrix $\mathsf{P}$ having compatible symmetry, which in turn leads to an algorithm for deriving a desired matrix $\mathsf{P}_e$ from a given matrix $\mathsf{P}$. Matrix extension plays an important role in many areas such as electronic engineering, system sciences, applied mathematics, and pure mathematics. As an application of our general results on matrix extension with symmetry, we obtain a satisfactory algorithm for constructing symmetric paraunitary filter banks and symmetric orthonormal multiwavelets by deriving high-pass filters with symmetry from any given low-pass filters with symmetry. Several examples are provided to illustrate the proposed algorithms and results in this paper.
1001.1122
Principal manifolds and graphs in practice: from molecular biology to dynamical systems
cs.NE cs.AI
We present several applications of non-linear data modeling, using principal manifolds and principal graphs constructed using the metaphor of elasticity (elastic principal graph approach). These approaches are generalizations of the Kohonen's self-organizing maps, a class of artificial neural networks. On several examples we show advantages of using non-linear objects for data approximation in comparison to the linear ones. We propose four numerical criteria for comparing linear and non-linear mappings of datasets into the spaces of lower dimension. The examples are taken from comparative political science, from analysis of high-throughput data in molecular biology, from analysis of dynamical systems.
1001.1133
Multi-cell MIMO Downlink with Fairness Criteria: the Large System Limit
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the downlink of a cellular network with multiple cells and multi-antenna base stations including arbitrary inter-cell cooperation, realistic distance-dependent pathloss and general "fairness" requirements. Beyond Monte Carlo simulation, no efficient computation method to evaluate the ergodic throughput of such systems has been provided so far. We propose an analytic method based on the combination of the large random matrix theory with Lagrangian optimization. The proposed method is computationally much more efficient than Monte Carlo simulation and provides a very accurate approximation (almost indistinguishable) for the actual finite-dimensional case, even for of a small number of users and base station antennas. Numerical examples include linear 2-cell and planar three-sectored 7-cell layouts, with no inter-cell cooperation, sector cooperation, and full cooperation.
1001.1143
Redundancy in Systems which Entertain a Model of Themselves: Interaction Information and the Self-organization of Anticipation
cs.IR physics.soc-ph
Mutual information among three or more dimensions (mu-star = - Q) has been considered as interaction information. However, Krippendorff (2009a, 2009b) has shown that this measure cannot be interpreted as a unique property of the interactions and has proposed an alternative measure of interaction information based on iterative approximation of maximum entropies. Q can then be considered as a measure of the difference between interaction information and redundancy generated in a model entertained by an observer. I argue that this provides us with a measure of the imprint of a second-order observing system -- a model entertained by the system itself -- on the underlying information processing. The second-order system communicates meaning hyper-incursively; an observation instantiates this meaning-processing within the information processing. The net results may add to or reduce the prevailing uncertainty. The model is tested empirically for the case where textual organization can be expected to contain intellectual organization in terms of distributions of title words, author names, and cited references.
1001.1187
Joint Scheduling and ARQ for MU-MIMO Downlink in the Presence of Inter-Cell Interference
cs.IT math.IT
User scheduling and multiuser multi-antenna (MU-MIMO) transmission are at the core of high rate data-oriented downlink schemes of the next-generation of cellular systems (e.g., LTE-Advanced). Scheduling selects groups of users according to their channels vector directions and SINR levels. However, when scheduling is applied independently in each cell, the inter-cell interference (ICI) power at each user receiver is not known in advance since it changes at each new scheduling slot depending on the scheduling decisions of all interfering base stations. In order to cope with this uncertainty, we consider the joint operation of scheduling, MU-MIMO beamforming and Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ). We develop a game-theoretic framework for this problem and build on stochastic optimization techniques in order to find optimal scheduling and ARQ schemes. Particularizing our framework to the case of "outage service rates", we obtain a scheme based on adaptive variable-rate coding at the physical layer, combined with ARQ at the Logical Link Control (ARQ-LLC). Then, we present a novel scheme based on incremental redundancy Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) that is able to achieve a throughput performance arbitrarily close to the "genie-aided service rates", with no need for a genie that provides non-causally the ICI power levels. The novel HARQ scheme is both easier to implement and superior in performance with respect to the conventional combination of adaptive variable-rate coding and ARQ-LLC.
1001.1197
Construction of wiretap codes from ordinary channel codes
cs.IT cs.CR math.IT
From an arbitrary given channel code over a discrete or Gaussian memoryless channel, we construct a wiretap code with the strong security. Our construction can achieve the wiretap capacity under mild assumptions. The key tool is the new privacy amplification theorem bounding the eavesdropped information in terms of the Gallager function.
1001.1210
Pure Parsimony Xor Haplotyping
cs.CE cs.DS
The haplotype resolution from xor-genotype data has been recently formulated as a new model for genetic studies. The xor-genotype data is a cheaply obtainable type of data distinguishing heterozygous from homozygous sites without identifying the homozygous alleles. In this paper we propose a formulation based on a well-known model used in haplotype inference: pure parsimony. We exhibit exact solutions of the problem by providing polynomial time algorithms for some restricted cases and a fixed-parameter algorithm for the general case. These results are based on some interesting combinatorial properties of a graph representation of the solutions. Furthermore, we show that the problem has a polynomial time k-approximation, where k is the maximum number of xor-genotypes containing a given SNP. Finally, we propose a heuristic and produce an experimental analysis showing that it scales to real-world large instances taken from the HapMap project.
1001.1214
The Capacity of Finite-State Channels in the High-Noise Regime
cs.IT math.IT
This paper considers the derivative of the entropy rate of a hidden Markov process with respect to the observation probabilities. The main result is a compact formula for the derivative that can be evaluated easily using Monte Carlo methods. It is applied to the problem of computing the capacity of a finite-state channel (FSC) and, in the high-noise regime, the formula has a simple closed-form expression that enables series expansion of the capacity of a FSC. This expansion is evaluated for a binary-symmetric channel under a (0,1) run-length limited constraint and an intersymbol-interference channel with Gaussian noise.
1001.1221
Boosting k-NN for categorization of natural scenes
cs.CV
The k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) classification rule has proven extremely successful in countless many computer vision applications. For example, image categorization often relies on uniform voting among the nearest prototypes in the space of descriptors. In spite of its good properties, the classic k-NN rule suffers from high variance when dealing with sparse prototype datasets in high dimensions. A few techniques have been proposed to improve k-NN classification, which rely on either deforming the nearest neighborhood relationship or modifying the input space. In this paper, we propose a novel boosting algorithm, called UNN (Universal Nearest Neighbors), which induces leveraged k-NN, thus generalizing the classic k-NN rule. We redefine the voting rule as a strong classifier that linearly combines predictions from the k closest prototypes. Weak classifiers are learned by UNN so as to minimize a surrogate risk. A major feature of UNN is the ability to learn which prototypes are the most relevant for a given class, thus allowing one for effective data reduction. Experimental results on the synthetic two-class dataset of Ripley show that such a filtering strategy is able to reject "noisy" prototypes. We carried out image categorization experiments on a database containing eight classes of natural scenes. We show that our method outperforms significantly the classic k-NN classification, while enabling significant reduction of the computational cost by means of data filtering.
1001.1257
Decisional Processes with Boolean Neural Network: the Emergence of Mental Schemes
cs.AI
Human decisional processes result from the employment of selected quantities of relevant information, generally synthesized from environmental incoming data and stored memories. Their main goal is the production of an appropriate and adaptive response to a cognitive or behavioral task. Different strategies of response production can be adopted, among which haphazard trials, formation of mental schemes and heuristics. In this paper, we propose a model of Boolean neural network that incorporates these strategies by recurring to global optimization strategies during the learning session. The model characterizes as well the passage from an unstructured/chaotic attractor neural network typical of data-driven processes to a faster one, forward-only and representative of schema-driven processes. Moreover, a simplified version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is introduced in order to test the model. Our results match with experimental data and point out some relevant knowledge coming from psychological domain.
1001.1276
A framework to model real-time databases
cs.DB
Real-time databases deal with time-constrained data and time-constrained transactions. The design of this kind of databases requires the introduction of new concepts to support both data structures and the dynamic behaviour of the database. In this paper, we give an overview about different aspects of real-time databases and we clarify requirements of their modelling. Then, we present a framework for real-time database design and describe its fundamental operations. A case study demonstrates the validity of the structural model and illustrates SQL queries and Java code generated from the classes of the model
1001.1278
On Critical Relative Distance of DNA Codes for Additive Stem Similarity
cs.IT math.IT q-bio.BM q-bio.GN
We consider DNA codes based on the nearest-neighbor (stem) similarity model which adequately reflects the "hybridization potential" of two DNA sequences. Our aim is to present a survey of bounds on the rate of DNA codes with respect to a thermodynamically motivated similarity measure called an additive stem similarity. These results yield a method to analyze and compare known samples of the nearest neighbor "thermodynamic weights" associated to stacked pairs that occurred in DNA secondary structures.
1001.1298
Coded OFDM by Unique Word Prefix
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper we propose a novel transmit signal structure and an adjusted and optimized receiver for OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing). Instead of the conventional cyclic prefix we use a deterministic sequence, which we call unique word (UW), as guard interval. We show how unique words, which are already well investigated for single carrier systems with frequency domain equalization (SC/FDE), can also be introduced in OFDM symbols. Since unique words represent known sequences, they can advantageously be used for synchronization and channel estimation purposes. Furthermore, the proposed approach introduces a complex number Reed-Solomon (RS-) code structure within the sequence of subcarriers. This allows for RS-decoding or to apply a highly efficient Wiener smoother succeeding a zero forcing stage at the receiver. We present simulation results in an indoor multipath environment to highlight the advantageous properties of the proposed scheme.
1001.1320
Distributed scientific communication in the European information society: Some cases of "Mode 2" fields of research
cs.IR cs.DL physics.soc-ph
Can self-organization of scientific communication be specified by using literature-based indicators? In this study, we explore this question by applying entropy measures to typical "Mode-2" fields of knowledge production. We hypothesized these scientific systems to be developing from a self-organization of the interaction between cognitive and institutional levels: European subsidized research programs aim at creating an institutional network, while a cognitive reorganization is continuously ongoing at the scientific field level. The results indicate that the European system develops towards a stable level of distribution of cited references and title-words among the European member states. We suggested that this distribution could be a property of the emerging European system. In order to measure to degree of specialization with respect to the respective distributions of countries, cited references and title words, the mutual information among the three frequency distributions was calculated. The so-called transmission values informed us that the European system shows increasing levels of differentiation.
1001.1373
The Serializability of Network Codes
cs.IT cs.DS math.IT
Network coding theory studies the transmission of information in networks whose vertices may perform nontrivial encoding and decoding operations on data as it passes through the network. The main approach to deciding the feasibility of network coding problems aims to reduce the problem to optimization over a polytope of entropic vectors subject to constraints imposed by the network structure. In the case of directed acyclic graphs, these constraints are completely understood, but for general graphs the problem of enumerating them remains open: it is not known how to classify the constraints implied by a property that we call serializability, which refers to the absence of paradoxical circular dependencies in a network code. In this work we initiate the first systematic study of the constraints imposed on a network code by serializability. We find that serializability cannot be detected solely by evaluating the Shannon entropy of edge sets in the graph, but nevertheless, we give a polynomial-time algorithm that decides the serializability of a network code. We define a certificate of non-serializability, called an information vortex, that plays a role in the theory of serializability comparable to the role of fractional cuts in multicommodity flow theory, including a type of min-max relation. Finally, we study the serializability deficit of a network code, defined as the minimum number of extra bits that must be sent in order to make it serializable. For linear codes, we show that it is NP-hard to approximate this parameter within a constant factor, and we demonstrate some surprising facts about the behavior of this parameter under parallel composition of codes.