Characterization and Modeling of Large-Scale Fading for Radio Propagation in Rwanda

Radio links are extensively used for voice and data communications at long distance. We analyze the radio propagation parameters that affect the received signal level on radio links in Rwanda and we determine the best path loss model for prediction of the received signal level. Various models of propagation and the mathematical expressions of path loss are described here in order to come to the prediction of those propagation effects. By analyzing data collected for two links of MTN Rwanda: Gahengeri-Kibungo and Gahengeri-Jali, we find that the best predicting model is the normal distribution.

On the Trade-off between Power Consumption and Time Synchronization Quality for Moving Targets under Large-Scale Fading Effects in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this work we find a lower bound on the energy required for synchronizing moving sensor nodes in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) affected by large-scale fading, based on clock estimation techniques. The energy required for synchronizing a WSN within a desired estimation error level is specified by both the transmit power and the required number of messages. In this paper we extend our previous work introducing nodes’ movement and the average message delay in the total energy, including a comprehensive analysis on how the distance between nodes impacts on the energy and synchronization quality trade-off under large-scale fading effects.

Antenna selection based on large-scale fading for distributed MIMO systems

An antenna selection algorithm based on large-scale fading between the transmitter and receiver is proposed for the uplink receive antenna selection in distributed multiple-input multiple-output(D-MIMO) systems. By utilizing the radio access units(RAU) selection based on large-scale fading,the proposed algorithm decreases enormously the computational complexity. Based on the characteristics of distributed systems,an improved particle swarm optimization(PSO) has been proposed for the antenna selection after the RAU selection. In order to apply the improved PSO algorithm better in antenna selection,a general form of channel capacity was transformed into a binary expression by analyzing the formula of channel capacity. The proposed algorithm can make full use of the advantages of D-MIMO systems,and achieve near-optimal performance in terms of channel capacity with low computational complexity.

A Two-Layer Encoding Learning Swarm Optimizer Based on Frequent Itemsets for Sparse Large-Scale Multi-Objective Optimization

Traditional large-scale multi-objective optimization algorithms(LSMOEAs)encounter difficulties when dealing with sparse large-scale multi-objective optimization problems(SLM-OPs)where most decision variables are zero.As a result,many algorithms use a two-layer encoding approach to optimize binary variable Mask and real variable Dec separately.Nevertheless,existing optimizers often focus on locating non-zero variable posi-tions to optimize the binary variables Mask.However,approxi-mating the sparse distribution of real Pareto optimal solutions does not necessarily mean that the objective function is optimized.In data mining,it is common to mine frequent itemsets appear-ing together in a dataset to reveal the correlation between data.Inspired by this,we propose a novel two-layer encoding learning swarm optimizer based on frequent itemsets(TELSO)to address these SLMOPs.TELSO mined the frequent terms of multiple particles with better target values to find mask combinations that can obtain better objective values for fast convergence.Experi-mental results on five real-world problems and eight benchmark sets demonstrate that TELSO outperforms existing state-of-the-art sparse large-scale multi-objective evolutionary algorithms(SLMOEAs)in terms of performance and convergence speed.

Assessment of Wet Season Precipitation in the Central United States by the Regional Climate Simulation of the WRFG Member in NARCCAP and Its Relationship with Large-Scale Circulation Biases

Assessment of past-climate simulations of regional climate models(RCMs)is important for understanding the reliability of RCMs when used to project future regional climate.Here,we assess the performance and discuss possible causes of biases in a WRF-based RCM with a grid spacing of 50 km,named WRFG,from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program(NARCCAP)in simulating wet season precipitation over the Central United States for a period when observational data are available.The RCM reproduces key features of the precipitation distribution characteristics during late spring to early summer,although it tends to underestimate the magnitude of precipitation.This dry bias is partially due to the model’s lack of skill in simulating nocturnal precipitation related to the lack of eastward propagating convective systems in the simulation.Inaccuracy in reproducing large-scale circulation and environmental conditions is another contributing factor.The too weak simulated pressure gradient between the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico results in weaker southerly winds in between,leading to a reduction of warm moist air transport from the Gulf to the Central Great Plains.The simulated low-level horizontal convergence fields are less favorable for upward motion than in the NARR and hence,for the development of moist convection as well.Therefore,a careful examination of an RCM’s deficiencies and the identification of the source of errors are important when using the RCM to project precipitation changes in future climate scenarios.

A semantic vector map-based approach for aircraft positioning in GNSS/GPS denied large-scale environment

Accurate positioning is one of the essential requirements for numerous applications of remote sensing data,especially in the event of a noisy or unreliable satellite signal.Toward this end,we present a novel framework for aircraft geo-localization in a large range that only requires a downward-facing monocular camera,an altimeter,a compass,and an open-source Vector Map(VMAP).The algorithm combines the matching and particle filter methods.Shape vector and correlation between two building contour vectors are defined,and a coarse-to-fine building vector matching(CFBVM)method is proposed in the matching stage,for which the original matching results are described by the Gaussian mixture model(GMM).Subsequently,an improved resampling strategy is designed to reduce computing expenses with a huge number of initial particles,and a credibility indicator is designed to avoid location mistakes in the particle filter stage.An experimental evaluation of the approach based on flight data is provided.On a flight at a height of 0.2 km over a flight distance of 2 km,the aircraft is geo-localized in a reference map of 11,025 km~2using 0.09 km~2aerial images without any prior information.The absolute localization error is less than 10 m.

A Large-Scale Group Decision Making Model Based on Trust Relationship and Social Network Updating

With the development of big data and social computing,large-scale group decisionmaking(LGDM)is nowmerging with social networks.Using social network analysis(SNA),this study proposes an LGDM consensus model that considers the trust relationship among decisionmakers(DMs).In the process of consensusmeasurement:the social network is constructed according to the social relationship among DMs,and the Louvain method is introduced to classify social networks to form subgroups.In this study,the weights of each decision maker and each subgroup are computed by comprehensive network weights and trust weights.In the process of consensus improvement:A feedback mechanism with four identification and two direction rules is designed to guide the consensus of the improvement process.Based on the trust relationship among DMs,the preferences are modified,and the corresponding social network is updated to accelerate the consensus.Compared with the previous research,the proposedmodel not only allows the subgroups to be reconstructed and updated during the adjustment process,but also improves the accuracy of the adjustment by the feedbackmechanism.Finally,an example analysis is conducted to verify the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed method.Moreover,compared with previous studies,the superiority of the proposed method in solving the LGDM problem is highlighted.

Large-Scale Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithm Based on Weighted Overlapping Grouping of Decision Variables

The large-scale multi-objective optimization algorithm(LSMOA),based on the grouping of decision variables,is an advanced method for handling high-dimensional decision variables.However,in practical problems,the interaction among decision variables is intricate,leading to large group sizes and suboptimal optimization effects;hence a large-scale multi-objective optimization algorithm based on weighted overlapping grouping of decision variables(MOEAWOD)is proposed in this paper.Initially,the decision variables are perturbed and categorized into convergence and diversity variables;subsequently,the convergence variables are subdivided into groups based on the interactions among different decision variables.If the size of a group surpasses the set threshold,that group undergoes a process of weighting and overlapping grouping.Specifically,the interaction strength is evaluated based on the interaction frequency and number of objectives among various decision variables.The decision variable with the highest interaction in the group is identified and disregarded,and the remaining variables are then reclassified into subgroups.Finally,the decision variable with the strongest interaction is added to each subgroup.MOEAWOD minimizes the interactivity between different groups and maximizes the interactivity of decision variables within groups,which contributed to the optimized direction of convergence and diversity exploration with different groups.MOEAWOD was subjected to testing on 18 benchmark large-scale optimization problems,and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods.Compared with the other algorithms,our method is still at an advantage.

Large-scale spatial data visualization method based on augmented reality

Background A task assigned to space exploration satellites involves detecting the physical environment within a certain space.However,space detection data are complex and abstract.These data are not conducive for researchers'visual perceptions of the evolution and interaction of events in the space environment.Methods A time-series dynamic data sampling method for large-scale space was proposed for sample detection data in space and time,and the corresponding relationships between data location features and other attribute features were established.A tone-mapping method based on statistical histogram equalization was proposed and applied to the final attribute feature data.The visualization process is optimized for rendering by merging materials,reducing the number of patches,and performing other operations.Results The results of sampling,feature extraction,and uniform visualization of the detection data of complex types,long duration spans,and uneven spatial distributions were obtained.The real-time visualization of large-scale spatial structures using augmented reality devices,particularly low-performance devices,was also investigated.Conclusions The proposed visualization system can reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of a large-scale space,express the structure and changes in the spatial environment using augmented reality,and assist in intuitively discovering spatial environmental events and evolutionary rules.

Financial Calculation Problems and Countermeasure Analysis of Large-Scale Engineering Construction Projects

The financial aspects of large-scale engineering construction projects profoundly influence their success.Strengthening cost control and establishing a scientific financial evaluation system can enhance the project’s economic benefits,minimize unnecessary costs,and provide decision-makers with a robust financial foundation.Additionally,implementing an effective cash flow control mechanism and conducting a comprehensive assessment of potential project risks can ensure financial stability and mitigate the risk of fund shortages.Developing a practical and feasible fundraising plan,along with stringent fund management practices,can prevent fund wastage and optimize fund utilization efficiency.These measures not only facilitate smooth project progression and improve project management efficiency but also enhance the project’s economic and social outcomes.

Gleaning insights from German energy transition and large-scale underground energy storage for China’s carbon neutrality

The global energy transition is a widespread phenomenon that requires international exchange of experiences and mutual learning.Germany’s success in its first phase of energy transition can be attributed to its adoption of smart energy technology and implementation of electricity futures and spot marketization,which enabled the achievement of multiple energy spatial–temporal complementarities and overall grid balance through energy conversion and reconversion technologies.While China can draw from Germany’s experience to inform its own energy transition efforts,its 11-fold higher annual electricity consumption requires a distinct approach.We recommend a clean energy system based on smart sector coupling(ENSYSCO)as a suitable pathway for achieving sustainable energy in China,given that renewable energy is expected to guarantee 85%of China’s energy production by 2060,requiring significant future electricity storage capacity.Nonetheless,renewable energy storage remains a significant challenge.We propose four large-scale underground energy storage methods based on ENSYSCO to address this challenge,while considering China’s national conditions.These proposals have culminated in pilot projects for large-scale underground energy storage in China,which we believe is a necessary choice for achieving carbon neutrality in China and enabling efficient and safe grid integration of renewable energy within the framework of ENSYSCO.

Microstructure,mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of large-scale sand-cast Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy

In order to improve the ductility of commercial WE43 alloy and reduce its cost,a Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy with a low amount of rare earths was developed and prepared by sand casting with a differential pressure casting system.Its microstructure,mechanical properties and fracture behaviors in the as-cast,solution-treated and as-aged states were evaluated.It is found that the aged alloy exhibited excellent comprehensive mechanical properties owing to the fine dense plate-shapedβ'precipitates formed on prismatic habits during aging at 200℃for 192 hrs after solution-treated at 500℃for 24 hrs.Its ultimate tensile strength,yield strength,and elongation at ambient temperature reach to 319±10 MPa,202±2 MPa and 8.7±0.3%as well as 230±4 MPa,155±1 MPa and 16.0±0.5%at 250℃.The fracture mode of as-aged alloy was transferred from cleavage at room temperature to quasi-cleavage and ductile fracture at the test temperature 300℃.The properties of large-scale components fabricated using the developed Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy are better than those of commercial WE43 alloy,suggesting that the new developed alloy is a good candidate to fabricate the large complex thin-walled components.

CFSA-Net:Efficient Large-Scale Point Cloud Semantic Segmentation Based on Cross-Fusion Self-Attention

Traditional models for semantic segmentation in point clouds primarily focus on smaller scales.However,in real-world applications,point clouds often exhibit larger scales,leading to heavy computational and memory requirements.The key to handling large-scale point clouds lies in leveraging random sampling,which offers higher computational efficiency and lower memory consumption compared to other sampling methods.Nevertheless,the use of random sampling can potentially result in the loss of crucial points during the encoding stage.To address these issues,this paper proposes cross-fusion self-attention network(CFSA-Net),a lightweight and efficient network architecture specifically designed for directly processing large-scale point clouds.At the core of this network is the incorporation of random sampling alongside a local feature extraction module based on cross-fusion self-attention(CFSA).This module effectively integrates long-range contextual dependencies between points by employing hierarchical position encoding(HPC).Furthermore,it enhances the interaction between each point’s coordinates and feature information through cross-fusion self-attention pooling,enabling the acquisition of more comprehensive geometric information.Finally,a residual optimization(RO)structure is introduced to extend the receptive field of individual points by stacking hierarchical position encoding and cross-fusion self-attention pooling,thereby reducing the impact of information loss caused by random sampling.Experimental results on the Stanford Large-Scale 3D Indoor Spaces(S3DIS),Semantic3D,and SemanticKITTI datasets demonstrate the superiority of this algorithm over advanced approaches such as RandLA-Net and KPConv.These findings underscore the excellent performance of CFSA-Net in large-scale 3D semantic segmentation.

Comparison of Pile-Soil-Structure Interaction Modeling Techniques for A 10-MW Large-Scale Monopile Wind Turbine Model Under Wind and Wave Conditions

Considering the large diameter effect of piles,the influence of different pile-soil analysis methods on the design of monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines has become an urgent problem to be solved.Three different pile-soil models were used to study a large 10 MW monopile wind turbine.By modeling the three models in the SACS software,this paper analyzed the motion response of the overall structure under the conditions of wind and waves.According to the given working conditions,this paper concludes that under the condition of independent wind,the average value of the tower top x-displacement of the rigid connection method is the smalle st,and the standard deviation is the smallest under the condition of independent wave.The results obtained by the p-y curve method are the most conservative.

A Multilevel Hierarchical Parallel Algorithm for Large-Scale Finite Element Modal Analysis

The strict and high-standard requirements for the safety and stability ofmajor engineering systems make it a tough challenge for large-scale finite element modal analysis.At the same time,realizing the systematic analysis of the entire large structure of these engineering systems is extremely meaningful in practice.This article proposes a multilevel hierarchical parallel algorithm for large-scale finite element modal analysis to reduce the parallel computational efficiency loss when using heterogeneous multicore distributed storage computers in solving large-scale finite element modal analysis.Based on two-level partitioning and four-transformation strategies,the proposed algorithm not only improves the memory access rate through the sparsely distributed storage of a large amount of data but also reduces the solution time by reducing the scale of the generalized characteristic equation(GCEs).Moreover,a multilevel hierarchical parallelization approach is introduced during the computational procedure to enable the separation of the communication of inter-nodes,intra-nodes,heterogeneous core groups(HCGs),and inside HCGs through mapping computing tasks to various hardware layers.This method can efficiently achieve load balancing at different layers and significantly improve the communication rate through hierarchical communication.Therefore,it can enhance the efficiency of parallel computing of large-scale finite element modal analysis by fully exploiting the architecture characteristics of heterogeneous multicore clusters.Finally,typical numerical experiments were used to validate the correctness and efficiency of the proposedmethod.Then a parallel modal analysis example of the cross-river tunnel with over ten million degrees of freedom(DOFs)was performed,and ten-thousand core processors were applied to verify the feasibility of the algorithm.

Neutrino Mass Constraints from Reconstructing the Large-scale Structure:Systematic Uncertainty

We examine the possibility of applying the baryonic acoustic oscillation reconstruction method to improve the neutrino massΣm_νconstraint.Thanks to the Gaussianization of the process,we demonstrate that the reconstruction algorithm could improve the measurement accuracy by roughly a factor of two.On the other hand,the reconstruction process itself becomes a source of systematic error.While the algorithm is supposed to produce the displacement field from a density distribution,various approximations cause the reconstructed output to deviate on intermediate scales.Nevertheless,it is still possible to benefit from this Gaussianized field,given that we can carefully calibrate the“transfer function”between the reconstruction output and theoretical displacement divergence from simulations.The limitation of this approach is then set by the numerical stability of this transfer function.With an ensemble of simulations,we show that such systematic error could become comparable to statistical uncertainties for a DESI-like survey and be safely neglected for other less ambitious surveys.

Non-Cooperative Behavior Management in Large-Scale Group Decision-Making Considering the Altruistic Behaviors of Experts and Its Application in Emergency Alternative Selection

Emergency decision-making problems usually involve many experts with different professional backgrounds and concerns,leading to non-cooperative behaviors during the consensus-reaching process.Many studies on noncooperative behavior management assumed that the maximumdegree of cooperation of experts is to totally accept the revisions suggested by the moderator,which restricted individuals with altruistic behaviors to make more contributions in the agreement-reaching process.In addition,when grouping a large group into subgroups by clustering methods,existing studies were based on the similarity of evaluation values or trust relationships among experts separately but did not consider them simultaneously.In this study,we introduce a clustering method considering the similarity of evaluation values and the trust relations of experts and then develop a consensusmodel taking into account the altruistic behaviors of experts.First,we cluster experts into subgroups by a constrained Kmeans clustering algorithm according to the opinion similarity and trust relationship of experts.Then,we calculate the weights of experts and clusters based on the centrality degrees of experts.Next,to enhance the quality of consensus reaching,we identify three kinds of non-cooperative behaviors and propose corresponding feedback mechanisms relying on the altruistic behaviors of experts.A numerical example is given to show the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method in emergency decision-making.The study finds that integrating altruistic behavior analysis in group decision-making can safeguard the interests of experts and ensure the integrity of decision-making information.

Galaxy Interactions in Filaments and Sheets:Effects of the Large-scale Structures Versus the Local Density

Major interactions are known to trigger star formation in galaxies and alter their color.We study the major interactions in filaments and sheets using SDSS data to understand the influence of large-scale environments on galaxy interactions.We identify the galaxies in filaments and sheets using the local dimension and also find the major pairs residing in these environments.The star formation rate(SFR) and color of the interacting galaxies as a function of pair separation are separately analyzed in filaments and sheets.The analysis is repeated for three volume limited samples covering different magnitude ranges.The major pairs residing in the filaments show a significantly higher SFR and bluer color than those residing in the sheets up to the projected pair separation of~50 kpc.We observe a complete reversal of this behavior for both the SFR and color of the galaxy pairs having a projected separation larger than 50 kpc.Some earlier studies report that the galaxy pairs align with the filament axis.Such alignment inside filaments indicates anisotropic accretion that may cause these differences.We do not observe these trends in the brighter galaxy samples.The pairs in filaments and sheets from the brighter galaxy samples trace relatively denser regions in these environments.The absence of these trends in the brighter samples may be explained by the dominant effect of the local density over the effects of the large-scale environment.

Modular Extremely Large-Scale Array Communication:Near-Field Modelling and Performance Analysis

This paper investigates the wireless communication with a novel architecture of antenna arrays,termed modular extremely large-scale array(XLarray),where array elements of an extremely large number/size are regularly mounted on a shared platform with both horizontally and vertically interlaced modules.Each module consists of a moderate/flexible number of array elements with the inter-element distance typically in the order of the signal wavelength,while different modules are separated by the relatively large inter-module distance for convenience of practical deployment.By accurately modelling the signal amplitudes and phases,as well as projected apertures across all modular elements,we analyse the near-field signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)performance for modular XL-array communications.Based on the non-uniform spherical wave(NUSW)modelling,the closed-form SNR expression is derived in terms of key system parameters,such as the overall modular array size,distances of adjacent modules along all dimensions,and the user's three-dimensional(3D)location.In addition,with the number of modules in different dimensions increasing infinitely,the asymptotic SNR scaling laws are revealed.Furthermore,we show that our proposed near-field modelling and performance analysis include the results for existing array architectures/modelling as special cases,e.g.,the collocated XL-array architecture,the uniform plane wave(UPW)based far-field modelling,and the modular extremely large-scale uniform linear array(XL-ULA)of onedimension.Extensive simulation results are presented to validate our findings.

The Climate Impact of Large-Scale Distributors:Acting on the Supply Chain

This work aims to analyse the actions that companies working in large-scale distribution carry along their value chains to minimise impacts on climate change.Companies operating in this field are aware that it is less effective to act directly on the core processes and need to involve the upstream value chain in their carbon reduction strategy.These businesses,in fact,need to focus on the indirect GHG(Greenhouse Gases)emissions and depend on how suppliers manage their impacts.In this sector,virtuous companies collaborate with their suppliers to get involved in a common path of quantifying and cutting said impacts together.This aspect is particularly relevant in the case of large-scale retailers.However,the process is not immediate since the supply chain is usually very dense and diverse,for instance,adopting various approaches that do not always coincide.In any case,the key aspect is mapping these suppliers:one of the tools mostly used for this purpose is the survey,as a quick instrument able to reach hundreds of suppliers at the same time,receiving a fast and standardized response,which can easily be processed to form a comprehensive and harmonized mapping of the results as the first step for the subsequent implementation of mitigation strategies.