University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

About: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China is a education organization based out in Chengdu, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Antenna (radio). The organization has 50594 authors who have published 58502 publications receiving 711188 citations. The organization is also known as: UESTC.

Advancing functional connectivity research from association to causation

Abstract: Cognition and behavior emerge from brain network interactions, such that investigating causal interactions should be central to the study of brain function. Approaches that characterize statistical associations among neural time series-functional connectivity (FC) methods-are likely a good starting point for estimating brain network interactions. Yet only a subset of FC methods ('effective connectivity') is explicitly designed to infer causal interactions from statistical associations. Here we incorporate best practices from diverse areas of FC research to illustrate how FC methods can be refined to improve inferences about neural mechanisms, with properties of causal neural interactions as a common ontology to facilitate cumulative progress across FC approaches. We further demonstrate how the most common FC measures (correlation and coherence) reduce the set of likely causal models, facilitating causal inferences despite major limitations. Alternative FC measures are suggested to immediately start improving causal inferences beyond these common FC measures.

Discovery of ZrCoBi based half Heuslers with high thermoelectric conversion efficiency.

Abstract: Thermoelectric materials are capable of converting waste heat into electricity. The dimensionless figure-of-merit (ZT), as the critical measure for the material’s thermoelectric performance, plays a decisive role in the energy conversion efficiency. Half-Heusler materials, as one of the most promising candidates for thermoelectric power generation, have relatively low ZTs compared to other material systems. Here we report the discovery of p-type ZrCoBi-based half-Heuslers with a record-high ZT of ∼1.42 at 973 K and a high thermoelectric conversion efficiency of ∼9% at the temperature difference of ∼500 K. Such an outstanding thermoelectric performance originates from its unique band structure offering a high band degeneracy (Nv) of 10 in conjunction with a low thermal conductivity benefiting from the low mean sound velocity (vm ∼2800 m s−1). Our work demonstrates that ZrCoBi-based half-Heuslers are promising candidates for high-temperature thermoelectric power generation. Identifying new compounds with intrinsically high conversion efficiency is the key to demonstrating next-generation thermoelectric modules. Here, Zhu et al. report the discovery of p-type ZrCoBi-based half Heuslers with thermoelectric conversion efficiency of 9% and large high-temperature stability.

Intelligent Reflecting Surface: A Programmable Wireless Environment for Physical Layer Security

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) to provide a programmable wireless environment for physical layer security. By adjusting the reflecting coefficients, the IRS can change the attenuation and scattering of the incident electromagnetic wave so that it can propagate in a desired way toward the intended receiver. Specifically, we consider a downlink multiple-input single-output (MISO) broadcast system where the base station (BS) transmits independent data streams to multiple legitimate receivers and keeps them secret from multiple eavesdroppers. By jointly optimizing the beamformers at the BS and reflecting coefficients at the IRS, we formulate a minimum-secrecy-rate maximization problem under various practical constraints on the reflecting coefficients. The constraints capture the scenarios of both continuous and discrete reflecting coefficients of the reflecting elements. Due to the non-convexity of the formulated problem, we propose an efficient algorithm based on the alternating optimization and the path-following algorithm to solve it in an iterative manner. Besides, we show that the proposed algorithm can converge to a local (global) optimum. Furthermore, we develop two suboptimal algorithms with some forms of closed-form solutions to reduce the computational complexity. Finally, the simulation results validate the advantages of the introduced IRS and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms

OFDM With Interleaved Subcarrier-Index Modulation

Abstract: Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) is a recently developed technique which modulates part of the information bits using the indices of OFDM subcarriers. In this letter, a simple and efficient subcarrier-level interleaving scheme is introduced to improve the performance of conventional OFDM-IM through enlarging the Euclidean distances among the modulated symbols. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results are presented to show that the proposed OFDM with interleaved sucarrier-index modulation (OFDM-ISIM) can achieve better system performance than conventional OFDM-IM and OFDM with low-order modulation schemes such as binary phase shift keying, quadrature phase shift keying and 16 quadrature amplitude modulation.

Adaptive Neural Network Control of a Fully Actuated Marine Surface Vessel With Multiple Output Constraints

Abstract: In this brief, we investigate the control problem of tracking a desired trajectory for a fully actuated marine surface vessel considering multiple outputs constraints. To prevent multiple output constraints violation, a symmetric barrier Lyapunov function (SBLF) is employed. Backstepping, in combination with adaptive feedback approximation techniques, is introduced to design an adaptive neural network control. Experimental simulations are provided to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed controller. Compared to the adaptive neural network control without multiple output constraints, the proposed adaptive neural network using the SBLF can guarantee that all the outputs remain bounded.