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Shahrokh Valaee

Publications and source records attributed to Shahrokh Valaee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

DoRF++: Spherical Representation Learning over Doppler Radiance Fields for Robust Wi-Fi Sensing

Motivated by the IEEE 802.11bf effort to standardize advanced WLAN sensing, interest in Wi-Fi Channel State Information (CSI) for passive, device-free, and privacy-preserving activity and gesture recognition has grown rapidly. Recent studies have shown that Doppler velocity projections extracted from CSI, which directly reflect human-motion velocity, enable more robust human activity recognition (HAR) and stronger generalization across users and unseen conditions. Nevertheless, reliable generalization under real-world variability remains a major challenge, hindering the adoption of Wi-Fi sensing in real-world applications. To address this challenge, we introduce Doppler Radiance Fields (DoRF), bringing the concept of neural radiance fields (NeRF) from computer vision into Wi-Fi sensing. DoRF models Doppler velocity projections extracted from Wi-Fi CSI as sparse and diverse virtual-camera views of human motion. It then infers a latent 3D motion sequence whose projections along learned effective Doppler directions explain the CSI-derived Doppler observations. The recovered motion is subsequently projected onto an equiangular grid of directions on the unit sphere, producing a spherical representation of the underlying motion. Since DoRF naturally defines the Doppler representation on spheres, we further introduce DoRF++, a spherical-learning design that applies spherical Transformers for activity classification. Experiments on our collected hand-gesture dataset show that DoRF++ significantly outperforms state-of-the-art Wi-Fi-based HAR methods in cross-user generalization accuracy, especially for difficult gestures in settings with a single multi-antenna receiver access point (AP).

cs.CV

Maximizing Connectivity of Uplink RIS-Assisted UAV Networks

In this paper, we present a new approach for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) positioning and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) partitioning to enhance connectivity of uplink RIS-assisted UAV networks. To achieve this, our approach optimizes RIS-aided link selection, RIS partitioning, and UAV positions to maximize network connectivity characterized by its Fiedler value. Meanwhile, it maintains a specific signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) constraint for user equipment (UE), which is influenced by RIS partitioning and UAV reliability. The network connectivity optimization problem is formulated using the Fiedler value subject to RIS elements allocation and SINR constraints. This problem is a computationally expensive combinatorial optimization, necessitating an efficient iterative approach. In particular, we propose a perturbation method for RIS-aided link selection, and derive a closed-form solution for RIS partitioning, with each partition tailored to optimize SINR for individual UAV. For the given RIS-aided links and RIS partitioning, we then show that the problem of UAV positioning can be formulated as a low complexity semi-definite programming (SDP) optimization problem, which can be solved using off-the-shelf CVX solvers. Our simulations show the potential gain of UAV positioning and RIS partitioning compared to the benchmark schemes from the literature.

cs.IT

Extending Kernel Trick to Influence Functions

In this paper, we present a dual representation of the influence functions, whose computational complexity scales with dataset size rather than model size. Both analytically and experimentally, we show that this representation can be an efficient alternative to the original influence functions for estimating changes in parameters, model outputs and loss due to data point removal, when model size is large relative to dataset size, or when evaluating the original influence functions in parameter space is infeasible. The dual representation, however, is limited to linearizable models, which are models whose behavior can be approximated by their linearizations throughout training, and requires materializing a matrix, whose size grows with the product of model output dimension and dataset size.

cs.LG

Doppler Radiance Field-Guided Antenna Selection for Improved Generalization in Multi-Antenna Wi-Fi-based Human Activity Recognition

With the IEEE 802.11bf Task Group introducing amendments to the WLAN standard for advanced sensing, interest in using Wi-Fi Channel State Information (CSI) for remote sensing has surged. Recent findings indicate that learning a unified three-dimensional motion representation through Doppler Radiance Fields (DoRFs) derived from CSI significantly improves the generalization capabilities of Wi-Fi-based human activity recognition (HAR). Despite this progress, CSI signals remain affected by asynchronous access point (AP) clocks and additive noise from environmental and hardware sources. Consequently, even with existing preprocessing techniques, both the CSI data and Doppler velocity projections used in DoRFs are still susceptible to noise and outliers, limiting HAR performance. To address this challenge, we propose a novel framework for multi-antenna APs to suppress noise and identify the most informative antennas based on DoRF fitting errors, which capture inconsistencies among Doppler velocity projections. Experimental results on a challenging small-scale hand gesture recognition dataset demonstrate that the proposed DoRF-guided Wi-Fi-based HAR approach significantly improves generalization capability, paving the way for robust real-world sensing deployments.

eess.SP

DoRF: Doppler Radiance Fields for Robust Human Activity Recognition Using Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Channel State Information (CSI) has gained increasing interest for remote sensing applications. Recent studies show that Doppler velocity projections extracted from CSI can enable human activity recognition (HAR) that is robust to environmental changes and generalizes to new users. However, despite these advances, generalizability still remains insufficient for practical deployment. Inspired by neural radiance fields (NeRF), which learn a volumetric representation of a 3D scene from 2D images, this work proposes a novel approach to reconstruct an informative 3D latent motion representation from one-dimensional Doppler velocity projections extracted from Wi-Fi CSI. The resulting latent representation is then used to construct a uniform Doppler radiance field (DoRF) of the motion, providing a comprehensive view of the performed activity and improving the robustness to environmental variability. The results show that the proposed approach noticeably enhances the generalization accuracy of Wi-Fi-based HAR, highlighting the strong potential of DoRFs for practical sensing applications.

eess.SP

MORIC: CSI Delay-Doppler Decomposition for Robust Wi-Fi-based Human Activity Recognition

The newly established IEEE 802.11bf Task Group aims to amend the WLAN standard to support advanced sensing applications such as human activity recognition (HAR). Although studies have demonstrated the potential of sub-7 GHz Wi-Fi Channel State Information (CSI) for HAR, existing methods often degrade substantially under realistic variations across users, environments, and sensing configurations. This work addresses the poor generalization of Wi-Fi-based HAR by extracting motion-centered representations that reduce dependence on static, environment-specific, and non-activity-related CSI magnitude and phase patterns. CSI signals are transformed into the delay-profile space and decomposed into multiple Doppler velocity projections, which are modeled as observations of a moving point's velocity from different unknown directions, analogous to virtual cameras observing the same motion with varying degrees of clarity. This yields a richer activity representation than either a single aggregated Doppler estimate or the spurious, environment-dependent CSI patterns used in prior works. Since these projections are unordered and may recur due to random multipath propagation, we introduce MORIC, a novel order- and repetition-invariant time-series classification model for robust Wi-Fi-based HAR. Experimental results on the collected dataset show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in cross-user hand motion recognition, especially for challenging gestures. Incorporating only a few calibration samples further improves accuracy, demonstrating MORIC's adaptability and highlighting the potential of the proposed methodology for practical Wi-Fi sensing in real-world scenarios.

eess.SP

A Tutorial-cum-Survey on Self-Supervised Learning for Wi-Fi Sensing: Trends, Challenges, and Outlook

Wi-Fi technology has evolved from simple communication routers to sensing devices. Wi-Fi sensing leverages conventional Wi-Fi transmissions to extract and analyze channel state information (CSI) for applications like proximity detection, occupancy detection, activity recognition, and health monitoring. By leveraging existing infrastructure, Wi-Fi sensing offers a privacy-preserving, non-intrusive, and cost-effective solution which, unlike cameras, is not sensitive to lighting conditions. Beginning with a comprehensive review of the Wi-Fi standardization activities, this tutorial-cum-survey first introduces fundamental concepts related to Wi-Fi CSI, outlines the CSI measurement methods, and examines the impact of mobile objects on CSI. The mechanics of a simplified testbed for CSI extraction are also described. Then, we present a qualitative comparison of the existing Wi-Fi sensing datasets, their specifications, and pin-point their shortcomings. Next, a variety of preprocessing techniques are discussed that are beneficial for feature extraction and explainability of machine learning (ML) algorithms. We then provide a qualitative review of recent ML approaches in the domain of Wi-Fi sensing and present the significance of self-supervised learning (SSL) in that context. Specifically, the mechanics of contrastive and non-contrastive learning solutions is elaborated in detail and a quantitative comparative analysis is presented in terms of classification accuracy. Finally, the article concludes by highlighting emerging technologies that can be leveraged to enhance the performance of Wi-Fi sensing and opportunities for further research in this domain

eess.SP

RIS Partitioning and User Clustering for Resilient Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access UAV Networks

The integration of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has emerged as a promising solution for enhancing connectivity in future wireless networks. This paper designs well-connected and resilient UAV networks by deploying and virtually partitioning multiple RISs to create multiple RIS-aided links, focusing on a link-layer perspective. The RIS-aided links are created to connect user equipment (UE) to blocked and reliable UAVs, where multiple UEs can transmit to same UAV via RIS using non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), granting access to UEs and maximizing network connectivity. We first derive exact and approximated closed-form expressions for signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) based on aligned and non-aligned RIS-aided beams. Then, we propose to formulate the problem of maximizing network connectivity that jointly considers (i) UE NOMA clustering, (ii) RIS-aided link selection, and (ii) virtual RIS partitioning. This problem is a computationally expensive combinatorial optimization. To tackle this problem, a two-step iterative approach, called RIS-aided NOMA, is proposed. In the first step, the UEs are clustered to the RISs according to their channel gains, while UAVs are associated to those generated clusters based on their reliability, which measures the criticality of UAVs. The second step optimally partitions the RISs to support each of the cluster members. In this step, we derive the closed-form equations for the optimal partitioning of RISs within the clusters. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed RIS-aided NOMA yields a gain of 30% to 40%, respectively, compared to UAV traditional scheme. The finding emphasizes the potential of integrating RIS with UAV communications as a robust and reliable connectivity solution for future wireless communication systems.

cs.IT

Energy-Efficient UAV Replacement in Software-Defined UAV Networks

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in networked environments face significant challenges due to energy constraints and limited battery life, which necessitate periodic replacements to maintain continuous operation. Efficiently managing the handover of data flows during these replacements is crucial to avoid disruptions in communication and to optimize energy consumption. This paper addresses the complex issue of energy-efficient UAV replacement in software-defined UAV network. We introduce a novel approach based on establishing a strict total ordering relation for UAVs and data flows, allowing us to formulate the problem as an integer linear program. By utilizing the Gurobi solver, we obtain optimal handover schedules for the tested problem instances. Additionally, we propose a heuristic algorithm that significantly reduces computational complexity while maintaining near-optimal performance. Through comprehensive simulations, we demonstrate that our heuristic offers practical and scalable solution, ensuring energy-efficient UAV replacement while minimizing network disruptions. Our results suggest that the proposed approach can enhance UAV battery life and improve overall network reliability in real-world applications.

cs.IT

Model-Based Deep Learning Tuning of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for OFDM Radar Interference Mitigation

This paper presents a deep learning-based framework for enhancing radar systems in the presence of interference, leveraging Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS). The proposed technique uses a modified MUSIC algorithm to estimate the angles of the target and interference. The core of the method is a deep learning model that optimizes the RIS configuration to reduce the impact of interference while maintaining accurate angle estimates. The model consists of a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) that takes estimated angles as inputs and outputs the configuration of the RIS. A specially designed loss function ensures that the interference is properly suppressed and the target remains detectable. To further enhance performance, a convolution technique is introduced to create a notch at the interference angle, ensuring better separation between the target and interference. Additionally, the method is extended to work over multiple subcarriers, improving robustness and performance in practical scenarios. Simulation results show that the technique enhances the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and provides accurate localization estimates, demonstrating its potential for radar systems in complex environments.

eess.SP

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for OFDM Radar Interference Mitigation

This paper introduces a method to reduce interference in OFDM radar systems through the use of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). The method involves adjusting the RIS elements to diminish interference effects and improve the clarity of the desired signal. A neural network framework is established to optimize the configurations of the RIS, aiming to lower the power from unwanted sources while enhancing the target signal. The network produces settings that focus on maximizing the signal at the intended angle. Utilizing a convolution-based approach, we illustrate the effective tuning of RIS elements for interference mitigation and the creation of nulls in the direction of interference, resulting in a better signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR). Simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method in a radar context, demonstrating its capability to enhance target detection while reducing interference.

eess.SP

Improving Connectivity of RIS-Assisted UAV Networks using RIS Partitioning and Deployment

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is pivotal for beyond 5G networks in regards to the surge demand for reliable communication in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks. This paper presents an innovative approach to maximize connectivity of UAV networks using RIS deployment and virtual partitioning, wherein an RIS is deployed to assist in the communications between an user-equipment (UE) and blocked UAVs. Closed-form (CF) expressions for signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the two-UAV setup are derived and validated. Then, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize network connectivity by optimizing the 3D deployment of the RIS and its partitioning subject to predefined quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. To tackle this problem, we propose a method of virtually partitioning the RIS given a fixed 3D location, such that the partition phase shifts are configured to create cascaded channels between the UE and the blocked two UAVs. Then, simulated-annealing (SA) method is used to find the 3D location of the RIS. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed joint RIS deployment and partitioning framework can significantly improve network connectivity compared to benchmarks, including RIS-free and RIS with a single narrow-beam link.

cs.IT

Uni-polarized RIS Beamforming for Improving Connectivity of Multi-RIS-Assisted D2D Networks

This paper introduces a novel method to enhance the connectivity of multi-reconfigurable intelligent surface-assisted device-to-device networks, referred to as multi-RIS-assisted D2D networks, through a unique phase shift determination. The proposed method aims to optimize the power-domain array factor (PDAF), targeting specific azimuth angles of reliable user equipments (UEs) and enhancing network connectivity. We formulate an optimization problem that jointly optimizes RIS beamforming design, RIS-aided link selection, and RIS positioning. This problem is a mixed-integer non-binary programming. The optimization problem is divided into two sub-problems, which are solved individually and iteratively. The first sub-problem of RIS-aided link selection is solved using an efficient perturbation method while developing genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain RIS beamforming design. The GA optimizes the RIS phase shift to generate multiple RIS-aided narrowbeams that exhibit significant PDAF towards azimuth angles of interest while minimizing PDAF towards undesired azimuth angles. The second sub-problem of RIS positioning is addressed using the Adam optimizer. Numerical simulations verify the superiority of the proposed scheme in improving network connectivity compared to other schemes, including those utilizing distributed small RISs, each generating one RIS-aided link.

cs.IT

Broad and Spectral-Efficient Beamforming for the Uni-polarized Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

A reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is composed of low-cost elements that manipulate the propagation environment from a transmitter by intelligently applying phase shifts to incoming signals before they are reflected. This paper explores a uni-polarized RIS with linear shape aimed at transmitting a common signal to multiple user equipments (UEs) spread across a wide angular region. To achieve uniform coverage, the uni-polarized RIS is designed to emit a broad and spectral-efficient beam featuring a spatially flat-like array factor, diverging from the conventional narrow beam approach. To achieve this objective, we start by deriving probabilistic lower and upper bounds for the average spectral efficiency (SE) delivered to the UEs. Leveraging the insights from the lower bound, we focus on optimizing the minimum value of the power domain array factor (PDAF) across a range of azimuth angles from \(-\fracπ{2}\) to \(\fracπ{2}\). We employ the continuous genetic algorithm (CGA) for this optimization task, aiming to improve the SE delivered to the UEs while also creating a wide beam. Extensive simulation experiments are carried out to assess the performance of the proposed code, focusing on key metrics such as the minimum and average values of the PDAF and the SE delivered to the UEs. Our findings demonstrate that the proposed code enhances the minimum SE delivered to the UEs while maintaining the desired attribute of a broad beam. This performance is notably superior to that of established codes, including the Barker, Frank, and Chu codes.

cs.IT

HIERVAR: A Hierarchical Feature Selection Method for Time Series Analysis

Time series classification stands as a pivotal and intricate challenge across various domains, including finance, healthcare, and industrial systems. In contemporary research, there has been a notable upsurge in exploring feature extraction through random sampling. Unlike deep convolutional networks, these methods sidestep elaborate training procedures, yet they often necessitate generating a surplus of features to comprehensively encapsulate time series nuances. Consequently, some features may lack relevance to labels or exhibit multi-collinearity with others. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical feature selection method aided by ANOVA variance analysis to address this challenge. Through meticulous experimentation, we demonstrate that our method substantially reduces features by over 94% while preserving accuracy -- a significant advancement in the field of time series analysis and feature selection.

cs.LG

Reflection Map Construction: Enhancing and Speeding Up Indoor Localization

This paper introduces an indoor localization method using fixed reflector objects within the environment, leveraging a base station (BS) equipped with Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Time of Arrival (ToA) measurement capabilities. The localization process includes two phases. In the offline phase, we identify effective reflector points within a specific region using significantly fewer test points than typical methods. In the online phase, we solve a maximization problem to locate users based on BS measurements and offline phase information. We introduce the reflectivity parameter (\(n_r\)), which quantifies the typical number of first-order reflection paths from the transmitter to the receiver, demonstrating its impact on localization accuracy. The log-scale accuracy ratio (\(R_a\)) is defined as the logarithmic function of the localization area divided by the localization ambiguity area, serving as an accuracy indicator. We show that in scenarios where the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) approaches infinity, without a line of sight (LoS) link, \(R_a\) is upper-bounded by \(n_r \log_{2}\left(1 + \frac{\mathrm{Vol}(\mathcal{S}_A)}{\mathrm{Vol}(\mathcal{S}_ε(\mathcal{M}_s))}\right)\). Here, \(\mathrm{Vol}(\mathcal{S}_A)\) and \(\mathrm{Vol}(\mathcal{S}_ε(\mathcal{M}_s))\) represent the areas of the localization region and the area containing all reflector points with a probability of at least \(1 - ε\), respectively.

cs.IT

Effectiveness of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces to Enhance Connectivity in UAV Networks

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are expected to make future 6G networks more connected and resilient against node failures, due to their ability to introduce controllable phase-shifts onto impinging electromagnetic waves and impose link redundancy. Meanwhile, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are prone to failure due to limited energy, random failures, or targeted failures, which causes network disintegration that results in information delivery loss. In this paper, we show that the integration between UAVs and RISs for improving network connectivity is crucial. We utilize RISs to provide path diversity and alternative connectivity options for information flow from user equipments (UEs) to less critical UAVs by adding more links to the network, thereby making the network more resilient and connected. To that end, we first define the criticality of UAV nodes, which reflects the importance of some nodes over other nodes. We then employ the algebraic connectivity metric, which is adjusted by the reflected links of the RISs and their criticality weights, to formulate the problem of maximizing the network connectivity. Such problem is a computationally expensive combinatorial optimization. To tackle this problem, we propose a relaxation method such that the discrete scheduling constraint of the problem is relaxed and becomes continuous. Leveraging this, we propose two efficient solutions, namely semi-definite programming (SDP) optimization and perturbation heuristic, which both solve the problem in polynomial time. For the perturbation heuristic, we derive the lower and upper bounds of the algebraic connectivity obtained by adding new links to the network. Finally, we corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions through extensive simulation experiments.

cs.IT

Energy Efficient Communications in RIS-assisted UAV Networks Based on Genetic Algorithm

This paper proposes a solution for energy-efficient communication in reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks. The limited battery life of UAVs is a major concern for their sustainable operation, and RIS has emerged as a promising solution to reducing the energy consumption of communication systems. The paper formulates the problem of maximizing the energy efficiency of the network as a mixed integer non-linear program, in which UAV placement, UAV beamforming, On-Off strategy of RIS elements, and phase shift of RIS elements are optimized. The proposed solution utilizes the block coordinate descent approach and a combination of continuous and binary genetic algorithms. Moreover, for optimizing the UAV placement, Adam optimizer is used. The simulation results show that the proposed solution outperforms the existing literature. Specifically, we compared the proposed method with the successive convex approximation (SCA) approach for optimizing the phase shift of RIS elements.

cs.IT