On the Fundamental Limits of Topology Control in Ad Hoc Networks

We prove two results that provide new fundamental limits for topology control in large ad hoc and sensor networks. First, we show that it remains true under very general conditions that the maximum expected node degree must grow to infinity at least logarithmically if we want to maintain asymptotic connectivity. This has been known so far only for much more special models than ours. Building on this result, we prove a new fundamental limit regarding link dynamics, which means the worst case length ratio of the longest and shortest link adjacent to the same node. We prove that if link dynamics remains bounded, then no topology control algorithm can keep a large network connected with high probability. Moreover, bounded link dynamics prevents connectivity in the limit without any a priori assumption on node degrees or transmission ranges. Our results hold in a model that is much more general than the frequently used assumption of uniformly distributed nodes in a regularly shaped planar domain. Our more abstract setting also aims at finding (hopefully) more robust and elegant proofs that have less dependence on the special geometry. Since link dynamics is expected to be bounded in practice, the results strenghten the theoretical basis for the argument that a very large ad hoc or sensor network is unable to maintain connectivity if it has a flat, random organization without additional structure. Supported in part by NSF Grants ANI-0220001 and CCF-0634848.     

The Transformation of Carbides during Austenization and Its Effect on the Wear Resistance of High Speed Steel Rolls

The transformation of carbides with austenization time of a high speed steel (HSS) roll material, manufactured by a centrifugal casting method, has been studied. The correlation between wear resistance and the type, morphology, volume fraction, and distribution of the carbides has also been investigated. Microstructural observations, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, hardness measurements, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) have been used to characterize the carbides. The type and volume fraction of carbides were found to change with austenizing time. During austenization, the transformation of the M₃C carbides can be postulated as M₃C + γ-Fe → M₂C, with much finer nodular and rodlike MC carbides also forming through a solid-state transformation. The M₂C carbide decomposes as M₂C + γ-Fe → MC + M₇C₃ + M₆C. The decomposed carbide substantially maintains a platelike shape until the end of decomposition. The most important finding of this study is that austenization results in changes in the type, morphology, volume fraction, and distribution of carbides and that it can be controlled to produced a homogeneous distribution of hard carbides, resulting in an improvement in the wear resistance of HSS rolls. This finding may be of great use for the industrial production of HSS rolls.     

The Growth of a Single Cell/Dendrite in a Directional Solidification Process

Following the original model for a single cell/dendrite growth by Hunt,[5] systematic numerical simulations are carried out with focus on cell shape evolution and tip radius selection in a directional solidification process conducted in a capillary tube. Computations indicate that the anisotropy of solid/liquid interfacial energy and the diameter of a capillary tube have significant influences on the selection of a tip shape. The anisotropy in dilute SCN-salol alloys has been determined through the equilibrium droplet shape method and its value is 1.09 pct. The calculated cell/dendrite shapes with this value of anisotropy agree with experimental observations where a single cell/dendrite of SCN-salol alloys grows in a capillary tube.     

External-Memory Algorithms for Processing Line Segments in Geographic Information Systems

In the design of algorithms for large-scale applications it is essential to consider the problem of minimizing I/O communication. Geographical information systems (GIS) are good examples of such large-scale applications as they frequently handle huge amounts of spatial data. In this paper we develop efficient external-memory algorithms for a number of important problems involving line segments in the plane, including trapezoid decomposition, batched planar point location, triangulation, red--blue line segment intersection reporting, and general line segment intersection reporting. In GIS systems the first three problems are useful for rendering and modeling, and the latter two are frequently used for overlaying maps and extracting information from them.     

Train Tracks and Confluent Drawings

Confluent graphs capture the connection properties of train tracks, offering a very natural generalization of planar graphs, and—as the example of railroad maps shows—are an important tool in graph visualization. In this paper we continue the study of confluent graphs, introducing strongly confluent graphs and tree-confluent graphs. We show that strongly confluent graphs can be recognized in NP (the complexity of recognizing confluent graphs remains open). We also give a natural elimination ordering characterization of tree-confluent graphs, and we show that this class coincides with the (6,2)-chordal bipartite graphs. Finally, we define outerconfluent graphs and identify the bipartite permutation graphs as a natural subclass.     

Efficient encoding of IEEE 802.11n LDPC codes

Addressed is the issue of LDPC coding for the emerging IEEE 802.11n standard. An efficient encoding algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement. The memory requirement is trivial     

新年贺词

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模糊PID控制在供热系统中的应用

针对在供热系统中，热电厂集中供热普及率不高，锅炉房供热所占比例很大的现状，为了克服锅炉运行效率低，能源浪费严重的情况，本文介绍了模糊PID控制器如何实现对锅炉炉排、鼓风、引风、循环水量和给水温度的控制，增强了控制系统的鲁棒性、提高控制系统的精度，解决了锅炉热负荷稳定与实时调节的矛盾，实现了按需供热。