The FATE Landscape of Sign Language AI Datasets

Sign language datasets are essential to developing many sign language technologies. In particular, datasets are required for training artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems. Though the idea of using AI/ML for sign languages is not new, technology has now advanced to a point where developing such sign language technologies is becoming increasingly tractable. This critical juncture provides an opportunity to be thoughtful about an array of Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics (FATE) considerations. Sign language datasets typically contain recordings of people signing, which is highly personal. The rights and responsibilities of the parties involved in data collection and storage are also complex and involve individual data contributors, data collectors or owners, and data users who may interact through a variety of exchange and access mechanisms. Deaf community members (and signers, more generally) are also central stakeholders in any end applications of sign language data. The centrality of sign language to deaf culture identity, coupled with a history of oppression, makes usage by technologists particularly sensitive. This piece presents many of these issues that characterize working with sign language AI datasets, based on the authors’ experiences living, working, and studying in this space.

A Poisson Process-Based Random Access Channel for 5G and Beyond Networks

The 5th generation (5G) wireless networks propose to address a variety of usage scenarios, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Due to the exponential increase in the user equipment (UE) devices of wireless communication technologies, 5G and beyond networks (B5G) expect to support far higher user density and far lower latency than currently deployed cellular technologies, like long-term evolution-Advanced (LTE-A). However, one of the critical challenges for B5G is finding a clever way for various channel access mechanisms to maintain dense UE deployments. Random access channel (RACH) is a mandatory procedure for the UEs to connect with the evolved node B (eNB). The performance of the RACH directly affects the performance of the entire network. Currently, RACH uses a uniform distribution-based (UD) random access to prevent a possible network collision among multiple UEs attempting to access channel resources. However, in a UD-based channel access, every UE has an equal chance to choose a similar contention preamble close to the expected value, which causes an increase in the collision among the UEs. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a Poisson process-based RACH (2PRACH) alternative to a UD-based RACH. A Poisson process-based distribution, such as exponential distribution, disperses the random preambles between two bounds in a Poisson point method, where random variables occur continuously and independently with a constant parametric rate. In this way, our proposed 2PRACH approach distributes the UEs in a probability distribution of a parametric collection. Simulation results show that the shift of RACH from UD-based channel access to a Poisson process-based distribution enhances the reliability and lowers the network’s latency.

Expansión de la soja en México y exclusión productiva de los pequeños agricultores de la península de Yucatán

En la península de Yucatán se ha dado un reciente proceso de expansión del cultivo de la soja sobre tierras anteriormente dedicadas a maíz, pastizales y selvas tropicales. Este artículo se inscribe en el debate sobre la “teoría del acceso”, planteándose como objetivos la descripción y análisis de las causas o factores que han motivado dicha expansión, así como de sus impactos en el mercado de tierras e ingreso de los productores. También se reseñan los efectos en el medio ambiente (deforestación) y la economía de los apicultores. La investigación reveló cómo una elite de productores y agro–empresas han tenido la habilidad de ganar, controlar y mantener el recurso tierra, a través de diversos mecanismos de acceso, mientras que los pequeños productores (propietarios legales) se han convertido en rentistas de sus tierras, ubicándose en una situación de “exclusión productiva”. Palabras clave: soja; exclusión productiva; teoría del acceso; Península de Yucatán; México. In the Yucatan peninsula there has been a recent process of expansion of soybean cultivation, on lands previously dedicated to maize and grasslands, as well as tropical forests. This article is part of the debate on the "access theory", setting out as objectives the description and analysis of the causes or factors that have motivated this expansion, as well as its impacts on the land market and income of producers. The effects on the environment (deforestation) and the economy of beekeepers are also reviewed. The investigation revealed how an elite of producers and agro-business have had the ability to gain, control and maintain the land resource, through various access mechanisms, while smallholders (legal owners) have become rentiers of their lands, beeing place in a situation of "productive exclusion". Keywords: soybeans; productive exclusion; access theory; Yucatan Peninsula; Mexico.

Dense Deployment of LoRa Networks: Expectations and Limits of Channel Activity Detection and Capture Effect for Radio Channel Access

With worldwide deployment of LoRa/LoRaWAN LPWAN networks in a large variety of applications, it is crucial to improve the robustness of LoRa channel access which is largely ALOHA-like to support environments with higher node density. This article presents extensive experiments on LoRa Channel Activity Detection and Capture Effect property in order to better understand how a competition-based channel access mechanisms can be optimized for LoRa LPWAN radio technology. In the light of these experimentation results, the contribution continues by identifying design guidelines for a channel access mechanism in LoRa and by proposing a channel access method with a lightweight collision avoidance mechanism that can operate without a reliable Clear Channel Assessment procedure. The proposed channel access mechanism has been implemented and preliminary tests show promising capabilities in increasing the Packet Delivery Rate in dense configurations.

Using the ideology of geospatial data infrastructure to create a system of accounting and management of land and property complexes of enterprises and local communities, including UTC

The possibility and expediency of using the ideology of geospatial data infrastructure (hereinafter NIGD) to create a system of accounting and management of land complexes of enterprises and local communities, including UTC, is considered. The need to create accounting systems and management of land and property complexes is due to: large-scale transition to digital technologies in the management of enterprises, institutions and territories, real estate taxation, decentralization processes, the creation of the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure. The necessity to take into account the principles and standards of the national infrastructure of geospatial data is substantiated. Areas have been formed in which information on land and property complexes can be used to fill the National Infrastructure of geospatial data and justify management decisions. Among the key issues that will ensure the use of the ideology of NIGD to create a system of accounting and management of land complexes of enterprises and local communities, including UTC, it is necessary to address the interoperability of data on land complexes, the use of a single cartographic basis, principles and data validation procedures, data error correction, data access mechanisms for process participants, reusability and data licensing.

A Survey of Resource Allocation Techniques for Cellular Network’s Operation in the Unlicensed Band

With an ever increasing demand for data, better and efficient spectrum operation has become crucial in cellular networks. In this paper, we present a detailed survey of various resource allocation schemes that have been considered for the cellular network’s operation in the unlicensed spectrum. The key channel access mechanisms for cellular network’s operation in the unlicensed bands are discussed. The various channel selection techniques are explored and their operation explained. The prime issue of fairness between cellular and Wi-Fi networks is discussed, along with suitable resource allocation techniques that help in achieving this fairness. We analyze the coverage, capacity, and impact of coordination in LTE-U systems. Furthermore, we study and discuss the impact and discussed the impact of various traffic type, environments, latency, handover, and scenarios on LTE-U’s performance. The new upcoming 5G New Radio and MulteFire is briefly described along with some of the critical aspects of LTE-U which require further research.