Telecommunications
The New Sonos App Is So Bad, the Company Might Bring Back the Old One
The newest version of Sonos' mobile app is still very bad--so bad, the company is considering ditching the newly redesigned version of the app and bringing back the older version. This news, reported by The Verge, comes along with reports that Sonos is also laying off 100 employees. Things first went awry for Sonos when it released the new version of its app in May. It was met with almost universal disdain. Users found the new app format made it difficult to connect to a network, queue up songs, or even change the volume. One of the key complaints was that many of the accessibility features in the legacy app were either poorly implemented in the redesign or removed from the platform entirely.
TimeSense: Multi-Person Device-free Indoor Localization via RTT
Mohsen, Mohamed, Rizk, Hamada, Yamaguch, Hirozumi, Youssef, Moustafa
Locating the persons moving through an environment without the necessity of them being equipped with special devices has become vital for many applications including security, IoT, healthcare, etc. Existing device-free indoor localization systems commonly rely on the utilization of Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and WiFi Channel State Information (CSI) techniques. However, the accuracy of RSSI is adversely affected by environmental factors like multi-path interference and fading. Additionally, the lack of standardization in CSI necessitates the use of specialized hardware and software. In this paper, we present TimeSense, a deep learning-based multi-person device-free indoor localization system that addresses these challenges. TimeSense leverages Time of Flight information acquired by the fine-time measurement protocol of IEEE 802.11-2016 standard. Specifically, the measured round trip time between the transmitter and receiver is influenced by the dynamic changes in the environment induced by human presence. TimeSense effectively detects this anomalous behavior using a stacked denoising auto-encoder model, thereby estimating the user's location. The system incorporates a probabilistic approach on top of the deep learning model to ensure seamless tracking of the users. The evaluation of TimeSene in two realistic environments demonstrates its efficacy, achieving a median localization accuracy of 1.57 and 2.65 meters. This surpasses the performance of state-of-the-art techniques by 49% and 103% in the two testbeds.
GNN-Empowered Effective Partial Observation MARL Method for AoI Management in Multi-UAV Network
Pan, Yuhao, Wang, Xiucheng, Xu, Zhiyao, Cheng, Nan, Xu, Wenchao, Zhang, Jun-jie
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), due to their low cost and high flexibility, have been widely used in various scenarios to enhance network performance. However, the optimization of UAV trajectories in unknown areas or areas without sufficient prior information, still faces challenges related to poor planning performance and low distributed execution. These challenges arise when UAVs rely solely on their own observation information and the information from other UAVs within their communicable range, without access to global information. To address these challenges, this paper proposes the Qedgix framework, which combines graph neural networks (GNNs) and the QMIX algorithm to achieve distributed optimization of the Age of Information (AoI) for users in unknown scenarios. The framework utilizes GNNs to extract information from UAVs, users within the observable range, and other UAVs within the communicable range, thereby enabling effective UAV trajectory planning. Due to the discretization and temporal features of AoI indicators, the Qedgix framework employs QMIX to optimize distributed partially observable Markov decision processes (Dec-POMDP) based on centralized training and distributed execution (CTDE) with respect to mean AoI values of users. By modeling the UAV network optimization problem in terms of AoI and applying the Kolmogorov-Arnold representation theorem, the Qedgix framework achieves efficient neural network training through parameter sharing based on permutation invariance. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm significantly improves convergence speed while reducing the mean AoI values of users. The code is available at https://github.com/UNIC-Lab/Qedgix.
DRL-Based Resource Allocation for Motion Blur Resistant Federated Self-Supervised Learning in IoV
Gu, Xueying, Wu, Qiong, Fan, Pingyi, Fan, Qiang, Cheng, Nan, Chen, Wen, Letaief, Khaled B.
In the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), Federated Learning (FL) provides a privacy-preserving solution by aggregating local models without sharing data. Traditional supervised learning requires image data with labels, but data labeling involves significant manual effort. Federated Self-Supervised Learning (FSSL) utilizes Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) for local training in FL, eliminating the need for labels while protecting privacy. Compared to other SSL methods, Momentum Contrast (MoCo) reduces the demand for computing resources and storage space by creating a dictionary. However, using MoCo in FSSL requires uploading the local dictionary from vehicles to Base Station (BS), which poses a risk of privacy leakage. Simplified Contrast (SimCo) addresses the privacy leakage issue in MoCo-based FSSL by using dual temperature instead of a dictionary to control sample distribution. Additionally, considering the negative impact of motion blur on model aggregation, and based on SimCo, we propose a motion blur-resistant FSSL method, referred to as BFSSL. Furthermore, we address energy consumption and delay in the BFSSL process by proposing a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL)-based resource allocation scheme, called DRL-BFSSL. In this scheme, BS allocates the Central Processing Unit (CPU) frequency and transmission power of vehicles to minimize energy consumption and latency, while aggregating received models based on the motion blur level. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of our proposed aggregation and resource allocation methods.
Improved Q-learning based Multi-hop Routing for UAV-Assisted Communication
Sharvari, N P, Das, Dibakar, Bapat, Jyotsna, Das, Debabrata
Designing effective Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV)-assisted routing protocols is challenging due to changing topology, limited battery capacity, and the dynamic nature of communication environments. Current protocols prioritize optimizing individual network parameters, overlooking the necessity for a nuanced approach in scenarios with intermittent connectivity, fluctuating signal strength, and varying network densities, ultimately failing to address aerial network requirements comprehensively. This paper proposes a novel, Improved Q-learning-based Multi-hop Routing (IQMR) algorithm for optimal UAV-assisted communication systems. Using Q(\lambda) learning for routing decisions, IQMR substantially enhances energy efficiency and network data throughput. IQMR improves system resilience by prioritizing reliable connectivity and inter-UAV collision avoidance while integrating real-time network status information, all in the absence of predefined UAV path planning, thus ensuring dynamic adaptability to evolving network conditions. The results validate IQMR's adaptability to changing system conditions and superiority over the current techniques. IQMR showcases 36.35\% and 32.05\% improvements in energy efficiency and data throughput over the existing methods.
Twin Sorting Dynamic Programming Assisted User Association and Wireless Bandwidth Allocation for Hierarchical Federated Learning
Gau, Rung-Hung, Wang, Ting-Yu, Liu, Chun-Hung
In this paper, we study user association and wireless bandwidth allocation for a hierarchical federated learning system that consists of mobile users, edge servers, and a cloud server. To minimize the length of a global round in hierarchical federated learning with equal bandwidth allocation, we formulate a combinatorial optimization problem. We design the twin sorting dynamic programming (TSDP) algorithm that obtains a globally optimal solution in polynomial time when there are two edge servers. In addition, we put forward the TSDP-assisted algorithm for user association when there are three or more edge servers. Furthermore, given a user association matrix, we formulate and solve a convex optimization problem for optimal wireless bandwidth allocation. Simulation results show that the proposed approach outperforms a number of alternative schemes.
Beam Prediction based on Large Language Models
Sheng, Yucheng, Huang, Kai, Liang, Le, Liu, Peng, Jin, Shi, Li, Geoffrey Ye
Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication is promising for next-generation wireless networks but suffers from significant path loss, requiring extensive antenna arrays and frequent beam training. Traditional deep learning models, such as long short-term memory (LSTM), enhance beam tracking accuracy however are limited by poor robustness and generalization. In this letter, we use large language models (LLMs) to improve the robustness of beam prediction. By converting time series data into text-based representations and employing the Prompt-as-Prefix (PaP) technique for contextual enrichment, our approach unleashes the strength of LLMs for time series forecasting. Simulation results demonstrate that our LLM-based method offers superior robustness and generalization compared to LSTM-based models, showcasing the potential of LLMs in wireless communications.
A Survey on Integrated Sensing, Communication, and Computation
Wen, Dingzhu, Zhou, Yong, Li, Xiaoyang, Shi, Yuanming, Huang, Kaibin, Letaief, Khaled B.
The forthcoming generation of wireless technology, 6G, promises a revolutionary leap beyond traditional data-centric services. It aims to usher in an era of ubiquitous intelligent services, where everything is interconnected and intelligent. This vision requires the seamless integration of three fundamental modules: Sensing for information acquisition, communication for information sharing, and computation for information processing and decision-making. These modules are intricately linked, especially in complex tasks such as edge learning and inference. However, the performance of these modules is interdependent, creating a resource competition for time, energy, and bandwidth. Existing techniques like integrated communication and computation (ICC), integrated sensing and computation (ISC), and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) have made partial strides in addressing this challenge, but they fall short of meeting the extreme performance requirements. To overcome these limitations, it is essential to develop new techniques that comprehensively integrate sensing, communication, and computation. This integrated approach, known as Integrated Sensing, Communication, and Computation (ISCC), offers a systematic perspective for enhancing task performance. This paper begins with a comprehensive survey of historic and related techniques such as ICC, ISC, and ISAC, highlighting their strengths and limitations. It then explores the state-of-the-art signal designs for ISCC, along with network resource management strategies specifically tailored for ISCC. Furthermore, this paper discusses the exciting research opportunities that lie ahead for implementing ISCC in future advanced networks. By embracing ISCC, we can unlock the full potential of intelligent connectivity, paving the way for groundbreaking applications and services.
Quantum Annealing-Based Algorithm for Efficient Coalition Formation Among LEO Satellites
Venkatesh, Supreeth Mysore, Macaluso, Antonio, Nuske, Marlon, Klusch, Matthias, Dengel, Andreas
The increasing number of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, driven by lower manufacturing and launch costs, is proving invaluable for Earth observation missions and low-latency internet connectivity. However, as the number of satellites increases, the number of communication links to maintain also rises, making the management of this vast network increasingly challenging and highlighting the need for clustering satellites into efficient groups as a promising solution. This paper formulates the clustering of LEO satellites as a coalition structure generation (CSG) problem and leverages quantum annealing to solve it. We represent the satellite network as a graph and obtain the optimal partitions using a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm called GCS-Q. The algorithm follows a top-down approach by iteratively splitting the graph at each step using a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) formulation. To evaluate our approach, we utilize real-world three-line element set (TLE/3LE) data for Starlink satellites from Celestrak. Our experiments, conducted using the D-Wave Advantage annealer and the state-of-the-art solver Gurobi, demonstrate that the quantum annealer significantly outperforms classical methods in terms of runtime while maintaining the solution quality. The performance achieved with quantum annealers surpasses the capabilities of classical computers, highlighting the transformative potential of quantum computing in optimizing the management of large-scale satellite networks.
DeepAir: A Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Scheme for an Unknown User Location Problem
Yamansavascilar, Baris, Ozgovde, Atay, Ersoy, Cem
The deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in many different settings has provided various solutions and strategies for networking paradigms. Therefore, it reduces the complexity of the developments for the existing problems, which otherwise require more sophisticated approaches. One of those existing problems is the unknown user locations in an infrastructure-less environment in which users cannot connect to any communication device or computation-providing server, which is essential to task offloading in order to achieve the required quality of service (QoS). Therefore, in this study, we investigate this problem thoroughly and propose a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based scheme, DeepAir. DeepAir considers all of the necessary steps including sensing, localization, resource allocation, and multi-access edge computing (MEC) to achieve QoS requirements for the offloaded tasks without violating the maximum tolerable delay. To this end, we use two types of UAVs including detector UAVs, and serving UAVs. We utilize detector UAVs as DRL agents which ensure sensing, localization, and resource allocation. On the other hand, we utilize serving UAVs to provide MEC features. Our experiments show that DeepAir provides a high task success rate by deploying fewer detector UAVs in the environment, which includes different numbers of users and user attraction points, compared to benchmark methods.