Zhi Tian

Bio: Zhi Tian is an academic researcher from George Mason University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Multipath propagation & Cognitive radio. The author has an hindex of 40, co-authored 229 publications receiving 8717 citations. Previous affiliations of Zhi Tian include Michigan Technological University.

Localization via ultra-wideband radios: a look at positioning aspects for future sensor networks

Abstract: UWB technology provides an excellent means for wireless positioning due to its high resolution capability in the time domain. Its ability to resolve multipath components makes it possible to obtain accurate location estimates without the need for complex estimation algorithms. In this article, theoretical limits for TOA estimation and TOA-based location estimation for UWB systems have been considered. Due to the complexity of the optimal schemes, suboptimal but practical alternatives have been emphasized. Performance limits for hybrid TOA/SS and TDOA/SS schemes have also been considered. Although the fundamental mechanisms for localization, including AOA-, TOA-, TDOA-, and SS-based methods, apply to all radio air interface, some positioning techniques are favored by UWB-based systems using ultrawide bandwidths.

Compressed Sensing for Wideband Cognitive Radios

Abstract: In the emerging paradigm of open spectrum access, cognitive radios dynamically sense the radio-spectrum environment and must rapidly tune their transmitter parameters to efficiently utilize the available spectrum. The unprecedented radio agility envisioned, calls for fast and accurate spectrum sensing over a wide bandwidth, which challenges traditional spectral estimation methods typically operating at or above Nyquist rates. Capitalizing on the sparseness of the signal spectrum in open-access networks, this paper develops compressed sensing techniques tailored for the coarse sensing task of spectrum hole identification. Sub-Nyquist rate samples are utilized to detect and classify frequency bands via a wavelet-based edge detector. Because spectrum location estimation takes priority over fine-scale signal reconstruction, the proposed novel sensing algorithms are robust to noise and can afford reduced sampling rates.

A Wavelet Approach to Wideband Spectrum Sensing for Cognitive Radios

Abstract: In cognitive radio networks, the first cognitive task preceding any form of dynamic spectrum management is the sensing and identification of spectrum holes in wireless environments This paper develops a wavelet approach to efficient spectrum sensing of wideband channels The signal spectrum over a wide frequency band is decomposed into elementary building blocks of subbands that are well characterized by local irregularities in frequency As a powerful mathematical tool for analyzing singularities and edges, the wavelet transform is employed to detect and estimate the local spectral irregular structure, which carries important information on the frequency locations and power spectral densities of the subbands Along this line, a couple of wideband spectrum sensing techniques are developed based on the local maxima of the wavelet transform modulus and the multi-scale wavelet products The proposed sensing techniques provide an effective radio sensing architecture to identify and locate spectrum holes in the signal spectrum

Distributed Compressive Spectrum Sensing in Cooperative Multihop Cognitive Networks

Abstract: In wideband cognitive radio (CR) networks, spectrum sensing is an essential task for enabling dynamic spectrum sharing, but entails several major technical challenges: very high sampling rates required for wideband processing, limited power and computing resources per CR, frequency-selective wireless fading, and interference due to signal leakage from other coexisting CRs. In this paper, a cooperative approach to wideband spectrum sensing is developed to overcome these challenges. To effectively reduce the data acquisition costs, a compressive sampling mechanism is utilized which exploits the signal sparsity induced by network spectrum under-utilization. To collect spatial diversity against wireless fading, multiple CRs collaborate during the sensing task by enforcing consensus among local spectral estimates; accordingly, a decentralized consensus optimization algorithm is derived to attain high sensing performance at a reasonable computational cost and power overhead. To identify spurious spectral estimates due to interfering CRs, the orthogonality between the spectrum of primary users and that of CRs is imposed as constraints for consensus optimization during distributed collaborative sensing. These decentralized techniques are developed for both cases of with and without channel knowledge. Simulations testify the effectiveness of the proposed cooperative sensing approach in multi-hop CR networks.

A survey of spectrum sensing algorithms for cognitive radio applications

Abstract: The spectrum sensing problem has gained new aspects with cognitive radio and opportunistic spectrum access concepts. It is one of the most challenging issues in cognitive radio systems. In this paper, a survey of spectrum sensing methodologies for cognitive radio is presented. Various aspects of spectrum sensing problem are studied from a cognitive radio perspective and multi-dimensional spectrum sensing concept is introduced. Challenges associated with spectrum sensing are given and enabling spectrum sensing methods are reviewed. The paper explains the cooperative sensing concept and its various forms. External sensing algorithms and other alternative sensing methods are discussed. Furthermore, statistical modeling of network traffic and utilization of these models for prediction of primary user behavior is studied. Finally, sensing features of some current wireless standards are given.

Survey of Wireless Indoor Positioning Techniques and Systems

Abstract: Wireless indoor positioning systems have become very popular in recent years. These systems have been successfully used in many applications such as asset tracking and inventory management. This paper provides an overview of the existing wireless indoor positioning solutions and attempts to classify different techniques and systems. Three typical location estimation schemes of triangulation, scene analysis, and proximity are analyzed. We also discuss location fingerprinting in detail since it is used in most current system or solutions. We then examine a set of properties by which location systems are evaluated, and apply this evaluation method to survey a number of existing systems. Comprehensive performance comparisons including accuracy, precision, complexity, scalability, robustness, and cost are presented.

Internet of things: Vision, applications and research challenges

Abstract: The term ‘‘Internet-of-Things’’ is used as an umbrella keyword for covering various aspects related to the extension of the Internet and the Web into the physical realm, by means of the widespread deployment of spatially distributed devices with embedded identification, sensing and/or actuation capabilities. Internet-of-Things envisions a future in which digital and physical entities can be linked, by means of appropriate information and communication technologies, to enable a whole new class of applications and services. In this article, we present a survey of technologies, applications and research challenges for Internetof-Things.

Locating the nodes: cooperative localization in wireless sensor networks

Abstract: Accurate and low-cost sensor localization is a critical requirement for the deployment of wireless sensor networks in a wide variety of applications. In cooperative localization, sensors work together in a peer-to-peer manner to make measurements and then forms a map of the network. Various application requirements influence the design of sensor localization systems. In this article, the authors describe the measurement-based statistical models useful to describe time-of-arrival (TOA), angle-of-arrival (AOA), and received-signal-strength (RSS) measurements in wireless sensor networks. Wideband and ultra-wideband (UWB) measurements, and RF and acoustic media are also discussed. Using the models, the authors have shown the calculation of a Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) on the location estimation precision possible for a given set of measurements. The article briefly surveys a large and growing body of sensor localization algorithms. This article is intended to emphasize the basic statistical signal processing background necessary to understand the state-of-the-art and to make progress in the new and largely open areas of sensor network localization research.

Dynamic bayesian networks: representation, inference and learning

Abstract: Dynamic Bayesian Networks: Representation, Inference and Learning by Kevin Patrick Murphy Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science University of California, Berkeley Professor Stuart Russell, Chair Modelling sequential data is important in many areas of science and engineering. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) and Kalman filter models (KFMs) are popular for this because they are simple and flexible. For example, HMMs have been used for speech recognition and bio-sequence analysis, and KFMs have been used for problems ranging from tracking planes and missiles to predicting the economy. However, HMMs and KFMs are limited in their “expressive power”. Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs) generalize HMMs by allowing the state space to be represented in factored form, instead of as a single discrete random variable. DBNs generalize KFMs by allowing arbitrary probability distributions, not just (unimodal) linear-Gaussian. In this thesis, I will discuss how to represent many different kinds of models as DBNs, how to perform exact and approximate inference in DBNs, and how to learn DBN models from sequential data. In particular, the main novel technical contributions of this thesis are as follows: a way of representing Hierarchical HMMs as DBNs, which enables inference to be done in O(T ) time instead of O(T ), where T is the length of the sequence; an exact smoothing algorithm that takes O(log T ) space instead of O(T ); a simple way of using the junction tree algorithm for online inference in DBNs; new complexity bounds on exact online inference in DBNs; a new deterministic approximate inference algorithm called factored frontier; an analysis of the relationship between the BK algorithm and loopy belief propagation; a way of applying Rao-Blackwellised particle filtering to DBNs in general, and the SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) problem in particular; a way of extending the structural EM algorithm to DBNs; and a variety of different applications of DBNs. However, perhaps the main value of the thesis is its catholic presentation of the field of sequential data modelling.