Energy
Hardware-Aware Fine-Tuning of Spiking Q-Networks on the SpiNNaker2 Neuromorphic Platform
Arfa, Sirine, Vogginger, Bernhard, Mayr, Christian
Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) promise orders-of-magnitude lower power consumption and low-latency inference on neuromorphic hardware for a wide range of robotic tasks. In this work, we present an energy-efficient implementation of a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm using quantized SNNs to solve two classical control tasks. The network is trained using the Q-learning algorithm, then fine-tuned and quantized to low-bit (8-bit) precision for embedded deployment on the SpiNNaker2 neuromorphic chip. To evaluate the comparative advantage of SpiNNaker2 over conventional computing platforms, we analyze inference latency, dynamic power consumption, and energy cost per inference for our SNN models, comparing performance against a GTX 1650 GPU baseline. Our results demonstrate SpiNNaker2's strong potential for scalable, low-energy neuromorphic computing, achieving up to 32x reduction in energy consumption. Inference latency remains on par with GPU-based execution, with improvements observed in certain task settings, reinforcing SpiNNaker2's viability for real-time neuromorphic control and making the neuromorphic approach a compelling direction for efficient deep Q-learning.
Multiscale geometrical and topological learning in the analysis of soft matter collective dynamics
Orlova, Tetiana, Solis, Amaranta Membrillo, Sohn, Hayley R. O., Madeleine, Tristan, D'Alessandro, Giampaolo, Smalyukh, Ivan I., Kaczmarek, Malgosia, Brodzki, Jacek
Understanding the behavior and evolution of a dynamical many-body system by analyzing patterns in their experimentally captured images is a promising method relevant for a variety of living and non-living self-assembled systems. The arrays of moving liquid crystal skyrmions studied here are a representative example of hierarchically organized materials that exhibit complex spatiotemporal dynamics driven by multiscale processes. Joint geometric and topological data analysis (TDA) offers a powerful framework for investigating such systems by capturing the underlying structure of the data at multiple scales. In the TDA approach, we introduce the $ฮจ$-function, a robust numerical topological descriptor related to both the spatiotemporal changes in the size and shape of individual topological solitons and the emergence of regions with their different spatial organization. The geometric method based on the analysis of vector fields generated from images of skyrmion ensembles offers insights into the nonlinear physical mechanisms of the system's response to external stimuli and provides a basis for comparison with theoretical predictions. The methodology presented here is very general and can provide a characterization of system behavior both at the level of individual pattern-forming agents and as a whole, allowing one to relate the results of image data analysis to processes occurring in a physical, chemical, or biological system in the real world.
Tile and Slide : A New Framework for Scaling NeRF from Local to Global 3D Earth Observation
Billouard, Camille, Derksen, Dawa, Constantin, Alexandre, Vallet, Bruno
Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) have recently emerged as a paradigm for 3D reconstruction from multiview satellite imagery. However, state-of-the-art NeRF methods are typically constrained to small scenes due to the memory footprint during training, which we study in this paper. Previous work on large-scale NeRFs palliate this by dividing the scene into NeRFs. This paper introduces Snake-NeRF, a framework that scales to large scenes. Our out-of-core method eliminates the need to load all images and networks simultaneously, and operates on a single device. We achieve this by dividing the region of interest into NeRFs that 3D tile without overlap. Importantly, we crop the images with overlap to ensure each NeRFs is trained with all the necessary pixels. We introduce a novel $2\times 2$ 3D tile progression strategy and segmented sampler, which together prevent 3D reconstruction errors along the tile edges. Our experiments conclude that large satellite images can effectively be processed with linear time complexity, on a single GPU, and without compromise in quality.
Data Readiness for Scientific AI at Scale
Brewer, Wesley, Widener, Patrick, Anantharaj, Valentine, Wang, Feiyi, Beck, Tom, Shankar, Arjun, Oral, Sarp
This paper examines how Data Readiness for AI (DRAI) principles apply to leadership-scale scientific datasets used to train foundation models. We analyze archetypal workflows across four representative domains - climate, nuclear fusion, bio/health, and materials - to identify common preprocessing patterns and domain-specific constraints. We introduce a two-dimensional readiness framework composed of Data Readiness Levels (raw to AI-ready) and Data Processing Stages (ingest to shard), both tailored to high performance computing (HPC) environments. This framework outlines key challenges in transforming scientific data for scalable AI training, emphasizing transformer-based generative models. Together, these dimensions form a conceptual maturity matrix that characterizes scientific data readiness and guides infrastructure development toward standardized, cross-domain support for scalable and reproducible AI for science.
From Propagator to Oscillator: The Dual Role of Symmetric Differential Equations in Neural Systems
In our previous work, we proposed a novel neuron model based on symmetric differential equations and demonstrated its potential as an efficient signal propagator. Building upon that foundation, the present study delves deeper into the intrinsic dynamics and functional diversity of this model. By systematically exploring the parameter space and employing a range of mathematical analysis tools, we theoretically reveal the system 's core property of functional duality. Specifically, the model exhibits two distinct trajectory behaviors: one is asymptotically stable, corresponding to a reliable signal propagator; the other is Lyapunov stable, characterized by sustained self-excited oscillations, functioning as a signal generator. To enable effective monitoring and prediction of system states during simulations, we introduce a novel intermediate-state metric termed on-road energy. Simulation results confirm that transitions between the two functional modes can be induced through parameter adjustments or modifications to the connection structure. Moreover, we show that oscillations can be effectively suppressed by introducing external signals. These findings draw a compelling parallel to the dual roles of biological neurons in both information transmission and rhythm generation, thereby establishing a solid theoretical basis and a clear functional roadmap for the broader application of this model in neuromorphic engineering.
ElectriQ: A Benchmark for Assessing the Response Capability of Large Language Models in Power Marketing
Wang, Jinzhi, Peng, Qingke, Li, Haozhou, Zeng, Zeyuan, Song, Qinfeng, Yang, Kaixuan, Zhang, Jiangbo, Wang, Yaoying, Li, Ruimeng, Zhou, Biyi
Electric power marketing telephone customer service primarily communicates with customers via phone calls to understand their electricity usage needs, provide consultations, process service applications, and handle complaints [1]. Ensuring timely and effective responses is essential throughout the service process. However, current systems (e.g., 95598, the customer service hotline of State Grid Corporation of China) often suffer from poor user experience, delayed responses, and inaccurate information[2] [3]. These traditional systems rely heavily on fixed procedures and templates, lacking the flexibility to address complex and diverse customer demands. This limitation is particularly pronounced in the highly specialized field of electric power marketing, where slow response times and insufficiently tailored solutions negatively impact service quality. Although human agents can complement these systems by managing more complex issues, they also face significant challenges, such as high workloads during peak periods, delayed response times, and inconsistent levels of professional knowledge and expertise. As a result, it is difficult to guarantee consistent and high-quality service for all customers.
DNN-based Methods of Jointly Sensing Number and Directions of Targets via a Green Massive H2AD MIMO Receiver
Deng, Bin, Bai, Jiatong, Zhao, Feilong, Xie, Zuming, Li, Maolin, Wang, Yan, Shu, Feng
As a green MIMO structure, the heterogeneous hybrid analog-digital H2AD MIMO architecture has been shown to own a great potential to replace the massive or extremely large-scale fully-digital MIMO in the future wireless networks to address the three challenging problems faced by the latter: high energy consumption, high circuit cost, and high complexity. However, how to intelligently sense the number and direction of multi-emitters via such a structure is still an open hard problem. To address this, we propose a two-stage sensing framework that jointly estimates the number and direction values of multiple targets. Specifically, three target number sensing methods are designed: an improved eigen-domain clustering (EDC) framework, an enhanced deep neural network (DNN) based on five key statistical features, and an improved one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) utilizing full eigenvalues. Subsequently, a low-complexity and high-accuracy DOA estimation is achieved via the introduced online micro-clustering (OMC-DOA) method. Furthermore, we derive the Cramรฉr-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for the H2AD under multiple-source conditions as a theoretical performance benchmark. Simulation results show that the developed three methods achieve 100\% number of targets sensing at moderate-to-high SNRs, while the improved 1D-CNN exhibits superior under extremely-low SNR conditions. The introduced OMC-DOA outperforms existing clustering and fusion-based DOA methods in multi-source environments.
Satellite Federated Fine-Tuning for Foundation Models in Space Computing Power Networks
Zhu, Yan, Zhu, Jingyang, Wang, Ting, Shi, Yuanming, Jiang, Chunxiao, Letaief, Khaled Ben
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites have promoted the application of large remote sensing foundation models for various downstream tasks. However, direct downloading of these models for fine-tuning on the ground is impeded by privacy concerns and limited bandwidth. Satellite federated learning (FL) offers a solution by enabling model fine-tuning directly on-board satellites and aggregating model updates without data downloading. Nevertheless, for large foundation models, the computational capacity of satellites is insufficient to support effective on-board fine-tuning in traditional satellite FL frameworks. To address these challenges, we propose a satellite-ground collaborative federated fine-tuning framework. The key of the framework lies in how to reasonably decompose and allocate model components to alleviate insufficient on-board computation capabilities. During fine-tuning, satellites exchange intermediate results with ground stations or other satellites for forward propagation and back propagation, which brings communication challenges due to the special communication topology of space transmission networks, such as intermittent satellite-ground communication, short duration of satellite-ground communication windows, and unstable inter-orbit inter-satellite links (ISLs). To reduce transmission delays, we further introduce tailored communication strategies that integrate both communication and computing resources. Specifically, we propose a parallel intra-orbit communication strategy, a topology-aware satellite-ground communication strategy, and a latency-minimalization inter-orbit communication strategy to reduce space communication costs. Simulation results demonstrate significant reductions in training time with improvements of approximately 33%.
Extended Factorization Machine Annealing for Rapid Discovery of Transparent Conducting Materials
Makino, Daisuke, Goto, Tatsuya, Suga, Yoshinori
The development of novel transparent conducting materials (TCMs) is essential for enhancing the performance and reducing the cost of next-generation devices such as solar cells and displays. In this research, we focus on the (Al$_x$Ga$_y$In$_z$)$_2$O$_3$ system and extend the FMA framework, which combines a Factorization Machine (FM) and annealing, to search for optimal compositions and crystal structures with high accuracy and low cost. The proposed method introduces (i) the binarization of continuous variables, (ii) the utilization of good solutions using a Hopfield network, (iii) the activation of global search through adaptive random flips, and (iv) fine-tuning via a bit-string local search. Validation using the (Al$_x$Ga$_y$In$_z$)$_2$O$_3$ data from the Kaggle "Nomad2018 Predicting Transparent Conductors" competition demonstrated that our method achieves faster and more accurate searches than Bayesian optimization and genetic algorithms. Furthermore, its application to multi-objective optimization showed its capability in designing materials by simultaneously considering both the band gap and formation energy. These results suggest that applying our method to larger, more complex search problems and diverse material designs that reflect realistic experimental conditions is expected to contribute to the further advancement of materials informatics.
FuseTen: A Generative Model for Daily 10 m Land Surface Temperature Estimation from Spatio-Temporal Satellite Observations
Bouaziz, Sofiane, Hafiane, Adel, Canals, Raphael, Nedjai, Rachid
Urban heatwaves, droughts, and land degradation are pressing and growing challenges in the context of climate change. A valuable approach to studying them requires accurate spatio-temporal information on land surface conditions. One of the most important variables for assessing and understanding these phenomena is Land Surface Temperature (LST), which is derived from satellites and provides essential information about the thermal state of the Earth's surface. However, satellite platforms inherently face a trade-off between spatial and temporal resolutions. To bridge this gap, we propose FuseTen, a novel generative framework that produces daily LST observations at a fine 10 m spatial resolution by fusing spatio-temporal observations derived from Sentinel-2, Landsat 8, and Terra MODIS. FuseTen employs a generative architecture trained using an averaging-based supervision strategy grounded in physical principles. It incorporates attention and normalization modules within the fusion process and uses a PatchGAN discriminator to enforce realism. Experiments across multiple dates show that FuseTen outperforms linear baselines, with an average 32.06% improvement in quantitative metrics and 31.42% in visual fidelity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first non-linear method to generate daily LST estimates at such fine spatial resolution.