arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Tareq Y. Al-Naffouri.
Phase ambiguity happens in uniform linear arrays (ULAs) when the sensor distance is greater than $λ/2$. This problem in direction of arrival (DOA) estimation and can be solved by designing a proper sensor configuration. In this work, we derive the identifiable condition for ULA DOA estimation.
The recent advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) are giving rise to the proliferation of interconnected devices, enabling various smart applications. These enormous number of IoT devices generates a large capacity of data that further require intelligent data analysis and processing methods, such as Deep Learning (DL). Notably, the DL algorithms, when applied in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), can enable various applications such as smart assembling, smart manufacturing, efficient networking, and accident detection-and-prevention. Therefore, motivated by these numerous applications; in this paper, we present the key potentials of DL in IIoT. First, we review various DL techniques, including convolutional neural networks, auto-encoders, and recurrent neural networks and there use in different industries. Then, we outline numerous use cases of DL for IIoT systems, including smart manufacturing, smart metering, smart agriculture, etc. Moreover, we categorize several research challenges regarding the effective design and appropriate implementation of DL-IIoT. Finally, we present several future research directions to inspire and motivate further research in this area.
Viral spread has been intermittently threatening human life over time. Characterizing the viral concentration and modelling the viral transmission are, therefore, considered major milestones for enhancing viral detection capabilities. This paper addresses the problem of viral aerosol detection based on the exhaled breath in a bounded environment, e.g., a bounded room. The paper models the exhaled breath as a cloud which is emitted through the room continuously, and analyzes the temporal-spatial virus concentration by accounting for partial absorption and reflection at each side of the room. The paper first derives a closed form expression of the temporal-spatial virus concentration. It then considers the deployment of a receiver composed of an air sampler and a bio-sensor to detect the viral existence of a specific virus. We, therefore, assess the detection capabilities of the proposed system via evaluating the viral miss-detection probability as a function of the sampling volume and the detection time-instance at the receiver side. Our numerical simulations verify the validity of the analytical results, and illustrate the ability of the proposed system to detect viruses in indoor environments. The results further characterize the impacts of several system parameters on the miss-detection probability.
The challenge of wildfire management and detection is recently gaining increased attention due to the increased severity and frequency of wildfires worldwide. Popular fire detection techniques such as satellite imaging and remote camera-based sensing suffer from late detection and low reliability while early wildfire detection is a key to prevent massive fires. In this paper, we propose a novel wildfire detection solution based on unmanned aerial vehicles assisted Internet of things (UAV-IoT) networks. The main objective is to (1) study the performance and reliability of the UAV-IoT networks for wildfire detection and (2) present a guideline to optimize the UAV-IoT network to improve fire detection probability under limited budgets. We focus on optimizing the IoT devices' density and number of UAVs covering the forest area such that a lower bound of the wildfires detection probability is maximized within a limited time and budget. At any time after the fire ignition, the IoT devices within a limited distance from the fire can detect it. These IoT devices can then report their measurements only when the UAV is nearby. Discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) analysis is utilized to compute the fire detection probability at discrete time. Before declaring fire detection, a validation state is designed to account for IoT devices' practical limitations such as miss-detection and false alarm probabilities. Numerical results suggest that given enough system budget, the UAV-IoT based fire detection can offer a faster and more reliable wildfire detection solution than the state of the art satellite imaging techniques.
The year 2020 is experiencing a global health and economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries across the world are using digital technologies to fight this global crisis. These digital technologies, in one way or another, strongly rely on the availability of wireless communication technologies. In this paper, we present the role of wireless communications in the COVID-19 pandemic from different perspectives. First, we show how these technologies are helping to combat this pandemic, including monitoring of the virus spread, enabling healthcare automation, and allowing virtual education and conferencing. Also, we show the importance of digital inclusiveness in the pandemic and possible solutions to connect the unconnected. Next, we discuss the challenges faced by wireless technologies, including privacy, security, and misinformation. Then, we present the importance of wireless communication technologies in the survival of the global economy, such as automation of industries and supply chain, e-commerce, and supporting occupations that are at risk. Finally, we reveal that how the technologies developed during the pandemic can be helpful in the post-pandemic era.
Global climate change is significantly affecting the life on planet Earth. Predicting timely changes in the climate is a big challenge and requires great attention from the scientific community. Research now suggests that using the internet of X-things (X-IoT) helps in monitoring global climate change.
Terahertz (THz)-band communications are celebrated as a key enabling technology for next-generation wireless systems that promises to integrate a wide range of data-demanding and delay-sensitive applications. Following recent advancements in optical, electronic, and plasmonic transceiver design, integrated, adaptive, and efficient THz systems are no longer far-fetched. In this paper, we present a progressive vision of how the traditional "THz gap" will transform into a "THz rush" over the next few years. We posit that the breakthrough that the THz band will introduce will not be solely driven by achievable high data rates, but more profoundly by the interaction between THz sensing, imaging, and localization applications. We first detail the peculiarities of each of these applications at the THz band. Then, we illustrate how their coalescence results in enhanced environment-aware system performance in beyond-5G use cases. We further discuss the implementation aspects of this merging of applications in the context of shared and dedicated resource allocation, highlighting the role of machine learning.
Given the increasing number of space-related applications, research in the emerging space industry is becoming more and more attractive. One compelling area of current space research is the design of miniaturized satellites, known as CubeSats, which are enticing because of their numerous applications and low design-and-deployment cost. The new paradigm of connected space through CubeSats makes possible a wide range of applications, such as Earth remote sensing, space exploration, and rural connectivity. CubeSats further provide a complementary connectivity solution to the pervasive Internet of Things (IoT) networks, leading to a globally connected cyber-physical system. This paper presents a holistic overview of various aspects of CubeSat missions and provides a thorough review of the topic from both academic and industrial perspectives. We further present recent advances in the area of CubeSat communications, with an emphasis on constellation-and-coverage issues, channel modeling, modulation and coding, and networking. Finally, we identify several future research directions for CubeSat communications, including Internet of space things, low-power long-range networks, and machine learning for CubeSat resource allocation.
Datasets from the fields of bioinformatics, chemometrics, and face recognition are typically characterized by small samples of high-dimensional data. Among the many variants of linear discriminant analysis that have been proposed in order to rectify the issues associated with classification in such a setting, the classifier in [1], composed of an ensemble of randomly projected linear discriminants, seems especially promising; it is computationally efficient and, with the optimal projection dimension parameter setting, is competitive with the state-of-the-art. In this work, we seek to further understand the behavior of this classifier through asymptotic analysis. Under the assumption of a growth regime in which the dataset and projection dimensions grow at constant rates to each other, we use random matrix theory to derive asymptotic misclassification probabilities showing the effect of the ensemble as a regularization of the data sample covariance matrix. The asymptotic errors further help to identify situations in which the ensemble offers a performance advantage. We also develop a consistent estimator of the misclassification probability as an alternative to the computationally-costly cross-validation estimator, which is conventionally used for parameter tuning. Finally, we demonstrate the use of our estimator for tuning the projection dimension on both real and synthetic data.
Since its first use by Euler on the problem of the seven bridges of Königsberg, graph theory has shown excellent abilities in solving and unveiling the properties of multiple discrete optimization problems. The study of the structure of some integer programs reveals equivalence with graph theory problems making a large body of the literature readily available for solving and characterizing the complexity of these problems. This tutorial presents a framework for utilizing a particular graph theory problem, known as the clique problem, for solving communications and signal processing problems. In particular, the paper aims to illustrate the structural properties of integer programs that can be formulated as clique problems through multiple examples in communications and signal processing. To that end, the first part of the tutorial provides various optimal and heuristic solutions for the maximum clique, maximum weight clique, and $k$-clique problems. The tutorial, further, illustrates the use of the clique formulation through numerous contemporary examples in communications and signal processing, mainly in maximum access for non-orthogonal multiple access networks, throughput maximization using index and instantly decodable network coding, collision-free radio frequency identification networks, and resource allocation in cloud-radio access networks. Finally, the tutorial sheds light on the recent advances of such applications, and provides technical insights on ways of dealing with mixed discrete-continuous optimization problems.
Internet of underwater things (IoUT) is a technological revolution that could mark a new era for scientific, industrial, and military underwater applications. To mitigate the hostile underwater channel characteristics, this paper hybridizes underwater acoustic and optical wireless communications to achieve a ubiquitous control and high-speed low-latency networking performance, respectively. Since underwater optical wireless communications (UOWC) suffers from limited range, it requires effective multi-hop routing solutions. In this regard, we propose a Sector-based Opportunistic Routing (SectOR) protocol. Unlike the traditional routing (TR) techniques which unicast packets to a unique relay, opportunistic routing (OR) targets a set of candidate relays by leveraging the broadcast nature of the UOWC channel. OR improves the packet delivery ratio as the likelihood of having at least one successful packet reception is much higher than that in conventional unicast routing. Contingent upon the performance characterization of a single-hop link, we obtain a variety of local and global metrics to evaluate the fitness of a candidate set (CS) and prioritize the members of a CS. Since rate-error and range-beamwidth tradeoffs yield different candidate set diversities, we develop a candidate filtering and searching algorithm to find the optimal sector-shaped coverage region by scanning the feasible search space. Moreover, a hybrid acoustic/optic coordination mechanism is considered to avoid duplicate transmission of the relays. Numerical results show that SectOR protocol can perform even better than an optimal unicast routing protocol in well-connected UOWNs.
Localization accuracy is of paramount importance for the proper operation of underwater optical wireless sensor networks (UOWSNs). However, underwater localization is prone to hostile environmental impediments such as drifts due to the surface and deep currents. These cause uncertainty in the deployed anchor node positions and pose daunting challenges to achieve accurate location estimations. Therefore, this paper analyzes the performance of three-dimensional (3D) localization for UOWSNs and derive a closed-form expression for the Cramer Rao lower bound (CRLB) by using time of arrival (ToA) and angle of arrival (AoA) measurements under the presence of uncertainty in anchor node positions. Numerical results validate the analytical findings by comparing the localization accuracy in scenarios with and without anchor nodes position uncertainty. Results are also compared with the linear least square (LSS) method and weighted LLS (WLSS) method.
To meet increasing data demands, service providers are considering the use of Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for delivering connectivity as aerial base stations (BSs). UAVs are especially important to provide connectivity in case of disasters and accidents which may cripple completely the existing terrestrial networks. However, in order to maintain the communication of UAVs with the core network, it is essential to provide them with wireless backhaul connection to terrestrial BSs. In this work, we use stochastic geometry to study the impact of millimeter-wave (mmWave) backhauling of UAVs in a hybrid aerial-terrestrial cellular network where the UAVs are added to assist terrestrial BSs in delivering reliable service to users (UEs). In the proposed model, the UE can associate to either a terrestrial BS or a UAV connected to a BS to get backhaul support. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated in terms of coverage probability and validated against intensive simulations. The obtained results unveil that the quality of the UAVs' mmWave backhaul link has a significant impact on the UE 's experience and the deployment of UAVs must be adjusted accordingly.
Recently, a camera or an image sensor receiver based optical wireless communications (OWC) techniques have attracted particular interest in areas such as the internet of things, indoor localization, motion capture, and intelligent transportation systems. As a supplementary technique of high-speed OWC based on photo-detectors, communications hinging on image sensors as receivers do not need much modification to the current infrastructure, such that the implementation complexity and cost are quite low. Therefore, in this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of optical camera communication (OCC) techniques, and their use in localization, navigation, and motion capture. This survey is distinguishable from the existing reviews on this topic by covering multiple aspects of OCC and its various applications. The first part of the paper focuses on the standardization, channel characterization, modulation, coding, and synchronization of OCC systems while the second part of the article presents the literature on OCC based localization, navigation, and motion capture. Finally, in the last part of the paper, we present the challenges and future research directions of OCC.
In this paper, we envision a hybrid opto-acoustic network design for the internet of underwater things (IoUT). Software-defined underwater networking (SDUN) is presented as an enabler of hybridizing benefits of optic and acoustic systems and adapting IoUT nodes to the challenging and dynamically changing underwater environment. We explain inextricably interwoven relations among functionalities of different layers and analyze their impacts on key network attributes. Network function virtualization (NFV) concept is then introduced to realize application specific cross-layer protocol suites through an NFV management and orchestration system. We finally discuss how SDUN and NFV can slice available network resources as per the diverging service demands of different underwater applications. Such a revolutionary architectural paradigm shift is not only a cure for chronicle underwater networking problems but also a way of smoothly integrating IoUT and IoT ecosystems.
This paper provides recent advances in the area of Internet of Underground Things (IoUT) with emphasis on enabling communication technologies, networking issues, and localization techniques. IoUT is enabled by underground things (sensors), communication technology, and networking protocols. This new paradigm of IoUT facilitates the integration of sensing and communication in the underground environment for various industries such as oil and gas, agriculture, seismic mapping, and border monitoring. These applications require to gather relevant information from the deployed underground things. However, the harsh underground propagation environment including sand, rock, and watersheds do not allow the use of single communication technology for information transfer between the surface and the underground things. Therefore, various wireless and wired communication technologies are used for underground communication. The wireless technologies are based on acoustic waves, electromagnetic waves, magnetic induction and visible light communication while the wired technologies use coaxial cable and optical fibers. In this paper, state-of-art communication technologies are surveyed, and the respective networking and localization techniques for IoUT are presented. Moreover, the advances and applications of IoUT are also reported. Also, new research challenges for the design and implementation of IoUT are identified.
The prospect of ultra-massive multiple-input multiple-output (UM-MIMO) technology to combat the distance problem at the Terahertz (THz)-band is considered. It is well-known that the very large available bandwidths at THz frequencies come at the cost of severe propagation losses and power limitations, which result in very short communication distances. Recently, graphene-based plasmonic nano-antenna arrays that can accommodate hundreds of antenna elements in a few millimeters have been proposed. While such arrays enable efficient beamforming that can increase the communication range, they fail to provide sufficient spatial degrees of freedom for spatial multiplexing. In this paper, we examine spatial modulation (SM) techniques that can leverage the properties of densely packed configurable arrays of subarrays of nano-antennas, to increase capacity and spectral efficiency, while maintaining acceptable beamforming performance. Depending on the communication distance and the frequency of operation, a specific SM configuration that ensures good channel conditions is recommended. We analyze the performance of the proposed schemes theoretically and numerically in terms of symbol and bit error rates, where significant gains are observed compared to conventional SM. We demonstrate that SM at very high frequencies is a feasible paradigm, and we motivate several extensions that can make THz-band SM a future research trend.
This article carries out a large dimensional analysis of standard regularized discriminant analysis classifiers designed on the assumption that data arise from a Gaussian mixture model with different means and covariances. The analysis relies on fundamental results from random matrix theory (RMT) when both the number of features and the cardinality of the training data within each class grow large at the same pace. Under mild assumptions, we show that the asymptotic classification error approaches a deterministic quantity that depends only on the means and covariances associated with each class as well as the problem dimensions. Such a result permits a better understanding of the performance of regularized discriminant analsysis, in practical large but finite dimensions, and can be used to determine and pre-estimate the optimal regularization parameter that minimizes the misclassification error probability. Despite being theoretically valid only for Gaussian data, our findings are shown to yield a high accuracy in predicting the performances achieved with real data sets drawn from the popular USPS data base, thereby making an interesting connection between theory and practice.