How does one determine how similar two maps are? This book aims at the theory of spatial similarity relations and its application in automated map generalization, including the definitions, classification and features of spatial similarity relations. Included also are calculation models of spatial similarity relations between arbitrary individual objects and between arbitrary object groups, and the application of the theory in the automation of the algorithms and procedures in map generalization.

Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems focuses on the design of special control and scheduling algorithms based on system structural properties as well as on analysis of the influence of induced time-delay on systems performances. It treats the optimal design of distributed and embedded control systems (DCESs) with respect to communication and calculation-resource constraints, quantization aspects, and potential time-delays induced by the associated communication and calculation model. Particular emphasis is put on optimal control signal scheduling based on the system state. In order to render this complex optimization problem feasible in real time, a time decomposition is based on periodicity induced by the static scheduling is operated. The authors present a co-design approach which subsumes the synthesis of the optimal control laws and the generation of an optimal schedule of control signals on real-time networks as well as the execution of control tasks on a single processor. The authors also operate a control structure modification or a control switching based on a thorough analysis of the influence of the induced time-delay system influence on stability and system performance in order to optimize DCES performance in case of calculation and communication resource limitations. Although the richness and variety of classes of DCES preclude a completely comprehensive treatment or a single “best� method of approaching them all, this co-design approach has the best chance of rendering this problem feasible and finding the optimal or some sub-optimal solution. The text is rounded out with references to such applications as car suspension and unmanned vehicles. Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems will be of most interest to academic researchers working on the mathematical theory of DCES but the wide range of environments in which they are used also promotes the relevance of the text for control practitioners working in the avionics, automotive, energy-production, space exploration and many other industries.

Develops insights into solving complex problems in engineering, biomedical sciences, social science and economics based on artificial intelligence. Some of the problems studied are in interstate conflict, credit scoring, breast cancer diagnosis, condition monitoring, wine testing, image processing and optical character recognition. The author discusses and applies the concept of flexibly-bounded rationality which prescribes that the bounds in Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon’s bounded rationality theory are flexible due to advanced signal processing techniques, Moore’s Law and artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Rational Decision Making examines and defines the concepts of causal and correlation machines and applies the transmission theory of causality as a defining factor that distinguishes causality from correlation. It develops the theory of rational counterfactuals which are defined as counterfactuals that are intended to maximize the attainment of a particular goal within the context of a bounded rational decision making process. Furthermore, it studies four methods for dealing with irrelevant information in decision making: Theory of the marginalization of irrelevant information Principal component analysis Independent component analysis Automatic relevance determination method In addition it studies the concept of group decision making and various ways of effecting group decision making within the context of artificial intelligence. Rich in methods of artificial intelligence including rough sets, neural networks, support vector machines, genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing, incremental learning and fuzzy networks, this book will be welcomed by researchers and students working in these areas.

Cognitive Science is a discipline that brings together research in natural and artificial systems and this is clearly reflected in the diverse contributions to From Animals to Robots and Back. In tribute to Aaron Sloman and his pioneering work in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, the editors have collected a unique collection of cross-disciplinary papers that include work on: ·        intelligent robotics; ·        philosophy of cognitive science; ·        emotional research ·        computational vision; ·        comparative psychology; and ·        human-computer interaction. Key themes such as the importance of taking an architectural view in approaching cognition, run through the text. Drawing on the expertize of leading international researchers, contemporary debates in the study of natural and artificial cognition are addressed from complementary and contrasting perspectives with key issues being outlined at various levels of abstraction. From Animals to Robots and Back, will give readers with backgrounds in the study of both natural and artificial cognition an important window on the state of the art in cognitive systems research.

This volume deals with the very novel issue of cyber laundering. The book investigates the problem of cyber laundering legally and sets out why it is of a grave legal concern locally and internationally. The book looks at the current state of laws and how they do not fully come to grips with the problem. As a growing practice in these modern times, and manifesting through technological innovations, cyber laundering is the birth child of money laundering and cybercrime. It concerns how the internet is used for 'washing' illicit proceeds of crime. In addition to exploring the meaning and ambits of the problem with concrete real-life examples, more importantly, a substantial part of the work innovates ways in which the dilemma can be curbed legally. This volume delves into a very grey area of law, daring a yet unthreaded territory and scouring undiscovered paths where money laundering, cybercrime, information technology and international law converge. In addition to unearthing such complexity, the hallmark of this book is in the innovative solutions and dynamic remedies it postulates.

In the last two decades fractional differential equations have been used more frequently in physics, signal processing, fluid mechanics, viscoelasticity, mathematical biology, electro chemistry and many others. It opens a new and more realistic way to capture memory dependent phenomena and irregularities inside the systems by using more sophisticated mathematical analysis. This monograph is based on the authors’ work on stabilization and control design for continuous and discrete fractional order systems. The initial two chapters and some parts of the third chapter are written in tutorial fashion, presenting all the basic concepts of fractional order system and a brief overview of sliding mode control of fractional order systems. The other parts contain deal with robust finite time stability of fractional order systems, integral sliding mode control of fractional order systems, co-operative control of multi-agent systems modeled as fractional differential equation, robust stabilization of discrete fractional order systems, high performance control using soft variable structure control and contraction analysis by integer and fractional order infinitesimal variations.

This book studies how technological solutions can be used to alleviate the current state of legal systems, with their clogged up courtrooms and inefficient conflict resolution methods. It reviews the shortcomings and disadvantages of traditional and alternative conflict resolution methods and turns to Artificial Intelligence for problem-solving techniques and solutions. The book is divided into four parts. The first part presents a general and systematic analysis of the current state of the legal systems, identifying the main problems and their causes. It then moves on to present UM Court: a framework for testing and prototyping conflict resolution services. This framework was developed with the objective of using Artificial Intelligence techniques to build a service environment for conflict resolution. The third part of the book takes a step into the future by analyzing the use of Intelligent Environments in the support of conflict management and resolution. It describes the approach taken and the experiments performed in the Intelligent Systems Lab of the University of Minho. The final part of the book contains the conclusions and shows the potential advantages of the use of Intelligent Environments as a way to implement better conflict resolution procedures (virtual or real), in which all the participants have access to more and better information and are able to take better informed decisions.

This book presents up-to-date research developments and novel methodologies on fuzzy control systems. It presents solutions to a series of problems with new approaches for the analysis and synthesis of fuzzy time-delay systems and fuzzy stochastic systems, including stability analysis and stabilization, dynamic output feedback control, robust filter design, and model approximation. A set of newly developed techniques such as fuzzy Lyapunov function approach, delay-partitioning, reciprocally convex, cone complementary linearization approach are presented. Fuzzy Control Systems with Time-Delay and Stochastic Perturbation: Analysis and Synthesis is a comprehensive reference for researcher and practitioners working in control engineering, system sciences and applied mathematics, and is also a useful source of information for senior undergraduates and graduates in these areas. The readers will benefit from some new concepts, new models and new methodologies with practical significance in control engineering and signal processing.    

This book presents various recent applications of Artificial Intelligence in Information and Communication Technologies such as Search and Optimization methods, Machine Learning, Data Representation and Ontologies, and Multi-agent Systems. The main aim of this book is to help Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) practitioners in managing efficiently their platforms using AI tools and methods and to provide them with sufficient Artificial Intelligence background to deal with real-life problems.  

The book presents findings, views and ideas on what exact problems of image processing, pattern recognition and generation can be efficiently solved by cellular automata architectures. This volume provides a convenient collection in this area, in which publications are otherwise widely scattered throughout the literature. The topics covered include image compression and resizing; skeletonization, erosion and dilation; convex hull computation, edge detection and segmentation; forgery detection and content based retrieval; and pattern generation. The book advances the theory of image processing, pattern recognition and generation as well as the design of efficient algorithms and hardware for parallel image processing and analysis. It is aimed at computer scientists, software programmers, electronic engineers, mathematicians and physicists, and at everyone who studies or develops cellular automaton algorithms and tools for image processing and analysis, or develops novel architectures and implementations of massive parallel computing devices. The book will provide attractive reading for a general audience because it has do-it-yourself appeal: all the computer experiments presented within it can be implemented with minimal knowledge of programming. The simplicity yet substantial functionality of the cellular automaton approach, and the transparency of the algorithms proposed, makes the text ideal supplementary reading for courses on image processing, parallel computing, automata theory and applications.

This book describes how the principle of self-sufficiency can be applied to a reconfigurable modular robotic organism. It shows the design considerations for a novel REPLICATOR robotic platform, both hardware and software, featuring the behavioral characteristics of social insect colonies. Following a comprehensive overview of some of the bio-inspired techniques already available, and of the state-of-the-art in re-configurable modular robotic systems, the book presents a novel power management system with fault-tolerant energy sharing, as well as its implementation in the REPLICATOR robotic modules. In addition, the book discusses, for the first time, the concept of “artificial energy homeostasis� in the context of a modular robotic organism, and shows its verification on a custom-designed simulation framework in different dynamic power distribution and fault tolerance scenarios. This book offers an ideal reference guide for both hardware engineers and software developers involved in the design and implementation of autonomous robotic systems.

This book reveals the historical context and the evolution of the technically complex Allied Signals Intelligence (Sigint) activity against Japan from 1920 to 1945. It traces the all-important genesis and development of the cryptanalytic techniques used to break the main Japanese Navy code (JN-25) and the Japanese Army’s Water Transport Code during WWII. This is the first book to describe, explain and analyze the code breaking techniques developed and used to provide this intelligence, thus closing the sole remaining gap in the published accounts of the Pacific War. The authors also explore the organization of cryptographic teams and issues of security, censorship, and leaks. Correcting gaps in previous research, this book illustrates how Sigint remained crucial to Allied planning throughout the war. It helped direct the advance to the Philippines from New Guinea, the sea battles and the submarine onslaught on merchant shipping. Written by well-known authorities on the history of cryptography and mathematics, Code Breaking in the Pacific is designed for cryptologists, mathematicians and researchers working in communications security. Advanced-level students interested in cryptology, the history of the Pacific War, mathematics or the history of computing will also find this book a valuable resource.

Vehicular communication is a key technology in intelligent transportation systems. For many years now, the academic and industrial research communities have been investigating these communications in order to improve efficiency and safety of future transportation. Vehicular networking offers a wide variety of applications, including safety applications as well as infotainment applications. This book highlights the recent developments in vehicular networking technologies and their interaction with future smart cities in order to promote further research activities and challenges. SAADI BOUDJIT, University of Paris 13, France  HAKIMA CHAOUCHI, Telecom SudParis, France  YACINE GHAMRI, University La Rochelle, France HALABI HASBULLAH, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia ANIS LAOUITI, Telecom SudParis, France  SAOUCENE MAHFOUDH, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia  PAUL MUHLETHALER, INRIA, France AMIR QAYYUM, Mohamad Ali Jinnah University, Pakistan NAUFAL SAAD, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia AHMED SOUA, NIST, USA HAJIME TAZAKI, University of Tokyo, Japan APINUN TUNPAN, Aintec, Thailand WEI WEI, Xi'an University, China RACHID ZAGROUBA, ENSI, Tunisia.

This book examines the context, motivation and current status of biometric systems based on the palmprint, with a specific focus on touchless and less-constrained systems. It covers new technologies in this rapidly evolving field and is one of the first comprehensive books on palmprint recognition systems. It discusses the research literature and the most relevant industrial applications of palmprint biometrics, including the low-cost solutions based on webcams. The steps of biometric recognition are described in detail, including acquisition setups, algorithms, and evaluation procedures. Constraints and limitations of current palmprint recognition systems are analyzed and discussed. The authors also introduce innovative methods for touchless and less-constrained palmprint recognition, with the aim to make palmprint biometrics easier to use in practical, daily-life applications, and overcome the typical constraints and limitations described. Touchless Palmprint Recognition Systems targets professionals and researchers working in biometrics, image processing and three-dimensional reconstruction. Advanced-level students studying biometrics and computer science will also find this material valuable as a secondary text book or reference.

This book provides an overview of the research work on data privacy and privacy enhancing technologies carried by the participants of the ARES project. ARES (Advanced Research in Privacy an Security, CSD2007-00004) has been one of the most important research projects funded by the Spanish Government in the fields of computer security and privacy. It is part of the now extinct CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 program, a highly competitive program which aimed to advance knowledge and open new research lines among top Spanish research groups. The project started in 2007 and will finish this 2014. Composed by 6 research groups from 6 different institutions, it has gathered an important number of researchers during its lifetime. Among the work produced by the ARES project, one specific work package has been related to privacy. This books gathers works produced by members of the project related to data privacy and privacy enhancing technologies. The presented works not only summarize important research carried in the project but also serve as an overview of the state of the art in current research on data privacy and privacy enhancing technologies.

This book reviews the challenging issues that present barriers to greater implementation of the cloud computing paradigm, together with the latest research into developing potential solutions. Topics and features: presents a focus on the most important issues and limitations of cloud computing, covering cloud security and architecture, QoS and SLAs; discusses a methodology for cloud security management, and proposes a framework for secure data storage and identity management in the cloud; introduces a simulation tool for energy-aware cloud environments, and an efficient congestion control system for data center networks; examines the issues of energy-aware VM consolidation in the IaaS provision, and software-defined networking for cloud related applications; reviews current trends and suggests future developments in virtualization, cloud security, QoS data warehouses, cloud federation approaches, and DBaaS provision; predicts how the next generation of utility computing infrastructures will be designed.

Based on a rigorous selection of submissions to The 29th International Symposium on Computer and Information Sciences (ISCIS 2014),  this books includes some of the most recent ideas and technical results in computer systems, computer science, and computer-communication networks. It offers the reader a timely access to innovative research and advances in computing and communications from many different areas of the world.   The topics covered include (but are not limited to) computer architectures and digital systems, algorithms, theory, software engineering, data engineering, computational intelligence, system security, computer systems and networks, performance modeling and analysis, distributed and parallel systems, bioinformatics, computer vision and significant applications such as medical informatics and imaging.   The 29th International Symposium on Computer and Information Sciences (ISCIS 2014) took place in Krakow Old City, Poland on October, 27–8, 2014.

This book discusses how to combine type-2 fuzzy sets and graphical models to solve a range of real-world pattern recognition problems such as speech recognition, handwritten Chinese character recognition, topic modeling as well as human action recognition. It covers these recent developments while also providing a comprehensive introduction to the fields of type-2 fuzzy sets and graphical models. Though primarily intended for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in fuzzy logic and pattern recognition, the book can also serve as a valuable reference work for researchers without any previous knowledge of these fields. Dr. Jia Zeng is a Professor at the School of Computer Science and Technology, Soochow University, China. Dr. Zhi-Qiang Liu is a Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, China.

This highly practical and self-contained guidebook explains the principles and major applications of digital hologram recording and numerical reconstruction (Digital Holography). A special chapter is designated to digital holographic interferometry with applications in deformation and shape measurement and refractive index determination. Applications in imaging and microscopy are also described. Spcial techniques such as digital light-in-flight holography, holographic endoscopy, information encrypting, comparative holography, and related techniques of speckle metrology are also treated

This book deals with the theoretical, methodological, and empirical implications of bounded rationality in the operation of institutions. It focuses on decisions made under uncertainty, and presents a reliable strategy of knowledge acquisition for the design and implementation of decision-support systems. Based on the distinction between the inner and outer environment of decisions, the book explores both the cognitive mechanisms at work when actors decide, and the institutional mechanisms existing among and within organizations that make decisions fairly predictable. While a great deal of work has been done on how organizations act as patterns of events for (boundedly) rational decisions, less effort has been devoted to study under which circumstances  organizations cease to act as such reliable mechanisms. Through an empirical strategy on open-ended response data from a survey among junior judges, the work pursues two main goals. The first one is to explore the limits of “institutional rationality� of the Spanish lower courts on-call service, an optimal scenario to observe decision-making under uncertainty. The second aim is to achieve a better understanding of the kind of uncertainty under which inexperienced decision-makers work. This entails exploring the demands imposed by problems and the knowledge needed to deal with them, making this book also a study on expertise achievement in institutional environments. This book combines standard multivariate statistical methods with machine learning techniques such as multidimensional scaling and topic models, treating text as data. Doing so, the book contributes to the collaboration between empirical social scientific approaches and the community of scientists that provide the set of tools and methods to make sense of the fastest growing resource of our time: data.

This book brings together geometric tools and their applications for Information analysis. It collects current and many uses of in the interdisciplinary fields of Information Geometry Manifolds in Advanced Signal, Image & Video Processing, Complex Data Modeling and Analysis, Information Ranking and Retrieval, Coding, Cognitive Systems, Optimal Control, Statistics on Manifolds, Machine Learning, Speech/sound recognition and natural language treatment which are also substantially relevant for the industry.

This book introduces new trends of theory and practice of information technologies in tourism. The book does not handle only the fundamental contribution, but also discusses innovative and emerging technologies to promote and develop new generation tourism informatics theory and their applications. Some chapters are concerned with data analysis, web technologies, social media and their case studies. Travel information on the web provided by travelers is very useful for other travelers make their travel plan. A chapter in this book proposes a method for interactive retrieval of information on accommodation facilities to support travelling customers in their travel preparations. Also an adaptive user interface for personalized transportation guidance system is proposed. Another chapter in this book shows a novel support system for the collaborative tourism planning by using the case reports that are collected via Internet. Also, a system for recommending hotels for the users is proposed and evaluated. Other chapters are concerned with recommendation, personalization and other emerging technologies.

This book illustrates how Interactive Systems can help elderly and disabled populations engage with the world around them by finding methods of overcoming the difficulties these communities face when using such systems by presenting the latest in state-of-the-art technology and providing a vision for accessibility for the near future. The challenges faced by accessibility practitioners are discussed and the different phases of delivering accessible products and services are explored. A collection of eminent researchers from around the world cover topics on developing and standardizing user models for inclusive design, adaptable multimodal system development for digital TV and ubiquitous devices, presenting research on intelligent voice recognition, adaptable pointing, browsing and navigation, and affect and gesture recognition. The research not only focuses on how these can be hugely beneficial to primary users, but often finding useful applications for their able-bodied counterparts. For this new edition, new chapters have been added focusing on the latest developments in games for the visually impaired, inclusive interfaces for  the agricultural industry in India and technologies to improve accessibility in broadcasting in Japan. A Multimodal End-2-End Approach to Accessible Computing will be an invaluable resource for both researchers and practitioners alike.  

This book examines the signal processing perspective in haptic teleoperation systems. This text covers the topics of prediction, estimation, architecture, data compression and error correction that can be applied to haptic teleoperation systems. The authors begin with an overview of haptic teleoperation systems, then look at a Bayesian approach to haptic teleoperation systems. They move onto a discussion of haptic data compression, haptic data digitization and forward error correction.

This book addresses topics of mobile multi-agent systems, pattern formation, biological modelling, artificial life, unconventional computation, and robotics. The behaviour of a simple organism which is capable of remarkable biological and computational feats that seem to transcend its simple component parts is examined and modelled. In this book the following question is asked: How can something as simple as Physarum polycephalum - a giant amoeboid single-celled organism which does not possess any neural tissue, fixed skeleton or organised musculature - can approximate complex computational behaviour during its foraging, growth and adaptation of its amorphous body plan, and with such limited resources? To answer this question the same apparent limitations as faced by the organism are applied: using only simple components with local interactions. A synthesis approach is adopted and a mobile multi-agent system with very simple individual behaviours is employed. It is shown their interactions yield emergent behaviour showing complex self-organised pattern formation with material-like evolution. The presented model reproduces the biological behaviour of Physarum; the formation, growth and minimisation of transport networks. In its conclusion the book moves beyond Physarum and provides results of scoping experiments approximating other complex systems using the multi-agent approach. The results of this book demonstrate the power and range of harnessing emergent phenomena arising in simple multi-agent systems for biological modelling, computation and soft-robotics applications. It methodically describes the necessary components and their interactions, showing how deceptively simple components can create powerful mechanisms, aided by abundant illustrations, supplementary recordings and interactive models. It will be of interest to those in biological sciences, physics, computer science and robotics who wish to understand how simple components can result in complex and useful behaviours and who wish explore the potential of guided pattern formation themselves.