Understanding Game Theory via Wireless Power Control

In this lecture note, we introduce the basic concepts of game theory (GT), a branch of mathematics traditionally studied and applied in the areas of economics, political science, and biology, which has emerged in the last fifteen years as an effective framework for communications, networking, and signal processing (SP). The real catalyzer has been the blooming of all issues related to distributed networks, in which the nodes can be modeled as players in a game competing for system resources. Some relevant notions of GT are introduced by elaborating on a simple application in the context of wireless communications, notably the power control in an interference channel (IC) with two transmitters and two receivers.Comment: Accepted for publication as lecture note in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, 13 pages, 4 figures. The results can be reproduced using the following Matlab code: https://github.com/lucasanguinetti/ ln-game-theor

Large System Analysis of Game-Theoretic Power Control in UWB Wireless Networks with Rake Receivers

This paper studies the performance of partial-Rake (PRake) receivers in impulse-radio ultrawideband wireless networks when an energy-efficient power control scheme is adopted. Due to the large bandwidth of the system, the multipath channel is assumed to be frequency-selective. By using noncooperative game-theoretic models and large system analysis, explicit expressions are derived in terms of network parameters to measure the effects of self- and multiple-access interference at a receiving access point. Performance of the PRake is compared in terms of achieved utilities and loss to that of the all-Rake receiver.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the 8th IEEE International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC), Helsinki, Finland, June 17-20, 200

A Faster-Than Relation for Semi-Markov Decision Processes

When modeling concurrent or cyber-physical systems, non-functional requirements such as time are important to consider. In order to improve the timing aspects of a model, it is necessary to have some notion of what it means for a process to be faster than another, which can guide the stepwise refinement of the model. To this end we study a faster-than relation for semi-Markov decision processes and compare it to standard notions for relating systems. We consider the compositional aspects of this relation, and show that the faster-than relation is not a precongruence with respect to parallel composition, hence giving rise to so-called parallel timing anomalies. We take the first steps toward understanding this problem by identifying decidable conditions sufficient to avoid parallel timing anomalies in the absence of non-determinism.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2019, arXiv:2001.0616

Measurable Stochastics for Brane Calculus

We give a stochastic extension of the Brane Calculus, along the lines of recent work by Cardelli and Mardare. In this presentation, the semantics of a Brane process is a measure of the stochastic distribution of possible derivations. To this end, we first introduce a labelled transition system for Brane Calculus, proving its adequacy w.r.t. the usual reduction semantics. Then, brane systems are presented as Markov processes over the measurable space generated by terms up-to syntactic congruence, and where the measures are indexed by the actions of this new LTS. Finally, we provide a SOS presentation of this stochastic semantics, which is compositional and syntax-driven.Comment: In Proceedings MeCBIC 2010, arXiv:1011.005

La moltiplicazione dei luoghi sacri lungo le vie d’acqua per Gerusalemme nel tardo Medioevo

A description of the sacred topography worked out by late Medieval Holy Land-pilgrims and seafarer along the searoutes between Venice and Palestine. This paper emphasizes the important role played by international voyagers in the selection, promotion and shaping of new holy sites in Dalmatia, Albania, Corfu, Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus