Throughput-efficient coalition formation of selfish/altruistic nodes in ad hoc networks: a hedonic game approach

In this paper, we analyze the problem of throughput-efficient distributed coalition formation (CF) of selfish/altruistic nodes in ad hoc radio networks. We formulate the problem as a hedonic CF game with non-transferable utility and propose different preference relations (CF rules) based on individual/group rate improvement of distributed nodes. We develop a hedonic CF algorithm, through which distributed nodes may self-organize into stable throughput-efficient disjoint coalitions. We apply the concept of frequency reuse over different coalitions, such that the members of each coalition will transmit over orthogonal sub-bands with the available spectrum being optimally allocated among them. We study the computational complexity and convergence properties of the proposed hedonic CF algorithm under selfish and altruistic preferences, and present means to guarantee Nash-stability. In addition, we identify the scenarios in which a CF process might lead to instability (CF cycle), and we propose methods to avoid cycles and define different exit procedures if a CF cycle is inevitable. Performance analysis shows that the proposed algorithm with optimal bandwidth allocation provides a substantial gain, in terms of average payoff per link, over existing coalition formation algorithms for a wide SNR range.     

Dirichlet Priors for MAP Inference of Protein Conformation Abundances from SAXS

Estimation of mixture coefficients of protein conformations in solution find applications in understanding protein behavior. We describe a method for maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation of the mixture coefficients of ensemble of conformations in a protein mixture solution using measured small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) intensities. The proposed method builds upon a model for the measurements of crystallographically determined conformations. Assuming that a priori information on the protein mixture is available, and that priori information follows a Dirichlet distribution, we develop a method to estimate the relative abundances with MAP estimator. The Dirichlet distribution depends on concentration parameters which may not be known in practice and thus need to be estimated. To estimate these unknown concentration parameters we developed an expectation-maximization (EM) method. Adenylate kinase (ADK) protein was selected as the test bed due to its known conformations Beckstein et al. (Journal of Molecular Biology, 394(1), 160 1). Known conformations are assumed to form the full vector bases that span the measurement space. In Monte Carlo simulations, mixture coefficient estimation performances of MAP and maximum likelihood (ML) (which assumes a uniform prior on the mixture coefficients) estimators are compared. MAP estimators using known and unknown concentration parameters are also compared in terms of estimation performances. The results show that prior knowledge improves estimation accuracy, but performance is sensitive to perturbations in the Dirichlet distribution’s concentration parameters. Moreover, the estimation method based on EM algorithm shows comparable results to approximately known prior parameters.     

Holding State Performance Amelioration by Exploitation of NMOS Body Effect in 1T DRAM Cells

In this study curtailing of idle current in 1T1C and 1T1M DRAM cells by increasing threshold voltage during holding state is analyzed. This is attained by connecting the bulk to source in the active phases and pulling it below source potential throughout the holding phase. The proposed technique leads to body effect which affects the threshold voltage improving leakage current. The 1T1C and 1T1M discussed in this paper are volatile and non-volatile (memristor based) respectively. Memory design is fast becoming the pacemaker in the modern technology design which now requires DRAM cells with prolonged holding period and low idle power hence the need for lowering the leakage current. The dynamic nature of the 1T1C is due to charge leakage and the leakage current flowing through the 1T1M cell affects mem-resistance all this leading to state distortion. Idle current has of-late become one of the major contributors of power in large memory arrays in which in-active periods now dominates active period and by this technique idle power is reduced in both volatile and non-volatile cells. The proposed technique was implemented and simulations were done at different voltage levels at 45 nm technology. The method improved the leakage current, holding time and leakage power but at the expense of area and writing power.     

Report Hexagonal Based Dynamic Location Finding Techniques with Sequence-Based Localization in Wireless Sensor Network

In location and address based Wireless Sensor Networks, secure route detection, data transference, energy conservation and costs are very crucial in existing networks. To overcome the issues and make a secure, correct location finding within sensor node regions (intra) and between sensor nodes regions (inter), many researches are proposed. But none of the process satisfied these issues in efficient manner. To make the secure and exact location finding as efficient manner, we proposed a new location based technique named report hexagonal based dynamic location (RHBDL). This proposed system employed the location discovering scheme using sequence-based localization. Moreover RHBDL is used to find the exact locations of the destination node. The location has been computed using RHBDL by placing the mobile nodes in the edge and radio range path of the hexagonal regions. RHBDL preserve the previous communication path based on accuracy, error location, efficient energy and node lifetime. This will help to reduce the alternate location of exact location due to (or by eliminating) unwanted nodes. The most appropriate exact path from source to destination of node location will be formed over the network. The experimentation was performed as the result, our proposed RHBDL technique provides better and exact localization with more accuracy than other radio signal location discovering scheme using sequence-based localization techniques over a range of wireless channel and nodes.     

Cuckoo Search Based Optimization of Multiuser Cognitive Radio System Under the Effect of Shadowing

Shadow fading is one of the least investigated factors of received signal power in a typical wireless communication system. Variations in the received power caused by shadowing events can impose some serious changes in the communication. This paper, proposes a new multiuser cognitive radio system in shadowing environment and its design optimization using cuckoo search algorithm. The transmission parameters of multiple secondary users in the purposed CR model are considered on the basis of IEEE 802.22 WRAN standard. An attempt to optimize these parameters in shadowing environment to achieve multiple objectives for desired quality of service have been made using a relatively newer and simpler cuckoo search algorithm. The optimization results have been compared with another efficient biogeography based optimization technique and the traditional simulated annealing.     

Cross-Layer Optimization of Dynamic Packet Assignment for Video Transmission Over IEEE 802.11e Networks

Video transmission over IEEE 802.11e wireless networks still shows poor performance for large bandwidth demand and frequently changed environments. Thus, several enhancements of IEEE 802.11e were proposed. On the other hand, big frames and simultaneous sending of adjacent frames always cause packet dropping for buffer overflow. In the past, we proposed an IEEE 802.11e enhancement named DFAA and a content aware mechanism to solve the above problems. The motivation of this paper is to find a proper way to integrate these two mechanisms. A DFAA enhancement (DFAA-E) is proposed to make up the insufficiency of content aware mechanism. Experiments results show that the combination of DFAA-E and content aware mechanism improves the video decoded quality greatly. And its performance can be further enhanced by selecting the suitable settings of certain parameters.     

Interference Evaluation in Cellular Networks

Interference in cellular networks is one of the most common problems in the radio access network. In fact, it is the major issue in cellular networks that affects performances and quality of service. Indeed, interference can be caused by a call on the same frequency from neighboring cell, or a call on an adjacent channel in the same or in neighboring cell. So, we can classify interference on intra-cell interference and inter-cell interference. In 4G, thanks to the use of orthogonal frequency division multiple access and single carrier frequency division multiple access as access techniques in downlink and uplink respectively, intra-cell interference is reduced compared to the inter cell one which caused by the frequency reuse one mechanism and the femto cells deployment. In this work, we will evaluate the interference in different cellular network standards from 2G to 4G.     

High-Temperature Formation Phases and Crystal Structure of Hot-Pressed Thermoelectric CuGaTe<Subscript>2</Subscript> with Chalcopyrite-Type Structure

Polycrystalline CuGaTe₂ with a chalcopyrite-type structure consolidated by hot-pressing is a potential candidate as a medium-temperature thermoelectric (TE) material. However, its high-temperature formation phases have rarely been reported to date. Here, we investigated the temperature-dependent formation phases and crystal structure at 300–800 K of hot-pressed CuGaTe₂. From synchrotron x-ray diffraction data and crystal structure analysis of the heating and cooling processes, it was clarified that a certain amount of impurity phases, such as Te and CuTe, precipitated from the CuGaTe₂ matrix when the temperature was increased (to 500–650 K). This is the temperature range where CuGaTe₂ has been reported to show high TE performance. After CuGaTe₂ was heated to 800 K, such impurity phases remained, even when cooled to room temperature. They also affected the tetragonal distortion and the x-coordinate of Te in the CuGaTe₂ matrix, probably due to deficiencies of Cu and Te in the matrix. Our results reveal detailed information on the formation phases of CuGaTe₂ at high temperature and thus provide insight for evaluation of its high-temperature stability and transport properties.     

Analyzing the Boundary Thermal Resistance of Epitaxially Grown Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>VAl/W Layers by Picosecond Time-Domain Thermoreflectance

To gain deep insight into the mechanism of phonon scattering at grain boundaries, we investigated the boundary thermal resistance by using picosecond pulsed-laser time-domain thermoreflectance for epitaxially grown W/Fe₂VAl/W films. By using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, we prepared a series of the three-layer films whose Fe₂VAl thickness ranged from 1 nm to 37 nm. The fine oscillation of reflectivity associated with the top W layer clearly appeared in synchrotron x-ray reflectivity measurements, indicating a less obvious mixture of elements at the boundary. The areal heat diffusion time, obtained from the time-domain thermoreflectance signal in the rear-heating front-detection configuration, reduced rapidly in samples whose Fe₂VAl layer was thinner than 15 nm. The ～ 10% mismatch in lattice constant between Fe₂VAl and W naturally produced the randomly distributed lattice stress near the boundary, causing an effective increase of boundary thermal resistance in the thick samples, but the stress became homogeneous in the thinner layers, which reduced the scattering probability of phonons.