Abstract Traffic prediction serves as a critical foundation for traffic balancing and resource management in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of data transmission. The self‐similarity of traffic sequences stands as a key indicator for accurate traffic prediction. In this article, the self‐similarity of satellite traffic data was first analyzed, followed by the construction of a satellite traffic prediction model based on an improved Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM). An early stopping mechanism was incorporated to prevent overfitting during the model training process. Subsequently, the Diebold‐Mariano (DM) test method was applied to assess the significance of the prediction effect between the proposed model and the comparison model. The experimental results demonstrated that the improved LSTM satellite traffic prediction model achieved the best prediction performance, with Root Mean Squared Error values of 18.351 and 8.828 on the two traffic datasets, respectively. Furthermore, a significant difference was observed in the DM test compared to the other models, providing a solid basis for subsequent satellite traffic planning.

To achieve stringent performance requirements in next generation wireless networks, such as ultra-high data rates, ubiquitous connectivity, and extremely high reliability, this paper proposes a radically novel rate splitting assisted dual-polarized stacked metasurface (RS-DPSM) transceiver architecture. In this architecture, a multi-layer dual-polarized metasurface is stacked at the active antennas and its two inherent polarizations are implemented to enable RS’s common and private messages in parallel. In sharp contrast to the conventional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and metasurface-based transceiver designs, our proposed transceiver is capable of enhancing the channel capacity and introducing multi-dimensional degrees of freedom (DoFs) in the power, spatial, and polarization domains, thus enabling multi-functional, broad-spectrum, and all-time/domain/space communications without requiring massive radio-frequency (RF) chains. In addition, we derive new analytical expressions for the upper bounds of RS-DPSM transceiver’s channel capacity and ergodic sum rate, and provide some key insights. To highlight its potential benefits, we apply the proposed RS-DPSM transceiver to anti-jamming communications, and formulate a generalized sum rate maximization problem under the jammer’s imperfect angular channel state information and unknown cross-polarization discrimination. To enable an efficient resource management under the above practical conditions, we present a low-complexity optimization framework by leveraging the discretization method, properties of the quadratic function, reduced-majorization-minimization algorithm, and block successive upper-bound minimization, which admit the semi-closed-form solutions. Finally, our numerical simulations verify the superiority of our proposed transceiver architecture and optimization framework over key benchmarks.

Hyperspectral LiDAR (HSL) has demonstrated significant promise in achieving super range resolution, yet the effects of measurement variables like multi-target spectral relationships and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on its limits are unclear. This research establishes a mathematical model for HSL’s multi-layer target detection, validated by a 94% match with measurements. A novel method for spatial unmixing is introduced, informed by prior-knowledge acquisition and waveform decomposition, demonstrating that with SNR over 10 dB, HSL can resolve targets 10 cm apart with distinct spectral signatures, using a 4 ns pulse width. These findings advance the understanding of HSL’s capabilities for detailed environmental awareness and object discrimination.

The utilization of 3D point clouds acquired via Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is widespread in the fields of autonomous driving, satellite remote sensing , and spatial mapping . However, due to hardware limitations of the laser launch system and environmental interferences, the quality of point cloud data obtained through various types of LiDAR is often poor in real-world scenarios, containing extraneous noise and irrelevant data points. This poses a challenge for subsequent point cloud downstream tasks that (e.g., point cloud detection, recognition and tracking) require high-quality data. We propose a robust multi-task learning network for pre-processing LiDAR data. Our approach utilizes a shared PointNet encoder and three branching networks that perform denoising, single-object segmentation, and completion. The denoising branch network incorporates the traditional model based on geometric projection, leveraging the dual-driven approach of data and model for better capturing the characteristics of the point cloud. Regarding the segmentation branch network, we integrate an attention mechanism module suitable for single-object segmentation, enabling the network to better extract the point cloud features of complex objects. For the completion branch network, we employ a folded network structure to achieve a coarse-to-fine completion effect of the point cloud. We discuss the training methods, that is, end-to-end and step-by-step methods, which can enhance flexibility during the training and usage phase. Our proposed network outperforms prior state-of-the-art approaches in all three tasks on both ShapeNet and simulated point cloud data of the sea face scene while demonstrating superior robustness.

The reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) has attracted significant research interests recently due to its abilities of dynamic channel reconstruction, flexible deployment and reduced power consumption. However, a malicious RIS can introduce serious signal degradation and even interception risk. This article investigates destructive beamforming design from the perspective of a malicious RIS, where the RIS is active and able to amplify the reflected signals from the base station (BS) to an Internet of Things Device (IoTD). We consider two scenarios where the BS is known and unknown to the identity of malicious RIS, and the objective is to minimize the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the IoTD with the constraints of total power budget and RIS signal amplification. To solve the above nonconvex optimization problem, we first propose a low-complexity scheme by integrating several classical beamforming methods with the Taylor expansion approach to solve the original problem for the case of known malicious RIS at BS. While for the unknown malicious RIS case, we propose an alternating optimization scheme by using the successive convex approximation method to obtain the beamforming vector and reflection coefficient matrix iteratively. Finally, numerical results verify that, through the proposed destructive beamforming design, the RIS only brings pain without gain for the signal reception.

Photon counting lidar has emerged as a strong candidate technology for active detection applications because of its advantages of single photon sensitivity and high-ranging accuracy. The timing histogram of a single pixel for photon counting lidar contains the target’s range information, while the laser echo of full-waveform lidar contains abundant structure and reflection information of the target. Based on the previous work of full waveform correction for stationary targets, we propose a new method of full waveform recovery for moving targets, aiming at the issue of obtaining the characteristics of ultra-long-range moving targets under high-flux conditions. Our method achieves full-waveform recovery by means of data preprocessing, motion compensation, and photon waveform correction. Through simulation calculations, we analyze and compare the effectiveness of each step of the method. Compared with the raw histogram, the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) of the recovery full waveform and the ideal waveform is reduced from 0.137 to 0.032. Furthermore, we validate the algorithm’s robustness. As the speed increases from 5 to 340 m/s, the NRMSE is always less than 0.04. The results indicate that the recovery waveform of targets hardly varies with changes in velocity. For an accumulation of 200 pulses, when the signal photons are 0.019–3 and the signal-to-noise ratio is below 0.033, the algorithm consistently exhibits excellent performance. Besides, we have demonstrated that for single-layer moving targets, multilayer moving targets, and round-trip moving targets, the algorithm has good performance on the recovery of the targets’ full-waveform, and the NRMSE is less than 0.0054. This provides a new idea for obtaining the shape of targets with variable speeds at a single pixel and provides exciting news for applications such as the detection and recognition of ultra-long-range aerial targets and the detection of space debris.

Photon counting lidar has revolutionized the field of lidar technology with its exceptional single-photon sensitivity and picosecond-level time resolution. It is particularly effective for detecting ultra-long-range targets and measuring global ecosystems. Timing histograms and waveforms play vital roles in these applications, as they contain rich structural information about the targets. To systematically explore the performance boundary model for full-waveform applications in photon counting lidar, we have developed a model based on underlying theory and feasibility, which overcomes the limitation of detecting fewer than 5% of illumination cycles. By using the cumulative emission pulse number as the objective function, we establish the performance boundary model for full-waveform in photon counting lidar, revealing the relationship between the accuracy of the full-waveform and system parameters. The model’s accuracy is verified through theoretical analysis and experimental validation. Subsequently, we utilize Pareto Optimality to determine the optimal parameters for the full-waveform performance boundary model. Experimental data indicates that, to ensure a normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) of less than 0.03 between full-waveform and ideal waveform, the performance boundaries are as follows: the optimal time bin width is 256ps, the signal intensity falls within [0.8, 1.6], the tolerable noise is [0, 0.63M]Hz, and the minimum cumulative pulses required is between [282, 319], given that the echo width is 5ns. Finally, we discuss the practical application of the full-waveform performance boundary in photon counting lidar for complex target detection scenarios. Under the optimal parameter configuration, the R-Square (R2) between the full-waveform and the ideal waveform consistently exceeds 90%. This work not only expands the range of applications for photon counting lidar in the field of full-waveform, but also establishes a strong connection with full-waveform processing algorithms.

Abstract Reflective tomography Lidar is long‐range, high‐resolution imaging Lidar. Because the angular resolution is independent of detection range, it enjoys promising application prospects in imaging of small space targets, estimation of barycentre range of space debris, and many other fields. In practice, images generated by reflective tomography Lidar generally contain a large number of artefacts and noise that need to be removed to obtain the target profile. To improve the quality of the target profile, an algorithm is proposed for the extraction and segmentation of the target region in reflective tomography Lidar images. According to the experimental results, the algorithm can achieve better segmentation results than the traditional threshold segmentation algorithms. In particular, the algorithm can maintain good segmentation results for those images with noticeable ring artefacts, strip artefacts, and noise while avoiding under‐segmentation or over‐segmentation. It also guarantees the integrity of the target segmentation, preserves the outer contour and detailed structure information of the target as much as possible, and improves the accuracy of the target segmentation. Compared with conventional threshold segmentation algorithms, the algorithm improves the quality of image segmentation, and can improve the quality factor by more than 3%.

In remote sensing domains, it is difficult to evaluate the lateral structures using the current remote sensing techniques. The mathematical peak intensity formula of the echo waveform modulated by the lateral structures establishes a quantitative yet concise relationship between the peak intensity and the lateral structures, enabling the retrieval of lateral structural details in terms of inverting the formula. The process of the retrieval includes: 1) mathematical formula derivation; 2) target shape discrimination; and 3) mathematical formula inversion. Using the sizes estimated from the simulated echo waveforms, this study demonstrates how the estimated lateral structures are affected by the number of lateral structural parameters to be solved, instrument noise, movement direction, target shape, and target size. The results reveal that for unknown target size and lateral structures, the averaged size errors are 0.56% and 4.30%, respectively. When the instrument noise is absent and only the target size is unknown, the size error averaged over four shapes is 0.3%, and the size error averaged over the square, circle, and triangle is 0.04%. When only the size is unknown, the size errors of the rectangle, square, circle, and triangle estimated by fitting the experimental peak intensity with the formula are 2.41%, 3.47%, 0.89%, and 1.42%, respectively. The small size errors prove the possibility of retrieving the lateral sizes at a centimeter-level resolution and a distance of hundreds of kilometers, which is of great practical significance in precisely mapping the lateral structures of 3-D targets using full-waveform light detection and ranging (FW-LiDAR).

Waveform decomposition is needed as a first step in the extraction of various types of geometric and spectral information from hyperspectral full-waveform LiDAR echoes. We present a new approach to deal with the ”Pseudo-monopulse” waveform formed by the overlapped waveforms from multi-targets when they are very close. We use one single skew-normal distribution (SND) model to fit waveforms of all spectral channels first and count the geometric center position distribution of the echoes to decide whether it contains multi-targets. The geometric center position distribution of the ”Pseudo-monopulse” presents aggregation and asymmetry with the change of wavelength, while such an asymmetric phenomenon cannot be found from the echoes of the single target. Both theoretical and experimental data verify the point. Based on such observation, we further propose a hyperspectral waveform decomposition method utilizing the SND mixture model with: 1) initializing new waveform component parameters and their ranges based on the distinction of the three characteristics (geometric center position, pulse width, and skew-coefficient) between the echo and fitted SND waveform and 2) conducting single-channel waveform decomposition for all channels and 3) setting thresholds to find outlier channels based on statistical parameters of all single-channel decomposition results (the standard deviation and the means of geometric center position) and 4) re-conducting single-channel waveform decomposition for these outlier channels. The proposed method significantly improves the range resolution from 60cm to 5cm at most for a 4ns width laser pulse and represents the state-of-the-art in ”Pseudo-monopulse” waveform decomposition.

The final solution set given by almost all existing preference-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) lies a certain distance away from the decision makers’ preference information region. Therefore, we propose a multi-objective optimization algorithm, referred to as the double-grid interactive preference based MOEA (DIP-MOEA), which explicitly takes the preferences of decision makers (DMs) into account. First, according to the optimization objective of the practical multi-objective optimization problems and the preferences of DMs, the membership functions are mapped to generate a decision preference grid and a preference error grid. Then, we put forward two dominant modes of population, preference degree dominance and preference error dominance, and use this advantageous scheme to update the population in these two grids. Finally, the populations in these two grids are combined with the DMs’ preference interaction information, and the preference multi-objective optimization interaction is performed. To verify the performance of DIP-MOEA, we test it on two kinds of problems, i.e., the basic DTLZ series functions and the multi-objective knapsack problems, and compare it with several different popular preference-based MOEAs. Experimental results show that DIP-MOEA expresses the preference information of DMs well and provides a solution set that meets the preferences of DMs, quickly provides the test results, and has better performance in the distribution of the Pareto front solution set.

The relationship between the properties of targets and the features of modulated waveforms is fundamental to remote sensing based on the full-waveform light detection and ranging (LiDAR). Developing a mathematical formula of modulated LiDAR waveforms is of great importance in establishing this relationship. In this study, we derive the mathematical formula of a laser echo waveform modulated by four typical targets: a rectangle, a square, a circle, and an equilateral triangle. By using these formulas, numerical calculations are performed to investigate the relationship between the properties of the targets and the features of the modulated waveform. The results show that, at a rotation angle of 80°, the modulated waveform changes from a Gaussian form to a non-Gaussian form and finally returns to a Gaussian form as the target size increases. When the target center deviates from the laser spot center and the rotation angle increases, the modulated waveform varies from Gaussian to non-Gaussian form, the value of the peak intensity decreases, and the position of the peak intensity shifts. The specific trends of these changes are successfully explained in terms of the geometric characteristics of the target and the spatial intensity distribution of the incident laser. The distinct dependencies of modulated waveforms on geometric shape, size, center position, and rotation angle indicate a convenient method for identity extraction and target recognition in remote sensing using full-waveform LiDAR. This offers exciting implications for applications, such as topological mapping, environment monitoring, and aerial target detection and recognition.

The water body detection in high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is a challenging task due to the changing interference caused by multiple imaging conditions and complex land backgrounds. Inspired by the excellent adaptability of deep neural networks (DNNs) and the structured modeling capabilities of probabilistic graphical models, the cascaded fully-convolutional network (CFCN) is proposed to improve the performance of water body detection in high-resolution SAR images. First, for the resolution loss caused by convolutions with large stride in traditional convolutional neural network (CNN), the fully-convolutional upsampling pyramid networks (UPNs) are proposed to suppress this loss and realize pixel-wise water body detection. Then considering blurred water boundary, the fully-convolutional conditional random fields (FC-CRFs) are introduced to UPNs, which reduce computational complexity and lead to the automatic learning of Gaussian kernels in CRFs and the higher boundary accuracy. Furthermore, to eliminate the inefficient training caused by imbalanced categorical distribution in the training data set, a novel variable focal loss (VFL) function is proposed, which replaces the constant weighting factor of focal loss with the frequency-dependent factor. The proposed methods can not only improve the pixel accuracy and boundary accuracy but also perform well in detection robustness and speed. Results of GaoFen-3 SAR images are presented to validate the proposed approaches.

Traditional clutter suppression methods are mainly studied under the condition that the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of the system is not less than the Nyquist frequency. Whereas in the high-resolution and wide-swath (HRWS) multichannel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system, a low PRF is used to break through the minimum antenna area constraint. The low PRF case brings new challenges to the traditional clutter suppression methods. In this letter, a subspace projection clutter suppression method is proposed based on the fact that moving targets and the clutter consist in different signal subspaces. This method can be directly applied to the HRWS multichannel SAR system, and it shows better performance compared to the space-time adaptive processing (STAP) when the moving target components cannot be ignored in the clutter covariance matrix calculation. Simulated data and airborne measured data are processed to verify its effectiveness.

Deep learning has achieved much in image and natural language processing, and related research has also expanded into the field of point cloud processing, and deep networks dedicated to point clouds have emerged; however, in many points cloud applications, networks with fewer parameters and lower computational burdens are required to satisfy the requirements of miniaturisation of devices, so research into lightweight point cloud deep networks is justified. In this letter, we described the design of a lightweight point cloud classification deep learning architecture, lightweight point cloud classification network, with the self-designed block structure as a unit, using a novel index fully dense connectivity method that interconnects all convolutional layers of the network, improving the utilisation of features, thereby reducing the parameter size of each layer; at the same time, the network applies grouping convolution and pruning to the convolutional layer and the fully connected layer, further reducing the amount of parameters and calculation burden. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the network that can achieve comparable results with existing large networks, such as PointNet++, with a smaller amount of parameters. The proposed network offers great promise in mobile device deployment and real-time processing.

The laser-detected micro-Doppler (MD) effect is more likely to achieve precision target identification and recognition because of its high-accuracy estimation ability. MD features overlapping in the time-frequency (TF) are encountered in targets with similar micromotion parameters, which cannot be solved with one-channel detection. In this letter, a novel separation method based on a constrained particle filter (PF) in a time-varying autoregressive (TVAR) model is developed to solve this extremely underdetermined problem. First, the TVAR model for a multicomponent MD signal is established, and the connection between the interested instantaneous frequency (IF) and model poles is analyzed. Then, the continuity characteristic of the IF law is used to design a constraint condition for a PF assuming that the laser MD effect obeys the sinusoidal frequency modulation form. By fusing the constraint into the process of particle update and weight computation, the IF curve for each component is correctly separated through the well-tracked pole trajectories. Finally, the performances of the presented method and traditional method are compared for a TF overlapping scenario. The simulation results verify the validity and necessity of the new method; meanwhile, the low-level computational complexity makes it possible for real-time processing.