arXiv subjects

Jie Liang

Publications and source records attributed to Jie Liang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

3DM-WeConvene: Learned Image Compression with 3D Multi-Level Wavelet-Domain Convolution and Entropy Model

Learned image compression (LIC) has recently made significant progress, surpassing traditional methods. However, most LIC approaches operate mainly in the spatial domain and lack mechanisms for reducing frequency-domain correlations. To address this, we propose a novel framework that integrates low-complexity 3D multi-level Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) into convolutional layers and entropy coding, reducing both spatial and channel correlations to improve frequency selectivity and rate-distortion (R-D) performance. Our proposed 3D multi-level wavelet-domain convolution (3DM-WeConv) layer first applies 3D multi-level DWT (e.g., 5/3 and 9/7 wavelets from JPEG 2000) to transform data into the wavelet domain. Then, different-sized convolutions are applied to different frequency subbands, followed by inverse 3D DWT to restore the spatial domain. The 3DM-WeConv layer can be flexibly used within existing CNN-based LIC models. We also introduce a 3D wavelet-domain channel-wise autoregressive entropy model (3DWeChARM), which performs slice-based entropy coding in the 3D DWT domain. Low-frequency (LF) slices are encoded first to provide priors for high-frequency (HF) slices. A two-step training strategy is adopted: first balancing LF and HF rates, then fine-tuning with separate weights. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our framework consistently outperforms state-of-the-art CNN-based LIC methods in R-D performance and computational complexity, with larger gains for high-resolution images. On the Kodak, Tecnick 100, and CLIC test sets, our method achieves BD-Rate reductions of -12.24%, -15.51%, and -12.97%, respectively, compared to H.266/VVC.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

SELIC: Semantic-Enhanced Learned Image Compression via High-Level Textual Guidance

Learned image compression (LIC) techniques have achieved remarkable progress; however, effectively integrating high-level semantic information remains challenging. In this work, we present a \underline{S}emantic-\underline{E}nhanced \underline{L}earned \underline{I}mage \underline{C}ompression framework, termed \textbf{SELIC}, which leverages high-level textual guidance to improve rate-distortion performance. Specifically, \textbf{SELIC} employs a text encoder to extract rich semantic descriptions from the input image. These textual features are transformed into fixed-dimension tensors and seamlessly fused with the image-derived latent representation. By embedding the \textbf{SELIC} tensor directly into the compression pipeline, our approach enriches the bitstream without requiring additional inputs at the decoder, thereby maintaining fast and efficient decoding. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets (e.g., Kodak) demonstrate that integrating semantic information substantially enhances compression quality. Our \textbf{SELIC}-guided method outperforms a baseline LIC model without semantic integration by approximately 0.1-0.15 dB across a wide range of bit rates in PSNR and achieves a 4.9\% BD-rate improvement over VVC. Moreover, this improvement comes with minimal computational overhead, making the proposed \textbf{SELIC} framework a practical solution for advanced image compression applications.

stat.AP↗

arXiv2025

Instant Gaussian Stream: Fast and Generalizable Streaming of Dynamic Scene Reconstruction via Gaussian Splatting

Building Free-Viewpoint Videos in a streaming manner offers the advantage of rapid responsiveness compared to offline training methods, greatly enhancing user experience. However, current streaming approaches face challenges of high per-frame reconstruction time (10s+) and error accumulation, limiting their broader application. In this paper, we propose Instant Gaussian Stream (IGS), a fast and generalizable streaming framework, to address these issues. First, we introduce a generalized Anchor-driven Gaussian Motion Network, which projects multi-view 2D motion features into 3D space, using anchor points to drive the motion of all Gaussians. This generalized Network generates the motion of Gaussians for each target frame in the time required for a single inference. Second, we propose a Key-frame-guided Streaming Strategy that refines each key frame, enabling accurate reconstruction of temporally complex scenes while mitigating error accumulation. We conducted extensive in-domain and cross-domain evaluations, demonstrating that our approach can achieve streaming with a average per-frame reconstruction time of 2s+, alongside a enhancement in view synthesis quality.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

Probing black holes via quasinormal modes in a dark energy-induced dark matter

This study delves into the existence of dark matter around supermassive black holes in galactic cores using a novel gravitational model. By analyzing gravitational waves emitted during the ringdown phase of black holes under different field perturbations, we explore the potential for detecting dark matter. The model hypothesizes that the dark matter distribution around black hole is driven by a mechanism where dark energy endows gravitons with mass, thereby forming a new spacetime structure. Results reveal that as relevant parameters increase, the quasinormal modes (QNMs) exhibit a gradual reduction in real parts, with negative imaginary parts whose absolute values also decrease. Moreover, compared to gravitational wave signals from Schwarzschild black hole without dark matter, this system demonstrates significant differences in oscillation modes and frequencies. This achievement not only validates the self-consistency of the new gravitational model but also lays a theoretical foundation for subsequent gravitational wave detection within dark matter. Simultaneously, it provides new theoretical support for understanding the mechanism of dark energy in large-scale cosmic structures and broadens the research perspective on the relationships between black hole physics, dark matter, and dark energy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

FEDS: Feature and Entropy-Based Distillation Strategy for Efficient Learned Image Compression

Learned image compression (LIC) methods have recently outperformed traditional codecs such as VVC in rate-distortion performance. However, their large models and high computational costs have limited their practical adoption. In this paper, we first construct a high-capacity teacher model by integrating Swin-Transformer V2-based attention modules, additional residual blocks, and expanded latent channels, thus achieving enhanced compression performance. Building on this foundation, we propose a \underline{F}eature and \underline{E}ntropy-based \underline{D}istillation \underline{S}trategy (\textbf{FEDS}) that transfers key knowledge from the teacher to a lightweight student model. Specifically, we align intermediate feature representations and emphasize the most informative latent channels through an entropy-based loss. A staged training scheme refines this transfer in three phases: feature alignment, channel-level distillation, and final fine-tuning. Our student model nearly matches the teacher across Kodak (1.24\% BD-Rate increase), Tecnick (1.17\%), and CLIC (0.55\%) while cutting parameters by about 63\% and accelerating encoding/decoding by around 73\%. Moreover, ablation studies indicate that FEDS generalizes effectively to transformer-based networks. The experimental results demonstrate our approach strikes a compelling balance among compression performance, speed, and model parameters, making it well-suited for real-time or resource-limited scenarios.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

A Novel Thermal Network Model and Electro-Thermal Coupling Study for NSFETs and CFETs Considering Thermal Crosstalk

As the technology node continues to shrink, nanosheet field effect transistors (NSFETs) and complementary FETs (CFETs) become valid candidates for the 3nm and sub-nanometre nodes. However, due to the shrinking device size, self-heating and inter-device thermal crosstalk of NSFETs and CFETs become more severe. It is important to accurately calculate the self-heating and thermal crosstalk of devices and to study the electrical and thermal characteristics of logic gates, etc. In this work, a thermal network model considering the thermal crosstalk of neighboring devices is proposed, which can accurately calculate the self-heating and thermal crosstalk. The electrical and thermal characteristics of NSFETs and CFETs are compared, and it is found that CFETs have more severe self-heating and thermal crosstalk. The electro-thermal characteristics of inverters, logic gates and ring oscillators composed of NSFETs and CFETs are further investigated. Compared with NSFETs, logic gates and ring oscillators composed of CFETs are more seriously affected by self-heating and should be given extra attention. The thermal network model proposed in this paper can be further used to study the thermal optimization strategy of devices and circuits to enhance the electrical performance, achieving the design technology co-optimizations (DTCO).

cs.ET↗

arXiv2025

A Novel Design for SRAM Bitcell with 3-Complementary-FETs

The complementary field-effect transistors (CFETs), featuring vertically stacked n/p-FETs, enhance integration density and significantly reduce the area of standard cells such as static random-access memory (SRAM). However, the advantage of area scaling through CFETs is hindered by the imbalance in N/P transistor counts (typically 4N/2P) within SRAM cells. In this work, we propose a novel 6T-SRAM design using three sets of CFETs, achieved by vertically stacking two n-FET pass-gate (PG) transistors via the CFET architecture. Through TCAD simulations, we optimize channel doping concentration and the number of top/bottom nanosheets (NS), demonstrating that junctionless accumulation mode (JAM) devices outperform inversion mode (IM) devices for PG and pull-down (PD) transistors. The proposed design achieves a 37% area reduction in SRAM standard cell layout compared to conventional CFET-based SRAM. With optimized parameters (n-type doping of $1\times10^{15}$ cm$^{-3}$ and '1B4T' NS configuration), the 3-CFET SRAM exhibits superior write margin (349.60 mV) and write delay (54.4 ps). This work advances SRAM design within the CFET framework, offering a scalable solution for next-generation memory technologies.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2025

Benders decomposition for the large-scale probabilistic set covering problem

In this paper, we consider a probabilistic set covering problem (PSCP) in which each 0-1 row of the constraint matrix is random with a finite discrete distribution, and the objective is to minimize the total cost of the selected columns such that each row is covered with a prespecified probability. We develop an effective decomposition algorithm for the PSCP based on the Benders reformulation of a standard mixed integer programming (MIP) formulation. The proposed Benders decomposition (BD) algorithm enjoys two key advantages: (i) the number of variables in the underlying Benders reformulation is equal to the number of columns but independent of the number of scenarios of the random data; and (ii) the Benders feasibility cuts can be separated by an efficient polynomial-time algorithm, which makes it particularly suitable for solving large-scale PSCPs. We enhance the BD algorithm by using initial cuts to strengthen the relaxed master problem, implementing an effective heuristic procedure to find high-quality feasible solutions, and adding mixed integer rounding enhanced Benders feasibility cuts to tighten the problem formulation. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed BD algorithm over a state-of-the-art MIP solver. Moreover, the proposed BD algorithm can efficiently identify optimal solutions for instances with up to 500 rows, 5000 columns, and 2000 scenarios of the random rows.

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Improving the Stability and Efficiency of Diffusion Models for Content Consistent Super-Resolution

The generative priors of pre-trained latent diffusion models (DMs) have demonstrated great potential to enhance the visual quality of image super-resolution (SR) results. However, the noise sampling process in DMs introduces randomness in the SR outputs, and the generated contents can differ a lot with different noise samples. The multi-step diffusion process can be accelerated by distilling methods, but the generative capacity is difficult to control. To address these issues, we analyze the respective advantages of DMs and generative adversarial networks (GANs) and propose to partition the generative SR process into two stages, where the DM is employed for reconstructing image structures and the GAN is employed for improving fine-grained details. Specifically, we propose a non-uniform timestep sampling strategy in the first stage. A single timestep sampling is first applied to extract the coarse information from the input image, then a few reverse steps are used to reconstruct the main structures. In the second stage, we finetune the decoder of the pre-trained variational auto-encoder by adversarial GAN training for deterministic detail enhancement. Once trained, our proposed method, namely content consistent super-resolution (CCSR),allows flexible use of different diffusion steps in the inference stage without re-training. Extensive experiments show that with 2 or even 1 diffusion step, CCSR can significantly improve the content consistency of SR outputs while keeping high perceptual quality. Codes and models can be found at \href{https://github.com/csslc/CCSR}{https://github.com/csslc/CCSR}.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2024

Perception-Distortion Balanced Super-Resolution: A Multi-Objective Optimization Perspective

High perceptual quality and low distortion degree are two important goals in image restoration tasks such as super-resolution (SR). Most of the existing SR methods aim to achieve these goals by minimizing the corresponding yet conflicting losses, such as the $\ell_1$ loss and the adversarial loss. Unfortunately, the commonly used gradient-based optimizers, such as Adam, are hard to balance these objectives due to the opposite gradient decent directions of the contradictory losses. In this paper, we formulate the perception-distortion trade-off in SR as a multi-objective optimization problem and develop a new optimizer by integrating the gradient-free evolutionary algorithm (EA) with gradient-based Adam, where EA and Adam focus on the divergence and convergence of the optimization directions respectively. As a result, a population of optimal models with different perception-distortion preferences is obtained. We then design a fusion network to merge these models into a single stronger one for an effective perception-distortion trade-off. Experiments demonstrate that with the same backbone network, the perception-distortion balanced SR model trained by our method can achieve better perceptual quality than its competitors while attaining better reconstruction fidelity. Codes and models can be found at https://github.com/csslc/EA-Adam}{https://github.com/csslc/EA-Adam.

eess.IV↗

arXiv2024

SSL: A Self-similarity Loss for Improving Generative Image Super-resolution

Generative adversarial networks (GAN) and generative diffusion models (DM) have been widely used in real-world image super-resolution (Real-ISR) to enhance the image perceptual quality. However, these generative models are prone to generating visual artifacts and false image structures, resulting in unnatural Real-ISR results. Based on the fact that natural images exhibit high self-similarities, i.e., a local patch can have many similar patches to it in the whole image, in this work we propose a simple yet effective self-similarity loss (SSL) to improve the performance of generative Real-ISR models, enhancing the hallucination of structural and textural details while reducing the unpleasant visual artifacts. Specifically, we compute a self-similarity graph (SSG) of the ground-truth image, and enforce the SSG of Real-ISR output to be close to it. To reduce the training cost and focus on edge areas, we generate an edge mask from the ground-truth image, and compute the SSG only on the masked pixels. The proposed SSL serves as a general plug-and-play penalty, which could be easily applied to the off-the-shelf Real-ISR models. Our experiments demonstrate that, by coupling with SSL, the performance of many state-of-the-art Real-ISR models, including those GAN and DM based ones, can be largely improved, reproducing more perceptually realistic image details and eliminating many false reconstructions and visual artifacts. Codes and supplementary material can be found at https://github.com/ChrisDud0257/SSL

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

LORTSAR: Low-Rank Transformer for Skeleton-based Action Recognition

The complexity of state-of-the-art Transformer-based models for skeleton-based action recognition poses significant challenges in terms of computational efficiency and resource utilization. In this paper, we explore the application of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to effectively reduce the model sizes of these pre-trained models, aiming to minimize their resource consumption while preserving accuracy. Our method, LORTSAR (LOw-Rank Transformer for Skeleton-based Action Recognition), also includes a fine-tuning step to compensate for any potential accuracy degradation caused by model compression, and is applied to two leading Transformer-based models, "Hyperformer" and "STEP-CATFormer". Experimental results on the "NTU RGB+D" and "NTU RGB+D 120" datasets show that our method can reduce the number of model parameters substantially with negligible degradation or even performance increase in recognition accuracy. This confirms that SVD combined with post-compression fine-tuning can boost model efficiency, paving the way for more sustainable, lightweight, and high-performance technologies in human action recognition.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

WeConvene: Learned Image Compression with Wavelet-Domain Convolution and Entropy Model

Recently learned image compression (LIC) has achieved great progress and even outperformed the traditional approach using DCT or discrete wavelet transform (DWT). However, LIC mainly reduces spatial redundancy in the autoencoder networks and entropy coding, but has not fully removed the frequency-domain correlation explicitly as in DCT or DWT. To leverage the best of both worlds, we propose a surprisingly simple but efficient framework, which introduces the DWT to both the convolution layers and entropy coding of CNN-based LIC. First, in both the core and hyperprior autoencoder networks, we propose a Wavelet-domain Convolution (WeConv) module, which performs convolution after DWT, and then converts the data back to spatial domain via inverse DWT. This module is used at selected layers in a CNN network to reduce the frequency-domain correlation explicitly and make the signal sparser in DWT domain. We also propose a wavelet-domain Channel-wise Auto-Regressive entropy Model (WeChARM), where the output latent representations from the encoder network are first transformed by the DWT, before applying quantization and entropy coding, as in the traditional paradigm. Moreover, the entropy coding is split into two steps. We first code all low-frequency DWT coefficients, and then use them as prior to code high-frequency coefficients. The channel-wise entropy coding is further used in each step. By combining WeConv and WeChARM, the proposed WeConvene scheme achieves superior R-D performance compared to other state-of-the-art LIC methods as well as the latest H.266/VVC. For the Kodak dataset and the baseline network with -0.4% BD-Rate saving over H.266/VVC, introducing WeConv with the simplest Haar transform improves the saving to -4.7%. This is quite impressive given the simplicity of the Haar transform. Enabling Haar-based WeChARM entropy coding further boosts the saving to -8.2%.

stat.AP↗

arXiv2024

A Comprehensive Study of Multimodal Large Language Models for Image Quality Assessment

While Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have experienced significant advancement in visual understanding and reasoning, their potential to serve as powerful, flexible, interpretable, and text-driven models for Image Quality Assessment (IQA) remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of prompting MLLMs for IQA. We first investigate nine prompting systems for MLLMs as the combinations of three standardized testing procedures in psychophysics (i.e., the single-stimulus, double-stimulus, and multiple-stimulus methods) and three popular prompting strategies in natural language processing (i.e., the standard, in-context, and chain-of-thought prompting). We then present a difficult sample selection procedure, taking into account sample diversity and uncertainty, to further challenge MLLMs equipped with the respective optimal prompting systems. We assess three open-source and one closed-source MLLMs on several visual attributes of image quality (e.g., structural and textural distortions, geometric transformations, and color differences) in both full-reference and no-reference scenarios. Experimental results show that only the closed-source GPT-4V provides a reasonable account for human perception of image quality, but is weak at discriminating fine-grained quality variations (e.g., color differences) and at comparing visual quality of multiple images, tasks humans can perform effortlessly.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

ALPHAGMUT: A Rationale-Guided Alpha Shape Graph Neural Network to Evaluate Mutation Effects

In silico methods evaluating the mutation effects of missense mutations are providing an important approach for understanding mutations in personal genomes and identifying disease-relevant biomarkers. However, existing methods, including deep learning methods, heavily rely on sequence-aware information, and do not fully leverage the potential of available 3D structural information. In addition, these methods may exhibit an inability to predict mutations in domains difficult to formulate sequence-based embeddings. In this study, we introduce a novel rationale-guided graph neural network AlphaGMut to evaluate mutation effects and to distinguish pathogenic mutations from neutral mutations. We compute the alpha shapes of protein structures to obtain atomic-resolution edge connectivities and map them to an accurate residue-level graph representation. We then compute structural-, topological-, biophysical-, and sequence properties of the mutation sites, which are assigned as node attributes in the graph. These node attributes could effectively guide the graph neural network to learn the difference between pathogenic and neutral mutations using k-hop message passing with a short training period. We demonstrate that AlphaGMut outperforms state-of-the-art methods, including DeepMind's AlphaMissense, in many performance metrics. In addition, AlphaGMut has the advantage of performing well in alignment-free settings, which provides broader prediction coverage and better generalization compared to current methods requiring deep sequence-aware information.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2024

Trembling Motion of Exciton-Polaritons Close to the Rashba-Dresselhaus Regime

We report the experimental emulation of trembling quantum motion, or Zitterbewegung, of exciton polaritons in a perovskite microcavity at room temperature. By introducing liquid crystal molecules into the microcavity, we achieve spinor states with synthetic Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling and tunable energy splitting. Under a resonant excitation, the polariton fluid exhibits clear trembling motion perpendicular to its flowing direction, accompanied by a unique spin pattern resembling interlocked fingers. Furthermore, leveraging on the sizable tunability of energy gaps by external electrical voltages, we observe the continuous transition of polariton Zitterbewegung from relativistic (small gaps) to non-relativistic (large gaps) regimes. Our findings pave the way for using exciton polaritons in the emulation of relativistic quantum physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

NTIRE 2024 Restore Any Image Model (RAIM) in the Wild Challenge

In this paper, we review the NTIRE 2024 challenge on Restore Any Image Model (RAIM) in the Wild. The RAIM challenge constructed a benchmark for image restoration in the wild, including real-world images with/without reference ground truth in various scenarios from real applications. The participants were required to restore the real-captured images from complex and unknown degradation, where generative perceptual quality and fidelity are desired in the restoration result. The challenge consisted of two tasks. Task one employed real referenced data pairs, where quantitative evaluation is available. Task two used unpaired images, and a comprehensive user study was conducted. The challenge attracted more than 200 registrations, where 39 of them submitted results with more than 400 submissions. Top-ranked methods improved the state-of-the-art restoration performance and obtained unanimous recognition from all 18 judges. The proposed datasets are available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DqbxUoiUqkAIkExu3jZAqoElr_nu1IXb/view?usp=sharing and the homepage of this challenge is at https://codalab.lisn.upsaclay.fr/competitions/17632.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

When Fuzzing Meets LLMs: Challenges and Opportunities

Fuzzing, a widely-used technique for bug detection, has seen advancements through Large Language Models (LLMs). Despite their potential, LLMs face specific challenges in fuzzing. In this paper, we identified five major challenges of LLM-assisted fuzzing. To support our findings, we revisited the most recent papers from top-tier conferences, confirming that these challenges are widespread. As a remedy, we propose some actionable recommendations to help improve applying LLM in Fuzzing and conduct preliminary evaluations on DBMS fuzzing. The results demonstrate that our recommendations effectively address the identified challenges.

cs.SE↗