This paper focuses on developing energy-efficient online data processing strategy of wireless powered MEC systems under stochastic fading channels. In particular, we consider a hybrid access point (HAP) transmitting RF energy to and processing the sensing data offloaded from multiple WDs. Under an average power constraint of the HAP, we aim to maximize the long-term average data sensing rate of the WDs while maintaining task data queue stability. We formulate the problem as a multi-stage stochastic optimization to control the energy transfer and task data processing in sequential time slots. Without the knowledge of future channel fading, it is very challenging to determine the sequential control actions that are tightly coupled by the battery and data buffer dynamics. To solve the problem, we propose an online algorithm named LEESE that applies the perturbed Lyapunov optimization technique to decompose the multi-stage stochastic problem into per-slot deterministic optimization problems. We show that each per-slot problem can be equivalently transformed into a convex optimization problem. To facilitate online implementation in large-scale MEC systems, instead of solving the per-slot problem with off-the-shelf convex algorithms, we propose a block coordinate descent (BCD)-based method that produces close-to-optimal solution in less than 0.04\% of the computation delay. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed LEESE algorithm can provide 21.9\% higher data sensing rate than the representative benchmark methods considered, while incurring sub-millisecond computation delay suitable for real-time control under fading channel.
There is a growing need for authentication methodology in virtual reality applications. Current systems assume that the immersive experience technology is a collection of peripheral devices connected to a personal computer or mobile device. Hence there is a complete reliance on the computing device with traditional authentication mechanisms to handle the authentication and authorization decisions. Using the virtual reality controllers and headset poses a different set of challenges as it is subject to unauthorized observation, unannounced to the user given the fact that the headset completely covers the field of vision in order to provide an immersive experience. As the need for virtual reality experiences in the commercial world increases, there is a need to provide other alternative mechanisms for secure authentication. In this paper, we analyze a few proposed authentication systems and reached a conclusion that a multidimensional approach to authentication is needed to address the granular nature of authentication and authorization needs of a commercial virtual reality applications in the commercial world.
Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is considered a key technology for improving the spectral efficiency of fifth-generation (5G) and beyond 5G cellular networks. NOMA is beneficial when the channel vectors of the users are in the same direction, which is not always possible in conventional wireless systems. With the help of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), the base station can control the directions of the channel vectors of the users. Thus, by combining both technologies, the RIS-assisted NOMA systems are expected to achieve greater improvements in the network throughput. However, ideal phase control at the RIS is unrealizable in practice because of the imperfections in the channel estimations and the hardware limitations. This imperfection in phase control can have a significant impact on the system performance. Motivated by this, in this paper, we consider an RIS-assisted uplink NOMA system in the presence of imperfect phase compensation. We formulate the criterion for pairing the users that achieves minimum required data rates. We propose adaptive user pairing algorithms that maximize spectral or energy efficiency. We then derive various bounds on power allocation factors for the paired users. Through extensive simulation results, we show that the proposed algorithms significantly outperform the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of spectral and energy efficiency.
In this paper, a cyclic-prefixed single-carrier (CPSC) transmission scheme with phase shift keying (PSK) signaling is presented for broadband wireless communications systems empowered by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). In the proposed CPSC-RIS, the RIS is configured according to the transmitted PSK symbols such that different cyclically delayed versions of the incident signal are created by the RIS to achieve cyclic delay diversity. A practical and efficient channel estimator is developed for CPSC-RIS and the mean square error of the channel estimation is expressed in closed-form. We analyze the bit error rate (BER) performance of CPSC-RIS over frequency-selective Nakagami-$m$ fading channels. An upper bound on the BER is derived by assuming the maximum-likelihood detection. Furthermore, by resorting to the concept of index modulation (IM), we propose an extension of CPSC-RIS, termed CPSC-RIS-IM, which enhances the spectral efficiency. In addition to conventional constellation information of PSK symbols, CPSC-RIS-IM uses the full permutations of cyclic delays caused by the RIS to carry information. A sub-optimal receiver is designed for CPSC-RIS-IM to aim at low computational complexity. Our simulation results in terms of BER corroborate the performance analysis and the superiority of CPSC-RIS(-IM) over the conventional CPSC without an RIS and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with an RIS.
When assessing the performance of wireless communication systems operating over fading channels, one often encounters the problem of computing expectations of some functional of sums of independent random variables (RVs). The outage probability (OP) at the output of Equal Gain Combining (EGC) and Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) receivers is among the most important performance metrics that falls within this framework. In general, closed form expressions of expectations of functionals applied to sums of RVs are out of reach. A naive Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is of course an alternative approach. However, this method requires a large number of samples for rare event problems (small OP values for instance). Therefore, it is of paramount importance to use variance reduction techniques to develop fast and efficient estimation methods. In this work, we use importance sampling (IS), being known for its efficiency in requiring less computations for achieving the same accuracy requirement. In this line, we propose a state-dependent IS scheme based on a stochastic optimal control (SOC) formulation to calculate rare events quantities that could be written in a form of an expectation of some functional of sums of independent RVs. Our proposed algorithm is generic and can be applicable without any restriction on the univariate distributions of the different fading envelops/gains or on the functional that is applied to the sum. We apply our approach to the Log-Normal distribution to compute the OP at the output of diversity receivers with and without co-channel interference. For each case, we show numerically that the proposed state-dependent IS algorithm compares favorably to most of the well-known estimators dealing with similar problems.
In linear wireless networked control systems whose control is based on the system state's noisy and delayed observations, an accurate functional relationship is derived between the estimation error and the observations' freshness and precision. The proposed functional relationship is then applied to formulate and solve the problem of scheduling among different wireless links from multiple noisy sensors, where a sliding window algorithm is further proposed. The algorithm's simulation results show significant performance gain over existing policies even in scenarios that require high freshness or precision of observations.
The simulation of long, nonlinear dispersive waves in bounded domains usually requires the use of slip-wall boundary conditions. Boussinesq systems appearing in the literature are generally not well-posed when such boundary conditions are imposed, or if they are well-posed it is very cumbersome to implement the boundary conditions in numerical approximations. In the present paper a new Boussinesq system is proposed for the study of long waves of small amplitude in a basin when slip-wall boundary conditions are required. The new system is derived using asymptotic techniques under the assumption of small bathymetric variations, and a mathematical proof of well-posedness for the new system is developed. The new system is also solved numerically using a Galerkin finite-element method, where the boundary conditions are imposed with the help of Nitsche's method. Convergence of the numerical method is analyzed, and precise error estimates are provided. The method is then implemented, and the convergence is verified using numerical experiments. Numerical simulations for solitary waves shoaling on a plane slope are also presented. The results are compared to experimental data, and excellent agreement is found.
Driven by the visions of Internet of Things and 5G communications, the edge computing systems integrate computing, storage and network resources at the edge of the network to provide computing infrastructure, enabling developers to quickly develop and deploy edge applications. Nowadays the edge computing systems have received widespread attention in both industry and academia. To explore new research opportunities and assist users in selecting suitable edge computing systems for specific applications, this survey paper provides a comprehensive overview of the existing edge computing systems and introduces representative projects. A comparison of open source tools is presented according to their applicability. Finally, we highlight energy efficiency and deep learning optimization of edge computing systems. Open issues for analyzing and designing an edge computing system are also studied in this survey.
Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have recently achieved great success in many visual recognition tasks. However, existing deep neural network models are computationally expensive and memory intensive, hindering their deployment in devices with low memory resources or in applications with strict latency requirements. Therefore, a natural thought is to perform model compression and acceleration in deep networks without significantly decreasing the model performance. During the past few years, tremendous progress has been made in this area. In this paper, we survey the recent advanced techniques for compacting and accelerating CNNs model developed. These techniques are roughly categorized into four schemes: parameter pruning and sharing, low-rank factorization, transferred/compact convolutional filters, and knowledge distillation. Methods of parameter pruning and sharing will be described at the beginning, after that the other techniques will be introduced. For each scheme, we provide insightful analysis regarding the performance, related applications, advantages, and drawbacks etc. Then we will go through a few very recent additional successful methods, for example, dynamic capacity networks and stochastic depths networks. After that, we survey the evaluation matrix, the main datasets used for evaluating the model performance and recent benchmarking efforts. Finally, we conclude this paper, discuss remaining challenges and possible directions on this topic.
Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms have been around for decades and been employed to solve various sequential decision-making problems. These algorithms however have faced great challenges when dealing with high-dimensional environments. The recent development of deep learning has enabled RL methods to drive optimal policies for sophisticated and capable agents, which can perform efficiently in these challenging environments. This paper addresses an important aspect of deep RL related to situations that demand multiple agents to communicate and cooperate to solve complex tasks. A survey of different approaches to problems related to multi-agent deep RL (MADRL) is presented, including non-stationarity, partial observability, continuous state and action spaces, multi-agent training schemes, multi-agent transfer learning. The merits and demerits of the reviewed methods will be analyzed and discussed, with their corresponding applications explored. It is envisaged that this review provides insights about various MADRL methods and can lead to future development of more robust and highly useful multi-agent learning methods for solving real-world problems.
When deploying resource-intensive signal processing applications in wireless sensor or mesh networks, distributing processing blocks over multiple nodes becomes promising. Such distributed applications need to solve the placement problem (which block to run on which node), the routing problem (which link between blocks to map on which path between nodes), and the scheduling problem (which transmission is active when). We investigate a variant where the application graph may contain feedback loops and we exploit wireless networks? inherent multicast advantage. Thus, we propose Multicast-Aware Routing for Virtual network Embedding with Loops in Overlays (MARVELO) to find efficient solutions for scheduling and routing under a detailed interference model. We cast this as a mixed integer quadratically constrained optimisation problem and provide an efficient heuristic. Simulations show that our approach handles complex scenarios quickly.