1,720,969 research outputs found

    Bayesian Learning Strategies in Wireless Networks

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    This thesis collects the research works I performed as a Ph.D. candidate, where the common thread running through all the works is Bayesian reasoning with applications in wireless networks. The pivotal role in Bayesian reasoning is inference: reasoning about what we don’t know, given what we know. When we make inference about the nature of the world, then we learn new features about the environment within which the agent gains experience, as this is what allows us to benefit from the gathered information, thus adapting to new conditions. As we leverage the gathered information, our belief about the environment should change to reflect our improved knowledge. This thesis focuses on the probabilistic aspects of information processing with applications to the following topics: Machine learning based network analysis using millimeter-wave narrow-band energy traces; Bayesian forecasting and anomaly detection in vehicular monitoring networks; Online power management strategies for energy harvesting mobile networks; Beam training and data transmission optimization in millimeter-wave vehicular networks. In these research works, we deal with pattern recognition aspects in real-world data via supervised/unsupervised learning methods (classification, forecasting and anomaly detection, multi-step ahead prediction via kernel methods). Finally, the mathematical framework of Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), which also serves as the basis for reinforcement learning, is introduced, where Partially Observable MDPs use the notion of belief to make decisions about the state of the world in millimeter-wave vehicular networks. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the considerable potential of inference from insightful perspectives, detailing the mathematical framework and how Bayesian reasoning conveniently adapts to various research domains in wireless networks

    Machine Learning Based Network Analysis using Millimeter-Wave Narrow-Band Energy Traces

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    Next-generation wireless networks promise to provide extremely high data rates, especially exploiting the so-called millimeter-wave frequency range. Gaining information from spectrum usage is becoming important to provide smart adaptation capabilities to future network protocol stacks. Issues such as deafness, misaligned antennas, or blockage may severely impact network performance, and their identification is crucial. Despite the complexity of full analytical models, machine learning techniques are progressively being considered to improve spectrum usage at higher layers. In this paper, we design a signal processing technique that uses narrowband physical layer energy traces, obtained from one or multiple channel sniffers. The proposed technique utilizes a combination of template matching and an Explicit Duration Hidden Markov Model (EDHMM) to correctly classify frames, while coping with the non-stationarity of the traces. This leads to a protocol level monitor that does not need to decode the channel at the physical layer, but just infers the type of packets that are exchanged based on sub-sampled energy traces. The performance of this framework is evaluated using off-the-shelf mm-wave wireless devices, quantifying its detection performance in the presence of one or multiple sniffers, and assessing the impact of physical layer parameters such as noise power and signal levels

    Online Power Management Strategies for Energy Harvesting Mobile Networks

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    The design of self-sustainable Base Station (BS) deployments is addressed in this paper. We target deployments featuring small BSs with Energy Harvesting (EH) and storage capabilities. These BSs can use ambient energy to serve the local traffic or store it for later use. A dedicated power packet grid is utilized to transfer energy across them, compensating for imbalance in the harvested energy or in the traffic load. Some BSs are offgrid, i.e., they can only use the locally harvested energy and that transferred from other BSs, whereas others are ongrid, i.e., they can additionally purchase energy from the power grid. Within this setup, an optimization problem is formulated where: harvested energy and traffic processes are estimated (at runtime) at the BSs through Gaussian Processes (GPs), and a Model Predictive Control (MPC) framework is devised for the computation of energy allocation and transfer across base stations. The combination of prediction and optimization tools leads to an efficient and online solution that automatically adapts to energy harvesting and load dynamics. Numerical results, obtained using real energy harvesting and traffic profiles, show substantial improvements with respect to the case where the optimization is carried out without predicting future system dynamics. The main improvements are in the outage probability (zero in most cases), and in the amount of energy purchased from the power grid, that is more than halved for the same served load

    Beam Training and Data Transmission Optimization in Millimeter-Wave Vehicular Networks

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    Future vehicular communication networks call for new solutions to support their capacity demands, by leveraging the potential of the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) spectrum. Mobility, in particular, poses severe challenges in their design, and as such shall be accounted for. A key question in mm-wave vehicular networks is how to optimize the trade-off between directive Data Transmission (DT) and directional Beam Training (BT), which enables it. In this paper, learning tools are investigated to optimize this trade-off. In the proposed scenario, a Base Station (BS) uses BT to establish a mm-wave directive link towards a Mobile User (MU) moving along a road. To control the BT/DT trade-off, a Partially Observable (PO) Markov Decision Process (MDP) is formulated, where the system state corresponds to the position of the MU within the road link. The goal is to maximize the number of bits delivered by the BS to the MU over the communication session, under a power constraint. The resulting optimal policies reveal that adaptive BT/DT procedures significantly outperform common-sense heuristic schemes, and that specific mobility features, such as user position estimates, can be effectively used to enhance the overall system performance and optimize the available system resources

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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