Requirements analysis for bit synchronization and decoding in a standalone high-sensitivity GNSS receiver

It is known that various types of location privacy attacks can be carried out using a personalized transition matrix that is learned for each target user, or a population transition matrix that is common to all target users. However, since many users disclose only a small amount of location information in their daily lives, the training data can be extremely sparse. The aim of this paper is to clarify the risk of location privacy attacks in this realistic situation. To achieve this aim, we propose a learning method that uses tensor factorization (or matrix factorization) to accurately estimate personalized transition matrices (or a population transition matrix) from a small amount of training data. To avoid the difficulty in directly factorizing the personalized transition matrices (or population transition matrix), our learning method first factorizes a transition count tensor (or matrix), whose elements are the number of transition counts that the user has made, and then normalizes counts to probabilities. We focus on a localization attack, which derives an actual location of a user at a given time instant from an obfuscated trace, and compare our learning method with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method in both the personalized matrix mode and the population matrix mode. The experimental results using four real data sets show that the ML estimation method performs only as well as a random guess in many cases, while our learning method significantly outperforms the ML estimation method in all of the four data sets.

Travel Time Reliability Estimation Model Using Observed Link Flows in a Road Network

When analyzing censored datasets, where one or more measurements are below the limit of detection (LOD), the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method is often considered the gold standard for estimating the GM and GSD of the underlying exposure profile. A new and relatively simple substitution method, called β -substitution, is presented and compared with the MLE method and the common substitution methods (LOD/2 and LOD/√2 substitution) when analyzing a left-censored dataset with either single or multiple censoring points. A computer program was used to generate censored exposure datasets for various combinations of true geometric standard deviation (1.2 to 4), percent censoring (1% to 50%), and sample size (5 to 19 and 20 to 100). Each method was used to estimate four parameters of the lognormal distribution: (1) the geometric mean, GM; (2) geometric standard deviation, GSD; (3) 95th percentile, and (4) Mean for the censored datasets. When estimating the GM and GSD, the bias and root mean square error (rMSE) for the β -substitution method closely matched those for the MLE method, differing by only a small amount, which decreased with increasing sample size. When estimating the Mean and 95th percentile the β -substitution method bias results closely matched or bettered those for the MLE method. In addition, the overall imprecision, as indicated by the rMSE, was similar to that of the MLE method when estimating the GM, GSD, 95th percentile, and Mean. The bias for the common substitution methods was highly variable, depending strongly on the range of GSD values. The β-substitution method produced results comparable to the MLE method and is considerably easier to calculate, making it an attractive alternative. In terms of bias it is clearly superior to the commonly used LOD/2 and LOD/√2 substitution methods. The rMSE results for the two substitution methods were often comparable to rMSE results for the MLE method, but the substitution methods were often considerably biased.

Population density is an important state variable in ecology and monitoring of wildlife populations. In the study of large carnivores, traditional density estimation methods have relied on camera trapping to collect capture–recapture data using sampling designs suited to a single target species and ad hoc methods to calculate the effective trapping area. We describe an application of spatially explicit capture–recapture analysis to estimate density for four sympatric carnivore species using a standard spatial sampling grid, camera trap sampling, and maximum-likelihood estimation methods. We used camera traps deployed in four adjacent, sequential camera arrays to construct capture histories for leopard, aardwolf, spotted hyena, and striped hyena in an African savanna/scrub ecosystem. We considered two methods of constructing trapping histories: (1) a simultaneous layout in which all cameras are deployed and active for 21 trapping intervals of 24 h each; and (2) an incomplete layout in which cameras are considered deployed for 84 sampling intervals, but with only a fraction of traps active for a given sampling interval. We estimated density and confidence or profile likelihood intervals for each species using a mean maximum distance moved method and maximum-likelihood estimation procedures with model averaging. Maximum-likelihood densities ranged from 4.93/100 km2 for spotted hyena to 12.03/100 km2 for leopard. Estimates did not differ between simultaneous and incomplete trap layouts. Our approach demonstrates the utility and cost effectiveness of using maximum-likelihood density estimation methods in studies of sympatric species that are individually recognizable.

Recent catastrophic failures of the rocket motor on a US missile caused concern in the US Navy that the missile might not be serviceable past its estimated service life of 20 years. This paper analyzes nearly 2000 firings of the motor under field conditions using classical maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) methods and Bayesian methods. MLE methods indicate that there could be less than a 1% chance that the motor will survive past 20 years of life and are not considered credible. Bayesian methods indicate that there is better than a 99% chance that the motors will survive past 20 years of life. The authors present reasons for preferring the Bayesian analysis and discuss testing schemes for more precise estimates. They comment on the lack of data to perform degradation analysis as a function of temperature cycling for the motor and make recommendations for future missile system data collection.

In this paper, we propose a disturbance covariance matrix estimation method for radar signal processing when the number of training samples is severely limited. Several maximum likelihood (ML) estimation methods based on the structured of the covariance matrix, which is modeled as a sum of an unknown positive semi-definite Hermitian matrix and a matrix proportional to identity, have been proposed to solve the problem. Based on the covariance structure, we incorporate additional constraint on the low rank property of the covariance matrix, and propose a low rank regularized ML estimation method for covariance matrix estimation. The low rank is achieved by solving a reweighted trace minimization problem. Experimental results demonstrate the effective of the proposed method, both in the accuracy of rank estimation and the improvement of signal interference and noise ratio (SINR).

The present paper considers how to improve estimation accuracy in a time of arrival (TOA) localization system using UWB in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environment for medical network. This method consists of step-by-step compensation on the basis of two approaches considering a reference position that is estimated from data affected by NLOS delay. The first consideration consists of determining NLOS delays for each node, performing compensation to alleviate the effect on line of sight (LOS) nodes through a step-by-step compensation for the NLOS delay. The second consideration consists of compensating the effect of NLOS delay on the position determined on the basis of node distribution and geometrical relations of the estimated positions. Using these considerations, we show that the proposed method outperforms the conventional NEWTON method in terms of estimation accuracy. Under certain conditions, it also exhibits better characteristics than the maximum likelihood estimation method, where environmental parameters such as NLOS delays are known.

This study presents a new six-DOF force/torque sensor and its calibration method. This calibration method apply the method of so-called maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). MLE is utilized to determine and identify the parameters related to applied torques/forces towards resulted deformations at varied locations of the sensor structure. Formulating such relations in a vector–matrix form, those parameters are captured as coefficients in a matrix related to torques/forces towards angular/linear deformations in different directions. In addition to applying MLE, finite element modeling and analysis are conducted to generate realistic-like empirical data for the afore-mentioned calibration computation. The matrix formed by these coefficients can predict exactly forces and torques by this sensor based on deformations detected by strain gauges. In simulated results the worst sum of error for three forces is less than 0.04% while the worst sum of error for three torques is less than 0.005%. Experiments are also conducted, and the results show that the designed sensor and maximum-likelihood parameter estimation approach achieve favorable performance of predicting forces and torques with error less than 1%. The developed sensor is suitable for real-time sensing of multi-dimensional interactive forces/torques in a robot arm.

Magnetic Resonance Sounding: Special Issue of Journal of Applied Geophysics, 2008

The beta regression model (BRM) is used when the dependent variable may take continuous values and be bounded in the interval (0, 1), such as rates, proportions, percentages and fractions. Generally, the parameters of the BRM are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). However, the MLE does not offer accurate and reliable estimates when the explanatory variables in the BRM are correlated. To solve this problem, the ridge and Liu estimators for the BRM were proposed by different authors. In the current study, the James Stein Estimator (JSE) for the BRM is proposed. The matrix mean squared error (MSE) and the scalar MSE properties are derived and then compared to the available ridge estimator, Liu estimator and MLE. The performance of the proposed estimator is evaluated by conducting a simulation experiment and analyzing two real-life applications. The MSE of the estimators is considered as a performance evaluation criterion. The findings of the simulation experiment and applications indicate the superiority of the suggested estimator over the competitive estimators for estimating the parameters of the BRM.

Developing an accurate Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT) in a continuous form is essential for many maritime applications as it can be employed to develop an accurate continuous vertical control datum for hydrographic surveys applications and to produce accurate dynamic electronic navigation charts for safe maritime navigation by mariners. The LAT can be developed in a continuous (surface) using an estimated LAT surface model from the hydrodynamic ocean model along with coastal discrete LAT point values derived from tide gauges data sets to provide the corrected LAT surface model. In this paper, an accurate LAT surface model was developed for the Red Sea case study using a Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) with multiple hydrodynamic ocean models hybridization, namely, WebTide, FES2014, DTU10, and EOT11a models. It was found that the developed optimal hybrid LAT model using MLE with multiple hydrodynamic ocean models hybridization ranges from 0.1 m to 1.63 m, associated with about 2.4 cm of uncertainty at a 95% confidence level in the Red Sea case study area. To validate the accuracy of the developed model, the comparison was made between the optimal hybrid LAT model developed from multiple hydrodynamic ocean models hybridization using the MLE method with the individual LAT models estimated from individual WebTide, FES2014, DTU10, or EOT11a ocean models based on the associated uncertainties estimated at a 95% confidence level. It was found that the optimal hybrid LAT model accuracy is superior to the individual LAT models estimated from individual ocean models with an improvement of about 50% in average, based on the estimated uncertainties. The importance of developing optimal LAT surface model using the MLE method with multiple hydrodynamic ocean models hybridization in this paper with few centimeters level of uncertainty can lead to accurate continuous vertical datum estimation that is essential for many maritime applications.

This paper introduces a novel approach by implementing Type II censoring on both stages of the stage life testing (SLT) experiment. First, we have assumed that the lifetime of the experimental units follows a combination of Weibull distribution on initial stage and an exponential distribution on the accelerated stage. Furthermore, we have also considered a case where the lifetime of the experimental units on both stages follows Weibull distribution with same shape parameter and different scale parameters. The distributions under the two stress levels are connected through the cumulative exposure model. We derive maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) in the SLT model under different lifetime distributions. As an alternative to MLE, we also derive the maximum product of spacings (MPS) estimation method and compare the performance of the MPS and MLE methods through a simulation study. Additionally, we derive asymptotic confidence intervals (CIs) based on the asymptotic normality of MLE, and we also employ bootstrap methods to obtain the boot‐ and boot‐ CIs. Further, we proposed an optimal design for the SLT experiment based on two optimality criteria. Finally, an extensive simulation study and a real data analysis have been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Location awareness has become one of the most popular areas for mobile internet applications. Normally, the method of maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) can be used to estimate the position of the unknown nodes. However, when the number of anchor nodes is small within the communication range, the traditional methods cannot work very well. This paper provides a novel location approach to estimate the position by selecting valuable neighbors (both anchor and regular nodes) with Minimized Error Propagation Location method based on Error estimation (MEPLE). The simulation results show that the MEPLE outperforms the MLE overall, especially when the number of anchor node is relatively small such as between 10 and 20, MEPLE can reduce 50% to 80% estimation error on average.

The probability distribution of wind speed and availability of wind farms are investigated considering the vertical wind shear. Wind speed at extended height (60 m) was generated from that of reference height (10 m) through the Power-law Process. The least square (LS) method, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method and modified method are used to estimate the parameters of Weibull distribution. Then the goodness-of-fit and wind energy characteristic indices are deduced. It shows that MLE and modified MLE method are superior to LS method in parameter-estimating, and wind speed distribution at different height changes with wind shear. The rationality and effectiveness of the modified method are verified from the case study.

In this work, a spin readout method using fluorescence dynamics is proposed based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) for improving the pulsed spin readout accuracy of nitrogen vacancy (NV) center. This estimation method can saturate the Cramér–Rao bound and enhance the photon-shot-noise-limited spin readout accuracy by 20% compared with conventional photon summation method. By employing a rate equation model of the NV center, the exact solution for the fluorescence dynamics is obtained. Additionally, according to the rate equation model’s relationship with fluorescence dynamics, spin, and pumping light power, a practical MLE readout scheme is furnished, which is able to distinguish spin readout information and classical noise. Compared with the conventional method, the classical noise suppression capability can be improved by 300 times. It is anticipated that the MLE method will effectively benefit sensing capability based on the NV centers even other scalable defect complexes in solid systems.