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Bin Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Bin Yang.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

Distant activity of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014: Ground-based results during the Rosetta pre-landing phase

As the ESA Rosetta mission approached, orbited, and sent a lander to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, a large campaign of ground-based observations also followed the comet. We constrain the total activity level of the comet by photometry and spectroscopy to place Rosetta results in context and to understand the large-scale structure of the comet's coma pre-perihelion. We performed observations using a number of telescopes, but concentrate on results from the 8m VLT and Gemini South telescopes in Chile. We use R-band imaging to measure the dust coma contribution to the comet's brightness and UV-visible spectroscopy to search for gas emissions, primarily using VLT/FORS. In addition we imaged the comet in near-infrared wavelengths (JHK) in late 2014 with Gemini-S/Flamingos 2. We find that the comet was already active in early 2014 at heliocentric distances beyond 4 au. The evolution of the total activity (measured by dust) followed previous predictions. No gas emissions were detected despite sensitive searches. The comet maintains a similar level of activity from orbit to orbit, and is in that sense predictable, meaning that Rosetta results correspond to typical behaviour for this comet. The gas production (for CN at least) is highly asymmetric with respect to perihelion, as our upper limits are below the measured production rates for similar distances post-perihelion in previous orbits.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2015

Efficient and Accurate Path Cost Estimation Using Trajectory Data

Using the growing volumes of vehicle trajectory data, it becomes increasingly possible to capture time-varying and uncertain travel costs in a road network, including travel time and fuel consumption. The current paradigm represents a road network as a graph, assigns weights to the graph's edges by fragmenting trajectories into small pieces that fit the underlying edges, and then applies a routing algorithm to the resulting graph. We propose a new paradigm that targets more accurate and more efficient estimation of the costs of paths by associating weights with sub-paths in the road network. The paper provides a solution to a foundational problem in this paradigm, namely that of computing the time-varying cost distribution of a path. The solution consists of several steps. We first learn a set of random variables that capture the joint distributions of sub-paths that are covered by sufficient trajectories. Then, given a departure time and a path, we select an optimal subset of learned random variables such that the random variables' corresponding paths together cover the path. This enables accurate joint distribution estimation of the path, and by transferring the joint distribution into a marginal distribution, the travel cost distribution of the path is obtained. The use of multiple learned random variables contends with data sparseness, the use of multi-dimensional histograms enables compact representation of arbitrary joint distributions that fully capture the travel cost dependencies among the edges in paths. Empirical studies with substantial trajectory data from two different cities offer insight into the design properties of the proposed solution and suggest that the solution is effective in real-world settings.

cs.DB↗
arXiv2015

Multi-level Resistive Switching Characteristics of W/Co:TiO2/FTO Structures

In the present work, multi-level resistive switching (RS) in W/Co:TiO2/FTO structures induced by a multi-mixed mechanism was studied. It was found that the devices could be reproducibly programmed into three nonvolatile resistance states. And the directly switching between any resistance states was realized. This increases the operation speed and lowers the complexity of control circuit of multi-state nonvolatile memory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2015

Convolutional Channel Features

Deep learning methods are powerful tools but often suffer from expensive computation and limited flexibility. An alternative is to combine light-weight models with deep representations. As successful cases exist in several visual problems, a unified framework is absent. In this paper, we revisit two widely used approaches in computer vision, namely filtered channel features and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), and absorb merits from both by proposing an integrated method called Convolutional Channel Features (CCF). CCF transfers low-level features from pre-trained CNN models to feed the boosting forest model. With the combination of CNN features and boosting forest, CCF benefits from the richer capacity in feature representation compared with channel features, as well as lower cost in computation and storage compared with end-to-end CNN methods. We show that CCF serves as a good way of tailoring pre-trained CNN models to diverse tasks without fine-tuning the whole network to each task by achieving state-of-the-art performances in pedestrian detection, face detection, edge detection and object proposal generation.

cs.CV↗
arXiv2015

A possible Macronova in the late afterglow of the `long-short' burst GRB 060614

Long-duration ($>2$ s) $γ$-ray bursts that are believed to originate from the death of massive stars are expected to be accompanied by supernovae. GRB 060614, that lasted 102 s, lacks a supernova-like emission down to very stringent limits and its physical origin is still debated. Here we report the discovery of near-infrared bump that is significantly above the regular decaying afterglow. This red bump is inconsistent with even the weakest known supernova. However, it can arise from a Li-Paczyński macronova $-$ the radioactive decay of debris following a compact binary merger. If this interpretation is correct GRB 060614 arose from a compact binary merger rather than from the death of a massive star and it was a site of a significant production of heavy r-process elements. The significant ejected mass favors a black hole-neutron star merger but a double neutron star merger cannot be ruled out.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2015

Barrier Coverage in Mobile Camera Sensor Networks with Grid-Based Deployment

Barrier coverage is a critical issue in wireless sensor networks for many practical applications,e.g., national border monitoring, security surveillance and intruder detection, etc. Its aim is to detect intruders that attempt to cross the protected region. In this paper, we study how to efficiently improve barrier coverage using mobile camera sensors, where camera sensors are deployed by a grid-based strategy.

cs.NI↗
arXiv2015

Improving Signal to Noise in the Direct Imaging of Exoplanets and Circumstellar Disks

We present a new algorithm designed to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of point and extended source detections in direct imaging data. The novel part of our method is that it finds the linear combination of the science images that best match counterpart images with signal removed from suspected source regions. The algorithm, based on the Locally Optimized Combination of Images (LOCI) method, is called Matched LOCI or MLOCI. We show using data obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) and Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) that the new algorithm can improve the SNR of point source detections by 30-400% over past methods. We also find no increase in false detections rates. No prior knowledge of candidate companion locations is required to use MLOCI. While non-blind applications may yield linear combinations of science images which seem to increase the SNR of true sources by a factor > 2, they can also yield false detections at high rates. This is a potential pitfall when trying to confirm marginal detections or to re-detect point sources found in previous epochs. Our findings are relevant to any method where the coefficients of the linear combination are considered tunable, e.g. LOCI and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Thus we recommend that false detection rates be analyzed when using these techniques.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2015

A New Cell Association Scheme In Heterogeneous Networks

Cell association scheme determines which base station (BS) and mobile user (MU) should be associated with and also plays a significant role in determining the average data rate a MU can achieve in heterogeneous networks. However, the explosion of digital devices and the scarcity of spectra collectively force us to carefully re-design cell association scheme which was kind of taken for granted before. To address this, we develop a new cell association scheme in heterogeneous networks based on joint consideration of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) which a MU experiences and the traffic load of candidate BSs1. MUs and BSs in each tier are modeled as several independent Poisson point processes (PPPs) and all channels experience independently and identically distributed ( i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading. Data rate ratio and traffic load ratio distributions are derived to obtain the tier association probability and the average ergodic MU data rate. Through numerical results, We find that our proposed cell association scheme outperforms cell range expansion (CRE) association scheme. Moreover, results indicate that allocating small sized and high-density BSs will improve spectral efficiency if using our proposed cell association scheme in heterogeneous networks.

cs.NI↗
arXiv2015

Spatial Spectrum and Energy Efficiency of Random Cellular Networks

It is a great challenge to evaluate the network performance of cellular mobile communication systems. In this paper, we propose new spatial spectrum and energy efficiency models for Poisson-Voronoi tessellation (PVT) random cellular networks. To evaluate the user access the network, a Markov chain based wireless channel access model is first proposed for PVT random cellular networks. On that basis, the outage probability and blocking probability of PVT random cellular networks are derived, which can be computed numerically. Furthermore, taking into account the call arrival rate, the path loss exponent and the base station (BS) density in random cellular networks, spatial spectrum and energy efficiency models are proposed and analyzed for PVT random cellular networks. Numerical simulations are conducted to evaluate the network spectrum and energy efficiency in PVT random cellular networks.

cs.NI↗
arXiv2014

Spectrum and Energy Efficiency Evaluation of Two-Tier Femtocell networks With Partially Open Channels

Two-tier femtocell networks is an efficient communication architecture that significantly improves throughput in indoor environments with low power consumption. Traditionally, a femtocell network is usually configured to be either completely open or completely closed in that its channels are either made available to all users or used by its own users only. This may limit network flexibility and performance. It is desirable for owners of femtocell base stations if a femtocell can partially open its channels for external users access. In such scenarios, spectrum and energy efficiency becomes a critical issue in the design of femtocell network protocols and structure. In this paper, we conduct performance analysis for two-tier femtocell networks with partially open channels. In particular, we build a Markov chain to model the channel access in the femtocell network and then derive the performance metrics in terms of the blocking probabilities. Based on stationary state probabilities derived by Markov chain models, spectrum and energy efficiency are modeled and analyzed under different scenarios characterized by critical parameters, including number of femtocells in a macrocell, average number of users, and number of open channels in a femtocell. Numerical and Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation results indicate that the number of open channels in a femtocell has an adverse impact on the spectrum and energy efficiency of two-tier femtocell networks. Results in this paper provide guidelines for trading off spectrum and energy efficiency of two-tier femtocell networks by configuring different numbers of open channels in a femtocell.

cs.NI↗
arXiv2014

Aggregate channel features for multi-view face detection

Face detection has drawn much attention in recent decades since the seminal work by Viola and Jones. While many subsequences have improved the work with more powerful learning algorithms, the feature representation used for face detection still can't meet the demand for effectively and efficiently handling faces with large appearance variance in the wild. To solve this bottleneck, we borrow the concept of channel features to the face detection domain, which extends the image channel to diverse types like gradient magnitude and oriented gradient histograms and therefore encodes rich information in a simple form. We adopt a novel variant called aggregate channel features, make a full exploration of feature design, and discover a multi-scale version of features with better performance. To deal with poses of faces in the wild, we propose a multi-view detection approach featuring score re-ranking and detection adjustment. Following the learning pipelines in Viola-Jones framework, the multi-view face detector using aggregate channel features shows competitive performance against state-of-the-art algorithms on AFW and FDDB testsets, while runs at 42 FPS on VGA images.

cs.CV↗
arXiv2014

A Sytematic Piggybacking Design for Minimum Storage Regenerating Codes

Piggybacking is an efficient method to decrease the repair bandwidth of Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) codes or Minimum Storage Regenerating (MSR) codes. In this paper, for minimizing the repair bandwidth of parity nodes of the known MSR codes with high rate, which is usually the whole size of the original data, i.e., the maximal, a new systematic piggybacking design is proposed through an in-depth analysis of the design of piggybacking. As a result, new MSR codes are obtained with almost optimal repair bandwidth of parity nodes while retaining the optimal repair bandwidth of systematic nodes. Furthermore, MSR codes with balanced download during node repair process are presented based on the new piggybacking design.

cs.IT↗
arXiv2014

Search for the Return of Activity in Active Asteroid 176P/LINEAR

We present the results of a search for the reactivation of active asteroid 176P/LINEAR during its 2011 perihelion passage using deep optical observations obtained before, during, and after that perihelion passage. Deep composite images of 176P constructed from data obtained between June 2011 and December 2011 show no visible signs of activity, while photometric measurements of the object during this period also show no significant brightness enhancements similar to that observed for 176P between November 2005 and December 2005 when it was previously observed to be active. An azimuthal search for dust emission likewise reveals no evidence for directed emission (i.e., a tail, as was previously observed for 176P), while a one-dimensional surface brightness profile analysis shows no indication of a spherically symmetric coma at any time in 2011. We conclude that 176P did not in fact exhibit activity in 2011, at least not on the level on which it exhibited activity in 2005, and suggest that this could be due to the devolatization or mantling of the active site responsible for its activity in 2005.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2013

Uncorrelated Volatile Behavior During the 2011 Apparition of Comet C/2009 P1 Garradd

The High Resolution Instrument Infrared Spectrometer (HRI-IR) onboard the Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft detected H2O, CO2, and CO in the coma of the dynamically young Oort cloud comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) post-perihelion at a heliocentric distance of 2 AU. Production rates were derived for the parent volatiles, QH2O = 4.6e28, QCO2 = 3.9e27, and QCO = 2.9e28 molecules s-1, and are consistent with the trends seen by other observers and within the error bars of measurements acquired during a similar time period. When compiled with other observations of the dominant volatiles of Garradd, unexpected behavior was seen in the release of CO. The H2O outgassing of Garradd, increasing and peaking pre-perihelion and then steadily decreasing, is more typical than that of CO, which monotonically increased throughout the entire apparition. Due to the temporal asymmetry in volatile release, Garradd exhibited the highest CO to H2O abundance ratio ever observed for any comet inside the water snow line at 60 percent during the HRI-IR observations. Also, the HRI-IR made the only direct measurement of CO2, giving a typical cometary abundance ratio of CO2 to H2O of 8 percent but, with only one measurement, no sense of how it varied with orbital position.

astro-ph.EP↗
arXiv2013

Rough matroids based on coverings

The introduction of covering-based rough sets has made a substantial contribution to the classical rough sets. However, many vital problems in rough sets, including attribution reduction, are NP-hard and therefore the algorithms for solving them are usually greedy. Matroid, as a generalization of linear independence in vector spaces, it has a variety of applications in many fields such as algorithm design and combinatorial optimization. An excellent introduction to the topic of rough matroids is due to Zhu and Wang. On the basis of their work, we study the rough matroids based on coverings in this paper. First, we investigate some properties of the definable sets with respect to a covering. Specifically, it is interesting that the set of all definable sets with respect to a covering, equipped with the binary relation of inclusion $\subseteq$, constructs a lattice. Second, we propose the rough matroids based on coverings, which are a generalization of the rough matroids based on relations. Finally, some properties of rough matroids based on coverings are explored. Moreover, an equivalent formulation of rough matroids based on coverings is presented. These interesting and important results exhibit many potential connections between rough sets and matroids.

cs.AI↗
arXiv2013

Connectivity for matroids based on rough sets

In mathematics and computer science, connectivity is one of the basic concepts of matroid theory: it asks for the minimum number of elements which need to be removed to disconnect the remaining nodes from each other. It is closely related to the theory of network flow problems. The connectivity of a matroid is an important measure of its robustness as a network. Therefore, it is very necessary to investigate the conditions under which a matroid is connected. In this paper, the connectivity for matroids is studied through relation-based rough sets. First, a symmetric and transitive relation is introduced from a general matroid and its properties are explored from the viewpoint of matroids. Moreover, through the relation introduced by a general matroid, an undirected graph is generalized. Specifically, the connection of the graph can be investigated by the relation-based rough sets. Second, we study the connectivity for matroids by means of relation-based rough sets and some conditions under which a general matroid is connected are presented. Finally, it is easy to prove that the connectivity for a general matroid with some special properties and its induced undirected graph is equivalent. These results show an important application of relation-based rough sets to matroids.

cs.AI↗
arXiv2013

Outgassing Behavior of C/2012 S1 (ISON) From September 2011 to June 2013

We report photometric observations for comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) obtained during the time period immediately after discovery (r=6.28 AU) until it moved into solar conjunction in mid-2013 June using the UH2.2m, and Gemini North 8-m telescopes on Mauna Kea, the Lowell 1.8m in Flagstaff, the Calar Alto 1.2m telescope in Spain, the VYSOS-5 telescopes on Mauna Loa Hawaii and data from the CARA network. Additional pre-discovery data from the Pan STARRS1 survey extends the light curve back to 2011 September 30 (r=9.4 AU). The images showed a similar tail morphology due to small micron sized particles throughout 2013. Observations at sub-mm wavelengths using the JCMT on 15 nights between 2013 March 9 (r=4.52 AU) and June 16 (r=3.35 AU) were used to search for CO and HCN rotation lines. No gas was detected, with upper limits for CO ranging between (3.5-4.5)E27 molec/s. Combined with published water production rate estimates we have generated ice sublimation models consistent with the photometric light curve. The inbound light curve is likely controlled by sublimation of CO2. At these distances water is not a strong contributor to the outgassing. We also infer that there was a long slow outburst of activity beginning in late 2011 peaking in mid-2013 January (r~5 AU) at which point the activity decreased again through 2013 June. We suggest that this outburst was driven by CO injecting large water ice grains into the coma. Observations as the comet came out of solar conjunction seem to confirm our models.

astro-ph.EP↗