Distributed Super Nested Arrays: Reduce the Mutual Coupling between Array Antennas

In array, mutual coupling between the antennas is inevitable, which has an adverse effect on the estimation of parameters. To reduce the mutual coupling between the antennas of distributed nested arrays, this paper proposes a new array called the distributed super nested arrays, which have the good characteristics of the distributed nested arrays and can reduce the mutual coupling between the antennas. Then, an improved multiscale estimating signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT) algorithm is presented for the distributed super nested arrays to improve the accuracy of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. Next, we analyze the limitations of the spatial smoothing algorithm used by the distributed super nested arrays when there are multiple-source signals and the influence of the baseline length of distributed super nested arrays on the accuracy of DOA estimation. The simulation results show that the distributed super nested arrays can effectively reduce the mutual coupling between the array antennas, improve the DOA estimation performance, and significantly increase the number of detectable source signals.

Optimal dimensionality selection for independent component analysis of transcriptomic data

Background Independent component analysis is an unsupervised machine learning algorithm that separates a set of mixed signals into a set of statistically independent source signals. Applied to high-quality gene expression datasets, independent component analysis effectively reveals both the source signals of the transcriptome as co-regulated gene sets, and the activity levels of the underlying regulators across diverse experimental conditions. Two major variables that affect the final gene sets are the diversity of the expression profiles contained in the underlying data, and the user-defined number of independent components, or dimensionality, to compute. Availability of high-quality transcriptomic datasets has grown exponentially as high-throughput technologies have advanced; however, optimal dimensionality selection remains an open question. Methods We computed independent components across a range of dimensionalities for four gene expression datasets with varying dimensions (both in terms of number of genes and number of samples). We computed the correlation between independent components across different dimensionalities to understand how the overall structure evolves as the number of user-defined components increases. We then measured how well the resulting gene clusters reflected known regulatory mechanisms, and developed a set of metrics to assess the accuracy of the decomposition at a given dimension. Results We found that over-decomposition results in many independent components dominated by a single gene, whereas under-decomposition results in independent components that poorly capture the known regulatory structure. From these results, we developed a new method, called OptICA, for finding the optimal dimensionality that controls for both over- and under-decomposition. Specifically, OptICA selects the highest dimension that produces a low number of components that are dominated by a single gene. We show that OptICA outperforms two previously proposed methods for selecting the number of independent components across four transcriptomic databases of varying sizes. Conclusions OptICA avoids both over-decomposition and under-decomposition of transcriptomic datasets resulting in the best representation of the organism’s underlying transcriptional regulatory network.

Distributed Processing of Blind Source Separation

<p>Communication is performed by transmitting signals through a medium. It is common that signals originating from different sources are mixed in the transport medium. The operation of separating source signals without prior information about the sources is referred to as blind source separation (BSS). Blind source separation for wireless sensor networks has recently received attention because of low cost and the easy coverage of large areas. Distributed processing is attractive as it is scalable and consumes low power. Existing distributed BSS algorithms either require a fully connected pattern of connectivity, to ensure the good performance, or require a high computational load at each sensor node, to enhance the scalability. This motivates us to develop distributed BSS algorithms that can be implemented over any arbitrary graph with fully shared computations and with good performance. This thesis presents three studies on distributed algorithms. The first two studies are on existing distributed algorithms that are used in linearly constrained convex optimization problems, which are common in signal processing and machine learning. The studies are aimed at improving the algorithms in terms of computational complexity, communication cost, processors coordination and scalability. This makes them more suitable for implementation on sensor networks, thus forming a basis for the development of distributed BSS algorithms on sensor networks in our third study. In the first study, we consider constrained problems in which the constraint includes a weighted sum of all the decision variables. By formulating a constrained dual problem associated to the original constrained problem, we were able to develop a distributed algorithm that can be run both synchronously and asynchronously on any arbitrary graph with lower communication cost than traditional distributed algorithms. In the second study, we consider constrained problems in which the constraint is separable. By making use of the augmented Lagrangian function and splitting the dual variable (Lagrange multiplier) associated to each partial constraint, we were able to develop a distributed fully asynchronous algorithm with lower computational complexity than traditional distributed algorithms. The simplicity of the algorithm is the consequence of approximating the constraint on the equality of the decoupled dual variables. We also provide a measure of the inaccuracy in such an approximation on the optimal value of the primal objective function. Finally, in the third study, we investigate distributed processing solutions for BSS on sensor networks. We propose two distributed processing schemes for BSS that we refer to as scheme 1 and scheme 2. In scheme 1, each sensor node estimates one specific source signal while in scheme 2, by formulating a consensus optimization problem, each sensor node estimates all source signals in a fully shared computation manner. Our proposed algorithms carry the following features: low computational complexity, low power consumption, low data transmission rate, scalability and excellent performance over arbitrary graphs. Although all of our proposed algorithms share the aforementioned properties, each of them is superior in one or some of the features compared to the others. Comparative experimental results show that among all our proposed distributed BSS algorithms, a variant of scheme 1 performs best when all features are considered. This is achieved by making use of the concept of pairwise mutual information along with adding a sparsity assumption on the parameters of the model that is used in BSS.</p>

Distributed Processing of Blind Source Separation

<p>Communication is performed by transmitting signals through a medium. It is common that signals originating from different sources are mixed in the transport medium. The operation of separating source signals without prior information about the sources is referred to as blind source separation (BSS). Blind source separation for wireless sensor networks has recently received attention because of low cost and the easy coverage of large areas. Distributed processing is attractive as it is scalable and consumes low power. Existing distributed BSS algorithms either require a fully connected pattern of connectivity, to ensure the good performance, or require a high computational load at each sensor node, to enhance the scalability. This motivates us to develop distributed BSS algorithms that can be implemented over any arbitrary graph with fully shared computations and with good performance. This thesis presents three studies on distributed algorithms. The first two studies are on existing distributed algorithms that are used in linearly constrained convex optimization problems, which are common in signal processing and machine learning. The studies are aimed at improving the algorithms in terms of computational complexity, communication cost, processors coordination and scalability. This makes them more suitable for implementation on sensor networks, thus forming a basis for the development of distributed BSS algorithms on sensor networks in our third study. In the first study, we consider constrained problems in which the constraint includes a weighted sum of all the decision variables. By formulating a constrained dual problem associated to the original constrained problem, we were able to develop a distributed algorithm that can be run both synchronously and asynchronously on any arbitrary graph with lower communication cost than traditional distributed algorithms. In the second study, we consider constrained problems in which the constraint is separable. By making use of the augmented Lagrangian function and splitting the dual variable (Lagrange multiplier) associated to each partial constraint, we were able to develop a distributed fully asynchronous algorithm with lower computational complexity than traditional distributed algorithms. The simplicity of the algorithm is the consequence of approximating the constraint on the equality of the decoupled dual variables. We also provide a measure of the inaccuracy in such an approximation on the optimal value of the primal objective function. Finally, in the third study, we investigate distributed processing solutions for BSS on sensor networks. We propose two distributed processing schemes for BSS that we refer to as scheme 1 and scheme 2. In scheme 1, each sensor node estimates one specific source signal while in scheme 2, by formulating a consensus optimization problem, each sensor node estimates all source signals in a fully shared computation manner. Our proposed algorithms carry the following features: low computational complexity, low power consumption, low data transmission rate, scalability and excellent performance over arbitrary graphs. Although all of our proposed algorithms share the aforementioned properties, each of them is superior in one or some of the features compared to the others. Comparative experimental results show that among all our proposed distributed BSS algorithms, a variant of scheme 1 performs best when all features are considered. This is achieved by making use of the concept of pairwise mutual information along with adding a sparsity assumption on the parameters of the model that is used in BSS.</p>

Cross-population coupling of neural activity based on Gaussian process current source densities

Because local field potentials (LFPs) arise from multiple sources in different spatial locations, they do not easily reveal coordinated activity across neural populations on a trial-to-trial basis. As we show here, however, once disparate source signals are decoupled, their trial-to-trial fluctuations become more accessible, and cross-population correlations become more apparent. To decouple sources we introduce a general framework for estimation of current source densities (CSDs). In this framework, the set of LFPs result from noise being added to the transform of the CSD by a biophysical forward model, while the CSD is considered to be the sum of a zero-mean, stationary, spatiotemporal Gaussian process, having fast and slow components, and a mean function, which is the sum of multiple time-varying functions distributed across space, each varying across trials. We derived biophysical forward models relevant to the data we analyzed. In simulation studies this approach improved identification of source signals compared to existing CSD estimation methods. Using data recorded from primate auditory cortex, we analyzed trial-to-trial fluctuations in both steady-state and task-evoked signals. We found cortical layer-specific phase coupling between two probes and showed that the same analysis applied directly to LFPs did not recover these patterns. We also found task-evoked CSDs to be correlated across probes, at specific cortical depths. Using data from Neuropixels probes in mouse visual areas, we again found evidence for depth-specific phase coupling of primary visual cortex and lateromedial area based on the CSDs.

Relay Selection-and-Jamming Scheme with Nonlinear Energy Harvesting

When direct source-destination communications are in outage, relay selection is a preferable solution to improve reliability for this communications. However, such a relay selection makes the eavesdropper better overhear source data through both source-relay and relay-destination communication hops, losing data security. To improve both reliability and security, this paper proposes a relay selection-and-jamming (RaJ) scheme to select one intermediate node as a conventional relay and another node as a jammer. To enhance energy efficiency, all intermediate nodes harvest radio frequency energy in source signals for their operations with nonlinear energy harvesting (NL-EH). The security and reliability of the RaJ scheme are assessed through suggested rigorous/asymptotic expressions and are significantly better than two benchmark schemes without neither jamming nor both relay selection and jamming. Additionally, they can be optimized with reasonable selection of specifications. Moreover, the NL property of the energy harvesters dramatically affects the reliability but negligibly degrades the security for the RaJ scheme. Furthermore, the linear EH (L-EH) is more reliable but less secure than the NL-EH.

Fault Feature Extraction for Reciprocating Compressors Based on Underdetermined Blind Source Separation

In practical engineering applications, the vibration signals collected by sensors often contain outliers, resulting in the separation accuracy of source signals from the observed signals being seriously affected. The mixing matrix estimation is crucial to the underdetermined blind source separation (UBSS), determining the accuracy level of the source signals recovery. Therefore, a two-stage clustering method is proposed by combining hierarchical clustering and K-means to improve the reliability of the estimated mixing matrix in this paper. The proposed method is used to solve the two major problems in the K-means algorithm: the random selection of initial cluster centers and the sensitivity of the algorithm to outliers. Firstly, the observed signals are clustered by hierarchical clustering to get the cluster centers. Secondly, the cosine distance is used to eliminate the outliers deviating from cluster centers. Then, the initial cluster centers are obtained by calculating the mean value of each remaining cluster. Finally, the mixing matrix is estimated with the improved K-means, and the sources are recovered using the least square method. Simulation and the reciprocating compressor fault experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Bearing fault diagnosis based on kernel independent component analysis and antlion optimization

Fault diagnosis of gearboxes based on vibration signal processing is challenging, as vibration signals collected by acceleration sensors are typically a nonlinear mixture of unknown signals. Furthermore, the number of source signals is usually larger than that of sensors because of the practical limitation on sensor positions. Hence, the fault characterization is actually a nonlinear underdetermined blind source separation (NUBSS) problem. In this paper, a novel NUBSS algorithm based on kernel independent component analysis (KICA) and antlion optimization (ALO) is proposed to address the technical challenge. The mathematical model demonstrates the nonlinear mixing of source signals in the underdetermined cases. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition is used as a preprocessing tool to decompose the observed signals into a set of intrinsic mode functions that suffers from the problem of redundant components. The correlation coefficient is utilized to eliminate the redundant components. An adaptive threshold singular value decomposition method is proposed to estimate the number of source signals. Then a whitening process is carried out to transform the overdetermined blind source separation (BSS) into determined BSS, which can be solved by the KICA method. However, the reasonable selection of parameters in KICA limits its application to some extent. Therefore, ALO and Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis are adopted to further enhance the accuracy of the KICA method. The separation performance of the proposed method is assessed through simulation. The numerical results show that the proposed method can accurately estimate the number of source signals and attains a higher separation quality in tackling nonlinear mixed signals when compared with the existing methods. Finally, the inner ring fault experiment is conducted to preliminarily validate the practicability of the proposed method in bearing fault diagnosis.

Rapid detection method of radioactive source based on low-count gamma spectra

In order to solve the problem of searching a radioactive source in a wide area, we developed a mobile CsI detector. This paper presented the performance of the detector during the spectra collection investigation. The 1 s spectrum collected by the detector was low-count spectrum and it is hard to distinguish whether it contains radioactive source signals. A rapid detection method of radioactive source based on low-count gamma spectra was proposed. Principal component analysis (PCA) was the key technology of the method. According to the PCA, the source information was efficiently extracted. With the method, the detect sensitivity and accuracy of the detector were optimized.