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Electrical Engineering and Systems Science

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Wednesday 8 April

Signal Processing

Channel Estimation and LDPC Decoding for Bursty Phase Noise

Time-varying distortions in communication systems can significantly degrade the performance of soft-decision forward error correction. This paper presents a burst-aware (BA) low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoding scheme for channels affected by bursty phase noise. By applying differential coding to a Wiener process with time-varying innovation variance, bursty differential phase noise is obtained. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to conventional decoding, the BA scheme achieves gains in the signal-to-noise ratio of up to $0.7$~dB at a bit error rate (BER) of $4\cdot10^{-3}$ and more than $1$~dB at a packet error rate (PER) of $1\cdot10^{-2}$. Furthermore, by iterating between channel estimation and \ac{ldpc} decoding, forming the proposed iterative burst-aware (IBA) decoding scheme, the gains increase to $1.4$~dB and more than $3$~dB, respectively. More importantly, the IBA scheme significantly improves robustness to bursty phase noise. Compared with the conventional scheme, the IBA scheme can reduce both \ac{ber} and \ac{per} by up to two orders of magnitude under severe bursty phase noise.
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All authors Han Cui, Frank R. Kschischang, Magnus Karlsson, Erik Agrell

Systems and Control

Stochastic Adaptive Control for Systems with Nonlinear Parameterization: Almost Sure Stability and Tracking

This paper concerns the adaptive control problem for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems in which the state update is given by a nonlinear function of linear dynamics plus additive stochastic noise. Such systems arise in a wide range of applications, including recurrent neural networks, social dynamics, and signal processing. Despite their importance, adaptive control for these systems remains relatively unexplored in the literature. This gap is primarily due to the inherently nonconvex dependence of the system dynamics on unknown parameters, which significantly complicates both controller design and analysis. To address these challenges, we propose an online nonlinear weighted least-squares (WLS)-based parameter estimation algorithm and establish the global strong consistency of the resulting parameter estimates. In contrast to most existing results, our consistency analysis does not rely on restrictive assumptions such as persistent excitation conditions of the trajectory data, making it applicable to stochastic adaptive control settings. Building on the proposed estimator, we further develop an adaptive control algorithm with an attenuating excitation signal that can effectively combine adaptive estimation and feedback control. Finally, we are able to show that the resulting closed-loop system is globally stable and that the system trajectory can track, in a long-run average sense, the reference trajectory generated with the true system parameters. The proposed methods and theoretical results are finally validated through simulations in two nonlinear interaction network applications.
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Signal Processing

The Gaussian data assumption does not always lead to the largest CRB

This lecture note addresses the common misconception that the Gaussian distribution always yields the largest Cramér-Rao Bound (CRB). We show that this property only holds under restrictive conditions: specifically, when the mean and covariance parameters are decoupled in the Fisher Information Matrix (FIM), when the parameter of interest lies in the mean vector and when there are no additive nuisance parameters. Beyond this framework, we provide counterexamples demonstrating that non-Gaussian distributions can produce larger CRB.
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Signal Processing

RieIF: Knowledge-Driven Riemannian Information Flow for Robust Spatio-Temporal Graph Signal Prediction in 6G Wireless Networks

With 6G evolving towards intelligent network autonomy, artificial intelligence (AI)-native operations are becoming pivotal. Wireless networks continuously generate rich and heterogeneous data, which inherently exhibits spatio-temporal graph structure. However, limited radio resources result in incomplete and noisy network measurements. This challenge is further intensified when a target variable and its strongest correlates are missing over contiguous intervals, forming systemic blind spots. To tackle this issue, we propose RieIF (Knowledge-driven Riemannian Information Flow), a geometry-consistent framework that incorporates knowledge graphs (KGs) for robust spatio-temporal graph signal prediction. For analytical tractability within the Fisher-Rao geometry, we project the input from a Riemannian manifold onto a positive unit hypersphere, where angular similarity is computationally efficient. This projection is implemented via a graph transformer, using the KG as a structural prior to constrain attention and generate a micro stream. Simultaneously, a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model captures temporal dynamics to produce a macro stream. Finally, the micro stream (highlighting geometric shape) and the macro stream (emphasizing signal strength) are adaptively fused through a geometric gating mechanism for signal recovery. Experiments on three wireless datasets show consistent improvements under systemic blind spots, including up to 31% reduction in root mean squared error and up to 3.2 dB gain in recovery signal-to-noise ratio, while maintaining robustness to graph sparsity and measurement noise.
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All authors Zhonghao Jiu, Yongming Huang, Fan Meng, Hang Zhan, Zening Liu, Xiaohu You

Signal Processing

ELC: Evidential Lifelong Classifier for Uncertainty Aware Radar Pulse Classification

Reliable radar pulse classification is essential in Electromagnetic Warfare for situational awareness and decision support. Deep Neural Networks have shown strong performance in radar pulse and RF emitter recognition; however, on their own they struggle to efficiently learn new pulses and lack mechanisms for expressing predictive confidence. This paper integrates Uncertainty Quantification with Lifelong Learning to address both challenges. The proposed approach is an Evidential Lifelong Classifier (ELC), which models epistemic uncertainty using evidence theory. ELC is evaluated against a Bayesian Lifelong Classifier (BLC), which quantifies uncertainty through Shannon entropy. Both integrate Learn-Prune-Share to enable continual learning of new pulses and uncertainty-based selective prediction to reject unreliable predictions. ELC and BLC are evaluated on 2 synthetic radar and 3 RF fingerprinting datasets. Selective prediction based on evidential uncertainty improves recall by up to 46% at -20 dB SNR on synthetic radar pulse datasets, highlighting its effectiveness at identifying unreliable predictions in low-SNR conditions compared to BLC. These findings demonstrate that evidential uncertainty offers a strong correlation between confidence and correctness, improving the trustworthiness of ELC by allowing it to express ignorance.
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Signal Processing · Cross-listed from cs.CR

Evaluating PQC KEMs, Combiners, and Cascade Encryption via Adaptive IND-CPA Testing Using Deep Learning

Ensuring ciphertext indistinguishability is fundamental to cryptographic security, but empirically validating this property in real implementations and hybrid settings presents practical challenges. The transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), with its hybrid constructions combining classical and quantum-resistant primitives, makes empirical validation approaches increasingly valuable. By modeling IND-CPA games as binary classification tasks and training on labeled ciphertext data with BCE loss, we study deep neural network (DNN) distinguishers for ciphertext indistinguishability. We apply this methodology to PQC KEMs. We specifically test the public-key encryption (PKE) schemes used to construct examples such as ML-KEM, BIKE, and HQC. Moreover, a novel extension of this DNN modeling for empirical distinguishability testing of hybrid KEMs is presented. We implement and test this on combinations of PQC KEMs with plain RSA, RSA-OAEP, and plaintext. Finally, methodological generality is illustrated by applying the DNN IND-CPA classification framework to cascade symmetric encryption, where we test combinations of AES-CTR, AES-CBC, AES-ECB, ChaCha20, and DES-ECB. In our experiments on PQC algorithms, KEM combiners, and cascade encryption, no algorithm or combination of algorithms demonstrates a significant advantage (two-sided binomial test, significance level $\alpha = 0.01$), consistent with theoretical guarantees that hybrids including at least one IND-CPA-secure component preserve indistinguishability, and with the absence of exploitable patterns under the considered DNN adversary model. These illustrate the potential of using deep learning as an adaptive, practical, and versatile empirical estimator for indistinguishability in more general IND-CPA settings, allowing data-driven validation of implementations and compositions and complementing the analytical security analysis.
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Systems and Control

The Cheap Hours Don't Stay Cheap: Price-Chasing Data Centers Reshape Grids and Markets

Data centers unsettle the paradigm of location-bound electricity demand: computing workloads can migrate across sites and hours, whereas facilities and grid connections remain fixed. This mobility reduces electricity costs but reshapes the spatiotemporal structure of nodal prices. A model-driven framework couples US wholesale market signals with optimal fleet scheduling, showing how their interaction alters prices and other participants' responses. Greater flexibility enlarges savings yet can erode network benefits: in a Texas study, temporal shifting and cross-site allocation each relieve congestion, but their combination leaves total congestion nearly unchanged. At continental scale, computing demand gravitating toward cheaper electricity narrows price differences and compresses the low-price hours storage arbitrage relies on, threatening storage investment recovery. Cost-minimizing scheduling may therefore undermine grid-supporting resources. Comparing job-level and aggregate fleet representations reveals a trade-off between operational visibility and information disclosure, informing requirements and incentives that could turn workload mobility into a lever for system-wide efficiency.
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Systems and Control

Markov Chains and Random Walks with Memory on Hypergraphs: A Tensor-Based Approach

Many complex systems exhibit interactions that depend not only on pairwise connections, but also group structures and memory effects. To capture such effects, we develop a unified tensor framework for modeling higher-order Markov chains with memory. Our formulation introduces an even-order paired tensor that links folded and unfolded dynamics and characterizes their steady states and convergence. We further show that a Markov chain with memory can be approximated by a low-dimensional nonlinear tensor-based system and then provide a full system analysis. As an application, we define random walks on hypergraphs where memory naturally arises from the hyperedge structure, providing new tools for analyzing higher-order networks with time-dependent effects.
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All authors Shaoxuan Cui, Lingfei Wang, Hildeberto Jardon-Kojakhmetov, Karl Henrik Johansson, Ming Cao

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.RO

Telecom World Models: Unifying Digital Twins, Foundation Models, and Predictive Planning for 6G

The integration of machine learning tools into telecom networks, has led to two prevailing paradigms, namely, language-based systems, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), and physics-based systems, such as Digital Twins (DTs). While LLM-based approaches enable flexible interaction and automation, they lack explicit representations of network dynamics. DTs, in contrast, offer a high-fidelity network simulation, but remain scenario-specific and are not designed for learning or decision-making under uncertainty. This gap becomes critical for 6G systems, where decisions must take into account the evolving network states, uncertainty, and the cascading effects of control actions across multiple layers. In this article, we introduce the {Telecom World Model}~(TWM) concept, an architecture for learned, action-conditioned, uncertainty-aware modeling of telecom system dynamics. We decompose the problem into two interacting worlds, a controllable system world consisting of operator-configurable settings and an external world that captures propagation, mobility, traffic, and failures. We propose a three-layer architecture, comprising a field world model for spatial environment prediction, a control/dynamics world model for action-conditioned Key Performance Indicator (KPI) trajectory prediction, and a telecom foundation model layer for intent translation and orchestration. We showcase a comparative analysis between existing paradigms, which demonstrates that TWM jointly provides telecom state grounding, fast action-conditioned roll-outs, calibrated uncertainty, multi-timescale dynamics, model-based planning, and LLM-integrated guardrails. Furthermore, we present a proof-of-concept on network slicing to validate the proposed architecture, showing that the full three-layer pipeline outperforms single-world baselines and accurately predicts KPI trajectories.
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All authors Hang Zou, Yuzhi Yang, Lina Bariah, Yu Tian, Yuhuan Lu, Bohao Wang, Anis Bara, Brahim Mefgouda, Hao Liu, Yiwei Tao, Sergy Petrov, Salma Cheour, Nassim Sehad, Sumudu Samarakoon, Chongwen Huang, Samson Lasaulce, Mehdi Bennis, Mérouane Debbah

Systems and Control

Compressing Correct-by-Design Synthesis for Stochastic Homogeneous Multi-Agent Systems with Counting LTL

Correct-by-design synthesis provides a principled framework for establishing formal safety guarantees for stochastic multi-agent systems (MAS). However, conventional approaches based on finite abstractions often incur prohibitive computational costs as the number of agents and the complexity of temporal logic specifications increase. In this work, we study homogeneous stochastic MAS under counting linear temporal logic (cLTL) specifications, and show that the corresponding satisfaction probability admits a structured tensor decomposition via leveraging deterministic finite automata (DFA). Building on this structure, we develop a dual-tree-based value iteration framework that reduces redundant computation in the process of dynamic programming. Numerical results demonstrate the proposed approach's effectiveness and scalability for complex specifications and large-scale MAS.
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All authors Xinyuan Qiu, Ruohan Wang, Siyuan Liu, Sofie Haesaert

Signal Processing

Multi-User Symbol Detection with XL Reception: Dynamic Metasurface Antennas with Low Resolution ADCs

Dynamic Metasurface Antennas (DMAs) have been recently proposed as a cost- and energy-efficient front-end solution for eXtremely Large (XL) antenna array systems, supporting scalable Analog and Digital (A/D) beamforming while using a reduced number of Radio-Frequency (RF) chains. This array architecture is commonly realized as partially connected hybrid A/D beamformers, in which non-overlapping subarrays are linked to separate RF chains, each attached to a waveguide hosting multiple metamaterials. In this work, we study uplink multi-user communications where each RF chain of an XL DMA receiver is equipped with a $b$-bit resolution Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). We cast a Mean Squared Error (MSE) minimization problem for the design of the hybrid A/D combiner aimed at multi-user symbol detection, which is intrinsically non-convex due to the structural constraints imposed by the DMA hardware. By exploiting the Bussgang decomposition and a tractable modeling framework, we propose an efficient joint design of the hybrid A/D combining parameters. Our numerical evaluations showcase that XL DMA receivers can perform highly accurate multi-user symbol detection, revealing attractive trade-offs between hardware complexity and MSE performance.
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All authors Rahul K. Pal, Soumya P. Dash, Barathram Ramkumar, George C. Alexandropoulos

Signal Processing

Symbol Error Analysis for Fluid Antenna Systems with One- and Two-Dimensional Modulation Schemes

This paper considers a Fluid Antenna (FA) system comprising a single-antenna transmitter that communicates with a receiver equipped with an FA array with $N$ ports. The transmitter is assumed to deploy any of the modulation schemes: i) two-sided $M$-ary amplitude-shift keying, ii) $M$-ary phase-shift keying, iii) $M$-ary quadrature-amplitude modulation, and iv) binary frequency-shift keying, the channels between its antenna and the receiver ports are subjected to Rayleigh fading, and the receiver chooses the best $K$ out of its $N$ ports for symbol detection. Considering that the receiver combines the signals from the best $K$ ports using maximal-ratio combining, the optimal reception structures for all the considered signaling schemes are obtained. We also present novel exact closed-form expressions for the respective symbol error probabilities (SEPs) of the FA system, as well as asymptotic approximations valid at high signal-to-noise ratios. The presented analysis is corroborated through comparisons with simulation results, showcasing the critical role of various system parameters on the SEP performance.
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Signal Processing

SMCNet: Supervised Surface Material Classification Using mmWave Radar IQ Signals and Complex-valued CNNs

Understanding surface material properties is crucial for enhancing indoor robot perception and indoor digital twinning. However, not all sensor modalities typically employed for this task are capable of reliably capturing detailed surface material characteristics. By analyzing the reflected RF signal from a mmWave radar sensor, it is possible to extract information about the reflective material and its composition from a certain surface. We introduce a mmWave MIMO FMCW radar-based surface material classifier SMCNet, employing a complex-valued Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and complex radar IQ signal input for classifying indoor surface materials. While current radar-based material estimation approaches rely on a fixed sensing distance and constrained setups, our approach incorporates a setup with multiple sensing distances. We trained SMCNet using data from three distinct distances and subsequently tested it on these distances, as well as on two more unseen distances. We reached an overall accuracy of 99.12-99.53 % on our test set. Notably, range FFT pre-processing improved accuracy on unknown distances from 25.25 % to 58.81 % without re-training.
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All authors Stefan Hägele, Fabian Seguel, Driton Salihu, Adam Misik, Eckehard Steinbach

Signal Processing

RadarCNN: Learning-based Indoor Object Classification from IQ Imaging Radar Data

Radar sensors operating in the mmWave frequency range face challenges when used as indoor perception and imaging devices, primarily due to noise and multipath signal distortions. These distortions often impair the sensors' ability to accurately perceive and image the indoor environment. Nevertheless, this sensor offers distinct advantages over camera and LiDAR sensors. This encompasses the estimation of object reflectivity, known as radar cross-section (RCS), and the ability to penetrate through objects that are thin or have low reflectivity. This results in a 'through-the-wall' sensing capability. Due to the aforementioned disadvantages, most research in the field of imaging radar tends to exclude indoor areas. We introduce a machine learning-based mmWave MIMO FMCW imaging radar object classifier designed to identify small, hand-sized objects in indoor settings, utilizing only radar IQ samples as input. This system achieves 97-99 % accuracy on our test set and maintains approximately 50 % accuracy even under challenging conditions, such as increased background noise and occlusion of sample objects, without the need for adjusting training or pre-processing. This demonstrates the robustness of our approach and offers insights into what needs to be improved in the future to achieve generalization and very high accuracy even in the presence of significant indoor perturbations.
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All authors Stefan Hägele, Fabian Seguel, Driton Salihu, Marsil Zakour, Eckehard Steinbach

Audio and Speech Processing

EvoTSE: Evolving Enrollment for Target Speaker Extraction

Target Speaker Extraction (TSE) aims to isolate a specific speaker's voice from a mixture, guided by a pre-recorded enrollment. While TSE bypasses the global permutation ambiguity of blind source separation, it remains vulnerable to speaker confusion, where models mistakenly extract the interfering speaker. Furthermore, conventional TSE relies on static inference pipeline, where performance is limited by the quality of the fixed enrollment. To overcome these limitations, we propose EvoTSE, an evolving TSE framework in which the enrollment is continuously updated through reliability-filtered retrieval over high-confidence historical estimates. This mechanism reduces speaker confusion and relaxes the quality requirements for pre-recorded enrollment without relying on additional annotated data. Experiments across multiple benchmarks demonstrate that EvoTSE achieves consistent improvements, especially when evaluated on out-of-domain (OOD) scenarios. Our code and checkpoints are available.
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All authors Zikai Liu, Ziqian Wang, Xingchen Li, Yike Zhu, Shuai Wang, Longshuai Xiao, Lei Xie

Signal Processing

Zero-Overhead Unambiguous Velocity Estimation in Multiband ISAC Systems Under Random Traffic

This paper proposes an original method for estimating the velocity of a target by leveraging the multiband capabilities of modern Integrated Sensing And Communication (ISAC) systems. Traditional Doppler estimation relies on regular sampling rates, but ISAC systems often face irregular packet arrival times because they reuse opportunistic communication traffic. This non-deterministic timing increases the risk of Doppler ambiguity and aliasing, degrading velocity estimation accuracy. To resolve this, we advocate exploiting frequency diversity across multiple carrier frequencies to observe Doppler shifts without imposing restrictions on packet timing or requiring dedicated sensing overhead. A multiband velocity estimation problem is here formulated as a mixed-integer quadratic program by utilizing phase differences from all possible pairwise packet combinations. By integrating at least one unambiguous phase measurement, the system can reconstruct the true target velocity even under sporadic traffic conditions. Simulation results using realistic traffic traces demonstrate that this approach significantly outperforms multiband likelihood-based and single-band algorithms, with accuracy improving as frequency separation between bands and inter-packet time intervals increase. This framework provides a zero-overhead solution for robust velocity estimation in dynamic ISAC environments.
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Systems and Control

Failure-Aware Iterative Learning of State-Control Invariant Sets

In this paper, we address the problem of computing maximal state-control invariant sets for deterministic linear systems using failing trajectories. We introduce the concept of state-control invariance, which extends control invariance from the state space to the joint state-control space. The maximal state-control invariant (MSCI) set simultaneously encodes the maximal control invariant set (MCI) and, for each state in the MCI, the set of control inputs that preserve invariance. We prove that the state projection of the MSCI is the MCI and the state-dependent sections of the MSCI are the admissible invariance-preserving inputs. Building on this framework, we develop a Failure-Aware Iterative Learning (FAIL) algorithm for deterministic linear time-invariant systems with polytopic constraints. The algorithm iteratively updates a constraint set in the state-control space by learning predecessor halfspaces from one-step failing state-input pairs, without knowing the dynamics. For each failure, FAIL learns the violated halfspaces of the predecessor of the constraint set by a regression on failing trajectories. We prove that the learned constraint set converges monotonically to the MSCI. Numerical experiments on a double integrator system validate the proposed approach.
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All authors Ahmad Amine, Nick-Marios T. Kokolakis, Ugo Rosolia, Truong X. Nghiem, Rahul Mangharam

Audio and Speech Processing

DAT-CFTNet: Speech Enhancement for Cochlear Implant Recipients using Attention-based Dual-Path Recurrent Neural Network

The human auditory system has the ability to selectively focus on key speech elements in an audio stream while giving secondary attention to less relevant areas such as noise or distortion within the background, dynamically adjusting its attention over time. Inspired by the recent success of attention models, this study introduces a dual-path attention module in the bottleneck layer of a concurrent speech enhancement network. Our study proposes an attention-based dual-path RNN (DAT-RNN), which, when combined with the modified complex-valued frequency transformation network (CFTNet), forms the DAT-CFTNet. This attention mechanism allows for precise differentiation between speech and noise in time-frequency (T-F) regions of spectrograms, optimizing both local and global context information processing in the CFTNet. Our experiments suggest that the DAT-CFTNet leads to consistently improved performance over the existing models, including CFTNet and DCCRN, in terms of speech intelligibility and quality. Moreover, the proposed model exhibits superior performance in enhancing speech intelligibility for cochlear implant (CI) recipients, who are known to have severely limited T-F hearing restoration (e.g., >10%) in CI listener studies in noisy settings show the proposed solution is capable of suppressing non-stationary noise, avoiding the musical artifacts often seen in traditional speech enhancement methods. The implementation of the proposed model will be publicly available.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from math.OC

Uncertainty Propagation in Stochastic Hybrid Systems with Dimension-Varying Resets

This paper studies probability density evolution for stochastic hybrid systems with reset maps that change the dimension of the continuous state across modes. Existing Frobenius–Perron formulations typically represent reset-induced probability transfer through boundary conditions, which is insufficient when resets map guard sets into the interior or onto lower-dimensional subsets of another mode. We develop a weak-form formulation in which reset-induced transfer is represented by the pushforward of probability flux across the guard, yielding a unified description for such systems. The proposed framework naturally captures both cases: when the reset decreases dimension, the transferred probability appears as an interior source density, whereas when the reset increases dimension, it generally appears as a singular source supported on a lower-dimensional subset. The approach is illustrated using a stochastic hybrid model in which two particles merge into one and later split back into two, demonstrating how dimension-changing resets lead to source terms beyond classical boundary-condition-based formulations.
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Audio and Speech Processing

ULTRAS – Unified Learning of Transformer Representations for Audio and Speech Signals

Self-supervised learning (SSL) has driven impressive advances in speech processing by adopting time-domain prediction objectives, while audio representation learning frameworks operate on time-frequency spectrograms. Models optimized for one paradigm struggle to transfer to the other, highlighting the need for a joint framework. We propose Unified Learning of Transformer Representations for Audio and Speech (ULTRAS), where the masking and predictive modeling is performed over long patches of the data. The model, based on the transformer architecture, encodes spectral-patches of log-mel spectrogram features. The predictive modeling of masked segments is performed on spectral and temporal targets using a combined loss-function, forcing the representations to encode time and frequency traits. Experiments are performed on a variety of speech and audio tasks, where we illustrate that the ULTRAS framework achieves improved performance over other established baselines.
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Signal Processing

Heterogeneous Mixture-of-Experts for Energy-Efficient Multimodal ISAC in Highly Mobile Networks

The integration of multimodal sensing and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications is a key enabler for highly mobile vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) networks. However, continuous high-resolution visual sensing incurs prohibitive computational energy, while delayed sensing information worsens beam misalignment. In this paper, we establish a physics-aware multimodel integrated sensing and communication (M-ISAC) framework that quantifies the mathematical trade-off between sensing energy and communication reliability using the semantic age of information (AoI). To address the coupled challenges of temporal AoI evolution and instantaneous non-convex constant modulus constraints, we propose a novel reinforcement learning approach empowered by a heterogeneous mixture-of-experts (RL-H-MoE) architecture. By strictly decoupling the temporal scheduling and spatial phase mapping, the RL-H-MoE avoids prevalent gradient conflicts in multi-task learning. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed architecture achieves an optimal event-triggered sensing policy, significantly minimizing the long-term system cost while guaranteeing ultra-low sensing errors and reliable physical-layer link connectivity.
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All authors Wenqi Fan, Ning Wei, Rongyan Xi, Ahmad Bazzi, Yue Xiu, Chadi Assi, Jing Dong, Jing Jin

Systems and Control

A Markov Decision Process Framework for Enhancing Power System Resilience during Wildfires under Decision-Dependent Uncertainty

Wildfires pose an increasing threat to the safety and reliability of power systems, particularly in distribution networks located in fire-prone regions. To mitigate ignition risk from electrical infrastructure, utilities often employ safety power shutoffs, which proactively de-energize high-risk lines during hazardous weather and restore them once conditions improve. While this strategy can result in temporary load loss, it helps prevent equipment damage and wildfire ignition development in the system. In this paper, we develop a state-based decision-making framework to optimize such switching actions over time, with the goal of minimizing total operational costs throughout a wildfire event. The model represents network topologies as Markov states, with transitions influenced by both exogenous weather conditions and endogenous power flow dynamics. To address the computational challenges posed by the large state and action spaces, we propose an approximate dynamic programming algorithm based on post-decision states. The effectiveness and scalability of the proposed approach are demonstrated through case studies on 54-bus and 138-bus distribution systems, showcasing its potential for enhancing wildfire resilience across different grid configurations.
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All authors Xinyi Zhao, Prasanna Raut, Chaoyue Zhao, Alexandre Moreira

Systems and Control

Model-Agnostic Energy Throughput Control for Range and Lifetime Extension of Electric Vehicles via Cell-Level Inverters

A conventional electric vehicle (EV) powertrain relies on a centralized high-voltage DC-AC inverter, thereby limiting cell-level control and potentially reducing overall driving range and battery lifetime. This paper studies an H-bridge-based cell-level inverter topology that performs power conversion at the cell level, enabling independent control of individual cells and expanding the design space for battery management. Leveraging these additional degrees of freedom, we propose a model-agnostic energy-throughput control strategy that extends EV range while improving battery-pack lifetime. Because usable energy (and thus driving range) and lifetime are governed by the cells with the lowest state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH), respectively, the proposed controller preferentially routes energy throughput to healthier cells. Specifically, during charging, it permits cell SOCs to diverge to promote SOH equalization; during discharging, it rebalances SOC to maximize usable capacity under per-cell constraints. The proposed SOC-SOH-aware control strategy is evaluated on two aging models representing lithium manganese oxide and lithium iron phosphate chemistries, using a Tesla Model 3 charge-discharge profile across 14 different parameter settings. Simulations show a 7-38% improvement in lifetime relative to a conventional SOC-only balancing baseline. More broadly, the results suggest a software-defined pathway to extend EV pack life through routine charging, with minimal reliance on specific degradation models or discharge profiles.
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All authors Shida Jiang, Shengyu Tao, Vincent Molina, Junzhe Shi, Scott Moura

Image and Video Processing

4D Vessel Reconstruction for Benchtop Thrombectomy Analysis

Introduction: Mechanical thrombectomy can cause vessel deformation and procedure-related injury. Benchtop models are widely used for device testing, but time-resolved, full-field 3D vessel-motion measurements remain limited. Methods: We developed a nine-camera, low-cost multi-view workflow for benchtop thrombectomy in silicone middle cerebral artery phantoms (2160p, 20 fps). Multi-view videos were calibrated, segmented, and reconstructed with 4D Gaussian Splatting. Reconstructed point clouds were converted to fixed-connectivity edge graphs for region-of-interest (ROI) displacement tracking and a relative surface-based stress proxy. Stress-proxy values were derived from edge stretch using a Neo-Hookean mapping and reported as comparative surface metrics. A synthetic Blender pipeline with known deformation provided geometric and temporal validation. Results: In synthetic bulk translation, the stress proxy remained near zero for most edges (median $\approx$ 0 MPa; 90th percentile 0.028 MPa), with sparse outliers. In synthetic pulling (1-5 mm), reconstruction showed close geometric and temporal agreement with ground truth, with symmetric Chamfer distance of 1.714-1.815 mm and precision of 0.964-0.972 at $\tau = 1$ mm. In preliminary benchtop comparative trials (one trial per condition), cervical aspiration catheter placement showed higher max-median ROI displacement and stress-proxy values than internal carotid artery terminus placement. Conclusion: The proposed protocol provides standardized, time-resolved surface kinematics and comparative relative displacement and stress proxy measurements for thrombectomy benchtop studies. The framework supports condition-to-condition comparisons and methods validation, while remaining distinct from absolute wall-stress estimation. Implementation code and example data are available at https://ethanuser.github.io/vessel4D
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All authors Ethan Nguyen, Javier Carmona, Arisa Matsuzaki, Naoki Kaneko, Katsushi Arisaka

Systems and Control

Design and Implementation of a Multi-Sensor DAQ System for Comparative Photovoltaic Performance Analysis

The rigorous analysis of specialized physical processes often demands custom data acquisition architectures that offer flexibility and precision beyond the capabilities of general-purpose commercial loggers. This paper presents the design and implementation of a robust data acquisition system (DAQ) for a comparative analysis of the performance of two photovoltaic panels with two different cooling systems. The system integrates a custom PCB design for 20 thermistors, dual high-precision INA228 current/voltage sensors, environmental monitoring equipment, and a Raspberry Pi 4-based acquisition platform. The software architecture implements autonomous operation with enhanced fault recovery, dual storage redundancy (local CSV and InfluxDB), cloud synchronization via Google Drive, and real-time visualization through Grafana dashboards. Field deployment demonstrated system reliability, including automatic recovery from power interruptions, a 1-minute sampling rate, remote monitoring capabilities, and continuous operation during a 5 AM to 6 PM daily window. The modular hardware and software architecture enables simultaneous monitoring of two photovoltaic panels for research on direct performance comparison under identical environmental conditions.
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All authors Maickol Fernandez-Obando, Luis G. Leon-Vega, Leonardo Cardinale-Villalobos, Christopher Vega-Sanchez, Luis D. Murillo-Soto

2604.06670 · 8 Apr · 8 figures, 8 pages, 3 tables. This work was fully funded by the Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica (TEC) through the project "Sistema de enfriamiento pasivo para paneles fotovoltaicos mono-faciales", funding number 1341026

Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.IT

Network-Wide PAoI Guarantee in CF-mMIMO Networks with S&C Coexistence: A Unified Framework for Spatial Partitioning Toward xURLLC

As a key capability of 6G, sensing-communication (S&C) coexistence over distributed infrastructure is expected to support next-generation ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (xURLLC) applications, which demand both robust connectivity and real-time environmental awareness. This paper investigates network-wide information freshness in large-scale cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (CF-mMIMO) with S&C coexistence. A challenge arises from the spatial partitioning of access points (APs) into S&C roles: allocating more APs to sensing improves update generation, whereas allocating more APs to communication enhances reliable short-packet delivery. To address this, we develop a unified analytical framework by combining stochastic geometry and stochastic network calculus (SNC) to characterize the peak age of information (PAoI) violation probability (PAVP). Specifically, we derive the moment generating functions (MGFs) of sensory packet inter-arrival and service times, accounting for the joint stochastic spatial distribution of APs and users, imperfect channel state information (CSI), and finite blocklength coding (FBC). This facilitates the derivation of a tractable upper bound on the PAVP, which is minimized to determine the optimal AP partitioning. The derived bound accurately captures the performance trend and yields a minimizing partition factor that closely matches simulations. Therefore, the framework provides an efficient and low-complexity tool for network-wide PAoI guarantee and coexistence-oriented design in CF-mMIMO networks toward xURLLC.
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All authors Yanxi Zhang, Mingwu Yao, Qinghai Yang, Muyu Mei

Signal Processing

Channel Knowledge Map-Enabled NLoS ISAC Localization

Accurate localization in non-line-of-sight (NLoS) environments remains challenging even with both angle-of-arrival (AoA) and time-of-arrival (ToA) measurements. In complex urban scenarios, the absence of line-of-sight (LoS) paths and the lack of environment prior knowledge make geometric based localization methods inapplicable, while prior-based approach such as fingerprinting is sensitive to environmental perturbations. This paper proposes a novel environment-aware localization framework enabled by the emerging concept called channel knowledge map (CKM). In the offline stage, AoA-ToA path signatures are learned by the CKM, with each path mapped to one candidate scatterer, thereby forming geometric priors within the environment. In the online stage, observed paths are matched to the CKM to extract high-confidence scatterers. Nonlinear least squares (NLS) method is then applied to jointly estimate the user and dominant scatterer locations. Even with imperfect CSI matching, geometric feasibility consistent with CKM scatterer priors provides corrective information and suppresses ambiguity. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme outperforms fingerprinting and offers a robust and scalable solution to address the challenging NLoS localization for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems.
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All authors Chentao Hong, Di Wu, Liang Wu, Zaichen Zhang, Yong Zeng

Signal Processing

SSBI-Free Direct Detection via Phase Diverse of Residual Optical Carrier Enabled by Finite Extinction Ratio IQ Modulator for Datacenter Interconnections

Cost-effective, low-complexity and spectrally efficient interconnection can offer fundamental guiding law for future datacenter. In this work, we demonstrate a cost-efficient SSBI-free direct detection for datacenter interconnection, leveraging the phase diversity of residual optical carrier caused by finite-extinction ratio (ER) IQ modulators, combining the device cost-effective IQ modulator with finite-ER and efficient SSBI-free phase-diverse direct detection receiver. Specifically, the proposed solution transforms the inherent limitation of finite-ER of cost-effective IQ modulator into the residual optical carrier advantage of SSBI-free direct detection systems, eliminating SSBI without additional hardware and control complexity. A digital pre-distortion and offset correction algorithms, and a PD-thermal-noise constrained SSBI-free direct detection and signal recovery algorithms are derived and implemented. Comprehensive simulations are conducted. A Global-SNR gain of 1.78 dB and 400 Gb/s data rate are achieved in 100-km SSMF transmission when (ER_i, ER_o)= (7 dB, 25 dB) of IQ modulator. The proposed solution enables low-complexity, cost-effective, and spectrally-efficient interconnects for next-generation datacenters.
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All authors Xiaobo Zeng, Liangcai Chen, Pan Liu, Ruonan Deng

Systems and Control

Dynamic Modeling of Data-Center Power Delivery for Power System Resonance Analysis

The rapid proliferation of data centers is reshaping modern power system dynamics. Unlike legacy industrial loads, data centers have power-electronic interfaces whose multi-timescale dynamics can interact strongly with the grid, inducing oscillatory behavior. However, analytical models that are grid-integratable for revealing the underlying resonance mechanisms remain largely unexplored. To fill this research gap, this paper derives an explicit, component-informed dynamic model of data-center power-delivery chains, which preserves component-level fidelity and captures inter-stage control interactions. This model is formulated as a time-invariant representation in the positive-sequence domain, enabling seamless integration with the phasor (or RMS) domain power-system dynamic models. The analytical derivation reveals how realistic server-load fluctuations at specific frequencies can excite coupled control modes, thereby inducing oscillation amplification and propagation in power grids with heterogeneous dynamic resources, including synchronous machines and grid-forming/following inverters. Case studies on test systems with some realistic data center data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions.
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Systems and Control · Cross-listed from cs.RO

Train-Small Deploy-Large: Leveraging Diffusion-Based Multi-Robot Planning

Learning based multi-robot path planning methods struggle to scale or generalize to changes, particularly variations in the number of robots during deployment. Most existing methods are trained on a fixed number of robots and may tolerate a reduced number during testing, but typically fail when the number increases. Additionally, training such methods for a larger number of agents can be both time consuming and computationally expensive. However, analytical methods can struggle to scale computationally or handle dynamic changes in the environment. In this work, we propose to leverage a diffusion model based planner capable of handling dynamically varying number of agents. Our approach is trained on a limited number of agents and generalizes effectively to larger numbers of agents during deployment. Results show that integrating a single shared diffusion model based planner with dedicated inter-agent attention computation and temporal convolution enables a train small deploy-large paradigm with good accuracy. We validate our method across multiple scenarios and compare the performance with existing multi-agent reinforcement learning techniques and heuristic control based methods.
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All authors Siddharth Singh, Soumee Guha, Qing Chang, Scott Acton