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1007.0904
Secure rate-adaptive reconciliation
cs.IT math.IT
We consider in this paper the problem of information reconciliation in the context of secret key agreement between two legitimate parties, Alice and Bob. Beginning the discussion with the secret key agreement model introduced by Ahlswede and Csisz\'ar, the channel-type model with wiretapper, we study a protocol based on error correcting codes. The protocol can be adapted to changes in the communication channel extending the original source. The efficiency of the reconciliation is only limited by the quality of the code and, while transmitting more information than needed to reconcile Alice's and Bob's sequences, it does not reveal any more information on the original source than an ad-hoc code would have revealed.
1007.0931
LDPC Code Design for Transmission of Correlated Sources Across Noisy Channels Without CSIT
cs.IT math.IT
We consider the problem of transmitting correlated data after independent encoding to a central receiver through orthogonal channels. We assume that the channel state information is not known at the transmitter. The receiver has access to both the source correlation and the channel state information. We provide a generic framework for analyzing the performance of joint iterative decoding, using density evolution. Using differential evolution, we design punctured systematic LDPC codes to maximize the region of achievable channel conditions, with joint iterative decoding. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate that properly designed LDPC can perform well simultaneously over a wide range of channel parameters.
1007.0936
Linguistic complexity: English vs. Polish, text vs. corpus
cs.CL physics.soc-ph
We analyze the rank-frequency distributions of words in selected English and Polish texts. We show that for the lemmatized (basic) word forms the scale-invariant regime breaks after about two decades, while it might be consistent for the whole range of ranks for the inflected word forms. We also find that for a corpus consisting of texts written by different authors the basic scale-invariant regime is broken more strongly than in the case of comparable corpus consisting of texts written by the same author. Similarly, for a corpus consisting of texts translated into Polish from other languages the scale-invariant regime is broken more strongly than for a comparable corpus of native Polish texts. Moreover, we find that if the words are tagged with their proper part of speech, only verbs show rank-frequency distribution that is almost scale-invariant.
1007.0940
An axiomatic formalization of bounded rationality based on a utility-information equivalence
cs.AI cs.GT
Classic decision-theory is based on the maximum expected utility (MEU) principle, but crucially ignores the resource costs incurred when determining optimal decisions. Here we propose an axiomatic framework for bounded decision-making that considers resource costs. Agents are formalized as probability measures over input-output streams. We postulate that any such probability measure can be assigned a corresponding conjugate utility function based on three axioms: utilities should be real-valued, additive and monotonic mappings of probabilities. We show that these axioms enforce a unique conversion law between utility and probability (and thereby, information). Moreover, we show that this relation can be characterized as a variational principle: given a utility function, its conjugate probability measure maximizes a free utility functional. Transformations of probability measures can then be formalized as a change in free utility due to the addition of new constraints expressed by a target utility function. Accordingly, one obtains a criterion to choose a probability measure that trades off the maximization of a target utility function and the cost of the deviation from a reference distribution. We show that optimal control, adaptive estimation and adaptive control problems can be solved this way in a resource-efficient way. When resource costs are ignored, the MEU principle is recovered. Our formalization might thus provide a principled approach to bounded rationality that establishes a close link to information theory.
1007.0945
Human activity as the decision-based queueing process: statistical data analysis of waiting times in scientific journals
physics.data-an cs.IR
We consider the editorial processing of papers in scientific journals as a human activity process based on the decision making. A functional form of the probability distributions of random variables describing a human dynamics is studied using classical approaches of mass service systems theory, physics of critical phenomena and statistical methods of data analysis. Our additional goal is to corroborate the scientometrical application of the results obtained. Keywords: data analysis, statistics, mass service systems, human activity, scientometrics
1007.0982
MIMO B-MAC Interference Network Optimization under Rate Constraints by Polite Water-filling and Duality
cs.IT math.IT
We take two new approaches to design efficient algorithms for transmitter optimization under rate constraints, to guarantee the Quality of Service in general MIMO interference networks, which is a combination of multiple interfering broadcast channels (BC) and multiaccess channels (MAC) and is named B-MAC Networks. Two related optimization problems, maximizing the minimum of weighted rates under a sum-power constraint and minimizing the sum-power under rate constraints, are considered. The first approach takes advantage of existing efficient algorithms for SINR problems by building a bridge between rate and SINR through the design of optimal mappings between them. The approach can be applied to other optimization problems as well. The second approach employs polite water-filling, which is the optimal network version of water-filling that we recently found. It replaces most generic optimization algorithms currently used for networks and reduces the complexity while demonstrating superior performance even in non-convex cases. Both centralized and distributed algorithms are designed and the performance is analyzed in addition to numeric examples.
1007.1016
Bilateral filters: what they can and cannot do
cs.CV
Nonlinear bilateral filters (BF) deliver a fine blend of computational simplicity and blur-free denoising. However, little is known about their nature, noise-suppressing properties, and optimal choices of filter parameters. Our study is meant to fill this gap-explaining the underlying mechanism of bilateral filtering and providing the methodology for optimal filter selection. Practical application to CT image denoising is discussed to illustrate our results.
1007.1024
Model Counting in Product Configuration
cs.AI cs.LO cs.SC
We describe how to use propositional model counting for a quantitative analysis of product configuration data. Our approach computes valuable meta information such as the total number of valid configurations or the relative frequency of components. This information can be used to assess the severity of documentation errors or to measure documentation quality. As an application example we show how we apply these methods to product documentation formulas of the Mercedes-Benz line of vehicles. In order to process these large formulas we developed and implemented a new model counter for non-CNF formulas. Our model counter can process formulas, whose CNF representations could not be processed up till now.
1007.1025
Inflection system of a language as a complex network
cs.CL nlin.AO
We investigate inflection structure of a synthetic language using Latin as an example. We construct a bipartite graph in which one group of vertices correspond to dictionary headwords and the other group to inflected forms encountered in a given text. Each inflected form is connected to its corresponding headword, which in some cases in non-unique. The resulting sparse graph decomposes into a large number of connected components, to be called word groups. We then show how the concept of the word group can be used to construct coverage curves of selected Latin texts. We also investigate a version of the inflection graph in which all theoretically possible inflected forms are included. Distribution of sizes of connected components of this graphs resembles cluster distribution in a lattice percolation near the critical point.
1007.1033
A Theory of Network Equivalence, Parts I and II
cs.IT math.IT
A family of equivalence tools for bounding network capacities is introduced. Part I treats networks of point-to-point channels. The main result is roughly as follows. Given a network of noisy, independent, memoryless point-to-point channels, a collection of communication demands can be met on the given network if and only if it can be met on another network where each noisy channel is replaced by a noiseless bit pipe with throughput equal to the noisy channel capacity. This result was known previously for the case of a single-source multicast demand. The result given here treats general demands -- including, for example, multiple unicast demands -- and applies even when the achievable rate region for the corresponding demands is unknown in the noiseless network. In part II, definitions of upper and lower bounding channel models for general channels are introduced. By these definitions, a collection of communication demands can be met on a network of independent channels if it can be met on a network where each channel is replaced by its lower bounding model andonly if it can be met on a network where each channel is replaced by its upper bounding model. This work derives general conditions under which a network of noiseless bit pipes is an upper or lower bounding model for a multiterminal channel. Example upper and lower bounding models for broadcast, multiple access, and interference channels are given. It is then shown that bounding the difference between the upper and lower bounding models for a given channel yields bounds on the accuracy of network capacity bounds derived using those models. By bounding the capacity of a network of independent noisy channels by the network coding capacity of a network of noiseless bit pipes, this approach represents one step towards the goal of building computational tools for bounding network capacities.
1007.1048
Registration of Brain Images using Fast Walsh Hadamard Transform
cs.CV
A lot of image registration techniques have been developed with great significance for data analysis in medicine, astrophotography, satellite imaging and few other areas. This work proposes a method for medical image registration using Fast Walsh Hadamard transform. This algorithm registers images of the same or different modalities. Each image bit is lengthened in terms of Fast Walsh Hadamard basis functions. Each basis function is a notion of determining various aspects of local structure, e.g., horizontal edge, corner, etc. These coefficients are normalized and used as numerals in a chosen number system which allows one to form a unique number for each type of local structure. The experimental results show that Fast Walsh Hadamard transform accomplished better results than the conventional Walsh transform in the time domain. Also Fast Walsh Hadamard transform is more reliable in medical image registration consuming less time.
1007.1069
On the instantaneous frequency of Gaussian stochastic processes
cs.IT math.IT math.PR
This paper concerns the instantaneous frequency (IF) of continuous-time, zero-mean, complex-valued, proper, mean-square differentiable nonstationary Gaussian stochastic processes. We compute the probability density function for the IF for fixed time, which extends a result known for wide-sense stationary processes to nonstationary processes. For a fixed time the IF has either zero or infinite variance. For harmonizable processes we obtain as a byproduct that the mean of the IF, for fixed time, is the normalized first order frequency moment of the Wigner spectrum.
1007.1079
Intelligent data analysis based on the complex network theory methods: a case study
cs.IR physics.data-an
The development of modern information technologies permits to collect and to analyze huge amounts of statistical data in different spheres of life. The main problem is not to only to collect but to process all relevant information. The purpose of our work is to show the example of intelligent data analysis in such complex and non-formalized field as science. Using the statistical data about scientific periodical it is possible to perform its comprehensive analysis and to solve different practical problems. The combination of various approaches including the statistical analysis, methods of the complex network theory and different techniques that can be used for the concept mapping permits to perform an intelligent data analysis in order to obtain underlying patterns and hidden connections. Results of such analysis can be used for particular practical problems like information retrieval within journal.
1007.1087
Competition of Wireless Providers for Atomic Users
cs.IT cs.GT math.IT
We study a problem where wireless service providers compete for heterogenous wireless users. The users differ in their utility functions as well as in the perceived quality of service of individual providers. We model the interaction of an arbitrary number of providers and users as a two-stage multi-leader-follower game. We prove existence and uniqueness of the subgame perfect Nash equilibrium for a generic channel model and a wide class of users' utility functions. We show that the competition of resource providers leads to a globally optimal outcome under mild technical conditions. Most users will purchase the resource from only one provider at the unique subgame perfect equilibrium. The number of users who connect to multiple providers at the equilibrium is always smaller than the number of providers. We also present a decentralized algorithm that globally converges to the unique system equilibrium with only local information under mild conditions on the update rates.
1007.1174
Group Based Interference Alignment
cs.IT math.IT
In the $K$-user single-input single-output (SISO) frequency-selective fading interference channel, it is shown that the maximal achievable multiplexing gain is almost surely $K/2$ by using interference alignment (IA). However, when the signaling dimensions are limited, allocating all the resources to all users simultaneously is not optimal. So, a group based interference alignment (GIA) scheme is proposed, and it is formulated as an unbounded knapsack problem. Optimal and greedy search algorithms are proposed to obtain group patterns. Analysis and numerical results show that the GIA scheme can obtain a higher multiplexing gain when the resources are limited.
1007.1209
Prime Factor Cyclotomic Fourier Transforms with Reduced Complexity over Finite Fields
cs.IT math.IT
Discrete Fourier transforms~(DFTs) over finite fields have widespread applications in error correction coding. Hence, reducing the computational complexities of DFTs is of great significance, especially for long DFTs as increasingly longer error control codes are chosen for digital communication and storage systems. Since DFTs involve both multiplications and additions over finite fields and multiplications are much more complex than additions, recently proposed cyclotomic fast Fourier transforms (CFFTs) are promising due to their low multiplicative complexity. Unfortunately, they have very high additive complexity. Techniques such as common subexpression elimination (CSE) can be used to reduce the additive complexity of CFFTs, but their effectiveness for long DFTs is limited by their complexity. In this paper, we propose prime factor cyclotomic Fourier transforms (PFCFTs), which use CFFTs as sub-DFTs via the prime factor algorithm. When the length of DFTs is prime, our PFCFTs reduce to CFFTs. When the length has co-prime factors, since the sub-DFTs have much shorter lengths, this allows us to use CSE to significantly reduce their additive complexity. In comparison to previously proposed fast Fourier transforms, our PFCFTs achieve reduced overall complexity when the length of DFTs is at least 255, and the improvement significantly increases as the length grows. This approach also enables us to propose efficient DFTs with very long length (e.g., 4095-point), first efficient DFTs of such lengths in the literature. Finally, our PFCFTs are also advantageous for hardware implementation due to their regular structure.
1007.1213
Composite Cyclotomic Fourier Transforms with Reduced Complexities
cs.IT math.IT
Discrete Fourier transforms~(DFTs) over finite fields have widespread applications in digital communication and storage systems. Hence, reducing the computational complexities of DFTs is of great significance. Recently proposed cyclotomic fast Fourier transforms (CFFTs) are promising due to their low multiplicative complexities. Unfortunately, there are two issues with CFFTs: (1) they rely on efficient short cyclic convolution algorithms, which has not been investigated thoroughly yet, and (2) they have very high additive complexities when directly implemented. In this paper, we address both issues. One of the main contributions of this paper is efficient bilinear 11-point cyclic convolution algorithms, which allow us to construct CFFTs over GF$(2^{11})$. The other main contribution of this paper is that we propose composite cyclotomic Fourier transforms (CCFTs). In comparison to previously proposed fast Fourier transforms, our CCFTs achieve lower overall complexities for moderate to long lengths, and the improvement significantly increases as the length grows. Our 2047-point and 4095-point CCFTs are also first efficient DFTs of such lengths to the best of our knowledge. Finally, our CCFTs are also advantageous for hardware implementations due to their regular and modular structure.
1007.1234
Stochastic stability of continuous time consensus protocols
math.OC cs.SY nlin.AO q-bio.NC
A unified approach to studying convergence and stochastic stability of continuous time consensus protocols (CPs) is presented in this work. Our method applies to networks with directed information flow; both cooperative and noncooperative interactions; networks under weak stochastic forcing; and those whose topology and strength of connections may vary in time. The graph theoretic interpretation of the analytical results is emphasized. We show how the spectral properties, such as algebraic connectivity and total effective resistance, as well as the geometric properties, such the dimension and the structure of the cycle subspace of the underlying graph, shape stability of the corresponding CPs. In addition, we explore certain implications of the spectral graph theory to CP design. In particular, we point out that expanders, sparse highly connected graphs, generate CPs whose performance remains uniformly high when the size of the network grows unboundedly. Similarly, we highlight the benefits of using random versus regular network topologies for CP design. We illustrate these observations with numerical examples and refer to the relevant graph-theoretic results. Keywords: consensus protocol, dynamical network, synchronization, robustness to noise, algebraic connectivity, effective resistance, expander, random graph
1007.1243
New Results on the Capacity of the Gaussian Cognitive Interference Channel
cs.IT math.IT
The capacity of the two-user Gaussian cognitive interference channel, a variation of the classical interference channel where one of the transmitters has knowledge of both messages, is known in several parameter regimes but remains unknown in general. In this paper, we consider the following achievable scheme: the cognitive transmitter pre-codes its message against the interference created at its intended receiver by the primary user, and the cognitive receiver only decodes its intended message, similar to the optimal scheme for "weak interference"; the primary decoder decodes both messages, similar to the optimal scheme for "very strong interference". Although the cognitive message is pre-coded against the primary message, by decoding it, the primary receiver obtains information about its own message, thereby improving its rate. We show: (1) that this proposed scheme achieves capacity in what we term the "primary decodes cognitive" regime, i.e., a subset of the "strong interference" regime that is not included in the "very strong interference" regime for which capacity was known; (2) that this scheme is within one bit/s/Hz, or a factor two, of capacity for a much larger set of parameters, thus improving the best known constant gap result; (3) we provide insights into the trade-off between interference pre-coding at the cognitive encoder and interference decoding at the primary receiver based on the analysis of the approximate capacity results.
1007.1253
Efficient Sketches for the Set Query Problem
cs.DS cs.IT math.IT
We develop an algorithm for estimating the values of a vector x in R^n over a support S of size k from a randomized sparse binary linear sketch Ax of size O(k). Given Ax and S, we can recover x' with ||x' - x_S||_2 <= eps ||x - x_S||_2 with probability at least 1 - k^{-\Omega(1)}. The recovery takes O(k) time. While interesting in its own right, this primitive also has a number of applications. For example, we can: 1. Improve the linear k-sparse recovery of heavy hitters in Zipfian distributions with O(k log n) space from a (1+eps) approximation to a (1 + o(1)) approximation, giving the first such approximation in O(k log n) space when k <= O(n^{1-eps}). 2. Recover block-sparse vectors with O(k) space and a (1+eps) approximation. Previous algorithms required either omega(k) space or omega(1) approximation.
1007.1255
Queue-Architecture and Stability Analysis in Cooperative Relay Networks
cs.NI cs.IT math.IT
An abstraction of the physical layer coding using bit pipes that are coupled through data-rates is insufficient to capture notions such as node cooperation in cooperative relay networks. Consequently, network-stability analyses based on such abstractions are valid for non-cooperative schemes alone and meaningless for cooperative schemes. Motivated from this, this paper develops a framework that brings the information-theoretic coding scheme together with network-stability analysis. This framework does not constrain the system to any particular achievable scheme, i.e., the relays can use any cooperative coding strategy of its choice, be it amplify/compress/quantize or any alter-and-forward scheme. The paper focuses on the scenario when coherence duration is of the same order of the packet/codeword duration, the channel distribution is unknown and the fading state is only known causally. The main contributions of this paper are two-fold: first, it develops a low-complexity queue-architecture to enable stable operation of cooperative relay networks, and, second, it establishes the throughput optimality of a simple network algorithm that utilizes this queue-architecture.
1007.1268
Application of Data Mining to Network Intrusion Detection: Classifier Selection Model
cs.NI cs.AI
As network attacks have increased in number and severity over the past few years, intrusion detection system (IDS) is increasingly becoming a critical component to secure the network. Due to large volumes of security audit data as well as complex and dynamic properties of intrusion behaviors, optimizing performance of IDS becomes an important open problem that is receiving more and more attention from the research community. The uncertainty to explore if certain algorithms perform better for certain attack classes constitutes the motivation for the reported herein. In this paper, we evaluate performance of a comprehensive set of classifier algorithms using KDD99 dataset. Based on evaluation results, best algorithms for each attack category is chosen and two classifier algorithm selection models are proposed. The simulation result comparison indicates that noticeable performance improvement and real-time intrusion detection can be achieved as we apply the proposed models to detect different kinds of network attacks.
1007.1270
How to Maximize User Satisfaction Degree in Multi-service IP Networks
cs.NI cs.AI
Bandwidth allocation is a fundamental problem in communication networks. With current network moving towards the Future Internet model, the problem is further intensified as network traffic demanding far from exceeds network bandwidth capability. Maintaining a certain user satisfaction degree therefore becomes a challenge research topic. In this paper, we deal with the problem by proposing BASMIN, a novel bandwidth allocation scheme that aims to maximize network user's happiness. We also defined a new metric for evaluating network user satisfaction degree: network worth. A three-step evaluation process is then conducted to compare BASMIN efficiency with other three popular bandwidth allocation schemes. Throughout the tests, we experienced BASMIN's advantages over the others; we even found out that one of the most widely used bandwidth allocation schemes, in fact, is not effective at all.
1007.1272
Binary is Good: A Binary Inference Framework for Primary User Separation in Cognitive Radio Networks
cs.NI cs.IT math.IT
Primary users (PU) separation concerns with the issues of distinguishing and characterizing primary users in cognitive radio (CR) networks. We argue the need for PU separation in the context of collaborative spectrum sensing and monitor selection. In this paper, we model the observations of monitors as boolean OR mixtures of underlying binary latency sources for PUs, and devise a novel binary inference algorithm for PU separation. Simulation results show that without prior knowledge regarding PUs' activities, the algorithm achieves high inference accuracy. An interesting implication of the proposed algorithm is the ability to effectively represent n independent binary sources via (correlated) binary vectors of logarithmic length.
1007.1282
A note on sample complexity of learning binary output neural networks under fixed input distributions
cs.LG
We show that the learning sample complexity of a sigmoidal neural network constructed by Sontag (1992) required to achieve a given misclassification error under a fixed purely atomic distribution can grow arbitrarily fast: for any prescribed rate of growth there is an input distribution having this rate as the sample complexity, and the bound is asymptotically tight. The rate can be superexponential, a non-recursive function, etc. We further observe that Sontag's ANN is not Glivenko-Cantelli under any input distribution having a non-atomic part.
1007.1361
Top-K Color Queries for Document Retrieval
cs.DS cs.IR
In this paper we describe a new efficient (in fact optimal) data structure for the {\em top-$K$ color problem}. Each element of an array $A$ is assigned a color $c$ with priority $p(c)$. For a query range $[a,b]$ and a value $K$, we have to report $K$ colors with the highest priorities among all colors that occur in $A[a..b]$, sorted in reverse order by their priorities. We show that such queries can be answered in $O(K)$ time using an $O(N\log \sigma)$ bits data structure, where $N$ is the number of elements in the array and $\sigma$ is the number of colors. Thus our data structure is asymptotically optimal with respect to the worst-case query time and space. As an immediate application of our results, we obtain optimal time solutions for several document retrieval problems. The method of the paper could be also of independent interest.
1007.1368
Low Complexity Linear Programming Decoding of Nonbinary Linear Codes
cs.IT math.IT
Linear Programming (LP) decoding of Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes has attracted much attention in the research community in the past few years. The aim of LP decoding is to develop an algorithm which has error-correcting performance similar to that of the Sum-Product (SP) decoding algorithm, while at the same time it should be amenable to mathematical analysis. The LP decoding algorithm has also been extended to nonbinary linear codes by Flanagan et al. However, the most important problem with LP decoding for both binary and nonbinary linear codes is that the complexity of standard LP solvers such as the simplex algorithm remain prohibitively large for codes of moderate to large block length. To address this problem, Vontobel et al. proposed a low complexity LP decoding algorithm for binary linear codes which has complexity linear in the block length. In this paper, we extend the latter work and propose a low-complexity LP decoding algorithm for nonbinary linear codes. We use the LP formulation proposed by Flanagan et al. as a basis and derive a pair of primal-dual LP formulations. The dual LP is then used to develop the low-complexity LP decoding algorithm for nonbinary linear codes. In contrast to the binary low-complexity LP decoding algorithm, our proposed algorithm is not directly related to the nonbinary SP algorithm. Nevertheless, the complexity of the proposed algorithm is linear in the block length and is limited mainly by the maximum check node degree. As a proof of concept, we also present a simulation result for a $[80,48]$ LDPC code defined over $\mathbb{Z}_4$ using quaternary phase-shift keying over the AWGN channel, and we show that the error-correcting performance of the proposed LP decoding algorithm is similar to that of the standard LP decoding using the simplex solver.
1007.1398
Multi-environment model estimation for motility analysis of Caenorhabditis Elegans
cs.CV
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a well-known model organism used to investigate fundamental questions in biology. Motility assays of this small roundworm are designed to study the relationships between genes and behavior. Commonly, motility analysis is used to classify nematode movements and characterize them quantitatively. Over the past years, C. elegans' motility has been studied across a wide range of environments, including crawling on substrates, swimming in fluids, and locomoting through microfluidic substrates. However, each environment often requires customized image processing tools relying on heuristic parameter tuning. In the present study, we propose a novel Multi-Environment Model Estimation (MEME) framework for automated image segmentation that is versatile across various environments. The MEME platform is constructed around the concept of Mixture of Gaussian (MOG) models, where statistical models for both the background environment and the nematode appearance are explicitly learned and used to accurately segment a target nematode. Our method is designed to simplify the burden often imposed on users; here, only a single image which includes a nematode in its environment must be provided for model learning. In addition, our platform enables the extraction of nematode `skeletons' for straightforward motility quantification. We test our algorithm on various locomotive environments and compare performances with an intensity-based thresholding method. Overall, MEME outperforms the threshold-based approach for the overwhelming majority of cases examined. Ultimately, MEME provides researchers with an attractive platform for C. elegans' segmentation and `skeletonizing' across a wide range of motility assays.
1007.1407
Parallel Bit Interleaved Coded Modulation
cs.IT math.IT
A new variant of bit interleaved coded modulation (BICM) is proposed. In the new scheme, called Parallel BICM, L identical binary codes are used in parallel using a mapper, a newly proposed finite-length interleaver and a binary dither signal. As opposed to previous approaches, the scheme does not rely on any assumptions of an ideal, infinite-length interleaver. Over a memoryless channel, the new scheme is proven to be equivalent to a binary memoryless channel. Therefore the scheme enables one to easily design coded modulation schemes using a simple binary code that was designed for that binary channel. The overall performance of the coded modulation scheme is analytically evaluated based on the performance of the binary code over the binary channel. The new scheme is analyzed from an information theoretic viewpoint, where the capacity, error exponent and channel dispersion are considered. The capacity of the scheme is identical to the BICM capacity. The error exponent of the scheme is numerically compared to a recently proposed mismatched-decoding exponent analysis of BICM.
1007.1432
Improved RANSAC performance using simple, iterative minimal-set solvers
cs.CV
RANSAC is a popular technique for estimating model parameters in the presence of outliers. The best speed is achieved when the minimum possible number of points is used to estimate hypotheses for the model. Many useful problems can be represented using polynomial constraints (for instance, the determinant of a fundamental matrix must be zero) and so have a number of solutions which are consistent with a minimal set. A considerable amount of effort has been expended on finding the constraints of such problems, and these often require the solution of systems of polynomial equations. We show that better performance can be achieved by using a simple optimization based approach on minimal sets. For a given minimal set, the optimization approach is not guaranteed to converge to the correct solution. However, when used within RANSAC the greater speed and numerical stability results in better performance overall, and much simpler algorithms. We also show that by selecting more than the minimal number of points and using robust optimization can yield better results for very noisy by reducing the number of trials required. The increased speed of our method demonstrated with experiments on essential matrix estimation.
1007.1483
On Inequalities Relating the Characteristic Function and Fisher Information
cs.IT math.IT
A relationship between the Fisher information and the characteristic function is established with the help of two inequalities. A necessary and sufficient condition for equality is found. These results are used to determine the asymptotic efficiency of a distributed estimation algorithm that uses constant modulus transmissions over Gaussian multiple access channels. The loss in efficiency of the distributed estimation scheme relative to the centralized approach is quantified for different sensing noise distributions. It is shown that the distributed estimator does not incur an efficiency loss if and only if the sensing noise distribution is Gaussian.
1007.1697
Quantum Cyclic Code
cs.IT math.IT
In this paper, we define and study \emph{quantum cyclic codes}, a generalisation of cyclic codes to the quantum setting. Previously studied examples of quantum cyclic codes were all quantum codes obtained from classical cyclic codes via the CSS construction. However, the codes that we study are much more general. In particular, we construct cyclic stabiliser codes with parameters $[[5,1,3]]$, $[[17,1,7]]$ and $[[17,9,3]]$, all of which are \emph{not} CSS. The $[[5,1,3]]$ code is the well known Laflamme code and to the best of our knowledge the other two are new examples. Our definition of cyclicity applies to non-stabiliser codes as well; in fact we show that the $((5,6,2))$ nonstabiliser first constructed by Rains\etal~ cite{rains97nonadditive} and latter by Arvind \etal~\cite{arvind:2004:nonstabilizer} is cyclic. We also study stabiliser codes of length $4^m +1$ over $\mathbb{F}_2$ for which we define a notation of BCH distance. Much like the Berlekamp decoding algorithm for classical BCH codes, we give efficient quantum algorithms to correct up to $\floor{\frac{d-1}{2}}$ errors when the BCH distance is $d$.
1007.1708
A Study on the Effectiveness of Different Patch Size and Shape for Eyes and Mouth Detection
cs.CV
Template matching is one of the simplest methods used for eyes and mouth detection. However, it can be modified and extended to become a powerful tool. Since the patch itself plays a significant role in optimizing detection performance, a study on the influence of patch size and shape is carried out. The optimum patch size and shape is determined using the proposed method. Usually, template matching is also combined with other methods in order to improve detection accuracy. Thus, in this paper, the effectiveness of two image processing methods i.e. grayscale and Haar wavelet transform, when used with template matching are analyzed.
1007.1735
Diversity Embedded Streaming Erasure Codes (DE-SCo): Constructions and Optimality
cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
Streaming erasure codes encode a source stream to guarantee that each source packet is recovered within a fixed delay at the receiver over a burst-erasure channel. This paper introduces diversity embedded streaming erasure codes (DE-SCo), that provide a flexible tradeoff between the channel quality and receiver delay. When the channel conditions are good, the source stream is recovered with a low delay, whereas when the channel conditions are poor the source stream is still recovered, albeit with a larger delay. Information theoretic analysis of the underlying burst-erasure broadcast channel reveals that DE-SCo achieve the minimum possible delay for the weaker user, without sacrificing the performance of the stronger user. A larger class of multicast streaming erasure codes (MU-SCo) that achieve optimal tradeoff between rate, delay and erasure-burst length is also constructed.
1007.1756
Shannon Meets Nash on the Interference Channel
cs.IT cs.GT math.IT
The interference channel is the simplest communication scenario where multiple autonomous users compete for shared resources. We combine game theory and information theory to define a notion of a Nash equilibrium region of the interference channel. The notion is game theoretic: it captures the selfish behavior of each user as they compete. The notion is also information theoretic: it allows each user to use arbitrary communication strategies as it optimizes its own performance. We give an exact characterization of the Nash equilibrium region of the two-user linear deterministic interference channel and an approximate characterization of the Nash equilibrium region of the two-user Gaussian interference channel to within 1 bit/s/Hz..
1007.1766
An svm multiclassifier approach to land cover mapping
cs.AI
From the advent of the application of satellite imagery to land cover mapping, one of the growing areas of research interest has been in the area of image classification. Image classifiers are algorithms used to extract land cover information from satellite imagery. Most of the initial research has focussed on the development and application of algorithms to better existing and emerging classifiers. In this paper, a paradigm shift is proposed whereby a committee of classifiers is used to determine the final classification output. Two of the key components of an ensemble system are that there should be diversity among the classifiers and that there should be a mechanism through which the results are combined. In this paper, the members of the ensemble system include: Linear SVM, Gaussian SVM and Quadratic SVM. The final output was determined through a simple majority vote of the individual classifiers. From the results obtained it was observed that the final derived map generated by an ensemble system can potentially improve on the results derived from the individual classifiers making up the ensemble system. The ensemble system classification accuracy was, in this case, better than the linear and quadratic SVM result. It was however less than that of the RBF SVM. Areas for further research could focus on improving the diversity of the ensemble system used in this research.
1007.1768
StochKit-FF: Efficient Systems Biology on Multicore Architectures
cs.CE q-bio.QM
The stochastic modelling of biological systems is an informative, and in some cases, very adequate technique, which may however result in being more expensive than other modelling approaches, such as differential equations. We present StochKit-FF, a parallel version of StochKit, a reference toolkit for stochastic simulations. StochKit-FF is based on the FastFlow programming toolkit for multicores and exploits the novel concept of selective memory. We experiment StochKit-FF on a model of HIV infection dynamics, with the aim of extracting information from efficiently run experiments, here in terms of average and variance and, on a longer term, of more structured data.
1007.1778
Quantum Error Correction beyond the Bounded Distance Decoding Limit
cs.IT math.IT quant-ph
In this paper, we consider quantum error correction over depolarizing channels with non-binary low-density parity-check codes defined over Galois field of size $2^p$ . The proposed quantum error correcting codes are based on the binary quasi-cyclic CSS (Calderbank, Shor and Steane) codes. The resulting quantum codes outperform the best known quantum codes and surpass the performance limit of the bounded distance decoder. By increasing the size of the underlying Galois field, i.e., $2^p$, the error floors are considerably improved.
1007.1799
Discrete denoising of heterogenous two-dimensional data
cs.IT math.IT
We consider discrete denoising of two-dimensional data with characteristics that may be varying abruptly between regions. Using a quadtree decomposition technique and space-filling curves, we extend the recently developed S-DUDE (Shifting Discrete Universal DEnoiser), which was tailored to one-dimensional data, to the two-dimensional case. Our scheme competes with a genie that has access, in addition to the noisy data, also to the underlying noiseless data, and can employ $m$ different two-dimensional sliding window denoisers along $m$ distinct regions obtained by a quadtree decomposition with $m$ leaves, in a way that minimizes the overall loss. We show that, regardless of what the underlying noiseless data may be, the two-dimensional S-DUDE performs essentially as well as this genie, provided that the number of distinct regions satisfies $m=o(n)$, where $n$ is the total size of the data. The resulting algorithm complexity is still linear in both $n$ and $m$, as in the one-dimensional case. Our experimental results show that the two-dimensional S-DUDE can be effective when the characteristics of the underlying clean image vary across different regions in the data.
1007.1800
Multimode Control Attacks on Elections
cs.GT cs.CC cs.DS cs.MA
In 1992, Bartholdi, Tovey, and Trick opened the study of control attacks on elections---attempts to improve the election outcome by such actions as adding/deleting candidates or voters. That work has led to many results on how algorithms can be used to find attacks on elections and how complexity-theoretic hardness results can be used as shields against attacks. However, all the work in this line has assumed that the attacker employs just a single type of attack. In this paper, we model and study the case in which the attacker launches a multipronged (i.e., multimode) attack. We do so to more realistically capture the richness of real-life settings. For example, an attacker might simultaneously try to suppress some voters, attract new voters into the election, and introduce a spoiler candidate. Our model provides a unified framework for such varied attacks, and by constructing polynomial-time multiprong attack algorithms we prove that for various election systems even such concerted, flexible attacks can be perfectly planned in deterministic polynomial time.
1007.1811
On the Capacity of a Class of Cognitive Z-interference Channels
cs.IT math.IT
We study a special class of the cognitive radio channel in which the receiver of the cognitive pair does not suffer interference from the primary user. Previously developed general encoding schemes for this channel are complex as they attempt to cope with arbitrary channel conditions, which leads to rate regions that are difficult to evaluate. The focus of our work is to derive simple rate regions that are easily computable, thereby providing more insights into achievable rates and good coding strategies under different channel conditions. We first present several explicit achievable regions for the general discrete memoryless case. We also present an improved outer bound on the capacity region for the case of high interference. We then extend these regions to Gaussian channels. With a simple outer bound we establish a new capacity region in the high-interference regime. Lastly, we provide numerical comparisons between the derived achievable rate regions and the outer bounds.
1007.1819
Rewritable Codes for Flash Memories Based Upon Lattices, and an Example Using the E8 Lattice
cs.IT math.IT
A rewriting code construction for flash memories based upon lattices is described. The values stored in flash cells correspond to lattice points. This construction encodes information to lattice points in such a way that data can be written to the memory multiple times without decreasing the cell values. The construction partitions the flash memory's cubic signal space into blocks. The minimum number of writes is shown to be linear in one of the code parameters. An example using the E8 lattice is given, with numerical results.
1007.1852
A Generalized Sampling Theorem for Stable Reconstructions in Arbitrary Bases
math.NA cs.IT math.IT
We introduce a generalized framework for sampling and reconstruction in separable Hilbert spaces. Specifically, we establish that it is always possible to stably reconstruct a vector in an arbitrary Riesz basis from sufficiently many of its samples in any other Riesz basis. This framework can be viewed as an extension of that of Eldar et al. However, whilst the latter imposes stringent assumptions on the reconstruction basis, and may in practice be unstable, our framework allows for recovery in any (Riesz) basis in a manner that is completely stable. Whilst the classical Shannon Sampling Theorem is a special case of our theorem, this framework allows us to exploit additional information about the approximated vector (or, in this case, function), for example sparsity or regularity, to design a reconstruction basis that is better suited. Examples are presented illustrating this procedure.
1007.1938
Affine equivalence of cubic homogeneous rotation symmetric Boolean functions
cs.IT math.IT math.NT
Homogeneous rotation symmetric Boolean functions have been extensively studied in recent years because of their applications in cryptography. Little is known about the basic question of when two such functions are affine equivalent. The simplest case of quadratic rotation symmetric functions which are generated by cyclic permutations of the variables in a single monomial was only settled in 2009. This paper studies the much more complicated cubic case for such functions. A new concept of \emph{patterns} is introduced, by means of which the structure of the smallest group G_n, whose action on the set of all such cubic functions in $n$ variables gives the affine equivalence classes for these functions under permutation of the variables, is determined. We conjecture that the equivalence classes are the same if all nonsingular affine transformations, not just permutations, are allowed. This conjecture is verified if n < 22. Our method gives much more information about the equivalence classes; for example, in this paper we give a complete description of the equivalence classes when n is a prime or a power of 3.
1007.1944
LHC Databases on the Grid: Achievements and Open Issues
cs.DB cs.DC hep-ex physics.data-an
To extract physics results from the recorded data, the LHC experiments are using Grid computing infrastructure. The event data processing on the Grid requires scalable access to non-event data (detector conditions, calibrations, etc.) stored in relational databases. The database-resident data are critical for the event data reconstruction processing steps and often required for physics analysis. This paper reviews LHC experience with database technologies for the Grid computing. List of topics includes: database integration with Grid computing models of the LHC experiments; choice of database technologies; examples of database interfaces; distributed database applications (data complexity, update frequency, data volumes and access patterns); scalability of database access in the Grid computing environment of the LHC experiments. The review describes areas in which substantial progress was made and remaining open issues.
1007.1986
Achievable Error Exponents in the Gaussian Channel with Rate-Limited Feedback
cs.IT math.IT
We investigate the achievable error probability in communication over an AWGN discrete time memoryless channel with noiseless delay-less rate-limited feedback. For the case where the feedback rate R_FB is lower than the data rate R transmitted over the forward channel, we show that the decay of the probability of error is at most exponential in blocklength, and obtain an upper bound for increase in the error exponent due to feedback. Furthermore, we show that the use of feedback in this case results in an error exponent that is at least RF B higher than the error exponent in the absence of feedback. For the case where the feedback rate exceeds the forward rate (R_FB \geq R), we propose a simple iterative scheme that achieves a probability of error that decays doubly exponentially with the codeword blocklength n. More generally, for some positive integer L, we show that a L-th order exponential error decay is achievable if R_FB \geq (L-1)R. We prove that the above results hold whether the feedback constraint is expressed in terms of the average feedback rate or per channel use feedback rate. Our results show that the error exponent as a function of R_FB has a strong discontinuity at R, where it jumps from a finite value to infinity.
1007.2049
Reinforcement Learning via AIXI Approximation
cs.LG
This paper introduces a principled approach for the design of a scalable general reinforcement learning agent. This approach is based on a direct approximation of AIXI, a Bayesian optimality notion for general reinforcement learning agents. Previously, it has been unclear whether the theory of AIXI could motivate the design of practical algorithms. We answer this hitherto open question in the affirmative, by providing the first computationally feasible approximation to the AIXI agent. To develop our approximation, we introduce a Monte Carlo Tree Search algorithm along with an agent-specific extension of the Context Tree Weighting algorithm. Empirically, we present a set of encouraging results on a number of stochastic, unknown, and partially observable domains.
1007.2071
Independent Component Analysis Over Galois Fields
cs.IT math.IT physics.data-an
We consider the framework of Independent Component Analysis (ICA) for the case where the independent sources and their linear mixtures all reside in a Galois field of prime order P. Similarities and differences from the classical ICA framework (over the Real field) are explored. We show that a necessary and sufficient identifiability condition is that none of the sources should have a Uniform distribution. We also show that pairwise independence of the mixtures implies their full mutual independence (namely a non-mixing condition) in the binary (P=2) and ternary (P=3) cases, but not necessarily in higher order (P>3) cases. We propose two different iterative separation (or identification) algorithms: One is based on sequential identification of the smallest-entropy linear combinations of the mixtures, and is shown to be equivariant with respect to the mixing matrix; The other is based on sequential minimization of the pairwise mutual information measures. We provide some basic performance analysis for the binary (P=2) case, supplemented by simulation results for higher orders, demonstrating advantages and disadvantages of the proposed separation approaches.
1007.2075
Consistency of Feature Markov Processes
cs.LG cs.IT math.IT
We are studying long term sequence prediction (forecasting). We approach this by investigating criteria for choosing a compact useful state representation. The state is supposed to summarize useful information from the history. We want a method that is asymptotically consistent in the sense it will provably eventually only choose between alternatives that satisfy an optimality property related to the used criterion. We extend our work to the case where there is side information that one can take advantage of and, furthermore, we briefly discuss the active setting where an agent takes actions to achieve desirable outcomes.
1007.2088
A Multi-hop Multi-source Algebraic Watchdog
cs.CR cs.IT math.IT
In our previous work "An Algebraic Watchdog for Wireless Network Coding", we proposed a new scheme in which nodes can detect malicious behaviors probabilistically, police their downstream neighbors locally using overheard messages; thus, provide a secure global "self-checking network". As the first building block of such a system, we focused on a two-hop network, and presented a graphical model to understand the inference process by which nodes police their downstream neighbors and to compute the probabilities of misdetection and false detection. In this paper, we extend the Algebraic Watchdog to a more general network setting, and propose a protocol in which we can establish "trust" in coded systems in a distributed manner. We develop a graphical model to detect the presence of an adversarial node downstream within a general two-hop network. The structure of the graphical model (a trellis) lends itself to well-known algorithms, such as Viterbi algorithm, that can compute the probabilities of misdetection and false detection. Using this as a building block, we generalize our scheme to multi-hop networks. We show analytically that as long as the min-cut is not dominated by the Byzantine adversaries, upstream nodes can monitor downstream neighbors and allow reliable communication with certain probability. Finally, we present preliminary simulation results that support our analysis.
1007.2119
Free Probability based Capacity Calculation of Multiantenna Gaussian Fading Channels with Cochannel Interference
cs.IT math.IT
During the last decade, it has been well understood that communication over multiple antennas can increase linearly the multiplexing capacity gain and provide large spectral efficiency improvements. However, the majority of studies in this area were carried out ignoring cochannel interference. Only a small number of investigations have considered cochannel interference, but even therein simple channel models were employed, assuming identically distributed fading coefficients. In this paper, a generic model for a multi-antenna channel is presented incorporating four impairments, namely additive white Gaussian noise, flat fading, path loss and cochannel interference. Both point-to-point and multiple-access MIMO channels are considered, including the case of cooperating Base Station clusters. The asymptotic capacity limit of this channel is calculated based on an asymptotic free probability approach which exploits the additive and multiplicative free convolution in the R- and S-transform domain respectively, as well as properties of the eta and Stieltjes transform. Numerical results are utilized to verify the accuracy of the derived closed-form expressions and evaluate the effect of the cochannel interference.
1007.2212
Optimal Path Planning under Temporal Logic Constraints
cs.RO
In this paper we present a method for automatically generating optimal robot trajectories satisfying high level mission specifications. The motion of the robot in the environment is modeled as a general transition system, enhanced with weighted transitions. The mission is specified by a general linear temporal logic formula. In addition, we require that an optimizing proposition must be repeatedly satisfied. The cost function that we seek to minimize is the maximum time between satisfying instances of the optimizing proposition. For every environment model, and for every formula, our method computes a robot trajectory which minimizes the cost function. The problem is motivated by applications in robotic monitoring and data gathering. In this setting, the optimizing proposition is satisfied at all locations where data can be uploaded, and the entire formula specifies a complex (and infinite horizon) data collection mission. Our method utilizes B\"uchi automata to produce an automaton (which can be thought of as a graph) whose runs satisfy the temporal logic specification. We then present a graph algorithm which computes a path corresponding to the optimal robot trajectory. We also present an implementation for a robot performing a data gathering mission in a road network.
1007.2238
Online Algorithms for the Multi-Armed Bandit Problem with Markovian Rewards
math.OC cs.LG
We consider the classical multi-armed bandit problem with Markovian rewards. When played an arm changes its state in a Markovian fashion while it remains frozen when not played. The player receives a state-dependent reward each time it plays an arm. The number of states and the state transition probabilities of an arm are unknown to the player. The player's objective is to maximize its long-term total reward by learning the best arm over time. We show that under certain conditions on the state transition probabilities of the arms, a sample mean based index policy achieves logarithmic regret uniformly over the total number of trials. The result shows that sample mean based index policies can be applied to learning problems under the rested Markovian bandit model without loss of optimality in the order. Moreover, comparision between Anantharam's index policy and UCB shows that by choosing a small exploration parameter UCB can have a smaller regret than Anantharam's index policy.
1007.2315
On extracting common random bits from correlated sources
cs.IT math.IT
Suppose Alice and Bob receive strings of unbiased independent but noisy bits from some random source. They wish to use their respective strings to extract a common sequence of random bits with high probability but without communicating. How many such bits can they extract? The trivial strategy of outputting the first $k$ bits yields an agreement probability of $(1 - \eps)^k < 2^{-1.44k\eps}$, where $\eps$ is the amount of noise. We show that no strategy can achieve agreement probability better than $2^{-k\eps/(1 - \eps)}$. On the other hand, we show that when $k \geq 10 + 2 (1 - \eps) / \eps$, there exists a strategy which achieves an agreement probability of $0.1 (k\eps)^{-1/2} \cdot 2^{-k\eps/(1 - \eps)}$.
1007.2354
Nonuniform Sparse Recovery with Subgaussian Matrices
cs.IT math.IT math.PR
Compressive sensing predicts that sufficiently sparse vectors can be recovered from highly incomplete information. Efficient recovery methods such as $\ell_1$-minimization find the sparsest solution to certain systems of equations. Random matrices have become a popular choice for the measurement matrix. Indeed, near-optimal uniform recovery results have been shown for such matrices. In this note we focus on nonuniform recovery using Gaussian random matrices and $\ell_1$-minimization. We provide a condition on the number of samples in terms of the sparsity and the signal length which guarantees that a fixed sparse signal can be recovered with a random draw of the matrix using $\ell_1$-minimization. The constant 2 in the condition is optimal, and the proof is rather short compared to a similar result due to Donoho and Tanner.
1007.2364
A Note on Semantic Web Services Specification and Composition in Constructive Description Logics
cs.AI cs.LO
The idea of the Semantic Web is to annotate Web content and services with computer interpretable descriptions with the aim to automatize many tasks currently performed by human users. In the context of Web services, one of the most interesting tasks is their composition. In this paper we formalize this problem in the framework of a constructive description logic. In particular we propose a declarative service specification language and a calculus for service composition. We show by means of an example how this calculus can be used to define composed Web services and we discuss the problem of automatic service synthesis.
1007.2377
Performance bounds for expander-based compressed sensing in Poisson noise
cs.IT math.IT
This paper provides performance bounds for compressed sensing in the presence of Poisson noise using expander graphs. The Poisson noise model is appropriate for a variety of applications, including low-light imaging and digital streaming, where the signal-independent and/or bounded noise models used in the compressed sensing literature are no longer applicable. In this paper, we develop a novel sensing paradigm based on expander graphs and propose a MAP algorithm for recovering sparse or compressible signals from Poisson observations. The geometry of the expander graphs and the positivity of the corresponding sensing matrices play a crucial role in establishing the bounds on the signal reconstruction error of the proposed algorithm. We support our results with experimental demonstrations of reconstructing average packet arrival rates and instantaneous packet counts at a router in a communication network, where the arrivals of packets in each flow follow a Poisson process.
1007.2401
Double Circulant Minimum Storage Regenerating Codes
cs.DC cs.IT cs.NI math.IT
A newer version will appear soon
1007.2442
Neural Network Based Reconstruction of a 3D Object from a 2D Wireframe
cs.CV
We propose a new approach for constructing a 3D representation from a 2D wireframe drawing. A drawing is simply a parallel projection of a 3D object onto a 2D surface; humans are able to recreate mental 3D models from 2D representations very easily, yet the process is very difficult to emulate computationally. We hypothesize that our ability to perform this construction relies on the angles in the 2D scene, among other geometric properties. Being able to reproduce this reconstruction process automatically would allow for efficient and robust 3D sketch interfaces. Our research focuses on the relationship between 2D geometry observable in the sketch and 3D geometry derived from a potential 3D construction. We present a fully automated system that constructs 3D representations from 2D wireframes using a neural network in conjunction with a genetic search algorithm.
1007.2449
A Brief Introduction to Temporality and Causality
cs.LG cs.AI
Causality is a non-obvious concept that is often considered to be related to temporality. In this paper we present a number of past and present approaches to the definition of temporality and causality from philosophical, physical, and computational points of view. We note that time is an important ingredient in many relationships and phenomena. The topic is then divided into the two main areas of temporal discovery, which is concerned with finding relations that are stretched over time, and causal discovery, where a claim is made as to the causal influence of certain events on others. We present a number of computational tools used for attempting to automatically discover temporal and causal relations in data.
1007.2534
A general method for deciding about logically constrained issues
cs.AI
A general method is given for revising degrees of belief and arriving at consistent decisions about a system of logically constrained issues. In contrast to other works about belief revision, here the constraints are assumed to be fixed. The method has two variants, dual of each other, whose revised degrees of belief are respectively above and below the original ones. The upper [resp. lower] revised degrees of belief are uniquely characterized as the lowest [resp. highest] ones that are invariant by a certain max-min [resp. min-max] operation determined by the logical constraints. In both variants, making balance between the revised degree of belief of a proposition and that of its negation leads to decisions that are ensured to be consistent with the logical constraints. These decisions are ensured to agree with the majority criterion as applied to the original degrees of belief whenever this gives a consistent result. They are also also ensured to satisfy a property of respect for unanimity about any particular issue, as well as a property of monotonicity with respect to the original degrees of belief. The application of the method to certain special domains comes down to well established or increasingly accepted methods, such as the single-link method of cluster analysis and the method of paths in preferential voting.
1007.2738
Consensus Computation in Unreliable Networks: A System Theoretic Approach
math.OC cs.SY
This work addresses the problem of ensuring trustworthy computation in a linear consensus network. A solution to this problem is relevant for several tasks in multi-agent systems including motion coordination, clock synchronization, and cooperative estimation. In a linear consensus network, we allow for the presence of misbehaving agents, whose behavior deviate from the nominal consensus evolution. We model misbehaviors as unknown and unmeasurable inputs affecting the network, and we cast the misbehavior detection and identification problem into an unknown-input system theoretic framework. We consider two extreme cases of misbehaving agents, namely faulty (non-colluding) and malicious (Byzantine) agents. First, we characterize the set of inputs that allow misbehaving agents to affect the consensus network while remaining undetected and/or unidentified from certain observing agents. Second, we provide worst-case bounds for the number of concurrent faulty or malicious agents that can be detected and identified. Precisely, the consensus network needs to be 2k+1 (resp. k+1) connected for k malicious (resp. faulty) agents to be generically detectable and identifiable by every well behaving agent. Third, we quantify the effect of undetectable inputs on the final consensus value. Fourth, we design three algorithms to detect and identify misbehaving agents. The first and the second algorithm apply fault detection techniques, and affords complete detection and identification if global knowledge of the network is available to each agent, at a high computational cost. The third algorithm is designed to exploit the presence in the network of weakly interconnected subparts, and provides local detection and identification of misbehaving agents whose behavior deviates more than a threshold, which is quantified in terms of the interconnection structure.
1007.2814
A Unifying Framework for Local Throughput in Wireless Networks
cs.NI cs.IT math.IT
With the increased competition for the electromagnetic spectrum, it is important to characterize the impact of interference in the performance of a wireless network, which is traditionally measured by its throughput. This paper presents a unifying framework for characterizing the local throughput in wireless networks. We first analyze the throughput of a probe link from a connectivity perspective, in which a packet is successfully received if it does not collide with other packets from nodes within its reach (called the audible interferers). We then characterize the throughput from a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) perspective, in which a packet is successfully received if the SINR exceeds some threshold, considering the interference from all emitting nodes in the network. Our main contribution is to generalize and unify various results scattered throughout the literature. In particular, the proposed framework encompasses arbitrary wireless propagation effects (e.g, Nakagami-m fading, Rician fading, or log-normal shadowing), as well as arbitrary traffic patterns (e.g., slotted-synchronous, slotted-asynchronous, or exponential-interarrivals traffic), allowing us to draw more general conclusions about network performance than previously available in the literature.
1007.2827
Data processing theorems and the second law of thermodynamics
cs.IT cond-mat.stat-mech math.IT
We draw relationships between the generalized data processing theorems of Zakai and Ziv (1973 and 1975) and the dynamical version of the second law of thermodynamics, a.k.a. the Boltzmann H-Theorem, which asserts that the Shannon entropy, $H(X_t)$, pertaining to a finite--state Markov process $\{X_t\}$, is monotonically non-decreasing as a function of time $t$, provided that the steady-state distribution of this process is uniform across the state space (which is the case when the process designates an isolated system). It turns out that both the generalized data processing theorems and the Boltzmann H-Theorem can be viewed as special cases of a more general principle concerning the monotonicity (in time) of a certain generalized information measure applied to a Markov process. This gives rise to a new look at the generalized data processing theorem, which suggests to exploit certain degrees of freedom that may lead to better bounds, for a given choice of the convex function that defines the generalized mutual information.
1007.2855
Quantum Channel Capacities
cs.IT math.IT quant-ph
A quantum communication channel can be put to many uses: it can transmit classical information, private classical information, or quantum information. It can be used alone, with shared entanglement, or together with other channels. For each of these settings there is a capacity that quantifies a channel's potential for communication. In this short review, I summarize what is known about the various capacities of a quantum channel, including a discussion of the relevant additivity questions. I also give some indication of potentially interesting directions for future research.
1007.2876
The Spread of Evidence-Poor Medicine via Flawed Social-Network Analysis
stat.ME cs.SI physics.soc-ph
The chronic widespread misuse of statistics is usually inadvertent, not intentional. We find cautionary examples in a series of recent papers by Christakis and Fowler that advance statistical arguments for the transmission via social networks of various personal characteristics, including obesity, smoking cessation, happiness, and loneliness. Those papers also assert that such influence extends to three degrees of separation in social networks. We shall show that these conclusions do not follow from Christakis and Fowler's statistical analyses. In fact, their studies even provide some evidence against the existence of such transmission. The errors that we expose arose, in part, because the assumptions behind the statistical procedures used were insufficiently examined, not only by the authors, but also by the reviewers. Our examples are instructive because the practitioners are highly reputed, their results have received enormous popular attention, and the journals that published their studies are among the most respected in the world. An educational bonus emerges from the difficulty we report in getting our critique published. We discuss the relevance of this episode to understanding statistical literacy and the role of scientific review, as well as to reforming statistics education.
1007.2928
Encoding Complexity of Network Coding with Two Simple Multicast Sessions
cs.IT math.IT
The encoding complexity of network coding for single multicast networks has been intensively studied from several aspects: e.g., the time complexity, the required number of encoding links, and the required field size for a linear code solution. However, these issues as well as the solvability are less understood for networks with multiple multicast sessions. Recently, Wang and Shroff showed that the solvability of networks with two unit-rate multicast sessions (2-URMS) can be decided in polynomial time. In this paper, we prove that for the 2-URMS networks: $1)$ the solvability can be determined with time $O(|E|)$; $2)$ a solution can be constructed with time $O(|E|)$; $3)$ an optimal solution can be obtained in polynomial time; $4)$ the number of encoding links required to achieve a solution is upper-bounded by $\max\{3,2N-2\}$; and $5)$ the field size required to achieve a linear solution is upper-bounded by $\max\{2,\lfloor\sqrt{2N-7/4}+1/2\rfloor\}$, where $|E|$ is the number of links and $N$ is the number of sinks of the underlying network. Both bounds are shown to be tight.
1007.2945
When is a Function Securely Computable?
cs.IT math.IT
A subset of a set of terminals that observe correlated signals seek to compute a given function of the signals using public communication. It is required that the value of the function be kept secret from an eavesdropper with access to the communication. We show that the function is securely computable if and only if its entropy is less than the "aided secret key" capacity of an associated secrecy generation model, for which a single-letter characterization is provided.
1007.2958
A Machine Learning Approach to Recovery of Scene Geometry from Images
cs.CV cs.LG
Recovering the 3D structure of the scene from images yields useful information for tasks such as shape and scene recognition, object detection, or motion planning and object grasping in robotics. In this thesis, we introduce a general machine learning approach called unsupervised CRF learning based on maximizing the conditional likelihood. We apply our approach to computer vision systems that recover the 3-D scene geometry from images. We focus on recovering 3D geometry from single images, stereo pairs and video sequences. Building these systems requires algorithms for doing inference as well as learning the parameters of conditional Markov random fields (MRF). Our system is trained unsupervisedly without using ground-truth labeled data. We employ a slanted-plane stereo vision model in which we use a fixed over-segmentation to segment the left image into coherent regions called superpixels, then assign a disparity plane for each superpixel. Plane parameters are estimated by solving an MRF labelling problem, through minimizing an energy fuction. We demonstrate the use of our unsupervised CRF learning algorithm for a parameterized slanted-plane stereo vision model involving shape from texture cues. Our stereo model with texture cues, only by unsupervised training, outperforms the results in related work on the same stereo dataset. In this thesis, we also formulate structure and motion estimation as an energy minimization problem, in which the model is an extension of our slanted-plane stereo vision model that also handles surface velocity. Velocity estimation is achieved by solving an MRF labeling problem using Loopy BP. Performance analysis is done using our novel evaluation metrics based on the notion of view prediction error. Experiments on road-driving stereo sequences show encouraging results.
1007.2980
Publishing and Discovery of Mobile Web Services in Peer to Peer Networks
cs.IR cs.NI
It is now feasible to host Web Services on a mobile device due to the advances in cellular devices and mobile communication technologies. However, the reliability, usability and responsiveness of the Mobile Hosts depend on various factors including the characteristics of available network, computational resources, and better means of searching the services provided by them. P2P enhances the adoption of Mobile Host in commercial environments. Mobile Hosts in P2P can collaboratively share the resources of individual peers. P2P also enhances the service discovery of huge number of Web Services possible with Mobile Hosts. Advanced features like post filtering with weight of keywords and context-awareness can also be exploited to select the best possible mobile Web Service. This paper proposes the concept of Mobile Hosts in P2P networks and identifies the means of publishing and discovery of Web Services in mobile P2P networks.
1007.3075
Resolving the Connectivity-Throughput Trade-Off in Random Networks
cs.IT math.IT
The discrepancy between the upper bound on throughput in wireless networks and the throughput scaling in random networks which is also known as the connectivity-throughput trade-off is analyzed. In a random network with $\lambda$ nodes per unit area, throughput is found to scale by a factor of $\sqrt{\log{\lambda}}$ worse compared to the upper bound which is due to the uncertainty in the nodes' location. In the present model, nodes are assumed to know their geographical location and to employ power control, which we understand as an additional degree of freedom to improve network performance. The expected throughput-progress and the expected packet delay normalized to the one-hop progress are chosen as performance metrics. These metrics are investigated for a nearest neighbor forwarding strategy, which benefits from power control by reducing transmission power and, hence spatial contention. It is shown that the connectivity-throughput trade-off can be resolved if nodes employ a nearest neighbor forwarding strategy, achieving the upper bound on throughput on average also in a random network while ensuring asymptotic connectivity. In this case, the optimal throughput-delay scaling trade-off is also achieved.
1007.3105
A Selection Region Based Routing Protocol for Random Mobile ad hoc Networks
cs.IT math.IT
We propose a selection region based multi-hop routing protocol for random mobile ad hoc networks, where the selection region is defined by two parameters: a reference distance and a selection angle. At each hop, a relay is chosen as the nearest node to the transmitter that is located within the selection region. By assuming that the relay nodes are randomly placed, we derive an upper bound for the optimum reference distance to maximize the expected density of progress and investigate the relationship between the optimum selection angle and the optimum reference distance. We also note that the optimized expected density of progress scales as $\Theta(\sqrt{\lambda})$, which matches the prior results in the literature. Compared with the spatial-reuse multi-hop protocol in \cite{Baccelli:Aloha} recently proposed by Baccelli \emph{et al.}, in our new protocol the amount of nodes involved and the calculation complexity for each relay selection are reduced significantly, which is attractive for energy-limited wireless ad hoc networks (e.g., wireless sensor networks).
1007.3108
Second-Order Weight Distributions
cs.IT math.IT
A fundamental property of codes, the second-order weight distribution, is proposed to solve the problems such as computing second moments of weight distributions of linear code ensembles. A series of results, parallel to those for weight distributions, is established for second-order weight distributions. In particular, an analogue of MacWilliams identities is proved. The second-order weight distributions of regular LDPC code ensembles are then computed. As easy consequences, the second moments of weight distributions of regular LDPC code ensembles are obtained. Furthermore, the application of second-order weight distributions in random coding approach is discussed. The second-order weight distributions of the ensembles generated by a so-called 2-good random generator or parity-check matrix are computed, where a 2-good random matrix is a kind of generalization of the uniformly distributed random matrix over a finite filed and is very useful for solving problems that involve pairwise or triple-wise properties of sequences. It is shown that the 2-good property is reflected in the second-order weight distribution, which thus plays a fundamental role in some well-known problems in coding theory and combinatorics. An example of linear intersecting codes is finally provided to illustrate this fact.
1007.3159
Logic-Based Decision Support for Strategic Environmental Assessment
cs.AI
Strategic Environmental Assessment is a procedure aimed at introducing systematic assessment of the environmental effects of plans and programs. This procedure is based on the so-called coaxial matrices that define dependencies between plan activities (infrastructures, plants, resource extractions, buildings, etc.) and positive and negative environmental impacts, and dependencies between these impacts and environmental receptors. Up to now, this procedure is manually implemented by environmental experts for checking the environmental effects of a given plan or program, but it is never applied during the plan/program construction. A decision support system, based on a clear logic semantics, would be an invaluable tool not only in assessing a single, already defined plan, but also during the planning process in order to produce an optimized, environmentally assessed plan and to study possible alternative scenarios. We propose two logic-based approaches to the problem, one based on Constraint Logic Programming and one on Probabilistic Logic Programming that could be, in the future, conveniently merged to exploit the advantages of both. We test the proposed approaches on a real energy plan and we discuss their limitations and advantages.
1007.3208
Link Graph Analysis for Adult Images Classification
cs.IR
In order to protect an image search engine's users from undesirable results adult images' classifier should be built. The information about links from websites to images is employed to create such a classifier. These links are represented as a bipartite website-image graph. Each vertex is equipped with scores of adultness and decentness. The scores for image vertexes are initialized with zero, those for website vertexes are initialized according to a text-based website classifier. An iterative algorithm that propagates scores within a website-image graph is described. The scores obtained are used to classify images by choosing an appropriate threshold. The experiments on Internet-scale data have shown that the algorithm under consideration increases classification recall by 17% in comparison with a simple algorithm which classifies an image as adult if it is connected with at least one adult site (at the same precision level).
1007.3223
Testing and Debugging Techniques for Answer Set Solver Development
cs.AI cs.SE
This paper develops automated testing and debugging techniques for answer set solver development. We describe a flexible grammar-based black-box ASP fuzz testing tool which is able to reveal various defects such as unsound and incomplete behavior, i.e. invalid answer sets and inability to find existing solutions, in state-of-the-art answer set solver implementations. Moreover, we develop delta debugging techniques for shrinking failure-inducing inputs on which solvers exhibit defective behavior. In particular, we develop a delta debugging algorithm in the context of answer set solving, and evaluate two different elimination strategies for the algorithm.
1007.3254
Distinguishing Fact from Fiction: Pattern Recognition in Texts Using Complex Networks
cs.CL cond-mat.stat-mech physics.soc-ph
We establish concrete mathematical criteria to distinguish between different kinds of written storytelling, fictional and non-fictional. Specifically, we constructed a semantic network from both novels and news stories, with $N$ independent words as vertices or nodes, and edges or links allotted to words occurring within $m$ places of a given vertex; we call $m$ the word distance. We then used measures from complex network theory to distinguish between news and fiction, studying the minimal text length needed as well as the optimized word distance $m$. The literature samples were found to be most effectively represented by their corresponding power laws over degree distribution $P(k)$ and clustering coefficient $C(k)$; we also studied the mean geodesic distance, and found all our texts were small-world networks. We observed a natural break-point at $k=\sqrt{N}$ where the power law in the degree distribution changed, leading to separate power law fit for the bulk and the tail of $P(k)$. Our linear discriminant analysis yielded a $73.8 \pm 5.15%$ accuracy for the correct classification of novels and $69.1 \pm 1.22%$ for news stories. We found an optimal word distance of $m=4$ and a minimum text length of 100 to 200 words $N$.
1007.3275
An Algorithmic Structuration of a Type System for an Orthogonal Object/Relational Model
cs.DB
Date and Darwen have proposed a theory of types, the latter forms the basis of a detailed presentation of a panoply of simple and complex types. However, this proposal has not been structured in a formal system. Specifically, Date and Darwen haven't indicated the formalism of the type system that corresponds to the type theory established. In this paper, we propose a pseudo-algorithmic and grammatical description of a system of types for Date and Darwen's model. Our type system is supposed take into account null values; for such intention, we introduce a particular type noted #, which expresses one or more occurrences of incomplete information in a database. Our algebraic grammar describes in detail the complete specification of an inheritance model and the subryping relation induced, thus the different definitions of related concepts.
1007.3315
Multi-Source Transmission for Wireless Relay Networks with Linear Complexity
cs.IT math.IT
This paper considers transmission schemes in multi-access relay networks (MARNs) where $J$ single-antenna sources send independent information to one $N$-antenna destination through one $M$-antenna relay. For complexity considerations, we propose a linear framework, where the relay linearly transforms its received signals to generate the forwarded signals without decoding and the destination uses its multi-antennas to fully decouple signals from different sources before decoding, by which the decoding complexity is linear in the number of sources. To achieve a high symbol rate, we first propose a scheme called DSTC-ICRec in which all sources' information streams are concurrently transmitted in both the source-relay link and the relay-destination link. In this scheme, distributed space-time coding (DSTC) is applied at the relay, which satisfies the linear constraint. DSTC also allows the destination to conduct the zero-forcing interference cancellation (IC) scheme originally proposed for multi-antenna systems to fully decouple signals from different sources. Our analysis shows that the symbol rate of DSTC-ICRec is $1/2$ symbols/source/channel use and the diversity gain of the scheme is upperbounded by $M-J+1$. To achieve a higher diversity gain, we propose another scheme called TDMA-ICRec in which the sources time-share the source-relay link. The relay coherently combines the signals on its antennas to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each source, then concurrently forwards all sources' information. The destination performs zero-forcing IC. It is shown through both analysis and simulation that when $N \ge 2J-1$, TDMA-ICRec achieves the same maximum diversity gain as the full TDMA scheme in which the information stream from each source is assigned to an orthogonal channel in both links, but with a higher symbol rate.
1007.3384
Relative entropy via non-sequential recursive pair substitutions
cs.IT cond-mat.stat-mech math.IT
The entropy of an ergodic source is the limit of properly rescaled 1-block entropies of sources obtained applying successive non-sequential recursive pairs substitutions (see P. Grassberger 2002 ArXiv:physics/0207023 and D. Benedetto, E. Caglioti and D. Gabrielli 2006 Jour. Stat. Mech. Theo. Exp. 09 doi:10.1088/1742.-5468/2006/09/P09011). In this paper we prove that the cross entropy and the Kullback-Leibler divergence can be obtained in a similar way.
1007.3424
Bacterial Community Reconstruction Using A Single Sequencing Reaction
q-bio.GN cs.IT math.IT q-bio.QM stat.AP stat.CO
Bacteria are the unseen majority on our planet, with millions of species and comprising most of the living protoplasm. While current methods enable in-depth study of a small number of communities, a simple tool for breadth studies of bacterial population composition in a large number of samples is lacking. We propose a novel approach for reconstruction of the composition of an unknown mixture of bacteria using a single Sanger-sequencing reaction of the mixture. This method is based on compressive sensing theory, which deals with reconstruction of a sparse signal using a small number of measurements. Utilizing the fact that in many cases each bacterial community is comprised of a small subset of the known bacterial species, we show the feasibility of this approach for determining the composition of a bacterial mixture. Using simulations, we show that sequencing a few hundred base-pairs of the 16S rRNA gene sequence may provide enough information for reconstruction of mixtures containing tens of species, out of tens of thousands, even in the presence of realistic measurement noise. Finally, we show initial promising results when applying our method for the reconstruction of a toy experimental mixture with five species. Our approach may have a potential for a practical and efficient way for identifying bacterial species compositions in biological samples.
1007.3515
Query-driven Procedures for Hybrid MKNF Knowledge Bases
cs.AI
Hybrid MKNF knowledge bases are one of the most prominent tightly integrated combinations of open-world ontology languages with closed-world (non-monotonic) rule paradigms. The definition of Hybrid MKNF is parametric on the description logic (DL) underlying the ontology language, in the sense that non-monotonic rules can extend any decidable DL language. Two related semantics have been defined for Hybrid MKNF: one that is based on the Stable Model Semantics for logic programs and one on the Well-Founded Semantics (WFS). Under WFS, the definition of Hybrid MKNF relies on a bottom-up computation that has polynomial data complexity whenever the DL language is tractable. Here we define a general query-driven procedure for Hybrid MKNF that is sound with respect to the stable model-based semantics, and sound and complete with respect to its WFS variant. This procedure is able to answer a slightly restricted form of conjunctive queries, and is based on tabled rule evaluation extended with an external oracle that captures reasoning within the ontology. Such an (abstract) oracle receives as input a query along with knowledge already derived, and replies with a (possibly empty) set of atoms, defined in the rules, whose truth would suffice to prove the initial query. With appropriate assumptions on the complexity of the abstract oracle, the general procedure maintains the data complexity of the WFS for Hybrid MKNF knowledge bases. To illustrate this approach, we provide a concrete oracle for EL+, a fragment of the light-weight DL EL++. Such an oracle has practical use, as EL++ is the language underlying OWL 2 EL, which is part of the W3C recommendations for the Semantic Web, and is tractable for reasoning tasks such as subsumption. We show that query-driven Hybrid MKNF preserves polynomial data complexity when using the EL+ oracle and WFS.
1007.3518
Secret Key Generation for a Pairwise Independent Network Model
cs.IT math.IT
We consider secret key generation for a "pairwise independent network" model in which every pair of terminals observes correlated sources that are independent of sources observed by all other pairs of terminals. The terminals are then allowed to communicate publicly with all such communication being observed by all the terminals. The objective is to generate a secret key shared by a given subset of terminals at the largest rate possible, with the cooperation of any remaining terminals. Secrecy is required from an eavesdropper that has access to the public interterminal communication. A (single-letter) formula for secret key capacity brings out a natural connection between the problem of secret key generation and a combinatorial problem of maximal packing of Steiner trees in an associated multigraph. An explicit algorithm is proposed for secret key generation based on a maximal packing of Steiner trees in a multigraph; the corresponding maximum rate of Steiner tree packing is thus a lower bound for the secret key capacity. When only two of the terminals or when all the terminals seek to share a secret key, the mentioned algorithm achieves secret key capacity in which case the bound is tight.
1007.3564
Manifold Elastic Net: A Unified Framework for Sparse Dimension Reduction
cs.LG stat.ML
It is difficult to find the optimal sparse solution of a manifold learning based dimensionality reduction algorithm. The lasso or the elastic net penalized manifold learning based dimensionality reduction is not directly a lasso penalized least square problem and thus the least angle regression (LARS) (Efron et al. \cite{LARS}), one of the most popular algorithms in sparse learning, cannot be applied. Therefore, most current approaches take indirect ways or have strict settings, which can be inconvenient for applications. In this paper, we proposed the manifold elastic net or MEN for short. MEN incorporates the merits of both the manifold learning based dimensionality reduction and the sparse learning based dimensionality reduction. By using a series of equivalent transformations, we show MEN is equivalent to the lasso penalized least square problem and thus LARS is adopted to obtain the optimal sparse solution of MEN. In particular, MEN has the following advantages for subsequent classification: 1) the local geometry of samples is well preserved for low dimensional data representation, 2) both the margin maximization and the classification error minimization are considered for sparse projection calculation, 3) the projection matrix of MEN improves the parsimony in computation, 4) the elastic net penalty reduces the over-fitting problem, and 5) the projection matrix of MEN can be interpreted psychologically and physiologically. Experimental evidence on face recognition over various popular datasets suggests that MEN is superior to top level dimensionality reduction algorithms.
1007.3568
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 the mutual information between the message and Eve's observations. 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 of general wiretap channels. Our construction works for any instantiation of the wiretap channel model, as originally defined by Wyner, as long as both C_1 and C_2 are symmetric and binary-input. Moreover, we show how to modify our construction in order to achieve strong security, as 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.
1007.3588
Improved construction of irregular progressive edge-growth Tanner graphs
cs.IT math.IT
The progressive edge-growth algorithm is a well-known procedure to construct regular and irregular low-density parity-check codes. In this paper, we propose a modification of the original algorithm that improves the performance of these codes in the waterfall region when constructing codes complying with both, check and symbol node degree distributions. The proposed algorithm is thus interesting if a family of irregular codes with a complex check node degree distribution is used.
1007.3622
A generalized risk approach to path inference based on hidden Markov models
stat.ML cs.LG stat.CO
Motivated by the unceasing interest in hidden Markov models (HMMs), this paper re-examines hidden path inference in these models, using primarily a risk-based framework. While the most common maximum a posteriori (MAP), or Viterbi, path estimator and the minimum error, or Posterior Decoder (PD), have long been around, other path estimators, or decoders, have been either only hinted at or applied more recently and in dedicated applications generally unfamiliar to the statistical learning community. Over a decade ago, however, a family of algorithmically defined decoders aiming to hybridize the two standard ones was proposed (Brushe et al., 1998). The present paper gives a careful analysis of this hybridization approach, identifies several problems and issues with it and other previously proposed approaches, and proposes practical resolutions of those. Furthermore, simple modifications of the classical criteria for hidden path recognition are shown to lead to a new class of decoders. Dynamic programming algorithms to compute these decoders in the usual forward-backward manner are presented. A particularly interesting subclass of such estimators can be also viewed as hybrids of the MAP and PD estimators. Similar to previously proposed MAP-PD hybrids, the new class is parameterized by a small number of tunable parameters. Unlike their algorithmic predecessors, the new risk-based decoders are more clearly interpretable, and, most importantly, work "out of the box" in practice, which is demonstrated on some real bioinformatics tasks and data. Some further generalizations and applications are discussed in conclusion.
1007.3661
Non-Binary Polar Codes using Reed-Solomon Codes and Algebraic Geometry Codes
cs.IT math.IT
Polar codes, introduced by Arikan, achieve symmetric capacity of any discrete memoryless channels under low encoding and decoding complexity. Recently, non-binary polar codes have been investigated. In this paper, we calculate error probability of non-binary polar codes constructed on the basis of Reed-Solomon matrices by numerical simulations. It is confirmed that 4-ary polar codes have significantly better performance than binary polar codes on binary-input AWGN channel. We also discuss an interpretation of polar codes in terms of algebraic geometry codes, and further show that polar codes using Hermitian codes have asymptotically good performance.
1007.3663
A decidable subclass of finitary programs
cs.AI
Answer set programming - the most popular problem solving paradigm based on logic programs - has been recently extended to support uninterpreted function symbols. All of these approaches have some limitation. In this paper we propose a class of programs called FP2 that enjoys a different trade-off between expressiveness and complexity. FP2 programs enjoy the following unique combination of properties: (i) the ability of expressing predicates with infinite extensions; (ii) full support for predicates with arbitrary arity; (iii) decidability of FP2 membership checking; (iv) decidability of skeptical and credulous stable model reasoning for call-safe queries. Odd cycles are supported by composing FP2 programs with argument restricted programs.
1007.3676
(n,K)-user Interference Channels: Degrees of Freedom
cs.IT math.IT
We analyze the gains of opportunistic communication in multiuser interference channels. Consider a fully connected $n$-user Gaussian interference channel. At each time instance only $K\leq n$ transmitters are allowed to be communicating with their respective receivers and the remaining $(n-K)$ transmitter-receiver pairs remain inactive. For finite $n$, if the transmitters can acquire channel state information (CSI) and if all channel gains are bounded away from zero and infinity, the seminal results on interference alignment establish that for any $K$ {\em arbitrary} active pairs the total number of spatial degrees of freedom per orthogonal time and frequency domain is $\frac{K}{2}$. Also it is noteworthy that without transmit-side CSI the interference channel becomes interference-limited and the degrees of freedom is 0. In {\em dense} networks ($n\rightarrow\infty$), however, as the size of the network increase, it becomes less likely to sustain the bounding conditions on the channel gains. By exploiting this fact, we show that when $n$ obeys certain scaling laws, by {\em opportunistically} and {\em dynamically} selecting the $K$ active pairs at each time instance, the number of degrees of freedom can exceed $\frac{K}{2}$ and in fact can be made arbitrarily close to $K$. More specifically when all transmitters and receivers are equipped with one antenna, then the network size scaling as $n\in\omega(\snr^{d(K-1)})$ is a {\em sufficient} condition for achieving $d\in[0,K]$ degrees of freedom. Moreover, achieving these degrees of freedom does not necessitate the transmitters to acquire channel state information. Hence, invoking opportunistic communication in the context of interference channels leads to achieving higher degrees of freedom that are not achievable otherwise.
1007.3700
Logic Programming for Finding Models in the Logics of Knowledge and its Applications: A Case Study
cs.AI cs.LO
The logics of knowledge are modal logics that have been shown to be effective in representing and reasoning about knowledge in multi-agent domains. Relatively few computational frameworks for dealing with computation of models and useful transformations in logics of knowledge (e.g., to support multi-agent planning with knowledge actions and degrees of visibility) have been proposed. This paper explores the use of logic programming (LP) to encode interesting forms of logics of knowledge and compute Kripke models. The LP modeling is expanded with useful operators on Kripke structures, to support multi-agent planning in the presence of both world-altering and knowledge actions. This results in the first ever implementation of a planner for this type of complex multi-agent domains.
1007.3706
Cooperative Convex Optimization in Networked Systems: Augmented Lagrangian Algorithms with Directed Gossip Communication
cs.IT math.IT
We study distributed optimization in networked systems, where nodes cooperate to find the optimal quantity of common interest, x=x^\star. The objective function of the corresponding optimization problem is the sum of private (known only by a node,) convex, nodes' objectives and each node imposes a private convex constraint on the allowed values of x. We solve this problem for generic connected network topologies with asymmetric random link failures with a novel distributed, decentralized algorithm. We refer to this algorithm as AL-G (augmented Lagrangian gossiping,) and to its variants as AL-MG (augmented Lagrangian multi neighbor gossiping) and AL-BG (augmented Lagrangian broadcast gossiping.) The AL-G algorithm is based on the augmented Lagrangian dual function. Dual variables are updated by the standard method of multipliers, at a slow time scale. To update the primal variables, we propose a novel, Gauss-Seidel type, randomized algorithm, at a fast time scale. AL-G uses unidirectional gossip communication, only between immediate neighbors in the network and is resilient to random link failures. For networks with reliable communication (i.e., no failures,) the simplified, AL-BG (augmented Lagrangian broadcast gossiping) algorithm reduces communication, computation and data storage cost. We prove convergence for all proposed algorithms and demonstrate by simulations the effectiveness on two applications: l_1-regularized logistic regression for classification and cooperative spectrum sensing for cognitive radio networks.
1007.3753
Fast L1-Minimization Algorithms For Robust Face Recognition
cs.CV cs.NA
L1-minimization refers to finding the minimum L1-norm solution to an underdetermined linear system b=Ax. Under certain conditions as described in compressive sensing theory, the minimum L1-norm solution is also the sparsest solution. In this paper, our study addresses the speed and scalability of its algorithms. In particular, we focus on the numerical implementation of a sparsity-based classification framework in robust face recognition, where sparse representation is sought to recover human identities from very high-dimensional facial images that may be corrupted by illumination, facial disguise, and pose variation. Although the underlying numerical problem is a linear program, traditional algorithms are known to suffer poor scalability for large-scale applications. We investigate a new solution based on a classical convex optimization framework, known as Augmented Lagrangian Methods (ALM). The new convex solvers provide a viable solution to real-world, time-critical applications such as face recognition. We conduct extensive experiments to validate and compare the performance of the ALM algorithms against several popular L1-minimization solvers, including interior-point method, Homotopy, FISTA, SESOP-PCD, approximate message passing (AMP) and TFOCS. To aid peer evaluation, the code for all the algorithms has been made publicly available.
1007.3772
Video Event Recognition for Surveillance Applications (VERSA)
cs.CV
VERSA provides a general-purpose framework for defining and recognizing events in live or recorded surveillance video streams. The approach for event recognition in VERSA is using a declarative logic language to define the spatial and temporal relationships that characterize a given event or activity. Doing so requires the definition of certain fundamental spatial and temporal relationships and a high-level syntax for specifying frame templates and query parameters. Although the handling of uncertainty in the current VERSA implementation is simplistic, the language and architecture is amenable to extending using Fuzzy Logic or similar approaches. VERSA's high-level architecture is designed to work in XML-based, services- oriented environments. VERSA can be thought of as subscribing to the XML annotations streamed by a lower-level video analytics service that provides basic entity detection, labeling, and tracking. One or many VERSA Event Monitors could thus analyze video streams and provide alerts when certain events are detected.
1007.3781
Multiresolution Cube Estimators for Sensor Network Aggregate Queries
cs.DB
In this work we present in-network techniques to improve the efficiency of spatial aggregate queries. Such queries are very common in a sensornet setting, demanding more targeted techniques for their handling. Our approach constructs and maintains multi-resolution cube hierarchies inside the network, which can be constructed in a distributed fashion. In case of failures, recovery can also be performed with in-network decisions. In this paper we demonstrate how in-network cube hierarchies can be used to summarize sensor data, and how they can be exploited to improve the efficiency of spatial aggregate queries. We show that query plans over our cube summaries can be computed in polynomial time, and we present a PTIME algorithm that selects the minimum number of data requests that can compute the answer to a spatial query. We further extend our algorithm to handle optimization over multiple queries, which can also be done in polynomial time. We discuss enriching cube hierarchies with extra summary information, and present an algorithm for distributed cube construction. Finally we investigate node and area failures, and algorithms to recover query results.
1007.3799
Adapting to the Shifting Intent of Search Queries
cs.LG
Search engines today present results that are often oblivious to abrupt shifts in intent. For example, the query `independence day' usually refers to a US holiday, but the intent of this query abruptly changed during the release of a major film by that name. While no studies exactly quantify the magnitude of intent-shifting traffic, studies suggest that news events, seasonal topics, pop culture, etc account for 50% of all search queries. This paper shows that the signals a search engine receives can be used to both determine that a shift in intent has happened, as well as find a result that is now more relevant. We present a meta-algorithm that marries a classifier with a bandit algorithm to achieve regret that depends logarithmically on the number of query impressions, under certain assumptions. We provide strong evidence that this regret is close to the best achievable. Finally, via a series of experiments, we demonstrate that our algorithm outperforms prior approaches, particularly as the amount of intent-shifting traffic increases.
1007.3808
Characterization of Graph-cover Pseudocodewords of Codes over $F_3$
cs.IT math.IT
Linear-programming pseudocodewords play a pivotal role in our understanding of the linear-programming decoding algorithms. These pseudocodewords are known to be equivalent to the graph-cover pseudocodewords. The latter pseudocodewords, when viewed as points in the multidimensional Euclidean space, lie inside a fundamental cone. This fundamental cone depends on the choice of a parity-check matrix of a code, rather than on the choice of the code itself. The cone does not depend on the channel, over which the code is employed. The knowledge of the boundaries of the fundamental cone could help in studying various properties of the pseudocodewords, such as their minimum pseudoweight, pseudoredundancy of the codes, etc. For the binary codes, the full characterization of the fundamental cone was derived by Koetter et al. However, if the underlying alphabet is large, such characterization becom is more involved. In this work, a characterization of the fundamental cone for codes over $F_3$ is discussed.
1007.3858
CHR(PRISM)-based Probabilistic Logic Learning
cs.PL cs.AI cs.LG cs.LO
PRISM is an extension of Prolog with probabilistic predicates and built-in support for expectation-maximization learning. Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) is a high-level programming language based on multi-headed multiset rewrite rules. In this paper, we introduce a new probabilistic logic formalism, called CHRiSM, based on a combination of CHR and PRISM. It can be used for high-level rapid prototyping of complex statistical models by means of "chance rules". The underlying PRISM system can then be used for several probabilistic inference tasks, including probability computation and parameter learning. We define the CHRiSM language in terms of syntax and operational semantics, and illustrate it with examples. We define the notion of ambiguous programs and define a distribution semantics for unambiguous programs. Next, we describe an implementation of CHRiSM, based on CHR(PRISM). We discuss the relation between CHRiSM and other probabilistic logic programming languages, in particular PCHR. Finally we identify potential application domains.
1007.3881
Orthogonal multifilters image processing of astronomical images from scanned photographic plates
cs.CV cs.NA
In this paper orthogonal multifilters for astronomical image processing are presented. We obtained new orthogonal multifilters based on the orthogonal wavelet of Haar and Daubechies. Recently, multiwavelets have been introduced as a more powerful multiscale analysis tool. It adds several degrees of freedom in multifilter design and makes it possible to have several useful properties such as symmetry, orthogonality, short support, and a higher number of vanishing moments simultaneously. Multifilter decomposition of scanned photographic plates with astronomical images is made.
1007.3884
New Results for the MAP Problem in Bayesian Networks
cs.AI cs.CC stat.ML
This paper presents new results for the (partial) maximum a posteriori (MAP) problem in Bayesian networks, which is the problem of querying the most probable state configuration of some of the network variables given evidence. First, it is demonstrated that the problem remains hard even in networks with very simple topology, such as binary polytrees and simple trees (including the Naive Bayes structure). Such proofs extend previous complexity results for the problem. Inapproximability results are also derived in the case of trees if the number of states per variable is not bounded. Although the problem is shown to be hard and inapproximable even in very simple scenarios, a new exact algorithm is described that is empirically fast in networks of bounded treewidth and bounded number of states per variable. The same algorithm is used as basis of a Fully Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme for MAP under such assumptions. Approximation schemes were generally thought to be impossible for this problem, but we show otherwise for classes of networks that are important in practice. The algorithms are extensively tested using some well-known networks as well as random generated cases to show their effectiveness.