In this paper, we analyze the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) performance at a mobile station (MS) in a random cellular network. The cellular network is formed by base stations (BSs) placed in a one-, two-, or three-dimensional space according to a possibly non-homogeneous Poisson point process, which is a generalization of the so-called shotgun cellular system. We develop a sequence of equivalence relations for the SCSs and use them to derive semi-analytical expressions for the coverage probability at the MS when the transmissions from each BS may be affected by random fading with arbitrary distributions as well as attenuation following arbitrary path-loss models. For homogeneous Poisson point processes in the interference-limited case with power-law path-loss model, we show that the SINR distribution is the same for all fading distributions and is not a function of the base station density. In addition, the influence of random transmission power, power control, and multiple channel reuse groups on the downlink performance is also discussed. The techniques developed for the analysis of SINR have applications beyond cellular networks and can be used in similar studies for cognitive radio networks, femtocell networks, and other heterogeneous and multi-tier networks.

This paper compares indoor and outdoor LTE network performance at 700 MHz. We collect data using commercial test equipment on a commercially deployed 2×2 MIMO LTE network in a campus environment. The purpose of the study is to determine performance of LTE MIMO for indoor users from transmit antennas that are outdoors as compared to performance from transmit antennas that are indoors. To characterize performance, the typical method is to compare throughput and common LTE key performance indicators. In this study, we also study the relationship of these performance indicators to throughput performance. In this way, the value of performance indicators can be estimated. The conclusion of this study is that most of the key performance indicators show a positive correlation to throughput.

This paper studies the carrier-to-interference ratio (CIR) and carrier-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (CINR) performance at the mobile station (MS) within a multi-tier network composed of M tiers of wireless networks, with each tier modeled as the homogeneous n-dimensional (n-D, n=1,2, and 3) shotgun cellular system, where the base station (BS) distribution is given by the homogeneous Poisson point process in n-D. The CIR and CINR at the MS in a single tier network are thoroughly analyzed to simplify the analysis of the multi-tier network. For the multi-tier network with given system parameters, the following are the main results of this paper: (1) semi-analytical expressions for the tail probabilities of CIR and CINR; (2) a closed form expression for the tail probability of CIR in the range [1,infinity); (3) a closed form expression for the tail probability of an approximation to CINR in the entire range [0,infinity); (4) a lookup table based approach for obtaining the tail probability of CINR, and (5) the study of the effect of shadow fading and BSs with ideal sectorized antennas on the CIR and CINR. Based on these results, it is shown that, in a practical cellular system, the installation of additional wireless networks (microcells, picocells and femtocells) with low power BSs over the already existing macrocell network will always improve the CINR performance at the MS.

Cognitive radios (CR) must ensure that their transmissions do not cause harmful interference to the primary users that operate in the same band. Primary users with short communication range transmitters, such as wireless microphone systems, are considered. The CR network is distributed according to a Poisson process. The CRs detect the primary user either through primary transmitter signals or through beacons collocated with the primary receiver. Three levels of cooperative sensing by CRs are analyzed, namely, no cooperation, full cooperation and partial cooperation. The characteristic function of the interference at the primary receiver for all combinations of primary user detection and cooperative sensing schemes are derived for the system modeled along a line (1-D) and about a plane (2-D). The analysis in 1-D corresponds to a highway scenario and 2-D corresponds to a planar system. The carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) at the primary receiver is evaluated using the characteristic function. The analysis clearly shows the need for cooperative spectrum sensing when the density of the CRs is high. It is shown that the effect of shadowing, small scale fading, and power control at the CRs can be captured into the density of the CR network. The results hold for the CRs that are wide-band devices as well as narrow-band devices.

This paper presents our work from an on going project on motion and pose estimation for supporting vision-guided fine manipulation of orbital replaceable units in a cluttered environment. The major challenges of this work include target objects, some with highly reflective or mirror surfaces, moving in a cluttered environment with changing illumination. These challenges are dealt with through closed-looped integration of video from multiple cameras and manipulator joint angle measurements, along with moving edge detection and model-based feature tracking. A powerful technique based on a Lie group and its associated Lie algebra is employed for pose estimation. Eflectiveness of the proposed techniques is illustrated by good test results for data acquired in the laboratory.

Pose estimation is a fundamental problem in machine vision. Silhouette and 3D point matching are two of the many popular methods for attacking this problem. The appearance of a silhouette is highly sensitive to changes in the object's planar (WRT the object plane) location and orientation. Therefore, silhouette matching can be used to accurately measure 3 of the 6 pose parameters. The appearance of a silhouette is less sensitive to DOFs that produce out-of-plane motion and so it enables only rough measurement of these 3 pose parameters. 3D point matching, which employs range data, can be used to accurately determine the 3 out-of-plane pose parameters. However, to recognize specific 3d points, one must typically make strong assumptions about the types of features present on an object's surface. Our goal is to solve the more general pose problem, where specific types of features cannot be relied upon because they might not be present. This paper first introduces a novel approach to silhouette matching which employs binary range maps and statistically generated templates. It then describes a hybrid method for template-based pose estimation that leverages silhouette matching for 3 of 6 pose parameters. The remaining 3 parameters are determined using range measurements that do not require the presence of specific features or artifacts. This approach provides a high degree of precision in all 6 DOFs, yet its computational efficiency enables real-time performance. Results from dexterous robot (Robonaut) experiments, using this pose algorithm, are discussed.

The probability density function (PDF) used to model the statistical behavior of avalanche photodiodes (APD), known as the Webb, McIntyre and Conradi (1974) WMC density, is shown to be an inverse Gaussian density. As a consequence, a closed-form solution for the cumulative distribution function exists. A closed-form for the cumulative distribution of the WMC PDF has not been presented in the literature before. With this result, alternate methods for the generation of WMC PDF distributed random variates are now available. These methods are reviewed and discussed.